| Men & Matters Anura: Quo Vadis? by Kautilya Anura B. on centre stage. That's how this columnist saw the political scene last week. Was Anura B. planning to create a truly 'grand' alliance just when Kautilya had started to introduce it as a 'not-so grand alliance', the allies speaking in different voices and sending out miscellaneous messages to the masses? And what of its principal challenger, the United National Party? It was also showing strains and stresses that suggested a dis-united outfit. Well both leaders, C.B.K. and Ranil W. cracked the whip. Both moved quickly and firmly, leaving poor Anura B.'s immediate political future anybody's guess. The DPLs, the political officers and the information-gathering chaps were all asking the same question: Quo Vadis, Anura? That's the question the political affairs chaps in the embassies keep asking. I really don't know. Haven't interviewed him for quite some time. But he's restless. Except when he's abroad with close, trusted friends on the West coast of the U.S. of A. He's no fellow-traveller, always a lone hand I would say...and now he seems to be out in the cold. It is in such situations, he takes off....Let's watch and see as the natives say. When will he come in from the cold? I repeat the phrase since he is as faithful a fan of the 'master', John le Carre, as Kautilya. Housing Problem Learn or depeat. I learnt a hard lesson and departed. And now what do I hear? The Speaker of the Lok Sabha, the parliament of the world's largest democracy, has sent out what the Times of India calls a stinker to all former MPs who are overstaying their welcome, to put it politely, Speaker Balayogi has warned the MPs who defy his order to quit and that he will have no choice but to initiate the process of eviction. In short no house any more. So what? Predictably, there is a man with this impressive title — Director-General MP's Housing Pool Committee. And what had D.G.M.P.H.P.C. have to say? Simple. Mr. Joginder Singh declined to comment on the issue. And why not? No comment. Fair enough, no problem. There’s always the Lok Sabha Secretary-General S. Gopalan. Sorry chaps. 'He was also unavailable for comment'. Fortunately, there was Guhari Lal Bhargava, chairman, Housing Committee. Lend an ear, please. 'I have been flooded by requests for 'Stays' but we have not allowed more than a month's deadline'. Kautilya: On a point of order, Sir Hon. Speaker: You already had... Bhargava: There are many who have cited their wife's illness or their own as reasons for more time to move out but what can we do? As chairman Housing committee, I am also inundated with requests from new MP's for suitable accommodation...But we allowed them nearly seven months overstay...' I thought that an MP overstays his welcome only when his constituency sends him a quit notice via the Elections Commissioner. Ethnic Issue The forthcoming SAARC Summit
— a comment Whilst this bilateral meeting is all important, it is indeed a pity that the matter of South Asian security, would not be discussed by all seven together, for, this is the principal issue that concerns the well being of us all on this subcontinent today The declaration of the ninth summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation or SAARC held in Male in May 1997, contained the following paragraph:- "The heads of government recalled their commitment to the promotion of mutual trust and understanding and, recognising that the aims of promoting peace, stability and amity and accelerated socio-economic cooperation may be best achieved by fostering good neighbourly relations, relieving tensions and building confidence, agreed that a process of informal political consultations may be useful in this regard." The SAARC summit is days away, and the people of the region and beyond, anxiously await, not so much the outcome of the summit itself, as the outcome of the yet unscheduled private meeting between the prime ministers of India and Pakistan, which would be held outside the frame of the main SAARC summit. Whilst this bilateral meeting is all important, it is indeed a pity that the matter of South Asian security, would not be discussed by all seven together, for, this is the principal issue that concerns the well being of us all on this subcontinent today. It is an issue that is best discussed within our region, for we share a common destiny. There is no question at all that if India and Pakistan get sucked into the vortex of nuclear weaponisation, the whole region would be pauperized. It has already been reported that the summit would mainly concern itself with economic issues and how best cooperation between the seven could be advanced. The economic advancement of our countries and the people of the subcontinent, should quite naturally be the focus of their attention, but there cannot be economic advancement in an atmosphere vitiated by suspicion, hate and the desire to destroy each other. The leaders of South Asia who participate at this summit, cannot like the ostrich, hide their heads in the sand. They would need to take up the matter of political stability on the subcontinent, as the principle issue facing them at the present time. Bringing forth a well meaning declaration and perhaps even an action plan, will fool no one. If the SAARC charter is a hindrance to the discussion of political stability, then our President, as Chairperson, should cite the decision of the Male summit, and invite the leaders to a separate informal meeting to discuss the most important issue of them all — political stability of South Asia. Ours is not the most attractive area for private foreign investment. Further, there is no gainsaying the fact that the instability of the region has made it yet more unattractive. A political declaration on the situation in the sub continent, which contains a commitment on the part of the leaders to work towards the reduction of tensions in the region, along with identified confidence building measures, would be worth more than a million words of the normal summit declaration. I am not here seeking to belittle the importance of that declaration, but this is the expectation of the people of the subcontinent. The leaders of the seven should address their minds towards establishing a framework for regular informal political consultations, (the more informal they are the better, for it cannot be said then, that talks have broken down). The modalities for such consultations could be worked out by senior officials of our countries. The importance of such regular consultations, even if they become acrimonious at times, cannot be over-emphasised. The matter of the political stability of the subcontinent, may hinge almost entirely on the relationship between India and Pakistan, but peace in the region is not a bilateral issue. Perhaps at a later stage the consultation could also include ASEAN, China and the US too, as dialogue partners. Political issues and security issues of South Asia are intrinsically connected with the interests of those countries and the ASEAN region too. To reiterate the Colombo SAARC declaration, would have value only if it is accompanied by a political declaration. Also called Colombo declaration that would be cited as testimony to a commitment to pursue further regional cooperation, would lack credibility and would not be taken seriously, unless the fundamental question of political stability is addressed. The Male summit, was in a sense, a landmark summit. The seven agreed to cooperate in core economic areas. They appointed a group of eminent persons to undertake a comprehensive appraisal of SAARC and to prepare "A plan of Action for 2000 and Beyond". They agreed, quite significantly, to strengthening the SAARC Secretariat, by delegating more powers to it. They agreed to intensifying economic cooperation and to taking the free trade process further forward. For once there was visible progress and hope for SAARC. It is the fervent prayer of the people of the region and the international community, that this process would be continued. Historical experience has shown that even the most emotive of issues, have paled into relative insignificance where international cooperation has succeeded. Even such an emotive issue as Kashmir could be expected to fall into perspective if SAARC succeeds. There is no denying that the nuclear explosions have shaken the very foundations of SAARC. To believe otherwise is only to fool ourselves. The challenge our leaders face is to ensure that SAARC is not derailed on account of the new situation. SAARC, can only come to grips with the ‘core issues’ if the countries of the region have the courage and the political will to face reality. If as is contemplated, our countries seek to increase intra SAARC trade and investment, exchange expertise and have exchanges in the areas of science and technology, promote quality university education in the region, promote significant student exchange, cooperate in agricultural and industrial development, infra-structure development and in the miriad other areas including railway development, mass transportation, telecommunications and other services, including tourism, then we must clear the air of the current tensions. I wish to make use of this opportunity to suggest that our President as chairperson, take the message of the summit to Europe, and become the first South Asian leader to address the European Parliament. She could make use of the occasion to make a plea for closer international cooperation to combat terrorism, and also perhaps, call for an end to counter productive, punitive, politically motivated sanctions against states. There is no doubt that she would project a positive image of the country, in Europe. Is India heading for yet
another election? NEW DELHI, July 9: Is India hurtling towards yet another general election, maybe some time in winter this year ? Judg- ing by the instability that's been troubling Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's coalition government ever since it took office barely four months ago, it appears a midterm poll is the only way out of the present situation. Vajpayee's prin-cipal ally Jayalalitha Jayaram's unending tantrums continue to harass him. Despite mediation by the likes of Defence Minister George Fernandes, it's clear the "Iron Butterfly" is still in a foul mood. She has cancelled her July 10 visit to New Delhi for a "mini summit" with Vajpayee, and called off her August 2 "victory rally" in Tamil Nadu's Dindigul town, at which the prime minister was to have shared the dais with her. These are clear indications that the the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) supremo has now realised that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government at the centre cannot meet her demand to dismiss her political foe Muthuvel Karunanidhi as Tamil Nadu chief minister. And she may be getting ready to pull out of the wobbly coalition, but at a time of her choice. The actress-turned-politician wants Karunanidhi's ouster to save herself from being prosecuted in as many as 45 corruption cases pending against her in various courts in Tamil Nadu. She has sent feelers to Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi, saying: "I'll help you form a government in New Delhi by withdrawing support to Vajpayee if you promise to sack Karunanidhi in Chennai." But, seeing Vaj-payee's plight, Mrs Gandhi is wary of doing business with the "Iron Lady." The Congress chief is prepared to revive her party's alliance with the AIADMK to fight the next election, but is reluctant to head a Congress-led coali- tion government at the centre, propped up by temperamental regional party bosses who are highly unlikely to let her rule in peace. Mrs Gandhi appears to think that, after the BJP govern-ment mucks around for a few more months, the voters will get fed up with it and bring back the Congress to power in the next election. So, the game plan appears to be to get Jayalalitha to withdraw support to Vajpayee and topple him after a couple of months. The Congress will neither head a rag-tag coalition nor back any other formation either. This may persuade the president to order fresh elections if the BJP recommends such a course of action. From the oppo-sition parties' point of view, it makes a lot of sense to topple Vaj-payee before Rajas-than, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi go to the polls to elect new state assemblies in Novem-ber this year. If the BJP returns to power in these three states, toppling Vaj-payee thereafter will become that much more difficult. Therefore, analysts expect Jayalalitha to pull the rug from under Vajpayee's feet any time during August-September, thus paving the way for a snap election either in in October or shortly afterwards. If that does happen, it will be the fifth general election in less than a decade in the world's largest democracy! And, it appears the BJP, too, has made up its mind not to get bullied by Jayalalitha any more. So, if and when she withdraws her support to the government here, the BJP may advise President Kocheril Raman Narayanan to dissolve the Lok Sabha (parliament's lower house) and to order fresh elections. So, only a miracle can save India from an early election! Mysore's former Maharajah fights for his palaces The family of the former Maharaja of Mysore, Jayacha-maraja Wodeyar, is locked in a fierce legal battle with the Karnataka state government for the control of two majestic palaces. The state government acquired the magnificent buil-dings in Bangalore and Mysore more than a decade ago - long after Indira Gandhi abo-lished privy purses and other perks of princely rulers in the 1970s. Patterned on the Windsor Castle in Britain, the Bangalore Palace was brought by the Wodeyars in the 19th century, while the one in Mysore was built by the Maharaja Jayachamaraja Wodeyar in the early years of this century. The Wodeyars - who ruled the kingdom of Mysore for about 200 years successfully challenged the Mysore palace's acquisition, and the state high court ordered this April that the palace be returned to them. After unsuccess-fully challenging the ruling in the Supreme Court, the state govern-ment enacted legis-lation to nullify it. The family has now filed a contempt of court petition against the state government in the high court, accusing it of defying the judi-ciary. Under a 1950 agreement, the two palaces were con-sidered the Wodeyars' private property. Situated in the heart of the city, the Mysore palace is one of India's largest palaces. Spread over 60 acres, it boasts of 21 temples and is considered a fine example of Indo-Saracenic architecture. The Bangalore palace is a magnificent granite structure, built by a British officer in 1879 and bought by the maharaja in 1882. The most colourful story I've read about the Wodeyars is this: an early maharaja of Mysore was apparently told by a Chinese sexpert that the world's most potent aphro-disiacs were made of crushed diamonds. Hundreds of precious stones in the state treasury were promptly ground to dust, mixed in potions and con-sumed by the ruler to enhance his sex life. Soon, the state became impoverished. How it was rescued from going completely bankrupt has not been chro-nicled |
|
