      |
|||
|
|||
Men and Matters Kautilya Yes, we are fifty now-half a century of independence. How independent are we, really? Alas, we have new masters, faceless but powerful and dictatorial... the I.M.F. and the World Bank. Are we really a united nation, though we have a major party named "United National Party"? We were Britain's best bet, the model colony. What went wrong? Junius Richard, the wise one, argued that it was the system, the parliamentary system. For rapid growth, an Executive Presidency was the best instrument. And so we saw an unparalleled concentration and centralisation of power. But what do we hear now? Prof. G. L. Peiris, undoubtedly the "thinker" of the People's Alliance recommending devolution, and decentralisation. What happens then to the Executive Presidency? Where does the S.L.F.P. leadership stand? "I am waiting for an answer...". Surely that was the voice of Junius the Genius from down... I mean from up there...? Who will give up all this power? That was a chronic cry heard in Ward Place. Yes, Junius the Genuis did have a touch of genius, don't you think? The politician who won the last Presidential contest by an unparalled majority has declared that Anyone Against Devolution Is A Traitor - President. The commitment is firm and clear. But will the proposals prepared by the Constitutional Affairs Minister have a smooth passage through parliament, a President where the U.N.P. opposition is in no mood to accommodate a P.A., which has now launched a war of sorts... an undeclared war of sorts, too. Ironically this is an important dimension of the LTTE's strength. In a former colony, you can't expect every citizen to be pro-British or pro-French or Pro-Spanish... and yet the British ruling elite as well as the people stood together to confront an aggressive Hitler. The model colony has not learnt all the session from the best of imperial rulers. The P.A., a coalition which has all the predictable differences and disagreements of "alliance", should study Winston Chruchill more closely and respectfully. He was not just an imperialist bulldog. Press Boycott While there was an organised "blackout" of sorts on the U.N. speech, the videotaped testimony of Bill Clinton on August 17 to the Jury was shown on all networks the next day. The result? Here's a report from a non American "neutral (or should I say "non-aligned" ....) the Washington-based Ramesh Chandran of the Times of India News Service. "The focus of Mr. Clinton's speech was on how the international community could combat the threat of global terrorism. However the media here was relentlessly focused on Mr. Clinton's testimony and largely ignored his U.N. speech..." Well that's the press... the mass-circulating and the 'quality' newspapers - the Washington Post which finished Nixon and the New York Times with his motto" all the news that's fit to print... the emphasis is NOT on ALL but on what's FIT to print. Tiger talk Rarely has the conventional war between the parliamentary combatants turned so fierce, that Sinhala opinion will quickly split on party lines. The L.T.T.E. politburo members would get a file each, with the translation of the Sinhala Sunday papers most of all. Unless there is a ceasefire or a temporary ceasefire or no use at least of heavy artillery by P.A and U.N.P. we can be certain of a smile on the face of the Big Tiger. His favourite "quote" in moments such as this, includes, I gather, KAVUN KANDA and Yodaya Between the lines Unwittingly, the Bhartiya Janata Party has landed itself in a situation where the coalition it leads at New Delhi may fall earlier than expected. The tinkering with Bihar has proved costly for the party. Two things have happened. One, the entire opposition has got united. The different parties went their own way. That was the biggest advantage to the BJP. Congress wanted government to collapse under its own weight. Others waited for Congress to take the initiative. The Bihar issue brought them together. They seem to have realised that if the BJP-led coalition could recommend to President K. R. Narayanan the dismissal of the Bihar government, which proved its dear majority in the assembly a day earlier, none of the non-BJP administrations was safe. Few have been taken in by the reasons given for the takeover. Indeed, if at all there was a case to oust the Bihar government, it was at the time when Laloo Prasad Yadav, then heading it, was found involved in the Rs. 1,000-crore fodder scam. The Janata Dal-led coalition let him off because he stepped down and made his wife, Rabri Devi, the chief minister. This was a blatant violation of democratic norms. But he got away with it because the Janata Dal could not afford to ignore his crucial support in the Lok Sabha. Raking up the one year old case does not make sense. There has to be fresh charges. The allegation of breakdown in the law and order machinery also does not when the Home Ministry's own assessment is that out of 539 districts in the country, 215 are disturbed. It has specially listed four states: Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, apart from Bihar. Why to single out Bihar for dismissal if the motive is not political? The second development to the BJP's disadvantage is that the chinks in the coalition have begun to show. It has become easier for the opposition to probe weak links. Except for the Samta Party, which is an opposition party in Bihar, and the Shiv Sena, which shares communal outlook with the BJP, all other allies have taken exception to the dismissal. It means that the coalition partners, who constitute 70 odd votes in the Lok Sabha, can turn against the BJP at any time on the basis of their perception and pull down the government. It is not a good scenario for the party, which could save the coalition only by seven votes when asked to prove the majority in parliament. Left to Home Minister L. K. Advani and the BJP hardcore, including its chief Kushabhau Thakre, they would have pressed for the Bihar govemment's dismissal. But the cabinet, which met to consider the President's advice not to bring the state under central rule, was divided. One of the BJP ministers even voiced his opposition. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, who was not in favour of dismissing the Bihar govemment from the very beginning, clinched the matter by advising from New York not to go against the wishes of the President. Advani, chairing the cabinet meeting, had to eat a humble pie. He feels hurt on another point. Somehow he got the impression after meeting the President before the cabinet decision on central rule that things would have become easier if the govemment kept in mind the Supreme Court judgment on the dismissal of the Bommai government in Karnataka. The idea of keeping the assembly in 'animated suspension' was on the basis of advice in the judgment. Unfortunately, all the directions of the Supreme Court were not followed. The BJP's mishandling has, however, done one good thing: it has made the use of Article 356, the central take-over on the basis of state governor's report, almost redundant. This was bound to happen one day because the governor is a political appointee. He is ever ready to act at a mere telephone call by New Delhi. Gone are the days when there were persons like Surjit Singh Barnala, who submitted his resignation but did not obey Mrs Indira Gandhi's directive to dismiss the Karunanidhi government in Tamil Nadu. What it boils down to is that the ground has to be prepared for the imposition of Article 356. In its report, the Sarkaria Commission on the centre-state relations has said: 'The use of the power under Article 356 will be improper if the President gives no prior waning or opportunity to the state government to correct itself. Such a warning can be dispensed away with only in cases of extreme urgency. This power cannot be legitimately exercised on the sole ground of stringent financial exigencies of the state. It cannot be invoked merely on the ground that there are serious allegations of corruption against the ministry.' The President in communication to central government has reportedly pointed out that it had to give a warning or a show-cause notice to Bihar to put its house in order before imposing central rule in the state. In all fareness, the President's communication should have been made public. This is clearly against the announcement the BJP-led govemment made after assuming office that its working will be transparent. Article 356 is a product of a sense of insecurity that the subcontinent's partition created. The constituent assembly resiled from its earlier resolution of establishing a real federal structure. If there is no President's rule at the centre, why should it be there in the states? Let Article 356 stay on the statute book. But when the centre feels that the situation is ripe for its intervention, the assembly should be dissolved and fresh elections held. To ensure that the dismissed state government does not meddle in the administration at the time of polls, a caretaker governrnent of eminent people should be appointed under the state chief justice for 60 days to hold election. It is obvious that the BJP had some other ideas on Bihar. State party chief Sushil Mody said soon after the decision on central takeover that the BJP was looking into the possibility of forming an alternative government. Some members of Laloon's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) were dangled the carrot of ministership before them. Probably that was the reason why the assembly was kept in "animated suspension". The BJP and the Samta Party would have then got a chance to entice members from the RJD. Fortunately, the President did not oblige them. Whether the BJP realises it or not, it has caused so much damage to the coalition that its collapse is not a far-fetched idea. Some predict it in November when parliament reassembles. Nonetheless, the party may get a reprieve if it does well at the assembly polls in four states on November 25. Doing well at the assembly polls means the BJP must retain its rule in Delhi and Rajasthan and oust Congress from Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram. Not even the most optimists in the BJP see this happening. True the BJP is putting up a brave front and talking even in terms of pursing the Bihar problem even after the President's advice. But the party has lost face in the country. To mollify public opinion, the least it can do is to recall Bihar governor Surender Singh Bhandari, who from the day of his appointment has led a campaign of viiification against the state government. The very fact that the President has rejected his report should have stung his conscience and he should have resigned on his own. But a RSS sanchalak as he has been, Bhandari follows a mission, not what is fair. This does not, however, mean that the law and order situation in Bihar is satisfactory. Nor does it absolve Laloo of the corruption and the atrocities he has committed. The
fallout from Kilinochchi Kilinochchi undoubtedly was a severe setback. The appointment of a Commission of Inquiry is proof of that. It has been stated in Parliament that "killed and missing in action is 0.9% of our strength and the injured is 1.3%". Let us stop indulging in 'political statistics'-they fool no one. Governments should not be seen as being callous about human life. I am certain that the Minister would himself have indulged in what is undoubtedly a political exercise, with a heavy heart. It is being mentioned that the LTTE pulled out of Mankulum days before and transferred their men for the Kilinochchi operation and left a few stragglers to engage our troops. If this is true, then it does detract from what would otherwise have been a 'victory'. The fact that the LTTE was not able to hold on to Mankulam whilst mounting an offensive in Kilinochchi is quite significant. They too are short on cadres. The loss of Kilinochchi and the reports that a siege situation is developing in Jaffna, taken together indicate that a serious security problem, which threatens the unity of Sri Lanka now, exists. The President would no doubt be aware of this. The implications of the debacle are indeed serious, for it could be the beginning of the changing of the political map of Sri Lanka. This 'debacle' must be discussed or considered along with the other so called 'debacles'-Mullaitivu, where too we lost over a thousand men and millions worth of equipment and Pooneryn where we also lost almost a thousand men and also equipment. Considering the scale of these military setbacks, it would be quite logical to include, amongst the debacles/setbacks, the loss to the 32400 mortars to the LTTE, which has certainly changed the course of this war. [No one appears to have been punished for this horrendous act of ineptitude which has resulted in the deaths of thousands of our soldiers and changed the course of this war]. Some of the questions that arise in our minds are as follows. Could these 'catastrophic' happenings not have been avoided? Has it been possible for the army to establish military responsibility for each of the incidents? What is the action that has been taken against those responsible? The next series of questions would need more detailed answers. Why did these defeats take place in the manner they did? Were our strategies incorrect? What are the other causes? Why was it that our intelligence was so poor? Who was responsible for the inappropriate strategies that have cost thousands of lives? Has there been political interference in the conduct of the war? There are many more legitimate questions for which the people of this country have a right to answers. For too long have our sentinels been half-asleep while this country is on fire. It must be recalled in this regard that no military commander has lost his job consequent to any defeat. One resigned but he had other charges to face - but he too was rewarded with an Ambassadorship by the previous administration. Unless responsibility fairly and squarely placed on identified persons, as is the tradition in any army, the country will have to suffer because of inept men. Before we address our minds to the matters referred to above, it is important for us to discuss a fundamental issue, the quality of the soldier we are sending to battle. Are they adequately trained to take on the battle hardened psychologically motivated LTTE cadres. Is it correct that under normal circumstances it takes nine to ten months of initial training to enable them to do fight effectively and to also defend themselves adequately? What is the nature of the training that is being imparted? Is it training for conventional warfare or are they receiving the training they need to do battle with terrorists who are fighting unconventionally. Are they now being thrown into battle after a mere six weeks? of basic training? Who has been responsible for this irresponsible decision? What have been the compelling reasons for such a major decision? Has it been necessary to shorten the training so that the Army could meet objectives set for the Army by politicians? Has the short training resulted in them becoming canon fodder for the LTTE? When a man is recruited to the Armed Services is there any responsibility cast on the authorities to ensure that they are properly trained to meet the hazardous tasks for which they were recruited? Another relevant question that arises is whether the arms that are being purchased for millions of dollars, are those needed for anti guerilla warfare? Are we wasting millions of valuable foreign exchange? The surpluses we had from the sale of state enterprises may perhaps be over, We would thereafter perhaps have to borrow to fund our mega purchases. It is in the interest of the government (and the President in particular, in whom we reposed almost total trust, when she was elected with an unprecedented 60%) to assure the people that the government has not wasted the peoples money. Besides the training and the arms there is another important question that must be addressed. It is the quality of our Intelligence. No war can be conducted without good intelligence. The fact that we were caught by surprise at Pooneryn, at Mulllaitivu and once again in Kilinochchi proves that our army is fighting under an extreme handicap. The writer is aware that this was identified as a problem (and the weakest link in the chain). The Government explored the matter of obtaining the services of one of the most competent organisations in the field of Intelligence, but the opportunity was not availed of, for reasons best known to the Government. Thousands may have been living today had we accepted that offer to train our Intelligence corps. (continued tomorrow) Tamil Separatism and the
examples of Britain, Cyprus and Bangladesh Continued from yesterday The Irish Republican Army (IRA) came back to life in the form of urban guerrillas who undertook to protect the Catholic areas from assault. The Protestants formed their own paramilitary brigade,. such as the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). The guerilla warfare threatened to wreck Ulster. Town centres were destroyed, army barracks attacked. The army, in turn set up search blocks, attacked Catholic bases where the IRA had strength and arrested many leaders. From 1970, the IRA also started bombing London. Civil order in Northern Ireland was maintained by the Royal Ulster Constabulary, which was an armed force. However, from 1972 regular troops of the British army were sent to Northern Ireland and it remained there since. Elements of martial law began to permeate civil life. In the 1970s there were invasions of Catholic housing estates by Protestant gangs supported by 'B-Specials'. These clashes attracted world wide attention and forced the government to send in the army to defend the Catholics. In 1973 there came the Sunningdale Agreement between the Prime Ministers of Britain and Ireland, and representatives of Northern Ireland. This accord recognised that the North's relationship with Britain could not be changed without agreement of the majority population in Northern Ireland. It also provided for a Council of Ireland composed of members from both South and North of Ireland, that is the Republic of Eire and the. Region of Northern Ireland. The agreement collapsed the next year. In 1981 the Irish Prime Minister again launched a crusade to make reunification of Ireland more attractive to the Protestants. At the end of the year, the Irish and British governments set up an Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Council to discuss matters of common concern, specially security. The report of the New Ireland Forum - a discussion group that included representatives of the political parties in Ireland and Northern Ireland - in 1984 set out three possible frameworks for political union: a unitary state, a federal state, and joint sovereignty. In 1985 there came the Anglo-Irish Agreement. Ireland and Britain agreed that any change in status of Northern Ireland would come about only with the consent of the majority of the people of Northern Ireland. An intergovernmental conference was established to deal with political security, and legal relations between the two parts of the island. The Irish ministers were to sit on a joint Ministerial Council along with UK Ministers. Its civil servants would sit with UK civil servants on joint committees examining and implementing legislation applicable to Ulster. This was aimed at ensuring a Catholic voice in the future government of Ulster. Let us pause and discuss the relevance of the Irish Question, to Sri Lanka. Clearly there is no relevance, as the situation is Sri Lanka is quite different to that of Ireland. Ireland was occupied by Britain and thereafter, deliberately colonised with Enlgish and Scots. Protestants enclaves were created. Thereafter the country was partitioned, a part became independent and a part was left attached to Britain. This was a ridiculous and utterly unstable situation and clearly would not last for ever. The 1998 agreement is merely the final stage in the re-unification of Ireland, as a single unitary island state, with its capital at Dublin. Sri Lanka was not colonised in this manner, even in its long history. Immigrants were assimilated or integrated into the polity. This applies to Tamils, Muslims, Burghers, Parsees, Chetties etc. The Indian Tamils were not settlers. They were temporary indentured labour. They came in batches and they left periodically in batches and a new lot arrived. At independence in 1948, the question of what to do with this labour, who were actually Indian citizens, came up. D. S. Senanayaka and others, went to India before independence for negotiations to try to settle the problem amicably. India refused to take them all back however. The Tamil separatist movement craftily makes much about the disenfranchising of Indian Tamils, after independence. Actually this was a normal exercise of sovereignty of a newly independent state. The problem however was that Sri Lanka needed this labour to run its tea estates, and tea was at the time our prime commodity. The 'Sirima-Shastri Pact' of 1965 provided for the repatriation of a certain proportion of the Indian Tamil labour, with Sri Lanka absorbing the rest as citizens. India had hitherto refused flatly to take back any of the Indians we who had been planted by the British in its estates in Malaysia, Africa and the West Indies. But India accepted our estate labour as a gesture to Sri Lanka. This agreement is one of Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike's praiseworthy achievements. It is inadequately appreciated. To return to our topic, this Pact indicates Sri Lnaka's ability to resolve ethnic issues in peaceful and satisfactory manner - at any rate on paper. The Pact was not fully implemented. Sri Lanka does not have two administration and two separate sovereign governments, recognised by the United Nations. The LTTE invasion in the North and East was planned in order to achieve a de facto Tamil state in the North-East, but this failed. Sri Lanka is at present a single unitary state. The 1998 Agreement of Ireland is calculated to turn Ireland also into a similar unitary state, dominated by its majority Irish population, the Roman Catholic religion and the Irish language. Let us now look at certain relevant provisions of the Northern Ireland Agreement of 1998, known as the 'Good Friday Agreement'. This Agreement was developed through discussions with several important groups. The British and Irish governments were involved, also the rival political parties of Northern Ireland and Eire. The discussions were assisted by a 'facilitator', an American sent over by President Clinton. This Agreement provides for three things. Firstly, Northern Ireland Assembly, where representation is according to religion. Described euphemistically as 'identity', there is to be parity between the Catholics and Protestants. (Clauses 5 d and 5 e as stated in Daily News. 8.5.98 p8). Further, representatives have to 'declare' their affiliations at the first meeting of the Assembly. (Clause 6). In other words this new agreement entrenches the divisions between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland, and thereby challenges democratic ideals. There was also an Executive Committee where representation would be proportional to the religious representation in the Assembly. Secondly there was a North-South Ministerial Council of Ministers from Dublin and Belfast to deal with 'All-Island' matters. And thirdly, there was to be a British-Irish Council representing the British and Irish governments, the Northern Ireland Assembly, together with the devolved parliaments of Scotland and Wales. Lastly the Agreement specified that people in Northern Ireland could also call themselves 'Irish'. From the book 'The Palm of His
Hand' by E.C.T. Candappa Continued from yesterday
He didn’t notice Raj awake at first. He walked round the other beds bending over patients and when he came up to Raj, he merely smiled and passed on to Patil, the last one at that end. He then returned. "It appears you are busy," he said. Stating the obvious was the courteous way of asking what anyone was doing. Just as people would ask of a passer-by: "it appears you are on a journey." If the person answered yes, it meant he did not wish to discuss the matter any further, and the average Sri Lankan would not press further. There were rude rejoinders for rude enquiries. "Where are you going?" is answered: "there are coconuts in my bag!" It did not mean, of course, that people did not gossip, and even maliciously. Courtesy, as in any culture, was only the veneer of refined behaviour. "Well, actually," said Raj, "I am keeping a journal." "Is that all?" said Jinasena. "The general belief among the staff here is that you are sending reports about the hospital to your paper." "My goodness," said Raj, snorting audibly, "is that what they think? No wonder they hardly speak to me." Raj drew the attendant closer. "Kindly let everyone know that I am doing nothing of the sort, that I am on medical leave, that I am not expected to work while I am here...Aiyyo, what a terrible thing. Do you think we journalists are spies?" The attendant smiled. "Don’t be so upset by it. We did not think badly of you. We only thought you were doing your duty." "Well," said Raj, "my duty remains undone while I am here. And I am stagnating here because the surgeon has gone on holidays." "Oh, never mind; forget about work while you are here. We’ll look after you. You’re a bachelor. You have no family to look after." Raj smiled, placated. "Well, how’s your family?" he enquired. "My eldest daughter is taking up the SSC examination this year." "Oh. That’s in three months, isn’t it?" They talked about the other children, and Raj even ventured, on the strength of a good relationship, to enquire about his wife. "She’s not well at all, sir." He paused, and Raj kept silent. Particularly in the case of women, men desisted from probing further about the illness of women. It could prove embarrassing. But Jinasena volunteered the information. "She has some womb trouble. We’ll have to admit her to the hospital. So far she has been taking Ayurvedic treatment. But I know surgery will be necessary." "So, how will you manage when she enters hospital?" "My older children are there to look after the younger ones. My wife’s mother will stay with us. My wife’s sisters live close by." Raj knew the support given by the relations in times of distress. Neighbours were drawn in as well. In the remote districts where life was hard, where distances separated villages form transport, medical facilities, even markets and shops, people clustered together. They shared what they had. It was common for a villager to come to the door at the dead of night to ask whether some medicinal herb was available. It would be common, too, for a person of that household to accompany the caller and stay on for the rest of the night helping the neighbour to cope with a sudden illness until dawn. Nor was it easy for people in remote rural areas to get about at night. There was no street lighting, indeed no streets, only narrow footpaths through scrub and jungle infested by wild jackals and snakes and deadly insects. Villagers would make a torch of dry coconut fronds as light and protection against reptiles and beasts. They would have to wave the torch vigorously to keep it alight. In heavy rain such a torch would be ineffective. The night would be strident with cicadas and glow worms would flit about like lightning raindrops adding to the eeriness of the dark. A dispute between the attendants and the nurses had been simmering for months. The issue had been the disposal of the bed pan, also called the Po. The newspapers had dubbed it The Battle of the Po. From the time anyone could remember it had been the function of attendants to carry them and clear them. That battle had, as it were, come to a head. Raj knew that a strike on this issue was in the offing. Only twenty four hours notice of a strike had to be given except in the case of a work stoppage lasting only a couple of hours to protest against a sudden and unforeseen situatio Raj also pondered on what he knew from his experience to be the myth of racial and social and class warfare. He and Jinasena were representatives, protagonists on several levels. Not on any one could they be considered equals. Except on the human level. And on that level they had met and were building up a human relationship. Most of the tensions, he was bound to admit again, were manipulated and then mostly by politicians and chauvinists and all who saw some advantage in provoking and promoting such differences. Raj looked intently at Jinasena for a while and took up the philosophical question. "Do you think it such a big issue? I wouldn’t mind clearing the chamber pots of anyone." The moment he had said it, Raj realised that he had dropped his defences. The Sinhalese photographer’s taunt that Tamils were equal to shit could as well cross the Sinhalese attendant’s mind. But when Raj looked at him he knew such a thought could not exist on such a noble countenance. Into this face had gone much gentleness and civility. The photographer had been a coarse comedian, given to much liquor and womanising, quite incapable of a moment’s sublime reflection. "I will do it very gladly, too, sir," Jinasena said, and Raj believed him, "but the rank and file are disgruntled over everything. This is just an excuse for them to protest against the system." "Ah," thought Raj to himself, "we are now on old ground and we will only go round in circles here. One could not argue with committed Marxists, Fundamental Christians, Jews, and Fundamental Moslems." "Do you not think that hospital employees, doctors, nurses, attendants, should not strike? After all you are here to serve humanity." He smiled blandly. "We are also humanity, sir," he murmured softly. (c) E. C. T. Candappa Continued tomorrow Environment The mandarins may just as well go on discussing air pollution control strategies forever without any effect on urban air quality. The basic flaw with the nebulous air quality planning exercise in India is that the regulators neither have a sense of urgency nor a clear, sharp focus to develop a proactive agenda and push for hard decisions to improve air quality in urban India. Though consultations at the government level to frame action strategies to cut emissions is becoming increasingly popular, with donors showing keen interest to invest in the air pollution control measures, there is a lack of interest to deal with the problem in a comprehensive manner. When polluters and the regulators attempt to frame an action plan, swords are drawn immediately to stave off pressures to commit to anything substantive. It is a war to guard interests rather than address the serious issue of poor air quality and the immediate risks to public health. This was starkly evident in the recent workshop on an integrated approach to vehicular pollution control in Delhi, organised by the World Bank (WB) and the Delhi government. The objectives were to develop a consensus action plan to cut emissions by half in Delhi by 2005, improve upon the strategy framed earlier by the Delhi government, and to help identify projects the WB can fund. The resultant action plan focused on air quality management, including standards, regulation and impact analysis, traffic management systems, and fuel and vehicle technology. But the priority list of action that was culled out from the larger action agenda for a short-term strategy, which the WB is most keen to develop, had no rationale to convince how would this help halve emissions by 2005. For the best part, it only included more pilot projects and studies. The workshop has not 'advanced' much beyond the original action plan of the Delhi government. The Centre for Science and Environment's (CSE's) assessment of the original action plan of the Delhi government and the White paper on Delhi's pollution by the ministry of environment and forests (MEF) has shown that these strategies cannot arrest the plummeting air quality in the city. This becomes particularly alarming in view of the Central Pollution Control Board's (CPB's) pointing out that vehicles will contribute 72 per cent of the total pollution load in Delhi by the year 2000. CSE has repeatedly emphasised on the short-term but high impact strategies to arrest the trend. Drastic improvement in the quality of fuel, both diesel and petrol, and comprehensive air monitoring to understand the magnitude of the problem to set clear air quality targets and prioritisation of actions accordingly, should top the agenda. But lacking a clear set of priorities, planners are getting lost in a maze of action points. Alarming evidences of toxicity in Delhi's ambience Ð the ambient concentration of carcinogen benzene has crossed 120 microgram per cubic metre - failed to spur planners in the MEF and the CPCB to action. Despite recognising some of the legitimate concerns, such as lack of adequate data on air quality and an inventory of source-wise emissions, the forum has done nothing to push for more stringent schedule. Demand for a proactive agenda was shot down by the fuel industry. The argument: if the automobile industry meets the 2000 emission standards with the help of low sulphur diesel, then why invest any further to cut sulphur level lower. The industry demanded more evidence to prove that lower sulphur level in diesel will benefit the environment. Even their consent to lower benzene level was listed without a deadline. There was strong resistance from both the fuel and automobile industries to any meaningful change. They were averse to publicising information about the emission characteristics of vehicles and fuel quality. As expected, the automobile industry was immediately on guard when strident demand was made to introduce warranty for emission performance during the lifetime of the vehicle. Working towards a 'consensus' would therefore be meaningless if the concerned players are not prepared to commit to a proactive agenda and leave the discussion open ended for endless negotiation. Considering the fact that the blue print of the action plan which this workshop has attempted to draw up will validate a strategy to cost millions of dollars and subsequently have significant bearing on the air quality planning exercise in the rest of the country, it is necessary to push the players to commit to more stringent air quality targets. (CSE/Down To Earth Features) Of Buffaloes, Cranes and
Weeds Finally, a part of the mystery of the disappearing Siberian cranes in the Keoladeo Ghana National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, has been solved. The birds have stayed out over the last several winters because of the no-entry sign for domesticated buffaloes put up by the park management. No buffaloes led to a proliferation of the weed Paspalum distichmm. More weed in the wetland led to less food. Less food meant no cranes. Krishan Kumar, secretary general of the Keoladeo Ghana Natural History Society, has now recommended the reintroduction of buffaloes to control the weeds. The ban on buffaloes in Bharatpur was a particularly bloody chapter in the history of human-wildlife conflicts in India. On the strong recommendation of scientists of the Bombay Natural History Society, which included eminent ornithologist Salim Ali, people living around the park were forbidden from grazing their buffaloes in the marshes of Bharatpur in 1982. The ensuring protest by the villagers led to a shoot-out where many were injured. However, it now turns out that not only were the scientists wrong but that they were out of touch with research in other parts of the world, where the role of buffaloes in controlling the spread of weeds in wetlands has long been acknowledged by wetland specialists. India is a signatory to the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat (better known as the Ramsar Convention), in Geneva, whose basic premise is the 'wise use' of wetlands to ensure that they continue to be of value to communities. And Bharatpur is one of India's six Ramsar sites, though it is currently on a list of sites needing special protection - a kind of a black list called the Montreaux Record - as Siberian Cranes have stopped coming. The principles of wise use were obviously never applied in Bharatpur, nor were any lessons learnt from other countries who were party to the convention. As Hans Meltofte of the Danish Polar Centre writes, 'It was an awful mistake to ban grazing by buffaloes in the Bharatpur sanctuary' and that in European countries, it is a high priority in nature management to organise well regulated grazing in semi-natural habitats. According to Earle W. Cummings, Wetlands Coordination California Department of Water Resources, there was a similar problem in Azarq where the final decision to reintroduce the buffaloes was based on the opinion that the wetland would potentially be of greater 'value' with them than without them, both in biological and social terms. The complete lack of grazing here had led to total dominance of the wetland by Phragmites. There was also the virtual elimination of low marsh, open pools and exposed mud areas from the reserve and, hence, a tremendous reduction in species and community diversity. One of the immediate management objectives was to restore and maintain a characteristic range of habitats within the reserve. The most cost-effective way of doing this on a large scale was by reintroducing grazing. Unfortunately, all of the native grazing ungulates that once inhabited the Azarq region are now extinct, and the reserve was not big enough to contain viable populations for reintroduction. Thus, it was decided that the domesticated Water Buffalo was the best beast to do the job, and if it proves successful it will become a keystone species within the system (and hence of particular biological value). Bilogy aside, it was considered that the reintroduction of the buffalo would potentially increase the education, interpretation and economic values of the reserve. There are clear education and interpretation values of the buffalo's with relation to, for example, ecological links and domestication of wetland species. Des Callaghan, Wetland management advisor Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, Amman, Jordan, says there is more to the buffalo story than narrow interpretation of the concepts of wise and multiple use. Many feral Asian water buffaloes were 'removed' from northern Australian wetlands (primarily the coastal floodplains to the east of Darwin and including Kakadu national park). This was done for disease control (tuberculosis and brucellosis) as feral unmanaged herds of buffaloes were a threat to the country's export of beef to the US burger markets. The other reasons given were that the annually drying floodplian-wetlands were denuded of grass and herb cover during the dry season; low natural barriers that separate the fresh and saline wetlands were destroyed, and the freshwater was drained away prematurely and tidal water entered. So, the buffaloes were removed. Approximately 100,000 from Kakadu alone. There was little though given to post-buffalo management needs. The incredulous prevailing attitude of the day was that once the buffalo were removed our lovely 'natural' floodplains would return - just like that. One scientist who suggested otherwise (rather strongly perhaps) was not welcomed back. What is there now in the conservation reserves? Virtually no feral buffaloes. Lots of grass across the plains and more dry season fires. Lots of lilies, vines and herbs around the previously clear waterholes. Lots of annoyed fishermen who can not access these areas as readily as they did previously. Lots of fire as the grass burns or is burnt most years. Lots of argument about weed species and fire regimes, including the role of traditional aboriginal burning patterns. Lots of argument with nearby graziers who want the introduced pasture species. In short, one problem has been replaced with others. Max Finlayson, Head, Wetland Protection and Management Environmental Research Institute of the Supervising Scientist, Jabiru, Australia, highlights a similar problem in Tanguar Haor - a wetland of international importance in northeastern Bangladesh. Large wetlands were taken over on lease by rich people for fisheries. Because of the lease, traditional activities like grazing and reed/grass collection were stopped forcibly. But ultimately, nature took its own turn and most of the wetlands were overgrown with weeds, causing damage to fisheries and other wetland products. The lease holders have now been given limited access to the local people for grazing cattle, duckery and subsistence fishing. The question is why have the Indian scientists not learnt from these experiences? Why has it taken them so long to admit that the buffalo ban did more harm than good? Why has there been no introspection on their part? Is it because they suffer from a pristine park hangover and automatically assume that all human intervention is bad? Or because they have failed to keep abreast of research elsewhere in the world and thus waste time trying to reinvent the wheel every time? CSE/Down To Earth Features |
|||
 |
|||
