The art of diplomacy: What India can learn from the US on the diplomatic ground

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Italian diplomat Daniele Vare once said, “Diplomacy is the art of letting the other party have things your way.” It is applicable between nations as much as at the individual level. On the diplomatic ground, US has been quite successful both in terms of handling world affairs as well as controlling or convincing China, Iran or Afghanistan. But India, despite being an economic giant and military power, has been struggling all the way.

India’s relation with the US has always been balanced, however, totally based on interests. For example, only when India became a nuclear power that the US started giving India strategic importance and initiated diplomatic dialogues – a similar case with Korea, Iran, Pakistan and so one. However, a glimpse of US diplomacy can be seen from the incidences surrounding the announcements of Obama’s upcoming state visit to India. Since the US presidential election, Obama’s win was perceived to be a concern for India. From his anti-outsourcing remarks to anti-immigration and protectionist economic policies, everything invited enough criticism. Even his anti-India remarks often angered many. But India became an utmost priority for the Obama administration after the Indian PM visited the US. And also because of his diplomatic failure with China, Iran and Afghanistan. As Obama announced his visit to India in June, 2010, the US Government started coming up with news and reports in praise of India and its leaders. The Appeal of Conscience Foundation, an interfaith coalition awarded Indian PM, Manmohan Singh the 2010 World Statesman Award. Henry Kissinger, former US Secretary of State praised "Dr Singh" for his leadership on this occasion and urged to help US in its diplomatic role in Asia. The next move certainly was more interesting. A US Government report ranked India as the third most influential power after US and China and fourth influential bloc only after US and China and Europe. It did not end there. Robert Blake, the Assistant Secretary of the State for South and Central Asia mentioned, “A new poll conducted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, shows that Americans have an increasingly favourable view of India, and Americans increasingly favour a free trade agreement with India,” at the 27th Annual Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Lecture in California. Well timed; well said!

While US has started praising India and some of its leaders that matter to it, the nation has also been tactfully pushing its agendas including the finalisation of the defence deal worth $11 billion. Still there is no reason to distrust the US. Henry Kissinger once said, “Diplomacy: the art of restraining power!” The US understands it very well; does India?'

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Despite a series of peace efforts, including removal of security bunkers from Srinagar, the wounds continue to fester in Kashmir Valley

IIPM BBA MBA Institute: Student Notice Board

Shooting in the dark

The government has started the process of removing 16 security bunkers from different areas of Srinagar. The move is part of an eight-point peace package proposed by Union home minister P. Chidambaram to defuse the civil unrest in the Valley.

Apart from this initiative, the Centre has also decided to appoint a group of interlocutors to hold a dialogue with different shades of opinion to improve the ground situation in the troubled Valley.

On October 5, CRPF began removing bankers from parts of the city. “We've removed seven bunkers today. The rest will be gone within two days,” Prabhakar Tripathi, CRPF spokesman, told TSI.

The first bunker was removed from Magarmal Bagh near Lal Chowk. This bunker was built in 1990. The city has 200 security bunkers.

Kashmir's chief Muslim cleric and chairman of the moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, has described the move as “a welcome step” but has urged the government to start the process of demilitarisation in all populated areas of the Valley.

“If it is a first step in de-scaling the number of bunkers and security forces in the Valley then we appreciate the move,” Mirwaiz told TSI. “We want complete withdrawal of troops from all populated areas,” he added.

Educational institutions in Kashmir were opened in the Valley on September 27 after a gap of over three months. The reopening of schools was part of the Centre's s peace initiative. But frequent shutdowns and curfews have continued to be the biggest obstacles in the smooth functioning of educational institutions.

Since the parliamentary delegation returned to Delhi on September 22 after a two-day trip to J&K, the people of the Valley have enjoyed only six days of normalcy (till October 5).

The state government is also considering revoking the Public Safety Act (PSA) against political activists, lawyers and stone-pelters arrested during the last four months of turmoil. According to law and parliamentary affairs minister Ali Muhammad Sagar, the revocation of PSA is under serious consideration and could be announced pretty soon.

“The government has taken the issue of revocation of PSA quite seriously. We will release all the detainees who have been arrested under PSA during the ongoing unrest but a final decision is yet to be taken,” Sagar told TSI.

The revocation of PSA may eventually pave the way for the release of many senior separatist leaders like Shabir Shah and Nayeem Khan and many senior lawyers. Among the arrested lawyers is the High Court Bar Association president Mian Abdul Qayoom.

Apart from a large number of important political leaders, activists and lawyers, at least 52 youths, including 31 students, have been detained in the past four months.

Despite all the confidence-building steps that have been taken in recent weeks, the situation on the steets of Srinagar continues to be rather delicate. Kashmir’s Board of School Education has announced the schedule for the Class 10 examinations to be held from the last week of this month. But Suheem Wani, a 16-year-old boy who lives in downtown Srinagar, is least bothered about the upcoming exams. Along with his friends from the neighbourhood, he is instead spoiling for a clash with the security forces. These boys, armed with stones, are frequently embroiled in violent street protests.
The irate demonstrations and stone-pelting have become a regular feature in the Valley for the last four months. An incident of human rights violation sparks such protests followed by fierce reprials by the police and security forces, often resulting in death and injuries.

Usually, young stone-pelters assemble near a police or CRPF picket or bunker and then suddenly shower stones, bricks and rocks on the men in uniform. Since June 11, 110 civilians, mostly teenagers, have been killed and more than 3,000, again mostly youngsters, wounded by the police and CRPF.

Many of these boys make no bones about their leanings and are proud of what they are doing. “You can call me a stone-pelter. Actually I am a soldier of Kashmir's resistance movement armed with stones and rocks,” says Suheem, who belongs to a lower-middle class family. He and his friends never forget to carry long handkerchiefs and scarfs to cover their faces.

Suheem’s mother, Fatima Banu, like all other mothers of such boys in the neighbourhood, is worried stiff about the safety of her son. She also frets about his education. “He doesn’t understand that he is flirting with grave danger. He is also ruining his future. I sometimes have terrifying thoughts about him. I am always worried about his security and want to keep him away from such things but he never listens to me," says Fatima.

Suheem was born in 1994, after insurgency began in Kashmir. His locality in Srinagar had become a breeding ground for militants. Ever since he can remember, he has always seen uniformed men with automatic rifles and bullet-proof vests at virtually every street corner of his area. Since his childhood, Suheem has seen frequent protests by Kashmiri people against human rights violations and arrests of youth by the police.

Analysts believe that since these Kashmiri boys have grown up seeing conflict and fearing the uniform, they express their anger and hate by resorting to violent protests on the streets. But not all stone-pelters are in their teens. Many of them are 30-plus educated men grappling with unemployment and frustration.

Interestingly, boys like Suheem are tech-savvy Internet users who update their Facebook and YouTube accounts on a daily basis to draw attention to their “resistance movement.” They also upload photos and video clips to show the high-handedness of the security forces.

Since the hardliner separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani has exhorted people to use facebook as a tool to express their “aspirations”, the trend has gained momentum in the Valley and is being called “cyber intifada (uprising)” by analysts.
Allegations by some mainstream politicians that the violent street protestors are being funded by Pakistan and terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba have angered youngsters like Suheem. He says, “This is a myth. We don't do this for money. We are freedom fighters.”

The Grand Mufti of J&K Maulana Bashir-ud-Din and Moulana Showkat Shah, head of Jamiat-e-Ahle Hadees, have declared stone pelting as “un-Islamic act.” These men have argued that “Islam is all about tolerance and discipline and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) has taught us to refrain from violence.” But the youngsters have paid little heed to such appeals by Islamic scholars.

Until the recent past, stone-pelting was limited to a couple of areas of Srinagar city and to Baramullah and Sopore towns. But now it rampant in almost all major towns and sensitive areas of the Valley.

The situation is worsening steadily. On Octuber 3, in south Kashmir’s Shopian area, four civilians, including two women, were wounded when security forces opened fire on protesters agitating against the arrest of a local youth.

It is not only violence that harms Kashmiris but frequent curfews by authorities and constant hartals by separatists have also shattered the people here. Experts say that the prevailing situation has deeply traumatised Kashmiri society.

“Fear, distrust and sadness have psychologically traumatised our whole society to a great extent,” Dr Mushtaq Margoob, a psychiatrist at Srinagar’s Government Medical College, told TSI. According to Margoob’s estimate, “19% Kashmiris suffer from severe depression while 16% have post-traumatic stress disorder.”

“The psychological trauma linked to the current unrest in the Valley has been enormous. People are suffering from the tremendous stress and tension due to ongoing cycle of violence,” the psychiatrist added.
Many people had expected the recent visit of a 40- member all-party parliamentary delegation headed by home minister P. Chidambaram to provide salve to the wounds of the Valley. But it seems that neither the visit nor the home minister's announcement of an eight-point peace package has turned things around.

On Saturday, on the occasion of International Non-Violence Day and the 141st birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, people in Kashmir Valley enjoyed the first hartal and curfew-free day since Eid (September 11). But the very next day life across the Valley was paralysed due to curfew and restrictions.

Due to the continuous turmoil and unrest Kashmir is also collapsing economically. Every common Kashmiri has taken a hard hit. Noted economist and Kashmir University professor Nisar Ali told TSI that the state exchequer has lost Rs 8000 crore during in a little over three months.

“There are 21 public sector establishments, 50,000 small-scale enterprises and around four lakh other commercial establishments in the Valley which have been closed in the course of this unrest. This has accounted for a loss of Rs 8000 crore till now,” the professor said, throwing light on the worsening situation in the Valley.
The state government has been repeatedly imposing many kinds of restrictions to suppress the angry people. Even the media has been banned. Newspapers had not been allowed to hit the stands for 25 days during the past four months. Several times, the police seized copies of newspapers from the printing press.

All the local television news channels have been banned. Journalists are being given curfew passes by the district magistrate. But more often than not the security forces and police personnel refuse to honour these passes. SMS services have been completely banned for four months.

Despite all these severe “measures”, normalcy still seems a far cry in the Valley. Analysts say that “oppression, curfews and restrictions cannot be the answer to the grievances of the people. It can only make things more difficult.”
“The government must bridge the gap between the state and the masses. To do that, Kashmiris have to be given a sense of security and honour. Just announcing an ex-gratia relief to the families of those killed and releasing some youths cannot restore normalcy,” said noted social activist Zarief Ahmad Zarief . '

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Latin attraction for Punjab farmers

Farmers of the state have helped India gain self-sufficiency in food production. Jatinder Kaur seeks to find out if they can replicate the success abroad

Taking a leaf out of the book of farmers from Punjab who have made it big in South and Central American countries, the Punjab government is now exploring opportunities to lease land in Brazil, Argentina and Mexico, grow crops there and ship it home for domestic consumption. Sources in the state government say that thousands of hectares of barren land is available in these countries which can be used for agricultural purposes. Even the weather in these countries is apparently conducive to cultivation of pulses, soya etc, the sources claim.

A delegation under the leadership of Union minister of agriculture Sharad Pawar recently visited these countries. Punjab’s deputy chief minister and other officials of the agriculture department were also a part of this delegation. Balwinder Sidhu, director of state agriculture department, said, ''The state government wants to facilitate leasing or buying of land in Central and South American countries… We want to work out the modalities to enable farmers from the state to start cultivation in these countries.”

Deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal is enthusiastic about the prospects. After coming back from the visit, he spoke to journalists about the plans: ''In Central and South America, hundreds of acres of land lies barren. Sufficient water is available for irrigating the fields. I have asked the agriculture department to prepare a report on this proposal as soon as possible. The populations in these countries are very low. There are many opportunities for farmers to make good profit from cash crops.” It should be noted that the policy for buying land in these countries is very flexible. Anybody who wants to cultivate can buy land without any hassle.

Simarpal Singh is a living example. The man from Amritsar district in Punjab moved to Argentina with his family about five years back. He is managing a 30,000-hectare farm of groundnut, soya and corn for a Singapore-based company. He is called the ‘Peanut King’ of Argentina.

Sukhbir Badal says, ''India imports a huge quantity of vegetable oil, soya etc. If we can provide an opportunity to farmers to cultivate land in these countries, we can use the production for meeting domestic demand.” He adds that the Centre should provide credit facilities to farmers who want to do farming abroad on the lines of industry. Badal says that the government should encourage farmers to invest money in farming abroad. ''To fulfil the growing need of food grain in the country, we have to think seriously about the opportunities of farming abroad,'' he thinks.

Dr H.S. Randhawa, retired professor of Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana, said, ''It is good that the government is thinking about providing opportunities to farmers for cultivating lands across the seas. But at the same time it is important that the government first ensures the health of the farm sector of the state which is on the verge of a collapse. All farmers of Punjab can not go abroad to farm. So, it is important to take care of their needs on a priority basis. The government should think about a new model for agriculture because the Green Revolution is not working any longer. The farming sector should be handled more professionally. It is in dire need of a thorough overhaul. Without this, the agriculture sector can not survive.”

On the other hand, Master Madan Lal, vice-president of Kheti Virasat Mission, an NGO working for organic farming in the state, says, ''First, we have turned the land of Punjab toxic by rampant use of fertilisers and pesticides in the name of Green Revolution. And now we are going to do the same thing in Central and South American countries. In reality, this is a capitalist game and all states are becoming puppet regimes controlled by these capitalist companies. If the government really wants to do something for farmers, it should pay more attention to the demands of the farmers. Why is the government not taking any serious step to help those farmers who are under debt?”

The concept of farming abroad is not new. The Confederation of Potato Farmers has coordinated with the Ethiopian government to take 50,000 hectares on lease. President of the body, Sukhjit Singh Bhatti, said, ''We have planned to take 50,000 hectares on lease in Ethopia for farming. We are going to Ethiopia in the second week of October for finalising the deal with the government. The Ethiopian government has offered to make agricultural exports tax free. The lease rate of the land will be Rs 400 per hectare per annum. For first five years, farmers would not need to pay anything. This land is suitable for cultivation of pulses and corn.”

The farmers of the state have shown their mettle in making the country self-sufficient in food production. Now only time will tell whether they will be able to replicate this success abroad.

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Do Dooni Chaar: An uncommon film about the common man

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Duggal ki paathshaala

The hopes, aspirations, troubles and problems of the common man has for long been associated with RK Laxman’s old, dhoti-clad The Common Man.

After watching "Do Dooni Chaar", Rishi Kapoor could well replace the image in your mind when the subject of middle-class pathos rises. Indian cinema in the 70s and 80s often depicted the lives of the average Indians, but with the major bulk of the films of the last 20 years focussing on gorgeous locales and glamorous stars, it’s a bit startling to see the lead actress in this film in almost clownish sweaters and ill-fitting nighties. But then, this is a film that doesn’t tread the beaten path. The star cast too doesn’t include any commercial heavyweights, but instead has seasoned actors Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Kapoor, a duo reuniting on-screen after 30 long years. The film addresses issues that cause much agony and frustration to the Indian middle-class, yet it does so in a light, breezy manner that does not make it too serious and arty to lose its appeal for the average Indian. One can hardly guess that this is Habib Faisal’s first outing as a director of a Hindi feature film.

"Do Dooni Chaar" begins with an excited Duggal family arguing over how an Income Tax refund of Rs 7200 will be spent. The mother (Neetu Kapoor) wants to buy a refrigerator, her teenage daughter Payal (Aditi Vasudev) wants an iPod while the son Sandeep (Archit Krishna) demands a Dish TV connection. A school teacher, Santosh Duggal (Rishi Kapoor) earns just enough to send his children to good school and sustain a modest living – this after working in a coaching centre as well. While the parents attempt at living cheerfully with what they make, the children cringe at their near poverty. Things only get tougher when Santosh’s sister invites them to her sister-in-law’s wedding and insists that in order to keep up appearances they must come in a car. How they go about borrowing a car to eventually owning one is the simple premise of this film. Within this plot are incidents that will warm people’s hearts, provide unusual and compassionate solutions to parenting problems, demonstrate how ‘honesty is always the best policy’ is not just an old cliché unpractical for these times, show the pitiful state of our country’s teachers, and also comment on how consumerism has begun to dictate the terms of our happiness.

Santosh Duggal is a lovable character, and as Rishi pulls a long face or cajoles his son to make the right decisions in his life, you cannot help but adore him. One could’ve never imagined Neetu would make a comeback in such a deglamourised role, but her honest and effortless portrayal of Mrs Duggal is likely to leave a stronger impression in people’s mind than a more run-of-the-mill role would have managed to achieve. Debutants Aditi and Archit deliver strong and believable performances, Archit more so than Aditi.

The greatest triumph of the film is giving the common man the centerstage he so thoroughly deserves. There is a certain joie di vivre that shines through in this entertaining yet touching tale. People will leave the film with a smile on their lips and thoughts to ruminate about long after.

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