Pampered "separatists" of Kashmir

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It was way out of the ordinary for the Pakistani High Commissioner to invite leaders of several “separatist” groups of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) to come to Delhi to meet his Prime Minister’s adviser Sartaj Aziz who came to India recently to participate in Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). Even more extraordinary was the Indian government’s latitude in allowing them to travel to Delhi to keep their appointments with Aziz. At least one of the separatist leaders – the most vitriolic one – was till recently under house arrest. Obviously, the Government of India went out of the way to lift the restrictions to enable him to travel to Delhi.

Syed Alishah Geelani

The leaders included the who’s who of the separatist groups. They were Mirwaiz Omar Farooq, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chief Yaseen Malik, the hard-line Hurriyat chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Asiya Andrabi of Dukhtar-e-Millat, the women’s separatist organization of the state. Meeting Aziz separately, the groups asked him for a lasting solution to the Kashmir “dispute” as if by articulating this wish the Pakistan government and its Army would rush into the quagmire to find a “lasting” solution. They seem to be having the misconception that they represent the people of Jammu and Kashmir although they have never contested any of the elections that have taken place in the state.

While there is an elected government in place, these small separatist groups have only been obstructing peace and progress of the state by calling for frequent shut-downs and strikes under the threat of terror and indulging in violence. They are, in fact, fifth columnists who take orders from their masters across the borders. One of them, Yaseen Malik, had even been caught on camera sharing a platform with Hafiz Saeed, the chief of Laskar-e-Toiba, a radical outfit of Pakistan that organizes terror attacks in India in collaboration with the ISI of the Pak Army. And, Asiya Andrabi talks to Sartaj Aziz in Indian capital about her wishful thinking relating to accession of J&K to Pakistan. It is as seditious as sedition can be but the government did not seem to have reacted to the reports for action against her.

It is the softness of the Indian government that allows such meetings, both in India and Pakistan so much so that the Pakistani establishment reckons them as “routine consultations”. There can be nothing “routine” about these meetings and, for all one knows, these are held to foment more trouble within J&K. There is no earthly reason for the leaders of these minor groups to meet the representative of a foreign inimical power for “consultations”. When the Government of India is not in the “talk” mode with Pakistan the “consultations” of the latter with the separatists of J&K on Indian soil seems ludicrous and outrageous.

Only the other day, on a call given by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, October 27 last was observed as a “Black Day” as on that day the Indian troops, allegedly, commenced their “occupation” of Kashmir. This was stated by SA Shamsi of Jamait-e-Islami, which organized a dharna (sit-in) in Islamabad, attended by leaders of Pak Occupied Kashmir. The Kashmiri separatists, whether in India or in Pakistan, have by their statements made the history of post-Accession Kashmir stand on its head.

 Everybody knows whatever these cranky separatists wearing blinkers have been broadcasting are absolute falsehoods. Indian Army had no reason to enter Kashmir had Maharaja Hari Singh, the then ruler of the State of Jammu & Kashmir, not acceded to India in 1947 at the same time asking the latter for assistance to throw out the Pakistani regulars who along with tribal raiders had invaded his State. The Indian government did not send its troops until the Maharaja had also obtained the consent of the most prominent democratic leader of Kashmir, Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah. The Maharaja had to do it as otherwise the Government of India wouldn’t extended its help.

Inviting the Indian Army was thus a joint decision of the Maharaja and the most popular leader of Kashmiris. Besides, the Indian Army had gone into Kashmir when it had become Indian Territory. By no stretch of imagination, therefore the Indian Army in Kashmir is an "Occupation Army". It is there to protect its own territory that includes Jammu & Kashmir. In fact, it is Pakistan which has illegally occupied a big chunk of Indian Territory in Kashmir by sheer violent aggression. If there is any "army of occupation" in Kashmir it is the Pakistan Army which is in forcible occupation of what is known as Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.

 Even the objective commentators in Pakistan have expressed grave doubts about Pakistani position on Kashmir. In a recent article, Ayaz Mir, the level-headed and objective journalist, has admitted that three wars, including the one of 1947,  waged by Pakistan have met with only failure in meeting their objectives, that is, of wresting the entire state of Jammu & Kashmir from India.

What is more surprising, however, is that Imran Khan, the Teheriq-e- Insaf chief, supported the dharna and the Black Day saluting the Kashmiri people for their sacrifices in rejecting the "Indian occupation". Having been educated in Oxford and having been honoured and feted in India several times during his frequent visits apart from his numerous cricketing trips he should have known the history of Kashmir better. Perhaps compulsions of politics make politicians reach for their oft-used blinkers and Imran now is a diehard politician.

Prof. Waqar Ashraf, one of the participants at the dharna in Islamabad reportedly said, "Freedom is a right wherever one lives and Kashmiris’ right should be given to them. They cannot be forced to live in a country they did not wish to belong to and even the UN Charter is against it.” One can have no quarrel with this line of thinking. Kashmiris, like other citizens of India, have the right to choose the place and the country where they wish to live. They have the absolute freedom to leave and go and live in any country where they find conditions more congenial. None and, surely, neither government of J&K nor the Government of India, would ever stop them from exercising this basic right.

Similar sentiments were felt when a row was kicked up on the non-inclusion of Parvez Rasool, a Kashmiri cricketer, in the playing eleven of the Indian cricket team while on tour in Zimbabwe earlier this year. Very strong comments on this veritable non-issue were reported from Kashmir emanating from the state's knowledgeable chief minister down to some anti-Indian Kashmiris. Some of the latter said they were not happy when Rasool was included in a team that represented India. Some others said that they were certainly not happy when the lad was picked to play for India and that they would not be happy even if he did well for India, especially so while playing against Pakistan.

It is quite clear where such people’s sympathies lay broadcasting as they did their acute antipathy for the country they lived in. They seem to have forgotten the gratitude and happiness of their forebearers when this country went and rescued them from the clutches of the Pakistani marauders in 1947 sacrificing many precious lives. If, however, they have aversion for this country they, too, have the liberty to migrate out to whichever country they find more inviting. None in this country would begrudge their decision to do so. One recalls, similar advice was tendered to people with similar attitudes in their respective countries by the governments of Australia and Netherlands.

Destinations: Singapore

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A short hop from Kuala Lumpur and we were in Singapore - a flight of around an hour. There was a proposal to use the railway train from Kuala Lumpur. We were given to understand that it was very comfortable where one could book one’s specific seat or berth. The first class of the train reportedly offered far more comfort than the similar class of railway compartment in India. Somehow the plan had to be dropped as berths for so many people were just not available. We, otherwise, would have had a chance to see a bit of the Malaysian jungles. Famous all over the world for its facilities and services, the train is likely to be speeded up soon as a decision is in the offing to make it a high-speed line with trains touching more than 300 kms per hour, nipping off some hours from the current 7 hours’ travelling time.

Singapore skyline from Oberoi Imperial

Singapore has a long history but its modern avatar took birth in 1819 when it was acquired by Sir Stamford Raffles to function as a trading post for the East India Company with the permission of the Johor Sultanate that had sovereignty over it.  Eventually, in 1824 the Sultanate yielded sovereignty over the territory to the British and in 1826 Singapore became one of the British Straits Settlement territories. (One can see shades of Indian history) Occupied by the Japanese during the World War II, it was recaptured by the British who later withdrew from the Settlements in 1946. Singapore joined the Malaysian federation in 1963 only to be expelled in 1965. Tunku Abdul Rahman, the then Malaysian Prime Minster, pushing for affirmative action in favour of “Bhumi putras” (sons of the soil) could not stomach the multi-culturalism of the Singapore patriarch, Lee Kuan Yew. Lee was against discrimination and ghettoisation of ethnic communities – Chinese, Indians and the native Malays. Contrary to Malaysian expectations, the new City State of Singapore started taking giant leaps towards progress and prosperity after its expulsion.

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 We landed not at Changi Airport but at the old Paya Lebar airport. The airport at Changi was still in the works. We were told that the area around the airport had potential for urban development but projects could not be undertaken due to the air traffic passing over it. Singapore is hungry for land and any land that could be used for residential or commercial purposes could not be allowed to remain unexploited. Even in 1981 the authorities were planning for an airport at Changi where the planes would have to approach the runway not over land but over the sea. Perhaps, that’s what they have achieved by creating an airport at Changi.

Put up in the Oberoi Imperial, a five star affair, we again faced the same problem of inadequacy of funds. With the split rates of daily allowances we could not have had even breakfast at the hotel. While the room had all the trappings of a 5-starred outfit the pretentious provisions of the government for officers on tour abroad proved pretty inconvenient and tiresome. We had necessarily to dine out.

 In 1981 Singapore was not yet one of the “Asian Tigers” but, on hindsight, it appeared to be well on its way towards achieving that sobriquet. It was a vulnerable tiny city state and, located as it was on the busy sea lane between east and west, it had always been fearful of being overwhelmed by super and regional powers. And yet within the limited confines of its territory devoid of natural resources export oriented industries were being set up, housing projects were being implemented, and a tough administration had been largely successful in tying up all the loose ends of the administration to optimize utilization of its limited land base, minimize consumption and boost productivity Its main economic activities were in those days were oil refining and banking.

                                                                                                                                                                    

Jurong township

A remarkable effort to industrialise the small city state was in Jurong – an uncharted territory of swamps and marshes not many years ago. Away from central business district and residential areas, the place was found fit for industrialisation. Now it is a thriving industrial estate with scores of industries that were set up along with even low cost housing with all the necessary paraphernalia like schools, hospitals, dispensaries etc for a decent and fulfilling life of the residents. When we were taken around to view the place it was shrouded in dust because of the ongoing frenetic construction activity. Now, of course, things should be much different – built and fully functional and aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

Competence was expected in every aspect of administration and officers were expected to be businesslike. No frills or no beating about the bush, one had to be straightforward in dealing with every matter relating to the state. A small incident was very illustrative. At tea at the Singapore Institute of Public Administration I asked an Englishman sitting by my side what he was doing at the Institute. On being told that he was teaching English to officers when I said that it was an English-speaking country, he said that was true but Lee was very finicky about the language used on paper. If even a secretary wrote pompous or archaic English he would land up at the Institute for a brush-up. Seems inconsequential but tells a lot about the man behind Singapore’s push towards prosperity. 

The government being highly competent and largely corruption-free the management of the city couldn’t be better. The tough administration penalises for deviations – minor or major – with fines, sometimes very stiff. Lee used to say that Singapore is a “fine” country. One wouldn’t find a speck of dust or any litter anywhere. I had to look for a trash bin to discard my cigarette butts. For us it was an experience used as we are to presence of muck, dirt, litter and trash in our midst. Unlike in India I happened to notice beautiful tropical gardens developed under the flyovers. Unlike our civic bodies Singapore administration is very high on aesthetics. Even as late as earlier this year I found muck and trash under one of the South Delhi flyovers where migrant families were also living – and presumably multiplying.

High-rises and greens

 Likewise, the traffic on the roads was excellently managed although number of cars was not negligible. To avoid congestion even in those early days a car could get on to the High Street only if it carried not less than four passengers including the driver. This applied even to taxis. I don’t know whether it was true but we were told that one could own only one vehicle at a time. If one owned a car he/she wouldn’t get another from the government or corporate house or any other source. If a vehicle was allotted by the employer one couldn’t buy a vehicle for one self. The same was true of houses; one couldn’t own multiple houses. One could understand the law in view of scarcity of land. There were definite plans for reclamation from the surrounding seas but mostly for productive purposes.

 In this land-scarce country the Indian High Commissioner had a huge rambling old ill-maintained bungalow with extensive grounds. A batch-mate of mine from the Foreign Service was the High Commissioner who gave the group very welcome samosas and good Indian tea. His tips for shopping were very helpful, shopping having been on everybody’s mind. Singapore those days was known for all kinds of stuff – electronic or non electronic – and was known to be cheap an image Singapore was keen to wipe away.

The High Commissioner had suggested the CK Tang mall which was supposed to be good but one had to bargain rather hard. Situated in the Orchard Road, the heart of Singapore, its facade was not pretentious like the ones we see today. Nonetheless, the insides were something which I found fabulous. It was my first experience of a mall and it was amazing to see a whole floor dedicated to cosmetics and women’s perfumes. From it an escalator took off for the men’s section on the first floor. Different MNC brands had cornered huge areas. The sales persons, generally Chinese girls, were very friendly and persuasive. Packed with electronic stuff and cameras that were virtually non-existent in the pseudo-socialist India of Indira Gandhi it was indeed very tempting. Only the lean wallet held most of us back. Within my limited means I shopped like never before. In any case, in 1981 it was a whole new experience in shopping.

Singapore by night

I patronised Tang’s food court and enjoyed the delectable Indonesian and Malaysian cuisine. The night time hawker style food market was another experience. As darkness fell scores of hawkers with their colourful lanterns on push carts and offering delectable stuff would converge on the streets. But nothing would ever be touched by bare hands. Like in Kuala Lumpur, none of the sales persons would ever touch any foodstuff with bare hands. Out on the streets also I saw fruit sellers selling pieces of papaya, melons, guavas etc wearing plastic gloves – a practise that has not been adopted in India yet. I tried to persuade the local sweet shop to have gloves or tongs used by his salesmen but to no avail.

Soon the pleasant stay came to an end. We were up one early morning to catch a Cathay Pacific flight for Bangkok where we had a daylong lay-over before hitting Delhi.

Airport musings

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In order to escape the noisy, ear-splitting Diwali of our Idgah Hills in Bhopal, where residents have loads of money to burn by way excruciatingly loud bombs by hundreds for days before and after the ‘D’ Day, we took a flight to Goa via Mumbai. We chose Goa for our escape as Diwali there is reported to be far less raucous and much more civilized and, I dare say, certainly more dignified. The flight to Mumbai was at 7.40 in the morning arriving at Mumbai before 9.00 and the flight to Goa was more than 5 hours later at 2.30 PM.

Called Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, the Santa Cruz Airport of earlier times, does not have a lounge for passengers transiting through it. We are pretty prompt in Indianising the old Western names but we are very tardy in upgrading the facilities. This is true of this Airport as it is true of many other outfits and institutions. Hence we had to wait at the crowded, rather inadequately provided departure lounge for all of those five hours and more.

Sitting on a chair that was not meant for being sat on for long hours I saw through the skylight a large number of planes fly away.The Santa Cruz airport, barring its international arrival area, those days used to be wide open to the public. Anybody could get into it. For example, all of us could go right up to the glazed walls of the arrival lounge from where we could see bigger planes mostly of foreign airlines and Air India parked up in front. Almost all international airlines - from SAS to BOAC to KLM and Pan American down to Quantas would touch down at Bombay. It is here that I happened to see an Air India Super Constellation one of which had crashed near Djakarta in 1955 before the famed Bandung Non-Aligned Conference killing many Chinese delegates. We saw all these planes through the glass panes as none even in those days could step on to the tarmac. However, those who were keen on an unrestricted and better view would go on to the terrace of the then single storey structure of the Airport and crowd around its parapets to ogle at the aircraft landing or taking off or even those that were stationary.

Obviously, the airport was a pretty busy one, a far cry (naturally) from what it used to be more than fifty years ago. Watching the planes fly away one after another my mind flew across more than fifty years to 1955 when my sister and I were visiting  during the summer vacation an uncle of ours who used to live and work in what was then Bombay and who was very fond of watching planes flying in and flying out. Whenever he could squeeze out some time he would take us out to show us the sights of Bombay. And whenever there was nothing much to do after his office in the evenings he, along with our aunt, would drive us down to the Santa Cruz airport. Parking the vehicle in front of the Airport building we would all saunter down to the arrival lounge for domestic flights. Civil aviation in India in those days was in its infancy and, hence, not many flights would be arriving. The arrival area was, therefore, largely unoccupied.

 Today getting into the Santa Cruz airport, or for that matter into any airport in the country, just like that is impossible. Those were the terror-free innocent days when men were simpler and uncomplicated. Securing of lives and property, both public and private, was not an activity of such a mammoth proportions as it has become today. True there were deviants even then; there were thefts, robberies, rapes and murders - the crimes that could be taken care of by the usual policemen. But, the menace of organised terror that seeks only to kill people in as large a number as possible had not yet made its appearance. All public and private places vulnerable to terror attacks have therefore had to be closed to the casual visitors and specialised security personnel have had to be engaged to guard them.

 Providing security from stray unexpected bombings in dense urban areas or premeditated armed attacks such as those on the Indian Parliament in 2005 or on Bombay in 2008 or preventing hijacking of passenger aircraft like the one of Indian Airlines in1998 or for crashing into predetermined targets like in 2001 on the World Trade Centre in New York have become
the most obsessive activities of governments the world over. On the back-room boys, on installation of systems for relentless vigilance and logistics of the foot soldiers of the security organisations mind boggling sums are being spent in order to provide failsafe security to people all over the world. All because some people of a particular faith do not like people of other faiths - a persuasion that is unquestionably medieval in character. One cannot but hark back to the statement of Ajmal Qasab, the young Pakistani participant in the Mumbai terror attack who, to his misfortune, was captured alive. Sent along with others on a suicide mission he said they were mission was to kill as many as possible from among Hindus, Jews and others for no apparent reason. As it appears now, preparations for this attack had been going on for at least three years. His parent jihadi organisation seems to have an assembly line that produces in continuum terrorists who are prepared to remorselessly kill or get killed in the service of their faith which, incidentally, makes loud claims to be a religion of peace. So efficient is the brainwashing of young minds by the purveyors of terror.

Sitting there in the departure lounge of the Mumbai Airport I wondered how things have changed and how life has become restricted with public organizations   becoming more and more restrictive, taking away the small pleasures and the absolute freedom that we once used to enjoy without any let or hindrance - all because of a few thousand creepy and sneaky terrorists who never come upfront to attack but do so by stealth and surprise.

Today at the same Santa Cruz airport  or any other airport of the country, forget about a casual visitor, even a passenger holding a valid ticket has to clear at least three layers of security checks before emplaning. And then one cannot carry any fluids, not even drinking water, in the plane. In the US even shoes have to be taken off for security checks as a suicide bomber once hoodwinked the security personnel by carrying a bomb into a plane concealed in his shoes.

From what is happening all around looks like there is going to be no let up in terror – hatred of one community for another relentlessly enlarging its area of influence. Those carefree and innocent days of half a century ago seem like gone forever.

Photo of an Air India plane is taken from the Internet

Indo-Pak peace process, why flog it when it is dead

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A

run Jaitley, leader of the Opposition in the Upper House of Indian Parliament, very tersely said 

recently in New York that “terror and dialogue can’t coexist”. This was in the context of the Indian government’s keenness to continue Indo-Pak dialogue. Even as he was speaking infiltration bids continued on the Line of Control (LoC), the border between the two Kashmirs.

Thankfully, a belated statement from the External Affairs minister came earlier indicating that it was really no time for India to resume dialogue with Pakistan. The statement has come almost three weeks after a case of

massive infiltration in the Keran Sector of the Line of Control (LoC) in Kupwara region in Jammu & Kashmir. The infiltrators numbered 30 to 40 militants. In the fortnight-long military operations that ensued 5 Indian soldiers were injured and some 8 militants were killed, the rest are presumed to have either returned to where they came from or killed. A large cache of arms and ammunitions was recovered.

It seems better sense has since prevailed on the Indiaqn Government which appeared to have been hell-bent on resuming the “composite dialogue” with Pakistan, a dialogue that got stalled after the January 2013 ceasefire violations. Since then not only a new democratic government is in place in Pakistan but there have been around a hundred ceasefire violations by Pakistan Army and its “affiliates” – all violent and some very barbaric. 

Nevertheless, Manmohan Singh went and shook hands with the Pakistan Prime Minister at New York. It was no more than a photo-op, though, mercifully, the PM was reported to have stated that the talks could not be resumed unless Pakistan refrained from violence on the LoC. That unfortunately is not within the control of the civilian government. It is the Pakistani Army that calls the shots and it is this rather intractable entity that determines the time and place of resuming its operations on the LoC. 

There has been a perfidious history of such meetings. These have either been accompanied or followed by hostile activities by Pakistan in the state of Jammu & Kashmir and elsewhere in India. Kargil War in 1999 was an example of it. Even as the then Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee bussed to Lahore on his peace initiative the Pakistan Army and its proxies were surreptitiously moving into the Indian Territory with a view to snapping the supply lines to Siachen. Now again, as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh quite gratuitously went and shook hands with his Pakistani counterpart the latter’s Army and its proxies had moved into the Keran sector of J&K. The common factor, both in 1999 and 2013 is Nawaz Sharif who was also reportedly connected with the 1993 Mumbai bombings that claimed as many as 250 victims. 2005, however, saw the attack on Srinagar Tourist Reception Centre when Parvez Musharraff happened to be the military dictator in Pakistan. That too took place a day before the bus-link to Muzaffarabad in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir form Srinagar was inaugurated, another initiative for peace by the PM. Unmindful of the mindless terror the service was inaugurated but without any tangible dividends.

When the PM, somewhat incredibly, conveyed to President Obama that Pakistan was the epicenter of terror, perhaps, it would have been better if he had named the Pak Army as well, as it, with the assistance of the terrorists, the “non-state actors” and their several organizations it maintains and runs, is the one which plans, trains and equips to unleash terror in India at times and places of its choosing. Somehow the government under Manmohan Singh has allowed an impression to go around within the country and abroad that it is soft and is incapable of adequately responding to the indiscretions of the Pak Army on the LoC. The PM himself has repeatedly refrained from holding the Pak Administration and its Army responsible for Indian casualties on the LoC. It is the watchful Indian media, the Opposition and the civil society that forced his government to change its stance when Indian soldiers were gruesomely beheaded well within Indian Territory and held Pakistan responsible for their gory death. The Indian President was more forthright and, calling a spade a spade, asserted that the so-called non-state actors do not “parachute down from heaven”

One wonders as to why, despite the repeated violations of the 2003 Cease Fire and violence on the LoC, the PM has been keen on pushing ahead with the long-suffering “peace initiative”. Aware as he is that any amount of talks with the democratically elected government would never be allowed to proceed, leave alone yield any positive results as the country’s armed forces are deeply radicalized and are anti-India down to

their very core. They would never allow peace to prevail between the two countries. Apart from ensuring their wellbeing, the continued enmity serves to achieve their radicalized religious objectives. Hence, if one has to talk to Pakistan, one must talk to its Army. That, however, is impossible as no self-respecting democracy would ever negotiate with the armed forces of another democratic country.

Indian people have been deeply outraged by repeated violence on the LoC resulting in frequent Indian casualties and yet the ruling combine, unmindful of the public sentiments, was keen on talks with the Pakistani PM. MJ Akbar, a senior Indian journalist, made a telling comment by asserting that the UPA has displayed “phenomenal indifference to public rage”. He not only had in  mind the Indian PM’s keenness to continue the peace process with Pakistan, he also had in mind the UPA’s attempts to negate the judgment of Supreme Court regarding disqualification of convicted MPs and the decision of Chief Information Commissioner to bring political parties within the ambit of Right To Information Act.  

With a pathological hatred for “Hindu India” that has been assiduously cultivated since the partition and nurtured and strengthened with the liberal doses of the tonic of “Jihad” since the late 1970s the Pak Army brass, their radicalised subalterns and proxies would never buy peace with India even if the whole of J&K is gifted away to them on a silver platter. Regardless of all efforts – back channel negotiations, people-to-people contacts, a liberalized visa regime or trade and commerce – the radicals in the armed forces and outside would never allow normality in the region It is they who call the shots, the peaceniks, if any, are few and far between and they squirm at the prospect of violent retaliation.

It, therefore, appears logical that we should let Pakistan be in its rigid, unchangeable manner. The accident of geography and history has made us neighbours necessitating, at least, minimal relations – without any frills as, understandably, the relations between the two can never be like those of US and Canada – stable and mutually beneficial.

Contextually speaking, therefore, India must shake off its weak and infirm image, secure its land and sea borders, be watchful of their breaches and equip itself with adequate military muscle to pose enough of deterrence for any misadventure. 

Notes:

1. This blog was written about two weeks earlier

2. Both the photographs have been taken from the Internet

  

                                                                            

                                                                                                                           

Bhopal CDP 2031 - a counterpoint

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The Bhopal CDP 2031 has had a chequered history. Due in 2005 it is nowhere in sight eight years later in 2013. This is the way the government handles its urban administration despite the available paraphernalia of an Urban Administration Department with its appendage of a full-fledged Commissionerate for Town & Country Planning comprising qualified town planners and other professionals. The government seems to forget that it is the urban areas that generate most of the revenues for it to play around with for whatever it tries to do with the advancement of the state. The greater the delay the longer the state remains “BIMARU”.

A highly deformed draft that was thrown into the public domain in 2009 received such hellish flak that it had to be rejected or cancelled at the highest level of the state administration. Drafted under the influence and, presumably, guidance of the real estate lobby with tacit approval of the political bosses, it was destined to become a massive disaster. Those who guided its process of drafting took common people as fools and aimed at plundering the most vital resource of land to make hay. They, therefore, overdid their act enraging the townsfolk who rose as one man to attack it right down to the dustbin.

The revised plan was to come out in 2012 but was again subjected to delay and this year a decision was taken to unveil it only after the Assembly elections later in the year. Speculations were set off – and quite rightly so – that the politician-builder nexus wanted to utilise the interregnum to maximise their income by using up the available land to the benefit of both the parties – one for investing the proceeds in the elections and the other for making quick easy money and laugh all the way to the bank.  Even the consideration of the concept plan prepared by the professional body of Centre for Environmental Planning & Technology for conservation and development of the Upper Lake and its catchments has been postponed as the yields from the usage of these pieces of lands before imposition of curbs, if any, were estimated to be massive.   

The question thus arises is whether the city development plans are meant to satisfactorily meet the needs of its citizens and its growth maintaining the balance between environment and the developmental needs or whether these are instruments for facilitating enrichment of the greedy, venal and self-centred builders and politicians. Every plan plans for expansion of the town at the cost of thousands of hectares of forests and farmlands. Bhopal already has expanded in all directions without the essential civic infrastructure. Yet none seems to be keen to cry a halt and say “this far and no further” because of the monetary spin-offs from development of real estate.

What is more, the 2005 Plan that is still current has not been fully implemented. In any case, it does not seem to have improved the quality of life of the people, reduced poverty or improved their productivity which should be and are the objectives of CDPs. And

yet a fresh plan is waiting to be approved. Regardless of that, builders and colonisers are relentlessly expanding the city’s limits. One does not know whether their building activity is covered by the current CDP or ad-hoc permissions or even without them.

In a brain-storming session in which ministers, senior bureaucrats, builders and developers participated in 2011 the Urban Administration minister was reported to have said that  Bhopal had “all the elements, be it lakes, hills, greenery, road, rail and air connectivity”, which make it an attractive real estate investment destination. Likewise, the minister for Housing and Environment (H&E) felt that when returns from the stock market are not encouraging investments in real estate and bullion appeared to be viable alternatives – thus fostering more investments in real estate in the city. This not only was music to the ears of the builders and developers but also indicated the thinking in the government regarding development of the town.

Sunita Narain, the noted Indian environmentalist, in one of her pieces expressed a sort of a truism when she said, “The real-estate lobby has a vice-like grip on Indian cities. All too often land use decisions are based on what will make a quick profit for the real estate developers. And without fail, the decisions disregard common sense. The casualties are social and environmental.” One, therefore, is left with the inescapable feeling that the state politicians sought partnership with the builders, developers and colonisers only for personal gains and not for larger social and environmental benefits for the city and its citizens. 

Be that as it may, one of the most pertinent reasons against further expansion of city limits is that the current 2005 CDP still remains unimplemented to a pretty large extent. No work has been done on as many as 24 roads that were planned and there is no hope of work relating to them starting any time soon.

Another reason is that when currently the city as it exists within its limited confines suffers from acute want civic services there would seem to be no point in enlarging it further. Everyday newspapers carry news and photographs of the broken down roads, leaking or overflowing sewers, accumulation of garbage, clogged drains on accumulation of filth or for being built over. Shouldn’t there be planned effort to improve matters in order to offer a better quality of life for the residents? Even the newly-included area of Kolar in the municipal jurisdiction with relatively newer colonies and complexes are crying for attention. None of the civic services are being rendered by the local municipal corporation with any semblance of efficiency or competence. If the city is expanded wouldn’t it trip up more with its much less than required capability? City development does not refer to only its expansion to accommodate future growth of population with the concomitant requirements of business and industry; it also means improvement, enhancement and up-gradation of the existing civic facilities of roads, sanitation, health care, education, mobility and so on.

In the circumstances one feels that the new CDP should tackle following issues that touch the lives of the people and refrain from planning, as far as possible, to bring more and more farmlands and forests within an enlarged municipal area:

1.      First of all the attempt should be made to implement unfinished part of the current plan

2.      The new plan should upgrade the (progressively deteriorating) quality of life of the citizens by taking up the following: 

i) Improve quality of roads all over in the town, including those that are within the old and new residential colonies

ii) Revamp the sewerage of the town to expand the capacity of the system to meet the needs of the next twenty years. Despite the money spent in the Bhoj Wetland Project and that taken on loan from ADB sewers still keep leaking and one can even now find manholes in dangerous and deplorable condition

iii) Planners have to contend with the problem of effective management and disposal of solid wastes. In the course of next few decades it may become far more acute. As landfills create more problems than they solve using the solid wastes for generating power is environmentally a far better alternative. Many countries are doing so and even Delhi has now got a plant

iv) Provision of adequate water for a burgeoning population is going to be a major issue during the coming decades. Upgrading the supply system obviating the chances of major and minor leaks that occur so frequently involving in losses of hundreds and thousands of litres of scarce water is imperative. Besides, recycling of waste water and rain-harvesting should be mandatory wherever possible. Speeding up of meterisation of supply should be prioritised with planning for equitable water supply all across the town

v) The new plan should focus on eradication of slums. The government had projected in 2005 that Bhopal would be slum-free by 2012. That has not happened.  Resettlement of slum-dwellers in low-cost housing should be a priority. Likewise, with projections of an enhanced rate of migration into the cities during the next few decades the plan should also provide for meeting the influx by making arrangements that avoid further slumming.

vi) As a corollary of above, a comprehensive plan involving development of trade and commerce, education and healthcare in the neighbouring smaller towns could be thought of to entice migrants from their respective catchment areas to prevent their crowding in Bhopal 

vii) Public transport needs to be planned in a manner that it eases pressure of private vehicles on the roads. Feeder services have not been planned so far. Unless buses running on the main arteries are fed from hinterland of the stops public transport would never become popular and the roads will progressively get choked. Even the BRTS might not be of any help

viii) Planners have also to think of providing a system of mobility to the commuters comprising roads, railways, metro or light-rail or monorail or sky trains, cycle tracks and pedestrian pathways to control the vehicular emissions. World over efforts are on to reduce vehicular emissions as automobile sector contributes about 30% of the greenhouse gases. So far there has been no attempt in Bhopal to control it despite the relentless increase in the number of vehicles and even check on polluting vehicles is conspicuous by its absence. 

ix) Regardless of the acts of omissions and commissions in respect of the city’s water bodies a new plan should indicate measures over the next two decades for their sustainable use and conservation in a scientific manner. Likewise plans should be made to revive the city’s streams which have now become worse than drains. Many cities in West and the East have revived dead urban rivers and streams for improving the environment.

x) Plans should also be formulated to prevent further colonisation and re-greening of the surrounding ecologically important hills and forests.

xi) The city is known for its green ambience but it has lost a great deal of its roadside canopy which needs to be fully restored.

xii) From the Nawabi era, it has also been known for its parks and gardens which have constantly been encroached upon or are being degraded. The master plan for the city should provide for their revival and upkeep in order to extend to the citizens a better and green habitat.

xiii) The older part of the city is littered with rundown, neglected heritage structures which need to be taken care of. A city is not worth its salt if it doesn’t take care of its heritage. The plan should provide for their aesthetic conservation and beautification of their surroundings with suitable facilities for tourists. In fact, these structures need to be properly marketed.

xiv) Above all, for effective governance in the city the CDP should determine the extent to which it should be expanded and allowed to grow. Planners need to make an objective assessment of the critical lack of civic governance in the city’s current smaller avatar and, given the unlikelihood of any significant improvement, need to set a limit to its growth. They should, nevertheless, plan for strengthening the civic governance to provide clean, healthy, secure, productive and fulfilling life to the citizens of the city.

Note: The article was written specifically for an online newspaper earlier this year

Of Indian official hostelries

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A national daily front-paged a smallish scam perpetrated by the bureaucracy and some ministers of the state of Madhya Pradesh (MP) while on tour. What they did, however, was something reprehensible as it only showed their hypocrisy as also their petty-mindedness.

MP Bhavan

While on tour on official business in Delhi they stayed in public sector starred hotels but made the Madhya Pradesh Bhavan authorities to pay their bills. Madhya Pradesh Bhavan is a MP government guest house meant for accommodating touring officers and ministers when they are in Delhi on official business. It is a sprawling affair with scores of rooms. And yet it seemed to have proved inadequate as another virtually equally large outfit, the Vindhyachal Bhawan, was erected.

The scam was detected during audit of the expenses of these two Bhavans. Quite clearly, for ministers and senior officers staying in the guest houses is now kind of infra dig.  Time was when they all used to stay in them and there were and probably still are graded rooms to accommodate officers and ministers of different levels. These were constructed for their benefit as those days staying in hotels or private guest houses was simply unaffordable for even the senior most officers. Trips to Delhi were inevitable and finding suitable and affordable accommodation was a big hassle.

While based in Delhi, I recall, in the early 1970s most of the states gradually started building their respective guest houses in the expansive New Delhi area. The government of Andhra built a new one pretty close to the India Gate area and it became famous for its hot and spicy cuisine. The restaurant would be thrown open to the public on Sundays. Some, like Kerala, even converted as state guest houses the palatial bungalows inherited by them after independence from the erstwhile maharajas.

Senior officers of state governments like MP are governed by the state rules and they can look for hotel accommodation while on tour to Delhi only if the Bhavans do not have accommodation for them. With the tide of development and relative prosperity things started changing. After the VI Pay Commission recommendations were implemented salaries saw a hefty hike and so did the travelling allowances. With rising standards and aspirations senior government officers don’t find the state guest houses good enough and, therefore, do not look for rooms in; they like to put up in starred hotels. Hence the MP ministers and officials apparently pitched on the ingenious method that the audit happened to stumble upon.

 With ministers and senior officials, barring a very few notable exceptions, avoiding them, all the government

Circuit House, Manali, Himachal Pradesh

guest houses have fallen on bad days. They largely cater to, inter alia, relatives and friends of officers, ministers, legislators and state politicians who have no legal or official right to avail of the government facilities. This is very unfortunate. A facility that was provided for officials and ministers at great public expense is not only being misused, it also has become a big drain on the government. Not only the state’s guest houses are occupying massive areas of scarce land in prime locations of the capital, the tax payer has to pay for their maintenance as well as meet the fraudulent claims of the officials and ministers. One does not know the fate of guest houses of other states in the capital but if the occupancy rate is unsustainable they might as well do as several circuit houses have done – throw them open to non-official itinerants at competitive rates.

The circuit houses located at the headquarters of various districts, where once upon a time only ministers and gazetted officers could put up, now do not also quite measure up to their needs and style of living. But, for the sake of their survival, many of the circuit houses, after being spruced up, have been thrown open to the public and tourists on very reasonable tariffs. It is good that available facilities, instead of crumbling under state apathy and negligence, have been squarely put out to earn their keep in the very competitive market of tourism.

Set in the midst of huge parcels of land in what used to be generally called Civil Lines (as if all other lines were uncivil), the circuit houses were mostly built during the British era and were formidable looking structures with equally formidable looking khansamas (chefs) who would lord over the place. Having served ministers and top most bureaucrats of the state they would think nothing of smaller fries, the officers low down in hierarchy. But some of them used to be excellent at cooking – both Indian and continental. The rooms used to be well-appointed and a suite, if available, would be kept reserved only for top shots.

The finest ever circuit house that I happened to have stayed in was the one in Bhuj, Gujarat. This was way back in 1964. It was an old converted mansion that once used to be the residence of the British Agent for the princely state of Kutch. A huge drawing room had a banquet hall next to it with a massive dining table serviced by liveried bearers. Both were furnished in that princely style with quaint furniture and furnishings. The dining hall had a sideboard full of English silver and china tableware with the inevitable Kutch coat-of-arms. I was allotted one of the two suites on the ground floor that had a sitting room with a study corner, a dressing room – both lavishly equipped – and a bed room with a four poster king-sized double bed of intricately carved mahogany. There were two baths, both with (then rare) marble flooring – offering the choice of a WC and an Indian pan. All for just Rs. 3/- a day! I never got to stay in it again as in 1965 the Kutch border became hot and the army took over the building and all that it had.

A dak bungalow, presumably, in 19th Century 

Another such institution called the Dak Bungalow is now an endangered species. These bungalows were relics of the Raj that survived for more than a couple of centuries. These used to be government bungalows along the main dak (postal) routes erected for the dak (mail) runners for exchange of mails for onward transmission to the next stage. Government officials on tour and non-official travellers could also camp in them. They were, generally, one-storied thatched or tiled buildings, with a big central dining-room and two or three bedrooms around which ran a deep veranda, with a slightly removed kitchen and some far-removed outhouses in the midst of sprawling properties. As in circuit houses these too would have a factotum taking care of the brooding, heavily built premises as also of the guests.

The dak-bungalows used to be the equivalent of hotels for officials on tours and non-official travelers on the basis of availability straying into the hinterland. Patterned on the old Western coaching-inns these are still operational in certain remote areas but have mostly died out. Having a history, they had lore built around them and, earlier, were generally known for their chicken curry and the spirits that were supposed to be haunting them.

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All photographs are from the Internet

Destinatrion: Malaysia (1981)

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Merdeka memorial

On return from Colombo after an overnight stay at Madras we were up on a flight to Kuala Lumpur after suffering the inevitable rigours of the pre-departure formalities. The plane was an old “war horse” of Air India – a decades-old Boeing 707. Its air-conditioning did not work when it sat on the tarmac. We kept sweating in the sweltering heat after having been made to embark. After all, the aircraft had remained parked out in the sizzling Madras sun for some hours. Even after a reasonable wait the thing did not move. Soon, however, it was clear that it was waiting for a VIP. Thankfully, in a few minutes the VIP in the shape of a lean and wiry, smart and handsome Air Chief Marshal Latif arrived and we heard the engines kicking in. In minutes we were up and above over the serene and blue Bay of Bengal.

A KL street

After around three and a half hours we arrived at Kuala Lumpur, KL for short. There were no aerobridges those days. The Kuala Lumpur International Airport was still in the future. The aircraft parked in its allotted parking bay in the old airport. On disembarkation I saw a large number of very wide-bodied, apparently high-capacity buses parked at a little distance away. As the passengers trickled down the craft two of them came and waited nearby. Seeing such unusually wide-bodied buses for the first time I was naturally impressed. As I got into one of them I had good look at the insides. It was pretty cushy and air-conditioned – a rarity in India those days.

A modern mosque

 The bus whisked us to the arrival area where the customs acted pretty tough. Even though they were told by the IIPA Course Director and his counterpart that we were all government servants and that we had a customs collector among us they gave only one concession. Instead of checking every one of us they would check every alternate participant’s baggage. The process adopted would have enabled my bags to skip the check but, no, the customs official detected that faint fragrance of the Colombo cinnamon sticks. Having the case opened he took a couple sticks out and gave them a good, hard sniff. Realising that there was no drug in the baggage he allowed me to close the suit case. We had entered Malaysia when they were running a strict anti-drugs campaign.

We attended a meeting with the secretary planning of Malaysia. It was quite revealing. Among those that have remained imprinted on my mind were two features. One was that the Prime Minister monitored every plan project of and above $10,000 (Malaysian) – the country later changed over to Ringgit. This was something unheard of in India then. Projects would be initiated and, leave alone the PM, no chief minister would check out the progress. It is only earlier this year when the economy was on the verge of collapse that the PM decided to activate the languishing projects and created a committee to monitor their progress. Our ministers get no time for such mundane work; they are too busy politicking.

Green and open spaces of KL

The other point that I still remember is the way they built the roads. The city had as

beautiful roads insude as it had outside. We bussed around over silky asphalt – not a pothole in sight and not a bump. We were told that before a road is laid all the utilities which dig up roads for laying cables or water and sewer pipes are told to plan for twenty years ahead as they would not be allowed to dig up the roads for any purpose during that period. No wonder we went all over the place over velvety roads which we in India haven’t been able to provide even after sixty odd years of independence. For a young Asian nation to provide such superb infrastructure was remarkable.

There were no malls and things yet in KL but it had superb shopping. Petronas towers which I visited years later with my wife, was yet to come up. Our rupee was not as strong but it was strong enough to buy some good stuff. A Malaysian dollar was around Rs.5/- (an US $ was around Rs. 8/-) and consumer goods were cheap. I suppose, the government wanted people to consume. Things that were just not available in India – like electronic stuff from Japan (South Korea had not yet become what it is today) – were there for the taking and cheaply too. But, then we were told Singapore

The Port Dickson beach

was cheaper most of us restrained ourselves, headed as we were towards it after KL.

Over beautiful smooth slate grey asphalt we travelled to Port Dickson sixty kilometres away. For miles on the two sides of the road were rubber plantations – so dense that deep inside them one could see very little light even at midday. I saw a plantation of Lipton. I didn’t know then that the company had interests in rubber as well. We knew it for only Darjeeling tea. I could well imagine how these plantations have all replaced the tropical rain forests with all their bio-diversity as in India.

Port Dickson is located on Straits of Malacca and is a charcoal mining town. Tin ore was also available nearby. The British had, therefore, enlarged the port. There is a fine stretch of beach which has now a number of resorts and hotels. The town is now a bustling tourist’s centre. When we went, however, we found it was quiet and I recall the part of the beach that we visited was devoid of any dollar-spending Western tourists. Perhaps, it was yet to be marketed abroad.

Palm oil plantation

Palm oil has become big business now for Malaysia. When we were in KL the palm oil industry was more or less in its infancy. They had established huge oil palm plantations. We were taken to one and shown around. They had also constructed lovely small houses for the workers. The industry has given to Malaysia very good returns and it now exports the produce in large quantities. India imports both, crude palm oil as well as refined palm kernel oil. The thriving oil palm industry destroyed the habitat of orang-utan, the most intelligent primate. Earlier found in both, Malaysia and Indonesia, they are now confined to the ever-shrinking rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo.

Named after the river that flows by, Batu Caves, 13 kilometres outside KL, was then not its garish self that it is today. True, we saw stalactites hanging from the roof and stalagmites rising from the floor creating interesting formations and Hindu shrines in the dark limestone caves that are around 400 metres long and 100 metres high, but there was no Murugan temple there. The photographs that I see now show the cave in totally different light with a huge image of Murugan and the entire complex richly done up with bright lights inside surely making it easier to negotiate the steps. With 800,000 devotees

From inside Batu caves

visiting it during the Thaipusam festival, it has become somewhat like pilgrimage to the Murugan temple in Palani For me it was a tiring climb up the uneven steps inside the caves which were dark, hot and humid. A non-practicing Hindu, I did not find it of much interest except unusual natural features which in later years I came across in Kutumsar in Bastar and in Switzerland. The most satisfying, however, was the green coconut water that I had after the exertions. The huge fruit was taken out of a massive fridge, deftly sliced from the top to show that it was brimming with water that was cold, sweet and delectably refreshing.

The stay in KL was rounded off with a day-long trip to Genting Highlands. It is the only hill resort of Malaysia at a height of around 5000 ft. above sea level and was established in the mid-1960s. Much cooler than KL, we came across bracing weather. What was more, it had a casino. I, too, took my chances and pumped several gambling machines lined up along the walls. The effort yielded nothing and I lost some valuable cash. The casino was perhaps the only diversion around; the small decked up lake with boats and a brightly coloured miniature bridge appeared pretty puerile. I understand, now it is a

Grnting Hieghts

thriving hill station with lots of hotels and resorts. Apart from attempting to conserve the surrounding rain forests, I am told, a beautiful theme park has now been created.

As is well known Malaysian cuisine is a mix of the three major ethnic groups – Malays, Chinese and Indian – that reside in the country. In addition, it has been influenced by Indonesian and Thai cuisine, making the native cuisine highly exotic. Everything, from pork to beef, chicken, fish and seafood has the same distinctive taste, though one can discern that unmistakable flavour of Indian masala. What I liked best, however, was satay (skewered grilled meat) and the fried chicken I had on the pavement cafes of Jalan Sastroamidjojo The fried chicken was distinctly different from that on offer at the KFC, delightfully spiced and crisp. Unfortunately, I never got a chance to try it again.