Institutional Rot – A Matter of Concern and Worry

 

Institutional Rot – A Matter of Concern and Worry     

We the people of India are living in a democratic country with the lofty ideals of ‘Liberty Justice, Equality and Fraternity’ as enshrined in the Constitution of India. Our constitution stipulates Rule of Law, Guaranteed Fundamental Rights, Empowerment of the weaker sections of the society through affirmative action, Gender equality, Casteless society among other attributes with matching ‘Checks and Balances’ and necessary institutional backup. Of late, It has been observed that some sort of ‘institutional rot’ has set in which is not only weakening the tenants of good governance but also resulting in very negation of a democratic edifice of the country and also harming the social fabric of the society at large. It is a matter of concern and worry. My spontaneous concern to write about this comes from the role of the National Commission for Women in the recent sordid incidents of barbarism – rape and murder in Manipur. I have no political affiliation and write this as an ordinary citizen with no claim of scholarly or intellectual orientations. The views are personal; one may or may not agree with me; no animosity towards anyone is intended.

National Commission for Women under the stewardship of its Chairperson Rekha Sharma failed in doing the job, as mandated and expected, in taking action on the complaints of brutal sexual assault in Manipur, obviously, with intended bias to save and support the Administration of the State as against the complaints. It is a matter of shame and constitutional fraud with ‘we the people of India’. The Hindustan Times editorial has rightly commented, “The travails of NCW mirror the unfortunate trajectory that many such quasi-judicial bodies set up with the noble intent to serve under-privileged sections of the population have suffered.”

In accordance with the Constitution of India and the relevant statues, a number of quasi-judicial bodies like National Human Rights Commission, National Scheduled Caste Commission, National Scheduled Tribes Commission, National Minorities Commission, National Women Commission, and National Safai Karamchari Commission among others, not only at the Central level but also in various States of India, have been established. The ideas of setting up this institutional mechanism was to safe-guard and protect the interests of the vulnerable sections of the society keeping in mind the traditional graded inequality and caste and gender based discriminate prevailing in the society at large. But it seems that most of these organs have proved to paper-tigers and are fully controlled manipulated by the ruling dispensations. It is a total negation of the letter and spirit of the objectives to set up this paraphernalia. The Hindustan Times has further said, “Despite considerable powers of investigation, review and action bodies to serve SC, ST, Minorities and Women have largely been reduced to effete institutions because of deep politicization of their functions over decades that have rendered them incapable of taking independent decisions in cases of atrocities or violence involving marginalised sections.” These statutory commissions are required to submit their yearly reports to the President of India through the concerned Minister of the Government and in turn these reports are to be submitted to the Parliament as provided in the procedure and process. I don’t think it is being done religiously. I have not heard of any such action or debate on these matters in recent years. I made the Google search on the reports of the NCSC from the official website of the Commission. It was revealed that the last such annual report was issued in 2001-02.  In the given situation, what is the use of having these ‘white elephants’?  In reality, these commissions have become ‘parking lots’ of disgruntled, failed and nuisance-savvy politicians (Chale Hue Kartoos) and faithful bureaucrats (Darbari Ji Hazoors), unfortunately. The fast deteriorating state of affairs in this regard requires immediate rectification before it gets too late. One instant example, off hand, comes to my mind – GOI appointed one politician of Punjab as the Chairman of NCSCs a couple of years ago

to shunt him out from the Council of Ministers. He was made to resign from the coveted position to enable him to contest assembly elections in Punjab in 2021. He could not make it to be an MLA. Soon thereafter, he was reappointed and parked at the NCSC. Now again, last week, he was advised to resign from the post of Chairman of NCSC to utilize his services, as per the media reports, probably,  in the run up to Lok Sabha elections in 2024. One can easily understand the standing and efficacy of the NCSC from these details. I have no intension to find faults with the person involved. He is a politician of standing by his own right. But the whole process speaks of the fact as to how much importance and utility such bodies carry with the respective governments.

Another relevant aspect of the said institutional rot, if we go by the public discourse in the media, involves the so called ‘autonomous’ bodies like the EC, CAG, CBI, IB, ED among others. Of late, every day there are allegations and counter-allegations of use or misuse of these elite institutions by the ruling dispensations to carry forward their ulterior agendas. These organizations are the premier agencies to perform and oversee the democratic functioning of the Government and the State as mandated and stipulated by the Constitution of India. The founding fathers intended to make these statutory organs very strong and effective as one can understand as to what the chief architect of the constitution had said, “B.R. Ambedkar told the Constituent Assembly that he saw the CAG as "probably the most important officer in the Constitution of India". The dictums of ‘Checks and Balances’ both to streamline the functioning of the governments and restrain and reform the society with a view to protect the marginalized sections of the society, stipulated in the Constitution and by creating these institutions as ‘watchdogs’ are very important and essential for the functioning of parliamentary democracy. Any attempt to undermine these constitutional bodies would lead us to the Grammar of Anarchy” as warned by Dr. Ambedkar. It should be understood and the institutional rot must be arrested – the sooner the better.

Masjid to bana di sab phar mein;

Iman ki hararat walon ne,

Man apna purana papi hai;

Barson se namazi ban na saka

A Renowned Ambedkarite, Lahori Ram Balley – An Obituary

 

A Renowned Ambedkarite, Lahori Ram Balley – An Obituary

Lahori Ram Balley (1930-2023), a staunch and renowned Ambedkrite was a legendary personality of Jalandhar, Punjab, India and beyond who was fully involved in and dedicated to the mission of Babasaheb Ambedkar for about 7 decades not only as a social and community activist but also as a politician of standing by his own right. He proved himself during his life time not only as a worthyfollower of Dr. Ambedkar but also as a devout and conscious  Buddhist to carry the ‘caravan’ forward as he said to have promised

to Babasaheb before his Parinirvan in 1956.  It was saddening to get the news that Balley Sahib passed away on July 6 all of a sudden around mid-day. It was difficult to believe as I usually followed him (he himself was not active on social media) by reading, with interest, posts pertaining to him and his activities at the ripe age of 93. It is said that the proof of pudding lies in its eating – Balley Sahib was a living legend. Even without any announcement of his sudden demise made by his family till late in the evening of July 6 (due to logistical reasons), the news of the Parinirvan of the son of the soil got viral on the social media like a wild fire in afternoon itself. It only speaks of the popular standing of Balley Sahib in the socio-political circles. I wrote about Lahori Ram Balley Sahib earlier too in my blogs; one of these may be accessed at: https://diplomatictitbits.blogspot.com/2017/07/lahori-ram-balley-happy-birthday.html

 Balley Sahib was a self made man, a ‘Karamyogi’ - as a community activist, politician and above all a man of letters – Editor of Bheem Patrika (started in 1960s), author of books on subjects of interest and

Presenting my book - The Bits and Pieces

concern to the weaker sections of the society and to disseminate and propagate the mission and legacy of his ‘icon’, Babasaheb Ambedkar, by writing and publishing books as a missionary and a visionary writer. He was an orator par-excellence who could make his audiences spell bound – Zaduvian-Mukarar. I was much impressed by his oratorical skills even as a young lad living in his vicinity during my formative years before I left Jalandhar for my diplomatic career in early 1970s. His stock went much high in my mind and eyes when I listened him simultaneously interpreting the speeches, delivered in English by Joginder Nath Mandal and later that of the then High Commissioner of Sri Lanka at the Ambedkar Bhawan in Bootan Mandi. Balley Sahib had a good command on many languages like; Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, Persian and English.

Frankly, Balley Sahib was the hero of many young students like me back in 1960s because of his forceful oratory and a hero like mannerism. I admired his Lenin cap and waist coat and lso his sling bag. He was a much sought after speaker in political and social events as a fire-brand orator and an apt communicator in and around Jalandhar in those days.

Balley Sahib resigned his job in Delhi and decided to join the mission of Babasaheb Ambedkar from Jalandhar as his base. Quickly and by his sheer hard work and dedication, climbed through the ladder – rose from an ordinary activist to positions of high responsibility in the All India Scheduled Castes Federation and the Republican Party of India, exxcelled himself in journalism, in editing and running the important mouth-pieces of the marginalized sections of the society, the Bheem Patrika and the Kirti, wrote and compiled many books on Dr. B.R.  Ambedkar and his thought and also on Buddhism. He attained a position of one of the acclaimed writers, and distributors of dalit literature in India and beyond at affordable price. It was not a small feat. Balley Sahib was a source of inspiration to many like me a ‘guide and philosopher’. I vividly recall that back in 1970-71; I had gone to Delhi for my bread and butter. One day, I read an article of one of the famous and established journalist-editor, M. Chalapati Rau, in one of the national dailies and found it derogatory of Babasaheb Ambedkar. I wrote a short letter in my broken English to Balley Sahib in Jalandhar and urged him to look into this and respond appropriately. As expected, prompt came the reply assuring me,”Not to worry. He will not be spared”, it was the exact expression of Balley Sahib in his kind letter.

On reviving my connection with Balley Sahib on my return to Jalandhar after retirement in 2011, I found him hale and hearty as always and even kicking as in his younger times. He was one of the founding fathers of organizations like; Ambedkar Bhawan Trust, Ambedkar Mission Society, Punjab Chapter of All India Samata Dal,

Buddhist Society of India among others and remained at the helm of affairs of these organizations housed at Ambedkar Bhawan - the epic-centre of Ambedkarite and Buddhist activities in Punjab and beyond. His contribution to establish and raise these outfits to maturity was immense and should be publicly recognized.

It is often said that the obituaries should not be confined to be ‘goody-goody’ narrations and should also touch upon the ‘non-charitable’ aspects too. I am not an intellectual or analyst of any worth. But let me say my mind as a humble Ambedkarite and one of the fans of Balley Sahib from whom I learned a great deal in my life – In politics, I think he faltered in joining the ‘right wing Hindu’ brigade in opposing the Punjabi Suba movement against the approach of his political associates like Piara Ram Dhanowalia, Duni Chand Shahpuri, Charan Dass Nidhadak, Ajit Kumar, Gurcharn Singh, Dr. Bhagat Singh among others. This approach of Balley Sahib divided the house and rest is history. Secondly, he could not read the writings on the wall and went against the main stream of dalit politics by not joining Babu Kanshi Ram’s bandwagon. He rather spoiled the relations willfully by writing not only about his politics but personal life too. It is said that politics is a game of possibilities but Balley Sahib’s dogmatic thinking shut the doors at his face, if I dare to put it candidly. Just one more aspect before I close this longish obituary to the worthy son of the soil and that is, to my mind, he should have been a bit more open, transparent, accommodative and magnanimous in running the affairs of the above mentioned Ambedkarite and Buddhist outfits of which he was the unchallenged ‘Head of the Family’. He himself created and nurtured these organisations so beautifully and successfully to the advantage of the community and the society at large. He might have his own constraints which I don’t know as the bearer only knows where the shoe pinches.  No one is perfect and can be and Balley Sahib was no exception. He was a leader of men by his own right. In totality, he was a great man who lived a king-size life with pride and élan, as a ‘Sacha Ambedkari’. He titled his auto-biography as ‘Ambedkari Hone Ka Arth’ – he exactly knew it as he was an encyclopedia Ambedkar’s life, mission, thought and legacy. Hats off to Balley Sahib.

With this, I pay my respect and regard to Lahori Ram Balley Sahib whose demise has left a wide void in the Mission of Babasaheb Ambedkar. Allama Iqbal rightly said:-

Badi Mushkil se Hota Hai Chaman Mein Deedawar Paida.

 

 

Exchange of Diplomatic Gifts – The Bits and Pieces

 

Exchange of Diplomatic Gifts – The Bits and Pieces

A diplomatic gift is a gift given by a diplomat, politician or leader when visiting a foreign country. Usually the gift is reciprocated by the host.  It’s an important diplomatic gesture of any visit.

The immediate instigation to write about diplomatic gifts is the recent exchange of gifts during PM Narendra Modi’s State Visit to the USA and exchange of gifts. Renowned columnist Karan Thapar wrote in his usual Sunday article in the Hindustan Times – Frost, Nehru, Modi and a book of poems, “Frost was, probably, Jawaharlal Nehru’s favourite poet. One of the poems in the collection gifted to Modi is Stopping by Woods on a Snowing Evening. It ends with evocative lines - The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to Keep, And miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.” Commenting on the selection of the gift, Karan Thapar added, “It is hard to believe they (selectors of the gift) aren’t aware of the Nehru-Frost connection or the Nehru-Modi discord.” Let us leave it to diplomatic analysts to break their head to dig and get the motive of the diplomatic gesture of the US host. PM Narendra Modi was, a few years ago, was gifted a costly horse but the gift was not brought to India because of advise of the concerned authorities of environment and forestry.  But I, as Director of the Central Asia Division in the MEA, distinctly remember that sometime in 1999-2000, EAM Jaswant Singh brought a Horse from Kazakhstan gifted him by his counterpart. The Google Guru gives many details of the gifts from lions leopards, elephants etc. exchanged among dignitaries as diplomatic gifts. Some gifts become fine occasions to celebrate and commemorate. PM Jawaharlal Nehru gifted an Indian elephant, named Raja, to his then Ceylonese (Sri Lanka) counterpart in the 1950s. Raja ultimately found his abode at the Dalada Maligawa (House of the Tooth Relic of Gautama the Buddha) in Kandy. Raja carried the Tooth Relic at his back every year in the annual event called Perahera and toured the major streets of Kandy in a

procession. Raja was declared a ‘National Treasure’ by Sri Lanka. Raja died at a ripe age sometime in 1986-87. On advice of High Commissioner JN Dixit in Colombo, it fell on me as the Acting Assistant High Commissioner of India in Kandy to lay the wreath on the dead-body of Raja, kept at the majestic Dalada Maligawa, on behalf of the High Commissioner and the GOI. India gifted an elephant to Turkey sometime in 1998-99 during the visit of President K.R. Narayanan. I handled this hefty gift as Director of the Central Asia Division under the guidance of the then Joint Secretary (CA) in MEA, Aloke Sen, in locating and transporting an elephant from one of sanctuaries in Assam.

Being one from the diplomatic career, I personally saw and witnessed the game or art of exchanging diplomatic gifts in the process of work. I remember some of the fine nuances of gift diplomacy of legendary diplomat, Ambassador Kanti Shankar Bajpai in the late 1970s. He gifted the best of Indian mangos to the Chinese dignitaries and his counterparts in the diplomatic corps in Peking, a much appreciated diplomatic gesture. On move from Peking, I was appointed as Protocol Officer dealing with gifts in the MEA in early 1980s and witnessed many occasions of selecting and handling exchange of diplomatic gifts under the stewardship of then DCP, Ambassador Navrekha Sharma and the COP, Vice President Hamid Ansari, both among the finest diplomats of India.  Some of the anecdotes, pertaining to diplomatic gifts, of that time may be of interest – PM Indira Gandhi was very particular and interested in selecting a few top level gifts to be exchanged both for outgoing and incoming visits. I personally got entangled, though a junior functionary, in the process for a couple of occasions. On a coup in Bangladesh, the new leader, General Hussain Mohammad Ershad along with his wife, Begum Rowshan, decided to come to Delhi all of a sudden. PM Indira Gandhi was very busy as the parliament was in session. It was decided to give a suitable gift to General Ershad already selected and approved by PM Gandhi for some other Head of State of an Islamic country. Gift for the spouse of the guest posed a small but serious problem as nobody was inclined to ask PM Indira Gandhi. COP directed me, because of my earlier stint as Protocol Officer in the GHO of PMO, to somehow solve the problem. I could do it with the help of my connections in the PM’ House. PM came for lunch and one of her Aides informed her that I was there for the purpose. After washing her hands and a small towel in her hands came to a small room at the entrance. I showed her a few Banarsi Sarees spread on a sofa, collected from the Cottage Industry Emporium. She appreciated it, perhaps, to relieve me of palpable tension on my face. PM enquired from me about the complexion of the guest, Begum Rowshan and without waiting to listen from me herself answered “Bangladeshi sambale rang ke hi hote hain” and nodded to gift a Banarsi Silk Saree. I cherish the memory of those couple of minutes of personal interaction in the process of selecting a diplomatic gift – Once the gift to Arafat Yassar posed a bit of problem because of paucity of time. PM Indira Gandhi advised to give a pistol/revolver to Arafat Yassar (he used to carry the weapon on his waist) from one of India’s own ordinance factories. It was found that the weapon was not readily available in Delhi. It resulted in some running around and with the help of Ministry of Defense a pistol was obtained from Meerut and gifted along with a couple of boxes of juicy alphonsos (Mangos) which I personally collected from a shop in Connaught Place and delivered at the airport – Yet another occasion, Pakistani High Commissioner in a day or two of presenting his credentials to President Giani Zail Singh was indisposed and was admitted in the AIIMS. It was decided to send a bouquet of flowers to the High Commissioner on behalf of President Giani Zail Singh to wish him speedy recovery.  The honours again fell on me. On presenting the bouquet, I could feel that how these small gestures do a lot of good in developing and smoothening relations – Protocol Division of the MEA occasionally used to arrange a sort of ‘Meena Bazar’ at PM Residence and Rashtrapati Bhawan for picking up gifts for the outgoing and incoming High level Visits with gift item from Cottage Industry Emporium and the State Emporiums to expose traditional Indian art and culture in foreign countries. President Giani Zail Singh was to visit the USA and a Meena Bazar was arranged at the Rashtrapati Bhawan with a prominent slot to the Punjab Emporium. Punjab Emporium, obviously, came with traditional Phulkari work etc. Giani ji came and saw the Meena Bazar and, off the cuff, remarked that why were we taking this kind of stuff rather than something new and of utility? Being the one from the Protocol Division of MEA, I humbly responded and said, Sir, it was the laid down policy right from the days of PM Jawaharlal Nehru to gift things to showcase Indian traditional skills. President Sahib was a sharp man with an earthy sense of understanding, he simply nodded in silence – PM Indira Gandhi desired to carry incensed wood “Oudh”, one of costly timbers, for her Saudi hosts during one of her state visits to Saudi Arabia. We had work overtime in sourcing ‘Oudh’ from Dehradoon, if my memory does not fail me. Especially hand-crafted wooden presentation boxes were got made through the Cottage Industry Emporium to present Oudh to the Saudi dignitaries. Gift presentations may create, sometimes, avoidable fox pauses. Generally diplomatic gifts are not exchanged in person and not opened instantly. Our Embassy in Stockholm (Sweden) was concurrently accredited to Latvia, a newly breakaway country from the erstwhile USSR sometime in 1992-93. I, as the First Secretary of the Embassy in Stockholm, joined an official delegation headed by the then Joint Secretary (EE) in the MEA, Nalin Surie. It was decided to handover our usual gifts, HMT watches, to the Latvian counterparts immediately after the conclusion of the signing ceremony of documents as Nalin Surie Sahib was to move directly to airport to catch up with his travel schedule. Our hosts happily decided to open their gifts there itself. It was found that one of the gifted watches was not working due some technical glitch. It was a somewhat embarrassing situation. Luckily, I was carrying in my briefcase an additional gift (HMT watch). Before anybody commented on the situation, I immediately replaced the gift attracting the attention of Nalin Surie Sahib who appreciatively commented ‘see, our boys can do it’. The pleasantness of the occasion remained intact.

Diplomatic gifts carry a considerable emotional and professional value. A painting, personally painted by the Dean of Diplomatic Corp, was gifted to me at a farewell function hosted by us at the

India House in Minsk (Belarus) which was signed by all the resident Ambassadors, still adorns one of the walls of the sitting room of our humble home in Jalandhar. I still carry on my wrist, occasionally, a self winding locally made watch with the photo of then President of Turkmenistan, Saparmurat Niyazov which was gifted to me sometime in 1999-2000 as a member of an official cultural delegation headed by the our Minister Ananth Kumar for the Indian Cultural Days in 1999-2000 to commemorate Bairam Khan. Bairam Khan and Abdur Rahim Khan-e-Khana animated the historic relations between India and Turkmenistan during the Mughal period.

With this, I conclude this impromptu effort to register some oral history.