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COMFORTING THE AFFLICTED

Tournament Of Shadows

A thought for today How can you remember someone you cannot forget? BADRINATH SINGH

Unsafe City Four years after the Nirbhaya gang rape, crimes against women are going unpunished

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ate Wednesday night a job-seeker was raped inside a car in Moti Bagh. This was a painful reminder that exactly four years after the Nirbhaya gang rape, which had outraged the entire nation and made it stand together demanding change, not enough has changed. It’s true that the speed with which the accused was arrested supports the claim that the police now take crimes against women more seriously, but prevention and conviction remain sore points – and in need of major improvement. Over the last four years reported incidents of rape have increased in Delhi. The police are likely correct that this is because more women now come forward to lodge complaints. Nonetheless, it is still an appalling statistic that a rape is being registered in the Indian capital every four hours. Even conviction rates offer no comfort, despite the setting up of more fast-track courts and despite the stronger anti-rape laws passed after the Nirbhaya gang rape. The Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal points out that in 2014, out of 11,000 such cases there were convictions in less than 100. Stronger investigations and forensics are needed to improve these abysmal conviction rates. Meanwhile the Centre has plans to set up 650 Nirbhaya centres all across the country, which would serve as one stop stations for providing medical and police assistance along with counselling and temporary shelter to victims of rape, molestation and domestic violence. But according to the women and child development ministry, only 20 such centres have been made operational so far. There is no excusing this kind of lethargy. One major vulnerability factor has been the lack of last-mile connectivity. Yet the capital is still awaiting the 3,000 mini and midi buses the Delhi government promised. GPS tracking devices have been installed on only 200 out of 3,775 DTC buses. Only 200 buses have marshals, compared to the promised deployment of 4,000 on all public buses. The spread of CCTVs in the city also leaves much to be desired. It is true that the conscience of the nation was shaken on December 16, 2012. Society now demands governments take concrete steps to provide a safe environment for women and strong punishment for crimes against women. But the pace of change must pick up.

Tread Lightly Tax and other enforcement authorities must not abuse big data to bring back inspector raj

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ast week, the year’s second voluntary income disclosure scheme was approved by Lok Sabha and operationalised. Along with it were reports of bankers being sacked or suspended for complicity in attempts to launder unaccounted money, and an invitation to citizens to lodge anonymous complaints if they notice suspicious activity. The weeks following demonetisation have been accompanied by growing intrusiveness of the state. Big government seems to be back with a vengeance. But India’s earlier experiment in this area led to an inspector raj and created opportunities for corruption to flourish. It must not be repeated. A legitimate expectation of demonetisation was that it would leave trails which could be used to bring tax evaders to book. This was in line with a series of steps taken over the last decade to create an audit trail in myriad areas to allow tax authorities to mine data. This is a sound way of widening the tax net. In addition to tax authorities, agencies such as the Financial Intelligence Unit processed information related to suspicious financial transactions. India was switching to a more sophisticated way of enforcing tax rules. It is important that government now build upon a decade’s work. Threats of tax raids and allowing bureaucrats to exercise excessive power will be counterproductive. The return of an inspector raj will have a chilling effect on economic activity. It will only prolong the ongoing economic disruption. Government must send the right message to all economic agents. Legitimate economic activity ought to be encouraged and needless impediments removed. Exhorting people to use digital modes of payment is not enough. Different arms of the government should make better use of technology to do their work.

What it will take for Trump to contain an expanding China [email protected]

Take your ringside seats, people, as another US-China tournament of shadows unfolds. When Donald Trump spoke to Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen and challenged established US-China policy, many parts of Asia, India included, quietly cheered. As expected, China retaliated – by stealing a US Navy drone from South China Sea, testing both a departing president and an incoming one. Bill Clinton had the Taiwan Straits crisis, George Bush was greeted with the embarrassment of the EP-3E crash, and Barack Obama was challenged when five Chinese navy ships harassed the USNS Impeccable. Trump is being greeted ahead of his term but we await events with interest, because they could determine global events of the coming four years. Both US and China are in a dangerous part of the field. China has to protect the aura of ‘core leader’ Xi Jinping, who is driving the combined tigers of nationalism, military modernisation, anti-corruption and a slowing economy. The US pivot has been more rhetorical than substantive, with TPP the focal point. That is now gone, giving China a unique opportunity to expand its sphere of influence. China is losing any compunctions about using or threatening force in pursuit of its interests as the PLA becomes au fait with high-tech warfare. Last week revealed satellite pictures of China beefing up its military presence on the disputed Spratly Islands by installing large anti-aircraft guns and close-in weapons systems. The Asian Maritime Transparency Initiative tracking these developments concluded these facilities at Fiery Cross, Mischief and Subi Reefs are more sophisticated than the ones presently installed at Gaven, Hughes, Johnson and Cuarteron Reefs. By making overtly military installations, China can also move its actions beyond the purview of UNCLOS, which can only adjudicate on civilian issues. China has driven a bus through Asean,

leaving lofty ideals like Asean solidarity ground to dust. Cambodia, Laos, Brunei are singing from the same sheet, Rodrigo Duterte of Philippines is swinging wildly but apparently inching towards Beijing, Malaysia wants closer security ties with China as does post-coup Thailand. That leaves Vietnam, Singapore and Indonesia hoping for a credible alternative. Into this comes Trump and his decision to upend Washington’s comfortable China assumptions. Interestingly, in the weeks after Trump’s election, almost all his major pronouncements have involved China, and his professed intention to go after China on trade and currency manipulation, etc. In an interview, Trump said, “I don’t know why we have to be bound by a one-China policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade.” This promises to be interesting. Consider just a few things: China has increased its investments enormously in US in the last decade, employing 1,00,000 US workers compared to 10,000 in

The US therefore looms important in India’s strategic calculations, especially as India tries to bone up its own capabilities across the board to bridge the gap with China 2006, according to a recent report by New York based research firm Rhodium Group. Those are important figures for Trump who has put jobs front and centre of his presidency, but which hands an important leverage for China. Wang Jianlin, China’s richest man and the largest Chinese investor in US this week threatened to cut loose 20,000 US workers in retaliation if Trump steps out of line. Of course China manipulates currency, but as capital flows out of China in large amounts, it’s been fighting to shore up the yuan, selling off US treasuries in large amounts. At some point, it will

have to let the yuan devalue sharply, which will unleash a whole new storm. Trump’s options against China therefore remain mainly military, though China has promised to support US ‘enemies’. If he can get US capacities back in the Asia-Pacific, strengthen allies like Japan, Korea, Singapore, and friends like India and Vietnam, it might be possible to contain China. Last week’s Shinzo Abe-Vladimir Putin summit in Japan therefore holds promise. It will also involve the US working to get a more ‘normal’ Russia relationship. The danger would be if Trump’s national security team give in to their instincts to open up the Middle East by going after Iran. That would suck the US back into this everlasting quagmire. India is no stranger to pushing back against China. In the past decade, China has stupidly turned its South Asia policy into a zero-sum game between India and Pakistan, using it to block India’s rise, witness the NSG fiasco, Masood Azhar and UNSC reform. At every stage, China has sought to shore up Pakistan to bridge its gap with India, leaving traditional enmity to do the rest. India came to the party late, but in the last few years India has begun to play a more asymmetric game. New Delhi removed its affirmation of the one-China policy in 2010 after China questioned India’s sovereignty in J&K. It has not only not been reinstated, India now demands an affirmation of ‘one-India’ from the Chinese. Arunachal Pradesh, thankfully, is seeing more international visitors despite Beijing’s hyperventilation – US ambassador Richard Verma, Karmapa Lama and soon, the Dalai Lama. Border infrastructure and border defence projects are beating glacial paces. In the South Asia mohalla, India is trying to be a better ‘padosan’. The US therefore looms important in India’s strategic calculations, especially as India tries to bone up its own capabilities across the board to bridge the gap with China. The Modi government’s security-oriented outlook may be a good fit, but their trade policies are positively Neanderthal. And that means India could fall way short.

‘No-detention policy was introduced in schools like notebandi, with no preparation ... Ministers should not decide curriculum’ Delhi’s AAP government often makes headlines for verbal attacks on the central government, PM Narendra Modi and Delhi’s Lt Governor whom it accuses of administrative interference but it has recently been experimenting with new moves in education, an arena where it does enjoy autonomy. Delhi’s deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who also holds charge of education, spoke to Himanshi Dhawan on the challenges of fixing public schools in the national capital, regulating private schools and political disputes with the central government: ■ Despite being the national capital, Delhi is a city where teacher vacancies in schools are 25%, much higher than the national average of 17%. How are you tackling this? Delhi has a big problem of infrastructure. Our pupil-teacher ratio is disturbed but when we look at the classroom-pupil ratio it is much worse. That is why my focus is there first. We are going to complete 8,000 classrooms. Another 8,000 will be constructed in a year’s time. When this is completed, we can have a ratio of 35-45 students per class, rather than 100 per class at the moment. The 25% vacancy ratio is for permanent teachers. The process of hiring is very long-drawn and time-consuming. The model – that government

must do the hiring – is faulty. We are bridging the gap with guest teachers and resource teachers. Principals have been given the power to hire retired teachers for a short-term period. Our government has given principals financial powers and powers to hire estate managers. ■ How are you training teachers? We have sent them to Cambridge and IIMs for training. My ultimate aim is a good result, not just the CBSE result but to ensure that students have learning outcomes expected of them at their age. Curriculum should be flexible. Principal and teachers should have the power to decide how it should be taught. Why should i as a minister or my directorate decide how the curriculum should be taught? This is a problem not just in Delhi

but across the country. ■ Governments often bring in their own ideology into education through changes in curriculum. Do you plan to do that as well? Our curriculum should not change with the change in government but with the times. When the Left comes to power, they change the curriculum or the Right when it comes to power does the same. We need engineers, managers, financial experts but we also need honest people. Why doesn’t our curriculum give guarantee that someone who has been taught will be honest? Our curriculum is too job-oriented. There needs to be a critical approach to education. ■ You talk of alleviating stress but the Centre plans to re-introduce board exams and scrap the nodetention policy. Your comments? No-detention policy was introduced but stress has not gone. There was no preparation to implement the policy. I am a great advocate of the no-detention policy but it should not be implemented without certain other changes. It is like notebandi – no preparation was done. The syllabus should be reduced, exams should be implemented but with preparation. ■ The pass percentage in government schools is encouraging but learning outcomes are patchy. What are you doing about this? We have started reading melas, summer camps to improve

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communication and encourage children. The problem is the low level of confidence among students, children and earlier even the government. I am not blaming anyone but the “sarkari” mindset was that these children are poor, they will not be able to study much, so they should be grateful for whatever they are getting. We are trying to change this mindset. ■ You have cracked the whip on private schools. Why shouldn’t private schools be allowed to charge whatever they want if parents are willing to pay for it? Private schools are a reality. But they need to be regulated, not with a whip but with benchmarks. There has to be transparency in admission, in fees. If i get complaints from school, then i will intervene on these two issues. School fees can be increased with some logic. If schools are taking fees, to improve the school, that is fine. But people want to establish education empires by siphoning off fees. You can’t loot parents in the name of education and we will not stand for that. ■ Why does AAP government always blame PM or Lt Governor for its lack of ability to work? PM should stop creating obstacles in our path and we won’t blame him. All our schemes are for the public – whether it is mohalla clinics or school meetings. We will fight for that. It is only because we have fought that work has got done. We have been able to achieve so much after much struggle.

Sacredspace Reward Or Punish

No motion, only commotion

Do you think that success is only about external rewards and winning? A policy of reward and punishment is devoid of moral and ethical values, a huge lack especially when it comes to solving global challenges.

Taxpayers’ money once again goes down the well of the House [email protected]

Somebody in Parliament said adjournment motion but the only motion citizens saw was commotion. When it was time for Question Hour, there were no questions asked. When the Speaker called for order, there was only disorder. In place of parliamentary debate there was only unparliamentary language. Lok Sabha became shor sabha and Rajya Sabha became rowdy sabha, the House of Elders seemingly consisting of veterans of disruption. The government said it’s the opposition’s fault, the opposition said it’s the government’s fault, showing that there are just too many fault lines in the political class. The winter chill has not yet set in but Parliament is in deep freeze and 22 non-working days have meant that taxpayers’ money has once again gone down the well of the House. The grey eminences of public life, President Pranab Mukherjee and BJP senior LK Advani are wringing their hands. Even senior citizens were upset that parliamentarians seem to have taken VRS from their duties and reduced the House to a retirement home. The margdarshak mandal knows that netas were not being good margdarshaks for the country. While the queues outside ATMs are becoming longer, productive time in Parliament is becoming shorter. In one instance it took just 30 seconds for the Speaker to adjourn the House, showing that Indian democracy is in too much of a hurry. The PM speaks in jan sabhas and at the Coldplay concert but there’s no mann ki baat in the House. Rahul Gandhi is the angry young man at press conferences asking the nation to read his lips. But in the House his lips are sealed. The Left is standing up in Parliament but is lying down outside the House. While Madam Speaker flails her arms and tries to control MPs, every MP wants to be in the Speaker’s Corner. Quipped the internet wag, I don’t approve of political jokes, I’ve seen too many of them get elected. The costs of democracy are high. According to figures often cited, running Parliament costs Rs 2.5 lakhs per minute or Rs 2 crore per day. MPs get Rs 2,000 per day to attend Parliament. But of course when the aam admi gets to the bank, he faces a sign saying, “Sorry, No Cash Available.” We are working towards a cashless economy but perhaps we should first work towards a cashless democracy. While citizens come home after a hard day’s work, netas return from Parliament after hardly any work.

THE TIMES OF INDIA, AHMEDABAD MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2016

AFFLICTING THE COMFORTABLE

Uday Deb

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Deepak Chopra

Atheists Also Have A Definite Moral Code Sumit Paul

orality has been hijacked by religion. When British historian Arnold Toynbee said this in a lecture, the French existentialists and writers Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus doffed their hats to him because both were lifelong non-believers, yet they had their own ethical values and a set of exalted morals. It’s perhaps the most inveterate notion among the people all over the world that non-believers and atheists have no morals (and often no hearts). But religion has nothing to do with one’s morals and intrinsic compassion. People with no faith and no belief in any supernatural power can be morally as good as their religious peers. Nature has endowed us with free will. We all have undergone a long process of evolution with a definite sense of good and bad. Religion and god were created,

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or should i say concocted, to control, regulate and moderate our feral instincts. An overall sense of esoteric fear was slowly built up for people to act in a manner that was in agreement with the then primitive society’s limited needs. But there have been people in all ages and times, who’ve their own independent way of thinking, shorn of any divine compulsions and complications. Yet, they never went berserk and always followed their own morality. Most Greek and Roman philosophers and writers like Diogenes, Epicurus, Sophocles and Ovid among others never believed in the pagan gods of Greeks and Romans and rejected the idea of hell, heaven and afterlife. Despite that, they were great moralists, who followed universal values. And it was Diogenes who was

the first man to suggest that a rapist had no place in a civilised society and he must be banished, but not killed. Gautama Buddha never believed in any god or supernatural power. In fact, the core of Buddha’s philosophy is atheism. Yet, Buddha is still considered to be an epitome of compassion and rectitude. So was his contemporary Vardhman, who became Mahavira. Jainism is yet another atheistic faith but Mahavira was a compassionate moralist. Even Charvaka (Hedonistic school of Indian philosophy) never believed in god and rejected all beliefs, had a moral code and its proponents were not anarchists. So too the followers of Saankhya Darshan. They don’t consider god to be the creator of the universe but have a deep sense of reverence for all creatures and the cosmos. Their moral code is in

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speaking tree

sync with humanity and all that’s good and noble in mankind. My friend, philosopher, mentor and professor Zaifa Ashraf left her religion (Islam) at the age of 17 and when she died at the age of 57, her last wish was that her mortal remains should be donated to a medical college and all her usable body parts must be used for the poor and needy. I still meet a 16-year-old young girl who sees the world with the good professor’s eyes and she never forgets to thank the departed lady. Prof Ashraf was a staunch atheist, yet she was filled with humane qualities and was morally upright. Considering all of this, to me, a genuine moralist is one who’s good to all and doesn’t hurt anyone; does not expect any reward from any god or religion. Non-believers can be altruistic and moralistic without any ulterior motive like reaping rewards in heaven. Post your comments at speakingtree.in