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THE TRIBUNE

OPINION

08

CHANDIGARH | THURSDAY | 6 APRIL 2017

Back to the Valley

THE TRIBUNE

With winter snow melting, more than just temperature will rise

established in 1881

Provoking the Dragon Are there any fallback options?

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HINA is like the proverbial cat on the hot tin roof as far as the Dalai Lama’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh is concerned. China has accused India of obstinacy that has caused “serious damage” to bilateral ties after the Dalai Lama began visiting the “disputed” parts of Arunachal Pradesh. India’s outwardly resolute stand should gladden the cockles of nationalists, especially in light of the RSS top brass calling for an overhaul of India’s China policy because Beijing has not reciprocated India’s friendly overtures. In addition to maintaining that the Dalai Lama is a religious leader and enjoys freedom of movement in any part of the country, the nationalists argue, not without reason, that there was no adverse fallout when the Dalai Lama had last visited Arunachal Pradesh in 2009. But 2017 is not 2009 in many respects: the number of high-level Sino-Indian summits that could reduce tensions is fewer, serious differences exist on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), India was rebuffed when it contrived to send the Dalai Lama to Mongolia and China is more upfront in thwarting India's great power ambitions. India had earlier bought insurance against Beijing’s adventurism by getting co-opted in Barack Obama’s “Pivot to Asia”. But Donald Trump is yet to spell out his China policy and his meeting with Xi Jinping months before an interaction with Prime Minister Narendra Modi could be a sign of things to come. Indian diplomacy does not have a fallback option if China accepts New Delhi's gauntlet. The multiple power centres have blunted the creativity in implementing foreign policy. Indian diplomacy is in a freeze because of the PM's accent on an unremittingly muscular foreign policy. South Block is trying to keep China in good humour by highlighting the potential for economic partnerships. But this strategy comes up short because India opposes CPEC, the crown jewel in Beijing's Belt and Road initiative. Diplomacy must help creatively wriggle out of strategic immobilisation. Some forthcoming regional summits will see China and India sitting across the table. Both sides must grab the chances for partnership in other areas to ensure that security disputes remain within manageable proportions.

Yogi keeps his promise Makes it difficult for the Raja in Punjab

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HE swiftness with which the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has presented a blueprint for waiving farmers' debt has put pressure on the governments in Punjab, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu to do something similarly dramatic. In the passionate bid for power politicians promise anything. Reality bites on gaining office. Capt Amarinder Singh has cleverly bought two months' time by telling an expert group to study the issue. But the alacrity displayed by the Yogi, considered inexperienced in governance, will not allow the congress government in Punjab to prevaricate beyond a point. Like other states where farmer distress is glaring, Punjab had expected a Central bailout. With expectations belied, the Amarinder government is now struggling to come to terms with the enormity of the financial challenge, which includes unpaid bills amounting to Rs 17,000 crore, an off-budget spending of Rs 25,000 crore by the previous regime, the state debt shooting to 1.83 lakh crore and the pay commission report awaiting implementation in a not too distant future, apart from the litany of populist promises thoughtlessly made in the passion to win. Opposition and public pressure will mount once the honeymoon period is over. None in the political class says the unpretty things that need to be said about the politics of loan waivers. The SBI chief has done it from the banks’ angle: “Today, the loans will come back as the government will pay for it but when we disburse loans again then the farmers will wait for the next election expecting another waiver.” Bank credit to farmers would not take long to dry up as good borrowers would stop paying back on time and farmers would once again be at the mercy of private lenders. The cycle of taking loans and seeking a waiver would kick in again, while the taxpayer would be asked to pay for the political largess. Money meant for education and healthcare will get diverted. Farmers need help but only in buying inputs cheaper and getting a higher price for their produce.

Thought for the Day Sometimes you have to take a step back to move forward. — Erika Taylor

G Parthasarathy

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commence only if our concerns on terrorism are seen as being addressed in an irreversible manner. India should continue to back moves by Bangladesh and Afghanistan to keep SAARC in coldstorage, while promoting links with our eastern neighbours through forums like BBIN and BIMSTEC. Given its domestic situation, Pakistan does not appear able to deliver meaningfully on issues of terrorism. Sharif is under siege domestically, because of a Supreme Court inquiry into his properties and wealth abroad. Pakistan is being torn apart by sectari-

an Shia-Sunni and Wahhabi-Sufi rivalries and violence. The army is now deployed virtually across the country, fighting insurgencies in Balochistan and the Pashtun tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. Islamabad is being repaid in kind by the Afghans across the disputed Durand Line, both in Balochistan and the Pashtun tribal areas. Sectarian violence has reached Punjab and Sindh. India needs to ensure that it extends unstinted moral, material and diplomatic support to Afghan efforts to deal with ISI-sponsored terrorism. While the security and diplomatic efforts to deal with terrorism continue, New Delhi will also have to consider measures internally to signal that it means business in dealing with those encouraging, supporting and inciting youths to take to stone pelting. South Block has for too long looked rather benignly on the Hurriyat Conference and its role in inciting and supporting violence. There is evidence against many Hurriyat leaders of money laundering and other charges. People like Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who take the lead in inciting violence, based on instructions from across the LoC, need to be charged, moved out of the Valley and tried. Even Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who is said to receive benign treatment, is given to inciting crowds regularly, especially after prayers he leads. Those inciting and distributing money to youngsters should be immediately put behind bars. The state government and its police, including the Special Operations Group, should be activated to take the lead in restoring normalcy, with the Army’s backing. Terrorists have been emboldened to threaten the lives of family members of police officials. The Punjab Police reacted very strongly when their families were similarly threatened. There is no reason why the J&K Police cannot be similarly motivated. Moreover, far more proactive measures are needed to curtail and even disable facilities for the use of social media in the Valley. Most importantly, the ruling coalition partners should set aside differences, with the Mehbooba Mufti-led government taking the lead in ensuring that the education of children is not held hostage to the diktats of separatist leaders and their patrons across the LoC.

election programme that was telecast on one of the oldest English news channels. Whither secret ballot! Election after election, the electorate hopes — in vain — that ‘real’ poll issues would find centre-stage in the political debate. For many though, it is a convenient ruse to squarely blame the politicians for perpetuating these inimical divides. Having been born and brought up in the biggest metropolis of the country, Delhi, I was oblivious to the concept of caste. Thanks to my parents, my sibling, my teachers and my peers, I spent the first 25 years of my life in a casteless utopia. However, the bubble of a caste-less society that I was blissfully living in tragically burst soon after I came to Haryana to join the police serv-

ice. I was woken up to the harsh reality of a world revolving around caste. I vividly recollect even after nine years my first run-in with caste consciousness. It was a day when interviews were being conducted for teachers to be recruited to a primary school being run out of the Police Lines for wards of police personnel. The district SP asked me to join the panel of interviewers which also had eminent professors from a leading state university as subject experts. As the interviews got over and I took leave of my boss, one of the panellists excitedly walked up to me, pointing towards my nameplate. With an uncanny grin he said, ‘We belong to the same subcaste.’ I was aghast to realise how myopic a professor of a university

could be. The professor, embarrassingly, continued his histrionic display of ecstasy with no qualms whatsoever, perhaps expecting me to embrace him as the proverbial brother separated in a fair. I somehow managed to gather my wits and quipped that my only identity was that of an Indian. It would be imprudent to pin all hopes on the political class to first let go of its proclivity for the use/abuse of identities based on caste, religion or region as the stakes are the greatest for them. Rather, it is for the so-called educated class to lead the socio-political discourse away from such nonissues. The first step in this direction could be to shun the practice of analysis of voting patterns on the lines of caste, religion or region.

Kudumbashree programme under a cooperative model initiated by the Kerala Government must be replicated across India. With organic and cooperative farming, along with structural reforms in public sector investment, agriculture can gain its glory.

cial fund should be arranged for this. Youth of Punjab must be taken off drugs, so they can be an asset to their families, the state and the country as a whole. That will be a true service to the state. Mere lip service and criticism of the previous government wouldn’t serve any purpose. Drug dealers, of course, should be dealt with ruthlessly.

came and when death took me away I went/Neither did I come on my own will nor will I go on my own accord).

HE

year 2016 was tumultuous in the Kashmir valley. The gunning down of Burhan Wani, a terrorist who built his image by imaginative use of social media, was accompanied by an unprecedented, but imaginatively crafted agitation, using stone-pelting youths to confront the security forces. The winter snows restricted such enthusiastic and carefully financed and planned pelting. The planners, sitting in comfortable surroundings in the PoK and Pakistan, did, however, achieve their objective of getting wide media publicity, even if it involved disrupting and sacrificing the lives of young Kashmiris. Not surprisingly, the Hurriyat Conference, receiving instructions from ISI handlers, did its bit in inflaming public sentiment. With the Himalayan snow set to melt in the coming weeks, India will have to prepare for yet another summer of disruption and stone-throwing. The ISI will ensure that those Kashmiri youngsters, who crossed the LoC, will be joined by new jihadis from the LeT and JeM to serve as cannon fodder for fulfilling ISI ambitions. Enough funds will be provided to get unemployed youth to resort to pelting and getting killed or injured in the return fire by the security forces. Social media will be used for incendiary messaging, crafted to stoke passions. In the meantime, a propaganda blitz will be launched by Pakistan calling on the world to intervene and compel India to resume the sterile ‘composite dialogue process’. Why does Pakistan place so much emphasis on this so-called ‘composite dialogue process’? The answer lies in the fact that this dialogue process, initiated in 1997, was the outcome of one of the worst blunders in Indian diplomacy, matched only by our diplomatic ineptitude during the Sharm-el-Sheikh fiasco. In this process, primary importance is given to what Pakistan wishes to discuss, including J&K, Siachen, Sir Creek, and hydel/ river water projects in J&K, which Pakistan likes to block. Shockingly, ‘terrorism’ features only towards the very bottom of this list. Terrorism was rendered even more marginal by coupling it with ‘drug smuggling’. This is a format that suited Pakistan as it could unleash terrorism across India

MEAN BUSINESS: India should insist on the agreement reached at the Ufa Summit. and then insist that terrorism could be discussed peripherally, alongside issues like cultural ties and visas! The strike by our Special Forces on terrorist staging areas across the LoC on September 29 had more than mere symbolic importance. It signalled a readiness by India to strike across the established borders, if and when needed, at a time and manner of its choosing. The likes of Hafiz Saeed and Dawood Ibrahim should not ever be allowed to feel secure from such Indian retribution. To achieve this, the entire ‘composite dialogue process’

Separatist leaders must be dealt with strictly. ‘Composite’ dialogue with Pakistan should be discarded. We merely need to convey our readiness to discuss issues when the time is appropriate .

should be discarded. There is no need for a ‘structured’ dialogue process with Pakistan. We merely need to convey our readiness to discuss all issues when the time is appropriate. To start with, India should insist that in accordance with the agreement reached between Prime Ministers Modi and Nawaz Sharif at the Ufa Summit, the DGMOs of both countries should discuss specific measures to seal the borders and end infiltration and terrorism. The levels of such meetings could be raised to meetings between the Indian Army’s Vice-Chief

Cast aside caste E Shashank Anand

LECTIONS

in India always bring some hackneyed phrases into currency — anti-incumbency, development, secularism, votebank, ticket, caste, regionalism, code of conduct and the like. The recently concluded elections to five state legislatures, including the most populous state of the country, saw the print, electronic and new-age social media inundated with countless analyses by political pundits vying to explain how people of different castes, religions and regions voted. It was particularly appalling to view television reporters bluntly enquire from the people of UP their caste, their sub-caste and whom they voted for, during a prime-time

and Pakistan’s Chief of General Staff. There could even be meetings between the two army chiefs. While one cannot expect significant change in the strategic aims of the Pakistan army, its present army chief, Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, does not appear to be afflicted by megalomania, like his predecessor. The entire dialogue should be exclusively security-oriented and also involve meetings between chiefs of the BSF and Pakistan Rangers. Meetings could be considered between the chiefs of R&AW and the ISI. Meetings between foreign secretaries, and at political level, should

letters to the editor Full-time Defence Minister At present, there is no designated Defence Minister who can be held responsible for the non-filling of vacancies of senior Army officers. How can files related to promotions be put on hold for months? We can ill-afford to play with the career of senior officers. During the pendency of the files, many deserving officers will superannuate in their present rank for no fault of theirs. Since promotions of all officers are chain-related, we are damaging their career. All such files should be cleared at least two months in advance and the incumbents should be informed at least a month in advance, so they are mentally ready to take on the next assignment. Therefore, there is a dire need to appoint a permanent Defence Minister who can ensure the smooth running of the most important portfolio, defence. COL JASPAL SINGH (RETD), LUDHIANA

Drunk driving Banning the sale of liquor near a highway is neither necessary nor sufficient to end the menace of drunk driving. For a person determined to drink, halfa-km is no deterrence. Drunks staggering out of a party at a home are

untouched by the ban, as are those who treat a bottle as a driving accessory. Undoubtedly, the SC order will reduce the loss of lives to some extent, but strict implementation of traffic rules and transport norms still remain the key. The government should be held responsible for road accidents for another reason: unsafe road conditions. We cannot leave it to the judiciary to come up with piecemeal solutions; it’s up to the governments to act. SC DHALL, ZIRAKPUR

Alternative medicine Apropos the new health policy, corrective measures need to be taken, like focus on medical education, high quality research and intensive theoretical and practical training in a conducive environment, particularly in Indian systems of medicine (ISM). Ayurveda leads in preventive and promotive health and should be developed for achieving the NHP goals. Whenever medical and health subjects are discussed, it is sans ISM due to ignorance and indifferent attitude of the authorities and policy makers. Qualified doctors of ISM render healthcare services, supplemented with allopathy, and should not be under-

rated. This sector too needs focus. The government should bring in reforms in admissions, teaching, training, research and standardisation of ayurveda and other systems of medicine. NARESH DALAL, JHAJJAR

SANDEEP KUMAR, CHANDIGARH

Wrong prescription The article on the revival of agriculture based on a market-driven agenda is flawed (April 3). The only thing ‘market’ understands is profit. The experience of developed countries tells us that agriculture always needs state patronage. It cannot be left to the predatory nature of the market. Agriculture must be considered as an instrument of welfare, not a revenue generation tool. Moreover, the Indian agriculture stands to lose by linking it with neo-liberal agencies like the WTO. A state which can give loans to corporates to the extent of Rs 11 lakh crore and waive it to the extent of Rs 2.11 lakh crore, bearing NPAs around Rs 6 lakh crore, faces ‘fiscal indiscipline’ when it comes to farmers. A complex web of credit system has been framed for farmers. The real structural reform must start with land and tenancy reforms to ensure sustainable growth in agriculture. The successful

DEVINDER GARG, CHANDIGARH

SBI hike The SBI has recently hiked the minimum balance for savings account and other charges, and has decided to lower lending rates. The hike in charges will hit millions of account holders. Not maintaining the minimum balance will invite a penalty from Rs 20 to Rs 100. The steep hike in charges is not in the interest of the lower middle class. The SBI should reconsider its decision. RK ARORA, AMRITSAR

Fighting drugs The Punjab election was fought and won around the drugs menace prevailing in the state. To demolish the network of drugs, a heavy hand is required, but with a rider. Addicts are not criminals, they are victims of circumstances and must be treated as patients. A spe-

Letters to the Editor, typed in double space, should not exceed the 200-word limit. These should be cogently written and can be sent by e-mail to: [email protected]

For lost sisters Tears streamed down my cheeks, drenching my white beard, on reading the middle ‘Kid sister frozen in memory’ (April 4). I had also lost my younger sister. My tears were for all the lost sisters. Jag junction railan da/Gaddi ik aavey ik jaavey (This world is a railway junction, one train chugs in, the other out). That is the way of the Master. Wajida kaun aakhey Sahib nu inj nahi inj kar (Poet Wajeed says none can direct the Lord). Birth and death are in His hands. We can shed tears over the untimely demise of our loved ones, but can’t change the course of destiny. Zauk famously said: Laayi hayaat aaye kazaa le chali chale,/Aapni khushi na aaye na aapni khushi chale (When life brought me I

JASWANT SINGH GANDAM, PHAGWARA

Grade politicians too When even a night watchman is appraised for his work, why should political leaders, who are nation builders, not be graded? If this were to happen, they would be cautious, fearing their political career may end. Some laws should be evolved to evaluate political parties on their performance during their tenure vis-a-vis their promises to the electorate during poll campaigns. GURPREET SINGH SANDHU, GURDASPUR

Not about Vande Mataram Equal respect must be given to every religion, caste, creed, sex and to the national anthem as well. A Hindu must respect namaz, a Muslim must respect puja, an Indian must respect an African. It is not always about being patriotic simply by standing for Vande Mataram or the anthem, it is about humanity. Let us not create division by exaggerating minor issues. BEENISH QURESHI, JAMMU

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THE TRIBUNE

OPED

CHANDIGARH | THURSDAY | 6 APRIL 2017

09

Four steps to correct squinted view of Kashmir

A Saffron Republic? It would be a mistake today for anyone who believes in the separation of the Church and State not to be alarmed by the Saffron wave sweeping this nation. Simran Sodhi

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STREET RAGE: Stone-throwers at Rawalpora, Srinagar, protest against the Chadoora encounter and target the paramilitary forces. (Below) Soldiers examine a vehicle damaged in a militant attack on the convoy. TRIBUNE PHOTO: MOHAMMAD AMIN WAR

Arun Joshi

India has to first and foremost put in place a realistic narrative as a way out of the Kashmir imbroglio that has become more intractable. More than ever before, instead of a military solution, there is the dire need for “quiet diplomacy and politics.”

I

T is very difficult to describe the

current Kashmir situation in a balanced manner. There are so many prejudices that suppress the existing reality from coming to the real-time attention. The whole scenario is subjugated by an all-pervasive narrative of oppression of the people by the " brute forces" . It has been peddled so effectively on the social media and the news channels that the US representative at the United Nations, Nikki Haley, dropped clear hints that President Donald Trump may speak to India and Pakistan to resolve their issues. The unspoken reference is to Kashmir, which evokes fears of a “nuclear flash point in the region” for the international community. India, for all good reasons, rejects the talk of third-party intervention and asserts that it can resolve its issues. But the the damage is done. Pakistan has succeeded in reviving the world's fears vis-à-vis Kashmir and its eastern neighbour, India. Now, the question may be asked who has isolated whom at the world stage.

Worsening situation Never before was the Kashmir situation as bad as it is today. It is a grave mistake to read the situation in terms of decline in terrorist violence and drastic reduction in casualties from hundreds in the 1990s to less than 100 in terrorism-related incidents in the Valley. The real issue is that the Kashmiri psyche is ingrained with the idea of resistance — not just with guns and stones but also with the hate and anger that they harbour against India. What happened in Chadoora on March 28 — three protestors were killed in security forces' firing for they were being harassed by the hostile and the stone- throwing mobs to dismantle their anti-militancy operation launched to neutralise one militant. These killings, read with the homegrown psychology of ‘hate India’ — soldiers are seen as face of India — reveal an uncomfortable truth. The crowds had rushed to the encounter site, willing to risk their lives to save the trapped militant. This doesn't end here. The youth at the encounter sites with all-too-visible stones in their hands showcase the widening of the conflict. Pakistan, of course, is delighted by all this. It helps its Deep State to work

on this day... 100 years ago

to cause unrest in the Valley and to demonise India through its envoys and hired propaganda machinery within Kashmir and abroad. That is where the international attention gets riveted to Kashmir trouble. In short, the conflict is widening at an amazing pace in the minds of Kashmiris. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who brought a choice of terrorism and tourism for the stone-throwers, was looking only through the prism of economic prosperity of the place. That terrorism and tourism don't go together is a universally accepted phrase. He was 100 per cent right in making the people aware of how terrorism in Kashmir had brought decades of bloodshed to the Valley, ruined their progress and made them hostage to deprivation. So much so, the benefits of the advance of the 21st century have been denied to the people. Thus economics matters in Kashmir as it does elsewhere in the world. But they have demonstrated an undiminished love for the militants and stone-throwers. All the earlier talk of "azadi," and Pakistan as their future nation has been subdued by the romance of the Islamic rule. India faces four different challenges to transform the narrative if it really wishes to do something in Kashmir. First, it has to discard the notion that a military approach alone can help to regain the lost paradise. It has not worked. Local militancy is a greater threat than the one coming from across the border. It is true, as the Prime Minister said, that if Pakistan is unable to stabilise itself, can it be a choice for the people of Jammu and Kashmir? The fact is that the Pakistan-sponsored narrative has more acceptability here. Secondly, Pakistan needs to be dealt with sophisticated diplomacy. The

snub-Islamabad policy for all its audaciousness is not the answer. Mature nations look at long-term victory and not short-term nationalist passion-satisfying diplomacy. Third, it is more important for India to set its own house in Kashmir in order before embarking on the journey of diplomatic victories. The country's soft power is nearly absent. Hard power has not been able to tame militancy. The people are important. It is a good sight to see (from the Indian perspective) thousands lining up for jobs at the Army recruitment rally. That, too, needs to be analysed. Why were these people there? Were they in search of jobs or for their love for the nation? The narrative should be moulded in such a way that even those who don't find jobs love the nation. Unfortunately, that is not the reality. Fourth, it should be borne in mind that Kashmiris by and large are peaceloving people but they have been pushed into the cauldron of violence. They are in search of trustworthy peace not by the overwhelming and intrusive presence of the forces but as an evolution that finds its way through "quiet diplomacy and politics." This is the phrase used by the former Home Minister, P Chidamaram, but it is more relevant today than ever before. Delhi should also stop funding and encouraging political parties and their leaders who seek escape routes in being pro-Pakistan and manufacture narrative about the Kashmir scene. They are more deadly than separatists. That distinction needs to be made right away to bring a breath of fresh air, with the help of a realistic narrative which will help in curing the squinted view of Kashmir. [email protected]

quick crossword Across 1 Kipling, 5 Diana, 8 Paraphernalia, 9 Kraal, 10 Chronic, 11 Sadden, 12 Spooky, 15 Bramble, 17 Order, 19 Accommodating, 20 Holly, 21 Ancient.

Lord Ronaldshay on Criticism. AMONG the replies made by Lord Ronaldshay to the various addresses of welcome presented to him recently we find that he spoke to the Mahajana Sabha how he would value or ignore criticism of himself and his measures. He said:- “Well, gentlemen, I have served my apprenticeship in the rough and tumble of English political life; and I can assure you that you will always find me ready to welcome criticism that is well informed or that is intended to be helpful. Perhaps you will forgive me if I add that I shall treat criticism which lacks these qualities with the contempt which it deserves.” The reference to the English political life shows that the Governor of Bengal is prepared to allow in India that liberty of criticism which is made in England.

Down 1 Kapok, 2 Part and parcel, 3 Impulse, 4 Greece, 5 Diner, 6 All in good time, 7 Anarchy, 11 Sabbath, 13 Prosaic, 14 Pelota, 16 Bumpy, 18 Right.

History Teaching in Ireland. IT is well-known that the history of the Indian people is not taught to the children of this country in the spirit it should be. Inaccurate and prejudiced versions are taught to the great disadvantage of the children. Just now in Ireland a protest is made against the national board of education for substituting European history from 1800 to 1914 for the history of Great Britain and Ireland during the Stuart period. There is a movement asking the authorities not to exclude the study of Irish history. It is said the Irish teachers are ignorant of the great movements of European history and they would be benefited by acquiring a historical knowledge of European nation who have exercised great influence in lives and activities of the world. A similar advantage can hardly be denied to people of India and the teaching of European history should be popularised.

populous state with a 40-million Muslim minority would give such a clear majority to a party that has always been clear and loud of its right, saffron stand. Many argued, and rightly to a great extent, that the vote was an endorsement not of a party but of one single man: Narendra Modi. His voice echoed time and again, mocking and ridiculing India's past leaders for their corruption and pusillanimity. He promised a "new India"; developed and corruption free. Many argued that maybe the man had a point, even if his past carried sinister shades of communalism, maybe he deserved a fresh chance at proving that vikas was his main agenda. The man won our trust and carried our hopes and dreams with him. And then he did a u-turn and proved that one's intrinsic character never changes. The clothes one wears can get sharper and accents more globalised, but alas the heart will always hold on to the dreams of our youth. The picking of Yogi Adityanath as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh is the loudest, hardest, chest thumping that the Prime Minister has indulged in since becoming "our leader". If one cares to listen carefully, his chest thumping was also accompanied by snide laughter. The man can afford his laughter, he fooled us yet again. There are two messages that the Prime Minister has sent out with his choice of the Yogi. The gloves are off and the writing on the wall is clear. This is the beginning of the Hindu Rashtra. "Too bad if you don't like the idea; and one can always leave if you really have a problem with the concept" --is the quiet threat that comes packaged with the idea. Where does it leave India's minorities; the Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Parsis, Buddhists and so on? Our school textbooks still teach us that the Constitution declares this nation to be a secular state. So now maybe the next step would be to update the textbooks. It would be a mistake today for anyone who believes in the separation of the Church and State not to be alarmed by the Saffron wave sweeping this nation. People are suddenly emboldened to suggest that the RSS Chief could be the next President. The liberals have gone quiet or rather made a silent conversion to the majority view. It is, after all, an easier option and survival is the instinct that drives "thinkers" these days. Globally, the message that our globetrotting Prime Minister has sent is even more disturbing. He has basically informed

THE YOGI & THE CM: Yogi Adityanath, the UP Chief Minster being greeted at the Gorakhnath mandir, Gorakhpur. (Right) Yogi Adityanath coming out of the cabinet meeting at Lok Bhawan in Lucknow. PTI

forecast

V. HARD

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1 Language of Egypt (6) 4 Long piece of writing (6) 9 Become a sailor (2,2,3) 10 Make merry (5) 11 Throw away as useless (5) 12 Baseball playing field (7) 13 Invariable (4,3,4) 18 Decisively important (7) 20Seventh sign of zodiac (5)

22 Burn superficially (5) 23 Tall bridge over valley (7) 24 Worthless (6) 25 Large nonvenomous snake (6) DOWN

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Dignified (6) Vary (5) Lacking definite taste (7) About, in terms of

date (5) 6 Covetous (7) 7 Mislead (6) 8 Closely associated (4,2,5) 14 An aerial (7) 15 Mistaken opinion (7) 16 To counterbalance (6) 17 A Swiss state (6) 19 Newly made (5) 21 Brief hostile encounter (5)

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Yesterday’s solution ACROSS

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su do ku YESTERDAY’S SOLUTION

Lahore, friday, April 6, 1917

O one predicted that India's most

the world that the “new India” will bear his signature. Nehru is buried deep down and his mollycoddling of the minorities is a silly mistake this nation will not make again. If the new United States President can try and impose a travel ban from Muslimmajority countries, our man has a better idea. We can ask our Muslims to leave if they are unhappy with the changes. This was never their nation, to begin with. Luckily for Prime Minister Modi, the world is in a state of flux and the movement to the Right is happening everywhere. So he really isn't alone. He and the US President share a far greater "vision" than he ever did with Barack Obama. The dangerous difference is that there are still many in the US and Europe who will scream hoarse every time Trump pushes his Islamophobia too far; in India the voices have gone silent. While editorials in the New York Times to almost every leading international publications wondered at the Prime Minister's choice, the sad truth is that Modi can afford to ignore them. They are the Left liberals he has always detested and had scant respect for. The ones back home have quickly discovered the advantages of wearing orange. Our leader has nothing to worry about. Legally or technically there is no wrong the Prime Minister has done in chosing Yogi Adityanath to head Uttar Pradesh. However, he has violated the spirit of the Constitution and of this nation. The Prime Minister stands accused of having betrayed the trust of many secular Hindus who wanted vikas and not a mandir. The Prime Minister has turned the clock back by settling on Yogi. He has taken this nation back to the mandir politics and the vikas agenda will soon get lost in all this heightened passions of madness. As minorities we are destined to a future where we could well be second-class citizens soon. The electoral success of Uttar Pradesh is heady, the state of the Opposition is pathetic and it is virtually in tatters. There is no leader to counter the man of the moment. This brazen truth is what finally convinced Modi to shed the masks and to let his real face emerge. The dream of a Hindu Rashtra now starts in full earnest. The only thing standing between that project and the torn secular fabric of this nation is the collective voice of our conscience. If we don't listen to its mumblings even now, like everything else, it too might die in this saffron blaze. We can choose to continue sleeping or make an effort to say the right things. The choice, as always, rests with us.

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Vikrami Samvat 2074 Shaka Samvat 1939 Chaitra Shaka 16 Chaitra Parvishte 24 Hijari 1438 Shukla Paksha Tithi 10, up to 9.16 am Dhriti Yog up to 12.16 pm Ashley Nakshatra up to 11 pm Moon enters Leo sign 11 pm Gandmool

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Foggy

PUNJAB

Amritsar Bathinda Jalandhar Ludhiana Patiala

29 32 33 34 36

16 18 18 18 18

34 37 36 36 33

19 18 18 18 18

HARYANA

Ambala Bhiwani Hisar Karnal Sirsa

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Dharamsala Manali Nahan Shimla Solan

18 13 27 17 22

11 08 16 07 11

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Jammu Leh Srinagar

24 06 12

15 -04 04

29 15 18

17 06 08

UTTARAKHAND

Dehradun Mussoorie Nainital TEMPERATURE IN OC

18