Is justice this blind? Recent rulings by Indian Courts seem to suggest so

- The Times of India - 31/5/09

'Sikh women dont pluck brows': Punjab & Haryana High Court

The Punjab and Haryana high court on Saturday ruled that the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) was fully justified in refusing to admit a young girl to a Sikh minority institution because she had violated a fundamental tenet of the religion by plucking her eyebrows.

In an endorsement of the hardline stand of the high priests of Sikhism the ruling leans towards a text-based, more conservative definition of who is a true Sikh. In a 152-page order, a full bench made up of justices JS Khehar, Jasbir Singh and Ajay Kumar Mittal said it was essential for a Sikh to be unshorn.

Gurleen Kaur and others had challenged their denial of admission to an MBBS course at the Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Amritsar, a Sikh minority institution. The SGPC had ruled that Gurleen was not a ‘‘true Sikh as she was plucking her eyebrows.’’

The court said the requisite of maintaining Sikh ‘swarup’ (appearance) was a permissible precondition for admitting students under the Sikh minority community quota. The SGPC runs two medical colleges, two engineering institutes, one polytechnic, 40 degree colleges and 150 schools, most of them in Punjab.

- CNN-IBN - 19/5/09

"If your wife wants you to see this side, see this side. If she wants you to see the other side, do obey her," - Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has a recipe for a successful marriage, more so for men: obey your wife and rule the world.

"Bibi joh boltee hai woh sunno (Listen to whatever your wife says). We all listen," a vacation bench of Justice Markandeya Katju and Justice Deepak Verma observed while hearing a lawsuit by Indian Force officer Deepak Kumar, who had complained that his estranged wife Manisha had ruined him and his family by implicating them in false criminal cases including sodomy.

"Hum sab bhuktbhogi hai (We all have undergone that experience)," the bench observed.

"If your wife wants you to see this side, see this side. If she wants you to see the other side, do obey her," said Katju, adding: "One who obeys his wife rules the world."

- DNA - 30/4/09

Woman can't gang-rape because it is conceptually inconceivable: rules SC

Can a woman be convicted of rape? The Rajasthan government thinks so. But the Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a plea by the government to convict a woman of 'gang rape', saying such a thing was "inconceivable".

A fast-track court in Alwar, Rajasthan, had acquitted two persons, including a woman named Kamla, of being party to a 'gang rape' committed by a minor. They were present when the minor committed the crime, the court said, but ruled that the woman's participation in the crime was impossible.

Unanimous that a woman would not have common intention or participate in gang rape, the judges said, "It is conceptually inconceivable."

- Outlook - 15/2/09

'No woman would allow her husband rape another girl in her presence' because it is improbable: Delhi Court

In Indian society, no woman would allow her husband rape another girl in her presence, a Delhi court has said while acquitting a couple of rape and abetment charges and terming the girl's complaint as "improbable".

Trashing allegations of a girl that she was ravished several times by the accused with the active connivance of his wife, Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Surinder Kumar Mishra observed "No wife in our Indian society would allow her husband to rape a girl in her presence."

"The testimony of the prosecutrix (girl) does not inspire any confidence and her subsequent conduct makes it improbable that such an incident ever took place," the court said. It acquitted Salim and his spouse Saira Bano, residents of a north-east Delhi locality, of charges of kidnapping, rape, abetment and criminal intimidation under the IPC.

The accused couple was arrested following the complaint, lodged on June 21, 2006, of their neighbour that she was sexually assaulted several times during illegal confinement. Later, she testified that Saira had forced her to have sex with her husband when she visited the couple's house in neighbourhood on June 17. They also threatened her and cautioned her against disclosing it to anybody.

The true meaning of 'Jihad'

Excerpts from an article by Islamic scholar, reformist-writer and activist Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer:

The terror attacks in India as well as abroad has created an impression as if jihad is central to Qur’anic teaching. First of all, as we have asserted repeatedly, jihad does not mean war in Qur’an as there are other words for it like qital and harb for war. Jihad has been used in Qur’an in its root meaning i.e. to strive and to strive for betterment of society, to spread goodness (ma’ruf) and contain evil (munkar).

But supposing jihad means war, as many Muslims, especially those who want to use it for their own political agenda, even then jihad is not that central to Qur’anic teachings. The word jihad occurs in the Qur’an 41 times (though not a single verse uses it in the sense of war) there are other key words in Qur’an representing values. As we have pointed out in one of the previous articles there are four most fundamental values in Qur’an i.e. justice (’adl), benevolence (ihsan) compassion (rahmah) and wisdom (hikmah).

These are Allah’s names also in Qur’an i.e. Allah is Just, Benevolent, Compassionate and Wise. Thus the Qur’an is embodiment of these values and a Muslim is duty bound to practice these values above all. One who fails to practice these values can hardly claim to be true Muslim. Jihad is not even obligatory in Islamic jurisprudence whereas these values are indicative of a Muslim’s character and hence quite important.....

The word ihsan (i.e. to do good to others) occurs in the Qur’an 194 times which also greatly outnumbers jihad. Similarly the word wisdom and its derivatives occur 101 times. Qur’an lays great emphasis on wisdom as wisdom is superior to reason in a way. Reason is also quite important but at times it can be misused by human beings whereas wisdom includes reason and values put together. Qur’an advises Muslims again and again to use wisdom. It asks Muslims to call to Allah also with wisdom, not with threats or force. One cannot invite anyone to ways of Allah by use of force, coercion or threat but with wisdom and kind words.

Also, there is great emphasis in Qur’an on justice in all social and political matters and Qur’an uses three words for justice i.e. ‘adl, qist and hakama and all these three words put together there are 244 words for justice in Qur’an. Thus it clearly shows that justice with all is highly necessary which clearly implies no innocent person would be punished in any case.

Also, Allah is thirty three times described in Qur’an as Ghafur al-Rahim i.e. Forgiver and Merciful and not one who seeks revenge. To seek revenge is human weakness, not strength of character. Thus a devout Muslim tends to forgive like Allah who forgives his servants if they sincerely repent. Those who are waging ‘jihad’ in the form of terror attacks are bent upon seeking revenge whereas a good Muslim would tend to forgive alike Allah forgives. It is true Allah punishes oppressors (zalimun) but no individual or a group of individuals not representative of community or state can dispense punishment. Only Allah or state or its representatives of states can dispense with punishment.

That is why in Islamic jurisprudence (Shari’ah law) jihad can be declared only by state or those empowered by the state, no one else. Terror attacks, on the other hand, are planned and executed by few individuals unrepresentative of any state or state institution. So their attacks cannot be legitimate by any Islamic or Shari’ah law. That is nothing but committing murder of innocent people. Also according to Islamic laws in jihad too no non-combatant can be attacked much less women, children and old persons and no civilian property can be destroyed unless it is being used for military purposes or for purposes of combat.

The Islamic history during Prophet’s life is to be seen in two important phases i.e. the Meccan phase for first thirteen years after Muhammad (PBUH) became Prophet and then 10 years in Madina after his migration. In Meccan phase the Prophet and his followers were most oppressed minority and yet Prophet did not ask his followers to use violence in any form. On the contrary, Qur’an repeatedly advised Prophet and his followers to bear all hardships patiently and not to despair.

The Prophet bore with utmost patience all the hardships, even insults and humiliations and carried on his mission. His followers were subjected to great hardships but he always advised them to be patient and penitent. Thus the Prophet (PBUH) guided Muslims how to behave in such adverse conditions and how to ensure peace despite such hardships. But when conditions became unbearable he advised some of his followers to migrate to Ethiopia and later he himself migrated to Madina with some of his followers.

Thus Meccan model of Islam can be very useful for those Muslims who are facing similar situation in parts of the world. As Qur’an lays great stress on hikmah (wisdom) one has to imply wisdom and carve out a proper strategy of survival rather than take plunge in violence throw themselves into peril. The Qur’an advises Muslims “…and cast not yourselves to destruction with your own hands and do good (to others). Surely Allah loves the doers of good.” (2:195)

This advice of the Qur’an not to throw yourself to destruction with your own hands is important and relevant even today in similar situations. See what the 9/11 attack on New York towers resulted in? Did Al-Qaida not invite great disaster to the entire Islamic world, especially in Afghanistan and Iraq? Did they not throw themselves in perdition with their own hands? What good that attack do to anyone. Was there any wisdom in that rash and ruthless attack?

Well, the extremist organizations can point out that UNO is dominated by the USA and other western nations and one cannot get justice from it. It is entirely true but then this also has to be continuously exposed and world should know how UNO works in the interests of USA, rather than in the interest of justice. It is also known that USA committed aggression against Iraq despite UNO refusing permission to wage war against Iraq. It exposed USA and world at large knows today how helpless UNO is before powers like USA.

Also, if one wants to really solve the problem peacefully violence will only damage the cause and make world opinion also adverse. The greatest strength of the cause in contemporary world is the favorable public opinion. One must try and win public opinion. Non-violent action is much likely to win public opinion rather than violent actions. Killing innocent people through terror acts can never be effective against a very powerful enemy. And it also makes public opinion very adverse.

Today media is very powerful in creating public opinion and non-violent actions will certainly impact the media people. Unfortunately the youth being impatient with democratic processes and under illusion of following Qur’anic traditions rushes to resort to so called jihad and antagonizes the world opinion. And what they do not understand, other Muslims, including Muslim countries, have to face adverse consequences.

Such thoughtless violence as committed by al-Qaida and other terrorist groups in Pakistan has created an image of Islam as violent religion, religion of jihad though the value system of Islam gives precedence to compassion and respect for human life and dignity. While Buddhism is being equated with compassion and Christianity with love and peace Islam is being equated with jihad and violence. Should these Muslim youth not deeply reflect what adverse image of Islam they have helped create?

These youth are so brainwashed by certain vested interests that they think jihad is obligatory on Muslims and that jihad is the only way out. These youth are totally ignorant of Islamic value system and importance of moral superiority over superiority of weapons. The examples of Hudaybiyah and peaceful Meccan conquest clearly show moral superiority ultimately matters. The most powerful can be disarmed before the might of moral stand.

In our own time Gandhiji showed the effectiveness of truth and non-violence. The mighty British Empire had to bow down before the might of truth and non-violent action. Unfortunately many think non-violence is cowardice and is born out of weakness. It is very erroneous view. It is only most courageous and truthful person who practices non-violence. Violence is borne out of anger and revenge, not out of truthful stand.

One hopes the misguided Muslim youth resorting to such violent actions would realize the futility of terror attacks and renounce such sinful and criminal acts and instead concentrate on excelling in learning and acquiring superior moral character thus truly following transcendent Qur’anic moral precepts. Did not the Prophet say ‘ink of a scholar is superior to the blood of the martyr?’

Are you racist?

Anousha Shankar - Hindustan Times - 15/5/09

Recently there was an incident on Air France involving about 60 Indian passengers who filed a complaint of racism against the airline after being treated badly at the Paris airport. Apparently, non-Indian passengers were put up in hotels when a technical mishap occurred, but the Indians were made to wait in the airport lounge without access to water or food for quite some time. I’m so proud of these people for filing a complaint!

I’ve seen similar things happen myself while travelling. People from India, especially who don’t speak English, have been ignored or snubbed while others were well taken care of, and I’m so glad that people are standing up against this kind of racism, so hopefully airlines won’t be able to do it again.

But it got me thinking. It’s so easy to take note of something like racism when it happens to you. But do you notice it as quickly when you do it to others? As Indians, I have to say that on the whole, we’re a fairly racist group of people!

Give these examples a thought:

- Most of your parents would rather you bring home a nice Indian boy or girl than a foreigner, right? But in the event that you do fall in love with a foreigner, would it be easier for you if that person were white, rather than black?

- Where else in the world do matrimonial ads place so much importance on the shade of a prospective partner’s skin?

- In India, foreigners have to pay a higher ticket price to enter monuments and other places of interest. How would you feel if you were stopped at the Eiffel Tower or Statue of Liberty and asked to pay more money because your skin was brown?

- We may have a few Bollywood beauties that can be termed “dusky”. But in a country of shades ranging from palest cream to absolute ebony, why is there not one prominent actor or actress with truly dark skin?

- Our media is constantly propagating this concept of white women as easy or loose. Female tourists, especially blondes, are constantly faced with men who assume they can be taken advantage of, just because they’re white.

- Why do so many people in north India constantly make fun of people in the south, and have so little understanding of the culture, language and customs of their neighbours?

- Need I mention fairness creams? It’s great that John Abraham recently mentioned how they’re also useful for blemishes and the like, but the fact remains that throughout India and Asia, fairness and whitening cream usage is rampant among people desperately trying to make themselves several shades lighter than they are, in a society that considers that more attractive.

It’s well and good to stand up for our own rights of equality. But we have to also open our eyes to the fact that we don’t always offer that same equality to everyone else.

TRUE HEROES: Aged between 11 and 13 years, this trio of child labourers refused to get married to pursue their education

Times of India - 15/5/09

New Delhi: At a time when most children their age fight for a Playstation or a night out with friends, Sunita Mahto, Afsana Khatun and Rekha Kalindi put their foot down and refused to get married. Belonging to one of the most backward districts in the country or coming from poor families did not deter the gutsy girls.

Aged between 11 and 13 years, the trio were child labourers before they joined the district National Child Labour Project (NCLP). With nearly all children in her community getting married, Afsana’s parents too fixed her wedding. “I didn’t want to get married so early. I wanted to study and I told my parents that,” Afsana said. Initially, she and others like Sunita faced resistance but eventually, with the help of teachers and peers, they were able to convince their parents.

On Thursday, the three girls met President Patil who praised them for their brave and courageous step. “These girls are a ray of hope for society. They are messengers of social change. One child marriage leads to ten other social evils including malnutrition, lack of education. These social evils hurt not just the individual but also impact society and the nation,” Patil said.

Having stood against convention, the bright faced girls are now busy with their studies. The youngest, Rekha, has even addressed a rally talking against the practice of child marriage. “Since these girls were successful in stopping their marriage, there have been no incidents of child marriage in and around Jhalda, Purulia,” Prosenjit, assistant labour commissioner, Purulia district, said.

APARTHEID funded by the Indian tax-payer

Hindustan Times - 5/5/09

Case I - GUJARI VILLAGE (Katni district) Babul, a Class VI student at the local government school, was thrashed for inadvertently touching his teacher’s chair. His crime? He is a Dalit (a Charmkar, a sub-caste). A series of punishments followed over the next few days. Unable to bear it any longer, he quit school. “I couldn’t go back after being beaten up just because of my caste,” he said.

Case II - KADACHHA VILLAGE (Ujjain district) At the local government school, there are two rows of students waiting for food served under the government’s Mid-Day Meal Scheme. Dalit children are forced to sit in a row far away from the non-Dalits. And they aren’t allowed to eat from metal plates; they get plates made of leaves. The upper caste students are served first. Then, the service boys throw food from a height into the plates of the Dalit children.

Case III - SARARI KHURD VILLAGE (Sheopur district) Fourteen-year-old Milkis recounted her experience at school where she was subjected to casteist remarks and beaten up by non-Dalit students. Her teachers declined to intervene and come to her rescue. “I wanted to be a teacher. But the torture was unbearable and I dropped out of school in Class IV,” she said.

IN AN era when one set of Indians is manning the world’s knowledge back-office with distinction, another set of children — in Madhya Pradesh, which the ruling BJP often showcases as a “model state” – has to face such discrimination and humiliation. Everyday, this Indian version of apartheid is taking place in schools and childcare centres run by the government, and in schemes funded by the taxpayer’s — in other words, your – money .

According to a survey on social discrimination conducted by Jansahas, an NGO, and Unicef, in 24 villages across four districts – Ujjain, Sheopur, Katni and Jhabua – in Madhya Pradesh, more than 63 per cent of Dalit children are subjected to caste discrimination while being served mid-day meals in government schools.

They are forced to sit in separate rows, bring utensils from home or given food in plates marked boldly with permanent ink to distinguish them from the rest.

The Mid-Day Meal Scheme, funded by the government, is the world’s largest school lunch programme and covers, 120 million children. Ironically one of the key objectives of the scheme is to increase socialisation among children of different caste groups.

“As many as 40 per cent of Dalit students facing discrimination were given mid-day meals in plates specially set aside for them,” Jansahas activist Ashif Sheikh told Hindustan Times.

While some were asked to bring utensils from home, most were served their mid-day meals on leaf plates. Non Dalits, however, were served on metal plates. The survey found that most teachers were insensitive to the discrimination against Dalits because of caste-based traditions being followed in rural areas, he said.

In a majority of the schools surveyed, Dalit students were not allowed to sit in the front row. As many as 78 per cent of schoolgoing Dalit students were backbenchers or forced away from the front row and subjected to casteist abuses. And 79 per cent of such students were compelled to clean the schools. In some schools, this chore was given only to Dalit girls.

The survey found that the Anganwadi scheme, a government-sponsored mother and childcare scheme catering to children in the 0-6 age group, also discriminates against Dalits. About 59 per cent of Dalits said they desisted from sending their children to the local anganwadi facilities.The victims claimed that Dalit children were not allowed to enter the anganwadis and were forced to accept nutritional supplements outside the building. The survey concluded that caste discrimination is one of the prominent reasons for the absence of Dalit children from school.

Did you know that most of the superstars who have campaigned for political parties did so because they were paid???

MSN.com and Business Standard - 3/5/09

The offer stumped Dale Bhagwagar, public relations manager to many a film star. An agency, hired by a well-known clothing brand, wanted a top actor to canvass support for a political party. Money these days is hard to come by and the Election Commission keeps a hawk eye on the expenses of parties. So, it offered the actor no fewer than 20 sherwanis! “I am yet to get over that call,” said Bhagwagar.

Bhagwagar has fielded 10 or 12 calls, at the very least, everyday in the run up to the general elections. “It’s been busy for me and the maximum offer that has been given by a leading political party has been Rs 35-40 lakh,” said he. This offer, it is learnt, was for Hrithik Roshan who turned it down.

Perhaps he didn’t find the return on time-spent good enough. But films stars like Salman Khan and Koena Mitra and even some small-screen stars like Varun Badola have been seen regularly at rallies of political parties this time round.

Khan was the biggest glamour industry campaigner in this year’s elections. He campaigned for both the Congress as well as the Bharatiya Janata Party at different times and is said to have made Rs 20 lakh for every appearance.

Do parties have that much money? Maybe, they don’t. But they are backed by businessmen who end up paying the stars in cash. Or in sherwanis. It doesn’t matter if the film star doesn’t know the party’s manifesto (Koena Mitra, for instance, had no clue about the details of the party she was representing), for all that matters is really the money they make at the end of the canvassing.

Mitra is paid around Rs 10-12 lakh each time she appears on the campaign trail. Like her, Mahima Choudhary and Zeenat Aman (no matter how much it is out of goodwill) get paid too but comparatively lesser: Rs 5-7 lakh. In addition, their airfare (business class) and hotel accommodation is taken care of.

“They don’t make speeches and don’t go on campaign trails as a friendly gesture. They do it for money,” said a source busy fielding calls from interested parties who wanted to get on board some television stars for this year’s campaigning. “They promise trips to exotic destinations, are willing to load TV stars in jewellery, even get gadgets like LCD sets installed in homes. There’s a lot that parties offer but these are add-ons. Cash is always on the cards,” said this source.

According to him, Saakshi Tanwar (of Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki fame) was offered a chance to not just canvass but also contest a seat in Rajasthan on a BJP ticket. “The party made an offer of Rs 10 lakh but she refused,” he added. While Tanwar may be an exception, TV stars are usually paid in the region of Rs 3-5 lakh with add-ons that include paid vacations, gadgets, designer clothes (yes, that’s right) and what have you.

“An election campaign requires stars to sweat it out and bake in the heat. It’s more than just attending events and that’s why they command fat sums of money,” said Bhagwagar.

We've heard about adult education, sex education, sports training etc. Now say hello to - BEGGING EDUCATION

Hindustan Times - 3/5/09

It seems that beggars are made, not born.

An informal academy for wannabe beggars in Rohini in west Delhi is training initiates in this profession. The training, imparted with an eye to the coming Common-wealth Games, is in foreign languages, since foreigners are considered good catches.

“More than one lakh foreigners will be in the city during the period. Even if one beggar earns Rs 150-200 per day, you can understand the turnover for us,” said Vijay Babli, who claims to be leader of over 1,200 beggar families living in Rohini’s Lal Quarter.

In preparation for this expected windfall, the beggars have set up a night school in a clearing in their colony.

Bright children are taught how to say phrases like, “I am an orphan, I have not eaten for days, I am ill, have no money for medicine, please help me in the name of God”, says Raju Sansi, who claims to be head tutor at the school.

Patni, an eight year-old girl who has never been to school, can speak English, French and Spanish, thanks to the makeshift school.

She is one of the 45 students at the school. Practical lessons are also imparted in sessions in places like Connaught Place.

Real foreign currency notes are shown to the children so they can recognise them, says Patlu, who trains children in Katputli Colony in west Delhi’s Patel Nagar.

The beggar children usually get a free pick up and drop from their work locations.

So whether Delhi is ready for the Games or not, its beggars will be.

Are celebrities just supposed to say: 'VOTE' or should they say: 'THINK AND THEN VOTE'

Anoushka Shankar - Hindustan Times - 2/5/09

Social responsibility: Does it mean lending your voice or vote for the sake of it? Or does it mean taking the time and effort to be socially aware, and to know what you’re talking about before you risk supporting the wrong cause? Politics is complicated, and I admit to being often baffled or thoroughly frustrated.

Maybe one political party speaks loudly about an issue dear to my heart, but upon research I find out they also support things I don’t agree with. Or maybe it’s hard to dredge up enough idealism about a political figure when I know things are never as perfect as they seem.

Either way, it’s important to be involved. As everyone is telling you, vote, vote, vote! Take a stand! Make your voice heard! But for a moment, will you just question what happens after you do that?

We’ve seen more celebrities campaigning this year than ever before. That can be a great thing, but it’s also dangerous. Some public figures have happily jumped on to the political bandwagon this year, running for office at the drop of a hat, and causing me to question their motives.

A few days ago, there was an article in this newspaper about an actress who said that she didn’t know what she was campaigning for, but that she just went because she was a friend of a party member. I was completely outraged. Is this a fashion show where you go just because it’s fun to show up? Did you just want to be written about as active, because it’s the new in-thing in Bollywood?

When voting privately, a public figure has the same amount of responsibility as any other citizen, no more, no less, to be well-informed about what he or she is voting for. But the second one uses their celebrity to campaign for votes, that responsibility increases exponentially. I mean, isn’t that obvious?

People look up to you, people are influenced by you, and when you’re using that to tell them how to shape the country rather than what movie to watch, you have no right to abuse that! You can really impact people, and to do that without due research, knowledge or care is a disgrace......

Questions for legislators

By V. Raghunathan - MINT - The Wall Street Journal - 22/4/09

Minimum attendance is compulsory, whether one is a student or an employee. Falling short can debar a child from a school or an examination. It can cost you your job. Minimum attendance is regarded as a necessary condition for learning or delivering on one’s work commitments. Right?

Similarly, universally, educational and other institutions expect their children or employees to stick to certain expected norms of behaviour. A rowdy child or a rogue employee is seldom tolerated. For instance, if a student or employee damages school or office property, a serious disciplinary view is taken of such conduct. One may even be expelled from the organization. Right?

Also, all professional positions require minimum qualifications or specific expertise. For example, a finance executive must be a chartered accountant, a senior educator must have a PhD (doctor of philosophy) and a surgeon must have a master’s degree in surgery. One cannot even enter class VII unless one has passed class VI. Right?

Again, most institutions have a retirement age for employees. The age for retirement takes many aspects into account, viz., physical health and mental abilities, providing for upward mobility and employment to younger sections of the population, demand and supply of expertise, and so on.....

Finally, most courses of study are so rigorous that, by and large, one is not allowed to pursue two degrees simultaneously. Likewise, most organizations, the government included, do not allow their employees to engage in more than one job at a time. Imagine the pilot of your commercial flight as a part-time stock broker on the National Stock Exchange! You will surely be a worried commuter. Right?

Under the circumstances, isn’t it ironic that while the above are true for children and adults alike in all institutional walks of life, Indian legislature should be the only exception in the country that does not abide by any of the above requirements? Perhaps election time is the best time to ask some questions.

The abysmal attendance record of some of our celebrity parliamentarians—as measured by mere signing of the register and not by participation in the parliamentary proceedings—has been much in the news recently. Clearly, no attendance requirement applies to our representatives. Why?

Criminal background and behaviour, which may be unacceptable in students or employees in any decent school or organization, are perfectly acceptable for our parliamentarians. Why?
Our education minister does not have to be an educationist or the minister for urban planning an architect. Nor is it essential for a parliamentarian to be a degree holder in political science or have a record of public service. Why?

One would imagine that neither running of industries nor running of the state is a part-time job. How, then, do we expect industrialists such as Rahul Bajaj and Vijay Mallya to juggle their industrial empires with statecraft? Or a senior leader such as Sharad Pawar to juggle statecraft with cricket? Or a Govinda (incidentally, he did not attend a single parliamentary session in 2007) or a Jaya Prada to juggle their Bollywood careers with parliamentary sessions? But we have put them there as members of Parliament. Why?

While a 56-year-old colonel is too old to run his regiment, an octogenarian parliamentarian is not too old to run the country. Why?

Corporate governance is important, but not so country governance. Why?

The author is CEO, GMR Varalakshmi Foundation.

Contrary to popular belief, OBC Quotas have not diluted standards: TISS Study

Hindustan Times - 30/4/09

A FACT-FINDING study into reservation for other backward classes (OBCs) in higher education in three states by the Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) has concluded that there is no evidence to show that such a reservation policy is “diluting merit or lowering the quality of professional education”.

The National Academy of Sciences, a research body of scientists, commissioned the study in March 2008, when debates over expanding reservation were roiling medical, management and engineering campuses across India.

Professor P. Tandon of the academy said, “We had commissioned the study because so much uninformed debate was creating bitterness and dividing the country. We decided to study the actual performance of OBC reservations in states which had already implemented it in their institutions, and put the findings to the public and policymakers.” The year-long study titled ‘Impact of OBC reservation in higher education in India’ visited nine engineering and medical campuses in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, spoke to over 600 students and faculty members, and analysed institutional data at entry and exit levels.

“But to me, the most important finding”, said Tandon, “are the factors responsible for persistent backwardness, ranging from poor education in India’s government schools to a student’s place of residence.

Those are the things we must address, without which reser vations cannot be effective.” The report concludes that the poor school education, and increased privatisation in higher education are the biggest barriers to higher education today among India’s disadvantaged groups.

He's one reason why you should vote

Hindustan Times - 30/4/09

Abdul Zabar, a 12-year-old, lugs bags of stamps and ink to Dr. Antonia Da Silva High School in Dadar, Mumbai. The school falls in the South-Central Mumbai constituency, which goes to the polls on Thursday.

Zabar was found working with labourers in the hall where polling-related material was kept to be distributed across centres. When photographers present there clicked Zabar’s picture, the labour contractor asked the boy to stop working and made him sit on the floor. He was later sent out of the hall.

HT photographer Kunal Patil followed Zabar and asked him his name and age. The contractor noticed this and tried to justify the boy’s presence, saying he was not being made to work but was merely accompanying his uncle who was a labourer.