Re: "Iron in the soul, decay in the brain"

["Dr. Sanjeev Sabhlok" <sanjeev@sabhlokcity.com>]

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Was busy earlier. Read P.Sainath's comments (below) now.

(a) Without the creation of wealth there is nothing to distribute. Without
free markets in insurance, the farmer has no way to insure his/her potential
losses, etc. etc. Without the enhanced demand for education, arising from
increasing economic opportunities, there is no way the status of women will
improve. S.A. Aiyar has rebutted this enormously famous speech in at least 2
articles in TOI. Perhaps Sainath has not seen that material. I'll chip in
below with my two paisa worth.

(b) The so-called liberalization of the last decade has been essentially
that: a "so-called" one. It does not even come close to what its original
author, Dr. Subroto Roy, had wanted. Criticizing its lack of achievements is
like locking up an olympic athelete in a prison, allowing a pretender who is
handicapped to run the race, and criticising the actual athlete for not
winning a gold medal. On  a scale of 1-100, the 'liberalization' of the
1990s has achieved a mere 2. We are seeing the results of a totally
socialist economy even today, and we MUST NOT criticise liberalization for
the ills of socialism. When the Railways are creating yet another
corporation, this time to feed its passengers (today's budget, in the year
2000!), we know we are DEEP into socialism.

Government wishes to cook my food!!!, not being content to dump my money in
running useless and badly managed hotels, buses, and producing my shirts and
pants! But of course, given this strong urge to be a cook, a driver, and a
tailor, our Government has no money to update the arms the Police who still
use a 303 rifle, to improve the facilities in Police stations, to improve
land records, to beef up the justice system, and to enforce property rights.
This government, smitten by the bug to be a steel engineer, has $8000 crores
to dump into a loss-making giant called SAIL, but no money to provide a
hospital to the remote villagers of Binpur constitutency many of whom have
to go 26 km. to reach a minor health center, and are dying of malaria at an
alarming rate. And all this within a few hundred km of the infamous steel
plants where the labour is fat and highly paid, with hospitals and all
facilities that these villagers will not see in a 1000 years at this rate of
'progress.'

To call this state of affairs 'liberalization' is such a SERIOUS INSULT to
the word 'liberalization' that perhaps only Indian 'intellectuals' can think
thus. Sainath, please wake up!!! Where are you living?

BTW, if P.Sainath (he is not on this list, but someone could send this to
him if they know his address) does not know what Dr. Roy had written in the
80s and early 90s, while the Congress manifesto was being drafted, I can try
to get some of that material to him. I will soon be putting up the 1984 work
of Dr. Roy on the web. There was a major sense of VISION in that work. We
are seeing a whimpering, mangled, dog today which is being falsely labelled
as 'liberalization' and beaten by every second 'intellectual.' At least
learn to identify the breed of this mangled, whimpering dog! It is socialism
with a thin coat of paint of 'liberalization' on it! The IPI draft manifesto
is also a good place to begin to see what we need to do, and what
liberalization and good governance mean or can mean. Indeed, why not go back
to Milton Friedman of 1955 (on IPI's web page) of Shenoy?

What is there to expect but this mess, given the policies we follow today?

----- Original Message -----
From: Maja Daruwala <majadhun@giasdl01.vsnl.net.in>
To: <debate@indiapolicy.org>
Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2000 8:53 PM
Subject: RE: "Iron in the soul, decay in the brain"


> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Please help make the Manifesto better, or accept it, and propagate it!
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> For those who see it live it and experience it everyday the condition of
> women in India is hardly rhetoric. It is the truth but too uncomfortable
for
> most to think that 'their' women are living like this and being treated
like
> this. In India the only way to survive is to close your eyes to the real
> degradation we are willing to tolerate or helpless to change.
>
> Maja Daruwala
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: owner-india_policy@cinenet.net
> > [mailto:owner-india_policy@cinenet.net]On Behalf Of prasad boddupalli
> > Sent: 07 February 2000 18:31
> > To: debate@indiapolicy.org
> > Subject: Re: "Iron in the soul, decay in the brain"
> >
> >
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Please help make the Manifesto better, or accept it, and propagate it!
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> > May be the president himself is a politician, indulging in rhetoric.
> >
> >
> > >From: Dharma Tejus <dtejus@yahoo.com>
> > >Reply-To: debate@indiapolicy.org
> > >To: debate@indiapolicy.org
> > >Subject: "Iron in the soul, decay in the brain"
> > >Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2000 19:31:02 -0800 (PST)
> > >
> > >---------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >Please help make the Manifesto better, or accept it, and propagate it!
> > >---------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > >Our president, the highest official in the country, made a
> > speech which, I
> > >guess,
> > >
> > >he thought was a necessary message. Most of the media didn't pay much
> > >
> > >attention or picked on some peripheral issues. Here's something about
the
> > >
> > >speech and its reception, by a jornalist.
> > >
> > >Tejus
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > >From Frontline:
> > >SPOTLIGHT
> > >Iron in the soul, decay in the brain
> > >
> > >P. SAINATH
> > >"It seems, in the social realm, some kind of a
> > counter-revolution is taking
> > >place in India."
> > >"...as a society, we are becoming increasingly insensitive and
callous."
> > >"...The infamous practice (of sati) still manages to raise its head
and,
> > >what is worse, even gets explained away as 'suicide' or as saintly
> > >sacrifice!"
> > >"In parts of rural India, forms of sadism seem to be earmarked for
Dalit
> > >women. From the time of Draupadi, our womenfolk had been subjected to
> > >public disrobing and humiliation as a means of vendetta - individual,
> > >social or political. For Dalit women it h as become a common
> > experience in
> > >rural areas..."
> > >"...the manner in which we squander or pollute precious
> > reserves... the way
> > >we allow children to be exploited, the disabled to be passed by,
> > speaks of
> > >a stony-hearted society, not a compassionate one that produced
> > the Buddha,
> > >Mahavira, Nanak, Kabir and G andhi."
> > >"...our greatest national drawback (is) the status of our women, and
our
> > >greatest national shame, the condition of the Dalits..."
> > >"Untouchability has been abolished by law but shades of it remain in
the
> > >ingrained attitudes nurtured by the caste system."
> > >"The unabashed, vulgar indulgence in conspicuous consumption by the
> > >noveau-riche has left the underclass seething in frustration. One half
of
> > >our society guzzles aerated beverages, while the other has to
> > make do with
> > >palmfuls of muddied water."
> > >"... there is sullen resentment among the masses against their
condition,
> > >erupting often in violent forms..."
> > >"Our giant factories rise from out of squalor; our satellites
> > shoot up from
> > >the midst of the hovels of the poor."
> > >"What one finds disconcerting is even the absence of political
> > rhetoric on
> > >these social ills."
> > >- President K.R. Narayanan.
> > >IT was simply the most significant speech made by a head of state in
> > >independent India's history. And much of the media missed the story.
> > >When K.R. Narayanan addressed the nation on the eve of Republic Day, he
> > >handed down a scathing analysis of what has gone wrong with the
> > country in
> > >recent years. Coming from a person holding the nation's highest
> > office, it
> > >was not merely unusual but unpre cedented.
> > >Here was the President of India speaking of "a counter- revolution
taking
> > >place" in our society. With the exception of Harish Khare in The
> > Hindu (who
> > >caught the soul of the speech in his report) most newspapers did not
even
> > >mention that phrase, le t alone comment on it.
> > >Here was a head of state saying, "the plain truth is that the female
half
> > >of the Indian population continues to be regarded as it was in
> > the 18th and
> > >19th centuries." When a person with four decades of experience as a
> > >diplomat uses such unvarnished langu age, he does so
> > deliberately and after
> > >much thought.
> > >"Many a social upheaval can be traced to the neglect of the
> > lowest tier of
> > >society, whose discontent moves towards the path of violence."
> > That is the
> > >President of India explaining the turmoil in many parts of the country.
> > >Stating as given, that which off icialdom would fiercely contest.
> > >Narayanan's main focus was on the rapidly widening inequality that
marked
> > >Indian society in the 1990s.
> > >It could not have been more appropriate. While people belonging to a
> > >microscopic percentage of the population are crowding weight-loss
clinics
> > >to shed their fat, hundreds of millions of Indians are actually eating
> > >less. While young CEOs of companies draw pay packages that are
> > unheard of,
> > >the real wages of agricultural labourers have stagnated or
> > fallen in parts
> > >of the country.
> > >Recent studies based on official data suggest that 70 million people
have
> > >been added to those below the poverty line since the so-called
"reforms"
> > >began. Even the World Bank concedes a disturbing rise in poverty in
India
> > >(see the Bank Update on Poverty, July 1999). Hundreds of farmers
> > committed
> > >suicide in India of the 1990s. And the number of job-seekers
> > registered at
> > >employment exchanges reached 40 million. Put that in a single queue
> > >crowding two people to a metre - you would have a line 20,000 km long .
> > >More than thrice the length of India's 6,083-km coastline.
> > >The President's Republic Day address was thus the first speech from
> > >official quarters approximating the realities of the 1990s. A
> > far cry from
> > >the gung-ho pro-liberalisation platitudes stuffed down Indian ears
since
> > >1991.
> > >HOW did the media respond? The country's most powerful English daily,
The
> > >Times of India (Mumbai edition), gave all of six inches to the
President.
> > >Less than half the space it gave the privatisation of Indian Airlines
> > >alongside (the Indian Airline s story was the first lead). The Times of
> > >India headline managed to miss entirely the thrust of the address. Its
> > >headline was "President for peace, advises Pakistan to shun terrorism."
> > >On comparison, I found that the paper had given much more space on the
> > >front page of The Bombay Times to fashion model Madhu Sapre and
assorted
> > >film stars to lecture us on patriotism during the Kargil conflict.
> > >Apparently the President of India is a weak-selling brand. And an
> > >unpatriotic one.
> > >The Indian Express (Mumbai) did far better, though the Indian Airlines
> > >story was the first lead story there too. It noted that the President
had
> > >expressed serious concern over regional and social inequalities.
> > It caught
> > >his distress over growing d isparity in society. And it gave his
comments
> > >more space than The Times of India did.
> > >It then destroyed with its editorial the good sense shown in its news
> > >report. The President's speech had "all the usual lamentations..." And
it
> > >challenged Narayanan on quotas by completely misstating his position.
"No
> > >Sir! Permanent reservation is not sa lvation, it only enhances the
social
> > >divide." Nowhere did Narayanan call in his speech for "permanent"
> > >reservations. Nowhere did he espouse them as "salvation".
> > >And, of course, the editorial lectures the President on where The
Indian
> > >Express thinks salvation lies. "There is an Indian market, a
> > market not yet
> > >fully free in a democracy. But the state has not fully come to terms
with
> > >the bazaar. For that we need a statesman with iron in the soul."
> > >The editorial is a perfect reflection of the vulgarity,
> > self-righteousness
> > >and self-indulgence that the presidential address so movingly
describes.
> > >What Narayanan calls a "stony-hearted society" is what The Indian
Express
> > >endorses. In response to the misery of hundreds of millions, it wants a
> > >leader with iron in the soul. The editorial made very well the
> > President's
> > >point: "There are signs that our privileged classes are getting tired
of
> > >(the) affirmative action..." The Indian Express seem s positively
> > >exhausted.
> > >In all the TV channels I flipped through in the period soon
> > after Narayanan
> > >made his speech, the first lead was the privatisation of Indian
Airlines.
> > >Zee at least noted that there were critical references in the
President's
> > >address. Some of the others wa sted not a word on it.
> > >Never mind it was the first honest appraisal of the state of the
> > nation in
> > >the post-1991 era of liberalisation and globalisation coming
> > from a person
> > >holding high office.
> > >THE effect of the President's speech (and later his comments on the
legal
> > >system) on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party was entertaining. The same
> > >people clamouring for "a strong chief executive" were in panic
> > at the first
> > >sign of a President giving the n ation both guidance and a piece of his
> > >mind. Remember, these are the very politicians who want a switchover to
a
> > >presidential system where the chief executive is unshackled from
> > >accountability!
> > >What if K.R. Narayanan had continued in his initial profession of
> > >journalist? And if he had submitted this striking analysis to a
newspaper
> > >in Delhi or Mumbai? It is likely to have been rejected by the
> > editor of the
> > >editorial page. The writer would have been told it was too ideological,
> > >lacking in objectivity and in balance.
> > >It is not ideological, however, to dance like scantily clad
cheerleaders
> > >for each act of privatisation that takes place. A semi-literate
> > >glorification of Market Fundamentalism and its Gospel of Growth
> > would also
> > >not be ideological. That is normal behavio ur. The President's
> > comments on
> > >the performance of the judiciary would be seen as inviting trouble and
> > >lacking in respect.
> > >In short, he would not have been published. Come to think of it, even
> > >submitting the speech as President of India has not helped him get it
> > >published properly. Maybe we need a few editors with less iron
> > in the brain
> > >and more grey matter.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
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