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CHENNAI THE HINDU 8 EDITORIAL MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2018 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Delhi and Paris: A tale of two cities Stirring reminders of the distance travelled and challenges ahead in securing human rights chronically short in application. Asia Bibi disregards Article 18. The Indian woman, if she is Dalit, But they could not have ima Terrorism mutilates that most tribal or vulnerable in age or per gined that on the Declaration’s fundamental human right — to life. sonal circumstance, is all the more Current account woes 70th anniversary, Paris, the Decla It has done that in India. On at risk. Proper structural reforms are needed to boost ration’s birthplace, would be the UDHR70 we mourn terror’s vic The Sentinelese’s refl exive act venue of a fl aming stir, with cars tims in Kashmir, among who are against the misguided tourist who exports, reduce dependence on imported oil Gopalkrishna Gandhi burning along the ChampsÉ ly brave defence and security per beached on their quiet shore has sées, bringing life in the French sonnel on duty. But on UDHR70 scarcely been appreciated by the he latest trade fi gures published by the Reserve capital to a stop. And that, as we grieve no less for the pellet average Indian. But he will ap Bank of India confi rm the damage caused by high Paris fl ared — Paris, which the di Emile Chabal has shown in these blinded, the collaterally killed in plaud the illadvised plan to con Tglobal oil prices in the last few months. India’s vine sun had sown with light, and pages (Editorial page, The Hindu, nocents of the Valley. vert that ecologically fragile archi current account defi cit (CAD) widened to 2.9% of gross where in glory waved the great fu December 6, 2018), provincial Torture, physical and mental, pelago into a dazzling tourist domestic product (GDP) in the JulySeptember quarter, ture harvest of Truth and of France and even France’s Indian has been used through time and haven. a fouryear high, under increasing pressure from the oil Justice. Ocean island of La Réunion would around the globe by states and bill. This is in contrast to the same quarter a year ago Émile Zola, Paris see sitins, blockades. Over what? GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO nonstate tyrants. India, no excep Rainbow on the horizon Not something sporadic or tran The language used in Paris and tion to the gross pattern, signed, But this anniversary must not let when the CAD was only 1.1% of GDP. The widening of I asked my soul: What is Delhi? sient or ‘local’ but over issues at Delhi has great similarities: busi during I.K. Gujral’s prime minis grim facts obscure the ‘rights rain the CAD was due to an increase in the trade defi cit, She replied: The world is the body the heart of the Universal Declara ness gets taxcuts, agriculture gets tership, the UN Convention bow’ on the sky. which jumped to $50 billion in the September quarter and Delhi its life tion: dignity, justice and equality. diesel hikes. Factories get invest Against Torture. But subsequent India’s judiciary is the fi rst of its as compared to $32.5 billion a year ago, due to a higher Mirza Ghalib The ‘Yellow Vest’ Paris riots ments, farms do not even get mini governments of India have re vibgyor colours. The Supreme import bill. The government, however, may not be too xactly 70 years ago, on De which have shaken French Presi mum prices, aff ecting a human frained from ratifying it. Why? Do Court’s emphatic position on the worried about the widening CAD fi gures as the major cember 10, 1948, the UN dent Emmanuel Macron’s govern right described in Article 23 of the they think custodial torture is an right to privacy, among others, factor that was behind the phenomenon has abated; EGeneral Assembly met in Pa ment are about much more than UDHR: “Everyone who works has inherent — read ‘internal’ — prero stands out. As does its sage exten global oil prices have dropped sharply since early O c ris. Delegates from the world’s ma fuel price hikes, the immediate the right to just and favourable re gative of statehood which the sion of the deadline for those con ny ends met at the hilltop Palais de trigger. Following the stunning muneration ensuring for himself world has no business comment testing their noninclusion in the tober. Brent crude is down almost 30% from the high it Chaillot and proclaimed the Un outburst, French Prime Minister and his family an existence worthy ing on? Emotional pain and fear National Register of Citizens for reached in early October. So the size of the defi cit is iversal Declaration of Human Édouard Philippe announced a of human dignity, and supple can be felt in a myriad ways. Assam. Justice S.K. Kaul’s order in likely to come down in the quarter ending December. Rights (UDHR). The text had been sixmonth reprieve from the hike, mented, if necessary, by other Groupisolating can be incredibly the Madras High Court in the Peru This is not to suggest that all is fi ne. As usual, medium propelled by Eleanor Roosevelt as only to be rebuff ed by the protes means of social protection.” painful, frightening. The reported mal Murugan case, upholding the to longterm risks to the external sector remain. For chair of the drafting committee, ters as “too little, too late”. Da acquisition of land in Assam’s freedom of a writer to write, is so one, there is the threat of price volatility faced by heavy and honed by some of the fi nest mien Abad, one of the youngest Delhi’s way Goalpara district for a ‘detention mething the UDHR would hail. importers of oil. Unless India manages to diversify its minds, scholars, legal and political elected members of the European Even as leaders of almost all major camp’ has been denied by the go Next, our Parliament, which has idealists, visionaries. Selected by Parliament, said, “What we are Opposition parties joined the rally, vernment, but the prospect brings given us the Right to Information energy base by tapping into local sources of energy, this Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru asking of you Mr. Prime Minister, is Delhi’s Aam Aadmi Party govern to mind detention scenes from the Act, following campaign advocacy will remain a perennial threat to economic stability. to represent India in the drafting not a postponement. It’s a change ment led by Arvind Kejriwal bol world’s history of ethnic ghetto by Aruna Roy and her colleagues. A widening current account defi cit per se should not exercise, Hansa Mehta from Guja of course.” stered it with moral and material ing. The third is that part of our media be a cause for worry as long as foreign capital infl ows in rat brought to the exercise her If in the days preceding the 70th support. Delhi, instead of being Human rights violations are not which will not be scared or sub to the economy are brisk enough to fund its huge im own distinctive feminism. Seeing anniversary of the UDHR, Paris the target, became the very life, a ‘stategone berserk thing’ alone. orned. The fourth, our security port needs. The trouble arises when foreign infl ows dry the draft Article 1, “All men are saw scalding fi re, Delhi saw a the soul, of the farmers’ protest. Society violates it in India with vi personnel, protecting our safety up and restrict the ability to purchase essential im born free and equal in dignity and scorching ire. An unprecedented But Paris’s fl are and Delhi’s gour. If the invoking of ‘sedition’ and our human rights activists rights,” Hansaben intervened to rally, with tens of thousands of glare notwithstanding, the Decla refl ects state intolerance, what is protecting our liberty. The fi fth, ports. So as liquidity conditions continue to tighten say the times had changed and the farmers, men and women from all ration is under severe strain, glo one to say of the murder in cold our creative cultural icons who across the world, India’s heavy import dependence is a line should read, “All human be parts of India, catalysed by the in bally. Primarily because govern blood of dissenters and whistle will not surrender their autonomy. cause for concern. Meanwhile, when Western central ings are born free and equal in dig trepid spokesman for farmer and ments are, literally, laws unto blowers? India bans in law but per The sixth, our remarkable Consti banks tighten their monetary policy, the RBI will be nity and rights.” Roosevelt ap Dalit rights, Palagummi Sainath, themselves and also because the petuates in practice manual sca tution, B.R. Ambedkar’s legacy. forced to tighten its own policy stance in order to retain plauded and embraced the and powered by kisan unions, con UDHR, though it has become part venging. It bans in law but lives And, fi nally, the seventh, vox investment capital and defend the rupee. This will i m amendment. verged in the national capital. of the constitution and laws of sev with child marriage. It bans pre populi! India’s free elections are a pact domestic economic growth negatively. Each time They asked for farm loan waivers eral countries which attained in natal gender screening but is un ‘UDHR asset’. The massive victory Human beings and for decent agricultural prices dependence after it was pro able to stop it and that which fol of the Left Front in Kerala’s just the external account has come under pressure, the go In the postHitler, postHiroshima to be honoured. And then march claimed, is not legally binding. It lows, female foeticide. concluded panchayat elections, vernment has simply tried to bring in piecemeal emer world that phrase meant more ing to Parliament, they demanded stirs a nation’s conscience, not its Crimes against women, chil overcoming the rightwing lurch gency measures, such as a little opening up of the cap than any two could. The delegates a session to discuss what has been laws. Lawmakers and conscience dren in India seem unabating. We on Sabarimala, shows a silent ma ital account or illadvised restrictions on imports. Such to the Assembly nourished visions a key concept in the UDHR: digni keepers coalesce but rarely. For are in shame, unforgivable, unre jority’s peaceable wisdom, and a policy obviously manages to only kick the can down of a global transformation. But, gi ty. They asked that Parliament most of the time, they are a spe deemable shame, to cite extreme strength. Tomorrow, there will the road rather than bring a permanent solution to the ven that of the 58 memberna should discuss farmers’ dignity cies apart. examples, over the rape and mur another unfurling of that rainbow. problem. In order to bring about any meaningful tions, as many as 10 including the threatened by the agrarian crisis in Curbs on dissenters can be seen der of Nirbhaya in the national Paris, on December 10, 1948, Soviet Union, South Africa and India which has led, from 1998 to around the globe, from China to capital and of a child in Kashmir’s liberated rights from state and so change, the government should also try implementing Saudi Arabia abstained or did not 2018, to the suicides of some Brazil, from India through Egypt Kathua district. If the Kathua mur cial shackles. They must stay liber proper structural reforms that can boost exports, th us vote, the delegates must have un 300,000 farmers. Speaker after and Turkey to the U.S. Myanmar der had bigotry lurking over it, the ated, and celebrated. helping fund imports through means other than capital derstood that a document as ideal speaker at the rally spoke of agri which says ‘no room’ to its own beheading of a 13yearold Dalit infl ows, and end the overreliance on imported oil. istic as theirs would run into con culture being India’s life, not just a Rohingya disregards Article 14, girl in Tamil Nadu’s Salem district Gopalkrishna Gandhi is a former ceptual diffi culties and be feeder line. and Pakistan which hounds out was laced with caste contempt. administrator, diplomat and governor Death in the air It is time clean air is A party at the crossroads made a frontline political issue The BSP faces a situation in which it either emerges stronger nationally or loses signifi cance beyond Uttar Pradesh s an environmental scourge that killed an esti Mayawati (picture) by trying to mo this model, it also tried to form an could also cut into votes in parts of mated 1.24 million people in India in 2017, air bilise the Scheduled Castes (SCs) . alliance with the Congress in Mad these States where the DalitBahu Apollution should be among the highest policy These younger leaders have hya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhat jan communities are substantial in priorities. But the Centre and State governments hav e emerged through social move tisgarh. In the last mentioned number and politically aware of tended to treat it as a chronic malaise that defi es a solu ments that have sprung up in reac State, it eventually went into an al Ambedkarite and Kanshiramled tion. The deadly results of offi cial apathy are outlined in tion to atrocities against SCs. In its liance with Ajit Jogi’s Janta Con DalitBahujan politics. the Global Burden of Disease 2017 report on the impact Badri Narayan initial years, the BSP had used this gress Chhattisgarh ( J). The BSP’s If a mahagathbandhan, with say of air pollution on deaths, disease burden, and life ex kind of aggressive language. In a attempt to make these elections the Samajwadi Party, fails to way, the use of language as a A.M. FARUQUI multipolar may fragment the anti emerge in U.P. in time for the gen pectancy across the s tates of India, published by he Bahujan Samaj Party strong mobilisational tool for op of vote share data for the Lok Sab BJP votes and ultimately harm the eral election, it could prove diffi The Lancet. Millions of people are forced to lead morbid (BSP) fi nds itself at a unique pressed communities is a remin ha polls between 2009 and 2014 prospects of the Congress. There cult to defeat the Bharatiya Janata lives or face premature death due to bad air quality. In Tjuncture that is important der of a similar instance in Maha shows that the party’s nationwide are some in the BSP who subscribe Party (BJP). Another poor showing dia’s national standard for ambient fi ne particulate mat for the party and for democratic rashtra in the 1970s with the Dalit vote share has declined from over to the line ‘ pahale harenge, phir in U.P. could result in deeper ter, or PM 2.5, is notoriously lax at 40 micrograms per and contemporary politics. As a Panthers. 6% to 4.1%. So it needs a base ex harayenge (fi rst will face defeat cracks in the BSP. Dissensions, de cubic metre, but even so, 77% of the population was ex party, it has faced trials in the form All these factors have led to the pansion, which is why the party is and then will defeat others’), so sertions and inner confl ict could posed to higher levels on average. No State met the an of desertions, factionalism and BSP facing a situation wherein it trying hard to make a mark again the votecutting (vote katawa) con become more open, with Ms. turmoil. In the 2014 parliamentary could emerge stronger or shrink not only in U.P. but also in other struct may be a unique way in Mayawati losing her support base nual average exposure norm for PM2.5 of 10 micrograms elections, the BSP could not win further and lose its position as a States. If it does make a mark in which the BSP is positioning itself among the DalitBahujan poor and per cubic metre set by the World Health Organisation. If even a single seat in its stronghold, political party of signifi cance. Data the Assembly elections now, it in States where it is not a main the marginalised. Some could the country paid greater attention to ambient air qual Uttar Pradesh. Since then, it conti show that the party’s social base could become a signifi cant factor contender. even gravitate towards the BJP and ity and household air pollution, the researchers say, pe nues to face many pressures. has shrunk to almost the level in the politics of alliance formation In Madhya Pradesh, the BSP has the Congress. So the BSP may be a ople living in the worstaff ected States of Uttar Pradesh, from which it began. Though the in U.P. for the general election infl uence in the Bundelkhand re puzzle for other political parties . Bihar, Rajasthan and Jharkhand could add more than Right wing infl uences BSP remains a party of signifi next year. gion, parts of BaghelkhandRewa, One has to wait and watch how the 1.7 years to their life expectancy. Similar gains would ac Hindutva politics has begun to in cance in terms of the vote share it Perhaps Ms. Mayawati has re Satana division and the BhindMo BSP resolves these issues and fl uence its base of voters. Dalit recorded in the 2014 p arliamen cognised the importance of al rena areas of the Chambal region . creates a niche for itself. crue nationwide, but it is regions with low social deve youth leaders, tapping into a new tary elections and the U.P. A s liances. For example, in Karnata In Chhattisgarh, the BSP and Mr. lopment, refl ected partly in reliance on solid fuels for aggressive language being used sembly elections in 2017 (around ka, it formed an alliance with the Jogi’s party seem to be infl uential Badri Narayan is Director, G.B. Pant cooking, and those with ambient air pollution caused against the dominant social 22%), it has failed to maintain its Janata Dal (S), though its Minister in the Bilaspur and Janjgir areas Social Science Institute (a constituent by stubbleburning, construction dust and unbridled groups, are emerging as a chal strong position. quit the JD(S)Congress coalition and in places adjoining the Maha institute of the Central University of motorisation such as Delhi that would benefi t the most. lenge to the party and its leader At the national level, an analysis government recently. Based on rashtra border. The combination Allahabad), Allahabad Sustainable solutions must be found for stubble burning and the use of solid fuels in households, the LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters emailed to [email protected] must carry the full postal address and the full name or the name with initials. two major sources of pollution, and State governments must be made accountable for this. The Centre should work with Punjab and Haryana to ensure that the ma Bulandshahr murder deserves praise for clearing security situation in Jammu is unique and praiseworthy disheartening to note that Talcosis and more The violence in this bold step. Has not the and Kashmir is still a matter about ‘Train 18’ is that it has the project has been built in The report, “Report on ‘toxic chinery already distributed to farmers and coopera Bulandshahr, Uttar Congress taken claim for of concern and the eff ect of been turned out in a record a pristine region that is in talc’ worries India” tives to handle agricultural waste is in place and work Pradesh, where a police the successful liberation of the surgical strikes on terror time of about 18 months, close proximity to the (December 9), was an eye ing. A mechanism for rapid collection of farm residues offi cial on duty was shot East Pakistan in 1971? The is debatable. It is better to from conception to reality, ecologically sensitive opener. It is a fact that many has to be instituted. In fact, new approaches to recover dead, is yet another bold and historic decision concentrate on the all with ‘best in class’ facilities. Western Ghats. Is this an in India, especially in the ing value from biomass could be the way forward. The instance of the total was successfully carried out important task of It is a wholly indigenous example of sustainable south, use the product proposal from a furnituremaker to convert straw int o breakdown of law and by the Indian Army, which maintaining peace and eff ort initiated by the fi eld development undertaken by heavily. I wonder whether useful products will be keenly watched for its out order in the State. With the won Indira Gandhi tranquillity along the Line of unit — in this case the ICF — the government of a State consumers, especially in the evidence so far, is there an wholesome praise. Who Control than brag about unlike the usual topdown which is bouncing back to rural areas, are aware of the comes. A shift away from solid fuels to LPG in millions attempt to bury the truth? can forget the Congress something done two years decisions thrust from the normalcy after massive health hazards described. of lowincome homes has provided health benefi ts, It is an accepted fact that in winning the subsequent ago. top, a feature that is common fl ooding caused by Meghana Mohan, The Lancet study says, underscoring the value of clean U.P., under the current parliamentary elections J. Anantha Padmanabhan, in government organisations. environmental degradation? Coimbatore Tiruchi alternatives. The potential of domestic biogas units, so dispensation, human lives with a thumping majority? The credit should go Team Viju Joseph M., more letters online: lar cookers and improved biomass cookstoves has to be are less precious when The Narendra Modi ICF, from its top leadership Madathett, Kasaragod, Kerala www.hindu.com/opinion/letters/ explored, since they impose no additional expenditure compared to cows. government is not wrong in ‘Engineless’ train down to the lowest levels — a corrections & clarifications: on rural and less affl uent households. Such measures C.V. Aravind, claiming its share of credit There has been much media rare success story in a public Bengaluru for the surgical strikes. hype about the high speed sector organisation. The In a story headlined “New Delhi cashes in on goodwill with should, of course, be complemented by strong control UAE” (Dec. 8, 2018), CBI had been wrongly expanded as Central S.V. Venkatakrishnan, train set called ‘Train 18’, train is also a shining Bureau of Intelligence instead of Central Bureau of Investigation. over urban sources of pollution. India’s commitments Surgical strikes Bengaluru manufactured by the Integral example of ‘Make in India’. under the Paris Agreement on climate change require a In the story headlined “Guidelines issued for homestays” (Dec. Lt. Gen. (retired) D.S. Coach Factory (ICF) K. Balakesari, 8, 2018), the reference to bread & breakfasts in the opening para sharp reduction in particulates from fossil fuel. Fuels Hooda’s remarks on the ■ The surgical strikes were Perambur, Tamil Nadu, being Chennai graph should be corrected to read bed & breakfasts. may be relatively cleaner today and vehicles better en surgical strikes carried out thoroughly politicised by the the fi rst “engineless” train in The headline of a report (Dec. 8, 2018) on the release of a special gineered to cut emissions, but traffi c densities in ci ties by the Indian Army in 2016 government not only in India India. Trains without Fourth airport commemorative volume, Service and Humanity, was erroneous. It should have said: “Special volume released on Sharana Basavesh have led to a rise in pollution. Realtime measureme nt have created needless but also abroad. Operations ‘engines’ (locomotives) have The formal inauguration of controversy (“‘Modi of security forces, especially been in vogue in railways all Kannur international airport, wara shrine”. of pollution is also lacking. There are not enough politicised surgical strikes’,” in a sensitive zone, must be over the world — this on Sunday, an event which In a story relating to court warrant against Sasikala in FERA viol ation cases (Dec. 8, 2018, some editions), the headline and the text groundlevel monitoring stations for PM 2.5, and studies December 9). The strikes carried out with includes India — for decades, also gives Kerala its fourth primarily use satellite imagery and modelling to project erroneously said that the warrant was to produce the jailed AI did boost the morale of the confi dentiality. The hype an example being the international airport, may be ADMK leader in 13 cases. The correct headline is: “Court issues health impacts. Rapid progress on clean air now de Army and also reassured us over the strikes, as if they electric multiple units plying lauded as welcome for the warrant to produce Sasikala on Dec. 13 in cases of FERA violation.”
pends on citizens making it a frontline political issue. of the abilities of our were resorted to for the fi rst on the suburban sections of development of the north The Readers’ Editor’s office can be contacted by Telephone: +91-44-28418297/28576300; defence forces. The Centre time, was misplaced. The the metros. What, however, Kerala region. But it is E-mail:[email protected]
CM A CH-CHE YK