|
|
|
|
|
| June 26, 2000 | ||
METRO TODAY | DAILY NEWS | ASTROLOGY | ARCHIVES | INDIA TODAY | HOME |
|
|
|
| Unwise
Men of the East Attacks on Christians merit action, not polemics
Indians are a devout people. They respect those who call themselves men of God. They would probably do so more if the Giriraj Kishores and Alan de Lastics displayed less of an inclination for press interviews. The Hindu right appoints itself custodian of "Indian values", whatever they may be. In not roundly condemning the murderous attacks, the Sangh Parivar seems to justify the stereotypes it is associated with. If it can't ostracise rogue elements within its faith, how can it demand, say, that Muslims do likewise? The Church, on its part, is too busy defining conversion as an "inner transformation" to see the fine distinction between self-impelled change and proselytisation, an idea that, frankly, should have died in the 19th century. Religion is not a market that needs a competition for numbers. From the Bajrang Dal to born-again Christian faith healers, some people should internalise this -- and save the rest of India much pain. Generation Trap What
do you do when you can't do what you must? You talk big and act small.
That's exactly what the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government has been doing
with the economic reforms. Right from the time they took office in 1998,
both the prime minister What does the Government have to show 16 months after Sinha made that promise? No roadmap, no consensus, no certainty. Ad hocism still symbolises what it does. Feasibility -- and not desirability -- still determines what it should do. True, the privatisation of Modern Foods and Air-India, liberalisation of foreign investment, and freer repatriation of profits are all desirable and laudable steps individually. But collectively they point to a government that is still unsure -- if not unclear -- on two counts: future reforms and its own capability to deliver those reforms. That is unfortunate since this is a government that has the confidence of being twice-born and the wisdom of a decade of trial and tribulations with reforms. |
|
||||
| Top |
 BUSINESS TODAY | INDIA TODAY PLUS | COMPUTERS TODAY | CARE
TODAY Write to us | Subscriptions | Advertise with
us |
Like
an apocalyptic sequel to a bad dream, anti-Christian violence has come
back to haunt India only a year and a half after the horrific incineration
of missionary Graham Staines and his children in Orissa. There have been
incidents in Punjab, in Uttar Pradesh and as far afield as Karnataka and
Andhra Pradesh. Governments across party lines have been stigmatised. To
look at the
incidents as a pattern of state-sponsored pogroms would be facile but
scarcely accurate. Nevertheless, the verbally timid reaction of the Atal
Bihari Vajpayee Government does it no credit. It only enfeebles a comatose
criminal justice system. Irrespective of mofussil bazaar gossip, no
individual -- priest, pervert, sadhu or shaitan -- can be tried by
kangaroo court and mob fury. It is the administration's duty to identify
suspects and be overly transparent with even preliminary findings. That
final measure is vital, for in its absence political interests and general
busybodies have a free run.
and
Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha have claimed that economic reforms need a
new definition and a new direction. The rhetoric later evolved into
something more impressive -- the second generation of reforms. On February
27, 1999, Sinha told Parliament that he would table a paper on the second
generation of reforms in two months. The intention was to bare before the
country the content and roadmap for future economic reforms, seek
consensus and get cracking on the agreed agenda. At last, here was a
government determined to end ad hoc policymaking and impart transparency
and certainty to the reforms. That's significant since most proponents of
economic liberalisation are actually opposed to its methods, not the
measures.