THURSDAY 3 NOVEMBER 2011

| OPINION |9

News Updates

City woman in
Democracy, free speech
Ontario Assembly
S
etting a new record, five
Indo-Canadians
made it to the Ontario
Provincial Assembly, one up
from last time. Four of the
have
and secession
UPADHYAYULA NARAYANA DAS Pakistan would be happy to agree to recog-
nise the ‘de facto’ border between J&K and

elected representatives – or the middle classes who toasted
Harinder Takhar, Amrit Man-
gat, Vic Dhillon and Dipika
Damerla – belong to the ruling
Liberal Party, while the fifth,
Jagmeet Singh, represents the
New Democratic Party (NDP).
Dipika Damerla The previous Provincial Assem-
bly had four Indians as mem-
bers. Dipika Damarla, a Telugu woman with roots in
Hyderabad, won the elections from the Mississauga-
Cookeville constituency. Being a senior policy advisor to
Ontario’s minister of economic development and trade,
her focus had been bringing good jobs to Ontario during
one of the worst recessions to hit the province. As a Lib-
eral MPP (on par with member of a Legislative Assembly
in India), Dipika took her oath on the Gita on October
27.
Dipika was born in Secunderabad and had her early
education at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Trimulgherry. Daugh-
ter of a Pune-based retired Army Officer, D V R Rao,
Dipika did her schooling mostly in Kendriya Vidyalaya
all over India with every transfer of her father. She did
her B.Com and CA from Pune and moved to Canada
after her marriage in the early 1990s. She took her master
of business administration (MBA) from the Rotman
School of Business, University of Toronto. In Canada,
Dipika began her career as a social and political commen-
tator for Omni TV, covering many local issues in Missis-
sauga. Prior to her present career, she worked in
corporate banking at two of Canada’s largest financial in-
stitutions – the Royal Bank of Canada and the Bank of
Nova Scotia.
Her extensive community involvement includes vol-
unteering with the Mississauga Food Bank, founding
the clothing drive Vastra Daan, chairing the India Pavil-
ion, Carrasauga, and hosting a classical music show on
the local community radio. As a working mother,
Dipika understands the challenges that hard-working
families face every day—the challenge of balancing
work and family, of getting the best for children and of
carving out a secure and stable future in the midst of
so much change.
A self-made immigrant, Dipika spoke passionately
about building a strong local economy with good jobs,
high-quality schools and healthcare in Mississauga that
supports and celebrates its diversity. “It all begins with
jobs, because for every job created there is another family
that can pursue the Canadian dream. This is what grow-
ing the local economy is all about and this is why I want
to fight for more local jobs right here in Mississauga,” she
said about her immediate plans.
F
Prashant Bhushan as a champion
against corruption till a few days ago,
he suddenly became a ‘villain’. They were
able to willy-nilly excuse his ‘demeanours’ in
defending certain ‘elements’ in courtroom
battles, because of his association with Anna
Hazare and his movement against corrup-
tion. The reason for the disenchantment of
the middle classes with Prashant Bhushan is
quite obvious. He uttered the social and po-
litical equivalent of a four-letter word by call-
ing for a plebiscite in Kashmir. In his defence,
Bhushan, of course, says, that he did not ac-
tually ‘call for a plebiscite’ but only opined
that the people of Jammu & Kashmir had a
right to it. It makes no difference to middle
India: he crossed the Rubicon or, in Indian
idiom, crossed the Lakshman Rekha, as
Kashmir is a sensitive issue with a bloody
history.
This is not the first time that someone
openly took a position against India’s histor-
ical stand on Kashmir. Other bleeding-heart
liberals spoke about the ‘occupation army’
and human rights violations in Kashmir.
Pakistan could not have asked for more.
It is because of the 64-year bloody history
since the State’s accession to the Indian
Union that voices like Prashant Bhushan ran-
kle the majority of Indians. To the majority,
it appears, these people are oblivious to the
sufferings of one section of the State’s popu-
lace. Have they forgotten the half a million
Kashmiri Hindus who were exiled in their
own country? Have they forgotten the thou-
sands of soldiers and policemen killed in de-
fending the State since 1947? Have they
forgotten the thousands of crores of rupees
that were spent as aid on Kashmir?
Kashmiri separatist leaders like Mirwaiz
Farooq and Syed Ali Shah Jeelani have been
openly advocating secession from India. In
the perception of a majority of Indians,
Prashant Bhushan is taking sides with the
separatists, by talking of a plebiscite in Kash-
mir. Bhushan, being an erudite advocate
practising in the highest court of the land,
could not have been unaware that a plebiscite
in Kashmir is untenable in view of the UN
preconditions attached to it. Even Pakistan,
the other party to the dispute, had abandoned
this position long ago. From all indications,
PoK as ‘de jure’ international border. When
asked a hypothetical question, Prashant
Bhushan could have apprised the questioner
of the situation on the ground and the posi-
tion of the UN and, more importantly, that
of Pakistan.
It might be argued that free speech is the
essence of democracy, and hence Prashant
Bhushan has a right to voice his opinion. But
then, democracy is a funny thing. When you
don’t have it you yearn for it. When you have
it you are not happy with it. True. We had
fought for nearly six decades to attain inde-
pendence from the British. Yet, ask anyone
who was born at about the time of independ-
ence and they would remember their elders
In his defence, Bhushan, of course, says that he did
not actually ‘call for a plebiscite’ but only opined
that the people of Jammu & Kashmir had a right to
it. It makes no difference to middle India: he
crossed the Rubicon or, in Indian idiom, crossed
the Lakshman Rekha, as Kashmir is a sensitive
issue with a bloody history
yearning for the ‘good old’ British days when
things ‘were better’. In 1975, when Indira
Gandhi imposed an internal emergency, for
reasons that have nothing to do with any in-
ternal disturbance, there were sections of the
populace – not affected by midnight knocks
and summary arrests – who welcomed it, at
least in its initial stages. Their reasoning was,
there was discipline in government offices
and ‘trains were running on time’. It could
not be dismissed out of hand as silly, for
trains used to run so late, if a train ran two
to three hours behind schedule it raised no
eyebrows. In my home town, we used to joke
that if the Bokaro Express (running between
Bokaro in Jharkhand and Chennai) was on
time, it was probably the previous day’s train!
There was an instance, when a gentleman
was asked if his train was on time, he replied
‘yes it was on time; just twenty minutes late’.
Funnily enough, ‘trains running on time’,
Youths protested against assault on Prashant Bhushan
was also one of the reasons officially ad-
duced to justify the emergency. During the
19-month emergency, the Government used
to issue large advertisements in newspapers,
with the caption, ‘Let us consolidate the
gains of Emergency’, whatever it meant.
Coming back to democracy, in essence, it
is rule by consensus. In India’s case the con-
sensus was codified into a constitution, to
draft which, many wise men expended hun-
dreds of hours; each clause of which was
then debated and finally adopted. The
process took nearly three years, and pro-
duced the longest written Constitution in the
world, which accommodates the divergence
and plurality of the constituents of the na-
tion. However, codifying principles of gov-
ernance is one thing and following it in letter
and spirit, is another. Leaders, however dem-
ocratically minded, do not like to be tied
down to a code of conduct, however sacro-
sanct it may be, not necessarily because they
are selfish or venal but because they have
such immense confidence in their wisdom
and their ability to determine what is good
for their constituents. Therefore no sooner
the ink on the draft was dry than we began
amending it. The Constitution was adopted
on November 26, 1949, and the first amend-
ment was enforced on June 18, 1951 barely
18 months later. It was, incidentally, moved
in the Parliament by Jawaharlal Nehru, the
epitome of democratic values and was in-
tended to, among other things, ‘place reason-
able restrictions on the citizen’s right to
freedom of speech and expression’!
Jawaharlal Nehru resorted to the amend-
ment for nothing serious like secession or ex-
ternal aggression. He did it because he felt
that ‘freedom of speech’ was impeding some-
thing as mundane as the abolition of the Za-
mindari system!
TAIL PIECE: During the American Con-
stitutional Convention in Philadelphia in the
summer of 1787, a member moved a motion
that the standing army of the United States
should not exceed 5000 men at any given
time. As George Washington was presiding
over the convention, he could not move an
amendment. So he turned to another mem-
ber and whispered, ‘move an amendment
that no foreign power should attack the
United States at any time with more than
3000 troops’.
Does this anecdote from the life of George
Washington have a message for our bleeding-
heart liberals and Prashant Bhushan?

China factor in India’s Choices: from the

heart or the mind
Look East Policy D Management
ecisions! Decisions!
Decisions! Our world
practices
usually is dominated
by umpteen choices and deci-
sessions that we as a species
tend to make by and large emo-
tional decisions more than logi-
cal ones. Why else the would

I
n a single week in October, India India of "fishing in troubled waters" In doing so, he virtually vetoed the objections sions to make. How then do we clip the seat belt in the plane
hosted two Presidents from South- where China claims complete sover- from southern ministers in his government, partic- we know that we are making and not do so in the car, when
east Asia, Myanmar and Vietnam, eignty that has been disputed by others. ularly A K Antony and Vayalar Ravi from Kerala. the right choice at that time? the latter can have a larger im-
giving its “Look East Policy” a big The Chinese Communist Party-owned In February, India signed a Comprehensive Eco- How do we get to differentiate pact and possibility on saving
boost. Unfortunately, the China factor Global Times recently saw India's "deep nomic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with Japan from the choice that looks to one’s life? Why else would we
overshadowed the visits and parleys on political motives" in conducting explo- and a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation be absolutely correct and the carefully cross the road in some
key economic relations were lost. India rations with Vietnam. New Delhi wants Agreement (CECA) with Malaysia -- all within a one that actually is right for instances and just not care
is engaging Myanmar in multifarious "to accumulate bargaining chips on week. The agreements embody India’s deepening that instance? How do we de- about it in other? There is no
activities and with Myanmar; it has other issues with China". interests in Southeast and East Asia, especially fol- cide so as to confidently take logic in these. We just go ahead
launched exploration for oil and gas in It averred that Chinese protests were lowing the signing of $15 billion in business deals forward baby steps in the path with what we feel many a time
the South China Sea. China wields "unlikely to work" on India and recom- with Indonesia in January. While New Delhi’s re- of the choice once made! Revathi Turaga and then rationalize it to give it
much greater influence in Myanmar Mahendra Ved mended that Beijing deploy "non-mili- lationship with Malaysia is primarily economic Revisiting the world of the shape of a logical reasoning.
and in Vietnam; it has seriously tary forces to disturb their work, and with a security component, its relations with Japan choices, the most common question I remem- A better approach is to be able to take both
protested India’s presence in waters where it claims cause dispute or friction to halt the two countries' have a distinctly strategic cast. ber being asked as a coach, is when should a reasoning and feelings together and work out
complete sovereignty. exploration". On October 16, China Energy News The two-decade-old LEP originated in the eco- person make an emotional decision and when an approach. In the Hindi movie ‘Iqbal;, the
The twin issues do make the China factor crucial warned: "India is playing with fire by agreeing to nomic turmoil that followed the collapse of India’s a logical one. This question in itself poses a actor Naseeruddin Shah while mentoring his
to India’s relations with those nations. But that explore for oil with Vietnam in the disputed South former patron and main trade partner, the Soviet dichotomy in the process and steps towards prodigy on bowling, says to him, “Dil ka
should not remove the importance and the mutual Union. India adopted a foreign policy initiative of making choices. Being a certified coach in kaam dimaag se karo”, while pointing to
needs of economic ties. This is more so because the embracing its East Asian neighbors as a new source MBTI® (Myers Briggs Type Indicator), even them in opposite ways. When asked why he
security aspects operate in tandem with the eco- In February, India signed a of growth. Over the past decade, India’s exports to the age old psychological profiling says that said and did so, he smiles and says, “jab dil
nomic ones. India needs Myanmar for access to its Comprehensive Economic the Association of Southeast Asian Nations people prefer to either be the ‘Thinking Type’
own north-eastern region where links are sustained (ASEAN) member states have boomed, making decision makers i.e. they go with logic or they
by a precarious 23km corridor aptly called Partnership Agreement (CEPA) the block an Indian trading partner roughly equal prefer to be ‘Feeling Type’ decision makers
Can one make a logical
"chicken's neck". India needs to reach out to that with Japan and a Comprehensive in size to China. i.e. they go with wanting to be fair with every- decision when one’s heart
region both through Bangladesh and Myanmar. The LEP is not about economics alone, how- one.
India’s failure to conclude the Teesta water shar- Economic Cooperation ever; it also encompasses efforts to deepen security There are those that say that decisions
seems strongly to be against
ing treaty with Bangladesh during Prime Minister Agreement (CECA) with Malaysia ties. India intensified its LEP in light of China’s ought to be logically thought out and struc- it? Or can one just go with the
Manmohan Singh’s Dhaka visit has stalled the rise, a rise that has sounded alarms in New Delhi tured and made after the pros and cons are
talks for India’s access to the north-east. This
-- all within a week. The and throughout Southeast and East Asia. China properly analyzed. Whilst on the other side is
heart when one’s mind is
makes the Myanmar route, albeit more difficult, an agreements embody India’s has become more obtrusive in the region in the past the school of thought that no matter what we constantly cautioning one?
important alternative. two years especially, prompting India to move analyze, we ultimately have to follow our
Myanmar is also India’s gateway to Southeast
deepening interests in Southeast faster. heart! So, which way to go? This is the funda-
The solution is not to go for
Asia. During President Thein Sein's visit, it was and East Asia, especially While the ASEAN states want to continue trad- mental question in the technique of making either of the above, but rather
agreed to examine the feasibility of establishing following the signing of $15 ing and expanding economic integration with the right choices.
railway links and accelerate work on two hydro- China, they have begun to deepen their relation- This often brings a smile to my face... is
to go in harmony with heart
electric projects in Myanmar. billion in business deals with ships with larger powers, particularly the United that really possible, I ask myself ? Can one and mind! Get them to talk to
India’s approach is similar to the one that New Indonesia in January States, as a hedge against the threat of being over- make a logical decision when one’s heart
Delhi follows with other neighbours -- Sri Lanka, whelmed by China. The United States, which has seems to strongly be against it? Or can one
each other... and discuss what
Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal -- addressing each renewed its engagement with the region, has en- just go with the heart when one’s mind is con- each thinks and feels and
other's security concerns and building linkages in China Sea. India's energy strategy is slipping into couraged its allies in Asia to strengthen economic stantly cautioning them? The solution I say is reach a harmonious
power, telecoms and interconnectivity by road, air, an extremely dangerous whirlpool." and security ties among each other to shape and not to go for either of the above, but rather to
railways and sea. Noted Indian security analyst B. Raman, who constrain China’s rise. India’s eastward drive go in harmony with heart and mind! decision that both would
Manmohan Singh and Thein Sein also touched has listed the entire gamut of Indo-Vietnamese en- meshes relatively well with both ASEAN’s search Get them to talk to each other... and dis- ultimately be comfortable with
upon the Moreh-Mae Sot road that would connect ergy cooperation, says: "China did not formally for alternate options and the United States’ goals cuss what each thinks and feels and reach a
India and Thailand via Myanmar, besides acceler- raise any objection to any of the agreements or for the region’s economic and security architec- harmonious decision that both would ulti-
ating plans with the Southeast Asian region for the projects till last year, despite the fact that Indo-Viet- ture. mately be comfortable with. How different is aur dimag saaath mein kaam karen, toh farq
Mekong-Ganga Corridor, identified to enhance namese cooperation in the field of oil and gas is There are constraints to India’s LEP, however. it from 2 individuals discussing to come to a nahin padta ke baat dil ki hain ya dimag ki!”
connectivity and industrial activity. now 23 years old." Clearly, China has woken up Although India historically projected power into mutually beneficial alternative? What a profound thought – When the heart
India, which announced a credit line of US$500 suddenly. If it is the Chinese case that no "outsider" Southeast Asia, it is a relative latecomer to the con- Only, this is easier as the individual can and the mind work together, then it no longer
million (RM1.6 billion) to boost Myanmar's infra- should be in South China Sea, then did it protest temporary Southeast Asian game. Moreover, control and influence both... When I train matters whether the decision is from the mind
structure, secured commitments for more projects British Petroleum's presence? India’s deepest concerns lie in its own periphery. senior leaders on Edward de Bono’s Six or from the heart!
and areas of cooperation from Thein Sein. Al- Manmohan Singh's response has been that Pakistan remains the greatest security threat. Un- Thinking Hats®, the one profound thought This friends, is what we should aspire to-
though India does not vocally push the China fac- "India and Vietnam are maritime neighbours. We like China, Japan, South Korea and others, India that always strikes everyone is the usage of wards achieving... A smooth and flawless
tor beyond a point, Western analysts see India as face common security challenges from terrorism, does not depend on Southeast Asian sea-lanes for the Red Hat, the feeling an emotions hat combo of both the heart and mind in our
an antidote to China in the Southeast Asian region. piracy and natural disasters. We believe that it is its vital supplies, though it has taken a much greater along with the others. “Corporate scenarios choices! Let them play their jugalbandhi in-
The fact is that China is way ahead of India and important to ensure the safety and security of the interest in sea-lane security due to its growing trade and using feeling for making decisions???!!!” side and bring a harmonious melody to the
for the latter, even if it tries to or wants to; it would vital sea lanes of communication. We have agreed with the region and desire not to cede space to At first there scepticism, and then a dawn- outside!
be difficult to enter a race. It would not be worth to continue and strengthen our exchanges in these China. ing of understanding that the feelings can Listen to your heart and to your mind!
the effort, while India can certainly protect its areas fields". Singh has made LEP a corner stone of Ultimately, while agreements like CEPA and never be pushed aside even in a completely Choose right... You have the power!
of influence and even expand on it. India’s foreign policy. It was thanks to his efforts CECA are not paradigm-shifting moments, they professional environment. So then, why not
The perceived Sino-Indian rivalry, in whatever that India signed the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) mark the advance of India’s LEP at a time when make them a part of the decision making The writer is an International Trainer &
form, is silent in Myanmar, but is currently most with the Association of Southeast nations (Asean), Southeast and East Asia are evolving in rapid and process? Inspirational Speaker. She can be reached at
vocal in Vietnam. Chinese media have accused the ten-nation grouping. potentially volatile ways. I have often told participants in training http://www.revathionline.com