Monday, June 29, 1998
Central teams instead of Article 356
When West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu refused to meet the Central team sent to ``assess the law and order'' situation in his state, he was not being arrogant. True, humility isn't his strong point. But Basu's snub to the Centre is in the spirit of the demand made in 1984. That was the year Basu hosted the first ``conclave'' of non-Congress chief ministers in Calcutta after the dismissal of the NTR (Andhra Pradesh) and Farooq Abdullah (J&K) governments by Indira Gandhi despite these governments commanding majorities in their respective state Assemblies.
Killing with kindness
Every Merat in Rajasthan has excellent reason to ask the most philosophical of questions: "Why me?" In a country where religious lines are often blurred, despite the strenuous exertions of religious and political leaders to prove the contrary, the Merats are uniquely unfortunate in inviting the attention of proselytisers. Who, strangely enough, are seeking their conversion -- or reversion -- to a religion that has never believed it necessary to preach or convert.
Petulance and opportunism
Why has there been such a frantic reaction from some powers to the Pokharan explosions? Certainly, some may be genuinely concerned about nuclear proliferation per se but, at least partly, an explanation may also be found in an important consequence which has become increasingly manifest over the past few weeks. Fingers are being pointed at the five nuclear-weapon states: you lecture India and Pakistan but what are you doing about reducing, let alone destroying, your huge nuclear-weapon arsenal?
|
|
