Round-up of regional news

  India / Manipur Mautam: the sequel? The dreaded bamboo flowering has begun It has started. For the first time in a half-century, the dreaded bamboo flowering has begun in parts of Manipur. So great is the fear of the imminent blossoms that, in areas of Churachandpur District only recently cleared of militant activity, the Indian Army has been redeployed – to go on an emergency education spree about rats.   The enormous bamboo forests of the Northeast spread across Manipur, as well as Mizoram, Tripura and parts of Assam. Although the plants only blossom once every 48 years, the occurrence has long been known to lead to widespread famine. The last time that the bamboo in the region blossomed was in the late 1950s.   The Mautam, as the mysterious occurrence is known in the Mizo language, is disastrous for two reasons. First, after flowering, bamboo dies almost immediately, rendering it almost completely useless. Whole swaths of bamboo forests disappear. Second, the sudden prevalence of bamboo seeds leads to an explosion in the regional rat population. The rodents decimate more than just the bamboo blossoms, however, and inevitably turn their attentions to the locals' foodgrain stores.   After the government failed to act quickly enough the last time the Mautam took place, the resulting frustration in Mizoram led to the transformation of the relief-based Mizo National Famine Front into the militant Mizo National Front. That group subsequently fought a separatist war against the Indian government until 1987.   With unrest already bubbling at the surface in the region, it is perhaps telling that it has fallen to the shoulders of the security forces to try to head-off what is being referred to as "the menace". Since May, when the first blossoms were sighted, soldiers have been moving to the farthest reaches of the affected area, educating villagers about rodent eradication techniques, purchasing soon-to-be worthless bamboo, and hurriedly setting up community farms growing only ginger and turmeric – crops that the rats supposedly will not eat.   When was the last time that the Indian military focused – so promptly and proactively – on addressing the root causes of poverty and frustration?     Bhutan   Power report = National happiness     Bhutan's second major hydroelectric project is expected to begin producing energy any day now. With the opening of the gargantuan Tala Hydro Plant, Bhutan's current export of 500 megawatts is set to triple by October. Energy officials in Thimphu are hoping to position the country to be ready to export around 5000 MW by 2016 – all to India. The commissioning will be none too soon for North India, whose demand has risen to more than 26,000 MW, and led to shortages of up to 5000 MW during peak hours. As the temperature spiked this summer, New Delhi experienced loadshedding of up to nine hours per day.   Hydro cooperation between New Delhi and Thimphu goes all the way back to 1961. When the first major plant, the Chukha project, became operational in 1988, its entire INR 2.5 billion cost was covered by India. Since then, Chukha alone has contributed 40 percent of the country's annual revenue, with 70 percent of that energy being exported to India.   The new run-of-the-river Tala project, downstream from Chukha on the Wangchu River, is one of the largest of Southasia: 92 metres in height, with a 23 km-long headrace tunnel. At INR 43 billion, it is the largest-ever Indo-Bhutani joint project – and, like Chukha, is again completely covered by New Delhi. In May, Indian conglomerate Tata Power also finished the first phase of its 1200 km-long transmission line – India's first public-private transmission venture – which will pipe the Tala power straight to Delhi. There are critics who claim, as they did with Chukha, that India pays very low rates for Bhutan's power, but King Jigme Singye Wangchuck does not seem to be complaining.   Once Tala begins functioning, according to one estimate, Bhutan's per capita income could jump by more than 50 percent – from USD 700 per year to USD 1200. Bhutan's hydroelectricity and North India's thirst for the same is said to be one reason why New Delhi has never been too keen to push Thimphu on taking back the Lhotshampa refugees. Indeed, it is only Indian diplomats who have always been hard-pressed to explain the humanitarian insensitivity of South Block when it comes to the Lhotshampa. The advent of the Tala project probably cements the Indian silence even further, because it is a choice between loadshedding in New Delhi in midsummer, and the fate of a hundred thousand feckless Lhotshampa.     Burma   Finally, some attention     It has been years since any kind of good news – or any news – has emerged from Burma, and so a brief spike of international interest recently prompted speculation that the country was about to turn a corner. The spring of 2006 saw some of the worst state violence in Burma in a decade, with the junta openly admitting to cracking down on the northern Karen National Union, the nearly six-decade-old resistance group. Monitoring agencies report more than 18,000 people have been displaced.   Against such a backdrop, it was surprising that the UN Undersecretary-General for Political Affairs, Ibrahim Gambari, on a three-day trip to Burma in late May, succeeded in meeting with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. It was the first time since 2004 that a foreign visitor had met with Suu Kyi, who turned 61 in mid-June.   In what was only the second time that the UN Security Council has been formally briefed on Burma, Gambari reported signs that Rangoon may be readying itself for greater ties with the international community. These included a report on Suu Kyi prepared by the junta police that suggested that "her release would not necessarily lead to political instability". Nonetheless, Gambari concluded that Rangoon appeared unwilling to be a part of a "credible and inclusive political process".   In the midst of this speculation, at the end of the week following the UN envoy's visit, Suu Kyi's current house arrest term was set to expire. Secretary General Kofi Annan made a direct appeal to junta leader General Than Shwe to release the Nobel laureate, but the order to extend her detention came just hours later.   As the Security Council is tries to decide on its next move, the US is unilaterally involved in preparing a provisional resolution on the issue. Russia, Japan and China are firmly against any such action on Burma, and it appears that the Americans are the good guys. Gambari also suggested the appointment of a special envoy on Burma, and speculation is that it could be former Philippine President Fidel Ramos.     Region   Localising the sanghanak     Despite being perhaps the most profitable, dynamic and influential industry on the planet, the high-tech world of computer hardware and software has been notoriously slow – some would say repressive – when it comes to facilitating computing in local languages and scripts. Although the omnipresence of the English language in computer programs, operating systems and the Internet is both a danger and detriment to all of the world's languages, it is particularly problematic for those languages that do not use the 26-letter Roman alphabet for which nearly all standardised keyboards are equipped. While such factors are also stacked against languages like Spanish or German, which utilise some characters not available on a standard keyboard, these types of problems have become shorthand for a general discontent with Western neo-colonialism.   With access to technology being touted as the civil rights issue of the 21st century, such references are perhaps not misplaced. In Southasia, after all, English is largely a language of the affluent. As such, those sections of society that are not 'affluent' are coming at this new 'civil right' with two major strikes already against them: one of economics, one of knowing the 'wrong' language. The former can be dealt with through raising incomes and reducing the cost of hardware and software, but what of the latter?   In the beginning of June, students from throughout Southasia gathered in Lahore for a first-ever workshop in Asian Language Processing, organised by the Bangladesh-based PAN Localisation project. Recent years have seen a host of effective and rabble-rousing crossborder initiatives in Southasia, working to develop both free and region-friendly computing tools. Perhaps the most well known is Ankur, a thoroughly unofficial Indo-Bangladeshi collaboration that recently won a major award for developing a Bengali-language operating system and application tools. Hoping to build on that success, Indian and Pakistani programmers are looking to start work on a similar project for Urdu.   An Indian initiative, IndLinux, is working on "localising free software" in ten major Indian languages. "Should 'File' simply be called 'File' but written in Indian scripts because it is now a part of popular usage?" the IndLinux website muses. "How many people even know that the Hindi word for computer is sanghanak?"   In Kathmandu, the half-century-old Nepali-language archive Madan Puraskar Pustakalaya recently solved a monumental problem it faced with digitally sorting its texts. By standardising the electronic Nepali script, the Pustakalaya has now cleared the way for any number of future Nepali-language computing applications.   Why are such crucial projects being spearheaded by such small organisations? "Both big and small companies are in the business of making money," notes Taneem Ahmed, Ankur's founder. "But in general, people love their language. Many now believe a language will become obsolete and lost in the near future unless it is supported in the digital media."     Region   The future is by rail     Along with the feel-good openings of several new (or restarted) India-Pakistan crossborder train and bus links in recent months, rumours have been swirling of New Delhi's desire to put down several more permanent, physical connections elsewhere in the neighbourhood, to the north and east.   Although India's rail network was once the world's most extensive, politics have played a negative role over the past half-century, and most international links have been left to rust. New train plans would be in addition to the Sindh-Rajasthan Thar Express, which restarted regular service this past February between Munabao and Khokrapar.   Just as Indo-Bhutani relations look to be incrementally strengthened with the imminent commissioning of the massive Tala hydro-electric project, New Delhi recently agreed to help Bhutan create its first crossborder railway linkage. Five potential crossing points have been identified, two in West Bengal and three in Assam, and construction is expected to begin in 2007.   Lalu Prasad Yadav's Railway Ministry has drawn up plans to vastly expand the country's current 63,140 km of tracks into a larger network that would eventually connect directly with Southeast Asia, by way of both Bangladesh and Burma. Although six railway connections historically existed between India and Bangladesh, only two are currently used – on an intermittent basis for cargo only.   Yadav's expansionist dreams are also receiving a boost from the private sector. At an inaugural meeting in early June, the Indian and Bangladeshi chambers of commerce agreed to push New Delhi and Dhaka for increased container trade between the two countries, as well as for a resumption of the Calcutta-Dhaka passenger train service as quickly as possible.   According to the current railway budget, funding has also been requested for several new lines in the Northeast, including one in Manipur between Jiribam and Imphal, which is one of two feasible Indo-Burmese rail connection possibilities. Reports this spring had stated that the Railway Ministry had recommended extending that line to the border at Moreh, as well as onward to Kalay-Segyi in Burma. In addition, the ministry has floated the possibility of rebuilding an old Burmese line that runs between Segyi and Chaungu Myohaung.   Insofar as Nepal is concerned, a World Bank project has already commissioned a large (some say over-sized) inland cargo depot at the Raxaul-Birganj border point. India is presently engaged in a roads-and-railway project to upgrade highways on both sides of the Nepal-India Tarai border. At the same time, Indian Railways is converting its choti line metre-gauge lines along the Nepal border to broad-gauge, and extending them when they do not exist right up to the border, including two points in the west and one in the east.   At a time when the mainstream press is all excited about the spread of air travel, it seems a more silent but more people- and trade-friendly transportation is happening by rail.     Region   Public intellectuals, begging to differ   Dear Pratap bhai, began one letter, signing off with, I remain, your friend and admirer, Yogendra Yadav.
Dear Yogendra bhai, responded the other, ending the note with, with great admiration, Pratap Bhanu Mehta.   Two Delhi-based social scientists have stood out in the din of facetious argumentation over the government's decision to extend reservations to the Other Backward Castes (OBCs) in central educational institutions. Narrowed down to a matter of 'merit' vs 'social justice', those agitating against reservations refused to recognise that merit is up to a point a socially constructed category. Those rooting for reservations were quick to label anyone else as 'casteist', bent on perpetuating discrimination.   Political theorist Pratap Bhanu Mehta, who resigned as a member of the National Knowledge Commission over the issue, stood up to point out what he said were flaws in the government's proposal. Political scientist Yogendra Yadav, who has been seeking alternative mechanisms for affirmative action, begged to differ. When the two engaged in an exchange in the public realm, they lifted the level of debate with their rigour, depth and grace.   In his widely published resignation letter, Mehta criticised the government for: not respecting the principle of freedom of academic institutions; making caste the sole determinant of a person's identity; not taking into account the qualitative difference between the discrimination faced by the Dalits and by the OBCs; and closing the possibility of a more intelligent and targeted affirmative-action programme.   Yadav's riposte was equally convincing. While admiring Mehta for standing up to political power, and agreeing with him about the need to creatively devise mechanisms for social justice, he argued that, when left free, elite institutions have rarely devised any serious measure of affirmative action. "More often than not, radical measures of social justice result from state intervention, that too from the top," he pointed out. Yadav remarked on how the campaign against reservations had morphed into one against the idea of social justice.   Mehta took this public exercise still further. He said his argument left enough room for the state to enact radical policies, but more intelligently. Attempting to find common ground, he wrote to Yadav: "Perhaps I trust society too much, but perhaps you trust the state too much, and good historical sense requires being wary of both in appropriate measure."   With affirmative action having influenced key strands of politics throughout Southasia, this exchange between two respectful scholars indicates the importance of that rare breed known as the 'public intellectual'. Here were two such, using the pulpit to engage in the public sphere to comment on an issue of contemporary concern, and argue nuanced positions in order to influence the public discourse.     Region   Drunk man talking     Film stars have a way of putting shoe squarely in mouth, such as when Madhuri Dixit told a Kathmandu press meet that Nepal and India were, like, the same country. This time it was Feroze Khan, the star from the early 1980s, who decided to pontificate on state issues and nation-building. In Pakistan for the premiere of Taj Mahal, only the second Hindi film to have been released in the country in 40 years, an inebriated Khan launched into a tirade against Pakistan and its creation.   Sample this of Khan's talk: "I am a proud Indian. India is a secular country. Muslims there are making lots of progress. Our president is a Muslim, prime minister a Sikh. Pakistan was made in the name of Islam, but look how the Muslims are killing each other."   His remarks were considered so inappropriate for the occasion that Bollywood colleagues led by Mahesh Bhatt were quick to distance themselves. You may have dismissed it as the ramblings of a drunken, spent star, but trust the Bharatiya Janata Party back in India to issue a statement praising Khan as a "nationalist Muslim" and congratulating him for "showing courage to praise India in Pakistan". Ironic, considering Khan (even in his inebriated state, so he does deserve some consideration) was lauding India's secular credentials, which the BJP has worked hard to destroy.   Pervez Musharraf, too, might have decided to leave well enough alone. But then he decided to order a ban on Khan's future entry into Pakistan. The Daily Times of Lahore, stunned by the president's personal directive, wrote, "What good would it do us to make him a bigger celebrity when we shouldn't even have the time to think twice about him?"   Oh well, we hear that the audience in Lahore enjoyed the romance of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal.       Nepal   Free to leave   During his power-play in Kathmandu, King Gyanendra certainly did try to tarnish Nepal's reputation as an open, friendly place. Even as the press was muzzled and civil liberties were tossed out the window, the royal government saw fit to order crackdowns specifcally on those who came to the country as refugees.   For the estimated 23,000 Tibetan and 106,000 Bhutani refugees currently hosted by Nepal, last October Gyanendra decided to cut off what little freedom they may have had. The royal regime suddenly ceased issuing travel documents and exit permits to refugees. This was just the nature of an autocratic regime, but the action against the Tibetans also had to do with the king trying to use the 'China card' to shore up his regime. Beijing, incidentally, was not impressed.   With the resumption of democracy, Nepal is suddenly more open both socially and politically. On 20 June, which happened to be World Refugee Day, the government restarted issuing exit permits to Tibetans. Without the funding necessary for long-term stays, the Tibetan Refugee Transit Centre in Kathmandu had been growing significantly more cramped in recent months, as new refugees arrived from the north but none was able to leave to the south for India and Dharamsala. Now it can go back to being a 'transit' centre rather than a boarding house.     Nepal   Unnatural quiet   On 12 June, militants shot and killed at point-blank range eight Nepali labourers working in Yaripura, Kashmir. The incident reminded many of a similar tragedy two years ago, when 12 Nepali workers in Iraq were executed by extremist militants, allowing for the instigation of violent anti-Muslim protests in Kathmandu. The lack of reaction among the Kathmandu intelligentsia to the latest Kashmir killings begs a number of questions.   The attack happened as follows: on the afternoon of 12 June, heavily armed militants came to a brick kiln in Yaripura. They ordered everyone out, demanding the separation of Kashmiris from non-Kashmiris. The 'outsiders' were then lined up and shot. Eight labourers were killed, while four additional victims were taken to the hospital in critical condition.
All eight killed and three of the wounded were Nepalis from Govindapur village in the eastern Nepal Tarai, working for INR 100 a day. Their families are poor and illiterate, members of the Mushahar community.   While political parties in Kashmir have been quick to denounce the killings, repeating that "no religion allows the killing of the innocent", where is the condemnation from Nepal – from the press, officials or civil society?   The Kathmandu government itself has said surprisingly little, other than to order its Delhi embassy to "conduct the necessary investigations". Perhaps, in the return to democracy, Nepal is focused on other matters. Or perhaps, in these heady times, nobody wants the burden of responding to a tragedy befalling a 'backward' community from the Tarai plains. Could this be the way towards a 'new Nepal' that everyone seems to want to create?     Region   World without borders   First we had Doctors without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres), which spawned a whole lot of other '…without borders', including Reporters without Borders, as well as this magazine's one-time slogan, 'Writing without borders'. Now, there is the Psychosocial Assistance without Borders (PAWB), which seeks to serve the unmet psychological needs of workers who respond to crises, disasters and complex emergencies. Says Siddharth Shah, the man who started PAWB: "Many crisis responders, especially those without formalised clinical training, are under-prepared for the physical destruction and emotional anguish they witness. There is a need for effective crisis counselling to prevent burnout and vicarious traumatisation."   In December, at the invitation of the Idara-e-Taleem-o-Agahi public trust, three psychotherapists from PAWB provided training to nearly 200 workers in the earthquake-affected areas of Pakistan. The following month, the group worked with Sri Lanka's Foundation of Goodness in responding to Tsunami destruction. In February 2006, they trained 'peace volunteers' in India who tend to be at risk of both physical attack and psychological fatigue during times of social and ethnic strife.