When Kashmiris can wish ‘happy new year’, and mean it
DATELINE SRINAGAR by Arjimand Hussain Talib
For the people of Kashmir, the turn of a year marks just one thing – chaos to chaos. Sixty three years – and even longer – of cynicism leave little scope for optimism, perhaps.
To wish “Happy New Year” sounds little awkward, rather too plastic, in our lives. Some sixth sense says that 2011 just can’t be better for us. It would be just a turn over from one state of anarchy to another.
A change for the better today demands our introspection. And action, too. It is not just our political situation that needs our introspection; we need introspection at personal and societal levels as well.
If what our elders say about the past is any indication, our today’s level of social and institutional degeneration is the lowest we have ever seen. That is what must worry us the most. Our social values – we have for long cherished - and crumbling. Our institutions are going to dogs. Our respect for human life – our own and those of our own – seems not like before. We seem to have resigned ourselves to the slide of the bad times.
Our classical refrain for skirting every good - Ye sha kasheer – yeti shu yethai kane chalaan (It is Kashmir and that is how things move here) is symbolic of a national disease. We need to question it before it is too late.
There are theories and theories about why are we where we are today. But nothing can change the fact that our political situation is our enemy no. 1. A long chaotic political situation has conditioned Kashmiris’ human attitudes and attributes tremendously. The worse happened in the post 90s era. Cumulatively, these attitudes and attributes have shaped what and where we are today.
Today when we compare ourselves with other human societies, we have reasons for worry as well as satisfaction. We are terribly devoid of political and economic systems that are going to survive societies in this highly competitive world. But despite degeneration, we still are one of the most humane societies one can find on this planet.
The first agenda for 2011, as such, must be to define our collective political agenda – something which is based on needs and realism. One of our biggest problems is that no single person today has the ability to do that. It can only happen as a result of collectivism.
To begin with, Kashmiris need a broad internal dialogue. We are highly divided today than ever before. For that, the culture of political untouchability needs to go.
There are many basics that most Kashmiris settle for. Despite disagreements and opposing ideologies – which necessarily need not go – we can still have a common minimum agenda.
For this to happen all native political parties across the political spectrum - like the two Hurriyat factions, NC, PDP, JKLF, Jamaat-i-Islami, etc. -need to sit together and talk. That must bring us to our bottom lines and also distinguish between needs and fantasies. What also needs to dictate this agenda is the realization that no “international intervention” or “attention” is going to change even an iota in our situation as what stands today.
This of course is a big task, but there is hardly any alternative available. New Delhi and Islamabad are tired of the noise we have subjected them to in our differing voices. No one can help any nation talking nonsense in million voices.
And it is not just for a positive political change that we need to do this; it is for our very survival and wellbeing. We need to analyze what does that mean.
Kashmiris are today suffering colossal human and spiritual loss that go beyond the normal statistics of quantifiable casualties and economic loss.
Psychologically speaking, almost the whole Kashmiri population is sick. We are overwhelmed by the strains of professional, family and personal lives, but we have hardly any de-stressors. And all that is impacting our lives. People are suffering and dying - silently.
In the last fortnight alone, 16 people – most of who were in their 40s and 50s – died in my native Srinagar locality. This is an astounding number for a small neighborhood. Most of those who died were suffering from hypertension, which they themselves didn’t know. And I am sure many of us will see such things happening around us if we take stock.
The last 20 years of mayhem have given birth to some grave illnesses in Kashmir. Hypertension, anxiety disorders, obesity, diabetes, hyperthyroidism, low fertility, etc are present in our lives like epidemics. We are undergoing hormonal changes which will impact our future generations as well.
Our long chaotic political situation has a big role in adversely shaping our personal and social lifestyles. Our effective living time is now between morning and afternoon. And we are supposed to squeeze our professional, personal and social obligations in that time. The result is unbearable stress.
One of our greatest strengths – our social support systems – is now stressors themselves, rather than element of catharsis. Our social life has been marred by painful ritualism and artificiality. We hardly enjoy it now. The pulls of modernism and tradition; stresses of insecurity and militarization, dismal public services, insecurities about tomorrow - especially about children - has made a mess out of our lives.
In professional and family relations, mutual distrust and suspicion guide almost our every action. We very rarely appreciate each other’s excellence. We have developed a compulsive love for seeing others’ failures.
But what keeps the silver lining alive on the horizon is our people’s performance outside Kashmir. That makes us to conclude that there is not something wrong with us as people, but the system that nurtures us.
And there is another reason for hope. One of the best things to have happened in the last twenty years is Kashmiris’ unprecedented emigration. Our people are doing remarkably well in diverse areas – from management to medicine, from engineering to trade, from development to media. Some big success stories in our private industry – which are now established brands – are reasons for hope too.
Abnormal times erase the idea of common good to a great extent. Individual survival alone becomes paramount. The post-invasion Iraq and Afghanistan are two cases which reinforce this.
In such troubled times appealing to one’s self interest in setting this mess right tends to work. So our action towards that good could, for instance, be dictated by a concern for the future of our children. Can we afford to give them a worse tomorrow?
By seeking to do all this it is not to aim for utopia. We can at least aim for a civilized society where we can wish each other a happy new year. And mean it.
Columnist can be e-mailed at Arjimand@greaterkashmir.com
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Kashmir's Governance-Conflict Debate
A lot of mess in our governance is self made. It comes
from our collective disdain to discipline, penchant for thriving
chaos and a terribly high tolerance to incompetence. But let us
also recognize that some of the attitudes that govern these are a by-product
of the political uncertainty itself – where basic survival reigns supreme.
Where tomorrow remains uncertain, and rules seldom apply.
Arjimand Hussain Talib
Kashmir’s ongoing governance-conflict debate is akin to the classical
chicken and egg story.
So what lies at the root of our messy situation? A governance deficit? The
basic unresolved political question? None, or both?
We have the ruling National Conference (NC) on the one hand which hates
the term ‘bad governance’ every time it is mentioned. NC’s point is that it
is not the bad governance but the basic political question of Kashmir that
is at the heart of our problems. Many others, on the other hand, feel the
contrary.
An objective analysis of this matter makes one thing amply clear: truth lies
somewhere in the middle. Our messy situation is as a result of both – the
lingering political turmoil which goes beyond governance, and abysmal
governance in itself.
And let us accept this reality with grace, without feeling annoyed. Facts are
facts.
Let there be no qualms about this: governance is a basic function of the
political environment in a political system. And if there is a problem
in the very political system, it will correspondingly impact the quality
of governance. A political system where democratic principles are not
supreme, to expect governance to be just, accountable and transparent
would be foolhardy.
If there are factors and forces that undermine democratic functioning
through extra democratic means then the system will automatically
malfunction. Power will flow from myriad directions, and, eventually, flow
in myriad directions too. That has been one of the basic problems with
Kashmir.
But this is not the whole story.
A lot of mess in our governance is self made as well. It comes
from our collective disdain to discipline, penchant for thriving
chaos and a terribly high tolerance to incompetence. But let us
also recognize that some of the attitudes that govern these are a by-product
of the political uncertainty itself – where basic survival reigns supreme.
Where tomorrow remains uncertain, and rules seldom apply.
Let us accept the fact that the reason we are not able to complete a single
development project in time these days is that our governance has touched
an abysmal low.
A few days back I had an interesting discussion with an official of the
Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA) and a contractor, responsible for
executing the Rs 41.64 crore Rawalpora-Tengpora drainage project.
While talking about the delay in the execution of the project with the two
gentlemen, the contractor put all the blame on our ‘work culture.’ He is
partly true. We cannot single out a single person or institution for all our
troubles.
I think the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-funded projects in our state –
implemented by ERA - offer a classic case study for us to understand our
governance issues.
One of the premises of the loan was that it was meant for ‘post conflict
reconstruction.’ And when we say ‘post conflict’ it automatically goes to
assume that there is a semblance of stability in the environment where it is
supposed to be implemented. But that is where we have erred.
In my personal experience in developing active conflict and post-conflict
category reconstruction and development project proposals in several
countries, not factoring in risk factors in the project design itself proves a
serious mistake.
Now let us see where we stand. The actual implementation on ADB
projects began in May 2005. Although 31 Dec 2009 was supposed to be its
completion time, the deadline is already extended to 30 June 2011.
It is almost certain that it will not be able to finish the projects by that
deadline. As per latest figures made available by ADB, by 30 November
2010, only 65 per cent of the financial disbursements have actually been
made. That means we are supposed to spend the rest 45 per cent in the next
six months.
The point is that while conceptualizing a project of such a mammoth
magnitude, it is critical to identify the sources of risks and contingency
plans to overcome those. We cannot pretend all is well with us and then err
frequently. A logical framework matrix must list all foreseeable disruptions
and identify the systems and the means to overcome these.
Political disturbances are normally cited as main impediments in our
project implementation. It is true that a deterioration of security climate
results in the flight of non local workers from our projects. But why can’t we
factor in this risk factor in our log frame and have contingency plans built
in our projects?
If work culture is the problem, there are varied instruments to overcome
that. One could, for example, have across-the-board performance appraisal
systems and contract conditions – covering consultants, contractors,
laborers, engineers, etc. - which minimize the risks and provide for
replacements. And conflict and political uncertainty have nothing to do
with those. Such instruments are made use of even in the worse conflict
situations than ours.
The recent evaluation report by the ADB, prepared by its urban economist
Hiroyuki Ikemoto and Project Implementation Officer (PIO) Saugata
Dasgupta, clearly point to such deficiencies.
But then some plain accountability and commitment issues also crop up.
The reason we have a single ECG machine serving an entire emergency
department at the state’s ‘premier’ medical institute – SKIMS – cannot
have anything to do with political uncertainty. Can a political uncertainty
prevent such an institute to have a couple of reserve ECG machines? Can
political uncertainty inhibit us from deploying 2-3 mobile ECG machines
in the emergency observation ward of SKIMS, from where even the
most critical patients have to be ‘transported’ to the ECG room to do a
cardiograph?
Let us take another example. On Fridays most of the emergency unit
personnel take long breaks to attend Muslim prayers in our hospitals.
Does our political uncertainty hinder us from having a system wherein non
Muslim personnel could be put on duty at that time?
The reason I mentioned these two examples is that I have seen precious
lives being lost just for these two small issues.
Then let us take our collective disdain for traffic rules and disrespect for
traffic cops.
Most of us tend not to obey traffic rules because we don’t see those who
make and are supposed to uphold laws following these. We don’t respect
the traffic cop because he asks us for a lift back home every evening.
Political uncertainty doesn’t inhibit our traffic department in deploying
a few pick-and-drop cabs for these poor cops, even as the officers have
cavalcades at their own disposal.
In a nutshell, let us all accept some blame and confess that we can do better
in spite of our limitations. We owe our children a better future.
from our collective disdain to discipline, penchant for thriving
chaos and a terribly high tolerance to incompetence. But let us
also recognize that some of the attitudes that govern these are a by-product
of the political uncertainty itself – where basic survival reigns supreme.
Where tomorrow remains uncertain, and rules seldom apply.
Arjimand Hussain Talib
Kashmir’s ongoing governance-conflict debate is akin to the classical
chicken and egg story.
So what lies at the root of our messy situation? A governance deficit? The
basic unresolved political question? None, or both?
We have the ruling National Conference (NC) on the one hand which hates
the term ‘bad governance’ every time it is mentioned. NC’s point is that it
is not the bad governance but the basic political question of Kashmir that
is at the heart of our problems. Many others, on the other hand, feel the
contrary.
An objective analysis of this matter makes one thing amply clear: truth lies
somewhere in the middle. Our messy situation is as a result of both – the
lingering political turmoil which goes beyond governance, and abysmal
governance in itself.
And let us accept this reality with grace, without feeling annoyed. Facts are
facts.
Let there be no qualms about this: governance is a basic function of the
political environment in a political system. And if there is a problem
in the very political system, it will correspondingly impact the quality
of governance. A political system where democratic principles are not
supreme, to expect governance to be just, accountable and transparent
would be foolhardy.
If there are factors and forces that undermine democratic functioning
through extra democratic means then the system will automatically
malfunction. Power will flow from myriad directions, and, eventually, flow
in myriad directions too. That has been one of the basic problems with
Kashmir.
But this is not the whole story.
A lot of mess in our governance is self made as well. It comes
from our collective disdain to discipline, penchant for thriving
chaos and a terribly high tolerance to incompetence. But let us
also recognize that some of the attitudes that govern these are a by-product
of the political uncertainty itself – where basic survival reigns supreme.
Where tomorrow remains uncertain, and rules seldom apply.
Let us accept the fact that the reason we are not able to complete a single
development project in time these days is that our governance has touched
an abysmal low.
A few days back I had an interesting discussion with an official of the
Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA) and a contractor, responsible for
executing the Rs 41.64 crore Rawalpora-Tengpora drainage project.
While talking about the delay in the execution of the project with the two
gentlemen, the contractor put all the blame on our ‘work culture.’ He is
partly true. We cannot single out a single person or institution for all our
troubles.
I think the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-funded projects in our state –
implemented by ERA - offer a classic case study for us to understand our
governance issues.
One of the premises of the loan was that it was meant for ‘post conflict
reconstruction.’ And when we say ‘post conflict’ it automatically goes to
assume that there is a semblance of stability in the environment where it is
supposed to be implemented. But that is where we have erred.
In my personal experience in developing active conflict and post-conflict
category reconstruction and development project proposals in several
countries, not factoring in risk factors in the project design itself proves a
serious mistake.
Now let us see where we stand. The actual implementation on ADB
projects began in May 2005. Although 31 Dec 2009 was supposed to be its
completion time, the deadline is already extended to 30 June 2011.
It is almost certain that it will not be able to finish the projects by that
deadline. As per latest figures made available by ADB, by 30 November
2010, only 65 per cent of the financial disbursements have actually been
made. That means we are supposed to spend the rest 45 per cent in the next
six months.
The point is that while conceptualizing a project of such a mammoth
magnitude, it is critical to identify the sources of risks and contingency
plans to overcome those. We cannot pretend all is well with us and then err
frequently. A logical framework matrix must list all foreseeable disruptions
and identify the systems and the means to overcome these.
Political disturbances are normally cited as main impediments in our
project implementation. It is true that a deterioration of security climate
results in the flight of non local workers from our projects. But why can’t we
factor in this risk factor in our log frame and have contingency plans built
in our projects?
If work culture is the problem, there are varied instruments to overcome
that. One could, for example, have across-the-board performance appraisal
systems and contract conditions – covering consultants, contractors,
laborers, engineers, etc. - which minimize the risks and provide for
replacements. And conflict and political uncertainty have nothing to do
with those. Such instruments are made use of even in the worse conflict
situations than ours.
The recent evaluation report by the ADB, prepared by its urban economist
Hiroyuki Ikemoto and Project Implementation Officer (PIO) Saugata
Dasgupta, clearly point to such deficiencies.
But then some plain accountability and commitment issues also crop up.
The reason we have a single ECG machine serving an entire emergency
department at the state’s ‘premier’ medical institute – SKIMS – cannot
have anything to do with political uncertainty. Can a political uncertainty
prevent such an institute to have a couple of reserve ECG machines? Can
political uncertainty inhibit us from deploying 2-3 mobile ECG machines
in the emergency observation ward of SKIMS, from where even the
most critical patients have to be ‘transported’ to the ECG room to do a
cardiograph?
Let us take another example. On Fridays most of the emergency unit
personnel take long breaks to attend Muslim prayers in our hospitals.
Does our political uncertainty hinder us from having a system wherein non
Muslim personnel could be put on duty at that time?
The reason I mentioned these two examples is that I have seen precious
lives being lost just for these two small issues.
Then let us take our collective disdain for traffic rules and disrespect for
traffic cops.
Most of us tend not to obey traffic rules because we don’t see those who
make and are supposed to uphold laws following these. We don’t respect
the traffic cop because he asks us for a lift back home every evening.
Political uncertainty doesn’t inhibit our traffic department in deploying
a few pick-and-drop cabs for these poor cops, even as the officers have
cavalcades at their own disposal.
In a nutshell, let us all accept some blame and confess that we can do better
in spite of our limitations. We owe our children a better future.
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