How to nourish roots of pluralism in Indian society[1]

Symbols of singularity, alienation and exclusion:

How to nourish roots of pluralism in Indian society[1]

Anil K Gupta[2]

The metaphors have very low entropy. They carry the messages, undistorted, undiluted and often without any blurring of the edges for long time and far and wide. The inclusiveness in society can only be understood by looking at pervasiveness of symbols of exclusion. More pervasive the symbols, less easy it will be to make society inclusive. Indian project on inclusiveness has not grappled adequately with these symbols. In this paper, I first describe some of the symbols, which define the constant attempt by society at large to reinforce exclusion leading to alienation and singularity of interpretations. I then discuss the roots of terrorism and violence, which to me are premised, on the foundation of systematic exclusion. No matter how hard the state tries to portray the violence in less economically developed regions as law and order problem, the dominant nature of the context cannot be dismissed. The price of exclusion cannot always be paid through ‘voice’[3]. It also expresses in ‘exit’, and sometimes in ‘aggression’ and ‘dissipation’. Finally, some lessons for reflection and action.

Part One

Symbols of exclusion:

The stories of Karna and Eklavya demonstrate how cultural singularity and exclusion are institutionalized in our country. I have asked about these stories and their interpretation for last several years in my first year class. Almost everybody has heard these stories and with almost identical interpretations. Eklavya is a symbol of reverence, persistence and obedience apart from excellence. Karna symbolizes sacrifice and commitment to his values. Why is it that the parents have not given alternative interpretation of these stories to the children? How come that children do not doubt for a minute, the ethics of Dronacharya? Would modern mind respect such a teacher who would deny a dalit student right to excel because of his commitment to a high caste student belonging to royal family? Has this value created dissonance in the minds of modern Indian? And if not, then should not we understand the roots of exclusion better?

When Assam agitation was going on, students used a slogan, which decried one bridge over Brahmaputra with seven flyovers in Delhi. It was a symbol of marginality, exclusion and alienation. The message was communicated with great clarity such that even a common person could understand the philosophical underpinning of complex history of alienation.

I recently happened to travel on highway No.39 in Manipur to Nagaland. Many Cabinet Ministers and even the previous Prime Minister have traveled by the same road. The condition of the highway is known to the people at the highest level. A distance of 60 kms., can take three hours. The road has potholes all over. The PWD Minister of Arunachal Pradesh said, in a chance meeting, that highway No.51A is no better. This is a situation when northeast is supposed to get a special treatment. Special it is, but in terms of indifference and callousness. Why should not people on the margin feel alienated? The town hall in Imphal is supposed to be the central building of the town. With stinking toilets and broken glass panes, every participant in every meeting gets reminded of the way centrality of a marginal place is viewed by the Central Government.

Having walked for about 4500 kms., during last ten years as part of Shodh Yatras, every summer, every winter, a great deal of grassroots reality has sunk in. One of the recent Shodh Yatras was in Anantnag district in Jammu and Kashmir. There were schools, which did not have a function for last 18 years. There was a hailstorm and we had to take shelter in a shop nearby. We asked for something made in Kashmir valley. The shopkeeper could not find even a candle. There was so much of warmth for us in every village we went to that the alienation apparent otherwise appears to be deliberately manufactured by acts of commission and omission. A Ph.D in Biotechnology was working as a teaching assistant in a village school at a paltry stipend. On a more promising note, I should also recall our walk to the thousand years old Sun temple. A local Muslim resident came running towards us. He thought we were Pundits who were coming back. He asked us to wait for a minute and said, “Ram, Ram, you are not going back this time”. Several times during the walk, we heard this message.

The last Shodh Yatra was in Arku valley in Andhra Pradesh. The condition of the tirbals and extremely poor infrastructure explained, if an explanation was needed, as to why naxalites were so strong here. How else should people empower themselves when state can only neglect the margins?

In a recent paper, I wrote on ways of knowing, feeling and doing, I argued that we always claim to know a great deal. Only part of it is what evokes our feelings. And much smaller part of what we feel about, we actually act. It is not that the country does not know about the alienation of the youth and the rest of the people in marginal regions of the country. But, this alienation does not evoke feeling among most people. And those few who do have feelings seldom take much action. It is this gap between knowledge, feeling and doing or action that we need to bridge. It is for this reason that instruments of exclusion and inclusion have to be analysed not for just reflection but also action. It is in this context that I agree with Dr.Sudhir Kakar who argues for a longer term strategy and beginning at an early age. We need at least a 20 years strategy beginning with the children whose minds are getting shaped by exclusionary agenda. The elite not only on the right but even on the left is oblivious of the hard issues of partnership, stakeholding and ownership. Way back in 80’s when agitation against Narmada dam was picking up, I had suggested that instead of opposing the dam, the activists should consider the distributed ownership of the dam and the canals by the oustees and other stakeholders. I had suggested that people should be allotted equity shares, bonds and opportunity of upgrading their skills so that they rise in their lives because of dislocation and do not become worse off. However, those ideas were not paid attention. Today, when large scale tensions are growing around SEZ (Special Economic Zones) and acquision of lands for industrialisation, a question must be asked as to whether farmers cannot be equity holder in the enterprises apart from other kinds of compensations. There is no reason why industry should not partake part of the wealth with the provider of most precious resource, i.e., the land. Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam, former President advocated distribution of equity among farmers as a form of partnership in the context of Singur controversy. Let me take another example of systematic exclusion.

There are 250 million people who were given employment for 100 days under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme. The nature of employment has not changed much for last 100 years. It is assumed that poor people have hands, legs, and mouths but no head. Philosophical discourse seems to take place only among people who do not work with hands. The philosophies of Rahim and Kabir are perhaps rustic and artisanal philosophies. Their comprehensibility by masses might exclude them from the category of deep thinkers or philosophers. When Honey Bee Network suggested that at least ten days of work should be mental, and not menial, the policy makers just blinked. When former President wrote to the Prime Minister, he could not consider the rationality of the suggestion. By using the mental faculties of the poor people, their knowledge richness could have become evident. They could have mapped not only the physical and natural resources but also the minds. India could have really moved forward to become a knowledge society. Even the leaders on the left of the political spectrum could not see the injustice and unfairness of the current design of employment programmes. There were other controversies more central to their agenda than recasting social engagement of the nation with 250 million people.

Part Two

Roots of Terrorism

The fact that right from Nepal, down to the east, south and upto Sri Lanka, most of the extremists indulging in violence are Hindus does not occur as something contrary to the popular pacifist image that some parties try to create. Violence by the extremist groups whether maoists or naxalites does not seem to dent the popular image of majority community. Such deep seated are the prejudices. There are Christian extremists in northeast just as there are Muslim extremists in rest of the country. Yet, the image of Islam and Christianity can be tainted in the popular mind but Hindus would often be seen as peace loving, law abiding people (disregarding the lawlessness in parts of Bihar, Orissa and other regions of the country). About 170 districts are believed to be affected by leftist violence. At least 70 districts of these are such where Govt. of India finds difficulty in enforcing its writ. What is the answer on which the ruling and the opposition party have a consensus; to treat it as a law and order problem.

Why economically backward regions suffer from dominance of the left extremists groups even in West Bengal (as we witnessed during the Shodh Yatra in Purulia) has not generated a consensus in favour of land reforms, rapid economic development in backward regions, better quality of health and educational infrastructure, etc. The alienation continues. Every time some leaders of the extremists group are captured, new ones take their place.

Recent serial blasts and the subsequent mails issued by the extremists group raise serious issues about the fairness in dealing with similar cases of violence by the left or the right, by Hindu extremists or by Muslim extremists. The fact that scars of 1984 took so long to heal has been forgotten. The extremism in Punjab, an otherwise prosperous place, began when higher quota of Sikhs in army was curtailed and made proportionate to population. Despite the fact share of Sikhs (including officers) was always higher than their weight in population among those who sacrificed their life for the nation, they were not allowed to die for the nation by reducing their quota. Around the same time, when the quota was reduced, a census took place in which several people who did not know reading or writing of Hindi, declared their mother tongue as Hindi because of propaganda by some religious groups. That gave a threat to the Sikh identity. For the first time, falsehood was institutionalised for narrow sectarian and political ends. Rest is history. Playing with cultural identities is dangerous. Memories of injustice can be invoked even after hundreds of years. The crisis of former Yugoslavia and the birth of Kosovo and other parts based on three to four hundred years old memories of injustice should have served as a signal. One should play with memories that too dealing with cultural and social identities.

Dialogue with the minorities and particularly, those which may have suffered in the violence without adequate rehabilitation is necessary. Without dialogue, peace cannot follow. No matter how prejudiced the vote bank politics may have been, one kind of wrong cannot be corrected by another wrong. It was heartening to hear that some leaders of the opposition suggested that terrorists attacks should not become a matter of political one-man-upship. What are the roots of alienation which may lead to extremist violence. Apart from the fact that international forces with their own fissiparous agenda may like to precipitate the social crisis, the local support or lack of it is a vital factor which contributes to the severity of intensity. All perceived symbols of injustice and unfair trial will have to be opened up and brought to the table. Unless catharsis takes place, dialogue will not be meaningful. And without an authentic dialogue, the extremist cannot be isolated from the majority of disaffected and alienated people. Violence cannot be controlled by violence. South African transition should have taught us a lesson. By pushing people in corner, we do not achieve compliance and congruence.

Part Three

Lessons for Reflection and Action

How does mind deal with exclusion? Sometimes, to safeguard one’s self respect, one may try to learn to be helpless. Some may nurture deep prejudice and feeling of hurt leading to aggression. Some may become indifferent. And a few may submit to the circumstances and adjust, no matter with whatever sense of shame or guilt. The proportion of different kinds of people excluded from the mainstream may be different in different regions and at different times. There are certainly people among the majority community who feel victimized and have a sense of anger against the unwillingness of other communities to accept their way of life. One cannot rule out existence of prejudices. They will remain so long as the urge to simplify a complex problem remains as a necessary tool to maintain one’s sanity.

I have tried to argue in this paper that much of the extremist violence in India is born out of history of sustained injustice and exclusion. No matter howsoever opposed we may be to a violent way of resolving disputes, some people will fall prey to such means. By excluding the extremist fringe from the arena of dialogue, we also cause violence, at least in the Gandhian terms. The philosophers cannot merely reflect on the continued absence of dialogue and engagement with the margins of society. They have to appreciate the creativity and innovative potential of the minds on the margin, which are not marginal minds. Despite enormous evidence of such creativity, we still treat disadvantaged, economically poor as also knowledge poor. Once knowledge is not treated as resource, we also call them resource poor. Having labeled them as such, our prescriptions can only be to engage such people at menial level. This is not acceptable to the disadvantaged people any more. It is not very surprising that the knowledge produced by the disadvantaged people in economically backward and ecologically fragile regions may actually be very precious in future (to deal with climate change or other contingencies). If we cannot engage with them to pursue a pluralistic dialogue, can we engage with them in a utilitarian framework, to meet our own long term self interest? Ethics seldom triggers struggle for equity. But when it does, it does not let the society rest easily. We seem to be passing through a time of such struggle. Every icon of respect is being challenged and rightly so. Will the search for inclusion be guided by a tradition of accommodation, inclusion and not necessarily assimilation? Identities have to be respected so that negotiations for common ground of dialogue and development of common future can take place. The Eklavya is still willing to sacrifice his thumb. Are we willing to shame Dronocharya?

---

[1] Revised draft of the presentation at the national seminar on National Integration and Multiple Identities,

Dialectics of Inclusiveness and Exclusion in Indian Society, at the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla, September 15-16, 2007, organised by the Indian council of Philosophical Research, New Delhi

[2] Professor, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and Executive Vice Chair, National Innovation Foundation, Ahmedabad

³ Albert O. Hirschman, 1970, “Exit, Voice and Loyalty: : Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States”, Cambridge, Harvard University Press

Symbols of singularity, alienation and exclusion: roots of terrorism

Symbols of singularity, alienation and exclusion:

How to nourish roots of pluralism in Indian society[1]

Anil K Gupta[2]

The metaphors have very low entropy. They carry the messages, undistorted, undiluted and often without any blurring of the edges for long time and far and wide. The inclusiveness in society can only be understood by looking at pervasiveness of symbols of exclusion. More pervasive the symbols, less easy it will be to make society inclusive. Indian project on inclusiveness has not grappled adequately with these symbols. In this paper, I first describe some of the symbols, which define the constant attempt by society at large to reinforce exclusion leading to alienation and singularity of interpretations. I then discuss the roots of terrorism and violence, which to me are premised, on the foundation of systematic exclusion. No matter how hard the state tries to portray the violence in less economically developed regions as law and order problem, the dominant nature of the context cannot be dismissed. The price of exclusion cannot always be paid through ‘voice’[3]. It also expresses in ‘exit’, and sometimes in ‘aggression’ and ‘dissipation’. Finally, some lessons for reflection and action.

Part One

Symbols of exclusion:

The stories of Karna and Eklavya demonstrate how cultural singularity and exclusion are institutionalized in our country. I have asked about these stories and their interpretation for last several years in my first year class. Almost everybody has heard these stories and with almost identical interpretations. Eklavya is a symbol of reverence, persistence and obedience apart from excellence. Karna symbolizes sacrifice and commitment to his values. Why is it that the parents have not given alternative interpretation of these stories to the children? How come that children do not doubt for a minute, the ethics of Dronacharya? Would modern mind respect such a teacher who would deny a dalit student right to excel because of his commitment to a high caste student belonging to royal family? Has this value created dissonance in the minds of modern Indian? And if not, then should not we understand the roots of exclusion better?

When Assam agitation was going on, students used a slogan, which decried one bridge over Brahmaputra with seven flyovers in Delhi. It was a symbol of marginality, exclusion and alienation. The message was communicated with great clarity such that even a common person could understand the philosophical underpinning of complex history of alienation.

I recently happened to travel on highway No.39 in Manipur to Nagaland. Many Cabinet Ministers and even the previous Prime Minister have traveled by the same road. The condition of the highway is known to the people at the highest level. A distance of 60 kms., can take three hours. The road has potholes all over. The PWD Minister of Arunachal Pradesh said, in a chance meeting, that highway No.51A is no better. This is a situation when northeast is supposed to get a special treatment. Special it is, but in terms of indifference and callousness. Why should not people on the margin feel alienated? The town hall in Imphal is supposed to be the central building of the town. With stinking toilets and broken glass panes, every participant in every meeting gets reminded of the way centrality of a marginal place is viewed by the Central Government.

Having walked for about 4500 kms., during last ten years as part of Shodh Yatras, every summer, every winter, a great deal of grassroots reality has sunk in. One of the recent Shodh Yatras was in Anantnag district in Jammu and Kashmir. There were schools, which did not have a function for last 18 years. There was a hailstorm and we had to take shelter in a shop nearby. We asked for something made in Kashmir valley. The shopkeeper could not find even a candle. There was so much of warmth for us in every village we went to that the alienation apparent otherwise appears to be deliberately manufactured by acts of commission and omission. A Ph.D in Biotechnology was working as a teaching assistant in a village school at a paltry stipend. On a more promising note, I should also recall our walk to the thousand years old Sun temple. A local Muslim resident came running towards us. He thought we were Pundits who were coming back. He asked us to wait for a minute and said, “Ram, Ram, you are not going back this time”. Several times during the walk, we heard this message.

The last Shodh Yatra was in Arku valley in Andhra Pradesh. The condition of the tirbals and extremely poor infrastructure explained, if an explanation was needed, as to why naxalites were so strong here. How else should people empower themselves when state can only neglect the margins?

In a recent paper, I wrote on ways of knowing, feeling and doing, I argued that we always claim to know a great deal. Only part of it is what evokes our feelings. And much smaller part of what we feel about, we actually act. It is not that the country does not know about the alienation of the youth and the rest of the people in marginal regions of the country. But, this alienation does not evoke feeling among most people. And those few who do have feelings seldom take much action. It is this gap between knowledge, feeling and doing or action that we need to bridge. It is for this reason that instruments of exclusion and inclusion have to be analysed not for just reflection but also action. It is in this context that I agree with Dr.Sudhir Kakar who argues for a longer term strategy and beginning at an early age. We need at least a 20 years strategy beginning with the children whose minds are getting shaped by exclusionary agenda. The elite not only on the right but even on the left is oblivious of the hard issues of partnership, stakeholding and ownership. Way back in 80’s when agitation against Narmada dam was picking up, I had suggested that instead of opposing the dam, the activists should consider the distributed ownership of the dam and the canals by the oustees and other stakeholders. I had suggested that people should be allotted equity shares, bonds and opportunity of upgrading their skills so that they rise in their lives because of dislocation and do not become worse off. However, those ideas were not paid attention. Today, when large scale tensions are growing around SEZ (Special Economic Zones) and acquision of lands for industrialisation, a question must be asked as to whether farmers cannot be equity holder in the enterprises apart from other kinds of compensations. There is no reason why industry should not partake part of the wealth with the provider of most precious resource, i.e., the land. Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam, former President advocated distribution of equity among farmers as a form of partnership in the context of Singur controversy. Let me take another example of systematic exclusion.

There are 250 million people who were given employment for 100 days under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme. The nature of employment has not changed much for last 100 years. It is assumed that poor people have hands, legs, and mouths but no head. Philosophical discourse seems to take place only among people who do not work with hands. The philosophies of Rahim and Kabir are perhaps rustic and artisanal philosophies. Their comprehensibility by masses might exclude them from the category of deep thinkers or philosophers. When Honey Bee Network suggested that at least ten days of work should be mental, and not menial, the policy makers just blinked. When former President wrote to the Prime Minister, he could not consider the rationality of the suggestion. By using the mental faculties of the poor people, their knowledge richness could have become evident. They could have mapped not only the physical and natural resources but also the minds. India could have really moved forward to become a knowledge society. Even the leaders on the left of the political spectrum could not see the injustice and unfairness of the current design of employment programmes. There were other controversies more central to their agenda than recasting social engagement of the nation with 250 million people.

Part Two

Roots of Terrorism

The fact that right from Nepal, down to the east, south and upto Sri Lanka, most of the extremists indulging in violence are Hindus does not occur as something contrary to the popular pacifist image that some parties try to create. Violence by the extremist groups whether maoists or naxalites does not seem to dent the popular image of majority community. Such deep seated are the prejudices. There are Christian extremists in northeast just as there are Muslim extremists in rest of the country. Yet, the image of Islam and Christianity can be tainted in the popular mind but Hindus would often be seen as peace loving, law abiding people (disregarding the lawlessness in parts of Bihar, Orissa and other regions of the country). About 170 districts are believed to be affected by leftist violence. At least 70 districts of these are such where Govt. of India finds difficulty in enforcing its writ. What is the answer on which the ruling and the opposition party have a consensus; to treat it as a law and order problem.

Why economically backward regions suffer from dominance of the left extremists groups even in West Bengal (as we witnessed during the Shodh Yatra in Purulia) has not generated a consensus in favour of land reforms, rapid economic development in backward regions, better quality of health and educational infrastructure, etc. The alienation continues. Every time some leaders of the extremists group are captured, new ones take their place.

Recent serial blasts and the subsequent mails issued by the extremists group raise serious issues about the fairness in dealing with similar cases of violence by the left or the right, by Hindu extremists or by Muslim extremists. The fact that scars of 1984 took so long to heal has been forgotten. The extremism in Punjab, an otherwise prosperous place, began when higher quota of Sikhs in army was curtailed and made proportionate to population. Despite the fact share of Sikhs (including officers) was always higher than their weight in population among those who sacrificed their life for the nation, they were not allowed to die for the nation by reducing their quota. Around the same time, when the quota was reduced, a census took place in which several people who did not know reading or writing of Hindi, declared their mother tongue as Hindi because of propaganda by some religious groups. That gave a threat to the Sikh identity. For the first time, falsehood was institutionalised for narrow sectarian and political ends. Rest is history. Playing with cultural identities is dangerous. Memories of injustice can be invoked even after hundreds of years. The crisis of former Yugoslavia and the birth of Kosovo and other parts based on three to four hundred years old memories of injustice should have served as a signal. One should play with memories that too dealing with cultural and social identities.

Dialogue with the minorities and particularly, those which may have suffered in the violence without adequate rehabilitation is necessary. Without dialogue, peace cannot follow. No matter how prejudiced the vote bank politics may have been, one kind of wrong cannot be corrected by another wrong. It was heartening to hear that some leaders of the opposition suggested that terrorists attacks should not become a matter of political one-man-upship. What are the roots of alienation which may lead to extremist violence. Apart from the fact that international forces with their own fissiparous agenda may like to precipitate the social crisis, the local support or lack of it is a vital factor which contributes to the severity of intensity. All perceived symbols of injustice and unfair trial will have to be opened up and brought to the table. Unless catharsis takes place, dialogue will not be meaningful. And without an authentic dialogue, the extremist cannot be isolated from the majority of disaffected and alienated people. Violence cannot be controlled by violence. South African transition should have taught us a lesson. By pushing people in corner, we do not achieve compliance and congruence.

Part Three

Lessons for Reflection and Action

How does mind deal with exclusion? Sometimes, to safeguard one’s self respect, one may try to learn to be helpless. Some may nurture deep prejudice and feeling of hurt leading to aggression. Some may become indifferent. And a few may submit to the circumstances and adjust, no matter with whatever sense of shame or guilt. The proportion of different kinds of people excluded from the mainstream may be different in different regions and at different times. There are certainly people among the majority community who feel victimized and have a sense of anger against the unwillingness of other communities to accept their way of life. One cannot rule out existence of prejudices. They will remain so long as the urge to simplify a complex problem remains as a necessary tool to maintain one’s sanity.

I have tried to argue in this paper that much of the extremist violence in India is born out of history of sustained injustice and exclusion. No matter howsoever opposed we may be to a violent way of resolving disputes, some people will fall prey to such means. By excluding the extremist fringe from the arena of dialogue, we also cause violence, at least in the Gandhian terms. The philosophers cannot merely reflect on the continued absence of dialogue and engagement with the margins of society. They have to appreciate the creativity and innovative potential of the minds on the margin, which are not marginal minds. Despite enormous evidence of such creativity, we still treat disadvantaged, economically poor as also knowledge poor. Once knowledge is not treated as resource, we also call them resource poor. Having labeled them as such, our prescriptions can only be to engage such people at menial level. This is not acceptable to the disadvantaged people any more. It is not very surprising that the knowledge produced by the disadvantaged people in economically backward and ecologically fragile regions may actually be very precious in future (to deal with climate change or other contingencies). If we cannot engage with them to pursue a pluralistic dialogue, can we engage with them in a utilitarian framework, to meet our own long term self interest? Ethics seldom triggers struggle for equity. But when it does, it does not let the society rest easily. We seem to be passing through a time of such struggle. Every icon of respect is being challenged and rightly so. Will the search for inclusion be guided by a tradition of accommodation, inclusion and not necessarily assimilation? Identities have to be respected so that negotiations for common ground of dialogue and development of common future can take place. The Eklavya is still willing to sacrifice his thumb. Are we willing to shame Dronocharya?

---

[1] Revised draft of the presentation at the national seminar on National Integration and Multiple Identities,

Dialectics of Inclusiveness and Exclusion in Indian Society, at the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla, September 15-16, 2007, organised by the Indian council of Philosophical Research, New Delhi

[2] Professor, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and Executive Vice Chair, National Innovation Foundation, Ahmedabad

³ Albert O. Hirschman, 1970, “Exit, Voice and Loyalty: : Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States”, Cambridge, Harvard University Press

terrorism: some lessons

Terrorism can teach a lesson or two

Why does someone get ready to commit suicide for a cause? How do we distinguish the strategies of those terrorists who come to create fear and panic from those who have more precise targets such as killing a leader or blowing a strategic structure or institution? Are there lessons that management science can incorporate from the tactics of the terrorists and strategies of their masters?

In organizational science, we often distinguish between assault and commando approach to tackling a problem. In assault units in army, the line of command is clear and succession plan follow the rank. In commando units, job cannot be done without redefining the meaning of leadership. Depending upon who is closest to the target or who can see the target more clearly, the leadership passes on to the person in a strategic position. That person directs others to take positions as he /she sees most prudent. The target shifts its position and some other commando now has the strategic view of the target and starts directing others as he thinks most effective. The leadership is completely contingent on closeness to/clarity of target. It has nothing to do with the rank. A senior commando would not mind taking directions from a junior commando if he happens to be in the most strategic location having the best view of the target. There is an important lesson here.

Subsidiarity should become the most important rule in hours of crisis. The line of command going through the Home Ministry cannot ever be efficient enough (no matter who is the Home Minister) to find the fastest way of reaching the commando unit to its place of crisis. Once decision is taken to summon commandos, the entire execution should follow a very different line of command than is the case in the conventional matters. Subsdiarity implies that decisions are taken as close to the point of action as possible. The response of airlines, air force and other civil authorities has to follow the emergency routine. The fastest plane available is accessed by the commando unit (even if it means cancellation of some flight by public or private airline) and gets the first priority for landing. The whole thing therefore gets into a fast track – fast response mode with no say for bureaucracies to clear the path of such units. Although the basic decision is made by the political leadership, the execution is left to the levels and units which are most competent to take them.

The people on the job, whether from police, army or other security agencies should have a unified command with the understanding that commando unit will have the authority to follow its own rules.

The police did not recognize its role of reducing anxiety, maximizing information and ensuring networking among the survivors and their kins. When a resident on 16^th floor managed to come down, the emergency stairs, what did he hear first? Shouts to get on one side and then command to get herded in a corner. The same person then help of a reporter, walked to the taxi stand, took the taxi to the airport and reached his destination next day morning safely. There was no arrangement for facilitating this process for hundreds of others. Nobody offered cell phone to those who came out [many without any phone] to inform their near dear ones of their safety. Police was ill-equipped to handle a calamity of this order simply because of lack of proper drill for dealing with such emergencies.

What do we learn from those who took extraordinary risks, went far beyond their call of duty and achieved remarkable results in rescue and relief. There were many staff who did that. But, help line of one of the hotels located in Delhi expressed complete helplessness in providing any information. Why should communications break down in hours of crisis? While terrorists were constantly communicating with their masters, our own communication systems among the survivors, with their kins, among the different wings of defence forces, among different wings of intelligence bureaus were ridden with bottlenecks. When critical information does not flow smoothly, it shows not only that the system is sick but also that some perversion has taken place in the core values. If some of the key terrorist had not been released earlier, perhaps so many common people would not have to be sacrificed repeatedly in the country.

The real security arises from a feeling of being included. Exclusion of anyone deliberately and for long can create conditions for alienation. Communication becomes the first casualty in an alienated society or social groups.

One has to ensure that alienation is accepted, analysed and is overcome in a time bound manner. That will require a massive effort at several levels. If South Africa could set up Commission on Truth and Reconciliation, there is no reason why Indian society should not do that to heal the scars of various conflicts that have spurred alienation.

The preparedness of organizations to deal with disaster also depends upon their effort to simulate vulnerability. We probably have not learnt to exploit our moments of vulnerability [when we are closest to ourselves] to gather strength. My suggestions:

a. We should rely as much as possible on internal regulation while defining roles. If some people or process fail in this regard, then replacement of people will serve less purpose than strengthening of processes or both. Unfortunately, we assume that our responsibility ends with the replacement.

b. The fact that Indian police has managed with .303 guns for five decades shows how benign our society has been towards the gun and the people holding it. It did not require a great foresight to recognize the meaninglessness of such a façade of defence.

c. Distribution of scarce resources according to social needs and not political compulsions should be obligatory in a democratic society. If the security staff detailed with politicians is not pruned drastically within next fortnight so as to plug the gaps in public places, we would have proved our immunity to learning.

d. Regular drills for security are prescribed in the codes of disaster management all around the world. How many times have we been having such drills and who has cared to monitor it? I have argued repeatedly that a change not monitored is a change not desired [Gupta, 1984]. If only we could catalogue the lessons of neglect in every firm, establishment and unit [including railways, hotels, educational institutions, etc.], we would understand the need of catharsis, public admission of our guilt and initiation of corrective action.

e. The interrogation of terrorists can provide meaningful insights but should this process be done only by security experts. Sometimes, having an outsider perspective can provide valuable insights. We should involve academics, sometime young students or scholars to listen to the interrogation [after security clearance], and ask so called silly questions. The silliness can be subtle.

f. Need for dialogue with the communities on the margin cannot be obviated. The taxi drivers may be from north India but their social network can provide more valuable insights than all the ethnically homogenized and domesticated communities. The more mobile a community, the more agile are its antennas. We have to incorporate them in the intelligence network.

g. Justice and peace, inclusion and assimilation, catharsis and confession of the injustice have to go hand in hand. No country can feel secure without giving a feeling of complete involvement to every segment of society. We should remember that ruthlessness of LTTE and LET or other terrorists groups in northeast cannot be divided along the religious lines. Terrorists have no religion. Any attempt to label individual behaviour through collective identities is fraught with risks. The identities start internalizing the label. People learn to be helpless.

Any organization which cannot harness the anger for larger social good cannot tap the most powerful source of energy which comes out of passion. Blasts in Ahmedabad were in even more painful, deadly and clever. When somebody deliberately triggers explosions near hospitals after triggering it elsewhere, one can imagine the degree of abomination of the strategic masters of the terrorists. Why does it take so long for India to get angry? Why the brutality of the state in some of tribal regions and other parts gets condoned?

The justice is not divisible, the peace is not provisional. We have to take a hard look at enemies within as well as without.

ten policies that can change india

Ten policies that will transform India, not in our life time but within next three to four years:

Recasting the employment guarantee programme: mental, not just menial jobs

1. Why should 250 million people for 100 days be engaged in only menial jobs. Does not each poor person also possess knowledge? How can we build upon his knowledge about local resources, map knowledge and resources, pool the best practices, develop products/srvices, market them and create at least 25 million contemporary innovations and traditional knowledge and skill based entrepreneurs. Within ten years, we should not need employment guarantee programme. Young volunteers in colleges will help in mapping the resources and knowledge with the help of these knowledge rich –economically poor people. In place of NSS ( now almost defunct), we should try to bring in National Innovation Service ( NIS) which will be mandated to engage with 250 million poor in urban and rural areas, workers, mechanics, farm laborers and farmers, crafts people and cultural artists.

2. Not even one per cent of the savings of the micro finance groups is spent on purchase of the product made by them. While we have done a lot of research on verticals, isn't that it time that we start doing research on horizontal markets. While I do realize the need for us to allocate part of our purchasing power for the products made by poor people ( through verticals), there is a need for similar allocation among the poor people as well. Food processing is one area where traditional foods can create tremendous environmental, health and nutritional advantage ( more than 40,000 people visited Traditional Food Festivals – Saatvik at IIMA during four days in Dec first week, 2007). The food that rich people take is often poor and some of the food poor people consume is actually rich. Can we create demand for such foods and give impetus for creativity, conservation and healthy consumption.

3. A large number of knowledge and culturally rich, economically poor people whose cultural skills and repertoire can enrich our life and provide income transfer from our pocket to their pockets. We need to design a portal of creative culture of India. There are so many renderings of Ramayana or for that matter other folktales, songs and plays in local language for which market exists. People will listen free for 25 sec or more and then if they download, the money say, one rupee per local song will go to the artists' account. Enrichment of cultural landscape, creation of markets for folk cultural artists and conservation and augmentation of diversity will be some of the outcomes. Two students tried to do a pilot at IIMA last year as a part of a small project.

4. There are Five lakh technology students in the country, each one of them does a project but nobody knows what happens to these projects. If we create an innovation relay or kho kho, then one project developed in one college may be taken forward in another, and another, till it becomes a product. Neither the problems of small sector and informal sector are posed to the students nor do they get a chance to work with the grassroots innovators. We should connect them, mentor them and support them. If just one per cent of the projects solved the real life problems partially or completely, we would solve at least 5000 problems per year. We need to give feed forward to them from SSIs and other social sectors. At the same their ideas can and should go in cases where applicable, to market. We will eliminate project writing industry, put premium on originality and in the process create/reinforce a culture of creativity, collaboration and compassion[1]

5. There are about 172 districts in India where the writ of the sovereign nation does not completely run. Various kinds of ultra left activists have taken upon themselves the responsibility of dispersing justice and maintaining order. Notwithstanding the fact, the violence can never achieve solution to any problem, the violence by state will also be counter –productive. Can we have an innovation insurgent programme so that having betrayed the poor people in terms of Jal, Jungle and Jamin in the fight on Jankari, i.e., knowledge rights, we don't let them suffer. National Knowledge ( C ) ommision is disengaged from the minds of majority. History will judge the morality of this disengagement.

6. National Innovation Foundation has pooled more than 70000 innovations and traditional knowledge practices from over 500 districts beginning with about 12000 in February 2000. How many of these innovations are known to the children in schools or colleges? How many are being tried or tested in farmers fields or artisanal workshops. A large number of these are open source, though for some patents have been filed and obtained in India, US and elsewhere. How can science and technology, education, culture and other developmental departments engage with creative people in the informal sector and turn around the mood of the society? The bridge between the formal and informal science is beginning to deliver results ( partnership between NIF with ICMR and CSIR has delivered some useful results already). But a lot more remains to be done. Why should it not be mandatory for every public funded educational institution to engage with informal knowledge sector of the country so that all tax payers ( since indirect taxes are regressive and they generate more revenue for the government, poorer people pay more taxes than the rich) get their due. In addition, it will also give educational institutions to learn from the economic 'have-nots' and knowledge 'haves'.

7. Grassroots to Global: Can India take the leadership in providing low cost affordable solutions to the whole developing world and provide a new model of benevolent super-power mindset. Western solutions are costly and often inappropriate. Chinese solutions are low cost but often mass manufactured within China, and therefore they meet affordability criteria but do not generate local manufacturing and entrepreneurship opportunities. India has to develop an alternative vision of providing open source solutions as a part of its diplomatic policy after compensating the creative people( through technology acquisition funds), create investment SPV ( special purpose Vehicle) which will invest in the small ventures in the developing countries and generate local jobs. As the income increases, it is likely that the second order needs so arising might be met by Indian companies/products and services. This will not only provide linkage between innovation, investment and enterprise within the country, but also internationally. China has already started the journey on Honey Bee Network path. Brazil is trying and so are Ethiopia, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and many other countries. Board of Governors of Latin American Development Banks, will listen to HBN presentation on April 5, 08 to scale up the experience of grassroots innovation movement in Latin America and a jury has been set up to give grants for inclusive innovations for the majority. NIF has marketed grassroots innovation based products to all the six continents. A new model of Globalization is on the anvil.

8. In primary education, a similar search for innovations by primary school teachers without any help of the state was started by my colleague, Prof. Vijaya Sherry Chand. There is no doubt that in education, a similar transformation will take place. Only problem is that many of these solutions don't need much money but require time. Recently, the postal department has requested us to help them develop an innovation reward system. My first suggestion to them was to make each postman a scout for creative ideas. Imagine a map of creative minds of this country once made and renewed every year will forever remove the stigma on inertia and conservatism on common people for all the time. At the same time, a culture of initiative, innovation , sharing and creating a common good at local level will also get institutionalised.

9. Markets seldom monitor the misery. And the state tries to mask it. It is the civil society and social movements which articulate it. Every protest, whether creative or destructive is a signal of a need not met. We have to make our antenna more samvedansheel. How to use the energy underlying social protest movements and harness it to generate feedback, and responsiveness in the state. If we track such movements and create a national portal on social protests, we will institutionalize opportunity to learn from social dissatisfaction. No other country will do it. State will get a chance to share its response on every such response. The centralization of arena of protest ( why should every body come in large numbers to boat club to protest) will get reversed. Dissent is the salt of civic life. India alone can do it.

10. Deviant research triggers lateral thinking and tangential pursuits ( see New Scientist, Sept 22, 2007). Can we create ten per cent allocation in every scheme for those who find problems with the existing rules coming in the way to serve larger society. We also provide incentives to reduce unit cost in every sector and try approaches radically different from what is current dogma, or 'truth'. Pursuit of dissent, deviance and diversity will provide a model for sustainable development. Any other mirage is misplaced.

comments welcome at anilgb@gmail.com

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[1] Department of Information Technology, Media Lab Asia and Knowledge (c )omission may ignore it for present but then time of such an idea has come and already a few vice chancellors of some of the universities have agreed to take it forward. A few hundred projects have already been pooled through volunteer students from various IITs who have worked with me on this in past. If we allow our young minds to get satisfied with any thing which is not original, innovative and creative then, all their life they would have tendency of being satisfied too early with too little. They will also not develop sensitivity towards problems unsolved around them, in their own discipline and profession.