The timing could have been much better, but we can still see some positives out of US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s visit to India. Coming in the backdrop of US military bonanza to Pakistan, he had a mission of calming Indian fears, besides taking the next step forward in Indo-US bilateral ties. Rumsfeld is today the single-man military and defense think-tank behind Bush administration, and is also in large part responsible for the strict stand that his administration has taken against adversaries in the Middle East and Afghanistan. Rumsfeld has had a career made of successfully managing national crises. Right from his handling of the US military in the Ford administration, in the post-Watergate era he has acquired a reputation for a tough, no-nonsense decision maker. After serving briefly as a CEO of a multinational pharmaceuticals company, he went on to hold a number of senior positions in US administration, in fields as diverse as trade and diplomacy. But his defining moment has been the handling of post 9/11 war against terrorism, and the US assault against Iraq, a campaign that has gone a bit awry after a dramatic and brilliantly scripted win. He has of late had a heady supply of both bouquets and brickbats from people in US and around the world. But he once showed his talent in maneuvering his way around Washington politics. We in India can look forward in him an iron hand determined to crush terrorism in all its forms, and therefore he suits us as an ally. The fact that he was present in Afghanistan to witness the inauguration of first democratically-elected president in country’s history is a strong pointer to his resoluteness to see the end of fundamentalism and terrorism. And indeed when Secretary Rumsfeld brings us the message that US is keen on expanding military and defense ties with India, we know we can trust him. Primetime Parliament It is good that two new channels from Doordarshan are going to telecast parliamentary proceedings live across the country. The demand for full telecast of parliamentary proceedings has persisted from many quarters and the announcement is welcome news for everyone interested in parliamentary business. A constant public eye inside the two halls will improve the level of debates as MPs are bound to become more careful of what they say. Attendance is likely to improve, while the routine pandemonium might be a thing of the past, now that the nation will be watching them. The people will get to see first-hand the nuances of parliamentary affairs, the speeches and debates, bills and motions. Students should benefit from speeches and debates that happen on the floors of parliament, the quality of many of which is far better than any studio discussion frequent on news channels. And democracy will be best served when both government and the opposition get a chance to reach their point of view to the nation. The only problem I see is that Indian Parliament is in session for only five months in a year. Prasar Bharti has a job on its hand of creating enough programming to fill the void in the remaining seven months. To Seer with love Suddenly on the issue of the Shankaracharya, BJP has gone into hibernation. There are no more public speeches, no dharnas and not even a hint of the issue in the parliament. Quite mischievously, merely after Jayalalitha’s visit to New Delhi, BJP has quietened. The BJP leadership tried unsuccessfully to drag the central government into the issue. They wanted to take strong Hindu political mileage by misrepresenting the issue.It was only after a series of articles on past actions of Shankaracharya began filling the newspaper pages that they realized their folly. And now the party is desperate to wriggle out of the issue. It maintains, almost towing the Congress line, that a person of Shankaracharya’s stature and following deserves better treatment at the hand of Tamil Nadu police, and that there should not be any harassment meted out to him. Tamil Nadu police has to keep in mind that the charges against Shankaracharya should be irrefutable requiring foolproof evidence.The matter is getting serious as Shankaracharya has been in police custody for a fortnight now.
