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08 OPINION THE TRIBUNE

CHANDIGARH | FRIDAY | 29 MARCH 2019

How unhappy we are!

THE TRIBUNE established in 1881
India has plunged from the 133rd position to 140th on the index
are egalitarian in comparison and
there are not many people whose
lifestyles are in stark contrast to the

Pulwama eyewash lifestyles of those around them.

Poverty in India may have come
down quite significantly, but still we
Pakistan probe findings on expected lines have millions of very poor and nearly

P
poor who are just above the poverty
LAYING an all-too-familiar tape, Pakistan has claimed that no JAYSHREE SENGUPTA
line. Rahul Gandhi’s promise of giv-
terror camps exist on 22 ‘pin locations’ shared by India. A month SENIOR FELLOW, OBSERVER ing Rs 6,000 per month to the very
after India handed over a dossier with details of Jaish-e- RESEARCH FOUNDATION
poor, therefore, has an appeal. Aspira-
Mohammed’s (JeM’s) complicity in the Pulwama attack and the pres- tions are high on the other hand due

M
ence of JeM terror camps and its leadership in the neighbouring coun- ANY may not have been
try, Pakistan says it has found no evidence to prosecute 50-odd persons aware that the Interna-
who were detained in connection with the February 14 terror strike. For tional Day of Happiness
the record, these suspects had included JeM chief Masood Azhar’s son was on March 20 and the
and brother. After having denied access to the media to the area where 7th Annual World Happiness Report
the Balakot airstrikes took place on February 26, Pakistan has finally was released by the Sustainable
expressed willingness to allow visits — on request — to the locations. Development Solutions Network of
These spots have in all probability been duly ‘sanitised’ over the past the UN. The day was fixed by the UN
General Assembly in 2012. The
month. Indian investigators are not likely to find even a shred of cred-
founder was UN adviser Jayme Illien,
ible proof there, as sought by the wily neighbour.
Though these are ‘preliminary’ findings, India can’t expect the
an orphan rescued from the streets of
Kolkata by Mother Teresa’s Interna-
outcome to change once the investigation is complete. If Pakistan is tional Mission of Hope Charities. He
sincere about taking its purported counter-terror operations to their was adopted and educated by an
logical conclusion, it should throw open the doors of its seminaries, American woman, Anna Belle Illien.
some of which are notorious as breeding grounds for terrorists. This The happiness report is based on
should have been done right after the Pulwama outrage. The reluc- data from 156 countries about ‘how
tance has undone Pakistan’s efforts, already half-hearted, to convince happy their citizens perceive them-
the international community about its intentions to tackle terror. selves to be’. The happiness index
Amid the jingoistic din raised by a section of the media, credible ranks countries on the basis of
journalists with an unbiased approach could have shown the true questions from the World Gallup
picture to the world, but they were denied the opportunity. Creating Poll. The results are correlated to
income, healthy life, longevity, gen-
a smokescreen has laid bare Pakistan’s agenda to shield the perpe-
erosity, freedom, social support and
trators of the Pulwama attack, for which the JeM had promptly
absence of corruption.
claimed responsibility. India can go on providing evidence to Pak- While India’s GDP has doubled in
istan, but it will all be like water off a duck’s back. The fact that the last decade, its average happi-
Pakistan has laughably identified ‘social media content’ as the ness has gone down by about 1.2
basis for India’s documents makes it obvious that this probe is points, according to the report’s hap-
being stage-managed by the deep state. piness index. PM Modi promised
achhe din five years ago, but have
they come by?
India’s rank, according to the hap-
NOTHING TO CHEER: While India’s GDP has doubled in the last decade, the
average happiness has gone down.
People are happy when they have secure jobs, a regular
flow of income and know justice will be meted out.
In India, there is no such guarantee.
GDP per person and happiness
move in opposite directions.
In the world, however, most happy
countries are also high income coun-
tries. Finland is the happiest coun-
try followed by other Nordic coun-
tries — Norway, Sweden, Denmark
and Iceland, and the Netherlands,
Switzerland, New Zealand, Austria
and Canada. But many more vari-
ables could have been added to
make the index more weighty.
In India, why are people less hap-
py today than five years ago? Look-
ing around big cities like Delhi,
there are ample reasons for people
feeling hassled and unhappy. Even
the report admits there has been an
food and water safety. People are
insecure about their health because
the question of treatment cost
plagues their minds.
There is no doubt that social secu-
rity and the welfare state of Scandi-
navian countries and the EU have a
big role to play in raising the level of
people’s happiness. If people are
covered by a social safety net, they
have little to worry about healthcare,
education, unemployment or old-
age pension.
People are happy when they have
secure jobs and a regular flow of
income. They are happy to see jus-
tice being meted out. In India, we
are witnessing robber barons get-
to the increased use of mobile
phones, Internet and social media,
but fulfilment of desires is scarce.
How does this happiness index
translate into the voting pattern in
the upcoming elections? A one-
point increase in life satisfaction is
associated with 2 per cent increase
in propensity to vote. As per the
report, happier people are not only
more likely to engage in politics, but
also are more likely to vote for
incumbent parties. And the incum-
bent parties generally receive the
highest vote share the more buoyant
the election year economy.
In the case of India’s economy, no
one can say it is stagnant. Yet there are
many points of dissatisfaction. The
legal system is clogged. Those engaged
in agriculture are unhappy about unre-
munerative prices and low incomes.
Due to the stressed banking system,
investment remains low, resulting in
declining corporate profits.
Lack of adequate affordable hous-
ing is making millions of slum
dwellers unhappy. Lives of people in
the informal sector engaging 90 per
cent of the labour force are not happy
due to job insecurity and dismal work
conditions. Industrial growth is lack-
lustre and hence the rise in unem-

Contempt for contempt piness index, has plunged from the

133rd position to 140th in the past
year, though there has been no reces-
The courts need to act when other options fail sion or huge national calamity. Pak-
istan’s higher position (67th), howev-
increase in negative emotions,
including worry, anger and sadness
in all countries. Even with higher
incomes than before, people
remain unhappy because of factors
ting away scot free after defraud-
ing banks of crores of rupees and
corruption at all levels. When peo-
ple like Nirav Modi and Vijay
Mallya fled after borrowing huge
ployment. According to another
recent survey (conducted between
May and July 2018) by the Pew
Research Centre (US), over 70 per
cent Indians are unhappy due to lack

S
PARE the rod and spoil’is a concept that may appear to work well er, is paradoxical. like rapid urbanisation and conges- sums of money from public sector of job opportunities and rising prices.
for the judiciary when it comes to preserving its dignity. But the Even when people are relatively tion in cities, environmental pollu- banks, ordinary people felt very Replacement of humans by machin-
judicial hammer of correction needs to fall sparingly, and as a better off than before, why has their tion and problems of commute. unhappy and angry. ery, AI and automation is taking
last resort, while exercising contempt jurisdiction to punish people happiness not increased? Clearly, People worry on many fronts, espe- Growing inequality and seeing the place, rendering rural people as well
blamed for obstructing the administration of justice or lowering the the correlation between happiness cially when bringing up children in rich and famous having fancy wed- as urban unskilled labour jobless.
esteem of the court. The Supreme Court, by slapping a suspended and wealth is weak. According to big cities. There is the big question dings and lavish parties at home and All these are adding to the problems
three-month jail sentence on a lawyer for committing contempt by the report of the 125 countries for of law and order and safety regard- abroad do make people unhappy. of the common people, detracting
launching a personal attack on judges, exercised an established right which good data exist, 43 have seen ing women. There are worries about Scandinavian countries and Holland them from the quest for happiness.
that, undoubtedly, has the scope to act as a deterrent.
Indeed, the courts are guardians of the Constitution, and their own

Yesterday once more...

rights and dignity. The law that has crystallised over the years also
makes it clear that the court is well within its jurisdiction to order pun-
ishment for contempt for itself and the subordinate judiciary. The
courts may not be endowed with unbridled rights under the contempt
Act, but the powers are in abundance. The question, however, travels
beyond the realms of legality and permissibility. By resorting to con- KK Paul ly travelled with their families. Keeping pace with the changing other route on the national high-
tempt, the courts rely upon an archaic law. The Act has the potential, When the boys were young, they times, the good old GT Road has way. Perhaps this has something
and the power, to erode people’s faith in the system.
Like other relics of the colonial legal system, contempt has its gen-
esis in ‘early modern’ England, when courts were perceived more as
an arm of the State than institutions to check unrestrained executive
D RIVING down back home to
Chandigarh from Delhi has
always been fun. Even after
45 years of following the same route
and routine, the excitement contin-
used to be invariably seated in the
rear with all the eats. I used to be at
the wheel. After a particular age,
children tend to become very noisy
and keep chattering and giggling
metamorphosed into an ultramod-
ern highway. Thanks to our engi-
neers, despite the higher speeds of
vehicular traffic and the consequent
reduction in travel time, the journey
to do with the Punjabi habit of eat-
ing out and converting every jour-
ney into a picnic!
For our journey last week, for
some reason, and with the examina-
powers. But the rod of contempt was not used liberally in the coming
ues to remain intact. Maybe, more with an occasional friendly fight has become much smoother and tion fever in full force, it was just the
years. Contempt proceedings are artefacts of a long-gone era and usu-
than anything else, it has some- thrown in. This used to continue safer, with the number of accidents four of us once again in the car. The
ally not brought into play in contemporary democratic States. The
thing to do with the feeling of nos- for the initial one hour or so, and coming down drastically. only difference being that on this
courts are not denuded of alternative remedies, some of them even talgia and childhood memories well before it was due, the eats This modernisation of the high- occasion, the boys were in the front
available to a common man. It need not exhibit its exclusiveness by evoked by visits to the hometown. hamper would be emptied out way has also been accompanied by and my wife and I were in the back-
resorting to measures that fall solitary within its domain. The Bar One such recent visit has been even before one had entered a simultaneous mushrooming of seat. Even as they were chattering
Council can take disciplinary action against lawyers. The courts need more memorable than others, as Haryana. Thereafter, all of a sud- eateries, resorts, motels and even and laughing like old times, lo and
to act when other options fail. As for contempt, the courts should after a very long time, both our sons den, there was a hush and one air-conditioned dhabas boasting of behold, it was both of us — now in
restrict its exercise to wilful disobedience of directions or judgments. were also accompanying us. Such found them fast asleep, despite the five-star washrooms on either our seventies — who were trying to
occasions have been very rare after car being non-AC and the road side. Their number appears to be resist sleep and were all the time
their marriages. They have natural- being not so smooth. highly disproportionate to any nodding and dozing off.

❝ ❞
thought for the day
Happiness is a place between too much and too little.
Keep it positive
— Finnish proverb It is unfortunate that nowadays
everything is viewed with political
eyes. Pulwama killings, defence
action, defence equipment pro-
on this day...100 years ago curement, and now the latest anti-
satellite capability, are all being
given a political colour by claims
and disclaims by politicians.
These are not the signs of a vibrant
democracy and not in the national
lahore, saturday, march 29, 1919
interest. The ongoing electioneer-
ing atmosphere is being vitiated
Mr Gandhi’s Reply. by undesirable utterances of politi-
IT is a matter of common knowledge that one of the grounds on which the cians. We need positivity, not criti-
passive resistance movement has been condemned is that it will prove futile. cism at every step. Let there be an
Government, it has been said, will leave the handful of Satyagrahis alone and not attitudinal change by choosing to
make martyrs of them. In his message to a Madras meeting, Mr. Gandhi gives an appreciate for the good of society.
appropriate reply:—“There is here in my humble opinion if Satyagrahis are left Kudos to the DRDO and ISRO for
alone, they will have won a complete victory because they will have succeeded in the ‘space shot’.
disregarding the Rowlatt Bills and even other laws of the country, and in having JS JASSAL, PATIALA
thus shown that a civil disobedience of a Government is held perfectly harmless
by it. I regard the statement as an unwarranted assumption of fact because it
contemplates the restriction of the movement only to a handful of men and DRDO can do more
women. My experience of Satyagraha is that it is such a potent force that once set Apropos ‘Satellite shot down, PM
in motion it ever spreads till it becomes a dominant factor in the community in hails India’s arrival as space power’
which it is brought into play. No Government can neglect it.” (March 28), it is a landmark achieve-
ment that India has acquired an anti-
Quite Characteristic. satellite weapon system, and has
IT is characteristic of Lord Willingdon that while professing his own doubtless entered an exclusive group.
sincere belief in self-government for India, he should have said at the farewell Undoubtedly, our scientists and
reception by the Indian Social Club in London that he believed that no engineers in the DRDO are among
Englishman in India was anxious to keep India from attaining her goal. We the best in the world. But one fails to
would respectfully remind his lordship that the millennium has not come yet understand why such an organisa-
and that a racial generalisation is not the less fallacious because, unlike the tion is not being tasked the job to
usual run of such generalisations, it sees only the bright and not the seamy make fighter jets like Rafale and
side of things. If he were right, the responsibility for the existing bitterness in
India would rest principally if not solely with the educated Indian. Letters to the Editor, typed in double space, should not exceed the 200-word limit. These should be cogently written and can be sent by e-mail to: Letters@tribunemail.com
letters to the editor
transport helicopters like Chinook,
which our defence forces need so
badly. We are spending billions of
dollars in procuring such strategic
military hardware. Moreover, it takes
a long time in finalising the purchase
deals and in receiving the supplies.
Such deals also invariably generate
unsavoury political heat, alluding
corruption charges and counter-
charges. Wouldn’t it be prudent to
use the DRDO in such projects
rather than chest-thumping on
rarely usable ASATs?
KIRAN SHARMA, SUNDERNAGAR
Caste is barred
Apropos the editorial ‘Caste
aside’ (March 28), not only is the
caste of the complainant or the
accused irrelevant to investiga-
tion, but also hampers the process
by potentially influencing offi-
cials, and hence the outcome. Fur-
thermore, in most states, deep-
rooted casteism still remains alive
in the system, which can rightly
be attributed to the practice of
such archaic provisions.
VARUN DAS, ZIRAKPUR
HC shows the way
In a commendable move, the
Punjab and Haryana High Court
has taken stock of the archaic
provision and upheld the fact that
all individuals are born equal
(editorial ‘Caste aside’; March
28). The HC has not only put an
end to the colonial practice, but
also has provided wings to the
judiciary to ensure the funda-
mental right to justice and digni-
ty of every individual during trial.
This will give birth to a caste-free
era, especially in the judicial sys-
tem of our country.
AAYUSHI, MUKERIAN
Fix the zoo
The middle ‘Patiala Zoo symbol
of state apathy’ (March 28) is fac-
tual and shocking. Barren cages
and malnourished animals signify
the apathetic state in which they
are confined to survive. Zoo is
considered to be an educative
place meant for appreciation and
protection of wild animals, espe-
cially endangered species. It is an
enriched habitat for exotic ani-
mals that has entertainment and
educational value. What an irony
that the zoo in the royal city is in
a shambles. The authorities
should ensure that the conditions
at zoos are the best possible for
the confined animals.
ANITA KATARIA, PATIALA
Looking for gains
Raghuram Rajan’s statement
‘ Willing to return, open to oppor-
tunities, says Rajan’ (March 28),
at this juncture, when India is in
election mode, smacks of oppor-
tunism. Moreover, his averments
allude to his proximity to a partic-
ular political group, which if
returned to power, may install
him at the top financial post in
the government. Mr Rajan has,
proverbially, struck now when the
iron is hot. His eminence as a
world-class economist has suf-
fered a dent and is going to be
irreparable this time.
NEERAJ KISHORE, SUNDERNAGAR
Value the elderly
Apropos the editorial ‘Showing a
path’ (March 25), it is, indeed,
painful that tall and senior leaders
like LK Advani and Murli
Manohar Joshi have been side-
lined by denying them ticket.
Their contributions to the BJP
cannot be ignored, even though
they have aged, which is not their
fault. I am reminded of a verse of
Wasim Barelvi: Dekhna kahin
saath na chhoot jaye in buzargon
ka/ Patte paedon pe lage rahen to
hare rehte hain.
MS TANDAN, AMBALA CANTT

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THE TRIBUNE
CHANDIGARH | FRIDAY | 29 MARCH 2019 OPED 09

Why opinion polls often come a cropper

times, they downgrade the victory of ‘random’ samples.
margin in their predictions or even Predicting the number of seats var-
make a mistake in picking the winner ious political parties will win is
as well. Opinion polls erred in the much more complicated than simply
major elections in recent years across estimating their vote share. The
the world as well — the UK General relationship between vote and seat
Election in 2015, the US presidential is never a simple straight line even if
election (2016), the Brexit poll (2016) there are only two contesting par-
ATANU BISWAS
and the Israeli election in 2014. ties. The degree of complication gets
PROFESSOR, INDIAN STATISTICAL Two classic examples of disastrous amplified in a multi-party democra-
INSTITUTE, KOLKATA
opinion polls were witnessed in the cy like ours. Also, there is little
US presidential elections. In 1936, a doubt that several regional issues,

V
ARIOUS opinion polls are
predicting varied combina-
tions of the 17th Lok Sabha.
For example, the difference
between the maximum and minimum
predicted number of NDA seats in
about a dozen publicly available opin-
ion polls in 2019 is 58 — nearly 11 per
cent of the total number of seats!
Whether the actual picture will be sim-
ilar or different in either direction from
the average of these poll results will be
known only on May 23.
Are opinion polls a self-fulfilling
prophecy? Could their average, at
least, be blindly believed? The record
of opinion polls in India’s General
Election during this millennium,
however, is not very encouraging.
The 2004 General Election was a clas-
sic example of monumental blunder
of the opinion polls. Most of the opin-
ion polls in 2009 could not visualise a
comprehensive UPA victory.
Although an NDA win was largely
predicted in 2014, most of the opinion
polls failed to foresee the huge mar-
gin of the victory.
Such gross mistakes in the opinion
polls are not limited to the results of
the General Election, as is apparent
from the last Assembly elections of
Bihar, Delhi and West Bengal. Some-
reputed magazine, Literary Digest,
carried out a poll with a massive sam-
ple size of 24 lakh, and predicted that
Republican candidate Alfred Landon
would get 57 per cent votes, while
incumbent President Franklin Roo-
sevelt would get the remaining 43 per
cent. However, in the election, 62 per
cent of the votes went to Roosevelt
against 38 per cent for Landon.
There were different undesirable
features in the sample selection which
resulted in such a disaster. There was
‘selection bias’ in this case as the
individuals under study were affluent
people whose names appeared in tele-
phone directories (telephone was
more of a luxury in 1936), club mem-
berships and magazine subscribers’
lists. And Roosevelt had less support
base among such people. Again, there
was severe ‘non-response bias’ — the
magazine approached 1 crore individ-
uals, of which only 24 per cent
responded. There is reason to believe
that the people who respond to such
surveys are different from people who
don’t in terms of their political prefer-
ences. Quite often, people supporting
a particular party or candidate are
reluctant to express their views pub-
licly for various reasons. In the UK,
this happens among the Conservative
TOUGH: Regional issues, complex caste-religion equations, official and unofficial alliances make prediction a daunting task.
Predicting the number of
seats various political
parties will win is much
more complicated than
simply estimating their
vote share. The degree
of complication gets
amplified in a multi-party
democracy like ours.
Party supporters — the term ‘shy Tory
factor’ became popular during the
election of John Major in the 1990s.
George Gallup introduced quota
sampling in 1935, where stratified
samples were taken by maintaining
socio-economic proportions, but
they were not ‘random’ within each
stratum. Gallup’s employees ful-
filled their quota within each stra-
tum for sure, but human interven-
tion in choosing the sample is
always subject to bias. In contrast,
by ‘random’ we mean that each
individual within a stratum will
have the same probability of being
included in the sample. For the 1948
presidential election, Gallup’s opin-
ion poll predicted 50 per cent votes
for Republican candidate Thomas
Dewey and 44 per cent for Democrat
Harry Truman. The election result
was just the reverse — Truman got
50 per cent votes, and Dewey could
manage 45 per cent. Chicago Tri-
bune was so convinced of Dewey’s
victory that it went to press for its
early edition for November 4, 1948,
with the headline ‘Dewey defeats
Truman’! The photograph of a victo-
rious Truman holding aloft a copy of
Chicago Tribune has become part of
US folklore. This election thus
taught the pollsters the importance
regional parties, complex caste-reli-
gion-language divisions, a number
of official and unofficial alliances —
all these make the overall prediction
a daunting task. And the errors
would be compounded — in most
cases, nobody really knows the mag-
nitude of the errors. In a nutshell,
the samples should be a representa-
tive cross-section of the population.
And then, unless these relationships
are depicted within the framed mod-
el with reasonable accuracy, it will
be almost impossible to make rea-
sonably correct predictions through
the opinion polls.
The procedures of sampling and
analyses are not publicly available for
most of the opinion polls of our coun-
try, which makes it impossible to
gauge the quantum of selection bias
and non-response bias that are
induced. Also, are the samples proper-
ly stratified according to the socio-eco-
nomic-gender divisions across differ-
ent parts of the vast and diverse
country? Are the samples within each
stratum truly random?
Unless all these aspects are ensured
and available in the public domain,
I’d rather prefer to put a statutory
warning for the opinion polls — ‘for
entertainment only’!

It suits China to maintain links with terror groups

C
HINA has again blocked the
listing of Masood Azhar as a
global terrorist by the United
Nations Security Council.
Earlier, such attempts were stalled by
China in 2009, 2016 and 2017 at Pak-
istan’s behest. China placed a techni-
SANKAR SEN cal hold, which means that the propos-
al will remain in deep freeze for the
FORMER DIRECTOR, NATIONAL POLICE
ACADEMY, HYDERABAD next six months. Thereafter, China can
lift its hold or block it again. India’s
present initiative for listing the Jaish-
e-Mohammed (JeM) chief came after
China helps terrorist the Pulwama terror attack. This time,
there was widespread international
groups such as support for India’s criticism of Pak-
istan for providing a haven to top ter-
Jaish-e-Mohammed with rorists. Four permanent members of
money and arms to ensure the Security Council — the UK, the
US, France and Russia — and seven
that they do not support non-permanent ones (Australia, Bel-
gium, Italy, Bangladesh, Japan, Mal-
the Uyghur separatists in dives and Bhutan) joined hands in the
Xinjiang. In view of the move to designate Azhar as a global
terrorist. But China did not budge and
growing alliance between took the stand that it needed more
time to study the proposal.
the US, Japan, Australia There has been disappointment and
and India, China may try to frustration at China’s negative and
obstructionist approach. Some UN offi-
improve its relationship cials have stated that the stalled pro-
posal can be brought before the Securi-
with India, but it will not do ty Council for an open discussion. And
it at Pakistan’s expense. in that case, Beijing will have to willy-
nilly defend a terrorist in full public
view. As a permanent member, China
may veto the resolution of the Security
Council, but this will go a long way to
name and shame China. France has
announced that it would freeze
Azhar’s assets in that country, and
stand by India in its fight against ter-
TERROR TAG: The Masood Azhar case has brought to the fore India’s strategy
and tactics of dealing with China.
rorism. Germany has also come for-
ward in support of listing Azhar as an
international terrorist. The European
Union is also thinking on the same
lines. It will be a big diplomatic break-
through for India if the EU lists Azhar.
It will isolate Pakistan diplomatically.
In a last-minute bid to persuade China
against blocking the proposal, the US
put out a statement saying that failure
to designate Azhar would go against
the goal of regional stability and peace.
Owing to international pressure,
Pakistan has been compelled to take
some action against the terrorist
groups, but this is of a cosmetic
nature. Certain persons have been
kept in private detention and some
terrorist groups have been allowed to
function, with a change of signboards
and leadership structure.
In 2016, India had named China for
blocking Azhar’s listing. But this
time, it has not criticised the Asian
giant for halting the process. Delhi’s
stand is that it would not lose
patience with China over Azhar, and
give it breathing space to resolve
issues with Pakistan.
Pakistan is undoubtedly China’s all-
weather friend. As China challenges
the post-Cold War global order, Pak-
istan is likely to be its most important
ally. In his well-researched book, Chi-
na-Pakistan Axis — Asia’s New Geo-
politics, Andrew Small says China
wants Pakistan to have the capabili-
ties to play a specific role. China is
also unhappy with India moving clos-
er to the US. This has fuelled suspi-
cion that China wants to use Pakistan
to keep India on tenterhooks.
China has maintained links with ter-
rorist groups such as JeM, and helped
them with money and arms to ensure
that they do not target China or sup-
port the Uyghur separatists in Xin-
jiang. China follows a policy of repres-
sion in Xinjiang. About one million
Uyghurs are imprisoned in so-called
re-education (concentration) camps.
Pakistan remains quiet about it.
Today, in view of the growing alliance
between the US, Japan, Australia and
India, China may try to improve its
relationship with India, but it will not
do it at Pakistan’s expense.
Pakistan’s relationship with JeM is
quite complex. The ISI has spent vast
resources to nurture it. It is an impor-
tant sword arm of Pakistan in its proxy
war in Kashmir. Hence, it is doubtful if
the army and the ISI will change its
policy of utilising them as strategic
assets against India. Even former
President Pervez Musharraf has
denounced JeM, and said that Pakistan
should not encourage it any longer.
However, it is to be borne in mind
that Azhar’s listing, even if it takes
place, will be symbolic. JeM is
already a proscribed organisation,
but this has not prevented it from
carrying out terrorist strikes. Things
will not change unless Pakistan
changes its policy of viewing terror-
ist groups as strategic assets and
using them against India. Hafiz
Saeed of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was
listed by the 1267 Committee. Both
LeT and JeM are proscribed organi-
sations for the past 20 years. The
1267 regime requests States to
freeze, without delay, financial assets
of the designated individuals or
organisations. But Pakistan has seen
to it that its strategic assets do not
suffer. Only sustained pressure from
the Financial Action Task Force
(FATF), which has already put Pak-
istan on the grey list, may work. But
it is doubtful whether the US will go
the whole hog in view of its depend-
ence on Pakistan in brokering peace
with the Taliban so that it can with-
draw its troops from Afghanistan.
The Azhar case has also brought to
the fore India’s strategy and tactics
of dealing with China. So far, the
Indian policy towards China has
been very defensive. India has often
gone the extra mile to take note of
China’s core interests and respected
Chinese sensitivities. But China has
not shown the same concern for
India’s core interests, and, at times,
been uncaring. Perhaps, it is time for
India to play hardball. India should
think of options to put pressure on
China by squeezing Chinese busi-
ness interests in India, without fear
of retaliation. But, at the same time,
it would be improvident to reduce
the growing and multi-faceted rela-
tionship with China over one issue,
particularly when the practical gains
of listing, as the experience with LeT
shows, are limited.

quick crossword su do ku calendar forecast

ACROSS MARCH 29, 2019, FRIDAY SUNSET: FRIDAY 18:39 HRS
1 Recurring series of
events (5) 4 8 2 3 7 1 ■ Vikrami Samvat 2075 SUNRISE: SATURDAY 06:15 HRS
4 Young tree (7) ■ Shaka Samvat 1941
8 After all deductions (3)
9 Climax (9)
10 Synthetic fibre (7)
5 3 4 6 ■

■
Chaitra Shaka
Chaitra Parvishte
8
16
Sunny Partly Cloudy Cloudy
CITY MAX
Rainy
MIN
Foggy

11 Hatred (5) ■ Hijari 1440 Chandigarh 32 16

13 Thinly scattered (6) New Delhi 35 17
15 Bestow (6) ■ Krishan Paksh Tithi 9, up to 12:48 am
PUNJAB
18 Roman country house (5) ■ Pari Yoga up to 5:17 pm
Amritsar 32 16
19 Brochure (7)
21 In an undertone (5,4) 5 3 8 4 2 ■ Purvashadha Nakshatra up to 12:41 pm
Moon enters Capricorn sign 7:23 am
Bathinda 33 17
23 Rod used in snooker (3) ■ Jalandhar 33 14
24 Irritated (7) Ludhiana 33 17
25 So far (2,3) 7 9 YESTERDAY’S SOLUTION HARYANA
Bhiwani 35 18
DOWN 2 7 3 8 6 4 5 9 1 Hisar 34 16
1 Seek opinions of (7)
2 To shriek (9) 8 1 5 6 3 5 6 8 1 9 3 7 2 4 Sirsa
HIMACHAL PRADESH
33 17
3 Surpass (5)
4 Rough drawing (6) 4 9 1 5 7 2 8 3 6 Dharamsala 19 13
5 Small flute (7) Manali 17 04
6 Hostelry (3)
8 1 9 4 3 5 2 6 7
Shimla 18 10
7 Smarten (5) 3 4 7 9 2 6 1 8 5 JAMMU & KASHMIR
12 Hotly pursuing (2,4,3)
14 Indistinct (7) 7 5 2 4 6 2 5 7 8 1 9 4 3 Jammu
Leh
28
11
15
0
16 Withdraw (7)
YESTERDAY’S SOLUTION 17 In another country (6) 9 3 4 2 1 7 6 5 8 Srinagar 18 06
Across: 1 Soft option, 8 Horde, 9 Dilemma, 10 Ramadan, 11 Godly, 12 Finish, 14 Fluent, 17
Urban, 19 Adverse, 21 Heinous, 22 Plant, 23 Go for broke.
18 Prospect (5)
20 Don Giovanni for
9 4 6 1 8 5 7 5 2 6 4 8 3 1 9 UTTARAKHAND
Dehradun 31 16
Down: 2 Oarsman, 3 Trend, 4 Pedant, 5 Illegal, 6 Nomad, 7 Easy street, 8 Hard-fought, 13 example (5) 1 8 6 3 5 9 4 7 2 Mussoorie 19 11
Send-off, 15 Earmark, 16 Hawser, 18 Bring, 20 Viper. 22 Silvery-white metal (3) EASY TEMPERATURE IN OC

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