✌✌✌✌ THE HINDU ✌✌✌✌
☝☝ Restore the ceasefire ☝☝
As the most powerful and cohesive power in the region, India needs to chart a road map to restore the ceasefire on the Line of Control. The brutal killing of three Indian soldiers, one of them beheaded, in the Machhil sector in Jammu and Kashmir must alert both India and Pakistan to the danger of the retaliatory cycle spinning out of control. After decades of hostilities, the formal ceasefire of November 2003 had come as a big boost to peace at a time when India was grappling with militancy, state-sponsored terrorism and political disaffection. Starting that winter, the guns fell silent along the International Boundary and the LoC, thousands of residents of border villages on both sides returned to their farms, and India was able to complete its fence along the LoC. Militancy in J&K declined significantly, and normalcy gradually returned to the Valley. It is a matter of debate if the ceasefire was a contributing factor in the reduction in militancy in Kashmir, but cover fire provided by Pakistani military posts along the border had been regularly used by militants to sneak into India. This is reportedly how the terrorists who killed Indian soldiers on Tuesday managed to get across the LoC.
It is clear now that the ongoing, almost daily, exchange of fire has rendered the ceasefire meaningless. Ever since the terrorist attack on an Army camp in Uri in September, tensions have bubbled over. Ceasefire violations have become routine, and thousands of villagers have shifted to safer locations. Small arms, light machine guns, various kinds of mortars and artillery are being used by both sides. In the fog of hostilities, it is not easy to distinguish who is the guilty, and who started the firing. What is clear is that this race to the bottom could get out of hand. Contributing to the uncertainty is the power struggle in Pakistan, with the civilian government of Nawaz Sharif trying to hold its own vis-à-vis the army. The expected exit of Army chief Raheel Sharif may add to the confusion, as the new chief settles in. However, in New Delhi, the picture is far clearer. Given India’s regional status and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s unchallenged hold over political power, it is incumbent on him to initiate steps to restore the ceasefire that worked well for over a decade. It is not only that peace is an absolute requisite for his government’s grand economic plans, including demonetisation, to work; India and Pakistan must guard against adventurism in an increasingly unpredictable world.
☝☝ His voice carried across barriers ☝☝
In the demise of Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna on Tuesday, the world of Carnatic classical music has lost a multifaceted artist whose work defied neat definitions, as his popular appeal transcended barriers of geography and language. Through her captivating and meditative performances across the country and overseas, it was M.S. Subbulakshmi who had represented the southern tradition for the better part of the last century. But it was Balamuralikrishna, the child prodigy from Andhra Pradesh, who emerged as the national face of this genre over the past half century. A combination of a richly gifted voice, sheer individual brilliance and an incessant penchant for eclectic experimentation saw the maestro cut through the conventional limits of compositional form and style of presentation at a rather early age. The distinctive identity he carved out would define his formidable reputation over the subsequent decades. When such innovations sometimes did not find particular favour with the cognoscenti, the composer-vocalist began to revel in the controversy they occasioned and the popular appeal that resulted from his performances. But despite all the maverick-like qualities, Balamuralikrishna remains, to date, among the few musicians to have been conferred the highest honour of The Music Academy, Madras, the Sangeetha Kalanidhi, at a relatively young age. By the time he was awarded the nation’s second highest civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan, in 1991, Balamuralikrishna’s acclaim as a playback singer and music director had been reinforced.
Arguably, the great master’s imprint on the pan-Indian stage was put irreversibly through the national integration track ‘Mile sur mera tumhara’ on Doordarshan in the mid-1980s. The explicit purpose behind this joint production with, among others, the doyen of the Kirana gharana, the redoubtable Bhimsen Joshi, was to foster a sense of unity and harmony in those troubled times. But the venture, perhaps unwittingly, also heralded a new era in classical duet singing, hitherto largely a characteristic of instrumental ensembles. The vocal jugalbandis between Joshi and Balamuralikrishna brought home to the lay public the fundamental commonalities inherent to the southern and northern ragas, as much as they emphasised the distinctive styles in rendition across the country. This exposure was no mean feat considering that classical music remained, and maybe still is, a pursuit of the privileged in society. The void that Balamuralikrishna leaves at the all-India level may be felt more, therefore, in sustaining interest in this larger musical canvas. But the tremendous mobility of recent years among artists, and a degree of cross-cultural appreciation, promise the continuity of this legacy.
✌✌✌✌ THE ECONOMIC TIMES ✌✌✌✌
✌✌ Welcome moderation of Donald Trump ✌✌
The only thing constant about US president-elect Donald Trump has been inconsistency. He no longer wants to throw Hillary Clinton into prison or abandon Obamacare altogether. Even the wall on the Mexican border — which figured so prominently in his campaign — is being deconstructed even before it has been built, with Trump saying that sections of the border might now get a fence. And he does not intend, any longer, to deport all 11million illegal immigrants in the country: he is okay with getting rid of some three million criminals. And on climate change, which he had dismissed as a hoax, he now chooses to keep his options open, saying that clean air and ‘crystal clear’ water are essential.
This wide-ranging changeability is a good thing, quite apart from the reassurance that India is not an exception when it comes to the propensity for politicians to drip chunavi jumla (poll puffery) and for voters to lap it up. Whatever agenda an individual runs with as candidate, the office to which he is elected comes with legacy commitments and compulsions that then mould the campaign platform into a somewhat different governance agenda. Of course, Trump would leave his mark on American policy, but in a great many areas, expect continuity rather than violent rupture. But one area where there could be change of a kind that impacts India significantly is Trump’s seeming willingness to reduce US engagement with the rest of the world.
He has said that he would announce US withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, meant not so much to boost trade as to keep China out of setting the rules of commerce in the 21st century. This is in line with this intent to reduce US involvement in Asia-Pacific security. China would be the strategic gainer. India has to prepare for this.
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