There can be little doubt that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has taken a calculated risk by holding out an olive branch to his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani at a meeting on the sidelines of the South Asian summit in the Maldives. Much as India may deny (so as to keep the hawks at bay) that the agreement to revive the stalled joint commission, to liberalise the visa regime and to dismantle excessive trade barriers amount to a tangible headway in the “composite dialogue”, there is an element of pragmatism and realism in going ahead with normalisation despite some of the major irritants persisting. Mr Gilani, too, has been pragmatic in moving beyond the perennial bones of contention. While Dr Singh has risked the censure of the Indian opposition by calling Mr Gilani a “man of peace” at a time when cross-border terror has far from abated, Mr Gilani has assured the Indian Prime Minister that it would conclude the trial of seven 26/11 accused on its soil soon. Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik added his bit when he affirmed that the lone surviving assassin in the November 26, 2008, Mumbai carnage, Ajmal Kasab, should be sent to the gallows.

At a time when much of the world is benefiting from geographical divisions into trading blocs, the biggest thrust in the Manmohan-Gilani meeting has come from Pakistan declaring on the eve of the summit that it would grant India Most Favoured Nation treatment and India going a step beyond and declaring its intent to give “preferential trade” status to Islamabad.

This is not to say that the serious differences that persist would necessarily not erode the new-found bonhomie if rhetoric is not backed by work on the ground. With elections round the corner in five states, Prime Minister Singh can hardly afford Pakistan’s dragging of feet in dealing with the perpetrators of terror. Home Minister Chidambaram has complained time and again about Pakistan’s inaction against the 26/11 masterminds and the slow pace of the trial on its soil. Islamabad has also turned a deaf ear to India’s demand for voice samples of the perpetrators of terror. The Gilani government will have to deliver on these sooner than later. Besides, whether the Pakistan army which holds the key to how much its government delivers would cooperate in the process is still a factor that begs an answer.

Severe turbulence

Flight cancellations disrupt air traffic

Thousands of passengers have been affected by the cancellation of a large number of flights by Kingfisher Airlines. The woes of what was once a flagship of privatisation in India are many, and it is widely known that the second largest airline in India is facing a cash crunch. It suffered a loss of Rs 1,027 crore in 2010-11, and in recent days, it has been revealed that it has an accumulated debt of Rs 7057.08 crore. Major oil companies have stopped selling oil to it on credit and are asking for daily payments. The lenders who arranged long-term leases for the company are talking of re-possessing aircraft for which the airline has defaulted payments.

The airline has not flown 36 per cent of the flights allotted to it daily since Sunday. The Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has the right to ask the airline for an explanation as to why it had not taken the regulator’s prior approval to curtail its flight schedules, especially since the cancellations came during the peak travel season. However, at this time, what matters most is that the passengers who had booked Kingfisher flights should be sent to their destinations by alternative means, through other airlines.

There have been various questions regarding the quality of management of the airline, and concern has been expressed earlier too. The airline has not made a profit since its inception in 2008. Privatisation has its own perils and it is unfortunate that the airline which at one time sought to set new standards of civil aviation in India is facing such a crisis. There is no doubt that the twin attack of a price war and rising fuel prices has contributed to the present state of affairs, but this is not necessarily the only reason for the airlines’ woes accumulating. Even as the management and the creditors work out a proper solution, the airline must make all efforts to spare its passengers the burden of sharing its agony.

Gallows for infanticide

Welcome deterrent for heinous act

Sangrur District and Sessions Judge MS Chauhan’s order of capital punishment against a father who snuffed life out of his four-day-old daughter is rough but apt. Indeed, what can be more barbaric than a father killing his own child? That this happened in Sangrur district of Punjab which has one of the worst child sex ratios in the state only proves that the son preference continues to have psychotic dimensions in the region. In fact, so strong are the societal pressures to have a male heir that not too long ago in the neighbouring state of Haryana a woman was killed for not bearing a baby boy. While the heartless act of the father in the Sangrur case can never be condoned, equally abominable are the crimes of those who flout the PNDT law, go in for sex determination and abort the foetus if it turns out to be a female.

That the practice of female foeticide is rampant in relatively developed states like Punjab and Haryana, both of which have dismal sex ratios, speaks volumes about the patriarchal mindset that has deep roots in the feudal society. Perhaps the sociological reasons behind the obsessive son preference may lie in social practices like dowry. However, the real culprit is a bigoted mindset that prevails not only among middle and lower middle classes but also upper classes which are as guilty of killing unborn daughters. While the recent data may have proved that the middle class’s attitude towards girls is changing, clearly much more needs to be done.

Unfortunately, not only has the fear of law not worked, even positive incentive schemes of the government have not yielded the desired results in dissuading parents from eliminating daughters. Perhaps, a mass movement alone can be the answer to this widely prevalent social evil. Punitive judgements, like the one delivered by judge Chauhan, too will be able to make a difference only if these are followed by equally deterrent action not only in cases of female infanticide but also foeticide. Let it not be forgotten that in 2010 only 13 convictions took place under the PNDT Act.

Thought for the Day

Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less. — Marie Curie