faith

Sniffing the coke trailEver since the death of thelate Pramod Mahajans sec-retary Vivek Moitra and thehospitalisationand subse-quent arrest on Mondayofhis son, Rahul Mahajan, theissue of the liberal use ofexpensive drugs in highsociety has come into focus.

Though chemical and other substances havebeen used for mind bending for a long time,it is only in the last decade or so that expen-sive, designer drugs have made inroadsinto India.

The Delhi police are certainly to be con-gratulated for the swiftness with which theypicked up the drug dealers and peddlers al-legedly involved in supplying narcotics toRahul Mahajans party. It can only mean oneof two thingseither the police have a ter-rific network of informers orand thissounds more probablethe cops know aboutthe drug dealers of the city and knew exact-ly where to go.

The customers for such drugs are in-evitably the rich, given how expensive theycan be. With growing incomes, India is saidto be a lucrative market for such drugs andMumbai and Delhi are where most of thebuyers are, giving a lie to the earlier official

line that India was only a transit point forthe drugs trade. The haul of 200kg of cocainein Mumbai on Sunday proves that.

The Mahajan case has shown that thetime for complacency is gone. Young people,even if they are so far limited to the rich andspoilt, have easy access to high-end drugs.But drug abuse is also prevalent among themiddle-classes and the poor; indeed, users inthese segments suffer even more becausethey have no recourse to expensive rehabprogrammes.

Increasing drug use across all levels of so-ciety is a fact of life today. Moralistic postur-ing has no practical purpose here. What isneeded is a strong campaign to ensure thateveryoneespecially students and young-stersrealise how dangerous such drugscan be. But most of all, we need effectivepolicing and strict implementation ofthe law to ensure that dealers are kept offthe streets.

The alacrity shown in the present casewould be commendable if it leads to a crack-down on drug dealersand users, howeverrich and powerful they may be. Often, theinitial fervour of law and order forces disap-pears once the spotlight is off a high-profilecase; it would be a pity if this happens thistime round.

VIPs must also queue upOur politicians are a peri-patetic lot. And they havethe knack of visiting exotic-and cool-locales, especiallywhen the weather here is un-bearably hot. Most often, ifnot always, it is the tax pay-er who pays for these jun-kets, taken ostensibly to

study the experience of other countries, likea team that is heading to Germany in time forthe soccer World Cup to look at the stadia.

As if that was not bad enough, these VIPtravellers, unlike us ordinary citizens, areaccustomed to landing in international citiesand being whisked through immigration andbaggage clearance by dutiful Indian embassyofficials. Indeed, in popular destinationssuch as London and New York, the local Indi-an diplomatic mission becomes a kind of glo-rified travel agency to handle the travel andlogistical arrangements of visiting politicosand mandarins.

Well, their passage will not be quite sosmooth in future. The ministry of externalaffairs, mindful of the pressures this kind ofjunketeering puts on diplomats, has intro-duced some sensible restrictions. No more ac-cess to first class lounges, no VIP immigra-tion clearance and certainly no transport and

other facilities for all and sundry from nowon, especially if they are on private visits.

Indian missions will now be required toconfine their hospitality and facilitation onlyto important state visits. The MEA has cor-rectly pointed out that visiting dignitaries,especially those on private jaunts, must lookafter themselves. This is the practice fol-lowed by most western countries wherepoliticians and bureaucrats are expected tofind their own way around unless they arepart of a state delegation. The mission hasother, more important things to look after,such as promoting Indias interests in a glob-al environment. Handling VIP visits need-lessly takes them away from their job.

The prime minister, who handles the MEA,is a man known for his simplicity. Clearly, hehas encouraged this much-needed regulation,which, if implemented to its fullest, will notonly reduce the burden on our missions butwill also go a long way in reducing the bloatedsense of self-importance many of our leaderssuffer from. It is shocking that in a democrat-ic republic such as India, we still suffer fromthe VIP syndrome that confers privileges onour rulers. A good beginning has beenmade on how they will be treated abroad; letus hope this egalitarianism becomes normaleven at home.

Swapan DasguptaIf what took place in Delhis 7 Saf-darjung Road last Thursday nighthad happened a week later, theBharatiya Janata Party leader-ship would have found no hos-pitable corner of India to hidetheir faces. According to the cho-reographed script, Rahul Maha-jan was to travel to Assam onJune 3 to immerse his fathersashes in the Brahmaputra. On hisreturn, he would have announcedhis decision to perpetuatePramod Mahajans legacy and for-mally join the BJP. A day or twolater, he would have been appoint-ed a vice-president of the partysyouth wing. Rahul would havebeen honoured for his greatest as-setbeing his father's son.

By hosting a small rave partybefore his initiation, Rahul blewhis chances. However, the mist-imed celebrations provided theBJP a small face-saver. At leastSushma Swaraj could claim thatthe death of Bibek Moitra and thehospitalisation of Rahul was afamily tragedy that had nothingto do with politicsand Atal Bihari Vaj-payee could loftilyblame it on bad com-pany and youthfulindiscretion.

The disclaimersare unlikely to wash.The latest misfortuneof the Mahajan fami-ly has destroyed theposthumous halo con-ferred on Pramod andbrought into the openthe decadent under-belly of an organisation that onceclaimed to be the repository of eth-ical politics. The sordid tale of in-dulgence is not merely an indict-ment of a lifestyle centred on easy,unearned money. It is also an in-dictment of an entire leadershipthat chose to be either willing par-ticipants or mute spectators to aperversion of public life.

There is no question thatPramod had many things going forhim. Intelligent, articulate, witty,innovative and, above all, prag-matic, he was among the brightestsparks in the BJP. He fitted into aleadership role almost effortlessly.Unfortunately, all these attributesblended with a ruthless disregardfor ethical niceties.

Pramod first undertook fund-raising for the party because, ashe once explained, someone hadto do the job. But money de-voured him and became almost anend in itself. He institutionaliseda regime of quid pro quo withleading donors on the pragmaticplea that if you sleep with some-one at night, you cant treat himas a whore in the morning. Thecolourful imagery wasnt aPramod original; he was echoinga prominent Mumbai industrial-

ist who was gen-erous in his con-tributions to theBJP.

The seconddistortion wastriggered bywhat he calledcadre building. It involved anelaborate network of private sub-sidies to individuals who were ei-ther fiercely loyal to him person-ally or were deemed useful in thelong term. The individual sumsinvolved werent necessarily stag-geringa little help with house-hold expenses here and help withsecuring an agency there. Thesewere old Congress techniques andPramod grafted them on to theBJP. This process meant that theparty treasury became detachedfrom a private war chest con-trolled by Pramod.

It is not that Pramods paralleleconomy was unknown to theBJP leadership. Indeed, many ofthem gleefully plugged them-selves into the network. Pramodhad an uncanny way of identify-

ing human weak-nesses and turningthese into politicalopportunities. Hewas ruthless and un-sparing in his atti-tude towards thosewho he identified asobstacles in the pathof his political ad-vance. Even the topleadership didntwant to get on hiswrong side. He ranwhat at least two sen-

ior BJP leaders have described tome as a mafia operation.

Pramod ran a system whichwas prefaced on money. Every-thing, he believed, had a price andeverything could be managed.Once an astute political mind, heended up reposing all faith inMammon. Even elections, he be-lieved, could be won by the neces-sary deployment of resourcesamisreading that cost the NDA the2004 election and contributed tothe partys dismal showing in As-sam in April this year.

Money warped his vision andit distorted his lifestyle. An at-mosphere of unwholesome reck-lessness permeated into the heartof the system he created. It mayor may not have triggered his ownmurder but it has certainly en-sured that his sons political ca-reer was still-born.

Last December, Pramod wasanointed Lakshman by the BJPsmost towering leader. Six monthslater, the entire party stands dis-honoured by his epic legacy. Whatwent wrong is well known. TheBJP needs to ask why the wrongswere knowingly condoned.

Email: swapan55@gmail.com

An epidemic of caring

Pramods sordid legacy

Abraham Verghese

A quarter-century ago this week,when the Centers for Disease Con-trol first reported the affliction wenow know as AIDS, I was a 25-year-old medical resident. While Ididn't even notice the report at thetime, the milestones of my lifeand medical careerand of thou-sands of other doctors like mehave since been inextricably tiedto the history of the virus.

By 1983, when I moved toBoston to begin specialty trainingin infectious diseases, I was wellaware of AIDS. Like so manyyoung doctors at that age and inthat era, I was caught up in theconceit of cure: the hubris thatmade us feel that science couldfind an answer to most things. Onmy first weekend on call at BostonCity Hospital I saw my first AIDSpatient, a man about my age, andthough I have since seen hun-dreds (perhaps thousands) of peo-ple with HIV, the image of hisanxious face is indelible in mymind.

What followed over the next 10years was a war, a long siege, withmany casualtiesevery patient Isaw would probably die from thedisease that brought them to myoffice. The metaphorical veil ofshame and secrecy that travelledwith this virus tainted every-thing; being an AIDS doctor coulddistance you from other doctors,and even from friends.

When Robert Gallo and LucMontagnier (or Luc Montagnierand Robert Galloa side story)discovered the human immunode-ficiency virus, it felt initially likethe siege had been broken. But infact, the blood testing that fol-lowed simply revealed the enor-mousness of the global problem.

My generation of infectious

disease physiciansmost of usmale and heterosexualfoundourselves transformed not just bydisease but by the unique popula-tion of patients we encountered.We were more homo-ignorantthan homophobic. The battle leftus with a deep regret that it took adisease like this for us to under-stand how much we could learnfrom gay men.

My patients taught me aboutcourage, about bravery, about or-ganising for a cause, about dyingfor one. They left me with an abid-ing conviction that has not faded,the armor to shrug off the slingsand arrows of pettiness and mal-ice that we all encounter: thereare bigger things at stake in lifethan just your happiness or mine.

We became zealots for thecause of our patients, even if zealwas all we had to give. We had nocure to offer, and so we began tovisit our patients in their homes,at their deathbeds. Paradoxicallywe discovered that our presence,our promise not to desert our pa-tients, our continued care broughtabout a sort of healing.

I went at great personal cost tothe international AIDS confer-ences; I watched with awe as poli-tics eclipsed science and as gay ac-tivists rattled the cages of stodgygovernment entities like the Foodand Drug Administration, and gotresults.

The men who died never losthope. But I did, as one drug after

another failed. I became a thera-peutic nihilist. I did not think Iwould live to see the day when wehad something that could reallycontrol the disease. When thatmoment came in America, withthe drug cocktails in the mid-90's,I cried for all the patients I hadknown who would never have theLazarus-like resurrections I couldnow bring about.

HIV clinics changed. From be-ing poignant settings full of bravelaughter in the face of greattragedy, clinics were now all busi-ness. Don't get me wrongI wouldnot want to go back to the olddays. But once treatment wasavailable, the challenge seemed tobe elsewhere.

Today I see so many of us whocame of age at the same time nowhave one foot in Africa or Asia, asif we need the kind of challengewe once faced here. Victories arenow to be won one child at a time.

I wonder now what I wouldhave done if I had known in 1981that AIDS would be as huge as itturned out to be. I am ashamed toadmit that I might have gone intoanother field. Which is why I havesuch optimism for the future, be-cause I meet so many students andresidents now who, knowing themagnitude of the problem, arestill going into infectious diseases.

I think perhaps that is the lega-cy of my patients, the legacy ofpeople from all walks of life whotoiled against AIDS when therewas no hope. My students seem toknow what we had to so painfullylearn: the secret in the care of thepatient is caring for the patient.

The writer is Director, Center forMedical Humanities and Ethics,University of Texas Health Sci-ences Center, San Antonio.

NYT

After 25 years of AIDS, the focus must be on the patient, not the disease

Getty Images

Money mattersMahajan ran a system prefacedon money. Everything, he believed, had aprice and could be managed

People powerI watched with awe as gayactivists rattled the cagesof stodgy governmententities and got results

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Chairmen

Fear and mistrust rule TorontoFor many Canadians, the most understand-able emotions this week are fear and mis-trust, prompted by the stunning arrests lateFriday of 12 men and five youths on terror-related charges, allegedly linked with plotsto attack unspecified targets in Toronto andacross southern Ontario. The arrestssparked front-page headlines, tarnishingTorontos image as a safe city. The biggestchallenge for politicians and security forcesis to win the support of moderate Muslims.Toronto police chief Bill Blair launched thateffort by meeting Muslim leaders fromacross the GTA. For their part, Islamic lead-ers issued a welcome statement condemningany act of terror.

Police are suggesting the alleged Torontocell is similar to those operated around theworld by a growing pattern of groups in-spired by Al Qaeda.

However, there are two realities that mustbe remembered by everyone who is interest-ed in the safety and security of this nation.First, all 17 who were arrested are innocentuntil found guilty in a court of law. And sec-ond, if Canada is to fight those who want tounleash acts of terrorism against us, we allwill be compelled to draw upon the best ofwhat Canada has represented over thedecadesdiligence and fairness.

The Toronto Star (Canada)

The struggle for ArcelorThe Arcelor affair has made for a most grip-ping drama. However this battle ends, it willresult in the biggest steel company in theworld. The directors of Arcelor should stoptrying to block the Indian businessman andallow an open debate by their shareholders.

In January, Mittal Steel, controlled by theIndian tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, made a sur-prise bid for Arcelor. Its directors, backed byLuxembourg and France, reacted withshameless invective. Arcelors chief execu-tive, Guy Doll, dismissed Mittal as a com-pany of Indians. Then, last week, Arcelorproduced a white knight, Aleksei Mordashov,the head of Russias Severstal. Joseph Kin-sch, the Arcelor chairman, declared that he,at least, was a true European.

Mittal is not out yet. It raised its cash-and-stock proposal by 34 per cent, and a contin-gent of Arcelor shareholders have called foran extraordinary general meeting to blockthe Russian deal. But the striking scenario oftwo businessmen from rising economic pow-ers competing for an old Europe companyspeaks of globalisation on a new vector.

Its sad that the struggle for Arcelor hasbeen accompanied by such an unfortunatedollop of racial slurs, because there are realissues at play here. The directors and share-holders of Arcelor have a right and a duty toexplore the relative merits, motives and con-sequences of the proffered partnerships.

International Herald Tribune

Drugs... destroy your memory and your self-respect and everything that goes

along with your self-esteem.Kurt Cobain

CORRECTION: In our edition dated June4, Page 3, in the article Its back to schoolwith a syringe, ME Yoelkar, dean of KEMHospital has been mistakenly called KEMMedical Director ME Yolekar.

sutra...

outside in...

Party with a difference?This refers to Gautam Adhikaris front page editorial, In High Places,in DNA (June 5) on the cocaine binge involving the rich and the mighty. RahulMahajan has proved that he is indeedpart of a party with a difference. For a layman like me, the sordid episode was a simple case of drug overdose but I am appalled at Vajpayees defence of Rahul Mahajan, saying such mis-takes happen at a young age. Would Vajpayee have reacted in the same fashion if the young man, who is Rahuls namesake, were to be from 10Janpath? The apprehension among thegeneral public is that this case will besimilar to Jessica Lalls, even more solooking at Apollo Hospitals vague reports and the Delhi Polices failure toregister a case against Rahul. As the editorial comment rightly said, the media must play its true role to ensurethat facts are not fudged.PR Kandikkal, Mumbai.

IIRahul Mahajan was carrying his fa-thers ashes for immersion in theBrahmaputra. His doctor claims that hewas deeply depressed and on medica-tion. Yet he partied. Vivek Moitra had of-ten commented that he had lost a fatherfigure with the death of Pramod. Yet, hetoo partied. Maybe they wanted to en-sure that the departed soul rests inpeace. Such are the ironies of life.Jayanti Shukla, Mumbai.

How long? This is with reference to Minhaz Mer-chants sober views in A caste-less socie-ty in DNA (June, 5). He draws his con-clusion in the brilliant background ofthe Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 and assertsthat since we cannot banish casteovernight we have to make it caste-lesson the basis of EBC rather than OBCquotas. I agree with him in saying thatquotas should be done away with. Ac-cording to the provision in the IndianConstitution, a period of 10 years onlywas provided to uplift through free and

compulsory education the standards ofthe economically backward classes (IV,45). But none of the objectives have yetbeen achieved. How long would we allowsuch party politics to play with our na-tion and its people? MV Atre, Mumbai.

In the company of liars The curtain raiser on the monsoons earlythis week and the media expos on the de-gree of the citys unpreparedness showshow the government, politicians and bu-reaucrats have lied about monsoon man-agement in Mumbai. Do we deserve to begoverned by incapable bureaucrats?Mumbai must decide. In the midst ofthis, the BMC commissioner is set to takeup the plum posting of chairman ofJNPT. It is important that he be held backand account for the work he has done ornot done to save the city from another26/7. The new commissioner cannot bemade a scapegoat.Anil Kalaga, Mumbai.

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Have you ever seen the eyes of the faithful ona mission? The burning of the faith fire inthe form of patriotic zeal, religious reform orscientific search has powered people in waysunmatched. Neither the carrot not the stickcan compete with the momentum given by something so intangible yet so powerful as faith.

Faith exists in almost everyones life tosome degree. From going to the doctor, get-ting married, discovering new lands, invent-ing things or seeking God. Even science isnot free of faith. Most, if not all, of its lawsbegin with a belief, a hypothesis that is eitherproved later as truth or rejected outright. Notso with religious faith.

God is neither proved nor disproved andperpetually falls in the grey zone of belief.Does intense and total faith imply that whatwe believe is true? Do we create that whichwe believe in or do we delude ourselves

and project the unreal phantoms of ourminds onto a reality that is independent ofour beliefs?

Civilisations have been built on a set of be-liefs. Battles have been fought for the sake ofthat which we believe to be true. This is truerof religious belief. Scientists have rarely tak-en up arms over the atomic weight of an ele-ment. So, a scientific approach solves contro-versies. Perhaps even wars can be wiped outif we acted solely on empirical evidence.However, if we act only by that which isproven and testable, then we may never act orlive because that leaves out much of life andthe world.

To some extent you got to have faith in theconcept of faith, as a prerequisite to know-ing. On the religious path faith is the key thatopens doors to a divine reality. In the spiritu-al mind, myths, visions, prayers and storiesmingle to form the private inner world. Howmuch of this is true we can never know. Thesecret is to have a balance of faith and doubt.Neither be blinded by faith nor be so rigidlyagainst it that it shuts the doors to discovery.

Harvinder Kaur

reflexions...Keeping the faith