दृष्टिकोण – Indra's Viewpoint

Why should a set of politicians decide the definitions as well as restrictions on immigrants?We all know that the present boundaries of the countries have evolved over the centuries and the immigrations have been the natural phenomena since the beginning of human race. It will continue to go on like that unless obstructed. Many factors and situations beyond the control of the politicians of today and those of tomorrow will decide the legal and illegal immigration.

But inthis era of free market and globalization, restricting the immigration is a contradictory policy. Days are gone when only the western countries were in business of setting up business in underdeveloped countries. Today the developed world is having so much trade and business interactions with the emerging economies that free movement of the people between the different countries will be natural phenomenon.

According to a study conducted by the India-US World Affairs Institute of Washington, the Robert H Smith School of Business of the University of Maryland, and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry, 90 Indian companies made 127 greenfield investments worth $5.5 billion between 2004 and 2009, and created 16,576 jobs in the US. During the same period, 239 Indian companies made 372 acquisitions in the US, creating more than 40,000 jobs. And these number will keep on increasing if the Indian economy keeps moving ahead. How should not there be a consensus in US on accepting the graduates of its first class universities coming from any country in the world if employed for five years with good records as citizens?

While there are about 25 million Indians spread across 189 countries, but interestingly, some 20 million foreigners are also living and working in India.

Sometimes, the political steps to bar the immigration from unfriendly country may not even work. Here is an example from India itself.

It is the same story in internal migration. Workers do come to Punjab for various menial jobs from Bihar. But when the enterprising farmers of Bihar bought harvesters from Punjab, a group of three Punjabi workers travel every season to Bihar to run the harvesters.

In West Bengal, it was difficult to find people to manual work and particularly for sanitation jobs, and the migrants even from as far as Rajasthan were engaged. However, things have changed today to a great extent. Perhaps that was the reason that UK allowed immigrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and even India for such work in the country.

As the countries such as US and UK have restrictions for workers from other part of the world through different acts, India does have also created some:

India doesn’t allow more than 1 per cent of a company’s workforce to be foreign, nor does it allow employment to people making less than $25,000 a year. It may appear silly to many but are politically sellable.

It will be interesting to hear a Colombian immigrant’s recent lament in London, when he was about to be deported. “The reason for me being here is not just because I want to become rich or because I want to come and take your jobs. Imdoing the job that most English people wouldn’t do. I think I have never seen an English person cleaning a toilet. I don’t want to harm anyone … it’s hard to be judged as a criminal when all you are doing is what you think is best for your family. WhatI’m doing, cleaning toilets – is that a crime?”

And still a person such as Obama or someone else somewhere such as Cameroon will keep on instructing federal agents to go through rolls of companies and businesses to weed out the illegal immigrants. It will remain the political whipfor the poor immigrants.

It was 9.30 PM yesterday. Alok was on the other side on phone from my village Pipra in Bihar. He was really concerned about the rain god who is almost deceiving the region after initial showers. The paddy seedlings are ready for transplantation. The canal that serves the village is not having water as the villages up the canal are not allowing the water to come down. Till few days back even the canal was not having any water, as the Sone barrage didn’t have water in its reservoir that serves the canal network in the region. Alok has deep bored tube wells in his fields to irrigate the plots and can use diesel pump. But the water level has gone down too much. It has no water. Perhaps last year also the rain was not good enough to replenish the water in mother earth down below.

• I talked to Madhukarpur the village about 20 kms away from Pipra. Satyabhama, my sister-in-law, informed that the villagers are organizing prayers for the goddess Sati Mai to bestow on it the rain. They can transplant their paddy fields only on the eastern side that are fed by a bigger irrigation canal. There is a fear of draught for the other field.

Alok and Satyabhama both are scared of the tough time ahead.

It will be really bad if the monsoon doesn’t oblige the region very soon. Surprisingly, Alok only few days ago had told me that it rained in Sasaram but not in Pipra. Today during my morning walk I happened to meet Mr. AK Singh who is from Motihari in Bihar. When I asked if it has rained in his village, he said that yesterday it had rained heavily. Why should not the region mentioned above get the rain? Yamuna says it’s normal. I can agree, as many a times it rains in Delhi but not in Noida. Only three days ago it rained heavily in Delhi new airport region in a short span of time delaying the maiden landing of the largest aeroplane, but neither New Delhi nor Noida got rain. Why does it happen? Is it because of the lack of balanced green cover in the region? In the last few decades, the villagers got rid of trees for increasing the land for cultivation. All the mango orchards around the villages have disappeared.

But what is there in fate of people in the area of Alok and Satyabhama this season? Will the monsoon bestow its generosity?
Surprisingly, as reported, the agriculture minister Renu Kumari of Bihar is satisfied. ‘‘There’s nothing to worry as the worst is over,’’ she said, adding, the farmers are happy and geared to carry seedling transplant. Has she not been informed about the region of Alok?

Even the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has not come out with any positive indication. It did not expect any possibility of ‘cyclogenesis’ (birth of a weather system) in the Bay of Bengal for another five days. Further, the all-India agro-met advisory issued by the IMD says, ‘though the rainfall has been deficient in some districts of the country, it has been largely well-distributed over the last fortnight’.

I don’t know if one can believe it. And who knows even these statements may be coming to keep the ruling political leaders happy? It is surprising that none of the major political parties and their leaders have talked about this climatic disaster hovering on the rice bowl of Bihar. Perhaps they are too busy in the battle of words meant to serve them in coming assembly election.

However, as per another prediction, the east and northeast India may get another round of rain over the next few days.

I wish it happens and brings cheers on the faces of millions of people in the region.

But can the scientists and technocrats of the country focus on seeing the vision of Tulsidas (मांगे बारिद देहीं जल रामचंद्र के राज) realized along with their researches on cloning human beings that are already in plenty and visiting moon?

रामायण एक लंबा गाथा काब्य है| काफी समय लगा होगा उसकी रचना में| मैं दादाजी के रास्ते चलते हुए उसका मासपारायण करता हूँ| समय समय पर कुछ प्रश्न उभर उठते हैं |

लगता है तुलसीदास जी रामायण ख़त्म करने के बाद उसे फिर से सरसरी निगाह से नहीं देखे | कुछ कथा की असंगतियाँ दिखती हैं| मैं केवल दो उदहारण दे रहा हूँ|

बालकाण्ड में पार्वती शिव से कथा सुनाने को कहती हैं और कुछ घटनाओं का जिक्र करती हैं :
बहुरि कहहु करुनायतन कीन्ह जो अचरज राम|
प्रजा सहित रघुबंसमनि किमि गवाने निज धाम ||
तुलसीदास को जब राम कैसे अपने धाम गए नहीं बताना था तो पार्वती से यह प्रश्न नहीं करवाना चाहिए था| शायद रामायण लिखने का अंत आते आते वे भूल गए पार्वती का अनुरोध|

इसीतरह लंकाकांड के आखिरी में राम विमान से लौट रहे हैं| प्रयाग में त्रिवेणी पर दान देते हैं:
पुनि प्रभु आई त्रिबेनी हरषित मज्जनु कीन्ह |
कपिन्ह सहित बिप्रन्ह कहुं दान बिबिध बिधि दीन्ह ||

कहाँ से ? बिभीषण का कोई धन तो वे लिए ही नहीं थे| बिभीषण से उसे सभी बानरों में बंटवा दिए थे | मैं तुलसीदास जी की आलोचना नहीं करता हूँ | चाहता हूँ अपने अज्ञान का अंत करना | कोई इसका समाधान करे तो अच्छा लगेगा, पर उत्तर तर्कसंगत होना चाहिए | नहीं तो मैं यह माँ लूँगा कि संपादन का समय ही नहीं मिला|