A Journo's Diary

India is celebrating its 64th year of freedom and no matter wherever we are, this is one time of the year when every Indian wants to be present at a flag hoisting event, sing national anthem and then have authentic Indian cuisine. This is one day that brings us all together, no matter which part of the world we are in. I will be celebrating India’s Independence Day in London for the first time and as ironical as it may sound, I am really looking forward to it.

So this day signifies freedom. But what does freedom mean to us? It has a very personal meaning to each one of us. But on India’s 64th Independence Day, I decided to ask British Indians, what they thought freedom means for India. I was quite amazed with the responses I got because for people who live so far away from India and might have visited India only a couple of times in their lives, such deep thoughts should surely be appreciated.

Abha Singh, a student in Manchester said, “India is still not free. There is a long way to go. It is true that India has a government of its own but what about such deep rooted social evils such as poverty, caste discrimination, gender discrimination. Till the time India overcomes all this, one cannot say openly that India is a free country.”

Another person from London who wishes to remain anonymous said, “We are a free nation now and we do what we want to. We don’t have anyone killing our people and looting us without our permission. And this is a great achievement. I agree we have many more problems but we will slowly overcome all of them. I am extremely positive.”

Some of you might be thinking why am I asking this question 64 years later? Well to me it is an extremely pertinent question, not because I am trying to bring out the ills of my country but because for me freedom is not just being free from external control but it also means free from vices and evils. Today, we are a free nation in the sense that we pass our own laws and we make our own decisions but how many of these laws and decisions reach those who are at the bottom rung of the ladder? How do they benefit from these decisions?

Let’s take the commonwealth games for example. The idea of hosting the games was to showcase India’s might to the world. But are we really doing that? We destroyed slums in order to show a masked face of Delhi, we are pumping heavy amounts of money into the infrastructure facilities and then we are fighting over corruption reports that are being shown everywhere. Is this is what you call a free India? I really want to know how and when this investment will help India in fighting its domestic and external problems.
Anupriya Rathod, a social activist based in Delhi said, “It is a great feeling to be a free nation and to be able to tell people that my country is the largest democracy in the World. But when I look at those who are really facing the brunt of this system, I question my own belief system. We are 64 years old but there are still so many loopholes that will take many many more years to be filled.”

On this day, my idea is not to sound pessimistic but to be aware of the diseases that my country is facing as of now and to be able to do something about it. One of the strongest point that works in favour of India is its high population of youth. This is something that has sent signals to countries around the world. And this is the thing that will take India out of all its social evils and problems.

On its 64th Independence Day, India is much better than what it was few years back. I consider it as a positive thing that we the young people understand the problems our country is facing and many of us have actually entered the field to ensure that those who have been suffering are taken care of. Will all these efforts, I can truly see India of my dreams – Free, Fair, Equal with no poverty, no unemployment and no discrimination at all. That is when I will say “Happy Independence Day.”

A photographic exhibition highlighting India’s Nationalist history is currently on display at The Nehru Centre. It is indeed terrific how such a goldmine of negatives and prints taken by Kulwant Roy – one of the first Indian writer and photographer who had been selling his pictures to both domestic as well as foreign media. This work of Kulwant Roy had been locked up in a trunk and was found years later by his nephew Aditya Arya, a photographer himself.

The Nehru Centre at South Audley Street exhibits a rare collection of some of these pictures starting from the 1930’s till the 1960’s. The exhibition titled ‘History in Making’ has some marvellous pictures of Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru, and Sardar Patel. According to Aditya Arya, even the government doesn’t have many of the pictures such as the ones from the closed doors meetings of Muslim League during the Indian National Movement.

Well that surely takes us back to where it all started from – Kulwant Roy. Born in 1914 in Ludhiana, Roy started his work as a photographer in Lahore in the 1930’s and one can see some of his early pictures as part of the exhibition. Later in 1941, he joined the Royal Indian Air Force and that’s the time he took some amazing aerial pictures from the cockpits of the aircrafts. Towards later he found it difficult to tolerate the discriminatory policies of his British Superiors and had to leave the air force after being court martialled.

He then set up Associated Press Photos in Delhi and from there took on the task of Photojournalism. He travelled around the world for three years starting in 1958, wherein he took lots of pictures outside which were later sold along with his stories. In 1963 he mailed all his pictures and negatives to his Delhi address but when he came back home, he realised none of his boxes had arrived and he could never trace them.

Kulwant Roy died in 1984 but his photographs have been making news in every part of the world. Even during his life, he sold his photographs to a number of international and national newspapers and magazines. For example, a famous picture of Pandit Nehru, sitting with a bat in his hand during a cricket match was published by a French newspaper, along with the domestic ones. All of this and much more is on display at The Nehru Centre.

Twenty five years after the passing of his uncle, when photographer Aditya Arya opened the boxes that had been bequeathed to him, he was astounded. He was looking at a treasure house of images of pre- and post-independent India. Photographs systematically organised and annotated, negatives carefully packed together, notes painstaking scribbled at the back of fading photographs. And then Aditya Arya’s journey of archiving began. Drawing from a collection of thousands of old prints and cracked negatives, the initial recovery has led to an exhibition of selected works in Delhi, the generation of worldwide interest in Roy’s work, and the establishment of the Aditya Arya Archive.

However, despite being extremely rich in its collection, the exhibition lacks proper references to the pictures. In a way the exhibition will be enjoyed by those who have spent time reading the Indian National Movement because then they can identify with each and every picture. For those who do not know much about India’s freedom struggle, for them the exhibition is a collection of pictures of India’s heroes who can be identified easily.

Apart from this, the exhibition is a magnificent display of the final phase of the Indian National Movement and also of the post Independent period when India was slowly taking steps towards building its diplomatic and economic relations. The exhibition is indeed worth a visit especially because most of these stories we have either read or heard or seen in the form of movies which of course has been dramatised a little too much. But to be able to see photographs, especially some of those which are absolutely rare and genuine, is an experience altogether.

For those who haven’t yet gone to see the exhibition, there is still time till 4th June for you to do so. It will definitely be a shame to miss the lifetime work of an eminent photojournalist – Kulwant Roy.

It’s been a year since Barack Obama took office as the President of United States of America. In this one year, how many promises has he fulfilled? Let us analyse Obama;s one year journey in three parts:-

I Obama & the World

II Obama & Africa

III Obama & the U.S economy & healthcare

The term “Visa” is such that it can surely bring a frown on the face of any International traveller. I am sure that every individual who has ever applied for a visa to no matter whatever country will have an anecdote to share. I have been in UK for about a year and a half and have come across many British Indians who are very unhappy with the long waiting time and mountain load of paper work to get a visa to India. And at this moment, I always start wondering that why can’t travelling to your home country be simple enough?

Well, it surely isn’t as tough as we think it is. Especially for those who themselves or through their parents, grandparents or even spouse, trace their origin back to India. Once they apply for an OCI or a PIO card, depending on their eligibility, they don’t have to worry about those long queues at the VFS visa centres or making innumerable visits to the Indian High Commission. But in order to apply for this card, many of them will have to surrender their Indian passports. And that is what seems to be holding back many in this case.

In fact, sources from the High Commission of India have encouraged more and more British Indians to apply for the OCI and PIO card. One needs to plan their visit in advance, maybe like 3-4 months in advance so that there is enough time to carry out the paper work for the process. The High Commission of India has also suggested that it takes almost two months to get the cards processed and thus applicants should be ready for such a time. But it also gives you a lifelong visa to visit India in the case of OCI and fifteen years in case of PIO card.

A lot of times many of us get confused between both the cards. Well, to start with, there are differences in terms of eligibility, process, cost and benefits and restrictions of both the OCI and PIO card. Persons who belong to Indian origin either through parents, grandparents, great grandparents or spouse can apply under PIO category, while those overseas Indians who migrated from India after 26th January, 1950, except from Pakistan and Bangladesh come under the overseas citizen’s criteria. For them to be eligible under OCI category, they must belong to Indian origin through either their parents or grandparents. The clause of spouse does not exist in this case.

The Indian government has always been very sensitive towards the issues of the NRI community that is spread all across the globe. In fact the OCI and PIO card scheme is the cornerstone in its policy on Diaspora. The government actively encourages Indians settled abroad to apply under these schemes. This also helps lessen the burden of missions abroad that look into a number of visa issues every day. Frankly, if every person of Indian origin living in this country applies for an OCI or PIO card, imagine how easy it will be for the mission to deal with other matters.

But there are many Indians worldwide who have faced extremely tough situation in the hands of immigration officer even after having an OCI card. In fact just a couple of months back I had read about an Emeritus Professor from US who was travelling on his OCI card and had not carried his old passport with him because under the rules it states that if you have a OCI card, you don’t need a visa. But apparently the immigration officer at the counter asked for his passport and on the failure to produce the passport, the Professor was given a seven day temporary visa in India and was asked to produce his old passport at the earliest.

There have been similar cases that came to light regarding OCI and PIO card. This is not to baffle anyone but it is just to make people aware that there might be a gap between what the government decides and what the immigration officials know. At that moment, rules and policies of the government doesn’t work. It is the question of whether you can produce the asked document or not.

Well, there would always be such cases floating around in the newspapers and online portals. But that shouldn’t deter the fact that this scheme has been brought into action to benefit the Indian diasporic population that is settled worldwide. I think a lot of us are intimidated by any government policy till we actually pick up the rules and read it. Because we are afraid that if it is a government scheme it will need a lot of paper work and running around. But sometimes it is for a long term benefit as well. I think for the British Indian population, this scheme might just be worth a try.

Last week Britain observed its Remembrance Day 11th November. There were many events that took place, including the national ceremony that was led by The Queen at Cenotaph in Whitehall. A sombre occasion for the country’s war dead was marked by a traditional two minute silence. The ‘Poppy Day,’ as it is also called, comes at a time when Britain is highly debating its role in Afghanistan and with the number of deaths on the rise.

But the actual significance of marking this day is to commemorate the sacrifices made by the members of armed forces and civilians since the First World War. And thus this takes us back to 1914. It is observed on the eleventh day of the eleventh month to remember the end of the First World War on that day. Wreaths are laid beside war memorials by various clubs, societies and individuals to remember and acknowledge the sacrifices made by those who lost their lives in war.

But being an Indian, the year 1914 takes me back to the era of colonialism in India. It is also the year when Mahatma Gandhi returned to India from South Africa. And it is also the year when more than 1.3 million Indians were sent to fight the First World War as part of the British Expeditionary Forces. According to figures, more than 53,486 Indian soldiers died and 64,350 were wounded in the First World War. When it came to fight the Second World War, India raised an army of 2.5 million men – the largest in the history.

What is interesting to note here is the fact that Indians were never even asked before declaring any of these wars, neither were they promised freedom. But still Indian soldiers played a big part in the two World Wars. And even though so many decades have passed by, not enough recognition has been given to the efforts of the Indian soldiers in these two wars. Let us not forget that this was the first time that Indians were asked to fight an International war. And even though they contributed to the success of the two World Wars, the credit always finds its way to the biggies.

Well, this year, Britain acknowledged the efforts made by the Indian soldiers in the wars. An event organised by the National Council of British Indians at the House of Commons last week reminded everyone of the sacrifices made by the Indians in the war. Speakers at the event included Sailesh Vara, the deputy leader of the Conservative Party in the British parliament, Labour MPs Ashok Kumar, Barry Gardiner and Virendra Sharma and Baroness Shreela Flather of the Conservative Party

Britain’s Minister for International Development Gareth Thomas, who was representing Prime Minister Gordon Brown at the House of Commons, recognised the huge contributions made by Indians in defeating the fascist state.

“We must not also forget the current generation of Indian troops fighting for peace around the world as UN peacekeepers. One reason the UK supports India’s inclusion in the UN Security Council is India’s continuing preparedness to make contributions to the UN peacekeeping efforts,” said the Minister.

“These Indian soldiers are in harm’s way tonight serving the international community, just as UK troops are in harm’s way in Afghanistan,” he added.

Some other facts that came to light were the numbers and figures of deaths and injuries during these wars. More than 1.3 million Indian soldiers and labourers served in Europe, Africa and Middle East. Large sums of money, food and ammunitions were sent to the British troops by the Indian government and the princely states during both these wars. High casualty rates, soaring inflation figures, widespread epidemic and the disruption of trade during the wars led to a lot o human suffering in India.

India’s Deputy High Commissioner, Mr. Asoke Mukherjee reminded the gathering about the contribution made by Indians in terms of equipments, animals and their own lives to these wars. He also read out the inscription on India Gate, the largest war memorial in India. The inscription at the top of the monument reads,

“To the dead of the Indian armies who fell honoured in France and Flanders Mesopotamia and Persia East Africa Gallipoli and elsewhere in the near and the far-east and in sacred memory also of those whose names are recorded and who fell in India or the north-west frontier and during the Third Afghan War,”

“The names of the demised soldiers who died in these wars are also inscribed all along the walls of the arch,” he added.

Well, over 300,000 Indian soldiers died in these wars, fighting side by side with the British troops. I personally believe that World War II helped in changing British public opinion on India. I agree that Ahimsa and Satyagraha led us to the path of freedom. But I also believe that sacrifices made by millions of Indian soldiers in a war that didn’t affect their ideology in anyway, cannot be forgotten.

Yesterday was an unusual experience, the experience every Indian citizen awaits. But thanks to our stringent bureaucratic system, very few can actually experience it. I consider myself lucky, not because I was able to break the bureaucratic system in anyway, but because I am a Indian journalist based in London. That made a great impact. I am sure as a young and budding journalist in India; it would have taken me my entire life to reach to a level where I could greet the Head of our State or be invited to a reception in the honour of the first citizen of India.

Yeah, I am talking about my meeting with our President, Dr. Pratibha Patil. The first female President of the Republic of India is also the first Indian President to visit United Kingdom in the past nineteen to twenty years. The last visit was in 1990 by the then President, Dr. Venkatraman. Dr. Patil, a short lady with has always been seen draped in a traditional style saree with head covered with pallu or the loose end of the sari. With a smile on her face, she was seen with her palms joined together to wish Namaste to the British Asian community of London.

L-R: High Commissioner, His Excellency Mr. Nalin Surie, a guest, Prof. Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Hon'ble President of India, Her Excellency Mrs. Pratibha Devisingh Patil, Minister of State, Mrs. D. Purandeswari

Frankly, I heard her speak for the first time yesterday at the reception. And she wasn’t bad at all. Well I am sure a lot of effort goes in from the back end team to get her script ready. And then considering the fact that she is a seasoned politician, all of this come naturally to her. But that is not my point. I was happy to hear the President of my country make so much sense in front o a rather august gathering. The media, especially the Western media, seemed to have gone gaga over her. And she leaves no chance to point out that India and UK will always be strategic partners.

Well, its high time Britain is given importance when it comes to strategic relationship between the two. I still haven’t been able to understand why there was a long twenty year gap between the two state visits? And there hasn’t been an outward state visit from the UK to India by The Queen. This is a topic of serious consideration and I hope the Indian government is looking at it closely.

Anyway, coming back to last night’s reception, the high point of the entire event was a chance for everyone to meet and get a photograph clicked with Madam President. And everyone seemed to be quite disciplined while making their way to the stage where she was seated. For me, it was an exchange of “Namaste” and holding of hands for a few seconds before her bodyguard came in between giving me a signal to move on. Whoa! Was that it? Ten seconds of fame huh? Well there were many who looked like they were not bothered by the thousands of signals from the President’s bodyguards.

In her speech she highlighted the efforts made by the British Asians in UK. She said,

“We are aware of the role played by the first wave of immigrants from India, many from the Punjab, to the UK. They formed the backbone of the industrial workforce of this country and played a stellar role in rebuilding Britain’s war-ravaged economy. For that you are all rightly honoured here. There are others among you whose families have overcome tremendous hardships as you made your way from areas of India such as Gujarat and Maharashtra to East Africa, and then, to the UK. You have worked hard and, today, there are many among you who are leaders in the world of business and finance. We recognize your achievements“.

She also congratulated the recent Chemistry Nobel Prize Winner, Dr Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, an Indian origin scientist from University of Cambridge who was also present at the event. The mention of the term “Indian-Origin” seemed to have accompanied his name everytime it was announced. Well we love to get happiness from everything we can, isn’t it?

Apart from Dr. Ramakrishnan, other important guests included Foreign Secretary Mrs. Nirupama Rao, Air Rifle World Champion Abhinav Bindra, Actor Saeed Jaffery and others. At the end of it, it was surely an experience in itself. I hope the State Visit strengthens the partnership between the two countries. And more so, it influences The Queen to make her State Visit to India in the near future. I am sure a lot has changed since her last couple of visits.

Who would have thought that someday I would actually get to see what was behind those huge iron gates of Buckingham Palace! Ever since I came to London, Buckingham Palace has been one of my favourite touristy spots. No matter where I was, I would end up finding my way into the Palace. But today was different in a very special way. I felt a childhood fantasy descend upon me and I enjoyed every moment of it.

I was one of the many thousand people who had been invited to attend the Royal Tea Party at the Palace. Every year Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II hosts three Royal Tea Parties in the sprawling lawns of Buckingham Palace. It is attended by people from different walks of life. The idea of the tea party is to get residents of Great Britain acquainted with the idea of Monarchy and for them to experience a royal treatment for a couple of hours. From Victorian crockery to Queens’s sandwiches, the party was a royal treat in every way. No person can attend this party twice and thus one needs to sink into the moment and remember every second of it.

I was completely awed by the whole atmosphere. I had decided to wear traditional Indian attire; and so chose to wear sari to the tea party. Starting with entering the palace, when many people mistook me for a bollywood celebrity to being brought into the main hall of the Buckingham Palace, it all seemed like a dream come true. The big halls inside the palace with the red carpeted stairs and cushioned sofas with rich upholstery looked grand. As I followed the trail, I found myself entering a huge sprawling garden which was supposedly in the backyard of the Palace. Upon entering the Garden I so wished I was allowed to come here sometime with a book. I would have loved to just lie down on the green grass and read a book.

The lush green garden with a small lake on the side seemed never ending. Two military bands played music alternately throughout the afternoon. There was a large tea tent where guests were treated to a spread of iced teas, cakes, sandwiches and pastries. I helped myself to a cup of tea and fixed my eyes on the main entrance waiting to see the Queen. At exactly, four o’ clock, the National Anthem announced the arrival of Her Majesty The Queen and Members of the Royal family. An army band paraded through the ground to announce the arrival of the Royal family.

The 83 year old monarch, who wore a fuchsia coloured coat and matching dress and hat and an umbrella in her right hand, walked coyly yet confidently through the crowd. Accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh and the Duke of Kent, she spent two hours mingling with the crowd. She walked past the main tea tent into the Royal tent where she had tea with her family. At this moment, the royal tent was surrounded by guests who were trying to get a glimpse of the Queen. Guests had almost forgotten that there were tea tents for them as well. Everybody stood by the side of the Royal tent with their eyes fixed at the Monarch.

At exactly ten minutes to Six, The Queen and Members of her family started to depart to the Palace. This was my moment. I stood there next to the Royal tent as she walked through the crowd, shaking hands and exchanging words. I was told not to speak anything on my own till she talks to me. It is quite difficult for a person who comes from democracy to follow monarchy. She came to me and I shook hands with her, a touch of soft, grandma like hands. In a very soft tone she said “It’s a lovely day today, isn’t it?” I looked at her, smiled and said “Yes, Indeed it is, a beautiful day today”.

I kept looking at her as she walked back to the Palace. Those few words made my day, words that I will remember all my life. For me, Buckingham Palace is no more a tourist spot because memories of what exists beyond those walls will remain fresh in my mind forever.

Today I attended a discussion at the House of Commons on India-China, organised by the Commonwealth Journalists Association (CJA). The central question of the discussion was whether the two countries are friends or foes? Given their historical background, it definitely comes to mind that the two countries share their set of differences as well as cooperation. But what does the future hold?

One person at the discussion very candidly mentioned that India seems to be very concerned and worried about the rise of China in the world. But, on the contrary, China is least bothered about India’s rise. For China, the benchmark for development is not India but United States of America. China has its eyes fixed on the U.S and its rise is in a way a threat to U.S. Why then would China be bothered of India’s rise?

Another interesting point that came was the fact that we always celebrate India’s democracy and criticise China’s one-party government. It is always hugely debated how Indian system of governance gives you more freedom and the Chinese system restricts your freedom. But having said that, when one comes to think of it, which system of government has delivered better? If democracy has sanctioned freedom to its citizens, one-party system has also brought about a GDP of ten per cent.

And not only that, there is also a stability in terms of the country’s population. But when we come to talk of population, India has 54% of its population below the age of 30 whereas China has only 23% population in that age group. In terms of young manpower and resource, India is definitely leading.

As Gurcharan Das mentioned today, we have also jumped from our Industrial revolution onto our service industry. We are severely lacking a sound manufacturing industry like the Chinese system. But a Chinese expert, Linda Yueh, mentioned today how the two countries have very well cooperated in areas of economic development. So if Indian system of Special Economic Zones (SEZ) is modeled on the Chinese programme because China is definitely way ahead in terms of its manufacturing sector, Chinese governments are taking help from India in restructuring their agricultural sector which has been on a decline.

Linda Yueh very rightly mentioned that India and China are powerful enough to form a G-2 in the world. China like U.S drives the economic growth of the country to a great extent, according to the World Bank. The question still remains whether we are friends or foes?

I personally feel we share a love-hate relationship with China. Even after its claim on Arunachal Pradesh, we still continue to accept Tibet as a part of China. And that doesn’t prevent us from giving shelter to Dalai Lama as well. So why don’t we then accept Tibet as an autonomous region? Well we can’t even afford to antagonise Chinese sentiments. Can we? So what do we do?

Well I think in many ways we are back to our non alignment policy. We prefer to stay out of controversies in order to play safe. We are worried about our interests with China and at the same time we also want to be taken very seriously with our position in the entire world. In a situation like this, China is like our ex-mate with whom we are trying our best to patch up but no matter how much you try and patch up, the past keeps cropping up.

But the question whether we are friends or foes still remains unanswered….

On 2nd April, 2009, London was home to the leaders of the most powerful nations of the world who met amidst heavy protests and tight security. The famous G20 summit kick started at 7:30 in the morning with the arrival of the leaders, followed by a breakfast meet at 8:30. The atmosphere inside the excel centre was intense and apprehensive as the leaders gathered for their group photograph. And just when they thought they were set to make a decision that the world awaited, a re-shoot of the group photograph was called. Apparently, the Canadian Prime Minister, Mr. Stephen Harper was missing in the earlier one. Well, this meet was definitely a history in making.

The meeting started with global financial crisis and institutionalisation being the focus of the discussion. The leaders affirmed the need for a global reform to deal with the massive economic crisis that is affecting the world today. Within a couple of minutes of the start of the meeting, British PM Gordon Brown told the media that an agreement had been reached on the issue of protectionism. From then, one by one the media was informed of every decision that was taken inside the closed door meeting.

One of the biggest highlights of the summit was the increase in funds for IMF to help poor countries fight the financial crisis. The leaders pledged a $1.1 trillion package alongside measures for a tighter regulation of the international financial system to help bring the world out of recession. They also collectively agreed to negotiate a speedy conclusion of the Doha trade round. It was decided to put an additional $250 billion into trade finance, one of the key demands from India, represented by Indian PM Dr. Manmohan Singh.

Dr. Singh said he believed the result of the G20 meet was “very constructive”. He affirmed that the $1.1 trillion package will help those in need.

“This is a very substantial amount and will help to alleviate the worst effects of the global crisis on the developing and poorest countries,” Singh said.

Asian countries voiced their opinions freely on how to solve the global economic crisis. This marked a progress on a western dominated platform.

The demand for reforms to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other institutions was made particularly by China, India and Japan.

Japan contributed $100bn to the G20′s $1.1 trillion pledge in loans and guarantees to developing countries; while China contributed $40bn. India has still not disclosed the amount it would be contributing to IMF.

Indian PM Dr. Manmohan Singh was however, assured at the summit that that developing countries like India will have a higher voting right in institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

The word “terrorism” got its mention during the press conference addressed by U.S President Barack Obama. Mr. Obama told the journalists that during his meeting with Indian Prime Minister, they discussed terrorism emanating not only from Pakistan but also Afghanistan.

It may make sense to create an effective dialogue between India and Pakistan in this nuclear age and at a time when perhaps the greatest enemy of the two countries should be poverty.

Besides India, Britain and the U.S., the G20 comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey and the EU.

G20 Draft Communiqué
After months and months of diplomatic negotiations, the leaders came together on a nine page communiqué that was issued with the conclusion of the summit. The communiqué focuses on six main aspects that the leaders have pledged to work on:-
• Take steps to restore economic growth and jobs
• To repair the financial system and restore lending
• To strengthen financial regulation and regain trust
• To fund and reform international financial institutions to overcome this crisis and prevent future ones
• To promote global trade and investment and reject protectionism to underpin prosperity
• To build an inclusive, green and sustainable recovery.

(Published in Asian Voices, London: Vol:37, Issue 49, Aprill 11th to April 17th, 2009, Link: http://epaper.asian-voice.com/AV/AV/2009/04/11/ArticleHtmls/11_04_2009_011_002.shtml?Mode=1)

At least one in six of the world’s population goes short of food, according the latest report by Oxfam International. I came across this report while I was trying to find some material on food crisis for a course paper. It immediately drew my attention because almost everything mentioned in this report is like a mirror image of the present situation. It is quite ironical how big organisations and agencies know what the problem is but somehow the solutions are always based on hope. These hopes are also mainly wrapped up in “conferences”, over a four course meal, just by the side of the blue waters of Caribbean.

Coming back to the report, which was published in January 2009, a lot of things caught my attention and I realised how Oxfam has structured its report just the way it ought to be. But the question is, what next?

The report states climate change and global recession as the two growing threats that are likely to aggravate the problem of hunger.

The report questions the actions of the International community in solving this problem. It suggests that a decrease in the number of world hunger will happen only when governments across the world take long term measures to address its underlying causes, such as unequal access to land, water and other resources.

It also calls upon the governments and International aid agencies to take urgent and constant practical action to meet the needs of people living in extreme poverty.

The report applauds the efforts made by countries like India, Ethiopia, Brazil, Indonesia and Malawi in providing long term support to vulnerable communities. However, it also suggests that only a handful of governments have established interventions that are sufficiently comprehensive to meet people’s food needs effectively or protect them against disasters and market volatility.

The need for more and more governments to provide proper support to these communities is emphasised upon in the report.

One of the interesting things to note in the report is the stress on the need for International humanitarian assistance in situations of conflict or major disaster. It calls for International emergency interventions to save lives and protect and restore livelihoods in times of war and major disasters, especially in a situation when the governments lack the political will to do so.

The efforts made by the World Food Programme (WFP) and its partners during the Indian Ocean Tsunami and the war in Darfur in 2004 are treated as benchmarks in the International Community. Further the report states that the duty to fulfil the right to food falls primarily on the state and it is the core purpose of the government.

Living up to its motto of food and social protection to all, Oxfam makes a number of recommendations, each to the government of developing countries, Donors and International organisations and International non-governmental agencies.

The report suggests a balanced and coordinated effort on part of the governments, agencies and donors. They must act to provide systematic emergency assistance and longer term support to people living in extreme poverty situations. According to the report, the problem of hunger and poverty is ignored in the present day world.

There is more emphasis and hope on longer-term support and finding solutions to this problem is sometimes the centre of a lot of International debates and discussions. But hungry people cannot be fed on hope. The basic requirement is not huge and fancy conferences and seminars on food crisis in the most exotic locations. The need of the hour is the realisation of the right of food and social protection of people living ne extreme poverty. The day we realise that, half a battle is won!

http://www.oxfam.org/policy/bp127-billion-hungry-people