Freedom First

Summary

Issue No. 341 of Freedom First (May 1981), edited by Nissim Ezekiel with M. R. Masani as founder, opens with Masani’s own essay on euthanasia, provoked by Milton and Rose Friedman’s Free to Choose and by a Poona citizen’s assisted death, arguing that the right to die is a fundamental right alongside the right to live, while acknowledging the dangers of abuse. Anita Sethi analyses Brezhnev’s Persian Gulf proposal as a strategic move to ease Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. P. M. Kamath examines the case for Presidential government in India, made by Maharashtra Chief Minister A. R. Antulay and by Nani Palkhivala and J.R.D. Tata, and concludes that a change to the American system risks individual dictatorship given India’s weak checks and balances. Two ‘Voices’ pieces follow: Sandhya Bordewekar’s critical report on a Tribal Arts seminar in the Dangs, and Attar Chand’s policy prescriptions for controlling inflation through supply-side measures. A World of Books section reviews Asghar Ali Engineer’s The Bohras and a translated Tamil novel, Metamorphosis. A reader’s letter from Radha Shrivastava reproduces extracts of Malcolm Muggeridge’s polemic against Soviet apologists and ‘Friends of the Soviet Union’ groups. The issue also carries the International League for Human Rights’ statement on the UN Human Rights Commission’s handling of the Andrei Sakharov case, a report on the Vigil India Movement’s women’s groups in Kanya Kumari district, and a PUCL (Bombay) resolution condemning the National Security Act.

Essays

Life or Death: The Freedom to Choose

By M. R. MASANI

M. R. Masani argues that the freedom to choose extends to the right to choose between life and death. He cites the case of Gopal Mandlik, an 85-year-old Poona resident who ended his life after failing to secure government support for a Bill legalising assisted death, framing the act as Gandhian civil disobedience. Masani surveys the varying legal status of suicide and euthanasia across countries, quotes Arthur Koestler’s preface to a book on ‘auto-euthanasia’ published by the British society EXIT, and describes the practice of ‘passive euthanasia’ by physician Christian Barnard. He concludes that the right to die is a fundamental human right that should be legally regulated (with safeguards against abuse) rather than banned outright, and invites readers to write to him in support of establishing an Indian society for the right to die with dignity.

• Prompted by the Friedmans’ Free to Choose and by Gopal Mandlik’s assisted death in Poona on 8 December 1980
• Surveys divergent legal treatment of suicide/euthanasia across Scotland, England, India, and various US states
• Quotes Arthur Koestler’s preface to the EXIT society’s guide to ‘auto-euthanasia’
• Describes Dr. Christian Barnard’s practice of passive euthanasia and his personal death pact with his brother
• Argues the right to die is a fundamental right that must nonetheless be limited to prevent abuse by relatives seeking personal benefit
• Notes Mahatma Gandhi’s precedent of putting a suffering calf to sleep in his ashram as support for the principle
• Reports that an article on the subject in the Statesman drew over a hundred supportive reader letters
• Invites Freedom First readers to contact him to help establish an Indian right-to-die society

Brezhnev’s New Suggestion

By ANITA SETHI

Anita Sethi analyses Brezhnev’s proposal, floated at the 26th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, that Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan would be easier if the West accepted his suggestions on the Persian Gulf. She recounts the history of Soviet ambitions in Iran since 1917, the 1921 Soviet-Iran Treaty’s Articles 5 and 6 (which Iran has twice repudiated), and recent Soviet military buildup near the Gulf, concluding that the real aim is to force Western withdrawal from the Gulf so that the USSR can dominate the region and Iran, and expressing surprise that India’s Ministry of External Affairs welcomed the suggestion.

• Brezhnev linked Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan to Western acceptance of his Persian Gulf proposals
• Indian Minister (Shri Narasimha Rao) recommended the proposal as a correct approach in Lok Sabha remarks
• Traces Soviet-Iran relations since the 1917 October Revolution, including the short-lived Soviet Republic of Azarbaijan at Gilan
• Cites the 1921 Treaty’s Articles 5-6 giving USSR a unilateral right to intervene in Iran, twice denounced by Tehran (1930, 1975)
• Notes Soviet troop concentrations near Turkestan and the Sino-Soviet border, and the Shinbad airport dispute with Afghanistan in 1979
• Argues the strategic aim is to compel Western withdrawal from the Gulf, enabling Soviet hegemony
• Criticises the Indian government for welcoming Brezhnev’s suggestion

Parliamentary Democracy or Presidential Dictatorship?

By P. M. KAMATH

P. M. Kamath examines the growing demand, voiced by Maharashtra Chief Minister A. R. Antulay and by Nani Palkhivala and J. R. D. Tata, for India to switch from parliamentary to presidential government. He reviews arguments for the switch (fixed terms, ability to appoint talent from outside politics) and against it (paralysis when a President loses capacity, as with Wilson and Nixon; concentration of power without adequate checks and balances in the Indian context), citing Kennedy’s, Reagan’s and Nehru’s cabinet appointments, and statistics on the small number of laws struck down by Indian courts between 1950 and 1980. He concludes that a presidential system risks devolving into individual dictatorship in India and that reform, not wholesale change, is the better path.

• Antulay, drafter of an unused Emergency-era presidential-government proposal, is a leading advocate for the switch
• Fixed executive terms and the ability to recruit talent from outside one’s party are cited as presidential-system advantages
• Cites Kennedy’s appointment of Republicans McNamara and Dillon, and Reagan’s appointment of Democrat Kirkpatrick, as evidence of cross-party talent recruitment in the US
• Notes Nehru brought John Mathai, C. D. Deshmukh and M. C. Chagla into his cabinet despite the parliamentary system
• Cites the Law Minister’s Lok Sabha statement that of 1977 Acts passed 1950-1980, courts invalidated only 22
• Warns that in the absence of US-style checks and balances, a presidential system in India risks individual dictatorship
• Notes that even Palkhivala, a presidential-system supporter, argues the current moment is not opportune for change

Voices 1: Tribal Traditions

By SANDHYA BORDEWEKAR

Sandhya Bordewekar reports critically on a four-day Mahotsava (festival) of Tribal Arts held at Ahwa in the Dangs, organised by the Sangeet Natak Akademi and the Research Centre for the Performing Arts of the Indian National Theatre. She argues the seminar failed to generate practical solutions for the Dangis, was dominated by outsiders’ impractical suggestions and Marathi-Gujarati linguistic squabbles, and that the accompanying tribal crafts exhibition displayed inauthentic, commercially redesigned items rather than genuine Dangi work, concluding that the event mainly served the interests and ‘conversation piece’ needs of urban elites rather than the tribal performers.

• Four-day Mahotsava of Tribal Arts held at Ahwa in the Dangs, organised by Sangeet Natak Akademi and the Research Centre for the Performing Arts
• Seminar speakers lacked authoritative field experience; impractical suggestions (e.g., archery and fishing as ‘Performing Arts’) dominated
• Discussions degenerated into Marathi-Gujarati cultural and linguistic conflicts
• Exhibited tribal crafts were largely redesigned by Spanish missionaries rather than authentic Dangi work
• Tribal performers were paid little attention and left “back to their routine fight with the impoverished living conditions”
• Author questions the motives and competence of the urban ‘experts’ organising such preservation efforts

Voices 2: How To Control Inflation

By ATTAR CHAND

Attar Chand offers a supply-side prescription for controlling India’s inflation, which he attributes to rising oil import costs, monsoon-driven agricultural fluctuations, and imported inflation in commodities like cement and paper. He argues that raising interest rates or squeezing credit worsens rather than cures inflation when the real constraint is supply, and calls for boosting domestic production (citing cement as an example of a good India could produce more cheaply than it imports), private-sector participation in oil exploration beyond Bombay High, greater use of solar energy and coal as alternative fuels, and reallocation of investment priorities toward productive capacity and exports.

• Oil import bill reached roughly Rs. 5,000 crores, projected to rise to Rs. 6,000 crores, consuming nearly 80% of export earnings
• Buffer stocks have reduced foodgrain price volatility, but sugar, pulses and edible oils remain supply-sensitive
• Argues government has been ‘excessively concerned’ with demand-side measures (interest rates, credit) rather than supply-side fixes
• Calls for private-party involvement in oil exploration beyond Bombay High, including off-shore and on-shore sources
• Advocates greater use of solar energy (especially for agricultural pumping) and coal as substitutes for oil
• Urges import of relevant technology from Japan and the USA to support production growth
• Calls for removing the embargo on private investment in power, mining and transport

The World of Books (reviews of ‘The Bohras’ and ‘Metamorphosis’)

By ADAM ADIL / ZERIN ANKLESARIA

A ‘World of Books’ section carries two reviews. Adam Adil reviews Asghar Ali Engineer’s The Bohras, praising it as a well-documented account of the Ismaili-derived Bohra community and its reformist movement, and of the alleged oppression by the Bohra High Priest (the Saydina), though noting Engineer applies a Marxist framework and is silent on the Aga Khani branch’s emergence. Zerin Anklesaria reviews Metamorphosis, a Tamil novel by Sivasankari translated by Krishna Srinivas, mocking its melodramatic prose and plot as an unintentionally comic failure.

• Adam Adil praises The Bohras as an important, well-documented contribution on the Bohra community and reformist movement
• Notes Engineer’s Marxist ideological lens and his silence on the Aga Khani Ismaili offshoot
• Highlights the book’s account of political and press complicity with the Bohra High Priest’s alleged oppression of reformists
• Zerin Anklesaria’s review of Metamorphosis is sharply satirical, quoting the novel’s overwrought prose as evidence of its poor quality
• The review frames the translated Tamil novel’s promised ‘world prize’ status as ironic given its melodramatic writing

A Letter and an Extract (on ‘Friends of the Soviet Union’)

By RADHA SHRIVASTAVA

A letter from reader Radha Shrivastava, prompted by the revival of ‘Friends of the Soviet Union’ groups among Indian MPs, reproduces extracts from Malcolm Muggeridge’s writings as the Manchester Guardian’s Moscow correspondent, castigating Western sympathisers of Soviet Communism. The extracts denounce the dictatorship of the proletariat as cruel, incompetent, and impoverishing, characterise Marxism as a dangerous ‘General Idea’ that possesses narrow minds, and warn Indian ‘friends of the Soviet Union’ that they are more contemptible than the regime they admire.

• Prompted by the revival of ‘Friends of the Soviet Union’ groups by Congress MPs in Delhi
• Shrivastava recalls Muggeridge’s own disillusioning experience living in Moscow as a Soviet sympathiser
• Extracts denounce the Soviet dictatorship of the proletariat as cruel, incompetent, and hypocritical
• Draws on Taine’s concept of the ‘General Idea’ as a tyranny that possesses narrow, empty minds
• Concludes that Indian sympathisers who excuse the Soviet regime are ‘more contemptible, if not more dangerous’ than the dictatorship itself

United Nations Human Rights Commission Takes up the Sakharov Case

A statement from the International League for Human Rights, reproduced from its Human Rights Bulletin, describes how the UN Human Rights Commission’s 1980 Geneva session repeatedly deferred consideration of the Andrei Sakharov case despite a French proposal to cable the Soviet government about his exile in Gorky. The League situates Sakharov’s case alongside those of other persecuted human-rights figures worldwide (Huang Hsieh-Chieh, Beyers Naude, Winnie Mandela, Domingo Laino, Benino Aquino) and details his role as Honorary Vice President of the League and his advocacy for freedoms enumerated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, urging the Commission to act on his behalf.

• Sakharov case first raised in the UN Human Rights Commission on 5 February 1980 by the French delegation
• The Commission repeatedly postponed and deferred the matter rather than voting on sending a protest cable
• League’s written statement on repression of human rights advocates was declined for circulation by the Division of Human Rights
• Sakharov’s case is placed alongside other global cases: Huang Hsieh-Chieh (Taiwan), Beyers Naude and Winnie Mandela (South Africa), Domingo Laino (Paraguay), Benino Aquino (Philippines)
• Details Sakharov’s role as Honorary Vice President of the International League for Human Rights and founder-chairman of its Moscow human rights committee
• Describes Sakharov’s advocacy of freedoms of speech, publication, assembly, religion, emigration, and the rule of law
• Statement urges the Commission’s help in alleviating Sakharov’s situation, invoking the Helsinki Accords

Vigilant Woman (review of Vigil Series - 4, quoting M. A. Thomas introduction)

By M. A. THOMAS

M. A. Thomas’s introduction to ‘Vigilant Woman’, a pamphlet in the Vigil Series about the Vigil India Movement, is excerpted, describing eighty-three village Women’s Vigil Groups in Kanya Kumari District, Tamil Nadu, comprising three thousand literate and illiterate members who organise to fight oppression and study local problems, drawing strength from collective solidarity among fisherfolk and rural communities.

• Reviews ‘Vigilant Woman’, Vigil Series No. 4, published by the Vigil India Movement, Bangalore
• Describes eighty-three Women’s Vigil Groups in Kanya Kumari District with over 3,000 members
• Conveners meet quarterly to study wider issues; district-area conveners meet monthly
• Vigil Group workers are mostly unemployed or underemployed poor women, receiving no remuneration
• Many workers have undergone two-week or three-month socio-political training courses from the Movement’s National Office

Against The National Security Act (PUCL Bombay resolution)

By Proposed by: M. A. Rane; Seconded by: Prof. V. B. Kamath

A resolution from a meeting of the Bombay Branch of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) condemns the promulgation and enforcement of the National Security Act and similar preventive-detention laws, arguing that government assurances against their political misuse are contradicted by actual detentions across several states, and calling for the repeal of all preventive-detention laws.

• PUCL (Bombay) resolution unreservedly condemns the National Security Act and preventive-detention laws
• Notes that government assurances the Act would not be used against political opponents are belied by actual detentions in several States
• Argues such laws are unnecessary in a civilized society except perhaps in wartime
• Warns that such laws corrode investigative efficiency, enable abuse of power, and facilitate authoritarianism
• Resolution proposed by M. A. Rane and seconded by Prof. V. B. Kamath on 17 April 1981

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