Heat Wave Is Searing

(Published in Banking Services Chronicle July 2002)

The heat wave is searing the country. It has killed more than 500 in North India. The South is even worse. In Vijayawada the mercury soared to 49 degrees Centigrade against a normal of approximately 42 degrees. To paraphrase TS Eliot, May is the cruellest month.

And if adequate steps are not taken, the cruelty will only intensify in the years to come. The number of air-conditioners (ACs) may be on the rise and we may revel in Santa Claus bringing the strangest of gifts — a Christmas weather in our rooms in the midst of May. But we forget that such anti-natural miracles may have their Mephistophilean effect as well.

The proliferation of ACs has its downside too. The emission of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), though indirectly, is a contributor to global warming. Besides, there are other industrial emissions, which are direct contributors. Countries are paying little heed to these harbingers of destruction. The US has blatantly withdrawn from the Kyoto Protocol.

Global warming is a menace that has begun to tighten its grip on the human civilisation. Meteorologists say last year had the second warmest global surface temperature in more than a century. Temperatures exceeded the next warmest years — 1990 and 1995 — by almost 0.1° C.

Unfortunately, our attention is being diverted to a different kind of heat. Heat is being generated on the border in the cool climes of Kashmir. We should have been dealing with modern versions of terrorism, viz eco-terrorism. But we are still stuck with the medieval menace. The weapons have become sophisticated. The crude sword has given way to state-of-the-art Kalashnikovs. But the barbaric mindset of the Dark Ages refuses to advance.

We may thus conclude that unless we weed out terrorism, unless we put an end to internecine rivalries between man and man, we cannot apply ourselves to more pressing problems that threaten the human race as a whole. The human race needs to put its own house in order before tackling challenges from Nature.

What has the world done so far to address the issue of terrorism? The war in Afghanistan—pat comes the reply. But was it a success? Well, at best a mixed one. It may have succeeded in putting an end to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. But it has failed to free the world of the Taliban mindset. Besides, the militia still has a following in neighbouring Pakistan.

In Pakistan, the US has been relying on Musharraf, who has vowed to launch a jehad of a different kind. A jehad that would root out social evils and transform Pakistan into a modern state. But Musharraf’s sincerity and ability are both in doubt. He has been blowing hot and cold about the terrorists. One day he condemns the killings in Kashmir. The next day he justifies it as freedom struggle.

Intelligence reports say that further World Trade Center-like attacks are being planned. Evidence enough that the US has failed to achieve its objective. And the failure is likely to persist until the US realises that it can’t distinguish between terrorism against the US and that against others. That it can’t go on handling Musharraf with kid gloves for ever. That if he is not ready to bite the carrot, he will have to face the stick.

There is a global coalition against terrorism. But more than that we need a global consensus on terrorism. If we keep on ignoring the obvious and only quarrelling on definitions, we will have spelt our own doom. Bush, Musharraf, Saddam and Vajpayee are knowledgeable enough to know what terrorism is. What they need is to be wise enough to call a spade a spade.

Let us hope they can coolly decide in their AC offices how to steer the world. So that the future generations do not see the charred remains of a wasteland. Let us leave for our children a world politically amicable, economically viable and environmentally sustainable.