Page 18 - EW November 2023

Editorial

TIME FOR GANDHIAN TWO STATES SOLUTION cord, have been breached by permit-
ting Israeli settlements/enclaves to be
established in the West Bank.
While there is misjudgement and
he israel-hamas war now into of the rights of Palestinians already wrong perpetrated on both sides,
its third week has taken a ter- settled there. clearly the massive aerial bombard-
Trible toll in the Gaza strip, a The purpose of recounting this ment of Gaza by Israel amounts to
narrow (41x9 km) land parcel sited history is to make the point that the use of disproportionate force and
between Israel and the Kingdom of Arab/Palestine charge that Jewish collective punishment of the hapless
Jordan to the east. people have no roots in the region is people of Gaza for the atrocities of an
Although the latest casus belli is incorrect. However, instead of accept- unelected (since 2006) Hamas gov-
the surprise attack on Israeli civilians ing the right of the Jewish diaspora to ernment. The correct response would
in a border town on October 7, and carve out a state from Palestine as de- have been for Israel which claims that
taking of an estimated 200 hostages creed by the United Nations, an Arab its Mossad is the world’s best cross-
being held as a bargaining chip for the coalition declared war on Israel in border counter-intelligence service,
release of Hamas militants in Israeli 1948, which it lost, prompting Israel to oust the terrorist Hamas leadership
jails, the origin of the Israel-Palestine to expand its frontiers. than indiscriminately bomb civilians.
conflict goes way back to 1948. That’s Again in 1967, Egypt, Syria, Jordan From a broader perspective, it’s
when Israel, constituted by purchase and Palestine waged a six-day war high time that the Palestine Author-
and land grab from native Palestin- with Israel and lost, prompting Israel ity and the Arab world in general
ians, was recognised as a legitimate to occupy the Sinai, the West Bank switched to a Gandhian strategy — as
nation state by a majority vote in the and Gaza Strip. In 1978, following suggested by eminent editor Swami-
United Nations General Assembly. yet another unsuccessful (Yom Kip- nathan Aiyar (ToI October 29) — to
In the early 20th century, the Jewish pur) war, in the Camp David Accords, establish a peaceful two-state (Israel
demand for a country of their own Israel returned Sinai, and agreed to and Palestine) solution to this pro-
in Palestine was conceded by Great self-government in the West Bank and longed dispute. As has become pain-
Britain (administering the region) in Gaza Strip by an elected Palestine Au- fully apparent in the latest Hamas-Is-
the Balfour Declaration (1917) which thority. However under the Nehtanyu rael armed conflict, the prime victims
permitted Jews worldwide to settle government in Israel, the Camp David are women, the elderly and utterly
in Palestine without any diminution Accords and the subsequent Oslo Ac- innocent children.

RATHER THAN HARD, WORK SMART 70- hour week for entrepreneurs and
employees is a matter of survival. It’s
only in the organised sector of the
economy and government which em-
ndustry leader and corporate cism, there is undoubtedly some sub- ploy 10 percent of India’s 450 million
tycoon N.R. Narayana Murthy’s ex- stance in this exhortation because to- working population that work-life bal-
Ihortation to youth to work 70 hours gether with some engineers, Narayana ance and mental and emotional health
per week to enable the country to grow Murthy himself burned the midnight have become big issues.
into a $30 trillion (from the current oil to transform Infosys Technologies Yet despite the 45-hour week be-
$3.7 trillion) economy by 2047, has Ltd (estb.1981) into a globally respect- ing normative and work conditions
stirred a hornet’s nest among the woke ed IT and ITES (IT enabled services) on a par with the best worldwide, Mr.
brigades. Suddenly, trendy television multinational (sales revenue: Rs.1.5 Murthy is right to lament poor pro-
news anchors and grave editorial writ- lakh crore in 2022-23) in record time. ductivity in this privileged sector. It’s
ers are discussing the pros and cons of Therefore, his advice is worthy of care- well-known that productivity — aver-
this proposal and the effect it’s likely ful consideration. age output per employee — in India
to have on the work-life balance and However for Mr. Murthy’s infor- Inc is one-tenth of American industry
mental health of youth and the work- mation, the vast majority of India’s and 20 percent of China’s. But the root
ing age population. population is already working 70 cause of this disparity is that indus-
In support of his contention, Mur- hour weeks. They are employed in trial productivity in OECD countries
thy cites the examples of China and the MSME (micro, small and medi- is higher because of better tools and
Japan and several South-east Asian um sector enterprises) sector, which education. Working 70 hours per week
countries after World War II, whose although it provides livelihood to 85 won’t help if children are not encour-
citizens worked 70-hour weeks to re- percent of the population employed aged to acquire good communication
pair their economies ravaged by for- in the non-agriculture economy, and and hand skills and innovate from
eign invaders and relentless bombard- produces 40 percent of manufactur- young age. The basic cause of poor
ment by the West-led allies. As a result ing output and services, is cruelly productivity of Indian industry (and
these economies advanced in terms of treated by banks which starve them of agriculture) is not a propensity to
per capita incomes and human devel- credit, and large companies to whom shirk work, but a faulty rote-learning
opment indices and are currently far they supply components and materi- education system that pays little at-
ahead of India. To a nation globally als routinely delay payments due. In tention to innovation, modern tools
notorious for sloth and time agnosti- the MSME sector, slogging out the usage and problem-solving skills.

18 EDUCATIONWORLD NOVEMBER 2023