Sino-Indian Relations: Cautious optimism and not hysteria is the way forward

In his controversial war memoirs, Himalayan Blunder – a curtain raiser to the Sino-Indian war of 1962 (1969), Brigadier John Dalvi, a POW during that war, narrates an incident from his days as an instructor at the National Defence Academy, Pune.

A guest faculty, a retired British official, after hearing that Nehru had signed the Panchsheel agreement with China and had decided to give up the post in Tibet that the British had maintained to check Chinese advances, interrupted his class and warned that India and China would soon be at war and that people in the class would be fighting it. Brig. Dalvi remembers how he was very angry with this gentleman and how he questioned his authority to criticize the leader of his country.

In stark contrast, he describes his return to India on being repatriated by China, in a highly sceptic manner - "We landed in Dum Dum airport in Calcutta on May 4, 1963. We were received cordially, appropriately. But the silence there was disquieting. I realized later. We had to prove we weren’t brainwashed by Chinese ideology. We had to prove we were still loyal to India. My own army maintained a suspicious distance. The irony cannot be harsher: this treatment from a country, which for more than a decade had brainwashed itself into holding the Chinese baton wherever it went [emphasis added]."

It’s 2012, exactly half a century since that Chinese ‘blitzkrieg’ against India, but such scepticism about the Indian government’s myopic view of China’s intentions, going back to the Nehruvian era, reigns high in sections of our defence establishment, and time and again given voice by a section of the Indian media.

Sarko vs. Burqa

An ELian view

I was in no mood of writing a post right now. However, I am writing it as a response to one of my friend's post where he has supported French President Nicholas Sarkozy's stand on banning of burqas for Muslim women within the 'territory of the French Republic'.
First of all, I'll give my personal view which is in conformity to Sarkozy's view. To make my job easier, I'll just borrow his words.
"[W]e cannot accept that women be prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity... The burqa is not a religious sign, it's a sign of subservience, a sign of debasement — I want to say it solemnly..."
Well said Monsieur Sarkozy as long as this is your personal view. However, as the President Sarkozy, you should have shown some more restraint and responsibility.
I firmly believe that any kind of social reforms should be endogenetic in nature, i.e. from within the community. Only then can it be acceptable to the community at large. Exogenetic reforms, i.e. those enforced from outside can only lead to resistance.
Burqa or no burqa should be decided by the Muslim world. As I already said that personally, I do not favour it. However being a non-muslim, I can only criticise it and that too in a polite manner only.
What should Sarkozy do?
However, being the incumbent of the position of ultimate responsibility in France, Sarkozy has no right to air his criticisms in a high profile speech (He was speaking to the lawmakers in the historic chateau at Versailles, somewhat analogous to Indian President's address to the Parliament). At best, he can get together the Muslim community leaders and discuss the issue with them. If he thinks he has the ability to convince his fellow Frenchmen on the other side of the faith, he should talk directly to them; not enforcing any reforms from above but generating such conditions that those from within strive for necessary reforms.
This can be done by nurturing the moderates within the community and supporting them to come forward against any ills within the practices and beliefs of their community. However, utmost care should be given to the fact that such an initiative does not turn into yet another propaganda which further fuels the 'clash of the civilizations', hence having both domestic and international ramifications. Moreover, while doing so, the orthodox sections should not be totally ignored but kept in a good humour. However, if they show 'illegal' resistance against the initiatives of their moderate brethren, then legal machinery of the sate can be used against them.
Let us talk of India.
Who abolished Sati in India?
Officially it was William Bentick, the first Governer General of India, in 1829.
Does that mean this reform was exogenetic?
No, it was not. British were never interested in alienating Indians by disturbing their social structure. Their interest was only economic in nature.
It was Raja Ram Mohan Roy who forced the British Raj to bring these reforms by his continued efforts since 1812.
Same goes for all other social reforms (maybe with an exception or two) that took place in British India. Britishers only gave the legal seal to issues which were brought forward by the Indian Reformers.
I am not against reforms. However, being a self-proclaimed Empathic Libertarian, I am against their 'unempathic' implementation.
Hence, when a person like Sarkozy questions the Islamic practices in public, he alienates his Muslim citizens, even some moderate ones. Being the President of the Republic which gave the world (and India) the ideals of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, he should be careful in interpreting these ideals in the right context.

Image Courtesy
http://www.tibettoons.com/ and http://heyhijabi.com/ (edited)

In the shadow of Global Warming

How can India survive this meltdown?

In my zeal to increase my blogging output, I have been writing on various aspects. However, somewhere in this race for quantity, I felt as if my blog was losing its quality and its essence, i.e., empathic libertarianism. So I thought of exploring it once again.
Climate change and global warming, it seems are the ‘in’ words. No discussion seems to end these days without a faint reference being made to them. Here, I am not going to elaborate on these discussions of the intelligentsia or the masses but will succinctly show, where India stands in all this and explore the options it have.
Global warming is a common problem for the humanity (and sadly, of the humanity and by the humanity too). Who-so-ever might be responsible for it, it has to be tackled by everyone in unison. Take the example of the global economic meltdown. It originated in USA but engulfed all the world economies disproving amongst others, the decoupling theory. We all are facing the repercussions and we all have to act together. Ironically, in the middle of this economic crisis, the harbinger of the problem unleashed a protectionist regime; unlearning the Smithsonian legacy, it so avidly advocated to others, all these decades.
Coming back to global warming, India’s stand on its mitigation has been quite myopic. It has been using its low ‘per capita carbon emission’ figures as a justification to continue with the high growth rate of carbon emissions (three times the world average, as per an estimate).
Statistically, it’s true that our total emissions per person are way below the industrialised nations'. But the simple question here is can we afford to take such a micro view. After all, who will be more adversely affected by the climate change, the countries with high population density or those with low?

When the coastal areas (like our cities of Mumbai and Chennai) get submerged and people move inwards, the pressure will be felt most by the countries like India. USA with a size, 3 times larger than ours and population, 3.5 times lower, can easily afford moving the people inwards. But can we?

Here, I put it in very simple terms taking just one example. However, to elaborate, I'll add that whatever be the negative consequences of global warming; unbridled climate change, receding glaciers, drying up of perennial rivers, drop in agricultural output, complementary floods and famines or the submergence of land as already mentioned; it will be felt the hardest by a country like India which supports a sixth of the world's population on just 2.3% of the total land mass.
Sadly, it has been authenticated that the Himalayan glaciers are fast receding and the islands of Gangetic delta in West Bengal are already loosing their land mass. Even if the recent flood havoc by the Kosi river in Bihar is a distant example for many of us, it can not be denied that the summer this year is getting a bit too hot than the previous years. Hence, our policymakers need to take a much wider view of the situation.
However, with this argument, I don’t intend to absolve the developed world from all the sins they have committed all these years. As per an estimate, today the rich nations of the world, with just 20% of world population, already occupy three quarters of atmospheric space. These nations have to take the responsibility and provide the developing world with technologies and resources to tackle their emissions.
Clean Development mechanism (CDM) under the Kyoto Protocol wherein industrialised countries can invest in projects that reduce emissions in developing countries as an alternative to more expensive emission reductions in their own countries, is such an arrangement. However, it tends to give such rich nations a license to continue emitting unabated. Hence, further safeguards are needed within the CDM too.
On India’s part, no time should be lost in developing better mechanisms for controlling climate change and the country should vociferously ask the richer nations for financial and technological aid for itself and fellow developing nations.
Search for better alternatives to carbon-emitting fuels should be taken up seriously by both government and the civil society at large. At the same time, efforts must be made to attenuate the various carbon sources and develop appropriate carbon sinks. For example, better public transport, if made available to the people, will automatically act as a deterrent to private vehicular traffic and the associated pollution and carbon emission. Along with it, demarcating 'green zones' in the city precincts or growing trees along the roads will help in reducing the impact of pollution.
There have been some welcome moves in this direction in recent period.

• In June 2008, the foundation was laid for a 2-MW solar power plant at Asansol in West Bengal and this marked the inauguration of work on the first grid connected solar power plant in India. Other states like Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan are also taking steps in this direction.
• India's first tidal power project is slated to come up in Durgaduani creek in the Sundarbans in West Bengal with 90% of the funds being sanctioned by the Central government. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2010 and will help in developing further capabilities in the Gangetic delta of Sunderbans as well as Gulf of Khambat and Gulf of Kutch in Gujarat.
  
• Delhi Metro Rail Corporation became the first railway project in the world to be registered by the United Nations under CDM which will make it possible for the corporation to claim carbon credits.
• Project Green was launched as a joint initiative of the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI of Rajendra Pachauri fame) and Bharat Petroleum wherein farmers are being provided elite planting material, technical help and training. They are also being organised into groups for local decentralised expelling of oil. This oil is proposed to be used both locally and for the production of biodiesel.

The list presented above is based on some articles which I came across in newspapers and documented for further reference for my examinations. It is not exhaustive but only indicative of the proactiveness shown in India in last one year or so.
One has to hope, more such initiatives are taken up not only to develop alternative sources of energy but also develop a common understanding of the problem and a strong commitment to its mitigation among the government officials, private sector and above all the people at large.

Update (June 24, 2009)
Nearly a year ago, on June 30, 2008; Prime Minister Manmohan Singh released India's first National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) outlining existing and future policies and programmes addressing climate mitigation and adaptation.
The plan identifies eight core 'national missions' running through 2017. These missions cover the areas like solar energy, improvement in water use, enhancing the energy efficiency, ensuring sustainable habitat, conserving Himalayan ecosystem, afforestation, sustainable agriculture and developing strategic knowledge for Climate Change.
The existing programmes enumerated include those dealing with power generation, renewable energy and energy efficiency.
It is yet to be seen if these initiatives just remain on the paper or are religiously implemented by the concerned ministries.

Image Courtesy:
http://www.fanpop.com (original)

Of wars and awards

In brief..
In the last couple of weeks, busy with the preparations for my upcoming examination, I have being craving for some time to blog. Here 'some' can mean anywhere between 2-4 hours for a single posting. The previous post on Satyam took below half an hour as it had a very narrow scope. But the ideas which were coming in my mind these days needed more elaborate analysis and hence more time.
For example, my incongruent views on Palestine, Tamil Eelam and Kashmir issue. War has been raging in Sri Lanka and ceasefire was recently declared in Gaza but humanitarian crisis in both the regions are abundant. In the crossfire between the warring armies and the militant outfits, the price is paid by the innocent civilians. However, while I find myself sympathizing with the Palestinian cause, I am at least agreement with ‘L.T.T.E.'s struggle for Tamilian cause’ in Sri Lanka or for that matter coming back to India, Jihadist's call for azaadi in 'our' Kashmir.
At a first look these three issues seem very similar but on a closer look at the causes of origin, related ideology, methodology employed, overall organization and the leadership, one may unearth the differences. Even when such a deep analysis is undertaken by various persons, views bound to differ. On my behalf, with a caveat that neither my analysis is amateurish nor highly professional, I stand by my views that while the Jewish state of Israel is the real culprit in the Middle East crisis for last half a century, neither the present Sri Lankan establishment nor the Indian can be indicted on the remaining two issues respectively. However, my case is not that the Tamilian grievances or the Kashmiri grievances don't hold any weight but it is that those who claim to represent these grievances are only aggravating them.
Moreover, in the case of Middle East, Israel is being very adamant and with the backing of U.S. has chosen the path of belligerence instead of attending to the Palestinian grievances in an honest way. On the other hand, while Indian Government has been making democratic strides in Kashmir despite all the hurdles being placed by those from across the border, even the present Sri Lankan Government is waging the war to uproot the LTTE which has been fighting a loosing agenda having no connection to the genuine Tamilian grievances in the emerald island. Any work of reform is only possible when LTTE is wiped out of the the Northern and Eastern provinces.
What makes me say this needs a long explanation, a journey through the history of these three intriguing issues, for which I presently don’t have the time. So let’s keep it for sometime in future.
Now coming to another very hotly debated topic these days. What is it about India that the Westerners want to see? If the Bookers or Oscars are any indication to this, then definitely they love to see, read and thence award the wretchedness of India. Of course, I am pointing towards the two pieces of art, one literary which goes by the title 'The White Tiger' penned by Arvind Adiga and the other from the world of cinema which goes by the title 'Slumdog Millionaire' adapted from Vikas Swarup's 'Q&A' and directed by British director Danny Boyle.
People may accuse me of being too critical and ultra-nationalist, but believe me, I liked both the novel and the movie. The best thing about both is the way they have been woven. While the former is in the form of letters written by a 'rags to riches' Indian entrepreneur to Chinese premiere telling him the story of his journey from 'Darkness' to light, the latter shows the journey of a 'slumdog' from 'rags to riches' through a quiz game show. Both show the different shades of Indian reality like the caste system, communalism, shining metropolitans but ‘dark’ slums and villages, brothels, beggars, dirty politics, mafia, booming call centers, etc. in a unique fashion. Both are praiseworthy indeed.
However, my only question is why the Westerners only like to award the wretchedness of India. Again, I am not saying that they have no right to portray these realities. Danny Boyle as a British or Adiga as an Indian, both have the freedom to create whatever they want. Moreover what they have created portrays the truth. So my case is not against them. They are being awarded for their pieces of art and they do deserve it. However, I just get this feeling that Westerners tend to get very narrow about their view of East when it comes to appreciating its realities.
So they award a 'Blood Diamond' and 'The Last King of Scotland' when it comes to Africa, and 'The White Tiger' and 'Slumdog Millionaire' when it comes to India. They tend to have this impression that real cinema needs to be awarded, which is a good criteria indeed but why does the reality have to be wretched when the subject is India or Africa.
Again, I agree 'Slumdog Millionaire' is more about hopes and destiny of a young child and Boyle tried to capture that feeling through this portrayal. However, still I am apprehensive about the criteria used by the Westerners. Is it simply the quality of the art or the particular quantity, i.e., content that they like to see. Anyways keeping my apprehensions on hold, I must congratulate those behind the movie and wish them luck for Oscars.
It’s time to get back to some serious studies. I hope the next time I blog, I have ample time to treat my post in a better way. Adieu.

Images Courtesy
1. http://www.au.af.mil (original)
2. http://www.apha.org (edited)

Power swings 2008

Politics, economics and Cricket

As the year 2008 comes to a close, it is interesting to look back at some of the developments that challenged the existing order and made one ponder if these are indications to an eventful 2009.
The U.S.-Russia tussle saw two major geographical manipulations in the Russian vicinity. The first was triggered by U.S. support for declaration of independence by the Serbian province of Kosovo in February, the latest thread in the Balkanisation process. However, the month of August gave Russians a chance to return the favor, thanks to Georgian belligerence in its northern province of South Ossetia. Russians routed the Georgian army and recognized South Ossetia's right to secede along with another Georgian province of Abkhazia. U.S. might have triggered this event too but the Russians had the last laugh while U.S. was left fuming at the sight of its beleaguered ally.
There was more to come at the strategic level. U.S. in its move to bring the NATO forces and artillery closer to the Russian borders; supported the inclusion of Georgia and Ukraine in the cross-Atlantic body, and made known its intentions of installing air defense systems in Poland and Czech Republic, under the garb of Iranian threat. As the year came to an end, Russian fleet too set its sails towards the American seas to hold joint war games with Venezuela. Moreover, Russia too plans to strengthen its defenses (and offenses) in Kaliningrad Oblast bordering U.S. allies, Poland and Lithuania.
On the energy front too, Russia has successfully brought together the Gas exporting countries under an OPEC-like institutional framework which has further added to its clout, much to the dismay of U.S. It will be interesting to see what course this age-old rivalry takes in the coming year.
While the above developments hurt U.S.A.'s international standing badly, its homegrown sub prime and mortgage crisis triggered such events that now threaten its economic hegemony too. World saw the Gulf sovereign funds coming to the rescue of American banks, an unprecedented development indeed. Though the decoupling theory proved wrong, but still India and China seemed better prepared for the crisis than ever before. A couple of weeks back, China, Japan and South Korea summit saw new economic partnerships being forged to work out a coordinated strategy against the global financial meltdown, an indication of countries looking beyond U.S.
Earlier in July this year, Doha rounds, the free-trade negotiations of W.T.O. collapsed in Geneva, as the developing countries led by India and China refused to yield to U.S. terms and conditions. Moreover, the recent revelation of Maddoff Ponzi scheme brought further disrepute to the Wall Street and the U.S. nation as a whole.
Away from all this politics and economics, another superpower is being threatened and the year 2008 has been very tough for it. Australian Cricket can never be the same again. They started the year defeating India in the controversial Sydney Test thanks to the magical over bowled by Michael Clark. However that was the end for them and a beginning for the bruised Indian team. India won the next test and though lost the test series, came back with vengeance in the One-dayers. In the three final matches tri-series, India under Dhoni never needed the third final.
There was more to come in October-November when Australians came to India for the next edition of Border-Gavaskar Trophy. They did come with the trophy but could not take it back, being defeated 2-nil by the resurgent Indians. In between India tied a test series with South Africa at home and lost to Sri Lanka at their home but returned the favour in the one-dayers.
Indians brought the year to an end with an inspiring test victory at home against England. In the first test, the Sehwag blitzkrieg left the Englishmen clueless and the cricket lovers bedazzled. However the year ending has proved dismal for the Aussies. Proteas' heroics in the first test at Perth saw South Africa scaling a target of 414 with great agility and confidence. With the Boxing Day Test, the final and the most crucial test match of the year having started just half an hour back (and Hayden continuing with his poor form, already back to the pavilion), one wonders how the Kangaroos will fair this time. Australia might have amassed a lot of points on the test ranking table, thanks to the likes of McGrath, Warne and company but with these stalwarts retiring from the international scene, the going is getting tougher for the Ponting men or rather boys. India and even more strongly, South Africa have started fancying their chances to bring an end to the Australian hegemony in cricket.
In the corporate sphere of cricket, BCCI continues to extend its hegemony. With the successful conduct of PCL, Lalit Modi has become one of the most powerful sports executive in the world. Hence, the year 2009 holds a lot of promises for India in the cricketing arena. One hopes the good performances of 2008, seen in the other sports like shooting and boxing continue the next year too, to give a better platform for the Indian contingent at Commonwealth Games to be held in the National Capital in 2010.
Coming back to politics, U.S. saw a major domestic power swing as Democrats under Obama came back to power. Republicans had their eight years under Bush and they ended up doing all that should not have been done. Bush revealing earlier this month that his biggest regret was the U.S. intelligence failure on Iraq sums it up.
However, back home, power politics kept swinging all through the year. NDA's Karnataka victory earlier this year, saw them gaining a lot of mileage for the coming general elections but the results of recent assembly elections in Chhatisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi humbled the saffron brigade to some extent and filled a new zeal and confidence in the Grand Old Party of India, which was fearing for worse.
"We have taken a risk", is what Chief Election Commissioner had to say on announcing the schedule for elections to the Jammu and Kashmir State Assembly, back in October. Earlier in the year, the way events had unfolded around the Amarnath shrine board issue, it seemed the separatists will have a field day if and when elections are conducted. Air in the Valley seemed rife with secessionist emotions and no one predicted that democracy could have the last laugh.
However, with all the seven phases of election over in the state, one is amazed at the voter turnout figures, much above than the previous occasions. Hence, the year ending saw the power swinging back in the favour of the democratic process in the northern-most state of India. In another couple of days, we will come to know, who will wear the crown and hopefully, strengthen this process further in 2009.
On the corporate front, Indian companies continued their foreign acquisitions, though at a lesser pace than in 2007, led by Tata's takeover of Land Rover and Jaguar brands from Ford. However, the Japanese firm's takeover of Indian pharmaceutical giant Ranbaxy spoilt the party to some extent.
India's successful moon mission, Chandrayaan was another step in the Indian as well as Asian elevation in space technology. With Indian-built European satellite W2M being launched last Sunday from French Guiana, it adds further to ISRO's clout and coffers.
Further on technology and more importantly strategic front, India signed the Nuclear Cooperation Deal with U.S.A. , Russia and France after getting unprecedented go-ahead from NSG and IAEA. By successfully carving out a special place for itself in nuclear arena, India has successfully de-hyphenated itself from Pakistan.
Recent developments post-Mumbai terror attacks are seeing Pakistan being further marginalized. Even its strong ally China has not come out with open support as on previous occasions. Year 2009 is going to be very crucial for India-Pakistan relations and may see major power swings in South Asia with U.S. committed to escalate its war against terror in Afghanistan under Obama.

Image Courtesy
http://www.mcs.alma.edu (original)

India's foreign policy

From Non-alignment to Multi-alignment

It was India under Nehru, which along with erstwhile Yugoslavia, Indonesia, Egypt and Ghana gifted the world a bold doctrine to thaw the Cold War which was compartmentalizing the world into two parts freezing the mutual interaction between them. Did India actually follow this doctrine religiously or eventually wavered towards the left is an issue for genuine debate. However, what I am talking about here is the shunning of this doctrine by the Indian State half a century hence and the adoption of a more pragmatic outlook towards ongoing international developments in the form of what I am calling here multi-alignment.
Visits of the U.S. Secretary of State and the Russian President with just a day between the two are in itself a sign of this major policy change. While the U.S. diplomat was here on an emergency meeting to show solidarity and promise cooperation to India which suffered an unprecedented terrorist attack, the Russian President has landed on a pre-planned visit which will see the signing of the nuclear cooperation pact between the two nations today.
Day before yesterday, seeing the way Condoleezza Rice asserted India's right to act in any way to safeguard its sovereignty, my father was surprised at this unprecedented support of the U.S. which until now had been warning India against flirting with an idea of war in the subcontinent. He asked me if all this bonhomie between the two nations will affect India's relation with Russia, the age old partner of India. A valid question indeed. But the answer is a simple 'no'.
The way things are turning out; I believe India will have a major role to play in preventing any tensions from developing between the two powers. During the days of Cold War, India took the step of non-alignment. At that time such a step might have been important for a young democracy but in present scenario India can not close its eyes from the international developments which are seeing another spell of Cold War emerging.
If India wants to assert its place in the comity of nations that drive the economy and politics of the world, be it through U.N. Security Council or G8 or other forums, it has to come forward and take the initiative and sides as well. Taking sides mean, not allowing any other nation to dictate us our foreign policy and the relations with other nations, and siding with those who are playing the right game. There should not be an India, preaching the doctrine of Non-alignment to the world and at the same time signing a 'Friendship Pact' with the leader of one of the blocs as in 1971. Similarly, there should not be an India which is cooperating in the nuclear field with the only superpower but stalling the progress of a highly beneficial gas pipeline with the superpower's adversary, as has been happening since the last couple of years. Everyone has to make compromises in the light of realpolitik but as far as possible India should play a fair game. It's because of this fairness on the part of India that today, world had to acknowledge our special place in nuclear arena while our adversary across the border could just cry fowl.
Non-alignment, no doubt was a balancing doctrine but so is Multi-alignment. The bonus is, the latter is also pragmatic as mentioned already. As far as the new Cold War is concerned, the resurgent Russia under Putin has been asserting its clout of late. If U.S. is trying to contain this large nation by supporting the 'colored revolution' governments around its western borders, Russia has also perched out to join hands with those to the south of U.S. In such a situation where the world is again polarizing, the bigger players are staying away. So we have E.U.(specifically its major members like France and Germany) and China not committing themselves to any one of them but at the same time cooperating with both. This is the stand which India has also taken. In this era of globalization, cooperation between the nations is a must. Through Non-alignment, such cooperation becomes difficult. Political and economic realities force even these competing blocs to cooperate with the same set of nations. Hence the polarization is averted. With the new found friendship with U.S. and the existing friendly ties with Russia, India has a great role to play in the international arena. Let's hope our domestic troubles don't hinder us from taking this initiative.

Images Courtesy
http://im.rediff.com and http://www.japanfocus.org (edited)

Look who's talking

One-upmanship in Indian Media and other issues

Manmohan Singh, our honorable Prime Minister had asked the Leader of opposition to accompany him to Mumbai to take the stock, post-terrorist attack. However, Advaniji could not wait for a couple of hours or so and decided to venture out himself, hence deliberately missing a chance to show a much needed united political front to the world and people at home at such an hour. Siege was not yet over but how could the opposition miss such a golden opportunity. So we had advertisements by the BJP in the newspapers in the run up to the Delhi Assembly elections asking the people to vote the 'soft on terror' Congress government out of power.
All these developments were keenly reported by our electronic media accusing the political parties of trying to reap the benefit even out of such a grave situation.
Well politics is politics. It was nothing new. However, I believe that the political parties showed a lot of restraint this time around as there was very little if any blame game. It might have happened because the whole political system, rather any particular political outfit was put under a big question mark this time by the media and the public. I'll come back to this later on.
Those accusing the political parties were not able to reflect upon themselves, the way they went about doing their duty. In their pursuit to one-upmanship, the different news agencies tried to gather information from only God-knows, what all sources and those which lacked such sources cooked up information, rather disinformation by themselves. We had these channels showing the same video footage, serving the same news reports but claiming their exclusive access to them. It was an amusing but disturbing scenario too. After seeing the initial reaction by the different channels, I was expecting them to set an example for our political classes by coming forward in a unison and maybe initiating a concerted campaign for accountability and reforms. But as the time passed, none of them took an initiative in this direction and even if someone did take, as far as we can see nothing materialized in that case. Moreover, Admiral Mehta also questioned their integrity while reporting minute to minute operation details. Through satellite phones, the masters of the terrorists could have, rather might have passed on these crucial information bytes to them. Its high time our media behave in a matured manner.
Listening to various public opinions on these channels, I was really amused(and again disturbed) by most of them. People believe war is the solution to everything. Haven't they seen what a war has done to people of Iraq and Afghanistan. The idea of our country going on a war to teach the lesson to other belligerent nations does fill me with a zeal too. I am proud of our victories in 1962, 1971 and 1999. However, can we forget those who perished in these wars and could never ring the victory bells. As I have said earlier, War is not a solution. Limited war and precision strikes can be of tactical significance, part of an overall strategy but an all-out war is a big no-no. Terrorism can not be contained by targeting nations. Non-state actors(LeT) might have received help from certain section(Intelligence Services, Military Establishment or the Democratic Government) of a State(Pakistan) as might have happened this time. However, its important to engage that state in negotiations and try and build international pressure on it so that it yields and cooperate. If nothing happens, some illegitimate means can be employed. For that purpose RAW has to be strengthened. Talking in crude terms, if we know where Dawood is, then why not just shoot him at his home. What good will it serve to extradite him to India and waste the time of our over-burdened courts in bringing him to justice. Let him face the 'natural' justice. However, to do this we must have the capabilities to match with CIA, MI-6 or Mossad. Even if we have to target terrorist camps within Pakistan or PoK territory, we have to comprehend a lot of variables as we can't afford it if such an action escalates the tensions beyond the saturation point. Do not forget, both the countries are nuclear-enabled.
For a common man to understand these intricacies is difficult, hence media should not fan such emotions. Barkha Dutt rightly objected to the comments of one of the yester-year actress and a TV show host, who was all praises for U.S. action post-9/11 and wanted an all-out war with Pakistan.
Moreover, as said in the earlier post, we have to work on our internal security. If we keep our boundaries porous and our home vulnerable, we are doing a disservice to ourselves. That should be the first priority. It was pathetic to see the way our men had to fight 59 hours to free the Taj of the 4 terrorists. We are spending money in developing Defense capabilities, then why not internal security. G.P.S. system, spy robots, etc could have been employed to track their exact positions but where were all these technologies and gadgets. Kapil Sibbal debating (not as a politician but a common man, as per his assertion) on a NDTV Profit show, himself admitted that our establishment never thought of developing such capabilities. Now that's abysmal. Even more shocking is to see our vulnerable policemen with lathis or outdated ammunition and with no protective bullet proof jackets fighting those desperadoes who carried AK-47's and grenades. Where are the police reforms. We have been hearing about them since time immemorial. Manmohan Singh has promised a Federal Agency but as rightly said by the BJP, it should also be given the teeth through proper legislation.
Another thing which disturbed me was people questioning our democracy. As far as political system is concerned there are many shortcomings in it which made me ask the question 'why should i vote' in an earlier post. However, i could ask such a question only because i have the right to vote. Seeing the bravery of our NSG, Army and Marine commandos, some people started flirting with the idea of having an Army rule. Just see in your neighbourhood on both east and west that what havoc such a system has brought to the liberties of their people.
So to sum it up, we all should have faith in our democracy and make the best use of it to pressurize the Government to take concrete steps to ensure our fundamental right to live without any fear. As much as our political parties, our media should refrain from one-upmanship and play their important roles in strengthening our democracy which will enable us to thwart any danger from without or within.

Image Courtesy
http://iamsumeet.com (original)

A week since Mumbai Siege

What options does India have?

A week has passed since ten desperadoes, allegedly from across the border, took a billion Indians by surprise. For 59 hours they kept us on our toes leaving behind a trail of physical and emotional agony. Terror attacks had been occurring at an alarming frequency this year but this turned out to be the 'Father of All'. We saw the western media covering it extensively while the Indian media made the best of it, their TRP's indeed soaring high. People wanted the government to hold someone accountable within its fraternity who could not prevent this abhorable act from occurring. Top ministers had to loose their job and well, rightly so. Now with all this commotion over, its the time to bring the culprits to justice. Accusations are intensifying across the border and with India receiving substantial international support this time around, the hitherto 'soft' government of ours is finally 'hardening' its stand.
War is what many Indians want as evident from the media coverage. However, is War the solution to this problem or in itself harbinger of a much bigger problem. I believe its time this War rhetoric ends and the Indian media act responsibly(definitely a tall task for them) refraining from fuelling these sentiments of the people. People are angry, its true. But this anger should be diverted towards forcing the government to first set our house right. There are abundant lacunaes in our intelligence and internal security establishment which need to be filled. By engaging in war-mongering, we are deviating from our priorities and allowing the government to get off lightly. The government will engage in brinkmanship and then apply the reverse gear(they will be having no better option- we might just see another Operation Parakaram). The clouds of war will pass by and we'll eventually forget that there is a lot of work to be done at home too. Don't waste this opportunity.
To prevent another 26/11, we have to strengthen our country from within. We need a Federal Investigation Agency, laws to strengthen its capabilities, better internal security arrangements in form of more NSG battalions stationed in all metropolitans, securing our hotels, cinemas, market places and other public places and most importantly not allowing our land to crop up terrorism in name of religion. Mumbai attack may have diverted our attention from Delhi and Malegaon blasts which were orchestrated by Indian fundamentalists. Lets first uproot them from our soil and when all of us are integrated(in practical and not utopian sense), then march towards those who dare to raise their eyes on our motherland.

Image Courtesy
http://www.iconocast.com (original)