Flip-flop on insurance
TUESDAY turned out to be an eminently forgettable day for the BJP component of the ruling alliance. Three senior Ministers contradicted one another on reforms in the insurance sector while a fourth challenged the policy itself.

Indifferent MoD
DEFENCE Minister George Fernandes has earned the respect of the members of the Armed Forces because of his pro-active style of functioning.

Electronic voting
THE electronic voting machines brought out of the attics where these had been rotting since 1989 have proved their efficacy in the just concluded Assembly elections. Their successful utilisation in six constituencies of Delhi has been highlighted but actually some two million voters used these in 2930 polling stations in 16 constituencies spread over three states.

CONCEPT OF SERVICE
IN INDIA
by Bharat Jhunjhunwala
THE NGOs are pleading for increased tax concessions from the government so that they can garner more contributions from the public and serve the people. This is the model the Western countries have followed.

Taliban’s tribal problem
by K. N. Pandita
IN April this year the permanent US envoy to the United Nations, Mr Bill Richardson, visited Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif. Later at a news conference in Islamabad he said that the Taliban leadership in Kabul had agreed to put an end to the military offensive, and pave the way for face-to-face talks with Northern Alliance leaders under the auspices of the UN and the OIC (Organisation of Islamic Conference).

Militancy, terrorism & insurgency
By Himmat Singh Gill
PERHAPS the most misunderstood of the troublesome phenomenon affecting a society in the grip of strife and civil war, but stopping short of an open conflict, are the triple banes of militancy, terrorism and insurgency. In India, where for most people one of these conditions could as well be the other, it is necessary to understand the nature of the problems manifested in each one of these situations, so that viable counter-measures could be suggested.

True submarine for
21st century
THE emergence of two technologies — titanium and nuclear reactor — promises that India can produce a true submarine with long-range and great depth capabilities giving the Indian Navy a real “blue-water” reach.

All in a day
by J. L. Gupta
HELP? Bearing somebody else’s burden? Comforting a stranger in despair? Giving light to a person who is groping in the dark? In today’s world? When nobody has time to even stand and stare? When hurry and cunning mark every action? When there is a rush all around? And why? Despite the fact that it is known that I can be of no help to anyone? Can I legitimately expect help from others when I am not willing to offer any?

75 Years Ago

Misappropriation of
currency notes
POONA: The police are on the lookout for a Bengali Mussalman named M.A. Khan, who is wanted on a charge of misappropriating currency notes of the value of Rs 381, property of the Tata Company.

Flip-flop on insurance

TUESDAY turned out to be an eminently forgettable day for the BJP component of the ruling alliance. Three senior Ministers contradicted one another on reforms in the insurance sector while a fourth challenged the policy itself. All this rapid flip-flop in the presence of an interested international audience! In the morning Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Madan Lal Khurana announced that the Bill to allow the entry of the private sector in insurance business would not be introduced in the winter session. It was clearly a reversal of the Cabinet decision a week earlier. The ever nervous stock market shed 30 points and the delegates to the two-day Indian Economic Summit were visibly irritated. Alarm bells began to ring in the Prime Minister’s Office and the same Mr Khurana was ordered to take back his words which he did within three hours. Energy Minister Kumaramangalam added his own to the confusion by pointing out that the composition of the Lok Sabha precluded the passing of the Bill. This was at the venue of the summit meeting. Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha had to be fielded to hold out a firm promise that not only would the Bill be moved but it would also be pushed through. He clarified that the “poor chap” (Mr Khurana) meant that the Bill would not be tabled this week and not in this session. Within the high echelons of the party, there is a faction totally opposed to the move and Ms Uma Bharti clashed with the Prime Minister at a meeting of the parliamentary wing. It was an unedifying drama that brought no credit to either the party or the government. What is more, the BJP-affiliated Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh held a noisy demonstration against the insurance decision on Monday and Swadeshi Jagran Manch is putting up its own anti-act today.

Opening the insurance sector is not a major policy decision nor does it involve massive foreign capital inflow but it is crucial to reviving the stalled liberalisation process. Hence the mounting pressure from prospective investors. But the government has stumbled at the very first step, thanks to lack of necessary homework. The next steps will be very tough, like laying down strict norms to keep out speculators and fly-by-night operators. Insurance should not end up like the stock market bubble, mutual funds, non-banking finance companies and agriculture-related deposit schemes, all of which collected thousands of crores of rupees and vanished or have defaulted on repayment. The confusion over insurance has exposed two weak points, both vital to the effective functioning of the government. Its leadership structure is ill-defined and its policies are a mish-mash. How can a junior Minister challenge a Cabinet decision as did the party president? What, for instance, is swadeshi? Speaking in two voices is a luxury that only an opposition party can afford. It is time the BJP grew out of its old opposition mindset.

Indifferent MoD

DEFENCE Minister George Fernandes has earned the respect of the members of the Armed Forces because of his pro-active style of functioning. Mr Fernandes unlike his predecessor Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, spends more time on studying the problems of the Defence Services than on pursuing his political agenda as leader of the Samata Party. However, from the tone and tenor of the lecture delivered by Chief of the Army Staff General V.P. Malik at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy in Mussoorie it would appear that the bureaucracy is not willing to change its style of functioning in spite of Mr Fernandes’ effort to introduce long over-due reforms in the working of the Ministry of Defence. The fact that an Army Chief was compelled to go to town, as it were, with his grievances against the bureaucracy carries a disturbing message. It suggests that the top brass is no longer willing to dutifully salute and say “yes, Sir” to the thoughtless pronouncements of the MoD. A public spat between the Defence Headquarters and the MoD is certainly not the best advertisement for attracting fresh talent to the three wings of the Defence Services. General Malik in his lecture emphasised the need for “huge reforms” for removing the existing “dysfunctions” in the MoD. He claimed that Mr Fernandes has accepted in principle the proposal to restructure the existing MoD into a “higher defence organisation”. Hard-boiled bureaucrats obviously view the proposal with suspicion as it would reduce their say in matters in which they have no expertise. Since the stated objective is to improve the financial, operational and administrative efficiency, besides optimising the utilisation of “the country’s defence potential”, the proposal should not be dubbed as an attempt by the defence services to gain supremacy over the bureaucracy.

Looking at the issue from the eyes of the civil servants it can be said that they are worried over their shrinking role after the opening up of the economy to the private players and the gradual withering away of the public sector. Which bureaucrat would stand up and applaud General Malik when he says that the proposed structure would “provide a single point professional military advice to the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister without compromising the right of Service Chiefs to provide advice on single service issues”? Yet, non-bureaucrats would shake their head in agreement when the Army Chief says that “we have an equally vexing question of procedures — red-tape — which do not allow us to spend even the meagre amount allotted to us”. Last year the Army had to surrender the amount allocated to it because of procedural delays. “Some officials wanted that the amount be spent on non-priority projects. I refused and surrendered the funds. There are many items which we need urgently to fight the proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir. But this is not possible because people who process these cases do not share my worry, urgency and accountability”. His case for higher fiscal allocation too is based on sound logic. Without adequate funds the “modernisation programme” would continue to suffer. Among the major armies in the world the ratios of money spent on maintenance and modernisation is 70:30 while in India it is only 88:12. Obviously sending a civil servant to Siachen is not enough to make him understand that without quick clearance of proposals for maintenance and upgradation of equipment the Indian Armed Forces would be at a disadvantage in an increasingly hostile situation on our borders. The sooner the role of the bureaucracy is reduced in the matter of taking decisions on important defence issues the better it would be for the country.

Electronic voting

THE electronic voting machines (EVMs) brought out of the attics where these had been rotting since 1989 have proved their efficacy in the just concluded Assembly elections. Their successful utilisation in six constituencies of Delhi has been highlighted but actually some two million voters used these in 2930 polling stations in 16 constituencies spread over three states. The response has been so good at almost all places that now everyone has started asking as to why nobody thought of them before. Well, these were thought of as far back as 1982 and 1.5 lakh machines were purchased in 1989. But these could not be put to proper use because of the mulish leaders who insisted that their software could be tampered with. All protestations of the technical staff that such mischief was not possible fell on stone-deaf ears. Nothing unusual there, given that it is extremely difficult to make some people try out even the most lucrative technical advancements. After all, there was an even louder hue and cry when an attempt was made to introduce high-yielding seeds in the country. Even the success of green revolution has not made the opponents go red in the face. Anyway, thanks to the audit objections and the initiative of the Election Commission, the EVM scheme was revived and it is fortunate that it could withstand the jibes of the cynics. It has proved to be cheaper, quicker and better. The main advantage is that it not only eliminates invalid votes but also has an inbuilt mechanism to discourage booth capturing. Results can be obtained very soon after the polling is over.

The successful trial this time will be meaningful only if it leads to a much wider use in the future elections. The next round of Assembly elections is due in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and a few more states. Preparations for introducing the EVMs need to start right away. Each machine costs only Rs 7,000 or so but given the large number of constituencies, procuring enough machines will be a colossal operation. Still, it will make polling much cheaper as compared to the use of ballot papers. It is estimated that the cost of conducting an election on EVMs is only one-thousandth of the cost incurred in the traditional method. The paper saving alone would be of the order of Rs 200 crore in a general election. Moreover, one has also to take into account the loss to the nation in terms of the trees that have to be felled for making so much of paper. The attempt should be to switch over to EVMs totally in about a decade. The coming years need to be utilised in making the machines even more foolproof. So far, these have been largely tried out in urban constituencies. A dummy exercise needs to be conducted in rural areas to make sure that even the largely illiterate electorate can use these properly. There is also need for addressing apprehensions raised in some quarters that the machines leave scope for unfair practices in connivance with polling officials. Only field trials can prove that the machines are decidedly better than the manual method. Whatever shortcomings are being pointed out are basically teething troubles and can be easily removed. Combined with photo-identity cards, the EVMs can extricate the common voter from the clutches of “vote managers”.

CONCEPT OF SERVICE IN INDIA
NGOs are not for people
by Bharat Jhunjhunwala

THE NGOs are pleading for increased tax concessions from the government so that they can garner more contributions from the public and serve the people. This is the model the Western countries have followed. The Red Cross and the Ford Foundation are among the well-known public-based organisations serving the people. In India, however, the effort of the NGOs to raise money from the public have met with dismal failure. The reason, it seems, lies in the fact that the Indian mind does not accept that the NGOs are “serving the people”. As a result the NGOs fall back on government funding and merely become government contractors. There is need for the NGOs to define their role in terms of the Indian mind if they have to develop roots within the country. It will not do to import foreign concept of service.

The NGOs claim that they are serving the people. It would be obvious that one can serve the people in myriads of ways. Jamnalal Bajaj put up factories. He served the people by giving them jobs and generating wealth. Gandhi led the Independence movement. He served the people by engaging in politics. Ramakrishna Paramhamsa preached truth. He served the people by spiritual teaching. They all served the people in their own ways.

The distinguishing feature of these great people was that they sacrificed something of their own. Jamnalal Bajaj sacrificed the money that he earned. He did not ask that the people of India give him money to serve the Congress. Gandhiji sacrificed his power to serve the people. He could have become the Congress President anytime, but he abstained from doing so. He never said: first make me Congress President, then I will go to Champaran. He sacrificed what he had in the interest of the people. Ramakrishna Paramhamsa sacrificed his entire being. He never asked for people to give him money or even join in his prayers. He gave. They all sacrificed. It was this sacrifice that set these people apart, not their claims of “serving the people”. One dare say that Bajaj, Gandhi and Ramakrishna would have all denied that they did anything at all for the people.

The Western mind does not ask such questions. It accepts such a claim on its face value. Thus the British argued that they were serving native Indians by ruling over them. The Crusaders launched military attacks in the name of serving the Lord. And the rich gave them money for doing so.

The contemporary Western civil society is not behind. Agencies like Worldwatch argue that countries like India should accept their backwardness perpetually. They should not strive to ever reach the levels of economic prosperity of the West. They are serving the people by protecting the interests of the industrial countries. Some NGOs claim to serve the people of this country by taking money from foreign governments to organise anti-nuclear explosion demonstrations. Everything goes in the name of serving the people.

It will be obvious that all this is acceptable in the name of serving the people because there is no scrutiny of the character of the individual. For the Western mind the one who serves need not himself sacrifice. The result is that there is left no touchstone to evaluate whether a particular act is that of service or of self-interest. All that remains is one’s own self-proclamation that he is serving the people.

The civil society suffers from this infirmity. The NGOs can go on a foreign trip with their girl friends, buy airconditioned cars and contest elections, all in the name of serving the people. To the Western mind all this is acceptable.

But not to the Indian mind. When an NGO approaches the Indian donor, he asks himself subconsciously, “why is this fellow running an NGO?” If he wants money, let him do business. If he wants to serve people through business, let him donate his money as Jamnalal Bajaj did. If he wants power, let him make a party and contest elections like Gandhi did. If he wants self-knowledge, let him sit in an ashram and meditate like Ramakrishna Paramhamsa did. Why should he ask for money if he wants to serve the people?

It does not, therefore, make sense for the Indian donor to give money to an NGO. The Indian donor would give a loan so that he could earn interest on it; he would give a donation to a political party in return for political favour; and he would give money to build a temple for his spiritual growth. But he would not give money to an NGO because he would not get anything in return. He would not give a loan to an NGO because it has no income to repay it. He would not give a political donation because he has no capacity to return the favour in terms of license, etc. He would not give charity for building a temple because the NGO is not engaged in spiritual pursuits. It is for this reason that NGOs find it virtually impossible to raise funds within the country.

The NGOs must realise that their claims of serving the people and asking for money for the purpose don’t cut ice in the Indian ethos. This does not mean that there is no concept of service in our tradition. But the concept is interlinked with that of sacrifice. This was the concept of ashram that the rishis inhabited. Ideally, at least, they lived frugally and needed little for their personal sustenance. They never asked for money either. People contributed money voluntarily — they gave bhiksha — because the rishis helped them in spiritual growth. Unless, therefore, a person is a rishi, and he can lead to spiritual growth of the donor, he will not be given money by the people of India. Charity is reserved for those who have adopted the spiritual path.

The touchstone of service being genuine or a mere camouflage for one’s self-interest is whether the person gives something of his own in service; or gets something in the name of working for others. If he gives, then alone he may be considered to be serving the people. The moment he asks for money he negates the “giving” and converts it into “taking”. Charity is given voluntarily, and that too when it brings forth spiritual returns, not otherwise.

The NGOs do not fulfil this condition. Mostly they “take” their livelihood from the organisation even if at a lower level than they might have got otherwise. An engineer who could have drawn Rs 10,000 in a factory may work for Rs 2,000 in an NGO. But he still gets Rs 2,000. It is the getting of Rs 2,000 that is transparently clear to the public. Whether he could have made Rs 10,000 is anybody’s guess. Since the staff secure their livelihood from the NGO, they do not qualify as those undertaking service.

This is not to say that every individual in an NGO is a fraud. There would be many who feel that they have sacrificed their careers and seek nothing for themselves. They should realise, however, that as long as they are takers from the NGO, the truth remains blurred. It cannot be established whether they are serving the people or the people are serving them. If, however, the individual only gives, then the picture is clear. But, in that case, why should he ask for money from the government or the people? Thus, instead of denying their self-interest and seeking funding and tax concessions from the government, they should acknowledge their desires and fulfil it like Jamnalal Bajaj, Gandhi and Ramakrishna did. There is no reason for the government or the people of this country to give money to the NGOs.

Taliban’s tribal problem
by K. N. Pandita

IN April this year the permanent US envoy to the United Nations, Mr Bill Richardson, visited Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif. Later at a news conference in Islamabad he said that the Taliban leadership in Kabul had agreed to put an end to the military offensive, and pave the way for face-to-face talks with Northern Alliance leaders under the auspices of the UN and the OIC (Organisation of Islamic Conference). Within hours of this briefing, Mulla Mohammad Omar, the Kandahar-based Taliban supremo, issued a statement from his headquarters denying that any such agreement had been reached with Mr Richardson. He added that the Ulema Shura proposed earlier by the Taliban was the only forum authorised to resume dialogue.

As the Iranian defence forces were gearing up for exercises near the border with Herat province in Afghanistan, the Tailban busted a ring of militia activists accused of plotting a coup against the Kabul government. At least 55 senior soldiers, including some Taliban commanders and a number of former Afghan army generals, were rounded up in a midnight swoop in Kabul and Herat on September 25. The arrested Taliban commanders were negotiating a deal with Ahmad Shah Masood, offering him a foothold on Tapa Telfizion, a hill overlooking Kabul where the city’s television booster is installed.

The fault-line is said to cut right through the top Taliban leadership. The unity of perception is no more in place. One group favours the creation of a constitutional monarchy sustained by a system of representative institutions. These Taliban leaders would permit newsmen to shoot pictures and sit across the table with other Afghan leaders for the formation of a broad-based government of the type proposed by the United Nations. The head of the interim ruling council, Mulla Muhammad Rabbani, as well as Foreign Minister Mulla Muhammad Hasan Akhund are said to be sympathetic to this group. This is the same Mulla Rabbani who had opened his mind to Mr Bill Richardson.

But the hard-core Islamic leadership of Taliban is led by Mulla Omar, the Amirul Momineen. This group includes madarsa elements brought up mostly in Pakistan and the former mujahideen outfits which together form the military base of the Taliban. They advocate gender segregation, enforce prayers, destroy television sets and beat up men who brandish cameras.

What is the basis of this divide in Taliban leadership? It is not essentially moderate or extremist Islam. The roots lie somewhere else. Afghanistan has been the scene of age-old tribal schism between the Ghilzai nomads and the Durrani statesmen. Hardcore Islamists within the Taliban are almost exclusively Ghilzai tribesmen, and a Hotak Ghilzai, Mulla Muhammad Omar, heads the movement. Members of this group mostly hail from the lower echelons of society and have no political training or vision.

On the other side of this deepening divide are the Durranis, led by Mulla Rabbani. They have produced landed aristocracies and built empires. Most of them believe that former King Zahir Shah, himself a Durrani, is the only living Afghan leader capable of uniting the country’s various ethnic and tribal factions under a central authority.

Apart from tribal schisms, growing regional rivalries are bound to dog the Taliban movement. The Ghilzai and Durrani leaders have one thing in common. They hail from the south and south-west of the country. Mulla Rabbani hails from Hilmand and Mulla Omar is a Kandahari, the domination of southerners have left out even the predominant Pushtoon province of Ningarhar. In Afghanistan, regional rivalries cut across even tribal solidarity. The Laghmani Ghilzai does not feel at home with Kandahari Ghilzai. Pakistan’s policy of creating seven mujahideen parties in Peshawar, mostly led by Ghilzai warlords, took the fragmentation a step further, pitting brother against brother and tribe against tribe. A clear line along the ethnic divide appeared to have been drawn when the ethnic Tajik Kamaat-e-Islami, the Hazara Hizb-e-Wahdat, the Uzbek Jumbish-e-Milli and some elements of the Parcham faction of the PDPA captured Kabul in 1992, depriving the Pashtoons of a share in state power.

“The mainly Pashtoon Taliban movement can be seen as a reaction to these events, taking advantage of the state of utter lawlessness to subdue the ruling warlords one by one and bring peace to areas under their control, says Prof Rasool Amin of Kabul University. It is believed that Taliban leaders are making the same mistake as the PDPA by using ideology as a tool to subdue a people who are tribal in character, individualistic in their economic pursuits and almost totally illiterate.

(The author is a former Director, Centre of Central Asian Studies, Kashmir University.)

All in a day
by J. L. Gupta

HELP? Bearing somebody else’s burden? Comforting a stranger in despair? Giving light to a person who is groping in the dark? In today’s world? When nobody has time to even stand and stare? When hurry and cunning mark every action? When there is a rush all around? And why? Despite the fact that it is known that I can be of no help to anyone? Can I legitimately expect help from others when I am not willing to offer any?

There is one God. He is the King Almighty. He is the omnipresent and omnipotent Father of all. He gives lustre to the insect’s wing. He gives the strength to man to achieve the impossible. He runs this wild world of ours. He gives help to the needy. He helps the feeble up. Out of the blue. Without any notice. When you expect it the least. And it has actually happened to me. More than once. Just in one day.

It has been said that “he who never leaves his own country is full of prejudices”. I do not even like to leave the city. In fact, even leaving the house appears to be an avoidable burden. Yet sometimes one cannot help it. And it happened. I had to go. To the Capital. To be more precise — to Noida. I asked my man in the hour of need to make the necessary arrangements. The Shatabdi tickets. A car at the railway station.

The needful was done. Without any fuss. I had felt relieved.

As is usual, the unexpected happened. There was a change in the programme. The return journey had to be postponed by a day. That should be no problem. At least, so I had thought. I decided to get the ticket changed at the station in the morning. With this hope. I left a few minutes earlier. However, on reaching the station, I discovered that this was not possible. I was told that the “computer opens (the reservation starts) at 8 o’clock only. Get it done at the New Delhi station.

”I reached Delhi. Enquired at the “enquiry.” Next building”, was the reply. It was repeated when I thought that I had reached my destination. Ultimately, a policeman came to my help. He walked with me a few steps to indicate the exact location of the building. On reaching, I was given two forms. I filled up both. Stood in the queue. Waited for my turn. Gave both forms to the official on duty. After a minute, that felt like an hour, the official asked, “Why do you want to waste your money? Cancellation of the ticket would cost you a hundred rupees. I can just change your ticket. It would mean only Rs 25.”

The offer was generous. I accepted it without any hesitation. Heartily thanked the official and came out with the ticket. Suddenly, I realised that the car that had to pick me up was not there. So, I needed a cab. As I stood on the roadside, anyone could have guessed what I was waiting for. A three-wheeler stopped. The driver looked old. The noisy machine seemed even older. He switched off the engine. On coming to know that I was waiting for a taxi, he stood with me. He hailed the cab as soon as he saw one. Luckily, his shout was heard. The cab stopped. He opened the door and saw me off.

Three good things had happened to me in a few hours. The policeman, the booking clerk and the scooter driver had been so helpful to me. Virtually kind. Without any ostensible motive. None of them had any reason to go out of his way. Still they had. Why?

Because there is so much of good in the world. A candle burns itself to give light to others. Every human being is essentially good. Doing good is the most glorious task assigned to man by God. It has been said that the hands that help are holier than the lips that pray. Good deeds are good friends. The good are nearest to God. Good of everyone should always be the goal of everybody. We realise this. Yet we shut our eyes to all the good that exists around us. We live with unfounded prejudices. We carry baseless notions. We wear coloured glasses. We refuse to move out of our preconceived notions. Thus, a significant part of the good that exists in this beautiful world of ours in lost. What a waste!

Is this not an avoidable loss? Should we not have greater faith in fellow human beings? Seeing all that happened to me in a day, I have every reason to look around with hope. I feel very optimistic. We need to recognise and acknowledge the good that exists.

Militancy, terrorism & insurgency
By Himmat Singh Gill

PERHAPS the most misunderstood of the troublesome phenomenon affecting a society in the grip of strife and civil war, but stopping short of an open conflict, are the triple banes of militancy, terrorism and insurgency. In India, where for most people one of these conditions could as well be the other, it is necessary to understand the nature of the problems manifested in each one of these situations, so that viable counter-measures could be suggested.

Militancy, the least dangerous of the state in which society finds itself rocked by instability and unrest, brings in its wake a degree of aggressive and combatative activity, both in the mental and the physical planes. Militancy often results from a sense of injustice and persecution felt by a community or a people, when there is a vast economic gap between the haves and the have-nots, neglect in the development of a particular region, and unnecessary interference in one’s religious beliefs and places of worship. It can be easily checked, provided the underlying issues which are often political and religious, are addressed with honesty, vigour and a sense of fairplay by the state, most of the actions of the militants are overt, and they feel little need to hide their demands under the cloak of shady and covert means.

It is more a state of the mind than the fire from a rifle, and self-assertive communities like the Afghans, the Irish, the Muslims and the fighters in the Basque region in Spain, often resort to it, as a matter of normal practice and right. Only a mature political leadership, an upright bureaucracy and a responsible police force can control militancy, but sadly both in the case of Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, all three agencies have let the country down, in the former case in the seventies and the eighties, and in the latter, during the present times. Be it the Naxalites, the Bodos, the ULFA or the angry and strong-willed youth in the valley, as long as the demands fall short of secession from the country, there is a strong case for the government to listen to them, and act in the best interests of the country, and not necessarily the party or the coalition in power.

Whereas militancy is more open, with a blend of heroic courage and martyrdom combining to even make it popular with many sections of the masses, terrorism thrives in the realms of shade, mystery and selective violence. The terrorist uses the threat of violence to achieve set goals, like the release of political detainees, and the strategy is to induce a sense of fear in the adversary, that the normal rules of humanitarian conduct will not be followed, if the demands are not met. It is more barbaric in nature, and an unfair way of striking by proxy, at your enemy.

Terrorism can be state-sponsored, crime and narco-related, sponsored by power groups out to seize control of unstable countries, or issue-based, inspired by subjects like the entry of illegal immigrants and the ban on nuclear weapons. Terrorists strike at soft targets, do not hesitate to kill, and seek maximum publicity of their acts. Terrorists are normally faceless, making their eradication difficult. Most militants are not terrorists, in spite of what the Government of India, and the media would have us believe, but all terrorists do indulge in violence and destruction of human life and property, in a fit of retribution and overkill. The bombing of Mumbai, and the kidnapping and possible killings of a few foreigners in the valley two years ago, are plain acts of terrorism. There is no place for such acts in today’s world.

Insurgency is a form of militancy, allowed to grow chronic and cancerous; and insurrection and a rebellion in open resistance to those in power, and having little or anything to do with terrorism. The long and violent attempts at grabbing supremacy in the valley, and the sporadic but undying clashes in Mizoram, Nagaland, Manipur and Tripura are low to high grade insurgencies, that call for a suitable response from the country’s armed forces. The regular forces in their operations seek to destroy the rural infrastructure and “drain the ocean” to choke the, “fish in the water”, the insurgent, and make his movement and living among the locals, as difficult as possible. In extreme cases, border areas and villages are cleared of habitation, and safe corridors created, to control all ingress or exgress. A prolonged insurgency and anti-insurgency operations, is just a step away from open war, as soon as either side steps up the ante. Prolonged insurgencies tire out the Army and the para-military forces, hurt the common man and provide unwanted recognition of the insurgent. The operational strategy of the counter-insurgency operations in the valley and the north-east, definitely needs a relook and review.

It is clear that militancy, terrorism and insurgency is not one and the same thing. But when will our political leadership and sluggish bureaucracy understand this?

Dec 4 is Navy Day

True submarine for 21st century

THE emergence of two technologies — titanium and nuclear reactor — promises that India can produce a true submarine with long-range and great depth capabilities giving the Indian Navy a real “blue-water” reach.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has mastered the art of manufacturing titanium sheets and has nuclear reactors through its Advanced Technological Vessel (ATV) programme.

The marriage of these two technologies can result in the design and development of a submarine that can remain submerged indefinitely (unlike conventional submarines that have to surface to draw in air or expel accumulated impurities and thereby expose themselves to detection) because nuclear-powered submarines do not depend on ambiant air to operate.

A titanium, on the other hand, will impart to the submarine great strength and anti-magnetic properties to enable it to operate at depths of 3,000 ft. (to loiter) and up to 4,000 ft. in short forays. The anti-magnetic property prevents torpedoes from homing on to it.

The latter capability is particularly useful in the hunter-killer role when a submarine must locate and destroy an enemy submarine before it can interfere with its own maritime activity. The erstwhile Soviet Union had married these two technologies to produce the Alfa class submarine which Western analysts say is the fastest and deepest diving vessel.

The Alfa class can outrun most torpedoes and can catch up swiftly with any other submarine or surface warships at speeds beyond 40 knots (nautical miles).

Submarines can become true submersibles only with nuclear propulsion and can attain their full potential of stealth, surprise and devastating punch only with this kind of propulsion. The 24-48 hours cycle of submergence and surfacing makes the conventional submarine amenable to detection by surface ships and aircraft or at least be tracked and allow the enemy to be forewarned.

India has long toyed with the idea of nuclear-propelled (not nuclear-armed) submarines. Dr Homi Sethna, Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission at the time, had mentioned nuclear propulsion as one of the likely uses of first Pokhran experiment in 1971.

The Advance Technology Vessel programme has been in gestation for more than two decades. India, meanwhile, gained operational expertise by leasing the Soviet nuclear-powered Charlie class submarine Chakra in the late ‘80s.

The choice before the Naval Design Bureau is to either create a hunter-killer or an anti-surface U-boat. The latter need not have a titanium hull and can use either the hull of the Kilo class of submarines already with the Indian Navy or some other improved conventional material because the submarine will not be required to operate at great depths. The submarine-submarine-killer will have to operate at the great depths and oceanic thermal layers of the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal in a defensive outer perimeter role; or as part of an anti-submarine screen for Indian convoys in the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans.

The Chakra was designed for the anti-shipping role with missiles that it could launch from underwater to attack surface ships up to 60 nautical miles away.

The Americans have leaked intelligence report suggesting that India and Russia are collaborating in the design of a submarine that will fire missiles from underwater. The project is called “Sagarika”.

It is possible to create an anti-ship submarine around a navalised version of the surface-to-surface missile Prithvi which has a range of between 150 and 250 km. If the underwater launch technology is perfected, a nuclear-powered submarine would be a quantum jump in the Indian Navy’s blue water capability.

Economics could tilt designers in favour of the anti-ship role which is essentially a surface-to-surface missile configuration because the titanium hull for the hunter-killer would be extremely expensive. India will be able to manufacture a larger number of this variety than the titanium-hulled boats.

Given the fact that the current blue-water capability of the Indian Navy is slowly being downgraded by the decommissioning of the Vikrant aircraft carrier and the likelyhood that the other carrier, Viraat, too will have to be decommissioned before 2020 AD, a nuclear-powered submarine will retain a potent element of power projection far beyond Indian shores. — ADNI

75 YEARS AGO

Misappropriation of currency notes

POONA: The police are on the lookout for a Bengali Mussalman named M.A. Khan, who is wanted on a charge of misappropriating currency notes of the value of Rs 381, property of the Tata Company.

It appears, the accused was employed as a despatching clerk in the office of the Superintending Engineer at the Works of Dam at Somwati village, near Wadgaon Railway Station.

On November 30, the accused was given notes and he placed them in an envelope in the presence of the Assistant Accountant. He then went to the Post Office and returned with a receipt for the letter at 2 p.m. Saying that he was feeling ill, he left the office and went to his quarters. On December 2, the Agent of the Asiatic Petroleum Company at Lonavla informed the Accountant that he had received a letter and opening it in the presence of the Post Master, he found some paper but no money.

The police were accordingly informed.

The man is described as being of fair complexion with small-pox marks on his face, medium build and a good crop of hair on his head. He wears a sporting English pattern coat with a dhoti but no cap.