Politics of badland
UNION Home Minister L. K. Advani has stressed the creation of “the right political climate” to snuff out criminals like Romesh Sharma from public life. His is the right diagnosis but made before a wrong audience, policemen of various responsibilities.

Human rights and wrongs
THE Chairman of the World Sikh Council, Justice Kuldip Singh, had said in September that “we are ready to wind up the People’s Commission if the government enhances the jurisdiction of the State Human Rights Commission”.

Animals and research
IF the Union Minister of State for Welfare, Mrs Maneka Gandhi, could change the laws of nature, she would impose a ban on the involuntary act of breathing by human beings because it is “injurious to the health” of countless “animals” not visible to the naked eye.

Indians, Pakistanis & West
by Kuldip Nayar
IT is very difficult to convince the West that there is much resentment against the bomb in India and Pakistan, at least in a section of society. The media gave the impression that the people in both countries were euphoric over the “achievement”.

For Presidential form of govt
by P.D. Shastri
SHOULD India adopt the Presidential form of government? There is urgent need for a national debate on the subject. The common masses are the sufferers.

Costly missile shield
for Delhi!
by Harwant Singh
WHEN Pakistan fired the Ghauri missile, it was brought out in these columns that no one need be afraid of Ghauri. What caused anxiety was the political, military and scientific trio panicking the nation to seek the development of an anti-missile system and in the process burst the budget. This was the real danger posed by Ghauri.

Haryana or Chhota Baloochistan?
by Lalit Mohan
IN 1828, when the East India Gazetteer was published, the name “Hurrianna” was already in vogue for the area west and south of Delhi. “Although situated on the verge of the desert, it is celebrated for its verdure (probably by comparison) from which the name is derived; Hurya in Hindostany signifying green,” writes its compiler, Walter Hamilton.

75 Years Ago

Nabha Abdication
LARGE numbers of inhabitants of the all classes and ages and of all positions from all towns and villages if Nabha State have come all the way to Amritsar to lay the real facts and feelings before the Parbandhak Committee.

Politics of badland

UNION Home Minister L. K. Advani has stressed the creation of “the right political climate” to snuff out criminals like Romesh Sharma from public life. His is the right diagnosis but made before a wrong audience, policemen of various responsibilities. The midnight knock, grilling, non-bailable arrest warrant and 90-day judicial custody are no sure cure but only a belated police reaction. Criminals having political connections with ready help from the administration are an outgrowth of the steady erosion of political probity and coarsening social values. Only an improved political environment with ideology and clear-cut policies wresting the centrestage can block dangerous vermins gaining easy access to powerful patrons. And thanks are due to Romesh Sharma for reviving the debate.

True, men like Romesh Sharma are rare — thank god for it — but play a useful role all the same. When they manage to draw the harsh spotlight on themselves, they jolt the collective conscience of the nation and force it to come to terms with the reality of the comfortable coexistence of public men with the underworld. This has to be changed in double quick time if the rule of law should remain sacrosanct, and the first step is to churn up the political climate, as Mr Advani has underlined. Politicians are the real sinners in allowing criminals to cast their shadow across the civil society (that section of people who are knowledgeable, aware, zealous and organised enough to protect their interests) and find a toehold there. The process started with small-time politicos cosying up with local thugs to neutralise inconvenient rivals. Today it has ended up with a criminal allrounder like Romesh Sharma hobnobbing with the very high and mighty in New Delhi society.

Romesh Sharma is no S.K. Jain or Arun Gawli of the Mumbai mafia. He is a one-man crime syndicate, specialising in a variety of crimes and acting as the front man of Dawood Ibrahim and maybe friendly to even foreign intelligence agencies, as the Home Minister delicately puts it. That he could operate for so long and with freedom is a sign of the breakdown of the system. Perhaps not surprisingly. The feudal “darbar” politics, in which the star status of a neta is counted in terms of his hangers-on, all types of characters get physically close to big people without any check. One important contact can soon bloom into a network in a culture where things move only on “recommendation”. With the divorce of ideology or constructive programme, except in the case of the Left, with politics, party organisations have crumbled into election fighting outfits. This has simultaneously converted election fighting into a capital-intensive project with primacy to black money. This is a custom-made situation for the Romesh Sharmas to emerge and thrive. His audacious scale of operation has let him down, and his comrades-in-trade would have taken note. The trick is to make the atmosphere inhospitable to them, and herein lies the national task of creating a new political climate.

Human rights and wrongs

THE Chairman of the World Sikh Council, Justice Kuldip Singh, had said in September that “we are ready to wind up the People’s Commission if the government enhances the jurisdiction of the State Human Rights Commission”. It will be interesting to await the reaction of the council, now that the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, has announced that his government is ready to empower the state commission to listen to old complaints of rights violations. The Punjab State Human Rights Commission Act in its present form does not take cognisance of rights violations complaints which are more than one year old. The via media suggested by the Chief Minister should merit serious consideration because the people’s panel has been generating more controversy than is good for the polity. The reference is not only to the likely lowering of the morale of the security forces. The real issue is the precedent which the people’s commission would set. Even if this panel proves to be completely neutral and non-partisan, there is no guarantee that similar supra-judicial panels would be equally fair. And one can be sure that there is going to be a proliferation of similar commissions if this one goes ahead with its task. A petition is pending in the Punjab and Haryana High Court challenging the legal validity of the commission formed to probe human rights violations by the police during the decade-long militancy. The panel has summoned 124 Punjab Police officials to appear before it on November 28.

While there is no doubt that all instances of human rights violations should be investigated and the guilty officials punished, there is need for following a set procedure so that there is no ground to allege that the enquiry was done by a kangaroo court. It is well known that the people’s commission has several luminous persons. Still, it does not evoke universal confidence. There are also apprehensions that it is encroaching on the judicial functions of the State. Under the circumstances, the empowering of the State Human Rights Commission as suggested by the Chief Minister makes eminent sense. The grouse of the supporters of the people’s panel is that although the Akali Dal had promised to set up a commission, it had not done so after coming to power. Mr Badal’s view is that such commissions only serve to rake up bitter controversies and serve no useful purpose. Now that he has made a far-reaching suggestion, the whole issue needs to be debated afresh with an open mind.

Animals and research

IF the Union Minister of State for Welfare, Mrs Maneka Gandhi, could change the laws of nature, she would impose a ban on the involuntary act of breathing by human beings because it is “injurious to the health” of countless “animals” not visible to the naked eye. To say that her concern for animal welfare borders on the ludicrous would be an understatement. In her animal kingdom horse riding would be banned, although the majestic beast is known to become emotionally attached to its master, and the circus owners would be required to keep the show going with the help of only human performer, although making under-aged children take part in the acts of dare-devilry is more loathsome. An attempt is already being made to put the snake charmers, the “bhaluwalas” and the “bandarwalas” out of business in the name of preventing cruelty to animals. What steps she proposes to take to end the menace of stray cattle, dogs, donkeys and pigs in most cities is not known, although the primary concern of the ministry she heads should be human welfare. She is, perhaps, not aware that instead of imposing a ban on the keeping of animals as pets most civilised societies have strict laws to ensure that they are not ill-treated or abused by their owners. Such laws are necessary to discipline even those who are in favour of a countrywide ban on cow slaughter. For once Mrs Maneka Gandhi seems to have bitten off more than she can chew. The decision of her ministry to regulate the killing of animals for the purpose of medical research has raised the hackles of the medical fraternity. Not that the hearts of the members of the medical profession bleeds less for the animals than that of Mrs Maneka Gandhi. Their legitimate protest is against the attempt to bureaucratise the process of obtaining permission for performing tests on lab animals with the specific objective of extending the frontiers of medical science.

The Indian Council of Medical Research has taken the lead by sending a detailed note suggesting modifications in the order which requires permission of a Central committee for performing tests on animals. The National Institute of Immunology, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, the Central Drug Research Institute and the Indian National Science Academy too have joined the protest against an order which has the potential to put an end to all medical research based on tests on animals. A leading medical scientist put the issue in perspective by pointing out that “animal experiments are not only done for research but also for diagnosing diseases in human beings”. In the latest issue of “Current Science” National Research Professor, Dr V. Ramalingaswami, too has emphasised the fact that “much of today’s knowledge of the functioning of the human body and mind is derived from animal experiments. The whole tenor of the proposed rules works against facilitating science and scientific research and against encouraging industry to engage in R and D”. The suggestion of the medical research institutions that the proposal to set up a Central committee for processing the requests for experiments on animals should be scrapped is based on reason. Most institutions have in-house committees which perform the same task which is to be assigned to the proposed body. To achieve the objective of animal welfare Mrs Maneka Gandhi should instead set up a Central monitoring cell for receiving complaints of abuse of animals in the garb of medical research by recognised institutes and the industry. Legal action too would be justified against those found violating the prescribed norms for doing tests on animals.

INDIANS, PAKISTANIS & WEST
Bomb as a status symbol
by Kuldip Nayar

IT is very difficult to convince the West that there is much resentment against the bomb in India and Pakistan, at least in a section of society. The media gave the impression that the people in both countries were euphoric over the “achievement”. This has stayed uncorrected. I picked up the same signals in the UK, the USA and Canada, which I visited recently to participate in seminars there.

As a critic of the bomb, the observation that galled me was that it was exploded to divert the attention from poverty. Domestic compulsions were there but not the West-romanticised poverty, which is a stark reality in the subcontinent. The reasons for explosion were different.

For example, the BJP thought that it would reap political dividends and increase its strength in the next Lok Sabha. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif did not need more seats in the National Assembly because he already had two-thirds of its strength with him. But he was losing popularity, India’s explosion gave him the reason to detonate the bomb so as to retrieve his image.

It is a different story that neither the BJP nor the Nawaz Sharif-led Muslim League reaped any dividends. The first lost whatever ground it had gained when Islamabad exploded the bomb. The second came a cropper when the economic disaster followed. It was really domestic politics that dictated the judgement.

True, nuclear tests should not have taken place because there was no immediate security compulsion. Even otherwise, when the subcontinent has been against the bomb, why it should have committed the same mistake which it wanted the world not to make. But the West’s argument that the bomb in the hands of Third World countries is unsafe smacks of arrogance. Washington has, in fact, gone crazy. It has barred even the entry of science students from India. I got a clear indication in America that it will continue to chastise New Delhi for a long time to come.

However, it looks that Pakistan will be treated softly. But it may have to pay a heavy price. Some knowledgeable sources in the USA told me that President Bill Clinton would ask Mr Nawaz Sharif at their meeting in December to extend recognition to Israel. The economic package is going to have a political wrapper.

America’s attitude of haughtiness has, however, made both Indians and Pakistanis living abroad more determined about spanning the distance between the two countries. Two students, one from India and the other from Pakistan, came up to me after I finished my speech at Minneapolis in the USA. They are friends. They wanted to know how they could help the subcontinent to bury the hatchet while living abroad. They were worried over the rise of Hindu chauvinism in India and Islamic fundamentalism in Pakistan and Bangladesh.

This does not, however, mean that the communities from the three countries have said goodbye to communalism. But events back home have disillusioned them a bit. They expected something different, something liberal.

Most Hindus in the UK and the USA are still pro-BJP. But the party’s gloss has come off to some extent. They expected the Atal Behari Vajpayee government to perform better, and they are disappointed that it has not done so even in the seven to eight months of its rule. The earlier fanatic Hindu stand has softened except in the website Internet, where the expression of fanaticism is still strident. The debate that Hindutva is synonymous with secularism is picking up again. What this means is that they have realised that extreme religious views do not sell in democratic countries like America, the UK and Canada.

The Pakistanis are afraid that the Taliban version of Islam may engulf their country. “We are the next,” many say. Some recall the threat given to women in Peshawar not to move outdoors. The Nawaz Sharif government’s declaration to run the country according to Shariat has not been to their liking. They say they are already Muslims. So why should anybody doubt their belief and try to convey to them that their faith in Islam was lessening.

I also met some Bangladeshis in Canada and America. They are distressed over the rise of fundamentalism in their country. The perennial differences between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and former Prime Minister Khalida Zia are seen not only as a political fight but also an opportunity by both, whenever the opportunity arises, to instigate religious frenzy. In fact, the community, which is working very hard to have a place under the sun, is exasperated over the wrangling “between two women”, as they put it.

There is, however, a growing feeling among the communities from all the three countries that the concept of nation-state based on a common ethnicity and a common religion is unrealistic whether in the South Asian region, or indeed in any area throughout the whole world. Ethnicity and religion can both be divided and sub-divided ad infinitum. Numerous examples are cited by both Muslim and Christian worlds in support of this statement. Moreover, religious divides can cut across a common religion. Spoken languages, written scripts and other cultural attributes further sub-divide people.

Whether it is because of their living in the West or because of the fundamentalists making a mess of governance in the subcontinent, they increasingly believe that secularism is one solution — a political system, which transcends religious and ethnic divides. Secularism suffers from being equated with irreligion and materialism, is difficult to operate and appears to have failed to prevent ethnic and religious conflicts in South Asia.

The conclusion from this failure, they infer, is not to abandon secularism. The more difficult it is in the face of religious and ethnic fragmentation, the more necessary it is to persist in making secularism and tolerance work. The alternative to the politics of secularism, it is conceded, is the politics of fear that lies at the heart of the conflicts and violence provoked by religious and ethnic divisions. People of different cultures must live together in peace, whether in one state or many. There is no alternative because terrorism, war and genocide solve nothing, and indeed only escalate fear and hatred.

Apart from religious divides, poverty in the subcontinent is a millstone around the neck of the three countries. People in the West chide them about it and consider them incapable of solving their problem in their own countries. The communities are so much on the defensive that they readily suffer the instances of racism, increasing in the USA and the UK. I got the feeling that despite the discrimination they face because they are non-Whites, they have developed a vested interest in living abroad. The quality of life, far better from what prevails in the subcontinent, has made the communities slave to it, apart from the opportunities of gainful employment.

“You want the bomb when you do not have enough to feed your population,” is one comment thrown at the communities from the subcontinent again and again. They concede that there is some truth in what is said. They realise that more than half the population in their countries goes without meals at least one time in the day. Still, the communities feel satisfied, even elated, that the bomb has given India and Pakistan a status which the world grudgingly recognises. As it has proved that when it comes to nuclear and space technology, they are inferior to none. And since the world recognises the bomb as the symbol of strength, the communities have a glow on their face when they talk of nuclear tests in their countries.

For Presidential form of govt
by P.D. Shastri

SHOULD India adopt the Presidential form of government? There is urgent need for a national debate on the subject. The common masses are the sufferers. People in desperation say, “We love democracy but in our country Westminster type has utterly failed. We have lost all hope from it. The country needs a strong regime for some six months to clean this Augean stable. The Presidential system makes the chief executive as a constitution-made dictator for four years. It combines the blessings of both democracy and dictatorship as in the U.S.A.

Our ministers and other politicians are today the most unpopular beings; regarded as the scourge of society responsible for all the ills the nation is suffering from. The greatest tragedy is that people have lost their faith in all political parties and leaders. Our institutions are on the verge of collapse. Law and order is deteriorating day by day, expanding the circle of murders and other crimes. Corruption has become synonymous with public life. Some of even the top leaders are facing prosecution for their alleged involvement in corruption cases. Criminals are not punished, thanks to interminable delays and appeals — counter appeals. The common people live with the fear of being subjected to killing, kidnapping, extortion and ransom. Often no administration seems to exist. Are we heading towards a total chaos and anarchy?

The massive foreign investments that enliven the economy with limitless funds and, more importantly, latest technology are shying away, not sure what government would be there next year, next month, even next day.

Despair seems writ large on the faces of the thinking population. The worst of all, they seem to have lost all hope about the future of our great country — which has the most ancient civilisation and culture, extending to five or ten thousand years at least.

Our top bureaucrats seem to help their bosses in all negative actions, else they could be denied promotions and advancement, and transferred to “less paying” assignments. Loot the public treasury, rob the common people — that seems to be the order of the day.

As against this dark picture, the Presidential system seems to promise many improvements and better days for the populace.

The government is guaranteed a four-year term in which to show its work. No frequent threats of defections, no daily ultimatums by allies, no horse-trading with bribes to secure a majority, no question mark over every tomorrow. The final solution available under the present system is a general election — it costs the poor country Rs 1000 crore. In the present situation, it can only throw up another hung Parliament — one after the other — leading to a coalition of a dozen or so parties. This means each of the so many horses pulling in different directions the chariot of the State. Whatever programme the ruling party might propose, it would be bogged down and be a non-starter in the cacophony of divergent voices.

The only programme that is successful for the time being is self-preservation, so long as it lasts. The country’s good — its world position — is nobody’s top priority. The entire time of the government, its power, energy and ingenuity are spent on manoeuvring to stay in power. No other goal is practical. Under the Presidential system, there will be no compulsion to have a mega Cabinet of a 100 or so ministers — white elephants.

The President could select his ministers best suited to do the job from anywhere in the country, without restricting his choice to elected representatives. There is enough talent in the nation. The present breed’s qualification is mediocrity and their concern to get rich quick while the sun shines. They are hardly bothered about the country’s long-term good. Some ministers, specially the crowd of junior ones, hardly understand the A.B.C. of their portfolios. They depend on the expert advice of the Secretaries, who have come to enjoy power like the Secretaries in the USA or the UK (there the Ministers are called Secretaries). Genius does not feel inclined to face the rough and tumble of elections and the fabulous expenditure required. How about a genius of the calibre of Prof Amartya Sen, as Minister of Science and Education?

The first Ministry headed by Jawaharlal Nehru answers to that description — a galaxy of titans of world repute whose name spelt awe and implicit obedience.

In fact, during Nehru’s days — even Indira Gandhi’s too — it was a Presidential government (one-man rule) for all practical purposes. One leader winning all the elections to Parliament and Assemblies, and deciding Cabinet and other posts. Only we did not know it that way.

The Presidential government (like a dictatorship) has the advantage of decisiveness, finality and speed, while the Westminster model is weak and subject to every passing wind.

In a multi-party coalition (India’s sure fate under the present system), the precarious majority is cobbled by bringing together many wrong elements. There is a constant unstable equilibrium, which any constituent can upset anytime. The Presidential system means stability for four years.

Haryana or Chhota Baloochistan?
by Lalit Mohan

IN 1828, when the East India Gazetteer was published, the name “Hurrianna” was already in vogue for the area west and south of Delhi. “Although situated on the verge of the desert, it is celebrated for its verdure (probably by comparison) from which the name is derived; Hurya in Hindostany signifying green,” writes its compiler, Walter Hamilton. He adds, “While Acber (Akbar) reigned this district was comprehended in the circar of Hisar Firozeh, and from the number of large and populous towns it contained, must have been in a very superior state of police and cultivation to what it exhibited when it first came under the British domination.”

Hamilton further says, “It is also occasionally named, but it does not appear why, the Lesser Baloochistan.” He certainly should have known why, because from his own description of the political and geographical condition of contemporary “Hurrianna” it is clear that the alias is a perfect fit.

The area covered in the essay includes the parganas of Hansi, Hisar, Mahim, Tosham, Barwallah, Bhehul, Beeree, “Rotuk”, Agroha and “Jemaulpoor”, a region as arid as it was untamed. “It is an extensive plain, free from jungle, and remarkable for the depth to be penetrated before water can be reached, and the further west the more the difficulty increases.” It had shallow lakes “containing water sufficient for the inhabitants and cattle throughout the year, but cultivation is entirely dependent on the monsoon.” Sultan “Feroze” did bring the Yamuna waters by a canal to Hisar, “but it has long choked up and almost effaced.”

Hamilton records that through history, that is long after “Acber” had departed from the scene, Haryana had been a prey to successive invaders and became “a scene of incessant rapine and confusion, and without the slightest vestige of regular government. The inhabitants from necessity had become warlike and ferocious, unused to control, and totally unacquainted with the advantages of a just and regular administration.” Every succeeding power had treated them as natural enemies and not as subjects; “their dispositions consequently became hostile to every power that attempted to enforce subordination, expecting unmixed evil from all.”

That does sound very much like the Baloochistan that we have heard of, in the country to our west. Of course, good governance, whenever it was provided, did bring about some change. “The eastern quarter is inhabited mostly by Jauts,” he says, “and the western by Rungurs, which is an appellation given to such of the Jaut tribes as have embraced the Arabian prophet’s religion. Both tribes are ferocious and uncivilised, and before the pressure of British coercion were in a state of unceasing hostility, town with town, village with village.”

But not every part of the region was equally disturbed. Hansi and Hisar, according to the author were known for their antiquity. “Rotuk is one of the best cultivated and least turbulent of the pergunnahs.” During the Moghul times this region was considered valuable enough to be made a personal appendage of the heir to the throne (though there is no mention anywhere of a Prince of Hurrianna, in the manner of a Prince of Wales!). After the decline of the Moghuls it passed on to the Scindias, and by the 1803 treaty of Surjee Anjengaun to the British. But in either case it was difficult to establish sovereignty over this warlike district.

After taking it over the English parcelled it as jagirs to faithful chieftains such as Nawab Bhumboo Khan, Baugh Singh, Bhye Laul Singh, Abul Summud Khan and the Seiks, as a reward and to build a buffer against the enemies in the West. They first accepted, and then abandoned it as a lost case. Once again we have shades of Baloochistan, “The difficulties which so many chiefs found insurmountable, rose from the martial and refractory spirit of its inhabitants, and from the predatory habits of its barbarous neighbours, the Bhatties.” Abul Summud was even reimbursed for the expense he had fruitlessly incurred in attempting its subjugation.

In 1809, the Bengal government resumed control and in 1816 Gurgaon, one of the smallest towns in the area, became a district headquarters. Hamilton reports that as a result of the governance provided by the Company the furious and turbulent spirit of the people yielded to a mild and conciliatory conduct.

“The Hurrianna has, in consequence ever since,” concludes Hamilton with a sense of satisfaction, “enjoyed a tranquillity unknown for centuries”. His narration, it must be noted, ends in 1828. Much water has flown down the Ghaggar ever since.

Costly missile shield for Delhi!
by Harwant Singh

WHEN Pakistan fired the Ghauri missile, it was brought out in these columns that no one need be afraid of Ghauri. What caused anxiety was the political, military and scientific trio panicking the nation to seek the development of an anti-missile system and in the process burst the budget. This was the real danger posed by Ghauri. In the event the government, without the benefit of a national debate on this vital issue, has panicked and embarked on an ambitious programme to develop such a system, albeit with the help of the Russians. According to a national news magazine a sum of Rs 2,000 crore has been allotted to the project. The system is meant to provide an anti missile shield only for Delhi.

The DRDO has always been on the look out for mega projects of this type, where time frame for development is long and the time span itself dilutes accountability. Examples abound. Arjun tank, Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), ALH, ATV, to mention a few. The cost multiplies as the DRDO travels along the never ending development route and the final cost of the project can be as much as 10 times the initial estimate. By the time the DRDO gets anywhere near the end of this long journey, technology undergoes some changes. Arjun tank has been in the making for over 25 years and the LCA and the ALH for slightly less time. A defect prone Arjun appears to have been thrust on an unwilling user and the other two are settle under development. There has always been a wide gap between promise and performanse. Therefore, there is little to be surprised at the international scientific community looking at the data generated after the Pokhran 2 tests with a measure of scepticism.

Be that as it may, the more pertinent issue in the instant case is that this step for the development of an anti-missile system will give a further boost to an arms race in this region. The other regional powers would certainly start their own programmes for development of a whole range of missile systems on the one hand and on the other increase their arsenal both in number of nuclear devices and sophistication of delivery systems, radar jamming equipment as also explore the possibility of acquisition of tactical nuclear weapons. At the same time the very efficacy of the weapon system intended to be developed is highly suspect. The fact that the government has ventured on this project at a time of extreme financial constraints is the other disturbing aspect of this policy decision. Further such a decision is not in line with the declared policy of creation of only a limited nuclear deterrence. The initiative towards development of anti-missile systems is bound to bring about nuclear instability in these parts. The Defence Minister would have us believe that Pokhran 2 has reduced the threat and provided greater measure of security. If that be so, then why the anti-missile system? There are many lessons to be learnt from the cold war period specific to this type of weapon development.In the seventies the USA started an ambitious Anti Ballistic Missile (ABM) programme and its variants known by the name of National Missile Defence (MND) or Star Wars. Two decades later and after spending close to $ 50 billion the system is perhaps incapable of protecting even one city in the USA and for all practical purposes has been abandoned and the achieved technology is most likely to be used for secondary tasks of troop protection. The US ‘Patriot’ missile system, the showpiece of American technological status and advancement in the field of interception of incoming missiles, put up poor performance during the Iraq war against ‘Scuds’ which on all counts are primitive missiles with outdated technology in the whole range of its subsystems.

The decision to defend only Delhi is perhaps based on the premise that it is the country’s capital and the seat of the Indian government and the most likely location for the NSC with its organisation and all the paraphernalia to be appended to it for the command and control of nuclear forces. If that be so, then a clearer understanding, import and the implications of the policy of limited deterrence and no first use is obviously missing. Notwithstanding all that, a nuclear missile attack (God forbid should this happen) will be packed with liberal doses of the element of surprise and any attempt at neutralising it will require a very high state of alert with elaborate early warning systems and responsive command structure. In such a setting there is the attendant probability and dangers of accidental false alerts and possible wrong triggering.

In the first place, limited deterrence and no first use will vastly limit the size and scope of the nuclear command and control set-up and the same can be located in underground shelters at little cost and secondly (in a no first use setting) once the enemy has used nuclear weapon(s) then our response has to be swift and most likely, according to predetermined contingency plans with the authority for retaliation delegated to theatre commands. In the event of destruction of NSC and or communications, reaction would automatically be initiated at the level of field force commanders. Therefore, in a worst case scenario the destruction of command and control set-up at Delhi consequent to a nuclear strike will not diminish the response capability and the speed of reaction and that would certainly not make it a preferred target over other cities. Consequently protection of Delhi over a host of other likely targets and that too at an astronomical cost does not appear to be so compelling.

The mode, method and magnitude of retaliation and the attendant speed itself will act as sufficient deterrence to any miscalculation or misadventure against Delhi or for that matter India. That is the very essence of the theory of deterrence against a nuclear attack by an adversary. Delhi is home to a very large diplomatic corps and this factor alone will be enough to deter an adversary from targeting it .

The range and span of defence against a missile attack must cater for interception at various altitudes and distances; from exo-atmospheric to low level. At this stage it is not clear whether the defence will focus on any specific mode or for an attack across the entire spectrum of altitudes and patterns. Probably the configuration is more likely to be based on the Russian S-300 and S-300P anti-missile systems. There has been much lobbing in the services for the acquisition of these weapon systems. However these will not be the first or the last of the wasteful acquisitions by the defence forces.

There are a large number of important cities and establishments in the country. Therefore, Delhi specific defence does not appear to be on the side logic. Decision to defend it over other important population centres has disclosed that the politician considers it to be the Achilles heel of India; a dangerous disclosure. Or is it yet another manifestation of a politician’s latent fear and paranoia for his over riding concern only for his own safety and that of his family. After all he has surrounded himself with a protective ring of ‘black cats’ and other police while people are being killed by the dozens in the NE, J and K, Himachal Pradesh, Bombay and even Delhi what to speak of lesser known places.

An adversary’s missile launch pads can be fairly close to Delhi (in missile distance terms) and given the advancements in multi targeting, multi warhead, jamming technology and techniques and low level flight profile, interception will almost be impossible. Then there is also the likelihood of a number of decoy missiles heading for Delhi to further degrade the defence.

In these nuclear times when the shadow of nuclear strikes could ominously hang over the entire country, Dr Abdul Kalam promises to make Delhi the safest place to live, while Sushma Swaraj wants to make it the cheapest with the onions at Rs 2 a kg. So every Indian may be tempted to join in the chorus, ‘Dilli Chalo’. Before such a slogan reverberates across the length and breadth of this land and an exodus starts, a word of caution. Missile shield for Delhi would be a mirage, albeit a real costly one. A state of the art, high speed missile will reach Delhi before any of you can say, ‘APJ Abdul Kalam’ and Sushma Swaraj’s promise may turn out to be a one day wonder on election eve.

(The author is a retired Deputy Chief of Army Staff.)

75 YEARS AGO

Nabha Abdication

LARGE numbers of inhabitants of the all classes and ages and of all positions from all towns and villages if Nabha State have come all the way to Amritsar to lay the real facts and feelings before the Parbandhak Committee.

Their representatives saw the committee leaders on the 4th and 5th November and after relating many heart-rending facts of the last 12 years, requested verbally and in writing to be allowed to state the real facts about Nabha before the General Committee, so that any wrong step may not be taken in misunderstanding.

They are all opposed to the reinstatement of the Maharaja.