Apologise and behave!
MUCH of the civilised world has condemned the barbarous conduct of the Pakistani Army in respect of Indian soldiers made captive near the Line of Control. One of the two senior IAF officers, who strayed into the occupied territory while trying to rescue a fellow-pilot, was Sqn Ldr Ajay Ahuja.

Court to Jaya’s rescue
AIADMK supremo Jayalalitha has won a minor legal point but a major political debate. A Chennai special court has found no conclusive evidence to link her to the multicrore substandard coal import case and has therefore struck off her name from the list of the accused.

TALIBANISATION OF PAKISTAN
by Hari Jaisingh
I AM not a hawk as far as India's ties with Pakistan and their improvement are concerned. I passionately believe in establishing durable relations between the two neighbours and have often pleaded for a peace course to end over five decades of animosity. However, peace, like love, is a two-way street. It cannot be pursued in a blind alley by one party alone.

Question of enforcing laws
by Joginder Singh
WHILE banks have accumulated losses in the form of non-paying accounts or non-performing assets, to the extent of Rs 50,000 crore another form of losses occurring at present are the non-payment of dues even by state governments.

Who’s the boss — Nawaz Sharif or army?
By M.S.N. Menon
GEORGE Fernandes would have us believe that Nawaz Sharif and the ISI were not even in the know of the Pak plan to occupy Kargil. He puts the blame entirely on the Pakistan army. What is the truth? Of course, the truth is not that simple. Benazir Bhutto says the army is still supreme. Others say that Sharif has emerged as the most powerful Prime Minister.

Clinton mum on Pak human rights violation
US President Bill Clinton’s call to Pakistan to withdraw its forces from the Indian side of the Line of Control would have been more efficacious if he had also brought pressure to bear on Islamabad over the mutilation of the bodies of Indian soldiers in its custody.

Earphone captains
by Rajnish Wattas
NOW that Bob Woolmer, coach of the South African cricket team has ushered in the innovative device of “captaining” his captain through an earpiece, many new possibilities of using the controversial contraption have opened up for the future. Besides a wired coach and captain, even the entire team could be inter-connected.

75 Years Ago

Shri Bharat Vidyalaya, Rishikesh
RISHIKESH: The second day’s proceedings of the Shri Bharat Vidyalaya commenced with Vedic recitations whereafter Swami Prakashanand Saraswati, General Secretary, Sadhu Mahamandal, spoke on the superiority of our educational system. His speech was much appreciated.

Apologise and behave!

MUCH of the civilised world has condemned the barbarous conduct of the Pakistani Army in respect of Indian soldiers made captive near the Line of Control. One of the two senior IAF officers, who strayed into the occupied territory while trying to rescue a fellow-pilot, was Sqn Ldr Ajay Ahuja. Since no war has been declared either by Pakistan or by India, the concept of "Prisoner of War" did not apply to Ahuja. But he was tortured and shot at point-bank range. The post-mortem examination of his body revealed cruelly inflicted bullet injuries, defiling his person in uniform. Six members of a patrol party, including Lt. Saurabh Kalia, were put through painful processes for days together before being killed. They were returned to their countrymen with mutilated or severed limbs. Even their eyes, inner ears and other vital parts were not left untampered with. When the External Affairs Ministers of the two countries met in New Delhi the other day at the publicity-prompted behest of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Mr Jaswant Singh told Mr Sartaj Aziz much about the reprehensible happenings. Mr Sartaj Aziz was on a denial mission. He would call even the established torture of soldiers "a tissue of lies". India has rather belatedly used the diplomatic channel to lodge a formal protest against the inhuman conduct of the Pakistani Army personnel. Mr Sartaj Aziz has repeated his dubious denial. Technically, the Geneva Conventions should not have come into play in the context of these peace-time cruelties. But the overly legalistic world needs the yardsticks of codes and rules to judge even elementary aspects of condemnable conduct. So, the Conventions have been mentioned by India to Pakistan.

We are a co-existing nation and not a belligerent, conquering country with an inbuilt mechanism of vindictiveness in our defensive military psyche. We prevent defeat, savour victory with sobriety and treat the dead among the adversaries with respect. The revised Geneva Convention of 1949 makes it mandatory for the capturing party to treat the PoWs in a responsible manner. Physical mutilation (along with exposure to medical or scientific experiments) has been expressly forbidden. The prisoners are to be protected against acts of violence, intimidation, insults and public curiosity, as pointed out by us earlier. Reprisals amount to uncivilised conduct. The quartering, feeding and clothing of the PoWs have to be meticulously arranged. But Pakistan has violated all norms of the Convention to which it is a signatory. India showed the ideal way of dealing with war prisoners after the surrender of more than 90,000 men in uniform. They went away honourably "from one home to another" after the Simla Agreement was signed. Now, for Pakistan, all accords seem to be dead — the Geneva accord, the Simla accord, the accord mandated by the sense of civility in a neighbouring milieu.... So, it is time to take the matter to the international forum meant for punishing wartime crimes and the violation of the Geneva Conventions. We are not sure about the treatment meted out to the other soldiers captured by Pakistan. Islamabad must take effective penal action against its brutes. A full account of the date, place and circumstance of the capture, the period of detention, the particulars concerning the wounds and the cause of the death of each soldier must be given to India without delay. Pakistan — particularly its armed forces — ought to remember the fair deal its officers and men got after the Bangladesh war, apologise for inhuman behaviour and acknowledge through appropriate action the difference between savagery and civilisation.

Court to Jaya’s rescue

AIADMK supremo Jayalalitha has won a minor legal point but a major political debate. A Chennai special court has found no conclusive evidence to link her to the multicrore substandard coal import case and has therefore struck off her name from the list of the accused. The Tamil Nadu government is planning to appeal before the High Court, on the strength of an earlier remark that there were enough facts to prosecute her. But that was a preliminary observation and made while rejecting the former Chief Minister’s appeal to squash the entire proceedings. The special court’s decision is on the basis of a thorough study of the file dealing with the coal import. And then there is the clinching fact. Important pages raising and substantiating suspicions that the coal was not of the specified quality and that the contract should be terminated were first detached from the file, page numbers were changed and later reinserted. The special court has found no clear indication that these pages were intact when the then Chief Minister and the Finance Minister, Mr V.R.Nedunchezhian, cleared the import. The benefit of the doubt has naturally gone to the lady.

It is not the end of her legal troubles. She has to defend herself in four more cases, two of them in the same special court. But the coal case is the most important for the prosecution even if it involved a kickback of just Rs 6.5 crore. The case was built around the detailed and highly damaging statement by the then PWD secretary, Mr Sundaram. If he were to repeat that as evidence before the court, conviction seemed certain. The secretary is not only articulate but also motivated. He stuck his neck out to draft the two notes opposing the coal import and hence felt obliged to vindicate his position before the public. Of course, hearing against one more Minister and three senior IAS officers will go on, providing an opportunity to Mr Sundaram to present his case. But the absence of Ms Jayalalitha will rob the case of its mega voltage publicity value.

There are also political implications, inevitable when a top leader is the main accused. The ruling DMK has lost the corruption plank as a campaign issue. This is the second reverse. It has earlier given up opposition to communalism after it decided to join the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. Ms Jayalalitha’s old charge that all court cases are trumped up ones without any legal or factual basis will tend to sound a bit more plausible. And in a state where election campaign is unusually vitriolic and full of personal vilification, the filing of the cases and now the red flag by a special court will provide deadly ammunition to the two arch rivals. The CPM will breathe a bit more easily now that the lady has won marginal reprieve in a corruption case. Similarly the Congress need not be defensive in forging an understanding with the AIADMK. Imported coal is metaphorically firing the election engines in Tamil Nadu. It cannot get queerer than this.

TALIBANISATION OF PAKISTAN
Need for a pragmatic review
by Hari Jaisingh

I AM not a hawk as far as India's ties with Pakistan and their improvement are concerned. I passionately believe in establishing durable relations between the two neighbours and have often pleaded for a peace course to end over five decades of animosity. However, peace, like love, is a two-way street. It cannot be pursued in a blind alley by one party alone.

Equally pertinent here is the necessary sincerity and honesty of pursuit. Nothing earth-shaking about these observations. These are matters of common sense. But common sense is the first casualty if hidden designs hinder the diplomacy of peace. Islamabad took Indian leaders for a ride early this year. Knowledgeable Pakistanis talk gleefully of the "inko bewaqoof banaya" syndrome in Islamabad and elsewhere. So much for the bus diplomacy!

I have written extensively in my earlier columns about our failures — political, intelligence and of command. The political leadership, however, must take a major part of the blame on this count. Slackness down below is but natural if the persons at the helm send out wrong signals.

I might be accused of being biased against Defence Minister George Fernandes. I don't allow myself to be guided by any base feelings when it comes to national issues. But I firmly believe that every facet of our failure must be clinically examined and analysed objectively. This is the only way we can learn from our mistakes.

Unfortunately, we try to cover up every lapse. This tendency at the political and ministerial levels needs to be resisted. It is in this context I would like to repeat the following:

First, it is not the job of our Defence Minister to distribute "good conduct" certificates to the Prime Minister of a hostile neighbour which has created "a war-like situation" within our borders in the Kargil-Dras-Batalik belt in Jammu and Kashmir.

Second, to say that Mr Sharif was both innocent and ignorant about the organised intrusion is ridiculous, to say the least. The tapes clearly show that he was told about it. We may say that he did not realise the implications of such a dangerous game. This, again, is ludicrous. Mr Nawaz Sharif is a shrewd politician. He knows what is to be left to the generals to achieve Pakistan's primary objective of grabbing Kashmir. Our leaders would do the country less harm if they learn not to deceive themselves by certain self-induced illusions.

Third, it was equally shocking on the part of Mr Fernandes to give a clean chit to the ISI. I am sure the patrons of the ISI must have felt embarrassed by Mr Fernanades' "honest observations"! By George, so what? Mr Fernandes might say. Well, this is the tragedy of this country. Here politicians thrive even on their blunders!

Poor Prime Minister! As head of a caretaker government, he probably thinks that he is supposed to take care of even his wayward ministers! The country has already paid a heavy price for the sins of omission and commission by our leaders, both past and present. Here we have no choice but to wait for the verdict of history and the electorate.

For the present, we hope Mr Nawaz Sharif will listen to President Clinton and pull back his troops and sponsored Afghan mercenaries. This is the only course left to Islamabad:

Looking beyond the bloody Kargil happenings, India-Pakistan relations need to be reviewed afresh since our policy-makers and leaders have a poor sense of history and a poorer grasp of contemporary events. We tend to react to events rather than set the pace for shaping them. Pragmatism demands an objective assessment of men, matters and issues. Herein lies the test of success in foreign policy.

We basically tend to be carried over. We tend to be emotional and allow ad hoc responses to blur rational thinking. Pakistani leaders, in contrast, are both pragmatic and focused. They are sure of their priorities and targets and accordingly decide actions and non-actions. Even in the midst of public demonstration of emotions they never lose sight of their basic objectives. Pakistan's Kargil operation is yet another example of how its leaders camouflage their real intentions amidst diplomacy of "smile and sweet reasonableness". General Zia was a past master in this art. And Mr Nawaz Sharif, I understand, considers him his role model in dealing with India.

I'm hammering at this point to help put things in perspective. Our leaders and people ought to see the current conflict against a realistic assessment of Pakistani intentions.

Equally vital is to acknowledge that we have brilliant diplomats and a highly motivated and professional armed forces. They are capable of redeeming the nation's honour whatever the constraints, operational and otherwise.

"The Army's honour is at stake. And we shall live up to our reputation and throw out the invaders," a top-ranking officer involved in the Kargil operations told me.

His are not empty words. I could see resolute determination and sincerity behind the utterances. In fact, the officer was echoing the feelings of the entire armed forces itching to strike at the enemy firmly and decisively. So, let us not entertain doubts about the competence of the jawans and officers of the Army and the Air Force. They are among the best in the world. We have proved this in the 1965 and 1971 operations. We shall prove it again, notwithstanding the fact that Pakistan's regular army has actively involved Osama bin Laden's Islamic fighters known for their barbaric acts. This has surely introduced a new element in the planned infiltration in the Kargil-Dras sector.

Having said this, the second point I wish to emphasise is that the present conflict must not be viewed in isolation. It is part of Pakistan's grand design to grab Kashmir by fair or foul means. Internationalising the issue beyond the scope of the Simla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration is the very obvious intention of Pakistan. It is also no secret that Islamabad exploits Islam's religious bonds to mislead the international community, the Islamic world included.

The problem with Pakistan is that its feudal lords have used Islam to build Pakistan's separate identity. It has pursued its expansionist policies in Kashmir and Afghanistan in the name of Islam. In the process, it has officially backed the cult of terrorism, especially after its active involvement in the Afghan war. That this underlines the failure of India's Afghan policy is a separate issue, beyond the scope of the present study.

By now we know the fate of Afghanistan. With a well-entrenched Taliban, it has become a new focal point of militant Islamic fundamentalism. Its tentacles have spread right within Pakistan and are moving towards Central Asia. Even China has reasons to be apprehensive on this count.

Be that as it may. The Pakistani leaders' flirtation with the Taliban and the encouragement they have provided to barbaric Afghan mercenaries will soon recoil against them. We know that Saudi billionaire Osama bin Laden operates in the Afghan-Pakistan belt. Even the US administration has had a taste of his terrorist acts. Unfortunately, President Clinton pursues contradictory policies and postures with regard to the spectre of terrorism. He "recognises" only that strand of terrorism which is directed against the Americans. Thereafter, terrorism ceases to be terrorism! This is a pity.

It is probably not realised here that with the induction of the "Lakshar" from the rugged mountainous region of Afghanistan in Kargil, Islamabad is virtually creating a military-madarsa mafia. This has dangerous implications not only for Kashmir but even for the future of Pakistan.

There are increasing signs of Talibanisation of Pakistan. As it is, a feudal order dominates life and society there. The bulk of Pakistan's budgetary provision is sliced off by an increasing outlay for defence. A mounting debt burden has only made matters worse for its already precarious economy. There is hardly any money available for education in a society where the literacy rate is so poor. But some Islamic fundamentalist groups are active collecting funds from private sources to provide a wider reach for madarsa-type Islamic education. Today thousands of youngsters are enlisted in such Islamic outfits. And they are the readily available combustible human material for a jehad in Kashmir and beyond.

The western powers are just blind to these hard facts. By propping up Mr Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan they are playing with fire. A Talibanised Pakistan will pose serious problems not only to India but also to America-sponsored peace moves.

Is Washington listening? I would like President Clinton to have a close look at America's Pakistan policy. Going by its track record, Pakistan, for all practical purposes, looks like a terrorist state. It needs to be treated as such if the USA means to live up to its anti-terrorism crusade.

Question of enforcing laws
by Joginder Singh

WHILE banks have accumulated losses in the form of non-paying accounts or non-performing assets, to the extent of Rs 50,000 crore another form of losses occurring at present are the non-payment of dues even by state governments. The states like UP, Bihar, West Bengal and Delhi have got away, without paying to the power generating agency, the National Thermal Power Corporation, dues worth over Rs 10,700 crore. Bihar has not paid any dues, which stand at Rs 1860 crore for the last 19 months, followed by Delhi (2039 crore for the last 11 months), UP (Rs 2096 crore for the last nine months) and West Bengal (Rs 995 crore between 13 and 26 months).

It is not that the State Electricity Boards have not been collecting the bills from the consumers. The honest consumers have been paying through their nose. It is only the populist give-away schemes and the lack of political will to stop theft and transmission losses that have brought about this situation.

Every activity of the government is not slanted towards solving a problem. It is adjudged as to how it is going to affect the vote bank. First we overstaff. Then we go for voluntary retirement schemes.

A committee on the revival of three public sector banks — UCO Bank, United Bank of India and Indian Bank — has identified that these banks are overstaffed by 30 per cent, and voluntary retirement is the only solution. On the contrary, the government, without realising the implications on the economy, raised the age of retirement to 60 years. Instead of letting people go at the age of 58, it gave across the board an extension of two years to everybody.

Though most of the Central public sectors, with a few exceptions, are a loosing proposition, the Union Cabinet agreed to give a pay hike to their staff to the extent of over Rs 3000 crore in May, 1999. It left to each organisation to take a decision, depending upon its financial situation. This means another round of strikes, and demands and dharnas still the units already in the red are bled white or are closed down.

In place of concrete work, what we are getting are only dreams and promises. Proposed industries, roads and water supply exist only on paper, as the government is perpetually complaining of shortage of funds. The result has been the selective enforcement of laws. The rich and those enjoying power have managed to emasculate laws with impunity. The richer and powerful the man, the more contempt he has for the laws and the system. He is confident in his belief that he can bend, twist and manipulate the laws to his needs and whims.

Numerous powerful politicians, including Ministers and Chief Ministers, have got away with amassing crores of public money, without as much as “by your leave.” Weak, vacillating, inert, inactive and appeasing successive governments have brought the situation to this pass where an impression is sought to be created that money can settle every problem and buy everything. This has led to a situation of lethargy, insensitivity, all-around corruption and total lack of response to the genuine problems of the people. Matching talent with experience and effectiveness in delivering has been the weak point of the government.

It may appear little surprising that we are living in segments of prosperity, amidst dire poverty. Last year, India consumed 737 tons of gold, worth about $7 billion. It is more than the consumption of China and the USA combined for the same period. India’s official holding of 400 tons of gold with the Reserve Bank of India is valued at $3 billion. The gold in private hands is estimated to be 10,000 tons, priced at $100 billion.

Our politicians, including some former Prime Ministers, Chief Ministers and Ministers, have been talking about good governance as if they were delivering a classroom lecture. One may ask them a simple question as to what happened when they had the opportunity to put things right. What occasioned them to fritter away the opportunity, and support the corrupt to the hilt for their survival?

The inability to enforce the laws uniformly has foisted a new breed of politicians on us. The result is that there is a full-time focus for staying in the power rather than any focus on the needs of the common man, in whose name governance is done. Some power-hungry politicians, for their personal aggrandisement, in collaboration with dishonest bureaucrats, have perverted the system. The condition prevailing, at any given time, is reflected in political governance. This includes ethics, culture and values cherished. The moral fibre is the pre-condition of a clean society.

Resistance to malpractices and punishing those involved are the only ways to curb them.

As and when such people are brought before the law, the time taken to dispose of the case gives an impression that they can get away with anything, including murder. What can be done to rectify the situation? Life is a journey, and 50 years plus in the life of an independent nation like India is a small period. Social, economic and value change does take time. It is only we, the Indians, who can improve our lot ourselves. Nobody else can or will do it for us. — INFA

(The writer is a former Director of the CBI.)

Earphone captains
by Rajnish Wattas

NOW that Bob Woolmer, coach of the South African cricket team has ushered in the innovative device of “captaining” his captain through an earpiece, many new possibilities of using the controversial contraption have opened up for the future. Besides a wired coach and captain, even the entire team could be inter-connected.

If the Indians were fielding — whether in the World Cup or out of it — Azhar could be telling Mongia how many times to scream “aye-gha” in an over and also set the upper limit for appealing for lbw; quite discreetly, without being seen by TV viewers. And Azhar in turn could get morale-boosting advice from the coach, twiddling his thumbs in exasperation at the now all too familiar Indian collapse; just when on the threshold of a victory. The coach in turn, could be himself getting some coaching from the tearful BCCI president.

Or perhaps, Azhar may instead prefer to tune in to receiving fond “sweet nothings” from Sangeeta, when the chips are down, and wait for the passion-laced sizzlers (instead of merely flying kisses) when he strikes form, once in a blue moon. In case long distance connections are made possible, the Cricket Control Board could save on all the expenditure incurred on board and lodging of the wives of our cricketing stars in distant lands. This of course could lead to the demoralisation of the team coaches, with the wives usurping them and calling the shots both on and off the field.

In a reverse swing, this could also have an adverse effect on the future Indo-Pak ties — as Akram is reportedly married to a professional psychotherapist, on whom he reportedly relies heavily for support. Well, that’s a gamble Indian will have to take and let the more henpecked captain or the smarter wife win. Thank God, at least in the last match, Sangeeta seems to have done better just with body language; without the earphone advantage! The bachelor boys of the team could have the option of either being connected to their moms or their girlfriends. And just in case there was a cross-connection; one would just say mum’s the word!

The new device could have wide applications outside the cricket arena also. Errant husbands could be kept in check by domestic captains i.e wives — especially on spirited social occasions. The latter could keep conveying a running score card of the number of drinks downed by the former; and order them to return to the “pavilion” immediately for a dressing down at home.

The hubbies would also be kept on a tight leash in their effusive compliments to other femme fatales present, and striking excessive bonhomie with them. This would save the wives the bother of conveying subtle messages through grimaces and killer looks; which the hubbies usually choose to ignore, carried away by the macho mood of the moment.

Besides facilitating social monitoring by the better halves — the earphone may also have a hidden spin-off on the career front. The wives with their instinctive wisdom, could guide hubbies to laugh merrily at the oft-repeated, corny jokes of the boss at the official get-togethers, and nod their heads in total agreement with his views on everything under the sun.

While the ICC still dithers on the subject, my wife has already fixed one on my ear, and is now dictating this piece without a whisper of it reaching the editor. Who knows — he in turn may already be wired to his better-half, for accepting or rejecting it.

Who’s the boss — Nawaz Sharif
or army?
By M.S.N. Menon

GEORGE Fernandes would have us believe that Nawaz Sharif and the ISI were not even in the know of the Pak plan to occupy Kargil. He puts the blame entirely on the Pakistan army. What is the truth?

Of course, the truth is not that simple. Benazir Bhutto says the army is still supreme. Others say that Sharif has emerged as the most powerful Prime Minister.

There is only one way to find the truth, we must study closely the inter-relationship of the three leading forces in Pakistan — the political leadership, the bureaucracy and the military. And for a clear understanding of these forces, we have to go back to the days of Pakistan’s birth.

At the time of its birth, Pakistan did not have a central civil service to speak of. (India had one). Civil servants, who opted for Pakistan, were rather few. But Pakistan had a reasonably large army — a kind of central service, you may say. So the first civilian administration of Pakistan — that of Liaquat Ali Khan — made extensive use of the army for civil duties — above all for maintaining law and order and regulating the flow of refugees. This was the original sin.

No wonder, the army has played a key role in Pakistan’s politics. For 24 years out of 50, the army has ruled over Pakistan. Today, it prefers to rule over the country indirectly, through the control it exercises over the civil administration.

The army has not been without support in the country. The fundamentalists and the feudal elements have been the army’s main support. As for the bureaucracy, its support has not been steady. There has always been some inner tension between the army and the bureaucracy. They look upon each other as rivals for power. And yet they have ganged up against the PPP, the party of Benazir Bhutto, because she and her father had tried to stamp out corruption among the civil servants.

Nawaz Sharif draws his support from the urban middle class. He has also managed to retain a certain measure of goodwill among the bureaucrats and the army. This has to do with the ethnic factor. In Pakistan, the Punjabis dominate the army, the bureaucracy and politics. They gang up against the Sindhis, Baluchis, Pathans and Mohajirs. Nawaz Sharif, although of Kashmiri origin, is a Punjabi. Hence the support he receives from the army and the bureaucracy.

There was another reason for the growing strength of the bureaucracy — the absence of a strong political party. In 1947 the Muslim League had no popular base in Punjab, Sindh and NWFP. What was more, it soon became unpopular in these regions. (This explains why the Muslims who migrated from India, although staunch supporters of the Muslim League, remained Mohajirs all these years). Naturally, the power of the bureaucracy rose rapidly. It was for all practical purposes the de facto ruler from 1951 after the political leadership was found wanting.

But in less than 10 years, the bureaucracy became notorious for its corruption. It led to military intervention. The first military dictatorship was that of Field Marshal Ayub Khan, established in 1958. Soon a nexus developed between the army and the bureaucracy. But corruption continued.

So, when Z.A. Bhutto came to power, one of the first things he did was to sack about a thousand bureaucrats. This explains the animus of the bureaucracy to the Bhutto family. But Bhutto did not dare to take on the army. He chose General Zia-ul-Haq to head the army hoping that he would remain loyal. He did not. He got Bhutto executed.

It was General Zia who began to introduce army men into civil service. He had a good reason: the army was less corrupt. With Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, Zia wanted an organisation to work closely with America’s CIA. Thus was born the ISI, a power answerable only to Zia and Perhaps supreme.

After Zia’s death in 1988, the army chose to keep out to let in civilian rule. But having enjoyed power and pelf, the army hankered after civilian jobs. As a result, many of the key jobs came to be occupied by the army. The advent of Benazir Bhutto made no difference to this process.

Although a coup attempt was made in 1995, the army seems to have accepted the social order. It is close to the ISI and to the IJI, yet another creation of Zia. And it has a vested interest in preventing the return of the PPP. The PPP cadres have scores to settle with the army and the bureaucracy.

Nawaz Sharif is welcome to the army, for he is Zia’s man. What is more, he has allowed the slow militarisation of the civilian administration. Perhaps this was to placate the army or because of the breakdown of civil administration in Pakistan. The bureaucracy today is not only corrupt, but least efficient. Sharif has handed over many jobs to the army. For example, law and order, the 1998 census, road construction, many essential services like water and electricity supply, etc.

About 25,000 army men were employed in the 1998 census and about 30,000 are employed in power and water supply. (By the way, it was the army which tried to block the supply of power to India). Even military courts are reported to have been set up to try civil cases. In 1998, some 20,000 military men were employed to investigate a huge scandal in the educational system. Already retired generals and other senior army men are posted as governors, as chairmen of public sector undertakings.

The upshot of it all is that the army is more well entrenched in the administration today than when Pakistan was under army rule! And to this extent, the bureaucracy has suffered. It is no more what it was.

There is one reason for this — the steady decline of the PPP as a political force in Pakistan. Today traders and businessmen are with Sharif, and so too most of the urban people. As for the countryside, it is more under the influence of the Jamaat. It is this change in political preferences which explains the gagging of the intellectuals. There is no transparency in the administration.

What is the constitutional implication of these changes? Earlier, the army used to seize power and rule over the country. Today, the army is a visible part of the civil administration. This has serious implications to the democratic process in Pakistan. It not only blocks the advance of democracy but also affects the transparency of the administration. Pakistan has become a repressive state. The facade of civil administration can no more deceive anyone. The recent witchhunt against the journalists was clearly inspired by some military quarter.

The resignation of General Jehangir Karamat under threat of dismissal has given a false impression that Nawaz Sharif is beyond the power of the military. This is by no means the case. Civilian retribution — the only fear among generals — is still far away in Pakistan.

A regime like Pakistan needs external aggression for internal cohesion. That is why the army will always be important. We used to think that with the acquisition of nuclear bomb, Pakistan will be free from anxiety about Indian preponderance in conventional weapons. But possession of nuclear weapons seems to have emboldened Pakistan to adventures. Otherwise it would not have challenged India at Kargil. It has already tried nuclear blackmail.

It is clear from the tape record of the talk between General Musharaff and General Aziz of the Pakistan army who is the boss in Pakistan. It shows clearly that Nawaz Sharif was informed of the plan to take over Kargil. It is not true that he was not taken into confidence. But the decision was that of the army. Preparation for the attack on Kargil began in January 1999, that is well before the Lahore Declaration. So India was taken for a ride.

The tape also reveals that it was the army generals who were giving orders to the Foreign Minister of Pakistan, not the other way round. Even the diplomatic and political aspects of the aggression have been worked out by the army.

So, who is the boss in Pakistan? No doubt, the army. But Sharif is their man. He is what is called a consummate puppet.

Clinton mum on Pak human
rights violation

US President Bill Clinton’s call to Pakistan to withdraw its forces from the Indian side of the Line of Control would have been more efficacious if he had also brought pressure to bear on Islamabad over the mutilation of the bodies of Indian soldiers in its custody.

President Clinton’s strange silence over this blatant human rights violation by a US pretege underscores Washington’s double standards more particularly because the heinousness of the act could not have escaped world capitals, especially in NATO which has been blasting Yugoslavia for human rights violations against ethnic Albanian Kosovars.

During Mr Clinton’s 10-minute conversation with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee there was no expression of revulsion at the mutilation of the bodies of the Indian soldiers which is in clear violation of the Geneva Conventions.

Instead the US President took the opportunity to restrain India, the victim of aggression, “in order that the situation does not escalate”. He has, in effect, encouraged Pakistan in its tactic of using the threat escalation into a nuclear confrontation to try and delink the rest of Kashmir from India.

The unctuous appreciation of India’s restraint in Kargil camouflages an oblique endorsement of Pakistan’s tactic of launching the massive infiltration in the Mushkoh-Dras-Kargil-Batalik salient along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir from behind the shield of “first use” of nuclear weapons.

Unstated in his appreciation of India’s non-use of other options like crossing the Line of Control to destroy Pakistan’s logistical support bases for the troops and mercenaries it has pushed across the LoC; resorting to diversionary tactics both in other sectors in J and K as well as the international border; launching a war to liberate Pak-Occupied Kashmir, etc. is the knowledge that Pakistan has launched this misadventure from behind the threat of first use of nuclear weapons if India did any such thing.

The USA has, in effect, endorsed Pakistan’s covert threat to use nuclear weapons if India does not restrict itself to a localised war which is in keeping with its tactics of war by proxy with minimal damage to its own military machine.

While the Government of India must consciously resist being drawn into a war at a time and place of Pakistan’s choosing it must not be carried away by such “appreciation”.

President Clinton’s call to Pakistan to withdraw its forces from across the Line of Control also reopens the touchy issue of “safe passage”. It would be better if the Government of India makes it abundantly clear that those who have crossed the Line of Control must surrender their weapons and that the modus operandi of their return must be “repatriation” not “safe passage”. Till such time as this suggestion is accepted the Indian armed forces will continue their operations against the infiltrators.

The Government of India would do better in the national interest to demand that Indian restraint cannot be taken for granted if Washington and NATO governments take Pakistan’s side by harping that India must exercise restraint without concomitant pressure on Pakistan to end its aggression in Kashmir or bringing it to book for war crime and human rights violations.
— Asian Defence News International.

75 YEARS AGO

Shri Bharat Vidyalaya, Rishikesh
From Our Correspondent

RISHIKESH: The second day’s proceedings of the Shri Bharat Vidyalaya commenced with Vedic recitations whereafter Swami Prakashanand Saraswati, General Secretary, Sadhu Mahamandal, spoke on the superiority of our educational system. His speech was much appreciated.

Then Pandit Nekiram Sharma from Bhiwani delivered a long oration, in which he appealed to the audience to wear khaddar and serve the country.

Addressing the Sadhus, he requested them to take in their hands the country’s lead and to save the dying Hindu race. In the end he appealed to Shri Pandit Malaviyajee to intervene in the local frictions of Rishikesh to save them from serious consequences which were so manifest.

In the night, Swami Vivekananda spoke on “Our Duties”.