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Tuesday,
September 23, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Mulayam’s
company Dawood in
Karachi Daring to diversify |
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IAF
needs greater punch
Daisies,
sweet and sunny
Pakistan
brokers US-Taliban peace
Tension
before verdict
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Mulayam’s company CONTROVERSIAL former Uttar Pradesh minister Amarmani Tripathi was arrested in Lucknow on Sunday for his alleged role in the murder of socialite-cum-poet Madhumita Shukla. A week earlier the Supreme Court found enough evidence for the registration of formal FIRs against Ms Mayawati and a former minister in her government, Mr Naseemuddin Siddiqui, for their role in the Taj heritage scam. However, those who saw in the developments the makings of a movement for separating politics from crime would feel cheated by the unhappy turn of events. Ms Mayawati on Monday replaced an ailing Mr Kanshi Ram as President of the Bahujan Samaj Party. In Lucknow, Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav caused a political flutter by backing Mr Tripathi in spite of the registration of a criminal case against the latter. Mr Mulayam Singh's first act on returning as Chief Minister was to order the withdrawal of POTA against dreaded lawmaker Raghuraj Pratap Singh and his father. In the eighties, Mr Mulayam Singh as a vocal opposition member had forced Mr V. P. Singh to resign as Chief Minister for his failure to nab Phoolan Devi. As Samajwadi Party chief, he helped the Bandit Queen become a Lok Sabha member. In May, his party demanded the resignation of Mr Tripathi for his alleged role in the murder of Madhumita at her residence in Lucknow. On Monday, the Chief Minister backed him for the help the politician from the crime-infested belt of Gorakhpur had extended to the Samajwadi Party for bringing down Ms Mayawati's government. If someone were to be asked to help separate crime from politics in UP, he would not know where to begin. Just about every party has done political business with the notorious Mr Tripathi. If he was in a minority of one, he would not have been seen as a source of threat to parliamentary democracy. The entire political class in UP survives on the patronage of organised crime. Mr Tripathi's career was launched by the Congress. He was sacked from the government in December 2001 by BJP Chief Minister Rajnath Singh for allegedly ordering the abduction of the son of a sugar mill owner. He was with the BSP and left it when Ms Mayawati could no longer shield him because of mounting public and opposition pressure. Now Mr Mulayam Singh needs him and Raja Bhaiya for remaining in office. And don't forget the equally notorious Mr Mukhtar Ansari who too is with the Chief Minister. |
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Dawood in Karachi PAKISTAN'S lie has been nailed once again on the issue of Mumbai’s crime king Dawood Ibrahim. The latest reports have it that the underworld don — whose name figures in India’s list of 20 most wanted criminals submitted to Pakistan after the terrorist attack on the Parliament complex — has shifted his residence to Karachi. Earlier he had reportedly been living in Islamabad, Rawalpindi and certain hilly areas near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border under the protection of the ISI. But Pakistan’s stock reply to India’s demand for the criminal’s extradition has been that there is no such person as Dawood Ibrahim of Mumbai living on the other side of the border. Islamabad has never bothered about India’s claim having been proved correct by Pakistan’s own publications many times in the past. It can behave in the same manner again when the current issue of Herald magazine, a prestigious monthly publication, quotes MQM leader Aftab Sheikh, Senior Adviser to the Sindh Home Ministry, to tell the truth that Dawood has acquired substantial property in Pakistan’s business capital and made the city his new home. His name has figured in newspaper reports following the recent bomb blast at a well-known business complex, owned by the man wanted in India. Before Aftab Sheikh’s admission (denied later on for obvious reasons), the Sindh IG, Police, had stated that the blast-hit building, Kawish Crown Plaza, belonged to Dawood Ibrahim, though it was “ostensibly owned by one Ahmed Jamal....” This shows that Mumbai’s underworld don is known by his real name despite having acquired a fake name to hide his true identity. In official records he is mentioned as Iqbal Seth, alias Amir Sahib, because he has been given Pakistani citizenship. But there is nothing unusual about it. This is how criminals having world-wide links operate. It is in the interest of Pakistan itself to hand over Dawood to India as the gesture will go a long way in creating an atmosphere conducive to friendly relations between the two neighbours. It looks like that Dawood’s extradition can be possible only when India succeeds in gathering enough international support for the purpose, particularly from influential world capitals like Washington. India will have to launch a fresh diplomatic drive to force Pakistan to see reason. Allowing the master criminal to go scot-free will send a wrong signal to the others involved in destructive activities in this country. Dawood is nobody’s friend except Pakistan’s. |
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Daring to diversify PUNJAB Revenue Minister Amarjit Samra has claimed that the area under wheat will be brought down by at least two lakh acres in the coming season. This is welcome. Addressing farmers at a camp near Jalandhar on Saturday, the minister, however, did not elaborate how this feat would be achieved. The Punjab Government has roped in a few private companies to encourage, through contract farming, the cultivation of vegetables and fruits in parts of the Malwa region. But it is on a small scale and the results are yet be seen on the ground. According to the present indications, the state is going to have a bumper paddy crop. Farmers have hardly moved away from paddy cultivation, which is fast depleting the underground watertable. The much talked-about crop diversification programme cannot be implemented by statements only. Farmers grow what gives them the better returns. They will not shift to crops other than wheat and paddy only on the advice of ministers and officials. Mere suggestions of growing pulses and oilseeds will not help. The government has to give the farmers a guarantee of a minimum support price and an assurance that if there are no private buyers for their produce, the government would procure it. Cheaper imports, it is likely, may make the government suffer losses, but in the long run a definite programme to make the Punjabi farmer produce products at competitive prices will have to be worked out. There is no dearth of experts’ reports on the issue. The latest one has been submitted by Dr Y.S. Alagh and it makes a lot of sense. It has suggested a three-pronged approach to crop diversification — production of mass commodities, production of moderately high-value commodities, or what are called cash crops, and growing high-value products like flowers for exports. This requires the establishment of the necessary infrastructure, apart from providing expert guidance and training to farmers. The farmer has to move from quantity to quality and up the value-addition chain. The choice of crops will depend on a farmer’s risk-taking ability. The government has to create a financial and organisational support system to make the diversification a success. One can only hope that the Alagh committee report does not meet the fate of the S.S. Johl reports. |
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Thought
for the day Hanging is too good for him, said Mr Cruelty. — John Bunyan |
IAF needs greater punch THE intractable nature of the Indo-Pak imbroglio has for long been a worrisome facet of the continental security scenario. The US strategic interest in the region has added to the complexity of the situation. It seeks Pakistan’s goodwill and cooperation every now and then and rewards it amply each time in political, military and economic terms. The US even overlooked Pakistan’s nuclear ambition and collusion with China. This made the subcontinental quagmire all the more complex, and affected adversely the geo-strategic calculus of the region. India has consequently not been able to transcend beyond the South Asian strategic impasse. It could, however, ill-afford to standby and watch the developments helplessly. It had to go in a big way for the matching hardware in order to maintain its conventional edge. This led to the progressive induction of high technology weapons into the region. The use of high technology weapons by coalition air forces in recent wars in the Gulf, Kosovo and Afghanistan has clearly demonstrated the debilitating impact of air power in subduing the enemy without even committing the ground forces heavily. The coalition air power decimated the Iraqi armed forces and their command and control infrastructure, precluding any scope of executing military
manoeuvres to counter the fast advancing coalition armies. The unprecedented advance of 400 km through the open desert in a matter of mere three weeks would not have been possible without the all-pervasive air power. The predominance of air power has amply shown how it could turn the tide against the enemy. The concept is gradually gaining ground and bringing about doctrinal changes in the militaries of the world, including that of the developing countries like India and Pakistan. Some may argue that it would be incorrect to draw conclusions from these wars because of their asymmetric nature. The developing countries have neither technology nor the numbers to obtain similar asymmetry. However, even if such a situation is not fully obtainable, the relevance of air power in today’s battle scenario cannot be under-rated. It was air power alone that had single-handed rendered the Iraqi forces practically redundant. Technology has made air power an effective instrument of war and the statecraft. It has begun to dominate the battlefield, and inter-state relations even in the developing countries. In the Indo-Pak context, too, the role of air power in future conflicts wouldn’t be any less decisive. The quantum jump in technology achieved by the Indian Air Force in recent years is not without purpose. Acquisition of SU-30 MKI and Mirage-2000 aircraft with their Precision Guided Munition (PGM) is a significant move in inducting high technology weapons in the Air Force. By the end of 2003, the IAF would have most of its SU-30 MKIs in the service with another 140 to be licence-produced in India from 2004 onwards. The IAF similarly plans to induct a number of additional Mirage-2000 squadrons in service in the coming years. Jaguar and MiG-27 aircraft have been upgraded to fire PGMs. Mi-17s and Mi-35s also stand upgraded to operate at Kargil like heights. Acquisition of mid-air refuelling aircraft and the AWACs a little later will give the IAF significant force multipliers. Surveillance capabilities too have been enhanced with the launch of IRS-TES satellite. It wouldn’t be long before the prevalent asymmetry develops further in India’s favour. It would be a grave mistake on the part of Pakistan to try and match India gun for gun, ship for ship and aircraft for aircraft without hurting its own economy. Vastly different economies, industrial bases and manpower potential preclude any such slugging match. India’s resurgent economy coupled with its military prowess, particularly the burgeoning air power, will ensure sufficient asymmetry. Once India begins to concentrate and address its main concern, that is China, the asymmetry will become so large automatically that Pakistan will find it hard to bridge the gap. The Pakistan Air Force is largely a tactical and defensive force with mostly Chinese-origin vintage aircraft on its inventory. A recent study carried out in the US has concluded that the Pakistan Air Force is unlikely to withstand a war beyond 10 days against the overwhelming superiority of India’s air power. Islamabad is fully aware of this, and hence its dependence on nuclear deterrence and the first-use option. The existing nuclear equation between India and Pakistan offers two distinct adversarial possibilities. It could take the form of a prolonged war of attrition at the level of low-intensity conflict (LIC), as is being practised by Pakistan today. And the other, though less likely because of its perilous portents is that of a short but full-fledged intense war. In the latter scenario, India will have to capture some sensitive territory across the LoC/IB before declaring a ceasefire so as to present a fait accompli at the negotiating table. But this will have to be achieved well short of Pakistan’s perceived nuclear threshold. Without the full weight of air power behind it, such an objective would be well nigh impossible to achieve under the best of circumstances. For the last 14 years India has been combating Pakistan thrust LIC without much success. The air-power potential has not quite been understood in tackling the LIC. It can be an effective tool if employed properly in an offensive mode. Helicopters can enhance the mobility of troops and equipment, besides engaging the enemy in real time from the air. Airborne surveillance along the LoC with prompt use of armed helicopters will have a telling effect on the enemy. The Chief of Air Staff had mentioned recently that the use of air power across the LoC was feasible and escalation containable by “prior risk analysis”. We let an opportunity go in Kargil by restricting the use of air power on our own side of the LoC, providing relief to the enemy. The impact of air power lies in its offensive employment. It can strike at the very heart of the enemy without much ado. It’s reach and flexibility has to be exploited fully to strike where it hurts the enemy most. Deterrence is nothing but flaunting one’s capabilities. India must learn to flaunt its military prowess, particularly the air-power potential, and progressively increasing asymmetry. Our defensive mindset and the propensity for political morality and rhetoric without action only encourages the adversary. We have been paying the price for too
long. The writer is a former Director-General, Defence Planning Staff, Ministry of Defence, Government of India |
Daisies, sweet and sunny Spring wore a chaplet in her hair Of milky pearls so frail and fair Young love perused her one March day While she, fair maiden fled away But when, at last he held her tight and pressed his lips upon her brow They broke, those pearls so milky white and scattered on her homeward flight And mortals call them Daisies now — Winifred
Sutcliffe STEP just outside Simla once the warmth returns and you’re sure to find the hillsides strewn with pretty dots of white. Between March and October is when daisies abound — sometimes in a cheerful crowd, at other times just one or two heads sweetly peeking out like shy children to welcome you — but almost always there. Bobbing their wide-eyed innocent faces, just begging to be picked and brought home. Portrayed so beautifully in poems as the personification of spring, daisies just love the sun and grow almost throughout the year except in times of prolonged frost. The wild Ox-Eye daisy we so love to gather is one of the most common grassland plants and usually found where there is some lime in the soil. The common scientific name for most daisies, however, is Bellis Perennis. The word Bellis is from the Latin word “bellus” meaning pretty. Perennis comes from the word perennial, because the daisy comes back year after year without much fuss, merely to charm and delight. Not surprisingly, daisies have also been long associated with children. Indeed, the purity and cheerfulness of these flowers is not unlike that of children who also love picking daisies and making daisy chains. Daisies were also a favourite with Queen Victoria in whose time the name ‘Daisy’ became very popular to denote a humble, unassuming nature. The renaissance painter Botticelli painted daisies to symbolise the innocence of babies, specifically Bom Jesus. Though most of the plant lore connected with daisies stems from the British Isles, the daisy does reflect the lingering aura of the English in Simla, specially since the weather here is much like that of England! Nevertheless even we as Indians can hardly deny the positive energy radiating from a vase full of lovely, freshly picked daisies. The feeling of warmth and
well-being that daisies emanate could also be rooted in the fact that these are flowers of the sun, which is as much a power in the east as in the west. Daisies are also known for their healing powers. The leaves and flowers are used to relax spasms, cure coughs, catarrh, varicose veins, wounds, watery eyes, arthritis and other ailments. However, the flower’s greatest virtue is its effortless talent of spreading joy wherever it appears. It reminds us to share time with our children and encourage in them a love of nature. And what better way to do so, than in picking, plucking and loving the sweet and sunny
daisy. |
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Pakistan
brokers US-Taliban peace
A very messy strategic game seems to be under way in South Asia and Afghanistan is the place where it is being played. The players are the usual suspects- among others, Pakistan, the USA, Iran and India. The situation inside Afghanistan is fast spinning out of control and every player is trying to protect its own interests and outmanoeuvre its rivals. While the potential of Afghanistan to cause massive destabilisation in the region is well known, a Pakistani expert dealing with Afghanistan says “you a’int seen nothing yet”. Islamabad is rife with reports of the Americans opening a channel of communication with the Taliban and the Pakistanis are playing an important role in trying to bring about some sort of rapprochement between the Americans and the Taliban. Pakistani observers of the Afghan scene believe that Pakistan’s policy of ‘don’t touch the Taliban and don’t spare the al-Qaeda’ allows it to both play the role of a honest broker between the US and the Taliban as well as use the Taliban in the future for regaining influence over Afghanistan. Since the ethnic divide in Afghanistan is complete, the Americans need a credible Pashtun force on their side and the Taliban are being seen as such a force. Another possible contender for Pashtun leadership is Gulbadin Hekmatyar, who is gaining a lot of support in the Pashtun belt of Afghanistan. But both he and the Taliban have taken such a hostile stand against the US presence in Afghanistan that not many people think that some kind of a deal between the Americans and either Hekmatyar or the Taliban can be worked out as long as the Americans stay in Afghanistan. Interestingly, there are also reports that in the time-honoured Afghan tradition, Fahim too has opened a line with both the Taliban and Hekmatyar. If the Americans push him too hard, he will be open to joining hands with his former enemies to forge a common front against the Americans. While internal political manoeuvres in Afghanistan are something India needs to watch very carefully, reports of the US using Afghanistan for destabilising Iran and China are equally troubling. Pakistani journalists specialising on Afghanistan talk of training camps opening up in the Baluch belt of Afghanistan to train Iranian Baluch separatists. The Baluch in Iran serve as a convenient tool for the Americans. As an ethnic and sectarian minority in Iran (the Baluch are Sunni Muslims) they have a lot of grievances against the Iranian state. In this venture too the Americans are receiving Pakistani support. While senior Pakistani political leaders accept that Pakistan is sharing intelligence with the Americans on Iran, they say there is absolutely no question of Pakistan engaging in any activity that destabilises Iran. But non-official Pakistani sources say that not only is Pakistan sharing intelligence with the Americans, they are also participating in anti-Iran activities. The Pakistani Baluch believe that the Gwadar port, which is being developed by China, will ultimately be used by the Americans to carry out covert operations inside Iran. Independent observers agree and say that there are a lot of rumours that Gwadar will be leased out to the Americans to set up a base there. This they say will cause problems in the Pakistan-China relationship. They say that the Chinese are also worried over credible reports that the Americans are activating the Uighur separatists to destabilise Xinjiang. What most Pakistanis are surprised about is why Pakistan should support a Baluch movement in Iran when there so much unrest inside Pakistani Baluchistan. Surely, they ask, once a Baluch national movement starts inside Iran, it will also spread to Pakistan. One possible explanation is that the way the Pakistanis calculate it, by destabilising Iran, especially in Iranian Baluchistan, Pakistan will block the alternate route India is trying to develop to Afghanistan and to Central Asia. This will help limit the spread of Indian influence in Afghanistan, which Pakistan sees as its own backyard. It will also create a problem for India, which will find it difficult to manage its relationship with both the US and Iran. By helping the US to destabilise Iran, Pakistan will remove even the remote chance of a rapprochement between Iran and the US. This means that Pakistan will become indispensable for the US in Afghanistan because with Iran in flames, the US will not be able to involve India in Afghanistan in any meaningful role. As a result, Pakistan will remove the possibility of the US and India acting in conjunction to clean up the jihad factory operating in Pakistan. In this unfolding game, India needs to be extremely careful. India no doubt enjoys a lot of goodwill in Afghanistan. But without Iran, India will find it very difficult to operate inside Afghanistan. India also needs to keep in mind its growing relationship with the US. As long as the US and Iran do not enter into a direct confrontation with each other, India can walk the tightrope of maintaining good relations with both. But if they enter into a confrontation, India will find it very difficult to stay neutral. India will also need to be very nimble-footed just in order to keep in touch with the fluid internal politics of Afghanistan. While India has good relations with the non-Pashtun elements, it also needs to develop its influence over the Pashtuns so that India’s options in Afghanistan are open no matter how the internal situation in Afghanistan unfolds. At the same time, India needs to try and ensure that the non-Pashtuns do not become a pushover for the
Pashtuns. |
Tension before verdict TENSION was palpable at the BJP headquarters in the Capital as the judge in the Rae Bareli court sat to pronounce the verdict. Party President Venkaiah Naidu and Union Commerce Minister Arun Jaitley were seated on the dais to brief the media. And, party spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi was running around from the briefing room to his chamber time and again to check the latest. Soon, he came out with a little piece of paper and forwarded to Mr Naidu and Mr Jaitley. Newspersons sitting on the edge of their seats wanted the lasted info and urged the BJP leaders to break the news. They smiled and the body language indicated that the judgement was not adverse. But they did not accede to the request. Moments later, the room appeared to be a musical hall with mobile phones ringing from Mozaart to “Kanta laga”. Smiling, Mr Naidu said: “Advani has been discharged and we are awaiting the judgement on others.” Once that came, he said the court had framed charges on others, but it is politically motivated. But the body language of the two leaders clearly indicated that they were more than relieved with the court’s decision on Mr Advani. Grapevine has it that in the true Hindu tradition, “shishyas” were happy when the guru was let off.
Naik’s happiness One man who was really happy about the Supreme Court’s decision on the BPCL and HPCL disinvestment was Petroleum Minister Ram Naik. He had openly opposed the move of the Disinvestment Ministry headed by Arun Shourie before the Cabinet gave its approval. Bound by the Cabinet decision, Mr Naik preferred to remain silent till the apex court gave its verdict. The moment the court pronounced that the government should seek Parliament’s nod for BPCL, HPCL disinvestment, Naik saw an opportunity and made a veiled attack on the votaries (read as Shourie) of the oil PSUs’ disinvestment by terming the court verdict as “historic”. Subsequently, realising that his statement could attract “disciplinary action”, Naik thought it fit to clear the air by saying there were no differences between him and Shourie and that his statement should not be misconstrued as his “happiness” over the judgement.
A don as a poet Rajya Sabha MP Dharam Pal Yadav is known in the media for his image of a don. Few would know that the man who once challenged UP Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav in the Lok Sabha election from Sambhal also dabbles in poetry. His maiden poetry collection “Yatra ke Madhya” (In Midst of a Journey) was launched by none other than former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar. Yadav’s 34 poems written between 1999 and 2003 are imbued with a sense of ennui. Now Yadav has a political mission. As the head of the Rashtriya Parivartan Dal, he is busy forming a third front to challenge the might of the BJP and the Congress in Delhi and Rajasthan. Any takers? No, not for Yadav’s poetry, but his politics?
Jungle raj Will the Supreme Court and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) spare some time for the “gross violation” of human rights in Bihar where the “jungle raj” is prevailing, a lawyer from the state practising in the apex court posed the question to a Bench headed by Chief Justice V N Khare while it was hearing the rights panel’s plea in the Best Bakery case. “The violation of human rights is taking place in Bihar daily but the NHRC is closing its eyes to it while it is more active in the case of Gujarat,” he said. But the Chief Justice assured him that the apex court would not be found wanting in dealing with any case of violation of human rights in any part of the country. He told the lawyer that in case of the NHRC he could address his grievance to their counsel, Mr P P Rao. Contributed by Satish Misra, S.S. Negi, S. Satyanarayanan and R. Suryamurthy |
If things were brought into being by choice, Then since no one wishes to suffer, Suffering would not occur. — Shantideva This is the sum of duty: Do naught unto other which would cause you pain if done to you. — The Mahabharata Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful. — Gautam Buddha He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. —
Old Testament The true source of rights is
duty.
— Mahatma Gandhi |
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