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Indian
Ocean: Management and maritime security The challenge facing Punjab’s
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On Record
Reflections Profile Diversities — Delhi Letter
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Indian Ocean:
Management and maritime security Navy
Davy, being observed on December 4 every year, provides us with an
opportunity to introspect on the maritime issues which are linked with
the destiny of our nation. It is not a mere coincidence that India is
the only country to have an ocean named after it. However, the
importance of the oceans has not been fully realised by us. Indian Ocean provides the shortest link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It accounts for nearly half of the world’s container traffic and two thirds of the oil flow through this region. Over 200 ships pass through the Malacca strait daily. More than 15.5 mbd of oil is shipped from the Persian Gulf by tankers each day through the Gulf of Hormuz. The Persian Gulf with 65 per cent of the world’s reserves holds the key to global energy and economic progress. The Indian Ocean region will continue to hold great interest for all nations. Its management is the responsibility of littoral states. However, these states are fragile and at varying degrees of development. There is no awareness that the sound maritime cooperation and good ocean management hold the key to a common goal for all the states. There is an urgent need to set up an Ocean Commission where activities relating to the oceans can be prioritised and synergised. Each maritime nation would have to examine how best this organisation can be set up to meet their specific interests. These commissions could then promote better maritime cooperation among maritime nations. India with its vast maritime interests has much to offer to friendly maritime nations in the form of cooperation which could extend from human resource management and training to shipbuilding, ship repair, intelligence sharing, surveillance and other measures against common threats of maritime terrorism and piracy, environmental protection and in other areas of ocean management. The creation of the National Maritime Foundation was an important step in advancing India’s maritime interests. While the present focus on Container Security Initiative and Proliferation Security Initiative is appreciated with the attendant threat of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) material, the amount of effort and resources spent on such schemes could well be directed towards improving the global maritime system as a whole. To being with, the system of Flag of Convenience should be done away with. All merchant ships must be registered in the countries from where they operate. Once this is done the vetting of crews can be more effective. There will also be easier to enforce and profile their movements and keep track of those who try to deceive the system. Other measures to make the merchant ships more secure in the form of Sea Marshals can also be instituted. The Indian Ocean area will have to remain secure and tranquil. The main instrument of this stability will be the Indian Navy. Our interests lie in the North Indian Ocean spanning from the Persian Gulf to the Malacca Strait. The Navy should have the capability to keep this area under surveillance and presence to ensure no interference takes place to our interests. It must be oceanic in character, regional in reach and proactive in approach. There is a need to induct certain capabilities which are necessary to ensure maritime security of our nation. First, the entire area should be kept under surveillance; all contacts in all dimensions in this area need to be tracked. Secondly, the Navy must have the capability to meet threats ranging from maritime terrorism to high-end intensive warfare in a force structure that would be networked throughout. It must have reach, staying power and adequate sea-lift capacity. It must be balanced in these capabilities in all the three dimensions. Integral air, anti submarine and anti missile defence must be built in with strong underwater defence and offensive capability. Essentially, these capabilities must be acquired in an indigenous manner. We have a substantial shipbuilding capability. What we need is to build indigenous capability in weapons and sensors on the lines of the Brahmos project with strong private sector involvement with foreign collaboration and indigenous research and development inputs provided by the Defence research Development Organisation (DRDO). The Indian Navy has developed under severe resource constraint. Not long ago, its share of the defence budget at 3.34 per cent was barely sufficient to keep it afloat. One would have expected a maritime nation like India to spend at least 25 per cent of its defence spending on the Navy. The Service managed to come out of that phase and proved its worth in the Indo-Pak war of 1971. Its exploits and innovative grit have been praised the world over. It was sheer ingenuity and the tenacity of the Naval staff and the belief that indigenous capability was the key to its development that made the Navy what it is today. The Navy is a capital-intensive service with high technology weapons and sensors operating in all the three dimensions. As the Indian economy grows so would the maritime interests of the nation expand and their security would be vital. It will be the oceans which will form the next arena of conflict. The Indian Navy must be developed to attain second strike capability and meet the challenges of the future. The threat of maritime terrorism to the global maritime system is likely to increase and the system of management in the Indian Ocean will have to improve to face these challenges. Three areas of activities need to be given greater attention. First, the internal system of ocean management should be refined within the maritime nations by setting up Ocean Commissions. Secondly, greater maritime cooperation is a must between maritime nations. And finally, the global maritime environment should be made more disciplined by replacing the system of Flags of Convenience with a more secure system to face the growing challenges of maritime terrorism. No nation can aspire to be great if it does not have adequate maritime strength. India is already a great maritime nation. Now it must show that it has the capacity and the will to manage effectively the ocean area of vital interests to it. This can only be done if the Indian Navy is developed to meet these tasks in a balanced
manner.
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The challenge
facing Punjab’s cotton growers The cotton harvesting and ginning season is on. The expected production of 22 lakh bales of ginned cotton (170 kg each) in Punjab compared to 17.31 lakh bales last season is a record. The Agriculture Department has attributed this to the introduction of BT cotton which has improved the yield per hectare by 40 per cent over the average yield of about 300 kg per hectare, and Integrated Pest Management
(IPM) programmes being undertaken in the Malwa belt’s 190 villages. However, agriculturists say, the record production is more due to the increase in the area under cotton cultivation. Farmers who have taken initiative to sow BT ought to have a better deal. Besides bumper crop, the farmers rue that they are unable to get even Minimum Support Price of Rs 1,835 a quintal for their produce at early stages of the procurement season even in case of bumper crop. Ultimately, it was left to market forces to determine the price in November, the starting of the peak marketing season for the crop, which would last till March. The delayed arrangements for purchase of cotton crop from the market, and the inability to make quick clearances for ginning, show the apathy of procurement agencies, NAFED and
CCI. No government agency was able to forecast the bumper crop this season. The estimates kept fluctuating from crop damage and drop in its yield during September rains to anywhere near 17-18 lakh bales production. In the absence of any creditable crop mapping and monitoring system, there was confusion among the procurement agencies about the crop estimates. Punjab consumes 35 per cent of the cotton produced in the state. The textile industry is now getting modernised. Over two lakh state-of-the-art spindles have recently been installed in the state. Some export-oriented downstream industries consuming cotton such as denim, terry towel and sheeting are on anvil in Punjab and nearby areas. The machinery speed has increased; so have the requirements on raw material and their quality. Punjab should reap the harvest of good cotton crop by making the textile industry use more cotton for value addition within the state. The ginners rue that even if they supplied good quality cotton to the spinners in the current season, spinners are not convinced to give them a better price. Thus, the ginning units should equip their units for better ginning practices to reduce trash, high volume testing of the fibre for each bale packed and coded accordingly to fetch better price. The ginning and pressing units should enjoy the incentives available under Technology Mission on Cotton and Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme of the Union Ministry of Textiles. Otherwise, the purpose of modernising the textile industry and of growing BT cotton in the state will get
defeated —
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On Record
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar wants to introduce a new political culture in the state. At a personal level, he respects Railway Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasad Yadav as his elder brother. But he would never compromise on values and ethics to fulfill his promise to deliver good governance. On his dream to build up a new Bihar, he expects all forces to join hands and support his appeal to the Centre to declare Bihar a “backward state”. The second Railway Minister in the country since Independence to resign from the post following a train accident (November 1999), after the late Lalbahadur Shastri, Nitish Kumar spoke at length with The Sunday Tribune at the State Guest House in Patna narrating his dream on a new vibrant Bihar as the NDA government completed its first week in office. Excerpts: Q: How do you feel the taste of victory? A: I am overwhelmed by people’s response both within and outside Bihar. The people are coming spontaneously with suggestions. These reflect their aspirations. They share my dream for a new, vibrant Bihar. Q: You said Khajana khali hai. How do you plan to tackle the poor economic scenario in the state? A: We will publish a white paper on the state’s economy in the next budget session. I would prefer streamlining the existing sources of income to mobilise internal resources and not to depend on Central grants alone. There are many loopholes and leakages in the system. I do not want to impose fresh taxes on common people, but to ensure a better tax realisation mechanism. Q: Why do you want the “backward state” tag? A: This is the need of the hour because of the poor state of affairs. I also want the Gramin Rojgar Yojana and Food-for-work scheme to be implemented in all the 38 districts. I will try to prevent leakages, if any, in the delivery system so that the benefits reach the poorest of the poor. Q: What will be your focus for development? A: Bihar is primarily an agrarian state, confronted with the perennial flood problem. I would like to streamline the irrigation facility and check the flood problem through various measures including construction of dams and reservoirs. My basic focus would be to develop agro-based industry. Once Bihar’s share in the country’s sugercane production was 25 per cent. But now it is just 4 per cent! Agriculture growth through proper irrigation and agro-based industries could lead Bihar towards prosperity. This will be supplemented later with some planned drive for industrialisation and revival of sick jute units and others. I am also initiating measures to improve the power scenario. Q: There were 14 killings and four abductions in the past week. But you promised to establish rule of law in three months. A: There are always some post-election incidents. But the number is much less this time. I am not defending myself. I have already asked senior officials to deal firmly with the criminals. I have assured them all possible help to overcome the infrastructural handicaps, including the much delayed modernisation of the police force. I have already directed the completion of the East-West corridor project and asked the police officials to provide all security to the workers and organisations of the project. Q: Is there any special effort on the law and order front? A: Despite some unfortunate happenings, the people have seen, unlike in the past, officials reached the spot promptly and camped in respective places to handle the situation. The Home Secretary and the DGP are in New Delhi to have a detailed meeting on law and order with Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil. Q: Contrary to your gesture to former Chief Minister Rabri Devi on accommodation, many NDA MLAs scrambled for bungalows. How would you react? A: I am not bothered whether I am staying at 1 Anne Marg or elsewhere. It is a customary practice, mainly for security reasons like the Prime Minister’s residence at 7 Race Course Road, New Delhi. Soon after I came to know about the pending case against Jitan Ram Majhi, I enquired the same from him. He resigned on his own. The tussle between my Minister, Narendra Singh, and the Magistrate before the Assembly gate was basically due to identification problem; they settled the issue at the personal level. As regards bungalows, I have assured all of proper accommodation. But even then, it was not easy to weed out some old habits. Q: Did NDA influence the Vigilance Commission about the probe on Sadhu Yadav? A: The Vigilance Commission has been probing this issue; the NDA has nothing to do with the decision. I only want an impartial enquiry. I do not believe in the politics of vendetta or witch hunting. Q: How would you like to sum up your feeling in past seven days ? A: People have tremendous expectations from the government. But I believe in action, not words (smiles). I only want cooperation from all segments of society to fulfil my dream to build a new Bihar, where “Biharis” will feel proud of
themselves.
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Reflections We
are living in an era of natural disasters. Millions are becoming
victims of tsunami, earthquakes, hurricanes, cyclones, landslides,
drought, forest fires, flooding, bird flu, SARS, Mad Cow diseases and
AIDS. As if this were not enough, the horrendous man made disaster that we experienced in the Capital through serial blasts on Diwali eve, which left hundreds dead and injured, were no less lethal than nature’s fury. The point I am making is that we are increasingly witnessing a period of “Developing Disasters”. We may have serious limitations in prevention of natural disasters but we can at least develop better and more reliable response mechanisms (human and technological) by which we can be forewarned and forearmed. Over a decade ago, the then Commissioner of Police in Delhi had suggested that we prepare a disaster mitigation plan on various possible counts. The rest of us had chuckled. Some of us had thought that he was wasting our time by asking us to prepare for something which had a very low probability of occurrence. We had even wondered if he thought that we did not have enough work to keep us busy. But now I realise that he was well ahead of his time. We were the ones who were ignorant. Currently, it is totally a different scenario. The Indian Parliament is close to passing a Bill, soon to become an Act, on disaster management and disaster mitigation. This Act will put in place an infrastructure that is sound and well resourced. However, to make its objectives get off the ground even before the infrastructure falls in place, we should look at what already exists. Let us take a closer look at the Civil Defence Act of 1968 that exists in the statute book. This Act enables unlimited community mobilisation in the prevention of, preparedness for and response to all that is a danger to human life and property. There exist several useful provisions under the law that apply nationally, i.e. a person desiring to be a voluntary and honorary member of the Civil Defence Corps has to be a minimum 18 years of age (that could be relaxed to 15 years of age), and possess a minimum of primary-level education, and overall physical fitness. Once enrolled and called for duty, the Corp member is for all practical purposes considered a public servant. The civil defence volunteer (CDV) may be given duty allowance, uniform, insignia, equipment, etc. at the discretion of their respective state governments. Several states have had the Department of Home Guards and Civil Defence for years. We have only to re-energise the potential, resource it adequately, update the rules framed and make disaster preparedness and management an inclusive focus of training. In fact, a good question to ask is, “Why do we not make civil defence a national movement for a prepared national community? Perhaps, something along the lines of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) and the National Service Scheme (NSS). And why do we not enroll student members of the Civil Defence Corp upon graduation from colleges. After all, the nation invests considerable amount of time and training into these students. All we need is enthusiasm and regular orientation and clear and enforceable practicing policies. Pending the Parliament Act and the detailed infrastructure, I wonder how many know that the country already has a National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), that is chaired by the Prime Minister himself, and with the former Chief of Army Staff as its Vice Chairman and other experts as members. The Directorate of Home Guards and Civil Defence (my current charge) has had many a useful interaction with them, including a presentation of our potential. The NDMA clearly recognises the huge “resource potential” in the mobilisation of the Civil Defence and the Home Guards community in the areas of disaster management and mitigation. We are a country of over one billion people! While many Western countries have ageing populations, India has a vast number of young and vibrant people! All we need is to be committed and inspired to put in place mechanisms of harnessing this community-energy for positive contributions to the nation at large. Instead of creating new nomenclatures, forces or forums, we must re-enthuse and re-energise our existing Civil Defence infrastructure. We could engage senior students in schools, colleges and universities, resident welfare organisations in urban areas or in bastis/slums, and also village pradhans in the awareness, prevention and response training to disaster management. Currently, our department has undertaken three major programmes. The first entails the mobilisation and mass training of students of Delhi University. The second attempts to make this voluntary force well rounded by enrolling girl students from Classes XI and XII who have received self-defence training. The third involves the training of members of resident welfare associations of the multi-storied Dwarka Sub-city in Delhi. December 6 is the Raising Day (the day the organisation was founded) of the Home Guards and Civil Defence Department. We could well recognise this immense community power by declaring December 6 as the “Community Mobilisation Day” — a day marking the recognition of community power, comprising youth, women, senior citizens, professionals, rural and urban populations alike, in the service of our nation. This would be true disaster preparedness and disaster mitigation. This shall also be true national preparedness for almost anything! Nature sent or man
made!
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Profile Raj has mastered the Sena Supremo’s style of speaking and gesticulating and commands loyalty of the younger generation in the party. An alumni of the prestigious J.J. Institute of Applied Arts, Raj, like his uncle, is an accomplished cartoonist. Films and music are his passion. He has even written a biography of his uncle, Bal Keshav Thackeray. Raj has all along been attached to his uncle against whom now he has revolted but not uttered a word against the Sena supremo. Wildlife photographer Uddhav is soft spoken and has a more sober way of doing things. It was widely believed that Bala Sahib had been grooming Raj as his successor because he was seen as his uncle’s proxy and has, evidently, a sizeable following in the party. The Sena boss sprang a surprise by appointing Uddhav as the Executive President of the party, indicating that his son, not nephew, would be his successor. Raj was designated one of the nine “Sena Netas” and had to report to Uddhav. Differences had already existed between the two cousins but Bala Shahib’s preference for the son widened the gulf further and both were pushed on a collusion course. Uddhav and Raj worked at cross purposes and the consequences were disastrous for the Sena. As the Executive President, Uddhav enjoyed wide powers, even though Raj had more supporters, and began sidelining his cousin and his supporters. Narayan Rane was one of them. In the 2004 Assembly elections, candidates suggested by Raj were rejected; he was ignored in the decision-making process. At the same time, Uddhav started introducing vital changes in the party in his effort to give it a more cosmopolitan outlook. He acknowledges that the old Sena ideology is getting obsolete and needs to be redefined. India has changed and so has the vote banks. There was resentment in the party but vetoed by Bala Sahib whom nobody dared question. When Rane rebelled, Raj wanted the Sena veteran to be persuaded to stay on but he was overruled. The party mouthpiece Samna even dubbed Raj as a “coward”. The cold war between the two cousins further intensified during the Malvan by-election in the Konkan region from where Rane ramped home with a landslide victory. Raj was completely bypassed in the Sena’s election campaign. Bala Sahib too sided with his son and declared last month that he would keep away from active politics and play the role of an advisor while Uddhav would hold the reign of the party. Raj was left with no option but to revolt. Feeling hurt and humiliated, he resigned from party posts, plunging the crisis-ridden Sena into further turmoil. In a stinging attack on Uddhav, he said “the party is in the hands of power brokers and I am disappointed at its functioning”. Paradoxically, even though Raj had attacked his cousin bitterly, he refrained from making any comment on Bala Sahib who preferred his son to his much-pampered nephew all these years. Raj says, he has no complaint against his uncle whom he considers “my God” and whose “blood flows in my veins”. He has, as of now, no plans to quit the Shiv Sena even as he dissociated himself from the party’s debacles in the Malvan Assembly and the Mumbai North-West Lok Sabha elections. Insiders in the Sena say that despite his resignation from the party posts, Raj may not align himself with any political party. Raj is too much of a Thackeray, a sainik, to damage the organisation with which he has grown. He may organise a “Jan Morcha” type of movement in an attempt to eventually takeover the reins of the party. Senior Sena leaders see no end to the ongoing crisis in future. How they wished that the mild-mannered Uddhav and aggressive Raj had mastered the art of working together. Jointly they would have made a perfect
team.
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Diversities — Delhi Letter Gone are those traditional ways of protest and condemnation. Rallies and dharnas could be modes of the past, if you would consider how two New Delhi-based NGOs — Peace and Anhad — are observing December 6 here. An exhibition titled “In defence of democracy” is all set to be inaugurated here on Dec 6 evening at the Academy of Fine Arts & Literature by Javed Akhtar. This exhibition highlights those aspects from the Indian history and culture which talk of pluralism. Exhibition is broadly divided into the following sections: the legacy of the freedom movement, the vision of a secular India as enshrined in our Constitution, the threat to the secular fabric by the communal and fundamentalist forces, the process of communalisation of the Indian society, the myth of minority appeasement and the reality behind conversions, the status of minorities, the attack on minorities, our composite cultural heritage and the need to preserve it. All this relayed through and on 60-odd panels. Thankfully, it is going to be a travelling exhibition, taken to a number of cities over the next six months so the rest of the country gets to see the reality. This alone is a refreshing news. Otherwise, the problem is that most seminars and exhibitions don’t go beyond New Delhi.
Progressive writers I have been observing another positive development, if I may say so. There has been much emphasis on the progressive writers of the years gone by. Jamia Millia Islamia University’s Vice-Chancellor Prof Mushirul Hasan has held several meets and seminars on the Progressive Writers’ Movement (PWM). It’s absolutely amazing how selflessly they wrote and how each word held out so much. I often ask myself: why are there no Premchands around? And I suppose one evening I must have muttered this rather aloud for my friend writer Shinie Antony whose latest novel is Kardamom Kisses. Quipped almost as a tight rejoinder, “There are multiple Munshi Premchands around! If he had a semi-orphaned upbringing, so did Saki and Dahl. If he wrote sensitively about childhood, so have Arundhati Roy and Raj Kamal Jha. The problem is not a paucity of talent, it is the overlooking of it, the downright trivialisation of it. Imagine Premchand’s agent who says, “talk about how you ate raw chanas straight off the stalks as you were starving. That is so Indian! and then arrange for a snap of him next to a cow for that right exotic touch in a single column for Time magazine. Tell me how Premchand will himself stay for long then?” And when my talking aloud went further to the next query, why writers don’t any longer write from their heart she went absolutely angry: “That is another myth just begging to be exploded. Shammers have co-existed with workaholics from time immemorial. Even cave graffitists must have had forgers amidst them. It is for the reader to reject or accept a book, but it is up to the writer to give it from the heart or not at all. “The heart has a tendency to jump into your eyes, your words, your actions and it is a human trait to recognise this instantly. There is no formula out there that can replace genuine feeling. There never was, there never will be.” I didn’t really want to counter and keep on countering, but I do sincerely feel that there has come about some sort of change in the very perception and with that in the very outreach. Though books and their rather elaborate releases are taking place as never before, that tendency or say spontaneity to go forth in a maddening rush and grab that book is missing.
Interactive session This brings me to mention that this coming week will have well known writers Ruskin Bond and Keki Daruwalla having an interactive session at the India International Centre. There would be a discussion revolving around the noted journalist Pran Chopra’s new book, The Supreme Court versus the Constitution: A Challenge to Federalism. Another discussion on yet another book, written by Kashmir University’s former Vice-Chancellor J.A.K. Tareen, who is presently heading the South Asia Foundation. His book is titled, Fire Under Snowflakes: The Return of Kashmir University. There is a footnote to it: “More than the memoirs of a Vice-Chancellor, Prof Tareen gives an insight into the dynamics of conflict area, the psyche of the educated elders and the youth and brings to light large gaps in the understanding of Kashmiri and Kashmir’s problems by the rest of the subcontinent…” A couple of weeks back, one of the academics from the Valley had got in touch and told me about this book. He also muttered that in his book Professor Tareen had been rather critical of my observations of the Kashmir University campus. Around 2002, when I was writing my book on the Kashmir Valley, he was the Vice-Chancellor.
Widen your horizon Earlier, University representatives from the UK, the USA and Australia made rounds here. But this week I was pleasantly surprised to interact with representatives from a little known university, the Central European University (CEU). I will lace you with great details in next week’s
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Why do you keep asking question after question? Learn to believe. Work hard at believing. Without belief all the knowledge in the world is like sawdust. Without faith and trust, everything you have is naught.
—Bhagvad Gita The Supreme Truth can be attained by the way of knowledge. But this path is difficult and needs tremendous perseverance. The path of devotion is easier by contrast.—The Mahabharata Look at the anvil of a blacksmith—how it is hammered and beaten; yet it moves not from its place. Let men learn patience and endurance from it.—Ramakrishna
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Uddhav,
Bal Thackeray’s son, and Raj, his nephew, have emerged as two faces of the
Shiv Sena as the Sena “dictator” enters the evening of his life. Some call
it the crisis of two ideologies. Either of them will inherit Bala Sahib’s
legacy and the Sena’s leadership. Forty-five-year old Uddhav has more
cosmopolitan outlook than his cousin, seven years younger to him. Two years back, he launched Mee Mumbaikar (I am Mumbaiite irrespective of which state I belong) movement with the avowed objective of giving more metropolitan look to the Shiv Sena, which has thrived on parochialism for over two decades. At the same time, Raj launched his Parprantiya Hatao (remove outsiders) campaign; his supporters bashed up candidates from northern states who had been called to Mumbai by the Railways for interview.