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Global terror cells Alone in crowd Champion’s day |
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Bridging the Gulf
Child once again
Crimes against humanity NATO kills more civilians than insurgents do Delhi Durbar
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Global terror cells SADLY, India finds a Bangalore connection to Al-Qaida terrorism. Though investigations are still on, the uncovering of the terrorist plot in the UK with the involvement of the highly educated Ahmed brothers has embarrassed the Indians in Britain and elsewhere in the West. India can no longer say with pride, as it used to do earlier, that its nationals — Muslims, to be exact — have nothing to do with the destructive designs of the international terrorist network. Now it is almost established that engineer Kafeel Ahmed, who attempted to blow up Glasgow airport, and his doctor brother Sabeel Ahmed were fully involved in the unsuccessful terrorist attack in Britain. They were closely linked to the principal conspirator, an Iraqi doctor, Bilal Talal Abdullah. The Ahmed brothers might have got introduced to the Salafi school of thought — which refuses to compromise on anything that it believes is un-Islamic — in West Asia where they had their schooling when their father, a doctor, worked for many years. When they came back to India, they reportedly came in contact with the Tablighi Jamaat, a religious organisation known for its proselytising activities. It seems they became more radical after coming into contact with the Iraqi national in Cambridge, an activist of the Hizb-ut-Tehrir, affiliated to Al-Qaida. Once it is clearly established how and when they took to the terrorist path, it will be easier to prevent Al-Qaida from getting Indian recruits. It is good that India has offered cooperation to the UK in its investigation. This may also help India in nabbing other Indians who might be involved in a similar Al-Qaida project. The international terrorist outfit has come to be known for preferring highly educated and indoctrinated recruits. India has to save its nationals from becoming tools in the hands of terrorist outfits. It must review its record of handling terrorism-related cases, as no conviction has taken place in most of them. There is a long list of such cases - burning of Samjhauta Express coaches, blasts in Mumbai suburban trains, Malegaon explosions, Akshardham killings, Raghunath Temple blasts, etc. Any leniency in identifying and punishing the guilty only goes to make matters worse. Terrorism feeds itself by quoting such examples.
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Alone in crowd FORMER Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar breathed his last at the ripe old age of 80, but the image his name may always evoke is that of an “angry young man”. There is no dearth of issues in the country on which there is need to take a principled stand, and the “Young Turk” from Ballia was always taking them up with gusto, in the process calling a spade a bloody shovel. The brief stint he had as Prime Minister was an exception to his record of being the perennial rebel. Such courage of conviction could have made him take up non-worthwhile causes too but he was one man who could be depended on to swim against the current. This tenacity was best displayed during the Emergency which he opposed tooth and nail. It did not bother him that he had to suffer a long incarceration for opposing the Emergency. What an irony that he had to fight a similarly fierce battle against bone cancer right till his death. He may have almost stopped intervening in parliamentary debates towards the last stage of his long political career, but during the rest of it, he never refrained from speaking his mind. The outspokenness of the eight-time parliamentarian won him many admirers, although it also made sure that he did not have as many supporters and followers as he ought to have. Perhaps that is a cross, which everyone who dares to differ has to bear. It is a pity that his long political career also had blemishes of the personal kind. The questionmarks raised about the way he spent the money collected during his 4,000-km padayatra and the land dispute involving his sprawling Bhondsi ashram took some of the sheen off his illustrious career. Yet, his place in the list of leaders who helped determine the direction in which the country moved in the post-Independence phase is secure. Whether you agreed with him or not, he evoked awe and admiration. |
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Champion’s day NO tennis star has been elevated to greatness quite so quickly as Roger Federer, and no other player has exercised the kind of thraldom that he has over both fans and fellow players. But the determined Rafael Nadal charge at the
Wimbledon final saw the famed unflappability and invincibility of the Swiss creak and crack under the pressure. As those impossible shots from the Spanish challenger ensured that the tennis ball kept coming back at him relentlessly, it was a dour, almost peevish champion that fought it all off, over five long sets. Yet champions are champions, and no way was Federer going to let Bjorn Borg’s long-standing record of five consecutive Wimbledon titles go by, out of grasp for ever. He rained down aces, pulled off his own superb shots when it mattered, and in the fifth set, after some truly top-quality tennis, it was finally over. With his 54th consecutive win on grass, Borg’s record was equalled, and he pulled alongside Borg and Rod Laver with 11 Grand Slam titles. Roy Emerson with 12 and Pete Sampras with 14 are the remaining two peaks to transcend - after that, when youngsters look at top records with stars in their eyes, and shake their heads weary from the chase, they’ll have only one name in their minds. Roger Federer, the man with no weaknesses, either in his game, or in his temperament. It is to Roger’s credit that he is going where he is going in spite of Rafael Nadal practically trying to yank him back by the scruff of his neck. The Federer-Nadal rivalry has been on for some time now, and Federer’s French Open losses to Nadal would be hurting. Nadal’s supremacy on clay seems well-grounded, and Federer no doubt will be wanting to emulate Borg in that other record — back-to-back wins of the French Open and Wimbledon. Not because of a statistic, but because of what it means in tennis terms. When you are chasing the tag of the best of the best, you want both corners well covered.
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There is no such thing as bad publicity except your own obituary. |
Bridging the Gulf Gone
are the days when trade between India and the Gulf countries was confined to oil and gas. Of course, crude oil continues to be a major component of the imports from the Gulf with the fast rising energy demand from Indian industry. The situation will remain unchanged for a long time to come as India is projected to replace South Korea as the fourth largest energy consumer after the US, China and Japan. But the fast growing non-oil trade is the new reality, which will be more visible with the passage of time. Never before have the Gulf countries shown as much interest in expanding their economic relations with India as they do now. The involvement of Arab nationals, mostly Saudis, in the September 2001 terrorist attacks on New York’s Trade Towers and the Pentagon in Washington has led to a situation in which people from the Gulf are finding it difficult to carry on their trade operations in the US and European countries. They have to struggle hard to get visas to visit these countries because of the overriding “security threat” factor. The discouraging business environment in the West for Gulf nationals may become more prohibitive after the discovery of the West Asian connection in the latest terrorist plot targeting Britain. What happened with Dubai Ports World, when it succeeded in getting a contract for running six US ports, tells a lot. The strong anti-Gulf lobby there prevented these ports from coming under the control of the Dubai-based company, known for its highly efficient functioning and impeccable credentials. A business deal was scuttled because of extraneous considerations. In such a situation, Gulf nations have no choice but to shift their attention to the East with India being one of the preferred business destinations. The new reality is getting reflected in the sharp rise in trade between India and the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) —- Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Their trade volume went up from $5.55 billion in 2000-2001 to $23.42 billion in 2005-06, higher than India ‘s total trade with Europe. It may reach a new high by 2010, according to a study by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry. The two sides are in the process of finalising a free trade agreement, which is bound to lead to a more conducive environment. Gulf countries are evincing keen interest in India’s achievements in information technology, communication technology, biotechnology, education, etc. They are also eager to learn from India’s small and medium enterprises’ success stories. These facts came to light during the second India-GCC industrial conference held in Muscat in March this year. Saudi Arabia, particularly, is looking for assistance and investments from India in areas like petrochemicals, power, water and transportation. King Abdullah’s visit to New Delhi in January this year was primarily aimed at infusing new life into Saudi Arabia’s “look east” policy. The Saudis intend to develop a strategic relationship with India as it suits them under the changed circumstances. Kuwait, the fourth major country for India ‘s overseas investment in the Gulf, is expecting investment and cooperation from India in construction, operation and management of infrastructure-related enterprises, information technology and software development, hospitals and hotels. For India, there is considerable scope for expanding agricultural exports involving fruits and vegetables to the Gulf countries. The Agriculture Production Export Council is studying what India needs to do to push up its farm-related exports to the Gulf. Opportunities can also be explored for the export of dairy products. India currently exports to Kuwait and other Gulf countries a large number of items, including Basmati rice, machinery, glass and glassware, ceramic goods, transport equipment, readymade garments, meat and its preparations. Prospects are brightening up for a sharp rise in health care-related tourism from the Gulf countries with India emerging as a centre of world-class medical facilities. Besides the cost factor being attractive in India, people from the Gulf have a welcoming atmosphere in this country. But a special drive will have to be launched for the purpose. The Gulf people, flush with funds, must know the advantages available in India so far as health care is concerned. As Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath told a conference of the India-GCC Industrial Forum in May, India is keen on more investments from the Gulf, particularly through joint ventures and other kinds of partnerships. India needs huge funds to have world-class infrastructure for faster economic growth. It is looking for foreign investments mainly in power, telecommunications, roads, ports and housing. There is no dearth of investment opportunities in India. There is growing realisation in the Arab Gulf countries that the time has come for them to diversify their business activities. Their dependence on petroleum exports cannot take them too far. This is another reason for their growing interest in India. Both sides, in fact, need to focus on areas other than the economy too. This is not a tall order, given the goodwill India enjoys in the Gulf countries. Over 3.5 million Indian expatriates there have played a major role in building the country’s image. They are considered more efficient and dependable than other South Asians. India must make greater use of the opportunity
available.
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Child once again
Men
will be men. One common grouse that girlfriends and wives have against their men is that they are never expressive enough. But after months of desperate efforts to figure out what to feel, I’ve finally broken the jinx. “I want to live again, all over again.” As my wife and I anxiously wait for our first child with open arms, these are the predominant thoughts on my mind. All these months, however, it seemed that my heart had gone numb and the only emotion was that of concern, concern for my pregnant wife and the about-to-be-born child. But now I’ve got hold of my thoughts that would probably lay the foundation of my first emotional bond with my child. I still remember how in school I used to look up to one of my seniors. On his farewell day, I walked up to him with a small diary, which had been stolen from my uncle’s desk. The otherwise outgoing-looking senior wrote a rather thoughtful parting message that was to haunt me forever. ‘Have fun that we couldn’t have,’ he scribbled in capital letters. Although my first reaction was to understand that my role-model senior was an unhappy soul, who had failed to make the best of the opportunities that knocked at his doors, it was only on my own farewell day that I could decode the message. The autograph was actually laced in good wishes from someone who was in a position to advise others that happiness lies along the road and not at the end of it. Years later, I recently bumped into an old classmate on a community site. Although we are still too young to reflect on our lives, both of us had a strong urge to go back to school and do it all again. Going back in time may not be possible but I surely want to re-live my experiences through my child. As they say, wiser is the man who learns from other’s mistakes. So, I plan to sermonize my child on not just academic matters but also on how to live each moment to the fullest. Convinced that the moment I would share all this with my wife, she would surely take back the tag of inexpressiveness from me, I was really looking forward to her reaction. But I was shocked to find that instead of feeling happy that I had finally read my own mind, she instantly accused me of lifting ideas. “This sounds like Anupam Kher telling Shahrukh ‘Ja ab mere hisse ki zindagi jee ke aa’ in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge,” she
alleged. |
Crimes against humanity Five
years ago, in July 2002, the first permanent international criminal court was established as the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court entered into force. It was mandated to hold personally accountable perpetrators of such heinous crimes as genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. This marked a watershed in the international community’s determination to bring to an end a tradition of impunity and put in place a culture of accountability. The Secretary-General of the United Nations, in a statement marking the five-year anniversary, recalled that the creation of the Court represents one of the major achievements in international law during the past century. He underscored that the activities of the Court and its Prosecutor already had a deterring effect on potential perpetrators of international crimes and called on States not yet parties to the Rome Statute to consider becoming a party to it. While the United Nations played an important role in its conception, the Court is now an international institution in its own right, independent from the United Nations and independent in the exercise of its jurisdiction from the Governments of the Members of the United Nations. However, the United Nations and the ICC are united in their determination to bring an end to impunity for the most heinous crimes known to humanity. Impunity for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes have for too long been tolerated or gone unpunished – now even Heads of State and Government must be held accountable in the event that they engage in committing, aiding or abetting international crimes. In its struggle to fight impunity, the ICC cannot succeed on its own. As Philippe Kirsch, President of the Court, likes to put it: “The Court is independent but interdependent.” Unlike domestic mechanisms, the ICC does not have any enforcement powers. It can neither enforce its own arrest warrants nor its own judgements. It depends on others to carry out its mandate successfully. The primary support and cooperation for the Court’s activities must come from States. As a secondary resort, the Court can also turn to international and other organisations. The United Nations does its share in assisting the Court through providing evidence and logistics in conformity with the UN Charter and its mandates on the basis of a special agreement between the UN and the Court. The International Criminal Court at its fifth anniversary has made some impressive gains in its still very young existence. After the creation of International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda and within the context of the creation of the Special Court for Sierra Leone and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, the ICC has become the centrepiece of a system of international criminal justice. The Prosecutor of the Court is currently investigating four situations: in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where during one of the bloodiest conflicts in Africa, thousands of civilians have fallen victim to mass atrocities and countless children have been abused; in Darfur, where unspeakable crimes at a massive scale are still being committed; in Northern Uganda, where the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) abducted thousands of children turning them into child soldiers, servants and sex slaves; and in the Central African Republic where there are in particular many allegations of rape and other acts of sexual violence against women. By investigating these situations, the ICC is delivering on its promise to fight impunity in a professional, impartial and non-partisan manner. The Court is also proving that it is a judicial not a political institution. The key to its success is the cooperation and assistance it receives. States can manifest their support for the Court’s struggle to fight impunity by acceding to the Rome Statute. States that have decided not to join the Rome Statute can nevertheless find other practical ways of supporting the Court. In a recent speech, the Legal Adviser to the US Department of State has reaffirmed that, despite a sovereign decision not to become a party, the United States shares a commitment to ensuring accountability for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. It made good on this pledge by not opposing the Security Council’s decision to refer the crimes committed in Darfur to the ICC for prosecution preferring to find “practical ways to work with ICC supporters to advance our shared goals of promoting international criminal justice.” Today, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court has 104 States Parties, representing a solid majority of the 192 States Members of the United Nations and significant progress towards the Court’s eventual goal of universal jurisdiction. Other States are favourably considering their accession to the Rome Statute. Japan, for example, will soon become a party to the Rome Statute after its Parliament recently approved its accession. As Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has declared in unequivocal terms on a number of occasions, the International Criminal Court can count on the support of the United Nations in the future just as it could count on our support in the past.
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NATO kills more civilians than insurgents do KABUL, Afghanistan – After more than five years of increasingly intense warfare, the conflict in Afghanistan reached a grim milestone in the first half of this year: U.S. troops and their NATO allies killed more civilians than insurgents did, according to several independent tallies. The upsurge in deaths at the hands of Western forces has been driven as much by Taliban tactics as by actions of the U.S. military and its allies. But the growing toll is causing widespread disillusionment among ordinary Afghans, eroding support for the government of President Hamid Karzai and exacerbating political rifts among NATO allies about the nature and goals of the mission. About 500 Afghan civilians have been reported killed in 2007, and the rate increased dramatically in the past month. In some instances, distinguishing between combatant and noncombatant dead was difficult. But in many other cases, there was no doubt that the person killed was a bystander to war. Still, Western military leaders argue that any comparison of casualties caused by Western forces and by the Taliban is fundamentally unfair because there is a clear moral distinction to be made between accidental deaths resulting from combat operations and deliberate killings of innocents by militants. “No (Western) soldier ever wakes up in the morning with the intention of harming any Afghan citizen,” said Maj. John Thomas, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. “If that does inadvertently happen, it is deeply, deeply regretted.” Moreover, alliance officials say Taliban fighters are ultimately to blame for many of the fatalities attributed to coalition military operations because the insurgents deliberately place civilians in harm’s way, using them as human shields and employing other brutal tactics. To the families of victims such as Azizullah the salt-seller, such distinctions are lost in a wave of grief and indignation. At dawn June 16, Azizullah went off to prayers with his older brother, Mohammed Reza. It was the last time Reza saw his younger brother alive. At mid-morning, Reza received a call on his mobile phone from Afghan police telling him that Azizullah had been wounded, then another saying that he had died – shot by NATO-led troops as he sipped a drink a few steps from his storefront in a rundown district of Kabul. “Why? Why?” Reza asked. “They are supposed to protect us, not kill us.” In a communal society such as Afghanistan, “no death is isolated,” said Hekmat Karzai, who runs a security think tank in Kabul and is a cousin of the president. “When one person dies, it affects a whole village or clan or tribe. Ultimately, it affects everyone, and there’s no escaping that.” By late June, the UN mission in Afghanistan, working with local rights groups, had counted 314 civilian deaths at the hands of Western-led forces and 279 people killed by the Taliban and other militants. But that figure did not include at least 45 civilian deaths reported by local officials recently in the Gereshk district of Helmand province. On June 23, in response to the deaths of more than 100 noncombatants in a single week that were blamed on Western artillery or airstrikes in southern Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai unleashed an angry call for caution by U.S. and NATO forces. “Afghan life is not cheap, and it should not be treated as such,” the Afghan president told reporters in Kabul. Aides said Karzai believed that his language, the sharpest to date on the subject, was the only way to get the attention of Western policymakers after repeated appeals had gone unanswered. NATO and U.S. military officials say that when in doubt, human-rights groups sometimes count ambiguous cases among the civilian dead, a contention sharply disputed by the investigators. “There is always a margin of error, but no one is interested in inflating these figures,” said Anja de Beer, the director of the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief, a consortium of humanitarian groups that also tallies civilian deaths. Often, civilians are killed in the aftermath of an attack by insurgents. Azizullah was shot and killed by troops responding to a car bomb that went off about half a mile away. Political analysts say that despite the increase in civilian deaths, most Afghans still support the presence of international troops. “It’s an obvious truth that the Western forces bring security that we need,” said Said Najib Mahmood, a political science professor at Kabul University. By arrangement with
LA Times-Washington Post |
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Delhi Durbar Union
commerce minister Kamal Nath was completely floored the other day when his Japanese counterpart Akira Amari described him as a statesman and wanted the people of his constituency, Chindwara, to re-elect him. It all began at a meeting on the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) with Nath openly demanding changes in the alignment of the ambitious project to include his home State Madhya Pradesh in it. As Nath finished his address, Amari pointed to Nath and remarked,” he is a statesman and a statesman should not confine himself to the welfare of his home state but should think of welfare of the entire country.” Nevertheless, the visiting Japanese minister urged the people of Chindwara to re-elect him next time even if Madhya Pradesh is not included in the DMIC. “He is a statesman, you should re-elect him,” he said, sending the audience into peels of laughter.
Crowning glory National Human Rights Commission member and former CBI Director P.C. Sharma has several interesting anecdotes about his custom-built cane hat. Sharma, who hails from Ambala, says he took a fancy to the hat as an IPS probationer in the mid-sixties and has been wearing cane hats for almost four decades. He says the hat always generates interest during his visits abroad and has fetched him numerous compliments from ladies. On one occasion, tourists near Windsor Castle even offered him an astronomical amount in pounds for it. Although Sharma could have easily parted with the hat, he was not tempted since it has become his trademark. Sharma was, therefore, surprised when a television reporter needing a sound byte from Sharma, asked him to take off the hat. Sharma did oblige the reporter but he was clealry unhappy at being parted from his hat, even if was for a few minutes.
Wooing Mamata Now that the Presidential election is round the corner, both the UPA and the BJP are going all out to woo the smaller parties and individual MPs and legislators. So when Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Bannerjee called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to present him with a lengthy memorandum relating to recent developments in Nandigram and Singur, the PMO virtually rolled out the red carpet for her. Not only did the PM give her a patient hearing but he also lined up all his officials to take detailed notes on her demands and suggestions. As somebody remarked, the meeting was treated at par with that of a chief minister. At the same time, NDA leaders made frantic telephone calls to Mamata but she rebuffed all their overtures. But Mamata has kept both sides guessing as she has still to reveal which way the Trinamool Congress will vote. Contributed by S. Satyanarayanan, Tripti Nath and Anita Katyal |
Let each man follow his own path (religion). If he sincerely and ardently wishes to know God... He will surely realise him. |
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