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Terror at Jaipur |
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Crops on fire Profile On Record
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Terror at Jaipur
Once
again terrorists have struck with impunity, introducing to a historical city their macabre wares of purposeless slaughter of the innocents, many of them tourists, shoppers and ordinary citizens, thronging the crowded lanes of a city admired for its cultural heritage and beauty the world over. The peaceful Pink City, with its age-old history of communal harmony, was never earlier on the terrorist radar and was, perhaps, thus chosen by these godless men, fully exploiting the element of surprise and catching our security agencies off guard. Conjecture must never replace professional analysis and it will take some time before, hopefully, details of the perpetrators of this dastardly act will become known. However, the pattern, forensic evidence and other nuances of the past many acts of terror in the country and the Jaipur May 13 serial blasts brook many familiarities which cannot be wished away. Most preliminary indicators point to the involvement of Bangladesh-based terrorist outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI), a Sunni fundamentalist organisation, which for years has had ideological, operational and financial linkages with al-Qaeda, the Taliban, the ISI, Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad and Bangladesh’s own Directorate General Forces Intelligence (DGFI) though it was banned in Bangladesh itself in 2005. HUJI’s staunch pan-Islamist ideologies have been at Pakistan’s service for many years now and also contributed to the escalation of violence and terrorism in J&K in concert with Harkat ul Mujahideen, which owes its birth, as Harkat ul Ansar, to HUJI itself. HUJI has been suspected of masterminding many terrorist acts in India in the past few years like the blasts in the Delhi-Patna Shramjeevi Express in 2005, the Sankat Mochan Mandir blasts in Varanasi in 2006 and the serial blasts in Mecca Masjid and Hyderabad in August, 2007. The blasts at the American Centre in Kolkata and the assassination of Gujarat Home Minister Haren Pandya in 2003 are all attributed to HUJI. Whether the Jaipur carnage was carried out on instructions from the ISI or by HUJI on its own motivation or has it acquired new sponsors, will have to be simultaneously investigated by the intelligence agencies scrupulously. As is widely known, the Students Islamic Movement of India ( SIMI) often acts as a courier service for many of the “sleeper cells” of various terrorist organisations operating in the Indian hinterland. Some of the top SIMI leaders were arrested in Indore a couple of months back while planning their future strategies. Thus some organisation calling itself the Indian Mujahideen Group and claiming responsibility for the blasts is nothing but hogwash and its amply clear that these criminals are nothing but proxies for the highly professional terrorist outfit, the HUJI. Terrorism in myriad forms is thus now an inalienable part of the Indian security scenario. Each such event, tragic as it is, brings forth similar and familiar responses from the government, security organs of the nation, the citizenry and ultimately the resilience of the people ensures that life moves on with normalcy. The alarming regularity and the inevitability of terrorist strikes with impunity have made many in the country somewhat indifferent and cynical to this never-diminishing phenomenon. However, before total skepticism fully engulfs the Indian psyche, it must be appreciated by all that, unfortunately, terrorism is a global epidemic and it may recur anywhere any time and hence its inexorableness is a universal, albeit painful, truth. India, especially in the past few decades, has borne the brunt of terrorism from many quarters with fortitude and levels of uncommon inexhaustible patience bordering on passivity at times. Nevertheless, to all those who do not wish us well, it would be amply clear that the foundations of the Indian state are so deeply embedded in its own civilised values and are of such permanence that terror strikes of any magnitude or any other upheavals, man or nature-made, cannot rock either our resolves or our ultimate glorious destiny. The minimisation of occurrences like the Jaipur carnage can only be ensured by further strengthening of the various intelligence agencies and other security organs of the state tasked to combat terrorism. It must be known to the general public that contrary to what some cynics in the country feel, there is a fair amount of intelligence coordination at the apex levels, namely, among the Intelligence Bureau, the Research and Analysis Wing and the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), which jointly operate under the National Security Adviser. Intelligence acquired through human resources or technical inputs is speedily and willingly shared and all hard actionable intelligence is disseminated through the fastest means to the state governments the police. The DIA and Military Intelligence have provided excellent inputs many a time to their sister intelligence agencies and the police as also being the recipient of useful inputs from them. However, terrorists whose reach, lethality and resources are continually being augmented by countries inimical to our interests, do retain the initiative at times and thus can strike at will. The panacea, however, lies with major improvements required to be effected in the functioning and effectiveness of the state police organisations. They need to substantially improve their penetrative intelligence capabilities at the grassroots level with “stool pigeons” and agents in places of worship, in the dens of crime, markets, fundamentalist-oriented outfits and at places of entry to their respective areas, besides having adequate information about smugglers, bootleggers and potential trouble-makers. In addition, all state governments need to be far better prepared as regards their disaster management standard operating procedures are concerned for damage control drills. Central government agencies with their vast resources, in any case, assist whenever the need is felt. But the ultimate effectiveness of the state government machinery, especially the police, is the vital cog to minimise terrorist threats and hence require better funding, equipment, and importantly, training to execute their tasks. A large number of unobtrusive deployments in civil clothes at sensitive areas should be in place rather than too much police manpower protecting even lowly politicians and bureaucrats. Nevertheless, to ensure that such dastardly acts do not occur with disquieting rapidity the work of all security institutions of the country is cut out. It will be in the nation’s interest that all political parties rise together to combat this evil phenomenon and not endeavour to score brownie points over each other unmindful of the blood of the innocent spilled. Importantly, the central government will have to impress upon the new dispensation in Pakistan that it will be in their interest to wean themselves totally from the old Pakistani mindset of waging a proxy war against India as it has brought self-ruin to Pakistan and, being on the verge of near collapse themselves with far too many internal convulsions, they may now wish to rein in their ISI and be sincere to the entire region on their commitment on the war on terror. The writer retired as the first Chief of the Defence Intelligence Agency and these are his personal views
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— Arun Jaitley,
BJP General Secretary From time to time we complain to our neighbours regarding their linkages with terror attacks here, and are, in turn, repeatedly assured by them that they share our concerns and would not allow any anti-India activity from their soil…but the political situation in our neighbouring countries must be taken into account…after all, not all countries are like India where the police and other agencies function under the government in power. — Sriprakash
Jaiswal, Minister of State for Home Affairs — Exiled Bangladeshi
writer Taslima Nasreen The international market faces a shortage of rice as India and a few other countries have imposed a ban on its export. —
R.S. Gujral, Director-General of Foreign Trade — US President
George W. Bush If George Bush believes engagement with Iran is appeasement, the first thing he should do when he comes home is demand the resignation of his own Cabinet. Secretary (Robert) Gates and Secretary (Condoleeza) Rice have both favoured negotiations with Iran. — Senator John Kerry — Gary Kirsten, India coach
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Crops on fire Punjab
has once again emerged as a champion in its wheat contribution to the national pool with the purchase so far having crossed 10 million tonnes, 35 per cent higher than last year’s figure of 7.4 million tonnes. Wheat is a major foodgrain component in India and the crop in Punjab has a lot to do with the national food security as the state’s contribution to the central pool is more than 50 per cent. The news of the bumper crop in the state has softened the prices of the commodity in the world market too. Wheat is such a versatile crop, which is grown on more land area than any other crop and is harvested somewhere in the world every month of the year. But this year in Punjab one thing which has baffled the state and the administration is the meteoric rise in the incidents of fire to the standing wheat crop. According to the official information, till the first week of May, in more than 5,100 acres the standing wheat crop was burnt, which translates into a stock loss of more than 10,000 tonnes, costing around Rs 100 crore to farmers of Punjab. If the loss of fodder and cattle head is also considered, the figure of loss may well cross the Rs 150-crore mark. More than 80 per cent of the incidents of fire, as per newspaper reports, were caused by sparks from electricity wires passing over the fields. The fire incidents reported this year and the loss in acreage were much higher as compared to the recent years. In a couple of incidents the fire was so severe that apart from gutting thousands of acres of wheat, it also killed four persons and many a cattle head. At some places it also threatened some of the villages on its way, destroying the material lying inside the houses and posing a real threat to the human habitats apart from the fields. The standing crop of wheat is a fully dried biomass and is highly inflammable, only next to petrol and LPG. The slight spark of fire can turn this into an uncontrollable inferno in a few minutes. The control on it becomes impossible if high wind is blowing, which is common in Punjab in these days. In a way the whole of Punjab seems to be sitting on a huge pile of ammunition in the form of standing dry wheat crop on a vast area without any green belt in between. In such a situation have we ever imagined how much damage a small group of sick-minded persons can do to the state and pose a threat to the national food security? Never, I suppose. Furthermore, in the wake of large-scale incidents of fire and the resultant loss, do we have the necessary infrastructure of disaster management to cope up with such incidents? The answer is a big no. The loss due to fires this year was higher chiefly due to two reasons. First the wheat season dragged too long and harvesting continued till the first week of May due to the shortage of labour and combine harvesters. The supply of labour from the states of Bihar and UP has almost dried following the availability of better employment opportunities there. The shortage of combine harvesters was due to the coinciding of the harvesting season of Gujarat, UP and MP with that of Punjab. Earlier, the harvesting in these states usually started in the first week of March and combine harvesters from Punjab used to go there first and return to the state in the first week of April. This year the harvesting in these states also started in the last week of March and combine harvesters stayed there for a longer period. Punjab has roughly 9000 such machines around half of which go to other states in the beginning of March. The second reason for large scale fires is the contiguity of standing wheat crop on thousands of acres at a stretch, without the existence of any green crop in between, which ensured that the fire progressed unhindered from one field to another. At many a places it crossed roads and railway lines and damaged the crops on other side as well. Incidents of fire used to happen earlier too, but the magnitude of loss was not as high as has been witnessed this year. Looking into the gravity of the situation, the only solution lies in shortening the harvesting season by ensuring the availability of combine harvesters in big numbers in the wake of labour shortage and breaking the contiguity of standing wheat crop at regular intervals by ensuring the plantation of a green crop, like fodder, or any other crop. In view of the national food security, the central government should come forward to ensure quick harvesting by providing about 10,000 combine harvesters during the season. Given the fact that the crop is sown on an area of around 3.5 million hectares in the state, around 20000 machines are needed to harvest the crop in 15 days, which can be ensured only with the active participation of the government. Furthermore, to minimise the loss due to fires, it is advisable to ensure the presence of around 1000 fire fighting vehicles, at least five in each block during the month-long season with a common SoS call number. These vehicles should be fitted with a GPRS system and linked to each other with wireless, so that in the event of any mishappening they may reach the spot immediately and control the fire. At the moment fire-fighting vehicles are stationed in cities alone and their number in Punjab is not more than 500. Even on calling, they take their own time to reach the far flung rural areas to control the fire. Some incidents of fire also happened due to the burning of the crop residue left in the fields. For this a complete ban is needed on the burning of wheat stubbles, which pose a threat to the environment and soil quality as well. Considering these measures seriously may help in reducing the incidents of fire and prevent the loss of much-needed
foodstuff.
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Profile Tessy is now set to head the country’s key missile project. Her name has been cleared for appointment
to the prestigious post of Project Director of the upgraded version of the 2000 km nuclear capable Agni-II missile. One of the 200 women scientists and technicians working with the DRDO, she has been associated with the Agni projects for the past 20 years. At present she is the Associate Project Director of the 3,000-km range Agni-III missile project. Tessy, who was honoured along with the entire team of Agni-III, by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, went on record saying: “It is still considered a confidential project but will be called Agni-II A (2)”. Tessy, who did the post analysis of the failure of the first Agni-III missile, reportedly said there were some shortcomings in the test of the missile which were overcome for a smooth flawless test flight. While details of the project have been kept a closely guarded secret, she may work on developing the 700-km Agni ballistic missile system. With Tessy all set to head the country’s key missile project, women have broken into most of the citadels so far considered to be sole male domains. They have risen to the rank of Lt. General and Air Marshal in the armed forces. She hates if someone calls her gender into question at the work place. “Here, I am a scientist and not a woman”, she asserts. It has been a long journey for Tessy, spanning two decades to get to the top slot. “I have been associated with the Agni Project for the last 20 years and have been Associate Project Director for Agni I, II and III. Now the time has come to head a project for an Agni missile with advanced technology”, said the 45-year-old, Hyderabad-based guided missile scientist. While there are more than 95 women scientists in the DRDO at present, Thomas is the first to become the Project Director of a crucial missile system. Nearly 20 women scientists are currently involved in the Agni Project itself. Her fascination for the missiles started while she was in school at her home state, Kerala. During her school days she used to hear about the rocket station at Thiruvanthapuram and would also be fascinated by the Apollo moon mission. “I guess that in my inner mind I always wanted
to be involved with rockets and missile”, she has reportedly said. Tessy, later, joined the Pune-based Defence Institute of Advanced Technologies to get a master’s degree in guided missile system. She was initiated into the Agni project by India’s original “missile man”, former President APJ Abdul Kalam, after she joined the DRDO in 1988 as one of the five women scientists in the research organisation. The postgraduation gave her some insight in guidance technology and the moment she joined Dr. Kalam’s team, he put her in the guided missile system of the Agni programme. Tessy’s husband, who also holds a master’s degree in guided missile technology, is a Captain in the Indian Navy and currently posted at Vizag. Their only son, who has just completed his Class XII examination is named Tejas, a name he shares with India’s light combat aircraft. Like many working women, Thomas too starts her day early — at 4 am. Her advice to young women is to take science at the school level to go on to become researchers and
scientists.
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On Record Punjab
State Election Commissioner AK Dubey feels that both the Panchayati Raj Act and the Punjab State Election Commission Act lack in providing teeth to the State Election Commission. Amendments to the existing legislation recommending strong punitive action for errant officials involved in the electoral process can make the polls free and fair. In an interview he ponders over the EC’s performance in the just-concluded Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad polls. Excerpts: Q. Why did these polls see so much violence? Could it not be prevented? There is no doubt that there has been violence in the Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad elections. I had issued specific directions to the Chief Secretary to hold consultations with the Principal Secretary (Home) and the Director General of Police to ascertain the situation and requisition para-military forces, if required. It is the state’s duty to ensure peace, while my function is to ensure a free and fair poll. Q. Does the violence indicate anything more than the government’s failure on the law and order front? Not as the EC, but as a political analyst, one can say that this is a sign of intense involvement of the people with the panchayati raj elections. Which is in a way a positive sign for a healthy democracy. Q. Why did the commission remain silent after the violence? The Election Commission lacks teeth when it comes to dealing with violence. While the commission can countermand an election when violence takes place inside a polling station, it can do nothing when it comes to violence outside, except go by the report of the returning officer. After violence in Amritsar, I asked the Deputy Commissioner about the ground situation and he said there was no need to postpone the poll. Q. There is a feeling that the commission failed in ensuring a free and fair poll? It is not for me to say how free and fair these elections have been. It is for the people to tell. My feedback is purely based on what the observers and officials tell me. When the observers and returning officers are subservient to a government, they will not tell me if they do something to help the ruling party. In such a situation, the media would be the best jury. Q. What brings about this sense of helplessness in the commission? There is an urgent need to amend both the Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, and he Punjab State Election Commission Act, 1994 – the two pieces of legislation from which the commission draws its strength. But both laws lack provisions that can act as deterrents to those trying to subvert the democratic process. There must be legislation that provides for strict punishment to those misusing their official positions to subvert fair play. The commission has to depend upon public servants, over whom it has no control, for completing the poll process. It is expected that each public servant performs his or her duty impartially and with fairness and devotion. But if they don’t and show favouritism, there is nothing the EC can do. Even if an action is initiated, it is only for the duration of the poll. Politicians, who these officials help, come to their aid soon after the polls are over. Q. What were common complaints in these polls? The rejection of nomination papers on flimsy grounds or unfair withdrawals by the returning officers formed the bulk. Q. How did the commission react to such complaints? The existing law does not empower the EC to review the grounds of rejection. Only a court can revoke a wrongly rejected nomination. I want an amendment to the law not only to take care of such rejections, but also to include deterrents for the returning officers so that they know that their mala fide action would result in punishment for them. Q. Has any action been taken against erring officials? Just to name a few cases, the commission transferred the SHOs of Nabha and Payal, initiated an inquiry against two IPS officers, shifted the SDM of Raikot and made the SDM, Khadoor Sahib, to go on leave. Whenever anything was brought to my notice, action was always taken. Q. Do you think the amended legislation can clean up the electoral process? It will help a great deal. I am for a more revolutionary step. Today, the returning officers are mainly IAS and PCS officers or sometimes other public servants who enjoy quasi-judicial powers. Why not replace them with judicial officers? They have more experience with weighing evidence and are more judicious. Decisions taken by them will stand the scrutiny of higher courts and further appeals against their orders can be made time-bound so that a wrong person does not stay in office for more than three
months.
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The war against terror will be won not by words but by national resolve, political courage and decisive action. This action must be motivated by security concerns and not those of vote-bank politics. We need strong legal regime to deal with terror. TADA and POTA provided such a regime.
If I am not allowed to stay in Kolkata, I would like to settle in Tripura where people speak Bengali. I want to live in a state where I can interact with people in Bengali. Is it possible for me to live without speaking my mother tongue?
Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious arguments will persuade them they have been wrong all along. Those advocating a dialogue with countries like Iran are like people who favoured engaging Adof Hitler.
They (Harbhajan and Sreesanth) are both passionate cricketers who, ironically, are as similar off the field as on it. On the friendly side of the boundary rope I have found them to be extremely friendly, inoffensive and helpful people.
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