|
|
A Tribune Special
Afghan campaign: Does NATO have a chance? |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
On Record Profile
|
A Tribune Special A serious test for Indian diplomacy, says Maj-Gen Ashok K. Mehta (retd)
With
the Lok Sabha elections round the corner and the Tamils in the North of Sri Lanka facing a humanitarian disaster in the Fourth Eelam War, the 39 MPs from Tamil Nadu have put the government on notice: stop the war in two weeks or we withdraw support. President Mahinda Rajapakse’s government which is on the threshold of military victory has said the war will go on. “Nobody can dictate our policy” is Colombo’s refrain. The next few weeks could be a serious test for Indian diplomacy. The battle has stalled around Kilinochchi, the political capital of LTTE-controlled territory conceivably to address Indian concerns. This caution is in response to an Indian demarche by National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan which included the call for reviving the political process. Rajapakse’s subsequent meetings with Indian High Commissioner Alok Prasad were held in the same context. The smell of victory is strong. Rajapakse has promised to hand over Prabhakaran to India to stand trial for Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination. Howsoever friendless, the LTTE is down not out and will continue the war by all means. Uptill now, Delhi had been a passive onlooker to the military offensive as long as there were no civilian casualties and refugees streaming into India. But now the Tamil Nadu factor is back at work. Boxed into Jaffna in 1987, the Tigers were rescued by India’s military intervention. This time, the ordinary Tamils whom they are accused of using as human shields, may be their saviours. Riding high are all the Rajapakse brothers: President Mahinda; Defence Secretary, Gothabaya and de facto minister for the North and East, Basil – who have fused defence, democracy and development. Having liberated the East with the help of LTTE rogue commanders Karuna and Pillayan, one rehabilitated as Member of Parliament and Pillayan as Chief Minister of the Eastern Provincial Council, the government hopes to replicate its politico-military success in the North as well. But there is no devolution of power to the
EPC. Rajapakse has drawn maximum mileage from the outstanding success of the military offensive. While espousing a political solution, he is blazing the military route. Never before in the three-decade long ethnic conflict has the government been more focused and united in going for the Tigers. Military success has been unparalleled thanks to air supremacy and innovative tactics. The Sri Lankan Security Forces (SLSF) have undergone a spectacular transformation in capacities, morale and resolve: incredible for an army that was ridiculed for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in 1999. Debacle after debacle culminated in the loss of Elephant Pass and the ultimate ignominy of pleading for an IPKF – evicted a decade earlier – to evacuate the Jaffna garrison. A former Sri Lankan Army Commander described the Army of that era as ‘funk’. Barely a decade later, in an altered geo-strategic environment, the tables have turned. The government has deftly sidelined the ethnic conflict in the guise of fighting terrorism, what is more underscoring the distinction between the Tamils and the LTTE. Rajapakse does not miss an opportunity to swear to wipe out LTTE within one year. His government says that we have got “maximum support from India in crushing the Tigers”. Rajapakse’s gameplan is to finish the Tigers first and then deal with the political problem.
Nationalism is also on the rise. Only last month, Army Commander Lt-Gen Sarath Fonseka said: “I strongly believe that this country belongs to the Sinhalese but there are minority communities and we treat them like our own people”. What after Kilinochchi? Capturing Paranthan cross roads and bottling up Pooneryn from where Tiger artillery pounds Palaly airfield in Jaffna and going for the redoubtable Elephant Pass. These operations will facilitate opening of the LTTE-controlled A 9 road which is the lifeline to the Jaffna peninsula. It has been closed for more than a decade forcing the maintenance of the 40,000-strong military garrison in Jaffna by air and sea. Winkling out Prabhakaran from Mullaithivu with no Karuna or Pillayan around, will not be an easy task. Five divisions including two task forces and five deep penetration units are advancing along the coastal A 32 road West of A9 targetting Kilinochchi. Capture of territory has been added to the strategy of attrition on the assumption that LTTE cannot survive as a guerilla force once it loses control of territory it possesses. The LTTE has been fighting a defensive battle holding a wide front. The perimeter has shrunk dramatically to just one district: Mullaithivu. Still, this year alone, its operations outside the North include 120 violent incidents in the East, 60 terrorist incidents in Colombo including six suicide strikes and 75 incidents elsewhere. Its air force has struck Trincomalee harbour and Vavuniya air base accounting for seven air attacks since last year.
Its five Zlin 143 aircraft are intact and pose the single biggest one way suicide threat to high value targets. Hundreds of sea and land suicide squads are raring to go. If and when LTTE decides to abandon Mullaithivu, Tigers will disperse into guerilla squads, escalating acts of terrorism. A territorially restricted LTTE is a better bet than Tigers scattered all over Sri Lanka. Capturing Prabhakaran alive will be the biggest prize of the war. Many believe Prabhakaran will not bite the hallmark cyanide capsule but escape to keep Eelam alive. Some fear that the movement will collapse after his capture. Others say his son Charles Antony and Pottu Amman will keep the Tiger banner flying. The human and humanitarian costs of the war are enormous. Nearly 200,000 Tamils have been internally displaced, many moving towards Mullaithivu. Gen Fonseka trots out creative casualty figures for LTTE. At one time last year, he estimated a fighting strength of 7000 Tigers. Already 8000 have been killed this year for a loss of just 800 soldiers. These figures do not jell with three to one outcomes from offensive operations. At least 8 to 10,000 LTTE and some of the best are still around. The fall of Kilinochchi will be celebrated as a new dawn for the North. The insurgency, terrorism as the government has redefined it, can neither be eradicated nor the LTTE defeated militarily. It will require a political solution which is least on the mind of this government. Summoning the All Party Committee on Devolution recently was prompted by the Indian demarche. Consolidating political power through military success is what Rajapakse is after. Elections to the five remaining Provincial Councils – he has already won in three – and possibly in the North too, followed by a parliamentary election later next year will liberate his party from dependence on other parties. Unfortunately, a dignified devolution package will elude the Tamils. This is what Tamils fear most. Hence, the ultimatum to Delhi. The UPA government has neither the time nor the appetite for acting as honest broker when its mind is set on state and national elections. With practically no leverage with the LTTE and little usable clout in Colombo, Delhi can only hope to persuade the Rajapakse government to suspend the military offensive for humanitarian relief after taking Kilinochchi. Either way Delhi will face the Sinhalese charge of providing a lifeline to Tamil terrorists as it did in
1987.
|
|
Afghan campaign: Does NATO have a chance?
Over
the last week, a barrage of leaked secret reports have thrown light on why NATO’s campaign is floundering — perhaps even foundering — in Afghanistan. High dignitaries, including the French and British ambassadors in Kabul, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Afghanistan — and even a leaked forthcoming US intelligence report — are pessimistic about the course of NATO’s Afghan operations. However, is there a chance that NATO could yet achieve a breakthrough if the causes of its hitherto unsuccessful campaign are addressed? The causes of NATO’s troubled campaign are well known. To some extent militants have advanced because of President Karzai’s poor governance, corrupt administration, a malfunctioning judiciary and the poverty of most Afghans. However, NATO’s Afghan campaign has been one of the most undermanned and underfunded peacebuilding operations since 1945. In effect, there are 1.2 NATO soldiers for every thousand Afghans, or four soldiers per thousand if the 85,000 Afghan security and all NATO security personnel totalling 143,000 — are taken into account. By contrast, there are 20 NATO soldiers per 1,000 inhabitants in Kosovo, and 19 per thousand in Bosnia. NATO’s divided European members, especially, have dragged their feet in contributing militarily and economically to a campaign whose success is vital for Europe’s security. Divisions between NATO countries on Afghanistan have amounted to an incoherent strategy, so that the left hand doesn’t seem to know what the right hand is doing. Consequently, NATO soldiers have lacked staying power. When American troops win a battle somewhere, they withdraw after victory — leaving the door open for the Taliban to return. Not surprisingly, locals make deals with the Taliban simply because NATO and the government cannot enforce law and order. In short, neither the Karzai government nor NATO offer ordinary Afghans adequate protection In the face of continual failures — or an endless uphill climb — the idea of a ‘political solution’ — whatever that might be — is being aired. But the Taliban are not “the party for peace and democracy”. The ineptitude and corruption of Karzai’s government is all too obvious, but extremist attacks on aid workers show that security is necessary to carry out even humanitarian activities in Afghanistan. Then there has been the crucial Pakistan factor. For seven years, the Bush administration ignored evidence from NATO and UN officials about terrorist-training and exporting by General Musharraf’s Pakistan. Extremist cross-border raids have thwarted the success of NATO’s campaign which, in turn, has facilitated the takeover of large areas of Afghanistan by the Taliban. The attitude of post-Musharraf Pakistan is critically important to containing terrorism. Following the terrorist bombing of Islamabad’s Marriott Hotel on September 20 — and further militant attacks in Pakistan — there are signs that the Pakistani army, now led by General Ashfaq Kiyani, and the weak elected government led by Prime Minister Yusuf Gilani, may be able to reach consensus on the necessity of recognising that the extremist enemy within Pakistan is the top threat to its security. Sherry Rahman, Pakistan’s Information Minister, has told Parliament that terrorists could not be expected “to retire” — as she put it — if military operations against them were halted. Pakistan’s Parliament remains divided on anti-extremist strategy, but news of an anti-terrorist petition that has attracted almost 63 million signatures suggests the possibility of an anti-extremist front gaining ground in Pakistan. In that event, NATO could only be strengthened by Pakistani support. The US will deploy another 15,000 troops in Afghanistan. That is probably better than nothing but insufficient to meet the scale of the extremist threat. However, the crux of the matter is that any increase in troop strength must be accompanied by a more coherent strategy; all NATO members must keep in step with each other. If military victory continues to elude NATO, all those who oppose extremism, in any part of the world, will have plenty of time to fret and fume. A political solution to Afghanistan’s woes, imposed by NATO from a military vantage point, could yet bring stability to Afghanistan. There are no illusions about this being a very long
haul. The writer is Professor, Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution, New Delhi
|
On Record
Revision
of laws is a continuous process and the Law Commission of India has been playing an important role in this regard over the years. Its Chairman, Justice A.R. Lakshmanan, is a noted legal luminary of the country. A former Supreme Court Judge and chief justice of three high courts — Kerala, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh — he has the distinction of delivering over 98,000 judgements during an eventful career. A workaholic, he has 23 years of experience at the Bar and 18 years as a judge of which he spent four years and seven months in the Supreme Court. Remarkably, he was not in the habit of reserving judgements as most judges do. Some even reserve 70 to 80 judgements and retire. When he was forced to reserve a judgement, it was just for two or three days, that too, because of holidays. Interestingly, he has given almost all rulings in an open court and in the presence of all parties. In an exclusive interview to The Sunday Tribune in Chandigarh, he bemoans the lackadaisical attitude of successive governments at the Centre towards various recommendations of the Law Commission. “There is need for political will to implement the recommendations so that they strengthen the system and serve the intended purpose”, he avers. Excerpts: Q: What are the reports presently being examined by your Commission? A: We are in the process of submitting four important reports to the government. These are, the correctness of the Supreme Court judgement in L. Chandra Kumar vs Union of India and the need for reconsideration; Article 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act and quick disposal of cases; rash and negligent driving; and English as the language of the Supreme Court and the High Court. Q: Will you please elucidate these issues? A: The Central Administrative Tribunal and the State Administrative Tribunals have been constituted to examine service matters. The orders passed by SATs are liable to be challenged only before the Supreme Court. In L. Chandra Kumar vs Union of India, a seven-Judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court held that no appeal from the decision of an administrative tribunal will directly lie before it under Article 136 of the Constitution. Instead, the aggrieved party will be entitled to move to the high court and then, to the Supreme Court. We have received several representations on the correctness of the judgement. The need for reconsideration of the Chandra Kumar’s judgement by a larger Bench of the Supreme Court has also been debated in various forums. Following the judgement, the aggrieved party — the government employee or the government — will have to approach the high court. We are of the view that this has made the purpose of constituting SATs — to provide speedy relief to the aggrieved — redundant. Secondly, though lakhs of cases are pending before various forums, we don’t have adequate number of judicial officers to dispose of them. The magistrates are asked to hear them under various provisions of the IPC and the Cr PC. As courts have little time to tackle cases of commercial nature, speedy justice is possible only if separate tribunals are constituted for the purpose. Moreover, if this is not done, the 2002 amendment to the NI Act that made it a serious offence and enhanced the penalty and period of imprisonment will get defeated. Thirdly, though road accidents in the country are on a higher trajectory, the existing enactments regulating rash and negligent driving have not helped to curb this menace. We have suo motu taken up this matter for examination in view of its importance. And finally, consequent to a parliamentary committee’s suggestion for making Hindi the language for drafting of all legislation and writing judgements in the Supreme Court and high courts, we obtained views from jurists and experts. They were of the uniform opinion that time was not ripe for replacing English with Hindi. Q: What are the important reports you have submitted so far to the government? A: Since May 28, 2007 when I took over as the Chairman, I have submitted 14 reports. These cover, among others, anticipatory bail,dowry deaths, the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, proposal for amending prohibition of the Child Marriage Act, 2006, humanisation and decriminalisation of attempt to suicide, laws on registration of marriage and divorce, laws of civil marriages and acid attacks. Q: Will you please enlighten us about your Commission’s stand on anticipatory bail? A: The amended Section 438 of Cr PC dealing with anticipatory bail provided for obligatory presence of the applicant seeking anticipatory bail at the time of hearing of the application and making final order thereon if, on an application made to it by the public prosecutor, the court considers such presence necessary in the interest of justice. The Commission examined the scope and ambit of the existing and the amended sections in the light of various judicial pronouncements on the subject. We have inferred that when the applicant appears in the court in compliance of the court orders and is subject to the court’s directions, he/she may be viewed as in the court’s custody and this may render the relief of anticipatory bail infructuous. Consequently, the Commission has recommended the deletion of sub-section (1B) of Section 438. Q: Of late, acid attacks on women have increased. How do you view this disturbing trend? A: To combat this menace, we have suggested various measures including setting up of a panel for women for acid victims and suggesting payment of compensation to victims of acid attacks, their rehabilitation, and a law to put in place Criminal Injuries Compensation Board s at the Centre, states and district levels. Q: Sadly, the government’s response towards your reports has been very poor. You have also lamented about it. Reports on electoral reforms, criminal justice system, etc. remain on paper. What is their value if they are put in cold storage? A: Our reports are recommendatory in nature, but they are well-researched and debated. The government should have the political will to implement them in national interest. I appeal to the government and Parliament to implement the reports submitted by me and my predecessors so that they will serve the intended purpose. Q: Corruption in the judiciary has increased. How can we check it? A: This is most unfortunate. We need men of high integrity and impeccable credentials as judges. Chief Justice of India Justice K.G. Balakrishnan has been issuing useful directives in regard to the selection of judges and weeding out the deadwood. When I was the Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court, I had compulsorily retired 26 subordinate judges for corruption and inefficiency. One judge was on leave for 189 days! People have great faith in the judiciary and this faith should not get eroded. Q: What was the Chief Ministers’ response to your suggestion on state-level law commissions? A: I am getting encouraging response. Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Goa Chief Minster Digambar Kamath have promptly responded. State panels will help review obsolete laws and update the legal system. Only six states have them at present — Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala and Meghalaya. Q: You have recently asked the Centre to enforce the ban on manual scavenging. A: Yes. This followed a report by Uttar Pradesh Governor T.V. Rajeswar that over 13 lakh people carry human excreta for disposal daily despite a 1993 ban on this. I have asked Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Meira Kumar to help enforce the ban.
|
|
Profile
There
was time when Man Booker Award winner Aravind Adiga used to spend a lot of time loitering about train stations, or bus stands, or servants’ quarters and slums. He listened and talked to the people around him. As Time magazine’s correspondent he had to travel throughout India; particularly in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, where he got opportunity to see lot of rural life. He noticed there was a kind of continuous murmur or growl beneath middle class life in India, and this noise never got recorded. He was very keen to tell a very real story about India and thus born his epoch-making, debut novel, The While Tiger. The main character in the novel is of one Balram Halwai. Driven by a burning desire to escape from India of darkness to India of light, he heads towards the coal belt of Dhanba, and ultimately Delhi. Even though Balram escapes, he carries with him a wound that never heals. The death from tuberculosis of his rickshaw puller father eats into him. He is determined to be a rich man, not a poor man like his father. Behind the steering wheel of a Honda City, soon the White Tiger realises that he has exchanged from one zoo for another. He is employed as a driver by a man who owns the strip of river that flows by his village. Despite his fancy wage and uniform, Balram knows that he is still imprisoned. The 50,000 pound Booker prize makes Adiga the fifth Booker winner of Indian origin and the second youngest winner in the award’s 40-year-old history. He is also only the third winner to triumph with a debut novel. The first debut novel novelist to win the Booker was Arundhati Roy. Adiga dedicated his novel to the people of Delhi where he wrote the fiction, saying 300 years ago, it was the most important city on earth and could become so again. His strong challenger was compatriot Amitav Ghosh who was short-listed for his Sea of Poppies. In interviews, Adiga explained why his book was dedicated to Delhi-ites: “It’s because all good and bad things come to Delhi for resolution. I live in Mumbai now. It is the great Indian city of the 20th century but Delhi is the Indian of the 21st century”.
As regards the title, The White Tiger, he says, in Delhi zoo, there is a white tiger. It is a very unusual kind of animal, a genetic mutation and yet you get it once in a generation. So for someone to have done what my character has done in the book, I think, would be some sort of a white tiger. Born in Chennai and brought up in Mangalore, Adiga left with his family for Sydney when he was 16. Then came a Bachelors degree at Columbia University with a Masters at Oxford before he went to New York as a business journalist. Adiga is a doctor’s son but all along he dreamt of becoming a writer. Adiga joined Time in Delhi in 2003 and quit it in late 2005. That was the year when Chinese premier Wen Jiabao visited India and Adiga began his novel. He says, “I wanted things in the book to correspond to reality, but filtered through Balram’s views, India and China are supposed to take over the world this century — or so we keep hearing in the press — so I thought it would be nice to present a narrative that acknowledges that apparent takeover of the world and treats it ironically”.
|
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
