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Clear mandate for SP
Tax more, spend more |
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Corporal punishment
India's difficult choices on Iran
The bliss of being single!
Raising policing standards is the key
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Clear mandate for SP
The
spectacular victory of the Samajwadi Party in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections is as much a defeat of an autocratic and corrupt government led by Ms Mayawati as a victory of a formidable combination of Mulayam Singh Yadav’s experience and his son Akhilesh Yadav’s dynamism and freshness of approach. At the same time, it is the electorate’s rebuff to the national parties --- the Congress and the BJP--- which foisted outsiders to run the campaign and had no leadership worth the name in the State. While in the case of the Congress it was Rahul Gandhi and Digvijay Singh who rode rough shod over the poor local leadership represented by Rita Bahuguna Joshi, in the BJP’s case it was Uma Bharati from Madhya Pradesh who was chosen to lead the campaign much to the discomfiture of the cadres who would arguably have connected better with a grassroots local leader. The ‘goonda raj’ that had led the electorate to throw out Mulayam Singh Yadav’s government in 2007 was not entirely forgotten but Akhilesh Yadav came off as an earnest man who deserved a chance to make a new beginning. His promise to ensure that the mistakes of the earlier SP rule were not repeated somehow touched a chord in people while the father-son duo’s developmental agenda kindled new belief. The rout of the BSP despite a better law and order situation during Mayawati’s regime was the electorate’s way of saying that misgovernance and corruption in day-to-day life cannot be tolerated. The way Mayawati went about squandering public money getting statues of herself and other Dalit leaders installed did not go down well with the masses who thought the prime responsibility of rampant inflation and joblessness was hers. By taking the masses for granted, Mayawati indeed made a grave error and her autocratic manner insulated her from honest feedback of the problems and thinking of the people. It is good that the Samajwadi Party has emerged in a position in which it needs no other party’s support. Its performance will be zealously watched by the people and no alibis would be accepted. The first priority of the SP government must be to ensure that lawlessness does not return. For that it would need to rein in its legislators and workers. Economic revival and curbing corruption will be other imperatives.
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Tax more, spend more
The
Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir budgets were both presented on Monday. Both avoided fresh taxes. State finance ministers now take recourse to loans as taxes draw criticism. If necessary, taxes are quietly levied later in the year. Haryana’s budget leaves a fiscal deficit, or revenue shortfall, of Rs 7,597 crore, which being 2.06 per cent of the GDP is acceptable. J&K has got a zero-deficit budget, which means the government is limiting its spending to its revenue. The Haryana leadership aims at having a surplus budget next year which shows its intent to spend less. Governments are supposed to spend more on education, health and infrastructure, while cutting wasteful expenditure. Instead of trying for surplus or zero-deficit budgets they should splurge on agriculture and industry to boost growth. This will also help in making growth inclusive. Though Haryana has the second highest per capita income in the country after Goa and grows at a respectable 9.6 per cent compared to J&K’s 7.5 per cent, discontent is rising in the state as development is confined to select geographical pockets. The economic neglect breeds anger that finds an outlet in road/rail blockades, pro-reservation agitations and caste violence. The finance ministers of both Haryana and J&K should have taxed the better-off sections so that the revenue raised could help create better social and physical infrastructure and provide employment opportunities to youth. They could have tried to repay at least part of the principal loan amount so the interest liability is reduced. From Rs 44,515 crore in 2010-11 the Haryana debt rose to Rs 52,701 crore this fiscal and will soar to Rs 60,437 crore in the coming financial year. J&K’s debt burden is Rs 31,272 and rising. Both states need to push power reforms, raise tariffs and cut the subsidy burden. The Haryana government has faced flak from the CAG for the mounting losses of state enterprises. The budget makes little effort to stem the drain on resources. Haryana has got an accountant’s budget, which lacks a vision for over-all growth. The Jammu and Kashmir budget takes hesitant steps but is on the right track.
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Corporal punishment
Asked
to choose between a spoilt child and a child with low self- esteem, Indian parents would have preferred the latter. But that is now all set to change. First, there was a decree by the Supreme Court in 2000 that banned corporal punishment in schools and then came the RTE Act, which commanded teachers to spare the rod. The writing on the wall was clear. After a survey conducted on 6632 children by NCPCR ( National Commission for Protection of Child Rights), which found that 69 per cent children from government schools and 70.5 per cent from private schools were subjected to humiliation like slapping, it was decided, the time for action had come. So, the commission suggested the school boards to take suo motu cognizance of the incidents of corporal punishment before deciding upon recognition or affiliation of a school. In their wisdom, they asked school teachers to provide a written undertaking that they would not engage in any action that could amount to physical punishment, mental harassment or discrimination. Going a step further, in its well- intended idea of protection of child’s rights, it suggested a consensus to be arrived at with children about expected behaviour and consequences, and about framing rules and guidelines! All this sounds like pursuit of perfection in a system where a teacher struggles with a class of over 50 students, at times managing two classes simultaneously. Caring for children’s rights is a sign of evolution, if only NCPCR would also once go through these facts; 46% of schools in rural India lack toilet facilities and 17% lack water supply. This lack of facilities does not only affect female student attendance but also the attendance of female teachers. According to a government report 13000 schools in Uttar Pradesh, 47000 in Andhra Pradesh, and 66 per cent schools in J&K do not have toilet facility. Fear of punishment would be a luxury for a large number of students who drop out for lack of basic infrastructure.
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A mother who is really a mother is never free. — Honore de Balzac
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India's difficult choices on Iran
The
US has renewed its pledge to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, even as Washington continues to warn Israel of the negative consequences of a pre-emptive military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. US President Barack Obama had vowed in his State of the Union address that the United States would “take no options off the table” in preventing Iran. As tensions rise, the West Asian conflict has reached Indian shores and New Delhi, which so likes to sit on a fence, is now being forced to take a stand one way or another. On February 13 just when an explosive device that had been placed under an Israeli Embassy vehicle in Tbilisi was being defused, a “sticky bomb” attached to a vehicle carrying an employee of the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi exploded. The attacks happened almost simultaneously and were clearly targeting the employees of the Israeli embassies in Tbilisi and New Delhi. A day later an Iranian man carrying grenades blew off his own legs and wounded four civilians after an earlier blast shook his house in Bangkok. Though no one has claimed responsibility for the incidents, the Israeli government has made it clear that they believe Iran and its proxy Hezbollah is behind the attacks. Tel Aviv has used these attacks to underline its concerns about Iran getting nuclear capability, arguing that if the Islamic republic becomes a nuclear power, it could provide greater protection for militant groups that would be emboldened by its support. Tel Aviv has now sought Indian support for a UN Security Council resolution condemning Iran for attacks in New Delhi on its diplomat as well as the incidents in Tbilisi and Bangkok, putting India in diplomatic logjam. Iran, of course, has denied responsibility for the bombing attempts and has called them an Israeli provocation. Much like its predecessor, the Obama Administration has also vowed that it would not allow Iran to go nuclear. Israel is already fretting and debating its pre-emptive options. Tel Aviv has made it clear, time and again, that it would not hesitate to act unilaterally, overruling American objections, if they judge that Iran is getting too close to nuclear capability. Meanwhile, tensions are rising in the capitals of Arab Gulf states. It was the Saudi King, after all, who had famously advised the American diplomats that the only Iran strategy that would work was one that “cut off the head of the snake.” As Iran's global isolation grows amid reports that it has begun operating a new generation of centrifuges at its main uranium-enrichment facility at Natanz, India is one of the last few remaining states adamant in maintaining close ties with Iran. The West wants India to cease its trade ties with Tehran and demonstrate that New Delhi is serious about shouldering global responsibilities. But India's hesitating response to the appeal underlines how deeply intertwined the country's foreign policy is with its domestic concerns. Loss of Iranian oil and ability to provide subsidised fuel could lead to electoral loss for the ruling coalition. The bomb blast in New Delhi is further testing India's ties with Iran. Yet as the Indian Commerce Minister has been quick to underline trade between New Delhi and Tehran is unlikely to be affected by recent events. A huge trade delegation is slated to go to Tehran next month to explore export opportunities, which, according to some estimates, are worth more than $10 billion annually. As a result, India's response so far has been low key but New Delhi is also readying itself to tackle the challenge of growing Iranian isolation. S. Jaipal Reddy, Indian Oil Minister, suggesting that India should be prepared for all eventualities, is planning to replace part of its Iranian oil supplies with other sources. Saudi Arabia has offered to make up for the Iranian shortfall if India wants. But India remains firm in opposing American and EU unilateral sanctions on Iran as concerns rise that the US might persuade Turkey to block the use of its bank as an intermediary by India to make payments to Iran for $12 billion worth of annual crude exports. New Delhi has been warned by the US policy makers that it will be subject to American sanctions if New Delhi is seen in any way trying to bail out Iran from the tough economic situation it is in following the series of US-led international sanctions. India imports 12 per cent of its oil from Iran, its second largest supplier after Saudi Arabia. Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee was merely reflecting on the intersection between domestic and foreign policy when he suggested that it's impossible for India to “reduce the imports from Iran drastically” in the light of a growing budget deficit and need to continue oil subsidies so as not to enrage citizens during a state election year. There is also Afghanistan, the crucial regional issue, where India and Iran need each other. The Afghanistan policy of the US has caused consternation in Indian policymaking circles, with a fundamental disconnect emerging between US and Indian interests in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Although actively discouraging India from assuming a higher profile in Afghanistan for fear of offending Pakistan, the US has failed to persuade Pakistan to take seriously Indian concerns regarding India-targeted extremism emanating from Pakistani soil. So long as Afghan territory is not being used to launch attacks on US soil, Washington may have no vital interest in determining who actually governs Afghanistan. To India, however, this is an important issue. If Washington were to abandon the goals of establishing a functioning Afghan state and encouraging a moderate Pakistan, the pressure on Indian security would increase greatly. To preserve its interests in case such a strategic milieu evolves, India would have reason to coordinate more closely with states such as Russia
and Iran. Clearly, India has a range of interests in Iran but that should not stop New Delhi from asking some tough questions on Tehran. India-Iran ties are not a one-way street and a clear message needs to go out to Tehran that Indian territory is not for use by external actors for their proxy wars.n The writer teaches at King’s College, London.
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The bliss of being single! The other day I visited senior doctors at a prime hospital for a comprehensive check-up of my father-in-law as he turned 85 and for my own routine tests. The results were astounding as my father-in-law had no ailments. But I was cautioned to immediately resort to preventive health care as my health parameters on various counts were on the borderline! The team of doctors that examined us pointed out to my father-in-law, “Shagan Lal, this is a clear case that those having single status lived healthier, longer.” One may call it a conscious decision to remain single or his sacrifice for his beloved daughter, the proud man did not marry again for the next 55 years after the death of his wife to rear his daughter. He was just 30 then! Like what George Bernard Shaw and Charles Lamb penned, today many men and women voluntarily choose to live unmarried, independent and without companions and still feel comfortable. Many widows and widowers choose to remain single. They have found that being single has its advantages compared to being coupled. Interestingly, the US Census Bureau has found that the average age for a woman to get hitched rose from 20.8 to 25.3 from 1970 to 2003 and it is constantly on the rise now. Additionally, more adults are living life as singles, thanks in large part to the higher divorce rate. According to the data, 90 per cent more single-person households existed in 2005 than in 1970 and it is increasing by the day. There are some contradictions though as some studies have shown that married people tend to earn more money and live longer than singles. The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention found that husbands and wives were less likely to smoke or drink heavily than people who were not married. But betting on marriage to bring you happiness may be a risky gamble. After all, the odds of holding on to that perfect partner forever have been whittled down to a coin flip as in the West about 48 per cent of marriages end
in divorce. A study by the University of Florida highlighted if partners had overly high expectations for marriage transforming their lives into in a joyous wonderland, they need to have the relationship skills to match. Otherwise, it’s like going to a “spelling bee” programme and expecting the first place without ever cracking a dictionary. Another study has harped on the benefits of single-hood as they can freely have occasional flings without the fear of being caught. The study has found 11 reasons why single people live healthier because of a satisfying lifestyle, freedom to make choices, no hurt over the loss of someone special, turning away from demand crisis, pursuing careers, focusing on financial and material rewards, no fear of rejection while dating, no failure in love, being selective, feeling unworthy and no commitments! Being single can be an exhilarating feeling. Singles can put all intimate relationships “on hold”. The moral is that the strength, security and happiness that one seeks are inside. One does not actually have to look for happiness because of being loved by others. One can get it from within
oneself.
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Raising policing standards is the key The Home Minister Chidambaram’s efforts to mollify the incensed States, led by Mamata Banerjee, saying that the exercise was one aimed at assisting the States rather than undermining their authority, has not cut much ice.
The NCTC was to come into existence on March 1. Bowing to the desire of the States, the Centre has now suspended the proposal for a while. A meeting in New Delhi on March 12 with State Police Chiefs is proposed as part of a process of consultation with the States. To this extent, the MHA has demonstrated commendable sagacity and grace. Some may however look upon this as an act of making virtue out of a necessity, because policing of any kind in India is anyhow a collaborative exercise, and an estranged group of States is hardly conducive to promoting law and order. Cooperation for preventive action
Why do we need a NCTC ? I don’t have to go far into the history of terrorism. Only last week did the HM announce the arrest of two Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) activists, who were planning to set off some explosives in a crowded locality in the capital. He also complimented the role of three unnamed States in catching the culprits before the attack. What this instance would highlight is that preventive action- more than detection- calls for the pooling of information and its analysis before tipping off concerned agencies to move swiftly and nab the conspirators. The essence here is one of unstinted willingness on the part of the agency that knows to share critical information with the one that needs to know. A turf war and one-upmanship are antithesis to a prompt and effective use of terrorist intelligence. This is what happened in the case of 9/11 among U.S. organisations like the FBI, CIA, Pentagon and others, and what followed is history. Here, information was available in bits and pieces with several units engaged in the business of protecting the nation. They were either unwilling to share it with the others or did not know the significance of what they were holding. The result was calamitous. The 9/11 Commission, that went into the whole episode, was appalled by this failure and the lack of appreciation by intelligence bodies of their complementary role. After thorough investigation, the Commission was convinced that the need of the hour was one single coordinating body at the centre. This was to be the NCTC, that was set up in 2004, and which reported to the newly created position of Director, National Intelligence (DNI) (not to be confused with the CIA Director), who was placed in the White House. Set up initially under an Executive Order of August 2004, it gained legal authority under the Intelligence Reform and Prevention of Terrorism Act (IRPTA) later in the year. This was in fulfillment of the 9/11 Commission recommendation: “Breaking the older mold of national government organisations, this NCTC should be a center for joint operational planning and joint intelligence, staffed by personnel from the various agencies.” Since its creation the NCTC in the U.S. has given a reasonable account of itself, and there has been no major terror attack on the U.S. Two incidents of 2009 however revealed the chinks. These were a U.S Army Major attack (November 5,2009) on a recruitment camp in Fort Hood resulting in the killing of 13 persons, and the aborted attempt (December 25, 2009) by a Nigerian national Abdul Muttalab (23) to set off an explosive device on board a Northwest- Delta Airlines aircraft flying from Amsterdam to Detroit. An inquiry held in the matter was particularly critical of the latter incident, because, although information sharing was adequate, those at the analyst desk had failed “to connect the dots.” The study concluded that the NCTC lacked in resources and a purposive organisation. This indictment alone would indicate that an NCTC was not a panacea for all current ills of the situation. A lot more was needed in terms of employee imagination and alertness.
Attacks despite
mac
This detailed reference to what has been the U.S. experience is because our NCTC was to be modeled after its U.S. counterpart. It was created soon after the Home Minister’s visit to the U.S. following the 26/11 attack on Mumbai to study how the organisation had evolved in that country. It must however be brought on record that New Delhi did not have to re-invent the wheel. This was because, under the NDA government, a Multi Agency Centre (MAC) had indeed been established on the recommendation of a Task Force set up in 2000 under the leadership of Gary Saxena, a former RAW chief. This MAC - in reality the current NCTC – was to be within the Intelligence Bureau (IB) in a genuinely coordinating role. It was the result of an Executive Order, and MAC was not armed with any legal authority. It was entrusted with tasks of “joint analysis, joint assessment and joint identification of follow-up action.” It was to get relevant tasks executed through other agencies, including the State Police. While I am not aware of any critical evaluation of the MAC, the guess is that it was functioning unostentatiously and professionally. It is an entirely different matter that there were a number of terrorist incidents all over the country since 2000, including 26/11. Whether MAC could be assailed directly for this is a matter of dispute. Anyhow, following the damage that 26/11 caused to India’s image as a nation capable of taking care of the risks from terror- especially with a troubled neighbor such as Pakistan- with a hyperactive ISI with a notorious reputation for harbouring designs against India, the Home Minister Chidambaram could not rest without any proactive reorganisation of intelligence. This is the genesis of both the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the more recent NCTC.
Reservations over
nia too
There were initial reservations over the legal tenability of the NIA. The States were in course of time convinced that the NIA had its basis on the Constitutional mandate to the Union Government that it should safeguard the country’s defence through an appropriate mechanism. The States were also satisfied that the NIA did not make any serious inroads into their authority. This is however not the case with the NCTC set up under an executive order taking advantage of the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967. In a letter to the States, Home Minister Chidambaram has explained the need for an NCTC. A note attached to the letter makes things even clearer. It says: “A body mandated to deal with counter terrorism must have, in certain circumstances, an operational capability. This is true of all counter terrorism bodies in the world. When engaged in counter terrorism operations, the officers must have the power to arrest and the power to search, which are the bare minimum powers that would be necessary. Besides, the powers conferred under section 43A must be read with the duty under section 43B to produce the person or article without unnecessary delay before the nearest police station (which will be under the State Government), and the SHO of the Police Station will take further action in accordance with the provisions of the CrPC.” The basic features of the contemplated NCTC are that it will be a separate body within the IB and report to the DIB. It will have powers of arrest and search. In this respect, it is very different from the NCTC of the U.S and its equivalent in many countries.
The flip side
It is the consensus among intelligence professionals the world over that, however powerful their organisations may be in an informal sense, never should they be burdened with legal authority that would make them more accountable to the law and judicial authority and also vulnerable to exposure through such overt actions as search and arrest. This is why the proposal to arm the IB personnel with new powers has caused eyebrows to raise. I am not very sure whether the IB chief ever fell in line with the proposal wholeheartedly. There are twin dangers here. First, arrests by IB officers will make them face judicial proceedings every other day. There is secondly the definite prospect of misuse of authority that would vitiate the ambience with an elitist organisation. The posting of IB personnel to man Immigration desks at ports way back in the 1970s brought its own problems, that caused severe embarrassment to the higher echelons of the organisation. What non-UPA Chief Ministers fear are questionable arrests that could be made by the IB on partisan grounds. A series of arrests in quick succession in a particular State would help to disseminate the impression that the State in question had become a haven for terrorists or suspects. Political propaganda on these lines also cannot be ruled out. I do not think it is the case of any Chief Minister that the NCTC per se is a bad idea. They consider themselves as patriotic as anyone at the Centre promoting the new outfit. What they plead for is that the new creation should be just a coordinating body and nothing more. Their standpoint is that the exercise of police powers should remain the prerogative of the State Police as enshrined in the Constitution. Nothing should be done to disturb the equilibrium of this well conceived arrangement by the Fathers of the Constitution. Fundamental to the debate however is the need to re-examine the distribution of powers under the Constitution. There is a school of thought –which is hard to wish away- that ‘Police’ and ‘Public Order’ should be brought under the Concurrent List. This takes into account the continuing decline in standards of policing all over the country and the abominable politicisation of forces. It is an entirely different question whether giving a greater say to the Union Government in matters of policing will help to stem the rot. The management of the IPS Cadre by both the States and MHA has left a lot to be desired. Instances of individual officers defying State governments as well as the MHA at the instance of powerful politicians are a cause for concern. When such undesirable and unprofessional activities are encouraged purely to serve narrow political ends, the apprehension that the proposed NCTC will not rise above politics in exercising its authority cannot be brushed aside. Ultimately, as in every other human activity, objectivity and integrity can alone take care of a situation sought to be protected by law, rules and regulations. The writer is a former Director, CBI
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Part I: 
The
