The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

ARTICLE

Putting 1962 talkathon to use
Indian State must learn to function
by Inder Malhotra

AFTER the super-tsunami of words on the 1962 border war with China and the lessons we must learn from it, why should there be another article on the subject? The answer is that my theme this time around is different though there might be some unavoidable overlapping with specific suggestions made by experts.

So far the discussion has been confined to what went wrong, leading to the mortifying humiliation of this country, and who must be held accountable for what lapse or worse was found. Little attention has been paid to the much wider problem that even though 50 years ago the Indian state and system were headed by so towering, indeed titanic, a leader as Jawaharlal Nehru, whose party had a huge majority in Parliament, the Indian state had become so dysfunctional that it practically invited the disasters that began with the Chinese invasion on October 20, 1962.

Nehru did come to the horribly wrong conclusion that the Chinese would do “nothing big”, apart from border skirmishes and patrol-level clashes. And yet there wasn’t a single voice — from among his civilian and military advisers, Cabinet colleagues or anyone else —pointing out to him that he was wrong. In the circumstances it should be no surprise that the Prime Minister’s “protégé extraordinary”, Defence Minister Krishna Menon, could play havoc with national security by undermining the Army’s cohesion and morale. It was Menon who appointed Lieutenant-General B. M. Kaul the overall commander of the northeastern battlefield even when the general was lying seriously in Delhi. About Kaul’s disgraceful performance and Intelligence Czar B. N. Mullik’s malign role in policy making the less said the better. My purpose in briefly treading this ground that has already been covered is to underscore that if, despite the high quality of leadership, at a time of great peril, the Indian state could be that dysfunctional, we should shudder at the very thought of what might happen when the Indian state is not just dysfunctional but chaotic in the extreme. The contrast is enormous and, sadly, sometimes appears irremediable.

It is no good blaming the malaise on coalition politics and to moan that India has entered the coalition era that is likely to last long. A large number of countries in the world are ruled by coalitions without making a mockery of governance. Indeed, the National Democratic Alliance government, led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, functioned marginally better than the Congress-led ruling coalition, the United Progressive Alliance, has been doing, especially during the last three years since the Congress came back to power with 206 seats in Parliament.

In all fairness, the BJP must share a large part of blame for the dismal situation because of its appalling performance as the principal opposition party, to say the least. The regional parties, intoxicated by their growing power on the national scene, are delighted to give their parochial or even personal pursuits preference over national interest – a pernicious trend aggravated by the Congress’s inability or unwillingness fully to respect the federal principle. This is by means all. The Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party of the key state of UP, whose support “from outside” is vital for the UPA government’s survival until May 2014, are free to run amuck with impunity.

Even this is not enough to show how gargantuan is the difference between the functioning of the Indian state in those dark days and today’s “normal” times. Two of the many instances should suffice. First, all through the Nehru era and some years beyond, Parliament wasn’t disrupted even for a single day. In recent years this has become an almost daily routine. The entire monsoon session was a dead loss, thanks to the BJP, and no one can predict the fate of the winter session due to begin on November 21.

Since three years before the Chinese invasion, Nehru’s policy on China was under attack in both Houses of Parliament, and the criticism had become more and more trenchant as the Indian retreat, particularly in the Kameng division of what is now called Arunachal Pradesh, turned into rout. He answered ever charge at every stage and was listened to with respect.

The second example I have to cite shows that while other parties are surely responsible for the degeneration of the Indian state, the Congress party has to bear the lion’s share of the blame, because of a fundamental change in its character since the dawn of the dynastic era. At the height of the 1962 war there was ample inner-party democracy for the executive committee (that no longer exists) of the Congress Parliamentary Party to be able to “force” Nehru to sack Krishna Menon. Today the core of the ruling coalition is reduced to an amorphous bunch of sycophants wearing their loyalty to the First Family on their sleeves. Also, the diarchy shared by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has become a halter around the party’s neck. Needless to add that the dynasts of other, smaller parties, ruling several states, have been quick to flatter the Congress by imitation in their respective domains.

One would have thought that heavily centralised political parties would at least have the mitigating virtue of enforcing discipline and minimum standards of probity. Precisely opposite is the prevailing state of affairs. Inexplicably, the Congress high command has refrained from reprimanding a Congress MLA in the state of Haryana, the epicentre of rapes, who had the temerity to declare that 90 per cent of all rapes in his state were, in fact, “consensual”. The party MLA in Gujarat who brandished a gun at a minor functionary doing his duty is also immune from reproach. Only Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid has attracted a mild disapproval for his threatening remarks against activist Arvind Kejriwal.

It is against this bleak backdrop that we should think through our China policy. The only remark I wish to make at present is to repeat a pertinent point made by a former Foreign Secretary M. K. Rasgotra: “We make our policy in a five-year framework; the Chinese think fifty years ahead.”

MIDDLE

Feel of Florida
by Shriniwas Joshi

AS the aeroplane landed at Orlando in Florida, I felt a pleasantly warm whiff of Atlantic touching me – away from the cold of St. Louis in Midwest. Much of Florida is situated on a peninsula between the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Straits of Florida. Its geography is marked by a coastline and has omnipresence of water.

I had frolicked one evening in Cocoa beach nestled between the Atlantic and the Banana river lagoon on Florida’s central east coast. I was surprised to see pines on the roadsides of Florida just at the sea level because the Chir pine that grows in Himachal Pradesh at the lowest height touches, at least, 500 metres. Later, as I moved north and south in Florida, I came to know that the pines are a common feature of the Florida landscape.

Cindy Conrad writes in “Florida Pines”, “Is there anything more relaxing than lying in a hammock in your own backyard, on a warm spring day, listening to the gentle breeze blowing through the needles of pine trees? In fall, when all the other trees have dropped their leaves, you can still listen to that peaceful sound.”

Orlando has much to offer to a visitor in Disneyland, the Kennedy Space Centre and the beaches. I visited all these but I just cannot forget my visit to St. Augustine, 107 miles north of Orlando, the oldest European-established city in the United States. It was founded in the year 1565 by a Spanish explorer. There is red train travel of the city for about 14 dollars. I took a ticket and had a round of the city, saw old buildings, knew their history through Dave, the guide-cum-driver of the train.

The Spanish there built Fort Matanzas with the construction material known as coquina which is glued shell fragments, a natural gift of the sea. Coquina became so popular that many buildings and side-walls of the streets in St. Augustine are made of the material.

Do you know Robert Ripley? He was the compiler of “Believe it or Not” and had travelled 207 countries to find out the strangest thing in the world and ultimately declared Man to be the strangest one. He used to often pass the Castle Warden building in St. Augustine and spoke of it as an ideal showplace. He died in 1949.

The castle then was converted into the first permanent Ripley Believe it or Not museum. It has a unique collection of oddities and curiosities. Then there is a St. George’s Street here where the vehicles are not allowed and that gives it the feel of The Mall of Shimla. Here I took pizza in a restaurant and the owner of the shop personally came to me to show that he was washing the knife because I had ordered for a vegetarian pizza.

I saw with wonder a 600-year-old oak tree in the compound of Howard Johnson Express Inn here. The tree is named The Old Senator. Dave told me that it had been named Senator because it was crooked and shady.

THE Tribune interview

‘Our coalition with cong remains fine’
— Omar Abdullah, Chief Minister, Jammu & Kashmir

Omar Abdullah, who will complete four years as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir in January, has just weathered a coalition crisis and looks confident of maintaining the calm in the sensitive state. He took time off his busy schedule to speak to Editor-in-Chief Raj Chengappa at his Srinagar residence on a range of issues. Excerpts:

How seriously do you view the recent attack on a Srinagar hotel?

There have been incidents in Srinagar and its outskirts before, so therefore, it needs to be seen in the right context. There is still the presence of militants in the Valley and from time to time they would like to show their presence. This is really their last sort of hurrah for this year before the Administration moves to Jammu in winter. But it’s neither a very massive attack nor it is a very odious one. It is seem to be an attack of convenience — just to mark their presence. Nothing more than that.

What is your assessment of the law and order situation in the state now?

On the whole, it is fine. There have been sporadic incidents and some linked to wider issues, the burning of the Dastageer Shrine and the YouTube video that gave us some cause for concern this year. Because of the scale of protests that we saw in other parts of the world and the possibility for trouble here, there was an effort made to incite trouble here, particularly by using the social media. But we got through that also relatively well.

There is no issue with the 73rd amendment. What is the point of us having our own Constitution if we are going to bring in every amendment that the Government of India brings in and make it automatically applicable here? We will modify our Panchayati Raj Act to bring in those provisions of the 73rd amendment that we believe are beneficial to the state.

Militancy, in terms of actual violence, is down by 30 per cent compared to last year. The number of militants, in our own government’s estimates, is in the region of 300 plus or minus in the Valley. It is a very small number considering that the infiltration figures in the early days of militancy were 2000 plus per annum. Today you are looking at infiltration figures of 70-80

What is the level of militancy here?

Militancy, in terms of actual violence, is down by 30 per cent compared to last year. In terms of the number of militants, our own government’s estimates are that we could be looking at anything in the region of about 300 plus or minus in the Valley. It is a very small sum considering that the infiltration figures in the early days of militancy were 2000 plus per annum. Today you are looking at infiltration figures of about 70-80.

What are the main reasons for the decline?

There are multiple factors. There is obviously refinement of our own techniques in terms of our deployments, the counter-insurgency measures, the fence and the equipment that have been deployed there, all that makes infiltration difficult. The international pressure on Pakistan, Pakistan’s own domestic concerns and their lack of support from the local population — all of this adds up.

You have been wanting the lifting of AFSPA from certain areas in the state. Is that process still on?

I still believe it is something that we can make progress on. Nobody has suggested that there will not be militancy to deal with. The point we are making is that we can deal with that militancy without using the Army. AFSPA is required by the Army. If we can deal with militancy in these areas without the Army, then AFSPA is not required. Now the only argument that comes is about protecting the Army supply lines. Nothing stops the Army from firing in self-defence. If there is a logical argument against it, then please furnish me with it.

The Union Home Minister says that the time is not right to lift AFSPA. Did you discuss it with him when he was in the Valley recently?

We have discussed it and I would not like to get into the details. He has been positive on all concerns that we brought to the table. I think in fairness to Mr Shinde, given that he hasn’t been the Home Minister for very long, he has been very supportive and his visit to the Valley was definitely a very positive one.

Coming to your government, it appears you have reached a crisis point with your coalition partner, the Congress party.

No, there is no crisis. There was an avoidable misunderstanding on the issue of reservation in the block development councils. It is a little messy but as they say that you never see how laws and sausages are made and this is just one of those situations.

The Congress appears to have issued an ultimatum on the subject.

There was no ultimatum. The hurry wasn’t because the Congress had issued any sort of deadline; we were actually up against our own time frame because the last date for filing of nominations for block development councils elections was coming up. Once the nominations had been filed and that period had been closed, then it would have got even messier. So contrary to popular belief, the time frame was not dictated by any sort of misunderstanding within the coalition; it was actually dictated by a legal necessity to issue the Ordinance deferring elections to the councils before the last date of filing the nominations was over.

How would you describe your relations with your coalition partner at the moment?

They are fine. In any coalition, particularly a post-poll coalition, there will be issues that crop up from time to time. There are individuals with whom sometimes there is a clash of wills, sometimes there are people whose ambition outweighs their ability. You just have to deal with that and move on.

Have you an able to sort out the controversy over the amendment to the State Panchayat Act to give the panches more power?

There is no issue with the 73rd amendment. What is the point of us having our own Constitution if we are going to bring in every amendment that the Government of India brings in and make it automatically applicable here? Even before the panachayat elections, we wrote a letter to Prof. Saifuddin Soz saying that we intended to have panchayat elections. Also we will modify our Panchayati Raj Act to bring in those provisions of the 73rd amendment that we believe are beneficial to the state. I still stand by that. It’s the right way to do it because it does not weaken our autonomy and Constitution and, in fact, it strengthens it. We are changing it ourselves. We are not being forced to make those changes. There is no harm in that.

Are the panchayats functional now?

They are functional. Fourteen departments have been handed over to them. They have been given certain finances. A lot of rural development work is happening through them. It is a fact that we introduced the panchayati raj after a gap of more than 30 years. The last time there was a functioning panchayat in the state, I was less than 13 years old. That should tell you how long it is. An entire generation has come and gone without panchayats functioning here. Do you not expect some teething problems? There will be and we will overcome them. We just have the patience to deal with it.

It’s been almost four years as Chief Minister. What are your major achievements?

Some of the laws that we brought in, particularly the Public Service Guarantee Act, RTI, and the Accountability Commission. The Vigilance Commission will soon be revived. It is a fact that we did have the panchayat elections. You had two good summers when people had a chance to earn from tourism and development apart from having a semblance of normal life. I think all this is definitely something that we worked to put together.

What is the big thing you would like to do in the remaining two years?

First and foremost, obviously I would like to keep this peaceful atmosphere as long as possible. We want to see a further decline in militancy and greater stability in the law and order situation. It is not that maintaining the current calm is without challenges but we will deal with them. Obviously, we will have to step up levels of development. Unemployment continues to remain a problem and let us see how much we can do for that in terms of both our own schemes as well as schemes of the Government of India. On the reform part, we cannot afford electricity arrears of Rs 2,000 crore in the power sector. We are a welfare state but we are also a state that has enormous financial difficulties and we cannot afford this kind of situation.

One of the issues that people complain about is corruption. What has your government done to curb it?

The biggest thing that we have done is the Public Service Guarantee Act; the ambit of it is being widened. You do not have here big scams and scandals. But the flip side of that is people are talking about corruption that hits them whereas the 2G scam or "Coalgate" does not really bother them. This corruption does, if they have to pay for a driving licence or a gas connection. To deal with that corruption, we brought in the Public Service Guarantee Act and strengthened the Accountability Commission. If you believe that there is a problem with corruption, there are enough institutions today to deal with it. Hopefully, people will start using them.

Senior bureaucrat Wajahat Habibullah had complained that you had restricted the RTI in Jammu and Kashmir?

I have serious issues with people who use constitutional positions to write letters that become public documents. If he had something to write to me, he should have written to me in person. Writing to me through the pages of a newspaper is not done. I read the letter in a newspaper before I got it in person and I do not understand in what capacity the Chairman of the Minority Commission writes on the commission’s letter head about the RTI. He is no longer the Chairman of the Information Commission. So whatever his concerns are, I am sure the government will send a reply.

There are complaints about poor delivery and execution of the programmes that your government has launched. An example being cited is the scheme for employment of youth.

Let me know which part of the Sher-e-Kashmir welfare policy for youth is not delivering? We have created more than 2,000 entrepreneurs who have been given money, seed capital and are setting up units today. Show me another scheme that has delivered numbers like this. We are today paying thousands of youngsters an unemployment dole so that we can help them while we trying to find them jobs. We have six lakh plus unemployed youngsters today. Show me a solution that will allow me to find employment for all of them overnight. There is not one.

What is the status of the interlocutors report? Has it been of much help?

There are enough aspects of the report that I vehemently disagree with. That having been said, I have stated on more than one occasion, that while this report may not form the basis of a solution, it can definitely form the basis for the dialogue and the dialogue will then lead to a solution. This report has been completed after perhaps the most wide ranging discussions.

Syed Ali Shah Geelani has raised the issue of building a road for the Amarnath yatra...

If Syed Ali Shah Geelani believes that a mecademized road is being build right upto the mouth of the holy cave, then I am sorry he has taken leave of his senses. We have an obligation to give the yatris facilities. Now if there is a track and that track needs widening in certain places, minor widening, what is objectionable in that? How come he does not object to the widening that goes in other parts of the state! Why only this widening? Please read what we have submitted to the Supreme Court. We have not undertaken to construct a road. We have undertaken to widen the path subject to whatever guidelines are laid down in our forest management Act, in our environment Act and everywhere else. We are acutely conscious of our obligation to the environment. But we are also conscious of our obligation to provide some basic facilities to the yatris. And it is the balance that we will find. The problem with Syed Ali Geelani is that his politics is based on exploitation. I trust the people will see through that. I challenge him now. I will give him a helicopter to fly over the entire area. Let him show me where a road is being constructed..