Bengal Tiger, Gomti and Hinduism

On the earth day, I decided to google “Environment Hinduism”. One of the hits was from a site called treehugger.com. Obviously an American site. It was refreshing to read the article, which says things about Hinduism, which we Hindus do not consider anymore. In India where, thanks to the English language media and pseudo-secularists, Hindu has become a dirty word. Who has time for concepts like Vasudeva Sarvam or Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam or Sarva bhuta hita or sanyam or maryada or karma or santosha or aparigraha to name a few? In this day and age of instant gratification and feeling good at all cost is reducing our great civilization into a collection of lost souls. Hinduism is the greatest religion but we Indians do not seem to either see it or appreciate it. We have taken it and reduced it to rituals of convenience. We have completely ignored the basic tenets, which separate Hinduism from the lesser religions. Maybe that is one of the reasons for all our problems.

Anyway, coming back to the environmental problems that we are facing. We had written on our blog about state of our rivers and our flora and fauna. I wanted to revisit them using two articles. One is about saving the Bengal tiger and the other on a river I have crossed many times.

In a country where crimes against people goes unpunished, it is too much to ask the government to bring poachers to justice. Therefore the responsibility falls on us to do our own bits to save our natural resources. Very often villagers living close to the forests kill predators with inhuman glee. They need to be told by public service announcement and involvement of responsible IFS personnel that we are the ones who are encroaching and not the other way around. One of the initiatives is relocation of the villagers to safer grounds. Money for this could be raised by way of charity and maybe the uber-rich religious trusts could spend some of that money for causes espoused in the religion they seem to practice. It is time for them to put their money where their mouths are! As far as aam aadmi is concerned, at the very least he should be taking sides with the Bishnois in saving the deer rather than continuing to support Salman Khan.

As a child, I spent sometime in the city of Nawabs. Chatarmanzil and similar buildings used to look beautiful sitting on the banks of Gomti River in Lucknow. That very river has now been reduced to a “nullah”. In a very touching article, obviously by a “Lakhnavi” we find out that the quality of water, which is supposed to nourish life around and within is nothing more than a toxic brew.

Element //Quantity //WHO Standard

Iron //96.12 gm/litre //0.30 mg/litre
Chloride //4.45 mg/litre //0.25 mg/litre
Sulphate //9.10 mg/litre //0.20 mg/litre
Mercury //1.06 gm/litre //0.001 mg/litre
Arsenic //4.25 gm/litre //0.01 mg/litre
Chromium //1.65 gm/litre //0.05 mg/litre
E-coli(Faecal Bacteria) //8.1 x 103 MPN/ml //0/100 ml
(Drinking that water is as good as drinking night soil!)

The toxins in the water tell me that all of it is due to unscrupulous industrialists who dump their waste in the river to save money. It is important that people are made aware about the importance of a clean river. Heavy metals in the river are very likely to enter the food chain and thus hurt us all. Local and central governments will have to take serious measures to stop this kind of pollution.

It would seem to an outsider like folks are treehugger.com that Hindus will take care of their environment like they would inside of their houses. The truth however is far from it.

Barring some Hindu groups and leaders like Swami Chidanand Saraswati has been quite outspoken in this regard and has tried to put pressure on the politicians. Of course we know that probably one or two politicians of repute care about the environment. The others couldn’t care less.

Indian villages relocate to save Bengal Tiger
It was a scandal that awoke the world to the depth of the crisis facing the Indian tiger, with a census this year revealing that as few as 1,300 tigers now survive in India, just one-third of the numbers of two decades ago.
Perhaps fittingly, therefore, it is in Sariska that Indian conservationists are launching the fight-back to save their national animal.
Bhagani, home to 21 families, is the first of four jungle villages in Sariska that will be re-located in order to create a haven of tiger habitat where the animals can breed undisturbed.
The article can be read at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/3307953/Indian-villages-relocate-to-save-Bengal-Tiger.html

All of Existence Should Be Revered: Hinduism & The Environment
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 03.16.11
People think, "My home is my home, but the street, that's not mine. My farm is mine, but the road is not mine. That's the government's road, the borough's road, or the municipality's road; it's not mine." But that's not correct. It's not just "your home is your home." The street is also yours. Until we have this kind of relationship with the environment, [awareness and action about pollution] will not come.
The article can be read at: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/03/all-existence-revered-hinduism-environment.php

The article on Gomti can be read at: http://www.boloji.com/index.cfm?md=Content&sd=Articles&ArticleID=10857

The Anna Hazare Phenomenon

Once Anna Hazare's fast ended and a few days passed, I found myself asking the question – What was this movement all about?

It was not a mass movement like, say, Rath Yatra, yet it moved a significant section of Indian population quite like a popular movement that changes a nation's history. It was a Gandhian sort of effort, yet it attracted the most westernized of Indians as supporters. It was a movement started by a native Indian Hindu, yet supported most by leftists and hardened secularists. Finally, it appeared to be popular, yet it seeks to subvert popular mandate by insisting on a bill that will put handpicked “Nobel prize winners”, “bharat ratna awardees” and such like above the democratically elected representatives, without commensurate accountability to people.

So what was the movement all about?

To answer the question, transport yourself to a village in interiors of India. The village still observes caste though segregation is not unbearably oppressive. In the village is a lone Brahmin family, which gets respected by the entire village solely because of being Brahmins. The Brahmin elder, though he has no temporal powers, still wields his “moral” power, rooted in Hindu values.

Now imagine that the majority of villagers take a decision, say to remove a temple and build a Panchayat office in it's place, the temple structure to come up in a new location.

The Brahmin does not like the decision and believes that the temple should not be moved since for whatever reason, the location is sacrosanct. However, the popular decision (or “democratic” if you will) is that the temple should be relocated.

What does “panditji” do? He announces that he will go and jump into the well if the popular decision is not reversed. The whole village gets excited on hearing Panditji's decision. Panditji also announces (very conveniently) a date and time for jumping into the well. At the appointed hour, the whole village gathers at the well. Panditji comes and gives his speech outlining how the village has forgotten “Dharma” and that he sees no point in living in this kind of society. Since the majority of the villagers have taken the decision that will institute the rule of “Adharma”, he has no choice but to give up his life.

The villagers, of course, would have none of it. Popular will shifts. The village leaders sense that they cannot annoy the villagers. They are now ready for compromise. With folded hands they request panditji to honor the village by reversing his decision. After some hawing and humming, the Brahmin gives up the “sankalpa” to give up his life and comes back. The temple remains where it was, development plans for the village are suitably altered.

This behavior, both of “moral leaders” and of the people, has been a constant feature of the Hindu society over ages. By popular will, the popular will itself is subordinated to the dictates of a moral leader provided such a leader is accepted as epitome of moral values. Gandhi was one such leader. Those who have closely studied his life and politics will agree that he was no democrat in the sense democracy is understood. He was, before anything else, a moral leader in the strictest Hindu sense. He could get his way simply by risking his life.

Anyone who has cared to examine things will realize that Anna Hazare's movement and the Lok Pal bill in the form proposed by him and his followers are profoundly undemocratic. Popular will does not lie with Anna Hazare. Howsoever one might dislike politicians, the truth is that the popular will lies with the politicians. It is for them that literally hundreds of millions come out of their houses, stand up in queues, take other personal inconveniences and vote them to power.

Anna Hazare has no capability to mobilize the real masses of India. He admitted his undemocratic nature openly. He said people don't understand things. They vote because they get a few hundred rupees or bottles of country liquor. Not because they think a politician will do good for the society. Many politicians too came on TV and said he and his movement are undemocratic. Questions were raised if we should give up democracy because certain sections of “civil” society don't like the representatives elected by popular will, howsoever serious be the charges against them.

This brings us to one of the central questions facing all democracies – what if the masses of people are either “evil”, in the sense that they want supremacism of some kind, or if they are so ignorant that giving voting power to them actually spoils governance in the country.

If, for instance, popular will was taken in any Muslim society, one can kiss goodbye to all that modern secular, free democracies stand for.

Anna Hazare, in reality, used a native Hindu tradition to compensate for “bad” decisions taken by democratic popular will in India. Quite like the Brahmin gets his way against a popular decision in the village. We may debate whether such a thing is good in modern India, or whether it is bad and we should go strictly by democratic process, but first let us first understand what happened. And what happened was the triumph of Hindu “moral” authority over popular will.

Now to cast our votes (how ironical!) on whether giving space and even authority to such “moral” crusaders is correct or not in a modern, constitutional democracy. My own view is that in India, we should allow some authority to persons of moral stature like Anna Hazare. India is still an immature democracy. Indians are still rather immature and a little old fashioned subversion of popular will will not harm us. Unless of course we become addicted to it.

I think that we indeed have misused our democratic rights. While old fashioned imperialism cannot be the answer – it's social order was always based on apartheid of some sort, this kind of movement by a person of impeccable moral stature, unsullied by any kind of politicization (note that he was supported by both secularists and nationalists) should get it's way and should have a say in the way the country is governed. I am happy that Anna Hazare bent the government to his will.

That should not take away our political responsibility to improve the democratic and constitutional processes. We cannot forever be dependent on “Nobel prize awardees” and “Bharat Ratna” for ensuring that politicians do not indulge in unbridled corruption. That assurance should eventually come from normal democratic and constitutional processes. Anna Hazare (and other similar persons) can be only a stopgap measure.

Having cast my vote, a word of caution too. This kind of movement has the potential to create a powerful coterie of one or the other political combine that has no accountability to people but wields undue influence on legitimate, democratically elected representatives. It will be a social and political dysfunction if the persons who get influence through this route, instead of fighting corruption and other universally agreed scourges of Indian society, start pushing their “secular” version of Indian narrative with their new found influence. So long as we are able to guard against that risk, Anna Hazare, the modern day panditji in the grand Indian village, will have added value to our political and governance process.

Can You Love the Sinners ‘UPA & Pawar?

Endosulphan is a pesticide with acute toxicity. It accumulates in the human body and disrupts the endocrine system i.e. synthesis, secretion, transport, binding, action, or elimination of natural hormones in the body that are responsible for the maintenance of homeostasis (normal cell metabolism), reproduction, development, and/or behavior. Anyone with even peripheral knowledge of biology can appreciate the potential for damage.That kind of damage is not limited to the patient. It also gets transmitted to the next generation because the bioaccumulation can cause genetic mutation much like radioactive elements and chemicals.

When most of the countries have banned the use of Endosufan, Mr. Pawar and his UPA government wanting to conduct further study on the risks posed by the pesticide clearly demonstrates their interest in safeguarding the Endosufan producers.

India's share in the global Endosulfan market is over 70 percent with an annual production of 12 million liters valued at Rs 4,500 crore. Exports of the chemical are valued at Rs 180 crore.
Instead of taking stern action towards banning the pesticide, Pawar went on to blame the farmers for spraying the product on the crop and said; “That might be the reason for the ill-effect on the people”.

Here is what an activist had to say; “It is not a sin for Governments to have commercial interests, but Governments should not accord more value to commerce than the life of the people for whom they exist. Why is this pesticide more important to Government of India than its people?”

I am sure many have heard the phrase "love the sinner, but hate the sin". But what does it mean to "hate the sin"? More importantly, can anyone really just hate the sin while not hating the person, the establishment and its guardians who commit such atrocious sins?

This decision to a large extent is in our hands, the people who time and again elect the same leaders and the same party to power.

India will not ban Endosulfan pesticide, says Sharad Pawar
India’s Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has refused to ban Endosulfan, a chemical used widely in India as an insecticide. He blamed farmers for the disastrous effects of this pesticide on people. For instance, Kasargod district of Kerala had reported deaths and permanent disabilities due to the use of this chemical.
The article can be read at: http://www.tehelka.com/story_main48.asp?filename=Ws220211AGRICULTURE.asp

Endosulfan tragedy in Kerala
The Endosulfan tragedy in Kerala’s northernmost Kasaragod district has begun to cause what scientists now call a “Hiroshima syndrome” as women are refusing to beget children and opting for abortion if they become pregnant. They fear that the babies they beget may have serious congenital disorders as the mothers of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had feared decades ago. They are seeing babies born with congenital problems like oversized heads, undersized bodies, convoluted limbs and cancers everywhere in the area. Nobody can assure them that this would not be the case with their babies.
But Union Minister for Agriculture Sharad Pawar and the UPA Government, allegedly under pressure from the pesticide manufacturing lobby, are still unconvinced about the evil effects of Endosulfan. As late as on Monday, the Union Ministry of Agriculture stated that it was almost impossible to impose a nationwide ban on Endosulfan. It gave two reasons for this reluctance: No effective substitute has been found for Endosulfan so far and no States other than Kerala and Karnataka have demanded a ban. The pro-Endosulfan lobby is arguing that there is no proof of any direct connection between the pesticide and the health disorders found in Kasaragod and southern Karnataka despite the findings of various agencies including those of the Government to prove the link. “The Government and Mr Pawar do not want to see the truth. I can wake you up if you are asleep. But I cannot do it if you are pretending sleep,” said Padmanabhan, an anti-Endosulfan activist in Kumbala, Kasaragod.

The article can be read at: http://www.dailypioneer.com/332953/%E2%80%98Hiroshima-syndrome%E2%80%99-in-Kerala.html
You can read about endosulphan at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endosulphan

Narendra Modi’s Silent Green Revolution

Sharad Pawar has been an agriculture minister many times. We know that it not his expertise in the matter, which gets him the post. Rather it is a cash rich portfolio and people of Maharashtra always arm this man with enough MPs so he can bargain. So what can we expect from a minister who has an immense hunger for wealth, no scruples and no expertise or desire to make the agricultural sector of India reach its full potential? To answer that, I would like to you’re attention to the title of the following msn article which essentially speaks for itself. Being the central agricultural minister Mr. Sharad Pawar could not control farmers committing suicide in his own state of Maharashtra, let alone lead a nationwide green revolution. Of course when it comes to moneymaking scams, he has done very well. He has done so by becoming the chief of one of the biggest cash cows, the ICC chief. His involvement is suspected in almost all the mega scams right from stamp paper to 2G. The man’s ineptitude and greed were on display last year when he refused to distribute millions of tons of food grain that were rotting in the rain due to lack of proper storage and government granary in spite the Supreme Court orders.

On the other hand we have Bhai Narendra Modi, who has been vilified by people unfit to carry his waste, leading his state into a double digit growth in the agricultural sector. We all know Gujarat is semi arid and yet despite a drought in 2002-03, it has showed a double-digit growth consistently. Why is that? It is because Bhai Narendra Modi is a leader in the true sense of the word. He leads with brains, heart and example. People of Guarat respond to his leadership by doing all the right things. That is why the entire state prospers. Are we surprised that even a leftist Gandhian like Anna Hazare has acknowledged the need for replication of the Gujarat experiment at a national level. Of course Anna’s agenda is India, not pseudo-secularism and vote bank politics.

Opposed to Gujarat in various ways, we have a fertile state like West Bengal where the Communists have touted their pro-poor policies and land reform have managed to run the agriculture sector into the ground like they have everything else.

The choice for us could not be starker.

Mr Pawar, learn from Narendra Modi
Agriculture Minister Pawar has to learn a few lessons from Gujarat’s silent Green Revolution
New Delhi: Even as the Planning Commission says that India's desire to hit double-digit economic growth is being constrained, among other things, by the inability of the farm sector to grow at an annual average rate of 4 per cent a year, largely semi-arid Gujarat, with poor agro-ecological endowments, has reported an average growth rate of close to 9 per cent per annum over the past decade.
Gujarat's agricultural performance this past decade has turned out to be as impressive as its performance on the industrial front. What are the secrets of Chief Minister Narendra Modi's "Gujarat model of farm development"?
The article can be read at: http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5134675

Gujarat posts 12.8% agriculture growth, highest in India
Whether it is investments or his drives for improved child nutrition, girl child enrolment, hospital deliveries or rural sanitation, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is never short of bragging points. Now, he has more reason for immodesty. Against a national average of 2.8% in a five year period to 2006-07, the latest year for which state-wise data is available, Gujarat has become the fastest growing state agriculturally. It clocked a growth rate of 12.8% after a decline during the previous five years and higher growth during the early 1990s, but a smart bounce nonetheless in view of a severe drought in 2002-03.
Ashok Gulati, Director-in-Asia, The International Food Policy Research Institute, said, "There is a mystery a bit of it but that is also a way that Gujarat can show to the rest of the country that agriculture is not a 2% growth, it can be 12% growth story per annum."
In contrast, West Bengal is the worst performing in agriculture. Farming in the state is in secular decline from 5.3% in the early 1990s to 3.9% during the next five years, and less than half that growth during the latest five year period. Poor farming performance should be a cause of concern for the left front government that parades its land reforms.
The article can be read at: http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/economy/gujarat-posts-128-agriculture-growth-highestindia_388239.html
The picture is from: http://deshgujarat.com/2011/01/21/gujarat-signs-ppp-with-john-deere-on-farm-mechanization/

Congress Targets Narendra Modi To Divert Attention

The sizeable dirty tricks department of Congress is at it again. Predictable they have targeted Bhai Narendra Modi again. They are facing a lot of problems these days. To add to the numerous problems, the whole Anna Hazare endeavor has thrown a monkey wrench in an already non-functioning engine. All of Digvijay Singh’s ranting and Amar Singh sleazy politics is not sticking. They are trying to paint the anti corruption movement in the color saffron in hopes that the “secular” India would see the movement as a communal thing and come back to the Congress fold. This is the kind of bankrupt thinking which destroys countries. They take pleasure is saying “Baba Ramdev ki dukan band ho gayee”. Their logic is that it was not the message but the Baba’s conservative nationalism, which made his movement a non-starter. They could not be more wrong. Baba did not get the requisite media support because the sleazy Indian media would not support a cancer cure if a BJP supporter invented it. Baba’s rally was a one-day event and was ignored by the media crooks even though they agreed with his message. How do I know that? Well, a similar message from Anna Hazare seems to have resonated with them. Moreover Anna’s was a prolonged effort with the element of looming tragedy. Now they are trying to show that RSS was behind the whole anti-corruption movement. What these inept people, who are sitting on our fates like a cobra, do not know is that the anger is too deep, maybe as deep as the rot in the system. The country is looking like a meta-stable pyramid these days – cannot continue like this. I sincerely hope that the Indian middle and poorer class see through the sleazy Congress tricks and hurt them where it hurts – at the ballot box.

In the meanwhile, the Congress has reached into the immensely deep pool of sleazy and corrupt babus and pulled one out who is trying his best to smear Bhai Narendra. He is trying to do what many pseudo-secular charlatans have tried and failed. All this is being done to relieve the pressure on the dysfunctional and the sleaziest central government. Bhai Narendra has become a relief valve for these guys. When in trouble, turn the valve on. God, I hope that no one buys into his or her hogwash. To the people who voted for the Congress, I have this to say: you have to shoulder a lot of blame for all this, maybe all of it!

Modi encouraged Gujarat riots: IPS officer tells SC
The post-Godhra riots have come back to haunt Narendra Modi with a senior IPS officer alleging that the Gujarat chief minister had allowed Hindus to "vent their anger" during the 2002 clashes. "In his affidavit in the Supreme Court, IPS officer Sanjeev Bhatt has said that the Chief Minister in a meeting held on February 27, 2002 expressed the view that rioters be allowed to vent out their anger," sources close to him said in Ahmedabad on Friday referring to the affidavit in the Zakia Jaffery case.
The article can be read at: http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-modi-encouraged-gujarat-riots-ips-officer-tells-sc/20110422.htm

Corruption in India: Who Is Responsible?

Anna Hazare has said that he will accept the result of the debate on the Lokpal bill in the Loksabha. We now know how the UPA is going to defeat this bill. The champions of secularism Mayawati, Mulayam, Karunanidhi etc, will all join forces in the interest of communal harmony and defeat this bill. All the effort by Anna will be in vain. Was that any surprise to seasoned news watchers and followers of politics. Anna is a passionate man, a mover and a shaker on the street. But he is not a politician. He brought a knife to a gun fight. UPA and others may have let him win the battle but they will defeat him in the war. Anna should have aligned himself or at least sought help from his best option, the BJP. That way he would have the access to some sharp political minds and requisite support in the Loksabha. He still can get it and it is in the interest of the BJP to give it but now it may be too late. A clear cut strategy should have been in place before the hunger strike, before the pro-maoist leftists usurped the stage.
Anyway, from the looks of it, no one in power seems to be interested in doing the right thing. That is the most distressing and heart-breaking thing. We were hoping that we would be able to see the new India in our lifetimes but it seems that it is not going to be possible. Everyone is scheming to derail Anna. As per Sheela Bhatt’s article in rediff, Congress is actively trying to paint Anna in saffron colors because they think that his “dukan” will also get shut down like Baba Ramdev’s. What an approach to an epidemic like corruption – forget the disease, kill the doctor!
I don’t know if Lokpal bill would have been enough. That seems to be the belief of Joginder Singh and Vivek Gumaste, two op-ed authors who have their hearts and minds in the right place. They both contend that the rot is too deep and it needs to be dealt at multiple fronts.
In the meanwhile see the video posted with this article. Abdul Karim Telgi of the stamp paper scam was the first of the multi-thousand crore rupee scams. In a truth serum test (which is not admissible in courts in western countries), he claims that Sharad Pawar and Chagan Bhujbal were involved in the scam. We have known about Mr. Pawar problems with integrity, honest and greed. But the good people of Maharashtra keep electing this man. So ultimately they are to be blamed for it just like UP voters are responsible for Mayawati, Bihar voters for laloo Yadav , TN voters for Karunanidhi, AP voters for Reddy family and WB /Kerala voters for empowering the communists.
This is a democracy. As much as we would like to blame the politicians, we cannot do so. The thief WILL steal and a hustler WILL cheat. That is their nature. If we keep them out of the jail and into the seats of power, are we not to blame?

The rot runs far too deep
Joginder Singh
While drafting a stringent Lok Pal Bill is a good idea, this alone cannot help us fight the cancer of corruption. A lot more needs to be done. Social activist Anna Hazare has rightly raised a storm against corruption which has become wide spread and shows no sign of abating. The Union Government has agreed to his demand of taking on board his representatives for the drafting of a strong Lok Pal Bill. In fact, both sides have legal luminaries as members. As the experience of Bills drafted by the Government shows, they leave sufficient loopholes for the guilty to escape the law, in the name of fair play, human rights and equity, as if victims do not have any of these rights.
The article can be read at:http://www.dailypioneer.com/332359/The-rot-runs-far-too-deep.html

Why the Lokpal Bill alone is not enough
The biggest drawback of the Lokpal Bill is that it is not preventive in its design. It is a punitive measure that kicks in after the crime has been committed and assumes that fear itself would be an adequate deterrent. Even the most robust governments in the world know how difficult it is to restore the monies siphoned off by corrupt practices despite nabbing the culprit. Nevertheless the Lokpal Bill is one step forward in this war and must be supported whole heartedly.
The article can be read at:http://www.rediff.com/news/column/why-the-lokpal-bill-alone-is-not-enough/20110418.htm

The Sheila Bhatt article can be read at:http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-why-they-wont-let-hazares-campaign-to-succeed/20110420.htm

Foreign Policy Blunder V: The Nuclear Muddle

The Simla agreement was signed on 2nd July 1972. The Pakistan nuclear program was initiated in January 1972. So while Bhutto was in Simla seducing our gullible leaders, an India-centric nuclear weapons program had started under the leadership of Munir Ahmed Khan and a non-Muslim scientist who would go on to win the Nobel Prize, Dr. Abdus Salam (he was am Ahmadiyya / Qadiayani). After Salam left the country (no surprise), the biggest thief in the history of all nuclear programs, A. Q. Khan joined the program and brought it to fruition.

Now in those days, the US was using Pakistanis to get into China and then to wage a proxy battle against the Russians in Afghanistan. Declassified documents show a great deal of confusion in the US about how to deal with the progressing nuclear program in Pakistan. I suppose they did not want to antagonize the Pakistanis and sought to put diplomatic pressure on them to do the right thing. The US would have had a better success trying to get a drug addict to give up drugs. Thanks to a muddled approach of the US, the Pakistani weapons program progressed unfettered.

All this while the Indian leadership was trying to “apologize” to the world for carrying out our nuclear test. Instead of showing guts and continue on with our program, we self-imposed a moratorium on further testing. As Maj. Gen. Suman says in his article: "Instead of asserting India’s newly acquired status of a nuclear power and demanding recognition, India turned apologetic and tried to convince the world that it had no nuclear ambitions. Strangely, it termed the Pokharan test as a ‘peaceful nuclear explosion’ – a term unheard of till then. The Defence Minister went to the extent of claiming that the Indian nuclear experiment was “only for mining, oil and gas prospecting, for finding underground sources of water, for diverting rivers, for scientific and technological knowledge.”

Whereas a few more assertive follow-on tests would have forced the world to accept India as a member of the nuclear club, India went into an overdrive to placate the world through a self imposed moratorium on further testing. It lost out on all the advantages provided to it by its scientists. It suffered sanctions and yet failed to gain recognition as a nuclear power. The country missed golden opportunities due to the timidity and spinelessness of its leaders.

In the meantime, our leaders knew about the Pakistani nuclear weapons program. The must have known how its success would change the future of Indo-Pak battles. It would leave us vulnerable to blackmail by a country whose raison de etre was hatred for India. As per declassified US documents, all they did was talk tough. Here is what Morarji Desai said: "that if Pakistan did the same "the two pledges would be as good as a joint agreement." He rejected Goheen's suggestion that a formal agreement would be more effective and dismissed altogether the nuclear weapons free zone concept. Responding to Goheen's query about a prospective Indian reaction to a Pakistani weapons test, the prime minister was belligerent: "If he discovered that Pakistan was ready to test a bomb or if it exploded one, he would act at [once] 'to smash it.'"

Atalji was the Foreign Minister back then. He tried to “solve” the problems between India and Pakistan. What a dangerous combination of myopia and chutzpah that was!

What we should have done was attack Pakistan with all our might and ensured the demise of their nuclear weapons program instead of doing what we are good at: hoping and praying. There are rumours that the Israelis (God bless them!) wanted to destroy the Pakistani nuclear facilities like they had done in Osirak, Iraq. It seems that they wanted some logistic help from India but our PM Mrs. Gandhi refused. SHE REFUSED!! Someone else was going to do the heavy lifting and all we had to do was refill their planes. Even if we could not deny the help given to the Israelis, what is the worst the Pakistanis could have done? A stitch in time could have saved us twenty years of intifada like terrorism in J&K, terrorism which we have been facing in the last ten years and may even have helped us in controlling the terror in Punjab .

Therefore lack of assertiveness denied our nuclear program the legitimacy it deserved and lack of guts and foresight stopped us from doing something about the Pakistani nuclear program. That definitely classifies as a Foreign Policy blunder for which we will always pay in blood and resources.

Israel planned to strike Pak nukes
PTI,Mar 8, 2004,
WASHINGTON: Israel, which successfully destroyed an Iraqi nuclear reactor, also considered a pre-emptive strike to destroy Pakistan's nuclear facilities, according to State Department papers released by the National Security Archive, a private research agency.

The declassified US documents can be read at: http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nukevault/ebb333/index.htm
The Israelis article can be read at: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2004-03-08/pakistan/28336172_1_nuclear-bomb-islamic-bomb-declassified-papers
The Article which started the series can be read at: http://www.indiandefencereview.com/2010/07/seven-blunders-that-will-haunt-india-for-posterity.html

Indian Leftist: Ideology or Country?

If you ask a liberal / pseudo-secularist why did the UPA made world’s financier of terrorists, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, the chief guest at the Republic day parade in 2006, they will answer realpolitik / pragmatism / greater good. They are right. When you ask them why we support the brutal Myanmar’s Junta, or Iran’s government or some shady characters in Africa(President Khatami was another guest at the Republic day parade) they will have the same answer and they will again be right. What about our relations with our age old enemies China? Same answer. What about our enemy which is hell bent of destroying us, Pakistan. Same answer. My point is that these people understand and appreciate the concept of realpolitik / pragmatism / greater good.

However, if you ask them what did they think of Narendra Modi duplicating the super successful Gujarat experiment for entire India, their vitriolic answers will make you think that you had asked them their permission to rob their house! Amazing isn’t it? The pragmatism evaporates so quickly. Essentially, the pragmatism and greater good is OK as long as it meshes with or does not clash with their petty agenda. It is obvious that these people put their agenda above the good of the nation.

I am not a Congress supporter to put it very mildly. Yet I understand and appreciate what they bring to the national table. They have few good people in the party who have been muzzled for the benefit of the first family of India. I acknowledge them because for me nation takes precedence over everything. For the pseudo-secularists, the nation is only important if the nation and her citizens tow their line. Just like the Communists. Idealism over nationalism.

Mr. Bahukutumbi Raman has been described as a hawk and a pragmatist. He recently wrote an article about Anna Hazare and his praise for Bhai Narendra. As you remember that no sooner did Anna praised Mr. Modi, than the liberal attack dogs unleashed their worst on the hapless guy. Mr. Raman came to his resucue with the most sensible piece that can be written on the matter. He says the following in his article: Unfortunately, the so-called secular elements would rather keep Gujarat and the rest of the country backward and lagging behind China than acknowledge the record of Modi and let his Gujarat model of development become an Indian model. The so-called secular elements that have taken up sword against Modi have only one objective---- keep him quarantined in his past and stop him from playing any role at the national level even if such a role would be of benefit to the country. The venom and hatred, which these elements keep spreading against him, are because of his strong Hindutva ideology, which is anathema to them, and his perceived sins of commission and omission during the horrendous acts of violence against our Muslim co-citizens in the aftermath of the massacre of a number of Hindu pilgrims by some Muslims at the Godhra railway station in Gujarat in the beginning of 2002.

He ends the article by calling encouraging the nation’s youth to take up the cause of supporting Bhai Narendra and a national role for him. As a result of his article, Mr. Raman whose credentials are impeccable, got attacked via emails, tweets and phone calls, in some cases by people he considered friends.

Since then he has written a follow up article which shows the hurt he has felt because of the attacks. Since then Chetan Bhagat has come out in favor of a national role for Mr. Modi. Not that he is a representative leader of any kind, Bhagat did the right thing by speaking his mind. He definitely represents youth in India. We need more people young and old to come out and speak up in favor of Mr. Modi and they should be prepared to defend their stance. The liberals, leftists and pseudo-secularists have worked very hard towards vilification and a complete demonization of an innocent man because they cannot stand conservative nationalism. They will not give up this fight easily. But it will be worth it because if we can get Bhai Narendra elected as the PM (we should be so lucky!) we can break the cycle of ineffectual PMs and put India on a path to prosperity, the kind Gujarat has enjoyed so far.

SO BE IT
By B. Raman
Some of the criticisms have been very personal and hurting. One senior journalist, working for a left of centre daily, has called me amazingly naive. I have an impression ( I hope it is wrong and a figment of my imagination) that some people who were very close to my mind and heart and whose friendship I valued more than anything else in life have suddenly grown cold to me and have started marking a distance from me as if I have committed the mother of all sins by endorsing Modi's development model and by criticising some so-called secular elements who are trying to keep him quarantined in his past and prevent him from playing his due role in the present and in future. I have even been snubbed by some of them. Some critics have been seriously worried by my call for the assertion of Youth Power in support of Narendra Modi. I have been accused of playing with fire and encouraging irrationality by writing such an article and by voicing such views.

Chetan Bhagat calls on Narendra Modi Modi to shift to national level AHMEDABAD: Saying that there was a dearth of good leaders in the country, best-selling writer Chetan Bhagat today called on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to play a bigger role in the national politics. Bhagat was speaking at a seminar organised by Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industries (GCCI), attended by the Chief Minister and Dileep Modi, President of the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), among others.

The Raman articles can be read at: http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/papers45/paper4429.html http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/papers45/paper4430.html

The Bhagat article can be read at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/chetan-bhagat-calls-on-narendra-modi-modi-to-shift-to-national-level/articleshow/8007745.cms

The picture is from: http://news.in.msn.com/specials/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5113129

PM's Obsession With Pakistan

Some hatred is so deep that nothing can be done about it. The best we can do is an uneasy peace. That is the kind of hatred, which exists between Muslims - Jews and Muslims – Hindus. The sooner we understand that the faster we can settle things the best way we can and start the process of living. Unfortunately, it is the hubris of the politicians, which never allows peace the only way it can exist. Every American president tries to settle the Muslim-Jewish differences. Every one of them fails. The same syndrome ails Indian PMs as well. All of them including our Atalji have tried to settle issues with the Pakistanis and have fallen flat on their faces. Some things are not meant to be. We have written about the impossibility of peace with Pakistan on this blog many times and we refuse to waste any more real estate on it. What I want to talk about is what we should be doing and the alliances we should be building.

SAARC is a group, which consists of countries other than India and Pakistan, and yet at every meeting, the show is reduced to some weird faux cricket match between India and Pakistan. The misdirected Indian focus and the Pakistani anger reduces, what could be a great regional meeting of mutual benefits into a “Bandar ka naach”!

We know what the Pakistani approach to things is. They will cut their nose to spite their face. They do not want peace or trade that is why they always keep J&K ahead of all issues. Instead of traders from all the SAAARC nations talk to each other the Pakistanis insist on brining their thuggish military personnel. If only the traders were involved, we would have settled on some kind of peace by now. There is over a billion dollars worth of illegal trade between India and Pakistan and the material transported is not narcotic. All of it is consumables. A Pakistani friend confessed that he used to drive to Wagah border to buy Indian whiskey. If all that was made legal and easy, imagine the benefits on both sides not to mention peace. But that is not meant to be and we should accept it. Ignoring our co-hosts of the world cup at the expense on Pakistanis at the world cup was a terrible idea. As Mr. Parthasarthy says: Sheikh Hasina has extended a hand of friendship to us, proclaimed her country a secular republic, clamped down on extremist groups and handed over separatist leaders from our North-East who were hosted and feted by her predecessor. Wanted ULFA leader Paresh Baruah, earlier feted by Bangladesh and Pakistan, now hides along the borders of Myanmar and China, enjoying Chinese patronage…… The World Cup inauguration was an ideal event for India to show its solidarity with, and empathy for, Bangladesh with our Prime Minister sharing the dais with Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka. Astonishingly, in a manifestation of callous diplomatic indifference and insensitivity, New Delhi chose not to send either a high-level goodwill delegation or, more appropriately, sponsor a goodwill visit to Dhaka by the Prime Minister for the event. Similar indifference and lack of imagination was shown towards Sri Lanka where cricketing legend Muthiah Muralitharan, whose contribution to the cricketing glory of his country were personally lauded by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, was playing his last World Cup.

In other words, to hell with the Pakistanis. Instead we should focus on the other SAARC countries. We need to mend fences with Sri Lanka because Sri Lank has never ever posed a threat to our national security. Moreover the Chinese are helping them build a port at Hambantota as part of their evil designs to put a chokehold on us. We need to help the Sri Lankans improve their economy so we can offset the Chinese impact. We need to do the same with Nepal where the Maoists have ruined what used to be a reasonable good friendship. We cannot surrender our influence in Nepal to the insidious Chinese. We should exclude the Pakistanis from a free trade zone comprising of the rest of SAARC nations. It will be a win –win deal for all. That will also send a strong message to the Pakistanis.

We also need to be looking after our considerable investment in Afghanistan. Due to the obstreperous behavior of Pakistan in the SW Afghanistan that we and the rest of the world will have to write that area off as a loss. We need to rebuild out alliances with the Northern tribes as it used to be. Maybe bring the Iranians on the same page who do not want a virulent Sunni gang-up on their eastern border.

As the always clear and passionate, Mr N V Subramanian writes: It's Afghanistan in the middle-term that worries this writer. No Northern Alliance appears on the horizon to resist the Taliban/ Al-Qaeda and to contain the Afghan crisis within Afghanistan. The Russians appear in no hurry to back a second Northern Alliance partly because India has shown no eagerness. The Iranians who form the third leg of support for the Northern Alliance are similarly unsure about India in view of its dalliance with the US at its cost. Iran cannot have a Sunni Taliban/ Al-Qaeda regime in Afghanistan or one that is aggressive. So in tandem with blocking all dialogue with Pakistan (unless it hangs the 26/ 11 organizers), India has to set up a closed-door meeting with Russia and Iran on Afghanistan.

In short, our current Pakistan-centric approach to foreign policy is an obsession of the PM who has lost all credibility and he needs to be stopped before he forces us to make concessions to Pakistanis for that mirage like peace. Concessions which may become yet another foreign policy blunder which we will regret later.

Mr. Parthasarthy's article can be read at: http://dailypioneer.com/331511/Bogus-cricket-diplomacy.html

Mr. Subramanian's article can be read at: http://newsinsight.net/archivedebates/nat2.asp?recno=2129

The picture is from: http://newshopper.sulekha.com/yusuf-raza-gilani-manmohan-singh_photo_1289438.htm

Foreign Policy Blunder IV: The Shimla Agreement

Dhaka fell on 16th December 1971 after a hard fought war, which resulted in a decisive victory for us. Over 90,000 soldiers were taken prisoners of war. We had taken over land. It was a victory any way you slice it. Any negotiations, which happened after that, should have favored us greatly. After all we were holding all the cards. We should have been able to dictate the terms and negotiate from a position of disproportionate strength. Did any of that happen? Sadly not. Our warriors won the war. Our gullible leaders lost the negotiations. Karl Von Clausewitz, who is considered to be the foremost warrior-philosopher said: "If the enemy is to be coerced, you must put him in a situation that is even more unpleasant than the sacrifice you call on him to make. The hardships of the situation must not be merely transient - at least not in appearance. Otherwise, the enemy would not give in, but would wait for things to improve."

In other words, you make things so bad for the enemy that they gladly accept your terms. Not us. We believe in singing “mere dushman, mere bhai”. When we were expected to twist the knife in the chest of our enemy to finish him once and for all, we gave him a lifeline and earned an enemy for the rest of our lives and the lives of forthcoming generations. If memory serves correctly, Victor Davis Hanson said (and I paraphrase)that in case of a fight between two unequal enemies, the weaker has to accept total defeat otherwise there can never be peace. That is what we have between India and Pakistan.

When Bhutto and his massive entourage came to Simla to negotiate, he came with his own sob stories to get sympathy from us. There are stories after stories but only one end result, which is there for all to see. People say that he came to negotiate with an open mind. Of course that was all a lie. The man was a Pakistani, an artist in “Al Taqiyya”. He outwitted the entire Indian delegation. Here is what Mr. J N Dixit says” People often ask why did we give back the territory we won? Holding foreign territory is expensive militarily. It would also have not been acceptable to the international community. The 93,000 POWs lived in pucca housing. Our troops guarding them lived in tents. For a year they lived in tents. Under the Geneva Convention you have to give certain facilities to POWs. It affected the morale of our soldiers. They thought we defeated the Pakistanis, but they are living comfortably while we are in slums. There was the tension of keeping 93,000 hostile soldiers. It was a complex predicament and we wanted to get rid of them.

Holding a foreign territory is expensive? I wonder what Mr. Dixit thinks of the expenditure incurred in dealing with the J&K insurgency in the last twenty year. Of course while we were worried to death about the sanctity of the Geneva Convention, and released all of the Pakistani POW’s without anything in return, they held on to 54 or our soldiers who were never released. Bhutto came to Simla. Told us that his life would be in danger if he did not get the kind of concessions, which the Pakistani army needed. We took pity on him. He promised us all kinds of things we wanted to believe. We took his word on its face value. Our naivety let the Pakistanis bluff there way out of Simla. We should have held on to the land and the POW’s until we got what we wanted. We could have demanded the prosecution of all the war criminals in Pakistan who killed millions of Bangladeshis. Instead we believed them and frittered away the hard earned advantage. Bhutto went back and in a few short years started the Pakistani nuclear program, which is haunting us to date. Who should we blame for blowing the huge advantage? We are the ones who elected Indira Gandhi because she had the right pedigree rather than ability. In the end, it is always the voter who is responsible.

The J N Dixit article can be read at: http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/jul/15spec.htm An article to give you a heartburn: http://www.hinduonnet.com/2000/02/06/stories/1306067g.htm The article that started this series: http://www.indiandefencereview.com/2010/07/seven-blunders-that-will-haunt-india-for-posterity.html

Anna Hazare, Baba Ramdev and The Road Ahead

Anna Hazare has won. He brought the most corrupt government in our history to its knees. I want to discuss the why, the how and what lies ahead.

Baba Ramdev had organized and led an anti corruption rally in Delhi a while ago. While it did not go unnoticed, the coverage was not as good as it was for Anna’s “aamaran anshan”. Why was Anna more successful in mobilizing the nation? Here are some of my thoughts on the matter:

1. It is quite obvious that despite the obvious public anger, none of the political parties in the opposition could provide the leadership the nation needed. It was this hunger that the intrepid Anna provided. He was the flickering light of hope in this maelstrom of abject sin and debauched lust for money driven corruption. Baba Bholenath bless him!

2. A fast unto death will is definitely something that cannot be ignored especially by a septuagenarian Gandhian who is likely to make good on his threat. People flocked to support and see him. It was a combination of empathy with the cause, sympathy for an old crusader and dare I say, morbid curiosity that galvanized the nation. Baba Ramdev simply spoke the truth. His rally did not have the requisite drama to go along.

3. The coverage for the whole endeavor was fantastic. Even English language Media gave their undivided attention to Anna’s fast while they completely ignored Baba Ramdev’s rally. Aside from the lack of a threat there was another thing that was wrong with Baba’s rally. He strove for the same thing. His demands were curbing corruption using existing laws while Anna demanded new legislation. So why the two different coverage? Why was the support more for Anna’s fast than Baba’s rally?

4. I believe that the reason for higher support in the English language and other media was because even they have become tired of UPA inflicted corruption. While it was OK for them to support a secular Anna Hazare, it was not OK to support a Hindu nationalist like Baba Ramdev.

5. The support in the population was more for Anna’s fast because it was a prolonged effort. People had time to mobilize. Baba’s rally was a day long effort so by the time people found out about it and support could be generated in the internet social circles, it was over. Also, people sensed that Anna’s fast was more likely to yield result.

6. Anna’s fast had to yield results. With five state elections in the offing, the UPA could not dare take on him. I believe if that were not the case, they could have incited trouble and unrest which could then have given them an option of arresting him. After all, Anna has powerful enemies in the NCP.

Be that as it may, I cannot but admire and pray for a man like Anna Hazare who had the guts to take on multiple billion dollar industry like the UPA. This should have been done by the BJP but they could not do it effectively because I still believe that the members in the BJP leadership are still not on the same page. If they cannot take advantage of such intense anti corruption groundswell then they better be prepared to sit in the opposition forever.

There is, however a flip side to this. I do not want to sound like a naysayer against the current of hope and all things positive. As the proverb says: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”. So what happens when we get the Lokpal bill which Anna risked his life for? It will create a body with power to investigate and then bring the guilty to justice. Sounds great. But remember two things.

Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.
A law is as good as people who follow and practice it.

As corrupt as we are, the Pakistanis could teach us a few things in that respect. Their leadership established the “National Accountability Bureau”. The NAB is still there but so is corruption – untouched and continues unabated. Of course the knee jerk reaction from us will be that we are better than the Pakistanis. I would have said that before the UPA I & II. But I am not so sure now.

We already have anti corruption laws but no one follows it. Rules are bent to suit the purposes of a person or a party. Prejudiced people are made in charge of anti corruption / crime bodies to get favorable treatment. The whole sordid tale of P J Thomas and the CVC is the latest episode in that saga. The new Lokpal bill will give a lot of power to some people who will do their job for a while but then who knows how their successors will behave? Who will keep an eye on the Lokpal personnel? While formulating the new bill, are there going to be checks and balances for the new organization? Are we not creating an additional wing in our already bloated bureaucracy? There is a fear that this movement will get hijacked by leftists to fulfill their nefarious agenda. No sooner did the good Anna initiated this fight than the likes of opportunistic pro-Maoist “Swami” Agnivesh and Sandeep Pandey joined in. I hope that the new Lokpal will not give these leftist goons a stick to beat good people with. These are some things that we need to look out for. A lot of hope and energy has been invested in this endeavor.

Ultimately, it will be the responsibility of the populace to keep an eye on these people. If they misbehave, then we should vote them out in the face of voter bribery, regional aspirations and threats. Media needs to keep an eye on these people. Media needs to be really fair and not cover up sins because the perpetrators are not from BJP. If the media fails then the people need to take them to task as well. The likes of Barkha Dutt and Vir Sanghvi have abused their celebrity for personal agendas and gains. Ultimately, it is in our hands to make this thing work. It is our responsibility.

How India might deal with China

How India might deal with China One keeps seeing heartburns in India about China “encircling” India, any day ready to maul India again like it did in 1962. A columnist moaned that India has no capacity to counter Chinese and Pakistani threats and cannot take sustained international pressure so much so it even turned the other cheek on 26/11 attacks also.

Let us look at this issue a little more dispassionately. What is the nature of the threat we are facing and are we completely helpless against it or can we do something about it ?

Looking at this columnist and other individuals covering strategic position of India vis – a – vis hostile neighbors, one is reminded of Sirajudaula's attitude towards the growing might of the “company” in 18th century Bengal. Constantly in fear, but also full of hatred and anger since he considered himself the lord and master of Bengal, he lived with a sense of impotent rage and hatred until the British attacked and de-throned him.

In politics, as in other matters in life, one has to be able to use the power of emotions positively rather than let them overwhelm one into inaction and then get steamrolled by the circumstances. In his time, Sirajudaula should have been to make a dispassionate study of East India Company's power, figure out ways of countering the power, if not on his own then by forming alliances, and, if there was no way he could have power enough to counter the British, figured out a way of coming to terms with the British in a way that would enable him to live a dignified life and also provide security to his subjects.

This is politics. I am not suggesting cynicism. Far from it. A politician must believe in good and he must constantly look for ways to advance the cause of whatever is good for mankind. The point, however, is that some amount of dispassionate thinking and action needs to go into management of political affairs rather than fear of others' power, then despondency then inaction and finally extinction.

In the present case, given that China is exceedingly powerful and menacing and it has formed an apparently unshakeable alliance with the terrorist state of Pakistan, what can India do ?

If we pull ourselves out of our despondency and want to ask hard questions, where should we start ? Here are the questions I would find hard answers to first:

1. Ask the army, preferably separately from more than one general, how long we will last in a conflict with China. I won't be shocked if the answer is far more favorable to India than it appears to naked eye. Conventional warfare is still much about logistics and those still favor India even with modern technologies. I remember seeing an analysis by an American military expert and he was emphatic India won't be as weak as it might appear.

2. Can India cope if war starts with both China and Pakistan ? How long we will last in such a scenario before we lose substantial territory to one or both countries ?

3. How will diplomacy influence the conflict ? In one on one as well as in one on two conflicts.

4. What can India do to prolong if not win the one on two conflict ? What can India do to make the cost of such conflict unacceptable to both countries ?

5. And the most important question – who can be India's real friends if a conflict indeed breaks out (or even otherwise). I will return to this question later.

To anyone despondent about India's chances in a “both border” conflict, I would like to point out a few things. One – Indian army has done the thinking. It has been going on for some years now. Recently Gen VK Singh said the Army is prepared for such a conflict.

Does it mean that India can hold it's own to both China and Pakistan ? Likely not. What the General perhaps meant was that India has a plan of action, presumably a detailed one, of how it will conduct the warfare in case both China and Pakistan set upon India in unison. Perhaps he means that militarily, the cost of such an adventure will be very high for them if they undertake such a venture. This itself should soothe our despondent friends a little.

Second, the diplomatic costs of attacking India in a manner like this will be immense for both countries. The sight of a free, democratic and un-threatening nation being attacked brutally is likely to bring unexpected support to India and is likely to make both countries pariah in the eyes of the world (not that Pakistan can become much more of a pariah). To be sure, these countries will be mindful of diplomatic angle and try to start the conflict in a manner as to make India look like the culprit. But success of carrying out an exceedingly delicate diplomatic maneuver has negligible probability.

So, is India secure ? Should we take it that the army is doing it's job and we can sleep peacefully ?

The answer is no.

The army likely cannot hold off for forever. They probably only have worked out a detailed action plan that has the best chance to delay the enemy advance. But even apart from that, there is at least one thing India can do. I return to last question in the list above. India can and should build lasting alliances based on shared values and interests. No, I am not suggesting Indo – US alliance. Indian and American values are similar only on the surface. The differences are deep. India likely does not have many whole nations or governments that will be real allies, the kind that Pakistan and China appear to be. But there are many forces that will gladly help India against it's enemies. Here are some of those:

1. Tibetans. Though India obviously is viewed warmly by those Tibetans who are here, there is no reason why Indian security agencies should not deepen stealthy contacts with native Tibetan population. From whatever one knows of these matters, this should be possible.

2. Nepalese Army. The ties between Indian and Nepalese army run deep. India should strengthen Nepalese army and form a deep, unshakeable alliance. If Chinese try to start a two front war with India, India could also be ready to lighten up all of the Chinese border.

3. North Afghans. Already love India and Indians. Properly strengthened, they will be India's answer to Chinese presence in POK. India should trash west's / America's desires and look to advance it's own interests. India should train and equip their army, build a strong civil society and if India faces two front war, then Pakistan will also face the same. And remember, India has “depth”, Pakistan has none.

4. Many south east Asians can become friends of India. India should particularly consider helping Burmese dissidents with a view to having them as long term allies quite like north Afghans.

5. Israel. Likely to be friendly towards India though it's strong ties with the USA will come in the way.

Politics is all about forming strong alliances. India has far more going for itself than we give ourselves credit for. The despondent columnist forgot that it was the USA / west that wilted under the pressure of India's nuclear posture and not the other way round.

But for us to advance strategically, we need to be playing the game. All of India, unfortunately, is not playing the game.

India is divided between those who can think of Indian nation as an entity and those who are so lost in the small, micro level battles that they have lost the larger perspective. Indeed, India's strategic position is weak because of unresolved internal conflicts.

That is actually a tougher political problem than handling hostile and aggressive neighbors on both the borders.

Foreign Policy Blunder III: The Tashkent Agreement and Return of Haji Pir Pass

In words of one of our heroes, Gen. J F R Jacobs: In 1965, Field Marshal Ayub Khan took a gamble by infiltrating a large number of insurgents into Jammu and Kashmir as part of Operation Gibraltar. These infiltrators were dealt with effectively dealt by the Indian army, but these events led to a full scale war, which saw the largest tank battle since World War II at Khem Karan, where the Pakistan armoured forces were dealt a crippling blow.

This sounds very much like Musharraf’s Kargil misadventure. Of course in case of Operation Gibraltar, the Pakistanis claimed victory. In Kargil they could not even claim their dead. Honor and shame are alien words to them. Anyway, pressured by international forces, a meeting was arranged in Tashkent, which was moderated by Premier Alexei Kosygin. Lal Bahadur Shastri and Muhammad Ayub Khan represented India and Pakistan respectively. The terms of this declaration sounded like platitudes. However, out of good faith, Haji Pir Pass, which was won by us, was returned to the Pakistanis. This was a huge blunder by Shastri’s government who, in words of Gen Jacobs: displayed competence and guts right upto the last, he was a great man.

To emphasize the importance of this piece of real estate, let me talk about Golan heights which was captured by the Israelis from the Syrians. Here is what is said about the military importance of Golan Heights: The Golan is a strategically important region, extending like a finger between the borders of Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. In the past, that finger was crucial to preventing the Israeli defense dike from bursting and allowing Arab armies to flood the country. Why? Because it is only about 60 miles -- without major terrain obstacles -- from the western Golan to Haifa and Acre, Israel's industrial heartland. In the hands of a friendly neighbor, the escarpment has little military importance. If controlled by a hostile country, however, the Golan has the potential to again become a strategic nightmare for Israel.

Since then the Israelis have resisted giving up that piece of land. It would be unwise to do so even if it may be the right thing to do.

The two key players in the capture of the crucial pass were legendary Lieutenant General Harbaksh Singh, who was then the Western Army commander and Major Ranjit Dyal. Haji Pir Pass, which has a similar importance to the security of J&K, connects Poonch to the valley. But Gen Harbaksh Singh's strategy and the actions of men like Dyal dashed their plans. Gen Singh ordered his men to launch a two-pronged attack on the Haji Pir pass to capture the entire bulge and cut off the main route for the infiltrators from Pakistan. The move would also serve to cut off the main logistics support for infiltrators already inside Indian territory. With damp shakarparas and biscuits as ration, Major Dyal led the 1st Para down the Hyderabad nullah towards the Haji Pir pass on August 25, 1965. The capture itself was a victory against all odds, including three days without proper food. While launching the final assault on the pass on August 28, the paratroopers had to walk up 4,000 feet on foot. At times they even had to crawl on all fours in the slushy mountainside in the night. But their attack was so well executed that the Pakistani troops left the pass and fled.

Major Dyal was awarded the Mahavir Chakra. Much later in life, Lt. Gen Ranjit Dyal said: that the pass would have given India a definite strategic advantage. "It was a mistake to hand it back," he said. "Our people don't read maps," said Gen Dyal, regretting the return of the pass to Pakistan at the Tashkent talks brokered by Russia to end the Indo-Pak war of 1965.

So here we had an honorable man, Lal Bahadur Shastri, perhaps the most honorable leader we have ever had, fall short when it came to statesmanship. Out of a good sense he did the honorable thing, which was not the right thing for our security. War is a dirty business. Great men like Ranjit Dyal risk everything to go out and win us the advantage, the importance of which can be appreciated by warriors not politicians. You do not take your foot off the throat of a your enemy. You KILL him. That is the way of the world. Machiavelli famously said: If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared. In war, you destroy your enemy, not sing “mere dushman, mere bhai”. Perhaps the only person who realized that was Sardar Patel. All other leaders leading up to today seem to be hell bent on losing any advantage we gain over our enemies. The examples are all around us.

Maj. Gen Suman, whose article inspired this series, says that Return of the vital Haji Pir pass was a mistake of monumental proportions for which India is suffering to date. In addition to denying a direct link between Poonch and Uri sectors, the pass is being effectively used by Pakistan to sponsor infiltration of terrorists into India. Inability to resist Russian pressure was a manifestation of the boneless Indian foreign policy and shortsighted leadership.

Gen Jacobs' article can be read at: http://www.sify.com/news/a-bitter-harvest-news-analysis-kimp01fbhad.html

Article on the battle for Haji Pir Pass can be read at: http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/dec/21haji.htm

The Golan Heights article can be read at: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vie/viegolan.html

The picture is from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7666985.stm

Gen Suman's article can be read at: http://www.indiandefencereview.com/2010/07/seven-blunders-that-will-haunt-india-for-posterity.html

An Appeal From Anna Hazare

A mahatma announces fast unto death Anna Hazare has given an ultimatum to the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to enact stringent anti-corruption law – the peoples “Jan Lokpal Bill”! Jail to the corrupt must happen! We have been betrayed by those that are leading us!

When & Where? From 5th April at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi.

Who is Anna Hazare? A soldier, lone survivor in his unit in 1965 Indo-Pak war, Anna dedicated his life to the well-being of society. A bachelor, an ascetic, he has no possessions, no bank balance and lives in a temple. He is a living Mahatma Gandhi! In Maharashtra, Anna has single handedly transformed barren and dry regions into green and food surplus areas. He has fasted unto death on several earlier occasions. He forced the Maharashtra government to dismiss the corrupt - 6 ministers and 400 officers. Due to his fast, the govt enacted the Maharashtra RTI Act. In 2006, when government of India tried to amend the Central RTI Act, he again went on an indefinite fast and forced the Indian government not to amend RTI Act. Leaders, organizations and the common man from across India will be with him. This is a do or die moment – let us make it happen! Across India, join Swami Ramdev, Sri Sri Ravishankar, Swami Agnivesh, Arch Bishop Vincent Concessao, Mahmood A Madani, Kiran Bedi, J M Lyngdoh, Shanti Bhushan, Prashant Bhushan, Arvind Kejriwal, Mufti Shamoom Qasmi, Mallika Sarabhai, Arun Bhatia, Sunita Godara, All India Bank Employees Federation, PAN IIT Alumni Association, Common Cause and many other prominent organizations and leaders, as India comes out on the streets! 100+ CITIES WILL RALLY BEHIND ANNA! This is a defining moment for India that can give our children a better future! Let us unite and stand by him! Thousands will be there to support him. Will you be there?

Anna’s appeal to the people: When I sit on fast from 5 April, I urge my fellow countrymen to join me in fasting for one, two, three or whatever number of days you can comfortably fast. Along with fast, please pray to God (whoever you believe in) for better and corruption free India. Collective prayers from all the people of India would definitely have a huge impact. Write an impassioned plea to our Prime Minister that we look upon him to pass “Jan Lokpal Bill”, else we will be compelled not to vote for his party in next elections. Remain calm and peaceful and develop the courage to go to jail, if required, in this next freedom movement. If possible, come and stay with Anna at Jantar Mantar for a few days from April 5th. Would you like to stay updated about this movement? Let us know your contact details at indiaagainstcorruption.2010@gmail.com

Jan Lokpaal Bill Drafted by Justice Santosh Hegde, Prashant Bhushan and Arvind Kejriwal, this Bill has been refined on the basis of feedback received from public on website and after series of public consultations. It has also been vetted by and is supported by Shanti Bhushan, J M Lyngdoh, Kiran Bedi, Anna Hazare etc. It was sent to the PM and all CMs on 1st December. However, there is no response.

Salient features of Jan Lokpal Bill 1. An institution called LOKPAL at the centre and LOKAYUKTA in each state will be set up 2. Like Supreme Court and Election Commission, they will be completely independent of the governments. No minister or bureaucrat will be able to influence their investigations. 3. Cases against corrupt people will not linger on for years anymore: Investigations in any case will have to be completed in one year. Trial should be completed in next one year so that the corrupt politician, officer or judge is sent to jail within two years. 4. The loss that a corrupt person caused to the government will be recovered at the time of conviction. 5. How will it help a common citizen: If any work of any citizen is not done in prescribed time in any government office, Lokpal will impose financial penalty on guilty officers, which will be given as compensation to the complainant. 6. So, you could approach Lokpal if your ration card or passport or voter card is not being made or if police is not registering your case or any other work is not being done in prescribed time. Lokpal will have to get it done in a month’s time. You could also report any case of corruption to Lokpal like ration being siphoned off, poor quality roads been constructed or panchayat funds being siphoned off. Lokpal will have to complete its investigations in a year, trial will be over in next one year and the guilty will go to jail within two years. 7. But won’t the government appoint corrupt and weak people as Lokpal members? That won’t be possible because its members will be selected by judges, citizens and constitutional authorities and not by politicians, through a completely transparent and participatory process. 8. What if some officer in Lokpal becomes corrupt? The entire functioning of Lokpal/ Lokayukta will be completely transparent. Any complaint against any officer of Lokpal shall be investigated and the officer dismissed within two months. 9. What will happen to existing anti-corruption agencies? CVC, departmental vigilance and anti-corruption branch of CBI will be merged into Lokpal. Lokpal will have complete powers and machinery to independently investigate and prosecute any officer, judge or politician. 10. It will be the duty of the Lokpal to provide protection to those who are being victimized for raising their voice against corruption (This movement is neither affiliated nor aligned to any political party) India Against Corruption: A-119, Kaushambi, Ghaziabad, UP 09718500606 www.indiaagainstcorruption.org indiaagainstcorruption.2010@gmail.com facebook.com/indiacor

Foreign Policy Blunder II: The China War

The events leading to the war with the Chinese where we were comprehensively defeated reveal a long saga of British perfidy and our ineptitude. British, of course were taking care of their own interests so their machinations can be explained that way. However it is our ineptitude, which constitutes the second in our foreign policy blunder series. The British negotiated the border between China and India with their interests in mind. Depending upon the political climate, there were as many as eleven different borders. During these negotiations, the Aksai Chin area was handed over to the Chinese to prevent Russian quest for a warm water port. Anyway, in my view it is unimportant how the maps were drawn before independence because we had absolutely no control over the matter. But after independence, the problem was ours to deal with. At that time, the boundary with China was called the Johnson line, which became the official boundary.

In 1954, GoI laid claims to Aksai Chin to which the Chinese did not object. In fact, China and India negotiated the “Five Principles of Peaceful Existence”. Nehru came up with the “Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai” slogan. While this was going on, unbeknownst to India, the Chinese constructed a road connecting Tibet with Xinxiang, which ran south of the Johnson line. We did not find out about it till later. We also found out that the Chinese had been showing Aksai Chin in their maps as Chinese territory. I guess it was too late by then.

In 1959, the 14th Dalai Lama escaped Lhasa after a failed uprising against the illegal Chinese occupation. He was given refuge in India. I suppose it was sort of a payback for the Chinese perfidy. However that must’ve angered Chinese. Anyway, skirmishes began at the border much like what happens sporadically in Arunachal Pradesh. These ultimately culminated in the 1962 war. Now there is a lot of information about who did what to whom and what each party’s motive was. All that information varies from source to source. For example an American website, claims the following:

In April 1960, Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai went to New Delhi to hold talks with Indian Prime Minister Nehru, no agreements were reached due to India's insistence on its unreasonable stand. The ensuing meetings between the officials of the two countries also produced no results. Unable to reach political accommodation on disputed territory along the 3,225-kilometer-long Himalayan border, the Chinese attacked India on October 20, 1962. At the time, nine divisions from the eastern and western commands were deployed along the Himalayan border with China. None of these divisions was up to its full troop strength, and all were short of artillery, tanks, equipment, and even adequate articles of clothing.

Does it mean the responsibility was that of the Indians? That does not seem like the case when you consider the fact that the Chinese, despite of not objecting to our claim to Aksai Chin, constructed a road surreptitiously below the Johnson line. Again, none of that really matters. The Chinese are students of Sun Tze who famously said: All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.

The deceptive Chinese had been preparing for the war all along and waited for the right opportunity. That is clear by the timing of the war. They attacked us on the 20th Oct. 1962 when the US and the Russians were tied up in the Cuban missile crisis. They knew how hopelessly we were unprepared for the war and that no one would come to our help thanks to our non-aligned policies. There assessment would turn out to be accurate. In all the differing account, the one thing that stands out is how woefully inadequate our preparedness was. The Indian soldiers were sent to the front in summer clothes for a high altitude battle armed with outdated rifles. Indian lambs were cast to the Chinese hyenas. The war stopped because the Chinese thought that if they stretched too far down south, there supply lines would get stretched and they might lose the advantage. After summarily defeating us, they declare a ceasefire on the 20th Nov. 1962.

As Gen Suman says: Despite numerous sagas of gallantry, the country suffered terrible embarrassment. India was on its knees. With national morale and pride in tatters, India was forced to appeal to all nations for military aid. Inept and incompetent leadership had forced a proud nation to find solace in Lata Mangeshkar’s ‘Ae Mere Watan Ke Logo’.

The abject lack of statesmanship in our leaders was exposed. Their foreign policy was based on hope and belief in their fellow man. That is what we teach our ten-year-old kids. When the same kids reach their late teenage, we start teaching them pragmatism and cynicism. By doing that, we prepare our kids for the big bad world. One would expect leaders of a nation like India to have the ability to see through lies and perfidies.

Nehru was no saint in his personal life. He was not an innocent “babe in the woods”. A man of the world, he should have done better than coin slogans when it came to the security of our nation. On 16th of Aug. 1947, he should have assembled a team of politicians, bureaucrats and military officials to formulate a robust security policy. When you buy a house, the first thing you buy is a good lock. You do not depend upon the goodness of your neighbors. You make friends who can protect you in case of problems. Instead we went about formulating the NAM principles and cut down on the defence spending. Apparently, the war with the Pakistanis that cost us 40% of J&K did not teach us anything. Our leaders let us down. Scars from that loss, continue to remind us of that foreign policy blunder.

A lot of information was gathered from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India-China_War

and http://www.scribd.com/doc/21249245/India-China-1962-war

The American point of view was taken from: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/indo-prc_1962.htm

Of course, the article that started this series, written by Maj. Gen. Suman can be read at: http://www.indiandefencereview.com/2010/07/seven-blunders-that-will-haunt-india-for-posterity.html