by M Rama Rao
New Delhi( HNS May 26, 2007): Nearly two lakh Hindus have lost 22 lakh acres of their land and houses during the last six years in Bangladesh, a Dhaka University Professor says. The market value of these lands is Taka 2, 52,000 crore (about $156 million), which is more than half of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
‘This is a man-made problem contrary to the spirit of humanity. We have to get rid of this uncivilised state of affairs to establish a civilised society. Otherwise, we have to face a bigger historic catastrophe,’ Professor Abdul Barkat, who teaches economics, insists in his research paper, ‘Deprivation of affected million families: Living with Vested Property in Bangladesh’.
Politically powerful people grabbed most of the Hindu lands during the reign of Begum Khaleda Zia’s BNP-led four-party alliance between 2001 and 2006. Forty-five per cent of the land grabbers were affiliated with the BNP, 31 per cent with the Awami League, eight per cent with Jamaat-e-Islami and six per cent with the Jatiya Party and other political organisations, the New Age, Dhaka daily quotes Prof Barkat as saying in his report, which will be published shortly.
Some 12 lakh or 44 per cent of the 27 lakh Hindu households in the country were affected by the Enemy Property Act 1965 and its post-independence version, the Vested Property Act 1974.
The Begum Sheikh Hasina led Awami League government annulled this Act in 2001. It wanted to return the ‘vested’ property to their original Hindu owners. The move was criticised as a ‘political tokenism’ aimed to appease minority voters prior to the general elections.
But in reality, as Professor Barkat study shows the Hasina largesse did not benefit the Hindu minority, who owned land at the time of partition. Infact, it ended up displacing most of them from their ancestral land.
While trying to review the impact of the law on the land ownership of the Hindu community, Prof Barkat found that no list of the people evicted or the quantum of lands grabbed on the basis of the Vested Property Act has been prepared till date.
Instead, politically powerful people grabbed most of the land during the reign of the BNP-led alliance government between 2001 and 2006.
The affected Hindu families met with more incidents of violence and repression in the immediate-past five years of the BNP-led government than in the previous five years of the Awami League government, the Barkat research report concludes, according to The New Age.
Prof Barkat points out that 53 per cent of the family displacement and 74 per cent of the land grabbing occurred following the India-Pakistan War in 1965. The then Pakistan government introduced the Enemy Property (Custody and Registration) Order II as a tool for appropriating the lands of the minority Hindus.
Political elements, locally influential people in collaboration with the land administration, trickery by land officials and employees themselves, use of force and crookedness, fake documentation, contracted farmers and death or exile of original owners have contributed to the phenomenon, according to Professor Barkat’s study covering 6 districts across the country.
More than 60 per cent of the owners and the successors of ‘vested properties’ are either dead or have left the country.
The Professor doesn’t think the land grab was a problem of ‘Hindu versus Muslim’ polarisation. “Criminals do not bother whether a piece of land is owned by a Hindu, a Muslim or a Santal and they simply loot property. The problem highlights the ‘inability’ and ‘weakness’ of the majority people to raise protests though they are non-communal”.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Frittering away Goodwill in Bangladesh
New Delhi ( edit for Surya May 22)A high profile UN Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) delegation visits Dhaka from June 3 to 10 to assess Bangladesh's progress in implementing counter-terrorism policies. The visit coincides with a spurt in the activities of Islamist groups like ‘Jadid al Qaeda Bangladesh’ that have claimed responsibility for the May Day bomb explosions at Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet railway stations.
The police claim they have drawn a blank so far in their investigations on the Jadid al Qaeda. Inspector General of Police (IGP) Noor Mohammad doubts the existence of any such organisation. His reasoning is that the sleuths have not yet found any outfit with that name. It is possible that the Jadid al Qaeda is a factious name. But what is interesting is that while the police are claiming helplessness in tracing them, this very group has threatened to blow up a bridge that connects south-western Bangladesh with the north of the country. The bridge known as Hardinge bridge was built over the river Padma during the British period. A letter purported to have been written by Jadid al Qaeda Bangladesh was received by the railway police at Ishwardi station close to the Bridge.
The threat has prompted a security alert across the region. Amongst the known militant groups, Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) is openly active. Not a day passes with its activist being rounded up in some corner of the country. There is no dearth of war veterans who had fought shoulder to shoulder with the Taliban during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Most of them have closed ranks under the banner of Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish with Mufti Shahidul Islam and their goal is creation of Islamist state in Bangladesh.
Harkatul Mujahideen Bangladesh and Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami Bangladesh are the other outfits floated by Afghan returnees. While Harkat-ul-Jihad formally launched its activities through a press conference at the National Press Club in Dhaka on April 30, 1992, Harkatul Mujahideen opted for a soft launch simultaneously. Harkat-ul-Jihad subsequently regrouped as Islamist Dewat-e-Kafela.
That the Islamists have secured political cover is public knowledge. For instance Mufti Shahidul entered Parliament five years ago on the ticket of Islami Oikya Jote (IOJ) which is an ally of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of Begum Khaleda Zia. Some militants have been arrested after the caretaker government headed by former world banker Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed took office. Frankly these arrests are neither here nor there.
So, the situation report will not please the UN team which will be headed by CTC Executive Director Javier Ruperez. That is bound to be bad news for the regime which has failed to have its way on ‘exiling’ the Begums, and creating a new King’s party. More so, as pressure is increasing to quickly lift the ban on ‘indoor’ politics and fix an early poll date.
President Iajuddin Ahmed, a known BNP loyalist, who is lying low for the past four months, is again flexing muscles in a manner of speaking and has even summoned the CEC to Banga Bhavan to give a bit of his mind on election date issue. The US, EU and UK also have become vocal lately.15 US Senators including Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton have shot off a letter to .the government expressing their annoyance over delaying elections on one pretext or the other.
Officially, the hiccups in revising voters list and issuing ID cards to voters are held responsible for putting off the poll date. The Election Commission says it needs at least 18 months to do its home work. But reality check shows that the regime, most importantly its prime backer, the army is keen to rejig political parties and create a new King’s party, if possible.
That exercise is taking time because the two mainline parties BNP and Awami League are not amorphous groups and have well entrenched network across the country. Not surprisingly, therefore, the regime’s foot soldiers have started targetting ‘relatively young, popular and honest’ leaders to organise the new organisation at the district level.
To what extent the move will succeed is a moot point but what is abundantly clear is that like all military dictators, the army backed and popped up regime in Dhaka is missing the woods for the trees. It should have learnt a lesson from what had happened in Pakistan where General Musharraf had banked on religious parties and kept the main line Benazir Bhutto’s Peoples’ Party of Pakistan (PPP) and Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz). His efforts to break PPP failed. A significant chunk of Nawaz party became the kings’ party but that has not helped Musharraf to secure a safety net. He is now forced to consider a deal with Benazir Bhutto for a bail out.
The long and short of the story is democracy is the manna for survival in the 21st century and no short cuts will help. Will the powers that be in Bangladesh read the writing on the wall? Otherwise they will fritter away all the goodwill they had earned when they took office in January and launched an ‘operation’ to clean the system the corrupt Khaleda Zia regime had left behind and to round up the Islamists who have been doing their damanest to destroy the secular fabric of the country.
The police claim they have drawn a blank so far in their investigations on the Jadid al Qaeda. Inspector General of Police (IGP) Noor Mohammad doubts the existence of any such organisation. His reasoning is that the sleuths have not yet found any outfit with that name. It is possible that the Jadid al Qaeda is a factious name. But what is interesting is that while the police are claiming helplessness in tracing them, this very group has threatened to blow up a bridge that connects south-western Bangladesh with the north of the country. The bridge known as Hardinge bridge was built over the river Padma during the British period. A letter purported to have been written by Jadid al Qaeda Bangladesh was received by the railway police at Ishwardi station close to the Bridge.
The threat has prompted a security alert across the region. Amongst the known militant groups, Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) is openly active. Not a day passes with its activist being rounded up in some corner of the country. There is no dearth of war veterans who had fought shoulder to shoulder with the Taliban during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Most of them have closed ranks under the banner of Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish with Mufti Shahidul Islam and their goal is creation of Islamist state in Bangladesh.
Harkatul Mujahideen Bangladesh and Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami Bangladesh are the other outfits floated by Afghan returnees. While Harkat-ul-Jihad formally launched its activities through a press conference at the National Press Club in Dhaka on April 30, 1992, Harkatul Mujahideen opted for a soft launch simultaneously. Harkat-ul-Jihad subsequently regrouped as Islamist Dewat-e-Kafela.
That the Islamists have secured political cover is public knowledge. For instance Mufti Shahidul entered Parliament five years ago on the ticket of Islami Oikya Jote (IOJ) which is an ally of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of Begum Khaleda Zia. Some militants have been arrested after the caretaker government headed by former world banker Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed took office. Frankly these arrests are neither here nor there.
So, the situation report will not please the UN team which will be headed by CTC Executive Director Javier Ruperez. That is bound to be bad news for the regime which has failed to have its way on ‘exiling’ the Begums, and creating a new King’s party. More so, as pressure is increasing to quickly lift the ban on ‘indoor’ politics and fix an early poll date.
President Iajuddin Ahmed, a known BNP loyalist, who is lying low for the past four months, is again flexing muscles in a manner of speaking and has even summoned the CEC to Banga Bhavan to give a bit of his mind on election date issue. The US, EU and UK also have become vocal lately.15 US Senators including Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton have shot off a letter to .the government expressing their annoyance over delaying elections on one pretext or the other.
Officially, the hiccups in revising voters list and issuing ID cards to voters are held responsible for putting off the poll date. The Election Commission says it needs at least 18 months to do its home work. But reality check shows that the regime, most importantly its prime backer, the army is keen to rejig political parties and create a new King’s party, if possible.
That exercise is taking time because the two mainline parties BNP and Awami League are not amorphous groups and have well entrenched network across the country. Not surprisingly, therefore, the regime’s foot soldiers have started targetting ‘relatively young, popular and honest’ leaders to organise the new organisation at the district level.
To what extent the move will succeed is a moot point but what is abundantly clear is that like all military dictators, the army backed and popped up regime in Dhaka is missing the woods for the trees. It should have learnt a lesson from what had happened in Pakistan where General Musharraf had banked on religious parties and kept the main line Benazir Bhutto’s Peoples’ Party of Pakistan (PPP) and Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz). His efforts to break PPP failed. A significant chunk of Nawaz party became the kings’ party but that has not helped Musharraf to secure a safety net. He is now forced to consider a deal with Benazir Bhutto for a bail out.
The long and short of the story is democracy is the manna for survival in the 21st century and no short cuts will help. Will the powers that be in Bangladesh read the writing on the wall? Otherwise they will fritter away all the goodwill they had earned when they took office in January and launched an ‘operation’ to clean the system the corrupt Khaleda Zia regime had left behind and to round up the Islamists who have been doing their damanest to destroy the secular fabric of the country.
Nepal scene becoming curiouser and curiouser
New Delhi( editorial May 22)The Nepal situation is becoming curious by the day. The Maoists are in the government but they are still acting as if they are in opposition to the government on a host of issues that range from teachers’ salaries to upkeep of cantonments where the Maoist cadres are housed under a UN supervised peace process. It is not surprising that the US is still wary of Maoists and their plans. US envoy to Nepal, James F Moriarty, a known outspoken critic of Maoists, has conveyed Washington’s doubts vis-à-vis the Maoists to the Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala last week. Will they, the Maoists, give up violence? This is the question Mr Moriarty has been raising for a while. Frankly, nobody who is any body on the Nepal scene has any answer. Prime Minister Mr Koirala himself has his own misgivings about the Maoists though they are a member of the ruling eight party alliance. Maoist supremo Prachanda is clear about his goal. He wants Nepal to become a Republic. He is insisting that the interim parliament must usher in the Republic. The Prime Minister is not averse to Republic idea but believes that it should wait till the statute is ready. Mr Prachanda also advocates early elections to set up a constituent assembly to draft a new statute for the Himalayan country. The Government considers mid-November as the appropriate period for elections. This view is shared by the chief of UN Mission to Nepal, Ian Martin. Both Mr Prachanda and his deputies notably, Baburam Bhattarai, have been saying that they will struggle "from the streets, the parliament and the government" until the country is declared a Republic. At a meeting in Kathmandu on Sunday, May 20, Mr. Bhattarai declared that the Maoists would not ‘retract even an inch’ from their demand. A senior Maoist leader and Minister for Local Development Dev Gurung has said that Maoists can step down from the government anytime and join the agitation on Republic issue. He also said uncertainty over Constituent Assembly (CA) elections was weakening the eight party unity. Even the cabinet meetings have come under the shadow of differences between the Maoists and other parties in the ruling coalition. Result is that there are no regular cabinet meetings for the past two weeks. In the past the cabinet used to meet at least twice a week and more often if the situation demanded. The last cabinet meeting took place on April 29.
It is a pity that the Maoist leadership doesn’t realise the incongruity of their actions. Certainly they are entitled to speak up on their pet demands but they cannot hold out threats of mass agitations to secure their demands since they are a part of the government. Take for instance the issue of amenities for Maoist cadres housed in camps. Mr Prachanda last week held out a 24-hour hour ultimatum to ‘improve the upkeep’ and threatened to launch a nationwide agitation. The Government acted post haste and a ministerial committee approved a provision of Rs. 3000 a month to each of the Maoist army member. It was not the government’s case that milk and honey were overflowing in these camps. It only needed some breathing time to put its act together. So, the question is couldn’t the Maoists secure the ‘package’ without such theatrics. They could have since Mr Koirala and Mr Prachanda still enjoy good personal rapport.
There are reports that the Young Communist League (YCL) affiliated to the Maoists is on a rampage. They have become a ‘parallel law enforcement agency’, and are attacking police posts and government offices to enforce their writ. Maoist senior Mr. Krishna Bahadur Mahara, who is also the Communications Minister, sees nothing wrong in YCL activities. He is also the cabinet spokesman. So much so it is disturbing to hear him say last week that the kind of activities the YCL has been carrying out ‘cannot be ruled out’ in the transition period. The inescapable conclusion is that the Maoists are either slow learners of the Three Rs of democracy or unwilling to adjust to the changed circumstances. Either way the Maoists are not serving their cause.
It is a pity that the Maoist leadership doesn’t realise the incongruity of their actions. Certainly they are entitled to speak up on their pet demands but they cannot hold out threats of mass agitations to secure their demands since they are a part of the government. Take for instance the issue of amenities for Maoist cadres housed in camps. Mr Prachanda last week held out a 24-hour hour ultimatum to ‘improve the upkeep’ and threatened to launch a nationwide agitation. The Government acted post haste and a ministerial committee approved a provision of Rs. 3000 a month to each of the Maoist army member. It was not the government’s case that milk and honey were overflowing in these camps. It only needed some breathing time to put its act together. So, the question is couldn’t the Maoists secure the ‘package’ without such theatrics. They could have since Mr Koirala and Mr Prachanda still enjoy good personal rapport.
There are reports that the Young Communist League (YCL) affiliated to the Maoists is on a rampage. They have become a ‘parallel law enforcement agency’, and are attacking police posts and government offices to enforce their writ. Maoist senior Mr. Krishna Bahadur Mahara, who is also the Communications Minister, sees nothing wrong in YCL activities. He is also the cabinet spokesman. So much so it is disturbing to hear him say last week that the kind of activities the YCL has been carrying out ‘cannot be ruled out’ in the transition period. The inescapable conclusion is that the Maoists are either slow learners of the Three Rs of democracy or unwilling to adjust to the changed circumstances. Either way the Maoists are not serving their cause.
BACK TO BASICS FOR UPA
By Rao Malladi
(One unmistakable message from UP elections is that people don’t want caste and rhetoric. Nor do they feel comfortable with packages and promises. For them, food on the table, quality employment, better health and above all ability to live with dignity is what matters. So, it is time to go back to the common man’s plank for Manmohan Singh and Co.,)
New Delhi: The irony was difficult to miss. It was Tuesday, May 22 evening. It was close to 7pm. Leaders and media were gathering in strength under a specially erected and tastefully decorated shamina at 7 Race Course Road to hear UPA’s 3-year report. As Prime Minister was getting ready to receive the guests who included Sonia Gandhi, an aide walked briskly towards him and whispered something into his ears. Almost around the same time, news agency tickers were carrying a flash:-‘3 bomb blasts in Gorakhpur. 6 injured’. Quickly most TV channels switched over to the ‘Breaking News’. Only the good old Doordarshan (DD) News Channel picked up the UPA ‘live’ feed.
BJP President Rajnath Singh was quick to react. “The UPA has compromised national security. Terrorist attacks are increasing”, he thundered. “The list is unending... Ayodhya, Bangalore, Kashi, Delhi, Mumbai, Malegaon, Samjhouta Express, Jammu, Hyderabad and now it is Gorakhpur”.
Earlier in the day, Rajnath issued a 66-page charge sheet, “UPA's Three Years, Aam Aadmi’s Tear Years”. And offered a byte, “UPA’s is a faceless, directionless and spineless rule. It is led by a Prime Minister who has no say in his cabinet”.
It was his first press conference in the capital after he led the BJP to its historic rout in Uttar Pradesh. He entered the media conference room at the party headquarters, 11 Ashok Road, fully prepared to turn the guns on Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi and the Congress in that order.
But he found himself facing a barrage of questions on ‘sword display’ in Punjab where his party is a junior partner in the Akali-led government. There was reason. The day witnessed life come to a standstill in the state by a bandh called by the Sikh clergy, which is locked in a stand-off with Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmit Ram Rahim.
Initially, Rajnath tried to duck for cover. And then tried to obfuscate. Finally, when he opened up, he did not want to sound as harsh as his Punjab colleagues. “I have spoken twice with Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal on phone and told him that every measure should be taken to contain violence and to maintain peace”.
Poor Rajnath. For yet another time, the BJP lost its thunder. Who hijacked it? The Left, of course. Ever since the UPA came to power on their crutches, the Left has occupied the opposition space. Whether it played that role effectively or allowed itself to be led by its fear of lengthening saffron shadows is a moot point. Opinion is divided any how.
That the Left is increasingly worried about the direction of the government is public knowledge. “The gap between ‘shining India’ and ‘suffering India’ is widening”, Sitaram Yechuri, Marxist ideologue and politburo member, said. Surprisingly, this view is shared by some in the Government as well.
Mani Shankar Aiyer, the maverick former diplomat and presently minister for Panchayati Raj, spoke his mind with “Devil’s Advocate’ Karan Thapar in an interview aired on TV-18 group of channels. “Alarm bells absolutely must be rung”. He said his views have a ‘resonance with every single minister I have talked about this’ matter”. Added he,” Nobody has reprimanded me. No body has suggested that I am out of line. No one. Literally, no one… I will certainly not be whistling in the wind”. He did not sound like a dissident. He talked more like a person who is worried about his next election.
The Mani speak was ammunition good enough for L K Advani to fire at Sonia Gandhi.
“I don’t know why Shri Aiyar is being allowed to say such things by the Congress high command without being reprimanded,” the former deputy prime minister, who is credited with rebuilding the BJP after it was reduced to just 2 seats in the Lok Sabha in 1984, said, while hitting the campaign trail in Goa.
In the Advani view, the blunt undiplomatic Mani speak is a calibrated effort to distance the ‘dynasty’ from the failures of UPA Government. He has a point but it needn’t necessarily be the only point.
Not surprisingly, course correction is the flavour of the season. “Go for a mid-course recast of policies”, D Raja, the CPI national secretary, who hopes to enter the Rajya Sabha from Tamilnadu in July, thundered. His boss, A B Bardhan, who admits with a smile that his one and only electoral foray forty years ago ended in defeat, has been giving the thumbs down to UPA for a while. He also has been pushing for a review of Left’s relationship with the government.
Bardhan, like any other Left leader, is angry that the Manmohan Singh government is not sensitive to Left concerns. “I believe Dr Manmohan Singh is blessing Chidambaram and Montek (Singh Ahluwalia, the deputy chairman of Planning Commission). That is why they are going ahead with their plans”, CPI General Secretary declares.
Yet, the Big Marxist brother is unmoved by his case for a redefinition of Left-UPA relations on the basis of Government policies. The point is none of the four Left parties is prepared to rock the UPA boat. Certainly, not after reading 3rd anniversary eve surveys, which said, “UPA ratings take a dip but NDA eases ahead”.
Probably, there is no need for a ‘Left push’ for UPA. That much has become clear in the past few days. The tone for revisiting the drawing board has been set up by Manmohan Singh himself long before the nation was mesmerised by ‘Maya Jal’. He has been voicing his disquiet at every available platform on a host of issues that range from crony capitalism to social safety net and from upper caste poor’s plight to low farm yields.
At a full meeting of the Planning Commission in early May, for instance, he called for ‘back to basics’ in agriculture. Shorn of economic jargons, it means working on state and area specific agriculture plans not from Yojana Bhavan but at the district and state level. Rural distress is as much a big political headache as spiralling prices. Actionable plans and quick results are a must in this country which witnesses some election somewhere almost every quarter.
One unmistakable message from UP elections, according to social scientists, is people don’t want caste and rhetoric. Nor do they feel comfortable with packages and promises. For them, food on the table, quality employment, better health and above all ability to live with dignity is what matters.
The need is for something like the rural job guarantee scheme, which everyone thought three years back, was ambitious and unworkable in our country. Andhra Pradesh proved that the optimism of the authors of the scheme was not misplaced. Implemented in over 9000 habitations, it has become a model of effectiveness and probity what with payment of wages directly made into the postal savings bank accounts of every job card holder.
So, it is time to go back to the common man for Manmohan Singh and Co., “We recognise that high national income growth alone does not address the challenges of employment promotion, poverty reduction and balanced regional development. Nor does growth in itself improve human development”, the Prime Minister told his UPA constituents before inviting them to a sumptuous third anniversary dinner. And assured them his government will work with ‘dedication and renewed energy to build a new India, a caring India, an inclusive India, and an India of our dreams’.
Back to basics once again as the voters come back into reckoning!
MAYA HAS AN AMAR
Satish Chandra Mishra is to Mayawati what Amar Singh is to Mulayam Singh, probably much more. And there is reason for this. Amar Singh delivered more bytes and less votes. Satish offered no bytes but delivered votes of ‘suvarna’ castes by helping ‘Behenji’ bring Brahmins, Thakurs, Rajputs and Banias under the BSP umbrella.
Like most Brahmins, Mishra belonged to the RSS-fold. When opportunity knocked at his door, he migrated to Mayawati camp with the ‘blessings’ of his BJP mentor, initially as a legal aid. He helped her fight a host of cases slapped by ‘Moolyam’ Singh, the SP supremo, who broke her party and ‘occupied’ her ‘Gaddi’ in Lucknow Sachivalaya for close to three years.
Mishra’s services were amply rewarded with a Rajya Sabha berth. But it was during the run up to the assembly elections 2007 that Mishra became the top strategist and emerged as the Brahmin face of the Dalit party. Now, Mayawati has found a cabinet berth for him as her number two in the government. Both should get elected to the legislative assembly or legislative council over the next six months. No problem.
Some analysts aver that Maya’s Dalit-Brahmin alliance decimated the BJP and relegated it to the slot of a distant third. ‘BJP is facing a terminal decline in UP’, says Yogendra Yadav, who, like several other pollsters, has egg on his face after the UP verdict. The issues dear to the Parivar, like Ram Mandir, are not relevant to the people in the state, according to him.
But, says, an in-house specialist at BJP headquarters, “We lost in UP because UP is a SP-BSP battle field. It is not like Uttarakhand or Rajasthan where it is BJP vs. Congress”.
- YAMAARAAR
GOOD BAD UGLY
Pranab Mukherjee tops the UPA pack as a getter done and trouble shooter, according to various surveys on government performance. Chidambaram is close behind but the Left is baying for his blood. His growth rates don’t translate into votes, Left fumes and the savvy lawyer admits they have a point.
Lalu Yadav, the Railway Minister and Kamalnath, the Commerce Minister are also rated high. Not Home Minister Shivraj Patil and HRD Minister Arjun Singh. At the bottom rung are Sharad Pawar, the Maratha who loves Cricket more than his agriculture and Ambumani Ramadoss, whose stay at the helm of health ministry, critics say, is like a bull in a china shop.
The economist-doctor, Manmohan Singh, scores 6 on a scale of 10.
Rural job guarantee scheme, Bharat Nirman, sustained growth rate, communal harmony and stable coalition are his plus. Price rise, SEZ mess, power crisis, farmers’ suicide, cheap exports and costly imports are his flip side.
All this hurts his image. Not of Sonia Gandhi. Even as the Left says UPA is no more aam aadmi’s government’.
Why? She has left ‘governance’ to the ‘doctor saheb’. And when she wants to say something, she shoots of a letter to him.
- YAMAARAAR
(One unmistakable message from UP elections is that people don’t want caste and rhetoric. Nor do they feel comfortable with packages and promises. For them, food on the table, quality employment, better health and above all ability to live with dignity is what matters. So, it is time to go back to the common man’s plank for Manmohan Singh and Co.,)
New Delhi: The irony was difficult to miss. It was Tuesday, May 22 evening. It was close to 7pm. Leaders and media were gathering in strength under a specially erected and tastefully decorated shamina at 7 Race Course Road to hear UPA’s 3-year report. As Prime Minister was getting ready to receive the guests who included Sonia Gandhi, an aide walked briskly towards him and whispered something into his ears. Almost around the same time, news agency tickers were carrying a flash:-‘3 bomb blasts in Gorakhpur. 6 injured’. Quickly most TV channels switched over to the ‘Breaking News’. Only the good old Doordarshan (DD) News Channel picked up the UPA ‘live’ feed.
BJP President Rajnath Singh was quick to react. “The UPA has compromised national security. Terrorist attacks are increasing”, he thundered. “The list is unending... Ayodhya, Bangalore, Kashi, Delhi, Mumbai, Malegaon, Samjhouta Express, Jammu, Hyderabad and now it is Gorakhpur”.
Earlier in the day, Rajnath issued a 66-page charge sheet, “UPA's Three Years, Aam Aadmi’s Tear Years”. And offered a byte, “UPA’s is a faceless, directionless and spineless rule. It is led by a Prime Minister who has no say in his cabinet”.
It was his first press conference in the capital after he led the BJP to its historic rout in Uttar Pradesh. He entered the media conference room at the party headquarters, 11 Ashok Road, fully prepared to turn the guns on Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi and the Congress in that order.
But he found himself facing a barrage of questions on ‘sword display’ in Punjab where his party is a junior partner in the Akali-led government. There was reason. The day witnessed life come to a standstill in the state by a bandh called by the Sikh clergy, which is locked in a stand-off with Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmit Ram Rahim.
Initially, Rajnath tried to duck for cover. And then tried to obfuscate. Finally, when he opened up, he did not want to sound as harsh as his Punjab colleagues. “I have spoken twice with Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal on phone and told him that every measure should be taken to contain violence and to maintain peace”.
Poor Rajnath. For yet another time, the BJP lost its thunder. Who hijacked it? The Left, of course. Ever since the UPA came to power on their crutches, the Left has occupied the opposition space. Whether it played that role effectively or allowed itself to be led by its fear of lengthening saffron shadows is a moot point. Opinion is divided any how.
That the Left is increasingly worried about the direction of the government is public knowledge. “The gap between ‘shining India’ and ‘suffering India’ is widening”, Sitaram Yechuri, Marxist ideologue and politburo member, said. Surprisingly, this view is shared by some in the Government as well.
Mani Shankar Aiyer, the maverick former diplomat and presently minister for Panchayati Raj, spoke his mind with “Devil’s Advocate’ Karan Thapar in an interview aired on TV-18 group of channels. “Alarm bells absolutely must be rung”. He said his views have a ‘resonance with every single minister I have talked about this’ matter”. Added he,” Nobody has reprimanded me. No body has suggested that I am out of line. No one. Literally, no one… I will certainly not be whistling in the wind”. He did not sound like a dissident. He talked more like a person who is worried about his next election.
The Mani speak was ammunition good enough for L K Advani to fire at Sonia Gandhi.
“I don’t know why Shri Aiyar is being allowed to say such things by the Congress high command without being reprimanded,” the former deputy prime minister, who is credited with rebuilding the BJP after it was reduced to just 2 seats in the Lok Sabha in 1984, said, while hitting the campaign trail in Goa.
In the Advani view, the blunt undiplomatic Mani speak is a calibrated effort to distance the ‘dynasty’ from the failures of UPA Government. He has a point but it needn’t necessarily be the only point.
Not surprisingly, course correction is the flavour of the season. “Go for a mid-course recast of policies”, D Raja, the CPI national secretary, who hopes to enter the Rajya Sabha from Tamilnadu in July, thundered. His boss, A B Bardhan, who admits with a smile that his one and only electoral foray forty years ago ended in defeat, has been giving the thumbs down to UPA for a while. He also has been pushing for a review of Left’s relationship with the government.
Bardhan, like any other Left leader, is angry that the Manmohan Singh government is not sensitive to Left concerns. “I believe Dr Manmohan Singh is blessing Chidambaram and Montek (Singh Ahluwalia, the deputy chairman of Planning Commission). That is why they are going ahead with their plans”, CPI General Secretary declares.
Yet, the Big Marxist brother is unmoved by his case for a redefinition of Left-UPA relations on the basis of Government policies. The point is none of the four Left parties is prepared to rock the UPA boat. Certainly, not after reading 3rd anniversary eve surveys, which said, “UPA ratings take a dip but NDA eases ahead”.
Probably, there is no need for a ‘Left push’ for UPA. That much has become clear in the past few days. The tone for revisiting the drawing board has been set up by Manmohan Singh himself long before the nation was mesmerised by ‘Maya Jal’. He has been voicing his disquiet at every available platform on a host of issues that range from crony capitalism to social safety net and from upper caste poor’s plight to low farm yields.
At a full meeting of the Planning Commission in early May, for instance, he called for ‘back to basics’ in agriculture. Shorn of economic jargons, it means working on state and area specific agriculture plans not from Yojana Bhavan but at the district and state level. Rural distress is as much a big political headache as spiralling prices. Actionable plans and quick results are a must in this country which witnesses some election somewhere almost every quarter.
One unmistakable message from UP elections, according to social scientists, is people don’t want caste and rhetoric. Nor do they feel comfortable with packages and promises. For them, food on the table, quality employment, better health and above all ability to live with dignity is what matters.
The need is for something like the rural job guarantee scheme, which everyone thought three years back, was ambitious and unworkable in our country. Andhra Pradesh proved that the optimism of the authors of the scheme was not misplaced. Implemented in over 9000 habitations, it has become a model of effectiveness and probity what with payment of wages directly made into the postal savings bank accounts of every job card holder.
So, it is time to go back to the common man for Manmohan Singh and Co., “We recognise that high national income growth alone does not address the challenges of employment promotion, poverty reduction and balanced regional development. Nor does growth in itself improve human development”, the Prime Minister told his UPA constituents before inviting them to a sumptuous third anniversary dinner. And assured them his government will work with ‘dedication and renewed energy to build a new India, a caring India, an inclusive India, and an India of our dreams’.
Back to basics once again as the voters come back into reckoning!
“Left is increasingly worried about the direction of the government and it sees the gap between ‘shining India’ and ‘suffering India’ widening. Mid-course recast of policies is its recipe.
The Marxist Big brother is not prepared to rock the UPA boat and hence the cold shoulder to Bardhan’s push for a review of Left’s relationship with the government”.
Probably, there is no need for a ‘Left push’ for UPA. The tone for revisiting the drawing board has been set up by Manmohan Singh himself long before the nation was mesmerised by ‘Maya Jal’.
Rural distress is as much a big political headache as spiralling prices. Actionable plans and quick results are a must in this country which witnesses some election somewhere almost every quarter.
MAYA HAS AN AMAR
Satish Chandra Mishra is to Mayawati what Amar Singh is to Mulayam Singh, probably much more. And there is reason for this. Amar Singh delivered more bytes and less votes. Satish offered no bytes but delivered votes of ‘suvarna’ castes by helping ‘Behenji’ bring Brahmins, Thakurs, Rajputs and Banias under the BSP umbrella.
Like most Brahmins, Mishra belonged to the RSS-fold. When opportunity knocked at his door, he migrated to Mayawati camp with the ‘blessings’ of his BJP mentor, initially as a legal aid. He helped her fight a host of cases slapped by ‘Moolyam’ Singh, the SP supremo, who broke her party and ‘occupied’ her ‘Gaddi’ in Lucknow Sachivalaya for close to three years.
Mishra’s services were amply rewarded with a Rajya Sabha berth. But it was during the run up to the assembly elections 2007 that Mishra became the top strategist and emerged as the Brahmin face of the Dalit party. Now, Mayawati has found a cabinet berth for him as her number two in the government. Both should get elected to the legislative assembly or legislative council over the next six months. No problem.
Some analysts aver that Maya’s Dalit-Brahmin alliance decimated the BJP and relegated it to the slot of a distant third. ‘BJP is facing a terminal decline in UP’, says Yogendra Yadav, who, like several other pollsters, has egg on his face after the UP verdict. The issues dear to the Parivar, like Ram Mandir, are not relevant to the people in the state, according to him.
But, says, an in-house specialist at BJP headquarters, “We lost in UP because UP is a SP-BSP battle field. It is not like Uttarakhand or Rajasthan where it is BJP vs. Congress”.
- YAMAARAAR
GOOD BAD UGLY
Pranab Mukherjee tops the UPA pack as a getter done and trouble shooter, according to various surveys on government performance. Chidambaram is close behind but the Left is baying for his blood. His growth rates don’t translate into votes, Left fumes and the savvy lawyer admits they have a point.
Lalu Yadav, the Railway Minister and Kamalnath, the Commerce Minister are also rated high. Not Home Minister Shivraj Patil and HRD Minister Arjun Singh. At the bottom rung are Sharad Pawar, the Maratha who loves Cricket more than his agriculture and Ambumani Ramadoss, whose stay at the helm of health ministry, critics say, is like a bull in a china shop.
The economist-doctor, Manmohan Singh, scores 6 on a scale of 10.
Rural job guarantee scheme, Bharat Nirman, sustained growth rate, communal harmony and stable coalition are his plus. Price rise, SEZ mess, power crisis, farmers’ suicide, cheap exports and costly imports are his flip side.
All this hurts his image. Not of Sonia Gandhi. Even as the Left says UPA is no more aam aadmi’s government’.
Why? She has left ‘governance’ to the ‘doctor saheb’. And when she wants to say something, she shoots of a letter to him.
- YAMAARAAR
Fall in-line for social justice: Manmohan tells Corporates
by M Rama Rao
New Delhi: (National Herald) May 24: Prime Minister startled Corporate India on Thursday with some blunt speak He gave them some home work - 'ten-point social charter' for sharing benefits of economic growth with the less privileged.
In a tongue lashing, the economist – prime minister also warned the captains of industry and trade to end cartelisation to keep price high. And came down heavily on their greed, saying “Even profit maximization should be within the bounds of decency and greed”.
Manmohan Singh’s message was loud and clear to corporate honchos who assembled in strength for the annual general meeting of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). And that is: inclusive growth is not an empty slogan for UPA. It means and stands by that commitment.
Because, he said in a disarmingly, “Our growth process may be at risk, our polity may become anarchic and our society may get further divided” if those who are better off do not act in a more socially responsible manner,
Probably, the CII provided the spark to him. The theme of the session was “Inclusive Growth – Challenges for Corporate India”.
Thanking the CII for inviting him to share ‘my thoughts’ on the conference theme, Dr Manmohan Singh, said “You have all been the beneficiaries of our improved growth performance (under UPA)” and so they must do their bit to the society. “The time has come for the better off sections of our society - not just in organized industry but in all walks of life - to understand the need to make our growth process more inclusive; to eschew conspicuous consumption; to save more and waste less; to care for those who are less privileged and less well off; to be role models of probity, moderation and charity”.
.
Indian industry, he said must rise to the challenge of making our growth processes efficient and inclusive. “This is our endeavour in Government. It will have to be yours too and I seek your partnership in making a success of this giant national enterprise”.
Prime Minister’s case was that the industry must become a partner in inclusive growth in its own interest. Their clamour, for instance, for labour law reforms will remain a mirage “unless workers feel they are cared for at work”, and thus help “evolve a national consensus in favour of more flexible labour laws aimed at ensuring that our firms remain globally competitive”.
Corporate social responsibility, Dr Manmohan Singh, should not be narrowly defined centered on tax planning strategies alone. “Rather, it should be defined within the framework of a corporate philosophy which factors the needs of the community and the regions in which the corporate entity functions”.
Manmohan’s 10-point Social Charter for Corporates
*. Have a healthy respect for your workers and invest in their welfare.
* Factor in the needs of the community and the regions where you work
* Be pro-active in giving jobs to less privileged, at all levels of the job ladder
* Resist excessive remunerations, discourage conspicuous consumption.
* Invest in people and in their skills.
* Desist from non-competitive behaviour.
* Invest in environment-friendly technologies.
* Promote enterprise and innovation, within your firms and outside.
* Fight corruption at all levels
* Promote socially responsible media and finance socially responsible advertising
New Delhi: (National Herald) May 24: Prime Minister startled Corporate India on Thursday with some blunt speak He gave them some home work - 'ten-point social charter' for sharing benefits of economic growth with the less privileged.
In a tongue lashing, the economist – prime minister also warned the captains of industry and trade to end cartelisation to keep price high. And came down heavily on their greed, saying “Even profit maximization should be within the bounds of decency and greed”.
Manmohan Singh’s message was loud and clear to corporate honchos who assembled in strength for the annual general meeting of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). And that is: inclusive growth is not an empty slogan for UPA. It means and stands by that commitment.
Because, he said in a disarmingly, “Our growth process may be at risk, our polity may become anarchic and our society may get further divided” if those who are better off do not act in a more socially responsible manner,
Probably, the CII provided the spark to him. The theme of the session was “Inclusive Growth – Challenges for Corporate India”.
Thanking the CII for inviting him to share ‘my thoughts’ on the conference theme, Dr Manmohan Singh, said “You have all been the beneficiaries of our improved growth performance (under UPA)” and so they must do their bit to the society. “The time has come for the better off sections of our society - not just in organized industry but in all walks of life - to understand the need to make our growth process more inclusive; to eschew conspicuous consumption; to save more and waste less; to care for those who are less privileged and less well off; to be role models of probity, moderation and charity”.
.
Indian industry, he said must rise to the challenge of making our growth processes efficient and inclusive. “This is our endeavour in Government. It will have to be yours too and I seek your partnership in making a success of this giant national enterprise”.
Prime Minister’s case was that the industry must become a partner in inclusive growth in its own interest. Their clamour, for instance, for labour law reforms will remain a mirage “unless workers feel they are cared for at work”, and thus help “evolve a national consensus in favour of more flexible labour laws aimed at ensuring that our firms remain globally competitive”.
Corporate social responsibility, Dr Manmohan Singh, should not be narrowly defined centered on tax planning strategies alone. “Rather, it should be defined within the framework of a corporate philosophy which factors the needs of the community and the regions in which the corporate entity functions”.
Manmohan’s 10-point Social Charter for Corporates
*. Have a healthy respect for your workers and invest in their welfare.
* Factor in the needs of the community and the regions where you work
* Be pro-active in giving jobs to less privileged, at all levels of the job ladder
* Resist excessive remunerations, discourage conspicuous consumption.
* Invest in people and in their skills.
* Desist from non-competitive behaviour.
* Invest in environment-friendly technologies.
* Promote enterprise and innovation, within your firms and outside.
* Fight corruption at all levels
* Promote socially responsible media and finance socially responsible advertising
Sunday, May 13, 2007
REMEMBERING INDIRA GANDHI
By M Rama Rao
New Delhi Nov 16, 2006 (Syndicate Features): What is the legacy of Indira Gandhi? Some consider nuclear security and green revolution as her lasting contribution to India.
It was under Indira Gandhi that India became the youngest nuclear power by carrying out an underground nuclear test for peaceful purposes.
Today, if India has become a food exporter and has diversified its commercial crop production, well, the credit should go to Indira Gandhi, who with the help of a dedicated team of administrators and scientists managed to end India’s chronic food shortages.
Along with the Green Revolution ushered in was the White Revolution to expand milk production and thereby help combat malnutrition, especially amongst nursing mothers and young children.
Some consider the leadership Indira Gandhi provided at the time of Bangladesh war as something that will be written in golden letters in the annals of Indian history. “Her war leadership reassured the people, increasing their faith in India’s future, security and everyday lives. It kept the country united by showing that the nation was prepared to fight against any and all enemies”.
There is a school, which considers her faith in democracy (despite the emergency aberration), her concern for the poorer and weaker sections of the society and her ability to apply healing balm at times of threat to national unity as bench marks for India.
She was the fist to fly to Assam in its hour of need in 1962 and the only leader from Delhi to rush to Chennai during the widespread anti-Hindi disturbances in 1965. And in 1978 to Belchi, Bihar, on an elephant to meet the Dalit victims of a massacre carried out by the Ranveer Sena of the upper castes.
Indira Gandhi will be remembered for these and many more commendable efforts in the development and progress of India. Her economic policies, while socialistic, brought major industrialisation.
Bank nationaliation took the banks closer to the people. The Regional Rural Banks addressed the all important question of lending for small and marginal farmers and farm labourers at their door step.
I had the privilege of carrying out a survey in the area served by Nagarjuna Grameena Bank, one of the first RRBs floated by the State Bank of India (SBI). My 1976 survey showed that villagers viewed these new banks as a new hope in their quest for relief from the clutches of local money lenders.
It was no surprise that the poor villagers considered Indira Gandhi as their ‘Amma’ (mother). When she visited Andhra Pradesh, just before the landmark Chickamaglore Lok Sabha by-election, and told them that she was waging a battle with no resources, people showered her with money.
At Kurnool, for instance, hundred of thousand people not only waited well past midnight but also offered whatever little money mostly fifty paise and twenty five paise coins and one rupee notes. The collection totalled over Rs. One lakh. What a show of love and affection!
Indira Gandhi did not agree with political thinkers who called democracy in India as a western liberal illusion. In her view, the essence of the democratic system is the continuous participation of people in political, social and economic processes and it should be facilitated by representative governments and institutions. “This has been our endeavour”, she said once.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha (July 22, 1975), Indira Gandhi said, “Here in India, democracy is evolving in a set of unique circumstances. Millions of extremely poor people are hankering after better life, for greater equality of opportunity, for social justice and they are electing governments and participating in the process of government in order to realize these aspirations.
“Therefore, it is a question of striking a balance between the political rights of the individual and social and economic rights of the collective mass of people. Any narrow definition of democracy which tries to ignore realities can only mean the growth of political ideas which are anti-democratic”.
“The challenge to Indian democracy must be seen in the light of the general problems that this particular system of government faces in the world and the very unique problems that it faces within India. The Panchayat system came about in order to give people at a particular level a chance of participation. It did not always work as it should. That doesn’t mean the thing is wrong. It does mean that we have to correct its functioning, remove its faults and weaknesses and make whatever changes are necessary”.
The Constitutional amendments brought out by her successors almost two decades later have breathed new life into the panchayati raj bodies. Now these have become vibrant institutions of local self-governance. Today’s challenges need initiative, imagination, and courage. Risk must be taken, notwithstanding the scope for mistakes, as long as the over riding principle is good faith.
Indira Gandhi subscribed to this approach in ample measure. “Have a bias towards action – let us see something happen now. You can break that big plan into small steps and take the first step right away”, she used to say.
Contrary to popular impression, she used to listen to all shades of opinion within the government, particularly from young officers.
Says B S Raghavan, a 1952 batch IAS officer (of the West Bengal cadre), “In all meetings, whether of the Cabinet or various committees, and other bodies like the National Integration Council, after the venerable - of political or administrative vintage – had spoken, Indira Gandhi would suddenly turn towards the young officers sitting forlorn at a distance and ask them: ‘What do you think?’. This, she did, not patronizingly, but with a genuine solicitude for their participation and often accepted their advice as against that of the older group”.
In an interview to the weekly, “Socialist India’, Indira Gandhi said, “Our administrative structure is rather cumbersome and slow, so that even bright young people are sometimes infected by the apathy of their seniors. Some of our younger officers impress us by their earnestness and many sided capability”.
At the same time, she was conscious of the ‘great deal’ that needs to be done to improve the delivery system. “The entire administration is still not achievement oriented but is conditioned to play safe”. A concern that is as relevant now as it was first voiced nearly three decades back.
It is often said that Indira Gandhi had a special relationship with the media. I knew this from personal experience of covering her visits to the Northeast and the South.
There may not be many takers for all her views on the Indian media but I am sure there will be very few who will dare to cross swords with her on one particular issue - the flip side of Indian journalism.
Speaking at a function in New Delhi held to felicitate M Chalapathi Rao (MC) on his completion of 30 years as the editor of National Herald (NH), Indira Gandhi said, “Today cynicism is the besetting sin of world journalism. Another fault of today’s press is the desire constantly of making more money.
“I am shocked at the filth and falsehood that some time appears in newspapers, the pain inflicted and the harm done by them all in pursuit of a higher circulation and advertisement revenue. Isn’t it time that the more earnest men and women in the profession do something about checking vulgarity in the press and related media”.
Remember Indira Gandhi gave this call at a time P3P was unheard off and when multiple television and radio channels were nowhere on the horizon!
Since I began this article with the question, “What is legacy of Indira Gandhi”, what better way is there than to fall back upon the headline to the India story in The Economist on November 3, 1984: “Mrs. Gandhi is Dead, Long Live Gandhi”. (Syndicate Features)
New Delhi Nov 16, 2006 (Syndicate Features): What is the legacy of Indira Gandhi? Some consider nuclear security and green revolution as her lasting contribution to India.
It was under Indira Gandhi that India became the youngest nuclear power by carrying out an underground nuclear test for peaceful purposes.
Today, if India has become a food exporter and has diversified its commercial crop production, well, the credit should go to Indira Gandhi, who with the help of a dedicated team of administrators and scientists managed to end India’s chronic food shortages.
Along with the Green Revolution ushered in was the White Revolution to expand milk production and thereby help combat malnutrition, especially amongst nursing mothers and young children.
Some consider the leadership Indira Gandhi provided at the time of Bangladesh war as something that will be written in golden letters in the annals of Indian history. “Her war leadership reassured the people, increasing their faith in India’s future, security and everyday lives. It kept the country united by showing that the nation was prepared to fight against any and all enemies”.
There is a school, which considers her faith in democracy (despite the emergency aberration), her concern for the poorer and weaker sections of the society and her ability to apply healing balm at times of threat to national unity as bench marks for India.
She was the fist to fly to Assam in its hour of need in 1962 and the only leader from Delhi to rush to Chennai during the widespread anti-Hindi disturbances in 1965. And in 1978 to Belchi, Bihar, on an elephant to meet the Dalit victims of a massacre carried out by the Ranveer Sena of the upper castes.
Indira Gandhi will be remembered for these and many more commendable efforts in the development and progress of India. Her economic policies, while socialistic, brought major industrialisation.
Bank nationaliation took the banks closer to the people. The Regional Rural Banks addressed the all important question of lending for small and marginal farmers and farm labourers at their door step.
I had the privilege of carrying out a survey in the area served by Nagarjuna Grameena Bank, one of the first RRBs floated by the State Bank of India (SBI). My 1976 survey showed that villagers viewed these new banks as a new hope in their quest for relief from the clutches of local money lenders.
It was no surprise that the poor villagers considered Indira Gandhi as their ‘Amma’ (mother). When she visited Andhra Pradesh, just before the landmark Chickamaglore Lok Sabha by-election, and told them that she was waging a battle with no resources, people showered her with money.
At Kurnool, for instance, hundred of thousand people not only waited well past midnight but also offered whatever little money mostly fifty paise and twenty five paise coins and one rupee notes. The collection totalled over Rs. One lakh. What a show of love and affection!
Indira Gandhi did not agree with political thinkers who called democracy in India as a western liberal illusion. In her view, the essence of the democratic system is the continuous participation of people in political, social and economic processes and it should be facilitated by representative governments and institutions. “This has been our endeavour”, she said once.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha (July 22, 1975), Indira Gandhi said, “Here in India, democracy is evolving in a set of unique circumstances. Millions of extremely poor people are hankering after better life, for greater equality of opportunity, for social justice and they are electing governments and participating in the process of government in order to realize these aspirations.
“Therefore, it is a question of striking a balance between the political rights of the individual and social and economic rights of the collective mass of people. Any narrow definition of democracy which tries to ignore realities can only mean the growth of political ideas which are anti-democratic”.
“The challenge to Indian democracy must be seen in the light of the general problems that this particular system of government faces in the world and the very unique problems that it faces within India. The Panchayat system came about in order to give people at a particular level a chance of participation. It did not always work as it should. That doesn’t mean the thing is wrong. It does mean that we have to correct its functioning, remove its faults and weaknesses and make whatever changes are necessary”.
The Constitutional amendments brought out by her successors almost two decades later have breathed new life into the panchayati raj bodies. Now these have become vibrant institutions of local self-governance. Today’s challenges need initiative, imagination, and courage. Risk must be taken, notwithstanding the scope for mistakes, as long as the over riding principle is good faith.
Indira Gandhi subscribed to this approach in ample measure. “Have a bias towards action – let us see something happen now. You can break that big plan into small steps and take the first step right away”, she used to say.
Contrary to popular impression, she used to listen to all shades of opinion within the government, particularly from young officers.
Says B S Raghavan, a 1952 batch IAS officer (of the West Bengal cadre), “In all meetings, whether of the Cabinet or various committees, and other bodies like the National Integration Council, after the venerable - of political or administrative vintage – had spoken, Indira Gandhi would suddenly turn towards the young officers sitting forlorn at a distance and ask them: ‘What do you think?’. This, she did, not patronizingly, but with a genuine solicitude for their participation and often accepted their advice as against that of the older group”.
In an interview to the weekly, “Socialist India’, Indira Gandhi said, “Our administrative structure is rather cumbersome and slow, so that even bright young people are sometimes infected by the apathy of their seniors. Some of our younger officers impress us by their earnestness and many sided capability”.
At the same time, she was conscious of the ‘great deal’ that needs to be done to improve the delivery system. “The entire administration is still not achievement oriented but is conditioned to play safe”. A concern that is as relevant now as it was first voiced nearly three decades back.
It is often said that Indira Gandhi had a special relationship with the media. I knew this from personal experience of covering her visits to the Northeast and the South.
There may not be many takers for all her views on the Indian media but I am sure there will be very few who will dare to cross swords with her on one particular issue - the flip side of Indian journalism.
Speaking at a function in New Delhi held to felicitate M Chalapathi Rao (MC) on his completion of 30 years as the editor of National Herald (NH), Indira Gandhi said, “Today cynicism is the besetting sin of world journalism. Another fault of today’s press is the desire constantly of making more money.
“I am shocked at the filth and falsehood that some time appears in newspapers, the pain inflicted and the harm done by them all in pursuit of a higher circulation and advertisement revenue. Isn’t it time that the more earnest men and women in the profession do something about checking vulgarity in the press and related media”.
Remember Indira Gandhi gave this call at a time P3P was unheard off and when multiple television and radio channels were nowhere on the horizon!
Since I began this article with the question, “What is legacy of Indira Gandhi”, what better way is there than to fall back upon the headline to the India story in The Economist on November 3, 1984: “Mrs. Gandhi is Dead, Long Live Gandhi”. (Syndicate Features)
Rajapakse ready for direct talks with Tigers, (Nov 28,2006)
By M Rama Rao
New Delhi, 28 November,2006 (asiantribune) President Rajapakse, who began his India parleys on a ‘promising’ note on Tuesday, has expressed his readiness for direct talks with the LTTE leader Prabhakaran. “He (Prabhakaran) did not allow me to celebrate my victory (as President). He killed more Tamils than he has killed Sinhalese people over 30 years. Yet I have always (been) telling… I can talk to you directly, so let us talk”, President Rajapakse told Asian Tribune in a free wheeling interview in his 14th floor hotel suit here.
The visiting leader earlier in the day met Sonia Gandhi, the chairperson of the ruling United Progressive Alliance, (UPA) whose husband Rajiv was assassinated by the Tigers in May 1991 at Sriperumbudur in Tamilnadu during an election rally. His talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and leader of the opposition L K Advani are slated for Wednesday.
India’s External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee called on Rajapakse. Later Mukherjee and Lankan foreign minister held delegation level talks. These discussions were constructive and purposeful, said Saj Mendis, spokesman of the Sri Lanak High Commission to India. He did not elaborate. But Indian foreign office spokesman said Mukherjee conveyed the hope that there would be early progress in the peace process so that all ethnic communities in Sri Lanka could live harmoniously and were able to achieve their aspirations. Both sides reviewed several on-going economic projects between the two countries.
President Rajapakse put some clarity to media reports on Colombo’s suggestion for joint patrolling by India and Sri Lanka of Pak Straits. “We only want India to patrol its territorial waters. We will do ours. Since India is a big country, it will be more effective and its will help fishermen as well”, he said pointing out that fishermen’s is primarily a humanitarian problem as they are often forced to part with their trawlers under force or for monetary inducements by Tigers.
He said Sea Tigers are strengthening their fire power. It will pose a threat to Sri Lanka, to India and to the international community. In so many words, his message is India must be pro-active in the campaign to check the LTTE.
Pinning his hope on dialogue, President Rajapakse said ‘I am anytime ready for a negotiated settlement and for negotiating with the LTTE’
When asked about the impression that Norway is not playing the role of a honest, sincere and truthful peace broker, he posed, with a hearty laugh, a counter question: “Is that the impression?” And remarked: I have always been telling why do you (Prabhakaran) want others to be involved in this (peace dialogue). I can talk to you directly, so let us talk’.
He did not see any specific significance on the latest Heroes Day address by Prabhakaran. Declining to be drawn into a discussion on subject, President Rajapakse said, ‘he has been saying this (only option, Eelam etc) for so many years. He has not said this for the first time’. Driving his point, President Rajapakse added the world must realise that LTTE is not the Tamil people and all Tamil people are not terrorists. So this must be realised by the people," said Rajapaksa, who is on a five-day visit to India.
Answering a specific question on humanitarian aid to Jaffna peninsula, he wondered why Prabhakaran has forced 4000 retail shops to be closed and thus created an artificial shortage syndrome. “If he is really keen on helping Tamils, he should allow these shops to be reopened”, the Sri Lankan leader said emphasising that there is no shortage of food and other essential items but the handicap is of distribution network in the wake of forced closure of most private shops.
President Rajapakse said that he is working on a package to meet the aspirations of ethnic Tamilians.
- Asian Tribune -
New Delhi, 28 November,2006 (asiantribune) President Rajapakse, who began his India parleys on a ‘promising’ note on Tuesday, has expressed his readiness for direct talks with the LTTE leader Prabhakaran. “He (Prabhakaran) did not allow me to celebrate my victory (as President). He killed more Tamils than he has killed Sinhalese people over 30 years. Yet I have always (been) telling… I can talk to you directly, so let us talk”, President Rajapakse told Asian Tribune in a free wheeling interview in his 14th floor hotel suit here.
The visiting leader earlier in the day met Sonia Gandhi, the chairperson of the ruling United Progressive Alliance, (UPA) whose husband Rajiv was assassinated by the Tigers in May 1991 at Sriperumbudur in Tamilnadu during an election rally. His talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and leader of the opposition L K Advani are slated for Wednesday.
India’s External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee called on Rajapakse. Later Mukherjee and Lankan foreign minister held delegation level talks. These discussions were constructive and purposeful, said Saj Mendis, spokesman of the Sri Lanak High Commission to India. He did not elaborate. But Indian foreign office spokesman said Mukherjee conveyed the hope that there would be early progress in the peace process so that all ethnic communities in Sri Lanka could live harmoniously and were able to achieve their aspirations. Both sides reviewed several on-going economic projects between the two countries.
President Rajapakse put some clarity to media reports on Colombo’s suggestion for joint patrolling by India and Sri Lanka of Pak Straits. “We only want India to patrol its territorial waters. We will do ours. Since India is a big country, it will be more effective and its will help fishermen as well”, he said pointing out that fishermen’s is primarily a humanitarian problem as they are often forced to part with their trawlers under force or for monetary inducements by Tigers.
He said Sea Tigers are strengthening their fire power. It will pose a threat to Sri Lanka, to India and to the international community. In so many words, his message is India must be pro-active in the campaign to check the LTTE.
Pinning his hope on dialogue, President Rajapakse said ‘I am anytime ready for a negotiated settlement and for negotiating with the LTTE’
When asked about the impression that Norway is not playing the role of a honest, sincere and truthful peace broker, he posed, with a hearty laugh, a counter question: “Is that the impression?” And remarked: I have always been telling why do you (Prabhakaran) want others to be involved in this (peace dialogue). I can talk to you directly, so let us talk’.
He did not see any specific significance on the latest Heroes Day address by Prabhakaran. Declining to be drawn into a discussion on subject, President Rajapakse said, ‘he has been saying this (only option, Eelam etc) for so many years. He has not said this for the first time’. Driving his point, President Rajapakse added the world must realise that LTTE is not the Tamil people and all Tamil people are not terrorists. So this must be realised by the people," said Rajapaksa, who is on a five-day visit to India.
Answering a specific question on humanitarian aid to Jaffna peninsula, he wondered why Prabhakaran has forced 4000 retail shops to be closed and thus created an artificial shortage syndrome. “If he is really keen on helping Tamils, he should allow these shops to be reopened”, the Sri Lankan leader said emphasising that there is no shortage of food and other essential items but the handicap is of distribution network in the wake of forced closure of most private shops.
President Rajapakse said that he is working on a package to meet the aspirations of ethnic Tamilians.
- Asian Tribune -
Question marks over Sri Lanka’s latest defence buys (2006 Dec)
By M Rama Rao reporting from India
New Delhi, 23 December, 2006(asiantribune:Neither President Rajapakse nor any of his military advisors will like this story. And the story has all the ingredients of a masala film Bollywood is known to produce with unfailing regularity only to bomb at the box office.
Only in this case, the bombs procured at high cost are falling like duds, or to borrow the analogy one expert used, falling like stones from mid air on the targets. The electronic fuses are faring no different. At least 200 of the 500 electronic fuses failed to ignite and the supplier had to reluctantly ferry back home the whole consignment and provide replenishment through a chartered A-32 transport plane, going by what is being said in low whispers.
Informed sources are also speaking of a kick back angle to the unfolding story though there is no independent corroboration of such goings on. It is said that defence suppliers, agents and their points’ men are laughing all the way to their banks in safe tax havens. Again there is no independent corroborative evidence. But the sources contend that the whole exercise of shopping for military hardware and spares is slowly emerging as an embarrassment to Colombo.
Now some specifics as are available at present.
Colombo’s shopping list right now is General purpose bombs (MK-80 series), fuses (AB-103, AB-100, AB-100 variety), cluster bombs like 250 Kg pre-fragmented, fuel air bombs, deep penetration bombs, Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), ammunition for tanks, small arms and its ammunition. This order is worth $ 30 million. Some of these items will be up for repeat orders.
Sri Lanka is also looking for ‘refitted’ tanks (22 Al Zarar) besides armoured vehicles and jeeps. The order for tanks alone is valued at 80 million dollars.
Sri Lanka’s defence market potential is estimated at over $100 million. It is expected to more than double in about another year plus and take it to the $250 million bracket. Such a market potential from a single country is lucrative enough for market hungry new arms sellers to become hyper active.
And this is what Pakistan did since Sri Lanka buys are more than the value of total Pak defence exports in a year, which is at present pegged at $ 200 million. Defence trade sources say, Islamabad is going the extra mile to help Colombo by sourcing the supplies from Ukraine and a few other Central Asian Republics.
It is making a huge profit even after paying heavy kick backs and hefty agent commissions. For instance spares' supplies of $6.9 million made to Lanka in the last few weeks were said to have been actually sourced by Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT-Pakistan) from Ukraine. Profit in the deal: a neat profit of $ 3 million.
Why Colombo itself did not go directly shopping to Kiev is unclear.
Knowledgeable sources opine that these arms deals with Pakistan are proving to be a costly embarrassment to Colombo. Cluster bombs have turned out to be duds while 200 of the 500 electronic fuses have been defective and hence of no use. Several others are either of substandard quality or second hand items.
According to a report the situation turned grim at the air headquarters when it was noticed that the bombed dropped by Air Force fell like stones in the targeted LTTE area. Pakistan reluctantly provided replacements for the entire lot of fuses. These were flown in by a chartered An-32 transport plane. "God only knows if the specially flown material will work", rues a Lankan source.
Says a local version, Pakistani supplies are actually killing the troops more than the LTTE. The dummy heavy ammunition is no match to the powerful and precision oriented small arms in the Tigers’ armoury.
HEFTY KICK BACKS
Sources familiar with dealings aver that Pakistan defence companies have paid kick backs worth $ 5 million. More bribe money, estimated to be around $ 20 million has been promised on the latest orders. While there is no clear picture as to who are the recipients, informed sources said the ‘grease’ money was deposited in bank accounts in tax havens like St Kitts.
Sources in Colombo and elsewhere say Pakistan companies have paid 20-25 per cent of the listed price as upfront commissions to their local agents, who, in turn parted with 15-20 per cent of the money as bribes to their contacts. There is no independent verification of these claims. Usually reliable sources say some of the sleaze money actually flows back to Pak officials. But this claim is difficult to cross check!
New Delhi, 23 December, 2006(asiantribune:Neither President Rajapakse nor any of his military advisors will like this story. And the story has all the ingredients of a masala film Bollywood is known to produce with unfailing regularity only to bomb at the box office.
Only in this case, the bombs procured at high cost are falling like duds, or to borrow the analogy one expert used, falling like stones from mid air on the targets. The electronic fuses are faring no different. At least 200 of the 500 electronic fuses failed to ignite and the supplier had to reluctantly ferry back home the whole consignment and provide replenishment through a chartered A-32 transport plane, going by what is being said in low whispers.
Informed sources are also speaking of a kick back angle to the unfolding story though there is no independent corroboration of such goings on. It is said that defence suppliers, agents and their points’ men are laughing all the way to their banks in safe tax havens. Again there is no independent corroborative evidence. But the sources contend that the whole exercise of shopping for military hardware and spares is slowly emerging as an embarrassment to Colombo.
Now some specifics as are available at present.
Colombo’s shopping list right now is General purpose bombs (MK-80 series), fuses (AB-103, AB-100, AB-100 variety), cluster bombs like 250 Kg pre-fragmented, fuel air bombs, deep penetration bombs, Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), ammunition for tanks, small arms and its ammunition. This order is worth $ 30 million. Some of these items will be up for repeat orders.
Sri Lanka is also looking for ‘refitted’ tanks (22 Al Zarar) besides armoured vehicles and jeeps. The order for tanks alone is valued at 80 million dollars.
Sri Lanka’s defence market potential is estimated at over $100 million. It is expected to more than double in about another year plus and take it to the $250 million bracket. Such a market potential from a single country is lucrative enough for market hungry new arms sellers to become hyper active.
And this is what Pakistan did since Sri Lanka buys are more than the value of total Pak defence exports in a year, which is at present pegged at $ 200 million. Defence trade sources say, Islamabad is going the extra mile to help Colombo by sourcing the supplies from Ukraine and a few other Central Asian Republics.
It is making a huge profit even after paying heavy kick backs and hefty agent commissions. For instance spares' supplies of $6.9 million made to Lanka in the last few weeks were said to have been actually sourced by Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT-Pakistan) from Ukraine. Profit in the deal: a neat profit of $ 3 million.
Why Colombo itself did not go directly shopping to Kiev is unclear.
Knowledgeable sources opine that these arms deals with Pakistan are proving to be a costly embarrassment to Colombo. Cluster bombs have turned out to be duds while 200 of the 500 electronic fuses have been defective and hence of no use. Several others are either of substandard quality or second hand items.
According to a report the situation turned grim at the air headquarters when it was noticed that the bombed dropped by Air Force fell like stones in the targeted LTTE area. Pakistan reluctantly provided replacements for the entire lot of fuses. These were flown in by a chartered An-32 transport plane. "God only knows if the specially flown material will work", rues a Lankan source.
Says a local version, Pakistani supplies are actually killing the troops more than the LTTE. The dummy heavy ammunition is no match to the powerful and precision oriented small arms in the Tigers’ armoury.
HEFTY KICK BACKS
Sources familiar with dealings aver that Pakistan defence companies have paid kick backs worth $ 5 million. More bribe money, estimated to be around $ 20 million has been promised on the latest orders. While there is no clear picture as to who are the recipients, informed sources said the ‘grease’ money was deposited in bank accounts in tax havens like St Kitts.
Sources in Colombo and elsewhere say Pakistan companies have paid 20-25 per cent of the listed price as upfront commissions to their local agents, who, in turn parted with 15-20 per cent of the money as bribes to their contacts. There is no independent verification of these claims. Usually reliable sources say some of the sleaze money actually flows back to Pak officials. But this claim is difficult to cross check!
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Kalam’s parting advice to politicians
By M Rama Rao
New Delhi, May 1O (National Herald): President APJ Abdul Kalam has an advice to law makers and political parties alike. He wants MPs to become visionary leaders. And political parties to help transform the present multi-party coalitions to emerge a two-party system of governance.
The scientist- statesman spoke his mind at the function to commemorate 150th Anniversary of First War of Independence held at the Central Hall of Parliament on Thursday. The ceremony marks his last major address to the nation as President since his term ends on July 24.
The advice assumes significance in the context of parliament’s continuous failure to hold ‘normal’ proceedings most of the time in recent months.
Prime Minister, Lok Sabha Speaker, and the Vice president joined President Kalam in paying glowing tributes to the heroes and martyrs of Independence. They termed the events of 1857 as a great testimony to traditions of Hindu-Muslim unity.
President Kalam remarked that the First War of Independence had created ‘a renaissance’ of visionary, devoted and passionate leadership across the entire spectrum of national activity. He said the present day lawmakers too should become visionaries to lead the nation to greater glory.
“Can you also become visionary leaders, putting the nation above yourself? Can you become one of the great ones of India”, the President asked and replied himself thus: “Yes, you can”.
He elaborated that the MPs could achieve the goal “if you enliven the Parliament with leadership for the great mission of transforming India into an economically prosperous, happy, strong and safe nation before 2020”.
Dr Kalam asked them to ‘have a big aim’ and ‘work for the nation in Parliament and outside’
Identifying the emergence of multi-party coalitions as one of the many challenges before the country, President Kalam said these coalitions need to ‘rapidly evolve’ as a stable, two-party system. Terrorism and widening economic disparities are among the other challenge, he said.
“Many challenges need to be responded to: the emergence of multi-party coalitions as a regular form of government, that need to rapidly evolve as a stable, two-party system, the need to strengthen internal security to cope with global terrorism and new forms of internal law-and-order problems; the widening of economic disparities during a period of high growth in the absence of a comprehensive National Prosperity Index in place of GDP alone; the rapid depletion of global fossil fuel reserves; and increasing threats to our territorial security by the development of new forms of warfare”.
He said the nation cannot afford to rest content with past achievements and ignore recent developments that call for a change in technology, industry and agriculture".
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his address pointed out that the struggle of 1857 took a national and racial but not a communal turn. That was because common life had developed among Hindus and Muslims a sense of brotherhood and sympathy.
He urged the people to ensure that the sacrifices of freedom struggle are not in vain. “It is our responsibility to build a nation, free from want, rid of the ancient scourge of poverty, ignorance and disease. It is our responsibility to build a new prosperous India that is inclusive as well as caring”.
New Delhi, May 1O (National Herald): President APJ Abdul Kalam has an advice to law makers and political parties alike. He wants MPs to become visionary leaders. And political parties to help transform the present multi-party coalitions to emerge a two-party system of governance.
The scientist- statesman spoke his mind at the function to commemorate 150th Anniversary of First War of Independence held at the Central Hall of Parliament on Thursday. The ceremony marks his last major address to the nation as President since his term ends on July 24.
The advice assumes significance in the context of parliament’s continuous failure to hold ‘normal’ proceedings most of the time in recent months.
Prime Minister, Lok Sabha Speaker, and the Vice president joined President Kalam in paying glowing tributes to the heroes and martyrs of Independence. They termed the events of 1857 as a great testimony to traditions of Hindu-Muslim unity.
President Kalam remarked that the First War of Independence had created ‘a renaissance’ of visionary, devoted and passionate leadership across the entire spectrum of national activity. He said the present day lawmakers too should become visionaries to lead the nation to greater glory.
“Can you also become visionary leaders, putting the nation above yourself? Can you become one of the great ones of India”, the President asked and replied himself thus: “Yes, you can”.
He elaborated that the MPs could achieve the goal “if you enliven the Parliament with leadership for the great mission of transforming India into an economically prosperous, happy, strong and safe nation before 2020”.
Dr Kalam asked them to ‘have a big aim’ and ‘work for the nation in Parliament and outside’
Identifying the emergence of multi-party coalitions as one of the many challenges before the country, President Kalam said these coalitions need to ‘rapidly evolve’ as a stable, two-party system. Terrorism and widening economic disparities are among the other challenge, he said.
“Many challenges need to be responded to: the emergence of multi-party coalitions as a regular form of government, that need to rapidly evolve as a stable, two-party system, the need to strengthen internal security to cope with global terrorism and new forms of internal law-and-order problems; the widening of economic disparities during a period of high growth in the absence of a comprehensive National Prosperity Index in place of GDP alone; the rapid depletion of global fossil fuel reserves; and increasing threats to our territorial security by the development of new forms of warfare”.
He said the nation cannot afford to rest content with past achievements and ignore recent developments that call for a change in technology, industry and agriculture".
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his address pointed out that the struggle of 1857 took a national and racial but not a communal turn. That was because common life had developed among Hindus and Muslims a sense of brotherhood and sympathy.
He urged the people to ensure that the sacrifices of freedom struggle are not in vain. “It is our responsibility to build a nation, free from want, rid of the ancient scourge of poverty, ignorance and disease. It is our responsibility to build a new prosperous India that is inclusive as well as caring”.
Friday, May 11, 2007
UP MIRACLE MAYWATI SHOW
By Rao Malladi
New Delhi, May 11, 2007( Surya): In an election which was a semi-final for the Congress, BSP supremo, Mayawati, ‘Behenji’ to her followers, performed a social miracle in Uttar Pradesh and surprised the psephologists of all hues and their exit polls. So, for the first time in the country’s history, a ‘Dalit beti’ will become ‘UP ki Rani’ in her own right. “She doesn’t need any once support”, agreed Sushma Swaraj of the BJP as analysts declared that UP will have a single party government for the first time in 17-years.
Mulayam Singh, the Samajwadi party chief, who earned the sobriquet of ‘Moolahyumm’, has been reduced literally to dust. He had become yet another dot in the long history of the largest state. The Muslims have ditched the ‘Maulana’and jumped onto the Elephant. And other OBCs followed suit as the Yadavs increasingly rallied behind their beleaguered clan leader.
In the process, the UP voter delivered a stunning blow to Chandrababu Naidu and Jayalalithaa who along with the CPI (M)’s Prakash karat have been dreaming of a third front to play a meaningful role on the national scene.
REAL LOSER: The real loser of the election, however, is Rajnath Singh, who wears the BJP crown by default and also rather hesitatingly. He wanted to create a hat trick by winning UP in tow after Punjab and Uttarakhand. Infighting and backstabbing did him in from the state to district and village level.
Kalyan Singhs hated Lalji Tandons, Atals did not want Kalyans. Joshis were after Advanis. Kalraj Mishras were after every one else. L K Advani, the ideologue, who is trying to emerge out of the dog house he was pushed into by the Sangh, confounded the party, cadres and the electorate with his flip-flops and confused priorities.
“We were not perceived as the real alternative to SP”, Sushma Swaraj, BJP’s in house spin doctor, told reporters in a lame explanation for the ‘worst rout’. After a pause, she added, “We started late by then people have made up their choice”. According to her, the BJP took seriously to UP only after the party made significant gains in the municipal elections last year.
FAILED HINDUTVA: What about the Hindutva card, she was asked. The BJP was trounced in the Ayodhya belt. Sushma smiled. Her colleague, Ravi Shankar Prasad said Hindutva was not an issue in the election. Other BJP leaders are quick to concede that CD gimmicks have failed to whip up the support of Hindu vote. Instead, what had happened was ‘a sizable erosion’ of Brahmin base which moved over to the BSP. This is clear from the rout of Kesharinath Tripathi and Lalji Tandon, the two tall Brahmin leaders in the BJP.
MAYAWATI ENGINEERING: Kanshiram must be really pleased by his protégé’s show. Mayawati single handedly swung the entire state the BSP way except Bundelkhand which adjoins Madhya Pradesh and Western UP, which is Jat leader Ajit Singh’s family fiefdom.
In Rohilakhand which is next to the BJP ruled Uttarakhand state, Mayawati stunned the BJP. She decimated the saffron party in Eastern UP which went to vote in the last and seventh phase of elections. But it was in north-eastern and eastern regions as also in Avadh and Doab regions that the Bahujan Samaj party emerged as a truly Bahujan Samaj.
The swing in its favour in the north-eastern districts was ‘phenomenal’. Its tally here went up by three times to 28 seats. The party doubled its hold over Avadh (36).
What contributed to Mayawati phenomenon? Opinion is divided amongst political pundits though they commend Mayawati for going beyond the Ambedkar and Kanshiram ideologies and bringing into BSP fold the upper castes and minorities
In the current elections Mayawati gave roughly 100 tickets to Dalits, more than 100 to OBCs, 60 odd seats to Muslims and over a 120 seats to upper castes.
Not too long ago, her party’s slogan was ‘tilak tarazu aur talvaar, inko maaro jute chaar” (Beat Brahmins, Baniyas and Rajputs with shoes); this time her ‘nara’ was ‘tilak tarazu kalam kataar, inka karo shishtachaar’ (Deal with Brahmins, Baniyas and Rajputs politely).
Mayawati is no longer an angry young woman. Learning from experience, she has transformed herself into a leader of substance acceptable to people across the spectrum with her ability to speak today’s idiom namely ‘empowerment’.
CONGRESS SHOW: In so far the Congress is concerned, the party did exceedingly well in Avadh and had put up a good show in the northeast. Rohilakhand, Bundelkhand, and Western UP offered room for no comfort.
Yet, analysts aver that the Congress has reason to feel some comfort at its final show since it has neither the organisation in place nor cadres to convert the response to Rahul show into votes. More over, the Congress never projected itself as the immediate alternative. So much so, a ten percent plus vote share is seen as a gain as the UP Congress under Rahul Gandhi gets ready to face the Lok Sabha elections in another two years.
Eom
New Delhi, May 11, 2007( Surya): In an election which was a semi-final for the Congress, BSP supremo, Mayawati, ‘Behenji’ to her followers, performed a social miracle in Uttar Pradesh and surprised the psephologists of all hues and their exit polls. So, for the first time in the country’s history, a ‘Dalit beti’ will become ‘UP ki Rani’ in her own right. “She doesn’t need any once support”, agreed Sushma Swaraj of the BJP as analysts declared that UP will have a single party government for the first time in 17-years.
Mulayam Singh, the Samajwadi party chief, who earned the sobriquet of ‘Moolahyumm’, has been reduced literally to dust. He had become yet another dot in the long history of the largest state. The Muslims have ditched the ‘Maulana’and jumped onto the Elephant. And other OBCs followed suit as the Yadavs increasingly rallied behind their beleaguered clan leader.
In the process, the UP voter delivered a stunning blow to Chandrababu Naidu and Jayalalithaa who along with the CPI (M)’s Prakash karat have been dreaming of a third front to play a meaningful role on the national scene.
REAL LOSER: The real loser of the election, however, is Rajnath Singh, who wears the BJP crown by default and also rather hesitatingly. He wanted to create a hat trick by winning UP in tow after Punjab and Uttarakhand. Infighting and backstabbing did him in from the state to district and village level.
Kalyan Singhs hated Lalji Tandons, Atals did not want Kalyans. Joshis were after Advanis. Kalraj Mishras were after every one else. L K Advani, the ideologue, who is trying to emerge out of the dog house he was pushed into by the Sangh, confounded the party, cadres and the electorate with his flip-flops and confused priorities.
“We were not perceived as the real alternative to SP”, Sushma Swaraj, BJP’s in house spin doctor, told reporters in a lame explanation for the ‘worst rout’. After a pause, she added, “We started late by then people have made up their choice”. According to her, the BJP took seriously to UP only after the party made significant gains in the municipal elections last year.
FAILED HINDUTVA: What about the Hindutva card, she was asked. The BJP was trounced in the Ayodhya belt. Sushma smiled. Her colleague, Ravi Shankar Prasad said Hindutva was not an issue in the election. Other BJP leaders are quick to concede that CD gimmicks have failed to whip up the support of Hindu vote. Instead, what had happened was ‘a sizable erosion’ of Brahmin base which moved over to the BSP. This is clear from the rout of Kesharinath Tripathi and Lalji Tandon, the two tall Brahmin leaders in the BJP.
MAYAWATI ENGINEERING: Kanshiram must be really pleased by his protégé’s show. Mayawati single handedly swung the entire state the BSP way except Bundelkhand which adjoins Madhya Pradesh and Western UP, which is Jat leader Ajit Singh’s family fiefdom.
In Rohilakhand which is next to the BJP ruled Uttarakhand state, Mayawati stunned the BJP. She decimated the saffron party in Eastern UP which went to vote in the last and seventh phase of elections. But it was in north-eastern and eastern regions as also in Avadh and Doab regions that the Bahujan Samaj party emerged as a truly Bahujan Samaj.
The swing in its favour in the north-eastern districts was ‘phenomenal’. Its tally here went up by three times to 28 seats. The party doubled its hold over Avadh (36).
What contributed to Mayawati phenomenon? Opinion is divided amongst political pundits though they commend Mayawati for going beyond the Ambedkar and Kanshiram ideologies and bringing into BSP fold the upper castes and minorities
In the current elections Mayawati gave roughly 100 tickets to Dalits, more than 100 to OBCs, 60 odd seats to Muslims and over a 120 seats to upper castes.
Not too long ago, her party’s slogan was ‘tilak tarazu aur talvaar, inko maaro jute chaar” (Beat Brahmins, Baniyas and Rajputs with shoes); this time her ‘nara’ was ‘tilak tarazu kalam kataar, inka karo shishtachaar’ (Deal with Brahmins, Baniyas and Rajputs politely).
Mayawati is no longer an angry young woman. Learning from experience, she has transformed herself into a leader of substance acceptable to people across the spectrum with her ability to speak today’s idiom namely ‘empowerment’.
CONGRESS SHOW: In so far the Congress is concerned, the party did exceedingly well in Avadh and had put up a good show in the northeast. Rohilakhand, Bundelkhand, and Western UP offered room for no comfort.
Yet, analysts aver that the Congress has reason to feel some comfort at its final show since it has neither the organisation in place nor cadres to convert the response to Rahul show into votes. More over, the Congress never projected itself as the immediate alternative. So much so, a ten percent plus vote share is seen as a gain as the UP Congress under Rahul Gandhi gets ready to face the Lok Sabha elections in another two years.
Eom
Sunday, May 6, 2007
RBI's inflation nirvana package
Edit by Rao Malldi
New Delhi,(Surya April 3, 2007) RBI’s anti-inflation package and North Block’s informal bail out for Food Corporation of India (FCI) bring upfront the unresolved decade plus dichotomy over economic reforms, namely the reforms are for whose benefit: aam aadmi or a privileged class of few. The Mint Street prescriptions are primarily meant for keeping the rate of inflation below five percent. The concern over inflation is understandable. More so after upswing in prices resulted in the downswing in the electoral fortunes of the Congress in Punjab and Uttarakhand. A vocal section of economists and market players consider the RBI plan to reduce the availability of bank credit as illogical. In their considered opinion, we will soon return to days of high interest rate regime. They have a point.
Already many banks have pushed up their lending rates. Loans are on offer selectively. In so many words what this means is that you will no longer receive that fascinating call from a bank’s call centre offering you loans on your credit cards. Also you will have to put on hold plans to buy a car or a house. The stock market has already factored in this sentiment. Result was the Monday (April 2) mayhem and investors were left poorer by an estimated Rs. 1.42 lakh crores as shares of banks, auto companies and real estate firms were savaged. These are the three sectors that will be hit hard by the ‘belt tightening’, Telugu bidda, YV Reddy, has decreed.
Contrary to popular perception, the biggest borrower in India is not the middle class. That honour goes to the government. Now the governments, both central and states, will have to put brakes on their market borrowings and it will translate into less money for the sectors that depend entirely on government funding. In the short to medium term, it will mean cooling of the growth rate. For market economists this is nothing but sure recipe for socialism through back door.
Before answering these critics, it is essential to look at the FCI bail out. The FCI is not in pink of health by any stretch of imagination and it is indeed a surprise how it has survived thus far. But it is the only instrument left with the government if the central food reserve is to be given a fresh lease of life. These are the days of global shortages of wheat. Only India has a bumper wheat harvest. Most other wheat producing countries have had a bad crop. Many MNCs are eying Indian wheat and are willing to pay a higher price. So much so the Minimum Support Price (MSP) announced by the Agriculture Minister Mr Sharad Pawar with a flourish about a fortnight back looks ludicrously low. In other words, these are the days of a windfall for the Indian farmers.
Why should anyone grudge if the sturdy Indian farmer laughs all the way to the bank at least once in a way. That is the reason why questions are being raised about the finance ministry’s discreet diktat that FCI should be given the first dheko at the mandis. The FCI doesn’t have the deep pockets even like the ITC. It will not be able to offer the fancy price the private trader is willing to pay. Hence the argument that FCI alone should have unrestricted access to the mandis in the early part of the procurement season. It makes sense given the experience of past couple of years of going around the world from Australia to Brazil in search of extra grain.
There is a flip-side to the story. Our net work of fair price shops is in a bad shape. These are no longer patronised by most middle class families and even the needy amongst many BPL families. Also there is no guarantee that the FCI will strike it rich with its first mover advantage. No body can compel a farmer to sell at the MSP when it is public knowledge that private trader willing to shower him with currency is not far behind the FCI.
If some body says this is the price for bureaucratic mindset they have a point. But fact of the matter is there is no magic wand that can wish away supply-demand mismatches in the country. Every alternative route presently available to the policy makers has the potential of causing some hiccups. That too when the over riding need is to cater to the common man’s needs and to check speculation and conspicuous spending – the two factors that are undermining the India growth story. Eom
New Delhi,(Surya April 3, 2007) RBI’s anti-inflation package and North Block’s informal bail out for Food Corporation of India (FCI) bring upfront the unresolved decade plus dichotomy over economic reforms, namely the reforms are for whose benefit: aam aadmi or a privileged class of few. The Mint Street prescriptions are primarily meant for keeping the rate of inflation below five percent. The concern over inflation is understandable. More so after upswing in prices resulted in the downswing in the electoral fortunes of the Congress in Punjab and Uttarakhand. A vocal section of economists and market players consider the RBI plan to reduce the availability of bank credit as illogical. In their considered opinion, we will soon return to days of high interest rate regime. They have a point.
Already many banks have pushed up their lending rates. Loans are on offer selectively. In so many words what this means is that you will no longer receive that fascinating call from a bank’s call centre offering you loans on your credit cards. Also you will have to put on hold plans to buy a car or a house. The stock market has already factored in this sentiment. Result was the Monday (April 2) mayhem and investors were left poorer by an estimated Rs. 1.42 lakh crores as shares of banks, auto companies and real estate firms were savaged. These are the three sectors that will be hit hard by the ‘belt tightening’, Telugu bidda, YV Reddy, has decreed.
Contrary to popular perception, the biggest borrower in India is not the middle class. That honour goes to the government. Now the governments, both central and states, will have to put brakes on their market borrowings and it will translate into less money for the sectors that depend entirely on government funding. In the short to medium term, it will mean cooling of the growth rate. For market economists this is nothing but sure recipe for socialism through back door.
Before answering these critics, it is essential to look at the FCI bail out. The FCI is not in pink of health by any stretch of imagination and it is indeed a surprise how it has survived thus far. But it is the only instrument left with the government if the central food reserve is to be given a fresh lease of life. These are the days of global shortages of wheat. Only India has a bumper wheat harvest. Most other wheat producing countries have had a bad crop. Many MNCs are eying Indian wheat and are willing to pay a higher price. So much so the Minimum Support Price (MSP) announced by the Agriculture Minister Mr Sharad Pawar with a flourish about a fortnight back looks ludicrously low. In other words, these are the days of a windfall for the Indian farmers.
Why should anyone grudge if the sturdy Indian farmer laughs all the way to the bank at least once in a way. That is the reason why questions are being raised about the finance ministry’s discreet diktat that FCI should be given the first dheko at the mandis. The FCI doesn’t have the deep pockets even like the ITC. It will not be able to offer the fancy price the private trader is willing to pay. Hence the argument that FCI alone should have unrestricted access to the mandis in the early part of the procurement season. It makes sense given the experience of past couple of years of going around the world from Australia to Brazil in search of extra grain.
There is a flip-side to the story. Our net work of fair price shops is in a bad shape. These are no longer patronised by most middle class families and even the needy amongst many BPL families. Also there is no guarantee that the FCI will strike it rich with its first mover advantage. No body can compel a farmer to sell at the MSP when it is public knowledge that private trader willing to shower him with currency is not far behind the FCI.
If some body says this is the price for bureaucratic mindset they have a point. But fact of the matter is there is no magic wand that can wish away supply-demand mismatches in the country. Every alternative route presently available to the policy makers has the potential of causing some hiccups. That too when the over riding need is to cater to the common man’s needs and to check speculation and conspicuous spending – the two factors that are undermining the India growth story. Eom
Decks cleared for foray of foreign Universities into India
By Rao Malladi
New Delhi, (Surya March 10, 2007): Decks are cleared for allowing foreign universities to set up their campus in India and law for the purpose will be tabled in Parliament next week.
“The law will provide a clear road map with unambiguously spelt out goal posts for the foreign universities”, Rameshwar Agarwal, Secretary, Higher Education, told this correspondent here today.
“We don’t want fly-by night operators to come in”, the official, who was involved in drafting the law said. He also made it clear that the government was not opting for a ‘case-by-case’ approval route. “The new law will enable any foreign entity interested in coming to India to set up a campus provided they abide by our conditions”, Mr Agarwal said.
CONDITIONS
• A foreign University coming to India will have to create a corpus fund of Rs. 40 crore
• The corpus fund requirement may be waived in deserving cases
• The embassy of the country to which the University belongs should give a certificate about the credentials of the University
• The entity will have to abide by the UGC guidelines and must take UGC registration
Elaborating the conditionalities for foreign universities, the Higher Education Secretary said, the government was insisting on a big corpus fund for the foreign universities only to protect the interests of students in the worst case scenario.
Mr Agarwal, a senior IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre who is tipped to take over the Commerce Secretary shortly, said, the government might not insist on corpus fund in the case of reputed foreign universities.
Foreign Universities have been knocking at India door step for a long while but the issue became a political football as it came to be viewed through the prism of economic reforms.
What clinched the issue is Rahul Gandhi’s intervention in a manner of speaking. The young Congress MP from Amethi wants India to become an education hub.
He spoke his mind on the floor of Parliament and at the parliamentary standing committee on Human Resource Development (HRD).
Rahul Gandhi’s passionate plea appears to have acted as the badly needed catalyst to facilitate the foreign universities regulation law despite some hiccups,
The cabinet approved the law last week though the HRD Minister Arjun Singh could not attend the meeting due to his indisposition.
Eom
New Delhi, (Surya March 10, 2007): Decks are cleared for allowing foreign universities to set up their campus in India and law for the purpose will be tabled in Parliament next week.
“The law will provide a clear road map with unambiguously spelt out goal posts for the foreign universities”, Rameshwar Agarwal, Secretary, Higher Education, told this correspondent here today.
“We don’t want fly-by night operators to come in”, the official, who was involved in drafting the law said. He also made it clear that the government was not opting for a ‘case-by-case’ approval route. “The new law will enable any foreign entity interested in coming to India to set up a campus provided they abide by our conditions”, Mr Agarwal said.
CONDITIONS
• A foreign University coming to India will have to create a corpus fund of Rs. 40 crore
• The corpus fund requirement may be waived in deserving cases
• The embassy of the country to which the University belongs should give a certificate about the credentials of the University
• The entity will have to abide by the UGC guidelines and must take UGC registration
Elaborating the conditionalities for foreign universities, the Higher Education Secretary said, the government was insisting on a big corpus fund for the foreign universities only to protect the interests of students in the worst case scenario.
Mr Agarwal, a senior IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre who is tipped to take over the Commerce Secretary shortly, said, the government might not insist on corpus fund in the case of reputed foreign universities.
Foreign Universities have been knocking at India door step for a long while but the issue became a political football as it came to be viewed through the prism of economic reforms.
What clinched the issue is Rahul Gandhi’s intervention in a manner of speaking. The young Congress MP from Amethi wants India to become an education hub.
He spoke his mind on the floor of Parliament and at the parliamentary standing committee on Human Resource Development (HRD).
Rahul Gandhi’s passionate plea appears to have acted as the badly needed catalyst to facilitate the foreign universities regulation law despite some hiccups,
The cabinet approved the law last week though the HRD Minister Arjun Singh could not attend the meeting due to his indisposition.
Eom
Scepticism on Mush ability....
By Rao Malladi
New Delhi, (Surya March 9, 2007): Scepticism is increasing by the day on Pakistan President Gen Musharraf’s ability to crack the whip on the Islamists and Jihadists and his willingness to restore democracy in the country. His source of power is the military and it has no exit strategy says, a noted Pak scholar Prof Hasan Askari Rizvi, who is currently teaching at the Johns Hopkins University’s School for Advanced International Studies in the United States.
In his view, Pak military considers itself as critical to internal stability and its external security. This assessment assumes significance with political leaders like Pir Pagaro, who proudly proclaim their close association with the military establishment, predicting that the much talked about elections would be postponed and a state of emergency would be imposed to prolong the life of present parliament and thus facilitate ‘smooth’ re-election of Musharraf for another term.
Prof Rizvi opines that the Pak military is willing to co-opt political forces on its own terms but is unwilling to transfer power to them in any meaningful sense. The army’s role and presence across Pakistan has expanded ever since Gen Musharraf seized power in a bloodless coup to dethrone an unpopular prime minister.
The learned professor’s assessment appears credible if it is considered against the backdrop of negotiations between Musharraf camp and Benazir Bhutto’s Peoples Party of Pakistan (PPP). These negotiations were held primarily on Musharraf’s terms with some initial prompting from mutual friends in Washington but did not bear fruit till date.
Speaking at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, Prof Rizvi also makes the point that Musharraf’s source of power is the army and that is the reason why he is unwilling to give up his uniform. He enjoys the full support of his corps commanders, and that is because he has ensured that army’s interests – both professional and commercial – are looked after and catered for. At the same Musharraf takes all major policy decisions in consultation with senior commanders and intelligence chiefs.
This assessment of the Pakistan professor should be of interest to New Delhi, which is more than willing to do business with the General.
Musharraf has declared enlightened moderation as his policy and goal but Prof Rizvi opines that it will be difficult for him to ensure its success unless he broadens his political base. Compounding Musharraf’s problems, the hard line groups are dead set against his enlightened moderation. The MMA is itching for confrontation with the General to keep its hawkish image in tact.
From this flows Prof Hasan Askari Rizvi contention that Musharraf’s anti-terrorism policy lacks backing by both his allies and his enemies. His attempts to satisfy both sides are unlikely to succeed as there is no consensus on the goal posts. Like many western experts, the Pakistan Professor also subscribes to the view that Musharraf regime is no longer in a position to do more than what it has done thus far in the war against terrorism. That too when he himself is seeking a re-election!
PONM DEMANDS
It is this reality that has prompted the Pakistan Oppressed Nations Movement (PONM) to warn the nation that the unfolding crisis is ‘far more serious and grave’ than the situation that led to balkanisation of the country in 1971. “Any attempt to hold stage managed elections would push Pakistan into a terrible storm”, says PONM President Mahmoud Khan Achakzai says the situation is beyond the control of General Pervez Musharraf and his handpicked political aides.
The only way out, according to him is, sending the army back to the barracks and order fresh elections under a care-taker government headed by a Supreme Court judge. His other pre-requisites for fair poll are an independent election commission, elimination of the role of the army and secret agencies be eliminated.
These are tall demands in the prevailing milieu in Pakistan.
New Delhi, (Surya March 9, 2007): Scepticism is increasing by the day on Pakistan President Gen Musharraf’s ability to crack the whip on the Islamists and Jihadists and his willingness to restore democracy in the country. His source of power is the military and it has no exit strategy says, a noted Pak scholar Prof Hasan Askari Rizvi, who is currently teaching at the Johns Hopkins University’s School for Advanced International Studies in the United States.
In his view, Pak military considers itself as critical to internal stability and its external security. This assessment assumes significance with political leaders like Pir Pagaro, who proudly proclaim their close association with the military establishment, predicting that the much talked about elections would be postponed and a state of emergency would be imposed to prolong the life of present parliament and thus facilitate ‘smooth’ re-election of Musharraf for another term.
Prof Rizvi opines that the Pak military is willing to co-opt political forces on its own terms but is unwilling to transfer power to them in any meaningful sense. The army’s role and presence across Pakistan has expanded ever since Gen Musharraf seized power in a bloodless coup to dethrone an unpopular prime minister.
The learned professor’s assessment appears credible if it is considered against the backdrop of negotiations between Musharraf camp and Benazir Bhutto’s Peoples Party of Pakistan (PPP). These negotiations were held primarily on Musharraf’s terms with some initial prompting from mutual friends in Washington but did not bear fruit till date.
Speaking at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, Prof Rizvi also makes the point that Musharraf’s source of power is the army and that is the reason why he is unwilling to give up his uniform. He enjoys the full support of his corps commanders, and that is because he has ensured that army’s interests – both professional and commercial – are looked after and catered for. At the same Musharraf takes all major policy decisions in consultation with senior commanders and intelligence chiefs.
This assessment of the Pakistan professor should be of interest to New Delhi, which is more than willing to do business with the General.
Musharraf has declared enlightened moderation as his policy and goal but Prof Rizvi opines that it will be difficult for him to ensure its success unless he broadens his political base. Compounding Musharraf’s problems, the hard line groups are dead set against his enlightened moderation. The MMA is itching for confrontation with the General to keep its hawkish image in tact.
From this flows Prof Hasan Askari Rizvi contention that Musharraf’s anti-terrorism policy lacks backing by both his allies and his enemies. His attempts to satisfy both sides are unlikely to succeed as there is no consensus on the goal posts. Like many western experts, the Pakistan Professor also subscribes to the view that Musharraf regime is no longer in a position to do more than what it has done thus far in the war against terrorism. That too when he himself is seeking a re-election!
PONM DEMANDS
It is this reality that has prompted the Pakistan Oppressed Nations Movement (PONM) to warn the nation that the unfolding crisis is ‘far more serious and grave’ than the situation that led to balkanisation of the country in 1971. “Any attempt to hold stage managed elections would push Pakistan into a terrible storm”, says PONM President Mahmoud Khan Achakzai says the situation is beyond the control of General Pervez Musharraf and his handpicked political aides.
The only way out, according to him is, sending the army back to the barracks and order fresh elections under a care-taker government headed by a Supreme Court judge. His other pre-requisites for fair poll are an independent election commission, elimination of the role of the army and secret agencies be eliminated.
These are tall demands in the prevailing milieu in Pakistan.
Stratfor accepts India's concerns
By Rao Malladi
New Delhi,(Surya,April23, 2007): Finally, American security and intelligence community seem to accept India’s concerns over the threat posed by Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) to the country’s northeast, through its bases in Bangladesh, and also about its networking with jihadi and secessionist outfits in the region.
The Texas based intelligence service, Stratfor, virtually echoed the Indian view in its latest security report on Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh. The ISI is working with Bangladesh's intelligence agencies to facilitate cooperation between northeast militant groups like ULFA and other jihadist outfits in the South Asian region besides Tamil rebels in Lanka, the Stratfor said in its latest report, “India: The Islamisation of the Northeast”.
According to its assessment, there is a growing Islamisation in the region and it has been ‘spurred’ by ISI.
The Pak agency, it says, has strong nexus with Bangladesh's intelligence agencies. Both are working clandestinely to bring all the northeast-based insurgent outfits and jihadist elements under one umbrella.
This is a view India has been holding for long, though there were few takers among the American intelligence community. At least until now. The Stratfor comment shows that the situation is changing and that there is some willingness to look at the issue afresh without the cold war mindset.
The Stratfor also charges Pakistan with exploiting the instability in Bangladesh for its clandestine activity in India’s north east. In fact, its view is that the instability in Bangladesh is giving foreign powers a gamut of exploitable secessionist movements to use to prevent India from emerging as a major global player.
Other points made in the Stratfor report are no less interesting. And these also amount to endorsing the Indian concerns.
It notes for instance, the ISI has facilitated cooperation between ULFA and other north-eastern militant outfits with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), POK based Kashmir militant groups, Islamist groups like JMB of Bangladesh and other jihadist groups operating in the region
About ULFA's suicide bombs, the American group says, it looks to be the result of the group's increased Islamisation caused by collusion with Islamist outfits in the region. ULFA doesn’t have many Muslim in its ranks. So, Stratfor conjecture is that these suicide squads could be made of Bangladeshi refugees, who had joined the ULFA ranks with some nudging from the ISI.
New Delhi,(Surya,April23, 2007): Finally, American security and intelligence community seem to accept India’s concerns over the threat posed by Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) to the country’s northeast, through its bases in Bangladesh, and also about its networking with jihadi and secessionist outfits in the region.
The Texas based intelligence service, Stratfor, virtually echoed the Indian view in its latest security report on Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh. The ISI is working with Bangladesh's intelligence agencies to facilitate cooperation between northeast militant groups like ULFA and other jihadist outfits in the South Asian region besides Tamil rebels in Lanka, the Stratfor said in its latest report, “India: The Islamisation of the Northeast”.
According to its assessment, there is a growing Islamisation in the region and it has been ‘spurred’ by ISI.
The Pak agency, it says, has strong nexus with Bangladesh's intelligence agencies. Both are working clandestinely to bring all the northeast-based insurgent outfits and jihadist elements under one umbrella.
This is a view India has been holding for long, though there were few takers among the American intelligence community. At least until now. The Stratfor comment shows that the situation is changing and that there is some willingness to look at the issue afresh without the cold war mindset.
The Stratfor also charges Pakistan with exploiting the instability in Bangladesh for its clandestine activity in India’s north east. In fact, its view is that the instability in Bangladesh is giving foreign powers a gamut of exploitable secessionist movements to use to prevent India from emerging as a major global player.
Other points made in the Stratfor report are no less interesting. And these also amount to endorsing the Indian concerns.
It notes for instance, the ISI has facilitated cooperation between ULFA and other north-eastern militant outfits with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), POK based Kashmir militant groups, Islamist groups like JMB of Bangladesh and other jihadist groups operating in the region
About ULFA's suicide bombs, the American group says, it looks to be the result of the group's increased Islamisation caused by collusion with Islamist outfits in the region. ULFA doesn’t have many Muslim in its ranks. So, Stratfor conjecture is that these suicide squads could be made of Bangladeshi refugees, who had joined the ULFA ranks with some nudging from the ISI.
Some thing to cheer for Mulayam, Maya
By Rao Malladi
New Delhi ( Surya March 1, 2007): With Supreme Court ordering a CBI probe into the assets of Mulayam Singh Yadav, the Samajwadi party leader and his betenoire Mayawati of Bahujan Samaj Party have now some thing in common. Mayawati is already under the CBI scanner in the multi-crore Taj corridor case on the orders of the Allahabad High Court. Quirk of circumstances!
For Mulayam, it is sheer bad luck, if you go by what his Man Friday Amar Singh says. But he too cannot deny that the allegations that Mulayam had amassed ‘huge’ assets as defence minister in the United Front Government and later as chief minister have been haunting him for a while.
Whether the PIL in the apex court was filed by a Congress man as the Samajwadi party alleges or Congress sympathizer as some tend to believe is not germane to the plight Mulayam finds himself in. He is gasping for breath as caretaker chief minister.
The Marxist Comrades – are squirming with unease. They concede, though informally, that they cannot offer any longer a protective shield to Mulayam. Nor do they like to go with him at the time of elections.
The CPI is not enamoured of the erstwhile wrestler. It has scores to settle. Mulayam in his previous stint as chief minister had split the CPI and took away two of its three MLAs.
The Congress doesn’t want to strike at him. Not after the fiasco it faced with the very thought of invoking Art 356 to pack off Mulayam That doesn’t stop the party from demanding his exit on what else but moral grounds.
Mayawati is making the same pitch. What about her own CBI case in a Special Court in Lucknow. Well, she is silent. Mulayam and his co., are not. They are questioning her ‘moral’ right to bay for the Samajwadi’s blood. But then the question is does moral turpitude exist in the political lexicon of Uttar Pradesh. Observers are unanimous that Mayawati will find it difficult to exploit the Mulayam probe. The verdict in her case might come some time around the polls.
By default, the BJP, the third major force in UP should stand to benefit from the discomfiture of the two ‘M’s. The Punjab and Uttrakhand results also should act as the elixir for the saffronites and propel them to put their best foot forward in the march to conquer the Lucknow Sachivalaya. But party insiders here concede that luck may be in short supply for them too. Reason? Parivar is a divided house.
The Congress is not a major player as yet in Uttar Pradesh. Ask any Congress activist in the state. They blame the one and only PV for their plight. “He neglected us, propped up local parties, and orphaned the Congress. Not for one year but for five long years. Five years is a long period in politics”, a party senior with stakes in Lucknow told this correspondent. “There is no magic wand to rebuild the party overnight. We are in for a long haul….”, say several leaders
To what extent the revived ‘Bofors Bhoot’ with the arrest of Italian businessman Quattrocchi in Argentina and his extradition expected any time will have a bearing on the Congress fortunes is a moot point.
One thing is certain. The BJP finds in the Q-case a potent weapon to stymie the Congress not only in UP but also in Gujarat and Rajasthan where the BJP will be facing assembly elections next year with ‘anti-incumbency’ factor as its albatross.
Interestingly, there appears a new determination in the Congress to get rid of the ‘Bofors stigma’ and thus clear the fair name of Nehru- Gandhi family. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh echoed this resolve when he told Parliament on Thursday “We will allow the CBI to pursue the Quattrocchi case with full freedom”.
Eom
New Delhi ( Surya March 1, 2007): With Supreme Court ordering a CBI probe into the assets of Mulayam Singh Yadav, the Samajwadi party leader and his betenoire Mayawati of Bahujan Samaj Party have now some thing in common. Mayawati is already under the CBI scanner in the multi-crore Taj corridor case on the orders of the Allahabad High Court. Quirk of circumstances!
For Mulayam, it is sheer bad luck, if you go by what his Man Friday Amar Singh says. But he too cannot deny that the allegations that Mulayam had amassed ‘huge’ assets as defence minister in the United Front Government and later as chief minister have been haunting him for a while.
Whether the PIL in the apex court was filed by a Congress man as the Samajwadi party alleges or Congress sympathizer as some tend to believe is not germane to the plight Mulayam finds himself in. He is gasping for breath as caretaker chief minister.
The Marxist Comrades – are squirming with unease. They concede, though informally, that they cannot offer any longer a protective shield to Mulayam. Nor do they like to go with him at the time of elections.
The CPI is not enamoured of the erstwhile wrestler. It has scores to settle. Mulayam in his previous stint as chief minister had split the CPI and took away two of its three MLAs.
The Congress doesn’t want to strike at him. Not after the fiasco it faced with the very thought of invoking Art 356 to pack off Mulayam That doesn’t stop the party from demanding his exit on what else but moral grounds.
Mayawati is making the same pitch. What about her own CBI case in a Special Court in Lucknow. Well, she is silent. Mulayam and his co., are not. They are questioning her ‘moral’ right to bay for the Samajwadi’s blood. But then the question is does moral turpitude exist in the political lexicon of Uttar Pradesh. Observers are unanimous that Mayawati will find it difficult to exploit the Mulayam probe. The verdict in her case might come some time around the polls.
By default, the BJP, the third major force in UP should stand to benefit from the discomfiture of the two ‘M’s. The Punjab and Uttrakhand results also should act as the elixir for the saffronites and propel them to put their best foot forward in the march to conquer the Lucknow Sachivalaya. But party insiders here concede that luck may be in short supply for them too. Reason? Parivar is a divided house.
The Congress is not a major player as yet in Uttar Pradesh. Ask any Congress activist in the state. They blame the one and only PV for their plight. “He neglected us, propped up local parties, and orphaned the Congress. Not for one year but for five long years. Five years is a long period in politics”, a party senior with stakes in Lucknow told this correspondent. “There is no magic wand to rebuild the party overnight. We are in for a long haul….”, say several leaders
To what extent the revived ‘Bofors Bhoot’ with the arrest of Italian businessman Quattrocchi in Argentina and his extradition expected any time will have a bearing on the Congress fortunes is a moot point.
One thing is certain. The BJP finds in the Q-case a potent weapon to stymie the Congress not only in UP but also in Gujarat and Rajasthan where the BJP will be facing assembly elections next year with ‘anti-incumbency’ factor as its albatross.
Interestingly, there appears a new determination in the Congress to get rid of the ‘Bofors stigma’ and thus clear the fair name of Nehru- Gandhi family. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh echoed this resolve when he told Parliament on Thursday “We will allow the CBI to pursue the Quattrocchi case with full freedom”.
Eom
THIRD FRONT BLUES AGAIN
By Rao Malladi
New Delhi ( Surya March 2, 2007): The latest talk in political circles here is bound to bring smile back to Chandrababu Naidu, the Telugu Desam party’s supremo, who wants to make it big. And the talk is about the Third Front – the non-Congress, the non-BJP alliance of comrades, socialists, and pseudo socialists.
Return of Akali Dal in Punjab and the BJP in Uttarakhand has revived the hopes of die-hard Third Front fans. They feel that the Congress has not done enough in the past two years to checkmate the saffronites. “Otherwise, how could the BJP manage to bounce back”, these circles ask.
They have a point going by the Punjab results. The BJP did exceedingly well in towns though it has benefited from a negative vote for the Congress. Uttarakhand story is no different. It is a two – party state primarily. The Congress has failed to cash in on its track record. The BJP played its cards well despite open squabbles between Bhuvanchandra Khanduri, the chief minister in the waiting and Bhagat Singh Koshyari, the state party chief and, CM hopeful. On their part, the Congressmen proved to be their own enemies in many constituencies.
It is too early to say anything definite about the Third Front idea. Much would depend on the outcome of Uttar Pradesh elections. If Samajwadi Party overcomes the limitations of anti-incumbency, Mulayam will be a rallying point. He has been made a ‘martyr’ in a manner of speaking and that may stand him in good stead, according to Amar Singh, his lieutenant.
Even if the BJP makes it big in the state, as many political pundits expect, the Third Front concept will take shape. In that sense UP holds the key to the politics of Third Front or United Front call what you may.
Prakash Kart, the orthodox communist at the helm of CPI (M) has been an ardent fan of Third Front. If he has not pursued his pet theme that has more to do with the circumstances that gave birth to the Congress led UPA. “When the time comes, we will think about it”, Karat has said.
“That time is close by”, circles close to the Left parties say.
According to them, it is time for the Left to weigh the cost of being seen as allies of the Congress and its policies. And they argue that anger against the Congress policies have brought the Akali Dal to power in Punjab. Implicit in the argument is that similar fate could await the Congress at the national level.
But the general elections are at least two years away and that give breathing time for the Congress to put correctives in place. Already Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram has acted on these concerns and accepted the Marxist prescription for instance halting the futures trade in pulses.
Communist watchers say it is in the interest of the Left to be wary of their alliance with the Congress. “Remember what happened to the CPI after the emergency”, they ask. The reference is to the fact that CPI moved close to the Congress and paid for that closeness. These watchers opine that similar fate awaits the Marxists now unless they move away from the Congress in time. Put it differently, the call is to CPI (M) to ‘do a survival rejig in time’.
Over the years, Indian politics have become a two-legged race between the Congress and the BJP. The space for bit players and also rans has shrunk. The likes of Chandrababu Naidu, according to a political analyst, tried to be clever by half. And it proved to be their undoing once their feet of clay were exposed at the end of NDA experiment. Naidu has to wait for two years before the Marxists agreed to be friendly with him that too at the local level.
The politics of one-upmanship between the CPI (M) and CPI may also come in the way of Third Front turning into a reality. CPI is anti Mulayam in UP. It is anti- RJD in Bihar. This will pose a problem to the authors of the Front. So will the ambitions of Ram Vilas Paswan and Nitish Kumar, who want to flaunt their secular credentials.
Paswan is a Bihar centric phenomenon. His fight is with Nitish Kumar. He also wants to occupy the space presently claimed by BSP. His forays into UP are not to the liking of Mulayam.
Nitish Kumar along with Sharad Yadav is trying to steer the Janata Dal (United) away from the BJP. He has not succeeded thus far in his objective. Even otherwise his party is tottering with George Fernandes planning to revive the long forgotten Samata party as a platform unto himself.
The point is the road for the Third Front is not a thorough fare as of now. But politicians are known to make their wishes run like horses. There in lies the rub, probably.
New Delhi ( Surya March 2, 2007): The latest talk in political circles here is bound to bring smile back to Chandrababu Naidu, the Telugu Desam party’s supremo, who wants to make it big. And the talk is about the Third Front – the non-Congress, the non-BJP alliance of comrades, socialists, and pseudo socialists.
Return of Akali Dal in Punjab and the BJP in Uttarakhand has revived the hopes of die-hard Third Front fans. They feel that the Congress has not done enough in the past two years to checkmate the saffronites. “Otherwise, how could the BJP manage to bounce back”, these circles ask.
They have a point going by the Punjab results. The BJP did exceedingly well in towns though it has benefited from a negative vote for the Congress. Uttarakhand story is no different. It is a two – party state primarily. The Congress has failed to cash in on its track record. The BJP played its cards well despite open squabbles between Bhuvanchandra Khanduri, the chief minister in the waiting and Bhagat Singh Koshyari, the state party chief and, CM hopeful. On their part, the Congressmen proved to be their own enemies in many constituencies.
It is too early to say anything definite about the Third Front idea. Much would depend on the outcome of Uttar Pradesh elections. If Samajwadi Party overcomes the limitations of anti-incumbency, Mulayam will be a rallying point. He has been made a ‘martyr’ in a manner of speaking and that may stand him in good stead, according to Amar Singh, his lieutenant.
Even if the BJP makes it big in the state, as many political pundits expect, the Third Front concept will take shape. In that sense UP holds the key to the politics of Third Front or United Front call what you may.
Prakash Kart, the orthodox communist at the helm of CPI (M) has been an ardent fan of Third Front. If he has not pursued his pet theme that has more to do with the circumstances that gave birth to the Congress led UPA. “When the time comes, we will think about it”, Karat has said.
“That time is close by”, circles close to the Left parties say.
According to them, it is time for the Left to weigh the cost of being seen as allies of the Congress and its policies. And they argue that anger against the Congress policies have brought the Akali Dal to power in Punjab. Implicit in the argument is that similar fate could await the Congress at the national level.
But the general elections are at least two years away and that give breathing time for the Congress to put correctives in place. Already Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram has acted on these concerns and accepted the Marxist prescription for instance halting the futures trade in pulses.
Communist watchers say it is in the interest of the Left to be wary of their alliance with the Congress. “Remember what happened to the CPI after the emergency”, they ask. The reference is to the fact that CPI moved close to the Congress and paid for that closeness. These watchers opine that similar fate awaits the Marxists now unless they move away from the Congress in time. Put it differently, the call is to CPI (M) to ‘do a survival rejig in time’.
Over the years, Indian politics have become a two-legged race between the Congress and the BJP. The space for bit players and also rans has shrunk. The likes of Chandrababu Naidu, according to a political analyst, tried to be clever by half. And it proved to be their undoing once their feet of clay were exposed at the end of NDA experiment. Naidu has to wait for two years before the Marxists agreed to be friendly with him that too at the local level.
The politics of one-upmanship between the CPI (M) and CPI may also come in the way of Third Front turning into a reality. CPI is anti Mulayam in UP. It is anti- RJD in Bihar. This will pose a problem to the authors of the Front. So will the ambitions of Ram Vilas Paswan and Nitish Kumar, who want to flaunt their secular credentials.
Paswan is a Bihar centric phenomenon. His fight is with Nitish Kumar. He also wants to occupy the space presently claimed by BSP. His forays into UP are not to the liking of Mulayam.
Nitish Kumar along with Sharad Yadav is trying to steer the Janata Dal (United) away from the BJP. He has not succeeded thus far in his objective. Even otherwise his party is tottering with George Fernandes planning to revive the long forgotten Samata party as a platform unto himself.
The point is the road for the Third Front is not a thorough fare as of now. But politicians are known to make their wishes run like horses. There in lies the rub, probably.
BANGLADESH MIRRORS PAKISTAN
By M Rama Rao
NEW DELHI (Syndicate Features,May 8, 2007): The targetting of the leading personalities of BNP’s Begum Khaleda Zia and Awami League’s Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh mirrors what was done by General Pervez Musharraf in Pakistan in the run up to consolidation of his hold on the country. India can only hope that the resemblance ends there. Given the current state of Pakistan where Islamic fundamentalists are, increasingly, calling the shots it would be unnerving that Delhi should have two rabidly fundamentalists regimes on its flanks and the murderous Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) snapping at its heels.
Frankly, the growing similarity in developments in Bangladesh and Pakistan does not inspire confidence that the Caretaker Government in Dhaka would be in any hurry to execute its Constitutional responsibility. The care-taker government is a uniquely Bangladesh creation. Its head is known as Chief Advisor to the Interim Government. Its primary duty is to act as a neutral umpire and hold free and fair elections once a popularly elected ministry completes its five-year term. Interestingly, however, there is no constitutional time frame within which the caretaker must handover the reins. It is this absence of time frame that is being exploited to the hilt by the military backed caretaker. It has imposed emergency and placed from March 7 a total ban on any form of political activity.
The regime’s strong-arm tactics against the BNP and AL are by now well documented. And need no special mention here. Suffice to say that these actions could be intended to make the beleaguered leaders accept the new dispensation that is taking shape without much demur. After the arrest of her son and heir, Tarique, on charges of corruption, Begum Khaleda Zia was amenable and willing to accept exile as a modus vivendi. It was Sheikh Hasina who had made it clear that she would contest the murder charge brought against her.
On hindsight it could be said that Hasina had tempted fate by taking off on a short trip to US and UK even as the move to send Begum Khaleda Zia into exile to Saudi Arabia) was in the works. That Britain should act with such alacrity on the Caretaker government’s request to prevent her from returning to Dacca could have something to do with geopolitics. Bangladesh troops are part of counter-terror forces operating in Afghanistan and Iraq and thereby helping the coalition forces with much-needed military manpower. Britain is suffering from battle fatigue in both these countries and even the remotest possibility that any element within the coalition forces should even threaten to withdraw could be traumatic.
In fact, the American suggestion that the Bangladesh Army should not jeopardise its peacekeeping roles by becoming directly involved in the governance of the country was a hint quickly taken note of in Dacca. However, the decision of the Caretaker government and its chief advisor Fakhruddin Ahmed, who was a former World Banker, to hold elections to the local bodies at an early date smacks of a leaf being plucked from Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf’s book of political tricks.
It may be recalled that Musharraf had strengthened his grassroots base by rigging the local bodies’ elections. He ensured that only handpicked persons (graduates) would be eligible to contest thereby in one stroke decapitating the political structure by rendering those who have traditionally held power but too busy to get a college education ineligible. Most Nazims who thus came to power in the local bodies elections are from the hardcore fundamentalist parties. Government largesse for them ensured their compliance with the diktat of the man who held all the important posts in the country ranging from President, Army Chief, Chief Executive Officer (under the Legal Framework Order), and Chairman of the National Security Council.
Needless to say, this experiment in grassroots democracy had emboldened Musharraf to rig the referendum that gave him his first five-year term as President of Pakistan. After the elections of the National Assembly (Parliament) he amended the Constitution to ensure that any former Prime Minister who had enjoyed the office for two terms would be disqualified from seeking re-election. Thus both exiled leaders Benazir Bhutto of the Pakistan People’s Party and Mian Nawaz Sharif of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) were put out of reckoning. Both were Prime Ministers for two terms each.
Fakhruddin Ahmed’s Caretaker government in Bangladesh does anything only with the prior approval of the Army. In fact, Fakhruddin is rumoured to have been ‘handpicked’ for the job by the army chief Lieutenant General Moeen Uddin Ahmed. The caretaker government includes two retired major generals and a former police chief. The election commission (EC) includes a military officer for the first time—retired Brigadier General M. Sakhawat. The chairman of the powerful anti-corruption commission is a retired army chief, Lieutenant General Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury. So much so, the arrest of more than 210 political leaders, businessmen and former officials since January on ‘charges’ of corruption and other crimes indicates a proclivity to play politics by military personnel who had enjoyed power under military dictators. How far the comparison with Pakistan will play out depends on the interpretation army chief’s recent comments on the role of religion.
One thing is clear though. The army is responsible for the ‘indefinite’ postponement of Parliamentary elections, which were to have been held this January. The army also appears to favour some form of ‘guided’ democracy like in Pakistan.
Lt-Gen Moeen Ahmed has publicly spoken in favour of a limited role for religion and expressed himself in favour of liberal ethos. In the same breathe, he told a conference of the International Political Science Association in Dhaka on April 2 his vision of democracy for the country. “We do not want to go back to an ‘elective democracy’ where corruption becomes all pervasive, governance suffers in terms of insecurity and violation of rights, and where political criminalization threatens the very survival and integrity of the state,” the General declared.
Bangladesh, he said, would have to construct ‘its own brand of democracy, recognising its social, historical and cultural conditions, with religion being one of the several components of its national identity’. He went on to define this ‘own brand of democracy’ as a ‘balanced government’, where power is not tilted towards any family or dynasty. This speech prompted The Daily Star to editorially conclude,“[T]he army chief General Moeen Uddin Ahmed has confirmed that he is actually calling the shots as the real power behind the government”.
The usually reliable Dhaka rumour mill tells us that Moeen Ahmed has successfully neutralised the President Iajuddin Ahmed attempts to replace him, and has also thwarted pro-President officers like Major General Razzakul Haider Chowdhury, chief of the National Security Intelligence (NSI), and Brigadier General Abu Mohammad Sohel, chief of the President's Guard Regiment. The army has an overbearing presence in the National Security Council and the central and district level Anti-corruption Task Forces.
Pertinent, therefore, is the question whether Moeen Ahmed will be tempted to create a ‘king’s party’ by breaking both AL and BNP. Also whether he will strike a bargain deal with Islamists, who, according to latest reports, have regrouped notwithstanding the set back they suffered with the March 29 execution of Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), chief Shaikh Abdur Rahman, his second-in command, the dreaded Banga Bhai and four other king pins.
JMB, its off-shoot, Allar Dal, and Insaf of the Ahle Hadith faction have merged into a single outfit with Moulana Sayeedur Rahman as the ‘Ameer’. They have divided the country into nine operational zones and each Zonal chief reports to a six-member Majlish-e-Shura. A military expert Jahidul Islam Sumon alias Mizan alias Kamrul alias Nayan of Sheker Vita of Jamalpur is imparting training to the cadres in handling explosives, firearms and ammunition. The new group is on a massive recruitment spree targetting the unemployed youth. It is changing its name and operational headquarters frequently ostensibly to avoid excessive attention. For the present the new militant group is targetting police, judges, minority Ahmadiyya mosques and NGOs.
So, will the Bangladesh Gen go full hog the Pakistan General’s way? It is too early to say. Any how his inclinations are still under camouflage.
Gen Musharraf has demonstrated that “enlightened moderation” he is pursuing does not come in the way of seeking accommodation with the Mullahs. The kid- glove handling of the crisis created by the hyperactive Islamist “Lal Masjid” clerics in the heart of Islamabad is another manifestation of Musharrafism.
Lt Gen Moeen Ahmed can also draw a lesson from the ‘religious’ politics at home. Both BNP and the Awami League are never averse to tie up with Islamic parties. BNP ruled the country for five years in the company of Jamait-i-Islami and the Islami Oikaya Jote. The Awami League has the Khelafat-e-Majlish within its 14-party alliance. In other words, the Bangladesh army chief has plenty of home grown models to emulate.
For India, the litmus test for any regime in Bangladesh would be its attitude towards the many anti-India insurgencies that have sanctuaries and training facilities on Bangladesh soil. During the SAARC summit Chief Advisor to the Interim Government, Fakhruddin Ahmed made it a point to assure Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of his intention to crack down on NE ultras as well as the Islamists.
Recent developments in Bangladesh strengthen the view that the hanging of “Bangla Bhai” and his five co-conspirators was a gesture that does not indicate a particular mindset within the military establishment. The proof of the pudding would be in the eating and, as in the case with General Musharraf, India will have to await concrete proof that there is a crackdown on the jehadis. (Syndicate Features)
NEW DELHI (Syndicate Features,May 8, 2007): The targetting of the leading personalities of BNP’s Begum Khaleda Zia and Awami League’s Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh mirrors what was done by General Pervez Musharraf in Pakistan in the run up to consolidation of his hold on the country. India can only hope that the resemblance ends there. Given the current state of Pakistan where Islamic fundamentalists are, increasingly, calling the shots it would be unnerving that Delhi should have two rabidly fundamentalists regimes on its flanks and the murderous Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) snapping at its heels.
Frankly, the growing similarity in developments in Bangladesh and Pakistan does not inspire confidence that the Caretaker Government in Dhaka would be in any hurry to execute its Constitutional responsibility. The care-taker government is a uniquely Bangladesh creation. Its head is known as Chief Advisor to the Interim Government. Its primary duty is to act as a neutral umpire and hold free and fair elections once a popularly elected ministry completes its five-year term. Interestingly, however, there is no constitutional time frame within which the caretaker must handover the reins. It is this absence of time frame that is being exploited to the hilt by the military backed caretaker. It has imposed emergency and placed from March 7 a total ban on any form of political activity.
The regime’s strong-arm tactics against the BNP and AL are by now well documented. And need no special mention here. Suffice to say that these actions could be intended to make the beleaguered leaders accept the new dispensation that is taking shape without much demur. After the arrest of her son and heir, Tarique, on charges of corruption, Begum Khaleda Zia was amenable and willing to accept exile as a modus vivendi. It was Sheikh Hasina who had made it clear that she would contest the murder charge brought against her.
On hindsight it could be said that Hasina had tempted fate by taking off on a short trip to US and UK even as the move to send Begum Khaleda Zia into exile to Saudi Arabia) was in the works. That Britain should act with such alacrity on the Caretaker government’s request to prevent her from returning to Dacca could have something to do with geopolitics. Bangladesh troops are part of counter-terror forces operating in Afghanistan and Iraq and thereby helping the coalition forces with much-needed military manpower. Britain is suffering from battle fatigue in both these countries and even the remotest possibility that any element within the coalition forces should even threaten to withdraw could be traumatic.
In fact, the American suggestion that the Bangladesh Army should not jeopardise its peacekeeping roles by becoming directly involved in the governance of the country was a hint quickly taken note of in Dacca. However, the decision of the Caretaker government and its chief advisor Fakhruddin Ahmed, who was a former World Banker, to hold elections to the local bodies at an early date smacks of a leaf being plucked from Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf’s book of political tricks.
It may be recalled that Musharraf had strengthened his grassroots base by rigging the local bodies’ elections. He ensured that only handpicked persons (graduates) would be eligible to contest thereby in one stroke decapitating the political structure by rendering those who have traditionally held power but too busy to get a college education ineligible. Most Nazims who thus came to power in the local bodies elections are from the hardcore fundamentalist parties. Government largesse for them ensured their compliance with the diktat of the man who held all the important posts in the country ranging from President, Army Chief, Chief Executive Officer (under the Legal Framework Order), and Chairman of the National Security Council.
Needless to say, this experiment in grassroots democracy had emboldened Musharraf to rig the referendum that gave him his first five-year term as President of Pakistan. After the elections of the National Assembly (Parliament) he amended the Constitution to ensure that any former Prime Minister who had enjoyed the office for two terms would be disqualified from seeking re-election. Thus both exiled leaders Benazir Bhutto of the Pakistan People’s Party and Mian Nawaz Sharif of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) were put out of reckoning. Both were Prime Ministers for two terms each.
Fakhruddin Ahmed’s Caretaker government in Bangladesh does anything only with the prior approval of the Army. In fact, Fakhruddin is rumoured to have been ‘handpicked’ for the job by the army chief Lieutenant General Moeen Uddin Ahmed. The caretaker government includes two retired major generals and a former police chief. The election commission (EC) includes a military officer for the first time—retired Brigadier General M. Sakhawat. The chairman of the powerful anti-corruption commission is a retired army chief, Lieutenant General Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury. So much so, the arrest of more than 210 political leaders, businessmen and former officials since January on ‘charges’ of corruption and other crimes indicates a proclivity to play politics by military personnel who had enjoyed power under military dictators. How far the comparison with Pakistan will play out depends on the interpretation army chief’s recent comments on the role of religion.
One thing is clear though. The army is responsible for the ‘indefinite’ postponement of Parliamentary elections, which were to have been held this January. The army also appears to favour some form of ‘guided’ democracy like in Pakistan.
Lt-Gen Moeen Ahmed has publicly spoken in favour of a limited role for religion and expressed himself in favour of liberal ethos. In the same breathe, he told a conference of the International Political Science Association in Dhaka on April 2 his vision of democracy for the country. “We do not want to go back to an ‘elective democracy’ where corruption becomes all pervasive, governance suffers in terms of insecurity and violation of rights, and where political criminalization threatens the very survival and integrity of the state,” the General declared.
Bangladesh, he said, would have to construct ‘its own brand of democracy, recognising its social, historical and cultural conditions, with religion being one of the several components of its national identity’. He went on to define this ‘own brand of democracy’ as a ‘balanced government’, where power is not tilted towards any family or dynasty. This speech prompted The Daily Star to editorially conclude,“[T]he army chief General Moeen Uddin Ahmed has confirmed that he is actually calling the shots as the real power behind the government”.
The usually reliable Dhaka rumour mill tells us that Moeen Ahmed has successfully neutralised the President Iajuddin Ahmed attempts to replace him, and has also thwarted pro-President officers like Major General Razzakul Haider Chowdhury, chief of the National Security Intelligence (NSI), and Brigadier General Abu Mohammad Sohel, chief of the President's Guard Regiment. The army has an overbearing presence in the National Security Council and the central and district level Anti-corruption Task Forces.
Pertinent, therefore, is the question whether Moeen Ahmed will be tempted to create a ‘king’s party’ by breaking both AL and BNP. Also whether he will strike a bargain deal with Islamists, who, according to latest reports, have regrouped notwithstanding the set back they suffered with the March 29 execution of Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), chief Shaikh Abdur Rahman, his second-in command, the dreaded Banga Bhai and four other king pins.
JMB, its off-shoot, Allar Dal, and Insaf of the Ahle Hadith faction have merged into a single outfit with Moulana Sayeedur Rahman as the ‘Ameer’. They have divided the country into nine operational zones and each Zonal chief reports to a six-member Majlish-e-Shura. A military expert Jahidul Islam Sumon alias Mizan alias Kamrul alias Nayan of Sheker Vita of Jamalpur is imparting training to the cadres in handling explosives, firearms and ammunition. The new group is on a massive recruitment spree targetting the unemployed youth. It is changing its name and operational headquarters frequently ostensibly to avoid excessive attention. For the present the new militant group is targetting police, judges, minority Ahmadiyya mosques and NGOs.
So, will the Bangladesh Gen go full hog the Pakistan General’s way? It is too early to say. Any how his inclinations are still under camouflage.
Gen Musharraf has demonstrated that “enlightened moderation” he is pursuing does not come in the way of seeking accommodation with the Mullahs. The kid- glove handling of the crisis created by the hyperactive Islamist “Lal Masjid” clerics in the heart of Islamabad is another manifestation of Musharrafism.
Lt Gen Moeen Ahmed can also draw a lesson from the ‘religious’ politics at home. Both BNP and the Awami League are never averse to tie up with Islamic parties. BNP ruled the country for five years in the company of Jamait-i-Islami and the Islami Oikaya Jote. The Awami League has the Khelafat-e-Majlish within its 14-party alliance. In other words, the Bangladesh army chief has plenty of home grown models to emulate.
For India, the litmus test for any regime in Bangladesh would be its attitude towards the many anti-India insurgencies that have sanctuaries and training facilities on Bangladesh soil. During the SAARC summit Chief Advisor to the Interim Government, Fakhruddin Ahmed made it a point to assure Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of his intention to crack down on NE ultras as well as the Islamists.
Recent developments in Bangladesh strengthen the view that the hanging of “Bangla Bhai” and his five co-conspirators was a gesture that does not indicate a particular mindset within the military establishment. The proof of the pudding would be in the eating and, as in the case with General Musharraf, India will have to await concrete proof that there is a crackdown on the jehadis. (Syndicate Features)
JOSHI –ADVANI TUSSLE BACK IN VIEW
By M Rama Rao/ May 3, 2007
New Delhi: The Joshi- Advani tussle for the top honours in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has resurfaced with the party president Rajnath Singh declaring that Mr Advani would be the natural choice for prime ministership after Atal Behari Vajpayee.
The Rajnath statement made during the course of his electioneering in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday came in the wake of Mr Vajpayee conveying to the RSS mouth piece, ‘Panchjanya’, his ‘desire’ to ‘retire’ from active politics.
Dr Murali Manohar Joshi, who always subscribes to the theory of ‘triumvirate’ (Vajpayee, Advani and Joshi) as opposed to the two-leader theory (Vajpayee and Advani) of Advani acolytes, did not hide his objection to the Rajnath speak when media persons met him.
“It's Rajnath Singh's statement, not mine. I do not comment on the party president's statement”, the former Allahabad professor, whose ambitions of a second term as BJP president were thwarted by Advani loyalists, remarked.
Political observers are surprised at the re-surfacing of Advani-Joshi duel at this point of time. It could have been prompted as much by media speculation as by the talk about polarisation of political parties after the UP verdict. But observers point out that the party ‘in waiting’ for governance of the country has miscued its ‘duel’ since the latest exit poll projections have pushed the BJP from the second place to the third after BSP and SP in the UP sweepstakes.
Joshi’s differences with Advani and his acolytes are public knowledge in the BJP circles. He appears to enjoy the RSS backing in taking on the erstwhile strongman of the party. And he doesn’t hide the fact either.
Advani camp is, however, is happy with the Rajnath statement. For instance, former president, Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu, seen as close to Advani, has endorsed Mr. Rajnath’s comment on Advani as the next in line for prime minister’s post after Mr Vajpayee. Naidu is credited with coining the phrases, Vikas Purush (Vajpayee) and Lauhu Purush (Advani).
The Joshi camp has never hidden its ‘opposition’ to Advani’s succession plan. At the BJP national executive meeting held in Lucknow four months back, Dr Murali Manohar Joshi was very caustic in his comments on who after Vajpayee question.
“There is no dearth of leaders. Ours is a cadre based party”, he had said then amidst reports that Advani was keen to be the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate.
Dr Murali Manohar Joshi’s present pre-occupation, is a campaign to protect the ‘Ram Sethu’, the bridge Lord Hanuman believed to have built to Lanka during the Ramayana period. Though Sethu doesn’t exist at present, Parivar contends that it was an undersea bridge and argues that construction of Sethu Samudram canal would damage the ‘Ram Sethu’.
Answering a question, the former HRD Minister said, he has no plans to take out a ‘Rath Yatra’ over the Sethu issue. Party circles close to him however claim that Dr Joshi wants to take out a Sethu Rath Yatra like Advani's Ayodhya yatra.
If he goes ahead with the mission, it would be his second ‘Rath Yatra’. His first Yatra for national integration to Srinagar in 1990s with Narendra Modi as yatra manager ended in fiasco.
New Delhi: The Joshi- Advani tussle for the top honours in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has resurfaced with the party president Rajnath Singh declaring that Mr Advani would be the natural choice for prime ministership after Atal Behari Vajpayee.
The Rajnath statement made during the course of his electioneering in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday came in the wake of Mr Vajpayee conveying to the RSS mouth piece, ‘Panchjanya’, his ‘desire’ to ‘retire’ from active politics.
Dr Murali Manohar Joshi, who always subscribes to the theory of ‘triumvirate’ (Vajpayee, Advani and Joshi) as opposed to the two-leader theory (Vajpayee and Advani) of Advani acolytes, did not hide his objection to the Rajnath speak when media persons met him.
“It's Rajnath Singh's statement, not mine. I do not comment on the party president's statement”, the former Allahabad professor, whose ambitions of a second term as BJP president were thwarted by Advani loyalists, remarked.
Political observers are surprised at the re-surfacing of Advani-Joshi duel at this point of time. It could have been prompted as much by media speculation as by the talk about polarisation of political parties after the UP verdict. But observers point out that the party ‘in waiting’ for governance of the country has miscued its ‘duel’ since the latest exit poll projections have pushed the BJP from the second place to the third after BSP and SP in the UP sweepstakes.
Joshi’s differences with Advani and his acolytes are public knowledge in the BJP circles. He appears to enjoy the RSS backing in taking on the erstwhile strongman of the party. And he doesn’t hide the fact either.
Advani camp is, however, is happy with the Rajnath statement. For instance, former president, Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu, seen as close to Advani, has endorsed Mr. Rajnath’s comment on Advani as the next in line for prime minister’s post after Mr Vajpayee. Naidu is credited with coining the phrases, Vikas Purush (Vajpayee) and Lauhu Purush (Advani).
The Joshi camp has never hidden its ‘opposition’ to Advani’s succession plan. At the BJP national executive meeting held in Lucknow four months back, Dr Murali Manohar Joshi was very caustic in his comments on who after Vajpayee question.
“There is no dearth of leaders. Ours is a cadre based party”, he had said then amidst reports that Advani was keen to be the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate.
Dr Murali Manohar Joshi’s present pre-occupation, is a campaign to protect the ‘Ram Sethu’, the bridge Lord Hanuman believed to have built to Lanka during the Ramayana period. Though Sethu doesn’t exist at present, Parivar contends that it was an undersea bridge and argues that construction of Sethu Samudram canal would damage the ‘Ram Sethu’.
Answering a question, the former HRD Minister said, he has no plans to take out a ‘Rath Yatra’ over the Sethu issue. Party circles close to him however claim that Dr Joshi wants to take out a Sethu Rath Yatra like Advani's Ayodhya yatra.
If he goes ahead with the mission, it would be his second ‘Rath Yatra’. His first Yatra for national integration to Srinagar in 1990s with Narendra Modi as yatra manager ended in fiasco.
CANDID CONVERSATIONS - A REVIEW
Title: Candid Conversations
Author: K P Bhanumathy.
Pages: 245; Price: Rs. 80
Publisher: National Book Trust, New Delhi
Review by M Rama Rao
New Delhi, April 28, 2007: ‘Preface’ and ‘Forward’ to ‘Candid Conversations’, KP Bhanumathy had with ‘towering persons’ of the past fifty years in her capacity as a broadcast journalist are as interesting as the stories that hold a mirror to the second half of the twentieth century and tell the reader that the leaders, notwithstanding the tough exterior they had reserved for the public, were gentle to the core and that they always cared for the detail even while focusing on the big picture.
Noted journalist Sardar Nihal Singh introduces the reader to Bhanumathy’s work as a ‘treasure trove’ of interviews that have been brought together ‘unvarnished by afterthought’. They represent a fascinating source of material for historians and researches because, according to him, ‘they tell us what men and women who made history thought in the prime of their lives’
Inder Malhotra, columnist, author and commentator, is no less effusive of his praise for Bhanumathy, whom he knew as a fellow journalist since October 1958. He compliments her ‘knack’ of asking precise questions and ‘gently nudging’ her quarry to stick to the point. The interviews that form the basis of the book under review were conducted when there was no Page Three and when TV was yet to make its presence felt in India.
As Malhotra rightly observes, the names of whose words adorn the pages of the book are ‘impressive’ to the point of ‘intimidating’. The author has resisted the temptation to confine her stories to her notes; the result is that a student and a researcher will find enough material about the ‘flavour’ of the period, some times in excess than needed and some times not enough to quench the thirst. But the nuggets Bhanumathy tells are something you will not find anywhere else.
Take this from her ‘first encounter’ with Jawaharlal Nehru. She was at the mike just behind the curtain as Bharat Natyam exponent Shanta Rao was performing on a make shift stage to mark the UNESCO Day at the Constitution Club. “As I reached the Talam Raga narration, I suddenly felt two hands gripping my shoulders with a hard shake, ‘what are you saying we cannot hear a word out there’. Puzzled I turned around. Lo and behold, what I saw made me tongue tied- it was Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in person. He took the mike from my hands, ‘do you know the mike has failed’, he said, as he pulled the switch – you had switched it of, here take it and start again’ with a pat on my shoulder and a smile’.
No less interesting is Bhanumathy’s encounter much later with Panditji’s daughter. While covering a nine nation initiative held in Delhi for launching the Africa Fund, she was asked by Indira Gandhi to take protocol duties as well with the Uganda delegation led by Milton Obote because “I knew a smattering of Kiswahili’. At the Palam airport, to see off the delegation who were on their way to Bombay, Mrs Gandhi was surprised to see Bhanumathy and asked, “What are you doing here? Why are you not on that plane?” She immediately directed the Chief of Protocol ‘to take her with you’, and advised Bhanumathy ‘Don’t worry. I will take care…’. And sure enough when she landed in Bombay, Tara Cherian, the Governor’s wife smilingly whispered to her, ‘I have a set of clothes for you’. Now that was Indira Gandhi thoughtful and prompt in action.
Ho Chi Minh, Zhou Enlai, Che Guevara, Willy Brandt, Olof Palme, Lee Kuan Yew, Andre Malraux, John Kenneth Galbraith, Zia-ur-Rehman, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Vijaya Laxmi Pandit, Aung San Suu Kyi and a host of others from the world of politics, economics and letters come alive through the pages of the book and make us wonder how the author managed to make these men who had carved out a place in the history speak to her on tape quite often at a very short notice. Consider her interview with Zhou for instance. Just as he finished his midnight press conference at Rashtrapati Bhavan (1961) Bhanumathy went upto him and asked for an interview. “Have I not said enough for one night”, he asked. Her reply: “May be, but I would like something exclusive for All India Radio”. Zhou did not disappoint her even as he was getting ready to leave for the airport.
My best read in the book was the ‘conversation’ with Agatha Christie, when she visited India with her husband, Mallowan. He was in Delhi to attend an archaeological conference. “An archaeologist”, the writer of thriller detectives told Bhanumathy, “is the best husband any woman can have. The older she gets, the more interested he is in her”. Any doubt?
Author: K P Bhanumathy.
Pages: 245; Price: Rs. 80
Publisher: National Book Trust, New Delhi
Review by M Rama Rao
New Delhi, April 28, 2007: ‘Preface’ and ‘Forward’ to ‘Candid Conversations’, KP Bhanumathy had with ‘towering persons’ of the past fifty years in her capacity as a broadcast journalist are as interesting as the stories that hold a mirror to the second half of the twentieth century and tell the reader that the leaders, notwithstanding the tough exterior they had reserved for the public, were gentle to the core and that they always cared for the detail even while focusing on the big picture.
Noted journalist Sardar Nihal Singh introduces the reader to Bhanumathy’s work as a ‘treasure trove’ of interviews that have been brought together ‘unvarnished by afterthought’. They represent a fascinating source of material for historians and researches because, according to him, ‘they tell us what men and women who made history thought in the prime of their lives’
Inder Malhotra, columnist, author and commentator, is no less effusive of his praise for Bhanumathy, whom he knew as a fellow journalist since October 1958. He compliments her ‘knack’ of asking precise questions and ‘gently nudging’ her quarry to stick to the point. The interviews that form the basis of the book under review were conducted when there was no Page Three and when TV was yet to make its presence felt in India.
As Malhotra rightly observes, the names of whose words adorn the pages of the book are ‘impressive’ to the point of ‘intimidating’. The author has resisted the temptation to confine her stories to her notes; the result is that a student and a researcher will find enough material about the ‘flavour’ of the period, some times in excess than needed and some times not enough to quench the thirst. But the nuggets Bhanumathy tells are something you will not find anywhere else.
Take this from her ‘first encounter’ with Jawaharlal Nehru. She was at the mike just behind the curtain as Bharat Natyam exponent Shanta Rao was performing on a make shift stage to mark the UNESCO Day at the Constitution Club. “As I reached the Talam Raga narration, I suddenly felt two hands gripping my shoulders with a hard shake, ‘what are you saying we cannot hear a word out there’. Puzzled I turned around. Lo and behold, what I saw made me tongue tied- it was Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in person. He took the mike from my hands, ‘do you know the mike has failed’, he said, as he pulled the switch – you had switched it of, here take it and start again’ with a pat on my shoulder and a smile’.
No less interesting is Bhanumathy’s encounter much later with Panditji’s daughter. While covering a nine nation initiative held in Delhi for launching the Africa Fund, she was asked by Indira Gandhi to take protocol duties as well with the Uganda delegation led by Milton Obote because “I knew a smattering of Kiswahili’. At the Palam airport, to see off the delegation who were on their way to Bombay, Mrs Gandhi was surprised to see Bhanumathy and asked, “What are you doing here? Why are you not on that plane?” She immediately directed the Chief of Protocol ‘to take her with you’, and advised Bhanumathy ‘Don’t worry. I will take care…’. And sure enough when she landed in Bombay, Tara Cherian, the Governor’s wife smilingly whispered to her, ‘I have a set of clothes for you’. Now that was Indira Gandhi thoughtful and prompt in action.
Ho Chi Minh, Zhou Enlai, Che Guevara, Willy Brandt, Olof Palme, Lee Kuan Yew, Andre Malraux, John Kenneth Galbraith, Zia-ur-Rehman, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Vijaya Laxmi Pandit, Aung San Suu Kyi and a host of others from the world of politics, economics and letters come alive through the pages of the book and make us wonder how the author managed to make these men who had carved out a place in the history speak to her on tape quite often at a very short notice. Consider her interview with Zhou for instance. Just as he finished his midnight press conference at Rashtrapati Bhavan (1961) Bhanumathy went upto him and asked for an interview. “Have I not said enough for one night”, he asked. Her reply: “May be, but I would like something exclusive for All India Radio”. Zhou did not disappoint her even as he was getting ready to leave for the airport.
My best read in the book was the ‘conversation’ with Agatha Christie, when she visited India with her husband, Mallowan. He was in Delhi to attend an archaeological conference. “An archaeologist”, the writer of thriller detectives told Bhanumathy, “is the best husband any woman can have. The older she gets, the more interested he is in her”. Any doubt?
Islamists regroup in Bangladesh
by M RamaRao
New Delhi, May 5, 2007: Notwithstanding the claims of Bangladesh’s interim-government about its ‘effective’ drive against militants, Islamists determined to establish the Islamic law in the country have managed to regroup to strike at will, informed sources say. Police, Judges, minority Ahmadiyya mosques and NGOs are their prime targets.
Investigations show that activists of Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), its off-shoot, Allar Dal, and Insaf of the Ahle Hadith faction have regrouped and merged into a single outfit with Moulana Sayeedur Rahman as the ‘Ameer’. The country has been carved into nine operational zones and each Zonal chief reports to a six-member Majlish-e-Shura. A military expert Jahidul Islam Sumon alias Mizan alias Kamrul alias Nayan of Sheker Vita of Jamalpur is imparting training to the cadres in handling explosives, firearms and ammunition.
Sources said that the new group, which is presently in the midst of a massive recruitment drive, keeps changing its name. This move is ostensibly aimed to keep the authorities off their trail.
The extent of threat posed by the new three –in- one group is unclear though sleuths consider the regrouping as a significant development since the authorities expected the March 29 execution of JMB chief Shaikh Abdur Rahman, his second-in command, the dreaded Banga Bhai and four other king pins to deal a ‘crippling blow’ to the jehadi groups. The death sentence was awarded for killing two judges in Jhalakathi in 2005.
Islamist militants have come under the scanner following the serial blasts in Dhaka, Sylhet and Chittagong on May 1. Bomb blasts have since been reported in Rajashahi district.
Information available here shows that the authorities in Dhaka were aware of the possibility of a low intensity blast or two on May 1, but they failed to act in time. These blasts are designed as ‘teasers’ and are to signal the ‘arrival’ of new JMB outfit on the scene since the ‘commanders’ for all the nine divisions have been appointed.
Police and intelligence sources in Dhaka have identified the ‘chiefs’ of the nine divisions as Rokon alias Leon (Dhaka south), Salahuddin alias Nadim (Dhaka north), Mushad alias Roman (Narsinghdi), Ashiq alias Abul Quasem (Narayanganj), Abdullah Taslim alias Nahid (Tangail), Anwar alias Faruq alias Tanjil (Mymensingh and Sylhet division), Mahfuz alias Sohel alias Abu Sayeed (Khulna), Mehedi Hasan alias Abir (Barisal) and Sayeed alias Russell alias Zubaer (Rajshahi).
In a significant but related development, a high Bangladesh government official has acknowledged that the seven JMB top terrorists who were awarded death sentence received loans from Bangladesh Rural Development Board (BRDB).
Nazrul Islam, a high official of Board disclosed that under orders of the ‘higher authorities’, the Board had granted TK 50000 as loan to each of the seven JMB terrorists during the Khaleda Zia rule. This is first time a direct link between the Khaleda government and militants has been identified by a government functionary. Hitherto such nexus was only a surmise.
New Delhi, May 5, 2007: Notwithstanding the claims of Bangladesh’s interim-government about its ‘effective’ drive against militants, Islamists determined to establish the Islamic law in the country have managed to regroup to strike at will, informed sources say. Police, Judges, minority Ahmadiyya mosques and NGOs are their prime targets.
Investigations show that activists of Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), its off-shoot, Allar Dal, and Insaf of the Ahle Hadith faction have regrouped and merged into a single outfit with Moulana Sayeedur Rahman as the ‘Ameer’. The country has been carved into nine operational zones and each Zonal chief reports to a six-member Majlish-e-Shura. A military expert Jahidul Islam Sumon alias Mizan alias Kamrul alias Nayan of Sheker Vita of Jamalpur is imparting training to the cadres in handling explosives, firearms and ammunition.
Sources said that the new group, which is presently in the midst of a massive recruitment drive, keeps changing its name. This move is ostensibly aimed to keep the authorities off their trail.
The extent of threat posed by the new three –in- one group is unclear though sleuths consider the regrouping as a significant development since the authorities expected the March 29 execution of JMB chief Shaikh Abdur Rahman, his second-in command, the dreaded Banga Bhai and four other king pins to deal a ‘crippling blow’ to the jehadi groups. The death sentence was awarded for killing two judges in Jhalakathi in 2005.
Islamist militants have come under the scanner following the serial blasts in Dhaka, Sylhet and Chittagong on May 1. Bomb blasts have since been reported in Rajashahi district.
Information available here shows that the authorities in Dhaka were aware of the possibility of a low intensity blast or two on May 1, but they failed to act in time. These blasts are designed as ‘teasers’ and are to signal the ‘arrival’ of new JMB outfit on the scene since the ‘commanders’ for all the nine divisions have been appointed.
Police and intelligence sources in Dhaka have identified the ‘chiefs’ of the nine divisions as Rokon alias Leon (Dhaka south), Salahuddin alias Nadim (Dhaka north), Mushad alias Roman (Narsinghdi), Ashiq alias Abul Quasem (Narayanganj), Abdullah Taslim alias Nahid (Tangail), Anwar alias Faruq alias Tanjil (Mymensingh and Sylhet division), Mahfuz alias Sohel alias Abu Sayeed (Khulna), Mehedi Hasan alias Abir (Barisal) and Sayeed alias Russell alias Zubaer (Rajshahi).
In a significant but related development, a high Bangladesh government official has acknowledged that the seven JMB top terrorists who were awarded death sentence received loans from Bangladesh Rural Development Board (BRDB).
Nazrul Islam, a high official of Board disclosed that under orders of the ‘higher authorities’, the Board had granted TK 50000 as loan to each of the seven JMB terrorists during the Khaleda Zia rule. This is first time a direct link between the Khaleda government and militants has been identified by a government functionary. Hitherto such nexus was only a surmise.
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