Desicritics Author: Abhinandan Mishra

Terrorism All The Way

Abhinandan Mishra — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 11:22:26 EDT

The lull before the storm has never been so apt before. It was just few month back that Delhi witnessed serial bombings. Before a single word or thought condemning the blast could see the light of day, another serial bomb blast rocked the nation. This time it was Assam.

The familiar words expressing sympathy for the victims from the PM and the habitual statements from the intelligence department was handed out to the media. Nothing was different. Same words, same people, same response. The intelligence agency though came out with a 'revelation' that they had the prior knowledge of a possibility of such destructive activity being undertaken in Assam.

The only saving grace was that the intelligence guys did not blame the terrorist for not informing them about the exact spot where the bombs were planted. I can well imagine their helplessness as the alleged perpetrators had already crossed over to Bangladesh well before news of the dead and injured poured in.

It's time to be honestly blunt here. I cannot understand why India which prides itself being called as a regional 'super-nuclear-economic' power fails to reign in the lesser-insignificant neighbors like Bangladesh and Nepal.

Nepal and Bangladesh have now established themselves as a safe heaven and a launching pad for carrying out anti-Indian activities. Illegal immigrants continue to enter India and in due time they are converted into 'Indians' for obvious vote bank.

Diplomats and seasoned foreign experts say that acting tough against these two countries would alienate them and pave a way for China to come closer to these 'traditional friends' of India. This argument defies every logic. How can one to continue to overlook something such blatantly nefarious designs of our well-wishing neighbors?

Still, despite all the appeasing measures adopted by India, it's no secret that in recent years Nepal and Bangladesh have takes long strides that go to Beijing and not towards New Delhi.

Some years ago The Times of India carried a front page picture in which a BSF jawan who was killed by personnel of Bangladeshi rifles was shown being carried on a bamboo stick just like the old days when the hunters would proudly carry their kill exhibiting their strength. The jawans were killed by the BDR personnel after they resisted their attempt to help cattle thieves from stealing cattle and taking it to Bangladesh from the Indian side.

I had expected at least an economic embargo on Bangladesh for a limited period from our government for such a daring misadventure by them. Sadly I was proved wrong. If I remember correctly India could only manage a diplomatic rebuke. That was the price we paid for being a 'responsible- South Asian- giant'.

Now I have no hesitation in saying that the Indian nationalist freedom movement was perhaps the last magnificent show of India's political will. Will to stand against anarchy and tyranny.

The one thing that the arrest of Malegaon accused has done is that now the supporter of tougher anti-terrorism law will not be called 'anti-minority'. Terrorism has no religion. It never had.

Life has never been so cheap and vulnerable before. And the sad fact is that we have been blinded by the bright light of a 'resurgent economy' and a nuclear deal that has brought us international acclamation. Unfortunately that same very light has made us falsely believe that everything is vibrant and functioning.

The present government has repeatedly said that it is against taking a knee-jerk action. But for how long? And is it correct to term a legitimate action important for national security as knee jerk action?

Bring in a law which will stop the terrorists from killing children, men and women, suspend talks with the militant groups wherever they are, arrest the separatists be it the Kashmiri or the Assamese. Do something that goes beyond words on mike and on paper.

The Marathi Manoos - A Not So Difficult Poser

Abhinandan Mishra — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 00:41:22 EDT

The issue of the Marathi manoos that has been revived by Raj Thackeray has brought back the memories the early Shiv Sena days, when Bal Thackeray successfully used the same sociological-demographic theory to gain a foothold in the political bazaar of Maharashtra.

Although the BJP along with the other national parties did criticize the MNS for the recent violence that it carried out against the North Indians yet it chose to keep mum over the involvement of its ally the Shiv Sena.

Bal Thackeray in the party's mouthpiece, Saamna, was in no mood of being modest as he lauded the way his party workers taught the Biharis a lesson that they will never forget.

With the emergence of the MNS, the spotlight that Bal Thackeray was once accustomed too has now shifted to his former protégé Raj Thackeray.

This has prompted Shiv Sena to try out new things or more appropriately they have now been forced to narrow down their focus which earlier was 'anti-Islam' to a more local issue of empowering the Marathi manoos.

The dwindling power of Shiv Sena is not something that can be hidden. It never had a pan India following. The self appointed protector of Hinduism from god knows what, has now seen its 'best' days.

BJP is a national party with a set of agenda that it follows which is arrived upon after keeping the whole country in mind. But the same cannot be said about Shiv Sena. It has ambitions and methods that will rarely be appreciated out side Maharashtra. Even in Hindi speaking belt of Central and North India, Shiv Sena does not have any following.

It will be very difficult for the Sena to remould its political objectives now because that would amount to asking the party to shed its core issue. So it will be a long while until the Shiv Sena decides to abandon its policy of keeping Maharasthra for Marathis.

An alliance with the Shiv Sena may go wrong for the BJP if the opposition 'politicize' this issue properly. It will be a million dollar question how would the BJP justify the protest against MNS on the one hand and the cake-talk with the Shiv Sena on the other. Surprisingly none of the political parties have put this seemingly 'uncomfortable' question before the BJP.

On the face of it, the coming general elections are tilted in favour of the BJP. Call it anti-incumbency, call it inflation or call it the effects of terrorism. As of now the road for Congress is far steeper than it is for BJP.

The general elections are just round the corner. The recent violence by the MNS and the Shiv Sena has posed serious questions for the BJP to ponder upon. The think tank of BJP will now have to work out the pros and cons of allying with the Shiv Sena. And it will be in for a rude surprise if it thinks that its association with Shiv sena will go unnoticed. If it continues to walk with them for reasons varied, it will surely lose out not only in the north-eastern states but in the others parts of India as well.

The Death of An Indian

Abhinandan Mishra — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 01:03:09 EDT

There was nothing extra-ordinary about Pawan Mahto, a resident of Bara-Khurd village in Nalanda district of Bihar.

The son of a poor farmer, Pawan was one of the hundreds of students from Bihar who were appearing for a railway recruitment exam in Maharashtra on Sunday.

He had hoped to pull himself and his family out of the vicious poverty cycle by getting into the railways. But his hopes were shattered and he died a tragic death after being beaten by the MNS activist for appearing in the recruitment exam.

He failed himself and his family. Or Perhaps he did not. May be he did his bit by seeing to it that at least his dead body brings in some financial help. As the news of his death came in , the Bihar Chief Minister announced a compensation of Rs.150,000 to Pawan's family. Maybe the compensation amount will weigh down the emotions of his old father and his wife.

The theory of Marathimanoos being preached by the goon turned politician called Raj Thackeray, just became more stronger. That too, at the expense of death of a youth who was poor,unemployed and someone who did not have big aspirations.

The death of a poor man will hardly make a news for more than a day or two. In this country hundreds die a non-deserving death. Pawan was just one of them.

Maybe thousands of words about Pawan's death will appear on blogs, edit pages and news-site but still they will fall short of bringing out the true extent of what has occurred.

Pawan's family do not access the internet. And even if they could, they would have surely searched in the vain hope of finding a better reason explaining their son's death.

The truth remains that he died because he was a North-East Indian. Also true is that he was a human who must have felt pain when he died. Which of the two must have been more painful, the physical pain or the pain of being a north Indian, we will never know.

Congress Losing Ground

Abhinandan Mishra — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 10:20:04 EDT

The more I see the double standards and the weak governance that is being practiced by the present Congress led government at the Center the more dismayed I feel at the levels to which the leaders fall for political gains.

After its ally, the DMK issued threat to the Manmohan Singh led UPA of pulling out of the alliance to express its concern with the Tamil issue in Sri Lanka, the Indian PM interfered in Sri Lanka’s internal issue and asked his counterpart to adopt a more humane way while dealing with a terrorist organization.

In another words, Manmohan Singh asked Rajapakse to show a bit more compassion while fighting the LTTE.

Political compulsion has forced the Gandhi family to conveniently forget that it was LTTE which was responsible for the death of hundreds of Indian peace keeping force and it was LTTE which made sure that Rajiv Gandhi paid with his life for sending IPKF to Sri Lanka.

Today in Maharashtra, a group of so called political activist led by a Bombay Scottish studied hoodlum, embarked on their mission to yet again project themselves as protector of ‘Marathimanus’, as a result of which north-eastern unemployed youths were brutally assaulted for appearing in railway recruitment board exams that were held in different part of the state

The same home minister, Shivraj Patil, who was earlier on the forefront threatening the BJP government in Orissa and Karnataka with imposition of president's rule for their failure to stop violence against the minority Christians has now
chosen to keep silence on the activity of MNS.

No ‘direct’ or even a ‘veiled’ threat or instructions was issued by the home minister to the Maharashtra CM to stop the repeated mockery of law and order.

Congress spokespersons appear on talk shows and say that the state government always takes necessary action against the MNS goons and its just that their party does not believe in announcing everything before the media.

Fifteen days later, the same violence is repeated, and again the same standard reply is forwarded by the party.

Perhaps they have forgotten the age old aphorism - "Not only must Justice be done; it must also be seen to be done."

What MNS in doing is not politics, not even by the farthest stretch of imagination. It can be called vandalism, a show of mob-strength. As of now MNS is not a political entity, but with the encouragement that it is receiving from the obvious political quarters it will soon turn into one, as did Shiv Sena.

This is not the first such incident and yet none of the senior leaders of the Congress have come to the fore and called for actions against Raj Thackeray who is right now successfully enjoying the fruits of might is right.

It’s Vilas Rao Deshmukh who heads the Congress government in Maharashtra, and still the 10 Janpath people have not done anything concrete to stop the repeated assaults on the poor people apart from the regular titbit formality of arresting petty MNS workers and releasing them later.

Perhaps one of the reasons for this can be attributed to the fact that the Congress is virtually defunct in Bihar and despite its best claims; it is still miles away from making a serious impact in the neighboring Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand. This might well be the reason for its decision to go slow on MNS in Maharashtra as taking stricter actions may alienate its Marathi vote bank. But it should not forget that ignoring MNSs antics will harm both the country and the Congress itself in the long run. History has more than enough examples to prove this point

Whatever good work that was achieved by the RTI and the NREGA now stands negated by the politically motivated steps that Congress has been treading these days.

When a strong political will was the need of the hour the country witnessed show of weakness.

Be it the nuclear deal or be it the current Sri Lankan issue, Congress has always gone for an embarrassing political compromise rather than face the public mandate. And I guess that this fear is not dumb founded. More and more voters are now witnessing everything that happens around them due to the ever penetrating media. Now Media is not merely a news giver but has donned the role of an opinion maker.

General elections are inevitable; it will happen, and someone will lose, others will not. Forecasting has never been my forte, but then you don’t need to be an astrologer to see the obvious.

Media and Politics

Abhinandan Mishra — Fri, 3 Oct 2008 15:33:29 EDT

With every new day our media is increasingly transgressing the boundaries that have been allotted to it for functioning as a ‘liberal media’. Every 9 out of 10 write-ups on terrorism that appear in a daily or a magazine are based on the basic premise that the terrorists that were shot or apprehended are innocent and the investigative agencies had concocted something false, a false story, a false investigation and more importantly a false encounter.

In the recent shoot out almost every national newspaper expressed that they were skeptical about the whole ‘setup’ that surrounded the Jamia Nagar encounter. Soon the electronic media followed suit

They came out with a series of questionnaires which were put before the public and security agencies. Though it’s another thing that the verdict to the questions was a foregone conclusion. “Police is guilty”.

The investigative agencies are always first to be blamed; for not investigating properly- for not following leads that could have stopped a blast and ultimately blamed for indulging in a false shootout.

With this increased pressure from the media, political parties specially the Congress, are also feeling the heat. Congress leaders have gone on the record to say that they also feel that something was not right in the Delhi shoot out.

The media has conveniently linked Islam and terrorism. In most of the terrorism related stories they say that Islam and terrorism should not be linked. Later in the same article they write that since the police are targeting terrorists the Muslim community is feeling insecure. Why give birth to this notion of fear in the Muslim community? What happened to the earlier stand of keeping Islam separate from the whole story?

Earlier the Congress was going soft on terror and now it’s the media turn to toe their line. I may sound fundamentalist but still I will take the liberty and ask the ‘Softists’ how would they react if one of their kin became a victim of such blasts?

A terrorist whose participation in the Parliament attack has been proved beyond doubt by the highest judiciary of the land is still enjoying the state treatment. Reason? The Congress doesn’t want to alienate the Muslim vote bank. Why this assumption? Has someone made any representation to them on behalf of the Muslims that they will feel alienated if Afzal is hanged?

Home minister Shivraj Patil says that the existing laws are enough to tackle terrorism. I guess he wants to send a message to us that we should be thankful to him and to the existing law and its ‘effective’ implementation for if it was not for the effective law and Patil himself, we would have been witness to more such incidents. Maybe every alternate day! Thank you sir, we feel honored.

Rajinder Puri in his column in Outlook has rightly and refreshingly lambasted the Political setup of this country. I guess if the ‘well read’ leaders of our country go though that piece they would be forced to introspect on what they said in the past and what they did in the present. But then someone told me that that ‘introspection’ for them is a word that translates into how to rectify their past errors and maximize their votes. Ah!! More hatred- more fiery speeches- more blasts.

In the end he suggests a ‘very very far fetched idea’ that the UPA and the NDA must get together to form a national government. The noblest of suggestions that I have come across but as the saying goes ‘the two shall never meet’. I will be happier that they never meet for it will be hard to imagine what will emerge when their minds work collectively.

Whether it’s the Congress or the BJP everyone is on the proverbial ‘same plate’, though they look different, even act different yet they are the same. Fraternal twins would be the appropriate word to describe them.

There the terrorists strike at will and here we are at our wits' end whom to select in the forthcoming polls. The dilemma is summed up in the following words

“The wave was with the Congress all this years,
now they’ll find a solace in the saffronwear;
to again return to the Gandhi cap five here hence,
for the path to salvation is still not ‘Left’.”

M F Hussain Cleared of Obscenity Charges - A Question of Dignity

Abhinandan Mishra — Tue, 9 Sep 2008 13:12:03 EDT

“Bharat Mata-a work of art: SC” screamed today’s The Times of India. A Supreme Court bench yesterday refused to entertain a petition in which the petitioners had pleaded the Supreme Court to initiate proceedings against M F Hussain for depicting a nude woman as Mother India.

Supporters of the artist have time and again evoked the freedom available under the right of freedom of expression as enshrined under Article 19 of the Indian Constitution to justify the works of Hussain. Is this the purpose of right to freedom of expression? To offer immunity to work of art that shows a woman who is in nude as Mother India? If yes, then for me this is nothing but a gross violation for which the above said article was added into the constitution.

M F Hussain while commenting on the Supreme Court judgment applauded the decision and said ‘At last they (Supreme Court) have understood the ‘dignity’ of contemporary Indian art. Dignity? Whose dignity? Does the dignity of Indian art is upheld by depicting India in nudes? I don’t know how many of us would like to practice this definition of dignity as stated by the artist in our personal life. Will the artist himself practice what he preaches? I doubt it.

Imagine a scenario where an artist from European country paints a picture in which he depicts an Indian without clothes and in tatters. How would we react? More specifically how would the ‘liberal intelligentsia’ which till date have not condemned Hussian’s work of art, react?

Nationalism, love for one's country, is not defined anywhere nor can it be forced on anyone. But I am sure that the definition doesn’t say that not getting offended by paintings that depicts the nation in nude is one of the essences of showing respect towards your motherland. Have I stated something that is too lowly or rural for the ‘intellectuals’ to understand?

Ancient temples that have been for long used to justify any work of offensive art have been reduced to just mere examples. The sculptures of nude king and queens are frequently equated with religious sculptures. How much is this justified is a question that needs to be dwelt on much.

Earlier the same artist had depicted Hindu goddess in forms that are undignified by even the narrowest stretch of imagination.

Those who raised their voice against it were called ‘Right wing individuals’. Agreed that the violent way in which they protested was condemnable but what about the work of Hussain that incited the reaction? Is that not condemnable? The price of being the majority population cannot be so much.

If the same artist had painted religious pictures of other religion, he would have been running from one county to another for asylum, but for Hinduism. For Hinduism embraces everyone and ‘everything’ with open arms. Some section of the ‘learned’ feel that it’s imperative for this religion to not be offended and to smilingly embrace the dignity stated by Hussain. Is the Hindu god-goddess and mother India ‘children of the lesser gods’?

The more I force myself for searching reasons to look at Hussian’s work rationally, the more I feel that our Constitution has been taken for a ride. The fact that the Constitution also prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion has been conveniently forgotten.

Majority, like the minority, too value their religion. Just being numerically strong doesn’t mean that a particular religion cannot get offended by offensive things. We cannot have a double standard for deciding the dignity of the majority and the minority.

Where are the classes of the intellectuals that throng the street on the slightest pretext? Do they only represent those who are less in number? What about those who are humiliated because they are more? Who will speak for them? Artist like Hussain or the activists like Babu Bajrangis? Sadly both of them are the extremes and the middle path has been hijacked by the ‘Liberal –intelligent-class’ that are not only believer but also practitioner of double standards.

The time has come to follow secularism not just in the minority spirit but also in a spirit that was the force behind drafting the word secular in our constitution.

A nation of hypocrites we are speaking only when the situation is favorable, let’s stop our tread for a minute and question ourselves. Questions which are not that hard to answer.

Sorrow of Bihar

Abhinandan Mishra — Fri, 5 Sep 2008 08:04:07 EDT

Northern part of Bihar is swarming with reporters and media personnel. With the who's and who's of print media and the electronic media converging on the swollen banks of Kosi, the might of the sorrow of Bihar and the plight of those affected by it is now being witnessed by everyone.

Before 18th of August no one including me cared about what was happening in Supaol or Saharsha. It is nothing more than perhaps the law of our society that only in times of extreme sorrow that the poor hogs the limelight. And then also the affected victims have to share their 10-15 days of 'fame' with the politicians who are one among the first to reach such places.

In the past too, old women were swept away, children died of snake bites and man drowned, but who cares for a few numbers. In the end it is all about the eye catching numbers; huge number. In the present case the 29 lakh people that were affected was too big a number to give a miss.

As soon as Manmohan Singh after a 'quick response' that took 10 days to come, declared the flood a national calamity, all hell broke loose. The flood affected regions of Bihar which till then were 'immune' from the presence of even a reporter from a local news-channel suddenly found itself facing familiar faces of our vibrant media. You name them and they were there.

No one can take away the fact that the media did and is still doing a commendable job of covering the calamity ,but the point is that is presence of 'huge numbers' the only criteria for making a news a national news?

Reporters after reporters are taking great pains and efforts to visit the areas that are still out of reach for the state officials. Heart rendering footage has become the order of the day. Some have taken great pain to cross over to the other side of Nepal and dig out stories on how the breach occurred due to the negligence on the part of the irrigation department. They also declared that the breach was a result of long period of negligence and the breach didn't take place overnight. Agreed that the breach developed over a period of time. But why wasn't the breach brought in the public when it was still in its initial stage?

Its not that the dam was kept out of bounds for the journalist, it's just that at that point of time it was not worthy of being shown on the national television. Who would have watched a 'eroding dam'.

Post the 'national calamity' declaration things have changed. Now even a glitch in a minor embankment is making news. I guess the top management of the media that moves and shakes in Delhi have their own idea of a news-worthiness.

Calamity or no calamities, politician are flowers that bloom throughout the season. The Below the belt remarks that have been coming from the political leaders of Bihar has highlighted the sad plight of the level to which the leaders can fall even in the worst of time. Not even the catastrophic effects of a swollen Kosi, could stop these leaders from indulging in political war at a time when they should have been attending to the rescue of the millions that have been affected by the raging Kosi.

The political game that ensued saw Nitish Kumar calling himself an unsung hero and terming Lalu, a dramatist, who was moving around the flood affected areas with a train of TV reporters. Lalu replied back and declaring that Nitish has lost his mind.

After Kosi river broke all barriers and flooded 15 districts of the state, affecting more than 29 lakh people, it took 10 long days for the union government to decide that this time it was not 'just another regular flood' that affects Bihar every year but a national calamity.

Then came the initial statements of no politics in time of sorrow. But later the whole nation stood witness to the troika of Lalu Yadav, Ram Vilas Paswan and Nitish Kumar engaging in political statements and counter statements over fixing the responsibility for the floods.

Initially it was Lalu who started the fistfight when he announced in a press conference that the state government had failed to pay heeds to the instructions from the Center and had not repaired the Kosi barrage. Pointing out to the callous attitude of the state officials he came out with documents that pointed out that the walls of the barrage was breached a day after the State chief engineer (Irrigation) had reported that all barrages were in good condition.

In reply, Nitish came out with a set of his own documents in which it was said that the state government had been regularly corresponding with the center and asking them to take the issue of repairing the barrage with Nepal.

Paswan too joined in and rapped Nitish for failing to take timely actions to plug the breach. In between all this, the plight of the victims was forgotten and they were left to themselves. Even now many are still stranded and marooned and fighting a loosing battle.

Old timers point out that in a way the 15 years that preceded this government is also to be blamed for this failure of government machinery. During the earlier rule, the whole of the state machinery was left to stagnant and officers found themselves being molded in a way that required them not to venture out in the fields but to stay in the comforts of their offices. The same disease continues to plague some of the current lot.

Till last year the engineers of the water resources department were punished by the DMs in the flood hit areas. Whenever any breach occurred in the embankments the concerned executive, superintending or chief engineer was instantly arrested on the orders of the DMs and sent to jail. But now it seems that, Nitish who is an engineering graduate, has realized the bureaucrats too are at fault.

The CM suspended district magistrates of Supaul and Saharsa districts for Negligence in flood relief work. He was so infuriated with the officers that he ordered on the spot transfer of the two DMs when he visited the flood affected areas.

He also sent three of his cabinet colleagues in the worst affected areas with direction to stay there for a fortnight and not come to Patna. Three senior IAS officers from State Secretariat were also sent as special DMs in the three worst hit districts to monitor and supervise the relief and rescue operations.

Nothing can absolve Nitish because as a CM he was responsible for the state machinery but the bureaucrats too have let down the chief minister.After the flooding the Bihar chief minister was told by his officers that Nepal was responsible for the floods in Bihar as the embankment was breached from their side. Later the foreign minister of Nepal Upendra Yadav denied the charge and claimed that dam in Nepal was still intact.

Such was the mismanagement that rescue boats and rescuers had to wait for six hours for supply of diesel as the BDO of the concerned district was busy with the PMs Program. Then came a statement from a senior official of the state disaster management asking the flood victims not to come to Patna, and return back to their submerged homes through the same special train that had brought them to the capital.

The fury of Kosi continues unabated but for these representatives of people it has boiled down to who gets the maximum accolades in this time of sorrow. And not surprising it's Lalu, accompanied by the ever swelling entourage of reporters who is winning hands down.

India's Response To Terrorism - Are We Losing The War?

Abhinandan Mishra — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 13:26:26 EDT

The country again wakes to a morning that is laden with news of the increase in number of dead and injured in another set of bomb blasts. This time it was Ahmedabad and a day before it was Bangalore. Who knows by the time I conclude this write-up another blast could have 'rocked' the nation.

Since October 2005 when a bomb went off in the crowded Sarojini market of Delhi, just a day before Diwali in which more that 60 people died, 11 more such incidents have rattled India, the most deadly being the July 2006 serial blasts in Mumbai's trains in which over 200 people were killed. Not surprisingly, we cannot say that we have been able to solve the cases or even figure out the identity of the perpetrators. In most cases, the obvious answer that one gets from the investigative agencies is the SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India), the HuJI-B (Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami Bangladesh) or the HuM (Harkat-ul Mujahideen).

The country witnessed its first major strike in 1992 when the financial capital of India was rocked. It was said that the fundamentalist behind the Mumbai attacks were avenging the demolition of the Babri structure and the subsequent riots. Then also the think-tanks of this country talked of formulating counter-terrorism policies that would make such future strikes much harder.

In very simple terms, terrorism is violence, or the threat of violence, calculated to create an atmosphere of fear and alarm. Terrorist acts are intended to produce effects beyond the immediate, having long-term psychological repercussions on a particular victim audience. The fear created by terrorists may be intended to cause people to exaggerate the strengths of the terrorist and the importance of the cause, to provoke governmental overreaction, to discourage dissent, or simply to intimidate and thereby enforce compliance with their demands.

Terrorist actions are generally carried out in a way that will achieve maximum publicity. Unlike other criminal acts, terrorists often claim responsibility for their acts.

None of the two major political parties, the Congress or the BJP can escape blame when it comes to who stands tall on the criteria of which of the two countered terrorism efficiently.

When the BJP-led NDA was in power, the country saw two major terrorist strikes that will be forever embedded in our memory. The Hijacking of the aircraft IC-814 and the attack on the Indian Parliament which until then was considered impregnable and unthinkable.

The Indian Airlines flight, IC-814, carrying 178 passengers was hijacked on 24th December 1999 after it took off from Kathmandu. The aircraft landed at three different places (Amritsar, Lahore and Dubai) before it flew to Kandahar. No counter-hijacking action was taken while the aircraft was still in Indian airspace. In fact the pilot of the craft deliberately delayed the departure of IC-814 from the Amritsar airport and waited for more than half hour to give the Indian agencies a chance to mount a takeover. His wait was in vain. Later, the then national security adviser, Brajesh Mishra stated that while the plane was still in Amritsar he had given instructions to the security agencies to shoot at the tyres of the craft so as to make it immovable. He also very candidly admitted that his instructions were not heeded to; why? Even he doesn't know.

Brajesh Mishra at that time was no ordinary man or a bureaucrat. He was the national security adviser and the closest confidante of the Prime minister, even LK Advani who at that time was the Home Minister couldn't boast of sharing the same intimacy with Vajpayee when it came to Mishra. If he says that his instructions went ignored then we can well imagine the whole anti-terrorism machinery the country had at that time.

It can be termed as nothing but a diplomatic failure that the Vajpayee-led government was not able to take either Pakistan's or Saudi Arabia's assent for a commando-led operation to take control of the craft when it was still in their respective airspace. Surely a commando operation was more feasible in Pakistan or Dubai rather then Afghanistan as it was subsequently discovered.

The subsequent chain of incidents is well-known as the Indian government had to resort to a face-saving exercise and release 3 dreaded terrorists in return for the safe release of the passengers aboard the ill-fated aircraft.

The then foreign minister personally took the terrorist to Kandahar. The three were Maulana Masood Azhar, Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar and Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh.

After his release Maulana Azhar set up Jaish-e-Mohammad in early 2000 which is accused of the deadly attacks on Indian targets, including one on the parliament in Delhi in December 2001.Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar after his release renewed the activity of Al-Umar Mujahideen in Muzaffarabad, close to the LOC, in recruiting and training of young Muslims to the independence war in Indian occupied Kashmir.Zargar while in custody revealed his enormous hatred for Non-Muslims especially Jews, Hindus and Christians and once famously said "If you want to end these terror strikes in the world then either accept Islam or wipe out Islam" .

The last of the freed terrorist who was once a LSE attendee, Sheikh Omar Saeed was later arrested by Pakistani police on February 12, 2002, in Lahore for his involvement in the Pearl kidnapping and sentenced to death.

The whole IC 814 incident and the way in which it was handled is a terrible blotch on the BJP and India as a whole and is often used as an example of "how not to deal with hijack situations".

Though the terrorist strike on the Indian Parliament was thwarted by the individual bravery of the sentinels, yet it pointed out the glaring deficiencies in the overall security setup of the seat of democracy and the weakness and failure of the intelligence gathering mechanism of the country. It was not the first time that the intelligence agency had failed us. Kargil was happening right below our noses and we were in deep slumber.

Since then the terrorist strikes have increased at an alarming level and on an average a major terror strike is being carried out almost every 3-4 months.

Although the security agencies have been successful in busting quite a few modules, the most recent being the SIMI module which was taken out in Indore which led to the arrest of scores of SIMI operatives including the arrest of SIMI chief Safdar Nagori and the discovery of many nefarious designs, yet terror has no sign of abating.

Terrorists too are evolving and now have taken a liking for soft targets and are shying away more and more from hard targets like military bases. Soft Targets are relatively unguarded or difficult to protect from terrorists, and therefore yield a higher probability for a successful attack. The recent blasts in the markets of Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, and Delhi confirm this shift.

Similarly, they have also adopted the serial bombing method which are more "productive" in terms of the number of deaths and have a more deep impact psychologically. Also, since the serial bombings do not require huge amounts of explosives at a single place, they stand a much better chance of being undiscovered, hence causing maximum damage.

After every such strike, the political establishment wakes up and the President, the Prime Minister and the various political parties issue statements of condemnation. The Home Minister issues stern warnings that terrorism would not be tolerated and that the terrorists involved in the latest attacks would be brought to book. Ministers then visit the hospitals in the city where the terrorist attack has taken place to show their sympathy. Then they move on to business as usual.

Nothing concrete is done, some knee-jerk reactions at the state level; transfer of officials is the standard statutory method to mollify the public sentiments.

The country earlier had stringent POTA laws. The Prevention of Terror Activities Act (POTA) might not have been successful in deterring the hardcore terrorists but it had the desired effect on those minds that were still at the stage where they could be brought back in to the social mainstream. It deterred the gullible minds from taking the path that was both detrimental to them as well as the country.

But the law was revoked after the Congress came to power. In fact the Congress in its election manifesto had said that it would revoke POTA if it came to power. It said that POTA was a draconian law and was aimed against the minorities. There might indeed have been cases of police excesses under the law but it should not have been done away without an alternative legal tool.

The minority appeasement policy that is followed by political parties in general and the Congress party in particular has not helped either. A Former police commissioner of Mumbai said that the state minorities commission, civil rights activists and mohalla committee workers had cautioned the police against conducting combing operations, random checks and making preventive arrests. Time and again intelligence agencies have expressed helplessness in wake of political interference that has hampered the agencies from effectively investigating the incidents

The failure of the implementation of the findings of The Justice Srikrishna Commission report after the Mumbai riots acts like fuel to fire. It indicted 31 police personnel (from officers to constables) for abetting the rioters. But no action has been taken against the bigger leaders that have been named in the report.

The politicians play their game of linking the minorities to the terror strikes. They stand on the dais and scream of 'stopping the state from alienating the minorities', thereby giving the perpetrators an identity based on religion.

States like Maharashtra have their own set of stringent anti-terror laws. The MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act) has been termed draconian by some rights activists but they conveniently forget that it's this draconian law that has curbed the terror incidents in the state. Similar anti-terror laws passed by the Gujarat and Maharashtra are lying with the president office for the past 4 years for the necessary assent. This speaks volumes about the Centre's attitude on its mindset to tackle terrorism.

Terror strikes can never be completely eliminated, but they can be minimized to a negligible level. Effective steps are the need of the hour. A closer and increased co-ordination between the Center and the State on measures to curb terrorism is needed. Recently the Central Government had issued a high alert warning to all the states asking them to step up their vigil, but it seems that either they were not taken seriously or were completely ignored. Also it would be more effective if the special Anti Terrorist squads (ATS) that are present in most of the states work in tandem.

In the long run, the political establishment should think of forming a special agency that would specifically deal with terrorism, something on the lines of the IB or the Vigilance Agency, both of which have specific responsibilities. The agency should be headed by a senior-ranked IPS officer and should be directly under the PMO so as to reduce political hindrance and interference. This will help in fixing responsibility and channeling of concentrated resources and efforts in the right direction so as to curb terrorism.

The political will to weed out terrorism is the foremost requirement. If that is not present then even the best of counter–terrorism measures will be rendered ineffective. Stress should be laid on intelligence-based policing. Due importance has not been given to the intelligence branch and in most states it is used by the political parties to gauge the mood of the voters and the strengths and the weaknesses of their rivals.

On the morning of the 22nd of July when the confidence motion was to take place, the CBI chief gave a courtesy call to the Prime Minister's residence. It is anybody's guess what the nature of the courtesy call was.

If such terror strikes are not curbed then the hitherto sporadic demands for a state-supported attack into foreign territories and into Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) to destroy the terrorist camps will gain more recognition and appreciation and then the situation may get trickier for the government

A lot of funding is required to support intelligence-gathering activities which unfortunately is not happening in this country. Similarly, sensitization of people and greater awareness on sustained basis in the battle against terrorism will pay a great dividend as the terrorists work while staying between us. Also religion and fanaticism should be looked through two very different perspectives, they should not be mixed for anyone's convenience.

Finally, our resolve to spring back to life after every such attack is the most effective method that can be undertaken by an ordinary citizen to combat the evil designs of these terrorists.

The Spreading Arms of Naxalism

Abhinandan Mishra — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 00:09:18 EDT

Recent developments have suggested that the intellectuals supporting the Naxal revolution in India are working on devising a strategy to demand the status of "Political prisoners" for the Naxals that have been captured and arrested.

Recently villagers comprising of women and young girls from Bihar, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Jharkhand, staged a demonstration near Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda’s residence in Ranchi demanding that arrested Naxalites be treated as political prisoners. Earlier, they had organized a march at Jharkhand Raj Bhavan seeking political prisoner status for the detained Maoists.

The general definition of a political prisoner is someone who is imprisoned because of their political views.

The Maoists call themselves the beacon of the landless and the poor, and pride themselves in waging a struggle for the upliftment of the common mass. The same Naxalites raid and kill security personnel in cold blood. If the Naxalites who are accused of killing innocent villagers, political activists and policemen are awarded the status of political prisoners then they would be in the distinguished company of Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Fidel Castro, former president of South Korea Kim Dae Jung, Myanmari poet and journalist U Win Tin, who at some point of time in their life were all termed as political prisoners and imprisoned.

These leaders waged a "war" that was based on non-violence and drew its strength from protests that were displayed by way of speeches, writing and non-cooperation. Does the same thing hold true for a hardcore Maoist?

International organizations like Amnesty International campaign for the release of prisoners of conscience or POCs, which include both political prisoners as well as those imprisoned for their religious or philosophical beliefs. But as a matter of principle, the organization's policy is to work only for prisoners who have not committed or advocated violence.

Political prisoners have never been associated with violence against the un-armed. They are the exponent of democracy and civil rights. Can the same thing be said about the Maoists?

The red bastion that they have managed to establish in states like Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh stands as testimony to the kind of violence they propagate.

Chhattisgarh is at present the worst hit by Maoist activities. The affected area is Bastar in southern Chhattisgarh, comprising five districts. Kanker (northern Bastar), Bastar (Jagdalpur), Dantewada (Southern Bastar), Bijapur and Narayanpur combined together add to 39,000 sq. km., an area a little larger than Kerala and a little smaller than Haryana.

The pathetic and callous attitude of the successive state governments in various states towards the development of backward areas has contributed in no small way in the spread of the Naxal movement from 1967 when it was first started in Naxalbari in West Bengal.

Even now the answer to eradicating this menace does not lie in the brutal use of force but a strategy based on pushing the agenda of socio-economic development in the rural and remote areas. Generating employment opportunity, resented by the Naxals, will go a long way in dissuading more young legs in joining the movement.

On the other hand, excessive use of force will make wounds more deep. Salva Judum campaign in Chhattisgarh has forced the villagers to take sides; either they are with the Judum supporters or they are Naxalites supporters.

Earlier in 2007, the home ministry came under intense pressure to act against several serving and retired bureaucrats and academics after receiving reports that they were propagating Naxalism at a seminar in Delhi.

The report, drawn up by home ministry officials, said the seminar which was held in campus of a university in Delhi had a "pro-Naxalite" theme. The participants engaged themselves in anti-state discussions that seemed to justify armed uprising. But a "top-level intervention" stopped the home ministry from taking any action.

Recently an arms-making-cum-R&D unit of the Maoists was un-earthed in Bhopal. A similar arms-making unit was busted in Rourkela, Orissa. These new developments should not be taken as stray incidents but they are a sign of a much larger plan.

Now the Naxalites are encouraging even the bourgeois and the affluent class to join them. Earlier, the membership to their organization was strictly limited to the strata coming from low and poor economic backgrounds.

In Nandigram, a fact-finding committee has established that the Maoists were responsible for inciting the violence in Nandigram and Singur.

A report submitted by the West Bengal CM, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the Nandigram violence has blamed the left-wing extremists for the flare up in violence. The report says, "It may be noted that left-wing extremists (LWE) have stepped up their propaganda pertaining to the espousal of the causes of farmers by raising the issue of displacement of farmers from their own land for industrial and infrastructural projects. Frontal organizations of LWE activists named the Gana Pratirodh Manch carried out propaganda against the acquisition of land in Singur and have also generally opposed land acquisition for large projects throughout the state."

The above developments, coupled with Maoists shifting their focus on urban intrusion, striving for status of political prisoners, recruiting "elite" class suggests that the Naxal leaders have decided to adopt an approach that will bring them out of the rural-deep-forest to the urban areas. Like everything this movement, too, is adapting and changing its working with time.

Earlier in December 2007, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, while addressing a conference on internal security attended by chief ministers of all states, cited Naxalism as the lone biggest threat to nation’s internal security and stressed the need of a special force for curbing the growing Naxalism and terrorism menace. The government in the current budget increased the allocated funding on internal security from Rs 17,674 crore to Rs 21,715 crore. Now it remains to be seen how the government plans to deal with this "biggest threat" to the nation. Merely increasing the funds will not make much difference if there is an absence of political will.

Rahul Gandhi - On Track to Reform Congress

Abhinandan Mishra — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 02:40:10 EDT

The former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has described Rahul Gandhi as the most talented politician. He is right, given that Rahul during his short tenure as the Congress general secretary and member of Lok Sabha has proved himself as the most talented leader that represents the new breed of politicians who want to make India a Leader in the world.

He has emerged as a Reformist in Indian Politics, particularly the Congress and has gone to the extent of suggesting injecting young blood in the party and the government and even recommending his mother to "take rest" (retire ).

Rahul wants to learn about India and its people. He mingled with the tribals in Orissa ignoring security restrictions and later declared security cover can not prevent him from meeting the people. "It is for me to decide where to go and whom to meet, not the SPG".

While on his 'Discover India' tour, Rahul Gandhi announced that it was time that The Congress as a political party started enforcing democracy in its own organization. Rahul denounced the High Command culture too. He got a responsive Media appreciating his words of wisdom and political analysts called this an exercise which has been long due in the party. Some termed it as a statement that showed the level of political maturity he has attained and for some it was just a political statement; nothing less, nothing more.

Rahul visited the Bundelkhand region to meet the families of the farmers who committed suicide and Vidarbha to sympathies with the farmers' families, toured drought-hit Kalahandi (a favorite spot of his grandmother, Mrs Indira Gandhi and father, Rajiv Gandhi too)in Orissa and went to console the Dalit families whose relatives were killed in Aminanbad (Etawah district of Uttar Pradesh).His intervention in the Sarabjit Singh case yielded results and Singh's execution was delayed by General Musharraf for a month. Rahul, like his father, means Business.

The Gandhi scion has always been seen as someone who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. It was known that sooner rather than later he would be following in the footsteps of his family members who have graced the India political system since time immemorial.

Most of the observations that have been offered to the readers have a connotation that suggest since he is 'Gandhi' hence everything will come easily to him. This observation grew stronger with time as he went on to become an MP, a party general Secretary and now he heads both the youth political entities that represent the Congress party - the NSUI and the Youth Congress.

Not many have looked at the other side of the implications of being born with the proverbial silver spoon that has always been associated with Mr. Gandhi. Since he is a Gandhi he is expected to win every electoral seat that he campaigns for. Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh were seen as the wind that separated the wheat from the chaff. Political observers were already out with a verdict that since he was campaigning is Uttar Pradesh, the Congress tally would improve. Then in Gujarat, pundits went on to say that it was a battle that would decide the political weight Rahul Gandhi has. It's true that people turned out in large numbers to hear and see him but equally valid is the fact that these mass congregations did not turn into votes. Critics are already out in the open saying that Rahul Gandhi has the charisma to attract people but not votes.

To be frank, these and many similar observations were not mouthed by Rahul Gandhi himself but by the media and the political observers. It would be injustice to expect someone to pull congress out of a debacle that has inhabited it for years in states like UP and Gujarat just because he is the child of Rajiv Gandhi.

The baying of blood that has been associated with Rahul Gandhi has always been on the lines of the fact that he is a Gandhi. His Political acumen has not been tasted or seen yet. Still he has been termed as someone who owes his political ambitions to his family rather than his understanding of Indian political structure. His biggest handicap in his own words is his inexperience.

He knows that if Congress has to perform well in the long run the NSUI and Youth Congress will have to be nurtured with care and attention. His take on a democratic setup in the party should be commended. In his AICC meeting speech Rahul Gandhi called for organizational setup of NSUI and Youth Congress in such a manner in which meritocracy and accountability will prevail.

In his budget speech, Rahul Gandhi called for linking implementation of governmental programs to objectives spelled out under RTI. Similarly he called for more encouragement and strengthening of Panchayati Raj Institutions which according to him are empowering the poor rural people to be a part of the democratic structure. Similarly, no one can deny the success of NREGA which is his pet project, more so considering the fact that although NREGA is the brainchild of the UPA government but it depends on state governments for its implementation.

Neither Rahul Gandhi nor Congress can refute the fact that right now it is a party of kith and kin. Madhya Pradesh has the father-son duo of Arjun Singh-Rahul Singh. Then there is Kamal Nath who recently launched his son Nakul. JyotirAditya Scindia had Madhav Rao Scindia to give political lessons. Rajasthan has Sachin Pilot, son of Rajesh Pilot. Recently Subhash Yadav, the former PCC chief of Madhya Pradesh managed to secure an assembly ticket for his son Arjun. Then we have Amitesh Shukla son of SC Shukla. The list is long and the names are many.

Conversely no one can refuse the fact that if Sachin Pilot and JyotirAditya Scindia didn't had their family name, still they would have earned the same respect that they command now because they have time and again proved they have the understanding that is required to be politically successful. Their parliamentary voters are happy with them for the work they have done in their constituency.

When Rajiv Gandhi came into power in 1984 he candidly expressed his dissatisfaction with the internal structure and working of the Congress party. Rajiv rose not because he had any achievements that he could boast of at that time but it was her mother's assassination that catapulted a reluctant youth to a reluctant leader of India's largest political party. At that time, Congress was known for having more than a fair number of power brokers. According to him this was one of the three problems that plagued Congress, the other two being lack of Organizational elections and intra party discipline.

In the 1984 general elections, one third of the sitting MPs were denied tickets. Most of them were known to be corrupt and unscrupulous. Younger people and college goers were encouraged to become a part of Sewa dal and the state level functionaries including Chief Ministers were dissuaded from flying to Delhi to pay their monthly respects, which was a norm in the times of India Gandhi.

History will tell that after pursuing these new policy for a couple of years, Rajiv Gandhi had to abandon them as they were not quite appreciated by the senior leaders and that was evident in the way he lost a number of assembly elections. If these valuable policies were religiously followed for a longer period then they would have benefited the party in the long run but unfortunately were aborted for political considerations.

Now Rahul Gandhi is on the same path of reforming the Congress party. He has history to guide him through but then he also has the seniors who like in the past will try to make his path easier the way they made his father's journey enjoyable. His Father didn't succeed and only time will tell whether Rahul Gandhi, the scion of the Gandhi family will emerge triumph or not.