The Aseem Trvedi Cartoon: Intolerance and the State

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books Indian politicians are getting touch and sensitive about cartoons. I think when a political order is in a state of absolute free fall, the decaying order becomes hypersensitive to the caricature in cartoons. The MPs and MLAs now know that the citizens of India are filled with contempt and anger for the egregious plunder they have indulged in over the years. Actually more tham corruption which is there in all political systems, it is the politicians like Laloo Prasad Yadave and D P Yadava, Jagdish Tytler and other such criminals who masquerade as "peoples" representatives which stokes the anger of peo on his carple. P Chidambaram, the Finance Minister, was defeated in the Sivagnagai Parliamentary Constituency but goes arpound with the emblem of the Republic emblazoned on his car. Rightly there is anger because the Constitution of India does not envisage a Kletocratic state. Dr B R Ambedkar and his team worked out a Constitution which would be the basis of a civilized political order underpinned by Rule of Law. We now have the rule of outlaws and some of them like Poolan Devi even were elected to parliament and I am sure that Tamil Badu would have elected Veerapan, had he not been encountered. Now the Cartoons. I have shown them with this blog not because the cartoon are of a high artistic value but because they succeeded eminently in doing what Shri Aseem Trivedi set out to do: provoke anger and contempt. There is nothing remotely seditious about the cartoons and to invoke the outdated Anti Sedition Law is outrageous. The arrest and imprisonment of Shri Trivedi only shows that the corrupt political class is hitting back using the instruments of the state and when this happens we know that the end is in sight. A discredited political order tottering at the weight of its own monstrous inequities is struggling to regain the ground that is slipping from under its feet and in this I do not see any difference between the Congress and the BJP. I was surprised at the response of both Kiran Bedi and Arvind Khejriwal who in an oblique manner justified the arrest and imprisonment of Shrri Asseem Trivedi. I see this issue as one that frames an informed citizen's right to critique the politics of his land. He has not offended any religious or identity group and his depictions are not scandalous. I have a complaint. I personally dislike the use of animals as symbols of evil. In ome of the cartoons the lions of the Republic are replaced by jackals. I like Juno the Jackal of Karadi Tales and I made him the hero of a whole series of stories on which my daughter grew up and I strongly condemn the use of the animal is this disgusting way. The lions could have easily been replaced by a Gandhi topi wearing kletocrat and it would have been OK. Otherwise these cartoons do make a powerful impact on the viewer. I appeal to the authorities through my Blog to release Shri Trivedi. Even as I blog the news has trickled that Shri Aseem Trivedi has been released. I think he should continue his condemnation of a political system that reeks of crime, corruption and dynastic fascism.

THE COAL SCAM IN INDIA: A CORRUPT GOVERNMENT LOOTS THE COUNTRY

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books The 2 G Spectrum scan is still hanging like a cloud around the Congress led UPA Government and it has already claimed the heads of 2 central minister--Dayanidhi Maran and A Raja--both of whom belonged to a regional political party, the DMK. In Indian politics there is no such thing as a single author scam. It is very obvious that the highest summits of the political system which includes Sonia Gandhi and Man Mohan Singh had a hand in the scam but were clever enough to ensure that lesser mortal took the rap for it. Th coal scam is almost identical in its modus operandi, and the Congress Government is trying its best to wriggles out of the ever tightening noose around its neck. With 2 scandals with a net loss of nearly 20% of the GDP of the country, there will be a lot of froth flying thick everywhere. The problem with the UPA Government like the Bourbons of France is that they forget nothing and they learn nothing. From the 2 G Spectrum Scandal they must have learn that the auction route is the best way of allocating scare resources and ensure a hefty return to the state exchequer. However since political gratification is the objective, the UPA allocated 57 coal blocks in an arbitrary and non transparent. In the 2G Specrum Scam, A Raja could be sent to jail as he was a minister from a regional party and a dalit to boot. In the case of the Coal Scam the ministry was headed by the Prime Minister himself who retained the ministry under his direct charge. Now that the scandal has surfaced the Congress Party is trying its best to protect the Prime Minister and others who were involved in the decision making process. India has large reserves of coal and the state exchequer would have got nearly 15 billion US dollars had the auction route been taken. Instead prime coal mines were allocated to private parties which included Tata Power, Tata Steel,Essar Power Generation,Jindal Steel and many other power generating companies or steel plants. The criteria on which this allocation was made has not been spelled out. In the case of the 2 G Spectrum at least there was a fig leaf of objectivity in that the allocation was done on the basis of the first come first served basis. Even this lame defence is not available for the coal scam. As per the norms and procedure of the Government of India, the file for such major decisions has to be signed by the cabinet minister and only then it becomes operational. In the case of the Coal Scam the files were all signed by the Prime Minister in his capacity as the Coal Minister and hence he cannot now evade responsibility or accountability. The mines which were allotted to private parties are the most lucrative ones since they are all open mines and do not require too heavy an investment in infrastructure. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India in his Report submitted to Parliament has clearly stated that gross irregularities in procedure had taken plce causing a net loss of 1.86 lakh crores ruppees to the treasury of the people of INdia. The kind of Governance we have in India under the uPA aims at enriching the private players at the cost of the Government and obviously huge kick backs play a role in the formulation of such skewered policies. The principle opposition party the BJP has raised the issue in the highest democratic forum of the country, the LOK SABHA. Instead of answering the questions raised, the Prime Minster is indulg ing in cheap gimmicks when he stated in his defence that this was done to favor the opposition ruled states. It is only an accident that the coal rich states are presently under the BJP and the Congress is not known to have concern for anyone or institution except its "royal" dynasty. The coal ministry bureaucrats suggested public auction as the best method for pricing the coal blocks but it was blocked by the Prime Minster, just as was done in the case of the 2G Spectrum pricing. The effort now currently underway to amde the NDA responsible for the policy is untenable because the policy change was initiated only after the UPA GOvernment was formed in 2004. The Scandals which have undermined the present government will have their impact in the next election. The anti corruption movement led by Baba Ramdev is likely to create enough impact to tilt the balance in favor of the bJP in the next election. The 2014 elections can only be lost by the BJP due to political mismanagement and factionalism.

Ethnic Violence in Assam: Why the Congress is Responsible;e

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books Ethnic violence on a large scale has broken out in the North Eastern state of Assam, India. This state has witnessed frequent outbreaks of violence between indigenous tribal groups, the Bodos on the one hand and migrants from Bangla desh, Bengali Muslims on the other. The stast government which is controlled by the Congress Party which also is the dominant faction in the UPA, the coalition in power, has abetted in the illegal settlement of Bangla Deshis in the bordering districts, particularly Khokrajar District, as the Muslims tend to vote for the Congress Party. By playing on the fears of the illegal migrants and by pandering to identity politics of the worst kind the Congress has been able to remain in power. Tarun Gogoi, the presnt Chief Minister, was recently reelected to power. The indigenous tribal population is under increasing pressure and tribal lands are falling into the hands of the migrant population and Bodos feel threatened and vulnerable. The State Government is usually intervenes on the side of the migrant population. The border between India and Bangla Desh is extremely porous and large scale illegal immigration is taking place. The Central Government which signed an Accord with the All Assam Students Union which led an agitation against the illegal immigrants, some 20 years back, committed itself to the detection, deletion, and detention of illegal; immigrants from Bangla Desh. However, given the fact that India is a soft state, the Accord was not ever implemented and the situation has further escalated. The more militant among the Muslim migrants from Bangla Desh who receive arms and training from Pakistan have begun a campaign of terror against the Bodos. This is not to say that the Bodos are a peaceable lot. However, the Bodos are being symptomatically attacked and driven from their land and consequently more than 250,000 Bodos have been displaced from their villages and are living in refugee camps. Over the past 3 to 4 weeks a silent tragedy has been unfo9lding in Assam. Bodos are being evicted from their settlements and the Central Government is both unable and unwilling to do anything about it. The State Government as I said earlier is alo9s under the Congress and the Party relies on the votes of the illegal migrants and hence the state government is also quiet. Ethnic cleansing over large swathes of Bodo land has been taking place over the past 40 to 50 years and now the Bodos living in the very heartland of Bodoland, Khokrajar District, are being terrorized. Post Colonial states as V S Naipaul keeps reminding us ever so often are half made societies and are tethering on the brink of chaos. I think the people of Assam are paying dearly for their foolishness in voting the Congress Party to power ans Assam now is awash in blood and only the Congress is responsible for the violence and bloodshed.

When a Government loses Legitimacy: Corrupt Governments are illegitimata

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books Parliamentary Democracy is predicated upon a very delicate balance between public perception and the illusion of permanent power. Since the tenure of a President is fixed for a certain period of time by the Constitution, there cannot be too many question marks over the legitimacy of a President. This is not the case in a Parliamentary form of Government and more so in the case of India where the fist past the winning post system is in place. In the electoral battlefield, candidate resort to violence, intimidation,bribery, impersonation and other mal practices are employed in spite of the best efforts of the Election Commission. Ultimately candidates sit in the LOK SABHA with less than 15% of the valid votes polled. In the case of Mr P Chidambaram, the present Finance Minister of the Government of India, he was actually defeated and got the certificate of election by fraud and in all probability his election will be struck down. The legitimacy of the parliamentary process is already in doubt and so there is no harm in speaking of "illegitimacy" of the Government. In the Lok Sabha debate on the violence in Assam, Shri L K Advani a stems frosenior leader of the Opposition referred to the UPA-II as an "illegitimate government" and the sustained outrage of the Congress benches aided and instigated by Sonia Gandhi led to Advani withdrawing the remarks. While it was gracious of Shri L K Advani to withdraw the remarks, I would like to ask if his remarks were actually true and if there is truth in his remark why did he withdraw the remark. I think Shri L K Advani is making noises which may get his headlines but he is not helping in the gigantic task of getting rid of the two headed hydra--Sonia and Singh--who are ruling the country. The increase in the level of terrorism in India itself raises doubts the ability of the two headed hydra to govern. The ruthless Mumbai Attack of 26th November 2009 took place during the watch of the present government and India has made no progress in getting cooperation from Pakistan. Though Kasaab has been sentenced to death, a soft state like India is unlikely to have the political will to carry out the sentence. The Government has had no success in controlling domestic terrorism. Naxalite violence has only increased and CRPF soldiers are being killed by the dozens. In Dantewada incident alone 80 soldiers were killed. The main reason for the doubts on the legitimcy of the Government stems from the large scale corruption indulged in by the present regime. In the allocation of spectrun scandal, popularly known as the 2G scandal more than 8 to 10 billion US dollars were lost to the country and to make matters worse a senior minister Kapil Sibal even justified the loss saying that it was a zero loss to government.THis matter is pending before the Supreme Court of INdia. In the allocation of coal blocks for mining huge bribe were paid and the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has documented the loss to the exchequer. Then there are a host of smaller scams like the Adrash Scandal. The involvement of Congress politicians in serious crimes is another cause for concern. And the dynstic obsession of the Congress party which projects the higly inexperience and volatile Rahul Gandhi as the next Prime Minister of India raise question about the legitimacy of the regime in power. L K Advani was certainly right in condemning the regime as illegitimate.

Has ManMohan Singh underachieved or overachieved on the misgovernance front

The American News Magazine, Time, at least in its Asian Edition has shown the Prime Minister on the Front cover and has called him an "under achiever." Compared to Barack Obama who has been raining drones on the hapless people of Pakistan, Man Mohan Singh cannot be accused of war crimes and that is saying much. The Americans have neither the political or intellectual right to judge the Prime Minister of India when their own Government is carrying out a merciless war of extermination in Afghanistan. Having said the obvious truth, let me move on to Man Mohan Singh. The most remarkable feature about Man Mohan Singh is that he if featureless. By temperament he is a faceless bureaucrat and the dynastic fascist party has kept him there to keep the seat warm. A Prime minster without authority will be a liability to the political system and that is what has happened. He has to look behind his shoulders to keep his seat and hence the constitutional office he holds gets undermined everyday. In Prime Minister ManMohan Singh we have the strange situation of a political personage having to bear the responsibility for decisions he has neither made nor approved. Being a trained economist, Man Mohan Singh is certainly aware of the looming economic disaster, but he was not given the authority to do anything. Hence even the 6% growth is an "over achievement" and the PM must be complimented on it. In the political realm too, Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh does not en joy any clout. Left to himself he would jettison liabilities like Chidambaram. But he is forced to keep this man as "Home Minister" in spite of court cases and proven instances of high crimes and misdemeanors. When factional loyalties count more than service to the country or intellectual ability, you have the present scenario in which the Home Minister is the concerted target of the Opposition and the result is Man Mohan Singh is left holding the can. The Prime Minister does not have a free hand in deciding any major policy issue. And this suits the dynastic fascists well and they keep Man Mohan Singh in office. Man Mohan Singh is known to be personally honest, but the institutions under him turn out to be irredeemably corrupt. In the Narashima Rao Adminsitration, Man Mohan Singh as Finance Minister allowed the Harshad Mehta Scam to take place, but even the JPC which conducted the Inquiry was not allowed to call him as witness. Even now as Prime minister, Man Mohan Singh has allowed the 2G Spectrum Scam to take place right under his nose and yet the Prime Minister is being defended. The point is that Man Mohan Singh is not allowed to be the honest :darwan" or gatekeeper. Some crooks close to the ruling party/family are allowed to plunder the very garden this honest "darwan" is said to guard. The 2G Spectrum Scandal took place only because, the Prime Minister was not allowed to enforce the very decisions he took. Against this background, the very fact of survival is an achievement. The Time Magazine is against Man Mohan Singh because he allowed Mamta Banerjee to oppose FDI in the retail sector. Walmart was all set to invad3e India until the Calcutta Didi force the regime of Man Mohan Singh to slide back on the issue. Even with regard to Pakistan, Man Mohan Singh is playing politics. Pakistan has not yielded on a singlr issue and yet the regime of Mna Mohan Singh wants to improve relations with Kasaabistan. Apart from corruption and man administration, Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh has not achieved anything and in both these he is certainly an Over achiever.

Techie Killer from Cognizant; The Delaware murder and the Indian Techie

The Indian outsourcing Industry has already become a hot subject of debate in the American presidential elections. Obama keeps screaming that the Indians are taking away jobs from Americans and US companies are getting tax breaks for shipping "jobs" overseas. I do not know whether there is truth in this argument but I do know that the Indian "soft ware" industry is becoming too intense a space for some of the young people from backward social and economic classes to handle. Let me explain. Companies like the famous INFOSYS, Cognizant, TCS among others are all doing bit jobs for the US service sector; and of course it earns India nearly 169 billion US dollars every year. Young Indians straight out of college, most of them first generation educated from small towns study courses tailor msde for this sector: in Indian Universities we offer courses like MCA (Masters in Computer Applications) MS in Information Technology and B Tech Electrical and Electronic Engineering. All these courses are all body shop courses tailor made to qualify young Indians to work in the only growth sector in the Indian economy viz. the service sector more specifically the soft ware sector. The young men and women who enter the job market find themselves in secure jobs and they earn by Indian standards lots of money:cars, fast track life, pubs, night life are all part and parcel of the social life of a young Indian. In conservative India where marriages are still "arranged" with parents consent, the soft ware professionals are pioneers in "living together" and recently the Domestic Violence Bill was amended by the Indian parliament to ensure a semblance of legality to such live in relationships should they fracture and end in domestic abuse and violence. I am saying all this to drive home the argument that the ready and steady cash together with the target oriented stressed filled lives has resulted in "soft ware' professionals both men and women taking drugs and alcohol as stress busters. Add to this is the attraction of foreign travel and assignments. In my younger days we could dream of seeing the USA only if we went there for the Ph D program as I did. Nowadays "software" professionals travel quite easily to several locations during the course of the year. Stressed work atmosphere, fairly comfortable disposable income, limited education (by education I do not mean a degree from self financing institutions) and first generation up ward mobility particularly from the SC segment of the Indian population and the Backward sections has resulted in creating a personality which is driven vy violence. Software professionals kill in the most brutal and calculated manner. An employee of INFOSYS killed his wife when she was expecting their first child, another killed his wife and hid her body in a freezer for nearly 7 months another drove his car to the outskirts of Mysore and tried to burn his wifes body in the car itself. Such examples can be multiplied. Young semi-literate Indian men possessing MCA and such technical qualifications fill the high tech cubicles of the soft ware segment. From this benighted class we have one particular individual: Pawan Kumar Anjaiah an employee of Cognizant one of the several body shops of the Indian software industry. He was sent to New Jersey in March 2012 from Bangalore, Karnataka. Yes the very place that gave a new verb to American English "banglored" meaning losing the job because of out sourcing. This young man seems to have come from the typical lower middle class which is upwardly mobile has the right caste credentials to get Education loans, bank guarantees and socially engineered admission to Engineering Colleges. This man men a young American woman Danielle Melhalm who was a teacher in a school and the mother of a 4 year old boy. Apparently he was either infatuated with her or caught the wrong signals from this man. Pawan Kumar took her to a motel in Delaware and killed her in the most brutal manner. Her body bearing more than 30 stab injuries. This man bought s large meat cleaver from the local department store in the morning which clearly proves his intention to kill. He took her to the motel killed her and fled. The CCTV both in the Motel and in the Department Store caught his picture and soon the US law enforcement was on his trail. In India he would have called up a politically powerful MP from his OBC caste and the police would just ignore the crime. Probably he was used to this tradition of law enforcement. In any case when he heard from the local Television channel that the police had tracked him down he killed himself by consuming sleeping pills. This is the real story. The Indian media, as usual tried to black out the fact that Pawn was a criminal who had killed a woman. The media tried to make it appear as if an innocent Indian who had met an unfortunate death in the USA was being hounded by the authorities even after death. I am writing this blog to educate all my readers about the truth. My suggestions: US Embassy must do the background check on soft ware professionals. This particular boy has had a reputation of violence even in his college days. Companies sending their employees overseas must teach them the fundamentals of US culture. Americans interact in a different manner and semi-literate Indians might get the wrong cues.

The Judicial Coup in Pakistan

Pakistan at best is a state trying to imitate the protocols of democracy with all the external trappings: it has a written constitution, a bi-cameral legislature, a senate, a cabinet and a supreme court. In the history of Pakistan the Judiciary has at best played a passive role and has not stood up to the Army which is breathing down the necks of people. During the 1970s we saw the ugly spectacle of Shri Zulfikar Ali Bhutto being sentenced to death and hanged on ther most flimsy of grounds. The Pakistani Judiciary was nand in glove with Zia-ul-Naq's regime and carried out a judicial assasination. Till this day there are doubts about the legality of the process and until the Supreme Court overturns the Bhutto judgement it cannot be called "supreme". President Asaf Ali Zardari, the beneficiary of his wife's brutal killing is known to be corrupt and like our criminal politicians has stashed away money in Swiss banks. There is no doubt about that. However as President of Pakistan he does enjoy immunity from procecution and this principle of immunity is a well known aspect of political and legal theory. In fact the history of this principle goes back to the English Civil War when Cromwell decided to have Charles I executed for treason, high crimes and misdemenours. "Cut off his head with the crown on it" Cromwell is said to have remarked when his attention was drawn to the "immunity" enjoyed by the Crown. Now thew Prime Minister of Pakistan is responsible to Parliament and not to the Supreme Court. The chief Justice of Pakistan, Iktihar Choudhary is no stranger to factional and institutional squabbles. The same PPP which today has fallen victim to the judicial coup of the chief Justice supported the agitation for ther reinstatement of this Judge when he was sacked by the former Presideny thr wise and sagacious Parvez Musharaf, the best Presideny Pakistan has ever had. Now the PPP must be rueing its own stupidity when it is hoist on its own petard. Of course, action must be taken to bring back the ill gotten wealth and Pakistan could learn a lesson or two from India. Here we have a Mahatma called Baba Ramdev who is inspiring the people to fight corruption. In Pakistan the mad mullahs who run the country will not let any civil society movement take root. So you will only have army coups, judicial coups and palace coups in Pakistan. The removal of the Prime Minister Yousaf Ali Gelani will certainly weaken the roots of an already withering Democracy. The USA is launching drone strikes by the dozens against targets in Pakistan killing a large number of militants and scores of civilians. This judicial coup will only make matters worse for the political class.

THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS IN INDIA THE CONGRESS HAS LOST THE PLOT

The main reason which prompts the Congress Party to snap at the feet of Pranab Mukerjee is its obsession with dynastic fascism: when Indira Gandhi was eliminated by two Sikhs, Pranab Mukerjee was her Finance mInister and held the number 2 position in the Cabinet. He went up to Zail Singh and advanced his name for the Prime Ministership on the sould constitutional principle of precedent. When Indira Gandhi's father kicked the bucket, the number 2 in the Cabiner Shri Guzrilal Nanda was sworn in and the same thing happened when Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri met his untimely end in Tashkent. So Pranab Mukerjee was not upstaging anyone whern he advanced his name for the post of Prime Minister. However, the Gnani being a "loyal" courtier as indeed every Congressman is, had other ideas. He immediately had Rajiv Gandhi sworn in even though no election was held by the CPP the decide on the successor to Indira Gandhi. Such high drama preceded the appointment of Rajiv Gandhi. Result as expected: Pranab Mukerjee was dropped from the Cabinet and had to use all his Bengali wiles to inveighl himself back into the corridors of power. This is the record of the most distinguished Hon'ble Pranab Mukerjee. However, I must say that unlike most Congressmen Pranabda is well behaved, sober and articulate. In the last Presidential election the name of Pranab made the rounds but the Congress shot down the proposal by saying that the "services" of this man were needed in the Government. Translation: it is safer to have Pranab Mukerjee in the Cabinet than outside, a clear indication that the Dynasty does not support the most distinguished Congressman. This time around the ooalition of the Congress is extrmely weak and in all likelihood will fare very poorly in the next election. The Crown Prince of the Congress Party is like my Prince ( my pet cat is called Prince) not too good at anything and wants things to fall into his hands without any effort. Under his leadership the Congress is headed for a massive defeat. What keeps the hopes of the Courtiers in the party alive is that with a pliable President a wafer thin majority can be managed as the fake secular forces can come together to craft a coalition of convenience as it did in 2009. The massive fraud and corruption of the UPA regime would mean that it is headed for a total rout. Pranab Mukerjee will make a text book President and will go by the letter and spirit of the constitution and will not allow identity politics or politics of personal likes and dislikes to dictate his agenda. This aspect of his personality will not make him the first choice of the congress Party. Hence Mamta Banerjee and Mulayam Singh Yadava are actually doing the Dynasty a favor when they say that pranabda is not no their list of probable candidates for the post of President. Sonia Gandhi has put paid to the presidential ambitions of Pranabda by using mata and Mulayam to spike his chances. Hence there is no set back to the plans of the congress Party. This is exactly the scenario the Dynasty wants as it does not trust Pranab Mukerjee. A P J Abdul Kalam will make a good President. However the two Dravidian parties in his home state have yet to endorse his candidature. I think Hon'ble J Jayalalithaa, the Chief Minister, may be persuaded to support him which means that the corruption and violence infested DMK will not. However, P A Sangama has entered the field and his exit could be negotiated by offering him the Vice Presidency. Jaswant Singh, a Rajput aristorcrat has not the whit of a chance and he should just gracefully retire from the race. It will not be politically correct to offer the Vice Presidency to a Rajput at this stage The Mandal darkness still shrouds India.

CHIDAMBARAM ELCTORAL FRAUD CATCHES UP WITH HIM; HE MUST GO

In several of my blogs on this site I have predicted that the law will surely catch up with the "Home Minister" of India, Thiru P Chidambaram. I have in my several earlier blogs drawn attention to his misguided policies, his involvement in the 2G Spectrum Scam and his ridiculous handling of the Tlengana issue and of course, the declining law and order situation in India. His war on the tribal population of India called Green Hunt has already drawn flak from all sides. This vehti clad, Harvard returned Cettiyar from Tamil Nadu is supposed to look menacing with a pose of gun toting commandos following him. I saw on a Delhi-Chennai flight recently and believe me the man looks every inch a clown. And now the stritures from the court. Te case filed against P Chidambaram is simple and straightforward. In Sivangangai in the 2009 Lok Sabha election, Shri Raja Kanappan was in the lead in all the rounds of counting. At one stage.in the eleventh round of counting Kanappan had a lead of 35,000 votes. With this margin it is statistically impossible for one to make up, catch up and then lead. This statistical impossiblity was achieved by P Chidambaram when invalid votes were gathered together and counted as votes in favor of the Home Minister. P Chidambaram is an embarassment to thr doddering UPA regime and he has become a liability to the Government and Party. The involvement of his son in the Aircle-Maxis deal has been talked about and though Chidambaram may say "God Forgive them for they know not what they are doing" it is clear as daylight that the Fater-Son Duo are in it together. Karti is an AICC member and in the dynastic fascist Party called the Congress only familynties matter and no wonder the secular congress party attracts men like Chidambaram. The High Court rejected the petition of P Chidambaram and has ordered him to stand trial for electoral mal practices. Any self respecting politician would have resighned after having had his name stained in such a manner. The Home MInister Petition seeking discharge from the case has been rejected and all that Chidambaram says is that the verdict is a"setback" to the petitioner. In Tamil Nadu there is an earthy proverb which goes somewhat like this: A man falls is the worst muck possible and has filth all over him, gets up and declares to anyone who cares to listen that his moustouche is free of muck. Such is the defence of this dothi zero from Harvard. I think P Chidambaram must be sacked by the President even if Man Mohan singh does not have the courage to reccomend his dismissal. I have laready written several essays on the inevitability of P Chidambaram from this scam tainted Government. The politics of the Congress Party revolves around a dynasty and constant jostlimg between and within that faction ridden pafrty provide ther basis for survival in that Party. I cannot imagine even the communist parties--and they are straight from the Jurrasic Park--keeping a man like Chidambaram who is not an asset politically, intellectually or as is the case here electorally. Yet this man sits in the North Block as the Home Minister of India. With Home Ministers like Chidambaram who needs the Mumbai terrorists.

THE AMBEDKAR PANDIT NEHRU CARTOON

The cartoon illustrated above has created an uproar in Parliament with MPs cutting across party lines condemning the cartoon which was first published in 1949 in Shankaar's Weekly. The cartoon shows Pandit Nehru with a whip in his hand standing behind Dr B R Ambedkar who was then the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Constitution. The purpose of the cartoon was to draw attention to the long and inordinate delay in the drafting of the Constitution. Of course another more contemporary reading of the cartoon is possible in these post-colonial times. A high caste man like Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru whip in hand is threatening the Dalit leader, Dr B R Ambedkar. I must say that Dr B R Ambedkar stood miles above Jawarlal Nehru in intellectual stature and showing Ambedkar sitting on a snail with Nehru behind him holding a whip can be construed today as demeaning depiction though this was not the intention of the cartoon when it was published more than six decades back. I can understand our illiterate MPs shouting in Parliament as they were interested in diverting the attention from more important issues. However, the Indian public intellectual and academics do not come off too well in the episode either. A few years back when Arjun Singh was the Education Minister the NCERT books prepared during the NDA Administration were "detoxified" meaning that an ideologically tinged view of history and politics was introduced in the writing of the textbooks. Excecutive intervention was sought by the like of Yogender Yadava, Romila Thapar and K N Panikar to rid the textbooks of what they in their personal opinion considered "saffron" version of history. Having allowed the state to intervene in the process of textbook creATION, NOW THEY CANNOT CRY FOUL. Kapil Sibal immediately announced the removal of the offending cartoon and constituted another sarkari committee to whet the remaining textbooks. The Indian academic must learn that he or she cannot be selective in dealing with the students and the curriculum. Having allowed the Government to intervene in the process of textbook writing and using political muscle to mandate a point of view that is closely related to the Congress perception of politics and society, the affected academics cannot now declare that academic freedom is being curtailed. Academic freedom was lost the day the govenrment starts appointing its henchmen to write textbooks and makes men like Yogender Yadava the demi god of a dsicipline.

CAN CHIDAMBARAM GET AWAY BY QUOTING CHRIST: A CASE OF THE DEVIL QUOTING THE SCRIPTURE

P Chidambaram the "Home Minister" of India has become the source of acute embarassment to an already tottering regime. His Anti Terrrism Centrer failed to take off, not becaust the State Governments did not think that there was a need for a counter terrorism center, but because of the absolute lack of credibility enjoyed by P Chidambaram. At the barest minimum, the Home Minister of India is a tall political personality like Vallbhahi Patel or even L K Advani. Two former Home Minister of India have even become Prime Ministers: Guzrilal Nanda and Charan Singh. P Chidambaram lacks political stature as he was defeated in the last Lok Sabha elections from Sivagangai constituency and got the certificate through fraud. The Hon'ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu refuses to engage with P Chidambaram as a political figure primarily due to the legitimacy of his election. The UPA regime has devalued the position of the Home MInister by appointing politcal zeroes to that position. Shivaraj Patil who was defeated fro Latur was made Home Minister and his sartorial elegance was the only thing that this man is remembered for. Chidambaram does not even have satorial elegznce. His Tamil style veshti and tight fitting shirt makes him look ridiculous and with gun toting cammandos follwing him he does not enen appear menacing,a s he ought to' Chidambaram is in the news all for the wrong reasons. His December 9th statement ignited the fire in Telengana nd it is raging since. His particiapation in the 2 G Spectrum Scandal has become well known and the March 25th Note only reinforces public perception that P Chidambatram is certainly guilty of wrong doing. If Dr Subramaniam Swamy has been making wild and baseless allegatins as claimed by Chidambaram then let him sue the harvard educated lawyer in Court. The fact that Chidambaram duck a toe to toe confrontation with Swamy itself shows that there is something amiss in the S[ectrum deal and the Government has not been able to come clean on that issue. The BJP being the principle opposition party can raise the issue of Spectrum, the Arilcel_Maxis deal in which the son of Chidambaram also figures. In parliament Chidambaram said: God forgive them for they know not what they are doing. These words uttered by our Lord and Saviour as he suffered for our sins on the Cross uttered the moment before life fled are extremely significant for a Christian. The criminal party called Congress whc=ich pratices fake secularism has made it its right to insult religious beliefs. How can this fellow called Chidambaram, a Home Minister be may be by default, equate himself with our Lord and Saviour. He has insulted Christian beleifs by quoting the immortal words of Christ in defence of him misconduct with regard to the Spectrum Scandal. All Christian organisations must condemn the implied equvalence between this dhoti clam Hravard lawyer and our Lord and Saviour. I say to Chidambaram indulge in your sky high corruption but do not drag the blameless name of Christ and do not take the name of our Saviour in vain.

THE KILLING OF CPM ACTIVIST IN GOD'S OWN COUNTRY: KERALA POLITICS IS TURNING VIOLENT

Shri T P Chandrasekharan, an activists of the CPM and a follower of V S Achutanandan, the former Chief Misister of Kerala was brutally killed near Calicut yesterday. The life and death of this 51 year old Party activist illustrates the perils of Indiasn political life. By all accounts this man was a committed party worker who joined the Student Federation of India and rose through the ranks. Extremely popular with grass roots workers, this activist had built up a following for himself in the Communist stronghol;d of Onchiyam. In the recent polls his Revolutionary Marxist Party won the Panchayat polls and this seems to have alarmed the faction led by Pinyari Vijayan. Even the Congress Home Minister of Kerala T Radhkrishnan has hinted at the involvement of the Pinyari Vijayan faction in the killing. The CPM and the Muslim League both practice the politics of violence in Kerala with great abandon. Who can ever forget the brutasl killing of Balkrishna, the schoolmaster who was killed in front of his students in the classroom about a decade back. The highly politisised nature of Kerala society has led to a situation in whcih political violence has become the tool for maintaining control over the cadres. The frequent hartals and strikes have given Kerala the reputation of being a state on the brink of anarchy. I cannot understand why politics cannot be conducted in a civilised manner in Kerala. I must say that Tamil Nadu too is given to violence. Shri T P Chnadrasekaaran was travelling on his two wheeler when 3 or 4 men armed with country bombs and sharp weapons waylaind him and hacked him to death. One more loyal party worker was sacrificed on the red altar and I am sure that within days there will be a retaliatory killing and the spiral of violence will spin out of control like what is happening in Rayalseema, Andhra Pradesh. Political parties which patronise criminals like the Congress party, the Communist factions and other parties must be banned from the Indian political scene.

UGC's API SCORE ARE A FRAUD: INDIAN EDUCATION IS BEING UNDERMINED

The UGC is the nodal body that regulates Higher Education in India by manipulating the fund flow. The mandate of the UGC does not exceed beyond dsibursement of grants and settlement of University accounts and yet over the years has inveigled itself into every aspect of University life in India. Even the Ministry of Higher Education defers to the UGC on matters relating to finance, policy, academic appointments, service conditions of teachers and scores of other issues. The result is unmitigated chaos in the field of higher education. An imaginative and energetic Vice Chancellor can ceratinly work creatively within the confines of the UGC system, but by and large the gargantuan bureaucracy of the UGC is so stifiling that VC's just give up.

The fate of teachers caught in the jaws of the UGC is far worse. The UGC is very good at devicing policies that are self defeating. For example a few years back they relaxed the NET requrement for just 6 months obviously to help some interested persons. The NET which is a nation wide eligiblity test seems to have lost somne of its sheen as certain selct centers seem to generate extremely good results. The shift to OMR based assessment from this May exam seems to be a step in the right direction but whether it would test a candidate's understanding of thge theorectical aspects of the discipline is open to question. The concerns of state universities are not addressed at all. Now that the NAAC assessment has become more or less mandatory for getting UGC funding, it is time to make the process of decision making more transparent. The NAAC had an extrmely notorious criminal as its chairman about a decade back and it is time to have people in palce who can lead higher education.
The UGC recently introduced the API scoring system for assessing teachers in institutions of higher education. In no other part of the world do we have such a barbaric scheme of assessing intelletual workers. Instead of encouraging quality teachiung, which the need of the hour, the API scores are apportioned for (a) attending conferences/seminas (b) taking part in consultacy (c) participating in public private initiatives (d) publications and (e) extra mural activities. If scores are givrn for participation in National and Internatiional seminars, there is a strong temptation for teachers to neglect class room teachiung in order to acquire a "participation certificate" usually by proxy. We reached a situation in which faculty members are rewared for everything except teaching which I assume to be the fundamental job of faculty members. Publications are a whole new ball game. Papers canibalised fromn the  term papers and seminar papers are endlessly recycled and faculty members get points for this chartade. India does not rank anywhere in terms of knowledge generation and by encouraging "publication" at the cost of teaching the UGC has embarked on a self defeating policy.

Univrsities in India are at the cross roads. Under imaginative leadership such as the one in the University where I teach, the institutions can change for the better. In most Universities education has become purely notional.

Bangaru Laxman and the Thehelka Scam: Th as it is illegale Conviction will be overthrown

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books Bangaru Laxman, the Dalit face of the BJP, was trapped by a Congress friendly mediam outfit called Thelka accepting cash to the tune of Rs 100,000 for favouring an entity called Westland. It turns out that there was no such defence deal and that ther whole episode caught on camera was only play acting. Corruptiuon as defined by the law involves giving a bribe to a public servant for obtaining tangible gains. When there was no deal and the reporters were only pretending to be defence contractors then no publiic interest was affected in the whole fictitious transaction. In fact if Bangaru Laxman can be convicted then the 2 journalists involved must also be proscecuted for induling in bribery of a public funtionary. I think the whole episode reeks of entrapment and Bangaru Laxman, though not innocent certainly cannot be called the only guilty party. It appears that the quantum of punishment was set high so as to deny him bail. I feel such vicious political proscecution will undermine peoples faith in the judiciary which must be seen to be above board. Now contrast this to the Bofors case. In that case, it has been established above any reasonable doubt that bibes were givnen in the form of " winding up charges' to the tune of 64 crores. It is known from investigation from Sweden, India, Switzerland and other parts of the world that the money trail led to Quatrrochi, an Italian known to be close to the resident non-Indian first Dynasty of India, the Gandhis. Yet, the CBI being a piable politicasl tool did not conduct any reasonable and sustained investigation so much so that after 25 years not a single conviction has taken place. Furtehr even in the 1984 anti Sikh riots organised by the cngress party, the CBI has been able to file the charge sheet against Sajjan Kumar only last month. This shows that the CBI operates on the basis of political pressure. When there is a real and tangible case of corruption then the CBI and the Courts are unable to act. However when there is no case of corruption based on public interest as is the case with the bangaru Laxman episode the CBI and the coutrs are quick to convict. Bangaru Laxman incriminated himself and self incrimination is not admissible evidence. Furtehr, the Courts must be sure that public interest was affected by the act of bribe taking. In this case no public ionterest was affected as there was no defence deal. Henc there was no corruption. Entrapment is not a judicially permissible method of evidence gathering. Laxman at best was guilty of an indiscretion and I wonder why the Thelka "journalists" are not brought into the judicial priocess as "bribe givers". In this case we have judicial overreach. Thelka thinks that the Abhishek Manu Singvi CD is not evidence of misconduct as they want to protect the image of their paymasters, the Congress, while pioor Bangaru Laxman is found guilty. I venture to say that this judgement will be set aside during the appeal. Why is it that only dalit and tribal politicians are convicted. We have Raja, Madhu Koda, now Bangaru Laxman all of whom belong either to the SC or ST category. A Karunanidhi or Sonia Gandhi seem to be above the reach of law.

Seedy Congressmen, CDs and the slime of Indian dynastic Politics

Congressmen are known to be corpulent, corrupt and criminal and yet our countrymen will continue to vote for them. A fee days back Mahipal Sigh and Manders both Congressmen from the same state of Rajasthan to which late L M Singvi's son Abhshek Manu Singhvi belongs were in the news for the wrong reasons. A seedy CD was tbhe reason. When the 3 BJP MLAs from Karnataka were caught peehin at what appeared to be salicious scenes, the Congressmen went to town demanding action against the 3 politicians. They were not caught with their pants down like this congrssman called Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi. The BJP, factiona ridden and likje a striken monster unable to think is as usual letting slip this important scandal. I think bnecause Singhvi is personally close to Hon'ble Arun Jaitley, the BJP is not attacking the Congress over the issue. Even the articulate spokeswoman, Nirmala, is unusually quiet over this scandal. I think the BJP must move a resolution to have Manu Singvi's membership of the Rajya Sabha terminated and should not take the heat offt his scandal.n fact with Hon'ble Narendar Modi vindicated, the BJP can draw huge electoral gains by attacking the congressmen on the conduct front. Unlike the other infamous Congressman, N D Tewari whose sexapades were caught in full camera glare, there is still no word from the seedy Congressman about what he was doing with the married lady lawyer. The rumour that a position on the bench was being talked about as the return for the favour bestowed makes this scandal a political dynamite and the BJP cannot let the heat off even for a moment. Therefore this particular scandal involving a seedy Congressman and a CD is far owrse than the N D Tewari affaire. A full investigation is needed. Manu Singhvi's driver of 25 years has been made to take the rap for the seedy CD. Nothing can be far from the truth. That man is just too old and too much of a loyal naukar in the north Indian sense of the term to do anything so siister. Why does the police not book a case against him on the basis of Manu Singvi's statement in the Court which enable him to an injunction against the distribution of the seedy CD. Unfortunately for this seedy Congressman, the internet does not obej Court injunctions as US web sites carry the offending CD and can easily be viewed by anyone interested in the criminality of the dynastic fascists who are ruining this country. The BJP must bring a privilege motion against this man and have him expelled from the Rajya Sabha. This courtier is known to be close to the dynasty hence he must be scalped.

Agni Missile does little to enhance Indian security

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books The early morning launch of the Agni V missile from the Wheeler Rocket Launcing base has been hailed as a great strategic breakthrough by self styled "defence experts" and "secuity analysts". The reginme in power has a stable of "tele intellectuals" who will justify each and every mistake of the Congress dominated UPA regime. Not one of them asks the question: How does the possession of the intermediate range inter continental ballistic missile capability help or enhance Indian security. I think for purely ideological reasons some self styled experts like Bharat Karnad who want India to embrace the US strategic doctrine vis a vis China are hailing the launch as a major security boost. Nothing can be more far from the truth than the delusion that ICSMs help India deter China. The reginme sponsored "strategists" want to use the non existent threat from China to drive India into the deadly embrace of the USA. The range of the missile is around 5000 kms which means that much of China is actually not in the range of the missile. This missile is only an empty gesture of provocation by projecting China as threat. China does show its disdain from time to time and that is an expected reaction from a great power which no longer sees India as a rival or even as a threat but only as hired gun slinger for the USA. By taking the US strategic doctrine which posits China as a threat, India is making a grave mistake because the interests of the US and India do not converge. USA will always use Pakistan as its proxy and it is not worth the while for India to treat China as an adversary. India's difficulties with China are purely bilateral and there is no need for India to jump on to the American divide in order to settle its bilateral issues with China. On the contrary, China has shown great statesmanship in dealing with India and by using the Tibetan Independence issue to annoy China, India is not doing its national security or interests any good. China does not need missiles to punish India. And India does not have the political strangth to use its missiles against Chia. In fact the USA will [put pressure on India to "show restarit" and India will as ususal make virtue of neccisity. So in what way does this 5000km rage missile contibute to Indian security. Against Iran, India is again making a grave mistake by taking the American argument that Iranian nuclear ambitions are a threat to the region. Iran is only reacting to Israel and it is a well known fact that Israel has nuclear capability. Any regional peace plan must recognise the Israeli capability as well. China will soon emerge as the world's largest economy and India has a lot to learn from the Chinese experience. Even in human rights I think China has a better track record than some Indian states. Chinese universities have become the cynosure of the world and India cannot hope to catch up for decades to come. Instead of just aping the US let India rethink its strategic options.

The importance of being Shah Rukh Khan

The United States has a policy of subjecting all foreign nationals with suspicious sounding names to a very close body scan, check. I do not endorse this policy and so I choose not to travel to the USA. I was educated there and have had a few invitations to lecture in some rather good Universities. Not Yale, of course. Shah Rukh Khan who made a film about the US preoccupation with security called My Name is Khan make it a habit to travel to the US and he gets hauled up at the Airport and he makes the whole country i. e. India believe that the prestige of India is damaged because of the security check he undergoes. The US State Department issues a perfunctory "apology" and the matter forgotten until the next episode of Shah Rukh Kan at the US airport. I think this third rate India actor should realize that he neither represents Muslims nor India and the US immigration officials are only doing their job and if he has any issues with it he can just refuse to travel to the USA and cause such a huge embarrassment to the country. He is only a private citizen and when the Government of India bends backward to assuage his ruffled sensitivities, the country is outraged.Shah Rukh Khan can stay at home and smoke his cigarettes and keep out of trouble both for himself and the country. I think it is high time India said that Shah Rukh Khans of the world are not representatives of India and if Airport authorities detain him for questioning, then they are only doing the job for which they are paid. India has evolved a VIP culture and USA is still by and large free from that taint. In India Shah Rukh Khan can strut about and Indians will applaud him. Fortunately Americans are not enamored of the VIP culture.

Hon'ble Narendar Modi Stands Vindicated

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books

Since 2002, the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendar Modi, has been battling charges ranging from criminal conspiracy, rioting, instigation to violence, abetment to murder and a host of imagined atrocities he is supposed to have committed. In the entire history of India no Chief Minister has had such a tough agni pariksha, a trial by fire. And the Hon'ble Chief Minister has come out unscathed. Witnesses were tutored, statements were fabricated, evidence manufactured, police officers dragooned into the campaign, but all these conspiracies fell by the wayside. The Special Investigation Team appointed by the Court has stated that there is not a shadow of doubt about the innocence of Hon'ble Narendar Modi. My question is quite simple: Sonia Gandhi called him a "merchant of death" (moth ka saugagar). Where was she when 15,000 Sikhs were massacred on the streets of New Delhi when her late husband Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister and Congress goons ( in fact every Congressman is indeed a goon) went from street to street armed with the electoral rolls and pulled out Sikh men and mercilessly killed them. I have another question: Why did the Congress shield all the criminals involved and even appointed the ring leaders to important cabinet positions. Why was the investigation so shoddy that not a single convictions has been secured in spite of major Commissions of Inquiry. I think the answer is also simple: Congress is a violent dynasty obsessed party and it protected its goons and I am somewhat surprised that Atal Behari Vajpeyee did not reopen this issue when they had the opportunity.

Hon'ble Narendar Modi has repeatedly won the elections in Gujarat and even the Muslim population of Gujarat seems to have reposed its trust in him. The Congress brand of identity politics has lost ground in Gujarat and therefore under the compulsions of electoral politics the party tries to keep hounding him and Modi always bounces back looking smarter than ever before. When the Courts have found no evidence to even summmon Hon'ble Narendar Mosi I am somewhat shocked to see that Congress courtiers always bring up the alleged complicity of Modi in the post Godhra riots. As for as the Congress MP who was killed in the Housing Society incident, it is well known that he had a terrible reputation and his own enemies in the so called Congress party may have used the riots to have his butchered and Congressmen are known to indulge in factional fighting.

Teesta Setavad has been convicted of perjury in the Best Bakery Case in which she was found guilt of influencing the testimony of the witness. With sucgh a record the Bar Council of India should have debarred her but she still soldiers on spewing venom against the Chief Minister from Evey Television channel. The Hob'ble Chief Minister has been proven innocent and it is absolutely criminal pon the part of anyone to claim that he is implicated in the post Goshra riots. I agree that the Hon'b;le Chief Minsister has unconventional methods of dealing with organised crime, but his methods of course are effective. Gujarat has emerged as the fastest growing state in India, and the infrastructure and power situation are the envy of the nation. The rapid strides made in the field of solar energy makes Gujarat a pioneer and you have just to take a look at the mess in Rajasthan to understand where Gujarat stands in this field. Law and Order are of course on track and there are no major incidents of atrocities on tribal and SCs in the state. The Congress brand of politics hinged on the manufacture of communal violence and the state had paid a heavy price for that. Since Modi came to power, the Congress brand of street fascism has been checked and we have no one but the Hon'ble Chief Minister to thank for that. In spite of all this, Modi carries the Cross of Godhra and it will take him some more effort to wipe the stains off. Already the judicial verdicts have given an immense boost to his national standing and I hope that the faction ridden BJP closes ranks around the Hon'ble Chief Minister.

One last point. Gujarat is perhaps the only state where the Chief Minister is not corrupt, his ministers and officers are afraid of corruption and there is a modicum of moral authority.

India is a soft state and hence cannot carry out the death sentence

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books

India became a soft state the day Nehru in his utter stupidity sated on the day Gandhi was shot that his assassin was a "hindu". This silly but devilishly perverse statement of Nehru introduced an element of ;communal ism: in the judicial process of India. Forever more the religious identity of the perpetrator of the crime became a mitigating factor in the execution of the judicial sentence. Shri Nathuram Godse was killed by Independent India solely because Nehu had decided that his Hindu identity made him far more culpable of the crime than anyother identity. Nearly 60 laong years later India is still to overcome the Nehruvian trap that makes the judician sentence hostage to the religious or ethnic identity of the convict. Among the many horrible things that Nehru was guilty of this is perhaps the worst.

Cut to the present. Nehru's grandson (given the dynastic fascism inherent in India the dynsty too pays for the crimes of the patriarch) was killed by a group of radical Tamils who were probably close to a faction within the Tamil nadu Congress. I cannot imagine how all the bigwigs of the party arrived only after the deed was done. They seem to have had prior information of the killing and hence carefully avoided shadowing him. The 3 killers of Rajiv Gandhi cannot be hanged because their ethnic identity as Tamil protects them. It is ironic that the grandfather of Rajiv Gandhi was primarily responsible for introducing the principle that a crime became serious or less serious depending on the identity of the criminal. The very parties that arranged to have Rajiv Gandhi eliminated are now sharing power in New Delhi and along with power they also share pelf and so the killers cannot be executed even though the Supreme Court has upheld the verdict and the President of India has rejected the mercy petition.

Now take he case of Rajoana, the convicted killer of Beant Singh, sometime chief minister of Punjab. The fact that the Congress Party organised the largest massacre of innocent citizens soon after the untimely death of Indira Gandhi has to be borne in mind while deciding the fate of this man. He has said that the sole motive for killing the Congress Chief Minister was to extract revenge for the 1984 anti Sikh Massacre in which Congress Party and its goons killed nearly15,000 Sikhs in New Delhi alone. This criminal organisation went on to appoint the ring leaders like Jagdsish Tytler and H K L Bhagat ministers in the Union Cabinet. So much for the so called secularism of the Congress Party. (The day the Congress Party is declared an illegal organisation and banned will be the day India can stand proud). Shri Rajoana did not plead for mercy from the criminals who carried out the worst atrocity in the history of Independent India. Quite rightly the death sentence cannot be carried out.

Do you think Kasaab will be hanged. I do not think so. The UPA may not give him their Bharat Ratna but I do not think the soft state like India can carry out this sentence either. Bad precedents have been set and the net result is that every political assasination is now hostage to a powerful identity based group in the political process. The Tamils think that Rajiv Gandhis killers represnt their "racial" pride, the Sikhs think that Shri Rajaona waged war for the self respect of the "panth" and I will not be surprised if Kasaab too like Afzal Guru finds supporters.

SHOULD GENERAL V K SINGH BE SACKED

The Chief of the Indian Army, General V K Sngh is acting in a highly irresponsible manner when he makes allegations against the civilian leadership on a daily basis. This is not to say that the bureaucracy is not withoutits fault. For too long the top brass has had to siddle up to the officers of the Defence Ministry in order to protect their interests and in the process the whole structure of civil-mlitary relations has come unstuck. Further, ever since the Bofors deal, corruption on a gigantic scale has been taking place in the procurement of equipment and aircraft for the Indian Armed Forces. Unfortunately, the Defence Ministry has institutionalised corruption and even A K Anthony who is said to be fairly straightforward is unwilling or unable to do anything about it. It is time to have a rethink on the whole question of procedure for defence procurement. Even serving Army, Navy and Airforce officers act as agents for defence suppliers thereby muddying the waters, General V K Singh knows about al this but chose tokeep quiet until the very last leg of his term as Chief of the Arny Staff. His eloquence at this statge is not to be viewed as a patriot out to do good to his country, but rather as a frustrated man venting his spleen at all and sundry. If he is happy bringing out a scandal a day let him do so. The question is: What did he do as Army Chief to stem the rot. The answer to the question is simple: He did nothing. He was part and parcel of a corrupt organisation though he himself may have been very circumspect.

General V K Singh has exceeded all limits in his tirade against the civilian leadership. We know that the MOD is stuffed with agents, crooks, double dealing criminals and what not. We do not need General Singh to tell us that. After losing his battle on the age issue with the Government he has opened up not just a second front but a whole series of skirmishes with the Government. The BJP which has jumped into the fray with alacrity should ponder over the conseqiences of Sinhg's actions. I think supporting V K Singh may not be in the political interest of the BJP though it certainly embarasses the Government

The Government of India, rocked as it is by a blizzard of scandals does not have the moral authority to dao anything and the man refuses to go quietly. He must be shown the door otherwise the civil-military relations will be dameged beyond repait. The actions of General Singh in writing to the Prime Minister, bypassing the chain of command, raking up old scandals whose only purpose is to create confusion constitute misconduct and indiscipline and the Govenment must reduce Singh in rank and turn him out.