Resolution 2009: Go for People's Government

Resolution 2009: Go for People's Government
By Seema Mustafa

It is election year and the political parties are frantically counting the eggs in their respective baskets. The Congress is particularly happy that it has emerged unscathed from the Mumbai terror attack, not through action, but through manipulation. The BJP is looking at the elections results in Jammu through the Amarnath prism and is now positive that communalism and divisiveness is the only agenda that works for it. The regional parties are working out the vagaries of the vote bank, sizing up their rivals, and talking to everybody for possible alliances.

The English media, electronic and print, has decided to recognize no other party but the Congress and the BJP. The regional leaders are either branded as corrupt and opportunistic or ridiculed or both. The Left is attacked from every quarter, and the third front as an option so scares the corporate owners of the media that it is not even mentioned as a desirable. On the other hand, the BJP and Congress top brass are treated with a reverence that is almost nauseating, more so when one or the other is in government. The BJP was lulled into thinking it would sweep the elections last time, and this time around it is the Congress that has popped the media pill for blissful hallucinations.

Interestingly, the regional parties are treated like dirt by the ruling elite surrounding the BJP or Congress governments until and unless they have found acceptance by allying with one or the other of the extreme right and right wing parties. RJD's Lalu Prasad Yadav, at the height of his popularity with the people at one time, was the butt of deep ridicule with the media openly laughing at him for every word he spoke. But no sooner did the RJD join the Congress, that Lalu became a top favourite, his style hailed by the elite as "sooo cute", and overnight the rustic man became an urban hero. The corruption that he had been pilloried for became a non-issue and today when he is losing support in his state, he is portrayed as a highly successful leader.

Mayawati is the new kid on the block with the ruling elite in particular speaking of her corruption. Even a suggestion that she could become the Prime Minister is met with horrified, "has this country gone mad" as everyone in a Delhi drawing room starts sharing stories of her corruption. It took a hardened activist, working for years in the villages of eastern Uttar Pradesh, and definitely not a BSP loyalist to point out, "you see her corruption, I see Congress leaders who are even more corrupt. But I see that for the past one year there has not been a single lathi charge in UP against the SC's and ST's at any level, I see that UP is the only government to have appointed Advisasis in forest rights committees….all this to my mind are achievements. But you talk of Mayawati's corruption, and keep silent about the others ruling you today."

Bofors is a story that has not gone away. Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi has got away as have his benefactors in New Delhi. Those who wrote about it were even branded as anti-national, as there is this vested class (for want of another description) that has come into existence over the years and protects the elite in power. This comprises journalists, retired bureaucrats many of whom are passed as security experts, some professors, artistes and of course industrialists who work with and off the system and protect the politicians from the BJP or the Congress ---depending on who is in power---with a fervour and zeal that is really quite unique. In fact these are the votaries of a two party system and remain largely in place whether a Congress led government is in power, or one led by the BJP. What scares them, and drives them into panic mode, is talk of a third front as here their control does not exist. And then can see their hold over the system slipping. The regional parties are fine so long as they work under the BJP or the Congress, and do not make their presence felt beyond state considerations.

Corruption is eating into the vitals of our country. Bofors was just the first story where it was clear that kickbacks had been paid and that late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi had used his clout to move, or stop, files. And that Quattrocchi, a close friend of Sonia Gandhi's from Italy, had grown in business from one little room to a huge office space in Connaught Place and had received a fairly handsome sum of the Bofors money. But since then corruption has hit us where it hurts several times over. In more recent years, Kargil was evidence to the fact that our soldiers were not even properly equipped for combat at the heights. And that ministers in power were instead more interested in the kickbacks they could get over a coffin contract for the soldiers killed in the conflict with Pakistan. Now again the Mumbai terror attack has exposed not just the inefficiency of the security apparatus, starting from the top in Delhi, but also the fact that our anti terror squads do not even have proper bullet proof jackets and helmets, and our NSG commandos do not have a dedicated aircraft. These are all small ticket items, and the ministers are more interested in the money that can be got from the huge deals in defence and civil aviation for instance.

It is well known that India, despite being one of the biggest defence buyers today, ends up paying through its teeth instead of getting good deals from Israel, Russia and others. Why? The answer from defence officials is categorical, "because we are so b….. dishonest, we will buy anything at any price so long as we are paid handsomely under the table." In Goa, the police is making the most of the terror threat to extort money from the young people who decided to spend their winter holidays there. This columnist knows of at least two young groups who ended up paying several thousand of rupees to the police, who followed them to their guest houses threatening to book them under stringent laws if they did not pay up.

The real issues are that of security…economic, political and strategic. Security from hunger, security from political exploitation, security from police victimisation. Today the main political parties being feted and back rubbed by the elite in Delhi have not even tried to ensure this, and over the past ten years in particular India has been virtually divided into two worlds, each disconnected from the other. There is one of the poor where food, education, health are wants that are not even addressed. There is another of the rich where black money is pouring out of the refrigerators. There is a world where religion and caste is used to terrorise and oppress, where the poor trying even to speak their rights are subjected to the worst kind of state terror and live in complete fear and darkness. And then there is another where the chattering classes pat each others backs, shop at the swanky malls and take holidays in Switzerland and Washington. In Delhi, for instance huge acres of land have been sold for hotels and shopping malls but not even a bigha has been provided for a government hospital, or a government school.

The New Year will be happy if the people---neglected and oppressed---exercise their franchise with care and are able to bring in a government that is responsive and sensitive to their aspirations, that provides them with dignity and respect, that makes them secure in their freedom and in their right to life. That believes in unity and not divisiveness, and that takes the focus away from war and conflict and caste and religion to unity and peace.

Israel's New Year Gift

Israel's New Year Gift
By Mubasshir Mushtaq

Israel, the world's only country with no internationally-declared borders, has begun the deadly dance of death and destruction in Gaza city which is located in 1.5 million strong Gaza strip, the world's most densely populated area. As Israel prepares for a long haul with tanks massed along the Gaza after the aerial strikes, the official silence of Egypt and Jordan has resulted in mental agony for the hapless Palestinians. Palestinians have been betrayed not only by Israel alone but by their "own" people. This fact can be gauged from Egyptian government's decision to seal its border along the Gaza strip at Rafah Crossing thus aggravating the humanitarian crisis fuelled by a country whose does not believe in human rights. Israel is the only country in the world which has violated the maximum number of United Nations' resolutions since it came into existence in November 1948 with the help of a United Nation's resolution!

Israel's history of complete disregard to human rights and international law will put any human being to shame. Five years ago, Rachel Corrie, an American human rights activist with International Solidarity Movement was crushed to death by an armoured Israeli bulldozer as she was protesting against the destruction of Palestinian homes in Gaza strip.

The current situation was propelled by an economic blockade by Israel two months ago as a response to what it says "rocket and mortar fire" by Hamas, the ruling militant organization in Gaza strip. An Egyptian-brokered peace truce between Israel and Hamas was broken ten days ago. This situation was exploited by Israel to intensify an already existent economic blockade thus making ordinary life miserable. Just a day before the Israeli offensive, Rami Almeghari, a lecturer of Islamic University of Gaza could not find bread in Gaza! An empty stomach has a right not only to hunger but anger as well. It is in this context that Hamas rocket attack into Southern Israel must be interpreted.

BBC reported on November 13 that "Gaza may be without United Nations food aid from November 15 after Israel has refused to allow in emergency supplies." The Israeli blockade was not merely economic but academic as well. 27-year old Belal Bedwan, a resident of Nuseirat Refugee Camp in Central Gaza told BBC that he had twice missed the chance to study abroad since he was not allowed to move out of Gaza although he had got admission in Malaysian University as late as July 2008! "The Israelis stopped me leaving Erez in the north and the Egyptians stopped me at Rafah in the south," he had told BBC.

A Palestinian noise is never heard through voice. Al-Qassam rockets are the only means to draw the world's attention.Shifa hospital, where most of the injured are being treated does not have adequate medical wares. Laila El-Haddad, a Gaza-based journalist wrote that medical supplies like face masks, surgical gloves, gowns etc. are in short supply.

She wrote that the heading in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz 'Over 50 targets by 60 warplanes' sounds like a "movie tagline or a game." She sarcastically termed the Israeli offensive as "Neatly packaged war in a gift-box."

Among 300 dead bodies, there are at least 20 children. Perhaps this war is the Jewish states' New Year gift to a Palestinian mother. Israeli has lost one war against Lebanon's Hezbullah in 2006. Israel will lose this war against democratically-elected Hamas again because the days of age-old saying 'Might is right' are dead. Israel may win this battle but it will lose the war. An increasing number of non-Muslims are raising their voice against the Israeli barbarism.

An American Christian had this to say in a letter to a Palestinian:

I apologize for what is happening to your people and your family. I wish the U.S. were coming out more strongly in condemnation of the Israeli violent actions. I have called the U.S. Secretary of State office and expressed my concern and my desire that the U.S. more strongly condemn today's Israeli actions. I sent an email of condemnation to the Israeli Foreign Ministry. I also sent an email to the American Jewish Committee, and expressed very strongly my disapproval of that organization's statement today in support of the Israeli action.With the ongoing global recession the downfall of Israel's biggest ally has already begun. Empires don't fall overnight; first comes the decline and then fall. The Mughal Empire's decline began after the death of Aurangzeb in 1707. But the fall came 150 years later in 1857. At present America is sinking in a sea of debt. Afghanistan and Iraq wars have severely wounded the backbone of America's economy. Israel is heading the same path of destruction. It is digging its own grave.

The Terrorism Game!

The Terrorism Game!
By Seema Mustafa

India and Pakistan have stepped up the rhetoric to a point where the terrorists have been given the key to conflict between the two nations. One act of terror now will leave the UPA government with no option but to declare war, with Pakistan having already taken itself into battle mould with fighter jets flying over key cities and the army amassing at the borders with India.

There seems to be little concern in either capital about the consequences of the war rhetoric. Senior leaders in Delhi are heard saying that it will not come to a war, "because the Americans do not want a war as it does not suit their interests." The question that then does not get an answer is, " have we lost the ability to think and act for ourselves?" And is it in India's strategic interests to go in for a war with Pakistan, or is now our policy determined just by US interests?
The confusion in the Congress camp is evident. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently spoke of war not being an option, but this is not ruled out by the Congress whose spokesperson virtually contradicted Singh the very next day by declaring that all options were on the table.

Minister of external affairs Pranab Mukherjee is also currently of this last point of view, with the fast approaching general elections determining the tone and tenor of his rhetoric. He is clearly happy that the Congress has, for the moment, stolen the thunder from the BJP and is determined to cash this to the utmost.

The Pakistan establishment is also making the most of the situation. After the initial hesitation by President Asif Ali Zardari, Islamabad realized that war talk was the best way to unite a fractured nation. And has done so in a manner that today the army is back in the lead with the quiet General Kayani leading the "we will hit back" sentiment while the politicians and civil society quietly fall in line.

The Pakistan army, under attack from its own citizens for its aggressive role in the US led war on terror, is suddenly finding itself with support again. It has also realized that it can use the threat of war from India to move operations from the Afghan border to the Indian border, and thereby regain some of the lost popularity with its people. Its basic constituency that includes the jihadi groups and the Taliban were fast becoming its enemies, and the army clearly hopes to stem this tide by awakening the borders with India. Given the Pakistan army's traditional links, the statement by Baitullah Masood that he and his men will fight alongside the Pakistan army against India is no doubt being seen as a major step forward.

For the past couple of years the attention of Pakistan had shifted from Kashmir and India, to Afghanistan and the US. The strong anti-US sentiment that had virtually engulfed that country was evident during the February elections when the people voted Musharraf out with a vengeance. Not because he was an army general, though that was part of the campaign of the political parties, but because he was seen as a US stooge who had forsaken Pakistan. The army was virtually put in the dock with Kayani issuing instructions to pull back officers from civilian positions. The terror attack in Mumbai and the strong response from Delhi has been strategised into a real war threat in Pakistan, with the country uniting in the process. Experts who had told this correspondent that Pakistan was facing a real threat of disintegration are now wondering at an Indian strategy where even the Baluchis, almost at war with Islamabad, have expressed their support for the Pakistan government and army.

The US is worried but is hoping to make use of this opportunity to bring in a new cooperation ---preferably military---between India, Pakistan in Afghanistan. Although there is no indication of this in American journals at the moment, there will also be a sense of some relief that the Pakistan anger has been diverted to India, that the army which is an extremely important tool for the US is regaining some of its lost luster, and short of a war the crisis can be converted into an opportunity. Needless to say the Americans have started looking at the crisis afresh, and this is evident in some of the recent statements that have emerged out of Washington. For instance, the US joint chief of staffs Navy Adm Mike Mullen told reporters after a key meeting in Islamabad that the long term answer is a regional strategy that includes Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and other Central Asian nations. The nations must improve relations among one another so attacks like the one in Mumbai don't escalate closer to conflict. He was of the view that military to military contacts can help lessen tensions among the countries of the region and put in place a structure for resolving problems.

So clearly both Pakistan and the US are strategizing the fall out of the Mumbai attack in what each perceive to be their own national interests. What about India? What is the strategy here? If it is war, how does it help India short of demonstrating a macho ability that has not gone well for even the US in Iraq and Afghanistan? If India attacks, Pakistan will certainly retaliate. What then? Will we wait for the US to separate us, or go into a full escalation? If the first, what will be the terms and conditions that India will have to agree to in return for peace? If the latter, what happens if some moron in Pakistan decides to go nuclear? Strategically, neither of these two options can benefit India and will actually have disastrous results.

Peace is the only option. As it gives governments the space required to develop and implement a strategy that protects Indian interests. The UPA government could have opted for hard diplomacy as one had suggested earlier in these columns. It could have used its international clout this time to ensure the economic and political isolation of Pakistan. This time several foreigners have been killed, and the world capitals have realized that the terror attack was as much on their citizens as on the Indians. The pressure could have been revved up to a point where Islamabad would have had to take action against the terrorists. The threat of war has instead united Pakistan, and silenced even those who had been writing and campaigning against the terror industry being nurtured by the Pakistan establishment. Well thought out diplomacy with a step by step approach would have paid India rich dividends but the opportunity has not been seized by politicians who cannot see beyond their nose.

There are some who have been vociferously arguing for war, maintaining that this option requires 'courage.' How is it courageous to go in for the military option without any regard of the consequences? That is what Bush did when all the embedded journalists hailed him as the new hero and now shoes are being thrown at him physically by the brave journalist in Iraq and verbally by the world. The global war on terror has not ended terrorism, just strengthened it.

Malegaon blast probe is still the issue

Malegaon blast probe is still the issue
By Mubasshir Mustaq

"Hemant Karkare's loss has proved to be a severe blow to the Malegaon investigation. The main character of the script is no more. Can a script be completed without the main character? It might be possible that a film can never be sustained with the death of its protagonist but in real life things are different. Karkare has left behind footprints on the sand. Now it is the job of the directors (read politicians) to guide the new actor (read K.P. Raghuvanshi); to make sure that he follows the footprints left by his predecessor. "

The world's largest democracy is going through one of the most critical phases of its 61-year old life. We should call it India's mid-life crisis; a period of dramatic self-doubt where one tragedy is being matched or answered by a greater tragedy. It seems that competition – one of the main features of marketing – has begun to apply even in the gory field of terrorism. We are being pushed into the dirty pit of terrorism in a cyclical motion. Terrorism has begun to apply the rules of communication. Communication is a two-way process. Terrorism is increasingly following in the footsteps of communication; where 'our terror' is being answered by 'their terror' or vice versa. This phenomenon is alternatively known as 'tit-for-tat terrorism.' It is in this framework that Malegaon September 2008 blast must be looked into.

The Malegaon blast probe which made headlines all across the world was earth-shattering. Before the probe could completely unearth all the faces involved in the blast; another terror storm rocked the nation's psyche and Malegaon probe was suddenly put on hold. The worst aspect of 26/11 may be that it consumed the faces involved in Malegaon blast probe but Malegaon can not be put on the back burner. The shocking revelations of Malegaon blast can not be easily erased from peoples' memories; be it Hindu or Muslim. 26/11 may have overshadowed Malegaon, but it can never be forgotten because it has now been associated with the Mumbai carnage.

Does that sound strange that Malegaon probe has been associated with 26/11?

No. The two fateful events had one similar character: ATS chief Hemant Karkare. And whenever, people would recall 26/11, they will surely remember Hemant Karkare. And the name Hemant Karkare has become synonymous with Malegaon blast probe. There emerges a triangle whose dots will always be connected to each other.

Hemant Karkare's loss has proved to be a severe blow to the Malegaon investigation. The main character of the script is no more. Can a script be completed without the main character? It might be possible that a film can never be sustained with the death of its protagonist but in real life things are different. Karkare has left behind footprints on the sand. Now it is the job of the directors (read politicians) to guide the new actor (read K.P. Raghuvanshi); to make sure that he follows the footprints left by his predecessor.

The new actor must remember that footprints on sand don't last long.

The director (Ashok Chavan), his assistant (Chagun Bhujbhal) and the new actor know and understand that Malegaon script has already been drafted. The new players just need to complete the script. Any change or delay in the completion of the script will be detrimental. Audiences are desperately waiting to witness the climax of the story.

The people of Malegaon are not very happy with the track record of K.P. Raghuvanshi; he was the ATS chief when September 8, 2006 blasts took place. But still, we have no grudge against him; our readers will recall that Nanded blast was being investigated by Mr. Raghuvanshi himself. The ATS investigation in Nanded blast was far better than the investigation carried by CBI later. In fact, Mr. Raghuvanshi should be given a free hand to complete the Malegaon probe as early as possible.

With Karkare's departure, the once media-savvy ATS has suddenly become media-shy. People of Malegaon want ATS chief to assert himself in order to restore the faith of the people. He has not made any remark or addressed a single press conference on the issue of Malegaon probe till now. His long silence is open to misinterpretation. He must speak up his mind in order to put rumour mills to sleep.

It's your turn to speak up, Mr. Raghuvanshi! Will you please oblige?