AUM
INDIAN ARMY CHIEF TASTES BRITISH AUSTERITY
By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM
General Deepak Kapoor, top most commanding general of the Indian Army went round the defence establishments of the United Kingdom to update his knowledge about what was cooking in India’s former colonial master’s kitchen. The British Army Chief also drops in off and on to take a look at the Indian army that his ancestors had raised, trained and led into battle. After all old colleagues on back slapping terms must visit each other’s country to compare notes. Absolutely fine and traditional.
When the British officers of high and middle ranks visit their old units and regiments they are looked after well. There is wining and dining galore. The officers mess hosting the dinner or lunch takes out its finest silver collected or captured in post victory loot euphemistically called spoils of war. With great pride young officers narrate the regimental history in battles won or lost from Ghazni to Ghaza and from Faizabad to Flanders and associate the silverware to the places and events of historical importance. The menu of the meal to be served for the British officers is scrutinized not only by the president of the mess committee who also doubles up as the second-in-command of the outfit but also by the wife of the commanding officer who had done a course in cookery in her school days. The mess havildar or the steward is briefed and briefed again that chicken legs must be soft but meat and bone must remain intact. When the commanding officer declares that everything is ship shape the British officers are ushered in and treated like Maharajahs. The Indian hospitality puts its best foot forward.
Let us move to the Kensington Palace in London, UK. General Deepak Kapoor, Chief of the Indian Army Staff is on an official visit and is invited by his counterpart General Sir Richard Dannatt to an official get together. Indeed, Kensington Palace is an important place and some of the Royal family members including Prince Charles and his family lived there. Foreign dignitaries are also entertained there in a place earmarked for the purpose. As a matter of protocol the Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Shiv Mukherjee was one of the dignitaries invited. Was there an army band in attendance to play some martial music? Not sure if it was there or was cut out as the first step in British austerity.
It would be a good idea to take a look at the menu for the visiting dignitary, the Indian Army Chief. What would you like to drink, the host enquired of guests. Without waiting for a reply he signalled wine to be served. My goodness! What a cheap wine it was. Tasting is believing. In India nothing short of a single malt Scotch whisky would be served on an important occasion like this. Mind you the incident being narrated took place before boycott of Scotch whisky following premature release of the Lockerbie bomber and his royal reception in Libya. Anyway, good guests do not crib and the Indian Army Chief is well known for his good manners. The main meal followed. Entry and starter need not be mentioned in detail as the column space is limited. It is understood from reliable sources that General Kapoor was served a meal consisting of” pastry, cheese and salmon”. The insiders confide that it was bought off the shelf from a mass retail chain. No further comments, please.
A word on cost of the meal would be in order. It cost GBP(Great Britain Pound) 5.15 per plate. You see the British Army does everything with aplomb, be it making love or fighting a war. Indeed in these days of recession, austerity in hospitality must be observed meticulously. Never mind if the guest goes home hungry and diplomacy goes down in dumps. After all the British themselves recount the saying “penny wise Pound foolish”; whatever that may mean.
Address. UPVAN, 609, Sector 29, NOIDA – 201303, INDIA.
Mobile : 0091-9811173590. Phone : 0091-120-2454622.Email: sawantg.chitranjan@gmail.com
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
WHO predicts 'explosion' of swine flu cases
AUM. may I request that my comment "A KNOWN DEVIL IS BETTER THAN AN UNKNOWN DEVIL - be put on my Blog - VAJRA. Thanks.
Swine flu is known devil and the new vaccines are unknown devil.
I sign off for now.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
Sunday, August 23, 2009
INS VIRAAT IS A TOOTHLESS TIGER
AUM
INS VIRAAT AFLOAT BUT HOW LONG?
The Indian Navy is proud of her sole aircraft carrier, Viraat. Rightly so. The first aircraft carrier,Vikrant is now a museum piece and houses a museum of sorts to enlighten citizens on the history of the Indian Navy. Thank God, she did not become a floating hotel as the proposal of an enterpreneur was. remember the 1971 war India fought against pakistan and dismembered the perennial enemy. In that war INS Vikrant had actively participated and pounded military targets in the then East Pakistan with success. Well, it is history now.
INS Viraat filled the vacuum created by departure of Vikrant to a great extent. She has Sea Harrier jump jets that take off from her flight deck and also land vertically while the carrier is on the move full steam ahead. Quite a feat indeed to take off and land on an airfield that is afloat and on the move. Pilots of Sea harrier have to be really good at map reading on sea too.
Initially the carrier had a complement of 30 jet fighters on board.Over a period of time the number is considerably reduced. Some crashed and some were worn out and some became unserviceable for technical reasons. I am sad to say that a naval fighter pilot Lieutenant Commander Saurav saxena was killed when his Sea Harrier crashed on a training flight from the base in Goa this week. The number of fighter jets is reduced further and the tally today is just eight single seater fighter jets and three twin seater trainers. Of the initial tally of thirty, half of the fighter jets were lost in accidents and were never replaced for one reason or the other. A sorry state of affairs indeed!
INS Viraat was in the dry dock for an extensive repair and a major refit. The aim of the exercise was to enable the 50 year old aircraft carrier slog on for an additional period of five years. The plan was fine but had a major snag. Did anyone think of procuring fighter jets to complete a strike force of thirty machines. The forward planners are not to blame because as per original plan both INS Viraat and Sea Harriers on board were to be decommissioned by 2009. However, that was not to be because successive governments were indecisive on new procurements.
Imagine an aircraft carrier without its attack elements- the fighter jets. It is like fielding a tiger in battle without its teeth. Sad scenario.
A Carrier Battle Group of two aircraft carriers is the immediate requirement of the Indian Navy to make her presence felt in the Indian Ocean and surrounding waters. With China making aggressive moves in the Indian Ocean, it is high time our planners and decision makers woke up and took decisions that make India militarily strong.
Submitted by Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant , VSM
INS VIRAAT AFLOAT BUT HOW LONG?
The Indian Navy is proud of her sole aircraft carrier, Viraat. Rightly so. The first aircraft carrier,Vikrant is now a museum piece and houses a museum of sorts to enlighten citizens on the history of the Indian Navy. Thank God, she did not become a floating hotel as the proposal of an enterpreneur was. remember the 1971 war India fought against pakistan and dismembered the perennial enemy. In that war INS Vikrant had actively participated and pounded military targets in the then East Pakistan with success. Well, it is history now.
INS Viraat filled the vacuum created by departure of Vikrant to a great extent. She has Sea Harrier jump jets that take off from her flight deck and also land vertically while the carrier is on the move full steam ahead. Quite a feat indeed to take off and land on an airfield that is afloat and on the move. Pilots of Sea harrier have to be really good at map reading on sea too.
Initially the carrier had a complement of 30 jet fighters on board.Over a period of time the number is considerably reduced. Some crashed and some were worn out and some became unserviceable for technical reasons. I am sad to say that a naval fighter pilot Lieutenant Commander Saurav saxena was killed when his Sea Harrier crashed on a training flight from the base in Goa this week. The number of fighter jets is reduced further and the tally today is just eight single seater fighter jets and three twin seater trainers. Of the initial tally of thirty, half of the fighter jets were lost in accidents and were never replaced for one reason or the other. A sorry state of affairs indeed!
INS Viraat was in the dry dock for an extensive repair and a major refit. The aim of the exercise was to enable the 50 year old aircraft carrier slog on for an additional period of five years. The plan was fine but had a major snag. Did anyone think of procuring fighter jets to complete a strike force of thirty machines. The forward planners are not to blame because as per original plan both INS Viraat and Sea Harriers on board were to be decommissioned by 2009. However, that was not to be because successive governments were indecisive on new procurements.
Imagine an aircraft carrier without its attack elements- the fighter jets. It is like fielding a tiger in battle without its teeth. Sad scenario.
A Carrier Battle Group of two aircraft carriers is the immediate requirement of the Indian Navy to make her presence felt in the Indian Ocean and surrounding waters. With China making aggressive moves in the Indian Ocean, it is high time our planners and decision makers woke up and took decisions that make India militarily strong.
Submitted by Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant , VSM
Saturday, August 22, 2009
PEOPLE PREVAILED TERRORISTS TROUNCED
AUM
PEOPLE PREVAILED TERRORISTS TROUNCED
By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM
Kabul to Kandhar and Hindu Kush to Helmand- the story was the same with shades and colours varying. The ballot had beaten the bullet in the national elections in Afghanistan to elect a President of the country and 420 members of provincial assemblies. Of the 17 million registered voters only 40 to 50 percent turned up to exercise their franchise as per an unofficial estimate. Of a score plus in the fray for the post of the top executive, only two are serious contenders. The present incumbent Hamid Karzai , a Pashtun educated in USA and a former darling of Washington now professing an independent foreign policy; and Abdullah Abdullah an ethnic Tajik from the northern Afghanistan who is a soft spoken eye surgeon and once was a foreign minister under Karzai. The latter is not predicted to win but will become a stumbling block for the former and may force a second ballot within two weeks of the counting of the first. More on that a little later.
TALIBAN TERRORISTS MISCALCULATED
The Taliban terrorists had deliberately leaked their sexed up plans of infiltrating into the capital Kabul and southern city of Kandhar to launch major bombings and stage gun duels to disrupt polls. Nothing of that sort happened. They did manage to attract attention by making a tally of 76 in gun firefight and bumping off 26 compatriots. The tally did not go up because the Afghan security forces were on full alert throughout and they were ably backed by the NATO forces. Killing of two Taliban terrorists in Kabul and capture of their third colleague proves the high degree of preparedness to beat terrorists back and not let them disrupt the polls. Of course, if one looks at the figure of voter turnout one may concede the point that Taliban terrorists succeeded in instilling fear of losing life or limb if people dared to exercise their right of franchise. The threat of terrorists was that if they see Afghan men and women with fingers sporting indelible ink as a proof of voting, the fingers would be cut. Everyone knows that terrorists have no compassion and they may go to any length to intimidate the law abiding citizens to prove that the government of the day is non-functional. On the other hand the Kabul administration backed by the Obama administration was equally determined to ensure a free and fair poll without violence. In the opinion of impartial observers who toured the booths in the North and the South, the Afghan elections could be termed as fair and open. It is a soothing feeling to know that terrorists did not succeed in severing fingers bearing indelible ink as a proof of participating in the democratic process.
Women in the Afghan society are by and large non-entities. However, they made their presence felt in all major cities. They were not much in evidence in rural areas and non-descript towns. The first woman to vote in Kabul was none other than the wife of President Hamid Karzai. She was calm and composed and betrayed no sign of fear of terrorists. Indeed both the husband and wife voted in a polling booth near the Presidential Palace and had been provided a heavy security cover. Moreover, there were two women candidates too in the fray. The political observers do not rate their chances of making a dent in votes of serious candidates as high. Anyway they will go down in history as women candidates who challenged established male candidates in a male dominated Islamic society. As mentioned earlier in another despatch by this correspondent one of the female candidates always dressed as a man to merge in the milieu. We must give due credit to women voters too. Wearing Burqas or just head scarves they came out of the house despite Taliban warning and exercised their franchise. One may safely surmise that the Afghan social set up is undergoing a change for the better. A word of warning to the progressive elements in the society should be sounded. The bearded Mullahs of the old and archaic school may be down but they are not yet out.
OUTCOME AT HUSTINGS
The polling is over. It had started at 7 AM and went on till 4 PM on 20 August 2009. At some booths extra time was officially allowed to make up for the administrative delays. In any case, all those who had lined up in the booth before the expiry time were allowed to vote. Where do the Afghans go from here? Well, a success is a success, howsoever moderate it may be. The age old saying is – Nothing succeeds like success. Despite the low turnout 50 percent or so compared to 70 percent or so in the first presidential election in 2004, 9.5 million Afghan men and women have voted this year. Who can ignore their preference for a democracy? Not even the Kalashnikov wielding terrorists. The people’s power is stronger than the terror power. In Afghanistan the power now comes out of the ballot box and not out of the gun. The social and political environment is undergoing a change. What will be the outcome of this poll? It is hard to predict but we may speculate.
The South has not come out to vote in full strength. The Pashtoons live in the southern Afghanistan. Comparatively speaking the North has been more enthusiastic in going to the polling booths and voting. But we cannot be oblivious of the fact that there are more voters among Pashtuns than among Tajiks and they can tilt the balance.The Tajiks, Hazras, and the warlords like General Rashid Dostum live in the North. So does Abdullah Abdullah. Of course, Dostum has pledged his support to Karzai despite the latter being a Pashtun. One wonders if the old tribal loyalties are now crumbling like the Berlin Wall. The results alone will tell. The manual counting has begun but it may not be before early September that results are out unofficially. If Karzai succeeds in getting 50 percent or more of the total votes polled, he will be declared a winner and enjoy a second term in office. If he fails there, then there will be a second round of voting between the two candidates polling the highest number of votes and standing first and second. Thus karzai and Abdullah may stand eyeball to eyeball once again. The voters will have a second opportunity to choose the President of Afghanistan. Political pundits wish to bet on Karzai as the winner in the second round. May I suggest that we stay neutral and keep our fingers crossed for peaceful poll in October 2009 or whenever. May God be with both Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah! May God be with the people of Afghanistan in their fight against the Taliban terrorists!
UPVAN, 609, Sector 29, NOIDA – 201303, INDIA. Mob. 0091-9811173590.
PEOPLE PREVAILED TERRORISTS TROUNCED
By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM
Kabul to Kandhar and Hindu Kush to Helmand- the story was the same with shades and colours varying. The ballot had beaten the bullet in the national elections in Afghanistan to elect a President of the country and 420 members of provincial assemblies. Of the 17 million registered voters only 40 to 50 percent turned up to exercise their franchise as per an unofficial estimate. Of a score plus in the fray for the post of the top executive, only two are serious contenders. The present incumbent Hamid Karzai , a Pashtun educated in USA and a former darling of Washington now professing an independent foreign policy; and Abdullah Abdullah an ethnic Tajik from the northern Afghanistan who is a soft spoken eye surgeon and once was a foreign minister under Karzai. The latter is not predicted to win but will become a stumbling block for the former and may force a second ballot within two weeks of the counting of the first. More on that a little later.
TALIBAN TERRORISTS MISCALCULATED
The Taliban terrorists had deliberately leaked their sexed up plans of infiltrating into the capital Kabul and southern city of Kandhar to launch major bombings and stage gun duels to disrupt polls. Nothing of that sort happened. They did manage to attract attention by making a tally of 76 in gun firefight and bumping off 26 compatriots. The tally did not go up because the Afghan security forces were on full alert throughout and they were ably backed by the NATO forces. Killing of two Taliban terrorists in Kabul and capture of their third colleague proves the high degree of preparedness to beat terrorists back and not let them disrupt the polls. Of course, if one looks at the figure of voter turnout one may concede the point that Taliban terrorists succeeded in instilling fear of losing life or limb if people dared to exercise their right of franchise. The threat of terrorists was that if they see Afghan men and women with fingers sporting indelible ink as a proof of voting, the fingers would be cut. Everyone knows that terrorists have no compassion and they may go to any length to intimidate the law abiding citizens to prove that the government of the day is non-functional. On the other hand the Kabul administration backed by the Obama administration was equally determined to ensure a free and fair poll without violence. In the opinion of impartial observers who toured the booths in the North and the South, the Afghan elections could be termed as fair and open. It is a soothing feeling to know that terrorists did not succeed in severing fingers bearing indelible ink as a proof of participating in the democratic process.
Women in the Afghan society are by and large non-entities. However, they made their presence felt in all major cities. They were not much in evidence in rural areas and non-descript towns. The first woman to vote in Kabul was none other than the wife of President Hamid Karzai. She was calm and composed and betrayed no sign of fear of terrorists. Indeed both the husband and wife voted in a polling booth near the Presidential Palace and had been provided a heavy security cover. Moreover, there were two women candidates too in the fray. The political observers do not rate their chances of making a dent in votes of serious candidates as high. Anyway they will go down in history as women candidates who challenged established male candidates in a male dominated Islamic society. As mentioned earlier in another despatch by this correspondent one of the female candidates always dressed as a man to merge in the milieu. We must give due credit to women voters too. Wearing Burqas or just head scarves they came out of the house despite Taliban warning and exercised their franchise. One may safely surmise that the Afghan social set up is undergoing a change for the better. A word of warning to the progressive elements in the society should be sounded. The bearded Mullahs of the old and archaic school may be down but they are not yet out.
OUTCOME AT HUSTINGS
The polling is over. It had started at 7 AM and went on till 4 PM on 20 August 2009. At some booths extra time was officially allowed to make up for the administrative delays. In any case, all those who had lined up in the booth before the expiry time were allowed to vote. Where do the Afghans go from here? Well, a success is a success, howsoever moderate it may be. The age old saying is – Nothing succeeds like success. Despite the low turnout 50 percent or so compared to 70 percent or so in the first presidential election in 2004, 9.5 million Afghan men and women have voted this year. Who can ignore their preference for a democracy? Not even the Kalashnikov wielding terrorists. The people’s power is stronger than the terror power. In Afghanistan the power now comes out of the ballot box and not out of the gun. The social and political environment is undergoing a change. What will be the outcome of this poll? It is hard to predict but we may speculate.
The South has not come out to vote in full strength. The Pashtoons live in the southern Afghanistan. Comparatively speaking the North has been more enthusiastic in going to the polling booths and voting. But we cannot be oblivious of the fact that there are more voters among Pashtuns than among Tajiks and they can tilt the balance.The Tajiks, Hazras, and the warlords like General Rashid Dostum live in the North. So does Abdullah Abdullah. Of course, Dostum has pledged his support to Karzai despite the latter being a Pashtun. One wonders if the old tribal loyalties are now crumbling like the Berlin Wall. The results alone will tell. The manual counting has begun but it may not be before early September that results are out unofficially. If Karzai succeeds in getting 50 percent or more of the total votes polled, he will be declared a winner and enjoy a second term in office. If he fails there, then there will be a second round of voting between the two candidates polling the highest number of votes and standing first and second. Thus karzai and Abdullah may stand eyeball to eyeball once again. The voters will have a second opportunity to choose the President of Afghanistan. Political pundits wish to bet on Karzai as the winner in the second round. May I suggest that we stay neutral and keep our fingers crossed for peaceful poll in October 2009 or whenever. May God be with both Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah! May God be with the people of Afghanistan in their fight against the Taliban terrorists!
UPVAN, 609, Sector 29, NOIDA – 201303, INDIA. Mob. 0091-9811173590.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
SECOND PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN AFGHANISTAN
AUM
NAMASTE PRESIDENT OF AFGHANISTAN
By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM
Gandhari,queen of Hastinapur and wife of King Dhritrashtra of Mahabharat fame hailed from Gandhar that is Kandhar of today. Panchali or Draupadi was from Paanchal on the turbulent borders of the Punjab and the kingdom extended to Afghanistan. The area is as turbulent today as it ever was. We Indians of today feel rather close to the Afghans of today as we are each other’s kith and kin – the loved ones. Never mind our different faiths and mode of prayer. Notwithstanding a long passage of time since the days of Gandhari, Indians and Afghans are closer to each other than Afghans and Pakistanis are. Their being votaries of Islam matters little when self interests clash. So you see our greeting the President of Afghanistan has a long and chequered history behind it that cannot be wished away by a new nation like Pakistan. The Afghan Presidential election is just knocking at the main door and the Indian interest therein is quite logical.
ELECTION SCENARIO
Three thousand donkeys will carry election material like ballot papers, ballot boxes, allied equipment and so on to polling booths set up in remote areas of difficult terrain that are inaccessible to vehicular traffic. A donkey is the most reliable beast of burden and is least demanding. The election officer cannot ask for a better load carrier than a donkey and he has got as many as he wishes to have. Of course, the ever increasing fear generated by Taliban terrorists looms large over the election scenario, irrespective of the type of terrain. So be it. All presidential candidates have to face the danger and they, including female candidates, have chosen to brave bullets. In a male dominated Afghan society, a female candidate chose to don a male dress – a baggy salwar, a long shirt, a coat to cover her pistol and a black turban. She goes out and mixes with men and women albeit separately and asks for their votes to become President of the war torn country. She knows that her chances of reaching the Presidential Palace are rather thin but canvasses seriously regardless. That is the new spirit of democracy for which the Americans take the credit. They are not wrong.
The present incumbent of the highest office of the land is Mr Abdul Hamid Karzai who is in the fray for a second term of five years. He is an American educated technocrat who has won the trust of the Obama Administration like that of Bush before. Being a Pushtoon himself, he commands the respect, if not love, of the biggest section of Pashto speaking Afghans. The Pashtoons make 42 percent of the 33million Afghan population. Karzai commands the respect of some influential warlords and drug barons too. It sounds strange but it is true. Just before his first presidential election campaign in 2004, he had received support of ex-warlords; at a price though. This year too he is receiving full support of Abdul Rashid Dostum, a whisky drinking communist warlord who fought against the Soviet invasion but had to go into exile as he had become too big for his boots. He jetted back from Turkey in the nick of time to be beside Karzai in his hour of need. However, the Americans and Europeans are neither comfortable nor happy about Dostum wielding power in the next government dispensation. Karzai has pleased the Shiite population too by helping enact a law where a Shiite husband can deny food to his wife if she does not comply with his sexual demands and desires. Shiite Muslims make 20 per cent of the population of Afghanistan. Shiite husbands are now Lords of the Ring and they love it. Their votes are for Karzai and there are no two opinions on the subject.
As of now Abdul Hamid Karzai is likely to win the Presidential election. It is assessed that he will get 45 per cent of the votes polled. But that is not enough as a candidate must poll 50 percent or more of the total votes polled to win outright. If no one succeeds, there will be a second bout between the two candidates who have polled the highest number of votes. The supporters of Karzai are making a bid for the win in the first time poll. They are canvassing hard and winning more political heavy weights as allies. Karzai has even granted Presidential pardon to economic offenders and drug peddlers to extend the area of his support. He may, however, alienate law abiding citizens and foreign powers if he proceeds with pardons for known criminals. Indeed he will be doing a tight rope walk until the votes are counted and results declared. A strict check must be kept on harvesting poppy seeds and trading in other deadly drugs to win the war against Taliban terrorists who are presently staging a comeback.
Abdullah Abdullah is the next strong contender for the office of the President. A soft spoken eye surgeon, he has the support of the Northern Alliance and is also counting on the support of the Tajik ethnic minority because Karzai has the support of Pashtuns. Indeed the Taliban terrorists also enjoy support of Pashtoons. In fact the Taliban terrorists are by and large Pushtoons. Since inception of Afghanistan the Pashtun Kings have ruled the land but after the Soviet army withdrew it was the Tajik ethnic minority that bagged most of the plum posts in the Army, the Police and the Administration. They form only 24 per cent of the Afghan population and support Abdullah Abdullah who was once the Foreign Minister under Karzai. His supporters say that an outright win for Karzai will mean fraud against Abdullah Abdullah and in that case they will have no option but to take to streets. In Kabul it means bloodshed unlike in Tehran because every house in Kabul owns a Kalashnikov and plenty of ammunition to go with it. In the last rally addressed by Abdullah Abdullah in Kabul the large crowd listened to him with rapt attention and promised to convert the support into votes. Time alone will tell who voted for whom.
A PEEP INTO FUTURE
The Taliban terrorists have already announced from rooftops that they would not allow the Presidential election to go on smoothly. There have been blasts at important strategic points. No one is sure what will happen next. The surge in the NATO forces is to ensure a smooth sailing for the Presidential election. For the West Abdul Hamid Karzai is still the best bet. The Pushtoons may support him willy- nilly. The American Army is keen to get out of Afghanistan as early as possible. On the other hand the top American General is predicting a long stay there for the troops. General David Petrayes who has a successful ground experience of war in Iraq is in favour of the NATO troops staying put in Afghanistan to make the AF_PAK policy of USA a success. It is in their interest that Karzai registers a win in the first round to buttress the military position of the West. All said and done, the volatile situation may continue notwithstanding Karzai’s return to the Presidential Palace as the Man in Command.
Address: UPVAN 609, Sector 29, NOIDA – 201303 INDIA. Phone -0091-120-2454622
Mobile : 0091-9811173590. Email : sawantg.chitranjan@gmail.com
NAMASTE PRESIDENT OF AFGHANISTAN
By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM
Gandhari,queen of Hastinapur and wife of King Dhritrashtra of Mahabharat fame hailed from Gandhar that is Kandhar of today. Panchali or Draupadi was from Paanchal on the turbulent borders of the Punjab and the kingdom extended to Afghanistan. The area is as turbulent today as it ever was. We Indians of today feel rather close to the Afghans of today as we are each other’s kith and kin – the loved ones. Never mind our different faiths and mode of prayer. Notwithstanding a long passage of time since the days of Gandhari, Indians and Afghans are closer to each other than Afghans and Pakistanis are. Their being votaries of Islam matters little when self interests clash. So you see our greeting the President of Afghanistan has a long and chequered history behind it that cannot be wished away by a new nation like Pakistan. The Afghan Presidential election is just knocking at the main door and the Indian interest therein is quite logical.
ELECTION SCENARIO
Three thousand donkeys will carry election material like ballot papers, ballot boxes, allied equipment and so on to polling booths set up in remote areas of difficult terrain that are inaccessible to vehicular traffic. A donkey is the most reliable beast of burden and is least demanding. The election officer cannot ask for a better load carrier than a donkey and he has got as many as he wishes to have. Of course, the ever increasing fear generated by Taliban terrorists looms large over the election scenario, irrespective of the type of terrain. So be it. All presidential candidates have to face the danger and they, including female candidates, have chosen to brave bullets. In a male dominated Afghan society, a female candidate chose to don a male dress – a baggy salwar, a long shirt, a coat to cover her pistol and a black turban. She goes out and mixes with men and women albeit separately and asks for their votes to become President of the war torn country. She knows that her chances of reaching the Presidential Palace are rather thin but canvasses seriously regardless. That is the new spirit of democracy for which the Americans take the credit. They are not wrong.
The present incumbent of the highest office of the land is Mr Abdul Hamid Karzai who is in the fray for a second term of five years. He is an American educated technocrat who has won the trust of the Obama Administration like that of Bush before. Being a Pushtoon himself, he commands the respect, if not love, of the biggest section of Pashto speaking Afghans. The Pashtoons make 42 percent of the 33million Afghan population. Karzai commands the respect of some influential warlords and drug barons too. It sounds strange but it is true. Just before his first presidential election campaign in 2004, he had received support of ex-warlords; at a price though. This year too he is receiving full support of Abdul Rashid Dostum, a whisky drinking communist warlord who fought against the Soviet invasion but had to go into exile as he had become too big for his boots. He jetted back from Turkey in the nick of time to be beside Karzai in his hour of need. However, the Americans and Europeans are neither comfortable nor happy about Dostum wielding power in the next government dispensation. Karzai has pleased the Shiite population too by helping enact a law where a Shiite husband can deny food to his wife if she does not comply with his sexual demands and desires. Shiite Muslims make 20 per cent of the population of Afghanistan. Shiite husbands are now Lords of the Ring and they love it. Their votes are for Karzai and there are no two opinions on the subject.
As of now Abdul Hamid Karzai is likely to win the Presidential election. It is assessed that he will get 45 per cent of the votes polled. But that is not enough as a candidate must poll 50 percent or more of the total votes polled to win outright. If no one succeeds, there will be a second bout between the two candidates who have polled the highest number of votes. The supporters of Karzai are making a bid for the win in the first time poll. They are canvassing hard and winning more political heavy weights as allies. Karzai has even granted Presidential pardon to economic offenders and drug peddlers to extend the area of his support. He may, however, alienate law abiding citizens and foreign powers if he proceeds with pardons for known criminals. Indeed he will be doing a tight rope walk until the votes are counted and results declared. A strict check must be kept on harvesting poppy seeds and trading in other deadly drugs to win the war against Taliban terrorists who are presently staging a comeback.
Abdullah Abdullah is the next strong contender for the office of the President. A soft spoken eye surgeon, he has the support of the Northern Alliance and is also counting on the support of the Tajik ethnic minority because Karzai has the support of Pashtuns. Indeed the Taliban terrorists also enjoy support of Pashtoons. In fact the Taliban terrorists are by and large Pushtoons. Since inception of Afghanistan the Pashtun Kings have ruled the land but after the Soviet army withdrew it was the Tajik ethnic minority that bagged most of the plum posts in the Army, the Police and the Administration. They form only 24 per cent of the Afghan population and support Abdullah Abdullah who was once the Foreign Minister under Karzai. His supporters say that an outright win for Karzai will mean fraud against Abdullah Abdullah and in that case they will have no option but to take to streets. In Kabul it means bloodshed unlike in Tehran because every house in Kabul owns a Kalashnikov and plenty of ammunition to go with it. In the last rally addressed by Abdullah Abdullah in Kabul the large crowd listened to him with rapt attention and promised to convert the support into votes. Time alone will tell who voted for whom.
A PEEP INTO FUTURE
The Taliban terrorists have already announced from rooftops that they would not allow the Presidential election to go on smoothly. There have been blasts at important strategic points. No one is sure what will happen next. The surge in the NATO forces is to ensure a smooth sailing for the Presidential election. For the West Abdul Hamid Karzai is still the best bet. The Pushtoons may support him willy- nilly. The American Army is keen to get out of Afghanistan as early as possible. On the other hand the top American General is predicting a long stay there for the troops. General David Petrayes who has a successful ground experience of war in Iraq is in favour of the NATO troops staying put in Afghanistan to make the AF_PAK policy of USA a success. It is in their interest that Karzai registers a win in the first round to buttress the military position of the West. All said and done, the volatile situation may continue notwithstanding Karzai’s return to the Presidential Palace as the Man in Command.
Address: UPVAN 609, Sector 29, NOIDA – 201303 INDIA. Phone -0091-120-2454622
Mobile : 0091-9811173590. Email : sawantg.chitranjan@gmail.com
Saturday, August 15, 2009
INDEPENDENCE DAY AT RED FORT
AUM
INDEPENDENCE DAY AT RED FORT
By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM
The Prime Minister reaches the red Fort Delhi at 7.20 AM; he inspects the Inter-Services and Police guard of Honour; he reaches the ramparts and addresses the Nation for 40 minutes or may be more depending on the skies, says Jai Hind with the crowd of school children and goes home. The Media is in full attendance and they faithfully inform the countrymen of policy statements, if any. We all head home and look for a cup of hot tea brewed by the lady of the house. For most of us of the British Raj days the Independence Day means much more. It sends us down the memory lane and a sense of nostalgia sets in.
How can I not remember the Quit India movement of 1942 when as a young boy not yet in my teens, I came out of my classroom encouraged by bigger boys and headed for kutchery to shout slogans against the British Collector and others of his tribe “Quit India”. The mercenary police beat us with batons but undeterred we kept on saying “VANDE MATARAM VANDE MATARAM”. The big boys bled as they were badly beaten but held the tricolour high .IT WAS A SIGHT TO SEE AND ADMIRE. At the kutchery the senior students were arrested and sent to jail; we the junior ones were admonished and told to go home and have some mother’s milk. I had the inner satisfaction that I too told the foreign masters to quit our country. That they did five years thereafter. All Indians celebrated Independence with great gusto. Of course, the partition of Bharat Mata had left an emotional scar and a deep wound difficult to forget. Then as now, the main celebration was held on the ramparts of the Red Fort Delhi. Sad to say the enthusiasm of yester years has faded over a period of time. A true patriot feels bad about it but that’s the way it is.
Unbelievable but true it is that no Tricolour was hoisted by Pt Jawaharlal Nehru on ramparts of the Red Fort Delhi on 15 August 1947. That great day it was done in New Delhi. A day later Nehru went up the ramparts and hoisted the new National flag and fulfilled the wishes of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. Indeed every Independence Day has been seeing the incumbent Prime Minister do this national duty with great aplomb. It would be interesting to recall various Prime Ministers do it a number of times, some just once and one not even once. Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru walks away with the cake with a tally of 17. His daughter Smt Indira Gandhi is close behind with a total tally of 16 in two parts : 11 times in the first innings, was voted out of power, staged a political comeback and ascended the ramparts five times in the second innings. In between was Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri who unfurled the flag twice. An elevator was installed for him as he was forbidden to ascend the stairs on medical grounds. Now there are two to accommodate the growing number of sick but important people. Care has been taken to see that the walls of the elevator match the architecture of the fort so that it does not look like an eyesore. Now every Prime Minister uses the elevator to go up but some come down the ramparts using stair case.
A reader may be waiting with baited breath to find out the name of the Prime Minister who did not have an opportunity to perform this sacred national duty even once. It was Shri Chandra Shekhar. Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee did it six times and he is bracketed with Dr Man Mohan Singh.I recall that over these years Dr Man Mohan Singh’s Hindi has improved tremendously. Rajiv Gandhi and Narsimha Rao did so five times each, Morarji Bhai twice but he is in good company with Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri. Among those who just opened an account and returned to pavilion are: Chaudhary Charan Singh, Sarvashri Vishwanath Pratap Singh, H.D.Devegowda and Inder Kumar Gujaral. Indeed the list makes an interesting reading and speaks volumes about the party politics in Parliament. Of course, what they all said need not be mentioned separately for each. The bottom line in each speech was a Promise to the common man to ameliorate his living condition but not much was done thereafter. Some promise makers were dethroned as they descended the stairs; never to ascend again. Indira ji was a singular exception.
As a commentator I feel that the Prime Minister should not take too long to say what he does not mean. Some do not have the magic number to back their words, someone may not muster support within the party as other stalwarts treat him as an usurper of the throne that did not rightfully belong to him. A long speech does not go well with the audience on the spot who sit in the sweltering heat of August in Delhi or in torrential rain depending on the whim of El Nino. The global warming is mentioned in the passing but no need to fan it with a copy of the Independence Day programme printed on thin paper. Most of the senior bureaucrats who could not skip the ceremony and had to put in an appearance by order, just ignore the promises made by the Prime Minister. They know from experience that passing a law in Parliament is one thing and having it implemented just another. “The twain shall never meet”. Indian babus just echo Rudyard Kipling. Will education come within reach of an urchin on the street? Don’t be silly, so they say. Pray, what happened to the Act of Parliament banning child labour. Just go to any eatery in the national capital or NCR and the Truth will prevail over promises made from ramparts of the Red Fort. A Prime Minister who has blessings of the most powerful lady east of Suez will just recount names of Nehru, Gandhi(forget the mahatma) and think that he has earned his daily bread. Thus the gap between preaching, precept and practice is widening day by day. Perhaps a peaceful revolution is required to deliver the goods.The right to resent and protest against a government diktat is enshrined in the constitution and judiciary protects it like the assets of judges.
Lip sympathy is paid to victims of Islamic terrorism. The new economic terror factor is not even touched lest the vote bank is lost. Just preserve your place in power and worry not about the nation or the common man. Let them fend for themselves. Let the lentil be sold at Rs 100 per kilo; just announce from house tops that there is enough food stock in government godowns. Just exhort the state governments to use all laws against hoarding but allow the Food ministry to be the biggest hoarder. Let the finance people say that inflation is now zero or in minus, don’t worry if the prices of common vegetables and fruits render them beyond the reach of common man. Indeed paying lip sympathy to the common man pays rich dividends. So why bother about implementation of plans to ameliorate his condition. Let the plans remain on paper and save the Chair.
Address : UPVAN 609, Sector 29, NOIDA –INDIA. Mob. 0091-9811173590.
Email- sawantg.chitranjan@gmail.com Phone -0091-120-2454622.
Monday, August 10, 2009
WISHED TO SIRE A SON BUT
AUM
WISHED TO SIRE A SON BUT...
By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM
Baitullah Mehsood was a dreaded name on both sides of the Durand line that separates Afghanistan from Pakistan. Son of a small time cleric, Mehsood earned a notoriety for himself as a terrorist who had no remorse in killing adversaries and also those who toed a softline. For him what mattered was just spreading the word of Allah as enunciated in Qurán and illustrated by the life led by Hazrat Muhammad, sallallah wasale wasallum. The world beyond that did not exist for him. If anything existed and flourished without obeying the order of Allah, it deserved to be destroyed. Indeed, Baitullah Mehsood was a dangerous man to be in the vicinity. Pakistan encouraged him initially but found later that the Frankenstein monster was spreading its tentacles far and wide. In the second phase of love and hate relationship between a failed Islamic State and a bandit like Jehadi the closeness was too uncomfortable to be ignored. Pakistan chose, nurtured, trained and cohabited with Mehsud until the American intelligence agency, CIA announced a whopping 5 million US dollar reward on his head. The battle scenario changed thereafter.
A SON A SON ANYTHING FOR A SON
In the tribal areas of Waziristan and frontier tract the tribesman celebrate birth of a son with gunfire. Mehsood did not get a chance to do so. He had three daughters who came to the world unannounced and uncelebrated as per custom. The terror god took a second wife. He had an ardent desire to sire a son but had not succeeded so far. He was diabetic too. Nevertheless, he always desired to cohabit with his second wife to go through the natural process to father a son. He was too busy to go into niceties of sex life. He would just have it anywhere anytime with his newly wedded wife. After all he was just 35 years old and had married a pretty girl, daughter of a minor cleric of the region.
On the fateful night, he was in his father-in-law’s mud plastered house to be with his second wife for the whole night. The heat was sweltering as is generally the case in that part of Pakistan. He chose to sleep on the roof of the ground floor on a couch out in the open. His second and pretty wife was sharing the couch with him. It was both pleasure and pain.
The Americans came to know of it. After all they run Intelligence services that claim to be efficient, next only to Mossad of Israel. The drone, that pilotless aircraft famous for being tasked to do anything that a normal snooping aircraft does, was soon ordered to the place in question. The powerful cameras fitted in the drone zeroed in on the Mehsood couple lying out in the open. The computer targeted the devastating missiles called Hellfire and locked on to Mehsoods. The command came from thousands of mile away control centre in Nevada, Fire. In no time the missiles hit the target with accuracy. All was over for Mehsoods. All that was left was debris and pieces of human flesh. The most dreaded terrorist of Pakistan had met his doom the way he had planned and executed the end of life for others. It was a matter of rejoicing for those who had been hunting him for quite some time.
What an irony of fate. The top terrorist had wished to sire a son but death came rushing to court him. Thus common man’s faith in the Divine Justice was strengthened. Atheists became believers.
Address. UPVAN 609, Sector 29, NOIDA-201303. India. Mobile : 0091-9811173590. Email. Sawantg.chitranjan@gmail.com
WISHED TO SIRE A SON BUT...
By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM
Baitullah Mehsood was a dreaded name on both sides of the Durand line that separates Afghanistan from Pakistan. Son of a small time cleric, Mehsood earned a notoriety for himself as a terrorist who had no remorse in killing adversaries and also those who toed a softline. For him what mattered was just spreading the word of Allah as enunciated in Qurán and illustrated by the life led by Hazrat Muhammad, sallallah wasale wasallum. The world beyond that did not exist for him. If anything existed and flourished without obeying the order of Allah, it deserved to be destroyed. Indeed, Baitullah Mehsood was a dangerous man to be in the vicinity. Pakistan encouraged him initially but found later that the Frankenstein monster was spreading its tentacles far and wide. In the second phase of love and hate relationship between a failed Islamic State and a bandit like Jehadi the closeness was too uncomfortable to be ignored. Pakistan chose, nurtured, trained and cohabited with Mehsud until the American intelligence agency, CIA announced a whopping 5 million US dollar reward on his head. The battle scenario changed thereafter.
A SON A SON ANYTHING FOR A SON
In the tribal areas of Waziristan and frontier tract the tribesman celebrate birth of a son with gunfire. Mehsood did not get a chance to do so. He had three daughters who came to the world unannounced and uncelebrated as per custom. The terror god took a second wife. He had an ardent desire to sire a son but had not succeeded so far. He was diabetic too. Nevertheless, he always desired to cohabit with his second wife to go through the natural process to father a son. He was too busy to go into niceties of sex life. He would just have it anywhere anytime with his newly wedded wife. After all he was just 35 years old and had married a pretty girl, daughter of a minor cleric of the region.
On the fateful night, he was in his father-in-law’s mud plastered house to be with his second wife for the whole night. The heat was sweltering as is generally the case in that part of Pakistan. He chose to sleep on the roof of the ground floor on a couch out in the open. His second and pretty wife was sharing the couch with him. It was both pleasure and pain.
The Americans came to know of it. After all they run Intelligence services that claim to be efficient, next only to Mossad of Israel. The drone, that pilotless aircraft famous for being tasked to do anything that a normal snooping aircraft does, was soon ordered to the place in question. The powerful cameras fitted in the drone zeroed in on the Mehsood couple lying out in the open. The computer targeted the devastating missiles called Hellfire and locked on to Mehsoods. The command came from thousands of mile away control centre in Nevada, Fire. In no time the missiles hit the target with accuracy. All was over for Mehsoods. All that was left was debris and pieces of human flesh. The most dreaded terrorist of Pakistan had met his doom the way he had planned and executed the end of life for others. It was a matter of rejoicing for those who had been hunting him for quite some time.
What an irony of fate. The top terrorist had wished to sire a son but death came rushing to court him. Thus common man’s faith in the Divine Justice was strengthened. Atheists became believers.
Address. UPVAN 609, Sector 29, NOIDA-201303. India. Mobile : 0091-9811173590. Email. Sawantg.chitranjan@gmail.com
Saturday, August 8, 2009
CORRUPTION AND PUNISHMENT IN CHINA
AUM
CORRUPTION AND PUNISHMENT IN CHINA
By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM
The People’s Republic of China is an economic giant now. The economy is ever growing. The Chinese consumer goods have flooded markets of the world. Go East or go West, go North or go South, the department stores, the malls and even the street vendors sell Chinese goods. Notwithstanding the anti publicity that the Chinese manufacturers got on account of unacceptable proportion of led in paint on its goods, especially toys, the market all over the world is ever eager to import merchandise from China. Playing, of course, with those toys was detrimental to the health of children. Some goods were even shipped back to China. And yet the international trade of China has flourished. It speaks well of the price structure and marketing technique of Chinese manufacturers. So much so that even the United States of America had an adverse trade balance with China in respect of consumer goods. It did not grow more because China was keen on buying Defence weapon systems and equipment from America to modernise the People’s Liberation Army. Indeed America was too happy to sell but not transfer technology in case of weapon system where her own defence could be adversely affected in future. This is the case with Europe and other developed and developing countries too. India is no exception. India had no military hardware that China needed but has plenty of Information Technology and software thereof on which China has always been keen. Thus China’s international trade has grown by leaps and bounds and hard currency has flown in.
MONEY CORRUPTS POWER CORRUPTS
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely – that has been the saying from time immemorial. History bears out the truth of this saying. The political system may be anything from monarchy to democracy via aristocracy, the ruler or the ruling elite fell from grace when they enjoyed absolute power in the absence of checks and balances. Eventually they fell from the throne or the seat of power too. While that saying still holds sway, a new one has crept in. Money corrupts and abundance of money corrupts abundantly. This phenomenon of monetary corruption has made heavy inroads into the culture and body politic of China. Among many reasons we may choose two to start with. One is the political system and the other is territorial imbalance in economic growth. As China will be completing the Diamond Jubilee of Red Star over China on 1st October 2009, it is time these two issues were addressed on a priority basis. It may be clarified right here that we are making a mere friendly suggestion and it should not be taken as a criticism of the political and economic system of China.
Let us take the political system first. Although the one party rule in China has hastened the country’s progress it has made men and women who matter in the party all important who brook no criticism. The Communist Party of China has been the monarch of all it surveys from the beginning. The Communists and their Army , PLA, won the hard fought battle against the Nationalist party of Chiang Kai -Shek and threw them out beyond the shores of Chinese mainland to Formosa (now Taiwan). 1st October 1949 onwards they held unparalleled power and executive authority to take the country forward. Mao Tse-tung, the great leader and architect of Communist victory and military takeover of China said “power comes out of the barrel of a gun and it is the party that controls the gun”. This theory and practice of political philosophy holds good even today. The Communist party has got the taste of power and the country has made tremendous progress, so the ideologues feel there is no need to change or to bring in a type of democracy that is practised in the West. However, this absolute power did corrupt some people in power and brought a bad name to the party and the people. It must, however, be said that it goes to the credit of big leaders that they ensured trial and punishment of those who had gone astray.
The credit for this unprecedented economic growth of China must be given to a leader diminutive physically but a giant in political thought and economic philosophy, Deng Hsiao-ping .It was he who broke China from shackles of orthodox Communism and motivated men and women to enter into a new era of production and consumption and encouraged private enterprise. With the result the floodgates of economic growth opened. China did not have to look back. However, the People’s Republic of China was no more a Communist country, if one were to interpret Communism as Karl Marx did. Never mind that, so thought Deng Hsiao-ping and added “how does it matter if a cat is black or white as long as it catches mice”. Sure, the cat is catching mice and exporting it too. The need of the hour is to keep an eye on leaders who wield authority so that they do not line their own pockets and deprive the national exchequer of its revenues.
The law and its implementation to curb economic corruption are showing results. It may be mentioned that an ex-airport chief of Beijing, the national capital, was executed on 7 Aug 09 for corruption and embezzlement. Li Peiying, 60, was found guilty of accepting four million US dollars in bribe. He was also found guilty of embezzling 12 million US dollars of public money since 1995. The law eventually caught up with him and he has now lost his life. Although a plea for leniency was made by his attorney since he had returned the stolen money, the court still ordered his execution which was confirmed by the Supreme Court. It may be noted that the government is also investigating head of the country’s nuclear programme for alleged corruption. The head of the biggest oil company, Sinopec, has also been given a suspended death sentence for accepting a bribe of 29 million US dollars. If the big fish are caught the small ones may not go that way. As a matter of fact China may like to take the world community into confidence and let other countries know how to stop economic corruption in big places. The names of big guns in politics who have been caught and punished for economic corruption may also be made public.
TERRITORIAL IMBALANCE IN ECONOMIC GROWTH
Taking a look at the areas in China that have been a beneficiary of rich economic growth, one finds these are located in the coastal areas only. The trade and commerce, both national and international, have grown phenomenally in these areas. Consequently the people living there have become rich and have improved the quality of life. Among the metropolitan cities is Shanghai which has now an international character. No wonder the civic authorities now advise the Chinese residents not to roam about in the markets or streets in pyjamas as that does not look smart. The citizens should be suitably and smartly dressed to leave a good impression on foreigners who now visit Shanghai in large numbers. Will there be a punishment for those who infringe this advisory? Not yet. The aim of putting the best foot forward and presenting a good image of China to the world has to be achieved, though.
The large areas of North-west China and other outlying provinces like Xinjiang, Chinghai and even Tibet have not had a share of the apple pie. With the result the poverty that existed before has not been removed to the extent as has been done in the coastal areas. This imbalance in economic prosperity has obviously led to social and political tensions among the people of different ethnic groups. Of course, the leadership in Beijing is quite aware of this problem and plans are being made to establish employment generating industries in the hinterland. These newly provided plants may manufacture goods, garments, toys etc for export and earn foreign exchange for the country. This will help remove the financial disparity in the long run and consequently social tensions may disappear.
Beijing is quite aware of the fact that regional disputes with neighbouring States should be resolved and war like situation should be prevented. Of course, the policy makers may like to ensure that the philosophy of peace should permeate all echelons of the government and the people. Indeed the path to prosperity lies through peace.
UPVAN 609, Sector 29, NOIDA- 201303.INDIA . Mobile 0091-9811173590.
Email : sawantg.chitranjan@gmail.com. Phone :0091-120-2454622.
CORRUPTION AND PUNISHMENT IN CHINA
By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM
The People’s Republic of China is an economic giant now. The economy is ever growing. The Chinese consumer goods have flooded markets of the world. Go East or go West, go North or go South, the department stores, the malls and even the street vendors sell Chinese goods. Notwithstanding the anti publicity that the Chinese manufacturers got on account of unacceptable proportion of led in paint on its goods, especially toys, the market all over the world is ever eager to import merchandise from China. Playing, of course, with those toys was detrimental to the health of children. Some goods were even shipped back to China. And yet the international trade of China has flourished. It speaks well of the price structure and marketing technique of Chinese manufacturers. So much so that even the United States of America had an adverse trade balance with China in respect of consumer goods. It did not grow more because China was keen on buying Defence weapon systems and equipment from America to modernise the People’s Liberation Army. Indeed America was too happy to sell but not transfer technology in case of weapon system where her own defence could be adversely affected in future. This is the case with Europe and other developed and developing countries too. India is no exception. India had no military hardware that China needed but has plenty of Information Technology and software thereof on which China has always been keen. Thus China’s international trade has grown by leaps and bounds and hard currency has flown in.
MONEY CORRUPTS POWER CORRUPTS
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely – that has been the saying from time immemorial. History bears out the truth of this saying. The political system may be anything from monarchy to democracy via aristocracy, the ruler or the ruling elite fell from grace when they enjoyed absolute power in the absence of checks and balances. Eventually they fell from the throne or the seat of power too. While that saying still holds sway, a new one has crept in. Money corrupts and abundance of money corrupts abundantly. This phenomenon of monetary corruption has made heavy inroads into the culture and body politic of China. Among many reasons we may choose two to start with. One is the political system and the other is territorial imbalance in economic growth. As China will be completing the Diamond Jubilee of Red Star over China on 1st October 2009, it is time these two issues were addressed on a priority basis. It may be clarified right here that we are making a mere friendly suggestion and it should not be taken as a criticism of the political and economic system of China.
Let us take the political system first. Although the one party rule in China has hastened the country’s progress it has made men and women who matter in the party all important who brook no criticism. The Communist Party of China has been the monarch of all it surveys from the beginning. The Communists and their Army , PLA, won the hard fought battle against the Nationalist party of Chiang Kai -Shek and threw them out beyond the shores of Chinese mainland to Formosa (now Taiwan). 1st October 1949 onwards they held unparalleled power and executive authority to take the country forward. Mao Tse-tung, the great leader and architect of Communist victory and military takeover of China said “power comes out of the barrel of a gun and it is the party that controls the gun”. This theory and practice of political philosophy holds good even today. The Communist party has got the taste of power and the country has made tremendous progress, so the ideologues feel there is no need to change or to bring in a type of democracy that is practised in the West. However, this absolute power did corrupt some people in power and brought a bad name to the party and the people. It must, however, be said that it goes to the credit of big leaders that they ensured trial and punishment of those who had gone astray.
The credit for this unprecedented economic growth of China must be given to a leader diminutive physically but a giant in political thought and economic philosophy, Deng Hsiao-ping .It was he who broke China from shackles of orthodox Communism and motivated men and women to enter into a new era of production and consumption and encouraged private enterprise. With the result the floodgates of economic growth opened. China did not have to look back. However, the People’s Republic of China was no more a Communist country, if one were to interpret Communism as Karl Marx did. Never mind that, so thought Deng Hsiao-ping and added “how does it matter if a cat is black or white as long as it catches mice”. Sure, the cat is catching mice and exporting it too. The need of the hour is to keep an eye on leaders who wield authority so that they do not line their own pockets and deprive the national exchequer of its revenues.
The law and its implementation to curb economic corruption are showing results. It may be mentioned that an ex-airport chief of Beijing, the national capital, was executed on 7 Aug 09 for corruption and embezzlement. Li Peiying, 60, was found guilty of accepting four million US dollars in bribe. He was also found guilty of embezzling 12 million US dollars of public money since 1995. The law eventually caught up with him and he has now lost his life. Although a plea for leniency was made by his attorney since he had returned the stolen money, the court still ordered his execution which was confirmed by the Supreme Court. It may be noted that the government is also investigating head of the country’s nuclear programme for alleged corruption. The head of the biggest oil company, Sinopec, has also been given a suspended death sentence for accepting a bribe of 29 million US dollars. If the big fish are caught the small ones may not go that way. As a matter of fact China may like to take the world community into confidence and let other countries know how to stop economic corruption in big places. The names of big guns in politics who have been caught and punished for economic corruption may also be made public.
TERRITORIAL IMBALANCE IN ECONOMIC GROWTH
Taking a look at the areas in China that have been a beneficiary of rich economic growth, one finds these are located in the coastal areas only. The trade and commerce, both national and international, have grown phenomenally in these areas. Consequently the people living there have become rich and have improved the quality of life. Among the metropolitan cities is Shanghai which has now an international character. No wonder the civic authorities now advise the Chinese residents not to roam about in the markets or streets in pyjamas as that does not look smart. The citizens should be suitably and smartly dressed to leave a good impression on foreigners who now visit Shanghai in large numbers. Will there be a punishment for those who infringe this advisory? Not yet. The aim of putting the best foot forward and presenting a good image of China to the world has to be achieved, though.
The large areas of North-west China and other outlying provinces like Xinjiang, Chinghai and even Tibet have not had a share of the apple pie. With the result the poverty that existed before has not been removed to the extent as has been done in the coastal areas. This imbalance in economic prosperity has obviously led to social and political tensions among the people of different ethnic groups. Of course, the leadership in Beijing is quite aware of this problem and plans are being made to establish employment generating industries in the hinterland. These newly provided plants may manufacture goods, garments, toys etc for export and earn foreign exchange for the country. This will help remove the financial disparity in the long run and consequently social tensions may disappear.
Beijing is quite aware of the fact that regional disputes with neighbouring States should be resolved and war like situation should be prevented. Of course, the policy makers may like to ensure that the philosophy of peace should permeate all echelons of the government and the people. Indeed the path to prosperity lies through peace.
UPVAN 609, Sector 29, NOIDA- 201303.INDIA . Mobile 0091-9811173590.
Email : sawantg.chitranjan@gmail.com. Phone :0091-120-2454622.
Friday, August 7, 2009
ARMED FORCES TRIBUNAL FUNCTIONAL SOON
PRESIDENT INAUGURATES ARMED FORCES TRIBUNAL
What a relief it is to know that now the aggrieved officers and men of the Armed Forces and Ex-Servicemen will not have to knock at the doors of different High Courts to get their grievances redressed. As of now as many as 9800 cases are of serving defence personnel (including some retired personnel) are pending disposal in different High Courts of the country. This factor of indecision and delay has been affecting the morale of officers and men which is detrimental to defence of the country. With a view to ameliorate this hardship, the Ministry of defence brought a bill before the Parliament to establish an Armed Forces Tribunal and it became an Act of Parliament in December 2007.
Smt Pratibha Devisingh Patil, President of India has kindly agreed to inaugurate the Tribunal on saturday, 8 August 09 in New Delhi. The President is also the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. She was concerned about the rising litigation involving serving and retired Defence personnel in civil courts. Now the situation will undergo a sea change and it will be a morale raising factor as well as a force multiplier in a war or war-like situation.
The Armed Forces Tribunal will have the authority to hear appeals preferred against the order of Military Courts Martial. Should a defence personnel be in military custody, the Armed Forces Tribunal will have the authority to grant bail.
The Principal Bench of the Tribunal will be located in New Delhi and there will be eight regional benches. In all 15 Courts will be established - three each in New Delhi, Chandigarh and Lucknow; and one each in Jaipur, Mumbai, Kolkata, Guwahati, Chennai and Kochi. The Tribunal is expected to give speedy justice to aggrieved personnel among officers and men of the 1.3 million strong armed forces and 1.2 million ex-servicemen.
The Chair person of the Tribunal will be a serving or a retired judge of the Supreme Court. presently Justice Ashok Kumar Mathur, a former judge of the supreme Court is holding office of the Chairman of the Armed Forces tribunal. Each court will have ajudicial member - aserving or a retired judge of a High Court and an administrative member who will be a retired Major general or an officer of equivalent rank from the other two services.
It is hoped that the tribunal will start functioning the moment Government of India issues a notification to that effect. Indeed hopes of all concerned have soared high.
What a relief it is to know that now the aggrieved officers and men of the Armed Forces and Ex-Servicemen will not have to knock at the doors of different High Courts to get their grievances redressed. As of now as many as 9800 cases are of serving defence personnel (including some retired personnel) are pending disposal in different High Courts of the country. This factor of indecision and delay has been affecting the morale of officers and men which is detrimental to defence of the country. With a view to ameliorate this hardship, the Ministry of defence brought a bill before the Parliament to establish an Armed Forces Tribunal and it became an Act of Parliament in December 2007.
Smt Pratibha Devisingh Patil, President of India has kindly agreed to inaugurate the Tribunal on saturday, 8 August 09 in New Delhi. The President is also the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. She was concerned about the rising litigation involving serving and retired Defence personnel in civil courts. Now the situation will undergo a sea change and it will be a morale raising factor as well as a force multiplier in a war or war-like situation.
The Armed Forces Tribunal will have the authority to hear appeals preferred against the order of Military Courts Martial. Should a defence personnel be in military custody, the Armed Forces Tribunal will have the authority to grant bail.
The Principal Bench of the Tribunal will be located in New Delhi and there will be eight regional benches. In all 15 Courts will be established - three each in New Delhi, Chandigarh and Lucknow; and one each in Jaipur, Mumbai, Kolkata, Guwahati, Chennai and Kochi. The Tribunal is expected to give speedy justice to aggrieved personnel among officers and men of the 1.3 million strong armed forces and 1.2 million ex-servicemen.
The Chair person of the Tribunal will be a serving or a retired judge of the Supreme Court. presently Justice Ashok Kumar Mathur, a former judge of the supreme Court is holding office of the Chairman of the Armed Forces tribunal. Each court will have ajudicial member - aserving or a retired judge of a High Court and an administrative member who will be a retired Major general or an officer of equivalent rank from the other two services.
It is hoped that the tribunal will start functioning the moment Government of India issues a notification to that effect. Indeed hopes of all concerned have soared high.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
MYRIAD PROBLEMS OF PAKISTAN
AUM
MYRIAD PROBLEMS OF PAKISTAN
By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM
Pakistan has problems galore. Let the government and people of Pakistan go into causes and look for cure. As an Indian why should I be concerned? Doesn’t it amount to peeping into a neighbour’s bedroom to find out if their daily quarrels emanate from unfulfilled sexual desires. Well, the answer is yes and no. Without entering into the soul of Freud or Jung even a greenhorn marriage counsellor would say that a modern marriage is made or unmade in bed. Before doing the saptpadi of a Vedic Vivah or saying I Do and tying the nuptial knot both the bride and the groom have had an experiment with sex and know what the future augurs for them. Good and friendly neighbours should know more and more about each other, albeit without a peek into the bedroom. A piece of advice now and then on the matter and method of an all round development of personality should be welcome to both.
Unfortunately Pakistan, before birth, skipped too many phases of development before a people mature into a Nation and form a Nation-State. The birth of Pakistan was a direct result of a marriage of convenience between the then British rulers and their loyal Muslim subjects. The Royal rulers presented the state of Pakistan on a silver platter to their faithful Muslim servants who had always treated their wish like a command and carried them out like an obedient poodle. The original Muslim League of undivided India comprising feudal aristocracy and western thinkers of Indian origin became masters of vast territory and millions of Muslims with little in common to bind them into a relationship of Islamic crusaders for a common cause. Islam that the rulers and the ruled professed was of different hues and shades –liberal for the former and ultra-orthodox for the latter. The Great divide could never be bridged and made the foundations of a moth-eaten Pakistan much more unstable and shaky than it could take.
BISMILLAH WAS BAD
Mohammad Ali Jinnah was the motivating spirit behind the birth of a Muslim state born after vivisection of India. The mantra to unite Muslims was: Undivided India means enslavement of Muslim masses by Hindu masters. Fight for Pakistan and be rulers of a Muslim State. The mantra worked wonders and stalwarts like Mahatma Gandhi had no antidote to the communal poison of the Muslim League. What an irony that the man who headed a Muslim State, Jinnah, was not a true Muslim. He had married a Parsi girl, ate pork and spoke no Urdu nor ever went on a Hajj. He could not suffer the company of fools and was too much of an elitist to go anywhere near the toiling masses. His western education and western dress made him feel more at home in the company of occidentals than orientals. Thus from Day One Pakistan relied on support and sympathy of the British masters and did not have a desire or a capability to stand on its own feet. In due course of time, the waning power of the British made them play second fiddle to the Americans and the latter replaced the former eventually as a friend, philosopher and guide of the fledgling state of Pakistan. Thereafter Islamabad always looked askance to Washington DC .Thus the sovereignty of the Muslim dreamland became subservient to Christian overlordship once again. It was a repeat of post 1857 political scenario in India. The Muslim masses not only disliked it but hated it. The situation remains unchanged today. The Great Divide between the ruler and the ruled has thus weakened the structure of the State that had an unstable foundation.
The hydra-headed monster of corruption was not only nibbling but eating into the vitals of Pakistan. The landed aristocracy, the bureaucracy and political upstarts combined to loot their own nation. The economy worsened and the people were restive. The Military stepped in. Ostensibly their mission was to save Pakistan from political robbers but sooner than later the Military too had its share of the apple pie. One could buy or create large scale business establishments in the name of the Military just for a song. Field Marshal Ayub Khan, the then Army Chief became the first Military Dictator of Pakistan. Since then the Army did not have to look back in creating wealth and property for self. Joining the Army as a commissioned officer became more prestigious than joining any other service or business establishment. The fate of the common man in Pakistan, however, went from bad to worse .For many farmers and labourers, especially in the tribal areas, it was difficult to make both ends meet.
HATE HINDU HATE INDIA
The masses live on slogans and the leaders prosper on same slogans. The rulers of Pakistan, whenever in the thick of economic or political problems, have always found a scapegoat. Hindu India is to blame for all ills of Pakistan. Although there are more Muslims residing in India as citizens than there are in Pakistan, our adversary prefers the words – Hindu India. The rulers of Pakistan opine that in pre-independence days Hindus had conspired to enslave Muslims and in post-independence days , it is Hindu India once again that is not letting Pakistan survive, what to say of flourish. So, the Military rulers of Pakistan made a plan to attack Hindu India and punish the infidels. The ruling elite again led the ignorant and mostly illiterate Muslim masses up the garden path, rallied them in the name of Islam and just ignored their duty of bringing in land reform or economic prosperity. As a matter of fact such outlandish plans like land reforms or economic makeover of the poor never form the part of ruling elite’s agenda. The Muslim landed aristocracy had always treated their tillers of the soil as bonded labour even in the days of the British Empire. The undiluted tradition has been going on till today. The landed aristocracy always opposed land reforms as it hits them where it hurts.
General, later Field Marshal, Ayub Khan ordered his army to attack India to divert the attention of Pakistani masses from their daily bread. It was first in Kutch and later in Jammu and Kashmir. Under guidance of Prime Minister LalBahadur Shastri the Indian Army crossed the international borders and moved towards Lahore and Sialkot. That indeed halted the march of Pakistan Army in Jammu and Kashmir and turned tables on them. It is not the aim of this article to discuss the war situation. So suffice it to say that Pakistan lost the war in 1965.Pakistan had miscalculated the resolve of the Indian leadership under Lal Bahadur Shastri to fight back. The gallantry of Indian officers and Jawans had escaped the attention of military planners in Pakistan. Although the Pakistan armoured corps had new Patton tanks given by America but their soldiers did not put up a fight as they were afraid of being burnt alive in Pattons under the attack of the Indian armour. One can see the graveyard of Pakistan’s Patton tanks in area Khemkaran and Asal Uttar in the Punjab. The Hate Hindu and Hate India gamble of Pakistan failed once again. In fact it proved to be their Achilles’ heel. A military strategy based on hatred and anger never succeeds in battle, so said Yogeshwar Shri Krishna in Gita. It is a pity that the Pakistan Army officers and Jawans are bereft of these sagacious words otherwise they would not have chosen Hate Hindu Hate India as their motivation to attack a peaceful neighbour. “YUDHASWA VIGAT JWARAH’, so says Lord Krishna and it means that war should be fought without the burden of anger or hatred generated fever. It is sad but true that Pakistan does not want to learn from her own mistakes because of a sense of false pride. Pride goes before a fall, even an elementary class student knows that. Unfortunately, in the text books of schools in Pakistan the authorities teach the new generation that India is an enemy country and Hindus have always been hostile to Muslims. The truth lies elsewhere. It is Pakistan that makes promises to behave as a good boy after a defeat in war but like a villain goes back on its words. Thus even an ordinary citizen in India says – Never trust Pakistan.
Pakistan again took recourse to war in 1971 under General Yahya Khan who had replaced Field Marshal Ayub Khan as the Military dictator after a countrywide unrest because of economic reasons. Borrowing from Shakespeare I am tempted to say – not that Yahya loved Pakistan less but that he loved Scotch whisky more. He was all for Punjabi Pakistan and could not relish the idea of a Bengali, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman becoming Prime Minister of Pakistan. The Islamic faith of that Bengali leader mattered little; what mattered most was his being a non-Punjabi. Thus Hate Bengali was an addition to the list of hatreds. Such myopic rulers encouraged their troops to rape Bengali women in the hope of creating a Punjabi population in East Pakistan. With a helping hand from India, the Bengali Hindus, Muslims and the people around including Hindus of the surrounding area like Sylhet, dismembered Pakistan. Pakistan has not yet recovered from that debacle. General Yahya Khan was forced to quit. A civil administration under Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto came to power but the power game played by the military carried on unabated.
Bhutto signed the Simla agreement and vouched for peace with India and promised to abandon his Hate India Hate Hindu policy to fight “Ä thousand year war against Indian dogs”. Like his predecessors Bhutto proved to be as unreliable as ever. The Simla agreement is dead. It is not worth the paper it is written on. Others who followed were no better, be it General Zia or General Pervez Musharraf or for that matter even the present rulers, whoever they may be. One of the major problems with Pakistan is that no one knows who is in-charge in Islamabad. The infamous phrase of three As, that is America, Army and Allah – are the rulers of Pakistan and their importance in the corridors of power is in the same order as is written here is current today too. The Pakistan Army always pats itself on the back for coming to the rescue of Pakistan and saving the sovereignty many times since inception in 1947. How far removed from the truth they are. The Army is not a boon but a bane for Pakistan. The Army has been staging a coup every now and then and thus has been an impediment in the way of a mature civilian and democratic political power shaping up and guiding the destiny of the country. The foreign masters of Pakistan have always been backing the men in uniform as rulers as they are more obedient and loyal to their Financial Masters. It is the US dollar that buys air and sea power and new weapons for the army, not forgetting the help to rulers in buying estates in the West. How will Pakistan’s common man prosper – that is a million dollar question that remains unanswered. The power politics is a game of musical chairs; who gets the chair and who is ousted depends on America and Army alone. Thus it will be only proper to surmise that the Pakistan Army is a part of the problem and is far from finding a solution to the myriad problems of Pakistan.
CHINA AND PAKISTAN: WONDER OF WONDERS
China and Pakistan are friends. It makes news. The Chinese love to eat pork but for Pakistanis it is forbidden. And yet they coexist. China does not allow its male citizens to have more than one living wife at a time. There is no exception to those who profess Muslim faith. But Pakistan does not take cudgels on behalf of co-religionists with the Beijing regime. Indeed some sacrifice has to be made in the interest of co-existence. Adversity makes strange bedfellows and many a time one has to go through the rituals of a marriage of convenience. Pakistan is doing just the same in building, cementing and buttressing its relationship with China. Should America abandon Pakistan one fine morning and go in for friendship with India, world’s largest democracy, where will Pakistan go? She does not want to be left high and dry. In that adverse situation China will come to Pakistan’s rescue. When the Soviet Union had backed India, Pakistan fell into the lap of china. The friendship has stood the test of time and is going strong. The then President Pervez Musharraf was cut up with Taliban because those terrorists had kidnapped Chinese engineers working in Pakistan. Musharraf had then admitted that china was the only reliable ally of Pakistan and terrorists are destroying that trust. The Chinese engineers were released from the captivity by terrorists. Some surmise that the Taliban terrorists, the Al Quiada and the Pakistan establishment are hand in glove with each other. General Pervez kayani, the present Army Chief had once said that the Taliban terrorists are strategic partners of the Pakistan Army. Hasn’t he thus created an additional problem for Pakistan? Won’t the Americans reduce their economic and military aid to Pakistan as the latter are aiding and abetting Islamic terrorism?
Of late China has been having problems with its ethnic minority Uighur Muslims in the province of Xinjiang. A rough and tough handling of the Islamic militants by the Chinese security forces nipped the trouble in the bud. Many arrests were made and the situation is under control for the time being. When the Uighurs were out in the street and indulging in violence, a number of Han Chinese were killed and injured. Next day the Han Chinese also took out a procession baying for revenge but they were prevented by the police from harming Uighurs. However, during the investigations it came to light that some Pakistani Islamic terrorists were in the background as trouble makers. No further news came out what the final disposal of their case was. Pakistan is buying more problems for itself by meddling into the affairs of their time tested friend.
DIVORCE CULTURE OF HATRED
Pakistan would do well in reducing some of its myriad problems if it divorces culture of hatred, intolerance and persecution of religious minorities. Equality and fraternity , irrespective of caste and creed should be promoted as a State policy. Love for fellow human beings should be taught in schools so that the youth do not cultivate the culture of hatred. Such prayers in public and in private be made an offence where a citizen of Pakistan says , MAY ALLAH DESTROY HINDU INDIA; MAY ALLAH DESTROY ISRAEL; MAY ALLAH DESTROY AMERICA. It should be impressed upon one and all that God Almighty Himself discourages negative prayers. Negative thought and action lead to destruction and strife. We should pray for Peace and Prosperity of Mankind. A little sophistication in attitude comes when Nuclear Physics is taught along with soul touching music as a subject.
May we pray to Parmatma that people of Pakistan have Medhavi Buddhi – sagacious minds – so that myriad problems of Pakistan give way to Peace and Prosperity. May Pakistan and India live as good neighbours for ever.
Address. UPVAN 609, Sector 29, NOIDA – 201303 , INDIA 0091-9811173590
Email : sawantg.chitranjan@gmail.com. Phone > 0091-120-2454622.
MYRIAD PROBLEMS OF PAKISTAN
By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM
Pakistan has problems galore. Let the government and people of Pakistan go into causes and look for cure. As an Indian why should I be concerned? Doesn’t it amount to peeping into a neighbour’s bedroom to find out if their daily quarrels emanate from unfulfilled sexual desires. Well, the answer is yes and no. Without entering into the soul of Freud or Jung even a greenhorn marriage counsellor would say that a modern marriage is made or unmade in bed. Before doing the saptpadi of a Vedic Vivah or saying I Do and tying the nuptial knot both the bride and the groom have had an experiment with sex and know what the future augurs for them. Good and friendly neighbours should know more and more about each other, albeit without a peek into the bedroom. A piece of advice now and then on the matter and method of an all round development of personality should be welcome to both.
Unfortunately Pakistan, before birth, skipped too many phases of development before a people mature into a Nation and form a Nation-State. The birth of Pakistan was a direct result of a marriage of convenience between the then British rulers and their loyal Muslim subjects. The Royal rulers presented the state of Pakistan on a silver platter to their faithful Muslim servants who had always treated their wish like a command and carried them out like an obedient poodle. The original Muslim League of undivided India comprising feudal aristocracy and western thinkers of Indian origin became masters of vast territory and millions of Muslims with little in common to bind them into a relationship of Islamic crusaders for a common cause. Islam that the rulers and the ruled professed was of different hues and shades –liberal for the former and ultra-orthodox for the latter. The Great divide could never be bridged and made the foundations of a moth-eaten Pakistan much more unstable and shaky than it could take.
BISMILLAH WAS BAD
Mohammad Ali Jinnah was the motivating spirit behind the birth of a Muslim state born after vivisection of India. The mantra to unite Muslims was: Undivided India means enslavement of Muslim masses by Hindu masters. Fight for Pakistan and be rulers of a Muslim State. The mantra worked wonders and stalwarts like Mahatma Gandhi had no antidote to the communal poison of the Muslim League. What an irony that the man who headed a Muslim State, Jinnah, was not a true Muslim. He had married a Parsi girl, ate pork and spoke no Urdu nor ever went on a Hajj. He could not suffer the company of fools and was too much of an elitist to go anywhere near the toiling masses. His western education and western dress made him feel more at home in the company of occidentals than orientals. Thus from Day One Pakistan relied on support and sympathy of the British masters and did not have a desire or a capability to stand on its own feet. In due course of time, the waning power of the British made them play second fiddle to the Americans and the latter replaced the former eventually as a friend, philosopher and guide of the fledgling state of Pakistan. Thereafter Islamabad always looked askance to Washington DC .Thus the sovereignty of the Muslim dreamland became subservient to Christian overlordship once again. It was a repeat of post 1857 political scenario in India. The Muslim masses not only disliked it but hated it. The situation remains unchanged today. The Great Divide between the ruler and the ruled has thus weakened the structure of the State that had an unstable foundation.
The hydra-headed monster of corruption was not only nibbling but eating into the vitals of Pakistan. The landed aristocracy, the bureaucracy and political upstarts combined to loot their own nation. The economy worsened and the people were restive. The Military stepped in. Ostensibly their mission was to save Pakistan from political robbers but sooner than later the Military too had its share of the apple pie. One could buy or create large scale business establishments in the name of the Military just for a song. Field Marshal Ayub Khan, the then Army Chief became the first Military Dictator of Pakistan. Since then the Army did not have to look back in creating wealth and property for self. Joining the Army as a commissioned officer became more prestigious than joining any other service or business establishment. The fate of the common man in Pakistan, however, went from bad to worse .For many farmers and labourers, especially in the tribal areas, it was difficult to make both ends meet.
HATE HINDU HATE INDIA
The masses live on slogans and the leaders prosper on same slogans. The rulers of Pakistan, whenever in the thick of economic or political problems, have always found a scapegoat. Hindu India is to blame for all ills of Pakistan. Although there are more Muslims residing in India as citizens than there are in Pakistan, our adversary prefers the words – Hindu India. The rulers of Pakistan opine that in pre-independence days Hindus had conspired to enslave Muslims and in post-independence days , it is Hindu India once again that is not letting Pakistan survive, what to say of flourish. So, the Military rulers of Pakistan made a plan to attack Hindu India and punish the infidels. The ruling elite again led the ignorant and mostly illiterate Muslim masses up the garden path, rallied them in the name of Islam and just ignored their duty of bringing in land reform or economic prosperity. As a matter of fact such outlandish plans like land reforms or economic makeover of the poor never form the part of ruling elite’s agenda. The Muslim landed aristocracy had always treated their tillers of the soil as bonded labour even in the days of the British Empire. The undiluted tradition has been going on till today. The landed aristocracy always opposed land reforms as it hits them where it hurts.
General, later Field Marshal, Ayub Khan ordered his army to attack India to divert the attention of Pakistani masses from their daily bread. It was first in Kutch and later in Jammu and Kashmir. Under guidance of Prime Minister LalBahadur Shastri the Indian Army crossed the international borders and moved towards Lahore and Sialkot. That indeed halted the march of Pakistan Army in Jammu and Kashmir and turned tables on them. It is not the aim of this article to discuss the war situation. So suffice it to say that Pakistan lost the war in 1965.Pakistan had miscalculated the resolve of the Indian leadership under Lal Bahadur Shastri to fight back. The gallantry of Indian officers and Jawans had escaped the attention of military planners in Pakistan. Although the Pakistan armoured corps had new Patton tanks given by America but their soldiers did not put up a fight as they were afraid of being burnt alive in Pattons under the attack of the Indian armour. One can see the graveyard of Pakistan’s Patton tanks in area Khemkaran and Asal Uttar in the Punjab. The Hate Hindu and Hate India gamble of Pakistan failed once again. In fact it proved to be their Achilles’ heel. A military strategy based on hatred and anger never succeeds in battle, so said Yogeshwar Shri Krishna in Gita. It is a pity that the Pakistan Army officers and Jawans are bereft of these sagacious words otherwise they would not have chosen Hate Hindu Hate India as their motivation to attack a peaceful neighbour. “YUDHASWA VIGAT JWARAH’, so says Lord Krishna and it means that war should be fought without the burden of anger or hatred generated fever. It is sad but true that Pakistan does not want to learn from her own mistakes because of a sense of false pride. Pride goes before a fall, even an elementary class student knows that. Unfortunately, in the text books of schools in Pakistan the authorities teach the new generation that India is an enemy country and Hindus have always been hostile to Muslims. The truth lies elsewhere. It is Pakistan that makes promises to behave as a good boy after a defeat in war but like a villain goes back on its words. Thus even an ordinary citizen in India says – Never trust Pakistan.
Pakistan again took recourse to war in 1971 under General Yahya Khan who had replaced Field Marshal Ayub Khan as the Military dictator after a countrywide unrest because of economic reasons. Borrowing from Shakespeare I am tempted to say – not that Yahya loved Pakistan less but that he loved Scotch whisky more. He was all for Punjabi Pakistan and could not relish the idea of a Bengali, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman becoming Prime Minister of Pakistan. The Islamic faith of that Bengali leader mattered little; what mattered most was his being a non-Punjabi. Thus Hate Bengali was an addition to the list of hatreds. Such myopic rulers encouraged their troops to rape Bengali women in the hope of creating a Punjabi population in East Pakistan. With a helping hand from India, the Bengali Hindus, Muslims and the people around including Hindus of the surrounding area like Sylhet, dismembered Pakistan. Pakistan has not yet recovered from that debacle. General Yahya Khan was forced to quit. A civil administration under Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto came to power but the power game played by the military carried on unabated.
Bhutto signed the Simla agreement and vouched for peace with India and promised to abandon his Hate India Hate Hindu policy to fight “Ä thousand year war against Indian dogs”. Like his predecessors Bhutto proved to be as unreliable as ever. The Simla agreement is dead. It is not worth the paper it is written on. Others who followed were no better, be it General Zia or General Pervez Musharraf or for that matter even the present rulers, whoever they may be. One of the major problems with Pakistan is that no one knows who is in-charge in Islamabad. The infamous phrase of three As, that is America, Army and Allah – are the rulers of Pakistan and their importance in the corridors of power is in the same order as is written here is current today too. The Pakistan Army always pats itself on the back for coming to the rescue of Pakistan and saving the sovereignty many times since inception in 1947. How far removed from the truth they are. The Army is not a boon but a bane for Pakistan. The Army has been staging a coup every now and then and thus has been an impediment in the way of a mature civilian and democratic political power shaping up and guiding the destiny of the country. The foreign masters of Pakistan have always been backing the men in uniform as rulers as they are more obedient and loyal to their Financial Masters. It is the US dollar that buys air and sea power and new weapons for the army, not forgetting the help to rulers in buying estates in the West. How will Pakistan’s common man prosper – that is a million dollar question that remains unanswered. The power politics is a game of musical chairs; who gets the chair and who is ousted depends on America and Army alone. Thus it will be only proper to surmise that the Pakistan Army is a part of the problem and is far from finding a solution to the myriad problems of Pakistan.
CHINA AND PAKISTAN: WONDER OF WONDERS
China and Pakistan are friends. It makes news. The Chinese love to eat pork but for Pakistanis it is forbidden. And yet they coexist. China does not allow its male citizens to have more than one living wife at a time. There is no exception to those who profess Muslim faith. But Pakistan does not take cudgels on behalf of co-religionists with the Beijing regime. Indeed some sacrifice has to be made in the interest of co-existence. Adversity makes strange bedfellows and many a time one has to go through the rituals of a marriage of convenience. Pakistan is doing just the same in building, cementing and buttressing its relationship with China. Should America abandon Pakistan one fine morning and go in for friendship with India, world’s largest democracy, where will Pakistan go? She does not want to be left high and dry. In that adverse situation China will come to Pakistan’s rescue. When the Soviet Union had backed India, Pakistan fell into the lap of china. The friendship has stood the test of time and is going strong. The then President Pervez Musharraf was cut up with Taliban because those terrorists had kidnapped Chinese engineers working in Pakistan. Musharraf had then admitted that china was the only reliable ally of Pakistan and terrorists are destroying that trust. The Chinese engineers were released from the captivity by terrorists. Some surmise that the Taliban terrorists, the Al Quiada and the Pakistan establishment are hand in glove with each other. General Pervez kayani, the present Army Chief had once said that the Taliban terrorists are strategic partners of the Pakistan Army. Hasn’t he thus created an additional problem for Pakistan? Won’t the Americans reduce their economic and military aid to Pakistan as the latter are aiding and abetting Islamic terrorism?
Of late China has been having problems with its ethnic minority Uighur Muslims in the province of Xinjiang. A rough and tough handling of the Islamic militants by the Chinese security forces nipped the trouble in the bud. Many arrests were made and the situation is under control for the time being. When the Uighurs were out in the street and indulging in violence, a number of Han Chinese were killed and injured. Next day the Han Chinese also took out a procession baying for revenge but they were prevented by the police from harming Uighurs. However, during the investigations it came to light that some Pakistani Islamic terrorists were in the background as trouble makers. No further news came out what the final disposal of their case was. Pakistan is buying more problems for itself by meddling into the affairs of their time tested friend.
DIVORCE CULTURE OF HATRED
Pakistan would do well in reducing some of its myriad problems if it divorces culture of hatred, intolerance and persecution of religious minorities. Equality and fraternity , irrespective of caste and creed should be promoted as a State policy. Love for fellow human beings should be taught in schools so that the youth do not cultivate the culture of hatred. Such prayers in public and in private be made an offence where a citizen of Pakistan says , MAY ALLAH DESTROY HINDU INDIA; MAY ALLAH DESTROY ISRAEL; MAY ALLAH DESTROY AMERICA. It should be impressed upon one and all that God Almighty Himself discourages negative prayers. Negative thought and action lead to destruction and strife. We should pray for Peace and Prosperity of Mankind. A little sophistication in attitude comes when Nuclear Physics is taught along with soul touching music as a subject.
May we pray to Parmatma that people of Pakistan have Medhavi Buddhi – sagacious minds – so that myriad problems of Pakistan give way to Peace and Prosperity. May Pakistan and India live as good neighbours for ever.
Address. UPVAN 609, Sector 29, NOIDA – 201303 , INDIA 0091-9811173590
Email : sawantg.chitranjan@gmail.com. Phone > 0091-120-2454622.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
LAST OF THE LEGIONARY LEGEND
AUM
LAST OF THE LEGIONARY LEGEND
By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM
5 grand children, 12 great grand children, 14 great great grand children and one great great great grandchild – that is the report card of Henry Allingham, a noted ex-serviceman of the First World War who died at age 113 years in the United Kingdom. A man of many parts, he was much sought after by scribes and lensmen as he always made news but shunned newsmen. A very private person indeed .He did not wish to talk about the war until gradually drawn out of the shell by his ghost biographer, Goodwin. On his demise the Queen of England said that she was saddened. Allingham sacrificed so much for all of us.
His name found a mention in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest living man and sole surviving founder member of the Royal Air Force. Born in 1896, he lived in the Victorian era England when peace reigned all over. But it was World War I that made him known to the world. He recalled that as a child he did not see many cars on London roads and the speed limit for them was two miles an hour. When the Great War broke out his mother begged him not to enrol in the military and he honoured her wish. When she expired next year he joined the Royal Naval Air service in 1915 and later the Royal Air Force and saw action in France and Flanders. He could never forget some gory scenes of war and did not wish to talk about them. He saw soldiers standing in 2 ft deep water in trenches and he himself once landed in a bomb crater full of dead rats and guts of dead soldiers. He did not bathe for 3 months for lack of an opportunity to do so. This was the last of the trench war from where almost a million men never returned home. 70,000 Indian soldiers and labourers were there too. Of them 13516 men could not be cremated or buried and their names are inscribed on the India Gate in New Delhi.
Henry Allingham was asked many times what the secret of his longevity was. He could never think of one. However, he prescribed for the youth “the trick is to look after yourself and always know your limitations.”Allingham lived a happy married life and was always faithful to his wife. Never cheated on her. He recalled “I have only ever kissed one girl, my Dorothy. We met in 1915, married in 1918. I never gave my cherry away when I went to the front”. Perhaps that was the secret of his becoming more than a centenarian – Brahmacharya as we understand in India. Historically speaking, his life spanned three centuries and he saw six monarchs on the throne of England. But for the efforts of the Ex-Servicemen’s associations the world would not have known many human interest stories of those veterans of the First World War who “gave their today for our tomorrow”. Whenever there is a Reunion of veterans of World Wars , Queen of England or an important member of the Royalty makes it a point to attend. 10 Downing Street does not go unrepresented either. Indeed it is a great morale raising factor for both the serving soldiers and ex-servicemen. Of course, a positive signal to the youth to enrol for the defence of the motherland.
Address : UPVAN 609, Sector 29, NOIDA – 201303Mob. 9811173590.
LAST OF THE LEGIONARY LEGEND
By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM
5 grand children, 12 great grand children, 14 great great grand children and one great great great grandchild – that is the report card of Henry Allingham, a noted ex-serviceman of the First World War who died at age 113 years in the United Kingdom. A man of many parts, he was much sought after by scribes and lensmen as he always made news but shunned newsmen. A very private person indeed .He did not wish to talk about the war until gradually drawn out of the shell by his ghost biographer, Goodwin. On his demise the Queen of England said that she was saddened. Allingham sacrificed so much for all of us.
His name found a mention in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest living man and sole surviving founder member of the Royal Air Force. Born in 1896, he lived in the Victorian era England when peace reigned all over. But it was World War I that made him known to the world. He recalled that as a child he did not see many cars on London roads and the speed limit for them was two miles an hour. When the Great War broke out his mother begged him not to enrol in the military and he honoured her wish. When she expired next year he joined the Royal Naval Air service in 1915 and later the Royal Air Force and saw action in France and Flanders. He could never forget some gory scenes of war and did not wish to talk about them. He saw soldiers standing in 2 ft deep water in trenches and he himself once landed in a bomb crater full of dead rats and guts of dead soldiers. He did not bathe for 3 months for lack of an opportunity to do so. This was the last of the trench war from where almost a million men never returned home. 70,000 Indian soldiers and labourers were there too. Of them 13516 men could not be cremated or buried and their names are inscribed on the India Gate in New Delhi.
Henry Allingham was asked many times what the secret of his longevity was. He could never think of one. However, he prescribed for the youth “the trick is to look after yourself and always know your limitations.”Allingham lived a happy married life and was always faithful to his wife. Never cheated on her. He recalled “I have only ever kissed one girl, my Dorothy. We met in 1915, married in 1918. I never gave my cherry away when I went to the front”. Perhaps that was the secret of his becoming more than a centenarian – Brahmacharya as we understand in India. Historically speaking, his life spanned three centuries and he saw six monarchs on the throne of England. But for the efforts of the Ex-Servicemen’s associations the world would not have known many human interest stories of those veterans of the First World War who “gave their today for our tomorrow”. Whenever there is a Reunion of veterans of World Wars , Queen of England or an important member of the Royalty makes it a point to attend. 10 Downing Street does not go unrepresented either. Indeed it is a great morale raising factor for both the serving soldiers and ex-servicemen. Of course, a positive signal to the youth to enrol for the defence of the motherland.
Address : UPVAN 609, Sector 29, NOIDA – 201303Mob. 9811173590.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
