NDTV 24x7, an Indian TV News channel ran a programme called `We the People' on from 8 to 9PM on December 2008. The programme was supposedly devoted to outlining India's options in dealing with Terrorism post 26/11 Strike on Mumbai, which cost nearly 200 lives. For me it was surreal experience as I listened to self-serving inanities dished out by people belonging to the Establishment. Watching their attempts to serve self-interest as national interest my thoughts went back into history to the period prior to arrival of British (must have been same when Mughals arrived). The panel was made up two retired bureaucrats (one from Foreign Affairs and other from Intelligence), one Indian in UN employment (who has already voted with his feet) and two very reasonable and sweet sounding Muslim ladies whose views count for nothing in wider Muslim community, one retired Naval guy basically in a comic role and one realist.
By now we all know that Indian Establishment has no stomach for hard choices in so far as dealing with terrorism is concerned. they want to muddle along as best as they can by heaping more and more restrictions and indignities on the Indian citizen in name of security. Since they do not take any proactive steps to nip the evil in bud, country is always reacting to terror strikes. The actions of all players have become totally predictable and pat. There is a terrorist strike. Depending on its location it gets highlighted or sidelined in media. If the strike is in remote parts of India and only involves the poor, then it is more or less ignored. But in case it happens in a urban area, the media is forced to show it. The media first turns into a tamasha (spectacle) and if forced by public outrage the Government sponsored media goes into damage control mode with active support from the front-persons of the Establishment. First the public anger is sought to be diverted from culpability of Establishment by pointing fingers at neighbouring state (which in any case has an ongoing proxy war with India). This diversion succeeds in making people demand action against neighbour. In second step the sponsored media and Establishment start pointing out the difficulties in targeting the neighbour by claiming that the `civil' government of neighbouring state is powerless in hands of its Army and any action would only result in damage to poor `civil' government. This neatly absolves Establishment of any action on one hand and at other hand it puts the onus of sustaining `civil' government on people. Unstated but clearly underlined through this discourse is a message to people of India that the Establishment ahs a duty (which people must understand and support) of keeping Indian Armed Forces under strict control so to not allow India to become like neighbour. Conveniently camouflaged behind this smoke screen are all acts of omission and commission of the Establishment.
The progamme ran true to script. Both the bureaucrats and UN guy extolled the virtue of `inaction' as highest form of action. They wanted us to remember that the poor `civil' government was totally out of control and we were not capable of doing anything to its Army (who were real rulers). Two sweet ladies kept us searching for hankies by constantly reminding us that we must learn to bear our loss without blaming any one (at least not with India and while talking of neighbour we must be civil so to not offend) and the naval guy in comic role provided much needed relief as and when the proceedings became too sweet for even non-diabetics like me. And, the anchor did a commendable job of keeping Realist out of discussion.
Friend I am sure similar arguments must have been made by the Establishment when faced with foreign invaders and their local sympathizers in past. Do not be taken in. because it is all a thin smoke screen to save the Establishment. Let me show it. Let us for the sake of argument accept that neighbouring country truly has a military ruling by proxy. Well what it achieved. first the economic status of a citizen of neighbouring country is not much different from Indian citizen. Second despite being just about 20 percent in size, this neighbor has remained an effective thorn in our side. Third every evil perpetuated by this neighbour has been initiated by so-called `civil government'. Let us not forget that 1948 was fought when civil government was in full control. A pledge to eat grass but make nuclear bomb was taken by Mr Bhutto. Taliban were created and sustained by his daughter. Kashmir terrorism commenced under Mr Nawaz.
It is about time people called the bluff of Indian Establishment and its sponsored media and told them to get or get out. We have to fight back and the strike by us has to be where it hurts. It can be:-
(a) Try and join NATO led operations in Afghanistan to break the back of terrorists sheltering in South Afghanistan.
(b) Introduce National ID Card system.
(c) Go after illegal immigrants effectively.
(d) Establish special courts to hear terror related cases and ensure decision within six months.
(e) Constitute Statutory Citizen Oversight Committees to supervise police functioning so that laws and special powers are not misused.
(f) Demand transparency in raising and maintaining security capabilities so that a minister is not able to take away 20 cars from police or a police officer is not able to employ 10 constables fro domestic chores.
(g) Demand accountability from all organs of state including intelligence.
(h) Withdraw special privileges of politicians and Establishment.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Terror in India
TERROR IN
Recent terrorist strike on Mumbai has laid bare all that is good as also all which is venal in our country. In normal times it is usual for the good to keep quite in such times, the good depend on common sense of the people to shift chafe from the cheese. However these are not normal times. Our a period of time our country and its systems have been captured by the self-serving, who is past acted like humanists of Albert Camus’s novel The Plague refuse to see evil in form of rats who are attempting to overrun the city and when plague breaks out attempt to shift blame for the crisis on to those who are trying to save India. To advance their selfish agendas these people have no qualms in running down every good man or institution through a deluge of calumny and disinformation.
Two set of people who today seem to be totally smug and satisfied with their performances are the bureaucrats and certain honchos from media. I am sure every one remembers a press conference by a smug looking Special Secretary Internal Security, IMHA, where the gentleman claimed full marks for the crisis management committee consisting of Cabinet Secretary and himself. And, what as their achievement – it was to have dispatched NSG. Do not ask why it took nine hours for the NSG to be effective at target end. Just go by certificate issued by Ms Barkha Dutt to Special Secretary for complimenting the media. Read her in `Don’t shoot the messenger, HT, Chandigarh Edition,
Three influential media personalities have been running a campaign against services in general and Navy and their CNS in particular, during recent past. Mr Shekhar Gupta of Indian Express, who has been running the services down for asking for restoration of extant parties unilaterally and illegally altered by a Committee of Secretaries. Second is Mr Vir Sangvi of HT, who had recently advocated secession of J&K from
To understand the underlying causes of this animosity we have to travel in past a little. Since 1947 the Armed Forces have been done-in and defanged by successive regimes with very little or nil resistance from senior military leaders. The facts are too well documented and need no repetition. We all know that no one from political or bureaucratic establishment was punished for 1962 Debacle. Even the civil servant involved in Tehlka expose have gone scot free. Hence when the services under the leadership of Admiral Sureesh Mehta stood up for their rights after implementation of unfair 6th CPC award, the politician-bureaucratic nexus was jolted. They wanted to get even with this man who had shown the temerity to stand up for his command. If allowed to have justice he would provide a precedent for other right thinking citizen to demand the same. So they called on the friends in media to pay what Justice Sachar has tellingly described as `Debts to repay’. Likes of Shekhar Gupta, Sangvi and Ms Dutt are only repaying a part of their IOUs when they malign the CNS and services.
The public gaze is being sought to be diverted from flaws of Intelligence Establishment, Central Crisis Management Committee, Customs, Mumbai and Maharashtra Police, and being laid at the door of services in general and Navy in particular. Some pertinent questions which have not being asked, but need to be asked are:-
As documented by Mr Arun Shourie, http://www.indianexpress.com/news/surprised/392625/ both the HM and PM of
1. 1. What action did the Government and particularly Ministries of Defence and Home take to meet such a threat during last four years?
2. Why a system of National Identity Cards not been implemented so far?
3. As recorded by Ms Dutt, key recommendations of task forces set up after Kargil 1999 have yet not been implemented. Who is responsible for delay? http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/FullcoverageStoryPage.aspx?id=d8afd42f-7ec7-4640-a690-c61d8c168b63Mumbaiunderattack_Special&&Headline=Don%e2%80%99t+shoot+the+messenger
4. Navy has been asking for streamlining port security management. Why have its recommendations been stalled?
5. Why attempts to identify illegal migrants thwarted time and again?
Coming to events of 26/11 itself, certain questions not being asked by media are. Since R&AW and IB claim that they knew exact location of terrorist ship on 19 November.
1. Why did they not know the type, size and registration of the ship?
2. Why did they not track the movement of ship over next few days?
3. Did they share this information with the coastal states and customs?
4. If yes, what steps did the police of coastal states and customs took to thwart projected landing?
5. What action did Central Crisis Management Committee take?
6. As claimed by Special secretary Internal Security, the crisis was handled by him and Cabinet Secretary. Question arises as o where was the NSA during crucial first few hours?
7. Why did it take nine hours for the NSG to reach the site of incident?
8. Sad loss of lives of 14 ATS personnel without any harm to terrorists need to be investigated. How did this well trained and forewarned group fall so easily?
9. Why were the sites of terror strike not cordoned and sanitized by local police?
10. Within an hour of start of terror strike the Chief Secretary,
11. Why was local police or civil administration not able to provide maps and building plans of Taj – Trident, Nariman House and Oberoi?
Coming to role of media in general and MS Dutt in particular, questions which emerge are:-
1. Why did she broadcast room number and location of Ms Sabina and thereby expose her to terrorists who were in touch with their minders on phone.
2. Why did she give live coverage to slithering operations of NSG and there by forewarn terrorists inside Nariman House?
Ms Dutt takes a morally reprehensible position while trying to explain her conduct. She says, `cordon was decided by officials. Had any one asked us to retreat or switch off our cameras, we would have done so’. How childish! Was she a little girl lost in bad big world and needed to be told what was wrong or right?
But wait, some would say, she does admit to media (not herself) making `some unwitting mistakes’. Why can the CNS not overlook these minor aberrations, even if they may have contributed to loss of innocent lives. After all the deaths did serve the purpose of raising TRPs! And finally all she has been thanked by NSG and Special Secretary for excellent job done and after this certificate, the CNS should have kept quite. Right Ms Dutt? Service Chiefs must remain true to tradition of past military leaders who crawled when asked to bend.
Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the time when past favours are being recalled and payments demanded from TRP/ advertisement hungry and self-obsessed media by their masters. So be ready to be blamed for all that you did or did not do. Present witch hunt of Services reminds me of a story in which a Lion wants to eat a Lamb who is drinking water down stream of the Lion. Lion accuses him of polluting the water, when the Lamb points out that the water is flowing down from Lion to him, the Lion retorts that well in that case his (Lamb’s) father had earlier polluted the water and proceeds to eat it. So services have sinned by demanding justice and have to be put in their place! Period!!
We must know that each man who died while eliminating the terrorists in Taj Hotel and Nariman House was a soldier from Indian Army, he was led by Indian Army Officers in an operation overseen by Maj Gen-in-charge Operations. But the public face of NSG was an IPS. Services belong to a group called Common-men of
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Civil Military Equations in India
1. Indian press and the politicians routinely blame the bureaucracy for many ills including corruption, sloth and inefficiency. The same press also routinely articulates bureaucratic view of politicians as ignorant and self-serving. Sometime bureaucrat and politician get together to blame press for wrong reporting/misquoting. And, the self-same set by and large calls Indian military a beacon of efficiency and patriotism. Not that sacrifices of our soldiers need any certificates! But when it comes to the same military seeking a fair deal in terms of service including pay and allowances, one sees contours of a different equation emerging. The earlier adversarial positioning vis-à-vis each-other is now shown as what it really was – a fraud . It was our mistake to imagine a drawing room discussion between members of elite, as anything but a system of checks and balances applicable to distribution of spoils within the `family’. Dispossessed of the society including soldiers are not part of the family. Now that the Chowkidar (soldier) has shown the temerity to seek a fair deal, he must be put in his place. He (soldierI is a “whiners”, his Chief is portrayed as imbecile who is being defiant and need to be taught obedience. This disconnect between the elite and people who toil and shed blood for the nation is the reason why we have kept getting defeated at foreign hands for 23 centuries. Do we want this to continue or has the time come to let the elite know the truth and expose fallacy of their position. Choice is ours!!
2. Position of Soldier in a democracy. Soldier in democracy is a citizen first. This stands amply clarified by the Supreme Court of India in more than one judgment. A soldier is first and foremost citizen of democratic, socialist
3. Command of Armed Forces Article 52(2) of the Constitution reads: "Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provision the supreme command of the Defence Forces of the
4. Role of Military Leaders in administration of troops. Soldiers do not form trade unions because the task of negotiating a fair deal with the government is assigned to head of unit/regiment/army. It is a duty enshrined in the motto of
“ The safety honour and welfare of your country
come first always and every time.
The honour welfare and comfort of the men
you command come next.
Your own ease comfort and safety
come last always and every time “
5. When Military Chiefs articulating their anguish and opposition on patently illegal downgrading of military officers and reduction in pension of jawans they were performing their legal, nay, sacred duty.
6. Role of press in dealing with a set of people who have legal/ self-imposed vow of silence. There are certain curbs on a soldier’s interaction with media. These are meant to safeguard from premature divulgence of sensitive operational information. Training of military is such that it makes the soldiers intrinsically are shy of publicity. This silence becomes part of their ethos and is reflected in adjectives like `the silent service’, which the Indian Navy uses to describe itself. Most of the soldiers extend these limited restrictions to even matters of routine administrative nature. Hence it is the duty of the media persons reporting on defence matters to be scrupulously fair and sensitive to the ethos of military in reporting matters relating to services and avoid any hint of superciliousness, partiality or impropriety. In the instant case these qualities were conspicuous by their absence. Just demands of the military were termed `whine lists’. The 60 year old Chiefs, who have put in nearly four decades of service to the nation were reportedly `castigated’ by a firm political leadership and `told firmly’ to `behave’. This is nothing but lack of character on part of reporters and absence of editorial control.
7. Role of Government in safeguarding military leaders from slander. Even more worrisome is the absence of sensitivity on part of those in the government. One hand when a TV Channel reported existence of a letter in Army HQ purportedly written by serving senior officer (s), the Press Information Bureau of Government of India was very quick in denying its existence. But when on more than one occasion the press reported about `castigation’ of Chiefs, the same PIB kept totally quiet. At the very least this points to grave insensitivity towards honour and sensibilities of the military on part of government or at worst a well planned strategy to humiliate and down grade entire military.
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