REDEFINING DEMOCRACY- ROLE OF THE EC- PART-2

In a democracy like India, where 70% of the people live in rural areas and there exists a large majority of voters who are uneducated, living in metros, small towns, it becomes imperative to inform people about their voting rights. After racking my brains for a long time, I have come to the following conclusion :

Election Commission's ( EC ) role becomes very important to relate to this problem. Today we are living in a world, where media is playing a very important role. Even the poorest of the poor has access to radio. I see radio and TV channel as the most effective media tool to reach out to these people, even in the remotest parts of India. I think even TV has entered the villages in panchayats, where villagers get together to see the programmes which interests them.

It is the duty of EC, not only to conduct free and fair elections, but also educate the voters, how to vote and whom to vote for. Since people are uneducated, they cant read newspapers, but they can definately understand the local language, thru which EC must guide them thru radio and TV, how to exercise their right to vote.

A radio on the lines of All India Radio and TV channel on the lines of Doordarshan must be launched by the EC which should have a large reach throughout India and the the uneducated voters. As EC is an autonomous body, where executive interference is not allowed, radio and TV channel will also become autonomous.

This media should educate the voters about its their role in the democracy and how they can benefit by selecting a right candidate for them. It will enlighten the people how they can vote without fear and pressure and how they can change the face of India and their particular village in true sense. The basic thing this media should inform the rural voter should be :

1) Choose a candidate who can put up street lights, construction and repair of roads in the villages and also the village markets. How to link their village thru a proper road which can link to the national highway, so that they can have access to sell their agricultural produce in the main markets on market value and not thru a broker ( Artiya ) who exploits them by giving less rates as compared to the market rates.

2 ) keep a record of birth, deaths and marriages in the village and register it with the local panchayat.

3) Elect a candidate who can provide them public health thru govt. bodies and hygiene by providing facilities for sanitation and drinking water.

4 ) Elect a candidate who can ensure to set up schools for education for them and their children.

5 ) Elect a candidate who can implement development schemes for agriculture and animal husbandry.

6 ) Who are eligible to vote. Age limit

7 ) Local post offices in the village should be allowed to make voter ID cards.

8 ) Manifesto of all political parties, fighting elections.

9 ) List of candidates, their names, addresses, photo, their profile and track record of development in the village.

10 ) If the candidate standing for the election, has any criminal record ?

11 ) The assets of the candidates should be told to the villagers.

12 ) Whether a candidate is a new entrant. If old, then his achievements and failures.

13 ) If the candidate is elected, his time frame to provide basic facilities to the village and their people. If as per the promise, the candidate is not able to deliver, the right to recall the candidate.

14 ) MUST inform the villagers that they must not vote on the basis of religion, caste and region, but only vote for such candidates who can deliver development to the village.

I am sure if this kind of media is launched, the villages, the uneducated voters will select the right candidates, who will reach the state assembly and the parliament and thus a vibrant democracy can be established. It will benefit all the voters, rural, uneducated, slum people and the educated too. As on today, i am doubtful, if an educated voter also knows much about the candidate, standing from his area.

Educated and rich voters do not tend to go to the polling booths because of time restraints, laziness, lethargy, fear of queue and many other factors. A specific technology and software ( full proof ) must be developed on the lines of mobile banking, which the pvt. banks has started for banking operations, so that such kind of candidates can vote, sitting at home or their office. Secret pin numbers like credit card should be provided to these lazy voters, so that they can too vote, without going to the polling booth. I am sure, if this technology driven access is granted for this class, there would be 100% voting from them too. Internet can also play a very important role for these kind of people. These are the people who crib the most when wrong candidates are elected and besides doing drawing room politics, they can do nothing except to criticise the politicians and the elected representatives. After all, when they dont vote, wrong candidates do reach the assembly and the Parliament.

REDEFINING DEMOCRACY- ROLE OF THE EC- PART-1

First i would like to discuss what democracy should be, and what our politicians have made a mess out of it, and how it is being misused by all the political parties in India for their vested interests, dividing people on the lines of caste, religion an regions and claiming it, to be the biggest democracy in the world. I am not discussing something new. You all are aware about it. Part-1 of this article is inspired by Mr. B.S. Raghavan of The Hindu, newspaper.

Deploring the chaos and disorder with which the Lok Sabha is smitten and the loss of 40 per cent of the time earmarked for parliamentary business, the Speaker, Mr Somnath Chatterjee, while adjourning the House sine die, exclaimed: “It is extremely disturbing that the highest public forum in this country has almost come to a standstill, which raises many questions about the utility of our system of parliamentary democracy and about its future.” This relates to a session held in 2007.


Winston Churchill, of course, had characterised democracy as ‘the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time’! But that was said in jest by one who was qualified to speak about it, being one of the best practitioners of all that parliamentary democracy stood for.

Abraham Lincoln was profound when he postulated his oft-quoted definition of democracy being ‘the government of the people, by the people and for the people.’ Some wag has since updated it by calling it the government off the people, (to) buy the people and far (from) the people!

At the time India’s founding fathers were framing the Constitution, the models they studied with a great deal of thoroughness were essentially those of Britain (Westminster pattern, with members elected to the legislatures based on adult franchise under the first-past-the-post system) and the US (Presidential form, with strict separation of powers among the co-equal executive, legislative and judicial branches).

They also gave due consideration to electoral systems, such as proportional and list, prevalent in some countries, but after a very exhaustive debate, opted for the Westminster model. What weighed with them in making this choice was the fact that it was already incorporated in the Government of India Act, 1935, and the people had some familiarity with it since it was the basis of the elections held in 1937.

The experience of the last 60 years in working the model in India certainly raises doubts and fears of the kind expressed by Mr Chatterjee.

Shell and Sham

The props and superstructures, and the rites and rituals, making for a simulacrum of democracy, are no doubt in place, but the soul and spirit have long since flown. Indeed, there is evident a deliberate attempt to subvert and pervert the system from top to bottom so that what is left is nothing more than a shell and a sham.

People cannot be blamed if they call into question the utility and future of a democracy in which politics has become the plaything of moneybags, musclemen and mafias, law-breakers are elected as law-makers and occupy Cabinet berths and high Constitutional positions, political and governing classes ride the high horse trampling upon the masses, corruption has become an eagerly embraced mode of life, and accountability and responsiveness are mere words in a dictionary.

How else does one explain the topsy-turvydom by which, year after year, India is ranked high in corruption by the Transparency International and low in human development index by the United Nations Development Programme? Rajiv Gandhi said that our of every rupee of taxpayers’ money allocated for development, only 20 paise worth of benefits actually reached the people. Breathes there the person who is daring enough to say that the situation has changed?

But for the safety valves provided by the judiciary and EC which still commands respect for independence and integrity, and the media which is ferreting out misdeeds and misdemeanours with gusto, and but for the staunch and strict professionalism of the military keeping itself above politics, India perhaps would have gone the same way as Bangladesh, Burma or Pakistan.

In part-2, i shall be discussing what role EC can play to make India an Inclusive democracy, suited for all, educated, uneducated and the rural class. The true democracy, which it should be, suited for Indian conditions.

EC WINS, J&K DELIVERS, PAKISTAN LOSES

Let me congratulate our Election Commission ( which to my mind, is one of the few institutions left in India which is corruption free ), for conducting free and fair elections in Jammu & Kashmir.

I personally congratulated T.S. Krishnamurthy, former Chief Election Commissioner Of India in Chennai, today morning on his cell. I met him at FRNV summit in october in New Delhi. He was too humble by saying that he is no longer in the EC but he promised that my message of congratulations will be sent by him to the current Chief Election Commissioner. For your information, he has written a book published by Harper & Collins " Miracles Of Democracy-- India's Amazing Journey ". The book is not available at the local bookshop, but i have requested a copy of it.

I shared my views with him about my blog, the copy of which goes to him regularly. I admitted that some people say, i use harsh language and i am aggressive in my writing to which he replied " This is the miracle of democracy. I should express my views without any fear and as i wish to ". These words coming from him reassured me that i am on right track.

The Election Commission ( EC ) left no stone unturned to ensure that poll in J & K was as free and fair, free of any rigging and there was no coercion whatsoever of the voter by the army or other security forces. It is beleived that the EC had even spoken to the military brass in Jammu & Kashmir in this regard. The 3 member EC mostly worked from behind the scenes, leaving the deputy election commissioners to interact with the chief electrol officer on the conduct of poll. By deploying micro-observers, the EC ensured that each and every act of the poll-related officials and police personnel was subject to close scrutiny, leaving little scope for any poll irregularities of mischief.

The state administration and security forces fully cooperated with the EC is obvious from the conducive atmosphere in which the campaigning took place. Due to the secure environment provided by security forces and police, as many as 4,277 election meetings were held by various political parties across the state, up from a total of 2,031 poll rallies held during the 2002 election.

The 2002 assembly poll was held in the background of fairly serious militancy, leading to the killing of 220 civilians and 148 security personnel during the poll period. The comparative casualty figures for 2008 polls are 12 civilian and 5 security personnel. The impressive 86% fall in militancy-related incidents between the assembly polls in 2002 and 2008 may never have been anticipated in the pre-poll scenario, which was marred by the Amarnath agitation and its apparent fallout in the Kashmir region. The agitation was milked by the separatist forces to renew their " azadi " rhetoric. So much so, at one point of time, all the parties in J & K including PDP and NC were doubtful of holding assembly in the first place. But the EC stood its ground and decided to call the separatists bluff by going ahead with the poll, even at the risk of logging a low turnout, Ofcourse,in the end, the people rejected the separatists call for a poll boycott with an overwhelming response during polling spread over an unprecedented 7 phases.

Also, the high voter interest in these J&K polls is seen to be linked with the low levels of militancy and infiltration seen over the last couple of years, thanks to Pakistan's pre-occupation with other domestic matters--- be it restoration of democracy or dealing with the Taliban on its western borders--- and fencing of border stretches in J&K. The reduced interest of Pakistan-backed terror groups like Hizbul Mujahadeen ensured that no candidate was killed this time compared to 2002 when 50 political activists, including 2 candidates, were killed.

Since i have my trade links with Srinagar, i am getting a feedback, that since the bus service has started to Muzzarafabad, in POK, the Indian Kashmiris have gone there and have seen the poverty and misery in POK, they feel they are much richer and better off in India as their co-brothers in POK.

ARE MY ARTICLES AGGRESSIVE ?

Few of my friend have told me that i am writing very aggressive articles which are quite harsh in language also. I am not too sure about it. If calling spade a spade is wrong, then i certainly agree with my friends. Its true that my language is agressive in nature, as i write from my heart. If politicians and bureucrats are tainted, corruption has become a mass religion and we accept it as a part of life, then writing against it, is certaily harsh and aggressivenes.

If writing of swiss accounts of our politicians, bureacrats and businessmaen is wrong, then certaily i should stop writing about it. If media houses are sold out to vested interests, and write biased articles, then i think i am going too far.

If i write about communal card, used by our policians to divide us, am i wrong ? If i write something pro-hindu / Sikh which is the majority of India, do I become anti-muslim ? Its natural law of justice all over the world, that majority view be respected.

If our system has failed to provide security for all of us from terror and i write against it, then i am certainly be called harsh in nature. I really don't know how to be diplomatic. I think i must learn the art to be diplomatic in my writings.

If i write about 2 India's, one super rich and other ultra poor, which our system has failed to bridge the gap, then writing about it and pinpointing the govt for its failure, then truly i am aggressive.

I have written many anti-establishment articles, which are not taken in good taste by many, Should we all keep quiet about it ? never to discuss and criticise.

I would request you to please give your opinion about it in true sense, so that i can tone down my future articles.
Your comments and suggestions will really help me in introspecting myself and my articles.

CAN PAKISTAN " AFFORD " A WAR ?

Pakistan seems to create war hysteria for its public consumption, just to divert public mind from financial problems faced by it. The idiom " Ulta chor kotwal ko dante " fits quite aptly.

Pakistan is smack in the middle of serious economic meltdown. Its list of woes are tortuously long and varied : purchasing power is being strangulated by 25% inflation rate. The govt. has borrowed a whopping Rs. 1.4 trillion from the Central Bank to fund its spending. The rupee has devalued by 25% in just 3 months and the nuclear state's reserves of foreign exchange has dwindled to less than $ 6.9 billion--- barely enough to buy 9 weeks of imports. For the last two-and-half months, the stock market in Karachi has remained practically closed.

A lot of it has to do with the political situation in the country. In the past decade, Pakistan has frequently suffered bouts of insecurity, but the last year has been extraordinarily wrenching. Fighting extremists in NWFP, Baluchistan and the tribal areas has sapped the country considerably. The brutal assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the scary regularity of suicide bombings and the see-saw battles for power have scared much of the world away from the country. Not surprisingly, foreign direct investment ( FDI ) has plummeted from $ 8 billion to $ 3.5 billion for the current fiscal year. Even wealthy locals have taken much of their money out and stashed it in Dubai, as they do everytime things go awry in Pakistan.

However, insecurity aside, one of the big mistakes the govt. made was the decision to not pass on price increases, linked to big rises in global commodity prices, to its public. This sent the country's fiscal and external current account deficits to breaking point. Then, when the burden on state coffers became unbearable, Pakistan passed on the price effect to its people. This has had a devastating effect on many ordinary Pakistanis. Food prices for instance, rose by 34% in august this year, forcing Pakistan to station paramilitary forces at flour mills in Baluchistan. The salaried and the poor are the worst hit. Social scientist Mr Akbar Zaidi adds " that there are reports of mothers left with little option but to put up their children for adoption ".

Here's another fact that explains Pakistan's current mess : the country is practically broke. It spent $ 3.6 billion on imports in Sept, including a $ 1.9 billion from its exports. The Pakistani Rupee has fallen 33% in just a year. Its external debts are are many and mounting : Pakistan has $ 3 billon in commercial foreign debts and $ 38 billion in IMF concessionary loans that have to be serviced with money that it does'nt have.

If this was not already enough to send an economy into tailspin, along came the subprime-related global credit crunch. Exorbitant inputs and credit costs coupled with low demand have hobbled key industries. Chinese bike makers in Pakistan have shut down 14 production units and chopped up to 30% of their worforce. Pakistan Airlines has announced 5000 jobs cut, 28% of the workforce, after failing to get funds from the cash-strapped govt.

None of Pakistan's buddies seems to want to help it out. Zardari made fund-raising trips to old allies Saudi Arabia and America, which have refused to help, and he had to come back empty handed. Ditto with China. After stalling for a while, the country has finally swallowed the bitter pill of seeking out another IMF loan totalling $ 7.6 billion--- but these borrowings come with strigent reqirements, like the slashing of fiscal deficit and import tariffs.

Pakistan's rich elite, a recession-proof class, played recovery agents, quickly reversing their capital's flight back into evergreen industries such as opticals and surgical instruments. This time around, Pakistan's misery has been compounded by several crisis all kicking in at the same time. Problems are compounded by an inept Zardari-led administration, which has'nt been able to get things right when Pakistan most needs it to.

The country needs to get its debt in order and resolve the the abysmal credit rating ( CCC, which suggests likely default ) that S&P and Moody's have given it.

But let's not forget frustrated Pakistan is more dangerous to India than a stable one.

ON THE WRONG ROAD, AS USUAL

One of the problems of those blessed with pseudo-secular mindset is the belief that they have a monoply on compassion. At regular intervals, they spring to the defence of imagined grievances or deliberate ploys of the easy-to-defend types and attempt to guild trip the average citizen.

At this hour of crisis, when the whole nation is looking upto the govt. to act strongly against terror, govt. is totally confused as how to react to this problem. Govt. is sending wrong signals to Pakistan. One day Foreign Minister, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee warns Pakistan of dire consequences and asks them to hand over the terrorists to India, the next day our Prime Minister says we don't want to go to a war with Pakistan. Suddenly, out of the blue, one Minister Mr Antulay, who seems to have lost his mind, plays a communal card to appease muslims on the grounds that ATS chief's killing needs to be probed. What is the govt. upto ? It is in total dissray and does not know how to handle this situation. It's time to realise that our approach to terror has been repeatedly failing.

On the other hand, Pakistan's stand is very clear from day one. It completely disowns the terrorists, inspite of seeing and given proofs by our govt, FBI , Nawaz Sharif himself admitting and its own TV channel showing the footage, that terrorists are Pakistani nationals. Look at the contrast ! Till today Pakistan is in denial mode and playing its cards very well.

The international community has got the proofs from India and endorses the Indian stand. But they cant fight India's war. India has to fight its own war. Our govt, has created a mess out of a win-win situation with different voices coming each day. Pakistan's defiance is understandable and it is taking full advantage and benefit from these confusing statements coming from New Delhi every day. I am a layman and no expert on terror. But as a citizen of India, I am frustrated. Even a child who reads newspaper can suggest the following measures :

1) Get the international community on a common platform thru UN and declare Pakistan a " terror state ". i am
sure after seeing all the evidence, the international community will have no hesitance in doing so, except China,
as they are themselves are a the victims of terror, which comes from Pakistan. They are also looking for such
kind of measures, but India has to initiate as it is the latest victiom of terror in Mumbai.

2) Tell America in clear words that in case it cant rein in Pakistan, india is going to war with Pakistan. America
would never allow this kind of a situation to happen as it is tied up with the Pakistan's army on Afghan border
and wants Pakistan's support to crush Taliban. It would never want that Pakistan's army be relocated on the
eastern side of the border with India, otherwise the whole gameplan of America fails.

3 ) Set deadlines for America and Pakistan to deliver.

4 ) Warn China, that if it supports Pakistan any longer, all trade ties with them will be finished, as China as on
today is the biggest trade partner with India.

5 ) Launch covert operations in Pakistan. Pay them back in the same coin. Start supporting the Sindhi cause and
NWFP movement.

6 ) Form an Anti-Terror pact with America and Israel to put pressure on Pakistan.

7 ) Stop all trade with Pakistan wIth immediate effect and rein in America and the west not to give any kind of
military or monetary aid to Pakistan. First Pakistan has to disband its notorios ISI and other jehadi groups.
Only then the aid will start. Cripple Pakistan economically. America and the west will be too willing, being
victims of terror themselves. But again, India has to initiate.

8 ) Send a strong signal to Arab kingdoms in the Middle East to stop financing Pakistan based terror groups.
India should look towards Russia and other middle eastern states who are oil rich. India consumes a large
chunk of world's oil. Arabs will become alert. In the meantime develop alternate energy like biofuels,
electric vehicles and mass transport system like Metro. Spending on infrastructure will doubly benefit.
Dependence on oil will be reduced and economy will get a booster too and employment opportunities will
increase.

9 ) India should offer its airfields on temporary basis to America and Israel. Strong message will go to pakistan.

10 ) Tell the west in plain words, that India would not buy nuclear reacters or equipment, nor would it buy arms
and ammunition from them, if they dont support India. India is a billion plus population with a huge middle
class, even larger than any European country. Every country in the west wants to have an Indian pie and
foothold in India, be it cars, FMCG products, fast foods etc.

I would like to state once again, that i am no expert on terror. There are many experienced and knowledgeable
people who can suggest better ways. Please check me if i am wrong somewhere and add your comments to awaken us atleast, what more needs to be done. I have put my suggestions of whatever little knowledge i have.

INDIA MUST TALK IN A HARD WAY AS IT IS AN EMERGING SUPER POWER. NO COUNTRY IN THE WORLD CAN AFFORD TO TAKE INDIA LIGHTLY.

CORPORATES: NATION NEEDS YOU

If an ordinary man like me and millions of other ordinary citizens of India can have the anger against frequent terror attacks, specially Mumbai terror attack, on our nation, i am sure you must also be equally anguished like all of us. Just imagine, if one of your dear ones would have been killed in The Taj Hotel, Trident Hotel or CST Railway station in Mumbai, how would you have reacted ? Just put yourself in the shoes of those families, whose nearest and dearest have died, without any fault of theirs. Their only fault was that they happened to be at the above places, when terror struck

You have seen the impotence and apathy of the Govt. in front of you. Just a lip talk and saying harsh words, which have no meaning for all of us as there is no concrete action against terror. This will keep on happening, every now and then and innocent people will keep on getting maimed without any fault of theirs. The Govt has shown that it is a soft state and can do nothing about it. The reason is that these politicians have commandos around them to protect them, which we dont have, as we are just cockroaches. I am sure, if one or two politicians would have been killed in a terror strike, strigent measures would have been taken by them overnite. But nothing of this sort has happened so far and never will, as they all have a security cordon around them at the cost of your and our tax money.

It becomes imperative for all of us to think how we citizens can protect ourselves and each one of us from these terror attacks. Asking and requesting security from the govt, is like living in a fool's paradise. Govt. is just buying time as they know that our memory is very short and with time, we shall forget everything, which is true.

Since we ordinary citizens do not have the resources to protect ourselves, your moral role starts from here.. You are big houses and business leaders in your respective fields and employ millions of people who work for your companies. Is it not your duty to protect their lives ? Are your lives more precious than them ? Please dont forget that if our nation's security is in danger, then your security is automatically is threatened too. How can you run business in this country where people are full of fear and anger ?

Since you have the power, money and resources, it becomes your prime duty to give back to the nation at this time, in this hour of crisis. If you can change the policies of the govt. as per your requirement because of your political clout, you can certainly prevail upon the govt. to strengthen nation's security and the security of its citizens. If the govt. does not act, stop paying taxes and twist the govt's arm to deliver on security.

Even on your own, you can contribute a lot, independent of the govt, for the security of the nation, where you are born. If your companies can spend billions of dollars for foreign acquisitions and assests all over the world, if you can buy a 250 crore jet for your wife and another 400 crore for a yacht, again for your wife as a gift, if you can build a skyscraper costing 8000 crores as a house, i am sure you can buy cheap bullet proof jackets, modern weapons for our police, who can fight effectively with the terrorists. You can set up a corpus fund dedicated to the police for their modernisation and training for modern warfare, which is the need of the day to fight tech-savvy terrorists.. To monitor, learning from the govt's track record, you can set up a regulatory body to ensure that the funds are properly utilised and not misused. To be more a safer side, if you feel the right and tranparent way to approach this, would be to buy modern weapons and equipment directly would be the right way, you can do so and deliver directly to the police. You can create a " Security Club " thru which you can transfer funds to train the police in 4th generation warfare.

I am sure, you will listen to the call of your heart and the nation at this hour of crisis, where we do not find any answers. You will secure yourself, ordinary citizens and the police. Above all your nation. If you can do this, nobody can stop you for going to the parliament and thus govern the country proffessionly as you run your companies.

COME AND JOIN. NATION NEEDS YOU. KUCCH KARO

CAN AMERICA AND INDIA FIGHT TERROR TOGETHER ?

President-elect Obama’s historic statement on the further consolidation of Indo-US relations in certain common areas like tackling international terrorism has gained increased relevance with the latest terrorist attack on India’s financial capital, Mumbai. It is now confirmed that the original plan of the terrorists was to attack the Indian Prime Minister in Mumbai in that particular hotel. The audacity and brazen act of terrorism has taken a new serious form with this recent incident.

At this critical juncture President-elect Obama has to carve out a ‘new deal’ in terms of international joint mechanism to counter international terrorism as both the thriving democracies have been facing the scourge of extremism.

In earlier occasions and in this recent attack, Pakistan’s hand is evident from the very nature of terrorist strategies adopted.

This fact has indeed reflected in the policy of US that has recently recognised that equating an emerging India with a growingly dysfunctional Pakistan does not serve American interests.

This led to the commencement of what is called as a policy of “decoupling” US relations with India and Pakistan.

The close proximity between USA and India in various forms including recent two incidences such as signing historic Indo-US nuclear deal and President-elect Barack Obama’s pro-India stand in reference to terrorism and other related issues of fighting poverty have become unacceptable to these anti-India-USA elements and trying to show their frustration to destabilise these two most vibrant democracies of the world. In his letter in September to the Indian Prime Minister, Obama pointed out that “the recent bombings in Kabul remind us that we are both victims of terrorist attacks on our soil, and we share a common goal of defeating these forces of extremism”.

In fact a Democratic Party document entitled “Renewing America’s Promise” adopted at its convention in Denver eschews using the phrase “Global War on Terror” and focuses on “combating violent extremism”. The new US administration will have to re-craft its relations with India and Pakistan based on an objective assessment of the intrinsic value of each country to US interests. While the US will have to recognise that India is on the way to becoming a major Asian power, and Pakistan as a country in “serious crisis” and has become the heaven for producing militancy. This approach will definitely make the Obama regime being more responsive than in the past on Indian concerns on terrorism, by acting to ban groups like the Lashkar-e-Toiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed. Obama has, in fact, accused Pakistan of misusing funds for the war against terror and allegedly using it to fund militancy against India in one of his campaign speech. The past experiences on affairs in Indian neighbourhood the US have generally backed what India did in the interests of regional stability. There have been ample examples; like Reagan’s backing for the 1987 Indo- Sri Lanka Agreement and for our 1988 military intervention in the Maldives. This present hour of crisis also requires similar actions in Indian neighbourhood on breeding points of terrorism. Pakistan’s constant claim of being serious in clamping down terrorism activities from its soil has remained a hollow statement and it looks like Pakistan’s inability to handle these types of fundamentalist groups. As India has become the worst suffer of extremism in the region, it needs to convince Pakistan to help India in attacking terrorist camps in the Pakistan soil with international consensus.

Barack Obama even talked of launching unilateral strikes or hot pursuit across the Afghan border to hit al- Qaeda. That is the question quite a few in the region started asking. Even the next probable Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a sensational statement few days ago about Pakistan’s dangerous instability and its nuclear dimension. She even went to the extent of promising a drastic solution, just short of the demented idea of a forcible takeover of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal.

The attack on Mumbai has also reinforced the urgency of taking some non-conventional steps to eliminate terrorism without any trace.

India has to reach out all responsible nations towards crafting a pro-active anti-terrorist drive without delay. This shocking and most atrocious form of terrorism after 9/11 will also have policy ramifications for president-elect Barack Obama’s future foreign policy. The new US President will have to take an extra mile in enacting an Indo-US joint strategy to fight extremism. The policy has to be shifted to fighting terrorism in a new and concerted way with the active help of country like India in a leading position.

The authors are with Bangalore Based National Law School of India University and Institute for Social and Economic Change respectively sujitpruseth@nls.ac.in, sachisatpathy@isec.ac.in

PAKISTANI NUKES ALREADY UNDER AMERICAN CONTROL- REPORTS

I would like to draw your attention in Pakistan defence forums and an article in Times Of India dt.20 nov, 2007 which says as follows: Though the article is almost one year old, the authencity can not be given.


Pakistan's nuclear weapons are already under American control even as analysts are working themselves into a lather on the subject, a well- regarded intelligence journal has said.

In a stunning disclosure certain to stir up things in Washington's (and in Islamabad and New Delhi's) strategic community, the journal Stratfor reported on Monday that the "United States delivered a very clear ultimatum to Musharraf in the wake of 9/11: Unless Pakistan allowed US forces to take control of Pakistani nuclear facilities, the United States would be left with no choice but to destroy those facilities, possibly with India's help.

"This was a fait accompli that Musharraf, for credibility reasons, had every reason to cover up and pretend never happened, and Washington was fully willing to keep things quiet," the journal, which is widely read among the intelligence community, said.

The Stratfor commentary came in response to an earlier New York Times story that reported that the Bush administration had spent around $100 million to help Pakistan safeguard its nuclear weapons, but left it unclear if Washington has a handle on the arsenal.

Over the past fortnight, even since the crisis in Pakistan broke and eclipsed every other geopolitical story, including Iraq, US officials and analysts have been speaking in different voices on the subject of a jihadi takeover of Pakistan's nuclear weapons.

Some officials have expressed deep concern at the possibility and suggested US is ready with contingency plans to defang Pakistan of its nuclear weapons, while others have tried to assuage Islamabad by saying they believe the country's military rulers have good custodial control over their crown jewels.

On Monday, a State Department official once again addressed the issue and hinted that Washington was in control of the situation. "...

ultimately, the major responsibility for that falls with the Pakistani government. They have made public comments to the effect that the arsenal is secure, that they have taken a number of different steps to ensure that," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

"We ourselves see no indication to indicate to the contrary. It is secure. We obviously have an interest in seeing that it is secure," McCormack added.

Stratfor , too, appears confident that the Bush administration has a handle on Pak's nukes.

Not everyone is so sanguine. In a separate commentary over the weekend that had some US and Pakistani analysts blowing their gasket, two prominent Washington commentators detailed a US military action plan inside Pakistan, possibly with the cooperation of moderate Pakistani forces, to seize the nuclear arsenal if there was imminent danger of an extremist takeover.

"As the government of Pakistan totters, we must face a fact: the United States simply could not stand by as a nuclear-armed Pakistan descended into the abyss," proposed Frederick Kagan and Michael O'Hanlon, analysts at two Washington DC
think-tanks. "One possible plan would be a Special Forces operation with the limited goal of preventing Pakistan's nuclear materials and warheads from getting into the wrong hands.

" Pakistan's own leaders have spoken about the subject -- of nuclear weapons falling into extremist hands --with different emphasis and objectives.

General Pervez Musharraf has suggested continued Western support to his military regime is the best way to prevent the nukes from falling into extremist hands, an "after-me-the-deluge" argument that some analysts see as unabashed blackmail.

The country's opposition leader Benazir Bhutto has also invoked the loose nukes scenario to urge US to abandon the military regime, which she says has given rise to growing extremism and fissiparous tendencies that increase the danger of the nuclear arsenal going awry.

Officially though, Islamabad is touchy about any commentary on its nuclear arsenal, and goes into transports of hysteria to assert that it is a responsible country with good command and control over its crown jewels.

In the latest outburst, the country's out-going foreign minister Khurshid Kasuri asserted that Pakistan is fully capable of securing its nuclear assets and some Western lobbies are busy in creating confusion taking the advantage of ongoing conditions in Pakistan.

The multi-layer security structure of the nuclear assets has a strong command and control system in place and there is no need for anyone at home or abroad to worry about the security of these assets, he insisted.

But judging by the volume of worried commentary and analysis the subject is now getting, there aren't many takers for such assurances and the last word on the matter hasn't been said or written.

TO : CITIZENS DEMANDING ACTION AGAINST TERROR ATTACKS

I would like to share a petition with you from petitiononline.com

Goals of this petition:
----------------------- -
Force the Indian government to untie the military's hands to allow them to engage Pakistan in a limited/full scale war.
- Keep the issue of a lack of response to terror alive during this election season. This time we cannot allow these politicians to back down.

What's working for us: ---------------------- -

Elections in 6 months. Both parties will vie for our votes. We can set up a contest. Whoever is more aggressive on security gets our support. The best option at this stage is to put pressure on the Congress because they will be desperate to retain power. Of course if the congress doesn’t deliver, we can vote for BJP.

- Worldwide sympathy. The worldwide media coverage ensures that Govt. of India doesn't have to do any PR management in support of the war.

- The elite in India. This time the targets were the elite. They will not fund election campaigns if Pakistan is not forced to pay for this.

What’s working against us:
--------------------------- -

The Americans and British who want the Pakistanis to fight their war on terror... and want us to be just happy with superficial meetings and committees. We can’t blame them. They are doing it in their best interest. We have to take care of ours

. - The US media. They are trying to project this as an internal/Kashmir issue precisely to fulfill their agenda mentioned above.
- The Indian media. The left wing/secular/communist media doesn’t want India to retaliate. Recent media shops are MNC controlled (hence will promote western interests). So we the people, have very few friends in the media.
- The Pakis, of course. They have done their job. All that’s remaining is to somehow placate the Indians and avoid any retaliation (they are probably very confident of this since they have done this very effectively in the past).
- The Political parties in India. Congress does not want to have to deal with this during this election season. They are hoping that we forget this like we usually do. Communist parties in India are openly critical of attacking Pakistan but that’s hardly surprising… the communists work for their Chinese masters. BJP, probably wants the issue to keep boiling for 6 months so it gains electorally... without actually solving it.

Let's analyze some of the alternatives besides partial/full war:
----------------------------------------------------------------
- Can we negotiate with Pakistani Army/ISI. That’s not an option. Their only objective is to keep India down like their own under-developed nation. If you need a reminder, just read the article about how Captain Kalia was tortured: http://www.petitiononline.com/LtKalia/petition.html

- Can we ask Pakistan to hand over Dawood /Chota shakeel/Massod Azhar. We can..but it will drag on for ever and never actually happen based on past experience. Besides they are just the low level guys. The handlers are the ISI.
- Can we ask the US/British lobby to put pressure on Pakistanis to deliver eliminate terror and deliver Dawood/LET chief. They have been largely unsuccessful at getting anything from Pakistanis even after paying them, threatening them and bombing them.
- Can we ask our current Govt. to send troops across the border. Bomb key camps across the border. Cause pain to the handlers (who are obviously rejoicing at the carnage they have caused in Mumbai). We can. But from all indications, Congress is looking to drag this on by talking to everyone until the issue becomes stale. The Americans and the British are looking to actively help the congress in its quest for inaction. They need the Pakistanis to concentrate on the Afghan border and a conflict in the east is bad for them.
- Is electing the BJP a better option. Yes, slightly better option. Their track record is not exactly stellar. To be fair, Dr. Manmohan Singh has handled this attack way more sternly (No negotiation and heads rolled after assessment). Is BJP’s anti-terror stand just perception, maybe? Or is there something more concrete? They are making noises about security. But they are not coming out clearly saying they will cross the border and teach the Pakis a good lesson, if there are any attacks during their tenure. They are talking about security but it’s deliberately fuzzy. The actual action that would be taken is not clear. If the BJP clarifies their plan, clearly, categorically, yes, we could vote for them.
- We secure every major building in all the major cities. Any temporary let up in security could still cause a Mumbai kind incident. It's possible. But very expensive, not very practical, not error proof either, we will be spreading ourselves too thin. Any concentrated attack on one location with enough force to go over the threshold can cause a Mumbai like situation again. So theoretically possible, but don't think, very practical.

Consequences of inaction:
----------------------------

We remain a soft target. The next attack will be more audacious (possibly a dirty nuclear bomb in a city center).

- You or your loved once will fall victims to a Paki bomb at some point. It's a question of probability. It's like you are walking blindfolded thru a mine-field.

- The Paki terrorists laugh at you because they think you are impotent. This is pretty much how our ancient kingdoms were repeatedly attacked, pillaged and raped by the barbarian hordes until they finally took over. Obviously, they know that we haven’t learnt much from our history. Are they wrong?

- The investments dry up. The world loses confidence in India's security climate and stops investing. All that we have worked for is being destroyed by these barbarians. Repeat of history...don’t you think?

Consequences of action (a partial / full war)
--------------------------------------------- -
The unknown. We don't know the outcome. But without the risk, there is no reward. Besides what do we have to lose now. They have already attacked all the economic centers of India in the past few attacks. They are in severe economic distress. They will beg for peace after a week's battle.

- Nuclear war. With a partial war, this won't be triggered.

- Opposition from other countries like US/UK/China.

All the publicity in the western media means that they understand what we have gone thru. They cannot now turn against us and support Pakistan. China might but it’s not going to join in an overt battle. The most China will do is supply it weapons.

- Economic loss. The economic loss of not acting is actually more than going for a partial war.

- The world will respect us for taking care of this menace called Pakistan. They are the world’s problem... not just ours. The objective of the war might be to create smaller enclaves within Pakistan so they have local enemies to fight against! That solves the problem for ever.

Action plan:
-------------

1) Send copies of this petition to the political parties (already sent them to PMO/AICC), media, Bharat-Rakshak.com.
2) Collecting names of authors who favor tougher action and getting them onboard. eg: Analysts like : B Raman, Lieutenant General Ashok Joshi (retired), Tarun Vijay, Swapan Dasgupta, Santosh Desai, Shankkar Aiyar

3) Coordinating with other efforts that are being suggested in websites like Bharat-Rakshak like peaceful demonstrations across the country demanding action.
4) Posting paid advertisements in websites like Sulekha/Rediff etc asking for support.
5) Coordinating with other petitioners/bloggers like Pushkar Bhat (http://pushkarbhat.com/blogs/2008/11/we-are-angry-indians-want-answers-and-actions/)
6) Keep exposing the approach of the current govt of:
- Distracting/appeasing the public by making a few heads roll.

- Getting Bush/Obama to diffuse the crisis by suggesting Indians are resilient.
-
Distracting public attention by focusing on efforts at preventing future terror attacks (while commendable, do not include retaliation which is a must for Pakistanis to feel the pain).
7) We have plans to contact the BJP party office to check if they have clear concrete plans. If they do, we will strongly promote them as the better candidate. Hope someone from Congress party office is reading this! But as we have mentioned earlier, Dr. Manmohan Singh has been comparatively sterner that the previous BJP administration. So unless there is something concrete in the BJP proposal, its just talk.
8) We have plans to contact the victims of terror and get their feedback (any help in getting contact details, preferably email addresses, will be helpful).
9) Faxing copies of the petition and reports of signatories to PMO/AICC/BJP offices on weekly basis.

The most important thing we need to show the politicians is that we will not forget this carnage. And that we will be consistently apply pressure over the next few months. We should not get cynical. That’s what the politicians are hoping. They are scared of the resolve we are showing currently. Let’s believe this will work. Let’s send it to all our friends. We have to beat the politicians this time. Let’s not think emotionally. We have to be as smart as the politicians in achieving our goals. We have to promote this like there was no tomorrow. The next major terror attack will take years and Pakistanis would have learnt from their mistakes and will cover their tracks (and most likely the attack would be dirty bombs). So let’s not lose this opportunity.

ONLY NATIONAL CHARACTER CAN FIGHT TERROR

Much has been said, aired and written in the wake of Mumbai terror attacks about the spontaneous anger of the populace. It is obvious that we have to be better prepared for terror strikes, like Israel and US, for example. The question is: " Can we ? ". I wish i could answer that with a resounding " Yes ! ". The fact is we cannot.

Another hoax, establishing a National Investigative Agency, bill passed in the parliament is befooling people again. Has any Anti-terror law in the world stopped terrorism ? Never. It is the political will and the national character of the politicians, which is more important. If you have love for your country, you are patriotic and not corrupt, terrorism can be controlled in one day. Melerly enacting anti-terror laws is fooling the country. If a politician, bureaucrat, policemen, intelligence etc. knows that they will be heavily punished, if they dont do justice to their duties, that is sufficient enough an act to make these people, control terror. This is the kind of legislation, which is required. Not National Investigative Agency. From where the people will come from in this agency ? Will they be imported or aliens ? It will be the same people, who are a part of our corrupt society. And corrupt societies cannot be patriotic.

One reason is that there is a close connection between corruption, National character, patriotism and security. A corrupt society, where corruption has seeped deep into the veins of every segment, can never be patriotic and secure. Politicians are only as good as the society. It's not only our politicians who are corrupt. A large majority of our bureacracy, govt. depts. police or judiciary are no less corrupt. In fact, we have accepted corruption as a part of life and have stopped addressing it as a cancer that it is.

Take our regional passport offices, regional transport offices, property registration offices and customs for example. All these 4 departments ( among a host of others ) touch our security in different ways.

Out side all the regional passport offices flourishes an industry of touts favoured by the deep rooted corruption of its officials. Even our ministers advice the pvt. sector for greater service orientation, the staff of the passport offices are not even required to wear their name tags, so that you cannot even complain about a corrupt employee who gives you the hardest time over trivia, even when he is willing to oblige a tout who may be producing a fake residential certificate.

What about regional transport offices ? Thanks to this serious rival of the previous department, we can get our licences without ever taking a driving test. The local driving school ( often an organisation of touts themselves ) and those passing for RTO officers can ensure that one does not have to be a real person to own a vehicle. So even if we had the best intelligence agencies, they cant ever trace that truck that expolded in the busy street or the car that was left behind by some terrorists.

Land or property registration offices can, of course, give a run of the sleaze money to any. This incidentally is the only office in the country where you pay a bribe to pay your registration taxes, These are also the institutions where if you are big enough crook, you can manage to register the same property in several different names and collect your sales proceeds from all of them, leaving those poor souls to fight legal battles for rest of their lives in another corrupt institution----namely, the judiciary. Thus, even a Dawood Ibrahim can acquire property in his own name, in our devil-maycare land, at will and also make those papers disappear at will, because his offerings to the priests can be substantial.

And lastly our customs. Relatively speaking, one might have had less opportunity to experience the full power of corruption here, unless ofcourse you have ever undertaken a transfer of residence from the west. The big ticket here involves a nexus between arms dealers and customs officials.

Hundreds of senior politicians, even senior defence personnel, judges and hordes of others have been caught on the videos from time to time with their hands in the till. As a society, we are incapable of acting upon such cases because our investigating agencies, our police and our judiciary together make a huge corrupt and ineffective nexus. Even our routine appointments in govt. services, down to appointments and even transfers of teachers and police constables, are not immune to corruption. If a constable or a teacher has paid a bribe for a position, what commitment can we expect of them on the job ?

What we fail to realise is that any corruption is inherently unpatriotic. And those who are unpatriotic cannot have the moral fibre to guard their society. And if we are unable to address this huge problem of corruption, there is no point blaming our intelligence wings alone.

Israel and US have an upper hand against terror, because they have an upper hand on rank corruption. As a people, we all need a night vigil not against terror attacks, but a day and night vigil against corruption. Corruption erodes patriotism and opens the gate for terrorism.

CAN WE COMBAT TERROR ? ANNAYLISTS DOUBT...

Modern technology and communications are every day making teerrorists stronger and states less able to combat the problem. Nothing looks like altering that ominous change in the balance of power.

Anybody can today look up the internet to learn how to make a lethal bomb from easily accessible materials like fertiliser and fuel oil. Automatic weapons are easily available in many countries. Satellite phones, GPS and wireless internet have given individuals better communications than were once available to super-power armies. Militants can keep govt. forces at bay for decades without any foreign support ( as Sri Lanka ).

The indian media are chock full of suggestions of how the Mumbai attack could have been prevented. We all agree with the proposed solutions--- better intelligence, training and equipment---- but still doubt if they will stop all attacks by motivated terrorists willing to die. Not even the most sophisticated super-efficient intelligence systems can stop determined terrorists. Israeli experience proves that conclusively.

Israel, with all its high technology and formidable intelligence and counter-terrorist agencies, has been unable to stop suicide attacks, and is now building a wall along its entire border to limit the incidence of attacks. This is not an option for India, which has porous borders thru which lakhs of migrants come both legally from Nepal and illegally from ( Bangladesh and may be Pakistan ). It is not like US, which is lucky enough to be separated from terrorist hotspots by the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

India is bang inside the pan-islamic terrorist zone, and some of its own citizens are part of that pan-islamic network. So, like it or not, we are condemned to live with terrorism till such time as Islamic terrorism ceases to attract adherents.

Really, if you have a wide intelligence network, you will get hundred warnings every day of terrorist plots, suspicious behaviour and possible attacks. Some will be fantasies of thousands of ports of possible attack. In the event of any attack, the first line of defence, even in super-efficient states, is the police. Indian police is woefully under-equipped and under-trained. But can the even the best armed police stop suicidal fanatics with AK-47s, willing to die rather than surrender ?

If indeed the govt. rushes out commandos and troops after every intelligence alert, real terrorists will soon amuse themselves by sending a thousand false alarms. Al Queda says that its strategy is to exhaust the west financially while deploying very few of its own resources. It can easily exhaust India's resources too.

Even if a country develops good intelligence and early warning systems, these can easily be combated by terrorists. Pan-islamic groups can easily send alarms via the internet and telephone about a dozen false landing sites to confuse the authorities.

Can nothing be done ? Well, improved intelligence and security systems, improved training and equipment, will certainly be a help. Some people point to the US as a good example. But, unlike the US , India is bang inside the pan-islamic zone, rather like Israel. So, like Israel, India can at best diminish but not stop all attacks.

In sum, the future looks grim. Theorists will say the solution is to change the mind-set of potential terrorists. Alas, that is beyond the control of India. Pan-islamism has international roots. Besides, the march of technology relentlessly increases the power of non-state actors to inflict ever-more damage. But even the best efforts, annaylists doubt, if we can stop deteremined suicidal fanatics.

MUMBAI TERROR ATTACK- A WARNING TO THE WEST

Contrary to President Zardari's claims, the LET is no "stateless actor." In fact, the LET is and always was a creature of the ISI.

Throughout the war against Soviet forces in Afghanistan in the 1980s, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and the United States, as well as other states, all sponsored the Afghan resistance fighters or mujahedeen. But Saudi Arabia and Pakistan were principally responsible for creating and sponsoring the most radical Islamic terrorist groups within the mujahedeen's ranks. This nexus is what first gave us Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda and, later, Mullah Omar's Taliban..

As the war in Afghanistan came to an end, the ISI began to reallocate its resources. The jihadists had proven their merit as guerrilla fighters, and the ISI found it convenient to use them elsewhere. Veterans of the Afghan conflict formed the LET's first cadres, and, using Saudi cash, the ISI quickly expanded the LET's operations. By the early 1990s, the LET emerged as one of the ISI's primary instruments for waging its proxy war against Indian forces in Jammu and Kashmir.

The ISI launched the full-scale jihad in Jammu and Kashmir, but it did not stop there. The LET and several sister organizations also backed by the ISI began attacking India proper long ago. Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM), another ISI creation focused on Kashmir, has often been the LET's partner in crime. So has the Hizb-ul-Mujahedeen (HM), which was founded with the ISI's help in the late 1980s. And an Indian-based organization called the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), which is sponsored by the ISI and deeply connected to its Pakistani brethren, has been instrumental in launching attacks inside India. These four organizations have killed hundreds. According to the website satp.org (South Asia Terrorist Portal), these groups, along with other smaller allied jihadist organizations, are responsible for dozens of attacks inside India between September 2001 and October 2008.


Even so, Zardari's comments are not altogether meaningless. They touch upon a central fault line in this war on terror. The president of Pakistan has essentially admitted what we should all know by now: There is currently no political force inside Pakistan capable of reining in the ISI and its many jihadist allies. Zardari had hoped for improved relations with India, but he was powerless to stop the Mumbai attacks. The jihadist forces have become entrenched within Pakistani society, which is home to dozens of extremist and terrorist organizations.

Indeed, the extent of the radicalization of Pakistani society is deeply troubling. It is the direct result of decisions made by Pakistani administrations decades ago..

One result is that today the president himself is not safe. The jihadist hydra nearly killed Zardari on September 20, when a truck bomb leveled the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad. Zardari had stopped off to chat with an old friend, narrowly avoiding death. The assassins were more successful with Zardari's wife, Benazir Bhutto, who was killed by jihadists in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, on December 27, 2007.

All of this has important ramifications not only for India and Pakistan, but also for the United States and the rest of the free world. There is no question that Pakistan has played an instrumental role in the war on terror. President Musharraf's regime, including friendly elements within the ISI, killed or captured hundreds of al Qaeda operatives in the wake of September 11. But it is now clear that the ISI's long-term strategy for seizing power throughout South and Central Asia by sponsoring jihadist proxies remains undeterred.

Moreover, this strategy conflicts directly with American interests. Just as the ISI created the LET and its sister organizations, the ISI has also been the primary benefactor of the Taliban in Afghanistan. Even as Pakistan gave the United States vital assistance in the war on terror, the ISI continued to sponsor America's enemies behind her back. There are numerous examples that can be cited..

Afghan president Hamid Karzai went so far as to say he knew the exact location of Taliban chieftain Mullah Omar and had passed on this information to the Pakistani government, only to have it ignored. "Mullah Omar is for sure in Quetta in Pakistan. And he knows that and I know that," Karzai told the Council on Foreign Relations in September 2006. "And we have given [President Musharraf] information. We have even given him the GPS numbers of his house, of Mullah Omar's house, and the telephone numbers."

Despite these warnings, the Taliban's leadership has remained free. The ISI has ensured their safety. But the ISI's complicity in the Taliban's and al Qaeda's terrorism goes far beyond the provision of safe haven..

A slide in the presentation claimed the ISI was supporting U.S. enemies fighting in Afghanistan. The slide read: "ISI involved in direct support to many enemy operations .??.??. classification prevents further discussion of this point." The support included "training, funding, [and] logistics."

Nash, American Commander, said multiple U.S. and Afghan intelligence reports indicated that the ISI "flew repeated helicopter missions into Afghanistan to resupply the Taliban during a fierce battle in June 2007," according to the Army Times. The ISI helicopters resupplied a "base camp" in the Tora Bora region in Nangarhar, where Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda fought pitched battles with the U.S. military and Afghan militias before retreating into Pakistan.

The ISI officers involved in the Kabul bombings were not "renegades," the New York Times reported, and the intercepts indicated that "their actions might have been authorized by superiors." U.S. intelligence officials also said "elements of Pakistan's government seemed to be directly aiding violence in Afghanistan that had included attacks on American troops" and were providing intelligence to Taliban and al Qaeda operatives on the U.S. covert air campaign targeting terror leaders in Pakistan's tribal areas. The Haqqani Network has been a prime target of these attacks; almost 60 percent of U.S. airstrikes this year have occurred in North Waziristan.

Decades ago the ISI made a pact with the devil. There is no evidence that it can be redeemed any time soon. Given the ISI's deep roots within Pakistan's culture and its capacity to drive policy even against the wishes of the elected officials, curtailing the power of this rogue agency will be difficult at best. Indeed, the ISI is now one of the principal backers of radical Islam in the world.

The allure of Islamist extremism runs deep in Pakistan's officer corps. For many, this is an ideological war. Consider what "retired" ISI general Hamid Gul, who still exerts much influence in Pakistan, said in 2003:

God will destroy the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan and wherever it will try to go from there. The Muslim world must stand united to confront the United States in its so-called War on Terrorism, which is in reality a war against Muslims. Let's destroy America wherever its troops are trapped.

The same mentality compels the ISI and its surrogates to claim territory in the name of Islam. Pakistan's jihad in India and Kashmir is not just the product of a decades-old geopolitical rivalry. For the ISI, it is part of a Manichaean struggle between the forces of Islam and the rest of the world. As Praveen Swami notes in his book, the LET's leadership has openly talked of conquering large swaths of India on behalf of Muslims. After the Kargil war of 1999, LET chieftain Hafiz Muhammad Saeed threatened, "The real war will be inside [India]." He swore his forces would "unfurl the Islamic flag on the Red Fort." As Swami explains, the Red Fort in New Delhi "has been a long-standing motif in Islamist Discourse, as old as Partition itself." It is no wonder that in the wake of the Mumbai attacks, the Indians have demanded that the Pakistanis turn Saeed over. But it is doubtful that the Pakistani military will comply.

In the current crisis, the military shows signs of closing ranks with extremist elements as fears of a conflict with India increase. Just days after the Mumbai attacks, an army corps commander described Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud as a "patriot" and said the conflict with the Taliban in the northwest was merely due to "misunderstandings." In turn, the Taliban-dominated tribes pledged to send three million fighters to the Indian frontier in the event of a conflict.

The United States is now faced with an awful truth. Pakistan is both an ally and an enemy. The attacks in Mumbai are only the latest demonstration of the tactics the ISI is willing to sponsor in its quest for power in the subcontinent and beyond. We should be mindful that ISI-sponsored terrorism is a central component of our enemies' worldwide designs. It should not come as a surprise if someday we find ISI-backed terrorists laying siege to New York or Washington, just as they lately brought carnage to Mumbai.

The above article is in abriged form.

Bill Roggio is managing editor of the website Long War Journal and adjunct fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. Thomas Joscelyn is the senior editor of the Long War Journal.

IS INDIA A POOR COUNTRY ? WHO SAYS...

I have already published an article on Swiss Bank accounts of Indians dt. Oct. 22, 2008 under heading " Patriots ? Get your money back from swiss banks ". My friend Salil has sent me some more informaion, which i would like to share with you.

Revelation of Swiss bank accounts. This is so shocking.......If black money deposits was an Olympics event.... India would have won a gold medal hands down. The second best Russia has 4 times lesser deposit. U.S. is not even there in the counting in top five! India has more money in Swiss banks than all the other countries combined!

Recently, due to international pressure, the Swiss government agreed to disclose the names of the account holders only if the respective governments formally asked for it. Indian government is not asking for the details.......no marks for guessing why?

We need to start a movement to pressurise the government to do so! This is perhaps the only way, and a golden opportunity, to expose the high and mighty and weed out corruption!

Please read on......and forward to all the honest Indians to.....like somebody is forwarding to you.......and build a ground-swell of support for action!

Is India poor, who says? Ask the Swiss banks. With personal account deposit bank of $1,500 billion in foreign reserve which have been misappropriated, an amount 13 times larger than the country's foreign debt, one needs to rethink if India is a poor country?

DISHONEST INDUSTRIALISTS, scandalous politicians and corrupt IAS, IRS, IPS officers have deposited in foreign banks in their illegal personal accounts a sum of about $1500 billion, which have been misappropriated by them. This amount is about 13 times larger than the country's foreign debt. With this amount 45 crore poor people can get Rs 1,00,000 each. This huge amount has been appropriated from the people of India by exploiting and betraying them. Once this huge amount of black money and property comes back to India , the entire foreign debt can be repaid in 24 hours. After paying the entire foreign debt, we will have surplus amount, almost 12 times larger than the foreign debt. If this surplus amount is invested in earning interest, the amount of interest will be more than the annual budget of the Central government. So even if all the taxes are abolished, then also the Central government will be able to maintain the country very comfortably.

Some 80,000 people travel to Switzerland every year, of whom 25,000 travel very frequently. 'Obviously, these people won't be tourists. They must be travelling there for some other reason,' believes an official involved in tracking illegal money. And, clearly, he isn't referring to the commerce ministry bureaucrats who've been flitting in and out of Geneva ever since the World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations went into a tailspin!

Just read the following details and note how these dishonest industrialists, scandalous politicians, corrupt officers, cricketers, film actors, illegal sex trade and protected wildlife operators, to name just a few, sucked this country's wealth and prosperity. This may be the picture of deposits in Swiss banks only. What about other international banks?

Black money in Swiss banks -- Swiss Banking Association report, 2006 details bank deposits in the territory of Switzerland by nationals of following countries:

TOP FIVE INDIA $1,456 BILLION, RUSSIA $470, BILLION U.K. $390 BILLION, UKRAINE $100 BILLION, CHINA $96 BILLION,

Now do the math's - India with $1,456 billion or $1.4 trillion has more money in Swiss banks than rest of the world combined. Public loot since 1947:

Can we bring back our money? It is one of the biggest loots witnessed by mankind -- the loot of the Aam Aadmi (common man) since 1947, by his brethren occupying public office. It has been orchestrated by politicians, bureaucrats and some businessmen.

The list is almost all-encompassing. No wonder, everyone in India loots with impunity and without any fear. What is even more depressing in that this ill-gotten wealth of ours has been stashed away abroad into secret bank accounts located in some of the world's best known tax havens. And to that extent the Indian economy has been stripped of its wealth. Ordinary Indians may not be exactly aware of how such secret accounts operate and what are the rules and regulations that go on to govern such tax havens. However, one may well be aware of 'Swiss bank accounts,' the shorthand for murky dealings, secrecy and of course pilferage from developing countries into rich developed ones.

In fact, some finance experts and economists believe tax havens to be a conspiracy of the western world against the poor countries. By allowing the proliferation of tax havens in the twentieth century, the western world explicitly encourages the movement of scarce capital from the developing countries to the rich. In March 2005, the Tax Justice Network (TJN) published a research finding demonstrating that $11.5 trillion of personal wealth was held offshore by rich individuals across the globe.

The findings estimated that a large proportion of this wealth was managed from some 70 tax havens. Further, augmenting these studies of TJN, Raymond Baker -- in his widely celebrated book titled 'Capitalism's Achilles Heel: Dirty Money and How to Renew the Free Market System' -- estimates that at least $5 trillion have been shifted out of poorer countries to the West since the mid-1970.

It is further estimated by experts that one per cent of the world's population holds more than 57 per cent of total global wealth, routing it invariably through these tax havens. How much of this is from India is anybody's guess.

What is to be noted here is that most of the wealth of Indians parked in these tax havens is illegitimate money acquired through corrupt means. Naturally, the secrecy associated with the bank accounts in such places is central to the issue, not their low tax rates as the term 'tax havens' suggests. Remember Bofors and how India could not trace the ultimate beneficiary of those transactions because of the secrecy associated with these bank accounts?

IS THERE ANYONE WHO CAN SAVE INDIA?

WAR ON TERROR: LESSONS TO BE LEARNT, BY GEN. MEHTA

Since the time i have started writing the blog, I have made lot of new friends who write their comments and old friends who call up to get updated. I have been exchaning lot of emails with various eminent personalities, who give their suggestions and guide me, which helps me in writing the blog. I would not have been writing almost every day without their support and inputs. Writing a blog needs lot of research and one has to find new topics, almost everday, which is quite demanding and takes lot of time and effort. I am greatly thankful to all my friends, old and new for their whole hearted support.

Major General Mehta, AVSM, VSM writes for many newspapers like The Hindustan Times, Indian Express etc. When i wrote an artcicle " Follow Israel to combat terror ", he sent his comments, which were an eyeopener for me. I requested him to suggest concrete measures in fighting terror in India and he was most forthcoming in doing so. He has sent me an article, already printed in The Hindustan Times, which i am reproducing today.

SECURITY FORCES involved in the November 26 to 29 terror strike should take a bow: their major strike element, the NSG, moved from Delhi to take out terrorists involved the carnage after a 60- hour operation under global scrutiny. In doing so, they went through 1,407 five-star hotel rooms as well as Nariman House, taking care to minimise collateral and personal loss. The Russian/ Israeli tactics used were refreshingly proactive and mandated. The murderous terror strike at Mumbai was carried out by Blackberry -enabled, "twitter" savvy, 4th Generation Warriors (4GW).

America took a call on combating terror after 9/11 and enacted the Department of Homeland Defence (DHS) legislation in 2002, which, notwithstanding its warts, has delivered. 4th Generation Warfare is characterised by a blurring of lines between war and politics, soldier and civilian, peace and conflict. In this war, one of the major participants is not a state but rather a violent ideological network. 4GW uses the strategy of "scorched earth", which was amply demonstrated at Mumbai. While the uniformed fraternity makes do with arcane tools of warfare and the NSG does not have finances to provide snipers with proper spotter scopes. Fourth Generation warfare terrorists are flush with modern war fighting means. There is much that went wrong in our approach and build-up for the terror strike at Mumbai till the NSG arrived.

The review of the operation will also throw up fresh lessons. What is certain is that there was abysmal lack of coordination, security lapses in following-up on intelligence leads and Perpetual blame game between the Centre and state over law and order culpability. Is there a way out of this intractable morass? Some positive snap shots have emerged. When asked for his fuelings post the NSG operation, a soldier answered: "I did my duty." When the DG, NSG, J.K. Dutt was asked whether the deceased brave heart, Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, was from the Army, he pointedly said, "No, he was from the NSG." Dutt is to be commended for placing the NSG above the Armed Forces. individual service identity, as also the Army though it provides 100 per cent of one of the fighting key components of the NSG- the elite Special Action Group (SAG), which actually combats terror, and the other component being the Special Rangers Group(SRG), which is staffed only by paramilitary/ police forces- it has allowed the NSG to take full credit. Even as we await detailed reports on the terror strike, we need to be proactive:

raise a dedicated Anti-Terror Ministry, removing it from the charter of the Home Ministry and ensure that legislation is enacted soonest.

we should ensure that our Intelligence agencies and the NSG shift to the new ministry; ensure that the NSG is provided all the equipment,expansion in strength and satellite bases, including dedicated aircraft it needs to combat 4G terrorism.

we should place the Coast Guard and protection of India's 12 major and 180 minor ports as also its 8,OOO kilometre coastline under the Navy.

the Supreme Court judgment of September 22, 2006 instructing the Centre and state so achieve functional autonomy for the police and enhanced police accountability must be executed.

we need to educate Indians across the board; citizens, students, corporates, establishments on the dynamics of terror and how they can minimise personal and collateral loss. The public is willing and united. All that is needed is a mandate, using serving, retired servicemen as teachers.

there is need to position security as a social and industry obligation; make it constitutionally binding to have a minimum, accountable standard of security infrastructure and quality. This will include the need for hotels to have "hardened, terror strike proof rooms" that guests and staff can be herded into; national id cards; Blackberry communications (these cannot be intercepted) in designated security zones, security rehearsals, registration of all sea craft with the Harbour Police instead of just the Port Authority; using "spotters" and networking with global security agencies.

with the Anti- Terror Ministry in place, there should be no need for states to create "Black Cat" equivalents.

the Government must not only come out with a White paper on the terror strike but also honour the soldier by enhancing his emoluments with grace, generosity and promptitude.

Maj Gen Raj Mehta (Retd)The writer is a military and security analyst
Posted by SIGNAL on Friday, December 05, 2008 Links to this post
Labels: 4GW, Counter Terrorism, Police Reforms, Terrorists, War on Terror

DEMOCRACY- A FAILED MODEL, ELECTION RESULTS

The recent Assembly election results are a big surprise to all of us. The Congress has won 3 out of 5 states and that too decisively.

Right from the very start, when i started writing my blog, i was of the firm opinion that democracy is not suitable for India, where there are many religions, multi-caste system and languages. People in all parts of India think and act differently, limited to their regions and on the basis of vote bank politics, created by the politicians for their vested interests. We don't think like an Indian as we are Punjabis, Marathis, Gujaraties etc. first. The politicians have successfully rooted in our mindset about which religion or caste we belong to. They have successfully divided the country on " Divide and Rule " policy learnt accurately from the British Raj and have perfected the art.

We adopted democracy immediately after independence and copied British system of working, e.g. bureacracy, judiciary and the executive, ditto on the same lines as theirs. But there the similarity ends. Britishers are an educated lot and know the real meaning of vibrant democracy, but in India our politicians use democracy as a tool to govern people on the lines of religion, caste and region. After more than 60 years of independence, majority of our people are still poor and uneducated. They tend to vote en- masse as directed by the local sarpanch or for the reasons mentioned above.

Every state has to provide security to its people from whom taxes are collected in various forms. Corruption, red-tapism, development come later. It's only when you survive, you talk of corruption and other issues. A dead man has no meaning for the above. After Mumbai terror attack, i was quite convinced that people will reject Congress and throw it away to bring change, ( not that i am a BJP sympathiser. They are equal partners in vote bank politics ). In this context rural-urban divide comes in the open. Whereas urban areas are quite prone to terror attacks, rural areas are quite safer as far as terror strikes are concerned. What holds good for the rural areas, may not necessarily be good for urban areas and visa-versa.

The uneducated people are the real voters who swing the tide towards a particular party. They still remain isolated and ill informed what happens in the urban areas. I am sure, they dont even know about terror strikes, specially Mumbai terror attack, which was a watershed. Most of them have no access to newspapers, as they are uneducated and if there is a TV also, it is only the govt. controlled Doordarshan, to whom they have access to. Even if they are well informed about terror, then it becomes more confusing, as it leads to 2 Indias which are disconnected.

The Congress will emerge emboldended and would be happy that their founding fathers have gifted them with democracy, which is irrrelevant today, in the true sense. I am sure the intelligence and the police force, which was on the verge of being overhauled by the Congress govt. will remain on paper and nothing concrete will emerge to change the system. Congress is aware that people's memory is short ( we forgot Mumbai terror attack in 10 days ) and nothing can stop them from getting votes from their loyal vote banks. People of our country will be again taken for a ride and Congress will take them for granted and many more terror attacks will keep on happening and thousands of them will keep on getting maimed.

If the right signal would have been sent to the Congress by our voters by rejecting them in elections, our politicians surely would have learnt their lessons.

It is time to introspect, what system can replace democracy, which has become a dirty word in India, suited for all sections of the society, suited for Indian conditions which should be inclusive. But who will bell the cat as democracy as it stands today, suits both Congress, BJP and other parties.

ARE WE HEADING TO BEING A FAILED STATE ?

The invasion of Mumbai by Pakistani terrorists is but a replay of times past: The periodic and predictable arrival of barbarians over the Khyber Pass, laying waste to the countryside, and wreaking untold damage on a long-suffering populace. The only crime that the average Indian committed was to focus on the creation of wealth; of course, the barbarians came because of the wealth. Today, once again, India is generating capital, and the intention is to thwart its economic rise.

Then, as now, the rulers failed the populace. There is an implicit contract between the rulers and the ruled: You pay the taxes, obey the rules, and we ensure that your life, liberty and pursuit of happiness are unhindered. India's ruling class failed signally to honour this contract -- they never did figure out that the simple expedient of defending the Khyber and Bolan passes would be enough to save the plains, because nature had been kind enough to build the impregnable Himalayas all around India.

I have never got a satisfactory answer to the question as to why we didn't build the Great Wall of India. The Chinese built a 1,500-mile wall; Indians could surely have built a 15-mile wall and kept the marauders out. But there was clearly a failure in leadership and in strategic thinking. Time after time, the barbarians would pour in through the passes, march to Panipat or Tarain, and there, in a desperate last-ditch battle, the Indians would lose, again and again. The result: Disaster.

Furthermore, there were traitors in-house, too. They would collude with the invaders to the detriment of their fellow Indians. Jaichand, during the second battle of Tarain in 1192, turned the tide of the battle by allying with Mahmud of Ghori against Prithviraj Chauhan, with the result that northern India suffered 700 years of tyranny -- it was a clear tipping point. Or take the battle of Talikota that ended the magnificent Vijayanagar empire: it was their own troops that betrayed them.

Fast forward to today. India is under withering attack on all fronts. To the east, there is the demographic invasion by Bangladeshis, including unhindered infiltration by terrorist elements. The entire north-east is in danger of secession, given both the narrow and hard-to-defend 'chicken's neck' that connects the area to the Gangetic plain, as well as the Christian fundamentalism and terrorism that is on the verge of turning into a move to secede on religious and ethnic grounds, a la East Timor.

The northern frontier is restive, with Nepal, a former ally and buffer State transformed into hostile territory, with its porous borders turned into a way of infiltrating terrorists into India, with the declared intent of capturing the 'Pasupati-to-Tirupati corridor', in other words, most of the eastern half of the country.

China is making increasingly belligerent noises about Tawang and all of Arunachal Pradesh. They are gambling that, despite the summit that just took place in Dharamsala, the steam has gone out of the Tibetan resistance movement. They have been emboldened by the fact that Tibetans were not able to disrupt the Olympics [Images], and the more immediate betrayal by the British (see the International Herald Tribune's Did Britain Just Sell Tibet?), who declared, contrary to all the historical evidence, that Tibet [Images] was always a part of China. Besides, the Chinese fully intend to move forward with the diversion of the Brahmaputra, which is in effect a declaration of war against the lower riparian State, India.

It is likely that the Chinese will march into Tawang -- there is a lot of chatter in Chinese circles (see, an analysis by D S Rajan at the Chennai Centre for China Studies) about a 'limited India-China war', a replay of 1962. The Chinese have, in addition to pure geopolitics, another reason to do this, as was pointed out by strategy expert Brahma Chellaney -- as in the years preceding 1962, the world is now once again hyphenating India and China. By handing India a sharp conventional military defeat, China would like that hyphenation to be removed decisively, as it surely would be. India will once again be seen as the loser it has been during the entire 1947 to 2000 period.

In the northwest, Kashmir burns. The population clearly views India as a colony -- they want Indian money, but they are not willing to make the slightest concessions to Hindu sentiments. It is very convenient for them to have the cake and eat it too -- there is the little-known fact that J&K has practically nobody under the poverty line (2 percent and falling), as compared to the average of some 20 percent in the country as a whole. Kashmiris have prospered mightily despite -- or is it because of? -- the brutal ethnic cleansing of 400,000 Pandits now languishing in refugee camps.

In the traditionally quiet peninsula, there is evidence of tremendous terrorist activity. In Kerala [Images], it has been reported widely in the Malayalam media that 300 youth have been hired, trained and dispatched to Kashmir with explicit instructions -- kill Indian soldiers and support Pakistani intrusions. Terrorism [Images] is just another job. Sleeper cells exist in every town. The Konkan and Malabar coasts are dotted with safe harbours, where weapons, counterfeit currency and contraband are cached. The preferred mechanism -- bomb blasts to inflict maximum damage. Logistics, safe houses, surveillance, forged documents, etc. are provided by a wide network.

The fact is that all these threats are overwhelming the security apparatus in the country, such as it is. It is quite likely that the Intelligence Bureau and the Research and Analysis Wing and the Anti-Terrorism Squad had some inkling of something big being planned, including the movement of small arms on the Ratnagiri coastline, and the logistics-related activities of known suspects. It is unclear why they didn't take preventive action.

There is a terrifying possibility -- that they in fact had no idea this was going on. There is an aphorism that you cannot stop all terrorist activity, but in India the situation is such that no terrorist activity is stopped -- they strike at will, and the populace is left to pick up the pieces of broken lives. This is no way to run a country.
The frightening possibility is that the Jaichands have in fact taken over the State. In which case, we can anticipate the total dismemberment of India -- possibly preceded by an interregnum where it is a failed State -- in the near future.

There is one other possibility -- that the army will have to take over. It is a remote possibility, for two reasons -- the Indian Army [Images] has been determinedly apolitical; and the State has continually striven to weaken it. Someone once made the ridiculous statement that India really didn't need an army, only a police force, and it appears the entire political class and bureaucracy have internalised this slogan.

From 1962 -- as always, on November 18 I silently saluted the martyrs of the Battle of Rezang-La, where C Company, 13th Kumaon died heroically to the last man -- when the ill-equipped troops froze to death on the Himalayan heights, to the refusal to increase military salaries when the bureaucrats awarded themselves 300 percent increases recently, the State has told the military that it doesn't value them. All the services are starved of funds.

One possible outcome is that the Indian military forces will gradually wither away and die, thus making the statement about India not needing an army a self-fulfilling prophecy. There is another possibility -- that of a military coup d'etat. Normally, the prospect of a military takeover -- given that they all end up badly -- from a democracy is not something one would welcome. But then India is not a democracy -- it is a kakistocracy, rule by the very worst possible people -- which has the trappings of a democracy but not the substance, so I wonder if military rule could possibly be any worse.

But the chances are getting increasingly good that the Indian State will collapse, just like Pakistan already has. A recent risk assessment by the World Economic Forum and CII considers the economic, energy, food/agriculture and national security that face India. The report is more concerned about the first three items, assuming that India is secure enough as a nation.

I hope they are right, but this invasion of Mumbai -- so daring and audacious -- makes me wonder. I have considered a nightmare scenario of Chinese battleships arriving in triumph at the Gateway of India [Images], to be welcomed with marigold garlands by the Jaichands, but I have to admit I never thought a motley crew of Pakistani terrorists would invade. The very future of the Indian State, suddenly, is in question. And it is mostly from self-inflicted, avoidable wounds. The failure of leadership is causing India to cease to exist.

Rajeev Srinivasan can be reached at http://rajeev2007.wordpress.com

LETTER TO PRIME MINISITER- FROM A MUMBAIKAR

I am a typical mouse from Mumbai. In the local train compartment which has capacity of 100 persons, I travel with 500 more mouse. Mouse at leasts queak but we don't even do that.

Today I heard your speech. In which you said 'NO BODY WOULD BE SPARED'. I would like to remind you that fourteen years has passed since serial bomb blast in Mumbai took place. Dawood was the main conspirator. Till today he is not caught. All our bolywood actors, our builders, our Gutka king meet him but your Government can not catch him. Reason is simple; all your ministers are hand in glove with him. If any attempt is made to catch him, everybody will be exposed. Your statement 'NOBODY WOULD BE SPARED' is nothing but a cruel joke on this unfortunate people of India. Enough is enough. As such after seeing terrorist attack carried out by about a dozen young boys I realize that if same thing continues days are not away when terrorist will attack by air, destroy our nuclear reactor and there will be one more Hiroshima.

We the people are left with only one mantra. Womb to Bomb to Tomb. You promised Mumbaikar Shanghai what you have given us is Jalianwala Baug. Today only your home minister resigned. What took you so long to kick out this joker? Only reason was that he was loyal to Gandhi family. Loyalty to Gandhi family is more important than blood of innocent people, isn't it? I am born and bought up in Mumbai for last fifty eight years. Believe me corruption in Maharashtra is worse than that in Bihar. Look at all the politicians, Sharad Pawar, Chagan Bhujbal, Narayan Rane, Bal Thackray ,Gopinath Munde, Raj Thackray, Vilasrao Deshmukh all are rolling in money. Vilasrao Deshmukh is one of the worst Chief minister I have seen. His only business is to increase the FSI every other day, make money and send it to Delhi so Congress can fight next election. Now the clown has found new way and will increase FSI for fisherman so they can build concrete house right on sea shore. Next time terrorist can comfortably live in those house ,enjoy the beauty of sea and then attack the Mumbai at their will.

Recently I had to purchase house in Mumbai. I met about two dozen builders.Everybody wanted about 30% in black. A common person like me knows this and with all your intelligent agency & CBI you and your finance minister are not aware of it. Where all the black money goes? To the underworld isn'tit? Our politicians take help of these goondas to vacate people by force. I myself was victim of it. If you have time please come to me, I will tell you everything. If this has been land of fools, idiots then I would not have ever cared to write you this letter.

Just see the tragedy, on one side we are reaching moon, people are so intelligent and on other side you politicians have converted nectar into deadly poison. I am everything Hindu, Muslim,Christian, Schedule caste, OBC, Muslim OBC, Christian Schedule caste,Creamy Schedule caste only what I am not is INDIAN. You politicians have raped every part of mother India by your policy of divide and rule.Take example of former president Abdul Kalam. Such a intelligent person,such a fine human being. You politician didn't even spare him. Your party along with opposition joined the hands, because politician feels they are supreme and there is no place for good person.

Dear Mr Prime minister you are one of the most intelligent person, most learned person. Just wake up, be a real SARDAR. First and foremost expose all selfish politicians. Ask Swiss bank to give name of all Indian account holders. Give reins of CBI to independent agency. Let them find wolf among us. There will be political upheaval but that will better than dance of death which we are witnessing every day. Just give us ambient where we can work honestly and without fear. Let there be rule of law. Everything else will be taken care of. Choice is yours Mr. Prime Minister. Do you want to be lead by one person or you want to lead the nation of 100 Crore people?


Prakash Bajaj, staying at Napean Sea Road, Mumbai is the writer of this article. Article forwarded to me by my son Sandeep.