FORCED CORPORATE FUNDING TO POLITICAL PARTIES ?

The following article is inspired by T.K. Arun.

The Satyam swindle is outrageous, no doubt. The facile outrage over this outrage, however, is even more outrageous. Politics in the world's largest
democracy is an expensive affair, running to several hundred thousand crore rupees every year. The bulk of this money comes from companies, generated off the books. Indians have collectively been closing their eyes to this malaise. Can the Satyam episode serve to shake off this sickly pretence? The Satyam culprits should, of course, be prosecuted. Even more germane is the need to overhaul the entire system of political funding that makes cooked books not only possible, but mandatory.

It was widely reported in the media recently that several crore rupees went missing from the BJP's central office in the Capital. No police complaint was filed. Assume this was a mere story. But does anyone have any doubt that not just the BJP, but every major political party in the country, funds itself out of the goodwill, forced or voluntary, of corporate India?

When we see our political leaders whizzing around in hired helicopters and chartered planes, let us be clear that some substantial contribution has been made by some industrial house or the other. Do all industrial houses disclose every paisa of what they contribute? Do they reveal even 10% of what they donate? Will those who receive these donations permit them to reveal that money has changed hands? After all, a significant portion of political contributions end up with individual leaders rather than with their parties.

And it is not just politicians and political parties that require to be propitiated to get things moving in our system. Bureaucrats too are important players in their own right who have to be taken care of. Civil servants who wear suits that cost more than their pay commission arrears and lead flamboyant lives symbolise money being generated off the books no less than high-flying politicians.

Nor is the problem limited to officials at the top. The petty bureaucracy is even more demanding, with more frequent, insistent and multifarious demands for permitting business in India to occupy buildings, make transactions, create jobs and incomes, indeed, to breathe. An automobile major dropped its plans to run company-owned showrooms in the country after pilot experiments came up with a shortage of grease - they could either service the cars on sale or lubricate the palms that suddenly proliferated all around.

Nor is this all. Protection rackets, some of them with a thin political disguise, also demand their cut. In the northeast, companies have shown, in the past, money paid as ransom to liberate kidnapped officials as deductible expense. This led to disputes. So such expenses all over India are now paid without being shown on the books at all.

And let us be clear. All these companies making these payments have employed internal and external auditors, to comply with regulatory requirement.

Reputed audit firms routinely sign off on books they perfectly know to be cooked in assorted ways. They have no choice but to collude. After all, they have to work in this country and with its business as it is. The blame lies with the system as a whole, not selectively with those who are forced to play a role in the system.

And the very creation of funds off the books generates further points of vulnerability and corruption that politicians and the bureaucracy can use to extort funds. Over-invoicing of supplies is a routine method. This calls for the collusion of a series of players along upward linkages. Most of them would insist on their take.

In the absence of an institutional method of funding politics, we have the present, alternate method of financing: loot of the exchequer, extortion from the public, corruption of the entire system. The rot runs deep and breaks to the surface occasionally as toxic pistules that may take the shape of a Satyam here or an engineer beaten to death for not coughing up money for a birthday bash, somewhere else.

This must change. But who will take the initiative? Political parties? Why should they, on their own, change a system that has been yielding riches on a grand scale to parties and partymen, at least the leaders? Some reform-minded politicians might emerge from the woodwork, however. But they will need a constituency of strong support. Who will provide that? The public at large should. But the lead should be taken by corporate India and large investors.

Market capitalisation on the stock market has emerged as the most vital source of riches for businessmen. Money off the books lowers the market cap. This is incentive enough for business leaders to take up the fight. In the increasingly globalising market for capital, clean books become even more vital. Historically, capitalists have played a revolutionary role in building democracy. Indian capitalists have their chance now to make history. Will they be content to just do more Satyams?

As far as i can understand supporting Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat by all the top corporates at recent Vibrant Gujarat Summit at the same time is no coincidence. It was not because of sudden love For Modi, which prompted all the big corporates to support him in one voice, as the next Prime Minister. They seem to have learnt their lessons from the Satyam scam. We all know that Satyam was a conduit for the politicians to get their illegal money stashed abroad, to get back to India. The modus operndi was that Satyam used to make fictious billings to bogus companies abroad. The bogus companies abroad used to make payments against Satyam's billings. After receiving the illegal money in the shape of payments, it used to be transferred to hundreds of benami accounts in shape of FD's. At an opportune time, these politicians used to encash these FD's. Thus Satyam was playing a role of a middleman to get ill gotten wealth of the politicians, back into India.

But once, one of the investors broke the news and the nexus, the entire blame came on Raju, the founding chairman of Satyam. Within 48 hours, he was arrested, before he could spill the beans to media. Till today, SEBI has tried its best to lay its hands on Raju, but nothing has happened till now. And truth will never be known.

Big corporate houses are now scared to cook up books for the sake of politicians, as they have known from the Satyam scam, that politicians do not take a second to disown them, if such kind of a scandal breaks out again. They found In Modi, an honest man, who is only concerned for the development of his state, without any kickbacks. They are sick of corrupt politicians, who can break their companies, face humiliation and thus imprisonment like Raju, if any such scandal erupts in future. Satyam case may be a blessing in disguise.

INDIAN CORPORATES PUT INDIA ON THE MOON

I hope Satyam episode is only one isolated case which shows the darkest side of indian corporates and puts question mark on corporate governance in India but there are plenty of corporates from whom the west is learning. This is the most postive side of indian corporates of whom we are proud of.

The West is smitten by the idea of India, And its about the rags to riches story of " Slumdog millionare ". The west is also learning from this country about the way to go in the future.

It is now seen as a country that has moved up the value chain. India has the ability to produce engineering marvels as well as the most cost-efficient cars by itself. The country provides engineering support to multinationals, can write software and hardware in the IT space which helps global giants and can launch a Moon mission all by itself.

Almost a year ago, as Ratan Tata unveiled the cheapest car in the world, against many speculations, it was not an autorickshaw on 4 wheels. The Nano has already created several opportunties and given a boost to auto-engineering.

Only 2 decades ago, India could not think beyond Fiat and the Ambassador. Besides, there were very few component mfrs in the country. Enter the 1990's and the situation changes manifold with component-makers jostling for space and partnering with foreign players.

The Nano is already the cheapest car in the world. However, it is not just about the price. The Tata Nano, which boasts of supreme engineering, has about 100 vendors, most of them based in India. Tata Motors has reportedly filed 34 patents related to innovations in the design of Nano. India is moving up the value chain and that is not just true in the case of stalwarts like Tata, but also for several emerging companies. A Pune based company has seen a spectacular growth. The company makes industrial robots and also boasts to be one of the largest automation firms in the world. The company provides robots to industries, especially for hazardous work, like its robots are installed in Tata Motors for welding and pressing when Indica was launched.

It is also one of the several companies involved in Chandrayan-1, India's 1st mission to the moon launched by ISRO. All the companies involved in the project were indian which not only made the mission a success but also a less expensive affair. The mission is beleived to have cost one-third of other such moon missions cost. The main reason for this is the lower weight of the vehicle, and secondly, the innovativeness of the indian companies in maintaining costs. ISRO, apart from the 40 players involved in the mission, is looking for more business. ISRO expects a business of around $60 million from manufacturing satellites for 3rd parties elsewhere.

Several companies, like L&T which were also involved in Chandrayan, are expanding their horizons towards defence sector too. They are also looking forward when indian govt. trusts indian companies not only for small projects but also for building aircraft and submarines.

BRAVO. INDIAN COMPANIES HAVE ARRIVED.

MORAL POLICING- NOT ALLOWED

On 25th January a pub in Mangalore was attacked by members of Sri Ram Sena in the name of Moral policing. Girls were being hit brutally by these men who called themselves the crusaders of the Hindu faith.

I feel so much pain and helplessness when I see acts of rage against women being flaunted right on my face.

Moral policing! Or goondaism in the name of it.…

They are goondas, who are giving bad name to hindus. Hindu philosophy does not teach violence, specially against women.

This world has advanced a lot. Maybe a lot more and a lot faster for some to even comprehend. But just because we do not understand it or cannot catch upto it does not give us any right to condemn it. And certainly not in this manner. When will the men of this nation understand that the traditional sanctity of our country is as much a man’s responsibility as a woman’s.

Women in this country have faced a lot. And it gives me chillers to see that it would take us generations to give women their due respect in this society.

The so called Sri ram sena members are outright hooligans, whose agenda is nothing but gaining political presence. Be it rioting in the name of Islam or forced conversions or mere goondaism in the name of moral policing. These disoriented youth do not realise that they are being played upon as pawns by hard core political pimps who want to gain attention. They are the people who defeat the Hindu cause, which stands for peace and non-violence.

And as per the survey by a leading German Magazine, Hindus have not waged war against any other country for last 1000 years. How can they can be called hindus ?

Its such a forbidden crime to even hit a cow in hindu religion and even shoo away a cow. But when I saw these guys hitting and beating up women today, I was ashamed to be called a hindu.

Its such a pleasure for some to see their wife, mother, sister and daughters to be oppressed. To be mum and never express. To be alive and only procreate. Such hooligans are nothing but Talibans without the turbans!!!

Its such a shame that we are in the times of India having its first even woman president and the women in the country still have to face such attrocities!

HINDU TERROR- MYTHS & TRUTHS- POLITICIZATION

Mumbai Police's Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) Tuesday filed the charge sheet in the Sep 29, 2008 Malegaon blast case before the Special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) Court Judge Y.D. Shinde.


The ATS lodged the charge sheet running into more than 4,250 pages and the accused face charges under various sections of the stringent MCOCA and the Arms and Explosives Act.

The prosecution and all the defence lawyers argued at length over whether the provisions of the stringent MCOCA were applicable to the accused.

Ganesh Sovani, one of the defence lawyers, told IANS that the prosecution's contentions on invoking the MCOCA against the accused were flawed and some points raised were as an "afterthought.

Hindu terror and Islamic terror are two sides of the same coin, is the new ‘secularist’ slogan. This is the saffron variety of terror, we are told. Meanwhile, the Sangh Parivar while retaining faith in their “Hindu cannot be terrorist” axiom, has strangely again succumbed to these ‘secularist’ tactics by publicly disowning use of the term ‘Islamic terror’ in the vain hope that the former would take pity and eschew from the newly created Hindu counterpart. But the din of Hindu terror has become louder with every passing day. It is almost inexplicable the manner in which the Malegaon blasts has shared media space despite its minimal magnitude. In contrast, a succeeding Assam blast which killed almost 15 times more people vanished despite proof emerging of a Muslim Congress member’s complicity in the blast.

The ‘secular’ media has charged the ‘saffron’ party of having politicized the terror debate by defending the accused or more precisely the linkage of Hindutva with terrorism. For instance, the Statesman, in a scathing editorial accuses Rajnath Singh of being responsible for giving currency to what is called “Islamic Terrorism.” But this gives rise explicitly to the question, that why has the mainstream English media including the TOI and the HT which have never dared used the term “Muslim Terror” consistently been using unproven associations of Hinduism with terror? It almost seems that the same sanctimonious media is carefully grooming Hindu terror in their aura of false consciousness, as a balancing act against future Muslim terror episodes. But as we shall soon see, the politicization of debate on the Hindu terror has little to do with the BJP and more to do with the ‘secularist’ camp.

Initially, it is imperative that we understand that reason why ‘Muslim terror’ is a legitimate association. Contrary to the general misunderstanding, it does not connote that all Muslims are terrorists and neither attempts in any way to associate the entire Muslim community with terror. Instead, it largely signifies that the driving ideological force behind terrorism of this variety is Islam. I will not go into the debate on the violent verses of the Quran promoting Islamicization of the whole world and whether those verses are read out of context by Islamists, as very often scriptures can be interpreted in diverse ways. But the ‘secular’ compromise in deriving a counterpart of Islamic terror is illogical since Hinduism and Islam are poles apart in their belief structures, secondly there have been no Hindus who have been ready to blow themselves up in the service of their religion which is a global phenomenon with Jihadi warriors, thirdly the accused in the Malegaon blast cases were at most reactionaries against Islamic terror but never have they have claimed to derive inspiration from Hindu theology.

Coming to the politicization of the Malegaon blasts, it is not to be forgotten that soon after the arrest, the initial statement by the BJP was the law should take its own course, although there was a general feeling of disbelief which was natural since previously no Hindu had been implicated in any bomb blasts. It were only the ‘secularists’ and the Islamic apologists who adopted “we always told you so!” attitudes. For the Congress, it was a godsent opportunity to win back the confidence of the Muslim community after the Batla House encounter in which suspected Muslim terrorists shot dead a police officer in cold blood. In a brazen act of minority appeasement, Congress spokesman Manish Tiwari issued an insinuation wondering whether Delhi, Varanasi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Ahmedabad terror strikes were outsourced by Sangh parivar affiliates to the SIMI/IM. It is foolish to expect that the BJP would have remained silent in the face of such unfair ‘secular’ aggression.

Under the circumstances, one could not help notice the absolutely unprofessional and biased manner in which the ATS operated. Daily new masterminds moving from periphery to center, selective leakage of rumours to the ‘secular’ media, character assassination of the accused, RDX in today and out the next day, RSS involved yesterday- RSS the target tomorrow; all theories which are ample testimony to the nature of its functioning. As Kanchan Gupta writes, “If the ATS were really serious about its job and under “zero political pressure”, it would have steered clear of media publicity, put together the evidence, presented it in a court of law and secured convictions”

A Sadhvi was arrested on the charge that her own bike was used in the blasts which B Raman, the anti terror expert reasoned was absolutely improbable. When a three tier Narco test came out negative, it was blamed on her yogic powers of evasion! A telephonic conversion which was not recorded but overheard by a witness is also doubtful at best, since one cannot envisage how a telephonic conversion can be heard both ways except through a speaker phone which is not used for private conversations! Rediff.com accused her of being a woman of loose character, who masterminded the blast to avenge the murder of her boyfriend Sunil Joshi who was eliminated by suspected SIMI activists this year. In spite of such depraved conspiracy theories besotted with the idea of casting aspersions on her chastity, even if proven true would actually reduce the current case to nothing more than personal vendetta, certainly not religion based terror!

It is astonishing that the horrifying affidavit filed by the Sadhvi Pragya, accusing ATS of torture both physical and mental was conveniently ignored by every human right group substantiating the suspicion that they operate primarily as minority terrorism right groups. Worse, the journalist turned cartoonist Jug Suraiya caricatured the tortured Sadhvi through a sickly ‘secular’ joke in the Times of India. Those, who shed copious tears for suspected jihadis tortured in police cells lose track of the fact, that men (and women) who are ready to blow themselves in the service of their religion will never confess their crimes under ordinary circumstances. Even when innocent as in Hyderabad, it is part of the collateral damage a community experiences which refuses to take accountability for their deviant children and the ideology which moulds them. All in all, collateral damage needs to be distinguished from political witch-hunts.

Then, a serving colonel of the army was arrested and immediately made the kingpin of the Samjhauta blasts. Less than 24 hours later, a red faced ATS retracted their claim when a forensic lab confirmed that it was not RDX which was used in the blasts. The Army also dismissed claims that 60 kg of RDX could be amiss from their stores, even as the ATS considered the missing RDX to have been dumped in the Jhelum. Meanwhile, the ATS keeps exploring possibilities for abuse of this waterproof, undiscovered yet missing RDX.

When a Hindu seer was arrested, the apprehension of Hindu leaders was considered communal tactics. But could a sincere Hindu help recalling the infamous, Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati conspiracy case in which the ‘secular’ media played such an egregious role in defaming both him, and the Math that the Andhra High Court was compelled to intervene and issue a stern warning to all these agencies of ‘secular’ terror, for “the amount of disrepute and sacrilege inflicted upon Sri Jayendra Saraswati, as of now, is so enormous that it has hardly any comparables". It seems the ‘secular’ media derives some perverse pleasure in slandering Hindu godmen. Or else what can explain several reporters calling this Shankacharya as an imposter with an alias in Dayanand Pandey, oblivious of the Hindu sanyasa tradition in which one renounces his previous identity while taking up a life of renunciation. This also points to the disconnect between Macualay’s children and the real India. Another channel dug up porn in his laptop, as if they had private access to it. More pertinently, even if true how does watching porn make a terrorist of a man, even if a deviant seer?

The ATS web keeps expanding every day, through the fallacious accusation of ‘guilt by association.’ Everyone in contact with such important public figures like the colonel, the shankacharya and the sadhvi are now considered a threat and suspect. An endocrinologist was publicly defamed; then attempts were made to malign Sri Sri Ravi Shankara of the prestigious Art of living foundation. The enlightened Swami calmly took on the ‘secularist’ media and informed that it was his solemn duty to transform the lives of all including terrorists, and he rightly explained the radicalization of certain Hindu groups as a consequence of the shadow of Islamic fundamentalism looming large over the nation.

To Mr Vir Sanghvi’s sophistical allegory in the Hindustan Times, someone posted the counter question - What happens if the police suspected an imam and tried to arrest him. Immediately thousands of Muslim men, women and children would have rushed to the streets with the cry of “Islam in Danger.” The police fearing a riot would avoid arresting the accused – this is exactly what happened when recently the Jaipur Police tried to arrest Abdul Matin, a fanatical cleric of Benares! Even if arrested, the terrorist sympathizers in the media and in the civil rights and the human right groups would have rushed to his defense, while supposedly secular politicians would hurry to his home to console his family and promise that they would leave no stone unturned in getting him released. There are several such crypto Muslim terrorists including a prominent Delhi based cleric who have been left untouched. Moreover, how much loyalty some Muslims have for India can be comprehended by Mr Sanghvi when he notices how much respect they shared for M C Sharma who died defending the cause of his motherland.



The politicization of Malegaon by the ‘secular’ forces is also suggested by the fact that MCOCA has been applied on the accused through exploitation of loopholes in the law. The two main suspects Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt-Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit had no crime history while to invoke the MCOCA, the prosecuting agency needs to ascertain that the suspects have at least two major criminal involvements registered with the police anywhere in the country, and so the ATS invoked a 4 yr old case against a minor accused Rakesh Dhawade and consequently charged all the 11 accused with conspiracy to wage war against the nation. But in stark contrast, the god fearing Muslim students who are said to have murdered M C Sharma and are also accused in the Delhi blast case were never charged under MCOCA, possibly to appease Muslim voters before the Delhi Assembly poles where Congress fortunes hung in the balance. Is it not hideous hypocrisy, that while a terror law like POTA is repealed, and GUJCOCA denied, an exactly similar law like MCOCA is considered essential for law enforcement in Maharashtra run by the same Congress government!

All in all there is a conscious attempt by some political parties to divert attention from the failures of the current government to tackle Islamic terror, which has killed thousands of innocent Hindus since it came to power. Such myopic vision which does not extend beyond the next election may provide some immediate electoral gain but in the long run will only spell doom for the nation.

PROUD TO BE AN INDIAN

I am reproducing the article, sent to me by my niece, Minna, ( Ritu Juneja ). Hope you will like it.

Q. Who is the GM of Hewlett Packard (hp) ?
A. Rajiv Gupta


Q. Who is the creator of Pentium chip (needs no introduction as 90% of
the today's computers run on it)?
A. Vinod Dahm


Q. Who is the third richest man on the world?
A. According to the latest report on Fortune Magazine, it is Azim
Premji, who is the CEO of Wipro Industries. The Sultan of Brunei is at
6 th position now.

Q. Who is the founder and creator of Hotmail (Hotmail is world's No.1
web based email program)?
A. Sabeer Bhatia

Q. Who is the president of AT & T-Bell Labs (AT & T-Bell Labs is the
creator of program languages such as C, C++, Unix to name a few)?
A. Arun Netravalli

Q. Who is the new MTD (Microsoft Testing Director) of Windows 2000,
responsible to iron out all initial problems?
A. Sanjay Tejwrika




Q. Who are the Chief Executives of CitiBank, Mckensey & Stanchart?
A. Victor Menezes, Rajat Gupta, and Rana Talwar.

Q. We Indians are the wealthiest among all ethnic groups in America ,
even faring better than the whites and the natives.
There are 3.22 millions of Indians in USA (15% of population). YET,
38% of doctors in USA are Indians.
12% scientists in USA are Indians.
36% of NASA scientists are Indians.
34% of Microsoft employees are Indians.
28% of IBM employees are Indians.
17% of INTEL scientists are Indians.
13% of XEROX employees are! Indians.


Some of the following facts may be known to you. These facts were
recently published in a German magazine, which deals with WORLD
HISTORY FACTS ABOUT INDIA .

1. India never invaded any country in her last 1000 years of history.
2. India invented the Number system. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta.
3. The world's first University was established in Takshila in 700BC.
More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60
subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4 th century BC was
one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of
education.
4. According to the Forbes magazine, Sanskrit is the most suitable
language for computer software.

5. Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to humans.
6. Although western media portray modern images of India as poverty
striken and underdeveloped through political corruption, India was
once the richest empire on earth.

7. The art of navigation was born in the river Sindh 5000 years ago.
The very word "Navigation" is derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATIH.
8. The value of pi was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained
the concept of what is now k! nown as the Pythagorean Theorem. British
scholars have last year (1999) officially published that Budhayan's
works dates to the 6 th Century which is long before the European
mathematicians.

9. Algebra, trigonometry and calculus came from India . Quadratic
equations were by Sridharacharya in the 11 th Century; the largest
numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Indians used
numbers as big as 10 53
10. According to the Gemmological Institute of America , up until
1896, India was the only source of diamonds to the world.

11. USA based IEEE has proved what has been a century-old suspicion
amongst academics that the pioneer of wireless communication was Pr!
ofessor Jagdeesh Bose and not Marconi.
12. The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in Saurashtra.

13. Chess was invented in India .
14. Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health
scientists of his time conducted surgeries like cesareans, cataract,
fractures and urinary stones. Usage of anaesthesia was well known in
ancient India .
15. When many cultures in the world were only nomadic forest dwellers
over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu
Valley ( Indus ValleyIndia in 100 BC.


Quotes about India .
We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which
no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.
Albert Einstein.




India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech,
the mother of history, the grandmother of legend and the great grand
mother of tradition.
Mark Twain.

If there is one place on the face of earth where all dreams of living
men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the
dream of existence, it is India .
French scholar Romain Rolland.

India conquered and dominated China culturally for 20 centuries
without ever having to send a single soldier across her border.
Hu Shih
(former Chinese ambassador to USA )


ALL OF THE ABOVE IS JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG, THE LIST COULD BE ENDLESS.
BUT, if we don't see even a glimpse of that great India in the India
that we see today, it clearly means that we are not working up to our
potential; and that if we do, we could once again be an evershining
and inspiring country setting a bright path for rest of the world to
follow.
I hope you enjoyed it and work towards the welfare of INDIA .


Say proudly, I AM AN INDIAN.

ASKING THE KILLER TO CONFESS ?

Pakistan has played a mastersroke and Indian diplomacy has failed miserably. Pakistan has been able to convince the western world of free and fair trial in Pakistan on people responsible for Mumbai terror.

Imagine a killer, setting up its own court, own prosecution, own defence, own judge and coming out with a free and fair trial ? The verdict is already out. Some small jehadis will be blamed for the Mumbai terror attack and all evidence will be cooked up to link them up and they will be put to jail for sometime, till everyone in the world, including India cools down and thus releasing the same jehadis from the jail. Business will be as usual, preparing for another attack on India. A complete eyewash.


Let us not even assume that Zardari is in control. Poor man-- he did not trust his own investigators to probe his wife's assassination--- he wanted Scotland Yard to do the job. Now he blabbers that if his investgators are satisfied, then he will initiate action against terrorists, sitting inside Pakistan. What a double-faced nation ?

India and the whole world knows, it is going be an eyewash. Has the world opinion and diplomacy gone disssray due to blackmail of nuclear Pakistan ? I think it has. Even a child in this world can tell you that Pakistan is the epicentre of terror in the globe. The worst commodity exported from Pakistan is terror. Have western nations been crippled by nuclear Pakistan ? The answer is yes. Every country on this earth knows what Pakistan is all about, but they seemed to be too scared to take any action, including India, which suffers humiliation and terror attacks repeatedly from Pakistan.

I can very well imagine the anger and frustration Of Asma Jehangir, human rights activist in Pakistan. She and her friends have to live with a double sword. While visiting India, the accusations of indian media and the torture of Pakistani authorities on them. The view of a common man in Pakistan is entirely different to Pakistani govt. They all want peace and trade with India and visa-versa.

A stable Pakistan is not in the interest of world peace,
leave alone India. Army controls the country and owns its
economy.

A significant portion of its GDP is due to army-controlled
entities (See: Military Inc - Inside Pakistan's Military
Economy, by Ayesha Siddiqa; OUP; 2007). One can easily say
that Pakistan economy and its Army/ISI are synonymous.

Unless this elementary fact is internalised, we are not
going anywhere. This implies we should stop talking of a
stable Pakistan since a stable Pakistan means multiple
attacks on many more cities of India by that rogue
organisation ISI, which is the core of the Pakistan Army
and the heart of Pakistan's economy.

Periodically, the Pakistan Army likes to present some
useful idiots (as Lenin would have called them) as elected
representatives and we swoon over such events.
India should take the following steps to destabilise the
economy of Pakistan:

1. Identify the major export items of Pakistan (like
Basmati rice, carpets, etc) and provide zero export tax or
even subsidise them for export from India. Hurt Pakistan on
the export front.

2. Identify the major countries providing arms to Pakistan
and arm twist them. Tell Brazil and Germany (currently
planning to supply massive defense items to Pakistan) that
it will impact their ability to invest in India. Tell
Germany that retail license to Metro will be off and other
existing projects will be in jeopardy.

3. Incidentally, after the arrival of Coke and Pepsi in
China, the human rights violations of China are not talked
about much by US government organs. Think it is a
coincidence? Unless we use our markets to arm-twist arms
exporters to Pakistan, we will not achieve our objectives.

4. Tell American companies that for every 5% increase in
FDI limit for them, their government needs to reduce
equipping Pakistan by $5 billion. That is real politics,
not whining. Let us remember that funds are in desperate
search of emerging markets and not the other way about. Let
us also remember that international economics is politics
by another name.

5. Create assets to print/distribute their currency widely
inside their country. To some extent, Telgi types can be
used to outsource this activity. Or just drop their notes
in remote areas.

6. Pressurise IMF to add additional conditionality to the
loans given to them or at least do not vote for their
loans.

7. Create assets within Pakistan to destabilise Karachi
stock market - it is already in a shambles.

8. Cricket and Bollywood are the opium of the Indian middle
classes. Both have been adequately manipulated/ controlled
by the D-company since the eighties. Chase the D-company
money in cricket/ Bollywood and punish by burning D-assets
in India instead of trying to have them auctioned by the IT
department when nobody comes to bid for it.

9. Provide for capital punishment to those who fund terror
and help in that. We have the division in the finance
ministry to monitor money laundering, etc. It is important
that terror financing is taken seriously and fully
integrated into money laundering monitoring systems and
this division is provided with much larger budget and human
resources. And it should coordinate with RAW.

10. Encourage and allow scientists/ academicians/ elites of
Pakistan to opt for Indian passport and widely publicise
that fact since it will hurt their self-respect and
dignity. There will be a long queue to get Indian passports
-- many will jump to get our passport -- since they will
not be stopped at international airports. It is rumoured
that Adnan Sami wants one. Do not give passports to all --
make it a prized possession. Let it hurt the army- and ISI-
controlled country. This one step will destroy their
identity and self-confidence.

11. Discourage companies from India from investing in
Pakistan, particularly IT companies, till Pakistan stops
exporting its own IT (international terrorism).

12. In all these, it is important that we do not bring in
the domestic religious issues. The target is the terror
central, namely Pakistan, and if there are elements helping
them here then they also should be punished -- irrespective
of religious labels. If Pakistan is dismantled and the idea
of Pakistan is gone, many of our domestic issues will also
be sorted out.

13. There should be " Military Encirclement " by India and America
through a rising presence in Afghanistan on western borders and
India on the eastern border. " Sandwitch " Pakistan should be
the strategy.

Will the Indian elite go for the jugular or just light more
candles and organise peace marathons and scream at the formless/
nameless political class before TV cameras ?

It is going to be a long haul and may be in a decade or so,
we can find a solution to our existential crisis of being
attacked by barbarians from the West.

MY DREAM FOR INDIA IN 2009

The following article is inspired by Kiran Karnik, who is the new board member of Satyam. I happened to listen to his speech at FRNV summit in Oct, 2008 in Delhi.

We end one year and enter another. It is but appropriate that the first month of the year is named after Janus, the two-faced Greek God who looks simultaneously forward and backward, appropriate, for what better time to review the past and plan for the future ? The year gone by has been momentous one, and will be remembered by many in India as the year of an unprecented global economic crisis and the horrific terror in Mumbai. For a moment, though, ignore the rear-view mirror. Instead, eyes shut, let us dream of a year that may be, of a future that is desirable and yet possible. Unhibited by present constraints, let us dream big, for " man's reach must exceed his grasp, or what's heaven for ".

With Lok Sabha elections round the corner--- may the turnout be massive, the full process peaceful, without intimidation, coercion or corruption, and the electorate make an informed choice. May parties select honest candidates with no criminal history, and solicit votes on the basis of their ideology, candidate and leadership. May the electorate reject parties and candidates who appeal to caste, religion, region or other sectarian identities.

May we have a cabinet of competent, upright individuals who focus on strengthening and building institutions, and of creating a happy, prosperous, just and compassionate society. May they have the resolve to protect us from enemies and the wisdom to recognise that the threats are not only to our life, but equally to our way of life. May they recognise that we need no new laws, but better implementation of present ones, that major reform of the law enforcement and judicial systems is more important than ever-more stringet laws, that corruption is as powerful a destructive weapon as an AK-47.

After the good fortune pf prime minister who is experienced, wise, honest and a true gentleman, may the country get one who is young, dynamic, inspirational and can bring about radical change. We have a well-known one waiting in the wings whom the corporates have also endorsed recently, but let your dreams include choice. Here is an alternative: an articulate, next-generation leader with a clean and outstanding image.

May good sense prevails upon Pakistan and it stops being double-faced and in mode of denial in terror attacks on India. May international community stops its self-interest motive, and prevails upon Pakistan to wind up terror. May this year be the final and last year when India firmly resolves to end terror with iron hand and adamant Pakistan be taught a strong lesson, not to fiddle again with a sleeping LION. May this year indian politicians learn to give less speeches and believe more in action. May this year most of Indians holiday in UK ( United Kashmir ).

The country hungers for a similar Obama-esque combination of hope, change, youth and optimism. May one such competent and young person takes up the reins of the new govt. May those who rant against politicians-- and, indeed, all others--- stop seeking favours from them. May the captains of Industry stop socialising with all those who are known to be corrupt, may they, and other influentials, support an Honest India Campaign. May Satyam be a The first and last company who led highest scam in corporate history and corporates resort to ehical standards.

May politicians and othe rich and powerful people teach their children that the laws of the land are applicable to them too, may the media teach them that " money cant buy you love ". May the TV audience stop viewing sensationlist trash news, may the anchors and producers of such shows be required to watch them 24x7. May the media stop planting stories for vested interests and come out with truth and only truth.

May policies foster more equitable growth, with economic stimuli coming from investment in irrigation, rural roads, decentralised power production, low-cost housing and publc transport. Only then we can be stop, being blackmailed by oil rich countries who enthrust indirect terrorism on India. May educaion be top-priority and higher education be liberalised, with special education zones serving as nuclei to make India the hub for global education. May R&D get the importance it deserves.

May govt tap corporate-talent and technological capabilities to ensure effectiveness of key programmes, particularly those in the social sector. May companies be generous in philanthropy, but also go beyond cheque-book charity by committing their expertise and talent to programmes of development and social change.

May dreams and dreamers ride forever high.

ARE WE HEADING TO BEING A FAILED STATE ?

The article below really impressed me and i am putting it in my post. Hope you will share the views of the writer.

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. You pay the taxes, obey the rules, and we ensure that your life, liberty and pursuit of happiness are unhindered 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, 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 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 majority community 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, 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 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 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, 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

GOOD PEOPLE, BAD GOVTS.- INDIA & PAKISTAN

We have 2 main similaraties in India and Pakistan. Corrupt, tainted and merciless politicians in India and All powerful and merciless Army in Pakistan. The second similarity is compassionate people on both sides.

I have been writing quite harsh articles on terrorism exported from Pakistan and how we should deal with it firmly. I still hold this view. I always thought that war was the only solution to the problem. But yesterday, everything in my mind changed. Sanity came to my rescue, that war was not the solution. If we go to war with Pakistan, innocent, common people from both the sides will die and our politicians and army in Pakistan will go to safe havens in underground bunkers, to leave their people die for their misdeeds. The culprits will still be alive. Why should innocent people from both the sides die, for which they are not responsible ?

Yesterday, 11th january, 09, I was invited by Nikko as we call her, I mean Mrs Jasmeet Nayyar, Principal, S.R. Govt. College for Women on a discussion by eminent people " Challenges of terrorism, Role of the religion ". Nikko and her family are old friends of mine. She knew, i would be interested to attend such a seminar, as I keep on writing about such topics. Mrs. Bhattal Of Congress and Capt. Kanwaljit Singh of Akali Dal were part of the speakers, in whom i was hardly interested.

Swami Aginivesh, spoke of his experience, when he went to Pakistan. As the swamiji is always dressed in saffron clothes, his friends in India discouraged him, not to go In unfamiliar teritory, where saffron is most hated. They told him he was going to Pakistan to commit a suicide, specially when he had saffron signature all the time. But he took the risk and still went ahead to visit Pakistan 3 times later. The hosts used to prepare special vegetarian food for him and whenever he went to the market in Lahore to buy fruits and juice, nobody took any money from him, saying that he was their guest. This shows how compassonate people are on both the sides.

What impressed me most, was a touching speech by Asma Jehangir, Chairperson of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. I wondered, If Pakistani administration knew the meaning of humans and rights, both, but that is true. She was candid in admitting the failure of Pakistan to deal with state actors and non-state actors, a new terminology which Pakistan uses, these days. She admitted the failure of Pakistan in failing to arrest perpetrators of terrorism in Pakistan. She told the audience that Indian Govt. has been dealing with military dictators for many years but nothing came out of it. She admitted the current civilian govt. in Pakistan is " Lulli- Langri " and was nascent to deal with terrorism as they have no control over the terrorist outfits and ISI in Pakistan. She said that India must give some time to this " Lulli langri " civilian govt, so that it can set its house in order, before it starts delivering.. If India goes to war with Pakistan, it will benefit the Pakistani army the most, who will take centre-stage again, thus dismissing the elected govt. in Pakistan. I think, she had a point and we must look into this aspect, being a democracy.

Imtiaz Alam, Secretary General of SAFMA, admitted openly that lone terrorist, Ajmal Kasab, captured was a Pakistani national. He could find it out in 2 hours, after the attack, from his sources in Faridkot in pakistan, where he belonged to. He reteriated that Pakistan must cooperate with India to get the guilty punished. He was of the view that SAARC nations form a joint investigating agency and have a common court to try such terrorists. These sane voices coming from Pakistan was a refreshing change and are quite different from the denial statements coming from Pakistani govt.

Today i feel that every country has sane and insane people. Pakistan and India are no exception. Asma Jehangir, reteriated that there is a need to keep up the composite dialogue, as that that is what the common man in both the nations want. Terrorism can be discouraged if people continue with exchange programme and dialogue. She advocated relaxed visa norms to improve bilateral relations.

I was quite convinced that war is no solution to the problem. Let people from both the countries interact more and more and isolate the war mongering politicians from both the sides. If this exchange programme continues, common people can do a lot to presssurize both the govts. to deliver on many fronts.

I am of the opinion that let sane voices from both the countries, stage dharanas, encircle their respective Parliaments and establish pressure groups, who can change the mindset of both the govts. If people to people exchange builds up on a large scale, the terrorists who want to divide both the countries can become irrelevant and joint mechanisms can be put into action sincerely, to catch these terror outfits in Pakistan. Remember, there is no greater voice, than the voice of the common people of both the countries.

But punishing the ISI, army and terror outfits, should still remain the top agenda of our govt. Diplomatically or by covert operations or by surgical strikes. Pakistan must deliver.

WHAT WE MUST LEARN FROM SATYAM SCAM

In some ways, the tax-free status of IT companies may have allowed the Satyam promoter to cook up numbers in the company balance sheet. Had the company being paying tax at the regular rate, inflating revenues and profits would have been that much more difficult, as tax payments mean real cash outgo. Indeed, when corporate accounts come under a cloud, investors should look at at tax payments and dividends, both of which entail cash outflow from the company, as a source of comfort about the sanctity of accounts. The IT sector was given a 10 year tax holiday. The benefit was to end in March, 2009, but the govt. has extended it by one year.

However, in 2007-08, they were brought under Mininimum Alternate Tax ( MAT ) and now have to pay a minimum 12% tax on their book profits. Before MAT was imposed, Satyam paid a tax only about Rs 650 crore in the 5 years to 2006-07 on cumulative pre-tax profits of over Rs. 5,000 crore. Over the same period it distributed cumulative dividends, including dividend distribution tax, of about Rs. 950 crore. These cash payments are small given the company's profits. Seeing these low visible payments, the promoters may have been tempted to fudge accounts.

The Satyam episode shows even cash balances can be manipulated. It is easier to verify these than revenues and profits. There is a need for greater attention to, and detailing of, cash-flow statements of companies. It would perhaps be better to simlify the way the cash-flow statements is presented and made part of of the quarterly disclosures. This would atleast make investors aware that cash-flow of companies also needs to be appreciated while making investment decisions. The govt. may also want to reconsider its decision to give tax exemptions under the SEZ scheme. A MAT imposition on units located in SEZ's may act as some detterent to those tempted to manipulate accounts. Of course, a trail of cash payments in no way rules out a fraud totally, but it should provide some additional comfort to stakeholders. In fact, it is for this reason that, other things being equal, dividend paying companies tend to command a premium in mature stock markets.

It should also be mandatory that minimum 2 auditors should check the companies accounts, to safeguard the interests of the stakeholders.

A punishment for such a fraud, should be a life sentence for the promoters, which will be a big detterent for other companies, if they want to follow Raju.

I am sure, lot of things are waiting to be unfolded in coming times and we shall know of many such companies who fudge accounts to cheat the investors. In these kind of frauds, besides life imprisonment, their houses and personal movable and immovable propereties also need to be attached, to give a lesson to these corporates, not to take innocent investors for a ride.

TAKE THE WAR TO THE ENEMY

The following article has been sent to me by my friend K.R.S. Sobti, which is very interesting. I am reproducing the article below. Hope you will find it good and logical.

New Delhi continues to fumble while India burns.
Pakistan's superior psychological warfare machinery further tied down the already overstretched Indian security forces in knots. Airports and railway stations are the new fortresses that are heavily guarded. Next will be Metro stations or shopping malls. The list is endless. This is what the enemy wants -- tire and dull the edges of the security forces of India by making them run hither and thither.
This remains the single important reason why intelligence and police machinery of the Union and the states have collapsed. Perpetual red alerts, 24x7 for the past three decades have reduced them to dysfunctional entities with no declared objectives to achieve. The ease with which Parliament orMumbai were attacked stands witness to the fact. Worse, our leadership's response to the threat posed was too shameful to comment upon.

New Delhi is walking into the trap by superficially trying to guard every inch. Neither feasible nor a method recommended. The Indian leadership that inducted them in a marshy land of insurgency and terrorism for more than two decades without any clarity in political or military objectives is adding to the confusion of the security forces.

Forces that are inducted into battles always need clarity of purpose, military objectives spelled out and swiftness in conduct of operations to avoid demoralisation. Otherwise, battles cannot be won and there is the likelihood of the forces landing in disarray. It appears to be now happening to the Indian security apparatus on the ground.

Imagine if ten trained terrorists from Karachi can hold the financial capital of India to ransom for days, what will happen if 500 pour in from different points in to the country? They can literally bring the entire nation to its knees.

To say that the threat from radical Islam was not known despite the collapse of the intelligence machinery is not true. The very fact that the prime minister and his colleagues for many years are forced to move under heavy security blanket within their own capital city with roads lined up with policemen is a shameful declaration of the existing threat to the Union. Couple this fact with the increasing frequency of attacks by the Islamic terrorists in recent times and the entire threat perception becomes crystal clear.

To tie up security forces in knots internally to deal with the externally sponsored, trained, and petro-dollar financed terrorism exported by the Pakistan army [Images] and the Inter Services Intelligence will deaden their morale and will to fight. While there is definitely an internal dimension to security, to put the forces within on a self-destructive directionless path is exactly what the enemy wants!
Either the political set up in New Delhi has not understood this raw truth in war fighting or is too scared to take the war back to enemy territory. This war must be fought decisively in Pakistan before it engulfs the Union of India in its entirety.

Pakistan is in cahoots with other dictatorial regimes on our borders. China wants to tie down India to retain its top dog status in Asia. Maoist Nepal favours China. Bangladesh, another laboratory of radical Islam, is in connivance with these dictatorial regimes. The subtle alliance of China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal Maoists pose a combined threat to the territorial integrity of India. Of course, overtly these regimes pretend to work in isolation of each other so as not to alarm New Delhi.

To avoid destruction of our forces by deployment in unending internal circuses and before war fatigue sets in, we need to take the war imposed by radical Islam to the enemy territory. Unless the source of supply is disabled, this war cannot be won. The core group orchestrating this drama is the Pakistan army and the ISI. These external links are required to be put in disarray. This can only happen if the war is re-exported to Pakistan.

If the poisonous flow from the external links is not stopped, Indian Muslims will be radicalised, which is the primary aim of Pakistan. Similarly, a backlash from the majority that is responsible for the liberal philosophy of India can wreck the democratic set-up. Non-governance is not really an option available to the prime minister. Mumbai and other attacks mounted by terrorists on Indian cities, could not have taken place without local support. For the police or intelligence agencies to profess otherwise is untruthful.

Another falsehood perpetuated by the eternally helpless breed of Indians is that a stable Pakistan is in India's interest. It is not, stable or otherwise. Pakistan is a failed State. It is on the brink of disintegration. It simply needs to be helped to remove itself and the map redrawn. Otherwise, the cost to India will keep increasing disproportionately.

To take this war to the enemy, New Delhi needs a deliberate, graded and escalating response with a clear political and military objective to help Islamabad [Images] disintegrate:

Snap diplomatic relations immediately. Declare Pakistan a terrorist State. Discontinue all trains and bus services as well as trade and business transactions. Announce renegotiations of the Indus Water Treaty as the terms unduly favour Pakistan. Begin a process to regulate the water supplies and build new mechanisms to activate water flow controls. Cancel permissions for over flights. Seal the Nepal and Bangladesh borders on a priority basis.. Build a grand alliance of democracies by increasing their stakes in the burgeoning economic pie of India, to leverage their support against authoritarian regimes on our border including Pakistan. Increase immediately FDI in the defence sector from 26 percent to 49 percent. This will help India to emerge as the most modern technology driven defence industry hub in Asia while making it profitable for Western companies to invest.

Instead of fighting at cross-purposes with Asia's largest media, harness its resources to conduct unprecedented psychological warfare. In times of war, the media is a weapon, a platform to be used intelligently to secure the national interests without attempting to hinder its freedom.

Equip the intelligence agencies with clear directives and resources to conduct deniable acts in enemy land similar to Islamabad's terrorist acts. Thus raise the cost to the enemy and make it prohibitive for Pakistan. This will also fuel the disintegration of this tottering State. The game can be played by equal finesse by us.

To defend the taxpayer's millions of dollars invested in Afghanistan's reconstruction programme, move two integrated divisions with substantial air element in the area, in consultation with Kabul. Let Indian pressures build up from the east and west on Pakistan so that our embassy or similar establishments are not targeted in the future.
The Bush administration's strategy that Western forces without India's support will win in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region is misguided and counter-productive. They cannot win without New Delhi's direct involvement. The incoming Obama [Images]administration urgently needs to change this policy in Washington's interest. Similarly, New Delhi should learn to fight its own war instead of expecting others do its dirty work.

Simultaneously equip and marshal the military forces on a war footing, removing all deficiencies including the human resources as war at an appropriate time of our choosing remains an open option.

We should stop tying up our forces internally in an endless mind-boggling game. This will result in disintegration and ineffective security instruments available to the State. The helplessness of the under-trained and under-equipped police was on display during the attack in Mumbai. Therefore, instead of permitting our forces to disintegrate in the long term, it is sensible to take this war to Pakistan and make them pay the price.

It is time, India woke from its slumber.

Bharat Verma is editor, Indian Defence Review

INDIA MUST DECLARE PAKISTAN AS A TERRORIST STATE !

There is no army , military, ISI or Air force in Pakistan. There are only group that is terrorist groups in uniform, some are in civil clothes, some are in uniform.

It is surprise to note USA and even many world leaders and our spineless leaders use term Pakistan military and ISI very loosely. It is in fact that the all so called terms Pakistan army / airforce/ ISI/ Political parties are part of terrorist groups , the Terrorist State Pakistan get many form of support from Saudi Arab, China , Iran and North Korea being a natural anti democracy ideology and evil design to keep India to bleed.

They are there to black mail the free world in the name of Kashmir or Islam or Jihad or Nuclear war etc. They are always in search of reason and cause for violence all over the world. It is pity and feel sorry that USA is funding Pakistan uniformed terrorists to fight against civil clothes terrorisms.

At many places there are dramas of Pakistan uniformed terrorist fighting with un-uniformed terrorists!!! Sam uncle pays for that and calls other countries to join for the foolish acts and for the drama of terrorists fights—designed / directed and produced by Pakistan.

Since one month , our leaders and media is openly saying that we ( India) may carry out surgical military operation like UKG Kids. The terrorists got sufficient time to escape from respective places. It is also surprising that the Government requesting other Nations to declare Pakistan as a terrorist Nation, Why our government is not declaring Pakistan as a terrorist state ? India should declare first that Pakistan is a terrorist state !! There is no need of bus/ train/ trade and tradition for vote bank !!

The entire world will follow to declare Pakistan a " Terrorist State ".

The terrorist of Pakistan is the most cheapest commodity in the world, any one can buy them from a terrorist Pakistani shop. Even the top so called chief of atomic head of pak is also available for money, Any one can use them to destroy Pakistan and its supports with out any war. Few million dollars is sufficient to destroy Pakistan for ever and even able to divide Pakistan in to 2 to 3 Nations.. Once the objective is full filled, the Kashmir issue may go with the wind, and China and others will be a tamed partners of India. To destroy terrorism, act and think like terrorists. Do not allow them to think , create fear. Let the death too fear India !!