PRESERVING AFGHAN NEUTRALITY & SOVEREIGNTY POST-2014: A GLOBAL IMPERATIVE

It is generally the Chinese who have been the most adept at the practice of consistently stating something detrimental to the interest of its adversaries often enough so that over a period of several years it almost becomes a settled proposition for its victim. India has had plenty of experience in dealing with China in this regard. Therefore it remains inexplicable as to how it fell for the Pakistani claim, supported largely by the US and the UK that Afghanistan has to remain under the tutelage of Pakistan to safeguard Pakistan ’s strategic interest. This canard took shape during the halcyon days of Pakistan-US collaboration to oust the Russians from Afghanistan . Even after the departure of the US from the arena the West continued to go along with Pakistan on this issue, more by default than by design. And so it continued in spite of 9/11 and the sequence of events that followed.

Now when the Americans seem to have decided on a pullout from Afghanistan by 2014, there remain significant lobbies in the US and UK that continue to maintain that Pakistan’s interest remains paramount in Afghanistan and needs to be respected post-2014. The very absurdity of this line of thinking has remained unchallenged even in India to the extent that it continues to be tentative in safeguarding its own strategic interest in Afghanistan .

The basic premise of this approach fails to take into account the extreme fallacy of Pakistani claims of strategic depth with implied overlordship over successor governments in Kabul . It is understandable that close Pakistan allies like China , Turkey and Saudi Arabia would back Pakistan to the hilt in taking control over Afghan affairs. For the West not to have shaken it off after the second resurgence of Taliban in Afghanistan is if anything suicidal reasoning. Afghanistan under Pakistani control or tutelage with the Taliban in the ascendant would be a far more formidable threat to USA , the West, Central Asia, Russia and India than was the case prior to 9/11. This time around an US-NATO pullout from Afghanistan manifestly reeling under mounting losses from Pakistan military-abetted Taliban and Jihadi networks would probably be the last time in this century that any Western force would dare set foot again in the region, irrespective of a repeat of 9/11 on Western soil or even a greater provocation resulting from nuclear type of assault from Pakistan-based non-state actors.

Once the pullout is completed neither the public in the West nor their economic condition would allow for another show of force. Left under the domination of Pakistan the new Taliban-type dispensation, this time backed by the enormously expanded nuclear and missile arsenal of Pakistan, could easily become one of the most formidable players, able to take on any and all-comers once they have consolidated their hold on Afghanistan and the Af-Pak region. At that stage it would be anybody’s guess as to whether the Pakistan military would be calling the shots or whether the extremist elements would be the ones dictating policy. In either case the increased threat would remain.

During all these years when talking of Pakistan ’s strategic interest in Afghanistan nobody seems to have spoken even peripherally that Afghanistan might have existential interests of its own, well away from dominance by any outside power. This is where India comes in. Of all the interested parties it has the least ability or for that matter inclination to interfere in Afghan affairs. Based on past record it enjoys the respect of the majority of Afghan people. A strategic opening has come its way out of the blue. It has resulted from the belated realization in Washington that the Pakistan Army-ISI combine have been playing the Americans for suckers (to use a well-worn American cliché) and that the US government has been filling the coffers of the Pakistan military solely to enable them so it would seem to kill American soldiers and those of its allies. It was the killing of Osama Bin Laden from a compound close to the Military Academy in Abbottabad that convinced the American public that the Washington Establishment and its think tanks had allowed themselves to be comprehensively befooled by their trusted ‘major non-NATO ally’. The revelation that should not have come as a surprise has finally allowed the US to pull away from its trusted ally after the mounting ills that have befallen their soldiers in Afghanistan . The second event that obliged the Karzai government to invite India to help maintain post-2014 independence was the killing of the former President Rabbani. Like the killing of Ahmed Shah Masood ten years ago this killing too is unlikely to have taken place without the full backing or at least the tacit support of the Pakistan military–ISI combine.

The Afghans are bound to be happy that it is India rather than any other country that is being invited to help Afghanistan to retain their independence once the Americans departs. It is the only country in the region that is militarily non-threatening. It is the only country in the region that, except for Pakistan and China , would be viewed with general goodwill by all other neighbours of Afghanistan , especially in Central Asia . The latter would be the most worried from a Pakistani-controlled dispensation. Further, it is the only country that the US, the European Union, Russia and Iran would view with favor for taking up the slack in the strategic vacuum that could prevail for several years after the US departure; till the time that an Afghan government fully backed by a strengthened, cohesive and professional Afghan national army is able to take its destiny in its own hands.

Neither the rest of the world, especially USA and the West, nor India could have foreseen the fortuitous development caused largely by Pakistan ’s duplicity and the tragic events that followed. The Afghan nation and all countries interested in seeing an independent Afghanistan would be unstinting in their support to India were it to step in and meet its obligations to develop and strengthen Afghan independence and neutrality. Should India go about its assigned role with determination and vigor without self-doubt about its capability, it would have become the instrument for peace and prosperity in the region. Strange as it may sound, it would have in the process added immensely to the security of Central Asia, Russia and Pakistan itself, besides its own security. Finally the biggest beneficiary would be SAARC. The ball is fairly and squarely in India ’s court. It has to convince itself and the world that it has emerged a deft player. Success in this task that it has decided to shoulder would automatically make it a very strong contender for a permanent Security Council seat.

Vinod Saighal

October 11, 2011

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The cover of TIME magazine dated October 24, 2011 has the caption “why the U.S. will never save Afghanistan ”. The article by Aryn Baker goes on to explain the reason for the startling TIME cover at a juncture when it should be about the last thing that a leading, globally renowned publication of the US should be saying. ’Never’ has a finality about it that brooks no self-doubt. As to what effect it will have on the situation in Afghanistan and on the US troops fighting in that country is anybody’s guess. For certain it will boost the morale of the Taliban fighting there and give a fillip to the Pakistan military-ISI combine. That it might be a misconceived perspective in view of the radically altered equation between the US and its Pakistan ally does not seem to have influenced Time’s editors. This requires elaboration.

In spite of having been designated a major ‘Non-NATO Ally’ and having been showered with billions of US dollars in economic and military aid the unholy alliance was never really fighting on the same side. In fact they were fighting each other in some form or the other for ten years. It is only now that the full realisation has donned on the US establishment in Washington that they have been comprehensively taken for a ride. The commanders of US and NATO troops on the ground had no doubt as to the real enemy. It is only the leaders of US forces at the highest levels who chose to ignore the persistent feedback from their commandersin Afghanistan while they kept on suffering losses in men and materiel. These have been steadily mounting, it being perhaps the reason for the message of gloom, doom and total despair on the TIME cover.

After many setbacks the nickel has finally dropped, it having become eminently clear that for 10 long years the US and Pakistan have been fighting ‘each other’. The battleground was Afghanistan . The difference was that the US was fighting with its soldiers and taking the mounting casualties directly, whereas the Pakistan Military-ISI combine were fighting through their proxies, the various Taliban and jihadi factions. The US and NATO cannot go on sustaining the higher casualty levels. In the case of Pakistan their proxies can be fed to slaughter indefinitely with the mushrooming of the Madrasas linked to a poverty-stricken but burgeoning population where the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth child can be handed over to the mullahs with the surety that the children would be fed, clothed and have a roof over their heads. It does not matter what the mullahs do with them. For every child killed the compensation for martyrdom in addition to the boost in prestige are a welcome few lakhs of rupees (three or four thousand dollars, a mini fortune for the impoverished family). Casualties should they number even in the tens of thousands make no difference in the state that is now Pakistan or to those who have been controlling its destiny since Zia’s Islamisation drive. What is more, the children in the madrasas, already low-birth weight and malnourished in the poor families from which they come, suffer further deprivation and mental impairment. It is a condition which makes it far easier to indoctrinate the children with misanthropic zeal. Producing the youngsters for suicide missions has become an assembly-line process.

Although the situation on the ground may not give much cause for cheer right now, it is nevertheless quite possible that from 2012 onwards the tide might begin to turn. Finally the establishment in Washington has realized what should have been evident since long that while the Pakistani belligerents cannot be got the better off in Afghanistan at this belated stage, the decision taken by President Obama to fight Pakistani trouble-makers in Pakistan rather that Afghanistan could turn out to be a potential game changer. The new no-nonsense approach will make the Pakistani jihadis and their military backers pay a price that will oblige them to change course before they suffer unacceptable damage. The US has many ways of turning the tide without sending fighting soldiers to any depth across the border. The Pakistani generals have already appreciated that the game may be nearly up should the US persist in dealing with Pakistani menace in Pakistan . It is the reason for Gen. Kayani’s bluster that the US better watch out because Pakistan has nuclear weapons. Whether the statement was for internal consumption or actually a warning to the US , it is the type of statement that no mature civilian government head would make, not even a far-thinking head of the Pakistan Army. The allusion to the nuclear threat could cost Pakistan dearly.

It is not necessary to bring in the India factor at the present time. However, the strategic agreement between Afghanistan and India for the latter to train the Afghan national forces as well as capacity building could make an appreciable difference. Training at the hands of Dutch, German and other western trainers compared to training by the Indian army personnel are two different things. The latter have been fighting at high altitudes under similar conditions with not very sophisticated equipment for over fifty years. The difference in approach will lead to better results over a period of time. There would also be far greater receptivity and emotional integration between the trainer and the trainee. Indians are respected and liked by the Afghans. India is sending its training personnel after being invited to do so. Their presence and India ’s commitment to see it through could become a decisive factor for peace in Afghanistan in the not too distant future. The US and NATO would be heaving a sigh of relief that the Indian presence in the training domain would relieve a large number of their personnel from this onerous task.

In sum with the clarity in thinking that has finally donned upon the decision-makers in Washington not only is all not lost in Afghanistan, the situation is likely to improve well before 2014.

Vinod Saighal

October 22, 2011

SELF-IMMOLATION OF MONKS IN TIBET AND THE NATURE OF INTERNATIONAL INFIRMITY

In the unending calamities that have befallen Tibet since its military occupation by Chinese forces in 1950 the latest one to traumatise the Tibetans is the series of recent self-immolations by Tibetan monks and nuns. From time to time one hears of self-immolation by individuals in other countries as a final act of desperation. In the present case the numbers tell a tale of suppression, incarcerations, brutality and humiliation on the collectivity of Tibetan people way beyond those inflicted by totalitarian regimes in other countries. Stalin's gulags disappeared after thirty years or so once the Russian people and the world realised the extent of the horrors to which the regime's victims were being subjected. Hitler's atrocities did not last for more than seven years. In no other country in the world of the 20th or 21st centuries has extreme oppression on subjects lasted more than 20 or 30 years. In the case of China the oppression of Tibetans and Uighurs has been an unending nightmare for the suppressed minorities for three generations with no hope of relief. So horrendous has been the victimization of Tibetan people that it would be impossible to describe it in a few pages. After each protest the figures of Tibetan deaths at the hands of the Chinese occupation forces far exceed those officially conceded to by the authorities, remaining far lower than independent estimates. The actual figures after each repressive wave could be a multiple factor of three, four or five. The reason is that the Chinese forces seal off the monasteries where the unrest started for weeks and months disallowing medical aid for the wounded and other essentials of life for several weeks, some time months. These increase the fatalities several times over. No outside visitors are allowed to visit the monasteries for long periods of time. In addition to the physical decimation of the population and demographic swamping by an influx of Han Chinese, cultural genocide to eventually eradicate a millennium-and-a-half of the old culture continues apace.

Over two-and-a-half millennia before Mahatma Gandhi it was the Buddha who first enunciated the dharma of ahimsa. contemporaneously with the Jain Digambars. China and the majority of the countries contiguous to China in the east and south still hold on to the Buddhist faith. How are the Chinese leadership going to explain away to their own people and the world the inhuman suffering that they continue to visit on the Tibetan people even after sixty years. The Chinese government's blanket suppression of the truth is well known. But what has happened to the rest of the world, the so-called liberal democracies. If not their leaders who seemingly worship Mammon more than God and king, what about the freedom loving people of the Western democracies who have been in the forefront of affirming their faith in human rights. What is the nature of the infirmity that has overtaken the collective conscience of several billion people that they are unable to bring their governments to hold China accountable; or does it take a few hundred billion dollars of purchase of their treasury receipts and bonds to make them close their eyes and seal their lips. Evidently that is the case.

The Tibetan sacred space is too precious an heritage of mankind to be lost to the world. Much more so for China that still has the largest population of Budhists in the world. Their leaders send erring officials on pilgrimages to ancient Buddhist temples for a parikrama several times over around the temple precincts to expiate their sins. Many leaders have also visited these sites from time to time for similar reasons. When the full realisation of the magnitude of the sins committed on the Tibetan people by those who govern China becomes known to ordinary Chinese people how many generations will have to make the parikrama of the sacred Buddhist sites to even begin to wipe out from their collective karma the sins visited on the hapless Tibetan people.

vinod saighal

Executive Director, Eco Monitors Society

New Delhi October 24, 2011.

FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE DON’T BLUNDER DOWN THAT ROAD AGAIN

The opening paragraph from an article on Iran published a few years go when preparations for a strike on Iran appeared well advanced during the George W. Bush presidency is reproduced below:

“Long after the Americans would have left Iraq , and long after the world would have discovered alternate energy sources, and well after the hydrocarbon reserves of the Middle East would have been depleted, the consequences of the US intervention in Iraq in March 2003 will continue to haunt the region. The Sykes-Picot agreements of an earlier period shaped the post-World War I history and geography of the Middle East . Its effects continue to linger to this day. In like fashion the effects of the US policies in the region in the first decade of the 21st Century are likely to be felt till the end of the century. The turmoil in Iraq will spill over to engulf the Arab world from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean . There is a tendency to focus on the immediate consequences of a cataclysmic event, whereas the long-term effects can often assume a configuration scarcely imagined at the birth of the climactic”.

Unquote

Rumours are again flying thick and fast that Israel backed by USA could be planning to carry out strikes on Iranian nuclear assets. At the very outset it must be said that carrying out the threat would be extremely foolhardy. The repercussions of a strike on Iran are bound to have a ripple effect in and around the region and perhaps around the world. These need to be spelled out.

Israel no longer has the overwhelming military superiority over its neighbours as it did at the height of the cold war and possibly up to the turn of the century. It no longer has the capacity to act individually against a country the size of Iran . Nor will it be able to get away with the strike on Iranian nuclear facilities as it did when it attacked the Iraqi reactor nearly thirty years ago and the suspected Syrian facility more recently. The Iranians have been preparing for an Israeli–US strike for over a decade. They are well aware that the combined US-Israeli attacks besides severely damaging Iran ’s nuclear program would inflict heavy damage on their retaliatory capabilities. With that realization they would have planned intelligently to ensure that neither Israel nor USA gets away scot-free regardless of the severity of punishment inflicted on Iran . At the very least Israel , whatever its degree of preparation for an Iranian riposte, should be prepared to suffer hundreds if not thousands of casualties amongst its people, both killed and wounded. The attacks on Israel could take various forms many of which no Israeli government can prepare for to the ultimate degree. These possibilities should be made known to the public in Israel , Europe and USA before any Israeli leader embarks on another exceptionally risky venture, which in the worst case could produce unacceptable retaliatory damage on Israel , especially in view of its small population, minuscule geographic area and vulnerability to attack from several directions. That Israel has no depth of any kind would be well known to the Israeli leaders as well as its people. In spite of that if the Israeli leaders are able to indulge in the type of brinkmanship that could lead to serious miscalculations they need to be put under restraint –literally so- by the Israeli people as well as by all well-wishers of the Jewish state. There have been instances in the past where brinkmanship has escalated into war that neither side really wanted or was prepared for.

USA , the other likely belligerent although oceans and continents away will not be immune from the consequences of an attack on Iran as the people of that country may have been led to believe. The real tragedy is that the people of the countries that provoke war are totally out of the reckoning when war is launched on their behalf. Iraq was a case in point. When the British and Spanish governments, actually the Prime Ministers of these countries, took the decision almost single-handedly to join the US , nearly 80 percent of the people of Britain and Spain were against their countries joining the Iraq invasion. The consequences of that foolish act, over the heads of their people, are still being felt around the world. The economic decline of USA and the West was set in motion by the invasion of Iraq . The consequences of strikes on Iran might turn out to be equally tragic. While Iran may not be able to do any direct damage on the US mainland it would certainly be able to inflict considerable damage to the US economy and its military and commercial assets in the Middle East and elsewhere. In the altered circumstances Turkey and Egypt would hardly remain mere bystanders.

No one can doubt that the entire Middle East and neighboring countries would face considerable turmoil and collateral damage. Iranian oil facilities as well as Saudi and Gulf facilities might also suffer damage causing further recession around the world that could end up by crippling the economies of the US, West, Israel, and many other countries in the developed and developing world. Radiation damage over a radius of action that could reach parts of China in the east and throughout the Middle East up to and beyond the Mediterranean would be extensive over a period of time on account of the munitions that would be used to penetrate Iranian facilities deep down in the earth. Besides the whole of the Middle East parts of Russia and South Asia would be affected more severely.

These are a few of the major consequences that have been outlined that would result from a strike on Iran . BRIC, IBSA, SAARC, ASEAN, Shanghai Cooperation Organization and European Union must come out strongly to oppose the course of action that is being contemplated, ‘all options being on the table’. Germany has already voiced its concern. Russia , China and India as well as the UN Secretary General must not only voice their concern but hold urgent consultations to rule out the possibility of any ill-advised military action against Iran . Pressure should continue to be put on the country through sanctions as it is no one’s case that Iran should go nuclear and thereby trigger an arms race in the Middle East . However, when singling out Iran for the type of punishment being talked about for attempting to provide itself with nuclear weapons, it needs to be remembered that the case of Pakistan and North Korea becomes far more serious when measured against the projected Iranian capability in the coming years.

Last but not least, unilateral action against Iran will send a wrong message to countries that have the potential to cross the nuclear Rubicon, more so when they see what happened to Libya after it gave up its nuclear option. Ditto for North Korea and Pakistan . In the latter case the Pakistani generals only the other day made the not so idle boast that the US dare not take certain actions against Pakistan because ‘we now have nuclear weapons’.

Vinod Saighal

New Delhi , November 9, 2011

www.vinodsaighal.com

POLICE IN THE DOCK

Excerpt from The Tribune dated November 1, 2011 under the heading
‘Tainted cops retained in service High Court seeks details from DGP’ is reproduced below:
“The Punjab and Haryana High Court wants to know from the Haryana Director-General of Police the details of police officials retained in service after having faced department proceedings in cases of moral turpitude and acceptance of illegal gratification………………………………..
Less than a fortnight ago, the Bench of acting Chief Justice MM Kumar and Justice Rajiv Narain Raina had also stayed the operation of a circular issued by the Punjab Director-General of Police on May 18, 2010. The DGP, vide the circular, had directed all appointing authorities in the Police Department not to remove a police official convicted for a criminal offence for which the sentence prescribed under the IPC is less than three years. The DGP had also recommended leniency against them”. Unquote
          The first question that arises on reading the news item is “Why are the police heads issuing such outrageous instructions”. For the general public the immediate answer that would come to mind could very well be “because so many of them are in the same boat”. Although accurate statistics would be difficult to come by, the public perception might not be that far off the mark. This is just one of the instances where the High Court has acted on a petition filed before it.
          In actual fact it is the operative norm for the police in practically every state. It is not only the DGPs of Haryana and Punjab in the present case, even the political masters are inclined to condone actions of this nature because quite a few of the criminal episodes are the result of unrecorded instructions given by them to senior police officers as well as directly to those lower down the chain. Some high-minded, professional police heads have tried to break this nexus, to no effect. It could have also been one of the reasons for the PIL filed in the Supreme Court by a former DGP, Shri Prakash Singh. Following the PIL the Supreme Court gave directions in 2006 for the Centre and the States to revisit the 1861 Police Act and bring it in line with the recommendations of the Police Commissions as modified and updated in subsequent reviews*. To date neither the centre nor the states have complied with the Supreme Court directive in letter and spirit.
          At a talk delivered on countering terrorism to a cross section of police and paramilitary officers some time ago, one of the police officers put the speaker wise by offering his view that in his state at least, if not other states as well, it was incorrect to assume that MLAs were hankering only after mantri’s chair. A large number of them preferred to exercise control over the SHO and police thanas in their constituencies. It allowed them to have false cases registered against opponents and prevent the filing of FIRs against their kith and kin. This is exactly what notorious bahubalis have been doing in many states since long.
          Reverting to the news item cited above, the public has to be made aware that the practice described in Haryana and Punjab might well be the standard operating procedure throughout the country. On a number of occasions, statements issued by the police appear in the press that the policeman (or policemen) charged with grave misconduct or crime has been suspended or sent to police lines. The public seldom, if ever, gets to know the final disposition of the case. Unless the media remains alert in the more serious cases or the judiciary takes cognizance the chances are that the suspended police person sent to police lines would be reassigned once the furore dies down, or the investigation of the case delayed indefinitely. While individuals can file the occasional RTI, it is only sustained investigative journalism or an omnibus directive by the higher judiciary that can ensure that action taken in all such cases is made available for scrutiny by the courts at laid down periodicities and the information displayed on websites in each police district.

Vinod Saighal

Convenor, MRGG (Movment for Restoration of Good Government)
November 3, 2011

* The need for police reforms in India is long recognised. It has been almost three decades of discussion by government created committees and commissions. Way back in 1979 the National Police Commission (NPC) was set up to report on policing and give recommendations for reform. The Commission produced eight reports, dozens of topic specific recommendations and also a Model Police Act.

None of the major recommendations were adopted by any government. This persuaded two former Director General’s of Police (DGPs) in 1996 to file a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court asking the Court to direct governments to implement the NPC recommendations. In the course of the 10 year long case, in 1998 the Court set up the Ribeiro Committee which handed in its reports in 1999. This was followed by the Padmanabhaiah Committee report in 2000 and eventually the Police Act Drafting Committee (PADC or Soli Sorabjee Committee) that drafted a new model police bill to replace the colonial 1861 Police Act. Meanwhile precious little was done on the ground to improve policing or implement recommendations put forth by any of these committees or commissions.

It was only a decade later in 2006 that the Court delivered its verdict. In what is popularly referred to as the Prakash Singh case the Supreme Court ordered that reform must take place. The states and union territories were directed to comply with seven binding directives that would kick start reform. These directives pulled together the various strands of improvement generated since 1979. The Court required immediate implementation of its orders either through executive orders or new police legislation. At first the Court itself monitored compliance of all States and Union Territories. However in 2008 the Court decided to set up a three member Monitoring Committee with a two year mandate to examine compliance state by state and report back to it periodically.

No Need to Go in for new infrastructure unless ….

The other day the prime minister made a statement that the government would have to spend one trillion rupees for infrastructure development in the coming years. While nobody can take exception to the need for speedy infrastructure development if India is to continue with its high growth of 7 to 9 percent, the question that should be uppermost in the minds of the decision-makers and the newly awakened public should be: “Can the country afford the scale of the infrastructure development projected under the prevailing system obtaining in the country”? It is not only the CAG report on the infrastructure created for the Commonwealth Games; one has to simply take a look at the majority of the larger construction projects undertaken by the CPWD, DDA, NDMC, and other agencies. Barring a few states like Gujarat where quality, competence and accountability for the projects undertaken has gone hand in hand, according to outside observers, the state of affairs in most other parts of the country is as abysmal as the infrastructure developed in the national capital for the Commonwealth Games. Therefore the question that arises is whether we should continue making outlays of tens or hundreds of thousands of crores for new infrastructure projects whose standard, under the existing state of governance, will continue to be substandard. Or should we first insist on systematic changes. Unless there are rock solid guarantees of transparency and accountability going ahead with more of the same would constitute a national waste.

What most people fail to appreciate is that the more one constructs the more one adds to the burden of maintaining the infrastructure created. In some cases the annual maintenance cost of many of the assets that have come up can be very high. In earlier times when quality and work ethic were of a high standard it was taken for granted that for several years the annual maintenance cost would be minimal. This is no longer the case. There have been innumerable instances, most noticeably in the national capital itself where newly created assets have started giving way in the first year. According to reports the Delhi government had spent over 16,000 crores for providing infrastructure for the Games. Within a year, the assets have started crumbling. The Delhi government has earmarked Rs 358 crores for maintenance of assets for the year 2011. It is an enormous amount for upkeep in the first year itself. Had the work been up to par, as should have been the case for a project of national import, the annual maintenance outlay should not have exceeded one-tenth the amount, perhaps even less. Many other similar examples of collapsed bridges, flyovers and the like can be cited.

Hence it can be seen that unless very high standards of quality can be guaranteed and enforced adding new infrastructure on the scale that the prime minister has indicated would put an exceptionally heavy burden on the exchequer for the additional cost of upkeep of the assets created; whose viability over a period of time would remain questionable.

In the light of the foregoing minimum standards that should be put in place for all new projects are tabulated below:

Transparency in the allocation of projects to contractors and firms that have a reputation of maintaining the highest quality and that have not been charged earlier for inefficiency, substandard work or criminal conduct, or for cost and time slippages. In fact, the Planning Commission or a designated rating agency should assign an annual numerical value for levels of reliability, competence and quality control for all major bidders for large-scale government infrastructure projects. Those firms that have a rating below the minimum laid down level should not be awarded any contract till they come up to a satisfactory level.
While selecting the firm to carry out major projects, automatic selection of the lowest bidder need not be the norm, where the laid down standards of quality might not be met. In all such cases an empowered committee, not under the line ministry or the awarding authority, should be able to intervene at the behest of the PMO or an authority designated for the purpose. The empowered committee comprising experts of national and international repute should be changed every two years. For all large-scale projects running into thousands of crores a reputable consultancy agency should look into the quality of the work and its long-term viability after 50 % of the project has been completed, before the subsequent tranche of payment is made. The same exercise would be carried out when 80 per cent of the project has been completed.
The aspect related to independent outside monitoring would be incorporated in the initial agreement as also the payments to be made to the monitoring agency from within the project cost.
Companies (or contractors) carrying out projects, whose quality turns out to be substandard often throw up the excuse that the engineers or the agencies awarding the contracts often demand such heavy sums for sanctioning and accepting the projects that the construction agency has no choice but to use substandard materials or take other shortcuts to meet the exorbitant demands. To obviate these charges that are largely true the names of all supervising engineers should be prominently displayed at the project site as well as on the website that should be mandatory for all agencies and ministries awarding contracts. Detailed blueprints including the quality and specifications of the materials to be used and all other details related to the execution of the project should be in the public domain from day one.
Legally enforceable liability clauses for all supervising engineers up the line should form part of department regulations. Penalties for substandard or collapsing infrastructure should be leviable up to twenty years of completion of the project. Where malfeasance, misfeasance and lack of supervision can be established, the supervising engineers concerned would be liable to prison terms and penalties, depending on the scale of loss to the exchequer or setback to a critical competence being created in the country through the project. Moreover, the suffering caused to the public utilizing the facility would also be a factor in working out the scale of punishment to be awarded to all those responsible in the department concerned for overseeing the project.

In addition to the above, the time has come for holding senior civil servants in the line ministries and heads of the agencies involved, accountable for projects that do not meet the laid down standards. Lack of accountability at the higher or highest levels has brought down standards and increased corruption to an unimaginable level in most government departments at the centre and the states. Therefore, unless officials and ministers at the head are made accountable and feel the heat, punishing junior lever supervisors would not meet the ends of justice. The government and the courts must realise that the country will keep going down unless the scope for substandard infrastructure coming up is totally eliminated. Laws already exist for prevention of corruption in the country. These might very well be removed from the statute books, because corruption in the country has now reached levels where it is orchestrated at the very top of the governance ladder. For the same reason such is the nexus that has developed that when projects running into tens of thousands or crores or more fail to materialize or the delay becomes interminable or infrastructure developed turns out to be below acceptable standard, a blind eye is turned because of the intricate web of corruption spreading vertically and laterally to embrace practically every level of the government machinery. By current standards the guilty persons causing enormous loss to the exchequer or delays in national competence building in critical areas can escape justice for decades. Many go scot-free as the cases against them are dropped or not pursued, more so at the apex of governance. Assuming for a moment that a future government freed from the stranglehold from those who have been holding the country to ransom since long is able to bring the guilty to book in reasonable time frames. Still the fact would remain that even giving life imprisonment to the guilty or confiscating their property would still not be able to recompense the nation for the massive amounts that would have gone down the drain due to failed or substandard infrastructure projects.

With this background one comes back to the rhetorical question posed in the subject heading. It is not merely a question of meting out speedy justice, it is high time the powers that be put in place systems that obviate colossal losses to the nation and retard the progress of the country as has been witnessed recently in any number of cases.

Vinod Saighal

Convenor, MRGG (Movement for Restoration of Good Government)

New Delhi , October 4, 2011.

Friends,
i am sure you know what i am referring to. If affirmative, we need to recycle it extensively. Stop the mega dams and further exploitation in pristine forests.
regards
vs
www.vinodsaighal.com
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Judy,
as a follow up to my earlier mail i suggest you look at the famous missive from Chief Seattle to the Great White Chief in Washington, written some time in the mid-19th Century when the Indian lands were being appropriated, or expropriated. It is one of the most beautiful pieces ever written. Every word in that letter bespeaks spirituality.
Many years ago i made hundreds of copies and sent it to schools and colleges in India as well as selected countries in Western Europe, especially France & BENELUX where i had been accredited from 1986-1990. Also Spain and Portugal that i was overseeing for our government.
I am sure you would have seen it. Savour afresh its beauty and prose and distribute to the Brahma Kumaris. It is sublime.
Do revert with your own response to what i have said.
regards
vs
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"Man did not weave the web of life - he is merely a strand in it.
Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself."
Chief Seattle, 1854.

In 1854, "The Great White Chief" in Washington made an offer for a large area of Indian land and promised a "reservation" for the Indian people.
Chief Seattle's reply, published here in full, to mark World Environment Day tomorrow, has been described as one of the most beautiful and profound statements on the environment ever made:

how can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land?
The idea is strange to us.
If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water,
how can you buy them?
Every part of the Earth is sacred to my people.
Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clear and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people.
The sap which courses through the trees carries the memory and experience of my people.
The sap which courses through the trees carries the memories of the red man.
The white man's dead forget the country of their birth when they go to walk among the stars.
Our dead never forget this beautiful Earth, for it is the mother of the red man.
We are part of the Earth and it is part of us.
The perfumed flowers are our sisters, the deer, the horse, the great eagle, these are our brothers.
The rocky crests, the juices in the meadows, the body heat of the pony, and the man, all belong to the same family.
So, when the Great Chief in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land, he asks much of us.
The Great White Chief sends word he will reserve us a place so that we can live comfortably to ourselves.
He will be our father and we will be his children.
So we will consider your offer to buy land.
But it will not be easy.
For this land is sacred to us.
This shining water that moves in streams and rivers is not just water but the blood of our ancestors.
If we sell you land, you must remember that it is sacred blood of our ancestors.
If we sell you land, you must remember that it is sacred, and you must teach your children that it is sacred and that each ghostly reflection in the clear water of the lakes tells of events in the life of my people.
The waters murmur is the voice of my father's father.
The rivers of our brothers they quench our thirst.
The rivers carry our canoes and feed our children.
If we sell you our land, you must remember to teach your children that the rivers are our brothers, and yours, and you must henceforth give the rivers the kindness that you would give my brother.
We know that the white man does not understand our ways.
One portion of land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs.
The Earth is not his brother, but his enemy and when he has conquered it, he moves on.
He leaves his father's graves behind, and he does not care.
He kidnaps the Earth from his children, and he does not care.

BIRTHRIGHT

His father's grave, and his children's birthright are forgotten.
He treats his mother, the Earth, and his brother, the same, as things to be bought, plundered, sold like sheep or bright beads.
His appetite will devour the Earth and leave behind only a desert.
I do not know.
Our ways are different from yours ways.
The sight of your cities pains the eyes of the red man.
But perhaps it is because the red man is a savage and does not understand.
There is no quiet place in the white man's cities.
No place to hear the unfurling of leaves in spring, or the rustle of an insect's wings.
But perhaps it is because I am a savage and do not understand.
The clatter only seems to insult the ears.
And what is there to life if a man cannot hear the lonely cry of a whippoorwill or the arguments of the frogs around a pond at night.
I am a red man and do not understand.
The Indian prefers the soft sound of the wind darting over the face of the pond, and the smell of the wind itself, cleansed by a midday rain, or scented with the pinon pine.

PRECIOUS

The air is precious to the red man, for all things share the same breath - the beast, the tree, the man, they all share the same breath.
The white man does not seem to notice the air he breathes.
Like a man dying for many days, he is numb to the stench.
But if we sell you our land, you must remember that the air is precious to us, that the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.
The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also receives his last sigh.
And if we sell you our land, you must keep it apart and sacred, as a place where even the white man can go to taste the wind that is sweetened by the meadow's flowers.
So we will consider your offer to buy our land.
If we decide to accept, I will make one condition - the white man must treat the beasts of this land as his brothers.
I am a savage and do not understand any other way.
I have seen a thousand rotting buffaloes on the prairie, left by the white man who shot them from a passing train.
I am a savage and do not understand how the smoking iron horse can be made more important than the buffalo that we kill only to stay alive.
What is man without the beasts?
If all the beasts were gone, man would die from a great loneliness of the spirit.
For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man.
All things are connected.

RESPECT

You must teach your children that the ground beneath their feet is the ashes of our grandfathers.
So that they will respect the land, tell your children that the Earth is rich with the lives of our kin.
Teach your children what we have taught our children, that the Earth is our mother.
Whatever befalls the Earth befalls the sons of the Earth.
If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves.
This we know - the Earth does not belong to man - man belongs to the Earth.
This we know.
All things are connected like the blood which unites one family.

All things are connected.
Whatever befalls the Earth - befalls the sons of the Earth.
Man did not weave the web of life - he is merely a strand in it.
Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

Even the white man, whose God walks and talks with him as friend to friend, cannot be exempt from the common destiny.
We may be brothers after all.
We shall see.
One thing we know, which the white man may one day discover - Our God is the same God.
You may think now that you own Him as you wish to own our land, but you cannot.
He is the God of man, and His compassion is equal for red man and the white.
The Earth is precious to Him, and to harm the Earth is to heap contempt on its creator.
The whites too shall pass, perhaps sooner than all other tribes.
But in your perishing you will shine brightly, fired by the strength of the God who brought you to this land and for some special purpose gave you dominion over this land and over the red man.
That destiny is a mystery to us, for we do not understand when the buffalo are slaughtered, the wild horses tamed, the secret corners of the forest heavy with scent of many men, and the view of the ripe hills blotted by talking wires.
Where is the thicket?
Gone.
Where is the Eagle?
Gone.
The end of living and the beginning of survival.

Riding Roughshod over National Sovereignty

The video link: Click Here

What happened in South Africa due to the denial of a visa to the Dalai Lama (for the first time ever in that country), which led to the cancellation of the international conference due to the objections of the other delegates and organisers should make the world sit up. The governments of the world are gradually, but surely coming under the sway of the extra-territorial sovereignty exercised by the Chinese by the issuance of ukases of this nature time and again. The governments to whom such ukases are issued - and more often than not complied with - are not impoverished and weak nations in dire straits, but some of the mightiest governments on the planet, including the entire gamut of Western governments, the supposed champions of human rights and liberty for citizens. The latest of these outrageous demands have been made to the Dutch Parliament (rejected outright by the parliamentarians of that small but independent-minded country) and more recently to the Mayor of Paris to not welcome the Dalai Lama as an honorary citizen. Apparently, the "totalitarian", "undemocratic" Chinese government will decide for the Parisians as to on whom the latter are at liberty to confer honorary citizenship.
    Would you consider circulating the extract of the talk given below to the media for publication as a response to the unacceptable Chinese interference in the affairs of independent 'democratic' nations. A global campaign needs to be started for ridding the world of subtle attempts to undermine the decision making sovereingty of heads of governments of the free world. It is succeeding in a frightening manner. The European Parliament must be induced to pass a special resolution for expressing its outrage at the turn of events. China's economic ascendance need not lead to subservience and grovelling by indpendent nations.
regards
vinod saighal
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REAPPRAISING CHINA
            By
       Vinod Saighal
(Extracts of talk delivered on July 21, 2008 at the Annexe, India International Centre on July 21, 2008 on behalf of Eco Monitors Society).
*
Eco Monitors cordially invites you to a talk on 'Reappraising China', chaired by Ms. Kapila Vatsayan
The speaker: Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Vinod Saighal
Executive Director, Eco Monitors Society.
Good evening to the distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen assembled here.
The subject for this evening - just about two weeks before the Beijing Olympics - is Reappraising China, or to put it differently 'Wither China'. The perspective is global. However, China and India and their relationship figures prominently in the presentation that I shall be making.
Toward the end of the last century, around the turn of the millennium, I delivered two talks, which were futuristic in nature. One of them was the 'Resurgence of Russia in the 21st Century'. It was a time when Russia was nearly on its knees after the Yeltsin years. The national dept of Russia was $175 billion. The scientists were leaving the country in droves; many of them were grabbed by China. There was talk of default in the payments due. The military was demoralized and Chechnya was in flames. Mr. Putin had just taken over. Oil was at 13 dollars a barrel. So when I delivered the talk on the resurgence of Russia, it evoked a lot of interest about the extent of the resurgence that could take place. I was even invited to the United States to repeat the talk.
The second talk was on 'Dealing with China in the 21st Century'. At the start of the talk I borrowed terms from astronomy and astrophysics to define the three models for the growth of China in the 21st century. The first model was the 'steady state expansion model'. The second was the 'dynamic expansion or the explosive expansion model'. The third was the 'implosion model'. I was slightly wrong about India when comparing the two countries to the extent that the economic condition of India is now much better than what I had projected at that time. I am again going to be somewhat futuristic in this talk. First of all:
............................................
After this brief recapitulation of facts that most of you would generally be aware of, we address a simple question: "As a world power is China going to play a benign role or will it flex its muscles as it goes along". In the opinion of this speaker it is inclined to take the latter course, going by its past history. Why should that be the case?
Several millennia ago Chanakya in his Arthashastra had written: "It is the nature of power to assert itself". The United States of America has been the world power for only a century plus; see the degree of assertion that it is exercising on the globe. China has been a great power for thousands of years. There is hardly any parallel to it in the entire world. The assertion of power comes to it naturally. It is almost programmed into its psyche.
One of the greatest manifestations of exercise of power by China relate to the hold it exercises - subliminally or sub rosa, so to say - over hundred and ninety-two countries that are part of the United Nations. China has demanded from each one of them that their leaders shall not entertain the Dalai Lama. If a referendum were to be taken across the globe the two most revered personalities today would undoubtedly be Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama. In spite of that China is able to demand, across the world, that the heads of state do not interact with the Dalai Lama. What is more remarkable - and amazing - is that out of the 192 nations, full 170 or more have bent the knee to China on this score. Isn't it strange? What is happening in the world? Great civilizations with a culture going back several millennia in South-East Asia will not give a visa to the Dalai Lama to visit their countries. China has already started exercising hegemony on a global scale that even the superpower USA is unable to match. Were it to give a fiat on the lines of the fiat given by China in the case of the Dalai Lama not more than a handful of countries in the world would obey the dictates of USA as to whom a head of state of a sovereign country should or should not meet. Yet China is able to demand compliance from practically the whole world and, what is more, get it. A type of infringement of national sovereignties not witnessed before in the modern world on this scale.
There are a few exceptions. Surprisingly, one of the few people who had the temerity to stand up to China was the Singapore Prime Minister. On first taking over his new post he wanted to visit Taiwan. China at once demanded that the new prime minister not undertake the visit. In a remarkable reply, which should win the admiration of the world, Mr. Lee (the son of the elder statesman), the prime minister of tiny Singapore reportedly said that while he had the highest admiration and respect for the People's Republic of China, were he to bow to its dictates, he would thereby diminish the sovereignty of all the people of Singapore. Mr. Sarkozy made a somewhat similar statement recently that no country had the right to set the agenda as to whom the president of France could or could not meet. There are other examples of proud holdouts like Germany, Canada and a few others. But well over 80 per cent of nations bow their head. This is real exercise of power. One fails to grasp the nature of infirmity that makes over 170 nations around the world succumb to Chinese blandishments. One just has to look at the President of USA, Mr. George W. Bush. Remember what he said after the March 14 uprising in Lhasa. Recall the statements made by the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi and the President's wife, Mrs. Laura Bush, as also the statement made by President George W. Bush when he gave the Congressional Gold Medal to the Dalai Lama. Now the same president wants to attend the Olympic Games opening ceremony in Beijing. In Tokyo he made a statement that not attending the Olympics would be an insult to the people of China. It is a reversal of what went before. Conceivably the president's statement could be construed as an insult to a lot of other people being oppressed by China and whom the president had been supporting earlier on. The bare fact is that Beijing ultimately had its way.
But there is something else which is deeper that is taking place. I am inviting the audience to look where China is headed. In fact, practically all countries are bowing to China, including great nations like Russia, Japan and India.
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By occupying Tibet, China has created a potential for using water as a weapon of war because the occupation of Tibet bestowed on China control of the water systems emanating from Tibet from the Indus in the West to Yellow River in the East. The Tibetan plateau is the source of water for most of the countries like Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, Vietnam, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. The Chinese do not allow for coordination between the states. There have been sudden floods in the Sutlej for which no prior warning was given by the Chinese, nor was India allowed to carry out a joint survey as to the cause. Water is going to be a major issue for South-East and South Asia in the years ahead.
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Such is China's felt hegemonic hold on them that no country on the periphery of India can allow the holding of anti-Chinese demonstrations. It is simply not possible. Even the state of India, West Bengal will hardly ever allow anti-Chinese demonstrations.
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What is the greater overall worry? It is not only India's worry, but it is a worry for all those countries whose forces operate in close vicinity of the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean. China is in the process of creating naval bases on the coast of Myanmar and Gwadar on the Makran coast, north of Karachi, coming up very fast. These are designed to become submarine bases. Should the Chinese submarines commence operations in the Indian Ocean, west of the Malacca Strait, it turns the flanks of the entire US-NATO deployment in the Middle East and around this area. So it is something that has to be watched very carefully.
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On Taiwan, it is a personal feeling that the assimilation of Taiwan is inevitable, provided China does not indulge in military adventurism. China does not have to go and invade Taiwan. In the coming decades Taiwan could be incorporated with China peacefully. Whenever that comes to pass, China would be tempted to flex its muscles in a much bigger fashion.
I am not touching upon China's economy in the interactive session to follow. I hold the opinion that China's growth pattern must suffer decline. In the next three years or so the growth rate will come down to 6 per cent and no more. Should China pursue double digit growth in the years ahead it will be environmentally dead well before 2050, the year it is supposed to catch up with America, and perhaps overtake the superpower. The same holds good for India. Double digit growth will cripple India environmentally.
For China the movement westward is irreversible because of the superlative ecological degradation that is taking place in that country. It is not a choice, but a compulsion. It is an irreversible phenomenon. You have to take note that. China has shown its enormous capacity to turn things around. It is hoped that the remarkable energy which only China is capable of mobilizing will henceforth be utilized for saving the planet from its headlong ecological decline.
Concluding Remarks
Tibet since millennia has had spiritual bonds with India and physical links with China. In the latter case with many ups and downs. The spiritual bond is unshakeable and inviolable. It is eternal. The physical bond has been broken from time to time. It is sincerely hoped that China, after the turmoil of the decades following the Cultural Revolution will come to respect Tibetan culture, because over several millennia what has flowed down from Tibet into China has been benign and spiritually edifying. Buddhism has enriched Chinese culture. It went over to Japan from China. China should revere that bond, because it could only end up by harmonizing Chinese society. I would like to end by repeating what I have often put across to audiences in India and abroad: "the Tibetan sacred space is too precious a heritage of mankind to be lost to the world". Moreover, it is too precious a heritage of China to be lost to the Chinese. I do hope the Chinese take note and reverse the course they have taken so far in dealing with Tibet, which really is the jewel in the Chinese crown.
I thank you all for your patience in listening to my discourse.

Arun, Dr. Chawla, NS B,
as decided please follow up through your chapters. I will do so through my networks in India and abroad. The mail to Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy and Najam Sethi, Editor, The Friday TImes, Lahore is self-explanatory.

regards

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Najam,
for similar action, please, at your end. You can do a lot. Please aocknwledge.
regards
vinod saighal

Pervez,

A little over a week ago there was an IDPD (Indian Doctors for Peace & Development - an affiliate of IPPNW) Conference in New Delhi where i was one of the speakers. I happened to be sitting next to Dr LS Chawla, IDPD President and Dr. N S Bawa when i saw a huge photograph taken from the Hiroshima museum by these doctors who had visited there last year. At my age (72) after 40 years in the army i was horror-stricken at the sight of the burning children after 3 hours of the Hiroshima atomic blast.

I have attended many conferences around the world on the abolition of nuclear weapons. I have written extensively on the subject. The way things are going we will start using tactical nukes in the not too distant future, or some other nuclear tragedy. The generation that controls the affairs of the world in practically every country has failed humanity. There are no signs that they are likely to take the urgent steps necessary to save the planet from the looming scourges like climate change, global warming, ecocide, acidification of oceans, habitat destruction, hedonistic over-consumption and the decimation of species.

The youth leaders of the coming generation have to immediately embark on mass mobilisation in schools and colleges to 'snatch' decision-making from the incompetent or insensitive elders ( i am using very mild terms). The attached photograph can become the starting point with the motto "NEVER AGAIN". Please circulate so that it can be blown up and put on the notice boards and prominent display sites in schools and colleges in Pakistan. IDPD will be conducting a similar exercise in India. We are requesting IPPNW and other like-minded organisations to make it a worldwide movement before December 31, 2011. Just that one picture is stark enough. It speaks for itself.

Please acknowledge and confirm.

Regards

vinod saighal

Executive Director, Eco Monitors Society (EMS)

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PS. I had quoted you in my presentation and have asked IDPD to invite you for one of their regional meets.

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Are we witnessing the end of democracy. Is there 'no' national leader left in the country who will say 'enough is enough', 'I would rather that my party did not win the seat or lose the election but i will not condone murderers, dakus, rapists, extortionists and the like winning because we gave them our party ticket and canvassed for them'. Shame on UPA Chairperson and her son. Shame on ALL the BJP leaders. Shame on the leaders who have sunk Bihar, and shame on the leaders who want to uplift Bihar with the help of kidnapers, jailbirds and extortionists. And finally, SHAME on all elected politicians and those brought in through the backdoor in Delhi, including some supposedly untainted younger netas of the next generation who have neither quit in disgust nor raised their voice at the prostitution of democracy in India. Last, but not least SHAME on all of us for putting up with it. Do See below and circulate.

placed below is an example of an intellectual giant, one of Latin America's leading writers and poets, Amado Nervo who drank deep from the Vedic spring. See what he has to say in juxtaposition to the shallow intellect and mean spirit (WD of USA ) who has achieved notoriety, rather than fame by defaming India's heritage. The excerpts speak for themselves.

Vinod Saighal

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On 30 July 1916, after reading the Spanish translation of the Gospel of Shri Ramakrishna - the English version by Mahendranath Gupta published by Swami Abhedananda in the US in 1907 - he (Amado Nervo) wrote from Madrid to the translator Ricardo Vivie in Buenos Aires:

"You have done to me a very valuable present by sending seven books. All are nice indeed, but above all of them is, in my view, that admirable Gospel of Ramakrishna, which has been a true revelation to me. How much depth under its crystalline ingenuity ! What beuatiful parables !(For instance, the one of the wall behind which is the absolute!) ...This exquisite Gospel of Ramakrishna, so profoundly familiar, so familiarly profound. From today it will be one of my bediside books; of those I carry with me everywhere. It is a sweet and mystic little lamp to search God outside this spider's web of philosophies, rites, metaphysical disuputes. It is impregnated with a very pure love, and no threat casts it shadow on these pages of mysterious whiteness".

A poem which shows that tendency, though still composed in lines of fourteen syllables and a simple 'abab cdcd' rhyme - with a genial break ' in the Time......' is 'Identidat' ('Identity'), in which the author wrote as epigraph the mahavakya 'tat-tvam-asi':

He who knows that is one with God,

achieve Nirvana:

a Nirvana in which all gloominess is illumined; vertiginous widening of human consciousness, which is only the projection of the Divine Idea in the Time........

The phenomenon, the external, vain fruit of illusion, extinguishes itself: plurality is no more, and the 'I', ecstatic, finally plunges in the absolute, and has as legacy the whole eternity!

On 24 May 1919 Amado Nervo died of a heart attack in Montevideo shortly after taking up his duties at the Mexican embassy. An unusual tribute was paid to his memory: after prolonged ceremonies and memorials held in his honour, which involved people ranging from diplomats to students, the government of Uruguay escorted his body to Mexico in a battle cruiser, to which another cruiser of the Argentina navy joined first and later on several war and civilian ships of other Latin America countries, creating thus a naval procession. At the time of his death, he was one of the first literary celebrities in the Hispanic world; he had already achieved an extraordinary renown, acclaimed by both the people and the intellectual elites. His biographers tell us that his personality was appealing as his work, that ' he was always kind, kind on every account because of the beauty of being kind', as he wrote in one of his poems. To one and all he truly was ' Amado' - which in Spanish means 'beloved', the name given by his father.

To measure how deep Indian ideas have penetrated Latin American literature demands a separate and extensive research. We know for certain that Rabindranath Tagore greatly influenced the generation of Latin American writers of the first half of the twentieth century, Apart from Ricardo Guiraldes and Amado Nervo, three other renowned litterateurs who have openly ackowledge India's influence on their writings can be mentioned India's influence on their writings can be mentioned here. One is the Chilean Gabriela Mistral (1889-1957), the first Latin American woman to win the Nobel Prize for literatute, who said: While Tagore awakened the latent music in me, another Indian Sri Aurobindo, brought me to religion. He opened the way to my religious consecration. Indeed my debt to India is very great and is due in part to Tagore and in part to Sri Aurobindo. Another female litterateur, the avant garde Argentine Victoria Ocampo(1890-1979), wholly admired India, considered herself a Gandhian, and housed Rabindranath Tagore for two months when the latter visited South America in 1924. And in recent times the Mexican Octavio Pas(1914-98), another nobel laureate, some of whose writings reflect the Eastern spirit and who wrote Vislumbres de la India ( In Light of India) - a well received book in which he briefly mentions Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda- after his experiences as ambassador in India.

(Extracts from Prabuddha Bharata, March 2010)

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Reconciling Coalition Dharma, Good Governance & National Security

The 2009 elections were considered a landmark in several ways. Once the results came in the collective sigh of relief from a large majority of the Indian population was audible across the length and breadth of the country. The prospect of a stable government at the Centre after the months-long prognostication of fractured coalitions based on Third and Fourth Fronts with any number of other strange combinations thrown in for good measure was indeed a welcome relief. Quite possibly the dread of unholy alliances without any pretense to good government had conveyed itself to the electorate. While welcoming the results there is a need to examine as to how this landmark election that paved the way for governance stability came about. To recapitulate a few aspects:

The conduct of elections for an electorate of 700 million voters, 400 million of which were exercising their franchise can be deemed to be remarkable by any reckoning;

In many respects the exercise can be said to have been unique, practically almost impossible to replicate on this scale elsewhere;

Since T.N. Seshan became the Chief Election Commissioner about 15 years ago and showed the power that inhered in the Election Commission (EC) under the Constitution the EC has grown from strength to strength. Of course, such was the unfettered authority that Mr. Seshan vested in himself that an alarmed government had to appeal to the Supreme Court, which decided to make the Commission a 3-member body. Nevertheless the EC since the Seshan days has developed institutional vigour. It has won the respect of the electorate for holding ‘freer & fairer’ elections, even the grudging respect of the political parties;

By now such is the stature of the Election Commission that political parties that were ruling the roost as part of UPA-I government (i.e., the first UPA government from 2004 to 2009) and have got decimated this time around have meekly accepted the people’s verdict. Nobody has seriously made the charge of ‘rigging’. This has to be compared with the turmoil in Iran after the latest presidential election and the unrest that follows election results in many other countries, not excluding the USA and the controversy in Florida that brought Mr. George W. Bush to the White House in January 2001;

It is thus a fitting tribute to the maturing of India democracy and the respect that the Election Commission has earned for itself within the country and around the world;

Since it has become one of the strongest pillars of Indian democracy it has to be seen to that the government ensures that Election Commissioners are persons of exceptional merit and intellectual honesty ;

Therefore, the new government should follow the time-hallowed practice of selecting the best persons of irreproachable character and probity in consultation with the leader of the opposition.

Similarly, retired Election Commissioners must not be given plum government positions for at least 10 years after retiring. In fact, such should be the strength of character of the Election Commissioners that even if offered tempting post-retirement sinecures, they should refuse. Unfortunately, this has not happened;

In the 2009 elections – both at the centre and for the state assemblies that went to vote - the results have been termed as a ‘watershed’ by most political analysts and commentators.

But how did this result that brought a ‘collective sigh of relief’ across the length and breadth of the country come about. If one were to examine the composition of the 400 million or so voters who cast their votes it would be seen that the large majority of them, possibly over 80 percent, were from among the weaker segments of society, the lower middle class, the semi-destitute and most of them below the poverty line (BPL voters). As a guess based on inputs gleaned from the media it can be assumed that the depressed classes – the have-nots of society – generally turned out in full strength or very large numbers to cast their vote. The same unfortunately cannot be said about the middle class – the more affluent sections, the haves. Their voting percentage seldom exceeds 25 percent on an average; actually it may be lower. From the foregoing analysis one comes to the ineluctable conclusion that the so-called unlettered backwards constitute the backbone of Indian democracy, physically by their sheer mass as well as for their commitment to democracy. They are rooted in India’s soil. Their better-off upper crust brethren are more part of the new market-capitalised global fraternity that leaves much the heaviest foot-print on the fast depleting resources of the planet. It is the former who, yet again, displayed the rare wisdom to give India governance stability not only at the Centre, but practically in all the states where assembly elections were simultaneously held. Is there a lesson in this, which both the government and India’s wealth producers should take note of.

Now after the self- congratulatory bouquets it behooves us to discern the dark clouds on the horizon. The elections were staggered over a period of several weeks. Why was that necessary? Of late it has become almost mandatory to deploy central paramilitary forces in fairly large numbers to ensure that there is no booth capturing or voter intimidation. The geographical spread of the country and the remoteness of some of the areas make it very difficult, if not impossible, to deploy paramilitary forces and independent election observers in requisite numbers simultaneously all over the country. This mode of conduct of elections at the national level has come to stay, at least for the foreseeable future. Why should that be the case? In a manner of speaking isn’t it only a step away from conducting national elections under the aegis of the Army?

The reason is that throughout the country, almost without exception, there is misgiving about the competence, impartiality or neutrality of the state law and order and governance machineries. It is a severe indictment of the local police and bureaucracy. Many chief ministers go out of the way to appoint partisan police officers and civil servants in certain constituencies prior to the elections. In fact, such was the ire of one of the chief ministers in the recent elections that several police officers and district magistrates were summarily transferred, as a punishment, where the chief minister’s party lost. In other words they were made to pay for not having sufficiently interfered with the conduct of free and fair elections. Even after this outrageous action, completely lacking in even elementary governance finesse, the CM got away with it without the Governor, the High Court or the Centre asking for an explanation. Ultimately the Supreme Court appears to have asked for an explanation based on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL). In sum, the constitutional authorities that justifiably could have intervened chose to look the other way. Why, because the conduct of practically every political party leaves much to be desired.

Criminalisation of the Polity

Inevitably one is faced with the grim reality that the political parties – practically one and all – have contributed solidly to the criminalization of the polity. They have started giving tickets – approved at the highest levels of the concerned parties – to known criminals, notorious for their gangsterism, voter intimidation and even elimination of troublesome opponents. Their cases continue to languish in the courts for years, even decades. It would not be wrong to say that the political parties have joined hands to usher in ‘robust gangsterism’ into the political process – pre-election, during elections and post-election. The Election Commission as well as the Judiciary appear to have become listless bystanders of this mass rape of democracy.
What are the consequences of this seeming indifference on the part of those who have the power under the Constitution to set matters right. According to some studies, as compared to the year 2004, the number of MPs with criminal records has gone up. In the 2004 Lok Sabha, there were 128 MPs out of which 55 had serious criminal records and now there are 153 MPs with 74 having serious criminal charges against them. Thus, there is an increase of about 17.2 per cent in MPs with criminal records and 30.9 percent increase in the numbers of MPs with serious criminal records. Both the Congress and the BJP are studded with 43 and 41 such MPs respectively .Out of these, Uttar Pradesh has maximum MPs with criminal cases (total of 31 out of which 22 have serious charges against them). Maharashtra is second with 23 MPs having criminal cases out of which 9 have serious cases against them. It is followed by Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. The criminalization of politics has become an extremely big concern. Even the numbers of MPs with serious criminal cases has gone up. The biggest reason for this seems to be the undemocratic and autocratic selection and nomination of candidates by political parties. Money and muscle power has become the electoral dharma of the political parties, the two largest among them, so-called main national parties, turning out to be the biggest agents for the criminalization of the polity and, by extension the entire process of governance. To put it another way, they are steeped in adharma.
In India most people understand the meaning of the word dharma. Very simply it can be explained as: “Dharma means every ideal which we can propose to ourselves and the law of its working out”. Of course, in this country the Karmic consequences of adharma are fairly well understood by most people, although the lust for power and short-term gains makes them lose sight of where their true interests should lie. Democracies work on traditions and conventions; however, a parliament with as many as 25 percent MPs with criminal backgrounds will certainly not be one that respects ethics, morality and democratic norms. It then becomes self-evident that ‘adharma’ has crept into the DNA of the new parliament, as was the case in the earlier parliament. As to how much of the ‘adharma’ creeps into government functioning will depend almost solely on the authority of the Prime Minister and his ‘desire’ or ability to express that authority seeing that many of his ministers have a background that puts them in the ‘unsavory’ category.
To amplify, in the previous government, in coalition UPA-I, the Prime Minister’s office, whatever anyone may say, lacked true authority. He was ‘appointed’ by the party leader as were several of his cabinet colleagues who did not show sufficient deference to him as should be the case in any cabinet system. This time around victory of the Congress Party is attributable to a considerable degree to Dr. Manmohan Singh himself. The nation has vested Dr.Manmohan Singh with a stature and authority that would be the envy of many leaders. The mandate is his, in the first instance, to restore “dharma”. The rest will automatically follow. It needs to be reiterated that in 2009 the Prime Ministership was not bequeathed to Dr.Manmohan Singh as it was in 2004. He is now the Prime Minister of India due to the assertion of the national will. The mandate is his as much as that of his party. From here on, the failure to raise the moral and ethical standard of the government will be directly at his doorstep.
In the light of the forgoing the first ‘order of the day’ for the PM should be to work towards the amendment of the Representation of People Act to exclude criminals from becoming legislators. A simple amendment to the affect that: “anyone against whom a court of law - not the prosecution or the executive - has framed criminal charges would be ineligible’. For no matter how improved the government functioning, the stench of criminality and, by extension, corruption from the legislative bodies pervades the land. Their numbers – of legislators with criminal backgrounds - has become so large that taking into account the state assemblies their combined strength exceeds the strength of any single political party. Taking the argument a step further, should a rallying cry go out for all legislators with criminal backgrounds to unite in casting their vote in the electoral college for the election of the next President or Vice President, they could materially affect the outcome. So pervasive is the corrupting influence of legislators with criminal backgrounds, more so in the state assemblies where ‘collectively’ their numbers might at some stage give them a simple majority in the legislature, that it is one of the biggest threats to national security. This threat being from “within” the system becomes even more insidious. If not ‘yet’ at the centre to the same extent, in the states the criminal- politician-bureaucrat nexus has become so entrenched that even when elements from the underworld, suspected as being amenable to infiltration from outsiders with anti-national motivation, are identified, the state police either feels helpless to act against them or puts their cases on the back burner because they have become too powerful to be proceeded against. Many such examples have surfaced from time to time in the national media. In the regional media journalists are routinely intimidated and even eliminated.
It should be understood that in many of the states the inroads made by anti-social and anti-national elements into the state government organisations are so deep that good governance has become virtually non-existent for large segments of the population. It is perhaps the single most contributory factor to the rise of ‘naxalism’ and ‘maoism’ in many districts of India. Who then is responsible for this state of affairs? To a man the blame for it rests almost entirely with the political parties and their fatal embrace with the criminal elements that they have taken to their bosoms. In the case of some regional parties the leaders of the political parties themselves have several cases against them. They have become chief ministers and home ministers, in charge of police and state intelligence forces. The rot is already too deep. There was a case, several years ago where a legislator with several criminal cases, including murder, against him was being strongly recommended for becoming the Home Minister or Minister of State for Home at the centre.
By now it should have become clear that in several states of the union a point has been reached that the damage is almost beyond repair. Occasionally judicial intervention keeps the system from completely going under. Remedial action by the Centre to restore good governance and the rule of law is nowhere in sight. Again the reason is that the two major national parties, the Congress and the BJP are themselves hopelessly complicit in the unholy nexus mentioned earlier on. Just make a tally of the number of people with criminal backgrounds to whom these two parties have given tickets for the Lok Sabha election 2009; add to that the tickets given for elections to state legislatures, the figures become much too high. They can no longer shy away from their role in the spread of corruption and decline in governance and law order across the country.
Amidst this dismal narration the ordinary, largely unlettered Indian voter, thanks to the impartial conduct of elections by the Election Commission has given the country another chance with a decisive mandate for stability and good governance to get rid of the corroding influences that have crept into the political parties and the legislatures. It is to be noted that while the numbers of legislators with criminal backgrounds may have gone up, some of the most notorious and entrenched mafia-like dons in UP and Bihar, after decades of ruling the roost through terror and voter intimidation, have had their comeuppance in the 2009 elections; almost entirely due to the sagacity of the voter and the tough no-nonsense approach of the Election Commission. The voters have not only given a stable governing majority at the Centre, they have repeated the pattern in all the state assemblies where elections were held.
To sum up this part of the presentation it can be said that the “foremost” duty of the Prime Minister and his government is to enact the necessary legislation to bring in an enabling environment for the expression of good government, restoration of law and order for the common man and the rooting out of corruption. The situation today is that even the most laudable programmes of the government do not reach the beneficiaries because the instrumentalities of the state for delivering the benefits at the end of the chain have been thoroughly corrupted or blunted. No doubt there are plenty of civil servants and police officers who remain uncorrupted. It is they who are carrying on the business of governance and have prevented the system from complete collapse. Their numbers, however, are fast dwindling.
In the light of the above the foremost legislative priority before the Manmohan Singh government should be:-

Amendment to the RPA as explained earlier;
Completing the Police Reforms as ordained by the Supreme Court; and setting up of the National Judicial Council and the Judicial Accountability Council;
Ensuring that key institutions like the Election Commission the CBI and the Central Vigilance Commission remain totally insulated from political interference. Only the Prime Minister is in a position to ensure the agenda outlined above. He must act swiftly and decisively to reassure the public that he means business.

All the legislative exercises mentioned above should be followed through on overriding priority. In any case, they should stand implemented, latest by 31 December 2009 - in the year of the mandate that revived the hope of Indians that the country could be well on the way to good governance and inclusive growth for all - the former being a prerequisite for the latter.

National Security

    In the last part, the presentation goes into an aspect of National Security that is on occasion subtly, even surreptitiously, undermined without the public at large, or even the coalition members, being aware that decisions being taken on behalf of the government in the field of foreign affairs were being made without reference to the rest of the cabinet or ministers of the coalition partners. In the two cases cited below they were made, more on the spur of the moment, violating the principle of collective responsibility of the party heading the coalition, or the coalition partners. In short, not enough evaluation was carried out as to their long-term ramification for the country. What is worse they were not even brought before the CCS for clearance.
The first item relates to the unilateral abrogation of the 1972 ABM Treaty by George W. Bush not long after coming to the White House. Of course the new president rejected many other protocols leading to consternation around the world. It would be recalled that the ABM Treaty between the USA and Soviet Union (later on Russia as the successor state) was the linchpin of the global security architecture after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Besides keeping a check on the billions of dollars being poured into Star Wars technologies, the Treaty essentially prevented an open militarization of space. The whole world – East and West – favoured the Treaty, India more so than others for reasons that would generally be well known. Nevertheless, almost immediately after the announcement being made in Washington, the MEA endorsed it whole-heartedly, taking the US media and the world by surprise at the speed at which India’s long-held position was overturned. Similar dismay was expressed in the Indian press. A cartoonist even showed the US flag flying on MEA vehicles. Needless to say, that neither the Cabinet nor the CCS and CCPA were consulted before the declaration from New Delhi. The coalition partners remained totally oblivious till much later. There was a suggestion by one of the commentators that somebody was personally trying to curry favour with the new US administration. Whatever be the case, it lowered India’s image in the eyes of the world.
The second instance is more recent. One fine day in 2007 practically the entire media in India as well as foreign policy veterans were shocked to learn that the previous day India had voted against Iran at the IAEA board meeting in Vienna. The amazement in Iran was palpable at every street corner. The reason being that since the visit of the foreign minister Sardar Swaran Singh to Tehran, followed by the visit of Smt. Indira Gandhi in 1974 relations between Iran and India had improved considerably. After that memorable opening the two countries started moving together in the economic field and India’s views carried weight in Tehran, as would be confirmed by diplomats posted to that country from that time onward. Besides the obvious energy security provided by a close neighbour in the region the two countries had been cooperating in Afghanistan along with Russia. India’s connectivity to Central Asia through the only country whose assistance was available received a boost. Geopolitically it was crucial for India to remain friendly with Iran. Regardless as to how India felt about Iran’s quest for advanced nuclear technologies prior to the Vienna vote or post-facto after the deed was done, India’s geo-strategic imperative for a friendly Iran can hardly be denied. India could have abstained, in spite of the US pressure. After the casting of the negative vote relations between the two countries have taken a downturn. The Iranian government, irrespective of the hue, no longer trusts India. The image of the country of India’s size has also taken a hard knock. India cannot be trusted to take an independent stand was the feeling that swept the region, the pat on the back from the Western world and USA notwithstanding. However, without going into the long-term consequences of that fateful decision the fact remains that it was again not a collegiate decision. The Cabinet, CCS, CCPA or the coalition partners were not consulted. Had these entities been consulted it can be stated with reasonable certainty that the collective decision would have been to abstain rather than cast a negative vote against Iran in Vienna under pressure from the Americans.
By hindsight the consensus would be that both were hasty and wrong decisions. However, in raising this issue the aim is not merely to discuss the correctness of the decisions or otherwise. The point being highlighted is that due process was not followed and due diligence was not carried out by experts, even in-house experts. The basis of the conduct of government in a coalition or even a single party government is the concept of collective responsibility of the cabinet. Not only in the field of foreign policy, even in the case of decisions that constitute drastic departure from existing policies, the reference to the CCS and the CCPA, where applicable, has to be mandatory. This principle should become sacrosanct. The principle of collective responsibility where critical issues are at stake must become inviolable hereafter. It should invariably be the collegium that should weigh and collectively decide on such very weighty matters.
In both the coalition governments, the NDA government headed by Mr. Vajpayee and UPA I, headed by Dr. Manmohan Singh the collegium was given the go-by, sometimes even the PM was given the go-by. This elementary principle of governance which is the cornerstone of parliamentary democracy must never be allowed to be violated with impurity in UPA II and all government that follows.

  Concluding Remarks

Governments in the past have shown a strong penchant for shying away from reforms that enhance transparency, curb corruption at the higher levels of government or other legislative measures that would improve accountability. Some of the most urgent measures like amendment to the RPA, Police reforms and strengthening of the independence of the CBI, CVC and allied investigative agencies have been spelled out. The personnel deficiencies of many of these agencies have also to be made up on top priority. The other burning issues before the government, again in order of priority, relate to the setting up of the National Judicial Commission and the administrative reforms recommended by the Moily Committee.

   The government of Dr. Manmohan Singh should not hesitate to bring in the above-mentioned reforms at the earliest. The combined strength of the Congress and BJP comes up to 322; with just one or two of the major allies they are in a position to drum up a two-third majority for enacting the type of legislation that could take the country to the front ranks of well governed nations. The voters have spoken. The ball is squarely in the court of Dr. Manmohan Singh.

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*Based on the talk delivered at the India International Centre on 16 June 2009 by Maj.Gen (rtd) Vinod Saighal, Convenor MRGG - Movement for Restoration of Good Government. The talk was chaired by Dr. Kavita Sharma, Director IIC.

@ Vinod Saighal
16 June 2009

Agenda for the Copenhagen Conference and Prepcons

To,

H.E. Ms. Connie Hedegaard,

Minister for Climate and Energy,

Ministry of Climate and Energy

Stormgade 2-6

DK-1470 København K

Denmark

(Through Mr. Ole Lonsmann Poulsen, Ambassador, Embassy of Denmark , New Delhi )

Subject: Agenda for the Copenhagen Conference, December 2009

Hon'ble Minister,

WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL

While the preparations for the Copenhagen Conference to be held in December 2009 get under way a concomitant exercise needs to be undertaken to address the climate change and ecological crisis that the report is bound to highlight. In simple terms, the world is facing a situation whereby one strong individual or a coterie of individuals in control of the levers of power of a state can jeopardize the ecological future of a country, region, or the planet without there being a mechanism in place to effectively put a halt to the ecological menace being perpetrated on the future environmental sustainability of the planet.

In addressing this question which, shorn of rhetoric, will soon become – if it is not already the case - fundamental to the viability of life as we know it today one is straightaway confronted with the biggest stumbling block that has prevented the issue from being seriously resolved to date – the question of ‘national sovereignty’.

The issue has been addressed at length in the book, Third Millennium Equipoise*. Here it would suffice, for the purposes of this discussion to use the excerpt from an address given by the former Canadian Foreign Minister, Lloyd Axworthy:

The alternately transnational and interstate nature of many human security threats calls into question exclusive notions of state sovereignty, which is not an end in itself. Where human security is imperiled on a massive scale, the challenge for all of us is to consider the limits of sovereignty and the conditions for humanitarian intervention".

The moment the phrase ‘humanitarian intervention’ is used one immediately senses a withdrawal on the part of several entities uncomfortable with the thought of such interventions; patterned largely on the writ of the first powers in the Security Council or, as has been the case more recently, even without a UN mandate. To overcome this existential problem between those who have the wherewithal – and lately a demonstrated will – to intervene and those who could hardly come into this category, now or in the foreseeable future, the time has come to examine certain planetary concerns separately – as distinct from concerns related to human rights and other contentious north-south issues.

Since one of the greatest threats to the continued viability of life on the planet is generally acknowledged to arise from carbon emissions and the ecological degradation of the planet it is now proposed to set up a World Environmental Council*, an entity within the UN Security Council with a global mandate and veto rights to safeguard the health of the planet as a whole. This entity would be in a position to mandate ‘ecological interventions’ anywhere on the planet in all cases where a panel of independent experts definitively averred that the concerned activity could pose a great danger to life forms or the ecological health of the planet. The term intervention need not be restricted to its military dimension. Intervention can take many other forms to bring about sustained global pressure to checkmate, reverse or halt the threat being posed to the global environment.

You are requested to have your secretariat study the concept and functioning of the WEC as given out in Third Millennium Equipoise (copy has been forwarded to you) for adaptation, with modifications if required.

@Vinod Saighal
Executive Director
Eco Monitors Society

New Delhi

August 1, 2009

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MRGG APPEAL TO THE PARLIAMENTARIANS OF THE FIFTEENTH LOK SABHA

The din of elections is behind you. You are about to enter the portals of the most hallowed institution of Indian democracy. You have now become the repositories of the aspirations of India ’s teeming millions, the vast majority steeped in grinding poverty. What do they expect of you?

Your foremost duty, before all else, is to apply salve on the wounds inflicted during elections. Forget the past. Look to the future. You have been sent to the capital city to address the larger national concerns; even if you happen to be a person of the most humble origins, from an area so remote that not many people would have heard of it. In taking your seat in the national parliament you automatically become endowed with a majesty that can be diminished only by your own conduct. Be ever mindful of the fact that if you allow your stature to be diminished, by conduct unbecoming of a national parliamentarian, it is not only you who are diminished. You will thereby be diminishing, in some small measure, the self-respect of every citizen of the country. Therefore, effect simplicity and conduct yourself with decorum. Ostentation and waste are not the culture of this land. They are the culture of lands that threaten our freedom and dignity.

While you cannot turn your face from the winds of change sweeping the globe you must not be unmindful of the appalling misery in which the majority of your countrymen find themselves, In finding a mean between the pull towards greater prosperity of some segments and the drag of deprivation of others it has to be remembered that progress does not necessarily lie in bringing down the former. It lies in raising the level of the latter. The best way of achieving this is to empower the downtrodden, at the grass roots, by giving them greater opportunity. In doing so, do not drive away the talented from your shores; to seek their fortunes in other climes. It is not possible to mass produce excellence. Talent and merit therefore, must be given their due.

You should not be unaware of the anxiety expressed everywhere at the prospect of what was being referred to as a ‘hung’ parliament or shaky coalitions. Remember, the country is vast enough, amorphous enough, and resilient enough to democratically manage any change that is necessitated by the threat to its very cohesion and integrity. You are the vectors of that change. The mental association formed by the words coalition government in relation to the type of politicians that people have become used to, could have one meaning. It could have an entirely different connotation for a new set of representatives who just might have a changed concept of national security and parliamentary decorum. Many of you, not carrying any deadwood from the past, could decide to first supply a vital dose of oxygen for reviving democracy before starting to bicker about the spoils of office. Should you still get sucked into the quagmire of unprincipled politics it would be worth keeping the larger national interest in mind; in areas that for all national-minded citizens should be forever beyond petty trade-offs. If these larger concerns, relating to national security, education, women’s emancipation, alleviation of poverty, environment, population stabilisation and law and order are addressed by all of you jointly, the nation need never look back.

If you are conscious of the dangers confronting your country the composition of the new Lok Sabha should give you quiet satisfaction. It could be a time for introspection; a time for renewal. The intrinsic strengths of the country are still greater than its weaknesses. The honest citizens still vastly outnumber the dishonest elements. Indian democracy has come to a historic turning point. It is for you to prove the cynics wrong. You have to show the world that the spirit of tolerance is as strong as ever in this land, home to the largest and most varied democracy in the world. The public at large, from the very humble to the very able, are sick of divisive politics. The silent majority that sent you to the Lok Sabha is ready to launch a strong and united India into the second decade of the new century. It is for you to take up the challenge and not disappoint, yet again, your long-suffering countrymen who have reposed their faith in you.

There are many things wrong with our country. It has, however, hidden strengths which are not perhaps to be found elsewhere in the world. If you have the patience you too can tap those eternal reservoirs of India ’s timeless wisdom. If you can learn to drink from these wellsprings the riches that will be yours would be far greater than those provided by the coin of the realm. The choice is yours. Choose well.

MRGG – Movement for Restoration of Good Government; 38, Babar Road ; New Delhi - 110001

New Delhi, May 22, 2009

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De-Criminalizing the Polity

Hon'ble Chief Justice,

Over the years it would have been realized by the Hon’ble Justices of the Supreme Court that the political parties, irrespective of their hue, have no desire whatsoever to amend the Representation of People Act to exclude criminals from the legislatures. Not only have the political parties ignored the public clamor in this regard, they have gone on to increase the number of criminal elements to whom party tickets are given, ‘winnability’ being the sole criterion for selection of candidates. There would not be too many democracies in the world where nearly twenty percent of parliamentarians in the central parliament and much higher percentages in the state assemblies happen to be legislators with criminal backgrounds. Should one follow the graph of the rise of legislators with criminal backgrounds in the national and state legislative assemblies, it is only a matter of time before such elements go on to attain a figure of 40 or even 50 percent in the legislatures. At that stage, India, which has already become one of the most corrupt societies in the world, would truly have gone under, with no scope for remedial action, short of revolution to overthrow the Constitution. The higher judiciary that would have allowed the country to come to such a dreadful pass would have to share the blame.

That the danger is now life-threatening for the Constitution and civilized functioning is no longer in doubt. What remains in doubt is the role of the judiciary. The public is already at its wits end in finding a way out of the dangerous drift. Will the judiciary at the highest level remain silent spectators and watch the body blow being delivered to good order and civilized existence, nay, to democracy itself.

There are many PILs before the courts on the subject of criminalization of politics. We, the concerned citizens of India, now appeal to your lordships to suo motu take cognisance of our pleas so that the situation does not totally get out of hand. We do not have a system of referendums under our Constitution, but hypothetically were a referendum to be held on this issue, there is little doubt that well over 90 percent of the people would pray for deliverance from this scourge. We, hereby, request Your Lordships to set up a constitution bench to suo motu take up this question for consideration and deliver a clear verdict in the form of a directive to the Election Commission to disallow criminals against whom charges have been filed under the most grave sections of the I P C from filing their nominations for elections after January 1, 2009 or a cut-off date to be decided by the Supreme Court. At the very least, criminals already serving sentences in jail for heinous crimes should definitely be debarred from standing for elections.

It hardly needs reiteration that criminals becoming law givers is ipso facto a violation of the freedom of ‘ordinary’ citizens that is guaranteed under the Constitution, besides being a negation of the principle of natural justice. The word "ordinary" has deliberately been put in parenthesis to indicate that there is a whole category of the citizenry that now rules the roost, subverts justice, and can be categorized as ‘extraordinary’; a category which is apparently outside the remit of Indian laws.

Yours sincerely

Vinod Saighal

Convenor MRGG (Movement for Restoration of Good Government).18 October 2008

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RIS High-level Conference on Financial Crisis, Global Economic Governance and Development
Response of Asia and the Global South 6 7 February 2009 New Delhi
***
The Third intervention was made on the afternoon of 7th February in the penultimate session chaired by Mr. Ashok Parthasarathi. The question related to the presentation on agriculture trade liberalization made by Dr. Timothy A. Wise of Tufts University, USA. He had, inter alia, laid emphasis on the threat to bio-diversity and the special safeguard mechanisms that would have to be considered. The amplification to the intervention is given below:

It would be noted that GM crops are routinely being introduced in developing countries without prolonged trials as to their safety and efficacy. While in the case of the European Union proper safeguard mechanisms for evaluation have been introduced the developing countries barring a handful lack the expertise for evaluating these. Even in countries like India that does not lack for experts in this field GM crops appear to have been introduced without due rigor. Possibly, it was on account of the concern expressed by several NGOs relating to bio-safety of the GM crops being introduced without rigorous evaluation that the Supreme Court was impelled to appoint the eminent founding director of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Dr. Pushpa M. Bhargava as its amicus curiae. It has become a very contentious issue that is hotly debated in several fora in the country.
In the light of the above it was recommended that at least one or two institutes be set up in selected countries of the south for providing the necessary expertise to all developing countries for carrying out proper evaluation prior to induction of GM crops.
(Both Dr. Wise and the Chairperson welcomed the suggestion. It is hoped that RIS will progress the issue with ADB, UNDP, WHO, UNEP, World Bank and the governments of the south that have the wherewithal and the expertise for progressing the case).

Vinod Saighal
Executive Director
Eco Monitor Society
New Delhi, February 12, 2009
www.vinodsaighal.com

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Dr. Nagesh,
herewith the amplification of my intervention in the third session on February 6, 2009. I believe the President RIS might also like to see it. You may also like to circulate to others.
A line in acknowledgment would be appreciated.
Regards
Vinod Saighal
Executive Director, EMS
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RIS High-level Conference on Financial Crisis, Global Economic Governance and Development
Response of Asia and the Global South 6-7 February 2009, New Delhi
***
Amplification of intervention made in the third session on February 6, 2009:

It would be cruel to even suggest that the global economic meltdown of 2008 might turn out to be a blessing in disguise when several tens of millions across the globe would have lost their job. Nevertheless, the fact is that the pattern of obscene, hedonistic, devil-may-care attitude of consumption followed in the USA and many of the advanced countries, which was fast being emulated by the upwardly mobile strata of emerging economies would have sounded the death-knell for the habitability of the planet well before the middle of the century. Therefore, the pain that the less-privileged segments of the economic pyramid might have to bear for anything up to a decade or more might actually provide breathing space to Mother Earth to recover from the ravages of super consumption in the years preceding the economic down turn.
The response to the crisis being followed uniformly by governments across the world needs to be reevaluated. It seems to be a single pattern approach for reviving the economy that comprises fiscal stimulii for giving a boost to consumption, i.e., reverting to what went before, albeit on a lower scale. But human beings conditioned by millennia of received wisdom know that if their future economic well-being appears bleak it would be in the fitness of things to put something by to ward off continued hunger and deprivation, for themselves and their children. It is centuries-old ingrained reflex that no urging by their governments can overturn. Ironically, the banks themselves to whom revival packages have been provided by the governments are following the same logic, first building their reserves before resuming large-scale lending. Prudential norms that are the basis of sound banking are being re-learned after the unmitigated disaster resulting from the profligate years of unfettered consumption.
The governments also do not seem to have learned their lesson. For example, taking the case of USA the biggest defaulter, the US government has resorted to the printing of large quantities of banknotes without the fundamentals to underpin the printing surge, thereby adding to the burden of the next generation, already indebted to a very high degree.
The time has come for the human race, both the governors and the governed, to relearn the wisdom of their forefathers: the wisdom of frugality, of the ineluctable need for the sake of the future of humanity to reduce the footprint of every individual on the planet. Hence, the very nature of the fiscal stimulii urging people to go out and spend needs to be reexamined. Looking into the future habitability of the planet it would be a salutary exercise to identify the consumption lines that need to be encouraged and those that need to be discouraged or even suppressed. A global stock taking in this regard has to be the order of the day. It might turn out to be humanity’s last chance to heed the wisdom of Mahatma Gandhi and the economic thinking outlined in many of his writings.

Vinod Saighal
Executive Director
Eco Monitor Society
New Delhi, February 9, 2009
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I was based in Tehran in the early 1970s and had to learn Farsi (Persian language). In fact, my wife learned it too. This gave us access to all segments of Iranian society, from the Burra Bazar in Tehran to the highers up in the Iranian government and aristocracy. What our interaction with the Iranian people, practically across the board, revealed was that the Iranian youth were very much attracted to the USA. The young people of other countries would also have been attracted to the USA at that time and would have emigrated to the USA given half a chance. However, the case of the Iranian youth was different. They felt genuine warmth for USA and what it stood for. The Khomeini revolution changed the situation for the best part of the last century, especially owing to the prolonged Iran-Iraq war where the US openly sided with Iraq.

Since that time there has again been a change of sorts, if not a change of heart. The average Iranian is fed up with the restrictive regime of the religious leaders. They are bullied and cowed down by the authorities. Nevertheless - possibly on account of the oppressiveness of the regime - the old sentiment has started resurfacing to an extent. The young Iranians do not have the same deep-seated animus toward America as many other Arab or Muslim countries, for the reason that Iran had a very civilised pre-Islamic past. Many Iranians, especially the young, are trying to lift the Islamic overlay and peep into that glorious age. There is distinct yearning to re-discover that golden period. US policies are pushing the young people in Iran toward the hardline elements for reasons of national pride and not belief. It would be in America's interest to reach out to the youth by engaging with the Iranians, rather than pushing the Iranians into a corner.

Rapprochement with Iran will greatly help in stabilising Afghanistan and create foreign policy options for the Obama regime that were self-denied to the USA for so long. It will go a long way to settle the Palestinian issue as well.

Vinod Saighal

New Delhi - January 26, 2009

WHAT IS EXPECTED OF PRESIDENT- ELECT OBAMA

I* was interviewed by several Latin American journalists after the launch of the Spanish edition of my book Equilibrio en el Tercer Milenio (English title: Third Millennium Equipoise), during the Caracas International Book Fair in the second week of November 2008. Excerpts from the reply relating to the US economy and the choices before president-elect Obama are reproduced below:-

“The US economy is already staggering under a foreign debt of 11 trillion dollars. The Bush administration had undertaken a rescue mission of 700 billion dollars. It is unlikely to revive the US economy, which is in for a recession that could last up to five years or more. Similar packages that the incoming Obama administration administers to boost the economy could simply be throwing good money after bad. Printing paper money and putting it into circulation without the backing of strong fundamentals can be likened, with only slight hyperbole to what happened in Argentina in 1989 to cite a recent example. President-elect Obama will be greatly hamstrung in his efforts to put USA back on the rails.

Hence, with limited choices available to him within the country in the initial period, he must reassert US influence externally to prevent the planet from going into a tailspin a few years or few decades down the line. What are the areas where decisive US leadership can prevent a (possibly) irreversible planetary decline?

First and foremost Mr. Obama must halt and then reverse the militarization of space. The 1972 ABM Treaty was the linchpin of global security till the turn of the century before President George W. Bush unilaterally abrogated the treaty. Therefore, Mr. Obama must first restore mutual confidence between USA and Russia for which he will have strong backing from the European Union. Once the groundwork for stopping the militarization of space has been prepared between USA , Russia and the EU, China and India will automatically follow suit. In the process several hundred billion dollars, if not trillion dollars, will also be saved and put to more productive use.

The second important aspect relates to the forthcoming NPT Review Conference in 2010 for which the preparatory work will begin in 2009. President- elect Obama - the harbinger of change - owes it to the world to make the Nuclear P5 states show tangible progress on Article VI of the NPT; Otherwise, for all practical purposes, this enormously important treaty for the well-being of humanity can be considered a dead letter thereafter. Horizontal proliferation will take off in a big way, both overtly and covertly.

The third important issue relates to the Kyoto Protocol. Not only must the USA participate more meaningfully, it must assume leadership and propel it towards much higher goals than is presently the case. Should there be further dithering in this regard the world will be overtaken by events over which it will have no control - well before 2050, if not by 2020.”

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Maj. Gen (rtd) Vinod Saighal. www.vinodsaighal.com

MAKING THE CITIZENS OF DELHI FEEL THAT THERE IS A FUNCTIONAL GOVERNMENT

A news item in the Times of India (September 5, 2008) under the heading “India Gate falls to Petty Thieves, Chains Go Missing Overnight” speaks for itself. If the heavy ornamental iron chains fixed on both sides of the high security zone of Rajpath can go missing the authorities would be well advised to give the Commonwealth Games (CG) the go by. EMS has been reporting on these aspects for quite some time. In this regard attention is invited to EMS letters dated 3 August 2007, “Plundering of Assets”, 21 September 2007 “Upkeep of Delhi Parks” and 3 October 2007 “Making Delhi a World Class City” (copies attached).

These missives sent to the Lt. Governor of Delhi, Chief Minister of NCT, Police Commissioner and the Chief justice of the Delhi High Court besides highlighting cases of asset stripping went on to suggest methodologies for setting matters right. However, in spite of assurances from the concerned departments, evidently prodded by the higher authorities, the situation on the ground has actually deteriorated. There is indubitably deep lethargy in these departments that will need a heavy hand to set things right; more so, when comparisons are likely to be made with the conduct of the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Notwithstanding the deep conviction among the citizens of Delhi that governance itself is in terminal decline recommendations made from time to time are again encapsulated for urgent action. Briefly:

· Tourist sites must be made ‘tout free’. Every important tourist site and major park must have full time security wardens, with decent remuneration, selected from ex-servicemen (after careful selection) so that they can ensure the upkeep as well as security of these complexes and parks with an iron hand. They would further ensure that rules governing the conduct of visitors are strictly adhered to as is the case in all major cities of the world. The selection and remuneration of the wardens has been covered in earlier letters on the subject.

· The menace of touts is so acute that unless strict enabling legislation is enacted to deal with the problem tourists will start avoiding Delhi and other Indian cities. On the other hand if ‘touting’ is ruthlessly eliminated visitors to India will increase manifold.

· Railway stations and bus terminals must have improved security. Touts have to be totally excluded from these areas as well.

· Security for the Commonwealth Games - and beyond the Games for the citizens of Delhi - will remain imperiled unless illegal Bangladesh settlers are rounded up with great diligence and repatriated well before the commencement of the games.

The steps taken to present Delhi as a truly world class city will have to be implemented at the earliest so that they are institutionalized well before the Games. Thereafter, they must remain in place so that the citizens of Delhi can live in peace. What visitors must not witness during the CG are gun-toting security personnel at every street corner. Security will certainly require to be augmented, not only for the CG, but for the citizens of Delhi as well. However, it should be far more discreet than is presently the case during major events held in the capital.

Yours sincerely

Vinod Saighal

(Executive Director)

H.E. Shri Tejendra Khanna

Lt. Governor of Delhi,

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3 October 2007

MAKING DELHI A WORLD CLASS CITY

Excellency,

Allow me to invite your attention to EMS letters dated 3 August and 21 September 2007 relating to ‘plundering of assets’ and ‘Upkeep of Delhi Parks’ respectively. Follow up directions would, in all probability, have gone thereafter to all concerned. Reply received from MCD Deputy Director (Hort) (copy of letter No. 90/DDH/CL/dated 21.09.07 attached) is a fair assessment of the situation. It is typical of several other missives received either by mail or on the telephone. While not touching upon their own infirmities or inaction, these departments, nevertheless, make out a reasonable case for assistance. There is hardly any doubt that anti-social elements, contractor labour, jhuggi–jhopri dwellers and large sections of the floating population that does not have the same commitment to Delhi as the honest taxpayer are very much on the rampage. What is more, these elements have changed their tactics; they send women and children to indulge in the activities described in the EMS letters referred to above. The police, being overstretched with VIP security and political agitations, are simply not in a position to deploy adequate resources to check the pilferage and destruction of public assets at the hands of the floating population, which includes illegal Bangladeshis.

In the light of the foregoing it is recommended that some of the best known security-cum-detective agencies be awarded separate zones in Delhi on annual contracts directly under the aegis of the Lt. Governor’s secretariat or by the departments responsible for creation and maintenance of the assets. The security agencies have the wherewithal as well as the expertise to not only apprehend the culprits, but to also provide the proof for prosecution and expulsion in the case of illegal settlers. The remuneration of the security agencies would be performance based. They should not get involved in tasks that are the prerogative of intelligence agencies dealing with national security.

Before setting in motion the recommendations made above a thorough analysis may please be carried out by the police, intelligence, vigilance and other entities involved with law and order and security so that maximum benefit is obtained from the contracts awarded. These would be standardized and the format made available to all concerned. It would be part of the contract that information gathered would only be divulged, in sealed covers, at appropriate levels, to recipients designated by name and appointment.

While setting in motion procedures to revitalize entities, many of whom give the impression of having gone into terminal decline, care has to be taken to build in periodic reviews and mid-term corrections so that revival of ‘in-house’ institutional vigour becomes the basis for long-term revitalization.

It is again reiterated that EMS is not a complainant in any sense of the word. NGOs and civil society in Delhi would like to join hands with the government to make Delhi a world class city of which all Indians visiting the capital – in addition to foreigners – can be proud.

VINOD SAIGHAL
9 September, 2008

(Executive Director)

H.E. Shri Tejendra Khanna

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Spare a Thought for the Security Forces

The situation in Jammu & Kashmir has deteriorated considerably, the reasons for the impasse having been aired often enough. The nature of the crisis is political. For that matter the majority of the crises facing the country result generally from political miscalculation, meddling or infighting; absence of firm handling during the incipient stages of the crisis, corruption, faulty governance and a host of similar reasons. In sum, in the vast majority of cases, be it the Centre or the States, the blame can be laid squarely on the political leadership. The security forces come into play when the situation has gotten out of hand. They are there to pull the chestnuts out of the fire for the political managers. And yet, time in and time out, they are blamed for either not acting firmly or at the other extreme for using excessive force. No doubt there have been cases of excess from time to time. However, to routinely put the blame on the hard pressed security forces can only result in their demoralization. Prolonged demoralization can put the state itself in peril.

Therefore, the time may have come to sit back and dispassionately review the conditions under which the security forces operate. It is a given that in recent years casualties suffered by the security forces, killed as well as wounded, have been on the rise. The government ordering their deployment remains blissfully unaware of their trials or tribulations. Take the example of the CRPF personnel deployed in Srinagar. The men have to be on guard day and night without respite. They are away from their families and loved ones for months on end in extremely hostile environments. It is not the agitators, but the security forces that are hunkered down, besieged by hostile elements from all sides. They face vile abuses. In spite of daily provocations they are required to show restraint. In 99 percent of the cases they do show restraint. Their mental condition is inadequately understood. They can never let their guard down, whether on duty or attending to their normal chores. The initiative always being with the hostile elements they can be stabbed in the back whenever they stir out or they can be subjected to bullets or grenades from any direction, at any time. Within the security perimeter they have been subjected to mortar attacks. In sum these are conditions that would drive to despair almost any security force in any country. The Indian security forces, by and large, show restraint that is exemplary. The truth of the statement becomes apparent when comparison is made with what is happening in other countries of the world, especially the countries in the neighbourhood. India’s security forces, mindful of the responsibility they shoulder, have become inured to taunts and jibes from hostile elements. They have taken with equanimity revilement by the press and, occasionally, the public when operating in disturbed areas. There have been numerous occasions where the governments of the day - or political leaders - to save their own skin have suspended security forces officers (in the paramilitary or police) or ordered inquiries against them without justification, as a placatory measure.

What emerges from the description of the conditions under which security forces have been operating is the extreme physical and mental stress to which they are subjected. So far they have been able to take the stab in the back from elements inimical to the country. They have been able to withstand tremendous pressures of the type that have driven security forces of other countries round the bend. What the nation’s security forces may not be able to withstand indefinitely is a stab in the back from their own political masters, who have become adept at pulling the rug from under their feet with increasing regularity, almost across the political spectrum. It hardly needs reiterating that the political masters have let the security forces down at critical junctures. Were a deeper analysis to be made it would be found that more casualties are suffered by security forces, especially the CRPF, due to political ineptitude and thoughtless deployment than due to action by insurgents. An elaboration might be in order.

All units of the security forces, be they army or paramilitary forces, require rotation, rest, re-fitment and training after every two years of operational deployment, failing which performance deteriorates rapidly. After each operating cycle of two years under extreme conditions (for example J & K), if a unit of the CRPF is redeployed without having gone through a fresh training cycle ‘as a unit’ under their own officers, responsible for their training and command, it is bound to suffer heavy casualties immediately on re-deployment. In India, not only are units not given adequate time for rest, re-fitment and training after every operational cycle, they are actually tossed around like leaves in the wind, some times in penny packets in totally new environments and pushed straight into operations without elementary reconnaissance, liaison and so many other essentials of this nature. Therefore, blame for the casualties suffered in ambushes, where entire platoons are wiped out, can be laid directly at the doorstep of the ministry, up to the highest level. The culpability, in all such cases, is that of the government that throws them around in a cavalier fashion and equally that of the top brass of the paramilitary forces who do not insist on adequate training, rest and re-fitment after each cycle and, what is more important, insistence on deployment as cohesive units or subunits under their own officers. The nation has to awaken to the state of affairs that obtains with regard to the deployment of the security forces and the ruinous effect on their morale and training due to the factors listed above.

Human rights issues are taken up routinely by human rights commissions, national and international NGOs as well as the press and the public. It is high time that the government and all concerned pay heed to the human rights of the security forces.

August 19th, 2008
© Vinod Saighal

Convenor MRGG (Movement for Restoration of Good Government)

Dalai-Lama: el hombre y su visión
por General Vinod Saighal *

El Dalai Lama ha sido indistintamente calificado como líder autoexiliado, el refugiado más famoso del mundo, un monje itinerante, uno de los oradores más admirados del mundo, un premio Nobel, una celebridad que puede opacar a muchas otras- pero casi nunca ha sido descrito como una figura trágica que representa una causa imposible.

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Aunque cada una de esas descripciones puede decirse que contienen un elemento justo o medida que se ajusta a la verdad, no ofrecen una perspectiva real del hombre. Su atracción personal, su sonrisa radiante y carismática personalidad han inspirado muchas biografías, artículos y comentarios escritos por muchos de sus admiradores en el mundo, que reflejan una genuina admiración, adulación y respeto. Sin embargo, todas son manifestaciones externas de un ser humano fascinante, de una figura semi-divina que no tiene otros atributos más que su única humanidad y humildad.

El era muy jovencito cuando su país fue invadido. Si hubiera tenido entonces la sabiduría de los años, ¿habría enfrentado al invasor de manera diferente? ¿Es que acaso tenía otra opción? ¿Es que sufre por lo que pudría haber hecho? o ¿es que percibe el profundo sentido de la traición de de otras naciones que pudieron hacer cambiar el curso de los acontecimientos? India , el otro gran vecino, ya era independiente cuando se produjo la invasión comunista de China . Seguramente pudo pasar por su mente la tentadora idea de que, en circunstancias diferentes, un Sadar Patel al frente de los acontecimientos en la India hubiera podido salvar al Tibet .

En última instancia, habría inventado un modus vivendi más aceptable con los chinos, antes de darles la carta blanca para que hicieran lo que querían. Una y otra vez, el destino de las naciones parece haber sido conformado según sus líderes. ¿Es que entonces los líderes condensan en su persona el destino de los pueblos?, ¿o el destino engaña a las naciones al crear líderes que siguen su mandato? Cualquiera que sea la realidad, sigue sucediendo que el destino, mientras se muestra dócil a los cambios, no puede ser revertido. Ni la historia puede se borrada. El creyente en el destino debe detenerse a pensar si el destino ha apartado su vista de él, de sus conciudadanos, o de ambos inclusive. En su arriesgado viaje, un viajero debe enfrentarse al dilema de las épocas, para lo cual no ha habido respuesta satisfactoria alguna desde tiempos inmemoriales, a pesar de los voluminosos tratados filosóficos que existen sobre el tema.

Qué le faltó al Tibet en la segunda mitad del siglo XX? ¿Incapacidad de sus líderes para anticipar los acontecimientos y un plan propio? ¿o fue el destino del pueblo del Tibet ser testigo indefenso de la subyugación de su país por parte de un invasor que no mostró ni misericordia ni respeto por su cultura, aunque perteneciera a una de las más importantes civilizaciones que el mundo ha conocido. Se dice que el Dalai Lama ha confiado a algunos de sus entrevistadores- que en serio o en broma debe quedar en dudas- que él y su pueblo experimentaban su período de «Karma».

Cuántos momentos en solitario habrá tenido el líder tibetano mientras agonizaba al recordar aquellos días oscuros cuando el tirano presionó con su puño por primera vez el corazón del Tibet . Y aun está ahí. ¿Cuántas veces vio la desgracia de su pueblo que logró sobrevivir tras la larga caminata hasta la India y hacia la libertad-más que hacia la libertad, hacia él para verlo en persona y buscar su bendición. Con tal carga sobre sus hombros, ¿qué clase de fuerza sobrehumana es él capaz de tener para mantener la sonrisa en su rostro cuando mira al mundo? ¿es esa fortaleza inagotable? ¿Algún día de estos pondrá fin a su vida? ¿Acaso conoce el simple monje budista, el líder de inspiración divina, que le repara el futuro a su pueblo? ¿Son el optimismo y la alegría un medio de prevenir que él y su pueblo caigan en fatal ciénaga de la que no hay salida posible, ni siquiera a través de la Karma u otra forma?

Nadie, ni siquiera el mismo Dalai Lama conoce las respuestas a esas preguntas. Pero él si sabe que la misma naturaleza de la existencia plantea que la lucha misma es vida, Karma o el color de la existencia. En su caso casi no se pueden aplicar paralelos históricos. Poca gente describiría su enérgica defensa como una batalla entre David y Goliat. El se mantiene profundamente comprometido con la filosofía Gandiana de la no violencia, que es una rama de la filosofía Budista.

Naturalmente, este seguidor de Buda rechaza la violencia. Ha dado una nueva dimensión al concepto de Gandhi. La lucha tibetana que él encabeza no le exige al opresor que abandone sus tierras. El es capaz de ajustarse a la situación; se sentiría satisfecho con la autonomía del Tibet bajo control chino. Hay que admirar la sagacidad del líder tibetano. Ellos tienen una fuerte presencia militar en Tibet y en varias ocasiones han mostrado absoluta crueldad. La lucha armada no tendría éxito sin el apoyo activo del gobierno de la India .

General Vinod Saighal

Antiguo director general de la formación militar del ejército indio . Fue agregado militar de la embajada de la Unión India en Francia y en los Países Bajos. Comandante en jefe de las fuerzas de paz en el Medio Oriente. Hoy en día ha fundado el Movement for Restoration of Good Government (MRGG) y director del Eco Monitors Society (EMS). Autor de numerosas obras de estrategia y análisis político: Equilibrio del Tercer Milenio, La reestructuración de la seguridad en el Sur de Asia, La reestructuración de Pakistán, Enfrentar el terrorismo global: El camino adelante y las paradojas de la seguridad global: 2000-2020. Sitio Web www.vinodsaighal.com. El general Vinod Saighal es miembro de la conferencia mundial anti-imperialista Axis for Peace.

Los artículos de esta autora o autor

April 21st, 2008
© Vinod Saighal

Cri de Coeur

The recent outburst of the Tibetans does not fall into the category of violence or non-violence in the accepted Gandhian sense of the word Ahimsa that the Dalai Lama and many others hold dear. The Tibetans living in Tibet have felt the crushing burden of the tyrant’s heel pressed on their hearts for many decades since the Chinese first occupied Tibet in 1950. Slowly but surely they have seen the destruction of their culture and Tibet ’s environment. As if that were not enough their religious freedom has been curbed and their most holy sites and cities occupied by the Hans - civilians as well as the military. In their daily lives they are obliged to suffer every humiliation visited upon their families. They see their land grabbed, their assets appropriated and their liberties eroded with increasing severity. Their kith and kin have been incarcerated under sub-human conditions by the tens of thousands; Killings of hundreds of thousands of their countrymen has gone hand in hand. In the face of such prolonged suffering to which they see no end in sight the rage in their hearts at their helplessness and their inability to prevent humiliation to their women and children had to find release at some point in time. Had they not done so they would have gone into collective depression and become like enslaved zombies fully reconciled to their fate generation after generation, century after century, as was the case with the backward classes in India . The collective depression, had it ensued, would have had more far-reaching effect on any hope for future revival than the systematic cultural genocide at the hands of the Chinese masters. The uprising was a cri de coeur – a veritable scream from the heart signifying that their suffering had crossed the threshold of human tolerance. In their own way they have tried to arouse the consciousness of the world that seemed to have abandoned them and was well on the way to forgetting them altogether. Should anyone categorize the March 2008 outburst of the Tibetans in Lhasa and other places as a form of violence in the Gandhian sense it would bespeak a lack of understanding of the essence of Ahimsa. Even Gandhi had something apt to say on this score.

March 22, 2008
©Vinod Saighal

LOOKING BACK: GANDHI LEGACY FACTOR AS A BACKDROP TO INDIA'S GLOBAL ASPIRATIONS

In spite of millennial domination by rulers of non-Indian denominations that came to rule India from across the seas and from across the formidable Himalayan frontiers, India ’s ancient civilisational heritage remained largely intact. Similarly, despite large-scale conversions at the hands of its foreign occupiers the vast majority of Indians continue to adhere to the faith of their ancestors. The ancient Rishis of India in the mists of antiquity revealed to the world the nature of Brahman Chaitanya (Cosmic Consciousness) several millennia before the rise of the Abrahamic religions that spread across much of the world in the last two millennia. Vedic inspired denominations had also spread beyond Indian shores prior to that, mostly in the East. But, as distinct from the spread of Christianity and Islam, the sword had no part to play in the Eastward expansion of Vedic thought and Buddhism. Nor did the pacific expansion of Indic thought lead to bitter interdenominational strife in the regions where it spread. It is important to keep this subtle but important difference in mind when examining the influence that an economically resurgent India might wield as the world moves deeper into the 21st Century.

An aspect that needs revisiting is the manner in which India got its Independence in 1947, at the time when the 20th Century after having seen two world wars was nearing its mid-point. Historians in India have attributed the country’s independence to Gandhi’s satyagraha; while it may be soulfully satisfying in an age sickened by violence to believe that India marched to freedom on the frail shoulders of the Mahatma’s philosophy of non-violence, such attribution strays considerably from reality. India got its freedom as a result of Britain ’s exhaustion after the two world wars and its replacement as a global power by the new superpowers, USA and Russia . There is no way that Britain could have held on to its Indian empire much longer. The British Indian armies had played a significant role in the allied victories in the two world wars. Post-1947, had the British delayed the granting of independence, the battle-tested troops of the Indian Army – the Army that had underpinned Britain ’s world dominions for well over a century - would have soon rebelled, forcing an ignominious retreat on the British. There had already been a rebellion in the Indian Navy and the trial of returned INA (Indian National Army) prisoners of Subhash Chandra Bose had rekindled the spirit of fervent nationalism. The tinder being dry the call for an armed insurrection by a national leader would have led to a number of mutinies across the length and breadth of India . Had law and order broken down it would have engulfed the British. The two-century edifice of the British Raj would have crumbled overnight. It would have led to large-scale massacre of the British, something which was visited instead on the Hindu and Muslim communities when partition of India took place with the announcement of the Radcliffe Award in 1947. Because they left when they did the British went home in a blaze of glory with abundant goodwill for the Crown. They even saw their last Viceroy, Lord Louis Mountbatten appointed as the first governor- general of independent India . Such was the goodwill that obtained at the time of relinquishment of the colonial empire, that the leaders of free India went on to become the architects for the formation of the British Commonwealth of nations.

Ironic as it may seem it was the British who put a Hindu on the throne of Delhi for the first time after one thousand years of foreign rule. The Hindus never fought for it. In a manner of speaking it was bequeathed to Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of independent India by an act of the British Parliament in London . Meanwhile, M.K. Gandhi, the apostle of peace, who had propounded ahimsa for nearly half a century, could only watch with horror the large-scale killings that took place when the subcontinent was divided - into the nations of India and Pakistan . Gandhi died not long after from an assassin’s bullet at a prayer meeting, hardly more than a mile from where Nehru, the anointed Prime Minister ruled the new nation. Had Gandhi not been killed by Nathu Ram Godse’s bullet, he would have died of a broken heart, unable to bear one of the worst slaughters in Indian history, possibly the largest non-war slaughter in world history.

A brief introduction to modern India ’s birth pangs becomes necessary to understand the psyche of its leaders when evaluating India ’s projected rise to the status of a world power in the 21st century. To what extent would India ’s economic might lead to military might commensurate to its geographic size and population base? Will it emulate China ’s search toward hegemonic parity with USA , the unchallenged superpower of today? Are there limits to India ’s military power projection in the current century and beyond? If so who and what set those limits? These questions that need to be addressed in the framework of the present global scene and its likely projection for the coming decades.

Although Gandhi continues to form an important part of the ongoing political and economic discourse taking place in the country it has to be said that in spite of the ideals of the Mahatma being quoted reverently at most forums where the future course of the country is debated, his economic and political philosophy has not found acceptance in so far as its practical application goes. Yet, at the end, it is difficult to think of an India that completely dissociates itself from the beliefs of the Mahatma, whether they relate to governance, sustainable development, harmony in pluralistic societies, or for the conduct of nations in the global arena. It is not surprising that Gandhi continues to attract the attention of so many people around the world, both as the man and the ideals that he stood for. Unfortunately, the debate around the Mahatma rages mainly around elements that were never put into practice in the land where they took birth.

Looking back on the events of the 20th century, both pre- and post-independence in India , one cannot fail to get the impression that although he did not lose hope or his faith in his ideals Gandhi might have died a disillusioned man; if not disillusioned, certainly heartsick at the turn of events. Did the bloodletting that took place at the time of partition in the land where for decades he had preached ahimsa indicate that his philosophy had failed? It did not end with partition. The bloodletting continues to this day in every part of the subcontinent where the ‘father of the nation’ traveled.

The increasing hiatus between Gandhi’s tenets and the policies followed by Gandhi’s successors in India , regardless of their political leanings, raises fundamental questions. For the people of India and for people around the world there can be no perception of India , real or imagined, where the ideals of the Mahatma do not loom large. How is this contradiction to be reconciled? Because, if it is not addressed and is merely glossed over at every public place within the country and without, where the name of Gandhi is taken, India will not be able to emerge unscathed from the troubling dissonance between the precept and its practice.

India having veered so far away from the Gandhi’s teachings it should have been possible to reject his philosophy out of hand and move on without a backward glance at an ideal that was considered impractical; or one that could not be put into effect in a land were shallowness, hypocrisy and untruthfulness have become the order of the day in public life. In which case, getting rid of the baggage of Gandhi’s legacy and getting on with the governance of the country in the non-Gandhian pattern that prevails should have been easy.

This has not been the case. At the same time that untruthfulness and venality are in full cry, the very leaders who have propelled the country in that direction have not been able to dispense with the trumpeting of Gandhi’s legacy because of a lurking fear that should it be discarded altogether India would not only have lost its way, it would have lost its soul. Then there would be no turning back. The thought of that final break, even shedding the pretence that is, troubles these people. They know that without the pretence they would not be able to face their countrymen, not at the hustings, not in public, possibly not even in private. At a deeper level they are not unaware that a final abandonment of Gandhi would be tantamount to condemning themselves to a karmic descent too horrid to contemplate. For, no matter how immoral the lot that governs the nation, in their heart of hearts they are deeply religious, albeit in a very warped sense of what their understanding of being religious should be. They also know that in India the vast majority of their countrymen revere the Mahatma and in spite of their poverty, deprivation and misery still closely adhere to the thoughts and ideals of Gandhi. For they are the ideals of Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo and so many other sages and seers who moulded the character and destiny of India through the ages. The destiny that awaited India at midnight of 15th August 1947 has eluded the country. Beneath the despair and turmoil that afflicts the land that destiny still awaits the country. India many hope might yet produce the leaders who would take it to the pinnacle that the Mahatma and the sages before him dreamed of in their quest for global harmony. The ideal, therefore, cannot be lost sight of. The ideals of Mahatma Gandhi are far too important for the redemption of India , if it is to find its feet and its true destiny. For the very same reason it is important for the world as well.

It is necessary to go a step further. The reasons as to why when the majority of Indians believe in it and the political leaders profess to believe in it, Gandhi’s teachings have not prevailed in the country of its origin have to be gone into. The main reason could be the difficulty of transplanting the Gandhian ideal of the early 20th century. An alien dispensation that ruled the country, because of it being alien, was instrumental in uniting the country ideologically (toward freedom) in the earlier decades before independence. The circumstances that obtained post-independence after the partition of India were not the same. As the years went by - after the failed decades of socialism – leading to the market economy in most parts of the world, the implementation of those ideas became even more difficult. Firstly, as brought out earlier, the conditions had altered radically, and secondly, having moved so far away from the Gandhian philosophy and its economic derivatives it became increasingly difficult to retrace the steps. Having said that, the attempts at strengthening panchayati raj and the adherence to the principle, if not the practice, of sustainable development would qualify as a bow in the direction of Gandhi.

Meanwhile a fundamental change has taken place in the make up of the people of India and the world. Nearly sixty years after Gandhi’s death, the capitalist model and the morality that goes with it have become the norm. Even countries most staunchly opposed to it earlier have embraced it whole-heartedly, notably Russia and China . Could people of those days when Gandhi was popularizing the charkha have anything in common with Deng Xiao Peng’s famous exhortation to his countrymen that, ‘it is glorious to be rich’. If it were glorious to be rich there would be nothing left of Gandhi’s philosophy. If not the masses, at least the political class and the elites of modern India have embraced Deng’s dictum as fervently as the Chinese in Beijing , Shanghai and Guangdong ; in many cases as strongly as the Americans themselves. Whatever be the reason for this departure from socialism to capitalism, it is undeniable that going back to the economic idealism contained in Gandhi’s writings would relegate India to an economic abyss from which there would be no recovery in the world of today. May be, when consumerism that is fast overtaking the globe makes life itself unsustainable on the planet, people across the world will start reappraising the economic philosophy of Gandhi. That is why the world is not going to forget Mahatma Gandhi in a hurry. By association India , rightly or wrongly, will benefit from that grand reversal, whenever it takes place on a global scale. If India is to remain part of the global economy, without completely shedding some of the desirable aspects of its socialist past, it must start its own reappraisal for benefiting from the vision of Gandhi wherever it is possible to transform that vision on the ground under the prevailing conditions in the country and the world. If the world has to save itself from self-destruction Gandhi’s non-violence must become the leitmotif of a globalised world, and a reformed UN structure that would make non-violence between states the norm for the 21st century. The United Nations has adopted October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi as World Harmony Day. It was possibly Mahatma Gandhi who said: ‘for my worldly needs my village is my world; for my spiritual needs the world is my village’.

Jan 2008
©Vinod Saighal

Taking the PIL Route

The decline in the quality of governance linked to the criminalisation of politics and the degeneration of the law and order machinery in the country has been forcing the public to seek redress before the courts. Where the inability of the government, regardless of its cause, to take suitable measures to safeguard the public interest affects large segments of the public or the interest of the future generations, Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has remained one of the few avenues available to stem the rot or to set things right. A number of instances can be cited were the lack of concern on the part of the government or its functionaries could have led to incalculable harm to public health, public interest or the ecological future of the country. In very many cases government apathy was seen to have resulted from vote bank politics, indifference, improper analyses, criminalisation of politics, or undue pressure from vested interests. Because the intervention of the courts often did lead to redress, the public has increasingly felt that the PIL route represents the surest and perhaps the sole option available to it to set things right.
In the light of the foregoing, the number of PILs that have come before the courts have shown considerable increase. Should the degenerative processes in government decline further it is possible that the number of PILs that come before the courts could rise exponentially. Added to the backlog of the cases already before the courts an enormous increase in the number of PILs may tend to swamp the functioning of the courts. It has also to be remembered that at any given time the number of frivolous PILs that come before the courts will also shown an increase. Therefore, there is a need to bring in a semblance of order and functional streamlining into a process that due to its very efficacy might become unwieldy or inordinately time consuming.
To ensure that the remedy available to non-governmental organisations and individuals seriously dedicating their lives to social upliftment, preservation of the environment, restoration of good governance and similar activities, which collectively add to national betterment through PILs is not diluted due to frivolous petitioning or runaway increase in numbers, a method has to be found to retain the efficacy of this recourse available to the public, without letting it get snowed under due to the unmanageable increase (in numbers). Against this background the via media approach placed for consideration of their Lordships comprises the following basic steps:
All PILs received by the highest Court in the land or any of the High Courts would be graded according to importance and urgency by a designated quasi-judicial body consisting of retired justices of the Supreme Court or High Courts and eminent lawyers / scientists / media persons or any other eminent person considered suitable by the nominating body. The body that could be named as the ‘PIL Scrutiny Committee’ (PSC) will grade the PILs into four categories. The first category, called Category A PILs, will include PILs that in the opinion of the PSC should be accorded the highest priority for consideration by the courts due to the overriding importance of the PIL in the national interest, interest of the public at large, or for the interest of future generations. The second category, or Category B PILs would be those PILs which are considered admissible on a lower priority i.e. delay in their consideration would not harm the national interest, the interest of the public at large, the interest of the coming generations or grave injustice being perpetrated. The third category, or Category C PILs would be those PILs that merit consideration, but which can be dealt with through alternative pathways (that have been spelt out further on). The fourth category or Category D PILs would be those PILs, which can be dismissed straightaway by the designated body as being frivolous or not of sufficient merit. Their consideration would unnecessarily swamp the judicial process.
The quasi-judicial body (PSC) for classification of PILs would be a five-member body, which can be set up in all states having a separate High Court. The panel of names could be chosen suo motu by a serving justice of the Supreme Court, the Chief Justice of the High Court concerned and the Law Secretary of the state in which the High Court is located. The bodies thus constituted could be nominated for a single tenure of five years each. For rejection of a PIL it would have to be approved by at least three of the five members on grounds of it being frivolous or lacking in merit. To ensure smooth functioning of the PSC, back up or stand by members could also be chosen at the time of the initial selection so that work is not held up due to illness or non-availability of a member.
As mentioned earlier, Category C PILs would be considered for alternative method of being dealt with. The alternative pathway, reduced to its essentials, means that the PSC arrives at the opinion that the PIL prima facie has merit and could, all things being equal, meet with favourable outcome if the judicial process is gone through. In all such cases, the merit of the PIL would be the determining criterion. To save time and legislative costs to all concerned, the PSC would express an opinion for consideration of the government department or the official concerned to the effect that since a preliminary examination of the PIL has revealed a high probability of the prayer being granted it would be advisable for the government department or the official body concerned to take remedial measures within a suitable time frame. If the opinion of the PSC is accepted by the government department concerned the latter would intimate its acceptance as well as the remedial measures that would be taken by the department as well as the time frame in which these would be implemented. Should, however, the government department not wish to abide by the opinion of the PSC it would have to intimate their decision of non-compliance within 90 days. In the latter case, i.e. non-compliance with the opinion of the PSC, the government department would have to bear the costs of the litigation and all reasonable expenses undertaken by the petitioner filing the PIL in the public interest.
The methodology outlined above provides a framework for streamlining the process of PIL consideration by the judiciary. It also aims to reduce the burden on the judiciary keeping in mind the time factor involved. More importantly, it puts officialdom on notice that where all reasonable indicators reveal that a PIL has merit, is in the public interest, and has high probability of being looked at favourably by the judiciary the government should streamline its own functioning in a manner that officials do not act as barriers to natural advancement and public well being merely on account of bureaucratic inertia, obduracy or sheer cussedness. Concomitantly, the public would also be made aware that there is a need to avoid frivolous or ill-considered petitioning of the courts. The recommendations made above serve as a starting point for streamlining the PIL process. Modifications and improvements can be made from time to time by all concerned from reception to adoption to institutionalization.

Convenor, MRGG (Movement for Restoration of Good Government)
Dec 18th 2007
©Vinod Saighal

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ARE ONE BILLION INDIANS REALLY THAT HELPLESS?

A PTI release from Dibrugarh datelined November 27, 2007 stated that poachers on that day had killed a rhinoceros in the Burapahar range inside the Kajiranga National Park and escaped with its prized horn. With this, 20 highly endangered one-horned rhinos have been poached inside the park this year.

While the populations of the subcontinent, notably India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have been multiplying like flies and rabbits the flora and fauna that had enriched India is disappearing from the map of the world at dizzying speed. Even if few tens of millions of the malnourished, low birth weight pregnancies were to be prevented, the earth would not be the poorer for it. (As it turns out over 50 percent of the births are duen to unwanted pregnancies; yet the political leaders are totally unmindful of the devastation that population proliferation in this part of the world is causing to the pitiful natural habitats that still remain). On the other hand, should the remaining pristine habitats and the fast dying out species like the tiger and the rhinos disappear the present generation would have impoverished the future generation of Indians in perpetuity. Evidently there is no time to lose. More pertinently, the Government of India and state governments have demonstrated their incapacity to protect the last vestiges of India’s most glorious heritage. In spite of central outlays and grants from various organizations the woeful tale of inadequately equipped, under-staffed and demoralized forest guards makes dismal reading. The self-same political leaders have no qualms in throwing billions upon billions of rupees on many unimaginative and wasteful schemes.

Seeing that the government and its agencies have shown utter helplessness in stemming the destructive tide of encroachment, poaching and plundering of forest wealth, India Incorporated and the citizens of the country must step in to stop the depredation and safeguard the interest of future generations. In the first instance, FICCI, CII, ASSOCHAM, and other regional chambers must adopt the most threatened national parks and take it upon themselves to set up apex committees to oversee the security and sanctity of the national reserves. It does not mean that they will supplant the existent machinery. Their intervention will ensure that adequate equipment (including night vision devices), surveillance vehicles and fire arms are provided to supplement the existing organization. Additionally, they can hire supplementary forest guards, organized in sections and platoons, from carefully selected ex-servicemen in respective areas to provide an outer ring of security and intelligence gathering, besides physically hunting down the poachers and illicit fellers; with the same relentlessness and ferocity as the poachers and their gangs display in hunting down the hapless animals.

India today tops the list of billionaires. It is possible for just a handful of them to personally take up the challenge and take it upon themselves to safeguard the remaining sanctuaries with the same zeal, competence and far-sightedness that they have shown in amassing their billions.

   Nov 29th 2007
  ©Vinod Saighal
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An Agenda for the Resurrection of Pakistan

Vinod Saighal*

Pakistan : L'armée emprisonne les démocrates et libère les terrorists (the army imprisons the proponents of democracy and releases the terrorists)

- from a recent article appearing in Le Nouvel Observateur, Paris.

The Grand Delusion

It is fairly apparent from the recent happenings in Pakistan and the statements of the power players that the country is headed for a vertiginous decline. Should it be the desire, if not the design, of those in a position to influence events in Pakistan to make the country implode, then many of them are going about it the right way. ‘Many of them’ includes: General Pervez Musharraf; the Pakistan Army and its creation the radical elements; the leaders of the political parties; the sundry influence-peddlers in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore and Karachi; the handlers in USA, Saudi Arabia and UK; and all others deeply mired in the affairs of Pakistan. At this point in time, i.e., after the declaration of the emergency, the single point refrain seems to be the holding of elections as early as possible; the reform agenda also includes: Gen. Musharraf shedding his uniform, restoration of the independence of the judiciary, and freedom of the press.

Both the civil society and the opponents of Pervez Musharraf’s high handedness outside Pakistan would generally be satisfied if the conditions mentioned above were to be met. They hope that sooner rather than later the Pakistan Army will move decisively against Taliban-Al Qaeda, who seem to be extending their sway beyond FATA with relative ease. While the so-called minimum demands for resurrecting Pakistan from its terminal decline seem eminently sensible on paper the reality on the ground is at variance from the pious hopes grafted on to them for restoration of normalcy.

Should elections, however, be held in the shortened time frame as demanded by practically everybody the turmoil after the elections could deepen the fissures and lead to greater mayhem than is presently the case. Under the emergency decree and the new powers conferred upon the army to try civilians in military courts the chances of elections being free and fair are virtually zero. The agency that has been schooled to manage elections in Pakistan and which has embedded itself deeply in the election process over several decades is the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan aided and abetted by the Military Intelligence (MI) and not the Election Commission - at least not as presently constituted. It is this agency (the ISI) that has been responsible for overseeing the phenomenal rise of the radical parties in the national and state assemblies, two of which, NWFP and Balochistan, have virtually gone under the sway of the pro-Taliban tanzeems. Again, it is the ISI that has been in the forefront of raising one political leader at the cost of the other, and vice versa, when it suited the military regime to do so. It would hardly be an exaggeration to state that clandestinely the ISI has virtually taken over the functions of the electoral bodies of Pakistan . Therefore, holding elections in the present circumstances will see the virtual extinguishment of the last ray of hope for restoring democracy in Pakistan and for preventing the country from becoming a failed state. Should the United States persist in backing Pervez Musharraf, it could lose whatever little goodwill that it still retains in Pakistan . By arresting thousands of persons, largely from those sections of civil society unequivocally opposed to the Taliban, Musharraf has further strengthened the radicals; something he has been doing all along.

The Prime Backers of Pakistan take up the Challenge

The principal backers of Pakistan since its inception have been the USA , UK and Saudi Arabia . The influence that the USA and Saudi Arabia wield is not limited to the military; it extends to the mainstream political class as well as the commercial sectors that underpin the Pakistan economy. Without the financial assistance (or doles) from these two countries Pakistan would not only become a basket case, it would simply go under.

The functioning of the country has been so comprehensively undermined in the Musharraf years that the chances of warding off the challenge of the radical Islamists and restoring a semblance of normality seem remote. Today the only elements, besides the discredited and demoralized army, that are organized and poised to benefit from the worsening situation are the Jihadis (who are already moving out from their FATA strongholds into the adjoining areas in NWFP and Baluchistan , even Islamabad ) and the MQM in Karachi . The rogue elements of the Inter Services Intelligence are also spreading their tentacles further at an equally fast pace. In sum, at the rate at which it is going the state of Pakistan is well on the road to implosion.

The situation cannot be retrieved by half-hearted measures. The USA and Saudi Arabia , supported by UK , Japan and the EU have to join hands to virtually administer a second ultimatum on the lines of post-9/11 ultimatum issued by the Americans to General Musharraf: “either you are with us, or be prepared to face the consequences”. The second ultimatum to be administered jointly by USA and Saudi Arabia should be administered to the top generals of Pakistan who support the Musharraf emergency as well as to the leaders of the mainstream political parties. Musharraf’s days are numbered. He is no longer the prime mover; power has already slipped out of his hand. In or out of uniform the General has now become a liability to the Pakistan Army, his foreign backers (notably the George W. Bush administration), as well as to the Pakistani nation. Once the ultimatum has been administered Pervez Musharraf can be removed in a jiffy. He has no fallback, other than to re-align with the jihadists.

Key Elements for the Resurrection of Pakistan

The ultimatum would be in the form of key elements for the resurrection of Pakistan . These will include, inter alia:

- The removal of Pervez Musharraf from the scene and asylum (for him) in Saudi Arabia , USA or country of his choice.

- The nomination of an interim President for Pakistan till a new president is elected after the holding of elections. The selection of an Interim President (excluding any person in uniform) would be based on a collegiate decision. The collegium for the purpose would comprise: nominee of the army; representatives of the mainstream political parties, three respected civilians (like Pervez Hoodbhoy), three respected former justices of the Supreme Court who were not party to any military ordinance or confirmation of military take-overs in the past. The collegium would be asked to choose a suitable person within 15 days of its constitution. Representatives from the US and Saudi governments would remain at hand to oversee the process. Once selected the interim president would be administered the oath of office by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in accordance with the 1973 Constitution. On assuming the office of the President the interim incumbent would issue a notification annulling all decrees issued by President Pervez Musharraf (or earlier by General Zia ul Haq) that could be deemed to be repugnant to the spirit of holding free and fair elections and the restoration of democracy. Provided that Pervez Musharraf demits office gracefully and sheds his uniform by the given date he would be given immunity from prosecution for all sins of omission or commission for the period of his take-over in 1999 up to the date of stepping down. The interim president would also restore the Supreme Court to its full bench under Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, as it existed immediately prior to the recent Emergency hastily proclaimed by Gen. Musharraf in early November 2007.

- On Musharraf’s demitting office and shedding his uniform (he could do so gracefully or be kicked out) the vice-chief of the Pakistan Army, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani would take over as the Chief of the Army Staff. He would require at least 60 to 75 days to carry out the following urgent tasks: gradually ready the army to revert to its professional role and de-induct it from non-army duties; revitalize the army to first check the march of the jihadists and then restore the status quo ante in NWFP and, at a later stage, in the FATA; deploy specially selected units in sufficient strength to ensure that when elections are held in NWFP and Baluchistan the radicals who have dug in owing to their legislative gains in the provincial assemblies in the previous elections under the Musharraf dispensation are not able to intimidate voters or derive unfair advantage from rules that were promulgated to favour the Islamists.

- The most urgent task of the new COAS would be to resolutely withdraw the ISI from its insidious role in the politics of Pakistan and to ensure zero interference in the elections.

- The interim president, in consultation with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the leaders of the mainstream political parties, would nominate an interim prime minister for the holding of elections as well an Election Commissioner with four independent election commissioners.

- The new Election Commission would be given 75 days to prepare fresh electoral roles and weed out undesirable (or partisan elements) at the lower levels prior to holding fresh elections. The COAS would guarantee the protection and untrammeled functioning of the new election commission.

- The new election commission, after assessing the ground situation would announce the dates for holding elections and the period for which active political activity would be allowed to the political parties in the run up to the elections. The election commission – its neutrality having been established – would have full powers to weed out all candidates with criminal background, provided that such removal would have the endorsement of at least four out of the five election commissioners. In the case of leaders of political parties, any such adverse decision could be appealed at the level of the Supreme Court.

- The mainstream political parties to give a written undertaking that for electoral gains they would not align themselves with radical elements, nor would they give them tickets under any other guise.

- Finally, the interim president would ensure that the press and the electronic media enjoy the freedoms that are guaranteed to them in democracies.

Pervez Musharraf is a spent force. The chaos that has been allowed to descend upon Pakistan provides an historic opportunity to USA and Saudi Arabia and all well-wishers of Pakistan, within and without, to truly, once and for all, pull the country out of the morass into which army interference and misgovernance have pushed it. Pakistan's main allies, USA and Saudi Arabia will be the biggest beneficiaries. The Army having seen its prestige plummet disastrously would also welcome an escape route to return to professionalism without losing face. An outline agenda for the irrevocable restoration of democracy and, more importantly, for preventing Pakistan from becoming a failed state or coming under the sway of radicalized Islamists has been spelled out. The agenda so outlined is not rigid or inflexible. It is amenable to sensible modifications at every stage as the irreversible march toward the democratization of Pakistan and its resurrection as a responsible member of the comity of nations is put into motion.

Are Pakistani Generals really Mad or do they merely Feign Insanity - The Consequences Thereof

"Pak Army planned 'use of N-arms" during the Kargil War" is a sample title of the news item carried by many national dailes on October 29, 2007. The item has been excerpted from the book, United States and the Global Nuclear Conspiracy

by investigative journalists Adrian Levy and Catherine Scott-Clark. They cite a conversation between President Bill Clinton and the Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif eight years ago when they met at Blair House in July 1999. There had been earlier instances as well where Pakistani generals came rather close to pulling the nuclear trigger according to reports that emanated from knowledgeable sources. On occasions Pakistani generals themselves have taken positions at international forums that indicated the nuclear brinkmanship on the part of the generals in power.

In the extreme volatility that obtains post-9/11 in and around Pakistan, considered by many to be the epicentre of Islamist radicalism, what should the world make of these disclosures. More importantly, what should the people of Pakistan make of the revelations that do not leave much doubt, especially based on past record, that under the sway of the military their nation is seldom far from further break up, or national suicide. For, whatever might have been the other shortcomings of the now discredited civilian prime ministers following the Zia-ul Haq era they certainly did not indulge in the type of brinkmanship that brought disaster to Pakistan on more than one occasion. Making light of the destiny of Pakistan has remained the forte of Pakistani generals.

What is more, the nuclear brinkmanship, that only Pakistani generals are capable of, could have resulted in the total destruction of Pakistan. India, committed to No-First-Use of nuclear weapons has not left Pakistani military planners in any doubt that having come under self-induced vulnerability due to N-F-U, it would have no choice but to go in for massive retaliation should Pakistan choose to exercise the nuclear option. In MAD terms it means that whereas India would suffer unimaginable horrors that, inter alia, might push India back economically by several decades, the nation of Pakistan, as presently constituted, could well disappear from the map of the world on account of its geographical size and population concentrations, especially in the Punjab. In fact, India would not even be required to target the other provinces of Pakistan, seeking deliverance from the Punjabi yoke. In as far as it concerns the radical Islamists, whose WMD targetting, by whatever means, would be directed against the West rather than India, they are fully alive to the fact that a WMD exchange with India would sizeably reduce the Muslim population of the world. In addition to the casualties within Pakistan brought on by Indian retaliatory action a few tens of million Muslims in India could also become casualties due to the Pakistani actions, i.e., the Muslim ummat gets hit both ways through no fault of theirs, merely because Pakistan remains a state run by the military-jehadi combine, whatever the innocent disclaimers from time to time at the apex of the Pakistan military hierarchy.

China, the all-weather friend of Pakistan, is no friend of the ordinary people of Pakistan, if looked at objectively. The atheist communist dispensation that runs China is more comfortable with the non-democratic military dispensation in Pakistan. Casualties numbering in the millions have never disturbed the sleep of autocratic regimes anywhere in the world. The Chinese have nearly settled their problems in the outlying western provinces occupied by them after the Maoist take-over through genocide in Xiniang and Tibet. They have assisted Pakistan to become a nuclear power not out of deep friendship for the Muslims of that country. Pakistan has been set up as a formidable adversary against India to serve China's geostrategic interests in the subcontinent and the adjoining regions. The latter would not be overly upset by a full-scale exchange between Pakistan and India so that India is reduced to a third-rate economic power rather than a future competitor to China's economic might. That is why they have helped Pakistan with missile technologies that augment the range to target Bangalore and the Indian IT hubs. In the bargain, should Pakistan simply go under, just too bad.

In the light of the above the people of Pakistan have to wake up from their military-induced somnolence to retrieve the destiny of their country - and their place in the sun - from the military and the mullahs before it becomes too late. The question of another war between the nations of the subcontinent should simply not arise.

OCT 31st 2007
©Vinod Saighal
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Why Kiran Bedi could not have become the Police Commissioner of Delhi

People are generally at a loss to understand as to why the Magsaysay Award winner, Dr. Kiran Bedi, being the senior-most as well as the most qualified person in her cadre did not become the Commissioner of Delhi Police on the completion of tenure of the former incumbent. As it turns out, Mr. Y.S. Dadwal, who happens to be two years her junior, has been nominated to the post. Mr. Dadwal is a high profile police officer with an admirable police record. Seeing his background, it is well on the cards that he might turn out to be a very effective police commissioner. The issue here is not about Mr. Dadwal’s impeccable record. The question, or the controversy generated, relates to the denial of the top slot to Kiran Bedi whose own record is second to none in the entire police force. Herein lies the rub. Unless there are compelling political reasons, seniority is generally not given the go by; and certainly not for a high profile person like Kiran Bedi whose competence has been acknowledged in India and abroad. It led to her being appointed advisor to the former UN Secretary General, Mr. Kofi A. Annan. Why then was Kiran Bedi denied the post of the Delhi Police Commissioner by the powers that be, knowing full well that the decision would create avoidable controversy, heartburning and criticism?

To put it succinctly, the inexplicable government decision can be attributed to the 'Kalam effect'. Here was a brilliant, non-controversial, self-effacing, supposedly pliable, scientist whom the political class elevated to the office of the President. What does he end up doing. In just one tenure - no wonder they denied him a second one - he outshines the political class. His popularity with the Indian public has assumed such proportions that it overshadows the political stalwarts across party lines. In a direct election or referendum they would be relegated to being mere also-rans. The government, or for that matter the political class, is not going to repeat the earlier mistake; at least not so soon after Dr. Kalam's departure from Rashtrapati Bhavan.

With her proven competence, had Kiran Bedi been made the Police Commissioner of Delhi she would have electrified Delhi by the positive changes that she would have brought in. A no-nonsense police officer with amazing resilience and inner strength, she would not have spared the political offenders or the land mafias that have taken control of the city. What is more, with the Commonwealth Games coming to Delhi in the near future, she would have been the cynosure of all eyes, especially the media - Indian as well as foreign. In the process the lady would have outshone and outperformed the two ladies who rule the roost - in Delhi and the political apex in India. Kiran Bedi would have taken the Kalam legacy several notches higher. She would have been a hands on person - a spell-binding speaker as well as a doer. Hers would not have been a ceremonial post. What is more, after retirement she might have been induced to enter the political mainstream - horrible thought for power coteries and political fiefdoms. Bedi would have represented a refreshing change. The politicians have denied Bedi her due. She might still turn out to be their nemesis. Should she go that way, India would certainly be behind her, as it was behind Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, former President of India.

Meanwhile, the political class has given itself a breather. The loss is that of Delhi and its citizens.

A Critique of the Military Dimension of South Asian Security
(Extract from Chapter 1 - Footnote to the main text on Page 56):
The Pakistan establishment has been so intimately involved with the terrorist organizations nurtured by them for so long that disengagement, even it were to be finally mandated by the military top brass would be difficult, if not impossible. During an interview given to a news channel, Star TV in early 2002 on the heels of the press conference by the then Indian army chief, this author had stated inter alia that while it might be true that through its proxy war or Low Intensity Conflict Pakistan was pursuing its strategy of bleeding the Indian army by a thousand cuts, seeing the size of India and the Indian army these were all flesh wounds to which salve could be applied. In the process Pakistan was haemorrhaging internally, a potentially fatal condition. Schisms have further developed amongst the terrorist organizations based in Pakistan between those that continue to enjoy support from Pakistan’s ISI and those considered beyond the pale. However, quite a few of the prominent terrorist groups that are close to or remain substantially controlled by the ISI have large number of cadres deeply sympathetic to Al-Qaeda and its affiliates, regardless of their leadership’s perceived closeness with their military and ISI handlers. These elements have been suspected of moonlighting for the more radical groups opposed to the policies of the military regime.
In the light of the foregoing, the author in a BBC interview in London on 16 September 2003 had questioned the wisdom of the Western world putting all its eggs in the basket of the military dictator of Pakistan.

July 20th 2007
©Vinod Saighal
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INDIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2007 - REDUCED TO A ZERO SUM GAME
(Addressed to All Indians Who Can Feel, See, Hear and Who Care)

That the downslide in the Indian polity, which has been going on for many years, is fast reaching its nadir is borne out by the manner in which the selection of the President has been conducted by the political class and, furthermore, the style in which electioneering is being orchestrated. A quick glance first at the selection procedure.

The Selectors Cabal
- The Ruling Party. Not more than half-a-dozen people who call the shots, all vying with each other to show their loyalty to the dynasty; are rewarded accordingly. The present head of the dynasty having already reduced the stature of the Prime Minister to its lowest point since Independence would now like to create a similar dependency in the Rashtrapati Bhawan. Concern for the national interest or the dignity of the highest office was never a consideration. To quote the media, the ultimate choice, where due diligence evidently had not taken place, was the lowest common denominator in the search for consensus within the UPA.
- The UPA (or the governing coalition). The coalition partners were generally willing to follow the ruling Congress provided there were to be a consensus within the UPA. The major wreckers of the consensus within UPA were the Left parties led by the CPM.
- The Left Parties. The principal wreckers who have ceaselessly undermined government consensus on practically every major issue. Again the decision-making cabal comprised less than six people.
- The Principal Opposition Party. One point agenda to try and foist a person most suited to their right wing ideology. The cabal at the top comprising doddering old leaders of yesteryear who simply will not let younger people come up to revive the decline in the party. Their own fossilisation resulted in the selection of a candidate who is older than their tired selves.
- The leader of the BSP. Reaches agreement with the Congress leader on mutually beneficial considerations (well documented by the media). Neither leader interested in a person of eminence and integrrity becoming the President.
- The Other Political Parties (collectively calling themselves the Third Front). A motley group; the less said about their concern for dignity,decorum or concern for the national interest the better.
- Common to all the political parties (mentioned above). Zero inner party democracy or consultation with the rank and file. No concern for what the people of India are saying or feel about the nationally humiliating political machinations.
- The Present Incumbent. Had won the respect of the nation. Was immensely popular. Could have gone out in a blaze of glory. At the end of the day slipped from the pedestal and barely remained standing. His predecessor, another respected figure who had conducted himself with dignity throughtout his presidential tenure fell from grace under exactly similar circumstances.

We The People of India (The Largest Democracy in the World). Had absolutely no role to play in the selection process. The political class was and remains totally immune to the voice of the overwhelming law-abiding, non-agitating, non-rabble rousing majority. Technically, since the party cabals have taken over, the people of India, at this stage of the election, are as removed from the process of electing the president as would be an astronaut sitting on the moon watching the process without in any way being able to affect it. In other words just about thirty people (the cabalists), perhaps each one having several skeletons in his or her cupboard, and many of whom are known to have subverted and continue to subvert the legal process, will decide the outcome, completely disregarding the views of one billion plus Indians. Reduced to its essentials this is the stark reality which the people of India, the Election Commission and the Courts must face. The system worked reasonably well the way it was designed when the legislators who form the Electoral College were people of standing and when such a large percentage of them were not criminals, bootleggers, mafia dons, tax-dodgers, smugglers of people, currency, goods and the like. Evidently, something needs to be done before the next presidential election.

NOW COMING TO THE MEDIA
The very manner of choosing the candidates selected by the political cabal was such that everybody was kept guessing till almost the very end. It might have been deliberate, or there might have been other reasons, including the difficulty of arriving at a consensus. Therefore, due diligence about the candidates could not be carried out - an essential exercise in any democracy for the persons likely to occupy the highest office in the country. It resulted in the media trying to dig up every bit of dirt on the candidate most likely to carrry the day - in this case, as things stand, Mrs. Pratibha Patil. To tabulate the accusations, or besmirchment attempts to date by the opposition politicians and the media and other interested parties, these have been described as:
- She felt that the time had come to remove the veil. She quoted or misquoted or partially quoted historical texts. The result: the main proposer the Congress Party felt embarrassed. Muslim clergy were quick to take offence. Mrs Patil tried to cover her confusion.
- Mrs Patil, while a minister in the State government was a strong votary of population stabilisation. She is supposed to have said that, "those who objected on grounds of religion should be ignored, because the need of the hour (according to her) was family planning, it being the highest religion (of prime importance) for India. She has been pilloried on this score as well.
- Activities related to her Trust that cannot stand scrutiny. They show her in very poor light.
- She believes in spirits, having attended the session that was run by the Brahmakumaris in Mt. Abu.

Comments of Citizens not party to media denigration, exposures or partisan politics.
- Mrs. Patil would actually be congratulated by most non-partisan Indians for having taken the lead in saying that the time has come for the women of India to be emancipated. That is the essence of her comment, even if the historical context can be questioned. The fact is that the objections have generally come from the hardliners, the Muslim clergy and opposition members. Who has bothered to take a sounding of how the veiled and oppressed women, often treated as chattel, actually feel about Mrs. Patil's statement?
- Family Planning. Mrs. Patil should get full marks if she made that statement and if she still holds those views. It is the prime concern for India, which most politicians have shied away from. India has one of the highest low birth weight indices in the world. Malnourished, mentally retarded children can be seen in practically every slum and bustee in the country. The majority of the women in the slums do not want so many children. Most of them simply keep coming, because of the nightly onslaught of the drunken male, and because family planning facilities have not reached them.
- She believes in spirits or mediums. What a travesty of facts. She attended a session where thousands others were present. On coming out she was confronted by the media and perhaps did not want to offend the people who invited her or did not know how her remarks would be construed. Whatever her inner feelings or beliefs, is she not entitled to them? Incidentally, the organisation that invited her at Mt. Abu is accredited to the United Nations and had been invited to set up their representation in New York. Mr. Kofi Annan, the previous Secretary General is known to have showered praise on them. Before the last general election that brought the Congress Party to power, its leader visited Mt. Abu to meet the same Dadis. President Kalam and some of the most eminent people from around the world who have had interaction with the Brahmakumaris have been very effusive in their praise. Hardly anybody who comes into contact with the Dadis, many in their eighties, can fail to be impressed by their humaneness, childlike purity and spirituality. Their dedication has allowed the organisation to set up thousands of centres in over 90 countries. So much for mischievous media comments.
- The way her Trust was run leaves much to be desired. This is indeed a very serious allegation. If proved, should in normal circumstances lead to her opting out of the race.
All things being equal and seeing that practically all politicians of today (barring a handul of honourable exceptions) have many more skeletons in their cupboard and are party to illegalities of far more serious nature if investigated, or allowed to be investigated, the question that should be uppermost is, "seeing that there are only two serious contenders left in the fray, how far should the media go in continuously denigrating the lady, who all things said and done, has a very dignified bearing, and who for her entire political life has comported herself with dignity and decorum, something that is alien to most of our politicians today". Because if the process is carried too far and in the process she is pulverised to a degree that there is no respect left for the person how will she be able to discharge her presidential duties in the years to come. It being probable that she is the candidate most likely to succeed a thought should be given to this aspect by the media. Meanwhile, the people of India have to find a way out of the political mire into which a reasonable electoral system has now been pushed. Will this become the norm or is there a way out?

June 27th 2007
©Vinod Saighal
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The Indian President – NOT Exactly a Rubber Stamp
Seeing the interest generated in the forthcoming Presidential election, additional inputs based on the queries raised after the earlier piece on the subject are appended below. Media debates by constitutional experts and political figures have tended to concentrate on the composition of the electoral college and the horse-trading for a consensus candidate. It is proving illusive. Evidently, the party which has the greatest say in the UPA is keen on sponsoring a nominee who is considered a party loyalist, more appropriately a loyalist of the coterie running the political party. (Needless to say that one of the bigger failings of Indian democracy has been the lack of inner party democracy).

For the first few decades after independence the office of the president remained non-controversial and largely ceremonial, owing to the comfortable majority enjoyed by the Congress party that produced several illustrious prime ministers. Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi his daughter, and Lal Bahadur Shashtri, the prime minister during the 1965 Indo-Pakistan war, who died in Tashkent, are all respected figures of the post-independence political pantheon. The prime ministers of the day generally called the shots and the presidents simply went along. At least there were seldom any major tremors. The office of the president grew in importance and stature after the Emergency declared by prime minister Indira Gandhi consequent to an adverse judgment against her by the Allahabad High Court. Political analysts are fairly unanimous that Emergency, under the prevailing circumstances, could only have been declared by a rubber stamp president personally beholden to Indira Gandhi giving his assent. All occupants of the Rashtrapati Bhawan, thereafter, were mindful of the universal opprobrium heaped on the hapless incumbent who had signed the Emergency decree.

When Indira Gandhi came back to power a second time she sponsored Giani Zail Singh, a former chief minister of Punjab and home minister in the central cabinet, to the post of the president. The electoral college went along. Giani Zail Singh did not ruffle any feathers till Mrs.Gandhi was alive, in spite of the fact that she had ordered operation Blue Star and sent in the Indian army to flush out the Sikh extremists holding out in the Golden Temple in Amritsar. After Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s assassination Giani Zail Singh immediately swore in Rajiv Gandhi, her son as the prime minister, although the Congress Working Committee (CWC) had not met up to that time to select a new leader. Mr. Zail Singh thus paid his due as a Gandhi family loyalist. It turned out to be his last act of subservience.

As the years went by under the premiership of Rajiv Gandhi, Giani Zail Singh became more and more assertive. He withheld assent to the controversial Postal Bill. It lapsed. What is more interesting from the point of view of the residual powers of the president was the rumour that swept the political circles after the Bofors controversy blew up in Rajiv Gandhi’s face, to the effect that the president was seriously considering dismissing the Rajiv Gandhi government and calling fresh elections. The situation became so tense that the Rajiv Gandhi government started closely monitoring every move of President Zail Singh, lest he go ahead with the controversial move. There is no evidence on record, however, that Mr. Zail Singh was indeed contemplating such an action and as to what the constitutional ramifications of that move would have been. That Mr. Rajiv Gandhi was on tenterhooks for a given period of time can almost be taken as a fact.
President APJ Abdul Kalam though a political novice, which showed in some of his decisions, became a highly popular president. The non-political person won deep respect and admiration from the people of India. If it had been the people’s choice he would have easily won a second term.
Dr. Kalam, had he stood his ground, could have incommoded the Manmohan Singh government on several occasions, most notably the dissolution of the Bihar State Assembly to which he recorded his assent at some unearthly hour during a state visit abroad. Later on, when the case went to the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court overturned the government decision, although not restoring the status quo ante. Fresh elections followed the Supreme Court ruling. The Nitish Kumar coalition won a clear majority. The Bihar political earthquake could be deemed to be the forerunner of the political earthquake that took place in the recent UP elections. Mayawati’s BSP also won a clear majority.
Based on the Supreme Court decision in the Bihar Assembly dissolution case some of the flak came Dr. Kalam’s way. He passed off his hasty decision as part of what he termed his “learning curve”. It becomes a clear case of the leeway that the president has in exercising his discretion.
Another case in point is the controversial Office of Profit Bill - a post facto justification to cover political wrongdoing. Had President Kalam withheld his final assent, or delayed it inordinately, it could conceivably have led to the fall or break up of the UPA government.
That the president is an important player in the era of coalition governments becomes clear from the quest of every major political party to nominate a person who would be favourable to them, thereby virtually debasing the highest office in the land and dealing a further blow to the Constitution. Such are the discretionary powers that vest with the president in the case of hung parliaments - i.e., when no party has a clear majority - that the person whom the President invites to form a government and, more importantly, the time given to that person (party) to test a governing majority on the floor of the house become crucial factors in deciding as to who and which party would form the government.

Going a step further, the President has the power, as brought out earlier, to give assent or withhold assent to an enactment of the parliament before it becomes law. After sending back a bill to parliament for its reconsideration the president is obliged to accord consent, irrespective of whether the observations made have been addressed or not. However, no time limit is set in the Constitution for the president to sign a bill when consent is withheld.

The president plays an important role in many other cases. To list just a few: the president can query the government on the name(s) of justices for the highest court sent for his approval. The same is the case with the selection of governors of states. The governments of the day might yet force the issue, but the very fact of the President having indicated his disapprobation is taken serious note of by the public and the media, often much to the acute embarrassment of the government.

The President is considered, by virtue of his office, to be the guarantor of the independent functioning of constitutional bodies like the Election Commission. The president can also make a reference to the Supreme Court when in doubt about the constitutional legality of any bill sent to him for his assent.

In the light of the foregoing the exercise being undertaken by the political parties to elect a person to the highest office, who in their opinion would safeguard their pary's interest, is an exercise which indicates the pernicious influences that have come to the fore. It questions the democratic credentials of the political parties, more so the persons at the helm responsible for lack of inner party democracy.

To sum up: while the President may be in a position to rock the boat or influence mid-course corrections, the incumbent in the Rashtrapati Bhavan is constitutionally not in a position to pilot the boat.

(Information relating to books can be accessed from: www.vinodsaighal.com & www.amazon.com)

New Delhi
June 14th 2007
©Vinod Saighal
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Revitalised Ganga Action Plan

(PRESENTATION MADE ON BEHALF OF THE ECO MONITORS SOCIETY AT THE ECO REVIVAL SUMMIT 98 ON 9th NOVEMBER 1998 AT THE INDIA INTERNATIONAL CENTRE, NEW DELHI).

Well over a decade ago a youthful Prime Minister fired the imagination of the nation by outlining his vision for the purification of the Ganga. Unfortunately, despite huge outlays, there is very little to show for it on the ground. The dream of the former Prime Minister lies as shattered as lay his body after the assassination, before his cremation. Should we then give a decent burial to the Ganga Action Plan as well. We don't think so. As much as the Himalayas, the River Ganges embodies the very core of India's civilisational continuity and its quintessential spiritual flow - past, present and future. From the mists of antiquity, when the first great Rishis meditated on its banks, to the eternality of mankind's quest in the millennia to follow the Ganga has to retain its purity for the millions who come to worship on its sacred banks - at a myriad sanctified places along the course of "Ganga Mayya".

To revitalise the turgid Ganga Action Plan we recommend the setting up of a national task force, freed from all political and bureaucratic control, along the following lines:

Ø The national task force (NTF) to be constituted by an enactment of Parliament or under a directive by the Supreme Court of India or by any other means which would guarantee the independent functioning and efficacy of the programme.

Ø The NTF to be headed by any person of outstanding ability. Suitable guidelines to be incorporated in the initial enactment for ensuring the impartiality of the selection as well as the competence of the person selected to carry out the mandate.

Ø The allocation for the Action Plan to be made directly by the Planning Commission to the NTF.

Ø The NTF to have an accompanying special court or an empowered tribunal to ruthlessly eliminate all obstructions to the speedy implementation of the Action Plan. No subordinate authority in any of the States would have the power to interfere with, question, or stay the progress of the Action Plan.

Ø The NTF would be empowered to requisition the services of any qualified personnel of the Central or State governments for periods of time determined by the apex body of the NTF. In like manner, the NTF would have lien on any law and order forces of the Central or State governments for ensuring compliance with the decisions of the NTF and/or the empowered tribunal headed by a serving or retired Justice of the Supreme Court.

Ø Guidelines for the standards of purity, beautification and ecotone restoration to be attained, as well as the time frames in which these are to be attained would be laid down at the time of establishing the NTF.

The key ingredients of the revitalised Ganga Action Plan have been highlighted. Sensible modifications and mid-term corrections for the scheme could be carried out from time to time as the scheme progresses. It is possible to concomitantly set up national task forces along similar lines for some of the other major river systems on the subcontinent. The methodology recommends itself for application for long term flood control measures on a subcontinental or interstate basis.

It must be kept in mind, however, that the setting up of the NTF for the Ganga Action Plan and other task forces of a similar nature must, from their very inception, have a proviso for winding up of the task forces within stipulated time frames. Failing which, the country will be saddled with one more massive bureaucracy which would add further deadweight to the leviathan already crippling the country's growth. A contract-based, performance-oriented Action Plan, which would automatically get wound up on completion, would be the answer. After setting up the NTF mechanism the government and bureaucracy would remain totally out of the loop. Benign over-watch could be maintained by a non-governmental oversight committee.

© Vinod Saighal
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Making of the President – Unmaking of the Indian Constitution
Making of the President – But not at the cost of Unmaking of the Indian Constitution. The article reproduced below appeared in the Economic Times (30 May 1997), almost exactly ten years ago, prior to the election of the president of India at that time. If anything, it is more relevant today when partisan politics and vote banks politics threaten to further erode the functioning of the Constitution. In recent years it has been proved time and again that the political class on entering the hallowed sanctums of the Indian parliament in New Delhi and the State legislatures does not respect the vox populi. Since results are based on the constitutional lacuna of first-past-the-post, the majority of the legislators are elected with very low percentages of the popular vote. By extension it implies that over sixty or seventy and, at times, even 80 to 90 percent of the constituents did not vote for the elected representative. Now almost 30 percent of them have criminal cases against them, often charged with heinous crimes, including murder, rape and dacoity. Yet the political class has neither shown the inclination nor mustered the will to further amend The Representation of People Act. Hereafter, things are likely to go from bad to worse, going by present trends.

Under these circumstances the selection of the president in July 2007is an important landmark. The way the political parties are going about it, they appear to be bent upon politicizing the highest office in the land. Before they end up by degrading it to their own level the Indian public or “We the People” must intervene to prevent such an outcome. Almost any sounding taken from the people in practically every part of India will indicate that other than the present incumbent, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, none of the names being thrown up by the political class have any appeal for the people of India. Irrespective of which agency conducts the poll the candidates being suggested by the political parties would garner support of less than 9 percent as the first choice of the people, going down to as low as 1 to 3 percent.

As opposed to this India has thrown up non-political, iconic figures who are not only role models but enjoy respect even across India’s frontiers. There are many such names. They include Sreedharan of Delhi Metro fame, Ratan Tata, Azim Premji of Wipro and Narayan Murthy of Infosys. Were a national referendum to be taken each one of them would easily garner well over 50 percent of the national vote. The figure could actually go up to 70 or 80 percent. The question then arises that if India is blessed with people of such high distinction, moral fiber, public esteem, proven competence in their chosen fields, and enjoying international respect then why are the people of India deprived of their services for occupation of the highest office in the land. It is time that ‘we the people’ took the process away from a handful of political bahubalis and coteries and made it a truly democratic one. There is still time to do so. To achieve the desired results and to prevent political chicanery from vitiating democracy at the apex the following action needs to be started immediately by all concerned:

Ø Media to start highlighting the possibilities open to the public through public pressure on each one of the legislators having electoral college votes;

Ø Indicating their preferences to the electronic media every day at every opportunity;

Ø NGOs, RWAs, Ex-servicemen Leagues, schools, colleges, IIsM , IIsT and all other bodies and institutes of similar nature to hold public meetings and pass resolutions;

Ø Eminent citizens’ groups to personally approach and persuade some of the respected names mentioned earlier to enter themselves as independent candidates of peoples choice; fine tuning for ultimately putting one of them as the people’s candidate would follow; CII, FICCI, ASSOCHAM and regional chambers of commerce to take the lead in this exercise;

Ø Any other activity of this nature that creates an irreversible momentum for democratic fulfillment.

Evidently, the people have no direct voting rights. However, since the voting by the electoral college is by secret ballot enough pressure can be put on every legislator, irrespective of the person’s political leanings or hue, to exercise a conscience vote in keeping with the aspirations of the people. Should the citizens of India put their collective shoulder to this exercise for the next 6 to 8 weeks on a daily basis Indian democracy could be put back on a very sound footing. ‘We the People’ would have truly carried the day.

The Making of the President by Vinod Saighal
If, in spite of constant buffeting, the edifice of democracy still holds in India it is because some pillars of it are still strong.

Hence, whatever the means adopted to stem the rot in the body politic, it has to be ensured that the pillars that provide it some foundational stability are not weakened further. The office of the President falls into this category.

There should be no room for complacency in the era of coalition governments and fractured polities. If the spirit of the Constitution has to be safeguarded the role of the first citizen will become more crucial in the years ahead.

Hence, it behoves the polity, the public and the press to take a more incisive look at the presidential elections of ’97. Failure to do so might lead to the type of debasement that has crept into the other democratic institutions in the country.

The procedures for the election of the President (and vice-president) are well-established. The Election Commission will set the ball rolling in a few weeks from now.

Press reports have confined themselves to factual narration of the composition of the electoral college and the weightage of votes between the elective bodies. Though deliberations of party leaders and pressure groups have been reported, attempts to enlarge the debate have been rather desultory.

This may turnout to be a costly mistake. Before the vote is cast (in a secret ballot) the public must make it clear to the elected representatives that further attempts at subversion of democracy by persons whom it no longer respects will not be tolerated.

The first, and possibly the most important, aspect relates to what is being referred to as consensus. The consensus of the early decades of Independence was altogether different from the consensus of today. The very connotation of the term has undergone a metamorphosis.

Too much emphasis on the need for unanimity in electing Presidents often goes against the grain of democracy. For, such consensus mostly meant imposition of the views of party supremos than a free expression of views.

With such ‘imposed’ consensus, the first citizen of the land becomes psychologically beholden to party caucuses. An element of quid pro quo does come in, more so if the incumbent desires a second term in office.

Since the worst fears of a terminal degeneracy in the body politic have not proven to be unfounded, it is necessary to anticipate events in order to ensure that the office of the President is not dragged into sordid controversies.

Almost the entire process of governance at the political apex today seems to be concentrated upon devising stratagems to subvert the law and order apparatus of the state. In such a circumstance, what sort of consensus should the public accept or the press champion?

There is still time for the press, and the public, to get more meaningfully involved in the presidential election of ’97. The matter must not rest in the hands of a few purveyors of power.

Every member of the electoral college must exercise his vote conscientiously. Under no circumstances must the office of the President become an object of unseemly controversy by the misconduct of the person elected to that office. The personality of the incumbent must not in itself become the cause for perpetual political strife.

Dignity and decorum must remain the hallmark of the person occupying the august office, which for a period of time in the near future might turn out to have more importance than the office of the prime minister.

Indian democracy is in a transitional phase. Only the deft hand of a universally respected person will guide democracy in the right direction in its reconstructive phase.

The most suitable persons in the land should be considered for the office of the President of India in 1997.(The Economic Times, New Delhi, 30 May 1997 by Vinod Saighal)
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In its May 14, 2007 issue on TIME 100 Leaders a prominent place has been given to Mrs. Sonia Gandhi. The third paragraph of the write up selected by the news magazine reads:

"When her party won national elections in 2004, she was offered the prime ministership; she listened to her "inner voice" and turned it down, and anointed the economist Manmohan Singh in her stead. It was a gesture that was, well, Gandhian. And it solidified her hold on power. For ordinary Indians, this act of renunciation held tremendous mythic resonance.Though Singh is Prime Minister, it is Sonia, 60, who is the kingmaker. And her most lasting legacy may lie in her children Rahul and Priyanka, one of whom may well become India's Prime Minister someday, ascending to the high office that their mother has - thus far - spurned". (Emphasis added). Unquote.

Assuredly TIME must have assessed a few thousand items from its archival retrieval system to select a piece on a person whose influence transcends India’s national borders. Inexplicably TIME chose a piece that does not do credit to either the magazine or Mrs. Sonia Gandhi. Besides the evidently fawning nature of the piece selected – one amongst the many that appeared at that time – it is an indefensible misrepresentation of the facts. Anybody with an elementary knowledge of the functioning of Indian democracy would know the manner in which governments have been formed in New Delhi after every election since India became independent. The fact is that Mrs. Sonia Gandhi was never “offered” the prime ministership, so the question of having "turned it down" doesn't arise. The details of the meeting that took place with the President are not in the public domain. These may be revealed after many years should Dr. Kalam choose to do so in his post-retirement years, or they may never be revealed.

By presenting a falsified version of the account a disservice has been done to Mrs. Sonia Gandhi who single-handedly revived India’s oldest and, perhaps, most respected political party, which was declining at an alarming rate. Mrs. Gandhi’s revival of the grand old party of Indian politics did a service to Indian democracy by restoring a semblance of political balance as an extreme right wing party was tending to pull it away in directions that might not have stabilised the long-term social cohesion of India.

As to why Sonia Gandhi might not ever become the prime minister of India attention has to be drawn to a petition admitted in the Supreme Court. A news item, in the Times of India, New Delhi, April 17, 2007 mentions that the opposition party, which had held Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origin as an issue against her taking on any constitutional office asked the Congress party to initiate a political debate over the matter. The opposition party’s call for a debate followed the admission of a petition by the Supreme Court on whether a person of foreign origin could hold a constitutional office. Although the Supreme Court had earlier, on an election petition, ruled that Sonia Gandhi was an Indian citizen, the petitioner, however, got around the ruling by so framing the petition as to focus on her competence to hold an office at the highest level in the country.

The controversy regarding Ms. Sonia Gandhi has unnecessarily taken on a political hue and the clamour against her a political bias. In the political cacophony thus generated the true import of the question of denial of the highest office to a citizen of foreign origin is lost sight of. Very simply stated the nation cannot afford to take a chance. It has nothing to do with the persona of Mrs. Sonia Gandhi. It has everything to do with national security and the supreme national interest. Today NATO forces are deployed in Afghanistan, not too far from the borders of India. They are already making forays into NWFP and FATA of Pakistan. Should the situation deteriorate further they might make deeper inroads into Pakistan, thereby coming much closer to the Indian border. Currently, India's relations with the West are on a reasonably good footing owing to the common perception of threat from global terrorism. It should be recalled, nevertheless, that not too far back the West - Italy included - was siding with Pakistan and even China . Even today several western countries, again including Italy, are opposed to India’s nuclear stand and a seat as a permanent member of the Security Council. Hypothetically, as Prime Minister, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi being a person of foreign origin from a NATO country, would be the final arbiter of several decisions regarding India’s security. Should India ever have to confront NATO she would almost certainly face mental anguish, torn between conflicting loyalties to her motherland and her adopted land. It is not inconceivable that India might be obliged to retaliate against NATO forces including Italian forces should India perceive a direct threat to itself. Under these circumstances the question should never arise of a foreign origin person being the ultimate arbiter of India’s security. An example has been given of only the National Security aspect. Similar illustrations can be given from diverse fields where clash of interest between India and Europe or the West could take place in the coming years, although the trend presently is in the other direction. The argument put forward against foreign origin persons holding the highest office in the land, or, for that matter, any office that has a bearing on national security is prima facie unassailable.

Taking a cue from the write up in the latest issue of TIME Indian negotiators, especially the Prime Minister, has to ensure that any nuclear agreement signed with USA in no way compromises India's long-term regional interests or its future security needs.

LOSING PAKISTAN BY DEFAULT: MISSIVE FOR BENAZIR BHUTTO
(Through her lawyer who defended her)

Dear Dr.Hassan,
When my book Restructuring Pakistan* first came out many people in Pakistan felt that the title of the book was provocative. It is only when the leading newspaper of Pakistan, DAWN, Karachi came out with a review that serious thinkers and concerned people in your country gave it a more considered look. In the five years since the book came out Pakistan appears to have followed a course almost exactly on the lines given out in the book, i.e., all the misgivings seem to have taken shape in a manner that would confirm the worst fears of well-wishers of Pakistan, more so in the Western World. The latest developments in Islamabad, where a bunch of maulvis and a gaggle of girls seem to have brought the mighty military dispensation to a state of semi-paralysis are worrisome, to say the least. Grapevine has it that a large number of girls who are in the forefront of the agitation in Islamabad were adopted, kidnapped, or induced in other ways to join the madrassas set up by hardline outfits after they were orphaned in the massive earthquake that struck Kashmir two years ago. The military dispensation that has ruled the roost in Pakistan is clearly on the back foot. Gen. Musharraf seems to have painted himself into a corner by the ill-conceived and too-clever-by-half sacking of the Chief Justice of Pakistan. The high-handedness against some television stations has enraged the media – both national and foreign. Meanwhile, the clamor for introduction of the Shariah gathers momentum. In many places the hardliners have gone on the rampage, burning down beauty parlours, music shops and several other establishments not liked by the Jihadis. According to AHRC: “Shariah law taking the place of civil law and Shariah courts taking the place of country’s common law courts is an even greater attack on the judiciary than the initial attack on Chief Justice Choudry. This displacement of the law and its courts by Shariah law and its courts will have far deeper implications for the future of the country than the military regime may have intended. The whole issue of the civil liberties of the people in Pakistan, as well as the problems of property have been risked by this move. The most affected sections would be the women of Pakistan against whom Shariah law has been misapplied to the detriment of their rights. The present crisis is of tremendous importance from the point of view of democracy, human rights and rule of law in the country”. (Unquote).

The government remains a helpless spectator while Pakistan Civil Society is intimidated by small but determined band of well-armed hardliners. Since the situation seems to be getting out of hand the Pakistan military is again examining the option of arriving at an accommodation with the PPP leader Benazir Bhutto (BB). The quid pro quo has been discussed threadbare in many papers. It need not be gone into here. It is against this background that I am writing to you because you are a respected and eminent lawyer who has represented most of the Prime Ministers of Pakistan in law courts within the country and, at times, outside the country. Ipso facto it makes you a close advisor of Benazir Bhutto. Please make it clear to her that this is a historic moment for freeing Pakistan from the clutches of the military and the mullahs for once and for all. The troubles for Pakistan in the past have stemmed from the fact that enlightened leaders (like BB) have failed to take a clear and uncompromising stand against the hardliners. In many countries, and increasingly so in Pakistan, the fair name of Islam is being tarnished by the hardliners - as well as by those viscerally opposed to them. The former, who are in the minority, are well organised, well armed and vociferous. The latter, the tax paying middle class and civil society, which far outnumber the Jihadis is laid back, passive and non-assertive. For them as well as for much of the non-Islamic world the great religion that arose from the Arabian desert to dominate half the world of the time has, in its 21st Century avatar, been reduced to just a three-word descriptive, namely, “cruelty, coercion and fatwas”. Civil Society, much the larger component in Pakistan and in many other Islamic countries, fails itself if it refuses to get organized to take on the Jihadi menace before it is too late. In country after country the silent majority gets pushed to the wall under the agitational weight of much smaller bands of people whose firebrand tactics intimidate the government as well as law-abiding people.

Most significantly, the larger plurality, especially in Pakistan and Bangladesh, has been let down by the very leaders – in both cases women, BB in Pakistan, and Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh - in whom they reposed their faith. Both these ladies had a fantastic political legacy and large public following. They could have been hands down winners. Their one fatal flaw was to have compromised with the hardliners to garner just that little bit extra – no more – electoral support from the latter against their opponents. In almost every case the support that they got from the Jihadist did not translate into many electoral seats, but in the process they lost the support of many of their backers, horrified at the devilishly opportunistic accommodation with the fundamentalists against whom they should have been fighting tooth and nail. In the process they too did their bit to empower the fundamentalists and fell between two stools. If their close advisors do not remove the veil before their eyes they will continue to fall between two stools. Invariably the winners will be the hardliners, who know what they want and never compromise with their opponents till they meet a superior force, like the Pakistan Army and its agency the ISI.

Farooq Sahib, in the light of the foregoing, you should advise Benazir Bhutto and her Pakistan Peoples’ Party not to compromise once again with General Musharraf or the mullahs. The time has come to stand up and be counted. BB must categorically denounce the hardliners for attempting to impose the Shariat, portions of which are an abomination on the human race. They are a crime against women and a taint on any civilised society. Civil society in Pakistan is fed up with the advent of the killjoys. It is natural to sing, dance, play, fly kites and roam about where fancy takes one. Man was born free, woman more so. Who are these 21st century fanatics to legislate for what people should eat, drink or do? Where they congregate and with whom they do so, as part of free people, is their own business, not of self-appointed guardians of morality. Benazir Bhutto has now before her the opportunity of a lifetime. She should fearlessly go forward to denounce the Shariat and the fundamentalists in Pakistan from every pulpit. She should clearly and unequivocally announce to the people of Pakistan that this time she stands for the freedom of Pakistanis and the emancipation of Pakistani women. If elected, she should promise to deliver Pakistan from the scourge of the mullahs and their fatwas and the Shariat. Islam in its essence is a religion that is sublime and compassionate. Terror and tyranny should have no place in it. She has to fight to win on the platform of the famous rallying cry, Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.

Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh has to do the same. Dr. Farooq Hassan, the lawyers in Pakistan are in the forefront of the struggle to restore the majesty of law in their country. You are one of the most distinguished lawyers of your country. Please remove the shackles of self-doubt from the mind of Benazir Bhutto. She became the president of the Oxford Debating Society in her time. The fire in her has been artificially banked by the military, the mullahs and, possibly, the man she married. Let this be the start of a new era for BB and Pakistan. Good luck and good wishes for BB’s and your success.

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Blueprint for the Eco-Revival of the Planet

Dear Dr.Pachauri,
The Excerpt reproduced below could well have been written after the IPCC report on global warming and climate change. As a matter of fact it was written a decade ago and published as the introductory chapter of Third Millennium Equipoise:

(Quote)

INTRODUCTION
" The book Third Millennium Equipoise started out as an attempt at a grand synthesis of the accommodations that must be reached to effect a smooth transition to global governance patterns that might be able to restore the health of a dying planet. A few years hence it might be too late, if it is not already the case. One fine day people will wake up and say that this is not the world they knew or wanted. “How did we get here,” they might ask. The question would have become meaningless by then. It would have lost even its academic relevance.

It is not as if people were unaware of what was happening around them or that they had stopped caring. Threats to the planetary environment are being highlighted almost daily. People have become conscious of the fact that the planet may no longer be able to cope with the stresses being generated. The majority of human beings are passionately concerned with the health of the world in which they live. They wish to do something about it. Many of them “are” doing something about it. By any reckoning, when such large numbers are involved in setting things right, the collective efforts should have borne fruit. To an extent they have been successful in arresting the decline. But the result is nowhere near the sum total of the effort put in. The planetary stresses – and human stresses, which contribute to the planetary stress – keep multiplying. Apparently there is a very major contradiction working here. It has to do with the inadequacy of the patterns of response when facing such grave threats.

The state of apparent well being experienced in some parts of the world is illusory. It is just that the full effect of the havoc being wrought elsewhere has not yet reached these havens of surface tranquility. It can be likened to a wasting disease which slowly affects different organs of the body. Till the palliatives work things do not appear very bleak. Then, one fine day, it is all over. When the end comes it is sudden and swift. Perhaps mercifully so. The planet is in a similar state.

The juggernaut of the decline of the human condition – which in turn results in planetary decline – moves inexorably forward. It cannot be stopped in the way that planetary affairs have been managed to date. ................................................................"

I am again bringing the book to your notice because the next IPCC conference for recommending remedial measures is to be held in Bangkok in May 2007.You had mentioned in an earlier correspondence that you would be bringing the book to the notice of your fellow panelists. If this has not happened, may I request you to please follow it up at the earliest with special reference to the section, “Blueprint for the Eco-Revival of the Planet”. The measures highlighted therein nearly a decade ago require urgent attention not only of the IPCC and its members, but also of national governments, UN Security Council, UN General Assembly and a host of other organizations. It may interest you to know that the first review of the book appeared in the UN Chronical in New York (UN Chronical 3/98). Thereafter, some of the most august personages around the world have commented on the importance of the book as a blueprint for planetary survival. The list of the commentators reproduced below includes scientists, statesmen and spiritual leaders amongst others; It is illustrative, not exhaustive. For example, it does not include the comments of so many other eminent persons, including the comment sent by Mr. Al Gore when he was the Vice President of USA.

“THIRD MILLENNIUM EQUIPOISE”
WHAT DISTINGUISHED PEOPLE IN THE WORLD HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THE BOOK:

“THE WRITER BRINGS OUT IMPORTANT FACTORS FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF GLOBAL PEACE AND TRANQUILITY”. (ÄCHÄRYA SHRI MAHÄPRAJÑA).

“TOUCHES ON ISSUES OF PRIORITY CONCERN TO UNITED NATIONS IN AN ENLIGHTENED AND SOPHISTICATED WAY”. (MR. KOFI A. ANNAN, SECRETARY GENERAL, UNITED NATIONS).

“TME PRESENTS A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO THE PROBLEMS OF GLOBAL GOVERNANCE AND SECURITY”. (DR. RONALD S. McCOY, PRESIDENT IPPNW AND MEMBER CANBERRA COMMISSION).

“DRAWS A ROAD MAP TO A N-WEAPONS-FREE WORLD. MAKES PEACE SEEM ALMOST ACHIEVABLE”. (INDIA TODAY, OCTOBER 26, 1998).

“FASCINATINGLY DETAILED BLUEPRINT FOR A NUCLEAR-WEAPONS-FREE WORLD”. (REVIEWED BY HORST RUTSCH IN UNITED NATIONS CHRONICLE NO.3, 1998).

“…LAYS OUT AN AMBITIOUS AGENDA FOR GLOBAL GOVERNANCE AND SECURITY”. (KHALEEJ TIMES, DECEMBER 5, 1998).

“I LOVED, IN PARTICULAR, YOUR EPILOGUE FOR THE SHEER ART OF ITS PRESENTATION”. (PADMASHREE PROFESSOR V. VENKATACHALAM, CHAIRMAN, INDIAN COUNCIL OF PHILOSOPHICAL RESEARCH).

“SAIGHAL’S OPUS STANDS OUT…OWING TO THE WAY IN WHICH HE HAS TIED UP VARIOUS FACETS”. (ECONOMIC TIMES, JUNE 13, 1999).

“VINOD SAIGHAL’S CAREFULLY THOROUGH AND METICULOUSLY ARTICULATED PROJECT DESERVES SERIOUS ATTENTION”. (DR. KARAN SINGH, THE BOOK REVIEW, MAY 2000 / 9)

“THE HUMILITY OF SAIGHAL’S HUMANISM THAT IS EVIDENT THROUGHOUT HIS ARGUMENT MAKES HIS BOOK AN ADMIRABLE CONTRIBUTION TO THE CURRENT DEBATE ON GLOBAL STABILITY”. (NETWORK, THE SCIENTIFIC AND MEDICAL NETWORK REVIEW, SCOTLAND – No. 70, AUGUST 1999).

"YOUR BOOK, 'THIRD MILLENNIUM EQUIPOISE', IS ONE OF THE MOST FASCINATING BOOKS I HAVE EVER READ. THIS IS A BOOK THAT ALL PRESENT WORLD LEADERS AND THOSE WHO CARE ABOUT THE FUTURE OF PLANET EARTH SHOULD READ". (DR. EDWARD J. WILSON, PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S COMMUNITY; PRESIDENT KWANEES INTERNATIONAL).

ORIGINAL, UNIQUE AND VERY INTERESTING VISION ABOUT THE PROBLEM. (THIERRY MEYSSAN, RESEAU VOLTAIRE / AXIS FOR PEACE.)

The Head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Dr. R.K. Pachauri has agreed to forward my book, Third Millennium Equipoise to all his co-panelists as they would be looking into the remedial measures in the next report of the IPCC. An international seminar was held in the IIC, New Delhi in November 1998 on "EcoRevival of the Planet", based on the chapter of the same title in the book. I was the keynote speaker at the opening plenary session. Subsequently, Dr. Manmohan Singh advised the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation to hold a global seminar on the agenda given out in the book for global governance patterns. At the bottom of this mail you will find the comments of some of the best minds and the most eminent persons who have read TME.
In the light of the above may I request you to please bring it to the notice of all those seriously concerned with the dark clouds looming on the planetary horizon. They will find valuable insights for solutions to the existential problems confronting humanity and most, if not all, life forms on Earth.

Kind regards
Vinod Saighal
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The missive sent on behalf of MRGG to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court may please be noted. .
Vinod Saighal (Convenor, MRGG)
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31st October 2006
Hearing on Petitions on Ninth Schedule
   On the very day that I had delivered the talk on ‘Why the War on Global Terrorism is Not Being Won’ I had mailed the text to you along with letter dated August 2, 2006. Several high-ranking personages and constitutional experts had attended the talk. It was sent post-haste because part of it touched upon certain aspects of subversion of the Constitution that might gradually be ushered in. The talk has since been published in the United Service Institution of India Journal, July-September 2006. Prior to that views on the subject under review had been submitted in my capacity as Convener MRGG (Movement for Restoration of Good Government) as per details given below:

  *  Reservations in IIsT and IIsM vide letter dated 8 April 2006.
  *  Increasing Tendency of Parliamentarians to Routinely Nullify Court Decisions vide letter dated 6       June 2006.
  *  Restoring A Modicum of Habitability to Delhi vide letter dated 19 September 2006.

   The legislative competence of Parliament to pass laws in order to circumvent or preempt judicial review by taking the Ninth Schedule route to make them immune to adjudication would not only destroy the basic structure of the Constitution, it would imperil the very foundations of democracy in India. Without judicial review of legislation that could affect fundamental rights or the basic character of the Constitution, the country could easily take a wrong turn, endangering its fragile democracy, which has taken root against overwhelming odds. In India, after nearly 60 years of democratic functioning the danger of military dictatorship is virtually non-existent. What is more worrisome today is the erosion of democratic norms at the hands of politico-criminal mafias – some with extra-territorial linkages - that are raising their ugly heads in state after another. Vested interests, who by their very existence and functioning undermine good governance, are attaining positions of dominance at the Centre as well. At times like these the over-watch functions of higher judiciary become doubly important for safeguarding the sanctity of the country’s democracy.

   On an earlier occasion the reducto ad absurdum argument had been cited in a letter sent to you. To take the argument further, suppose the Members of Parliament in their wisdom pass a law to the effect that no member of parliament could be prosecuted for any criminal act until approval were to be taken for such prosecution from a parliamentary body constituted for the purpose and concomitantly take the Ninth Schedule route to make the legislation immune to adjudication would it not spell the end of the rule of law in the country. Take another instance: should the MPs decide in the manner outlined above that the sums made available to them under the MPLAD scheme should henceforth amount to rupees 100 crores per MP would the judiciary remain idle spectators, regardless of the correctness of the exercise in legislative terms. Many other examples of a similar nature can be given. Under no circumstances can commonsense or rationality be allowed to suffer diminishment through legislative intemperance. Hence, the ineluctable imperative of judicial review.

   A long period of time has elapsed since the very first Constitutional amendment enacted in 1951 introduced the Ninth Schedule through Article 31 B. Much water has flowed down the Yamuna since then. Heed has to be taken from the example of other countries that have been attempting to put certain categories of legislation beyond judicial review. Recently, constitutional experts in democracies around the world, including in the USA, have expressed grave concern at the turn that the US democracy seems to be taking by putting, or attempting to put, certain categories of legislations beyond judicial review. Most non-partisan observers have opined that it could seriously undermine American democracy. By undermining judicial independence and judicial review of legislation several countries have opened the route to fascism and dictatorship of vested interests, even without a military takeover. Democracy in India will flounder if judicial review of legislation put in the Ninth Schedule is disallowed.

Hon’ble Chief Justice

Supreme Court,

Tilak Marg, New Delhi – 110001.

Riding Roughshod over National Sovereignty

WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL

H.E. Shri Tejendra Khanna

VINOD SAIGHAL 9 September, 2008

VINOD SAIGHAL
9 September, 2008