SACW | Jan. 29-31, 2008 / Pakistan: U-turn time / India: OM Made Terrorists, Foreign Policy
Harsh Kapoor
aiindex at gmail.com
Wed Jan 30 19:12:23 CST 2008
South Asia Citizens Wire | January 29-31, 2008 |
Dispatch No. 2495 - Year 10 running
[1] Pakistan:
(i) Time for an economic U-turn (S.M. Naseem)
(ii) A recipe for disaster (Rubina Saigol)
[2] CPJ asks Karzai to intervene in Afghan death sentence
[3] India - Jammu and Kashmir: Poll boycott sans
guns (Editorial, Kashmir Times)
[4] India: The Onward March of Fascists Continues
(i) Arms on show at RSS rally (Milind Ghatwai)
(ii) One dead, clashes in Dhar as RSS ignores
order, takes out rally (Indian Express)
(iii) Terrorism's New Signature: Enter Hindutva Terrorists (Subhash Gatade)
[5] India: Advani To Set India Ablaze Again (I.K.Shukla)
[6] The Unnoticed Turn in India's foreign policy
(i) Silence of the Lambs (Kamal Mitra Chenoy)
(ii) A Spy Satellite and a Strategic Partnership (J. Sri Raman)
[7] Announcements - Upcoming events:
(i) Press Conference re continued detention of
Dr Binayak Sen (Calcutta, 31 January 2008)
(ii) India's Anti Nuclear Festival: Programme
CNDP's convention, (Nagpur, 1-3 Feb. 2008)
(iii) D.D. Kosambi Festival of Ideas (Goa, 4-7 February 2008)
______
[1] PAKISTAN:
(i)
Dawn
27 January 2008
TIME FOR AN ECONOMIC U-TURN
by S.M. Naseem
WHILE the political failure of the Musharraf
regime is now being accepted widely in the
country, the claim for its survival and
perpetuation is being staked on its dubious
economic achievements during the past eight years.
Ironically, while the political U-turn that
Musharraf took seven years ago, may be difficult
to reverse, the time for an economic U-turn the
country has avoided for so long may now have come.
My esteemed friend and former colleague,
Professor Aly Ercelan, who has made an admirable
transition from the academia to social activism,
not unlike that of his more renowned Vanderbilt
contemporary, Nobel laureate Yunus, without
giving up his forte of rigorous analysis, has
forcefully exposed (Dawn, Jan 19.) the thin
veneer of 'success' that has been achieved in
recent years (as epitomised by the
ice-cream-pizza-hamburger consumerism, the
bank-credit financed automobile explosion and the
LBOD-Chashma-Tarbela-Gwadar mega project
development strategy) and its impact on the poor.
The atta crisis is just the tip of the iceberg
which has resulted in our titanic economic
failures. As the economic shipwreck hovers on the
horizon, the embattled crew is busy arranging the
deckchairs to assure the passengers that it is
nothing but a passing turbulence in the sea. What
is really surprising is that the regime and its
supporters not only continue to be in denial
about the looming disaster, but that the
president has made it a prerequisite for future
governments to adhere to the continuity of
policies that have been its genesis.
The general (retd)-president has embarked on an
eight-day largely self-imposed,
politically-motivated European tour, including
Davos and London, to underline his key role as
the guarantor of the flawed western agenda of
globalisation in Pakistan. He would try to
convince the Davos crowd that, without him,
Pakistan will not only become a political, but
also an economic disaster. A major aim of the
trip is stated to be 'image-building' and there
are no prizes for guessing whose image is at risk.
With the Bush administration already having given
him the assurance that his services will continue
to be needed in the war on terror, he hopes to
somehow extricate himself from the external and
political pressures mounting on him to give up
the reins of government to ensure credible
elections. Whether this gratuitous foreign tour
in the midst of a critical period of extreme
uncertainty and insecurity in the country, is
based on false bravado or complacency, the future
alone will tell.
Although Pakistan's economic development since
the Ayub years had been based on elitist and
inegalitarian foundations, there was some
moderation in them during the 'democratic
interregnum' of 1972-77 and 1988-99, forced by
the need to adopt populist policies in an
electoral democracy. That desirable course was
reversed and pushed back by the now-retired Gen
Musharraf towards the Ayub era of the 1960s,
which for all its faults had at least a modicum
of economic rationale behind its development
strategy, and failed largely because of its
inability to get a majority of the population
living a thousand miles away from the centre,
into the loop of a virtuous circle of growth.
The Musharraf years have been bereft of any
economic vision, other than the regime's focus on
reviving the economy through the largesse
received from the US and other western countries
in lieu of services rendered during the war on
terror and the distribution of the benefits of
the windfall among the regime's political allies.
The underlying socio-economic philosophy of the
Musharraf-Shaukat Aziz era was callous towards
the poor and obliging towards the privileged.
A fundamental tenet of this tunnel vision has
been the almost total withdrawal of the state
from its economic and social responsibility,
including the provisioning of essential
commodities and utilities, as succinctly pointed
out by Ercelan. However, the distinctly
militarist character of the regime so conspicuous
in its political agenda has been equally
transparent in its economic programmes.
While profitable public enterprises, such as
Pakistan Steel Mills and Pakistan
Telecommunications Corporation have been cheaply
privatised after being run down by the meddling
of the government in their functioning, the
military-run commercial enterprises were
continually strengthened and kept out of the pale
of privatisation.
Luxurious housing complexes, including farm
houses and shopping malls, have been developed
around major metropolises by the defence housing
authority through the acquisition of land from
small farmers and transfer of the acquired land
at below market prices to military personnel. The
military also gave a shot in the arm to feudalism
by evicting farmers on its land.
On the other hand, no serious attempt was made to
provide affordable housing to the poorer sections
of the population, the cost of which along with
that of transport, constitutes an increasingly
high proportion of their budgets, making it
impossible for them to cope with the rising
prices of food and fuel.
While the poor stand in long queues outside
under-stocked and poorly-managed utility stores
(which fail to cater to those who can't afford to
buy 20kg bags), the well-heeled and privileged
buy their provisions from defence canteens and
department stores, providing fuel to the fire of
disgust, anger and violence.
Along with the military, the foreign aid and loan
dispensing agencies have encouraged the
privatisation of social services, especially
education and health. Poverty alleviation
programmes, allegedly 'home-grown', were meant
mainly as a sop to insistent donors and were
bureaucratically-run, with minimal impact on
poverty reduction.
A major problem with the assessment of the
economic performance of the Musharraf years has
been the credibility of the data used for
measuring economic growth and poverty
alleviation. Despite repeated calls by economic
experts for creating an autonomous statistical
commission to ensure the quality and reliability
of economic data, the government has continued to
doctor the data to suit its political ends.
The tall claim of economic resurgence, made on
the basis of high foreign exchange reserves and
high GDP growth rates is now under serious doubt,
as the macro-economic situation (on which the
recent quarterly report of the State Bank has
raised alarm bells and that poverty reduction and
social indicators and the shortfalls in MDG
targets indicate) has been rapidly deteriorating
in the past few years.
If US foreign aid and foreign direct investment,
which have provided artificial respiration to the
economy, also react adversely to the worsening
perception about the Musharraf regime, worse
could follow.
Before it becomes too late, the doctrine of
continuity of economic policies should be buried,
along with kindred doctrines of necessity,
indispensability and unity of command, which were
forced down gullible brains in the last eight
years or more. The time for taking roads not
treaded for fear of upsetting the status quo has
come.
The writer is the author of "The Unravelling of the 9/11 U-Turn".
syed.naseem at aya.yale.edu
--
[ IN THE MILITARY'S SHADOW: ANTECEDENTS AND AFTERSHOCKS OF THE 9/11 U-TURN
Essays on Pakistan's Economy and Polity (1999-2006)
Syed Mohammed Naseem
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--
o o o
(ii)
Dawn
January 30, 2008
A RECIPE FOR DISASTER
by Rubina Saigol
AS a post-colonial state that came into being
through the amalgamation of ethnically and
linguistically diverse regions, Pakistan was
conceptualised as a federal state that would
accord maximum provincial autonomy to the
federating units and ensure the fair distribution
of resources among them.
In an ideal federation, only a few subjects like
defence, currency, foreign relations and
communications belong to the centre while all
others are considered provincial subjects. A
bicameral legislature ensures that the federating
units have parity in the Upper House while
representation in the Lower House of parliament
is based on the population.
However, in the case of Pakistan, independence
from colonial rule became a mere transfer of
power from the foreign rulers to the local ruling
classes. For the great majority of the people,
independence did not bring the promised liberty,
justice and equality. Pakistan remained
essentially a colonial state where local
colonisers replaced the foreign ones. The local
ruling classes consolidated their grip on
Pakistan's economic and political resources and
developed inter-linkages with the army and
bureaucracy to protect their hold on power.
In return, these two non-elected and
unrepresentative institutions increasingly
strengthened their hold with the army extending
its control over land and ultimately the
corporate economy.Together the civilian and
military rulers created an immensely centralised
state that in essence contradicted the notions of
provincial autonomy and devolved power.
Centralisation of power (reflected in a long list
of concurrent subjects in the Constitution) was
further enabled through the introduction of
authoritarian structures and the state's version
of religious nationalism.
Repeated military interventions gradually changed
the structure of the state to such an extent that
the roots of both federalism and democracy were
weakened. A non-representative body in the form
of the National Security Council was empowered to
dismiss elected parliaments, and Article 58(2)b
was inserted into the Constitution to enable an
indirectly elected president to dismiss elected
governments. Recent amendments to the
Constitution go even further in diminishing
citizens' rights and provincial rights.
In Pakistan's case, the excessive centralisation
of power, coupled with a religion-based
nationalism and the dominance of the military,
had another important dimension - the association
of the state and state power with one ethnic
group to the exclusion of others. Owing to the
preponderance of Punjabis and, to a lesser
extent, Pashtuns, in the army the state came to
be viewed as primarily a Punjabi one dominated by
a particular version of Sunni Hanafi Islam.
The resulting exclusion was felt not only by
other ethnic groups but also by religious and
sectarian minorities. As the late scholar Hamza
Alavi pointed out, the other groups - the
Bengalis, Baloch, Sindhis and Pathans - came to
define themselves primarily in ethnic terms.
Conflict has been the inevitable result of the
centralisation of power and resources, and the
exclusion of large swathes of citizens from the
exercise of fundamental rights. Pakistan became a
colonial and extractive state fairly early on in
its history. East Pakistani jute, Pakistan's
golden fibre, was exported and the foreign
exchange earned was spent on developing West
Pakistan.
Balochistan's vast mineral and gas reserves were
exploited for development in Punjab while
Balochistan remained underdeveloped. Uneven
development and colonial policies of extraction,
exploitation and the treatment of the smaller
provinces as raw-material producing hinterlands,
led to the rise of ethnic sentiments occasionally
building up to outright secessionist movements as
in former East Pakistan.
Resistance to the state manifested itself
sometimes in the form of language riots, and at
other times in the form of guerilla movements as
in Balochistan in the 1950s, the 1970s and more
recently since the making of cantonments and the
murder of Akbar Bugti in 2006. Occasionally,
disaffection with Punjab and the
military-dominated state expressed itself through
movements for the restoration of democracy in
which Sindh was at the forefront in the 1980s.
Far from being a binding force across the
provinces, religious nationalism gave rise to
ethnic sub-nationalisms in the form of Baloch,
Sindhi and Pashtun nationalisms. Inter-provincial
conflicts over the distribution of water by the
Indus River System Authority as well as over the
National Finance Commission Award, the building
of the Kalabagh dam, cantonments and Gwadar port,
and the payment of royalties have intensified
over time and the state is widely perceived by
the smaller provinces as benefiting Punjab at the
expense of Sindh, the NWFP and Balochistan.
On the other hand, religious nationalism also
generated sectarian conflict as the definition of
the state as an 'Islamic state' necessarily meant
that the state was up for grabs by the sect whose
definition of 'true Islam' prevailed.
Centralisation, authoritarianism and exclusivist
nationalism thus engendered a number of conflicts
that now threaten to rip apart a federation
formed for the pursuit of rights, liberty and
justice.
The meticulously planned and executed murder of
Benazir Bhutto is the continuation of such
conflicts by a short-sighted state focused on the
perpetuation of the power of the ruling nexus
between a discredited Punjab-based party and the
army.
Benazir Bhutto had become an icon of the
federation with a following in all the four
provinces as well as the harbinger of change
because of being associated with moderate,
tolerant and liberal values. She was widely seen
as the only remaining hope for a true federal
parliamentary democracy marked by religious
tolerance and respect for diversity. Her ruthless
killing which has no resemblance to the Al Qaeda
or Taliban modus operandi has brought the state
into confrontation with the Sindhis who feel
deeply wounded by another leader's body coming
home from Punjab in a coffin - her body riddled
with cruel bullets.
The state is similarly engaged in a prolonged
civil war in South Waziristan, a conflict which
has travelled to the settled areas of the NWFP.
And since the killing of Nawab Bugti and the
exploitation of the rich deposits of copper and
other minerals in Balochistan, the Baloch are
also up in arms. Sindhi, Pashtun and Baloch
nationalisms are gaining momentum, the more so as
the centre is seen in deep alignment with Punjab
- a president, who is supposed to represent the
federation and be politically neutral, in cahoots
with a Punjab-dominated political party and
widely seen as planning the rigged return of his
party into power.
The state is not even refraining from using the
old colonial method of divide and rule - one
ethnic group is being pitted against another in
public advertisements. Sindhis are being told
that a Pashtun killed their leader and Punjabis
are being told that the Sindhis destroyed their
properties and businesses. Such games are of
course designed to strengthen the absolute powers
of the military rulers and their civilian
collaborators while simultaneously weakening the
federating units and their people.
As our history amply testifies, this is a recipe
for disaster. Our rulers have a strange
proclivity to never learn from history. The
lessons of 1971 seem to be forgotten. We
deliberately obliterate from memory what we
refuse to remember. Will we remember and learn
only when another traumatic rupture wakes us up
from the deep historical slumber and callous
obliviousness?
______
[2] CPJ ASKS KARZAI TO INTERVENE IN AFGHAN DEATH SENTENCE
Committee to Protect Journalists
330 7th Avenue, 11th Fl., New York, NY 10001 USA
Phone: (212) 465-1004 Fax: (212) 465-9568
Web: www.cpj.org E-Mail: info at cpj.org
January 30, 2008
President Hamid Karzai
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
C/o The Embassy of Afghanistan
2341 Wyoming Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20008
Via facsimile: 202-483-6487
Dear President Karzai:
The Committee to Protect Journalists has been
closely monitoring the case of Parwez Kambakhsh,
the journalism student who was sentenced to death
on blasphemy charges by the provincial court in
Balkh province. We are disturbed that the upper
house of Afghanistan's parliament gave their
public support to this verdict today, according
to The Associated Press and the BBC.
But we are heartened by the January 23 press
release of the Ministry of Information and
Culture that reaffirmed that the provincial
court's decision in this case was not the final
one. We welcome this as a sign that authorities
in Afghanistan are also monitoring the case
closely and share our concern for allowing
Kambakhsh due legal process.
We now urge you to encourage your government to
act expeditiously to resolve Kambakhsh's case as
soon as legally possible.
The neutrality of the appeal process is
threatened by the high profile of this case. We
urge you, in accordance with Afghanistan's
judicial system, to have the case transferred to
Kabul to ensure that the trial is free of
influences outside the jurisdiction of the courts.
The blasphemy charges against Kambakhsh relate to
his alleged downloading and passing to friends an
article that discussed the rights of women in
Islam. Kambakhsh denies doing either, according
to the Institute for War and Peace Reporting in
Kabul. When the trial took place, it did so in
closed session without a defense lawyer present,
according to news reports that cited Kambakhsh's
family. We call on you to ensure he is given a
proper chance to defend himself publicly in a
court, as guaranteed by Afghan law.
Religious scholars twice recommended the death
penalty before Kambakhsh was tried in the
provincial court in Balkh last week, while
another meeting of clerics in the eastern
province of Nangarhar endorsed the official
verdict on January 26, according to Agence
France-Presse. These recommendations must not
outweigh the penal code of Afghanistan, which
should be used to address Parwez's alleged crime
of damaging Islam.
We appreciate that supporters of the Balkh
court's decision have warned people outside of
Afghanistan not to attempt to influence the
country's internal affairs, but it must be made
clear that Kambakhsh enjoys huge support from
within Afghanistan. Community elders from his
home province of Saripul wrote a letter to the
Balkh provincial court declaring Kambakhsh to be
a good Muslim, according to a communication to
CPJ from the Afghan Independent Journalists
Association. He also has the support of the
elected provincial council in Balkh, the
association says. And local journalists continue
to support him despite the considerable risk
posed by warnings not to do so from the Balkh
Deputy Attorney General Hafizullah Khaliqyar,
which he gave in a media briefing on January 21.
CPJ joins with those Afghans in their belief that
Kambakhsh does not deserve the sentence handed
down by the Balkh provincial court. He should be
allowed to resume his studies without delay or
punishment.
We thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Joel Simon
Executive Director
CC:
Ambassador William Wood, U.S. Embassy in Kabul
Mogens Schmidt, Deputy Assistant Director-General, Freedom of Expression and
Democracy Unit, UNESCO
American Society of Newspaper Editors
Amnesty International
Article 19 (United Kingdom)
Artikel 19 (The Netherlands)
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
Freedom Forum
Freedom House
Human Rights Watch
Index on Censorship
International Center for Journalists
International Federation of Journalists
International PEN
International Press Institute
Michael G. Kozak, U.S. Assistant Secretary for
Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
The Newspaper Guild
The North American Broadcasters Association
Overseas Press Club
______
[3]
Kashmir Times
30 January 2008
Editorial
POLL BOYCOTT SANS GUNS
New Delhi must respond positively to UJC gesture
The announcement by Syed Salahuddin, chairman of
the United Jehad Council, that the militants will
not use guns for their poll boycott campaign
during the forthcoming elections to the Jammu and
Kashmir assembly will be widely welcomed for more
than one reason. The announcement reflects a
shift in the militants strategy and an indication
of their desire to avoid mindless bloodshed and
to create a peaceful climate for pursuing a
process for peace through meaningful and
unconditional dialogue involving India, Pakistan
and the people of Jammu and Kashmir for finding a
solution to the vexed Kashmir problem. Ever since
the militancy erupted in Kashmir following the
highly rigged elections in 1987 different
militant groups had given calls for poll boycott
during every election, be it for the State
assembly or Lok Sabha. There can be no denying
the fact that a large number of voters did not
participate in the polling and these elections in
no way reflected the will of the people. While
the authorities prevented the separatist groups
from organising even peaceful poll boycott and on
a number of occasions used force against them and
even coerced unwilling electorates to cast their
votes, the militant groups too used gun to
threaten the people against joining the poll
process. The phenomenon of poll boycott has not
ben confined to Jammu and Kashmir. In other parts
of the country too the voters and some political
parties give calls for election boycott and many
stay away from the polling. This indeed is a
democratic right of the people to boycott the
elections. We do not have a system of compulsory
voting and the voters are free to exercise their
franchise or stay away from the poll process.
That explains the poor percentage of polling in
different states. If the separatist groups and
militants give a all for poll boycott and
peacefully persuade the voters to stay away from
the poll process then nothing should be done by
the State authorities or central agencies to
forcibly prevent them from having such an
anti-poll campaign.
The UJC decision for not using gun to force the
people from joining their poll boycott campaign
and not to caste votes need to be responded
positively by New Delhi and the State
authorities. While peaceful campaign for boycott
should not be disrupted by arresting leaders or
using brutal force against them, as happened in
the past, the authorities should also ensure that
the armed forces are not used to force the people
to exercise their right of franchise. They should
see to it that the polling is voluntary and
element of force and coercion is totally
eliminated. While asking the separatist leaders
to join in the peaceful anti-poll campaign and
announcing the militants decision against using
gun to force poll boycott, Syed Salauddin has
also made it clear that the gun will be used by
the militants only if the security forces forced
the unwilling voters to vote at gunpoint. New
Delhi on its part must ensure that the polling is
without coercion and security forces are kept at
a distance during the election campaign.
Unfortunately on an earlier occasion New Delhi
missed a golden opportunity for creating a
peaceful climate in the State by not responding
positively to the UJC offer for internal
ceasefire and one hopes the latest positive
gesture of the militant groups in not using gun
during their poll boycott campaign will receive a
positive response from New Delhi. Though the UJC
announcement is only for poll boycott campaign it
does signify a welcome change in their outlook
and strategy. It also demonstrates their faith in
a meaningful peace process.
______
[4] INDIA: THE ONWARD MARCH OF FASCISTS CONTINUES
(i)
Indian Express
January 30, 2008
ARMS ON SHOW AT RSS RALLY
by Milind Ghatwai
BHOPAL, JANUARY 29: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh broke new ground in Madhya Pradesh on
Sunday when its gun-wielding volunteers fired in
the air at the end of an orderly Path Sanchalan
(route march) in Satna town.
The procession of more than 150 volunteers
carrying guns, swords and lathis began from the
Sangh office behind the Kotwali Police Station
and concluded at the same spot after a round of
the main bazaar as onlookers watched in awe.
The firing was reserved for the end. "It was the
work of some young volunteers who were
overwhelmed by the occasion," explained RSS prant
sanchalak Shankarprasad Tamrakar. "It's not
illegal because all weapons were licensed," he
told The Indian Express on Tuesday.
Tamrakar admitted that firing happened for the
first time, but justified the display of weapons
as necessary and integral part of the procession.
Only those volunteers who are part of the Dhwaj
Vahini carry weapons, he claimed.
According to him, the firing took place after
everything was over, and hence, cannot be treated
as part of Path Sanchalan. The local authorities
turned a blind eye to the incident saying no one
complained about firing. A local television
channel showed volunteers in celebratory mood
loading their guns and firing in the air. "They
are following in (Narendra) Modi's footsteps,"
said Satna's Congress unit president Pradyumna
Singh Saluja.
Only a day before, Jabalpur-the headquarters of
Mahakaushal region that includes Satna -
witnessed another huge procession of gun-wielding
volunteers. Though there was no incident of
firing, the number of weapons on display was
large.
Earlier, Path Sanchalan used to be restricted
only to Dusshera celebrations. RSS leaders said
only urban areas carry out processions on the
occasion of Vijaya Dashami while in rural areas
the local units organise them as per convenience.
Madhya Pradesh has seen an unusual spurt in Path
Sanchalans after the BJP wrested power from the
Congress in late 2003.
Ten days ago, RSS insisted on taking out Path
Sanchalan in Badnawar in Dhar district that saw
communal violence two days before. The violence
ensued when RSS volunteers on "awareness rally",
ahead of the Path Sanchalan, entered a Muslim
locality. The route chosen by the RSS coincided
with the one planned by Muslims for their Tazia
procession. A few RSS activists are behind bars
in connection with the Dhar violence.
o o o
(ii)
Indian Express,
January 22, 2008
ONE DEAD, CLASHES IN DHAR AS RSS IGNORES ORDER, TAKES OUT RALLY
Around 1,200 RSS volunteers were arrested on
Monday as they took out a Path Sanchalan in
Badnawar town of Dhar district, violating
prohibitory orders imposed in the wake of
communal clashes. On Saturday, communal clashes
erupted as the RSS took out an "awareness rally"
coinciding with Muharram procession. While RSS
leader Ashish Basu claims a few volunteers were
attacked by a mob after they lost their way and
strayed into a Muslim locality, a local Congress
MLA tells a different story.
"RSS activists attacked a Muslim family in the
Malipura Mohalla, a Hindu-dominated area, killing
60-year-old Abbas Ramzan. They didn’t spare
anyone and chopped off the fingers of a pregnant
woman in the family," local Congress MLA
Rajvardhan Singh told The Indian Express on
Monday. "They didn’t have the permission to take
out a rally and despite that they went ahead.
Even the police couldn’t stop them. Although
authorities had imposed prohibitory orders, they
did not announce a curfew. Despite the obvious
violation of the prohibitory orders, the police
did not arrest them." Defending his activists,
Basu said the event was planned a month in
advance and was impossible to cancel.
Last month, RSS planned a similar Path Sanchalan
in Dewas district which led to communal violence,
following the murder of former pracharak Sunil
Joshi. Joshi, an accused in a double murder, was
gunned down in Dewas town.
URL: www.indianexpress.com/story/264065.html
o o o
(iii)
Mainstream,
26 January 2008
TERRORISM'S NEW SIGNATURE: ENTER HINDUTVA TERRORISTS
by Subhash Gatade
FULL TEXT AT:
http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article521.html
______
[5]
ADVANI TO SET INDIA ABLAZE AGAIN
by I.K.Shukla
Advani's Sankalp Yatra slated to begin Feb.6 must
be stopped in the tracks. And, he should be
arrested for sedition and incitement to violence
and disturbance of public order.
The '92-'93 murders of thousands of Muslims
India-wide in the wake of his Blood Yatrasnot not
yet forgotten, this is the least in terms of law
and order that is imperatively called for from
New Delhi, if UPA as a government has even
vestigial pretensions of governance. This time
around, it can be more explosive, fiercely more
destructive, facilitating BJP's win in various
states and at the centre. That is how Modi was
catapulted into power in 2002 Gujarat on streams
of blood and mounds of skulls and pyramids of
skeletons. That is how Advani had "captured" the
Lok Sabha - through organized violence and
wanton destruction of minority assets - hearths
and homes, shops and offices.He still nurses
animosity against Lalu Prasad Yadav for not
letting him communally burn and bleed Bihar.
Advani is presently under dual compulsion to
outdo himself. One, Atal's shadow must be
exorcised. Advani is impatient to demonstrate
that the power to shake and make things happen
centres in him alone, nowhere else. And, that he
is not yet a dead horse vis-à-vis Modi. He is
constrained to outperform Modi, in his eyes a
mere tyro in terms of hierarchy and outreach. It
is these two prongs that presage that Advani's
Sankalp Yatra will be more deadly than ever
before. Rajnath Singh has explicated what this
Sankalp (determination) is for: it is to win in
the impending assembly and federal elections.
Advani, outside the slammer, has continually
posed a national threat beyond words. He is
petulant about why Afzal Guru has not been
hanged. Why the delay? The same question with
more urgency attaches to him. It has been over 15
years that his involvement in the demolition of
Babri Masjid has been slept over, and his setting
the nation afire with his Blood Yatra camouflaged
with phony legalisms. If the nation is not to
burn and bleed again far more fearsomely than
ever before, his evil design must be pre-empted
by his arrest and the nation saved another
ignominy of orchestrated slide into fascism.
Things are in stark relief after Rajnath Singh's
exhortation to other CMs of BJP-ruled states. He
called upon them to match Modi. In practical
terms, he has enjoined that they too sponsor in
their respective states, the orgies of genocide
against minorities (read Muslims) perpetrating
mass murders, gang rapes, massive arson, and
targeted thugee.
These CMs are impelled to emulate if not outshine
Modi. It is in this set of exigencies that a
moratorium is called for on the diabolical
project of splitting India communally and
drenching it in blood that the RSS and its
various outfits deem ideologically essential and
pragmatically advantageous, in accord with their
previous experience and earlier marches on India.
This March on India must be squelched. This
Caravan of Death must not be allowed to move an
inch.
As in '92-'93, it will, in a chain reaction, set
afire the sub-continent, Pakistan and Bangladesh
n particular, where the Hindu minorities will be
bearing the brunt of massive death and
destruction inspired and instigated by the Indian
saffronazis, the Hindu Taliban.
No merchant of death must get away after plunging
India into shame and infamy times without number.
28Jan.08
______
[6] THE UNNOTICED TURN IN INDIA'S FOREIGN POLICY
(i)
Sahara Times,
30 January 2008
SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
by Kamal Mitra Chenoy
A major shift in India's foreign policy at almost
complete variance with non-alignment has gone
virtually unnoticed. A revised robust form of
non-alignment was envisaged in the UPA-Left
Common Minimum Programme [CMP] which stressed the
need for multi-polarity and a foreign policy
geared to that goal. But like several other
promises in the CMP this was not kept. Instead
following in the footsteps of the earlier NDA
regime, the Manmohan Singh government went in
for a triadic strategic alliance with the US and
Israel.
While there has been much discussion on the
Indo-US civilian nuclear deal, there has been
much less, except by the Left, on India's
strategic shift that this deal represents. The
July 2005 Bush-Manmohan meeting where the basic
decision on the deal was taken also decided on a
joint Global Initiative for Democracy and a
Knowledge Initiative, clearly indicating the
so-called nuclear deal was not on nuclear energy
alone. Weeks earlier a Indo-US Joint Defence
Framework agreement was signed which along with
joint exercises, indicated possible Indian
participation in the Proliferation Security
Initiative [PSI] which would draw Indian forces
to checking foreign ships for nuclear materials
on the high seas, and even joint action in a
third country outside the UN mandate. Military
bases were to be opened and facilities provided
to both countries in the other country. This has
now been encapsulated in the Logistics Support
Agreement now vigorously opposed by the Left.
The much discussed Hyde Act of the US Congress
gave the whole game away. It called for an Indian
foreign policy congruent with that of the US.
India was explicitly expected to join the US in
its hostile policy against Iran. And the US did
not soften its non-proliferation agenda even for
the receptive UPA regime. It called for India to
sign the Fissile Materials Cut-off Treaty [FMCT]
which would curb any further nuclear weapons. It
also called for a nuclear weapons free zone in
South Asia, effectively calling for India and
Pakistan to give up its nuclear weapons, without
any corresponding commitment by the US to move
towards global disarmament. Similarly there was
an unstated requirement for India to continue
with its unilateral moratorium on nuclear
testing, without any corresponding US commitment.
In fact a close reading of the US Congress'
debates made it clear that nuclear testing by
India would be a deal breaker. But to respond to
Indian sensibilities and facilitate the passage
of the deal, this was not explicitly stated.
A lot of these stipulations were laid down in
Section 103 of the Hyde Act, which President Bush
said he, using his Presidential prerogative,
would not necessarily implement. This was played
up by the UPA government as a major concession.
But this was a hedged condition. It was not clear
which parts of Section 103 would be waived and
for how long. In any case, well before the first
US reactor is installed, Bush would be gone and a
new President installed, probably a Democrat.
Also the FMCT and Iran were mentioned in other
sections like Section 104, which were not waived.
The significant thing is that despite the Indo-US
nuclear deal being put on hold because of
sustained Left pressure, the strategic shift
towards the US continues. The US National
Intelligence Estimate [NIE] released late last
year corrected the NIE of 2005, and found that
Iran was not working towards making a nuclear
weapon since Fall 2003. The neo-cons and Zionists
launched a major attack on the latest NIE and
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert threatened to
go ahead on his own to bomb Iran if this was
considered necessary. This was met with a
deafening silence by India. In talks with Russia,
India was offered additional nuclear reactors for
its Koodunkulam plant, but the Indian delegation
stalled. The only conceivable reason would be an
attempt to give a positive signal to the US and
its nuclear lobby that Russian competition would
not be favoured. Similarly, there is no
discussion on the Iran-Pakistan-India gas
pipeline, even though the Iranians and the
Pakistanis have come to some understanding. This
again is a concession to the Americans.
One of the most shameful features of this
unsanctioned strategic shift is the shift towards
a militarist Israel, at the cost of the
Palestinian movement and people. The Israelis are
now a major arms supplier to India. Israel sells
more arms to India than to any other country.
India was the chosen site for the launch of two
Israeli satellites, to be followed by more. This
is the same Israel that has violated more than
100 UN resolutions, many of these like 242, 338,
being of the Security Council, qualifying for the
dubious category of a 'rogue state.' It routinely
assassinates its opponents, builds illegal
settlements on occupied land, and unleashes
collective punishment against the Palestinians.
In the fairest elections in Israel under
international supervision, Hamas won. Through
US-Israel machinations the PLO was facilitated to
take over power from the Hamas. In further trying
to destroy Hamas' political base, the Israelis
blockaded Gaza denying it essential supplies, a
collective punishment which was as UN officials
pointed out a violation of international
humanitarian law. Finally, the starving
Palestinians broke through Egyptian checkpoints
in order to buy food and other essential supplies.
All through this the Indian government kept
quiet. There was not a word of protest. European
governments protested as did African, Asian and
Arab governments. But the Indian government that
had voted in the UN against the creation of
Israel and for many decades was a staunch
supporter of an independent Palestine with its
capitol in Jerusalem, has shamelessly kept quiet.
This is a very major foreign policy shift for
which the UPA government has no parliamentary or
popular sanction. It also makes a mockery of the
UPA's self serving claims that it is adopting a
principled foreign policy while continuing to
modernize it. It evidently doesn't care how hated
Zionism is, and in contrast how respected the
Palestinian struggle is world over.
The question arises: should people, citizens have
any say in foreign policy? Well, even in the US
they do. In the Republican and Democratic
primaries in which millions of Americans will
participate, foreign policy is a major issue that
is being discussed including the war in Iraq.
India should learn this from the West. Foreign
policy is too important to be left to the
politicians and the policy elite. The impact of
West Asian policy on Iran and Israel will have
major implications for Indian foreign policy in
general, and on the issues of occupation and
empire in particular. This is too important to be
kept out of detailed parliamentary debate.
But this is the crux of the matter. Under the
Manmohan government, a Congress party which has a
143 Lok Sabha seats behaves like it has 411 as in
Rajiv Gandhi's time. And the radical shifting of
foreign policy is being done through a politics
of stealth: surreptitiously, quietly, with
hidden policy conclaves. This must be stopped by
principles politics by the Left, UPA allies and
the social movements. Gandhi's, Nehru's India on
vital foreign policy issues must not under
US-Zionist pressure adopt the silence of the
lambs.
[Kamal Mitra Chenoy, is professor, School of
International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru
University]
o o o
(ii)
truthout.org
29 January 2008
A SPY SATELLITE AND A STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP
by J. Sri Raman
On January 21, a cloudy Monday, India's polar
satellite launch vehicle PSLV C10 put Israeli
satellite Tecsar into orbit. The launch was not
conducted with the customary fanfare. The media,
usually a special invitee and a ringside
spectator at such events of the Indian Space
Research Organization (ISRO), was pointedly kept
away. Reason: Israel wanted no media witnesses at
the launch of its spy satellite.
Israeli daily Haaretz minced no words about
the satellite's mission. It said that the
"sophisticated new spy satellite ... could boost
intelligence-gathering capabilities regarding
Iran." In a separate analysis, the same daily
said that the satellite "enables Israel to
establish a new point of view in space, allowing
it photographic angles and reception of Iranian
communications, which were unavailable in prior
satellite launches." A news agency quoted another
analyst as saying that that the satellite was
"meant to give Israel the capability to keep an
eye on the Iranian nuclear program."
The launch was not the first illustration of
a strikingly significant change in India's policy
towards Iran, long considered the South Asian
country's "civilizational ally." India had voted
with the US and against Iran in meetings of the
Board of Governors of the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) twice, in 2005 and 2006. The
votes were widely seen as signs of a new US-India
"strategic alliance." The launch revealed the
third dimension that New Delhi - obviously along
with Washington with its well-advertised stakes
in spying on Iran - was trying to give the
alliance.
This was not an abrupt development. The
foundation for the significantly expanded
"strategic alliance" was laid during the term of
the far right Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in
New Delhi. Then-National Security Adviser Brajesh
Mishra spelt out the idea and the objective five
years ago. During a visit to Washington in 2003,
Mishra declared that "a core consisting of
democratic societies must emerge, which can take
on international terrorism in a holistic and
frontal manner...."
Identifying India, the US and Israel as three
such societies, facing "similar threats of
terrorism," he called for their "strategic
partnership." The Vajpayee regime's enthusiasm
for the partnership was not confined to words. It
had already sought and acquired "anti-terror"
Israeli expertise for operations in Kashmir,
which has always figured crucially in
India-Pakistan conflicts.
New Delhi then also lobbied for Tel Aviv's
sale of the Phalcon airborne early warning radar
system - jointly developed by the US and Israel.
The negotiations reached an advanced stage
rapidly after Mishra's appeal for a new axis. The
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which headed
Vajpayee's coalition government, had always
considered Israel a "natural ally" against
"Islamic terror," identified mainly with
Pakistan. With the party in power, India's new
defense ties with Israel with a definite
"anti-Islamist" dimension were in for a dramatic
escalation.
India's dependence on Arab oil might have
dictated some discretion, but military relations
with Israel were not to be reversed. The Kargil
conflict of 1999 between India and Pakistan saw
New Delhi seeking active Israeli support. As one
approving report of the time put it , "Israel dug
deep into its military equipment reserves to
supply ordnance and unmanned aerial vehicles
(UAV) in order to give the ill-prepared and
ill-equipped Indian Army the edge over Pakistan
in the 11-week-long war."
The coming to power of the United Progressive
Alliance (UPA) government under Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh, after the BJP's electoral defeat
in 2004, made only a cosmetic difference to the
policy. The India-Israeli military relationship
went "underground," as another analyst put it,
but was pursued vigorously nevertheless.
In 2006, top Indian defense officials made
covert visits to Israel. Indian Air Force Chief
Marshal S. P. Tyagi and the Navy Vice Chief, Vice
Admiral Venkat Bharathan, were among those who
made such secret trips. Bilateral military ties
with Israel, by now the second-largest defense
supplier to India (after Russia) with sales worth
around $900 million a year, were to burgeon
further.
Advanced radars, long-endurance and
high-altitude UAVs, electronic warfare systems
and third-generation night-fighting capabilities
were to figure in the talks. The priority area,
however, remained that of missiles and
anti-missile defense systems, with which the
spy-satellite-launching ISRO had always as much
to do as with civilian space programs.
The array of missiles, on which India-Israel
collaboration was achieved over the years, ranged
from the air-to-surface Crystal Maze and the
air-to-air Python to the Navy's Barak
anti-missile defense project (embroiled in a
corruption scandal). During his Israeli visit,
Tyagi also reviewed the progress of the $1.1
billion Phalcon project.
The days of discreet visits were soon over,
however. In July 2007, the Indian media gave
concerted publicity and coverage to an
India-Israel plan to jointly develop a missile
system worth $2.47 billion. The missile system,
expected to take four to five years to develop,
is reportedly capable of detecting and destroying
aircraft, missiles and drones at a range of 70
kilometers. The entire program is claimed to be
an extension of a $480 million Israel Aerospace
Industries project, launched in January 2006 to
develop a supersonic 60-kilometer missile defense
system for the Indian Navy.
The strategic aspect of the bilateral
relations has not been lost sight of. In October
2006, Israeli Ambassador to India Daniel Danieli
ruffled many feathers in India by praising the
BJP's call for a proactive Indian role in
dismantling terrorist camps in Pakistan and
Bangladesh. Less than a year later, a high-level
Israeli military delegation was reported to have
been taken to the India-administered State of
Jammu and Kashmir to formulate "anti-infiltration
strategies." The Indian Army also uses a wide
range of Israeli surveillance devices along the
border with Pakistan.
The launch of the anti-Iran spy satellite
makes the ever-expanding India-Israel military
relations a threat to peace over a larger region
than the subcontinent of South Asia's
nuclear-armed rivals.
______
[7] Announcements:
(i)
ASSOCIATION FOR PROTECTION OF DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS (APDR)
18 Madan Boral Lane Kolkata 700 012 Tel : 033/2237 6459
BANDIMUKTI COMMITTEE (BMC)
18 Surya Sen Street Kolkata 700 012 Tel : 033/22419263
PRESS CONFERENCE
SUB : Appeal of Sm. Anasua Sen, Mother Dr.
Binayak Sen, National Vice President, PUCL and
General Secretary Chattisgarh State PUCL and
his continued Detention
On Thursday 31 January at 2 PM
At PRESS CLUB, Kolkata
Sm. Aparna Sen, Sr Bibhas Chakrabarty, Sm.
Mahasweta Devi, Sri Meher Engineer, Sri Sunanda
Sanyal, Sm. Anasua Sen, Mother [of] Dr. Binayak
Sen and others will be present at the Press
Conference
Amitadyuti Kumar
Tel 033/26801439 (M) 9433346109
___
(ii) PROGRAMME CNDP CONVENTION, FEB., 2008
December 31, 2007
Dear Friends,
We enclose here the final programme of the
forthcoming Third National Convention of the CNDP
to be held from February 1-3, 2008 at Vasant
Rao Despande Sabhagraha in Nagpur.
This programme has been ratified by the Programme
Committee that was established at the last NCC
meeting in Sept. end, 2007 at Delhi. The idea is
to arrange the programme so that CNDP can move
forward politically and organizationally. Also as
experience since the last CNDP National
Convention (including the highly contentious
debate on Nandigram) has shown, the political
remit of CNDP has to be clarified in the most
democratic way conceivable while recognizing also
the necessity for political evolution and forward
movement.
As of now the practical consensual agreement on
what the CNDP takes up as its activities relates
to four broad areas - nuclear weaponisation,
regional and global; nuclear energy as per the
limits in the Charter which takes up the concerns
of transparency, accountability, safety and
compensation but not a formal position for or
against nuclear energy; opposition to the illegal
occupations of Iraq and Palestine as part of a
larger opposition to imperialist behaviour
globally; promotion of Indo-Pakistan peace and
friendship.
We believe the finalized format meets these
conditions and realities. We urge you to please
come to this important event. Accommodation and
food expenses during the period of the Convention
will be covered. There will be a registration fee
of Rs. 150/- per delegate ( Rs.100 for students)
to be paid on the first day at the registration
desk where delegates will receive their folders.
Please inform about your arrival and departure
time and dates to the following contacts:
CNDP office.
A- 124 / 6,1st Floor, Katwaria Sarai, New Delhi -16
Phone : 011- 26517814
E-mail : cndpindia at gmail.com
Local contact in Nagpur
Jammu Anand - 09923022545 (E-mail: jammuanand at yahoo.com)
15, Onkar Apartments, Near Ajit Bakery, Dharampeth,
Nagpur
And
Prakash Meghe - 09890889391
Accomodation At:
160, Tenaments, Near MLA Hostel, Civil Lines, Nagpur
Looking forward to seeing you there,
Fraternally,
Anil Chaudhury
(On behalf of the NCC of the CNDP)
PROGRAMME SCHEDULE
Day 1: Feb 1, 2008
09:30 - 10:30
Registration
10:30 - 10:45
Welcome
10:45 - 10:50
Explanation of Programme and the functions of
the various necessaray standing committees
dealing with various process during the
convention.
10 50 - 11:00
Concise report of CNDP activities since the last National Convention
11:00 - 13:00
Session 1: "Nuclear Disarmament - The State of the World"
Chair - Admiral Ramdas
Speakers -
J. Sri Raman, John Hallam, Karamat Ali, N.D.Jayprakash & Achin Vanaik
13:00 - 14:30
Lunch
14:30 - 17:30
Session 2: "Indo-US Nuclear Deal".
Chair - Illina Sen
Speakers
Praful Bidwai, Sukla Sen, Sandeep Pandey & G. Subramaniam
17:30 onwards
Cultural Activities / Rally
2nd Day : Feb 2,2008 Parallel workshops
10:00 - 13:00
Session 1
Palestine issue
Feroz Mithiborewala & Kamal Mitra Chenoy
Iran issue
Qamar Agha & Mazher Hussain
Millitarization / Nuclearization of South Asia
A.S.Verma, Kavita Srivastava & Karamat Ali
Terrorism issue and its misuse for US imperial purpose
Achin Vanaik & Anil Chaudhary
14:30 - 17:00
Session II
Nuclear Energy - Developments in India and the World
Channa Basavaiah & Praful Bidwai
Uranium Mining in India
Dr. Satyalakshmi, Sri Prakash & Ghanshyam Biruli
Health and Radiation issues
Dr. Shakeel Ur Rahman & Dr S.P. Udayakumar
Peace Education
Sandeep Sethi & Sandeep Pandey
17:30 onwards
Cultural Activities
3rd Day : Feb 3, 2008
10.00 - 13.00
(The process of the deliberations will be
decided in due course of time and through wider
consultation)
1. Discussion on organizational matters:
i.e. structure, sharing of responsibilities, role
of state chapters, and their relationship with
national coordination committee, functioning of
secretariat of NCC, and finances.
2. Discussion on ’boundaries’ and/or 'limits' of CNDP mandate.
3. Presentation and discussion on
resolution(s) facilitated By - Drafting
committee: (Sukla Sen / Achin / Subbu /
M.V.Ramana)
___
(iii) D.D. KOSAMBI FESTIVAL OF IDEAS
Kala Academy, Goa, February 4-7 2008
4th February :
1. Hamid Ansari , Vice President: Inaugural Lecture "DDK's Thoughts on Peace"
2. Meera Kosambi: "DDK - the scholar and the man"
5th .
P. Sainath: "Rising inequality & the danger to democracy"
6th
Romila Thapar : D.D. Kosambi's Legacy to the Study of Ancient Indian History.
7th
Vivek Monteiro : Science as the cognition of necessity.
A prizewinning exhibition of photographs by Sainath VISIBLE WORK,
INVISIBLE WOMEN will remain open from 4th till noon 7th.
All lectures are at DM auditorium, Kala Academy at 5.30pm
But on 4th it will start at 5pm and seating will
be requested much earlier; security will be
tight on that day.
Please spread the word and bring all your friends.
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
Buzz for secularism, on the dangers of fundamentalism(s), on
matters of peace and democratisation in South
Asia. SACW is an independent & non-profit
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