I came across this article in the Indian online papers about the 1971 War, and how India, led by Mrs. Gandhi and General 'Sam Bahadur', scored one of India's most glorious victories in our modern era.
Before I begin quoting the article, I just want our politicians to realize that the world only respects those who stand up for themselves. If they think the countries of the world will respect them for the visionless pussies that they are, then they are grossly mistaken. I am absolutely positive that the flag of India is being led across the world by our entrepreneurs and the common citizen, while the politicians are just scurrying along behind them, desperately trying to still look important. Sure they are ruthless tyrants at home, but I am sure the rest of the world considers them inconsequential.
1971 War: How the US tried to corner India
'India won a glorious victory against Pakistan in the 1971 war. It was the first decisive victory in a major war in centuries. And it was won singlehandedly, in the face of opposition and threats from a majority of the UN member-States, including a superpower. Every Indian patriot felt proud of this glittering chapter in the nation's history.'
-- Dr S N Prasad in his introduction to the Indian government's 'restricted' Official History of the 1971 War.
A few months ago, the Office of the Historian at the US State Department released Volume XI of the Foreign Relations of the United States devoted to the 'South Asia Crisis, 1971': in other words, the Bangladesh War.
This 929-page publication groups together documents which were already known like the minutes of Henry Kissinger's secret visit to China in July 1971 as well as scores of freshly declassified material available for the first time to the public.
It throws light on a less known angle of the India-Pakistan conflict: The role of the nascent friendship between the United States and China. This is a welcome new piece in the puzzle of the history of the 1971 War.
Another piece is the Hamidur Rahman Report, ordered by the government of Pakistan after the war, which analyses the Pakistani defeat. 'Due to corruption... lust for wine and women and greed for land and houses, a large number of senior army officers, particularly those occupying the highest positions, had not only lost the will to fight but also the professional competence necessary for taking the vital and critical decisions demanded of them for the successful prosecution of the war.'
The US administration saw the unfurling events differently.
According to Kissinger, then American President Richard M Nixon's national security adviser, 'When the Nixon administration took office, our policy objective on the subcontinent was, quite simply, to avoid adding another complication to our agenda.'
But events in the subcontinent and the Chinese factor forced Nixon to change his stand. The new closeness between Washington, DC and Beijing and the involvement of the Pakistan president as a secret go-between greatly influenced US policy.
According to the State Department historian, 'When the fighting developed, the Nixon administration tilted toward Pakistan. The tilt involved the dispatch of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise to the Bay of Bengal to try to intimidate the Indian government. It also involved encouraging China to make military moves to achieve the same end, and an assurance to China that if China menaced India and the Soviet Union moved against China in support of India, the United States would protect China from the Soviet Union. China chose not to menace India, and the crisis on the subcontinent ended without a confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union.'
In a telegram sent on March 28, 1971, the staff at the US consulate in Dhaka complained, 'Our government has failed to denounce the suppression of democracy. Our government has failed to denounce atrocities. Our government has failed to take forceful measures to protect its citizens while at the same time bending over backwards to placate the West Pak dominated government... We, as professional public servants express our dissent with current policy and fervently hope that our true and lasting interests here can be defined and our policies redirected in order to salvage our nation's position as a moral leader of the free world.'
When US Secretary of State Will Rogers received this 'miserable' cable, he informed President Nixon that the 'Dacca consulate is in open rebellion.' This did not change Nixon's opinion: 'The people who bitch about Vietnam bitch about it because we intervened in what they say is a civil war. Now some of the same bastards...want us to intervene here -- both civil wars.'
From the start, the Nixon administration knew 'the prospects were "poor"... the Pakistani army would not be able to exert effective control over East Pakistan.' Washington believed India was bound to support Mujibur Rahman. The CIA had reported that 'India would foster and support Bengali insurgency and contribute to the likelihood that an independent Bangladesh would emerge from the developing conflict.'
It is here that the Chinese saga began. In a tightly guarded secret, Nixon had started contacts with Beijing. The postman was Pakistani dictator Field Marshal Yahya Khan.
When on April 28 1971, Kissinger sent a note defining the future policy option towards Pakistan, Nixon replied in a handwritten note: 'Don't squeeze Yahya at this time.' The Pakistan president was not to be squeezed because he was in the process of arranging Kissinger's first secret meeting to China. The events of the following months and the US position should be seen in this perspective.
In May, Indira Gandhi wrote to Nixon about the 'carnage in East Bengal' and the flood of refugees burdening India. After L K Jha, then the Indian ambassador to US, had warned Kissinger that India might have to send back some of the refugees as guerillas, Nixon commented, 'By God we will cut off economic aid (to India).'
A few days later when the US president said 'the goddamn Indians' were preparing for another war, Kissinger retorted 'they are the most aggressive goddamn people around.'
During the second week of July, Kissinger went to Beijing where he was told by then Chinese prime minister Zhou Enlai: 'In our opinion, if India continues on its present course in disregard of world opinion, it will continue to go on recklessly. We, however, support the stand of Pakistan. This is known to the world. If they (the Indians) are bent on provoking such a situation, then we cannot sit idly by.' Kissinger answered that Zhou should know that the US sympathies also lay with Pakistan.
On his return, during a meeting of the National Security Council, Nixon continued his India bashing. The Indians, he noted, are 'a slippery, treacherous people.'
The State Department historian says, 'in the perspective of Washington, the crisis ratcheted up a dangerous notch on August 9 when India and the Soviet Union signed a treaty of peace, friendship and cooperation.' It was a shock for Washington as they saw a deliberate collusion between Delhi and Moscow.
During the following months, the situation deteriorated and many more refugees came to India. The Indian prime minister decided to tour Western capitals to explain the Indian stand. On November 4 and 5, she met Nixon in Washington, who told her that a new war in the subcontinent was out of the question.
The next day, Nixon and Kissinger assessed the situation. Kissinger told Nixon: 'The Indians are bastards anyway. They are plotting a war.'
To divert the pressure applied by the Mukti Bahini on the eastern front, the Pakistan air force launched an attack on six Indian airfields in Kashmir and Punjab on December 3. It was the beginning of the war.
The next day, then US ambassador to the United Nations George H W Bush -- later 41st president of the United States and father of the current American president -- introduced a resolution in the UN Security Council calling for a cease-fire and the withdrawal of armed forces by India and Pakistan. It was vetoed by the Soviet Union. The following days witnessed a great pressure on the Soviets from the Nixon-Kissinger duo to get India to withdraw, but to no avail.
The CIA reported to the President: 'She (Indira Gandhi) hopes the Chinese (will) not intervene physically in the North; however, the Soviets have warned her that the Chinese are still able to "rattle the sword" in Ladakh and Chumbi areas.'
On December 9, when the CIA director warned Nixon that 'East Pakistan was crumbling', Nixon decided to send the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise into the Bay of Bengal to threaten India.
Let me recount an anecdote related to me by Major General K K Tewari (retd), Chief Signal Officer, Eastern Command, during the 1971 War.
General Tewari was present at a briefing the three defence services held for Indira Gandhi. She was seated at a large table. On one side was General S H F J Manekshaw, the army chief, and on the other Admiral S M Nanda, the navy chief.
During the course of the presentation, the admiral intervened and said: 'Madam, the US 8th Fleet is sailing into the Bay of Bengal.' Nothing happened; the briefing continued. After sometime, the admiral repeated, 'Madam, I have to inform you that the 8th Fleet is sailing into the Bay of Bengal.' She cut him off immediately: 'Admiral, I heard you the first time, let us go on with the briefing.'
All the officers present were stunned. Ultimately, their morale was tremendously boosted by the prime minister's attitude. She had demonstrated her utter contempt for the American bluff.
For Kissinger it was clear that Indira Gandhi wanted the dismemberment of Pakistan.
On November 10, Nixon instructed Kissinger to ask the Chinese to move some troops toward the Indian frontier. 'Threaten to move forces or move them, Henry, that's what they must do now.'
This was conveyed to Huang Hua, China's envoy to the United Nations. Kissinger told Huang the US would be prepared for a military confrontation with the Soviet Union if the Soviet Union attacked China.
On December 12, the White House received an urgent message. The Chinese wanted to meet in New York. General Alexander Haig, then Kissinger's deputy, rushed to the venue, but was disappointed. Huang just wanted to convey his government's stand in the UN, no words of an attack in Sikkim or in the then North East Frontier Agency (now, the northeastern states).
The myth of the Chinese intervention is also visible in the secret Pakistani dispatches. Lieutenant General A A K Niazi, the Pakistani army commander in Dhaka, was informed: 'NEFA front has been activated by Chinese although the Indians for obvious reasons have not announced it.'
Until the last day of the war, Pakistan expected its Chinese saviour to strike, but Beijing never did.
In Washington, Nixon analysed the situation thus: 'If the Russians get away with facing down the Chinese and the Indians get away with licking the Pakistanis...we may be looking down the gun barrel.' Nixon was not sure about China. Did they really intend to start a military action against India?
Finally, on December 16, Niazi surrendered to Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora. Nixon and Kissinger congratulated themselves for achieving their fundamental goal -- the preservation of West Pakistan. They were also happy for having 'scared the pants off the Russians.'
It is worth mentioning an episode which, of course, does not appear in the American archives -- The Tibetan participation in the conflict. After the debacle of 1962, the Government of India had recruited some Tibetans youth in the eventuality of another conflict with China. The Special Frontier Force was trained in Chakrata in Uttar Pradesh under the command of an Indian general.
In 1971, nine years after its creation, the SFF was sent to East Pakistan to prepare for the arrival of regular Indian troops. Their saga is one of the least known parts of the Bangladesh war.
Late October 1971, an AN-12 airlifted nearly 3,000 Tibetans who later assembled at Demagiri close to the India-East Pakistan border. On the other side of the border were the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Armed with Bulgarian-made assault rifles, the SFF was given the task of organising guerrilla raids across the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Opposite the SSF, in thick jungles and leech-infested marshes, was stationed a Pakistan brigade, including a battalion of its elite Special Services Group.
During the second week of November, Operation Eagle began. Leaving Demagiri in canoes, the Tibetans commandos entered East Pakistan. The SFF then started overrunning one Pakistani post after another.
By the time the war was officially declared, the Tibetans had already been inside East Pakistan for more than three weeks. Using both their Bulgarian rifles and native knives, they advanced swiftly. Their Indian commandaner, Major General S S Uban later said, 'They were unstoppable.'
On December 16, the SSF was 40 kilometers away from Chittagong port, having successfully managed to neutralise the Pakistani brigade.
After Pakistan's surrender, they paraded through Chittagong. Unfortunately, 49 Tibetans lost their lives for a nation which was not theirs.
The release of the State Department volume on the 1971 conflict is a posthumous homage to the courage of the Indian Army which despite heavy odds and the might of the United States freed Bangladesh from Pakistani clutches.
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Monday, December 11, 2006
Fighting terror? Not if you are neta
Indian Government is working on an anti-terror law that, among other things, adds the new clause that we will not negotiate with hostage-takers anymore. Any self-respecting Indian will recall the numerous instances where the gutless politicians of India have completely crumbled under threats from terrorists.
Many people will probably not remember that a daughter of the former Kashmir CM, Mufti Mohd Sayeed, was kidnapped and the scared politicians released some dreaded terrorists that were caught by our forces.
Then of course, the world renowned IC-814 happened, and the entire government of India was wondering what the hell to do. The crying and fighting relatives of the people on the plane convinced the politicians that the safety of this nation is not as important to them. There was lack of decision making on all levels. The NSG commados could have stormed the plane in Amritsar, but no green signal was forthcoming from New Delhi. Finally we negotiated with the terrorists in their territory, and obviously got the raw end of the deal. But like they say, there is no use digging up dead corpses. I don't know if there is such a phrase in English, but there is one in Hindi, hence the usage. :)
Since then I have been hearing of new laws that will legally bar any government to negotiate with terrorists. I had no idea it would take more than 6 years for something of that necessity to be put into place. But then, national security was never a priority for any politician. The good people in our governments do not make the decisions, the paid off, selfish, self-serving politicians do.
Recently, the Chief of the Information Bureau, the agency responsible for dometic intelligence, pleaded to the Prime Minister to bring about a change in our terror and intelligence laws so that our RAW and IB sleuths have more teeth to do their job. But as expected, the PM ducked the call to become tougher with our nation's enemies.
I ask this question - Can one imagine the low morale of our soldiers, not only on the border but in every aspect of national security, when thei r own elected leaders do not give two hoots about the well being of their own country? They are literally being put as a first line of defense without giving them any weapons to fight with. Our weapons deals take forever to be inked, and when they are inked, they come with the inevitable payoff scandal. Our domestic defense industry is in tatters so that the politicians can pocket their cut. Our soldiers on the borders, especially the Bangladesh border, have no amenities and absolutely no support to fight the hordes of Bangladeshis ready to cut our North-east from us. But you think the impotents sitting in their well guarded mansions in New Delhi will care? They will not till the next bullet from a terrorist's gun hits somebody who is close to their heart.
The politicians of this country stopped feeling the pain of the common man a long time ago. Anyways, I digress. I really get swept in my emotions, and it becomes hard for me to stick to my theme of my posts. I wanted to post the news items related to the new terror laws and all that.
Kalam for special force to fight terror
Even as the debate on modernisation of the police force is underway, President APJ Abdul Kalam has proposed the setting up of a dedicated police force equipped with sophisticated gadgetry to fight low-intensity warfare to combat terrorism and extremism.
"In order to contain terrorism, the police force will have to create a new cadre trained in low-intensity
warfare and equipped with state-of-the-art technologies,"he said.
Noting that terrorists were using latest technologies in their disruptive activities, Kalam said "very conscious" police personnel using a combination of human intelligence and connectivity across police forces in many states is the need of the hour. Such a modern police force can effectively contribute to the eradication of terror, he said.
Kalam added that the country would have to use innovative tools like mutual legal assistance treaties with other nations "to ensure that organised criminals do not defeat the law enforcement process by taking advantage of crossing national boundaries and evading prosecution".
He said legal reforms like witness protection, concealing the identity of witnesses, compounding of offences and suitable protection to judges would go a long way in reducing the stress on the criminal justice system.
------------------------------------------
That is what our President has to say, but of course, like I said, the people who actually have balls and care enough for this country do not get to make the decisions. Dr. Singh, under orders from Her Highness the Queen and his gutless political alliance, says that no, we are fine the way we are.
Existing laws enough to tackle terror: PM
PM Manmohan Singh on Saturday joined the debate on whether a special law was needed to fight the challenge of terrorism, virtually turning down the demand of Intelligence Bureau chief E S L Narasimhan for the enactment of a new law.
In what was seen as a riposte to Narasimhan’s spirited pitch for a special law on the ground that existing legal architecture was not adequate to deal with the new-age terrorist, Singh suggested that authorities should take recourse to "stringent measures" under existing laws to "cut off" the illegal flow of money to terrorists through money laundering and organised crime.
Speaking at a seminar on "Law, Terrorism and Development" here, the PM was in complete agreement with the IB on the threat posed by different forms of terrorism. "Having large financial and material resources at their disposal, terrorist groups are able to use modern communication systems and state-of-the art technology to pursue their agenda. They have become more sophisticated, better networked and highly motivated in carrying out their nefarious designs. A matter of extreme concern is also their linkage with organised crime, like drug trafficking, gun running, counterfeit currency and money-laundering," he said.
However, he appeared to suggest that existing laws had enough teeth. "We also need to use relevant provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act to cut off the flow of funds to terrorist groups," Singh said.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Satyamev Jayte, Sir ji, butchering our brothers and sisters daily notwithstanding. As long as my neta is safe in his/her house, I can sleep in peace. That is our karma.
Many people will probably not remember that a daughter of the former Kashmir CM, Mufti Mohd Sayeed, was kidnapped and the scared politicians released some dreaded terrorists that were caught by our forces.
Then of course, the world renowned IC-814 happened, and the entire government of India was wondering what the hell to do. The crying and fighting relatives of the people on the plane convinced the politicians that the safety of this nation is not as important to them. There was lack of decision making on all levels. The NSG commados could have stormed the plane in Amritsar, but no green signal was forthcoming from New Delhi. Finally we negotiated with the terrorists in their territory, and obviously got the raw end of the deal. But like they say, there is no use digging up dead corpses. I don't know if there is such a phrase in English, but there is one in Hindi, hence the usage. :)
Since then I have been hearing of new laws that will legally bar any government to negotiate with terrorists. I had no idea it would take more than 6 years for something of that necessity to be put into place. But then, national security was never a priority for any politician. The good people in our governments do not make the decisions, the paid off, selfish, self-serving politicians do.
Recently, the Chief of the Information Bureau, the agency responsible for dometic intelligence, pleaded to the Prime Minister to bring about a change in our terror and intelligence laws so that our RAW and IB sleuths have more teeth to do their job. But as expected, the PM ducked the call to become tougher with our nation's enemies.
I ask this question - Can one imagine the low morale of our soldiers, not only on the border but in every aspect of national security, when thei r own elected leaders do not give two hoots about the well being of their own country? They are literally being put as a first line of defense without giving them any weapons to fight with. Our weapons deals take forever to be inked, and when they are inked, they come with the inevitable payoff scandal. Our domestic defense industry is in tatters so that the politicians can pocket their cut. Our soldiers on the borders, especially the Bangladesh border, have no amenities and absolutely no support to fight the hordes of Bangladeshis ready to cut our North-east from us. But you think the impotents sitting in their well guarded mansions in New Delhi will care? They will not till the next bullet from a terrorist's gun hits somebody who is close to their heart.
The politicians of this country stopped feeling the pain of the common man a long time ago. Anyways, I digress. I really get swept in my emotions, and it becomes hard for me to stick to my theme of my posts. I wanted to post the news items related to the new terror laws and all that.
Kalam for special force to fight terror
Even as the debate on modernisation of the police force is underway, President APJ Abdul Kalam has proposed the setting up of a dedicated police force equipped with sophisticated gadgetry to fight low-intensity warfare to combat terrorism and extremism.
"In order to contain terrorism, the police force will have to create a new cadre trained in low-intensity
warfare and equipped with state-of-the-art technologies,"he said.
Noting that terrorists were using latest technologies in their disruptive activities, Kalam said "very conscious" police personnel using a combination of human intelligence and connectivity across police forces in many states is the need of the hour. Such a modern police force can effectively contribute to the eradication of terror, he said.
Kalam added that the country would have to use innovative tools like mutual legal assistance treaties with other nations "to ensure that organised criminals do not defeat the law enforcement process by taking advantage of crossing national boundaries and evading prosecution".
He said legal reforms like witness protection, concealing the identity of witnesses, compounding of offences and suitable protection to judges would go a long way in reducing the stress on the criminal justice system.
------------------------------------------
That is what our President has to say, but of course, like I said, the people who actually have balls and care enough for this country do not get to make the decisions. Dr. Singh, under orders from Her Highness the Queen and his gutless political alliance, says that no, we are fine the way we are.
PM Manmohan Singh on Saturday joined the debate on whether a special law was needed to fight the challenge of terrorism, virtually turning down the demand of Intelligence Bureau chief E S L Narasimhan for the enactment of a new law.
In what was seen as a riposte to Narasimhan’s spirited pitch for a special law on the ground that existing legal architecture was not adequate to deal with the new-age terrorist, Singh suggested that authorities should take recourse to "stringent measures" under existing laws to "cut off" the illegal flow of money to terrorists through money laundering and organised crime.
Speaking at a seminar on "Law, Terrorism and Development" here, the PM was in complete agreement with the IB on the threat posed by different forms of terrorism. "Having large financial and material resources at their disposal, terrorist groups are able to use modern communication systems and state-of-the art technology to pursue their agenda. They have become more sophisticated, better networked and highly motivated in carrying out their nefarious designs. A matter of extreme concern is also their linkage with organised crime, like drug trafficking, gun running, counterfeit currency and money-laundering," he said.
However, he appeared to suggest that existing laws had enough teeth. "We also need to use relevant provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act to cut off the flow of funds to terrorist groups," Singh said.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Satyamev Jayte, Sir ji, butchering our brothers and sisters daily notwithstanding. As long as my neta is safe in his/her house, I can sleep in peace. That is our karma.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Check out DIAL!!
The impending upgrades of the DIAL and the MIAL are being eagerly awaited for quite a while now, and things looked positively ahead last month when the Delhi High Court rejected Reliance Energy's appeal against the contract being awarded to the GMR consortium.
After a long wait, the plans for Delhi International Airport (DIAL) are finally out. The airport will be a massive structure, no doubt, but personally, I was hoping for a snazzier design. I hope that does not make me an ungrateful person. The bottom line, of course, is that anything will be better than these current shitpots we all call our airports. So I am glad that this plan is finally off the ground, and while it is unfortunate that our government still decided to give the Airports Authority of India some stake in the project, the good thing is that it is only limited to 13%, thus effectively nullifying their vetoing ability. As we will all agree, bloody netas love to veto a good idea in favor of their own benefits. Hopefully our airports will not have to see this in the future.
Next stop: Privatizing the Kolkata and Chennai airports. Meanwhile, the new plans for DIAL are being enthusiastically discussed at the SSC forum, and I invite you all to partake with the rest of us Indian infrastructure fanatics.
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=347516
As somebody once said, "Yeh century humare haathon mein hai, Sir." Inshallah.
After a long wait, the plans for Delhi International Airport (DIAL) are finally out. The airport will be a massive structure, no doubt, but personally, I was hoping for a snazzier design. I hope that does not make me an ungrateful person. The bottom line, of course, is that anything will be better than these current shitpots we all call our airports. So I am glad that this plan is finally off the ground, and while it is unfortunate that our government still decided to give the Airports Authority of India some stake in the project, the good thing is that it is only limited to 13%, thus effectively nullifying their vetoing ability. As we will all agree, bloody netas love to veto a good idea in favor of their own benefits. Hopefully our airports will not have to see this in the future.
Next stop: Privatizing the Kolkata and Chennai airports. Meanwhile, the new plans for DIAL are being enthusiastically discussed at the SSC forum, and I invite you all to partake with the rest of us Indian infrastructure fanatics.
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=347516
As somebody once said, "Yeh century humare haathon mein hai, Sir." Inshallah.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
How do things look for the Indian economy
In the last couple of months, the Indian economy has continued its rise, and seen its regular share of criticisms and skeptisms. This morning I read that the Indian economy finally crossed the 9% growth rate last quarter, growing at 9.2%. This is good news, but it puts pressure on the Reserve Bank to slow down the chances of overheating, and they will probably raise the rates again. Just like any other public entity in the country, they are pretty conservative too.
A lot has been said about the lack of government spending on our basic infrastructure, and a lot will continue to be said, because I do not forsee any change in the way netas think about the country and themselves. The one good thing is that for the most part, the government has been letting the private sector spend money where it needs to go.
Andy Mukherjee is a journalist at Bloomberg, a financial news outlet in the United States, and he has written a nice article on the rise of the private sector. He is saying exactly what a lot of people have said before, that India is growing despite its government. There are so many sectors where the private enterprise wants to enter and make a change.
Here is how I think it works - as a social democracy, it is the Indian government's duty to provide the basic services to its people. These include civic amenities such as water, power and housing, law and order and justice. If you look at all of them, you will realize that they have a miserable track record on all of them. I could go on and on about what is wrong with all of them, but that'll take a long time.
So here are these services that the people need and their government totally incompetent to provide them, and that creates a gap in the demand and supply. So earlier with our Socialist tendencies, the government did nothing, and did not allow the private sector to do anything.
But today things have changed. I must give credit to some parts of the government where it is due. Despite the weak PM he may be, Dr. Singh does have the right mind about reforms in all the right places, including the police forces, the courts, the bureaucracy and cutting red tape.
Now we have private sector building our power plants, laying and expanding roads, building sea ports, and flying in our airports. In fact, we have private companies now running our most important airports. In a way it is good to see the netas shake off their distrust for the private individual. For long they have compounded on the false notion that only they know what is best for India and anybody else is just trying to hurt the country. The truth, as we would all agree, has been exactly the opposite. I am pretty sure the common Indian on the street has a lot more patriotism in him/her than a neta sitting in the assembly or the Parliament.
My friend Mayank used to use the phrase, "wealth to the villages" all the time when we discussed the Indian economy. And he is absolutely right. Our biggest concern is to see that the benefits of this capitalism led growth trickle down to the grassroots. Successful western economies such as England and the United States have witnessed this trickle down effect, but unlike India, they have seen active support from dilligent governments. Despite their shortcomings and corruption and politicking and all that, their governments have worked to allow the private individual to grow in his/her own right, cut red tape and allowed them to take over the reigns of the economy, while still keeping control of legislation and all that.
Prosperous nations have programs that benefit the poor, and ensure a just distribution of wealth (in an ideal world that is). England has the dole, US has the social security, India just has some legislation with no action on the ground.
How India's rich are plugging gaps in power and transportation
It's easy, perhaps too easy, to become pessimistic about India's deficient infrastructure.
Everything from potholed roads and clogged airports to frequent power blackouts and creaking urban transportation would appear to be daunting, if not intractable, shortcomings.
Sure, the challenges are humonguous, and the pace of their resolution is slow. The highly indebted Indian government hasn't the wherewithal to make a decisive improvement, which is estimated to require additional spending equal to 3.4 percent of gross domestic product. That's almost three-quarters of what India is spending on transportation, power, water, irrigation, communications and storage capacity in a year.
Private enterprise is playing an increasingly important role. Inadequate public spending is still a huge constraint, yet domestic non-state companies are slowly taking the lead in allocating much-needed capital to some of India's most overlooked requirements.
A glance at the latest Forbes magazine list of 40 richest Indians should prove that point. Except for the "knowledge- economy" czars -- the computer-software and generic-drug exporters who are mostly sticking to what they know -- almost everyone else on that list is investing in infrastructure.
The government's biggest headache is acquiring land; Mukesh Ambani's plan to build a new city a third as big as Mumbai is already dogged by the protests of farmers who feel they are being compensated too little for their land.
The private sector in India is awash with money and has a huge appetite for risk. Infrastructure-related work is already so brisk that it's creating capacity bottlenecks for machinery suppliers, says Ved Prakash Chaturvedi, managing director of Tata Asset Management Ltd. in Mumbai.
Supply-side bottlenecks, across a range of capital-goods businesses, may become a short-term impediment, especially if the economy continues to grow at about 8 percent, the pace at which it has expanded the past three years.
To remove the temporary deficiencies in capacity, the Indian financial system, the brain of the economy, has to step in.
The better banks are reading the hunger for investment demand correctly. ICICI Bank Ltd., India's largest by market value, is raising a record US$1 billion in yen loans.
Give it a few years. The private sector in India will build and operate substantial amounts of physical infrastructure. Quality public-sector projects will remain limited to rare successes such as Delhi Metro Rail Corp. because of the sheer paucity of management skills within the government. Adequate power supply and tolerable transportation networks are within India's reach, and sooner than people realize. Yet the key is with India's entrepreneurs, not its government.
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He agrees, India's growth should be linked to its citizens, and not its government. Recently the government announced that it will welcome foreign universities wishing to set up campuses in India. A couple of big names from all around the world have expressed their desire to do so, and all that is fine, but what is more important is what we do for ourselves. Sitting on the laurels of just 6 IIT's for a billion people is nothing to be proud of. The same with IIM's and the AIIMS's. India does not need more IIT's or IIM's, it needs its other engineering and business schools to rise to the standards of these institutions. And this is where the private enterprise is very important. The government does know how to run institutes of higher learning. IIT's, AIIMS and IIM's are autonomous bodies and are just fortunate to not be on the feeding bowl of an unscrupulous neta. Even then, AIIMS could not protect itself from the politics that these netas play. The Health Minister, Ramadoss, has filled the AIIMS board with his posse, and took on the MD for defying his orders. Thus while we set about making our lives and the lives of the people around us better, we must always remember that India is always at a constant threat from its politicians. This knowledge will serve us better as we try to break the shackles that have been cast on us for the last 6 decades.
A lot has been said about the lack of government spending on our basic infrastructure, and a lot will continue to be said, because I do not forsee any change in the way netas think about the country and themselves. The one good thing is that for the most part, the government has been letting the private sector spend money where it needs to go.
Andy Mukherjee is a journalist at Bloomberg, a financial news outlet in the United States, and he has written a nice article on the rise of the private sector. He is saying exactly what a lot of people have said before, that India is growing despite its government. There are so many sectors where the private enterprise wants to enter and make a change.
Here is how I think it works - as a social democracy, it is the Indian government's duty to provide the basic services to its people. These include civic amenities such as water, power and housing, law and order and justice. If you look at all of them, you will realize that they have a miserable track record on all of them. I could go on and on about what is wrong with all of them, but that'll take a long time.
So here are these services that the people need and their government totally incompetent to provide them, and that creates a gap in the demand and supply. So earlier with our Socialist tendencies, the government did nothing, and did not allow the private sector to do anything.
But today things have changed. I must give credit to some parts of the government where it is due. Despite the weak PM he may be, Dr. Singh does have the right mind about reforms in all the right places, including the police forces, the courts, the bureaucracy and cutting red tape.
Now we have private sector building our power plants, laying and expanding roads, building sea ports, and flying in our airports. In fact, we have private companies now running our most important airports. In a way it is good to see the netas shake off their distrust for the private individual. For long they have compounded on the false notion that only they know what is best for India and anybody else is just trying to hurt the country. The truth, as we would all agree, has been exactly the opposite. I am pretty sure the common Indian on the street has a lot more patriotism in him/her than a neta sitting in the assembly or the Parliament.
My friend Mayank used to use the phrase, "wealth to the villages" all the time when we discussed the Indian economy. And he is absolutely right. Our biggest concern is to see that the benefits of this capitalism led growth trickle down to the grassroots. Successful western economies such as England and the United States have witnessed this trickle down effect, but unlike India, they have seen active support from dilligent governments. Despite their shortcomings and corruption and politicking and all that, their governments have worked to allow the private individual to grow in his/her own right, cut red tape and allowed them to take over the reigns of the economy, while still keeping control of legislation and all that.
Prosperous nations have programs that benefit the poor, and ensure a just distribution of wealth (in an ideal world that is). England has the dole, US has the social security, India just has some legislation with no action on the ground.
How India's rich are plugging gaps in power and transportation
It's easy, perhaps too easy, to become pessimistic about India's deficient infrastructure.
Everything from potholed roads and clogged airports to frequent power blackouts and creaking urban transportation would appear to be daunting, if not intractable, shortcomings.
Sure, the challenges are humonguous, and the pace of their resolution is slow. The highly indebted Indian government hasn't the wherewithal to make a decisive improvement, which is estimated to require additional spending equal to 3.4 percent of gross domestic product. That's almost three-quarters of what India is spending on transportation, power, water, irrigation, communications and storage capacity in a year.
Private enterprise is playing an increasingly important role. Inadequate public spending is still a huge constraint, yet domestic non-state companies are slowly taking the lead in allocating much-needed capital to some of India's most overlooked requirements.
A glance at the latest Forbes magazine list of 40 richest Indians should prove that point. Except for the "knowledge- economy" czars -- the computer-software and generic-drug exporters who are mostly sticking to what they know -- almost everyone else on that list is investing in infrastructure.
The government's biggest headache is acquiring land; Mukesh Ambani's plan to build a new city a third as big as Mumbai is already dogged by the protests of farmers who feel they are being compensated too little for their land.
The private sector in India is awash with money and has a huge appetite for risk. Infrastructure-related work is already so brisk that it's creating capacity bottlenecks for machinery suppliers, says Ved Prakash Chaturvedi, managing director of Tata Asset Management Ltd. in Mumbai.
Supply-side bottlenecks, across a range of capital-goods businesses, may become a short-term impediment, especially if the economy continues to grow at about 8 percent, the pace at which it has expanded the past three years.
To remove the temporary deficiencies in capacity, the Indian financial system, the brain of the economy, has to step in.
The better banks are reading the hunger for investment demand correctly. ICICI Bank Ltd., India's largest by market value, is raising a record US$1 billion in yen loans.
Give it a few years. The private sector in India will build and operate substantial amounts of physical infrastructure. Quality public-sector projects will remain limited to rare successes such as Delhi Metro Rail Corp. because of the sheer paucity of management skills within the government. Adequate power supply and tolerable transportation networks are within India's reach, and sooner than people realize. Yet the key is with India's entrepreneurs, not its government.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
He agrees, India's growth should be linked to its citizens, and not its government. Recently the government announced that it will welcome foreign universities wishing to set up campuses in India. A couple of big names from all around the world have expressed their desire to do so, and all that is fine, but what is more important is what we do for ourselves. Sitting on the laurels of just 6 IIT's for a billion people is nothing to be proud of. The same with IIM's and the AIIMS's. India does not need more IIT's or IIM's, it needs its other engineering and business schools to rise to the standards of these institutions. And this is where the private enterprise is very important. The government does know how to run institutes of higher learning. IIT's, AIIMS and IIM's are autonomous bodies and are just fortunate to not be on the feeding bowl of an unscrupulous neta. Even then, AIIMS could not protect itself from the politics that these netas play. The Health Minister, Ramadoss, has filled the AIIMS board with his posse, and took on the MD for defying his orders. Thus while we set about making our lives and the lives of the people around us better, we must always remember that India is always at a constant threat from its politicians. This knowledge will serve us better as we try to break the shackles that have been cast on us for the last 6 decades.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
I've missed you, Blog
Dear blog, i've been away for almost a month, and its sacrilageous on my part to do so. A lot has passed since my last post, like the great showing of Indian golfers in tournaments in Asia and Europe, the airports in various cities trudging along, the Democrats coming back to near power in the United States, and a lot of other paraphernalia that has affected my life in one way or the other.
Last week, the Supreme Court had rejected Reliance Energy's case against the awarding of the Delhi/Mumbai airport contracts to GMR and GVK consortiums respectively. That supposedly was the last hurdle that these consortiums would have faced in their endeavour to transform the current airports from pig stys to worldclass establishments.
A lot of hullabaloo is being raised about the state of Indian infrastructure. These days, its not about the state per se but more about the investment that is being put into it. While it is growing by leaps and bounds, it is never enough to satisfy any media commentator the world over.
Our tens of billions of American dollars of investment are still dwarfed by the hundreds of billions of American dollars of Chinese investment, and that status quo has remained for all of last decade and all of this one.
Here is what my fragile little mind can't understand, and maybe I am wrong when I write this, but this is how the governments in India, at the state and center, seem to work - we have no money, you have the money, but we will not let you do your thing because of 'policy' restrictions. The new mantra in this Con'gress led government is something called public-private partnership. I haven't really looked into how it works, but I think it is something like government letting the private sector do their thing while the government will try to cut red tape and give them enough freedom to build and control what they have built. Now I am certain this is not exactly how it works, but I think its something to that effect. I think it also involves the government taking a stake in the project but giving the managing control to the private company. Like the new airports that are coming up have minority stakes owned by the Airports Authority of India and some of the respective state governments.
While all this infra talk is taking place, the Indian economy seems to be growing at a brisk rate, although the background chatter of a widening economic chasm between different classes and sectors is growing louder. While many argue that this economic growth is not worth a lot because it is not generating the necessary growth in employment, there are many other reports that say that different sunrise sectors have the ability to create millions of additional jobs. Who do I believe? Being the nationalist and the optimist and the saner person I am, I am going to say that this growth is here to stay, and despite what the naysayers say, this growth will trickle down and trickle wide.
By the way, today is Children's Day. On Pandit ji's birth anniversary, I think we must take a vow to make this country a better place for our children. We must work hard to get them out of hazardous jobs and into schools. my heart cringes at the level of exploitation that the children in our country face. In addition to that is the problem of malnourishment. Most of the world's malnourished are in India. So tell me, after all these years of a green revolution, what have we achieved? Very little, to tell you the truth. India produces enough to feed itself, but much of it is lost on its way to the poor and needy. And is there anybody to care? Well, the common man is too stuck up in him/herself and too meek to do anything, and the netas and babus and police are happily taking a cut of all the stolen food, and so this wheel keeps going round and round.
Is sadi mein humarein liye Bhagwan ne sirf achhi baatein hi sochi hain, yeh mera vishwas hai. Parantu Bhagwan ne yeh bhi socha hai ki agar humein apne aapko sudharna hai to humein hi sabse zyaada mehnat karni hogi.
Last week, the Supreme Court had rejected Reliance Energy's case against the awarding of the Delhi/Mumbai airport contracts to GMR and GVK consortiums respectively. That supposedly was the last hurdle that these consortiums would have faced in their endeavour to transform the current airports from pig stys to worldclass establishments.
A lot of hullabaloo is being raised about the state of Indian infrastructure. These days, its not about the state per se but more about the investment that is being put into it. While it is growing by leaps and bounds, it is never enough to satisfy any media commentator the world over.
Our tens of billions of American dollars of investment are still dwarfed by the hundreds of billions of American dollars of Chinese investment, and that status quo has remained for all of last decade and all of this one.
Here is what my fragile little mind can't understand, and maybe I am wrong when I write this, but this is how the governments in India, at the state and center, seem to work - we have no money, you have the money, but we will not let you do your thing because of 'policy' restrictions. The new mantra in this Con'gress led government is something called public-private partnership. I haven't really looked into how it works, but I think it is something like government letting the private sector do their thing while the government will try to cut red tape and give them enough freedom to build and control what they have built. Now I am certain this is not exactly how it works, but I think its something to that effect. I think it also involves the government taking a stake in the project but giving the managing control to the private company. Like the new airports that are coming up have minority stakes owned by the Airports Authority of India and some of the respective state governments.
While all this infra talk is taking place, the Indian economy seems to be growing at a brisk rate, although the background chatter of a widening economic chasm between different classes and sectors is growing louder. While many argue that this economic growth is not worth a lot because it is not generating the necessary growth in employment, there are many other reports that say that different sunrise sectors have the ability to create millions of additional jobs. Who do I believe? Being the nationalist and the optimist and the saner person I am, I am going to say that this growth is here to stay, and despite what the naysayers say, this growth will trickle down and trickle wide.
By the way, today is Children's Day. On Pandit ji's birth anniversary, I think we must take a vow to make this country a better place for our children. We must work hard to get them out of hazardous jobs and into schools. my heart cringes at the level of exploitation that the children in our country face. In addition to that is the problem of malnourishment. Most of the world's malnourished are in India. So tell me, after all these years of a green revolution, what have we achieved? Very little, to tell you the truth. India produces enough to feed itself, but much of it is lost on its way to the poor and needy. And is there anybody to care? Well, the common man is too stuck up in him/herself and too meek to do anything, and the netas and babus and police are happily taking a cut of all the stolen food, and so this wheel keeps going round and round.
Is sadi mein humarein liye Bhagwan ne sirf achhi baatein hi sochi hain, yeh mera vishwas hai. Parantu Bhagwan ne yeh bhi socha hai ki agar humein apne aapko sudharna hai to humein hi sabse zyaada mehnat karni hogi.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Absolutely no idea of foreign policy
The Government of India, led by the Congress Party of India, or rather, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, has absolutely no idea what it is doing on the foreign policy front. And there are plenty of reasons to tell me that this is true.
What the Congress is indeed good at is trumpeting successes that do not exist. In a way that is again very similar to the Government of the United States. Readers will recall that their earlier common quality was their efforts to subvert fundamental freedoms of their people.
So Kofi Annan is to step down soon, and there's talk all over the world as to who will take the post next. Before I begin to talk further, I am sure it is obvious that nothing gets done in the United Nations without the hidden consent of the world policeman.
So one fine day the Government of India announces that the current Under Secretary to the Secretary General, Shashi Tharoor, is India's choice for the top job. The announcement takes centerstage in Indian media and we get daily inputs from the governments about how strong his candidacy is.
Then we hear the news that oh, India's new buddy, the United States, has chosen the South Korean foreign minister as their choice for the job. Our netas still try to show that everything is fine and now doubts begin to appear if Shashi is going to get anywhere at all.
Today, as things stand, Shashi Tharoor has stepped down from his candidacy, and the South Korean foreign minister is set to be the next S-G of the United Nations. According to the Government of India, he fought bravely.
The problem with the UPA is that they seem to be putting all their eggs in the United States basket. Some kind words from President Bush once in a while and all the worries are over. Yet, where does the much touted Indo-US nuclear deal stand? The answer is nowhere. It is still not appeared before their Congress, and there is no saying if the deal will ever be through in its present form. The rest of the world knows that if you are not Israel or England, you can't and shouldn't expect the United States to stand up for you. It seems to me that more than making sure of results, the Government of India is just hoping that things work out for them, while they have no idea of how that will come about.
There is an article in The Telegraph by KP Nayar about how the Government of India has been putting up an apalling performance on the diplomatic stage. Apparently our leaders are as much prone to delusion as the Pakistani Army is.
India slips on diplomatic stage
The UPA government’s three ambitious foreign policy initiatives are now on uncertain ground: its much-trumpeted nuclear deal with the US, its high-profile bid to have an Indian as UN secretary-general and its high-stakes effort for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council.
Last month, Pakistan was unanimously elected to chair the Group of 77 (G77), the world’s largest coalition of 134 countries, even bigger than the non-aligned movement (NAM) with 118 members.
According to diplomats of Pacific group countries at the UN, India was handed the G77 chairmanship on a platter, but the UPA government turned down the offer.
Similarly, in the run-up to the Havana summit of NAM countries, India was sounded out about assuming the next chairmanship of the movement it helped found 45 years ago. That offer, too, was turned down by the Manmohan Singh government. As a result, the Havana summit chose Egypt, another co-founder of NAM, to host its next summit in Cairo in 2009.
India’s rejection of the G77 and NAM chairmanships was the result of an illusion in South Block that India was now part of the “big boys’ club” and did not need its traditional allies and partners any longer.
That illusion was reinforced by a gullible view that the US was now India’s “natural ally” and, therefore, everything else was secondary.
But when it came to the crunch, Washington did not support New Delhi’s bid either for a permanent seat in the Security Council or in electing Shashi Tharoor as the next UN secretary- general.
On the defensive against the mismanagement of Iraq, last week the Bush administration further showed its unwillingness to spend too much political capital in pushing through legislation on the Indo-US nuclear deal in the US Congress.
With Pakistan at the helm of G77 and New Delhi’s kid gloves approach to Cuba’s radical leadership of NAM, India is suddenly finding that it has no allies at the UN and no one to turn to for bloc support.
Europeans at the UN have the bloc support of the European Union, the Africans have the African Union behind them, the Southeast Asians have the ASEAN and countries like Pakistan have the solid backing of the Organisation of Islamic Conference.
India has only the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, but SAARC is often a platform for member countries to use India as their whipping boy.
The Pacific group is the biggest sub-group among Asian members of G77. So when Asia’s turn to lead G77 in 2007 came, Pacific countries approached New Delhi with a request to take over chairmanship, according to their diplomats.
But New Delhi stubbornly rejected the suggestion twice.
Similarly, a large number of NAM members were keen that India should host the 2009 NAM summit, especially to correct any radical deviation that the movement may assume under Cuba’s current chairmanship.
That too was summarily rejected by New Delhi.
For India, whose nominee to the UN Human Rights Committee, Justice P.N. Bhagwati, was re-elected for the fourth time last month with the second highest number of votes, the sudden changes represent an avoidable reversal of fortune.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
We all have heard that we must learn from the past and look to the future. Anybody who has been following the government knows that they do neither. Actually, I believe not learning from the past is an inherent quality of any Indian government, be it at the center or the states. They have always worked on winning minor, but immediate, stakes. The option of playing for long term gains and larger stakes is lost on most Indian politicians. That is a handicap that we have to live with as long as we vote in, or rather, let ourselves be exploited by these clowns.
And I have said it before and i'll say it again - PM Singh has the right mind for his domestic economic policy, but he is a bad, bad diplomat. The Congress Party is a self-serving, visionless party and it shows in the way they deal with issues. Nobody has any idea which direction to take the foreign policy to, and it seems that at every major juncture in world politics, they appear to be taken unawares.
I have often quoted Swapan Dasgupta of The Daily Pioneer on my blog. I like the man and I love the newspaper. This man is straightforward and tells it like it is. And unlike the Tabloid of India of The Hindustan Crimes, The Pioneer does not seem to be overly eager to look western, read, American. Or is an India hating Communist mouthpiece like The Hindu.
PM foreign to real issues
We are in that phase of a Government's life when Prime Ministers, and the retinue around them, start experiencing the monotony of national existence. When that happens, convention demands that the gaze of the Prime Minister's Office is conveniently diverted to "pressing international concerns"- with pleasurable consequences.
For the past two months, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has displayed an over-weaning anxiety to optimise his air-miles. First, there was the long haul to Brazil, followed by the quixotic sojourn in Havana - the high point being Fidel Castro's reminiscences of PL-480 shipments to India. Then there was the Gandhigiri trip to South Africa - a visit which intrigued the hosts and confused the Zulu protestors in Durban.
Last week, the Prime Minister was in England to collect an honorary doctorate from Cambridge. True, there was also a courtesy call on Tony Blair and the mandatory conviviality with the same businessmen he met two days before in Mumbai, but these were obligatory add-ons to confer an official gloss on a worthwhile private visit.
Last year in Oxford he provoked xenophobes at home with a subtle endorsement of the "coconut" trail, his thank you speech. Last week's Cambridge performance was unmentionably soporific. It was dotted with the pedestrian eloquence of the JNU kind: "The gap between the rich and the poor is widening... My appeal is that developed countries should not allow short-term national interests to prevail at the cost of promoting freer trade and combating poverty."
There were also the adulatory references to Jawaharlal Nehru - the head of the family - and Joan Robinson, the socialist economist whose dogmatic influence set the Indian economy back by many decades.
No wonder the Cambridge address secured the ungrudging approval of the certifying authority of progressivism: The Hindu.
Then it was off to what business journalists call the Nokia junket. Normally, Finland is not on any itinerary but this year Helsinki was hosting yet another India-EU summit. A prime ministerial visit to a Scandinavian country is best avoided.
Being unable to comprehend the clutter of Indian democracy and the array of the Indian experience, the countries of northern Europe have been accustomed to treating India on par with say, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, bywords for ethnic strife and poverty. As exporters of conflict resolution and foreign aid, they have never quite grasped India's nuclear imperatives nor really understood why President George Bush insists on treating New Delhi differently from Pyongyang.
--------------------------------------------------------------
When the attitudes of our leaders are so irresolute and their characters so fragile, how can they expect to win anywhere in the world? You talk to any of our business leaders who have been planting their flags in all the continents of the world and you will find men and women of resolution, those that desire to do better and work hard towards it. Unfortunately, that attitude has not rubbed off on our politicians yet.
What the Congress is indeed good at is trumpeting successes that do not exist. In a way that is again very similar to the Government of the United States. Readers will recall that their earlier common quality was their efforts to subvert fundamental freedoms of their people.
So Kofi Annan is to step down soon, and there's talk all over the world as to who will take the post next. Before I begin to talk further, I am sure it is obvious that nothing gets done in the United Nations without the hidden consent of the world policeman.
So one fine day the Government of India announces that the current Under Secretary to the Secretary General, Shashi Tharoor, is India's choice for the top job. The announcement takes centerstage in Indian media and we get daily inputs from the governments about how strong his candidacy is.
Then we hear the news that oh, India's new buddy, the United States, has chosen the South Korean foreign minister as their choice for the job. Our netas still try to show that everything is fine and now doubts begin to appear if Shashi is going to get anywhere at all.
Today, as things stand, Shashi Tharoor has stepped down from his candidacy, and the South Korean foreign minister is set to be the next S-G of the United Nations. According to the Government of India, he fought bravely.
The problem with the UPA is that they seem to be putting all their eggs in the United States basket. Some kind words from President Bush once in a while and all the worries are over. Yet, where does the much touted Indo-US nuclear deal stand? The answer is nowhere. It is still not appeared before their Congress, and there is no saying if the deal will ever be through in its present form. The rest of the world knows that if you are not Israel or England, you can't and shouldn't expect the United States to stand up for you. It seems to me that more than making sure of results, the Government of India is just hoping that things work out for them, while they have no idea of how that will come about.
There is an article in The Telegraph by KP Nayar about how the Government of India has been putting up an apalling performance on the diplomatic stage. Apparently our leaders are as much prone to delusion as the Pakistani Army is.
India slips on diplomatic stage
The UPA government’s three ambitious foreign policy initiatives are now on uncertain ground: its much-trumpeted nuclear deal with the US, its high-profile bid to have an Indian as UN secretary-general and its high-stakes effort for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council.
Last month, Pakistan was unanimously elected to chair the Group of 77 (G77), the world’s largest coalition of 134 countries, even bigger than the non-aligned movement (NAM) with 118 members.
According to diplomats of Pacific group countries at the UN, India was handed the G77 chairmanship on a platter, but the UPA government turned down the offer.
Similarly, in the run-up to the Havana summit of NAM countries, India was sounded out about assuming the next chairmanship of the movement it helped found 45 years ago. That offer, too, was turned down by the Manmohan Singh government. As a result, the Havana summit chose Egypt, another co-founder of NAM, to host its next summit in Cairo in 2009.
India’s rejection of the G77 and NAM chairmanships was the result of an illusion in South Block that India was now part of the “big boys’ club” and did not need its traditional allies and partners any longer.
That illusion was reinforced by a gullible view that the US was now India’s “natural ally” and, therefore, everything else was secondary.
But when it came to the crunch, Washington did not support New Delhi’s bid either for a permanent seat in the Security Council or in electing Shashi Tharoor as the next UN secretary- general.
On the defensive against the mismanagement of Iraq, last week the Bush administration further showed its unwillingness to spend too much political capital in pushing through legislation on the Indo-US nuclear deal in the US Congress.
With Pakistan at the helm of G77 and New Delhi’s kid gloves approach to Cuba’s radical leadership of NAM, India is suddenly finding that it has no allies at the UN and no one to turn to for bloc support.
Europeans at the UN have the bloc support of the European Union, the Africans have the African Union behind them, the Southeast Asians have the ASEAN and countries like Pakistan have the solid backing of the Organisation of Islamic Conference.
India has only the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, but SAARC is often a platform for member countries to use India as their whipping boy.
The Pacific group is the biggest sub-group among Asian members of G77. So when Asia’s turn to lead G77 in 2007 came, Pacific countries approached New Delhi with a request to take over chairmanship, according to their diplomats.
But New Delhi stubbornly rejected the suggestion twice.
Similarly, a large number of NAM members were keen that India should host the 2009 NAM summit, especially to correct any radical deviation that the movement may assume under Cuba’s current chairmanship.
That too was summarily rejected by New Delhi.
For India, whose nominee to the UN Human Rights Committee, Justice P.N. Bhagwati, was re-elected for the fourth time last month with the second highest number of votes, the sudden changes represent an avoidable reversal of fortune.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
We all have heard that we must learn from the past and look to the future. Anybody who has been following the government knows that they do neither. Actually, I believe not learning from the past is an inherent quality of any Indian government, be it at the center or the states. They have always worked on winning minor, but immediate, stakes. The option of playing for long term gains and larger stakes is lost on most Indian politicians. That is a handicap that we have to live with as long as we vote in, or rather, let ourselves be exploited by these clowns.
And I have said it before and i'll say it again - PM Singh has the right mind for his domestic economic policy, but he is a bad, bad diplomat. The Congress Party is a self-serving, visionless party and it shows in the way they deal with issues. Nobody has any idea which direction to take the foreign policy to, and it seems that at every major juncture in world politics, they appear to be taken unawares.
I have often quoted Swapan Dasgupta of The Daily Pioneer on my blog. I like the man and I love the newspaper. This man is straightforward and tells it like it is. And unlike the Tabloid of India of The Hindustan Crimes, The Pioneer does not seem to be overly eager to look western, read, American. Or is an India hating Communist mouthpiece like The Hindu.
PM foreign to real issues
We are in that phase of a Government's life when Prime Ministers, and the retinue around them, start experiencing the monotony of national existence. When that happens, convention demands that the gaze of the Prime Minister's Office is conveniently diverted to "pressing international concerns"- with pleasurable consequences.
For the past two months, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has displayed an over-weaning anxiety to optimise his air-miles. First, there was the long haul to Brazil, followed by the quixotic sojourn in Havana - the high point being Fidel Castro's reminiscences of PL-480 shipments to India. Then there was the Gandhigiri trip to South Africa - a visit which intrigued the hosts and confused the Zulu protestors in Durban.
Last week, the Prime Minister was in England to collect an honorary doctorate from Cambridge. True, there was also a courtesy call on Tony Blair and the mandatory conviviality with the same businessmen he met two days before in Mumbai, but these were obligatory add-ons to confer an official gloss on a worthwhile private visit.
Last year in Oxford he provoked xenophobes at home with a subtle endorsement of the "coconut" trail, his thank you speech. Last week's Cambridge performance was unmentionably soporific. It was dotted with the pedestrian eloquence of the JNU kind: "The gap between the rich and the poor is widening... My appeal is that developed countries should not allow short-term national interests to prevail at the cost of promoting freer trade and combating poverty."
There were also the adulatory references to Jawaharlal Nehru - the head of the family - and Joan Robinson, the socialist economist whose dogmatic influence set the Indian economy back by many decades.
No wonder the Cambridge address secured the ungrudging approval of the certifying authority of progressivism: The Hindu.
Then it was off to what business journalists call the Nokia junket. Normally, Finland is not on any itinerary but this year Helsinki was hosting yet another India-EU summit. A prime ministerial visit to a Scandinavian country is best avoided.
Being unable to comprehend the clutter of Indian democracy and the array of the Indian experience, the countries of northern Europe have been accustomed to treating India on par with say, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, bywords for ethnic strife and poverty. As exporters of conflict resolution and foreign aid, they have never quite grasped India's nuclear imperatives nor really understood why President George Bush insists on treating New Delhi differently from Pyongyang.
--------------------------------------------------------------
When the attitudes of our leaders are so irresolute and their characters so fragile, how can they expect to win anywhere in the world? You talk to any of our business leaders who have been planting their flags in all the continents of the world and you will find men and women of resolution, those that desire to do better and work hard towards it. Unfortunately, that attitude has not rubbed off on our politicians yet.
Monday, October 09, 2006
again, she's ashamed to be Indian
I think Arundhati Roy likes it when she sees Indians cower in fear and bow before their enemies. How else would I be able to explain her fixation to oppose every thing that is good for the country?
A traitor started a war against the state, was convicted, and is now scheduled to die, and there are all these people, who for some strange reason, do not want this to happen. They say this is against democracy, and the man should be given clemency.
I was looking at some pictures on Getty Images and I could see the bias this American press brings into this world. The group wanted clemency for the traitor was all sad, full of children dressed in white and with sad faces. Apparently its okay to involve children to add to the pro-traitors' propaganda in this situation.
While there were other images of people who did not want to let this murderer get away. but of course, since they care, they are the Hindu nationalists with their sloganeering and headbands and flags and everyother paraphernalia to show their violent nature. Ah American media. So tastefully done.
Coming back to Arundhati, she stopped knowing what she was doing a long time ago. Once the Booker was won, writing was not a priority anymore. Arundhati got herself involved in a long process of anti-India tirade, including many issues where she probably had no idea of the history or the ground realities. When India conducted the nuclear tests in 1998, Arundhati came out with her great essay, something titled like the end of humanity or something. Oh dear, the Indian man has a weapon now! Run for your lives, the crazy Indian will blow this earth apart! Of course, the generous western media is more than eager to run that story, and yes, the anti-nuke tirade gets ample attention in the world press. Personally, I think it was not based on fact
The same with the Narmada Bachao Andolan. Where was she when the Parliament was attacked, when the IC-814 was hijacked and the gutless Government of India released the terrorists who fight against our country till today, and where was she when the terrorists bombed our cities and killed our innocent and brave citizens? It does not serve her agenda to stand up for the wronged.
That lady is a decoy. The real problem is with the people who cannot see the need to punish the enemies who fight against India. I hope there is some way in which whichever God they believe in can show them how much anguish is caused when one loses a son, a daughter, a father, mother, or a brother or sister. Our soldiers put their lives on the line every single second for our safety, and when I come across these ingrates, it makes my blood boil.
'Clemency to Afzal a disgrace'
Amid growing demands for clemency for Mohammed Afzal Guru, facing execution for his role in the 2001 attack on Parliament, the kin of security personnel killed in the terrorist strike say they feel "cheated" by those seeking a pardon for him.
Sunder Singh Patel, the son of Delhi Police head constable Ghanshayam Patel, who lost his life said "after seeing the support from human rights and political groups for a terrorist, we feel cheated. This is not what my father laid down his life for."
A shocked Awdesh Kumar, whose wife Kamlesh Kumari, a CRPF constable, was killed in the attack, said "he (Guru) was involved in the attack of Parliament. His role was established and the trial took place from a lower court to the Supreme Court. Now why all of a sudden, the human rights groups and political parties have started raising their voice?"
"I can't believe it when I see and read that even political parties and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad have been favouring clemency for Guru," Kumar said. He said that he felt proud that he was the husband of Kamlesh, but if clemency is granted, "I will regret that she wasted her life."
"I simply wonder where they were when my wife was killed, leaving a daughter in my lap...crying," said an emotional Kumar, adding "today Mehbooba Mufti, a partner with Congress, is siding with him. I want to know did she ever bother about my daughter who became an indirect victim of the terrorists."
Somvati Devi, the widow of Patel who was awarded the Kirti Chakra, the second highest civilian award for bravery, said any move to grant clemency to Guru or convert his death sentence would be an insult to all the security personnel who laid down their lives for the nation.
Her elder son Bachhu Singh, said "he (Guru) should be hanged publicly so that it would act as a deterrent to all those who want to harm my country."
Kamlesh and Patel were among the nine persons who died while protecting the Parliament from the audacious attack of militants.
---------------------------------------------------------------
The sad fact of the matter is that traitors have always had a heavier hand in this nation, and we will only beat them by being stronger and more relentless in our pursuit of seeing a brighter and stronger India. Hang the traitors. And skin their political masters alive.
A traitor started a war against the state, was convicted, and is now scheduled to die, and there are all these people, who for some strange reason, do not want this to happen. They say this is against democracy, and the man should be given clemency.
I was looking at some pictures on Getty Images and I could see the bias this American press brings into this world. The group wanted clemency for the traitor was all sad, full of children dressed in white and with sad faces. Apparently its okay to involve children to add to the pro-traitors' propaganda in this situation.
While there were other images of people who did not want to let this murderer get away. but of course, since they care, they are the Hindu nationalists with their sloganeering and headbands and flags and everyother paraphernalia to show their violent nature. Ah American media. So tastefully done.
Coming back to Arundhati, she stopped knowing what she was doing a long time ago. Once the Booker was won, writing was not a priority anymore. Arundhati got herself involved in a long process of anti-India tirade, including many issues where she probably had no idea of the history or the ground realities. When India conducted the nuclear tests in 1998, Arundhati came out with her great essay, something titled like the end of humanity or something. Oh dear, the Indian man has a weapon now! Run for your lives, the crazy Indian will blow this earth apart! Of course, the generous western media is more than eager to run that story, and yes, the anti-nuke tirade gets ample attention in the world press. Personally, I think it was not based on fact
The same with the Narmada Bachao Andolan. Where was she when the Parliament was attacked, when the IC-814 was hijacked and the gutless Government of India released the terrorists who fight against our country till today, and where was she when the terrorists bombed our cities and killed our innocent and brave citizens? It does not serve her agenda to stand up for the wronged.
That lady is a decoy. The real problem is with the people who cannot see the need to punish the enemies who fight against India. I hope there is some way in which whichever God they believe in can show them how much anguish is caused when one loses a son, a daughter, a father, mother, or a brother or sister. Our soldiers put their lives on the line every single second for our safety, and when I come across these ingrates, it makes my blood boil.
'Clemency to Afzal a disgrace'
Amid growing demands for clemency for Mohammed Afzal Guru, facing execution for his role in the 2001 attack on Parliament, the kin of security personnel killed in the terrorist strike say they feel "cheated" by those seeking a pardon for him.
Sunder Singh Patel, the son of Delhi Police head constable Ghanshayam Patel, who lost his life said "after seeing the support from human rights and political groups for a terrorist, we feel cheated. This is not what my father laid down his life for."
A shocked Awdesh Kumar, whose wife Kamlesh Kumari, a CRPF constable, was killed in the attack, said "he (Guru) was involved in the attack of Parliament. His role was established and the trial took place from a lower court to the Supreme Court. Now why all of a sudden, the human rights groups and political parties have started raising their voice?"
"I can't believe it when I see and read that even political parties and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad have been favouring clemency for Guru," Kumar said. He said that he felt proud that he was the husband of Kamlesh, but if clemency is granted, "I will regret that she wasted her life."
"I simply wonder where they were when my wife was killed, leaving a daughter in my lap...crying," said an emotional Kumar, adding "today Mehbooba Mufti, a partner with Congress, is siding with him. I want to know did she ever bother about my daughter who became an indirect victim of the terrorists."
Somvati Devi, the widow of Patel who was awarded the Kirti Chakra, the second highest civilian award for bravery, said any move to grant clemency to Guru or convert his death sentence would be an insult to all the security personnel who laid down their lives for the nation.
Her elder son Bachhu Singh, said "he (Guru) should be hanged publicly so that it would act as a deterrent to all those who want to harm my country."
Kamlesh and Patel were among the nine persons who died while protecting the Parliament from the audacious attack of militants.
---------------------------------------------------------------
The sad fact of the matter is that traitors have always had a heavier hand in this nation, and we will only beat them by being stronger and more relentless in our pursuit of seeing a brighter and stronger India. Hang the traitors. And skin their political masters alive.
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Who cares about police reforms?
well, for one, certainly not the states of the country. All the states, except for Kerala, sat on the Supreme Court ordering police refors. All these states did was send an affidavit to the court asking the bench to dismiss the Public Interest Litigation brought about by former UP DGP, Prakash Singh.
Such is that mindset of the politicians. Why mess with such a perfectly exploitable system? A few days ago a media poll asked if the states were to blame for the lack of police reforms. While a majority said yes, I said no. The reason I said no is because I do not blame the states for not initiating police reforms. I blame the Federal government and the Supreme Court for not being tough enough on states to implement the reforms. I think it again demonstrates the classic Indian trait of not following up. The order is given, and is forgotten about. The states are expected to do their thing, and nobody bothers to double check. Taking a leaf from this system, the Indian infrastructure follows the same pattern too. Grand projects, once made, rot away.
But if I am not mistaken, I can see a rising awareness of this issue. The media has been picking up the related stories, and if the people can get involved this time, with a little support from the courts, then I am sure the netas will have to follow suit, because not matter how lethargic and incompetent they may be, you can make them run a 4 minute mile if you tell them there are votes to be had at the end.
Barring one, all states sat on police reforms for 10 yrs
NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 2: Ten days after the Supreme Court ordered all states and Union territories to put in place radical police reforms, there seems to be a studied silence among them — from Jaipur to Dispur, Chandigarh to Chennai. And the apparent lack of action on implementing the order, which has a December 31 deadline, is explained by how most of the states responded during the hearing of the reform petition: well, they did not bother to respond properly, if at all.
The decade-long process leading to the direction is a story of wilful apathy by most: After the court had served notice on the PIL, only Kerala sent its representative to New Delhi to put across its submission, said Prashant Bhushan, who appeared on behalf of petitioner Singh.
The rest, barring Orissa, shrugged off the notice by submitting brief affidavits that pleaded for the rejection of the PIL. Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which send more than 100 MPs to the Lok Sabha but figure on top of the crime chart, did not even make an oral submission, let alone send in affidavits.
Other states and union territories that also chose to ignore the petition were Jammu & Kashmir, Tripura, Uttaranchal, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Chandigarh.
Asked why UP did not care to send in an affidavit all these years, advocate-general SMA Kazmi said: “I don’t know about it. I have to check the records. I will talk to my DGP and let you know.’’
As for the papers that were filed, they were so sketchy that the court did not take note of them. About 19 states had sent their affidavits by 2000 and yet the court had to serve notices again to all of them. A bench, comprising Justice N Santosh Hegde, Justice BP Singh and Justice SB Sinha, on February 11 last year pushed the Centre and states to to “file their response within eight weeks’’.
Only eight states — Sikkim, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, Rajasthan, Mizoram — again filed their affidavits, if only to reiterate their opposition to proposed reforms.
The states are now required to fast-track the apex court’s order within three months but with such a tardy and evasive record, it remains to be seen where the process, set off by Singh’s PIL, now heads.
They said: We won’t, we can’t, we don’t have to
• MAHARASHTRA: Inconsistent with Constitution to make police machinery independent and directly accountable to the people
• GUJARAT: Not binding on government to accept the recommendations... of the National Police Commission as it has no statutory force
• MIZORAM: Petition deserves to be dismissed as in federal structure, no need of uniformity in administration
• MANIPUR: Separating investigation from police not possible, because it will require more police personnel, funds
• TAMIL NADU: Dismiss the petition, as it is wrong to say that Tamil Nadu had failed to implement any of the recommendations of the National Police Commission
• MEGHALAYA: For a state facing serious insurgency, not wise for us to separate investigation from police administration
• ASSAM: We are considering the state committee report
• KERALA: Absolute power for security forces could jeopardize popular government and democracy
• ANDHRA PRADESH: We reject petition, already implementing state-level reforms
• PUNJAB, HIMACHAL PRADESH: Petition does not merit attention as we have already made committees for appointing officers
Such is that mindset of the politicians. Why mess with such a perfectly exploitable system? A few days ago a media poll asked if the states were to blame for the lack of police reforms. While a majority said yes, I said no. The reason I said no is because I do not blame the states for not initiating police reforms. I blame the Federal government and the Supreme Court for not being tough enough on states to implement the reforms. I think it again demonstrates the classic Indian trait of not following up. The order is given, and is forgotten about. The states are expected to do their thing, and nobody bothers to double check. Taking a leaf from this system, the Indian infrastructure follows the same pattern too. Grand projects, once made, rot away.
But if I am not mistaken, I can see a rising awareness of this issue. The media has been picking up the related stories, and if the people can get involved this time, with a little support from the courts, then I am sure the netas will have to follow suit, because not matter how lethargic and incompetent they may be, you can make them run a 4 minute mile if you tell them there are votes to be had at the end.
Barring one, all states sat on police reforms for 10 yrs
NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 2: Ten days after the Supreme Court ordered all states and Union territories to put in place radical police reforms, there seems to be a studied silence among them — from Jaipur to Dispur, Chandigarh to Chennai. And the apparent lack of action on implementing the order, which has a December 31 deadline, is explained by how most of the states responded during the hearing of the reform petition: well, they did not bother to respond properly, if at all.
The decade-long process leading to the direction is a story of wilful apathy by most: After the court had served notice on the PIL, only Kerala sent its representative to New Delhi to put across its submission, said Prashant Bhushan, who appeared on behalf of petitioner Singh.
The rest, barring Orissa, shrugged off the notice by submitting brief affidavits that pleaded for the rejection of the PIL. Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which send more than 100 MPs to the Lok Sabha but figure on top of the crime chart, did not even make an oral submission, let alone send in affidavits.
Other states and union territories that also chose to ignore the petition were Jammu & Kashmir, Tripura, Uttaranchal, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Chandigarh.
Asked why UP did not care to send in an affidavit all these years, advocate-general SMA Kazmi said: “I don’t know about it. I have to check the records. I will talk to my DGP and let you know.’’
As for the papers that were filed, they were so sketchy that the court did not take note of them. About 19 states had sent their affidavits by 2000 and yet the court had to serve notices again to all of them. A bench, comprising Justice N Santosh Hegde, Justice BP Singh and Justice SB Sinha, on February 11 last year pushed the Centre and states to to “file their response within eight weeks’’.
Only eight states — Sikkim, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, Rajasthan, Mizoram — again filed their affidavits, if only to reiterate their opposition to proposed reforms.
The states are now required to fast-track the apex court’s order within three months but with such a tardy and evasive record, it remains to be seen where the process, set off by Singh’s PIL, now heads.
They said: We won’t, we can’t, we don’t have to
• MAHARASHTRA: Inconsistent with Constitution to make police machinery independent and directly accountable to the people
• GUJARAT: Not binding on government to accept the recommendations... of the National Police Commission as it has no statutory force
• MIZORAM: Petition deserves to be dismissed as in federal structure, no need of uniformity in administration
• MANIPUR: Separating investigation from police not possible, because it will require more police personnel, funds
• TAMIL NADU: Dismiss the petition, as it is wrong to say that Tamil Nadu had failed to implement any of the recommendations of the National Police Commission
• MEGHALAYA: For a state facing serious insurgency, not wise for us to separate investigation from police administration
• ASSAM: We are considering the state committee report
• KERALA: Absolute power for security forces could jeopardize popular government and democracy
• ANDHRA PRADESH: We reject petition, already implementing state-level reforms
• PUNJAB, HIMACHAL PRADESH: Petition does not merit attention as we have already made committees for appointing officers
Monday, September 25, 2006
Can it all be real?
When Indians are asked to choose some of the most corrupt public figures around them, two groups are almost always at the top, the politicians and the cops. The common citizen does not waste time in criticizing these groups for their greed, incompetence and bloated ego.
However, on the scale of exploitation, they are not of the same weight. Anybody who knows anything about the civics of India will know that the Indian police works at the mercy of politicians. Politicians rule the roost, and usually grow up with the belief that this country was built to serve their interests. The police is simply the tool with which a politician can go about projecting his/her power and implement their grand designs.
Bodyguards at their residences, their vehicles driven by uniformed cops, and using their so-called VIP status to get past airport security are just some of the many examples of how the politicians of this country live a blessed life.
I have for long ranted against the political influence on our police forces. Numerous movies have been made on the subject, numerous reports have been published, and numerous cases of political pressure have been brought to light, yet nothing is done to rectify the situation. Why? Because changing this status quo will only take away power and influence from the hand of a politician, and in this supremely democratic establishment, we definitely can't take away such unsurmountable power from the hands of our dearly beloved elected public officials. no?
Anyway, cutting aside the sarcasm, there are always some good vibes that seek to make a change. In fact, there is probably some divine providence that our country still manages to forage ahead despite all these netas dilligently trying to sell out their own country.
In a very refreshingly statement from the Supreme Court, they have indicated that they want a change. Thats good, because despite the extent to which the system has been subverted by the political class, our democracy can claim that our Supreme Court is still a shining beacon in the haze.
I have said it before and now the Justices of the Supreme Court of India say it too, that the police must be insulated from political interference. Why do politicians get away with everything? Its because they control the police. They control the police with threats and having the ability to suck their party leaders' dicks and punish the cops who try to punish them.
SC orders a cop clean-up
Insulating the police from politicians, separation of law and order machinery from the investigative apparatus, fixed tenure for police officers starting right from the station house officer — these are some of the far-reaching directions given by the Supreme Court today aimed at establishing a long-cherished independent and responsive police force in the country.
A bench of Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal, Justice C K Thakker and Justice P K Balasubramanyam, on a petition filed by Prakash Singh, a former Director General of Police, and NGO Common Cause, gave the judgement listing the directions. When implemented, these have the potential to change the face of India’s police force.
The key recommendations are:
• Setting up of a State Security Commission in every state to ensure that state government does not exercise unwarranted influence or pressure on the police.
• DGP of state to be selected from among three senior-most officers; will have fixed tenure of atleast 2 years.
• IG, Deputy IG, SP and SHO will have minimum fixed tenure of 2 years.
• Investigating police will be separated from law and order police to ensure speedier investigation, better expertise and improved rapport with people.
• Police Establishment Board in each state to decide on transfers, postings etc and service related matters of officers’ upto DSP.
• Police Complaints Authority at district level to look into complaints against police officers till DSP.
• Center to set up National Security Commission for selection and placement of Chiefs of Central Police Organisations.
The directions have to be complied on or before December 31, 2006, the judgment said, and sought compliance reports from the Cabinet Secretary, Government of India and Chief Secretaries of states or union territories by January 3, 2007.
The State Security Commission “shall” be headed by the CM or Home Minister and have the DGP of the state as ex-officio Secretary. However, the independence of the Commission will be ensured through the other members including the leader of the opposition or the Lok Ayukta as the case may be, a retired or sitting judge and some non-political citizens.
The Police Establishment Board will be made up of the DGP and four senior officers of the department. “The state government may interfere with decision of the Board in exceptional cases only after recording its reasons for doing so.”
To maintain independence of the Police Complaints Authority, the bench ordered that the PCA at the district level “may” be headed by a retired District Judge and at the state level by a retired judge of the High Court or Supreme Court. The PCA will have on its panel retired civil servants, police officers or members of civil society.
It will take note of only charges of serous misconduct by the cops including incidents involving death, grievous hurt or rape in custody. The district authority may also inquire into allegations of extortion, land grabbing etc. Another important recommendation is for setting up a National Security Commission to be headed by the Home Minister and comprising heads of the Central Police Organisations and a couple of security experts as members with the Union Home Secretary as its secretary. The NSC will draw up a panel to be placed before the appointing authority for selection and placement of chiefs of the CPOs. The Chiefs will also enjoy a two-year minimum tenure.
The petitioners had approached the court in 1996 after the government dragged its feet on the recommendations of the National Police Commission and several others regarding reforms in the force.
-----------------------------------------------------------
However, on the scale of exploitation, they are not of the same weight. Anybody who knows anything about the civics of India will know that the Indian police works at the mercy of politicians. Politicians rule the roost, and usually grow up with the belief that this country was built to serve their interests. The police is simply the tool with which a politician can go about projecting his/her power and implement their grand designs.
Bodyguards at their residences, their vehicles driven by uniformed cops, and using their so-called VIP status to get past airport security are just some of the many examples of how the politicians of this country live a blessed life.
I have for long ranted against the political influence on our police forces. Numerous movies have been made on the subject, numerous reports have been published, and numerous cases of political pressure have been brought to light, yet nothing is done to rectify the situation. Why? Because changing this status quo will only take away power and influence from the hand of a politician, and in this supremely democratic establishment, we definitely can't take away such unsurmountable power from the hands of our dearly beloved elected public officials. no?
Anyway, cutting aside the sarcasm, there are always some good vibes that seek to make a change. In fact, there is probably some divine providence that our country still manages to forage ahead despite all these netas dilligently trying to sell out their own country.
In a very refreshingly statement from the Supreme Court, they have indicated that they want a change. Thats good, because despite the extent to which the system has been subverted by the political class, our democracy can claim that our Supreme Court is still a shining beacon in the haze.
I have said it before and now the Justices of the Supreme Court of India say it too, that the police must be insulated from political interference. Why do politicians get away with everything? Its because they control the police. They control the police with threats and having the ability to suck their party leaders' dicks and punish the cops who try to punish them.
SC orders a cop clean-up
Insulating the police from politicians, separation of law and order machinery from the investigative apparatus, fixed tenure for police officers starting right from the station house officer — these are some of the far-reaching directions given by the Supreme Court today aimed at establishing a long-cherished independent and responsive police force in the country.
A bench of Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal, Justice C K Thakker and Justice P K Balasubramanyam, on a petition filed by Prakash Singh, a former Director General of Police, and NGO Common Cause, gave the judgement listing the directions. When implemented, these have the potential to change the face of India’s police force.
The key recommendations are:
• Setting up of a State Security Commission in every state to ensure that state government does not exercise unwarranted influence or pressure on the police.
• DGP of state to be selected from among three senior-most officers; will have fixed tenure of atleast 2 years.
• IG, Deputy IG, SP and SHO will have minimum fixed tenure of 2 years.
• Investigating police will be separated from law and order police to ensure speedier investigation, better expertise and improved rapport with people.
• Police Establishment Board in each state to decide on transfers, postings etc and service related matters of officers’ upto DSP.
• Police Complaints Authority at district level to look into complaints against police officers till DSP.
• Center to set up National Security Commission for selection and placement of Chiefs of Central Police Organisations.
The directions have to be complied on or before December 31, 2006, the judgment said, and sought compliance reports from the Cabinet Secretary, Government of India and Chief Secretaries of states or union territories by January 3, 2007.
The State Security Commission “shall” be headed by the CM or Home Minister and have the DGP of the state as ex-officio Secretary. However, the independence of the Commission will be ensured through the other members including the leader of the opposition or the Lok Ayukta as the case may be, a retired or sitting judge and some non-political citizens.
The Police Establishment Board will be made up of the DGP and four senior officers of the department. “The state government may interfere with decision of the Board in exceptional cases only after recording its reasons for doing so.”
To maintain independence of the Police Complaints Authority, the bench ordered that the PCA at the district level “may” be headed by a retired District Judge and at the state level by a retired judge of the High Court or Supreme Court. The PCA will have on its panel retired civil servants, police officers or members of civil society.
It will take note of only charges of serous misconduct by the cops including incidents involving death, grievous hurt or rape in custody. The district authority may also inquire into allegations of extortion, land grabbing etc. Another important recommendation is for setting up a National Security Commission to be headed by the Home Minister and comprising heads of the Central Police Organisations and a couple of security experts as members with the Union Home Secretary as its secretary. The NSC will draw up a panel to be placed before the appointing authority for selection and placement of chiefs of the CPOs. The Chiefs will also enjoy a two-year minimum tenure.
The petitioners had approached the court in 1996 after the government dragged its feet on the recommendations of the National Police Commission and several others regarding reforms in the force.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Indian hockey still going nowhere
There was a time when Indian hockey was at its prime, with great players, great tournaments, and great showings at all international meetings, including the Olympic games. Unfortunately, the way the state of Indian hockey is right now, one seems to wonder if there is any lower than we can go.
The Hockey World Cup is on right now in Germany, and India has played 5 games already, and not won a single one. India has lost to everybody in its group, only managing to get a draw against South Africa was it? So thats the way the tournament is going. Once the powerhouse of world hockey, home to the names of Dhyanchand, Mohd. Shahid et al, and today we can't win a game. I am sure the IHF, abely led by supercop KPS Gill, is rolling in laughter at this great joke they are playing with our players and with the country.
Fuck man, in a group of 6 teams, we drew with one and lost to 4, and are, expectedly, at the rock bottom. What the hell went wrong? Is it bad policy, is it lack of skill, is it lack of facilities, is it lack of training, there has got to be something that we can put a finger on and say that "look, this is the reason you suck so bad, and if you work on this, maybe, just maybe, you'll at least win a game next time."
A former German coach says that a great hockey nation like India is at this sad juncture is because there is no direction. Hmm, I thought Indian sports programs never really had any direction. Take any sport, any damn sport, and you will find fat officials gorging on funds that are meant for players, dirty administrators who'se only job is to cut corners and never ever try to do justice to their job. Our sports associations are filled with washed out, dirty netas who still live under the false pretense that they are still important, and have turned every damn sports field into a fucking cowshed.
Oh, and as much of an optimist that I am, I am also beginning to wonder that the governments of Delhi, its worthless civic authorities are definitely going to fuck up during the Commonwealth Games in 2010. Dude, in India bureaucracy has never been capable of doing anything. And when that bureaucracy is led by an even worse entity, called the Indian polity, you can be sure that we will get nothing but incompetence and substandard functioning. If Indian politicians had any balls or even an iota of will in them to change this country for the better, we probably would be better. Fuck them, this is not about them.
Coming back to Indian hockey, I've said it before and i'll say it again, as much as KPS Gill has achieved on the internal security front as a cop, he has done nothing for the IHF except feed his ego and obstinacy. The IHF is as closed and unaccountable as the BCCI or any other sports federation.
Fine, people will say that look, they started the PHL, and yes, that is a good concept, but it is still too early to say where it is headed. With IHF at the helm, how can one not expect things to wane and the initial enthusiasm to die out?
Indian hockey hits rock bottom at WC
The Indian hockey team's nightmare at the World Cup continues. A team which has got Olympic gold medals to its name can't win even one match in the hockey World Cup. It's been another disastrous campaign for India at an international tournament.
Embarrasing, if you are looking for a word to summarise India's performance at the hockey World Cup. Don't look beyond it. With just one point from five matches, India is now nowhere near the semi-final stage. They will now be contesting for the last four places in the classification matches.
India have played well only in patches. The forwards have been off-colour barring youngster Shivendra Singh. Before their departure, the coaches said the midfield would be the key. But in Monchengladbach, the midfield was listless.
Indian teams in the past have been known for their attacking skills. But this time, the entire setup has been defensive. Experts say this is another reason why India are conceding last-minute goals, which have often been the decisive ones. India finished 10th at the last World Cup. But this time around, there is a real danger of finishing last.
---------------------------------------------
No direction
Germany’s famed hockey coach Paul Lissek is saddened by India’s decline and an evident lack of concerted efforts to revive the glory days. He feels India is sufferings the pangs of disjointed planning.
Lissek said it was difficult to believe this slide, and hoped that serious introspection about the causes — and remedial steps —was being done back home in India to ensure that they have the chance of reclaiming a place on the podium at global events.
The most glaring example is that the current side’s coach, V Bhaskaran, was given charge of the squad just four months ahead of the World Cup. “Can anyone shape a World Cup winning outfit in four months?” exclaimed Lissek.“You need a programme in place for two generations of players if you want to produce consistent performances. Look at India’s coaching plans, there’s a glaring lack on continuity from one tournament to the next.”
“You simply can’t have two or three new coaches every year and yet hope to win gold medals,” he said. “Look at all the successful countries, they all have continuity in their coaching programme. The Indian skills are still on view, but their teams haven’t been clicking for some time,” said Lissek, who feels the bench strength of the current Indian squad was not strong enough to maintain the tempo.
“It appears to me that India have a good starting lineup of 11 players, but the remaining ones on the bench are not of the same quality,” he said. “One’s got to be patient with the players, who need time to settle down.”
---------------------------------------------------
And you know what is going to happen next? Because of India's yet another distastrous showing, this four month coach will also get scrapped, and some other goat will be fattened till its time for him to go. Jai ho, jai ho kutte ke pillon.
The Hockey World Cup is on right now in Germany, and India has played 5 games already, and not won a single one. India has lost to everybody in its group, only managing to get a draw against South Africa was it? So thats the way the tournament is going. Once the powerhouse of world hockey, home to the names of Dhyanchand, Mohd. Shahid et al, and today we can't win a game. I am sure the IHF, abely led by supercop KPS Gill, is rolling in laughter at this great joke they are playing with our players and with the country.
Fuck man, in a group of 6 teams, we drew with one and lost to 4, and are, expectedly, at the rock bottom. What the hell went wrong? Is it bad policy, is it lack of skill, is it lack of facilities, is it lack of training, there has got to be something that we can put a finger on and say that "look, this is the reason you suck so bad, and if you work on this, maybe, just maybe, you'll at least win a game next time."
A former German coach says that a great hockey nation like India is at this sad juncture is because there is no direction. Hmm, I thought Indian sports programs never really had any direction. Take any sport, any damn sport, and you will find fat officials gorging on funds that are meant for players, dirty administrators who'se only job is to cut corners and never ever try to do justice to their job. Our sports associations are filled with washed out, dirty netas who still live under the false pretense that they are still important, and have turned every damn sports field into a fucking cowshed.
Oh, and as much of an optimist that I am, I am also beginning to wonder that the governments of Delhi, its worthless civic authorities are definitely going to fuck up during the Commonwealth Games in 2010. Dude, in India bureaucracy has never been capable of doing anything. And when that bureaucracy is led by an even worse entity, called the Indian polity, you can be sure that we will get nothing but incompetence and substandard functioning. If Indian politicians had any balls or even an iota of will in them to change this country for the better, we probably would be better. Fuck them, this is not about them.
Coming back to Indian hockey, I've said it before and i'll say it again, as much as KPS Gill has achieved on the internal security front as a cop, he has done nothing for the IHF except feed his ego and obstinacy. The IHF is as closed and unaccountable as the BCCI or any other sports federation.
Fine, people will say that look, they started the PHL, and yes, that is a good concept, but it is still too early to say where it is headed. With IHF at the helm, how can one not expect things to wane and the initial enthusiasm to die out?
Indian hockey hits rock bottom at WC
The Indian hockey team's nightmare at the World Cup continues. A team which has got Olympic gold medals to its name can't win even one match in the hockey World Cup. It's been another disastrous campaign for India at an international tournament.
Embarrasing, if you are looking for a word to summarise India's performance at the hockey World Cup. Don't look beyond it. With just one point from five matches, India is now nowhere near the semi-final stage. They will now be contesting for the last four places in the classification matches.
India have played well only in patches. The forwards have been off-colour barring youngster Shivendra Singh. Before their departure, the coaches said the midfield would be the key. But in Monchengladbach, the midfield was listless.
Indian teams in the past have been known for their attacking skills. But this time, the entire setup has been defensive. Experts say this is another reason why India are conceding last-minute goals, which have often been the decisive ones. India finished 10th at the last World Cup. But this time around, there is a real danger of finishing last.
---------------------------------------------
No direction
Germany’s famed hockey coach Paul Lissek is saddened by India’s decline and an evident lack of concerted efforts to revive the glory days. He feels India is sufferings the pangs of disjointed planning.
Lissek said it was difficult to believe this slide, and hoped that serious introspection about the causes — and remedial steps —was being done back home in India to ensure that they have the chance of reclaiming a place on the podium at global events.
The most glaring example is that the current side’s coach, V Bhaskaran, was given charge of the squad just four months ahead of the World Cup. “Can anyone shape a World Cup winning outfit in four months?” exclaimed Lissek.“You need a programme in place for two generations of players if you want to produce consistent performances. Look at India’s coaching plans, there’s a glaring lack on continuity from one tournament to the next.”
“You simply can’t have two or three new coaches every year and yet hope to win gold medals,” he said. “Look at all the successful countries, they all have continuity in their coaching programme. The Indian skills are still on view, but their teams haven’t been clicking for some time,” said Lissek, who feels the bench strength of the current Indian squad was not strong enough to maintain the tempo.
“It appears to me that India have a good starting lineup of 11 players, but the remaining ones on the bench are not of the same quality,” he said. “One’s got to be patient with the players, who need time to settle down.”
---------------------------------------------------
And you know what is going to happen next? Because of India's yet another distastrous showing, this four month coach will also get scrapped, and some other goat will be fattened till its time for him to go. Jai ho, jai ho kutte ke pillon.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
thinking behind time
When God was giving out alertness and quick response, he, or she, kept out one group of people out of the loop. That group of people would then go on to be called the successive governments of India.
The story of Indian politicians is simple - they will start warming up when the race is over. Why am I saying all this? Because its true. The aviation sector is a perfect example of how the politicians of India have absolutely no idea what the country is upto, for most of the time. What to speak of the absolutely dangerous and horrendous situation in which these politicians have allowed our internal defenses to rot and allow enemies to permeate our fabric.
Any public project takes forever to be implemented in this country. This current regime is no different. It sickens me to see how weak they are. The Bangalore International Airport has been a work in progress for the last two decades, and when it is finally being built, they realize that by the time it is finished, it will be too small to cater to the number of passengers that will use it.
Its not just the center, but the state governments too that are equally to blame. Devegowda and his son are as ineffective and worthless as they can get. Also, what is this new mantra called 'public private partnership' that the new government is harping about? Hmm, is it part of their reforms with a human face theme?
I am really sick right now, and my thoughts are coming out as pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, but my feeling of indignation is the same throughout. Our netas have no vision, and they have no idea what this country they are ruling is upto. They would rather sit tight in their air conditioned offices with bodyguards standing outside while the rest of the country has to do without electricity and without an iota of law and order.
The story of Indian politicians is simple - they will start warming up when the race is over. Why am I saying all this? Because its true. The aviation sector is a perfect example of how the politicians of India have absolutely no idea what the country is upto, for most of the time. What to speak of the absolutely dangerous and horrendous situation in which these politicians have allowed our internal defenses to rot and allow enemies to permeate our fabric.
Any public project takes forever to be implemented in this country. This current regime is no different. It sickens me to see how weak they are. The Bangalore International Airport has been a work in progress for the last two decades, and when it is finally being built, they realize that by the time it is finished, it will be too small to cater to the number of passengers that will use it.
Its not just the center, but the state governments too that are equally to blame. Devegowda and his son are as ineffective and worthless as they can get. Also, what is this new mantra called 'public private partnership' that the new government is harping about? Hmm, is it part of their reforms with a human face theme?
I am really sick right now, and my thoughts are coming out as pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, but my feeling of indignation is the same throughout. Our netas have no vision, and they have no idea what this country they are ruling is upto. They would rather sit tight in their air conditioned offices with bodyguards standing outside while the rest of the country has to do without electricity and without an iota of law and order.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
kind of slow here, ain't it?
I've not really been able to sit down and work on my blog for a while. Its not really because I am tired or bored of doing it, its just that I have been bogged down with so many things recently.
At work, I have to learn the jobs of two interns till the replacements come in, and this extra work keeps me busy all day. In addition, I am moving to a new place, and all my evenings after work go in moving my things and helping my new roommates move their things. But the move is done and I am waiting for an internet connection at my new apartment before I can get down to business again.
But some musings still. It seems the anti-quota stir among the doctors and students of India is stirring up again, because the Government just brought the bill into the House. I strongly believe that the bill will be passed, simply because it is in the interest of all the netas to keep this country divided.
I am finally beginning to find a lot more examples of writers who say that the reason our public education is in a mess is because it is, again, not in the interests of the netas to educate the masses. If only the masses can see through this and demand what is rightfully ours, i.e a right to education and a right to lead an a life of equality and freedom, without prejudice and injustice.
Meanwhile, there is a new controversy surrounding Vande Mataram. Apparently, it is unislamic for the Muslims of India to sing our national songs. I don't know what to say in this case. All I know is that I would like to take a big cricket bat and beat these bloody mullahs and the Darul-Uloom people in Deoband to a pulp. From being the centers of learning and philosophy, they have reduced themselves to their counterparts in Pakistan; rabid and orthodox. Please grow up. Your fate is attached to the fate of the country you live in, and singing praises of your motherland in no way constitutes unislamism.
Also, the government is increasing its attempts to play the big brother and decide what the people of this country can and cannot watch. Apparently a lot of television channels showing American movies and playing western shows are banned for showing smut. Oh my God, how will I get to see half-nude chicks now???
If you didn't get it, its sarcasm. What I am trying to say is that no government can beat technology. You can't watch a girl in a bikini on tv, then that kid will get his/her fix from the internet, or a pirated porno CD, or numerous other ways. Instead of trying to be an open society, we are trying to close it further. It is pretty much the same mentality that if a streetside romeo teases a girl because she is showing her legs, the girl should be punished. Bloody close-minded medieval cockroaches.
At work, I have to learn the jobs of two interns till the replacements come in, and this extra work keeps me busy all day. In addition, I am moving to a new place, and all my evenings after work go in moving my things and helping my new roommates move their things. But the move is done and I am waiting for an internet connection at my new apartment before I can get down to business again.
But some musings still. It seems the anti-quota stir among the doctors and students of India is stirring up again, because the Government just brought the bill into the House. I strongly believe that the bill will be passed, simply because it is in the interest of all the netas to keep this country divided.
I am finally beginning to find a lot more examples of writers who say that the reason our public education is in a mess is because it is, again, not in the interests of the netas to educate the masses. If only the masses can see through this and demand what is rightfully ours, i.e a right to education and a right to lead an a life of equality and freedom, without prejudice and injustice.
Meanwhile, there is a new controversy surrounding Vande Mataram. Apparently, it is unislamic for the Muslims of India to sing our national songs. I don't know what to say in this case. All I know is that I would like to take a big cricket bat and beat these bloody mullahs and the Darul-Uloom people in Deoband to a pulp. From being the centers of learning and philosophy, they have reduced themselves to their counterparts in Pakistan; rabid and orthodox. Please grow up. Your fate is attached to the fate of the country you live in, and singing praises of your motherland in no way constitutes unislamism.
Also, the government is increasing its attempts to play the big brother and decide what the people of this country can and cannot watch. Apparently a lot of television channels showing American movies and playing western shows are banned for showing smut. Oh my God, how will I get to see half-nude chicks now???
If you didn't get it, its sarcasm. What I am trying to say is that no government can beat technology. You can't watch a girl in a bikini on tv, then that kid will get his/her fix from the internet, or a pirated porno CD, or numerous other ways. Instead of trying to be an open society, we are trying to close it further. It is pretty much the same mentality that if a streetside romeo teases a girl because she is showing her legs, the girl should be punished. Bloody close-minded medieval cockroaches.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
A new RTI act and newer ways to subvert it
The RTI Act is a far reaching act, and relatively very new. Any well meaning act, if it has to start making a change, must be given time, and slowly and surely, everyday some news trickles in of how this act has enabled some disenfranchised citizen to get justice and/or get a fair hearing.
The Government had created an Information Commission too, and had given it enough teeth to justify its formation. But as you could imagine, any good thing is shortlived when it comes to the Indian government. I am sure that in 50 years of extreme incompetence and corruption, there will be a lot of skeletons hidden in any government department's closet, and sooner or later, this act will probably try to tumble them out.
The netas and babus are a strong lobby, and more often than not, they only work for themselves. The Government of India fully agrees, and that is why it has been trying to clip the wings of the RTI act for a while now. The government wants to keep all the personal notings on government files out of the purview of the act, and this act of subversion has been meeting stiff resistance from all and sundry, including the media. Now why would the government want to do that? Well, I dont know, and I can't imagine what are the things that babus and netas keep writing on these files before they send it back into the great circle of red tape. Another less reported news was the government also wants to clip the teeth of the knowledge commission. While it currently has power to act on its own and punish people, now the government wants its role to be strictly that of a consultant.
However, help for the act came in from the most unlikely of places, from Her Majesty! They say that she parlayed against any changes to the act, and the act seems safe for now.
According to a newsitem from Rediff, the government's attempt to curb the act have been on since last year, the same year the act was introduced and passed! Man, talk about short-term objectives.
However, looking at current news stories, the government has said that no such amendments will be introduced in this current monsoon session. This probably leaves the possibility, or should i say probability, of any such amendments being introduced at a later date. Only a few days ago, some MPs from a regional party asking for a Telengana state in AP withdrew support from the UPA, and I expect the government to be busy putting that fire out.
Centre backtracks on Information Act
Official sources said Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh received many representations against the proposed amendments, aimed at deleting "file notings" from the new transparency regime.
Ms. Gandhi is believed to have advised the Government that there should be wider consultations among the stakeholders before the controversy over the file noting provisions got sorted out.
In the Government's own narrative, "file notings" were never part of the Right to Information Act as passed by Parliament.
In this narrative, neither the Group of Ministers nor the Parliamentary Standing Committee had intended to include the words "file notings" in the definition of "information" given in Section 2(f).
A controversy arose because the Central Information Commission interpreted Section 2(f) to include "file notings." As the Central Information Commissioner, O.P. Kejriwal, told the media in July 2006, "Information minus the notings amounts to taking the life out of the RTI Act."
Mr. Kejriwal's dissent prompted the Prime Minister's Office to issue an elaborate explanation on July 26, 2006. In this it was clarified that even after the amendment the "file notings of all plans, schemes and programmes of the Government that relate to the development and social issues shall be disclosed."
According to officials, it would mean that only a small portion of the file notings relating to "personnel-related matters like examination, assessment and evaluation of recruitment, disciplinary proceedings, etc." was being kept out of the disclosure purview.
Nonetheless, various sections of civil society, as also the Information Commissioners, were not mollified. Social activist Anna Hazare of Maharasthra went on a fast.
The decision to defer making changes in the Right to Information Act is in response to the protests.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The good news about this whole thing is that public pressure actually seems to be working in India. I haev said a couple of times about how Congress is prone to any kind of pressure, and that due to lack of balls, it can change any stance as long as it feels it is not pissing off the votebanks. So yes, because people are pissed, Ms. Gandhi has realized that touching it would probably be a bad idea. Now you can come up to me and ask, "Yo Vasu, the public outcry has been greater for the government's attempt to divide our economy and our educational institutions into castes, so why doesn't the government seem to be backing down?"
Well, friend, I dont know.
A writer in Business Standard, Subir Roy, says that most of the babus in the governments don't even know how this act works. Accountability never really has been a problem for any government in the country, so its going to take time for the importance and uses of this act to settle in, but maybe the babus and netas can see the writing on the wall that once this happens, their days of corruption, incompetence and lethargy, are greatly reduced, if not over.
Right to information survives
The first attempt to sabotage the Right to Information Act, principally by seeking to keep file notings out of its ambit, has hopefully been defeated. This is unlikely to be the last and huge effort is needed to make the Act work in improving governance.
Eliminating file notings would have effectively killed the Act because the advice tendered and reasons cited for a particular decision are really the substance of the decision-making process. Take away the noting and you can be left with only some correspondence. This is particularly so if an administration, as is sometimes done in Karnataka, follows the “single file” system. Under it, the file itself rather than correspondence moves from office to office and everything is in the notings. Take away the notings and you are deprived of 90 per cent of the information contained in a file.
On the other hand, the knowledge on the part of officials and ministers that what they are putting down can one day become public will likely make people think twice before pursuing a course of action that will not stand up to later scrutiny.
An informal check with several officials revealed to me that they feel the Act can strengthen them in their attempt to resist pressure to give unsound advice. On the other hand, a pernicious practice currently rife is for officials to first “consult” their seniors or ministers and then make notings which will pass muster.
The problem right now is that it is an emerging law and activists feel that the state information commissioners are too soft in the way they are interpreting the ambit of the law. Even they are the second line of appeal, the first being the department appellate authority above the designated public information officer (PIO). If an official refuses to provide the information required, a commissioner can fine him Rs 250 per day of delay and a maximum of Rs 25,000, plus ask him to compensate the aggrieved party for loss suffered due to delay.
The feeling is growing among information commissioners that they should move the high court against a recalcitrant official for being in contempt of the commission, which is a quasi-judicial body. But no one has done this yet. On the other hand, an applicant displeased with the verdict of the commission can move the high court. A few instances of this are emerging.
The law has so far been used mostly by government servants seeking information to redress their own service-related grievances. Those seeking to put service-related matters outside the ambit of the law feel that it is currently being misused at considerable public expense and if this continues it will get pretty difficult to run the administration. But this is simply because government servants know best how to work their own system.
In the entire country there have till now been few instances of applicants seeking information related to policy whereas, in the ultimate analysis, the law will be best used if it becomes an aid to improving policy and its implementation.
A big responsibility in this case rests on the shoulders of the media and NGOs, which see themselves as guardians and crusaders for sound policy. Arun Jaitley has sought to use the law to seek information on the role of the CBI over Bofors. There is also a move to obtain information on the exchanges between the then President and the Prime Minister on the Gujarat violence. There should be more such instances.
There is tremendous resistance on the part of the Indian officialdom down the line to parting with information whereas half the job can be done proactively through disclosure typically via websites. Only a fraction of government servants even knows about the Act.
But hope stems from the fact that despite all the interests working against the law, it seems to have tremendous intrinsic power and it’s clearly gaining momentum.
The Government had created an Information Commission too, and had given it enough teeth to justify its formation. But as you could imagine, any good thing is shortlived when it comes to the Indian government. I am sure that in 50 years of extreme incompetence and corruption, there will be a lot of skeletons hidden in any government department's closet, and sooner or later, this act will probably try to tumble them out.
The netas and babus are a strong lobby, and more often than not, they only work for themselves. The Government of India fully agrees, and that is why it has been trying to clip the wings of the RTI act for a while now. The government wants to keep all the personal notings on government files out of the purview of the act, and this act of subversion has been meeting stiff resistance from all and sundry, including the media. Now why would the government want to do that? Well, I dont know, and I can't imagine what are the things that babus and netas keep writing on these files before they send it back into the great circle of red tape. Another less reported news was the government also wants to clip the teeth of the knowledge commission. While it currently has power to act on its own and punish people, now the government wants its role to be strictly that of a consultant.
However, help for the act came in from the most unlikely of places, from Her Majesty! They say that she parlayed against any changes to the act, and the act seems safe for now.
According to a newsitem from Rediff, the government's attempt to curb the act have been on since last year, the same year the act was introduced and passed! Man, talk about short-term objectives.
However, looking at current news stories, the government has said that no such amendments will be introduced in this current monsoon session. This probably leaves the possibility, or should i say probability, of any such amendments being introduced at a later date. Only a few days ago, some MPs from a regional party asking for a Telengana state in AP withdrew support from the UPA, and I expect the government to be busy putting that fire out.
Centre backtracks on Information Act
Official sources said Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh received many representations against the proposed amendments, aimed at deleting "file notings" from the new transparency regime.
Ms. Gandhi is believed to have advised the Government that there should be wider consultations among the stakeholders before the controversy over the file noting provisions got sorted out.
In the Government's own narrative, "file notings" were never part of the Right to Information Act as passed by Parliament.
In this narrative, neither the Group of Ministers nor the Parliamentary Standing Committee had intended to include the words "file notings" in the definition of "information" given in Section 2(f).
A controversy arose because the Central Information Commission interpreted Section 2(f) to include "file notings." As the Central Information Commissioner, O.P. Kejriwal, told the media in July 2006, "Information minus the notings amounts to taking the life out of the RTI Act."
Mr. Kejriwal's dissent prompted the Prime Minister's Office to issue an elaborate explanation on July 26, 2006. In this it was clarified that even after the amendment the "file notings of all plans, schemes and programmes of the Government that relate to the development and social issues shall be disclosed."
According to officials, it would mean that only a small portion of the file notings relating to "personnel-related matters like examination, assessment and evaluation of recruitment, disciplinary proceedings, etc." was being kept out of the disclosure purview.
Nonetheless, various sections of civil society, as also the Information Commissioners, were not mollified. Social activist Anna Hazare of Maharasthra went on a fast.
The decision to defer making changes in the Right to Information Act is in response to the protests.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The good news about this whole thing is that public pressure actually seems to be working in India. I haev said a couple of times about how Congress is prone to any kind of pressure, and that due to lack of balls, it can change any stance as long as it feels it is not pissing off the votebanks. So yes, because people are pissed, Ms. Gandhi has realized that touching it would probably be a bad idea. Now you can come up to me and ask, "Yo Vasu, the public outcry has been greater for the government's attempt to divide our economy and our educational institutions into castes, so why doesn't the government seem to be backing down?"
Well, friend, I dont know.
A writer in Business Standard, Subir Roy, says that most of the babus in the governments don't even know how this act works. Accountability never really has been a problem for any government in the country, so its going to take time for the importance and uses of this act to settle in, but maybe the babus and netas can see the writing on the wall that once this happens, their days of corruption, incompetence and lethargy, are greatly reduced, if not over.
Right to information survives
The first attempt to sabotage the Right to Information Act, principally by seeking to keep file notings out of its ambit, has hopefully been defeated. This is unlikely to be the last and huge effort is needed to make the Act work in improving governance.
Eliminating file notings would have effectively killed the Act because the advice tendered and reasons cited for a particular decision are really the substance of the decision-making process. Take away the noting and you can be left with only some correspondence. This is particularly so if an administration, as is sometimes done in Karnataka, follows the “single file” system. Under it, the file itself rather than correspondence moves from office to office and everything is in the notings. Take away the notings and you are deprived of 90 per cent of the information contained in a file.
On the other hand, the knowledge on the part of officials and ministers that what they are putting down can one day become public will likely make people think twice before pursuing a course of action that will not stand up to later scrutiny.
An informal check with several officials revealed to me that they feel the Act can strengthen them in their attempt to resist pressure to give unsound advice. On the other hand, a pernicious practice currently rife is for officials to first “consult” their seniors or ministers and then make notings which will pass muster.
The problem right now is that it is an emerging law and activists feel that the state information commissioners are too soft in the way they are interpreting the ambit of the law. Even they are the second line of appeal, the first being the department appellate authority above the designated public information officer (PIO). If an official refuses to provide the information required, a commissioner can fine him Rs 250 per day of delay and a maximum of Rs 25,000, plus ask him to compensate the aggrieved party for loss suffered due to delay.
The feeling is growing among information commissioners that they should move the high court against a recalcitrant official for being in contempt of the commission, which is a quasi-judicial body. But no one has done this yet. On the other hand, an applicant displeased with the verdict of the commission can move the high court. A few instances of this are emerging.
The law has so far been used mostly by government servants seeking information to redress their own service-related grievances. Those seeking to put service-related matters outside the ambit of the law feel that it is currently being misused at considerable public expense and if this continues it will get pretty difficult to run the administration. But this is simply because government servants know best how to work their own system.
In the entire country there have till now been few instances of applicants seeking information related to policy whereas, in the ultimate analysis, the law will be best used if it becomes an aid to improving policy and its implementation.
A big responsibility in this case rests on the shoulders of the media and NGOs, which see themselves as guardians and crusaders for sound policy. Arun Jaitley has sought to use the law to seek information on the role of the CBI over Bofors. There is also a move to obtain information on the exchanges between the then President and the Prime Minister on the Gujarat violence. There should be more such instances.
There is tremendous resistance on the part of the Indian officialdom down the line to parting with information whereas half the job can be done proactively through disclosure typically via websites. Only a fraction of government servants even knows about the Act.
But hope stems from the fact that despite all the interests working against the law, it seems to have tremendous intrinsic power and it’s clearly gaining momentum.
Monday, August 21, 2006
Ustad Bismillah Khan (1916 - 2006)
One of India's greatest musical sons is no more. Ustad Bismillah Khan, the epitome of Shehnai in the country and the world over, passed away after suffering a heart attack in Varanasi. The Government of India has declared a day of national mourning in his honour, and he will be given a full state burial. In addition, the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have also declared a day long period of mourning.
The Ustad was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 2001, and had played the Shehnai at the Red Fort during the eve of India's independence on August 15th, 1947. With all my heart, I salute you sir. May you rest in peace and get the respect that you deserve in heaven that you did not get on earth.
While he was one of India's finest, like every other aging musician, he was overlooked by the state and lead a quiet, austere life in the backstreets of Banaras. If I remember correctly, he had spoken out against the government's and the society's indifference to Indian classical music more than once. Indian classical music just does not get as much respect as it did many decades ago. What is really unfortunate is that it has failed to enter the mainstream. The music directors in the golden age of Indian cinema regularly produced great songs that were based on the many raagas of Indian classical, but as time progressed, it gave way to synthesizers and loud noise. His death will leave a deep void in our musical history, and I hope there will rise many more musicians in his wake.
Bismillah Khan buried
Shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan, who died here due to cardiac arrest early today, was buried at Fatman Graveyard this evening with full State honours.
The jawans of the armed forces fired three rounds in the air before reversing their guns as a mark of respect to the 91-year-old Bharat Ratna awardee whose moral remains were laid to rest amid religious rituals as family members bid adieu to him with tearful eyes.
Earlier, Khan's body, wrapped in the tricolour, was put in a flower decorated CRPF truck at the Beniabagh park at 1730 hours before the funeral procession left for the final journey. The procession took about 90 minutes to arrive at the graveyard at 1900 hours.
More than 10,000 people, comprising the family members, relatives and well wishers of the nonagenarian Sehnai player, participated in the funeral procession after offering funeral namaz at the Beniabagh park where the body was kept for the people to pay their last respects.
--------------------------------------------------
Music academy, award in memory of Bismillah Khan
The Uttar Pradesh government announced the setting up of a music academy and institution of an award in memory of shehnai maestro Bismillah Khan, who died at Varanasi on Monday.
Making the announcement on the floor of the assembly, Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav said the award would carry a prize money of Rs 5 lakh. The academy will be built in the state capital at a cost of Rs 1 crore.
---------------------------------------
Inna Lilah-e wa Inna alaih-e Raje-oon (Allah has sent us here and we all shall return to Thee).
The Ustad was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 2001, and had played the Shehnai at the Red Fort during the eve of India's independence on August 15th, 1947. With all my heart, I salute you sir. May you rest in peace and get the respect that you deserve in heaven that you did not get on earth.
While he was one of India's finest, like every other aging musician, he was overlooked by the state and lead a quiet, austere life in the backstreets of Banaras. If I remember correctly, he had spoken out against the government's and the society's indifference to Indian classical music more than once. Indian classical music just does not get as much respect as it did many decades ago. What is really unfortunate is that it has failed to enter the mainstream. The music directors in the golden age of Indian cinema regularly produced great songs that were based on the many raagas of Indian classical, but as time progressed, it gave way to synthesizers and loud noise. His death will leave a deep void in our musical history, and I hope there will rise many more musicians in his wake.
Bismillah Khan buried
Shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan, who died here due to cardiac arrest early today, was buried at Fatman Graveyard this evening with full State honours.
The jawans of the armed forces fired three rounds in the air before reversing their guns as a mark of respect to the 91-year-old Bharat Ratna awardee whose moral remains were laid to rest amid religious rituals as family members bid adieu to him with tearful eyes.
Earlier, Khan's body, wrapped in the tricolour, was put in a flower decorated CRPF truck at the Beniabagh park at 1730 hours before the funeral procession left for the final journey. The procession took about 90 minutes to arrive at the graveyard at 1900 hours.
More than 10,000 people, comprising the family members, relatives and well wishers of the nonagenarian Sehnai player, participated in the funeral procession after offering funeral namaz at the Beniabagh park where the body was kept for the people to pay their last respects.
--------------------------------------------------
Music academy, award in memory of Bismillah Khan
The Uttar Pradesh government announced the setting up of a music academy and institution of an award in memory of shehnai maestro Bismillah Khan, who died at Varanasi on Monday.
Making the announcement on the floor of the assembly, Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav said the award would carry a prize money of Rs 5 lakh. The academy will be built in the state capital at a cost of Rs 1 crore.
---------------------------------------
Inna Lilah-e wa Inna alaih-e Raje-oon (Allah has sent us here and we all shall return to Thee).
Monday, August 14, 2006
Still going strong
Tomorrow is the Independence day of our great nation, and I can say that things look brighter today than they ever did. Only on the economic front that is. A red alert has been sounded in all big cities and security is particularly tight in Delhi and Mumbai, for very obvious reasons. The people who represent the governments of these cities don't really know, or don't really want to protect themselves.
While India still stands strong and together, our patience and benign attitude has been tested almost every day. Our enemies try to hurt us, and today, more importantly, they are recruiting their legions from within our own walls. That is an alarming situation that needs to be dealt with without further delay, but the big question is that who will do that?
It sucks that the quality of leadership has been on a downward spiral ever since we won our independence. From having quality leaders like Sardar Patel, Dr. Ambedkar, Pandit Nehru (no matter how much I now think his policies made no sense), and right into our independent India. The last decade and this has seen some quality leadership too, but Indian politics, as it stands today, is given to the rigors and demands of coalition politics, and these demands do not necessarily match the demands of the nation.
Meanwhile, the violence continues unabated in J&K. Every year it is the same story of innocent deaths in different parts of the state, in a message to the government of India that the terrorists will not let these people lead a normal life, but a life that is Jihadized and steeped in the ideology of Pakistan, i.e. Muslims can't live with any other religion, Hindus in particular.
Despite my optimism, I can honestly say that our country seems weaker today that it ever was. We are taking a beating domestically. The problems in the north-east and the north are still there, but now we can add the naxal problem and the threat of our enemies seeping through our society, recruiting Indians who will act against their own country, while our politicians will prefer to look the other way. But here is an opportunity for us to remind ourselves of our allegience, remind ourselves that the tricolor still stands strong and that these enemies won't matter if we can put our hearts and minds together and work towards a better, more secure future for us and for our children.
While India still stands strong and together, our patience and benign attitude has been tested almost every day. Our enemies try to hurt us, and today, more importantly, they are recruiting their legions from within our own walls. That is an alarming situation that needs to be dealt with without further delay, but the big question is that who will do that?
It sucks that the quality of leadership has been on a downward spiral ever since we won our independence. From having quality leaders like Sardar Patel, Dr. Ambedkar, Pandit Nehru (no matter how much I now think his policies made no sense), and right into our independent India. The last decade and this has seen some quality leadership too, but Indian politics, as it stands today, is given to the rigors and demands of coalition politics, and these demands do not necessarily match the demands of the nation.
Meanwhile, the violence continues unabated in J&K. Every year it is the same story of innocent deaths in different parts of the state, in a message to the government of India that the terrorists will not let these people lead a normal life, but a life that is Jihadized and steeped in the ideology of Pakistan, i.e. Muslims can't live with any other religion, Hindus in particular.
Despite my optimism, I can honestly say that our country seems weaker today that it ever was. We are taking a beating domestically. The problems in the north-east and the north are still there, but now we can add the naxal problem and the threat of our enemies seeping through our society, recruiting Indians who will act against their own country, while our politicians will prefer to look the other way. But here is an opportunity for us to remind ourselves of our allegience, remind ourselves that the tricolor still stands strong and that these enemies won't matter if we can put our hearts and minds together and work towards a better, more secure future for us and for our children.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
ban on child labor
India passed a far-reaching legislation last week. It banned the employment of children under 14 in all domestic households, all roadside tea shops and other hotels and restaurants. Many people feel that while it is really difficult to monitor all such areas where children are routinely employed, this legislation will give teeth to the drive to stop this practice.
Heres my question though, what happens to all the children that are rescued from this fate of having to work countless hours without an opportunity to go to school or move ahead in life? What India needs is a system, strongly supported by the common man, a system in which disadvantaged children are taken care of. They are sent to school, and provided avenues for growth and given all the facilities that will give them a childhood that most of us reading this blog have had.
The economics behind the employment of children in this industries is very strong and very compelling. Children need to go to work to support their poor, and in most cases, large families. Their work gets food on the table, and it will take something drastic and large scale to replace this system.
Law enforcement was never really any Indian government's forte, and I am certain they will consider it their job done with the passing of this legislation. Follow-up is a word unknown in the government dictionary.
Shyamal Majumdar: Child labour ban: If wishes were horses...
As long as the little worker is a mouth less for poor families to feed, the law will continue to be flouted.
The NGOs are euphoric and the government hasn’t stopped congratulating itself for this wonderful piece of legislation. Last week, India, home to the world’s largest number of child labourers (the official estimate is 11 million though the actual figure is over 75 million), banned children from working as domestic servants or at hotels, tea shops, restaurants and resorts.
These sectors now have roughly 60 days to sack their little labourers. The latest ban is merely an extension of the existing law — the Child Labour Act, 1986 — under which children are prohibited from working in hazardous industrial units.
“If wishes were horses, law could change men’s minds,” says a former official in the Maharashtra labour department. He gives three documents that give a graphic description of how the law is flouted openly even 20 years after it came into effect.
The first is an ANI report on the stone quarries in West Bengal’s Siliguri district, where hundreds of children, driven by hunger and poverty, are forced to engage in stone crushing activity. “Children spend eight hours a day by the riverside, fishing out stones and breaking them into gravel with hand tools twice the size of their tiny hands. Most of these kids are the crucial breadwinners for their even younger siblings,” the report says.
Employed through contract companies, they lose a sizeable chunk of their money to middlemen, ultimately earning a meagre amount which is not enough to buy them even one complete meal.
The second example is of a slaughter house at Parbhani, a small town in Maharashtra. Over half of the workers at the slaughter house were children aged between six and 14. They had to cut, skin and break the bones of cattle. Some had to even blow into the spleen of the dead cattle. They were rescued and put into coaching classes not by the law-enforcing authorities but by SETU, an NGO, and Unicef.
A report brought out by the two organisations quotes the children as saying that they had to force the animals down with their tiny hands and then cut it. One of the children, aged 10, said it was horrible to hear the screams of the animals.
The third example is a study by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions on child labour in Sivakasi. The children, who are paid Rs 15-18 a day, are used to dye outer paper, make small firecrackers, roll the powder and pack the final product. What makes identification difficult is that they work in unlicensed fireworks factories working under sub-contracts. Managers employing children either register their age as being above 14 or do not register them at all. Another NGO, Development Action for Women in Need, highlights the hazards of dealing with poisonous materials such as sulphur, salt peter, barium and strontium nitrates, and says it has noted underdevelopment of the uterus in young girls who squat for long hours making paper rolls.
These three heart-rending examples of open violation of the law are reasons why there is so much of cynicism about the effectiveness of the latest ban.
That legislation can have only a negligible impact is apparent from the fact that child labour is nothing but a by-product of grinding poverty. These children are holding out a slim lifeline to impoverished families, or are just trying to keep themselves from starvation. For example, in about 60 per cent of the Sivakasi households with working children, two-thirds of the total income is contributed by children.
The dilemma is similar to that of the ban on dance bars in Mumbai on the grounds that it would put an end to the exploitation of these women. What happened to those 70,000-odd bar girls after the ban? Some became prostitutes, some went back home only to be ostracised and some committed suicide.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The situation is much, much graver than we think it is. For us, seeing a working child is very commonplace, and we think nothing of it. We need to change that attitude, and I am hoping that the passing of this legislation will bring renewed interest and efforts into getting our children out of these conditions and giving them a childhood that they deserve.
We know the government can't do jack shit. The Human Resources Development ministry never really has been a doer, in fact, its always been a tool for the government to put its propaganda into the mainstream, and currently, it is led by a senile, wily old man who does not give a damn about the future of this country. The common citizens have to get together and tell themselves to not employ children in their households. But our first priority should be to get the millions of children out of the stone quarries, fireworks factories and slaughter houses. O Lord make us see the light.
Heres my question though, what happens to all the children that are rescued from this fate of having to work countless hours without an opportunity to go to school or move ahead in life? What India needs is a system, strongly supported by the common man, a system in which disadvantaged children are taken care of. They are sent to school, and provided avenues for growth and given all the facilities that will give them a childhood that most of us reading this blog have had.
The economics behind the employment of children in this industries is very strong and very compelling. Children need to go to work to support their poor, and in most cases, large families. Their work gets food on the table, and it will take something drastic and large scale to replace this system.
Law enforcement was never really any Indian government's forte, and I am certain they will consider it their job done with the passing of this legislation. Follow-up is a word unknown in the government dictionary.
Shyamal Majumdar: Child labour ban: If wishes were horses...
As long as the little worker is a mouth less for poor families to feed, the law will continue to be flouted.
The NGOs are euphoric and the government hasn’t stopped congratulating itself for this wonderful piece of legislation. Last week, India, home to the world’s largest number of child labourers (the official estimate is 11 million though the actual figure is over 75 million), banned children from working as domestic servants or at hotels, tea shops, restaurants and resorts.
These sectors now have roughly 60 days to sack their little labourers. The latest ban is merely an extension of the existing law — the Child Labour Act, 1986 — under which children are prohibited from working in hazardous industrial units.
“If wishes were horses, law could change men’s minds,” says a former official in the Maharashtra labour department. He gives three documents that give a graphic description of how the law is flouted openly even 20 years after it came into effect.
The first is an ANI report on the stone quarries in West Bengal’s Siliguri district, where hundreds of children, driven by hunger and poverty, are forced to engage in stone crushing activity. “Children spend eight hours a day by the riverside, fishing out stones and breaking them into gravel with hand tools twice the size of their tiny hands. Most of these kids are the crucial breadwinners for their even younger siblings,” the report says.
Employed through contract companies, they lose a sizeable chunk of their money to middlemen, ultimately earning a meagre amount which is not enough to buy them even one complete meal.
The second example is of a slaughter house at Parbhani, a small town in Maharashtra. Over half of the workers at the slaughter house were children aged between six and 14. They had to cut, skin and break the bones of cattle. Some had to even blow into the spleen of the dead cattle. They were rescued and put into coaching classes not by the law-enforcing authorities but by SETU, an NGO, and Unicef.
A report brought out by the two organisations quotes the children as saying that they had to force the animals down with their tiny hands and then cut it. One of the children, aged 10, said it was horrible to hear the screams of the animals.
The third example is a study by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions on child labour in Sivakasi. The children, who are paid Rs 15-18 a day, are used to dye outer paper, make small firecrackers, roll the powder and pack the final product. What makes identification difficult is that they work in unlicensed fireworks factories working under sub-contracts. Managers employing children either register their age as being above 14 or do not register them at all. Another NGO, Development Action for Women in Need, highlights the hazards of dealing with poisonous materials such as sulphur, salt peter, barium and strontium nitrates, and says it has noted underdevelopment of the uterus in young girls who squat for long hours making paper rolls.
These three heart-rending examples of open violation of the law are reasons why there is so much of cynicism about the effectiveness of the latest ban.
That legislation can have only a negligible impact is apparent from the fact that child labour is nothing but a by-product of grinding poverty. These children are holding out a slim lifeline to impoverished families, or are just trying to keep themselves from starvation. For example, in about 60 per cent of the Sivakasi households with working children, two-thirds of the total income is contributed by children.
The dilemma is similar to that of the ban on dance bars in Mumbai on the grounds that it would put an end to the exploitation of these women. What happened to those 70,000-odd bar girls after the ban? Some became prostitutes, some went back home only to be ostracised and some committed suicide.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The situation is much, much graver than we think it is. For us, seeing a working child is very commonplace, and we think nothing of it. We need to change that attitude, and I am hoping that the passing of this legislation will bring renewed interest and efforts into getting our children out of these conditions and giving them a childhood that they deserve.
We know the government can't do jack shit. The Human Resources Development ministry never really has been a doer, in fact, its always been a tool for the government to put its propaganda into the mainstream, and currently, it is led by a senile, wily old man who does not give a damn about the future of this country. The common citizens have to get together and tell themselves to not employ children in their households. But our first priority should be to get the millions of children out of the stone quarries, fireworks factories and slaughter houses. O Lord make us see the light.
Monday, August 07, 2006
India in the Football World Cup?
I don't know what happened to Indian football. We used to be so good in the 50's and 60's, we won the Asian championships, and were always high up in the FIFA rankings. I guess like the rest of the country, football also started to rot, and its really unfortunate that even today, we are still trying to find out football legs.
Sure we have the NFL, or the National Football League, which is more than a decade old too, but the media interest it generates is miniscule, what to talk of merchandise income, which is negligible, if there is any at all. For long the only sponsors that the NFL could find are large public sector undertakings which for all i know, were only there because the government forced them to.
Some games do generate a lot of interests, but even then, one can confidently say that the NFL only creates a stir in a few select states of the country. The usual suspects are West Bengal, with its traditional Mohun Bagan - East Bengal rivalry, Goa, and probably the Punjab, Kerala, the north-east and a few other pockets. Some people say its because of the traditional club structure of the league, with clubs more or less presenting themselves rather than their cities. Most of the clubs are concentrated in Goa and WB, with a smattering of clubs in Mumbai, Punjab, and other parts of South India.
In hockey, they started the Premier Hockey League, which is formatted to make it media friendly. It is tiered, and is based on cities. The Tier I has teams such as Bangalore Lions, Sher-e-Punjabs etc, and tier II has cities such as Imphal Rangers and Lucknow Nawabs. While this culture is still to catch on, I am hoping it will spread eventually, with the league taking a life of its own and be able to sustain itself in the long run. The IHF, that dear old enemy of Indian hockey IHF, has signed pacts with various sports channels in the country to telecast matches, and there is a plan to push its merchandise as well. Its games are on a home and away basis, but its only in the name. All the games are only played in one venue, which changes every year. Hopefully they plan to take it to the next level and choose more venues, and encourage the teams to start developing their own stadiums and revenues sources. As for the media, well, hopefully the media push and more tv coverage will mean more interest and more people in the stands.
I want the same for Indian football. I am sure cities would love to host their own teams. Delhi has a big football base, and so has my small city of Dehradun. All the cities in the country can benefit from such a format.
Only yesterday I was telling my friend that I think Indians are too wound up. For some reason we are very reluctant to have fun and just chill out. All this stress on hard work and making ends meet really leaves no time for anything else, and other than national cricket, India seems to have no other everlasting sporting culture. Despite the highest standards, our domestic cricket still suffers from lack of media space and lack of viewers.
Anyways, the All India Football Federation had appointed a new coach for the Indian football team a couple of weeks ago, and he said that India might actually qualify for the World Cup in the next 8 years! Maybe thats being too optimistic, but if he can manage to change the way the AIFF thinks and bring about some European style class and format to our game, fuck yeah people will watch it.
India in FIFA WC? Possible by 2014
Kolkata: Dreams of many Indians to see their country playing in the FIFA World Cup may turn out to be true and it could be as early as 2014 edition of the World Cup.
The newly appointed national coach of the Indian soccer team Bob Hougton on Sunday expressed hope that Team India may qualify for World Cup in the next eight years.
Pinning on some "remarkable developments" that is going to take place in the Indian football scene, Hougton said: "It seems to me that if India does not qualify for the world Cup in 2010, but some where around the year 2014 or 2018 the team can go up because of some remarkable development which is going to happen here".
Addressing a press conference before India's qualifying match for the AFC Asian Cup 2007 against Saudi Arabia, Houghton said with better facility and more money provided for the development of the game, young players could be urged to get involved with the game.
In his 30-year coaching career, the Englishman has trained players in Europe, Africa and Asia.
----------------------------------------------------
The article is really vague and short though. What remarkable developments is he talking about? Its been said a lot of times before, lets hope it stands true this time. Inshallah.
Sure we have the NFL, or the National Football League, which is more than a decade old too, but the media interest it generates is miniscule, what to talk of merchandise income, which is negligible, if there is any at all. For long the only sponsors that the NFL could find are large public sector undertakings which for all i know, were only there because the government forced them to.
Some games do generate a lot of interests, but even then, one can confidently say that the NFL only creates a stir in a few select states of the country. The usual suspects are West Bengal, with its traditional Mohun Bagan - East Bengal rivalry, Goa, and probably the Punjab, Kerala, the north-east and a few other pockets. Some people say its because of the traditional club structure of the league, with clubs more or less presenting themselves rather than their cities. Most of the clubs are concentrated in Goa and WB, with a smattering of clubs in Mumbai, Punjab, and other parts of South India.
In hockey, they started the Premier Hockey League, which is formatted to make it media friendly. It is tiered, and is based on cities. The Tier I has teams such as Bangalore Lions, Sher-e-Punjabs etc, and tier II has cities such as Imphal Rangers and Lucknow Nawabs. While this culture is still to catch on, I am hoping it will spread eventually, with the league taking a life of its own and be able to sustain itself in the long run. The IHF, that dear old enemy of Indian hockey IHF, has signed pacts with various sports channels in the country to telecast matches, and there is a plan to push its merchandise as well. Its games are on a home and away basis, but its only in the name. All the games are only played in one venue, which changes every year. Hopefully they plan to take it to the next level and choose more venues, and encourage the teams to start developing their own stadiums and revenues sources. As for the media, well, hopefully the media push and more tv coverage will mean more interest and more people in the stands.
I want the same for Indian football. I am sure cities would love to host their own teams. Delhi has a big football base, and so has my small city of Dehradun. All the cities in the country can benefit from such a format.
Only yesterday I was telling my friend that I think Indians are too wound up. For some reason we are very reluctant to have fun and just chill out. All this stress on hard work and making ends meet really leaves no time for anything else, and other than national cricket, India seems to have no other everlasting sporting culture. Despite the highest standards, our domestic cricket still suffers from lack of media space and lack of viewers.
Anyways, the All India Football Federation had appointed a new coach for the Indian football team a couple of weeks ago, and he said that India might actually qualify for the World Cup in the next 8 years! Maybe thats being too optimistic, but if he can manage to change the way the AIFF thinks and bring about some European style class and format to our game, fuck yeah people will watch it.
India in FIFA WC? Possible by 2014
Kolkata: Dreams of many Indians to see their country playing in the FIFA World Cup may turn out to be true and it could be as early as 2014 edition of the World Cup.
The newly appointed national coach of the Indian soccer team Bob Hougton on Sunday expressed hope that Team India may qualify for World Cup in the next eight years.
Pinning on some "remarkable developments" that is going to take place in the Indian football scene, Hougton said: "It seems to me that if India does not qualify for the world Cup in 2010, but some where around the year 2014 or 2018 the team can go up because of some remarkable development which is going to happen here".
Addressing a press conference before India's qualifying match for the AFC Asian Cup 2007 against Saudi Arabia, Houghton said with better facility and more money provided for the development of the game, young players could be urged to get involved with the game.
In his 30-year coaching career, the Englishman has trained players in Europe, Africa and Asia.
----------------------------------------------------
The article is really vague and short though. What remarkable developments is he talking about? Its been said a lot of times before, lets hope it stands true this time. Inshallah.
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