A MONTHLY NEWS MAGAZINE · 2020. 8. 30. · A MONTHLY NEWS MAGAZINE Amid escalating violence, the Kashmir Valley goes to polls Kashmir CoVer Story. OpiniOn ExprEss December 2014 3

Vol: 22 | No. 12 | December 2014 | R20

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Amid escalating violence, the Kashmir Valley goes to polls

Kashmir CoVer Story

O p i n i O n E x p r E s s 3December 2014

The rising number of violent incidents notwithstanding, the trouble-hit Jam-mu and Kashmir Assembly Elections has started its brush with electoral process after six years. The first phase of the five-phase election is over on

November 25. The results will be declared on December 23.Unlike other States of India, members of the J&K assem-

bly are elected for a six year term as opposed to the common five year format. The term of the 87-member Jammu and Kashmir assembly ends on January 19. The ruling National Conference (NC) is facing anti-incumbency factor. NC has been in power for 3 full-terms, while the PDP and the Con-gress have enjoyed little, each having shared 3 years in power from 2002-08. The BJP has never been significant (despite considerable support in Jammu) J&K is divided into its three

major geographic zones, Jammu, Ladakh and the Kashmir valley. The more popu-lous Kashmir region bags 46, Jammu 37 and Ladakh only 3 seats. In the past 3 elections (1996, 2002, 2008), J&K has always given an anti-incumbency mandate. Among others, issues that have dominated the electoral process in the state are the self rule or autonomy for J&K, militancy, presence of security forces. Issues like development, unemployment, education, electricity and water are also crucial. The issue of unemployment among the youth poses a big challenge for the political parties.

From the factories exploiting children in the country’s biggest cities like Delhi and Mumbai to the hinterland of Odisha and Jharkhand where children are still illegally employed as bonded labourers, his organisation has rescued them in al-most all parts of country.He has advocated for stricter laws against child trafficking and labour and met with mixed success so far. While growing up, Satyarthi has said he was concerned about the plight of child labourers around him and it finally prompted him to start an organised movement.

His early attempts to raid factories employing child labourers met with hostile reaction from the factory owners and at times the police but the significance of his work was slowly recognised. He also played an important role in the movement for Right to Education law for free compulsory education to children. Several pres-tigious awards have been conferred on him, including Defenders of Democracy Award (2009-US), Medal of the Italian Senate (2007-Italy), Robert F Kennedy In-ternational Human Rights Award (USA) and Fredric Ebert International Human Rights Award (Germany) etc.

In August, while declaring the block allocation illegal, the court had remarked that they were done by an “ad-hoc and casual” approach “without application of mind” and without looking into aspects of “common good and public interest”. The allocations lacked “transparent procedure” resulting in “unfair distribution” of a “national wealth” – coal – “which is king and paramount Lord of industry”, the court had observed. The disputed coal block allocations to private companies were made on recommendations by a screening committee set up in 1992 to evaluate the merit of applications from such power-generating companies to run captive coal mines. The government companies were allocated coal blocks by the coal ministry through the government dispensation quota.

Shares of metal companies like Jindal Steel, Tata Steel, Usha Martin and Hin-dalco fell in the stock market soon after the court order. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his first speech from Red Fort on the Independence Day, announced that the government would replace the Planning Commission with a new body, bring-ing the curtains down on the 64-year old institution founded on the former Soviet Union’s command-style development model.

—Prashant Tewari, Editor-in-Chief

Poll process beginsin trouble-hit valley

editorialRNI UP–ENG 70032/92, Volume 22, No 12

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04 O P I N I O N E X P R E S SDecember 2014

An accurate diagnosis of the cause ofIndian corruptionFood for thought?

DECEMBER 2014

COVER STORY

Anatomyof

Corruption

Glamzone: Modeling is anexpressive art : Emma Singh

P 6-17

P 23Economy: A Dummy's Guide to tax havensand black moneyFood for thought?P 32Breaking India by means of proxy war byPakistan and China?P 35Power struggles in China; India onChina watchP 40

Steve Jobs:What theworld does notknow

P 46

Gang of four, demi-god and for-

eign interference...?

P 18

P 50

Forceshalting ourn-surge

P 44

O P I N I O N E X P R E S S 05December 2014

DIVISION OF UP - ARE SMALLSTATES BETTER OFF?

Mayawati, the most authenticleader of the Dalits of UttarPradesh, has thrown a political

bombshell by asking for splitting thestate. This announcement has set thecat among the pigeons and all her politi-cal opponents are confused, even politi-cally paralysed, because they are notsure about the direction of public opinionon the issue of a four-fold division ofUttar Pradesh.

The real difficulty is faced by all-Indiaparties like the Congress and the BJPbecause every specific demand for thecreation of a new state like Telanganacannot be treated as an 'isolated'demand since regionalists and sub-regionalist political formations in everystate can also launch movements forsuch division of states to satisfy politicalambitions of powerful local groups.

The Congress cannot open thisPandora's box because it will find itimpossible to handle the conflictingdemands of various segments demand-ing a state for themselves. But the pointis that reorganisation of states is an inte-gral part of the ongoing democraticprocess of India, even though regional-ists and sub-regionalists are fighting fortheir 'little empires' and only theHindutva forces are ideologically commit-ted to completely redrawing India's map,with the RSS' idea of 'Hindu, Hindi,Hindustan', and reduce cultural and lan-guage-based diverse states to the levelof mere 'administrative units'.

There is a need for close scrutiny of thefunctioning of 'new small states' likePunjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradeshout of the reorganisation of unitedPunjab or states like Jharkhand,Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand or thesmall states of Goa or Nagaland,Mizoram, Meghalaya, Manipur,Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura in north-east India. The 'new small states' presenta very mixed picture on the basis of theirperformance and actual governance.

The six small states of north-east Indiaare dependent on the central govern-ment for funding their developmentalprogrammes due to their limited avail-ability of resources. The central govern-ment has been continuously involved inresolving inter-state and intra-state dis-putes and social conflicts that haveplagued these states.

The smaller size and minuscule politi-cal representation in the Lok Sabhamakes these states develop a feeling ofneglect and alienation from the main-stream. The idea of small states is, inpractice, full of problems as revealed bythese six states of the north-east.Further, within the state assemblies ofthese states, floor-crossing and defec-tions are quite common. Thus, 'limitedrepresentation' of small states in the LokSabha acts as a handicap for them at thecentre of power, and within the stateassembly, with a smaller number ofMLAs, governments can be destabilisedeasily.

The BJP, on its part, has to answerabout the actual functioning of three newstates created in 2008 because the min-ing mafia in Jharkhand has been patron-ised by leaders of new states like ShibuSoren or the Mundas. The small stateshave not at all been models of good gov-ernance and their performance is com-parable to the 'mother states' from whichthey were separated.

The new states have been created inregions where a strong cultural or lin-guistic bond did not exist among themajority of inhabitants of that state.Dravidian cultural ties are a uniting factoramong Tamilians or Kannadigas; culturalaffinity among the people of Karnatakaor the Malayali cultural reference pointfor Kerala keeps them united and thedemand for separation has not beenraised by any powerful section in thesethree states.

The Punjabi language and culture is a

cementing factor in keeping Punjab unit-ed but Hindi has lost its cultural vigourand people of the Hindi states do notconsider language-based culture a unit-ing factor. Hence, strong cultural and lin-guistic affinity acts as a brake againstseparatist demands.

It is appropriate to conclude with a ref-erence to the seminal work of RobertDahl, Democracy and Size, in which heconclusively proves that development,democracy and good governance are'size neutral', and big or small hardlymake a difference. This important argu-ment is valid for all societies. A function-al system of governance in every countryshould reflect the specific social reali-ties.

Therefore, India's requirements can bemet only if a political system is able toharmonise and accommodate the needsand aspirations of multiple diverse cul-tural communities.

The unifying democratic, secular andfederal central government is needed tokeep such a diverse society united, and abalance or an equilibrium can beachieved by creating federal units notbecause 'small parties have demandedsmall states', but by evolving a politicalmechanism of arriving at a consensus onthe need for a new small state. Leadersof small parties like Nitish Kumar or AjitSingh have welcomed Mayawati'sannouncement, but such demands arereflective of the desire of small partyleaders to hold on to power in their areasof influence.


M D Nalapat

Since the 1960s for over threedecades, probably the mostinfluential non-official individ-ual resident in India wasOttavio Quatrocchi, an Italian

who had the blunt demeanour of anAustralian rather than the charm thatthe people of that ancient civilisationare justly known for. Nearly 70 key proj-ects were sanctioned during this longperiod to companies that "Mr Q" wasconsidered to favour, especially Snam-Progetti. Those officials who dared tosanction contracts to companies otherthan the few favoured by Quatrocchifound their careers in India ended,including Cabinet Secretary P K Kaul,who was shunted off to Washingtonbefore completing his term in office,after a contract was won by anothercompany instead of Snam. The thenPetroleum Secretary, A S Gill, who wasin line to be Cabinet Secretary found hiscareer at an end after this decision wastaken,and the minister concerned wasswiftly removed from his post, as wereothers who dared take decisions otherthan those believed to have the backingof "Mr Q" What the source of the powerof this Italian fixer is remains obscure.

However, none of his political alliescould save his career in India once hisname was outed in the scandal involvingthe purchase of Bofors guns in 1986. Ayear later, Swedish radio claimed that

WILLMANMOHANSINGH BE FORCED TO QUIT?BRAND MANMOHAN HEADING FOR A DISASTER..

COVER STORY

about $65 million had been paid asbribes to get the contract (peanuts inthis day and age), and the Swiss author-ities established that "Mr Q" was one ofthe beneficiaries. The Central Bureau ofInvestigation asked that his passport beimpounded. Instead, on the recommen-dation of the minister looking after theCBI, Quatrocchi was allowed to fly out ofIndia on 29 July 1993 to the safety ofKuala Lumpur. Since then, he hasdepended on his family members toensure that contact be retained withinfluential individuals in India, a taskthat they have done so well that eventoday, he is among the few who can "getalmost anything done" through theGovernment of India, including ensuringthe return of the money that the investi-gating authorities say was a bribe paidto secure the Bofors contract. Whileother governments seek to confiscatethe money stashed illegally away by thepowerful, the Manmohan Singh govern-ment returned it to "Mr Q" a few yearsago.

Ottavio Quatrocchi was never ques-tioned - much less prosecuted - by theIndian authorities about his shenani-gans. He escaped from the country in1993 because of a morally question-able decision taken by then PrimeMinister P V Narasimha Rao, whothought he would buy peace with "MrQ"'s friends in the Congress Party by

The Commonwealth Games scandal is Manmohan Singh'sQuatrocchi moment. Will he follow the example of his old

boss Rao and allow the VVIPs responsible for a scam that hasbeen estimated to cost the taxpayer more than $4 billion in

bribes to escape? If he does so, then Manmohan Singh will befinished as a credible Prime Minister.


enabling his escape. Instead, withinbrief months after that fateful decision,Rao began to be subjected to a barrageof attacks from Quatrocchi's friends inthe Congress Party ,acting through sen-ior leaders in the government.Narasimha Rao never recovered fromthat stain, for from then onwards,despite the fact that he liberalised theeconomy, brought some stability toKashmir by fending off Bill Clinton'srepeated efforts to get India to relax itshold on the state, and established aneconomics-centred diplomacy in placeof the Nehru construct that was basedon pious platitudes. By 1994,Rao wasunder daily fire for the perception of cor-ruption, with all kinds of suspiciouscharacters coming out of obscurity tomake allegations against him. After hewas forced to resign as Prime Ministerbecause of an election defeat caused bya rebellion led by followers of influentialpoliticians known to be close to "Mr Q",Narasimha Rao was in perpetual risk ofgoing to jail, getting freed of thisDamocles Sword (in the shape of crimi-nal cases against him) only in the finalyear of his life. Those who knew him wellsaw for themselves the fear in his eyesat the prospect of jail, a fear that paral-ysed him in the final decade of his life.

The Commonwealth Games scandal isManmohan Singh's Quatrocchi moment.Will he follow the example of his oldboss Rao and allow the VVIPs responsi-ble for a scam that has been estimatedto cost the taxpayer more than $4 billionin bribes to escape? If he does so, thenManmohan Singh will be finished as acredible Prime Minister. From the timethat he allows the guilty of theCommonwealth Ganes to escape -should he do so - he will become thebutt of ridicule and scandal the wayNarasimha Rao was. After such public

By 1994,Rao was under daily fire for the perception of corruption, with all kinds of suspicious characters

coming out of obscurity to make allegations against him. After he was forced to resign as Prime Minister because of an election defeat

caused by a rebellion led by followers of influentialpoliticians known to be close to "Mr Q", Narasimha

Rao was in perpetual risk of going to jail, getting freed of this Damocles Sword (in the shape of criminal cases

against him) only in the final year of his life.


bludgeoning and umiliation, it is verylikely that Congress President SoniaGandhi will request the PM to resign,and replace him with someone known tobe honest, such as Defense Minister A KAntony. Although Sonia's first choice isHome Minister P Chidambaram -because of his total loyalty to her wishes- yet in an atmosphere where theCongress Party gets pushed back to the1987-89 period when it was clouded incorruption charges, she may have nochoice but to appoint the man known as"Saint Antony" for his financial integrity.Perhaps this would be followed byappointing Finance Minister PranabMukherjee as President of India, afterthe present incumbent's term concludesin two years time.

Should the PM-directed enquiry intothe scams carried out during theCommonwealth Games preparationperiod fail to bring those actually guiltyto justice, the reputation of ManmohanSingh for integrity would be affected.After such a lapse,even should he some-how manage to hang on to the Office ofthe Prime Minister, each month would

bring personal attacks on him. After hiseventual retirement, there is no doubtthat he would follow Narasimha Rao inalso having multipl criminal chargesfiled against him, which he would haveto fight all his life to stay clear of arrestand imprisonment. All this while theVVIPs actually responsible for siphoningoff huge amounts of money get away.The officers close to him would also facecriminal charges for being accessoriesor being negligent in safeguarding thepublic interest. It all looks like going theNarasimha Rao way of scandal and dis-grace for a team that in fact is honestand sincere.

There is no doubt that the huge

expenditure ( of around $ 9 billion)spent on the Games has been a plat-inum opportunity for many. An exampleis a pedestrian overbridge that was builtat a cost of $2 million, which collapsed.The Indian army was asked by the PM tobuild a substitute, which it did at a costof just $175,000. A list of the prices foritems bought or hired by the organizersof the Games shows that in severalinstances, there was a 4000% markupover the prices charged to other cus-tomers by the companies involved. Aweek ago, a friend mentioned that to hisknowledge, six container loads of cur-rency had been smuggled across theIndian border so as to be sent onwards

Should the PM-directed enquiry into the scams carriedout during the Commonwealth Games preparation periodfail to bring those actually guilty to justice, the reputationof Manmohan Singh for integrity would be affected. After

such a lapse,even should he somehow manage to hang onto the Office of the Prime Minister, each month would

bring personal attacks on him.


to Switzerland, and that this is just a"small" part of what a particular rulingparty leader made from the Games.

These days, Delhi is filled with storiesabout how "Manmohan Singh is con-ducting an eyewash" in promising toinvestigate the scandal. Many are angrythat the PM did nothing while this floodof public money was being spent, mov-ing into action only after the mediacould ignore the rot no longer. Oncereports began to appear in the foreignpress about the many deficiencies inthe organizing of the CommonwealthGames, Indian media outlets that areknown to be nervous about annoyingVVIPs began to focus attention on a feworganizers, notably Suresh Kalmadi, theCongress Party bigwig who is the IndianOlympic Committee chief. Kalmadi isknown to follow the military discipline ofhis youth in always checking his deci-sions with higher authority, but if themedia are to be believed, he acted onhis own in the spending of the Gamescash.

This is about as believable as sayingthat Dr A Q Khan ran his entire networkwithout the participation of any state

player, or what General PervezMusharraf wanted the world to believewhen he placed the hero of the Pakistannuclear bomb under house arrest.

Thus far, no criminal cases have beenfiled against those responsible for themany tainted decisions taken during therunup to the Games. And because noneof the records was taken into safekeep-ing for two months after the scandalfirst broke in the international and thennational media, those in the know saythat records have been erased, whileothers have been replaced with differ-ent versions. Computer disks have beencleaned up and the mainframesdestroyed.

All in all, the stately pace ofManmohan Singh's investigation - car-ried out by a well-meaning but seeming-ly clueless Kashmiri septuagenarian -may mean that the guilty escape, whichmeans that the full tumult of publicopinion will fall on the head of the PrimeMinister, who allowed the loot to go onfor six years before waking up to its ram-ifications. Exactly as 1992-96 PrimeMinister Narasimha Rao became dam-aged goods after allowing Ottavio

Quatrocchi to escape from India on July29,1993, so will Manmohan Singh becrippled after his enquiry turns out to bea farce. The way several VVIPs want it tobe. On the other hand, if the guilty getpunished, Manmohan Singh will enterthe history books for fighting the corrup-tion that has been a facet of life in Indiasince the impecunious Robert Clivemade a fortune from Bengal in two cen-turies and a half ago.

As things stand, the betting in Delhi isthat the PM will be ineffective in con-ducting a probe, and will therefore bemade to quit after becoming the butt ofcriminal charges. Should an honest manlike Manmohan Singfh pay such a highprice - the loss of his reputation and hiscareer - it would be a sad day for justice.Those eager for probity hope that thePM will ensure that the guilty get pun-ished, if only just this once in a countrywhere corruption is costing the economymore than 5% extra growth each year.

-TThe writer is Vice-CChair, ManipalAdvanced Research Group, UNESCOPeace Chair & Professor of Geopolitics,Manipal University, Haryana State,India.


RAHUL GANDHI

A KNOWNFACE WITHUNKNOWN

AGENDA?Prakhar Prakash Mishra

Rahul Gandhi is a known face ofIndian politics. He is virtually head-ing India's largest political outfitnow. We are regularly debatingRahul effect in Indian polity on

national and regional media. But he has neveropened up his mind to people at large.Rahul's politics has been stuck in this gear fora long time. He chose for himself the job ofthe Congress' big picture man shortly after hiselectoral debut in 2004, working on long-termstrategic goals for the party, even as his moth-er, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, lookedafter its day-to-day affairs. The imminentchange at the helm of the Congress promisesthe beginning of a cultural transformation inthe Grand Old Party. Away from the publicglare, Rahul Gandhi has set in motion a silentrevolution in the Indian Youth Congress (IYC)and National Students Union of India (NSUI)by holding free and fair elections - a first forany political party.

A few months ago, he surprised his partycolleagues by suggesting elections to theCongress Working Committee (CWC). Butentrenched interests and party chief SoniaGandhi's desire to make the CWC inclusive tobalance regional, religious and castedemands stymied the proposal. The party'syouth and student wings, which had acquiredthe tag of notoriety during Sanjay Gandhi'sstewardship (a legacy they hadn't been able toshake off), are being shaped into a decentand sensitive cadre. Youth Congress mem-bers, in fact, are said to be so disciplined now

O P I N I O N E X P R E S S December 2014 11

that they are scared even of talking tothe media to tom- tom their achieve-ments.

Rahul is rewriting the political lexiconof the Congress in his own way. In a rev-olutionary decision, he engaged theFoundation for Advanced Managementof Elections (FAME), led by former elec-tion commissioners J. M. Lyngdoh and K.J. Rao, to conduct the polls in the youthand student wings. "Rahul has ensuredcriminals do not enter politics," saysRao.

Rahul has proved himself as the prac-titioner of a new brand of politics - notfoulmouthing opponents, ignoring jibesand barbs, and choosing a civilisedengagement with detractors as well ashis seniors in politics.

But on a broader platform, he is unwill-ingness to put himself in the line of fire.With the Congress confirming his ascentto a role of greater importance, Rahul'sapproach to politics requires a seriouschange of course, and very quickly.

After the election rally in Phulpur,where he launched the Congress' 2012Uttar Pradesh poll campaign, Rahul has

shown the willingness to make the tran-sition from the Congress' political strate-gy consultant to its full-time leader. WillRahul be able to swap his much vauntedgrassroots level rejuvenation vision for abit of medium term political pragmatismand the ability to manage crises on analmost daily basis?

Rahul has an experience of profes-sional training in strategy consultingcombined with a cautious, hesitant, andrisk-averse temperament meant that heshunned short to medium-term chal-lenges, such as a stint in the Union gov-ernment, for long term projects such asrejuvenation of the Congress' youth andstudent wings, reviving the party in UttarPradesh were the Congress has beenreduced to a fringe player, and brand-

Rahul is rewriting the polit-ical lexicon of the Congressin his own way. In a revolu-

tionary decision, heengaged the Foundation forAdvanced Management ofElections (FAME), led byformer election commis-

sioners J. M. Lyngdoh andK. J. Rao, to conduct the

polls in the youth and stu-dent wings. "Rahul has

ensured criminals do notenter politics," says Rao.


building aimed at projecting himself as amascot of the poor. This orientation inhis thinking showed up as a refusal toget into burning issues.

For instance, when he was askedwhether he would personally interveneto resolve the Kashmir agitation of 2010that witnessed unprecedented stone-throwing protests in the valley, heresponded, "My focus is on briningyoungsters into politics and I think that'sa very important thing for the future ofthis country. I genuinely don't like to, sortof, move from one problem to another. Ilike to settle down, understand a prob-lem in detail and then work on that prob-lem. Solving Kashmir is not a part-timeproblem. It is a full-time problem."

Rahul's standard response to trickyquestions whether it has been aboutinflation or political alliances had alwaysbeen that his job is limited to being theCongress general secretary for theIndian Youth Congress and NationalStudents' Union of India.

He then had the luxury of picking andchoosing his canvas. It is a completelydifferent picture now, to put it mildly.

Rahul's standard response to tricky questions whether ithas been about inflation or political alliances had

always been that his job is limited to being the Congressgeneral secretary for the Indian Youth Congress and

National Students' Union of India.


Other than electioneering in UttarPradesh and taking the Congress to arespectable tally in the upcomingassembly elections there, he has to pullthe Congress and the United ProgressiveAlliance government, which it heads atthe Centre, out a series of crises.

To begin with, he has to find ways toarrest the sense of drift that seems tohave become the UPA government's leit-motif and salvage the remaining two-and-a-half years of its term. He has todevelop a working relationship with theCongress' allies from the veteran MKarunanidhi to the tempestuousMamata Banerjee.

Then he has to battle the perception ofthe government having completely been

overtaken by corruption scandals withneither the 2G scam nor Anna Hazareand his cohorts likely to fade from thescene quickly.

Then there are pressing issues suchas the demand for a separateTelangana, which has been on the boilfor far too long and is now waiting toexplode.

On the economic front, he has to finda way to put the reform process back ontrack if India has to make it through thelooming global economic crisis. Whetherit is in foreign direct investment in key

sectors such as retail, disinvestment, orlabour reforms, the government is wait-ing for the political go-ahead.

Then there is the Opposition, whichwill be ever on the lookout for any slip-upon his part to bolster their charge abouthim being naive and callow.

In the few instances that he has grap-pled with real-time problems in the past,rather than being sequestered in thecomfort zone of long-term thinking, hehas stumbled.

His performance during the AnnaHazare agitation proved that he had along way to go as far as reacting instinc-tively to tricky situations goes. Hisspeech in Parliament, in which he pro-pounded what he described as the"game-changing" idea of making theLokpal a constitutional body, did nothelp in diffusing the crisis at hand.

In fact, it made him sound completelyoff-key and unable to connect with therising sentiment against corruption inurban India. He managed to bungle hisBhatta-Parsaul initiative in Uttar Pradeshby insinuating murder of villagers in thebackdrop of clashes between the statepolice and farmers over land acquisition-- a charge that could not be proved con-clusively.

One big difference between his earlierposition and the one he finds himselfnow in is his own willingness to play alarger role in the Congress' affairs.Maybe he has no choice, given thereports about his mother's failing health.

He is taking on much wider responsi-bilities as far electioneering for the com-

In fact, it made him soundcompletely off-key andunable to connect with

the rising sentiment againstcorruption in urban India.

He managed to bunglehis Bhatta-Parsaul initiativein Uttar Pradesh by insinuat-

ing murder of villagers in thebackdrop of clashes betweenthe state police and farmers

over land acquisition -- acharge that could not be

proved conclusively.


ing round of polls in Uttarakhand andPunjab go. He has taken on full respon-sibility of the Congress' 2012 UP bid,which saw him launch the party's cam-paign from his great-grandfatherJawaharlal Nehru's old constituency,leaving little doubt of the kind of role theCongress has in mind for him.

Rahul requires experienced hands toguide him through the sharp bends thatlie ahead. However, until now, his rela-tionship with Congress elders has beenindifferent at best and confrontational atworst.

He has not hidden his wider discom-fort with the nature of politics in theCongress that revolves around entitle-ment and dynasty, despite his ownacceptance of the dynastic mantle asthe next Nehru-Gandhi heir. Now, hemay have no choice but to put his petideas of professionalizing and moderniz-ing the Congress on the back-burner andturn to his mother's advisors.

While his own team of non-politicaladvisors such as Kanishka Singh andSachin Rao are as untested as he is,there are some senior leaders such asJairam Ramesh and Digvijay Singh whohave worked with him on issues such asland acquisition and UP respectively.They may play a bigger part in the daysto come. The most precious advice will,

however, come from his mother and hissister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

Rahul looks set to continue with theleft-of-centre economic position that hasbecome his mother's calling card, atleast in the short term.

In his speeches he has hinted that theCongress can fight the negative fallout ofcorruption and inflation in middle-classIndia with UPA government's welfareschemes such as the Mahatma GandhiNational Rural Employment GuaranteeScheme, the proposed food security bill,and the Unique Identification numberscheme which he sees as a key empow-ering contribution of the governmenttowards improving the efficiency of thepublic delivery system.

The Rahul Gandhi era in the Congresspromises to forge continuity with thepresent rather than usher in a new era inpolitics that his father's initial years inpower held promise of but never deliv-ered. Ironically, Rahul has always main-tained that one of the key factors thatled him into politics was the urge to pickup from where his father left off. But thekey question is that Congress is riding onthe brand Manmohan right wing ideolo-gy with a great electorate success andRahul is endorsing his policy on all majorissues that contradicts his familyNehruvian policy. Similarly, his views onforeign policy, internal security, defensepolicy are ambiguous. Rahul Gandhineeds to clarify stand to the nation, ear-lier the better.

The writer is political editor

In his speeches he has hintedthat the Congress can fight

the negative fallout of corrup-tion and inflation in middle-class India with UPA govern-ment's welfare schemes such

as the Mahatma GandhiNational Rural EmploymentGuarantee Scheme, the pro-posed food security bill, and

the Unique Identificationnumber scheme which hesees as a key empoweringcontribution of the govern-

ment towards improving theefficiency of the public deliv-

ery system.


Good brands are all about clarity con-sistency and credibility. How does RahulGandhi score on these fronts as hewades into his biggest test yet? The ver-dict is not very flattering, despite hisrecent speech in Phulpur that surprisedmany for its stridency.

Those in the business of brand-mak-ing say the Congress heir-apparent hasmiles to go before he can be considereda solid brand in the business of Indianpolitics. "Rahul is a product which peo-ple are trying to make into a brand,"says Mithileshwar Jha, professor o fmarketing, IIM-Bangalore . "A brandshould have a clear franchise. We don'tknow enough about Rahul. Who is hisaudience ? Is he a socialist or a market-friendly person?

Does he want to take India into the22nd century? His guerilla tactics of hit-ting out at opponents and then occupy-ing some other space won't work in pol-itics," he says.

Moreover, a brand should be consis-tent , which some say Rahul isn't . His'empathy' for the Kalavatis of India does-n't seem genuine as he hasn't done any-thing really substantial for them, saysJha. "His angry young man image inPhulpur isn't consistent with his person-ality which is not that of a street fighter."

Rahul also needs to get a pan-Indianidentity, stresses Prathap Suthan, chiefcreative officer of iYogi,a global con-sumer services brand. His "localizedattempts" at attacking Mayawati over"mafia raj" and land acquisition aren'tenough, says Suthan. "He could easilyhave taken the thunder out of AnnaHazare's crusade by sitting on a fastalong with him. He would have gainedpublic sympathy and been seen as seri-ous about fighting corruption."

As a brand,Rahul Gandhihasn't taken off'


A brand is built over time and requiresassiduous planning. In that sense,Rahul still has time on his side. Ad filmdirector Prahlad Kakkar says, "You don'thave to be macho or good-looking forthat. It's about decency, sensitivity andthe capacity to push an agenda." RajivGandhi, he adds, was seen as a leadertaking India into the 21st century; NitishKumar is perceived to be "modern",Oommen Chandy transparent andNarendra Modi investment-friendly .

What of Rahul Gandhi? So far it'smainly the name, says Suthan. "Just likea strong brand such as Nike stands for ashoe and not soap, the Gandhi nameconnotes statesmanship and power.Rahul has to capitalize on that." If hehasn't been able to do that yet,it's partlybecause he is encumbered by thenumerous scams that have tumbled outof the Congress closet. It's also becauseof his "lack of voice" , as Priti Nair, direc-tor of Curry Nation, an ad agency, putsit.

"We hardly hear him talk. Even aspoof can't be done on him as he has noinimitable style," she says. On the posi-tive side, he's young, good-looking , edu-cated and untainted - in short, refresh-ingly different."His credibility , unlikearrogant leaders such as Kapil Sibal andP Chidambaram, hasn't hit a low. Heseems to have the same value systemsas us,"says Kakkar.

Whether those "value systems" willfetch votes in the dustbowls of UP

remains to be seen. For Prasoon Joshi,chairman and CEO of McCannWorldgroup India, Rahul is a brand wait-ing to be launched. "Sometime he'llhave to bite the bullet and UP could bethe testing ground." Both his friends anddetractors are waiting for the verdict -from the people.

Inputs - TOI article of MithileshwarJha, professor of marketing,

IIM-BBangalore

A brand is built over time and requires assiduous planning. Inthat sense, Rahul still has time on his side. Ad film directorPrahlad Kakkar says, "You don't have to be macho or good-

looking for that. It's about decency, sensitivity and the capaci-ty to push an agenda." Rajiv Gandhi, he adds, was seen as aleader taking India into the 21st century; Nitish Kumar is per-

ceived to be "modern", Oommen Chandy transparent andNarendra Modi investment-friendly .


Since Anna Hazare's current move-ment on corruption started from April2011 to be precise, I was always baffled,confused and puzzled on two issues viz.Anna himself and Lokpal and I hadexpressed my doubts on every occasion Ihad written on the above subjects ; in thearticle 'The Myth of Lokpal', I have saidthat if one studies coolly the sequence ofthe events, one will find that the move-ment is nothing but a very well and care-fully planned strategy to divert the atten-tion of the people from the main issuesthat they are facing today and which thetop icons want to avoid at any cost if pos-sible because of the personal losses theywould be suffering otherwise and thatAnna even though may be the main actorin the drama may not be responsible informulating the strategy though he maybe a willing partner to the same; I hadhowever decided to close the subject sofar as I am concerned as the matter wasdiscussed many times; but the recentdisclosures on the subject made mechange my decision.

Till he started the movement some-times in April 2011, Anna was knownmostly in Maharashtra as an honest andsincere social worker and leader and hisfield of work was mostly confined withinMaharashtra. In his career until then, hehas never entered into the nationalscene leave aside international. But assoon he started this movement againstcorruption by undertaking fast untodeath he became not only a nationalleader but also got international fame.He was not only hailed as second or mod-ern Gandhi by the media but alsoAmerican government asked our govern-ment not to take any action against him.The media started giving him extraordi-nary exposure and publicity all 24x7hours a day. In fact he had also started anew venture in 1991 called 'BhrastacharVirodhi Jan Andolan' - BVJN- (Public

Movement against Corruption) and hadundertaken fasts also; but at that timeno such publicity was given to him. This

was one thing which puzzled me. Whyshould a foreign government take somuch interest in the internal matter and

GANG OF FOUR,DEMI-GOD AND FOREIGN

INTERFERENCE...?Once again, Anna and Lokpal bill - V.S. Sardesai


take cognizance of such events? In factundertaking fasts is not a new thing forIndia and for Anna; and why should themedia give so much extraordinary expo-sure and publicity to him only this timecalling him second Gandhi? Is it animpartial reporting by the media or thereis some purpose or design behind it andif so who is behind all this? If we consid-er the sequence of events, it will befound that virtually within one day hejumped from a regional social worker tonational leader and got internationalfame; I don't think there is anyone elsewho metamorphosed so fast from region-al to national scene getting internationalfame. What is the secret?

Second thing which puzzled me is thateven though Anna had started the newventure against corruption( BVJN ) in1991 and the Lokpal Bill is pending inthe Parliament since 1968 that is muchearlier than the starting of his venture henever even for once has taken up thematter of Lokpal bill during the last twen-ty years even though he had undertakenfasts earlier against corruption and nowonly all of a sudden he not only has takenup the matter of Lokpal but agitated toget it passed immediately and goes on

fast. If it was so urgent why did he notagitate to get it passed for all the twentyyears since he started the new venture

against corruption? And that is why I hadalways expressed my reservations andwas skeptic about the real intentions andpurposes of the Team Anna's this move-ment and agitation against corruption.The very fact that he did not agitate forpassing of the Lokpal Bill earlier for thelast twenty years or so, even though hehad started his movement against thecorruption in 1991 i.e. after more thantwenty years since the Lokpal Bill wasfirst introduced in the Parliament, clearlyshows that he never knew anythingabout lokpal or about the Lokpal Bill as ameans to remove corruption till someonebriefed him about it. The question there-fore is when did he first came to knowabout Lokpal and how? Surely at thattime there was no Team Anna. The ques-tion is why such an issue which was side-tracked for more than forty years becameso important and urgent all of a suddenjust like Anna Hazare becoming a nation-al leader with international fame from aregional social worker virtually within aday? Is there any relation or connectionbetween the two? I had given my inter-pretation in my earlier articles especiallyin "The Myth of Lokpal", The AnnaPhenomenon" etc, purely based on the

Anna had started the newventure against corruption

(BVJN) in 1991 and theLokpal Bill is pending in the

Parliament since 1968 that ismuch earlier than the

starting of his venture henever even for once has

taken up the matter of Lokpalbill during the last twentyyears even though he hadundertaken fasts earlier

against corruption and nowonly all of a sudden he not

only has taken up the matterof Lokpal but agitated to get itpassed immediately and goes

on fast.


sequence of events and logic. Howeverthe recent disclosures made by RajuParulekar, ex-blogger of Hazare andShambhu Dutt, the 94 years Gandhianproved my fears to be correct.

Raju Parulekar has accused the Annateam calling them 'the gang of four' ofusing Hazare as demi-God to furthertheir interest and holding the govern-ment to ransom; so also he says that thisgang of four has misguided the people tobelieve that Jan Lokpal Bill if passed willremove the corruption. I think they havemisguided not only the people but alsoAnna in believing that Jan Lokpal Bill isthe answer to corruption. In factParulekar's clarifications have solvedmany of my doubts. Firstly it explains themystery of the extraordinary publicity andexposure given to Anna by the media dayand night making him second mahatmaand a national leader within a day givinginternational fame or making him a demi-God in Parulekar's words. Secondly howthey chose Lokpal Bill as an issue for theagitation was solved by Shanbhu Duttwho was fasting for implementation ofLokpal Bill and who broke his fast at therequest of Team Anna promising him totake up the matter themselves. Many

questions however have remained unan-swered. Firstly when did Anna came toknow about Lokpal Bill and how or whobriefed Anna about the Lokpal Bill andwhy? Secondly when did the team meetAnna for the first time and why? Whyshould the team take so much interest inremoval of corruption only now? I hopewe will get the answers to these ques-tions also in the due course. In the meantime we can only guess.

I feel the answers lie and the mysterywill be solved if we study the past events.The key lies in the Baba Ramdevji'srelentless efforts and movement ofbringing back the illegal and black mon-eys deposited by some shameless

Indians in foreign banks especially inSwiss banks and declaring it as nationalwealth and exposing the names of suchtraitors and the Swiss government's dec-laration to disclose the names of suchdepositors if requested by the concernedgovernment; I think this made suchdepositors panicky and they startedthinking of finding a way out to scufflethe movement and divert the attention ofthe people from the main issues; andAnna's fast and the Jan Lokpal Billappears to be its result. How it hap-pened, we can only guess. Either thesedepositors some of whom are very influ-ential and holding topmost positions inthe government and the ruling parties

Raju Parulekar has accused the Anna team calling them'the gang of four' of using Hazare as demi-God to furthertheir interest and holding the government to ransom; so

also he says that this gang of four has misguided the peo-ple to believe that Jan Lokpal Bill if passed will removethe corruption. I think they have misguided not only thepeople but also Anna in believing that Jan Lokpal Bill is

the answer to corruption.


approached the team members who areNGO's directly or through their foreigndonors to implement a strategy formulat-ed by them or requested them to formu-late such strategy to find a way out. Ineither case it resulted in formulating astrategy to hijack the movement ofRamdevji and divert the attention of themasses from its main issues of bringingback the moneys from the foreign banksand disclosing the names of such depos-itors. For this, the team required twothings; one, a person commandingrespect and faith of the people and whocan convince the people and whom thepeople will follow blindly and secondly anequally or more attractive and importantissue as that is being preached byRamdevji. They found the person in AnnaHazare; the difficulty however was thatAnna was only a regional social worker;they got over the difficulty by giving himextraordinary publicity through mediaday and night making him a secondGandhi that Anna became a householdname within a day. The difficulty of issuewas also solved by adopting the otherissue of Ramdevji viz. corruption whichwas preferable to disclosing the namesof the foreign banks account holders; but

the question was that corruption beingan abstract issue ultimately would notstand against the concrete issue of bring-ing back the moneys from foreign banks.They wanted something to show that con-crete steps are being immediately takento end the corruption; they chose LokpalBill which was pending in Parliament formore than forty years. They amended itto fool the people that they are making itstrong calling it as Jan Lokpal Bill. But totheir dismay they found that one

Shambhu Dutt, an old Gandhian of 94years has already started a fast for itspassing and implementation eventhough there was no publicity for him inthe media. Not to be discouraged theyapproach Dutt requesting him to with-draw his fast, promising to get the billpassed and this is how the whole melo-drama on corruption started.

They must have approached Hazarewith their plan of agitating against cor-ruption by getting the new Lokpal Bill asdrafted by them which they called as JanLokpal Bill passed in Parliament andwhich, they must have told him, willremove corruption, may be without dis-closing their real intention or purpose.They must have also exploited his weak-ness for fame and Hazare must haveagreed believing them and what theyhave said as corruption was also anissue which was dear to him withoutgoing through the bill as drafted by themor trying to find out whether what theysay is true or not. He must also felt veryhappy as he would become a nationalleader from regional social worker andfor being called second Gandhi.

But the difficulty is that every humanbeing has got certain limitations and

They found the personin Anna Hazare; the

difficulty however was thatAnna was only a regional

social worker; they got overthe difficulty by giving him

extraordinary publicitythrough media day and nightmaking him a second Gandhithat Anna became a house-

hold name within a day.


becomes successful only if he workswithin his limits and knowing his limita-tion; if he crosses his limits for any rea-son whatsoever he gets exposed; thesame thing happened with Hazare; itseems that he is carried away by thepropaganda made by his team makinghim in the words of Parulekar a demi-Godand started thinking high of himself with-out understanding his limitation with theresult that he is slowly getting exposed. Itnow appears that Dutt is regretting forhaving handing over the baton to Annateam may be because he might be feel-ing lack of sincerity of purpose.

The way they made Anna a nationalleader and a Mahatma and giving public-ity to him every day, in the same way theymade the of Lokpal Bill which was pend-ing in the Parliament for more than fortyyears and which was drafted on the basisof recommendation SanthanamCommittee for administrative reforms forremoving maladministration and mis-management in the government, as if itwas drafted for ending corruption in the

society or at least reducing corruption tomore than sixty per cent. They furtherdramatized the situation by draftinganother bill, calling it as Jan Lokpal Bill inplace of the one drafted by the govern-ment by giving the Lokpal draconian pow-ers saying that the Lokpal as drafted bythe government was toothless lion for-getting the fact that in India giving morepowers can be a source of further cor-ruption and in spite of making provisions,it will be difficult to remove a persononce appointed especially to a high post.They ignored or rather overlooked thefact that the creation of Lokpal was rec-ommended especially to prevent corrup-tion by Legislators and ministers as itwas difficult to prosecute them if theyindulged in corruption and that Lokpal isonly a prosecutor to prosecute a corruptgovernment servant or official speciallywhen the act does not make any changesin the anti-corruption laws under whichsuch officials are ultimately to be prose-cuted in a court of law and still they mis-guide the people saying that if Jan Lokpal

Bill is passed , it will remove at least 60%of the corruption from the society as ifcorruption is there in the society onlybecause there is no such Jan Lokpal Actpassed.

Many a time people ask me when Iridicule the Jan Lokpal Bill, to suggestother ways if passing of Lokpal Bill is notthe answer to Corruption. The fact is thatcorruption is a social problem and likeother social problems such as farmers'suicides or communal riots it cannot besolved only by making laws such as forexample Prevention of Suicide Act orCommunal Violence Act.

It should be solved by studying theproblem in depth, finding out the causeand the appropriate remedy. In case ofcorruption people would not like to paybribe for the fun of it. They would like toget their work in time and not waste theirtime unnecessarily. And when it is notdone they pay the bribe to get the workdone in time. This can be avoided by fix-ing responsibility and accountability fornot doing the work within a certain time.Of course there is Right of InformationAct to find out discrimination. If this isdone most of the complaints will besolved. I don't think that any social work-er will be so naïve as not to know thisunless he is motivated by some otherconsideration. I think Anna has failedmiserably to see the real intentions of histeam or this gang of four and blindly fol-lowing their advice, happy to see hisname and photo everyday in the newspapers and media; I only feel sorry forhim.

They further dramatized thesituation by drafting anotherbill, calling it as Jan LokpalBill in place of the one draft-ed by the government by giv-

ing the Lokpal draconianpowers saying that the Lokpalas drafted by the governmentwas toothless lion forgettingthe fact that in India giving

more powers can be a sourceof further corruption and in

spite of making provisions, itwill be difficult to remove a

person once appointed espe-cially to a high post.


Prashant Tewari

In India, one cannot talk about publicservice without raising the issues ofcorruption, lack of transparency andaccountability. Without raising eso-teric issues on ethics, I would like to

focus attention on practical measures tocombat corruption and increase trans-parency and accountability in all facetsof public services.

Mark Twain once said, "Everyone talksabout the weather, but no one does any-thing about it". Corruption has becomeone such topic of conversation, with fewin the establishment or outside reallydoing something to curb it. The fightagainst corruption is too important to beleft to a few formal institutions or politi-cians. The people at large have enor-mous stakes in clean public life and cor-ruption-free services. Experience all overthe world showed that determined initia-tives with public support can and willsucceed in curbing corruption andcleansing the system effectively.

As many scholars like Robert Wadehave pointed out, most corruption at thecitizens' level is extortionary, and peoplehave often no choice when faced withthe dilemma of having to lose muchmore in the form of lost money, time andopportunity, not to speak of anxiety,harassment and humiliation if they didnot comply with demands for bribes.The only silver lining is, everyone, includ-ing those in positions of influence is avictim and no one seems to be exemptfrom these extortionary demands. Weseem to have achieved the ideal ofsocialism through equal treatment of all

citizens in terms of extortionary corrup-tion! With the advent of economic liber-alization and delicensing of most indus-try, the nature of corruption is nowundergoing a major transformation. Theone-time grand corruption on large pri-vate projects - notably in power andother infrastructure sectors - has now

become quite common. An even morealarming trend is the shift of corruptionfrom licensing and permits to more dan-gerous and pernicious areas of sover-eign functions of state like policing. Theincreasing nexus between hardenedcriminals, rogue policemen and corruptpoliticians is one such example. It is

AN ACCURATE DIAGNOSIS OF THECAUSE OF INDIAN CORRUPTION

FOOD FORTHOUGHT?

As many scholars like Robert Wade have pointed out, mostcorruption at the citizens' level is extortionary, and people

have often no choice when faced with the dilemma of havingto lose much more in the form of lost money, time and oppor-tunity, not to speak of anxiety, harassment and humiliation if

they did not comply with demands for bribes.


clear that the state's gradual withdrawalfrom economic activity does not auto-matically eliminate corruption. Manymore practical and institutional initia-tives are needed to successfully curbcorruption.

It is in this context that civil society'srole is critical. Enlightened public opin-ion and informed and collective citizenassertion are the very basis of any suc-cessful fight against corruption.

In my opinion, there are three broadareas of action to combat corruptioninvolving the state and the civil society.The first is active citizen assertion tocurb corruption as illustrated by theexamples cited above.

There are several rules and proce-dures whose only impact on the public isextortionary corruption. There is needfor a comprehensive review of the regu-latory functions and procedures in everydepartment and agency, with threeobjectives:

a) Identify unnecessary regulationsand repeal them

b) Improve, simplify and make trans-parent procedures in respect of thoseregulations and services still relevant

c) Specify levels of responsibility foreach official in the heirarchy, so thataccountability becomes real and mean-ingful.

For example, widespread petty cor-ruption was eliminated by repeal of theHackney Carriages Act in mid 70's whencyclists were exempted from obtaininglicenses. Similar steps could be taken inrespect of all private motor vehicles now.A body of experts from government andcivil society should be set up to under-take this complex but vital exercise ofderegulation and simplification of rulesand procedures. The government wouldbe inclined to take it up as it is political-ly popular. What is required is themomentum to break the inertia whichfunding agencies can provide.

Apart from these and other deregula-tion efforts, citizens need effective toolsfor collective action. Right to informationon all matters of governance with veryfew specific, limited exceptions in theinterest of national security etc., shouldbe enshrined in law. Article 19 of theConstitution and several Supreme Courtjudgments recognize right to informationas a fundamental right. We need to cod-ify this right by law, and evolve fair andobjective procedures for its enforce-ment. The recent draft legislation ofGovernment of India leaves much to bedesired. There are too many vagueexemptions; no penalties are providedfor non-compliance, and there is no inde-pendent appeal mechanism. A sensible,

citizen-friendly law needs to be quicklyenacted and strictly enforced.

For some years now, Citizen's Chartersare being released by various depart-ments. A true Citizen's Charter should fixresponsibility on individual public ser-vants, specify performance standards,and provide compensation to citizens fordelays. No Citizen's Charter conforms tothese standards. As a result, these char-

Apart from these and otherderegulation efforts, citizensneed effective tools for col-

lective action. Right to infor-mation on all matters of gov-ernance with very few specif-ic, limited exceptions in theinterest of national securityetc., should be enshrined in

law. Article 19 of theConstitution and several

Supreme Court judgmentsrecognize right to information

as a fundamental right.


ters are full of shibboleths and piousintentions without any impact on corrup-tion or quality of services. Under pres-sure, Govt of Andhra Pradesh hasrecently released a Citizen's Charter inrespect of certain municipal services,and probably for the first time in India acompensation of Rs 50 a day for delay inservices is provided for, and this amountis to be recovered from the public ser-vants responsible for delay. Anothersuch citizen's charter for panchayatscovering twenty services, and providingfor a compensation of Rs 10 per day'sdelay is on the anvil. We need sucheffective charters for all public serviceswith compensation and clear penaltiesfor non-performance.

Similarly Wards Committees need tobe constituted in accordance with theletter and spirit of Article 243-S of theConstitution, and these Committeesserving small areas of about 25000-50000 population should be empow-ered to collect municipal taxes and pro-vide basic services. Such local account-ability will reduce corruption. Whereverstake-holders of public services can beclearly identified, they should be legallyempowered to take responsibility forthose services. These and many othersimple, practical steps will promotetransparency and accountability andgive citizens the required tools for effec-tive action against corruption.

The second broad area of action is inrespect of tightening the anti-corruptionlaws and creating independent andeffective agencies to curb corruption.The 161st report of the Law Commissionmade valuable recommendations inrespect of the Vigilance Commission andCBI. The Supreme Court in Jain HawalaCase gave specific directives and sug-gestions. Sadly, the Union government isstill to act. And we understand that the'Single Directive', by which prior permis-sion of the government is required toinvestigate charges against officials ofthe rank of Joint Secretary and aboveare sought to be restored by law. Weneed independent, honest and fearlessagencies to fight corruption. The LawCommission recommendations shouldbe accepted and a law should be enact-ed. The CVC and Vigilance Commissionsin States, which have been created byexecutive orders in 1964 in the wake of

Under pressure, Govt ofAndhra Pradesh has recentlyreleased a Citizen's Charterin respect of certain munici-pal services, and probably forthe first time in India a com-pensation of Rs 50 a day fordelay in services is providedfor, and this amount is to berecovered from the public

servants responsible fordelay.


Santanam Committee report should begiven statutory status and given freedomto act. Lok Pal Bill has now been pend-ing for over three decades, and evenwhere Lok Ayuktas exist in States, theyhave no effective role. We need to cre-ate strong anti-corruption agencies mod-elled after Hong Kong's successfulIndependent Anti-CorruptionCommission until 1997. Penalties forcorruption should be made far morestringent as proposed by the LawCommission in its 166th report. Anti-corruption and crime investigation mustbe insulated from partisan political con-trol. Without such fair, impartial, inde-pendent and strong agencies, there willbe no real success in increasing therisks of corruption and minimising therewards.

Finally, we should all recognize thatthe roots of corruption lie in the exorbi-tantly high, illegitimate and illegal elec-tion expenditure. Our estimate is thatabout Rs 7000 crores is spent in a blockof five years for the Parliament and StateAssembly elections. In most constituen-cies, the actual election expenditure isseveral times the ceiling prescribed bylaw. Much of this expenditure is not onlyillegal, but is also illegitimate, and isincurred to buy votes, bribe officials andhire hoodlums. This unaccountedexpenditure necessitates a ten foldreturn to the political class, which in turn

results in a hundred fold extortion by thebureaucracy, leading to Rs 700,000crore corruption in five years. The citi-zens pay a much heavier price onaccount of anxiety and uncertainty. If wewish to curb corruption, we shouldtogether launch a movement for elec-toral and political funding reform. We arenow building alliances across the coun-try for a people's movement for demo-cratic reforms. Electoral funding reformshould be the centre-piece of our strate-gy to fight corruption.

In recent times, the political and gov-ernance system has shown signs of sen-sitivity responding to this challenge. Fivemajor initiatives have been taken in thepast one year. The Election Commissionresponded to years of informed advoca-cy on improvements in voter registration,and has decided in principle that postoffices will be the nodal agencies forvoter registration. This will make thevoter registration process citizen-friendlyand accessible, making it easy to curbpolling irregularities, and along withvoter identity cards will make it difficultto indulge in bogus voting. The disclo-sure norm put in place, forcing candi-dates for elective office to file affidavitsrevealing their criminal antecedents, ifany, and the financial record of familymembers, is a step in the direction ofpromoting transparency and better can-didate choice. The amendments to theRP Act, 1951, incorporated inSeptember, 2003 are by far the most far-reaching legislative provisions reformingour political campaign finance. All contri-butions for political activity, individual orcorporate, will not get 100% income taxexemption. All contributions of Rs20,000 and above will be disclosed tothe public. The infamous Explanation 1under Section 77 of the RP Act, 1951,which made nonsense of the electionexpenditure ceilings has been repealed.Most important, free time can now be

The citizens pay a muchheavier price on account ofanxiety and uncertainty. Ifwe wish to curb corruption,we should together launch amovement for electoral andpolitical funding reform. Weare now building alliances

across the country for a peo-ple's movement for demo-

cratic reforms. Electoral fund-ing reform should be the cen-

tre-piece of our strategy tofight corruption.


allotted in private electronic media,including cable networks, recognizedparties and candidates for political cam-paigning. This will drastically cut downcampaign costs, and alter the verynature of elections in future.

The fourth reform enacted is theamendment to the Tenth Schedule ofthe Constitution, thus altering the anti-defection provisions. Through thisamendment, no split in a legislatureparty is recognized, and all members vio-lating a whip will be disqualified. Finally,through the 97th amendment of theConstitution, the size of the Council ofMinisters has been pegged at 15% ofthe membership of the lower house,thus reducing distribution of minister-ships, and meeting the longstandingdemand for reform.

All these reforms will certainly helpimprove the political process, and makeit easy for honest persons to raiseresources for legitimate campaigningpurposes. However, in India, much of theelection expenditure is both unaccount-ed and illegitimate, leading to a viciousspiral of corruption.

In a well-functioning democracy, thepolitical process ought to find answers tosuch governance problems. It is throughthe process of elections that a demo-cratic choice is exercised on solutions tobe adopted for various governance prob-lems. Every election holds a promise forpeaceful change. People in India have

been voting for change time and again.But the political process is locked into avicious cycle, and has become a part ofthe problem. There are six factors com-plicating the political process, perpetuat-ing status quo. First, election expendi-tures are large, unaccounted and mostlyillegitimate. For instance, expenditurelimit for assembly elections in mostmajor states was Rs 600,000 untilrecently, when it was revised to Rs 1 mil-lion. In reality average expenditure inmost states is several multiples of it,sometimes exceeding Rs 10 million.Most of this expenditure is incurred to

buy votes, bribe officials and hire mus-clemen. Such large, unaccounted expen-diture can be sustained only if the sys-tem is abused to enable multiple returnson investment. Rent seeking behaviouris therefore endemic to the system.

Most of this corruption is in the form ofcontrol of transfers and postings, whichin turn sustains a system of retail cor-ruption for a variety of routine services,regulatory functions and direct transferof resources through government pro-grammes. Large leakages in publicexpenditure, and collusion in contractsand procurement are extremely com-mon. The economic decision-makingpower of the state is on the wane as partof the reform process. But as thedemand for illegitimate political fundsdoes not decrease, corruption shifts tothe core areas of state functioning, likecrime investigation. Robert Wade stud-ied this phenomenon of corruption, anddescribed the dangerously stable equi-librium that operates in Indian gover-nance. This vicious chain of corruptionhas created a class of political andbureaucratic 'entrepreneurs' who treatpublic office as big business.

Second, as the vicious cycle of moneypower, polling irregularities, and corrup-tion has taken hold of the system, elec-toral verdicts cease to make a differenceto people. Repeated disappointmentsmade people come to the conclusionthat no matter who wins the election,

In a well-functioningdemocracy, the political

process ought to find answersto such governance problems.

It is through the process ofelections that a democraticchoice is exer-

cised on solutions to beadopted for various gover-

nance problems. Every elec-tion holds a promise for

peaceful change. People inIndia have been voting for

change time and again.


they always end up losing. As incentivefor discerning behaviour in voting hasdisappeared, people started maximizingtheir short-term returns. As a result,money and liquor are accepted habitual-ly by many voters. This pattern of behav-iour is responsible for converting politicsand elections into big business. As ille-gitimate electoral expenditure skyrocket-ed, the vicious cycle of corruption gotfurther strengthened. With public goodde-linked from voting, honesty and sur-vival in public office are further separat-ed.

Third, this situation bred a class ofpolitical 'entrepreneurs' who establishedfiefdoms. In most constituencies, moneypower, caste clout, bureaucratic links,and political contacts came togetherperpetuating politics of fiefdoms. Entryinto electoral politics is restricted literal-ly, as people who cannot muster theseforces have little chance of getting elect-ed. While there is competition for politi-cal power, it is often restricted betweentwo or three families over a long periodof time; parties are compelled to chooseone of these individuals or families toenhance their chances of electoral suc-cess. Parties thus are helpless, andpolitical process is stymied. Absence ofinternal democratic norms in parties andthe consequent oligarchic control hasdenied a possibility of rejuvenation ofpolitical process through establishmentof a vicious cycle.

Fourth, in a centralized governancesystem, even if people wisely use thevote, public good cannot be promoted.As the citizen is distanced from the deci-sion-making process, the administrativemachinery has no capacity to deliver

public services that are cost-effectiveand of high quality. A climate that cannotensure better services or good gover-nance breeds competitive populism togain electoral advantage. Such populistpolitics have led to serious fiscal imbal-ances.

Fifth, fiscal health can be restoredonly by higher taxes, or reduced subsi-dies or wages. The total tax revenues ofthe union and states are of the order ofonly 15 percent of GDP. Higher taxationis resisted in the face of ubiquitous cor-ruption and poor quality services.Desubsidization is always painful for thepoor who do not see alternative benefitsaccruing from the money saved by with-

drawal of subsidies. A vast bureaucracyunder centralized control can neither beheld to account, nor is wage reduction arealistic option.

Sixth, elected governments are help-less in changing this perilous situation.As the survival of the governmentdepends on the support of legislators,their demands have to be met. The leg-islator has thus become the disguised,unaccountable executive controlling allfacets of government functioning. Thelocal legislator and the bureaucrats havea vested interest in denying local govern-ments any say in real decision making.The vicious cycle of corruption and cen-tralized, unaccountable governance isthus perpetuated.

This vicious cycle can be addressed bythree fundamental systemic reforms:

a) Political party reform: Politicalrecruitment has suffered a great deal,and bright young people are no longer

Fifth, fiscal health can berestored only by higher taxes,

or reduced subsidies orwages. The total tax revenuesof the union and states are ofthe order of only 15 percent

of GDP. Higher taxation isresisted in the face of ubiqui-

tous corruption and poorquality services.


attracted to politics. Centralized func-tioning of parties is imposing enormousburden on leadership to manage theparty bureaucracy, leaving little time forevolving sensible policies or governance.Party leaders are helpless in candidateselection, and the choice is oftenbetween Tweedledum and Tweedledee.An important reform to improve the qual-ity of politics and restore credibilitywould be a law to regulate political par-ties' functioning, without in any wayrestricting leadership choice and policyoptions. A law needs to be enacted toregulate political parties in four keyaspects.

Membership and disciplinary actionwould be a crucial focus area ensuringinternal party checks. Leadership choiceby regular, secret, democratic ballot isthe second key feature. This will beaccompanied with formal processes tochallenge the party leadership withoutfear of retribution. The third suggestedreform would be transparency and pub-lic auditing of party funds and expendi-ture. Finally, choice of candidates forelective office to be decided by mem-bers or their elected delegates throughsecret ballot. The provisions can be sim-ilar to Article 21 of German basic lawand federal law to regulate parties.

b) Proportional representation: Thefirst-past-the-post (FPTP) system thatIndia has adopted led to several distor-tions, given the passage of time andingenuity of legislators. Politics of fief-dom at constituency level has forced theparties to rely on local strongmen. As aresult, the political parties and inde-pendent candidates have astronomicalelection expenditure for vote buying andother illegitimate purposes. This has ledto a significant weakening of the partyplatform and ideology, reducing elec-tions to private power games. In manystates, national parties have been mar-ginalized where their voting percentagefalls below a threshold. Following fromthis, regional parties have occupied cen-ter stage in several pockets, holding larg-er interests at ransom.

All these failings find expression inbigger and long-term predicaments. Theinability of all political parties to attractand nurture best talent is the primaryissue. Difficulties of minority representa-tion leading to ghetto mentality, back-lash, and communal tension form anoth-er facet of the problem. Lastly, leader-ship is undermined by permanent reser-vation of constituencies (or regular rota-tion) in order to provide fair representa-tion to SCs. The solution to this flawed

system is adoption of mixed system ofelection combining FPTP system withproportional representation. This will bebroadly based on the German model.The key features of the suggested sys-tem are as follows:

=The overall representation of partiesin legislature will be based on the pro-portion of valid vote obtained by them.

=A party will be entitled to such aquota based on vote share only when itcrosses a threshold, say 10% of vote in amajor state, and more in minor states.

=50% of legislators will be electedfrom territorial constituencies based onFPTP system. This will ensure the linkbetween the legislator and the con-stituents

=The balance 50% will be allotted to

parties to make up for their shortfallbased on proportion of votes.

eg 1): If the party is entitled to 50seats in legislature based on vote share,but had 30 members elected in FPTPsystem, 20 more will be elected basedon the party list.

eg 2): If the party is entitled to 50seats based on vote share, but had only10 members elected in FPTP system,it will have 40 members elected from thelist

=The party lists will be selected demo-cratically at the State or multi-party con-stituency level, by the members of theparty or their elected delegates throughsecret ballot.

=There will be two votes cast by voters- one for a candidate for FPTP election,and the other for a party to determinethe vote share of the parties.

It needs to be remembered that PRsystem can be effective only after inter-nal functioning of political parties is reg-ulated by law. Otherwise, PR system willgive extraordinary power to party leadersand may prove counterproductive.However, the PR system has one moreadvantage, which needs to be reiterated.PR system, more than FPTP system,ensures better representation of womenin legislatures.

c) Direct election of Head of govern-ment in States and Local Governments:The other systemic reform that is need-ed to isolate the executive from unwant-ed influences, as has been pointed out,is to ensure direct election of Head of

All these failings find expres-sion in bigger and long-term

predicaments. The inability ofall political parties to attractand nurture best talent is theprimary issue. Difficulties ofminority representation lead-ing to ghetto mentality, back-lash, and communal tension

form another facet of theproblem


Government in States and LocalGovernments.

As election costs have skyrocketed,candidates spend money in anticipationof rewards and opportunities for privategain after election. Legislators perceivethemselves as disguised executive, andchief ministers are hard pressed to meettheir constant demands. Postings, trans-fers, contracts, tenders, tollgates,parole, developmental schemes, andcrime investigation - all these becomesources of patronage and rent seeking.No government functioning honestly cansurvive under such circumstances.While the legislators never allow objec-tive and balanced decision-making bythe executive in the actual functioning oflegislation, their role has become nomi-nal and largely inconsequential. Thisblurring of the lines of demarcationbetween the executive and legislature isone of the cardinal features of the crisisof our governance system.

Therefore, separation of powers, anddirect election are necessary in Statesand local governments. At the nationallevel, such a direct election is fraughtwith serious dangers. Our linguistic

diversity demands a parliamentary exec-utive. Any individual seen as the symbolof all authority can easily becomedespotic, given our political culture. Butin states, separation of powers poses nosuch dangers. The Union government,Supreme Court, constitutional func-tionaries like the Election Commission,UPSC, and CAG, and the enormous pow-ers and prestige of the Union will easilycontrol authoritarianism in any state.This necessitates adoption of a systemof direct election of the head of govern-ment in states and local governments.The fundamental changes suggestedfind mention as under:

The legislature will be elected sepa-rately and directly while the ministerswill be drawn from outside the legisla-

ture. The legislature will have a fixedterm, and cannot be dissolved prema-turely except in exceptional circum-stances (sedition, secession etc) by theUnion government. The head of govern-ment will have a fixed term, and cannotbe voted out of office by the legislature.Any vacancy of office will be filled by adue process of succession. The electedhead of government will have no morethan two terms of office. Even thoughthese changes may not be panacea to allevils in the present structure of legisla-ture and executive, it will certainlyencourage more healthy and vibrantdemocracy and democratic processes.Further, clear delineation of functionsbetween Union and States, and amongvarious tiers of local governments is also

While the legislators never allow objective and balanceddecision-making by the executive in the actual functioningof legislation, their role has become nominal and largelyinconsequential. This blurring of the lines of demarcationbetween the executive and legislature is one of the cardi-

nal features of the crisis of our governance system.


a necessary condition for a vibrantdemocracy. It is only a true federal struc-ture that can ensure unity in this multiethnic and multi religious society.

To sum up, four broad strategies arerequired to curb corruption. First, weneed comprehensive electoral reformsto make funding transparent andaccountable, to curb criminalization andpolling irregularities, to eliminate politi-cal fiefdoms and transform politics frombig business to public service, and toensure that honesty and survival in pub-lic office are compatible.

Second, we need to empower localgovernments and stakeholders in a waythat there are clear links between citi-zens' vote and public good, taxes andservices, and authority and accountabil-ity. Third, we need instruments ofaccountability in the form of right toinformation, citizen's charters, inde-pendent crime investigation and inde-pendent anti-corruption agencies.Fourth, we must increase the risks ofcorrupt behaviour to an unacceptablelevel by ensuring speedy justice, exem-plary punishment and confiscation ofassets.

This is clearly a vast agenda for action.But it is both necessary and possible.The recent economic reforms have cer-tainly helped promote competition andreduce corruption through license-per-mit-quota raj. But the incentive structurein our governance structure is still per-

verse. Our political system has inex-haustible appetite for illegitimate funds.The supply of such ill-gotten money ineconomic sphere is dwindling onaccount of economic reforms. But thedemand continues unabated in the faceof unchanging political rules of thegame, thus forcing open newer, andmore dangerous avenues of corruption.

The telgi stamp scam, the organizedleaks of CAT and other examinationpapers, the brutal murder of SatyendraKumar Dubey, and the sting operationexposing the corruption of a judge inGujarat are all not accidents. Corruptionis now shifting into more dangerousareas from where the state cannot with-draw, and criminalization of our politics,economy and society is on the rise.Organized crime and systematic abuseof office are flourishing. These requireserious institutional responses.

The time for action is now. The nation-al mood is ripe. People are disgustedwith endless corruption and are restive.The business class, which was earlierhappily paying bribes to get favours inreturn for monopoly and assured profitsis now realizing that corruption in a com-petitive world kills industry. The unprece-dented agitation (2001) of small indus-trial entrepreneurs in Andhra Pradeshagainst the extortion of Central Exciseofficials is a sign of increasing resist-ance to corruption.

Politicians are increasingly recognis-

ing that the present chain of corruptionis unsustainable. Many nations wentthrough phases of high corruption. Theyeliminated corruption through systemat-ic, effective, practical steps. The proac-tive steps of the High Court of Bombay toremove 150 corrupt judges, followed bysimilar steps in Rajasthan and WestBengal show what can be accomplishedwith determination and good sense. WeIndians are no more venal and corruptthan the rest of the world. We only cre-ated conditions in which honesty is notadequately rewarded, and is in fact dis-couraged.

Corruption is not only left unpun-ished, but is rewarded consistently andextravagantly. We need to alter thisstate of dangerous equilibrium feedingthe cycle of corruption. The people areready for fundamental changes. Whatwe need are practical steps to empowercitizens and make public servantsaccountable. People are ready to act.What we need are tools for informed cit-izen assertion. I am confident all of ushere and elsewhere have the vision, willand courage to take those practical andenduring steps required to launch an all-out struggle against corruption.

There is no room for cynicism ordespair. The task is big, but achievable.As Margaret Mead said "Never doubtthat a small group of thoughtful, com-mitted citizens can change the world.Indeed, it is the only thing that ever did".In this war we will surely succeed. Butwhat we need is fewer words and moretangible action.The Anna Hazare phe-nomena that recently shook the nationis a growing reflection of the popularmood of the nation. India is at a crossroad wherein some structural adjust-ments in the governance can lead totremendous growth of the nation.

The writer is Editor-iin-CChief

The time for action is now.The national mood is ripe.People are disgusted withendless corruption and are

restive. The business class,which was earlier happily

paying bribes to get favoursin return for monopoly and

assured profits is now realiz-ing that corruption in a com-petitive world kills industry.


Recently the Union govern-ment sought a review of theSupreme Court's order con-stituting a SpecialInvestigative Team (SIT) toprobe the issue of black

money stashed abroad. The governmentbelieves this is judicial over-reach, but itforgets that the courts stepped inbecause of executive "under-reach." It isone thing to object to a SupremeCourt-appointed SIT, quiteanother to be SITting onyour hands doing nothing.

But stashing moneyabroad is not just aboutthe government not earn-ing its share of tax revenues. Itis actually a vote of no-confidencein the country and its people. Hence,it is financial skullduggery. Here's thesecond part of our Dummy's Guide toTax Havens and Black Money inwhich we explain how black money isgenerated and spirited away. Thefirst part was published by First poston 3 June.

What is black money and how is itgenerated?

It's not the colour of the currency, forsure. Income generated by illegal meansand on which no tax is paid is calledblack money. Corruption is one of themajor causes. All corrupt acts generateblack money since the receiver does notwant to show it as income to the taxauthorities. This is why the finance min-istry's chief economic advisor, KaushikBasu, even suggested legalizing small-time bribes since it can at least betaxed.

Domestic corruption can be retail orwholesale. The retail one is what hurtsmost of us. The policeman who collectsa bribe when you jump a red signal, theelectricity board engineer who wants

A DUMMY'S GUIDE TOTAX HAVENS AND

BLACK MONEY


speed money to fix your meter, or theRTO official who wants a payment toissue a driving licence - such situationscan be multiplied a million times.

We can also call this womb-to-tombbribery, from birth certificate to deathcertificate. This retail corruption is whatwe are up against on a day-to-day basis.And this generates huge amounts ofblack money, mostly in the hands ofthousands of government employees.This is what is not felt in developedcountries. In the US or Europe, retailcorruption that affects the commonman is rare.

Corruption generates black moneybut black money is generated even with-out corruption. For instance, if you donot collect the bill for your next petrolpurchase you have generated blackmoney.

Then there is wholesale corruption,which is generated through the award ofroad/project contracts (as inCommonwealth Games) or the issue oflicences or allotment of scarceresources like spectrum (as in 2Gscam). Wholesale corruption also hap-pens in government purchases -whether it is medicine in hospitals orbooks in schools or aircraft for Air India

or Bofors guns or coffins for defense.Corruption happens even in the privatesector, but since the losses are borne bypromoters and shareholders, we shouldnot bother about that now.

Why should I bother about wholesalecorruption?

Wholesale corruption does not affectus directly, but it does impact us indi-rectly. When A Raja allegedly mademoney by under pricing spectrum andallotting it to specific parties, telecomcompanies had to recoup the costs fromsomewhere - it could be through highermobile bills or poorer quality service, orboth. Also, the government loses rev-enue, which means less money to

spend on more worthwhile projects likesubsidizing the poor.

It is important to note that corruptiongenerates black money but black moneyis generated even without corruption.For instance, if you do not collect the billfor your next petrol purchase you havegenerated black money. If you visit yourdoctor and pay him his fees without abill, the doctor may not pay his taxes.

So the equation is corruption gener-ates or implies black money but blackmoney does not imply corruption.

Where is this black money kept?Unlike what is shown in Bollywood

films, black money is not kept in cup-

Corruption generates blackmoney but black money is

generated even withoutcorruption. For instance, ifyou do not collect the billfor your next petrol pur-

chase you have generatedblack money.


boards or suitcases - though some if itmay well be kept there. Black money isusually kept in circulation by using it tofinance informal trade and commerce -usually at a higher interest rate thanwhat banks charge.

For instance, we estimate that only 30percent of retail trade financing is doneby banking institutions. The remainingmoney comes from moneylenders - agood portion of it from black money.Actually, domestic black money is a hid-den reserve and it may also be benefi-cial in some ways as it finances eco-nomic activities. Also, black money cir-culates faster than white money, whichslows down as it passes through thebanking and taxation loop.

But black money distorts resourceallocation since people with hugeamounts of it will use it to build spas athome or buy Italian marble for theverandah or gold-plated bathroom fit-tings. The economy thus tries to cater tothis profitable demand instead of whatthe bulk of the people need.

Moreover, black money is also storedin real estate, which is one reason whywe are finding everything unaffordable

in the property market.If black money is useful here, how did

it land up in tax havens abroad?There are several reasons for keeping

wealth abroad clandestinely. They canbe broadly categorized as vegetarianand non-vegetarian reasons/purposes.

The illegal wealth itself can be classifiedas veg or non-veg. The veg reasons forkeeping wealth abroad include tax eva-sion, and keeping some dollars abroadfor meeting expenses when you travelabroad or for your child's education ordaughter's honeymoon.

The non-veg money is accumulatedfor terror financing or gun running ordrug money or flesh trade. (Disclosure: Iam a vegetarian and so I am categoriz-ing these purposes in this fashion.) Theformer is illegal but less harmful com-pared to the latter. The governmentneeds to approach the issue in differentways in tackling these two segments ofblack money. We will elaborate it later.Let us first look at the veg segment first,and how it emerged.

Why did so much black money getgenerated?

In the sixties and seventies, tax ratesused to be very high in India. At the mar-gin it was more than 90 percent in manyyears. This meant that for every Rs 100earned in the upper income brackets,more than Rs 90 would go as taxes.Hence rich persons began to accumu-late wealth abroad to avoid such "usuri-

The non-veg money isaccumulated for terror

financing or gun running ordrug money or flesh trade.

(Disclosure: I am a vegetarianand so I am categorizing

these purposes in this fashion.) The former isillegal but less harmful compared to the latter.

The government needs toapproach the issue in differ-ent ways in tackling these

two segments of blackmoney.


ous" taxes.The high levels of taxes were the

result of "Nehruvian socialism" whichfelt that the rich should be soaked toimprove the lot of the poor. The latter didnot happen, but such policies"improved" the ability of tax officials toextract money as bribes from the richand encouraged the latter to look out forsecretive jurisdictions to store theirwealth.

Foreign exchange controls were alsoso stringent that businessmen foundthey could not afford to stay in decenthotels when travelling abroad for busi-

ness. They could not send their sonsand daughters to get an Ivy League edu-cation. Hence the need to maintain dol-lars abroad - often in tax havens.

But it is the second broad category -namely the non-veg - that is insidiousand dangerous. It is not only about losttaxes, but also about what kind of nefar-ious activities it may be financing,including possibly terrorism and gang-sterism.

India's restrictions on gold holdingsand high customs duties created anentire class of smugglers who brought ingold illegally from Dubai. There were

smugglers not only in gold, but any luxu-ry item that was banned or too expen-sive to import (including electronic gadg-ets at one time). This is how Nehruvianeconomics created crime syndicateswhich, over time, metamorphosed intofinanciers of terror, a la DawoodIbrahim.

How does the money go out of thecountry?

One of the important mechanisms iscalled "trade mispricing". When anexporter underinvoices (underprices) hisgoods, the difference is paid by theimporter abroad in a Swiss account, orany tax haven. One can also overinvoiceimports. Let's say a US exporter sells usa piece of machinery worth Rs 100crore for Rs 110 crore. In this case, ahigher amount is remitted from India,enabling the exporter to pay us theexcess back in a tax haven.

Black money is also generated indefence deals. In the Bofors case, acommission was paid for the deal whenthe Indian policy was that no commis-sions could be paid? Who got themoney?

Then there are hawala transactions.At the criminal level, you can merelyhand over a sackful of rupees, and thecourier will deliver dollars somewhereabroad - obviously at an exchange ratethat is significantly higher than the offi-cial one.But hawala transactions canalso be done by the ordinary well-to-do.Let's say you want to finance yourfather's operation abroad. You can askyou friend in Dubai to bear the cost, inreturn for paying the equivalent amountin rupees to his sister in Hyderabad. Thisdoes not look like a criminal thing to do,but legally it is no different from the ille-gal hawala deal.

R Vaidyanathan is professor offinance at IIM, Bangalore

Foreign exchange controlswere also so stringent that

businessmen found theycould not afford to stay in

decent hotels when travellingabroad for business. They

could not send their sons anddaughters to get an Ivy

League education. Hence theneed to maintain dollars

abroad - often in tax havens.


RSN Singh

The insurgenciesthat impactedthe Indian land-scape till earlythis decade

were generally in isola-tion. Though, they like allinsurgencies had exter-

nal links, the internal linkages betweenthem were at best tenuous.

The Khalistan insurgency could beextinguished because of its uni-dimen-sional nature. It was confined to a spe-cific geographic area and was supportedby a specific group of people, easy toidentify. Their cadre base was low.

The Kashmir militancy had not fullyreared its head. The ISI patronage andsupport was well-known. The pioneeringideologues of the movement were basedabroad and did not belong to the seg-ment of the community, which providedthe foot-soldiers.

The objective of the insurgency was tocarve out another theocratic state.

The same can be said about insurgen-cies in the Northeast (NE). They too weresupported by China, but in a mannerthat the deniability factor could be main-tained. A separate country was theirobjective and not the destruction of theIndian state. The acts of terrorism inthese insurgencies were to intimidatethe local populace and preempt any sup-port to the security forces.

Over the years, there is fusion ofinsurgency and terrorism. It first took theshape of proxy war with territorial objec-tives. Therefore, when the IndianSecurity establishment was faced withthe Kargil misadventure, it initiallyappeared bewildered because it couldnot appreciate that a low intensity con-flict could assume the shape of a con-flict, which was constricted in limit andscope due to internal and external con-siderations and pressures.

Breaking India bymeans of proxywar by Pakistan


The overall military superiority thatIndia enjoyed vis-a-vis Pakistan couldnot deter the latter.

Convergence of TerrorThe proxy war waged by Pakistan and

China are now converging on Delhi. Thisproxy war has various terrorist groups asits main tool. The main instruments ofthis war are none other but someIndians who are allured by ideology ormoney or both.

They have been convinced that Indiain its present form is a demonic stateand needs to be destroyed.

The Maoists, Pakistan based terroristgroups, and terrorist groups inNortheast, Punjab and J&K are now incollaboration. They have forged a nexusfor training, procurement of arms, estab-lishing external linkages and providingsafe-havens to each other. They areleveraging on one another's strengthand reach.

Their common objective is to destroythe Indian State.

When the Army Chief talks about atwo-front situation, he must realize thatIndia is already facing a multi-front situ-ation in terms of proxy war being wagedby China, Pakistan and other inimical

powers. This multi-front proxy war is ren-dering the country hollow from within.The inimical elements within the countryare debilitating both our military resolveand our conventional capability.

The security of a country is the harmo-ny between internal security and exter-nal security. Pakistan is collapsingbecause it always viewed internal securi-ty from the prism of external security.India on the other hand has been notori-ous in ignoring the external dimensionsof internal security problems and treat-ing them as that of law and order.

If the Maoists, who are trampling theheart of India, and the Pak sponsoredjihadis of Kashmir as well as terroristsgroups in Punjab, and the China backedinsurgent groups of Northeast, who havebeen trying to severe the head and limbsrespectively, are now acting in concert,the internal security situation is grim.

A Super Power like the Soviet Unionwith its massive military capability, col-lapsed because it could not harmonizeinternal security with external security.India must not repeat the mistake. TheIndian Army must revisit its threat per-ception and the very definition of'enemy'.

Joint terrorist training campsThe arrest of two Peoples' Liberation

Army (PLA) leaders of Manipur ArunKumar Singh and Dalip Singh in October2011 exposed the emerging linksbetween the militant organizations in theNE, Kashmir, LeT, and the Maoists. Theyrevealed the ongoing effort on part ofthese groups to form a 'Strategic UnitedFront' since they had the common objec-tive to overthrow the Indian government.

They reckon that it is only collectivelythat they would be able to take on themight of the Indian State. They alsorevealed the plans of setting up a 'JointTraining Camp' in Myanmar. The Timesof India on 08 October 2011 quoted offi-cial sources "ISI and PLA are in-touchand supply Maoists with arms. They aresupposedly using China as the alterna-tive route."

The official sources also claim to havephotographic evidence of Maoist cadresfrom six Indian states being trained bythe PLA of Manipur, in Orissa andJharkhand.

This author has learnt through topintelligence sources that the Chinesehave supplied a weapon manufacturingfacility to the Kachin Insurgents in


Myanmar. This facility is manufacturingreplicas of AK-47, which is being sup-plied to all terrorist groups in Indiaincluding the Maoists.

The latest recovery of explosives froma car on 12 October 2011 has alsoexposed the links between ISI, Lashkar-e-Toiba and Babbar Khalsa. Their objec-tive was to target Delhi.

Taking into consideration, the seizuresmade by the security forces in the lastfew years, two important facts emerge -first, that Babbar Khalsa, the militantoutfit, which carried out the killing of thePunjab Chief Minister Beant Singh hasbeen under the revival mode, under thepatronage of ISI, and second, that theorganization has no dearth of sophisti-cated arms and explosives supplied bythe ISI.

The revival of Babbar Khalsa andKhalistan insurgency received impetusafter the creation of the PakistanGurudwara Prabhandhak Committeeunder the Chairmanship of Lt Gen JavedNassir, former ISI chief. He is instrumen-tal in forging the link between LeT andthe Babbar Khalsa.

In October 2010, the Indian govern-ment had alleged that the Maoists ofNepal (PLA) had been imparting trainingto Indian Maoists on Nepal's soil.Further, the Maoists were receiving train-

ing from LeT instructors in these camps.There was information of 234 Maoiststraining in Nepal under the supervisionof Naxalite leaders like Vinod Gurung,Prakash Mehto and LeT members likeRazak Khan and Latif Khan, who hailfrom Karachi.

In August 2010, Karnataka andAndhra Police, following four arrests inHyderabad and two in Bangalore thatthe ISI through the 'D-company' hadmanaged to establish links with theMaoists terrorists in the country. Therewere plans to invite Maoist leaders toDubai to coordinate terrorist activities inIndia.

The spearheads of the modern terrornetwork are people, who enjoy or havebeen conferred respectability by way ofinternational awards or membership ofNGOs ostensibly engaged in publiccause. Some of these ideologues areactive in forging links between variousmilitary groups. A noted Human Rightactivist, based on telephonic intercepts,has come under the scanner of intelli-gence agencies for trying to bring togeth-er various terrorist groups at the behestof Pakistan.

Even in the national capital the ideo-logues of the Maoists, Kashmiri and NEseparatists have come together on acommon platform on many occasions.

Their agenda is common, i.e. to weakenthe resolve of the Indian State to fightterrorism. It is in this backdrop that theirdiatribes against the state, the securityforces, and the Armed Forces SpecialPower Act should be viewed. This Act,they feel is the most robust tool in pre-serving the unity of India.

The Maoist agendaIt is pertinent to note that when Anna's

agitation was at its peak, the eternal fastof Sharmila Irom of Manipur, was consis-tently highlighted. The focus was notshe, but the removal of Armed ForcesSpecial Power Act from Manipur.

One of the active members during theagitation is known for his ULFA links.During the same period, the so-calledLawyer civil activist and core member ofthe Team Anna, in one of the televisionchannels, had categorically stated thatthe days of elected representatives areover, thereby implying that the Indiamust jettison multiparty democracy.

He was only articulating the Maoistagenda. He also had then spoken that itis the Kashmiris who should decidewhether they want to be part of India ornot. Such was the hysteria during thatperiod that these statements were lostin the din and did not receive adequateattention. The same gentleman has nowadvocated plebiscite in Kashmir and


repealing of the Armed Forces SpecialPower Act.

One of the members of the Team ofinterlocutors on Kashmir has enjoyedthe hospitality of Fai Foundation, headedby Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai the face of theKashmir separatist cause in the UnitedStates. The Fai Foundation is funded bythe ISI. It was a foregone conclusion thatthe team of interlocutors would recom-mend more autonomy for Kashmir. Thetiming of the submission of the reportand utterances of the lawyer is not amere coincidence.

The most formidable spearheads forconvergence of terror in India are therein the media and amongst people whofancy to be called as intellectuals. The'terrorism economy' is also formidableand has the ability to sustain some bigmedia houses and other public plat-forms. They decry the Indian State, but'Misuse the Freedom of Speech'.

The entire region in the surround ofIndia is in unprecedented geopoliticalflux. The US-Pakistan strategic partner-ship, which ensured the survivability ofthe latter since its inception is nowunder tremendous strain, arguably onthe verge of collapse.

The internal problems of Pakistanseem to be intractable. The specter ofthe country's split is haunting. Pakistan'sstrategic maneuver space is gettingincreasingly constricted. The convention-al tools available in the hands ofPakistan in leadership to alter the dan-gerous geopolitical discourse are in dis-array or blunted.

It is not India, but Pakistan's machina-tions in Kashmir and Afghanistan, whichhas brought the country to this juncture.

The emerging strategic partnershipbetween India and the US, and India andAfghanistan has unnerved a totteringPakistan. The only recourse available toPakistan is to destabilize India by lever-aging on all terrorist groups, i.e. theMaoists, who are active in one-third ofIndia, and the terrorist groups inKashmir, Punjab, Northeast, and Pakbased terrorist groups and crime syndi-cate of the Dawood Ibrahim.

In this there is a congruency of inter-ests between Pakistan and China. Chinatoo is not comfortable with the Indo-USstrategic partnership and consequentlythe direction of the geopolitical dis-course in the region. It has very highstrategic stakes in Pakistan as well as inthe Indian Ocean, particularly in the Bayof Bengal, where it is seeking presenceby way of ports on Myanmar's westerncoast for convenient supply of oil fromGulf for its energy needs.

It is for this reason that China isengaged in thwarting India's 'Look East'outreach by increasingly brazen supportto Northeast terrorist groups and theMaoists.

Economic consequencesThe convergence of Pakistan and

China backed terror and spearheaded bythe ideologues has dangerous portendsfor India. While the aim of this terror is toparalyze India, its main focus is shiftingto its heart, i.e. the National Capital. Inall probability terrorist attacks in Indiaare likely to become more vicious, moredeadly, more widespread and more fre-quent.

This proxy war has disastrous econom-ic consequences. There is a thriving par-allel terrorist economy. The Maoists are

disrupting train services at will. Bandhsorchestrated by Maoists are having crip-pling effect on the economy and thelivelihood of the people.

Corporate houses are paying ransomto the Maoists because the State cannotenforce its writ in large chunks of thehinterland. The Maoists menace is mak-ing thermal power plants starve for coal.India is becoming a dangerous place onthis earth. Investors are being deterred.The Indian state machinery has becomeinured to the insecurity of the people. Itprobably feels that time itself will resolvethe problem. The internal war againstterror is being fought in a disjointed andhalf-hearted manner. The resolve mech-anism and instruments to fight this con-vergence of terror is in disarray.

If this war is not won, India despite itsconventional war making capability, willcollapse. We are fighting the war withwrong tools, wrong mindset, and mis-placed ideas of war, oscillating betweenlaw and order approach and internalsecurity approach. While there is conver-gence of various terrorist groups, theIndian authorities have a compartmen-talized approach on the specious argu-ment of federalism. It's a war and givenits import and spread, the internal ene-mies can only be defeated, if the IndianArmy is in the forefront.

The writer is a former military intelli-gence officer who later served in theResearch and Analysis Wing, or R&AW.The author of two books: Asian Strategicand Military Perspective and MilitaryFactor in Pakistan, he is also AssociateEditor, Indian Defence Review.

Corporate houses are payingransom to the Maoists

because the State cannotenforce its writ in large

chunks of the hinterland. TheMaoists menace is makingthermal power plants starvefor coal. India is becoming a

dangerous place on thisearth. Investors are beingdeterred. The Indian statemachinery has become

inured to the insecurity of thepeople.


LADAKH: The Indian army has longvoiced concern over the depth and paceof China's military modernisation, espe-cially in its infrastructure borderingIndia. On the Line of Actual Control atDemchok in South-East Ladakh, signs ofthat modernisation on the China sidewere visible.

Lt General Ravi Dastane, ArmyCommander, Leh said, "We are watchingit closely, it's a capability they are build-ing, it also has a military implication."Colonel SK Sheoran said, "Before 2008they were 35km behind Demchok, now aplatoon strong is deployed in theZorawar Hill."

In contrast, infrastructure in Ladakh isnon-existent. All military and civil vehi-cles move along dirt trails similar to themule tracks of the 1962 war.Commander, Fuk-Che Anil Chaudharysaid, "Whatever roads are there, gravelsurface or natural surface are adequatefor moving of military vehicles howeverbetter developed roads would add impe-tus to our own preparation."

Add to that the constant surveillancefrom Chinese observation posts. Newroads are now being laid behind hillsthat block China's view but progress isslow. In many cases environmentalclearances have delayed road building.Air support is hampered by the lack ofairfields. The army admits that advancedlanding grounds in Fuk-Che and furthernorth in Chushul are too close to theLine of Actual Control to be of use in aconflict. The Air force is trying to get theNYOMA airfield operational but it willtake time.

The army does not expect conflict withChina in the near term. But power strug-gles in Beijing within a leadership intransition could have echoes in distantDemchok.

China and India at War: StudyContemplates Conflict Between AsianGiants

There are plenty of reasons why Chinaand India won't go to war. The two Asiangiants hope to reach $100 billion inannual bilateral trade by 2015. Peace

Power struggles inChina; India on ChinaArmy confirms Chinese buildup along India border

In many cases environmental clearances havedelayed road building. Air support is hampered by the

lack of airfields. The army admits that advanced landinggrounds in Fuk-Che and further north in Chushul are tooclose to the Line of Actual Control to be of use in a con-

flict. The Air force is trying to get the NYOMA airfield oper-ational but it will take time.


and stability are watchwords for bothnations' rise on the world stage. Yet ten-sions between the neighbors seeminescapable: they face each other acrossa heavily militarized nearly 4,000km-long border and are increasingly com-peting against each other in a scramblefor natural resources around the world.Indian fears over Chinese projects alongthe Indian Ocean rim were matchedrecently by Beijing's ire over growingIndian interests in the South China Sea,a body of water China controversiallyclaims as its exclusive territorial sphereof influence. Despite the sense of opti-mism and ambition that drives these twostates, which comprise between themnearly a third of humanity, the legacy ofthe brief 1962 Sino-Indian war (a humil-iating blow for India) still smolders near-ly five decades later.

And it's alive on the pages of a newpolicy report issued by the Institute forDefence Studies and Analyses in NewDelhi, an independent think tank that isaffiliated with India's Ministry ofDefense. "A Consideration of Sino-IndianConflict" is hardly a hawkish tract - itadvocates "war avoidance" - but, byspelling out a few concrete scenarios ofhow conflict may look between the twocountries, it reveals the palpable lack oftrust on the part of strategists both inNew Delhi and Beijing. The reportapplauds long-term Indian efforts under-way to beef up defenses along theChinese border, but warns that Beijingmay still take action:

In future, India could be subject to

China's hegemonic attention. Since Indiawould be better prepared by then, Chinamay instead wish to set India back nowby a preventive war. This means currentday preparedness is as essential aspreparation for the future. A [defeat] nowwill have as severe political costs, inter-nally and externally, as it had back in1962; for, as then, India is yet again con-templating a global role.

While a lot of recent media attentionhas focused on the likelihood of Sino-Indian clashes at sea, the IDSA reportkeeps its scope trained along the tradi-tional, glacial Himalayan land boundary,referred to in wonkish parlance as theLAC, the Line of Actual Control. Since the

1962 war, China and India have yet toformally resolve longstanding disputesover vast stretches of territory along thisline. Those disputes have resurfacednoticeably in recent years, with Chinamaking unprecedented noises, much tothe alarm of New Delhi, over its historicalclaims to the entirety of the northeasternIndian state of Arunachal Pradesh - whatthe Chinese deem "Southern Tibet." TheChinese even rebuked Indian PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh for having theaudacity of visiting the Indian state dur-ing local elections in 2009.

Not surprisingly, it's in this remote cor-ner of the world that many suspect a warcould kick off, particularly around the


historic Tibetan monastery town ofTawang. India has reinforced its positionin Arunachal with more boots on theground, new missile defenses and someof the Indian air force's best strike craft,new Russian-made Su-30 fighters. Afterdecades of focusing its army westagainst perennial threat Pakistan, Indiais tacitly realigning its military east toface the long-term challenge of China.

The report speculates that Chinacould make a targeted territorial grab,"for example, a bid to take Tawang."Further west along the LAC, anotherflashpoint lies in Kashmir. China controlsa piece of largely uninhabited territoryknown as Aksai Chin that it capturedduring the 1962 war.

Indian press frequently publishalarmist stories about Chinese incur-sions from Aksai Chin and elsewhere,playing up the scale of Chinese invest-ment in strategic infrastructure on itsside of the border in stark contrast to theseeming lethargy of Indian planners.

Part of what fuels the anxiety in NewDelhi, as the report notes, is the threatof coordinated action between Chinaand Pakistan - an alliance built largelyout of years of mutual antipathy toward

India. In one mooted scenario, Pakistan,either with its own forces or terrorist,insurgent proxies, would "make diver-sionary moves" across the blood-stainedSiachen glacier or Kargil, site of the lastIndo-Pakistani war in 1999, while aChinese offensive strikes further eastalong the border.

Of course, such table-top board gamemaneuvers have little purchase in pres-ent geo-politics. Direct, provocativeaction suits no player in the region, par-ticularly when there's the specter ofAmerican power - a curious absence inthe IDSA report - hovering on the side-lines.

Intriguingly, the report seems to dis-miss the notion that China and Indiawould clash in what others would con-sider obvious hotspots for rivalry; it saysthe landlocked Himalayan kingdom ofBhutan would likely be treated as a neu-tral "Switzerland", while Nepal, a countryof 40 million that entertains both Beijingand New Delhi's patronage, is more orless assured that neither of its big neigh-bors would risk violating its sovereigntyin the event of war.

Moreover, the IDSA seems to rule outeither side encouraging or deploying

proxies in more clandestine strugglesagainst the other.

The restive border regions on bothsides of the LAC are home to resentfulminority populations and more than afew insurgent factions. India and China -unlike Pakistan - have little precedent inabetting militant groups and strategistson both sides would be wary of fanningflames of rebellion that no one can putout.

Yet what seems to stoke Sino-Indianmilitary tensions - and grim propheciesof conflict - are precisely these feelingsof vulnerability. The uncertainties posedby both countries' astonishing economicgrowth, the lack of clear communicationand trust between Beijing and New Delhiand the strong nationalism underlyingboth Indian and Chinese public opinioncould unsettle the uneasy status quothat now exists.

Managing all this is a task for wooly-heads in New Delhi and Beijing. Butdon't be surprised if more reports likethis one come out, drawing lines on thebattlefield.

Courtesy Ishaan Tharoor via TIME


BEIJING: The US move to create anaval base in northern Australia close tothe South China Sea can actually meanmore dollars in the Indian kitty, and putmore strategic and business opportuni-ties in New Delhi's way, sources said.The first piece of evidence has come byway of Australia's decision to sell urani-um to India.

The US move will provide a sense ofprotection to East Asian countries includ-ing Japan, who have serious conflictswith China but buy vast amounts ofChinese goods. The new found protec-tion will encourage East Asia to reduceits dependence on China for goods andenhance economic ties with India,sources said.

"Japan, Vietnam and Indonesia willfeel more secure. India and Indonesiacan get together to control the MalaccaStraits, which is the route though which90% of Chinese goods to East Asia pass-es," Subramanian Swamy, Janata Partypresident and a widely regarded Chinaexpert, told TNN.

There are signs that China is jitteryabout the US move to station 2,500 USmarines in the Northern Territory ofAustralia within five years. Beijing onThursday warned Australia it might get"caught in the crossfire" if it allows theUS to exercise its naval might in thewaters around it. Washington's movehas put the US navy within easy sailingreach of Vietnam, which is involved in aserious territorial dispute over oil-richislands in the South China Sea.

The move will also bring some relief tothe ONGC, which is one of the foreigncompanies involved in exploring oil alongwith Vietnamese oil firms in the SouthChina Sea. China has bitterly criticizedIndia on the move and asked ONGC towithdraw.

When it comes to exporting to EastAsia, India cannot replace China, whichhas a wide range of goods to offer, UdayBhaskar, director of the NationalMaritime Foundation, said.

"But there is a strategic review of thebilateral relation with India by the US, EUand Japan, wherein Indian markets arebeing recognized as an important driverof trade in the region," Bhaskar added.

India will need to retool its export bas-

ket if it seriously wishesto compete with Chinaas a provider of goods inEast Asia, he said.

The US move can alsomean massive savingsin investments beingmade by the Indiandefence agencies on the India-Chinaborder, Abhijit Iyer-Mitra, research officerat the Institute of Conflict Studies in NewDelhi, said.

"This is God sent. The more US rampsup its military presence in South ChinaSea, the more it will divert Beijing's

attention from India," he said."It can actually mean a big saving on

investments being made on the Chinaborder. But I doubt if our defence estab-lishment would make the best of theopportunity. They are too attached to bigbudget," he said.

US naval move in Australiamay help India take on China

US PresidentBarack Obama

greets Australiantroops and USMarines with

Australian PrimeMinister JuliaGillard (R) atRAAF Base

Darwin in Darwinon November 17,

2011.


S Gurumurthy

The agitation against theKoodankulam Nuclear PowerPlant has been running as a TVreality show for weeks now. Thenews-starved visual media has

reduced the Koodankulam nuclear plant- a national investment of Rs 13,000crore and just about to start - to a day-matinee-night show. The Koodankulamtheatre is plagiarised on the Anna Fastmodel for media to hype it. The mediatoo obliged and packaged it as haplessvillagers fighting for their right to live. Forlong, it had winked at the scriptwriters,directors and actors behind the show.But does the media know - or not - thatKoodankulam is no isolated event? Andthat the goals and mission that drive itlink it to the stir that is on for almost twodecades in the distant and remote WestKhasi Hills in Meghalaya against urani-um mining? The scriptwriters, directorsand actors behind both have a commonmission. The Koodankulam stir blocksthe building of a nuclear plant for India.The West Khasi Hills agitation preventsthe building of nuclear arsenal for India.Who are the directors and actors andwhat is their mission?

See what nuclear technology means toIndia. India needs nuclear power andnuclear weapons. There are, in theworld, 22,000 nuclear bombs, 8,000actively targeted at one another's per-ceived enemy. China has some 240bombs targeted mostly at India.Pakistan has some 80 bombs targetedonly at India. India has 100, less than athird of both. No one deeply concernedfor India can even remotely underminenuclear technology for power orweapons. On the other side, our energysecurity, heavily import-dependent, is atrisk. We, a sixth of humanity, remain aburden on the world. Shamefully. Weimport oil, coal and gas. Our energyimports is $100 billion a year. Of which,coal imports, now 100 billion tons, alonecost $5 billion; it will reach $45 billion in2020, $250 billion by 2050. We today

produce 1,50,000MW of electricity. Weneed to raise it, by over six times, to9,50,000MW, by 2030. This is notdoable through imported fuel. It needsno seer to tell us that, in the long run, weneed indigenously fuelled power. Forwhich a prime candidate is nuclearpower.

Now, compare the environmental andhuman risk in thermal and nuclearpower. The risk in one is the merit of theother. Experts say that a 1,000MW coalpower plant causes annually 400 deathsby air pollution and climatic change.Nuclear energy does risk accidents - butonce in decades - just four accidents in60 years, involving 66 direct and 4,000related deaths. It is far less risky com-pared thermal power. Air accidents killsome 1,000 persons in the world annu-ally. Traffic accidents killed 1.14 lakhpeople in 2007 in India alone. Yet tothink of banning coal, nor air or automo-bile travel will be laughable. The balance

sheet of nuclear energy is thus superior,less risky, and more clean. Why do somebrand nuclear power as evil? Now seehow do we produce nuclear power andalso weaponise India.

Now uranium drives our nuclear pro-gramme. Our minimal uranium reservesare mainly located in Khasi Hills inMeghalaya, Jaduguda in Jharkhand andTummalappalle in Andhra Pradesh.Global uranium trade is political, con-trolled by the Nuclear Suppliers Group(NSG). The NSG sells uranium only to anapproved country and its nuclear reac-tors are subject to NSG supervision.India signed a loaded nuclear treaty withthe US only to win the NSG approval toaccess imported uranium. As on now,fourteen of our twenty two nuclear reac-tors are subject to global supervision.Only the unsupervised eight are usablefor producing nuclear weapons. Indiacan import uranium from the NSG for itsnuclear power reactors, but import is

FORCES HALTINGOUR N-SURGE

The nuclear reactor site at Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant


only a short term answer, and costly fora country of our size. To fuel largenuclear power plants and for energysecurity, we cannot rely on imported ura-nium for long. Ultimately it has to beindigenous fuel. Fortunately, we havethe world's largest deposit of thorium, analternative to uranium and the nuclearfuel of future. We are perfecting thetechnology to use thorium for producingpower. But, till that happens, we need tomine indigenous uranium, first, toreduce the dependence on imports forour nuclear power programme and, next,for operating the eight reactors to pro-duce nuclear weaponry. The two factsare self evident. And now lift the veil andsee the common faces behind the twodecade-old Khasi Hills agitation againsturanium mining and the agitationagainst the Koodankulam nuclear powerplant - that is against nuclear India itself.

That the Koodankulam stir is the showof the Catholic Church has become out,but a bit late. Neutral media reports nowconfirm that S P Udaykumar, who leads

the agitation, stays with the parish priestFather Jaikumar at Idinthakarai village;Fr Jaikumar openly supports the stir; FrThadyuse, the priest of the church inKoodankulam, too is forthright in hissupport; Fr S Peter, priest at the popularSt Antony's Church in the coastal villageOvary, sends his flock to partake in therelay fast at Idinthakarai; local Christianspriests confirm that the Bishop atTirunelveli supports the stir. The churchhierarchy is therefore fully at it.According to reports, transport, cash andbiriyani are provided to mobilise protest-ers and they are motivated to throwstones at the maintenance officials ofthe plant to force its closure. Remove thechurch, the agitation will stop.

Now see the face behind the agitationin the Christian-majority Meghalaya,which has a sixth of India's uraniumreserves. Not a kilogramme of uraniumhas been mined out of Meghalaya since1990, thanks to 20-year long agitationby Khasi Hills students against mining it.The church in Meghalaya is backing,

actually organising, the students. Violentincidents, blockade, picketing, huge ral-lies, setting fire to government officesand paralysing government marked theagitation And who talks for the agita-tors? The archbishop of Shillong,Dominic Jala. Take the church out, therewill be no stir. Even the uranium reservein Jharkhand is at risk. A huge tribalcampaign, with NGOs patronised by thechurch backing it, is thwarting uraniummining in Jharkhand.

QED: The campaign against mininguranium in Meghalaya and against theKoodankulam nuclear plant is by thesame directors and actors with globallinks and money. Their target is nuclearIndia. They are driven by a geopoliticalagenda to de-nuke India. But they actu-ally nuke India.

(Views expressed are those of theauthor only)

The writer is a well-kknown commentator on political and economicissues.


K P Prabhakaran Nair

I am not a soft engineer and so can-not speak with authority on the globalsignificance of late Steve Jobs' contribu-tions to information technology. But, I douse the computer for a lot of myresearch activities, as also for writingthe first electronic book on agriculture inthe world on important tree crops of thedeveloping world, followed by anotheron the world's two most importantspices - black pepper and cardamom -and the most recent planned one onmedicinal spice plants.

And I am working with the mostadvanced Microsoft system, and I knowhow tiresome, mentally and physically, itcan get at times, sitting in front of the

monitor for something like 15-16 hoursa day, with just half an hour break forlunch or dinner, compiling such a vastbody of scientific information onto theelectronic pages.

What I wish to write about in this arti-cle is the frenzy one sees in the worldtoday about Steve Jobs, and his unfortu-nate, though anticipated by himself,death in October. Some of his globaladmirers almost want "sainthood"bestowed on him! As he said, he consid-ered every day of his life, after he wasdiagnosed for a malignant and incur-able tumour in his pancreas, as the lastday of his life and so worked with devil-ish frenzy.

Take these examples. A young boy inChina sold one of his kidneys in order toafford to buy an I-pod, one of Jobs' sup-

posedly "miraculous" products. His biog-raphy by Walter Isaacson is selling likehot cakes in China. At close to Rs 800 apiece, here in India, almost every "ITtechie" or " IT coolie" (as someone veryrespected and knowledgeable here inIndia referred to our IT engineers work-ing in the US - please note, the term isnot mine) would grab a copy of the book.

I have often reflected about life andwhat it does to people. Sometimes"greatness" gets thrust upon oneself,birth being the common route - "bornwith a silver or golden spoon", as thecase may be. Sometimes "greatness" isachieved, and only those who achieve itknow what it takes to "achieve". In anumber of cases, however much onetries to achieve greatness, one is sweptdown by the winds of hostile history. A

WHATTHE

WORLD

DOESNOT

KNOW

STEVE JOBS


common factor in all these cases, moreoften than not, is that the public at largesees only what it is told to believe. Herein India today, the media plays a pivotalrole in the "making" or "breaking" ofsomeone, depending on whether it"likes" or "dislikes" the individualinvolved.

Only when the person is no more, realskeletons fall out of the cupboard! Itmight interest the reader here to notethat, when Walter Isaacson set aboutwriting the biography of Steve Jobs, thelatter was quite indifferent at first. But apoint came when Jobs insisted on know-ing every bit of detail in the plannedbook, so posterity would know what Jobshad done. Six months before he passedaway, Jobs said at one of his publicmeetings "Remember, there is only oneSteve Jobs". What a gigantic ego! So, letus take a look at what Jobs had done.Here I go.

Jobs' most important contribution wasto adapt technology to human needs,make it abundantly simple, rather thanthe normally path of technology compa-nies trying to educate people to usetheir products via a two inch thick tome- the "user manual". Take the case of thedesktop computer. Without spending somany hours to educate myself, I couldnot have started using the mostadvanced Microsoft system to enableme to write the electronic book I am nowwriting. If one critically examines all thedesktop computers available in the mar-ket today, all are basically the same intechnical construction, not adding anysignificant or unique pride in their own-ership, because there is nothing new orvery unique about the new model.

But in the field of IT technology, Jobsbrought a unique "individual touch" tothe product he designed. He did thisthrough Jony Ive, head of the design sec-tion of Apple. Jony Ive was almost readyto quit Apple in the mid-1980s whenSteve Jobs persuaded him not to quit.Jony Ive was inspired by a Germandesigner who had worked for thefamous German electronics companyBraun, whose driving principle in designwas "Less but Better". This is what JonyIve and Steve Jobs tried to accomplishtogether. Would Jobs have been able toreplicate the same individuality in, say,an industry like automobiles or fashiondesigning? No. He would have ended upbeing "one" among the very best, but,never the "only one".

To go further in critically looking atJobs' contributions to IT, one has tounderstand what was happening in mid-1990s when internet simply did not

exist. In 1993, John Sculley, a topemployee of Apple (the company SteveJobs and his high school friend SteveWozniack founded in the 1970s in a cargarage) brought out the "Newton", whichformed the core idea for the develop-ment of the subsequent I-phone and I-pad, the I-series, which is now is thecraze of the world.

Unfortunately, today no one remem-bers John Sculley, and all credit goesonly to Steve Jobs. Talking about"Newton", John Sculley had said in the1990s when it was just launched, that"people need to communicate quickly inhighly informal network-based organiza-tions". That Newton did not live to fulfillits promise was because there was notechnology to support it - mainly

because, internet was not invented atthat time. Were it so, it would have beenJohn Sculley who would have ruled theworld of IT innovation, and not SteveJobs.

It is a great pity that neither SteveJobs nor anyone in Apple has acknowl-edged the revolutionary role Newtonplayed in the production of I-pads and I-phones ("I" devices) that we have nowcome to accept as simply Steve Jobscreations! That is the irony of life, ofgreat inventions and discoveries.

Today in the world of science, quiteoften the reward of a Nobel Prize maynot reach the simple technician workingin a team from whose brain the bestidea might have originated. The prizealways goes to the team "Leader". SteveJobs was that kind of a "Leader", drivenby a maniac desire to rule and win - nomatter how much he trampled on theminds of people around him.

The clearest proof of this is seen in

the outburst of John Sculley's wife, whosaid in 1993 when Steve Jobs waspushed out of Apple as its ChiefExecutive Officer (CEO), "When I lookinto the eyes of most people, I see asoul. When I look into your eyes, I see abottomless pit, an empty hole, a deadzone".

What insightful words coming from alady whose husband created the uniqueNewton, but who failed to live up to theglory of inventing such a unique piece oftechnology!! That was Steve Jobs.Working in the 1980s as a Professor inthe world-renowned Justus von LiebigUniversity in Giessen, Germany, wherethe chemistry department had morethan 25 Nobel Prize winners over theyears, I used to be wonderstruck by thebrilliance of some technicians. But, the"Leader" always usurped the idea of thelowly technician!

The material success of Steve Jobswas a ruthless combination of the "burn-ing desire to be number one in theworld". Many have wondered how,behind a company that makes productswhich mean so much to people aroundthe world, there was someone as meanas Steve Jobs.

Even his family members wonderedwhether he simply lacked the filter thatrestrains people from venting theirwounding thoughts on others, or willful-ly bypassed them. I have often thoughtthat sometimes you need to be brutallyhonest to get where you want to be. AndSteve Jobs was honest to the core, inthat sense. He wanted to make the bestproduct in the world, wanted to be thenumber one in the world in his chosenfield, and wanted the world to remem-ber even after he left it.

And, of course, wanted all the moneythat poured out of it. If not, why wouldhe take the production unit to the sub-urb of Shanghai in China, where dawn-to-dusk, lowly paid Chinese workerswhose individual dignity was trampleddown, sweated it out to make all the I-devices? He didn't want the productionunit to be located in the USA.

Perhaps it is because of that burningpassion for an "afterlife" (he was neversure whether God existed or not - it wasalways 50:50 for him!) that he neverwanted an "On-Off" switch in his prod-ucts. The urge to live on, at least in hisconsciousness, after the body is gone…Seems closest to what Krishna toldArjuna in the eighteenth chapter of theBhagavad Gita!

The author is a an international agri-cultural scientist.


Mick Jagger has teamedup with Eurythmicsfounder Dave Stewart,soul singer Joss Stone,Slumdog Millionairesoundtrack composer

A.R.Rahman and reggae star DamianMarley to form a band cooperative proj-ect called SuperHeavy. This diverseand eclectic line up who share elevenGrammy Awards between them, havebeen recording together in various stu-dios around the world, with the majorityof the tracks on the project laid downover three weeks in Los Angeles earlierthis year. The album will be unveiled inSeptember and tracks include the firstsingle 'Miracle Worker', plus 'One DayOne Night', 'Energy', 'Unbelievable,''SuperHeavy,' I Can't Take It No More,''You're Never Gonna Change' and 'IDon't Mind.'

A promo video for 'Miracle Worker' willbe shot later this month and will featureJagger, Stewart, Marley, Stone andRahman.

It's little wonder that Stewart refers toSuperHeavy as, "A mad alchemist typeexperiment". Fusing the talents of oneof the greatest front-men of all time, atwo time Academy award winning Indiancomposer, a soul vocal prodigy, a threetime Grammy winning reggae star, andone of the most sought after producersin the world, you would expect theexplosive results to defy categorisation.

SuperHeavy came together afterJagger and Stewart considered what aband comprising of musicians from dif-ferent genres would sound like. Jaggerexplains, "Dave really wanted to make arecord with a different group of musi-cians, in other words, with differentbackgrounds of music. Instead ofeveryone being a rock musician, or basi-cally a blues musician, or some othergenre, he wanted to get as many genrestogether that would fit. I said it soundslike a good idea, I never thought itwould actually happen."

Yet soon enough Jagger found him-self back in the studio with Stewart and

Joss Stone, having previously workedtogether on the 2004 Alfie moviesoundtrack. Stewart says Stone was,

SuperHeavy: An IntroductionMick Jagger - Damian 'Jr Gong' Marley -A.R. Rahman - Dave Stewart - Joss Stone

Jagger explains, "Dave reallywanted to make a record with

a different group of musi-cians, in other

words, with differentbackgrounds of music.

Instead of everyone being arock musician, or basically a

blues musician, or someother genre, he wanted to getas many genres together that

would fit. I said it soundslike a good idea, I never

thought it wouldactually happen."


"an obvious choice for us. She's suchan incredible singer and spirit." Stewartand Jagger's dream team took furthershape when they were inspired to bringDamian Marley into the mix, saysStewart, "We'd always wanted aJamaican musician because Mick and Iare crazy about Jamaica and Jamaicanmusic. Stewart has worked with legendJimmy Cliff while Mick has duetted withPeter Tosh from the Wailers on theTempatations tune "Don't Look Back" in1978.

We were listening to loads of stuffand suddenly a light bulb went off andwe thought about Damian Marley."Jagger had long been a fan of Marley's,fresh from another cross-genre collabo-ration with American rapper Nas, citinghis strength as a lyricist and toasteralong with his penchant for experimen-tation and collaborative spirit. Marleybrought on board his rhythm section,bassist and composer Shiah Coore anddrummer Courtney Diedrick, whileStewart introduced the band to his long-term collaborator Ann Marie Calhoun, arock violinist who had previously workedwith the Foo Fighters.

Recording in LA meant the band'spath crossed with legendary Indiancomposer A.R. Rahman, in the City ofAngels fresh from his SlumdogMillionaire Oscar glory. Jagger explains,"We didn't know what kind of musicwe'd make, we didn't know if it would beany good, but we hoped we'd have fun."They were thrilled to have Rahman onboard.

Stewart says, "He brings so muchmusical knowledge, amazing musician-ship, melody and singing power from adifferent culture."

Despite their disparate backgrounds,they instantly connected and hit theground running, writing twenty-twosongs in the first six days. Stone wasthrilled with the results, "That's whatyou need, all these opinionated peoplewho have been brilliant in their ownfield, shove them together and seewhat comes out. It's really unexpected,it's mind blowing" she enthuses.Similarly enthused was Rahman, "Thefirst day I was in a daze thinking, 'Whatam I doing? What's my role?' and thenslowly we started writing with eachother, and it was great. It took me wayback to my high school days when I wasplaying in a rock band, but this one wasa real one!" Jagger says of the writingprocess, "We ran the gamut of all ourdifferent styles mixed up, so we got Josssinging, Damian doing toasting, and mesinging different styles."

However, despite the free flow of cre-ative juices and the easy rapport theyestablished, getting the band togetherin one place became very difficult, asStewart explains, "It's the most compli-cated record ever made. Imagine,some of it's recorded in LA, some of it'srecorded in the South of France, someof it's recorded off the coast of Cyprus,some of it's recorded in Turkey, some ofit's recorded in Miami, some of it'srecorded in the Caribbean, and some ofit's recorded in Chennai, in India."

The project needed a name. Marleyhad been riffing the term "SuperHeavy",inspired by Muhammad Ali being thesuper heavy weight champion of theworld and the phrase became theband's catchphrase, "It was Mick whosaid, 'Why don't we call it SuperHeavy?",recalls Stewart, "We all thought about itfor ages and then it sort of stuck."

SuperHeavy is a new and sponta-neous way of working for all the collab-orators as Jagger explains, "I said toDave, normally [with the Stones] we'dalways have written songs before we gointo the studio, but the jam sessionsresulted in some great work believesStone, "It felt better when we were justjamming, that way we made it up as wewent along and it was easy."

The band found a harmonious way ofworking together, "With five of youeveryone has to give and take quite alot. We tried to understand everyonewouldn't be too egotistical, start throw-ing things around the studio, we would-n't have fights!" says Jagger. Howeverthey weren't averse to telling each otherto be better either, Jagger continues,"We were writing a lot of stuff andthrowing it away. I would say, 'That'srubbish, another cliché Joss', and she'dsay, 'Well you come up with something

then!'" The experience was refreshingand exciting for the band, "We're fourvocalists, we've never worked like thatbefore. It's great because the wholeburdens not on you, and that made itfun." Jagger enthuses.

Back to that alchemical experiment,Jagger, Stewart, Marley, Rahman andStone appear to have created a newgenre. It's a new kind of music, it's anew genre, one that cannot be placed"says Stone. Yet, Jagger is keen to pointout the music is accessible, "It's veryapproachable. If you're a Rolling Stonesfan there's definitely stuff you canrelate to. Other stuff that you can'trelate to so much, maybe if you listenyou'll enjoy it."

A first for Mick Jagger is singing inUrdu, on a song composed by Rahman,entitled "Satyameva Jayate", meaning,"the truth alone triumphs", Rahmanwrote the song after some gentle teas-ing from the others. Rahman explains,"In the daytime I was playing with them,in the night time and evenings I was gig-ging" "Then", says Jagger, "He didn'tcome into the studio one day, so I said,'Where's A.R?' and he came in reallylate at night, really pleased saying, 'I'vegot my song!' I manage one line in Urdu,only one!"

Marley's way of working was differentto the rest of the band. Stone reveals,"Damian is kind of quiet but he hassome brilliant ideas. He works on stuffat night. Sometimes he'll just go awayand sit with the lyrics and bring some-thing to it. His rhythm section brings somuch. He has his own thing going inthe next room so I pop in and out."Marley would work on toasting over therecord by himself and re-join the bandwhen he was happy with it.

As far as the future of SuperHeavygoes, "We haven't planned to do a touror anything, but if people really like itmaybe we will. We'd love to get out andplay some of it live," says Jaggerhumbly. "As soon as we started playingtogether in the studio it gelled, and allthese different styles didn't seem to bea problem to make them fit together... Ihope people will like it...."

Main Credits on the 'SuperHeavy'album are - Mick Jagger (vocals, guitarand harmonica), Dave Stewart (guitar),Joss Stone (vocals), Damian Marley(vocals) and A. R. Rahman (vocals plusa variety of keyboards).

The SuperHeavy album is co-pro-duced by Jagger & Stewart.

Universal Music will release thealbum worldwide on their A& M labelimprint.

Recording in LA meant theband's path crossed with leg-endary Indian composer A.R.Rahman, in the City of Angels

fresh from his SlumdogMillionaire Oscar glory.

Jagger explains, "We didn'tknow what kind of music

we'd make, we didn't know ifit would be any good, but wehoped we'd have fun." Theywere thrilled to have Rahman

on board .


Emma Singh is a professional modelwith some great modeling experience.As well as modeling, Emma completesvolunteer work in the community andhas recently graduated with a first classBachelor of Science degree, winningawards for best student and best dis-sertation.

Through volunteer work she hasgained an insight into the experiencesof vulnerable people and as a resultseizes every opportunity to make a pos-itive impact in her own life as well as inothers.

Emma has always been passionateabout following something she enjoys,and entered the Asian fashion industryafter being discovered by AsianaMagazine. Her popularity has grownquickly and Emma continues to modelin Asiana Magazine frequently, alsohaving the recent opportunity to appearin Bollywood film Ra.One.

2011 has seen Emma win the title'Miss London' entering her into thefinals of one of the most prestigiousbeauty pageants- Miss Great Britain,and Emma is now a fashion and beautycontributor for Pardon My Blog.

Being from a mixed race backgroundEmma feels fortunate enough to havebeen exposed to different cultures, peo-ple and perspectives. This has enabledEmma to adapt well to diverse environ-ments and situations whilst allowingher to develop a sense of self andbecome open to new challenges andexperiences.

PIO community is extremely proud ofher recent achievements.

Q. What inspired you to join the fash-ion and entertainment industry ?

Fashion is a deep passion of mine,but making the fashion never interestedme- I wanted to be the fashion. To be amodel, it takes more than just prettyface. I think modeling is an expressiveart form and tells a story without words.You can show movement in a still pic-ture, and I think that is incredible to beable to have that skill. For me, I alwayswanted to be a role model and when Isee or read about successful peoplewho have come from nothing, it reallyinspires me to achieve great successfrom the grass roots. When my passion

for the fashion and entertainmentindustry met my desire for success, Ialmost had no choice but to go with it!I'm living out my passion and loving it;whilst hopefully inspiring others to dothe same along the way.

Q. In terms of quality, how do you ratethe Indian model and fashion industryvsglobal fashion industry?

India's fashion industry is growing inprominence, however the two willalways be very different. They're mar-keted at completely different audi-ences, I would never rate or comparethe Indian and Global industries as, tome, it wouldn't make sense to do so.

Q. Business is about passion or hardcore business for you?

Passion, absolutely! Passion is thecritical ingredient that must be part ofthe mix if you are serious about anyworthwhile pursuit. The key to successin any business, besides the soundnessof the foundation and product itself, ispassion.When you are doing somethingthat you love, and really helping andinspiring people, that is the true rewardand is greater than any financial pay-ment. That's the simple truth of things.

Q. Apart from the conventional over-seas market like US & UK, which are theother popular markets for Asian ORIGINmodels aspiring to be an internationalcelebrity?

India, of course. Bollywood is huge

and one of largest centres of film pro-duction in the world. I myself aspire towork in India at some stage in mycareer.

Q. India and China are booming, doyou have any synergy with active NorthAmerica or Chinese companies in therelated sector to promote and co-brandyourself?

Not right now, but I am always openfor new and upcoming opportunities.Life's for the taking. I will never shut anopportunity out of my life. It's by takingchances that we learn to be brave.

Q. Who is your national and interna-tional role model?

My parents. I have always grown upbelieving that it is the environment thatdefines a person's qualities and charac-teristics. My parents are huge contribu-tors in my environment and they have alarge role in raising me to be the personI am today. They taught me that I canachieve anything. My parents have bothfaced hardship, and still struggle to thisday, yet they always put a smile on theirfaces for me- even during the hardesttimes of their lives. I strive for successso I can give them a comfortable lifeand say thank you for all they have donefor me. They are my favourite people inthe world.

Inputs from Kapil Dudakia, UKBureau - Opinion Express.

Modeling is an expressiveart : Emma Singh


A MONTHLY NEWS MAGAZINE · 2020. 8. 30. · A MONTHLY NEWS MAGAZINE Amid escalating violence, the Kashmir Valley goes to polls Kashmir CoVer Story. OpiniOn ExprEss December 2014 3

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