Gujarat denied what Maharashtra has

And Congress wants States to wage war on terrorism!

[Visual shows mayhem caused by serial bombings of July 26, 2008 serial bombings in Ahmedabad]

Duplicity and distrust have become the twin hallmarks of the UPA Government, more precisely the Congress which manages key Ministries and takes decisions without consulting either its allies or stake-holders, namely the States, who are directly impacted by firmans issued from New Delhi. Hence, it does not come as a surprise that Union Minister for Home Affairs P Chidambaram, whose boundless arrogance is matched by his limitless capacity for intrigue, should want the State Governments to meekly accept the sweeping powers of the yet-to-be-launched National Counter-Terrorism Centre while refusing to concede their right to strengthen the law and order machinery at their disposal as per the division of powers envisaged in the Constitution.

Mr Chidambaram wants the State Governments, especially those controlled by parties other than the Congress and its allies, to trust the NCTC which has been vested with the extraordinary power to search premises, arrest individuals and prosecute suspects, without taking the local police or law-enforcing agencies, or the State Government concerned for that matter, into confidence. Apart from the fact that it’s a bit thick for him to expect non-Congress Chief Ministers to trust the Congress (nothing good ever came of that), it’s downright disingenuous of him to slyly introduce a new investigative system to tackle ‘federal crimes’, or organised crimes as are committed by foreign and home-grown terrorist organisations and assorted crime syndicates, while disallowing State Governments to put in place laws that will enable them to achieve the same goal without their rights being trampled upon.

A case in point is Mr Chidambaram’s stubborn refusal to allow Gujarat, where the BJP is in power, to have its own anti-organised crime law similar to that which prevails in Maharashtra, where the Congress-NCP alliance is in power. The denial is in sharp contrast to the willingness with which the NDA Government accepted Maharashtra’s demand for what has come to be known by the law’s acronym, MCOCA, or the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act. Chief Minister Narendra Modi wants a similar law, and for good reasons too, but despite all efforts, he has failed to secure the UPA Government’s approval. For the second time, the proposed law, really a Bill passed by the State Assembly, has been spiked by the President on the advice of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Ms Pratibha Patil’s refusal to accord her assent to the Gujarat Control of Organised Crime Bill comes two years after it was sent to her for the necessary ‘mandatory approval’ by the Governor.

The reason why Ms Patil, who is not known to be averse to the bending of rules and violation of conventions when her own interests are involved, has refused to append her signature to the Bill, is because the State Government has not amended key clauses of the proposed law as demanded by the Ministry of Home Affairs through a Cabinet decision in 2009. Amending the relevant clauses, crucial to make the law a powerful weapon against organised crime and no different from what MCOCA provides for, would have defeated the very purpose for which it is meant. That logic is lost on the UPA Government. It insists that Mr Modi must remove Clause 16, which allows the admissibility of confessional statements of the accused made before a police officer, and Clause 20, which provides that those accused of committing an offence punishable under the proposed law will not be released on bail if the prosecutor opposes it. And since Mr Modi has justifiably refused to ensure compliance with this absurd demand, the Bill has been ‘returned’ once again.

The Bill had met a similar fate in 2009. The Gujarat State Assembly had debated and passed the Bill in 2004 and it was subsequently forwarded to the Union Government for the President’s assent. Although law and order is a State subject on which State Governments are competent to enact laws, in this case since the proposed law overrides certain provisions of the Evidence Act, IPC, CrPC and the provision relating to the jurisdiction of various courts, the President’s approval (which in effect is the Union Government’s sanction) is necessary. But the Ministry of Home Affairs sat on the Bill; on repeated prodding by Mr Modi, it was returned in June 2009 with the President’s message that the Assembly should reconsider Clauses 16 and 20. The Bill was cleared once again without any amendments and resubmitted for the President’s assent in November 2009.

Two-and-a-half years later, it has been returned unsigned.

The trickery resorted to with the explicit purpose of refusing to allow Gujarat to have its way is as amazing as the astounding demands made of the State Government by way of amendments. In the first instance, the Government of Gujarat was told it can’t have a MCOCA like law because its clauses were similar to those of the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Since POTA had been repealed by the Congress soon after assuming power in the summer of 2004 in a stunning show of solidarity with those who are appalled by a legal deterrence to terrorism and believe terrorists should have unfettered rights, Gujarat could not have GUJCOCA. The second time round, Gujarat’s Bill has been found to be in conflict with the amended Unlawful Activities Prevention Act of 1967 which is now touted by the Union Government as an ‘anti-terrorist law’.

If we were to accept the argument that UAPA offers the perfect legal deterrence to terrorism and other organised crime, then logically the Government of Maharashtra should be instructed to repeal MCOCA.
That has not been done so far, nor is there any intention to do so. Which, then, raises the question: Why is a law that is good enough for a Congress-ruled State not good enough for a BJP-ruled State? The law in Maharashtra allows for harsh penalties, including death sentence, for committing acts of terror, so does the proposed law for Gujarat. The Gujarat Bill allows the setting up of special courts to deal with cases in a time-bound manner, so does the law in Maharashtra. The Gujarat Bill empowers the State Police to intercept, record and produce as evidence any electronic or verbal communication, as does MCOCA. Interestingly, the provisions of MCOCA are also applicable in Delhi.

The Congress’s assault on federalism, essentially the rights of the States, in the guise of promoting national interest, must be thwarted before serious damage is caused. In every sphere of decision-making by the incumbent regime headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the emphasis is on how to put down the States, how to impose upon them that which they do not want, how to enforce ridiculous firmans that glorify the Congress’s first family, how to belittle the Chief Ministers and diminish their authority. That’s at once invidious and insidious. Mr Modi and his Government have been successful in keeping terrorists and organised crime syndicates at bay with the outdated tools at their disposal. But that’s more a tribute to the Chief Minister’s administrative acumen than to the Prime Minister’s wisdom. It’s a shame and a pity that Mr Singh has so utterly failed to rise above the petty politics of his party and the low intrigue of his colleagues.

Armed Forces Modernisation, etc

According to Press Information Bureau, the following information was given March 19, 2012, by Minister for Defence AK Antony and Minister of State for Defence MM Pallam Raju in written replies to Parliament:

MODERNISATION OF ARMED FORCES

Modernization of the Armed Forces including the Coast Guard is a continuous process based on threat perception, operational challenges, technological changes and available resources. The process is based on a 15 year Long Term Integrated Perspective Plan (LTIPP), five year Services Capital Acquisition Plan (SCAP) and Annual Acquisition Plan (AAP). Procurement of equipment and weapon systems is carried out as per the AAP in accordance with the Defence Procurement Procedure.

The budgetary allocations on capital acquisition for modernization of Armed Forces including Army, Navy, Air Force, Joint Staff and Coast Guard during the years 2008-09 to 2011-12 are as under:

Budget Allocations (Rs. in Crore)
• 2008-09: 38,515.24
• 2009-10: 41,671.59
• 2010-11: 44,899.25
• 2011-12: 54,598.02

The budget estimates and revised estimates for modernization of Armed Forces during the year 2011-12 under various heads are as under:

Army:
• 10,740.02
• 4,950.02
• 5,790.00(-)

Navy:
• 13,149.02
• 16,040.27
• 2,891.25(+)

Air Force:
• 28,412.74
• 26,033.92
• 2,378.82(-)

Joint Staff:
• 696.24
• 385.24
• 311.00(-)

Coast Guard:
• 1,600.00
• 1,600.00
• 0.00

Total:
• 54,598.02
• 49,009.45
• 5,588.57(-)

The allocation of funds for modernization has been revised based on funds provided by Ministry of Finance in RE in 2011-12 in the Capital segment of Defence Services estimates. However, additional allocation of Rs.2585 crore has been made for other capital requirements of Army including supply of capital equipment from ordnance factories.

CRASHES OF AIRCRAFT AND HELICOPTERS

During the last three years (2008-09 to 2010-11) and current year 2011-12 (upto 13.3.2012) 33 fighter aircrafts which includes 01 Jaguar, 02 Mirage-2000, 03 Sukhoi-30 and 27 MIG series aircraft (including 16 MIG-21 series) and 10 helicopters of Indian Air Force (IAF) have crashed.

In the above accidents 26 defence personnel including 13 pilots have lost their lives. In addition 06 civilians have also lost their lives.

Majority of the above accidents were on account of Human Error (HE) and Technical Defect (TD). Every IAF aircraft accident is thoroughly investigated by a Court of Inquiry (Col) to ascertain the cause of accident. Remedial measures are taken accordingly to check their recurrence in future.

However, improvement of skills of pilots is a continuous process. Several steps have been taken by the Government in this regard. These include increased use of simulators to practice procedures and emergency actions, focused and realistic training with additional emphasis on the critical aspects of mission, introduction of Crew Resource Management and Operational Risk Management to enable safe mission launches, Aviation Psychology courses and introduction of Aerospace Safety capsules in the ab-initio training of aircrew.

Decision to phase out aircrafts are taken based on various factors including residual life of the aircraft and operational considerations and is reviewed by the Government from time to time. This is a continuous process.

DEFENCE PRODUCTION POLICY

The government has formulated a new Defence Production Policy in order to reduce dependence on the import of defence equipments from other countries. The Defence Production Policy came into effect from 1st January 2011. The policy endeavours to build up a robust indigenous defence industrial base by proactively encouraging larger involvement of the Indian private sector in design, development and manufacture of defence equipment.

The modernization programmes are under implementation in DPSUs&OFB.

In regard to restructuring of DRDO, the two review committees headed by Prof. P. Rama Rao and Defence Secretary respectively had submitted their recommendations. The following recommendations have been accepted by Government:

(i) Formation of Defence Technology Commission (DTC).
(ii) Restructuring of DRDO Management/Re-shaping of R&D Headquarters.
(iii) Administrative decentralization of DRDO.
(iv) Financial decentralisation.
(v) Revamping of HR structure.
(vi) Creation of a Commercial Arm of DRDO.
(vii) Continuation of major ongoing programmes.
(viii) Selection of Industry Partner.

DRDO has initiated the process of implementation of the above recommendations.

While DPP-2011 aims to achieve greater self-reliance in comingyears in continuous manner, no target can be fixed in this regard.

IRREGULARITIES IN PURCHASE OF TATRA TRUCKS

No irregularities in purchase of components of the Tatra Trucks for army have been reported.

LEAKAGE OF CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION

No Army and defence personnel has been reported to have leaked confidential information on social networking sites such a Facebook. Cyber Security Policy which, inter-alia, includes the policy regarding network connected to internet, as circulated by Ministry of Communications & Information Technology, Department of Information Technology is being enforced in this Ministry and the three Services.

ACQUISITION OF FLEET TANKER

Indian Navy awarded a contract for acquisition of a fleet tanker to foreign shipyard.Steel offered by the shipyard, M/s Fincantieri, in response to Request for Proposal (RFP) for construction of Fleet Tanker, was technically evaluated by a Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC). Based on technical clarifications offered by the shipyard, which were ratified by two classification societies, the steel offered by the shipyard was accepted by the TEC for the stated purpose.

In order to ascertain reasonability of cost, the Contract Negotiation Committee (CNC) undertook costing for the tanker based on two separate costing models. Taking into account both the costing models, the CNC considered the cost quoted by M/s. Fincantieri of Euro 127.26 Million (Rs.747.65 crore) as the basic cost of the ship to be reasonable.

TECHNICAL PROBLEMS IN GUN SYSTEMS

There are no technical problems reported in existing gun system of the Army. However, due to vintage and exploitation of the guns, mechanical problems of routine nature do come up from time to time. These are rectified by the repair/maintenance agencies either in situ or at the workshops established for this purpose.

The government had secured the right of transfer of technology during the purchase of Bofors guns. Though all the technological documents as per the ToT contract were received by OFB from M/s AB Bofors, the Transfer of Technology was not carried forward as the dealings with the technology provider, (M/s AB Bofors) were suspended. Further, no indent was placed by Army on OFB for manufacture and supply of complete gun system.

Capital expenditure of Rs.376.55 crore has been sanctioned by the Government in March, 2012 for creation/augmentation of Large Calibre Weapon manufacturing capacity in Ordnance Factories.

SUBMARINE FLEET OF NAVY

The existing submarine fleet is being constantly upgraded with modern weapons and sensors which has ensured that the underwater combat capacity of the country remains at the desired levels.

Six Scorpene submarines are being constructed under Project-75 at M/s Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL), Mumbai under Transfer of Technology (ToT) from M/s DCNS, France.

Government approval for construction of the six submarines at M/s MDL under Project-75 was accorded in September, 2005 at a total cost of Rs.18,798crore. The contract was signed in October, 2005. The Government approval for revision in cost of the project to Rs.23,562crore was accorded in February, 2010, along with revision in delivery schedule.

The original delivery schedule of the first submarine was December, 2012 and remaining submarines were to be delivered with a gap of one year each. Consequent to the approval of Government for revision is cost and delivery schedule, the delivery schedule of the first submarine has been revised to June, 2015 and that of the last (6th) submarine to September, 2018. The delay in construction of Scorpene submarines is attributable to initial teething problems in absorption of new technology, delay in augmentation of Industrial Infrastructure at MDL and delay in procurement of MPM items by MDL due to their high cost as compared to the earlier indicated cost. Most of the teething problems have been resolved and various plans have been put in place to minimize delays.

As part of the TOT for the six submarines under construction at MDL, Mumbai, a Technical Data Package has been provided by the Collaborator. This will enable attainment of significant indigenous competence in submarine construction, especially in the field of hull fabrication, outfitting, system integration etc. by the end of the programme.

PURCHASE OF TRAINER AIRCRAFT

Consequent upon the grounding of HPT-32 aircraft due to flight safety concerns and shifting of basic flying training to Kiran Mk-I/IA aircraft, the syllabus for basic flying training has been reduced, keeping the available resources in mind. However, flying hours have been increased in other stages of flying to ensure wholesome training.

A proposal is being progressed for the procurement of 75 Basic Trainer Aircraft from M/s Pilatus Aircraft Limited, Switzerland.

There has been no delay in acquiring Advanced Jet Trainers (AJTs).

The Hawk-132 Advanced Jet Trainer has been selected for the Indian Air Force. A total of 106 Advanced Jet Trainer aircraft are being inducted into the Indian Air Force.

The delivery of the basic trainer aircraft from M/s Pilatus Aircraft Limited, Switzerland is scheduled to commence 15 months from signing of the contract.

ORDERS FOR LCA TEJAS

IAF has placed orders for 40 aircraft for LCA Tejas on HAL. The deliveries of aircraft are scheduled in the 12th plan period. Necessary funds for investment have been provided by the Government of India.

MILITARY ASSISTANCE TO VIETNAM

Government is pursuing defence cooperation activities with a number of foreign countries, including Vietnam, based on mutual interests of both sides and keeping in view all relevant aspects.

Defence cooperation activities with foreign countries include high level visits, training exchanges and other interactions between the armed forces of both sides.

PIRACY IN INTERNATIONAL WATERS

No pact has been signed between India and China to tackle piracy. However, India, China and Japan have recently agreed for better coordination amongst their Naval ships deployed for escort of Merchant ships in the Gulf of Aden.

There are no plans to sign such pacts. Nevertheless, the security and surveillance apparatus for coastal defence has been enhanced over the years. Further, strengthening of the coastal security apparatus is an ongoing process considering the needs and changing security scenario as well as the threat perception.

* * *

According to Press Information Bureau, the following information was given March 14, 2012 by Minister for Defence AK Antony and Minister of State for Defence MM Pallam Raju in written replies to Parliament:

INDO-CHINA MARITIME COOPERATION

India, China & Japan have recently agreed for better coordination amongst their Naval ships deployed for anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden. As per the convoy coordination plan implemented with effect from 1st January, 2012, one of the Navies is designated as a "Reference Navy" for a period of three months, which first proposes its escort schedule for a three months period. The other Navies then de-conflict their escorts schedules with the dates of Reference Navy. The Reference Navy is rotated every three months in alphabetical orders.

INDUCTION OF DRONES IN IAF

In order to meet its operational requirements the Indian Air Force (IAF) plans to increase the strength of Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) in a phased manner. These include Micro and Medium Altitude Long Endurance Remotely Piloted Aircraft.

The Remotely Piloted Aircraft are employed for surveillance, reconnaissance and intelligence gathering tasks and not for filling gaps in our Air Defence capability.

PROBE IN PROCUREMENT OF 12 VVIP HELICOPTERS

There was a media report stating that the scope of a probe by Italian prosecutors into allegations against unethical dealings by M/s Finmeccanica, Italy has widened to include the Indian contract signed with M/s Agusta Westland for purchase of 12 helicopters. Ministry of Defence asked for a report in the matter from the Indian Embassy in Rome. The report received indicates that Italian magistrate/prosecutors are conducting preliminary investigation about allegations of financial mal-practices occurring within M/s Finmeccanica, Italy and its subsidiaries in general and there is no specific probe being conducted about India related transactions.

CAG REPORT ON ACQUISITION OF ARTILLERY GUNS

The CAG report for the year 2011-12 (Defence Services) has made certain observations that modern technology Artillery Guns could not be made available to Artillery troops for certain reasons as explained in its Report.

As part of modernization, the Regiment of Artillery has been equipped with PINAKA Rocket Systems, Smerch Rocket Systems and BrahMos Missile Systems in the past 7-8 years. Nine Regiments of 130mm guns have already been upgraded in keeping with Artillery profile 2027. Various other gun systems are also at different stages of procurement. The modernization of Artillery is a continuous process and is being given priority to ensure that Artillery remains equipped with modern weapon systems.

DELAY IN DEFENCE PURCHASES

Acquisition of weapons and equipment for defence forces is a complex activity and is carried out in accordance with the provisions of Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP). As per broad timeframe given in DPP, it takes about 80-137 weeks to complete the various stages of procurement and conclude the contract. However, delays sometimes occur in procurement cases due to several reasons, such as insufficient and limited vendor base, non¬conformity of the offers to the Request of Proposal (RFP) conditions, field trials, complexities in contract negotiations and long lead time for indigenization etc. Defence acquisitions are normally based on fixed price contracts. There are contractual provisions for penalties including imposition of liquidated damages for delay in execution of contracts.

To counter systemic and institutional delays, procedures are continuously reviewed and refined on the basis of experience gained during the procurement process.

AVAILABILITY OF HELICOPTERS FOR HIGH ALTITUDE AREAS

The air logistics including casualty evacuation in emergent situations of Indian Army is being met by Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters. The Army's rotary wing assets also assist the IAF.

A Request for Proposal (RFP) / for hiring of civil helicopters for movement of maintenance supplies in high altitude areas was issued in October 2011, which included details of dispatch and receiving helipads.

The security situation is reviewed by the Government from time to time, keeping in view the threat perception. This is a continuous process.

DEVELOPMENT OF TEJAS LCA

The Initial Operational Clearance-1 (IOC-1) for the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft has been achieve on 10th January, 2011. Presently, LCA development activities leading to final operational clearance are in progress. Action for induction of Tejas into IAF has been initiated. IAF has placed orders for 40 aircraft with HAL.

Tejas Mark-I is planned at present for 40 aircraft only. Tejas Mark-II aircraft is under development with an alternate higher powered engine with considerable improvements. Final cost assessment will be available only after the development phase of Mark II is completed. Scope for cost reduction of Tejas Mk-I has been examined and the same is assessed as not feasible in view of limited quantities.

Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) is the nodal organization for the development of Tejas.

Rs.11845.20 Crores have been sanctioned by the government of India to ADA for the development of Tejas till date and the total expenditure incurred so far is Rs.5051.46 Crores.

IAF plans to induct six LCA squadrons by the end of the 13th Plan.

HELICOPTERS EMPLOYED IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES

The Indian Air Force helicopters are assisting in providing logistics support in aid of Ministry of Home Affairs anti-naxal operations.

Details of helicopters pressed in service in the foreign countries cannot be divulged in the interest of friendly relations with foreign countries and strategic concerns.

PURCHASE OF LUHS

There is a proposal of procurement of 187 Light Utility Helicopters (LUHs) under design and development project undertaken by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The project was sanctioned by Government of India in February 2009. The project is proceeding as per approved time lines.

The procurement of quantity 145 Ultra Light Field Guns (Ultra Light Howitzers) was initially progressed concurrently as a Single Vendor Case from M/s ST Kinetics and through Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route with Government of United States of America. However, the permission for trials was not granted to M/s ST Kinetics as the Firm is named in an FIR filed by CBI. The matter is presently sub-judice.

The field evaluation of Ultra Light Howitzer comprises three parts, viz. user trials, DGQA trials and Maintainability trials. Out of these, user trials of the gun proposed to be procured through US Government have been completed. The performance of the gun can be ascertained only after evaluation of all three trial reports.

INCREASE IN CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES IN THE BORDER REGION BY PAKISTAN

The Government is aware through intelligence inputs that Pakistan has constructed and carried our repairs of bunkers, morchas and towers as per the following details (Period:2004 to 2011):

• Bunkers: 886
• Morcha: 261
• Towers: 398
• Post/Border Out Posts (BOPs): 143

Protests have been lodged with Pakistan Rangers and Flag Meetings of Field Commanders are held in all cases. The matter is also taken up by BSF with Pakistan Rangers during scheduled meetings at various levels.

Adequate troops are suitably supplemented by appropriate surveillance and technical intelligence resources to ensure the sanctity of the border.

Incredible ignorance

A response to Salil Tripathi - II

Facts are sacred; comment is free.


In his column ‘Here, There, Everywhere’, published in Mint under the headline “Incredible impunity” on February 29, 2012, Mr Salil Tripathi displays incredible ignorance (I sincerely mean no offence for he is a writer gifted with incredible intelligence) of Gujarat’s incredible economic growth and incredible prosperity, both of which are the envy of every State in the country.

The economic development and growth, and the consequent prosperity, witnessed in Gujarat have whetted the aspirations of Indians from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. They have brought about a paradigm shift in the people’s expectations from their Government – in their respective States; at the Centre. All this, of course, is inconsequential to Mr Tripathi who is neither impressed nor moved by Gujarat’s giant strides!

Reluctant to use the term ‘Modi Model’ for reasons that do not merit elaboration, a senior CPI(M) leader of West Bengal, reflecting on what went wrong with the Left Front that led to its decimation in the 2011 Assembly election, ruefully told me: “If only we had worked towards adopting the Gujarat Model…”

Those who are determined to demonise Mr Narendra Modi and deny him any credit for the ‘Gujarat Model’ of remarkable growth and prosperity are welcome to live in cussed denial, but that won’t change the ground reality – Gujarat’s economy has grown; Gujaratis (both Hindus and Muslims) have prospered. Nor will it influence the manner in which investors at home and abroad view the State.

Vibrant Gujarat has set new standards for other States to emulate. That entrepreneurs from other States, including Jammu & Kashmir, want to set up their businesses in Gujarat explains what sets this State apart from others. That difference is on account of the political leadership of the day.

Comparisons, as the adage goes, can be odious. Hence they are best avoided. But since Mr Tripathi has compared Gujarat to Maharashtra in a strenuous effort to belittle the former’s achievements, it would be in order to not only suggest that he and other critics of Mr Narendra Modi should revisit the socio-economic profiles of the two States for a closer scrutiny of details, but to also point out that a vast gulf separates these two States.

That gulf is about probity in public life; it’s about the integrity of those who are in charge of the Government; it’s about, to put it in two words, good governance.

Mr Tripathi is right when he says Gujaratis are an enterprising lot and that they have always done better than other Indians, even in trying circumstances – for instance, when Chimanbhai was Chief Minister of the State, the man who was known as “Chiman Chor”. Gujarat’s economic growth and prosperity over the past decade has been accompanied by a thorough cleansing of the system. Mr Narendra Modi can justly claim: “Na khata hoon na khilata hoon.”

That, understandably, leaves many disconsolate.

Stray statistics, confusing and plucked at random, find mention in Mr Tripathi’s column: They have been quoted to put down Gujarat. I can only cite from official documents a set of statistics that I have cross-checked with friends in the Planning Commission:

Gross Domestic Product: At current prices, Gujarat’s share at Rs 5,13,173 crore is 7.17 per cent of India’s GDP. At constant prices (2004-05), it’s Rs 3,65,295 crore, or 7.48 per cent of India’s GDP.

Net Domestic Product: At current prices, Gujarat’s share at Rs 4,40,942 crore is 6.89 per cent of India’s NDP. At constant prices (2004-05), it’s Rs 3,09,409 crore, or 7.16 per cent of India’s NDP.

Per Capita Income: At current prices, it is Rs 75,115 compared to the national average of Rs 53,331. At constant prices (2004-05), it’s Rs 52,708 compared to the national average of Rs 35,993.

Monthly Per Capita Consumer Expenditure (NSS 2009-10): In rural areas of Gujarat it is Rs 1,065 compared to the national average of Rs 953. In urban areas it is Rs 1,914 compared to the national average of Rs 1,856.

While the manufacturing sector and agriculture have suffered huge reversals across the country in the recent years under the UPA’s tutelage, Gujarat has bucked the trend. Manufacturing and agriculture continue to register impressive growth in the State. In 2002-03, ports in Gujarat were handling 841 lakh tonnes of goods; in 2010-11, that figure had grown to 2,309 lakh tonnes.

Mr Tripathi mocks at Mr Narendra Modi’s claim that Gujarat will soon be in a position to provide power to power-starved States. He overlooks the fact that Gujarat is the only State which can today boast of 24x7 power supply to industry, farms and homes. It’s absurd to compare Gujarat’s power generation capacity (GSEB alone produces 4,996 MW) to that of north-eastern States. The former has heavy industrial and agricultural demand for power; the latter has virtually none.

I wish Mr Tripathi had compared the power situation in Gujarat with that which prevails in Maharashtra or Uttar Pradesh (where I live and hence am acquainted with the reality) or India's capital city, Delhi (where I work and hence am also acquainted with the reality).

The comparison reminds me of how Jyoti Basu had once proudly proclaimed that Calcutta, as Kolkata was then known, had left behind its terrible days and nights of relentless ‘load-shedding’. What he forgot to mention is that West Bengal had left behind its glory days as the industrial hub of the eastern hinterland.

I could go on citing statistical details, but the list is far too long. Those who are interested in the specifics will find them in the latest Socio-Economic Review of Gujarat. A patient reading will tell you why it’s incorrect (and grossly unfair) to try and diminish Gujarat’s spectacular social and economic achievements.

“So many things work properly in Gujarat that it hardly feels like India,” the Economist said in a review of Gujarat’s economy. The report was telling published under the headline, “India's Guangdong: A north-western State offers a glimpse of a possible industrial future for India.” The report can be read here.

Mr Tripathi has chosen to play fast and loose while discussing Gujarat’s commitment to fiscal responsibility. It’s possible he is not aware of the minutiae of the FRBM Act and the fact that the 13th Finance Commission has set targets for each State Government and every State has to periodically report progress which is documented. Compared to other States, Gujarat has been well ahead of meeting the targets that were set for its compliance to fiscal responsibility. The details are available over here for those who are interested in the specifics.

Admittedly, nobody is perfect. If Mr Narendra Modi is guilty of anything, it is of pursuing purposeful policies of enablement and empowerment of all, irrespective of gender, caste and faith, while eschewing wasteful policies of entitlement. That’s where the 'Modi Model', or call it the 'Gujarat Model' if you wish, stands out in stark contrast to the 'NAC Model'.

That, understandably, leaves many incandescent with rage.

(To be continued.)

Here, There, Nowhere...

A response to Salil Tripathi - I

1984 and 2002 are not comparable.


Rarely, if ever, have I commented on an article penned by a fellow writer. That’s not because I do not react to what they have to say or I hold views with which I disagree as not worthy of comment. It’s largely because writers must be allowed to have their say (and space) and partly on account of the fact that I try not to bruise feelings. I am known for not bothering with vacuous niceties; it makes sense not to compound that shortcoming by penning my opinion on the views of other writers.

Yet, I feel compelled to react, in writing, to Mr Salil Tripathi’s column, ‘Here, There, Everywhere’, which appears in Mint, a Delhi-based newspaper, that has been published under the headline “Incredible impunity” on February 29, 2012. The strap line reads: “Of all the potential and credible contenders to be the next Prime Minister, the one least deserving is Narendra Modi.” It’s a free world and this country is still a democracy where freedom of thought, expression and speech, though circumscribed by restrictive laws, is not entirely absent from the public domain.

Hence, Mr Tripathi has the right to not only believe that it is his burden to decide for more than a billion resident Indians who is the most and least deserving contender to be the next Prime Minister but also express that belief in suitable words, which he has done in his column. My response to his views is not an attempt to shout him down or point out why he is wrong in saying what he says, but to posit a set of counter-views. I have no intention to play evangelist to a heathen or convert a non-believer; such lofty tasks are best left to those who mistake their writing desk for a pulpit and their chair as a pedestal.

Mr Tripathi is outraged that those who cannot stop raging over the retaliatory violence which followed the arson attack on coach S-6 of Sabarmati Express on February 27, 2002, at Godhra, in which 58 Hindu men, women and children were killed, should be reminded of the anti-Sikh pogrom (it was definitely not a ‘riot’) of 1984 by those who are not impressed by the ceaseless cant of the self-righteous and sanctimonious army of the good and the virtuous. He sees this as a “despicable” attempt to equate the two unfortunate events (my words, not his) of our recent history. I would agree with him.

The hideous blood-letting by Congress goons that we witnessed in Delhi and several cities even before Mrs Indira Gandhi’s mortal remains were consigned to the flames cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, be equated with the ghastly violence that gripped parts of Gujarat after the torching of coach S-6 of Sabarmati Express by a Muslim mob. There are three reasons why any attempt at comparing the two tragic events would be immoral and wrong.

First, the scale of violence is incomparable, as is the loss of lives and property. With the help of documentary evidence and those who fought (and are still fighting, although with receding hope) for justice for the victims of the anti-Sikh pogrom, I had computed the death toll to be not less than 4,733. Most of the deaths occurred in Delhi. In the post-Godhra riots, 1,044 people (not “thousands” as Mr Tripathi says) were killed: 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus. Lest I be accused of being callous, let me hasten to add that I believe every life matters and even one death is one too many.

Second, the Government of India, which was then (and still remains) responsible for maintaining law and order in Delhi, refused to lift a finger in admonition, leave alone crack down on mobs of Congress hoodlums led by Congress cronies of the party’s first family, for 72 hours. The Congress, and the Government which was then headed by Rajiv Gandhi (whom Mr Tripathi is keen to exonerate) wanted to “teach the Sikhs a lesson” -- the crime of a few individuals was converted into a collective crime deserving of collective retribution. As Rajiv Gandhi was to later declare, without the slightest trace of contrition or remorse, “When a giant tree falls, the earth below shakes.”

In contrast, Mr Narendra Modi decided to call in the Army when it became clear that the State police were incapable of controlling the rioting mobs. Nearly all the 254 Hindus who died in the violence were killed in police or Army firing. Not a single tormentor of Sikhs suffered so much as a lathi-blow in 1984. But let that pass. Could Mr Narendra Modi have done better? Could he have stamped out the riots before they exacted a terrible toll? Could he have ensured absolute peace and calm despite the provocation of the arson attack at Godhra?

These are questions that can be debated till the cows come home (the reference to cows, Mr Tripathi, is idiomatic and not an attempt to push what you would derisively call the ‘Hindutva agenda’) without reaching a conclusion that is acceptable to all. I’d say he tried his best; others like Mr Tripathi would say he didn’t. I would stand by my truth just as others would stand by their perceived truth. A cock fight of truths does not excite me.

We could, however, look at how ‘successful’ other Chief Ministers have been in controlling riots. For instance, we could look at riots in Uttar Pradesh, in Bihar, in Andhra Pradesh, in Maharashtra, in West Bengal, in Assam, in Tamil Nadu, in Kerala, in Karnataka, in Rajasthan, in Madhya Pradesh, in Odisha -- virtually every State of the Union. Each one of these riots is well documented. Each one of them resulted in a terrible loss of lives and property -- well, not really because often the victims were too poor to own any property.

I don’t know if Mr Tripathi has ever found himself trapped in a riot; I have seen the Jamshedpur riot of 1979 from close quarters. When blood-lust grips people, when insanity takes over, even shoot-at-sight orders don’t have the desired result. In Jamshedpur I saw tribal Christians looting the homes of Hindus and Muslims while they battled in the streets: What does that tell us of a riot?

In Maliana, the PAC was accused of playing a partisan role. Shall we then hold Vir Bahadur Singh, the then Congress Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, personally responsible for that massacre? Nellie wouldn’t have happened had Mrs Indira Gandhi not insisted on holding a disputed election in Assam. Should we then blame her for the massacre of 2,191 people, a vast number of them suckling infants? We could go further back in history and blame Jawaharlal Nehru for the Great Calcutta Killing of August 1946, for it could be argued, and convincingly so, that had it not been for his cussedness Mohammed Ali Jinnah wouldn't have called for Direct Action.

Third, no two incidents of communal violence are comparable. The causative factors differ as do local political, social and cultural dynamics. How can we then compare 1984 to 2002? More so when 1984 was a state-sponsored pogrom endorsed by the then Prime Minister of India, an endorsement that reverberated in his infamous declaration that the earth is bound to shake when a giant tree falls?

It would, then, be asked, why is 1984 mentioned at all in the context of 2002? Here’s the reason why: Intolerant ‘secularists’, sanctimonious leftists and self-righteous liberals who are unsparing in their criticism of Mr Narendra Modi take extraordinary care in steering clear of even remotely accusing the Congress, let alone Rajiv Gandhi, of complicity in the mind-numbing brutalities of 1984.

I hold Mr Tripathi in high esteem. Had I not done so I’d have been appalled by his exertions to exonerate Rajiv Gandhi who knew what was happening in Delhi and made it a point to turn a deaf ear to pitiful cries for help and groveling appeals by noted Sikh personalities.

Did he do so because he was in mourning?

Rajiv Gandhi’s grief and anguish did not quite stand in the way of his decision to take oath as Prime Minister the same day his mother was assassinated. That swearing in ceremony could have waited till the last rites were performed. But he chose not to wait lest the crown be snatched from him. Mr Pranab Mukherjee still pays the price for an indiscrete comment made earlier that day. So let’s not say with disarming certitude that “presumably Rajiv Gandhi had other things on his mind (like grief) than planning a pogrom”.

(To be continued.)

The tragedy of exile

It can be a punishment worse than death

The ancient Greeks, who were otherwise sensibly cynical about suffering and pain in love and war, would become insufferably maudlin when it came to the plight of someone forced into exile. To be banished from your land and not be able to live among your people was considered a fate worse than death.

Euripedes crafted his tales around the theme of exile, each utterance of his exiled men and women drafted to tug at the strings of the reader's heart. Death was melancholic; exile was tragic. There must have been something universal about that perception.

For kings and emperors, dictators and tyrants, usurpers and pretenders who followed the demise of ancient Greece are known to have turned a deaf ear to pitiful cries of mercy while punishing those guilty of real and imaginary crimes by sending them into exile. Being fed to the lions, it would seem, was preferable to living in a foreign land among alien people.

But exile wasn't always a punishment that fetched individual sighs of horror. It was also the only option for those persecuted for their faith and belief. The Jews went into exile after the destruction of their Second Temple and till the birth of Israel wandered the world, waiting for the day they could return to Jerusalem and claim it as their own. The Zoroastrians fled Persia and sought shelter in India to keep the fire of their faith burning. In more recent times, the Dalai Lama led his people into exile after China grabbed Tibet through force.

The Parsis, having lost their home and hearth in the land of Zarathustra forever, became an integral part of Indian society. The Tibetans, on the other hand, believe Tibet shall be free once again. They live as exiles in India and around the world in anticipation of the day when they can claim Tibet as their land and drive the Han Chinese out. That may never happen, just as Napolean died dreaming of his country.

It's not that everybody who leaves his or her homeland to set up home somewhere else grieves for that which has been left behind. Southall may remind visitors of Punjab but Punjabis who live there don't see it as a reminder of their past. Those who weep into their whiskey and beer at Glassy Junction are not necessarily haunted by memories. Nor do those who have changed their names to Andy and Wendy after swapping their Indian passports with American citizenship feel either remorse or guilt for disowning their motherland.

Yet there are millions who feel an umbilical attachment to India, though they have never visited the land their forefathers left, or were forced to leave. These are the descendants of east Indians who, having offered to become indentured labourers for a pittance, crossed the kala pani, never to return again. Chutney music will no doubt be sneered at here in India, but for most east Indians in the Caribbean, it keeps them rooted to their culture and identity.

In Mauritius and Trinidad and Tobago, separated by sea and continents, indentured immigrant Indians clung on to ideas of caste and community, notions of kith and kin; if those were eroded with time, they re-invented them, but never abandoned what they thought was, and still think is, unique to their identity in the land of their exile. Like the wandering Jews they wove facts into faith so that new generations would remember and not forget.

Yet, for many exiles forgetting and not remembering makes it easier to cope with the reality. This is especially true for those who can't return home even if they wish to. Bangladeshi poet Daud Haider had to leave his country after being accused of blasphemy in 1974. He sought shelter in Kolkata, a city that adopted him as one of its own. In 1986 he was asked to leave India as his presence was deemed to be detrimental to relations with Bangladesh. Celebrated German writer Gunter Grass brought him to Berlin where he has lived ever since.

Till recently Daud would petition anybody and everybody in Bangladesh to let him visit the land of his birth just once so that he could meet his family, see the house he grew up in, talk to his childhood friends, smell the soil and taste the water that were once so familiar. Promises were made and broken. Hope that once burned bright is now a dying, flickering flame.

It's only when your country disowns you that you realise what exile means. Euripedes was right. Nothing can be more tragic than that. Ask the Kashmiri Pandits, they will tell you what it means to be exiled from the land of your ancestors.

[My weekly column in MidDay published on January 21, 2012.]

Pity the nation that can't defend liberty

Congress's no-limit, interest-free, Minority Card

(It's the world's best credit card, issued by Vote Bank of India!)

Nothing could be more telling about the tarnished and tattered state of our secular republic than the Darul Uloom Deoband vice-chancellor, Maulana Abul Qasim, describing Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot petitioning the Union government to stop Salman Rushdie from visiting India as "a victory for democracy".

According to Maulana Qasim, "democracy is alive in India" because Gehlot has painted a grim picture of how mobs will run riot and law and order shall collapse if Rushdie were to attend the Jaipur Literary Festival; hence, he should be barred from entering the country of his origin.

Deoband’s chief maulana wants Rushdie’s entry ‘prohibited forever’ as demanded ‘by so many people.’ That’s balderdash. The ‘so many people’ he refers to are mullahs and those who are prone to running riot over bogus grievances and spurious issues. The vast majority of Indians, irrespective of faith, is not in the least bothered and would, if asked, wholeheartedly support the idea of Rushdie visiting this country whenever he wishes.

Not so the Congress. It can’t resist the temptation of seizing an opportunity to indulge in crass Muslim vote-bank politics when it senses one. In fact, there’s reason to believe that the Congress has a hand in manufacturing this mullah-led demand and the threat of violence to keep Rushdie away from India. It’s of a piece with the party’s electoral strategy in Uttar Pradesh premised on the cynical belief that pandering to the belligerence of mullahs and their ilk will fetch the party a rich harvest of Muslim votes.

First we had senior Congress leader and law minister Salman Khurshid brazenly promising that his party will increase the minority quota, which is euphemism for Muslim reservation, from 4.5% to 9%. That pledge fetched the Election Commission’s ire but the message has not been lost. Then we had Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh seeking to reopen the bogus debate over the Batla House encounter of 2008, blaming the prime minister and the home minister for not ordering a judicial inquiry as demanded by the malcontent of Azamgarh who are either SIMI or IM supporters if not closet activists.

Simultaneously, the mullahs of Deoband suddenly remembered Salman Rushdie — all these years they were not offended by his many visits to India, including his attending the Jaipur Literary Festival in 2007, but have discovered merit in blocking it now as Uttar Pradesh prepares to go to polls. Not surprisingly, the refrain was taken up by fanatics in Rajasthan where the Congress is in power. We haven’t heard a whimper from anywhere else in the country.

For the Congress, the minority card is the most powerful credit card in the world. It has no upper limit; it does not bounce; and it comes interest-free. Little wonder that the party has been using this card for the past six decades, encashing votes by pretending to be the sole protector of Muslim sentiments and sensitivities.

Sadly, there’s little realisation that, in the process, India’s Muslims have been further ghettoised, left to wallow in imagined slight and all-consuming denial. It should be of no comfort to the community that threats of violence generate fear, not respect; nor should it mistake the Congress’s cynical politics of appeasement as the route to social development and economic progress of Muslims.

The reality, tragically, is to the contrary. And so we have mullahs threatening violence and the Congress capitulating to their demands in pursuit of its policy of limitless appeasement. Rajiv Gandhi’s government banned The Satanic Verses even before Ayatollah Khomeini issued his infamous fatwa. The Shah Bano judgment was subverted by abusing the Congress’s parliamentary majority. In more recent times, Denmark’s prime minister was asked to call off his scheduled visit to India lest it upset Muslim sensitivities allegedly inflamed over cartoons nobody had seen in this country. And Shimon Peres was ‘discouraged’ from attending the annual HT Summit lest the presence of Israel’s President on India’s soil upset Muslims.

Salman Rushdie may yet visit India and make an appearance at the Jaipur Literary Festival. But that’s really inconsequential. What is of consequence is the amazing audacity of mullahs who now want to have a say on who gets to visit India and who doesn’t, who should live here and who shouldn’t, and the astounding willingness of the Congress to comply to their outrageously vile demands. That way lies the path to disaster.

This is no longer about Salman Rushdie or his Satanic Verses. It’s about what remains of our secular republic.

[Column in DNA, January 20, 2012.]

19/01/90: When Kashmiri Pandits fled Islamic terror

First they came for the Communists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me.

-- Martin Niemöller on German intellectuals who failed to stand up to Nazi terror. Applies to our intellectuals too who have spectacularly failed to raise their voice against Islamic terror.


'Be One With Us, Run, or Die...'

Srinagar, January 4, 1990. Aftab, a local Urdu newspaper, publishes a press release issued by Hizb-ul Mujahideen, set up by the Jamaat-e-Islami in 1989 to wage jihad for Jammu & Kashmir's secession from India and accession to Pakistan, asking all Hindus to pack up and leave. Another local paper, Al Safa, repeats this expulsion order.

In the following days, there is near chaos in the Kashmir Valley with Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah and his National Conference Government abdicating all responsibilities of the state. Masked men run amok, waving Kalashnikovs, shooting to kill and shouting anti-India slogans.

Reports of killing of Hindus, invariably Kashmiri Pandits, begin to trickle in; there are explosions; inflammatory speeches are made from the pulpits of mosques, using public address systems meant for calling the faithful to prayers. A terrifying fear psychosis begins to take grip of Kashmiri Pandits.

Walls are plastered with posters and handbills, summarily ordering all Kashmiris to strictly follow the Islamic dress code, prohibiting the sale and consumption of alcoholic drinks and imposing a ban on video parlours and cinemas. The masked men with Kalashnikovs force people to re-set their watches and clocks to Pakistan Standard Time.

Shops, business establishments and homes of Kashmiri Pandits, the original inhabitants of the Kashmir Valley with a recorded cultural and civilisational history dating back 5,000 years, are marked out. Notices are pasted on doors of Pandit houses, peremptorily asking the occupants to leave Kashmir within 24 hours or face death and worse. Some are more lucid: "Be one with us, run, or die!"

'Asi Gachchi Pakistan, Batao Roas te Batanev San...'

Srinagar, January 19, 1990. Jagmohan arrives to take charge as Governor of Jammu & Kashmir. Farooq Abdullah, whose pathetic, whimpering, snivelling Government has all but ceased to exist and has gone into hiding, resigns and goes into a sulk. Curfew is imposed as a first measure to restore some semblance of law and order. But it fails to have a deterrent effect.

Throughout the day, Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front and Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists use public address systems at mosques to exhort people to defy curfew and take to the streets. Masked men, firing from their Kalashnikovs, march up and down, terrorising cowering Pandits who, by then, have locked themselves in their homes.

As evening falls, the exhortations become louder and shriller. Three taped slogans are repeatedly played the whole night from mosques: "Kashmir mei agar rehna hai, Allah-O-Akbar kehna hai" (If you want to stay in Kashmir, you have to say Allah-O-Akbar); "Yahan kya chalega, Nizam-e-Mustafa" (What do we want here? Rule of Islam); "Asi gachchi Pakistan, Batao roas te Batanev san" (We want Pakistan along with Hindu women but without their men).

In the preceding months, 300 Hindu men and women, nearly all of them Kashmiri Pandits, had been slaughtered ever since the brutal murder of Pandit Tika Lal Taploo, noted lawyer and BJP national executive member, by the JKLF in Srinagar on September 14, 1989. Soon after that, Justice N K Ganju of the Srinagar High Court was shot dead. Pandit Sarwanand Premi, 80-year-old poet, and his son were kidnapped, tortured, their eyes gouged out, and hanged to death. A Kashmiri Pandit nurse working at the Soura Medical College Hospital in Srinagar was gang-raped and then beaten to death. Another woman was abducted, raped and sliced into bits and pieces at a sawmill.

In villages and towns across Kashmir Valley, terrorist hit lists have been floating about. All the names are of Kashmiri Pandits. With no Government worth its name, the administration having collapsed and disappeared, the police nowhere to be seen, despondency sets in. As the night of January 19, 1990, wears itself out, despondency gives way to desperation.

And tens of thousands of Kashmiri Pandits across the Valley take a painful decision: To flee their homeland to save their lives from rabid jihadis. Thus takes place a 20th century Exodus.

Pandits don't live here anymore, the Valley has been cleansed of Hindus...


Srinagar, January 19, 2012. There are no Kashmiri Pandits in Srinagar, or, for that matter, anywhere else in Kashmir Valley; they don't live here anymore. You can find them in squalid refugee camps in Jammu and Delhi. At least 300,000 Kashmiri Pandits who fled their home and hearth in 1990 have been reduced to living the lives of refugees in their own country; many have since migrated to foreign shores.

Of those who remain in India, two-thirds are camping in Jammu. The rest are in Delhi and in other cities. Many of them, once prosperous and proud of their rich heritage, now live in grovelling poverty, dependent on Government dole and charity. In these 22 years, an entire generation of exiled Kashmiri Pandits has grown up, without seeing the land from where their parents fled to escape the brutalities of Islamic terrorism, a land they dare not return to, although that land still remains a part of their country.

A large number of them are suffering from a variety of stress and depression related diseases. A group of doctors who surveyed the mental and physical health of the Kashmiri Pandits living in refugee camps, found high incidence of 'economic distress, stress induced diabetes, partial lunacy, hypertension and mental retardation.' Statistics reflect high death rate and low birth rate among the Kashmiri Pandit refugees.

And thereby hangs a tragic tale that has been all but wiped out from public memory.
An entire people have been uprooted from the land of their ancestors and left to fend for themselves as a weak-kneed Indian state shamelessly panders to Islamic terrorists and separatists who claim they are the final arbiters of Jammu & Kashmir's destiny. A part of India's cultural heritage has been destroyed; a chapter of India's civilisational history has been erased.

Had this tragedy occurred elsewhere in Hindu majority India, and had the victims been Muslims, we would have described it as 'ethnic cleansing' and 'genocide.' We would have made films with horror-inducing titles. We would have filed cases in the Supreme Court of India. Our media would have marshalled remarkable rage in reporting the smallest detail.

But, this tragedy has occurred in Muslim majority Kashmir valley, and the victims are all Hindus, that too Pandits. What has been lost is part of India's Hindu culture, what has been erased is integral to India's Hindu civilisation.

Therefore, the Government makes bold to record that the Kashmiri Pandits have "migrated on their own" and their "displacement (is) self-imposed"; the National Human Rights Commission, after a perfunctory inquiry, refuses to concede that what has happened is 'genocide' or 'ethnic cleansing,' though facts add up to no less than that, never mind that at least 300,000 lives have been destroyed.

And, our jholawallah brigade of secular activists rudely turn up their noses to the plight of Kashmiri Pandits: Hindu sorrow, inflicted by Islamic terror, stinks.

Today, on January 19, the 22nd anniversary of the forced flight of Kashmiri Pandits, look back at India's wretched history of secular politics and consider the terrible price the nation has paid at the altar of appeasement because the Indian state has, and continues to, toe the line of least resistance.

(This is a slightly modified/updated version of the first of a two-part essay that appeared on Rediff.com on January 19, 2005.)

Biblioclasm now equated with iconoclasm

When books are burned in the end people will be burned too -- Heinrich Heine.



Nazis burning books at Bebelplatz, Berlin, April 1933

Every visit to Yad Vashem in Jerusalem has been a revelation for me. The sprawling Holocaust memorial, perched between two hills, brings alive like no book or film can the soul-searing horrors of what the Nazis did to the Jews. But it’s impossible to absorb it all in one go; the vile deeds were far too many. On each visit I have discovered something that I missed the last time I walked through, with leaden feet, the zig-zag maze of the Holocaust relived.

And so it is that on my last visit to Yad Vashem I stumbled upon, quite literally, a pile of books on the stone flagged floor of the memorial. The display marks an important milestone in the transmogrification of the Nazis into beasts: The burning of books that were considered 'Un-German' and the cleansing of libraries with fire.

That was in April 1933 and Hitler was yet to start implementing his 'final solution'. But that act was a precursor to what was to follow. Heinrich Heine, the celebrated German critic and poet, had written in early-19th century that "When books are burned in the end people will be burned too." His words proved to be eerily prophetic some 100 years later.

Last October, on a wind-swept grey afternoon, I stood at Bebelplatz in Berlin, in front of St Hedwig's Cathedral, trying to recreate in my mind the April evening in 1933 when students, enamoured of Hitler's demagoguery, had gathered there and made a bonfire of books after ransacking one of the largest libraries. The building still stands, magnificent yet melancholic, at the edge of the square. The spot where the bonfire blazed now has a plaque recording the shameful event.

Joseph Goebbels, spitting fire and brimstone, had egged on the vandals: "No to decadence and moral corruption! Yes to decency and morality in family and state! I consign to the flames the writings of Heinrich Mann, Ernst Glaser, Erich Kastner... The era of extreme Jewish intellectualism is now at an end. The breakthrough of the German revolution has again cleared the way on the German path..."

As we all know, that path led to history's most hideous mass murder. Even suckling infants were not spared. Heinrich Heine foresaw the crematoriums at Dachau and other concentration camps. We also know that that the path ultimately led to the destruction of the Nazis and all that was glorified by Goebbels. Not very far from Bebelplatz lies the bunker in which Hitler committed suicide.

To be fair, the Nazis weren't the first to seek to reduce to ashes, albeit in vain, ideas and opinions that militated against their ideology. Human history is replete with tales of books being burned by rulers, conquerors, dictators and men of faith in robes.

The Qing dynasty would routinely burn books; modern day rulers of China continue with the practice. The Bishop of Alexandria ordered monks to burn everything that remotely questioned doctrinaire faith; a mammoth library stands there now. Bakhtiyar Khalji sacked Nalanda and set fire to its library which is believed to have burned for three months; the ancient university will soon rise from the ruins that remain.

In more recent times, on January 14, 1989, copies of Salman Rushdie's novel, The Satanic Verses, were consigned to the flames at a protest in Bradford. That act of biblioclasm drew attention to a book that few had read till then, triggering a fatwa (issued by none less than Ayatollah Khomeini) demanding the author's head for which a reward of $1 million was offered. India notoriously became the first country to ban the book.

The abiding shame of that act still hangs heavy on us, partially redeemed by the NDA Government's decision to issue Rushdie a PIO card which allows him to visit the country of his origin without any let or hindrance. But shame is alien to those who live in the joyless world of fatwas and decrees; it means nothing to those who wear intolerance on their sleeves.

Hence the demand by Deobandi muftis that Rushdie shouldn't be allowed to enter India. Strangely, the demand continues to find a resonance among those who pose as 'liberals' and preach tolerance. In the land of Charvak, biblioclasm is now equated with iconoclasm.

Which takes me back to where I began: Yad Vashem. As name after name is read out of 1.5 million Jewish children killed in the Holocaust in the unlit Hall of Remembrance where a single flickering flame is reflected 1.5 million times, I once again ask myself: How could they do this?

Stepping out and walking down the Avenue of the Righteous Among the Nations, shaded by cypress trees, each honouring a non-Jew who, like Oscar Schindler, defied the Nazis, my spirits lift. All is not lost in this wondrous world of ours.

Books burned by Nazis, a display at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem.

(MidDay, January 14, 2011.)

Pink elephants and flying horses

What’s the BSP complaining about?

Nobody quite remembers In and Out at the Park, Kolkata’s first discotheque, probably because it never quite took off as a happening place. But Pink Elephant, though not the first discotheque in the city, is still remembered, especially by those with spreading midriffs and balding heads who were hip and smart in 1982 when it opened.

The choice of name for an establishment is often accidental. It’s doubtful whether great debate and deliberation went into naming the Grand’s discotheque as ‘Pink Elephant’. What may have worked in its favour is that it had a certain zing; it was unusual; and, hence, it was attention-grabbing. The bizarre became the fashion of the day.

The Grand’s managers or those who crowded the dance floor wouldn’t have known of a little-known mixed metaphor, used rarely but with great effect in certain situations: The pink elephant in the room. It derives from the metaphorical idiom ‘elephant in the room’, which means someone or something so obvious that it cannot be missed by anybody. But when that elephant is described as ‘pink’ by a person, he or she is presumed to be drunk to the gills and thus hallucinating. For, there’s nothing called a pink elephant.

Chief Election Commissioner SM Quraishi has turned that truism on its head, and a pink elephant is no longer just metaphorical. Driving along the arc as you exit Sector 18 in Noida, you see a series of pink elephants, babies and adults, trunks raised in a belligerent show of defiance against those who ordered them covered. When Quraishi decreed that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati’s statues, as also those of her elephants, the BSP’s election symbol, at Dalit Prerna Sthal in Lucknow and Noida should be banished from public sight, little did he realise the implications.

Officials tasked with the onerous job had to work within severe limitations, apart from that of a short deadline. The plastic sheets could not be green, red, saffron or blue, as these are all party colours. Translucent sheets would not do because it would defeat the purpose. The only other colour available was pink. And so the elephant statues stand wrapped in pink plastic sheets, their silhouette in sharp contrast to the open space around them. As for Mayawati, she has been encased in makeshift tin sheet boxes. Kanshi Ram and Bhim Rao have been spared the ignominy.

Ever since it was inaugurated last year, Rashtriya Dalit Prerna Sthal, as the park in Noida that reminds those with a sense of history of Queen Hathshepsut is known, has rarely seen any visitors. Commuters rushing to their offices in Delhi or home in Noida would just zip past the sprawling pink sandstone memorial that Mayawati has built to herself, Kanshi Ram and BR Ambedkar. The statues were never noticed, nor were they ever talked about.

But it’s no longer so. The flow of traffic gets sluggish as everybody tends to slow down as the arc begins, and gawk at the rows of pink elephants. There, it is excitedly pointed out to others in the car, stands Mayawati. Where? There, stupid, that large steel trunk standing vertically over there. Aw. The pink elephants are pretty though. So cute, no?

Yes, they are. And as in-your-face and eyeball-grabbing as the shocking pink which is Mayawati’s favourite colour. What’s the BSP complaining about?

Make razakars pay for their crimes

They collaborated with Pakistan's murderous, rapacious Army in 1971

This Friday, December 16, Bangladesh will celebrate the 40th anniversary of its victory in the 1971 Liberation War. The fall of Dacca, as Dhaka was then known, marked the end of Pakistani tyranny and the beginning of a new era for the Bengali nation. It also marked, with Lieutenant-General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi, the commander of Pakistan’s rapacious, murderous Army which killed three million Bengalis in less than a year between March 26 and December 16, surrendering to the Indian Army, a splendid victory for our Armed Forces. Mrs Indira Gandhi fought that war out of deep moral conviction; Lieutenant-General JFR Jacob won the war displaying remarkable tactical skills and battlefield chutzpah. It was an equally splendid victory for the Mukti Bahini, the rag-tag army of freedom fighters, often armed with no more than antiquated .303 rifles.

Nothing could have been more appropriate to mark the 40th anniversary of the demise of Mohammed Ali Jinnah’s moth-eaten Pakistan, premised on his two-nation theory, that he had forged by holding a pistol to the head of India’s colonial masters and Congress politicians than to bring the razakars, the Urdu-speaking collaborators of the 1971 genocide of Bengalis, to trial. Not surprisingly, the razakars owed, and continue to owe, allegiance to the Jamaat-e-Islami. Those of them facing trial before the war crimes tribunal set up by the Government of Bangladesh have, over the decades, come to occupy exalted positions in that organisation which flaunts hate as its ideology.

There’s Delawar Hossain Sayedee, a senior Jamaat leader who spews venom everytime he opens his mouth. And there are five other razakars — Jamaat Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami, secretary-general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed and assistant secretaries-general Muhammad Kamaruzzaman and Abdul Quader Molla — who, along with him, willingly, actively, enthusiastically collaborated with the Pakistani soldiers in hunting down mukti joddhas, their families, intellectuals and political dissenters. In the dark of night they led Pakistani soldiers to villages where Hindus were dragged out from their homes — the men were killed, the women raped and bayoneted, young girls were carried away to Pakistani Army camps to be ravaged. Also facing trial are two senior leaders of Begum Khaleda Zia’s BNP whose dark past is now catching up with them.

Horrendous as the crimes committed by the Pakistani Army and the razakars against what was then East Pakistan’s Hindu minority community were, Bengali-speaking Muslims were not spared either. They were butchered in scores, then in hundreds, and when even that did not succeed in suppressing the Bengalis, they were massacred in thousands. Mutilated bodies were dumped into mass graves, or just left in fields to be feasted upon by dogs and vultures. Those who could escape the murderers and rapists in Pakistani Army uniform and the razakars fled to India, taking shelter in refugee camps in West Bengal.

The seeds of Bangla- desh’s struggle for liberation from Pakistan were sown in 1948, when a dying Jinnah tried to force Urdu as the official language on Bengali-speaking East Pakistan. The Bengalis resisted this enforcement and matters came to a head on February 21, 1952, when students of Dhaka University led a rally against the imposition of Urdu: Many were martyred. First General Ayub Khan and later General Yahya Khan thought guns were sufficient to dominate East Pakistan; both were wrong.

The fire turned into embers, those embers turned into a blaze when the criminally callous rulers of Pakistan, all of them from its western-wing, mocked at the misery of the Bengalis after a terrifying cyclone swept through East Pakistan in 1970, killing half-a-million people and leaving millions homeless and destitute. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s Awami League, riding the wave of outrage, swept the national election, winning 167 of the 169 seats in East Pakistan and a clear majority in the 300-member Pakistan National Assembly. Armed with this mandate, he demanded the Prime Minister’s post. Backed by the Army and Gen Yahya Khan, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan People’s Party insisted he should get precedence over Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The stand-off ended on March 7, 1971, with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declaring, at the historic Race Course Ground rally in Dhaka, “The struggle this time is for our freedom. The struggle this time is for our independence... Joy Bangla!” The slogan was soon to reverberate across both sides of Padma, rekindling emotional and cultural linkages that Jinnah had miserably tried to stamp out with his “Urdu and only Urdu” policy. The ghosts of Ekushe February had returned to haunt the inheritors of Jinnah’s pernicious legacy; the blaze had turned into an uncontrollable inferno.

Alarmed by the rapid unravelling of Rawalpindi’s control over Dhaka, Gen Yahya Khan despatched his trusted man, Gen Tikka Khan, known for his ruthlessness, to take charge as East Pakistan’s Governor. Between March 10 and 13, Pakistan International Airlines cancelled all its flights and deployed its fleet to ferry “Government passengers” to Dhaka. Undeterred by the impending crackdown, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, hours before his arrest in the early hours of March 26, issued a statement, “Today Bangladesh is a sovereign and independent country... The Bengalis are fighting the enemy with great courage for an independent Bangladesh. May god aid us in our fight for freedom. Joy Bangla!”

Gen Yahya Khan thought he had an easy solution to the problem posed by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. “Kill three million of them, and the rest will eat out of our hands,” he told a foreign correspondent. Gen Tikka Khan did precisely that. By the time Gen Niazi signed the surrender documents, Pakistani soldiers had slaughtered three million Bengalis. The blood of those innocent victims of terror stains the hands of the razakars who are still alive and around. They should have been tried and despatched to the other world long ago. But as the cliche goes, better late than never. Sheikh Hasina has initiated the process; the tribunal should now take it to its logical conclusion.


Recommended reading: Pakistani dictators by Tariq Ali.

Manmohan's strange obsession with Pakistan

Public memory in this wondrous land of ours being remarkably short, we rarely, if ever, remember commitments made by our leaders. That makes it easy for them to go back on their word without anybody realising they are doing so. “You can’t fool all the people all the time,” an aphorism attributed to Abraham Lincoln, is made to stand on its head by the sophistry of those who rule India.

And so it is that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has gone ahead and done exactly what he had promised the people of this country he would not do. Making a statement in Parliament on July 29, 2009, he had said that “Pakistan has to act and act effectively on terrorism before there can be a comprehensive dialogue covering all areas of disagreement or concerns of the two countries”. That was eight months after the horrific attack on multiple high profile targets in Mumbai by Pakistani terrorists that left at least 164 people dead and more than 300 injured.

Unmindful of the fact that on November 26 India will observe the third anniversary of that horrendous blood-letting and disdainful of grieving parents, widows and orphans who are yet to reconcile themselves to their terrible loss, Singh has chosen this moment to declare Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani a “man of peace” who is “willing to work with us” and indicated his desire to visit the country that continues to torment India.

There is more. Without going into details, he said, “I did discuss with Pakistan Prime Minister Gilani whether Pakistan’s armed forces were on board. The feeling I got was that after a long time, Pakistan’s armed forces are on board.” In other words, both Islamabad and Rawalpindi are now keen to talk peace with New Delhi.
In April this year, The Times (London) carried an interesting story which said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had opened “secret talks” with the Pakistani Army chief 10 months ago “to build on the cricket-inspired diplomatic thaw” between the two countries. The newspaper claimed Singh had “appointed an unofficial envoy to make contact with General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, Pakistan's chief of the army staff who exercises de facto control over foreign policy.” The PMO had swiftly denied the report.

The Prime Minister’s sudden mention of the Pakistani Army being “on board” brings that report to mind. It is unimaginable that Gilani would have talked Kayani, who misses no opportunity to make it abundantly clear that India remains Enemy Number One of the Pakistani Army and treats his Prime Minister with unhidden contempt, into getting ‘on board’ the peace train.

That apart, it would be in order to raise three points to underscore the hollowness of Singh’s claim that Gilani realises the folly of persisting with cross-border terrorism as an instrument of state policy and, to signal Pakistan’s rupture with past practice, is keen to bring the masterminds behind 26/11 to justice.

First, between November 26, 2008, and now, nothing has changed vis-à-vis Pakistan nurturing terrorist organisations as ‘strategic assets’. Recent Congressional testimonies by senior US officials, including the topmost military commander Mike Mullen, have reconfirmed what we have known all along. The ISI, working in tandem with the Pakistani Army, continues to use terrorist organisations to further Pakistan’s ‘strategic objectives’. The Lashkar-e-Tayyeba, which masterminded and executed 26/11, did so with the assistance of the ISI.

Second, in the past three years, absolutely no sincerity has been shown by Gilani and his Government to prosecute LeT chief Hafiz Mohammed Saeed and his deputy Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi despite overwhelming evidence of their involvement in 26/11 provided by India and the intelligence agencies of other countries. The prosecution case is laughably weak. Dossier after dossier sent by India has been spurned as no more than ‘fiction’. Saeed continues to preach hatred against India.

Third, days before Gilani was anointed a “man of peace”, he ordered that Jamaat-ud-Dawa’h, as the LeT has refashioned itself to beat sanctions, be removed from Pakistan’s list of banned organisations. That decision was in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions, especially Resolution 1822, which are binding on all member-states. It also rudely mocks at India’s assertion that the LeT / JuD is responsible for the continued loss of Indian lives.

In Havana, Singh had inexplicably accorded Pakistan the status of victim, as opposed to perpetrator, of terrorism. In Sharm el-Sheikh, he had meekly agreed to de-link terrorism and talks. In Maldives, he has timidly offered peace at any cost. On each occasion, he chose to ignore India’s national interest, although that is supposed to be his primary concern.

This can’t be just about going down in history as a peace-maker, which takes me back to where I began.

(This appeared as a comment in DNA on November 17, 2011.)

Law alone can't end corruption

On Sunday, November 6, I spoke on 'Law alone cannot end corruption' at the Shala organised by Takshashila in Chennai.



You can watch the video here.

'Tigers' extinct in Sri Lanka, but not in Europe

Two years after Velupillai Prabhakaran was killed, along with his lieutenants and cadre, and the LTTE obliterated by the Sri Lankan Army, the ruthless man who terrorised Sinhalese and brutalised Tamils alike is very much alive in the imagination of Germany’s — as well as Europe’s — Tamil diaspora.

In life, Prabhakaran tested the loyalty of his ‘Tigers’, many of whom were in their early teens, by asking them to turn themselves into human bombs. Any ‘Tamil Tiger’ taken alive by security forces was under instruction to swallow a cyanide pill; nobody is known to have violated that order.

Over the quarter century that he led a horrific campaign of terror for a Tamil Eelam, Prabhakaran set standards for terrorists around the world. The final battle against the LTTE was no doubt vicious and exacted terrible collateral damage, but in the end the evil that Prabhakaran and his organisation had come to symbolihttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifse were destroyed root and branch.

On May 18, 2009, Prabhakaran was killed while trying to escape the military blockade of Mullaitivu. He met a violent end, as did the entire top leadership of the LTTE.

But as Dutch prosecutor Prosecutor Ward Ferdinandusse says, “Although the Tigers have been defeated in Sri Lanka, here in Europe they are very much alive.” The EU’s police coordination organisation, Europol, in its ‘Terrorism Situation and Trend Report’ for 2011, said ‘Tamil Tigers’ in Europe continue with their extortion and “are actively involved in drugs and human trafficking, the facilitation of illegal immigration, credit card skimming, money laundering, and fraud for the purpose of funding terrorist (support) operations”.

Read my take on how Europe keeps LTTE alive.

Narendra Modi Report on Food Price Control

Following the publication of my Sunday column, Coffee Break, headlined 'NaMo proposes, PM disposes', readers wanted further details of the report submitted by the Working Committee headed by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi which was set up at a Chief Ministers' Conference, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, to come up with recommendations for the Union Government to hold the price line for essential commodities. The remit of the Modi Committee was to propose actionable short-term and medium-term measures to control food inflation. Hence, the committee's report is not about long-term reforms in the agricultural sector. The two are entirely separate issues.I have with me the executive summary of the Modi Report on how to fight food inflation, which is reproduced below:

Modi Report gives 20 recommendations with 64 actionable points and emphasizing;

• Ban on Future trading of Essential Commodities
• Set up Price Stabilization Fund by Government of India
• set up a Ministerial level Coordination mechanism at the National
and the Regional level for coordinated policy making
• Priority sector lending to Agri-marketing activities
• Speedy Reform of APMC Act across the Country and Liberalization of
Agri-markets
• Time bound development of Agri-marketing infrastructure including
storage capacities in food deficit regions, cold chain,
agro-processing etc.
• Unbundling of FCI operations of procurement, storage and distribution
• Increase competition by promoting retailing by organized sector and
cooperatives

Shri Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat, Chairman of the Working
Group on Consumer Affairs, submitted the Report of Working Group to
the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh in the
presence of Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee, Professor K.
V. Thomas, Minister of State (Independent charge) for Food, Public
Distribution and Consumer Affairs, Minister of State in PMO Shri V.
Narayanasamy, at Prime Minister's residence.

The Working Group on Consumer Affairs was constituted on 8th April,
2010, finalized its Report earlier in January 2011 by the Committee
led by Shri Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Gujarat with other member
Chief Ministers of States of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil
Nadu.

Unlike the usual practice of voluminous reports often bordering along
academic approach, the Modi Committee Report is a precise document
which gives 20 recommendations with 64 detailed actionable points that
will facilitate expeditious implementation of the Report.

With regard to the Future Markets and considering lack of strong
linkages between spot and future markets at present, the Modi
Committee Report has suggested that for the time being, essential
commodities should be kept out of the Future Market.

The Modi Committee Report has suggested setting up of a Price
Stabilization Fund by Govt. of India to help State Government for
procurement and distribution of essential commodities in short supply.

Some of the major recommendations made in the Modi Committee Report
include liberalization of Agriculture Markets for improving the
efficiency of distribution channel from farms to consumer, increasing
participation of organized sector/ cooperatives in retailing
including farmers’ markets, agro- processing, storage and cold
chains for wastage control and reduction, proactive monetary
policy etc.

For evolving single National agriculture market, the Modi Committee
Report has recommended to set up a Ministerial level Coordination
mechanism at the National and the Regional level for coordinated
policy making.

In addition, the Modi Committee Report has recommended enlarging the
scope of priority sector lending such that the Agriculture Marketing
activities are also be made eligible and the ratio of priority sector
lending to the agriculture sector should also be raised further from
the current level of 18%.

To minimize information asymmetry in the Agriculture Market, the Modi
Committee Report also calls for establishing a mechanism, if necessary
by creating a dedicated agency, to collect and widely disseminate
information to all stakeholders on production, import, stocks and
overall availability of essential commodities besides extensive use of
the Information Technology.

Since, the FCI plays a major role in procurement and distribution
system of essential commodities, a suggestion has been made to explore
unbundling of FCI operation in terms of procurement, storage and
distribution functions.

Further, the Modi Committee Report has also emphasized preparation of
a 10-year Perspective Plan for improving Agri-infrastructure of
backward and forward linkages for Agriculture Production and
Marketing.

The Modi Committee Report has also recommended that offences under
Section 10-A under the Essential Commodities Act should be made
non-bailable and Special Courts should be set up for speedy trial of
offences under the E.C. Act.

In addition, the Modi Committee Report also recommends that the period
of preventive detention under the PBM Act (Black Marketing Act in
common parlance) should be increased from six months to one year.

The report was submitted on March 4, 2011. Since then it has been gathering dust in the PMO.

When a big tree fell...

Recalling the terrifying pogrom of November 1984 that left thousands of Sikh men, women and children dead -- killed by Congress thugs

At 9.30 am on October 31, 1984, Mrs Indira Gandhi, iron-willed and iron-fisted Prime Minister of India, famously described by her aunt Vijayalakshmi Pandit as “the only man in her Cabinet”, was assassinated at her 1, Safdarjung Road residence. The assassins, both Sikhs, were Satwant Singh and Beant Singh, two of the guards who were meant to protect her. Satwant Singh was arrested; Beant Singh was shot dead by the other guards.

Satwant Singh later told investigators that he and Beant Singh had assassinated Mrs Gandhi to avenge the desecration of Harmandir Saheb and destruction of the Akal Takht in ‘Operation Bluestar’, the Army action of June 5-7, 1984. Mrs Gandhi had ordered the military operation to flush out Khalistani terrorists, including Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, who had made the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar into their headquarters.

‘Operation Bluestar’ was a military success but a political disaster. The objective of ‘flushing out’ the Khalistanis was achieved, but at a huge price. According to the White Paper published by the Government of India, 493 people, including terrorists (200 in the Akal Takht alone), were killed. The official toll was far less than what foreign agencies and newspapers reported: 1,000. BBC journalist Mark Tully, in his book ‘Amritsar – Mrs Gandhi’s Last Battle’, placed the death toll at 2,093. Eyewitnesses said at least 8,000 were killed. The ‘White Paper’ said 83 soldiers had died in the three-day-long action. This figure, too, remains disputed.

The backlash was enormous, and beyond what had been anticipated, alienating the Sikh masses at home and abroad (Khalistanis in Canada plotted and executed the bombing of Emperor Kanishka, Air India’s Montreal-London-Delhi Flight 182, killing all 329 people aboard the aircraft on June 23, 1985) and fuelling the Khalistani movement which was finally crushed in the early-1990s, thanks to the then Punjab Police chief KPS Gill. But the restoration of peace in Punjab is another story. On January 6, 1989, Satwant Singh and Kehar Singh, who had been held guilty of conspiracy in the crime but pleaded his innocence till the end, were executed at Tihar Jail.
That, in brief, is the story of Mrs Gandhi’s assassination. But there’s a longer story to be told – that of what followed the deed.

Twenty-seven years is a long time. Public memory is notoriously short and it is unlikely those who have come of age in these 27 years would know of the terrible pogrom that left 4,733 Sikhs dead, most of them slaughtered in Delhi, retribution massacres carried out by Congress thugs led by Congress leaders, among them Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar.

It would, therefore, be in order to recall the chain of events lest we be persuaded to believe that nothing of consequence happened by a Prime Minister who spends sleepless nights worrying about a terror suspect held in distant Australia but blithely disowns responsibility for the shocking attempt to whitewash the crimes of his party and its 'leaders' committed against thousands at home.

So, here is the story of how thousands of Sikh men, women and children were slaughtered; in Delhi alone, 2,733 Sikhs were burned alive, butchered or beaten to death. Women were raped while their terrified families pleaded for mercy, little or none of which was shown by the Congress goons. In one of the numerous such incidents, a woman was gang-raped in front of her 17-year-old son; before leaving, the marauders torched the boy.

For three days and four nights the killing and pillaging continued without the police, the civil administration and the Union Government, which was then in direct charge of Delhi, lifting a finger in admonishment. The Congress was in power and could have prevented the violence, but the then Prime Minister, his Home Minister, indeed the entire Council of Ministers, twiddled their thumbs.

Even as stray dogs gorged on charred corpses and wailing women, clutching children too frightened to cry, fled mobs armed with iron rods, staves and gallons of kerosene, AIR and Doordarshan kept on broadcasting blood-curdling slogans like 'Khoon ka badla khoon se lenge' (We shall avenge blood with blood) raised by Congress workers grieving over their dear departed leader.

Mrs Gandhi was assassinated at 9.30 am, but her death was 'officially' confirmed at 6 pm, after due diligence had been exercised to ensure Rajiv Gandhi's succession. By then, reports of stray incidents of violence against Sikhs, including the stoning of President Zail Singh's car, had started trickling in at various police stations.

By the morning of November 1, hordes of men were on the rampage in south, east and west Delhi. They were armed with iron rods and carried old tyres and jerry cans filled with kerosene and petrol. Owners of petrol pumps and kerosene stores, beneficiaries of Congress largesse, provided petrol and kerosene free of cost. Some of the men went around on scooters and motorcycles, marking Sikh houses and business establishments with chalk for easy identification. They had been provided with electoral rolls to make their task easier.

By late afternoon that day, hundreds of taxis, trucks and shops owned by Sikhs had been set ablaze. By early evening, the murder, loot and rape began in right earnest. The worst butchery took place in Block 32 of Trilokpuri, a resettlement colony in east Delhi. The police either participated in the violence or merely watched from the sidelines.

Curfew was declared in south and central Delhi at 4 pm, and in east and west Delhi at 6 pm on November 1. But there was no attempt to enforce it. PV Narasimha Rao, the then Home Minister, remained unmoved by cries for help. In his affidavit to the Nanavati Commission of Inquiry, Lt-Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora, decorated hero of the 1971 India-Pakistan war, said, "The Home Minister was grossly negligent in his approach, which clearly reflected his connivance with perpetrators of the heinous crimes being committed against the Sikhs."

The first deployment of the Army took place around 6 pm on November 1 in south and central Delhi, which were comparatively unaffected, but in the absence of navigators, which should have been provided by the police and the civil authorities, the jawans found themselves lost in unfamiliar roads and avenues.

The Army was deployed in east and west Delhi in the afternoon of November 2, more than 24 hours after the killings began. But, here, too, the jawans were at a loss because there were no navigators to show them the way through byzantine lanes.
In any event, there was little the Army could have done: Magistrates were 'not available' to give permission to fire on the mobs. This mandatory requirement was kept pending till Mrs Gandhi's funeral was over. By then, 1,026 Sikhs had been killed in east Delhi. Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar were among Congress 'leaders' who, witnesses said, incited and led mobs. Both deny the allegation, but the evidence is overwhelming.

A report on the pogrom, jointly prepared by the PUCL and PUDR and published under the title, Who Are the Guilty? names both of them along with others. The report quotes well-known journalist Sudip Mazumdar:

"The Police Commissioner, SC Tandon was briefing the Press (about 10 Indian reporters and five foreign journalists) in his office on November 6, at 5 pm. A reporter asked him to comment on the large number of complaints about local Congress MPs and lightweights trying to pressure the police to get their men released. The Police Commissioner totally denied the allegation… Just as he finished uttering these words, Jagdish Tytler, Congress MP from Sadar constituency, barged into the Police Commissioner's office along with three other followers and on the top of his voice demanded, 'What is this Mr Tandon? You still have not done what I asked you to do?' The reporters were amused, the Police Commissioner embarrassed. Tytler kept on shouting and a reporter asked the Police Commissioner to ask that 'shouting man' to wait outside since a Press conference was on. Tytler shouted at the reporter, 'This is more important.' The reporter told the Police Commissioner that if Tytler wanted to sit in the office he would be welcome, but a lot of questions regarding his involvement would also be asked and he was welcome to hear them. Tytler was fuming…"

The slaughter was not limited to Delhi, though. Sikhs were killed in Gurgaon, Kanpur, Bokaro, Indore and many other towns and cities in States ruled by the Congress. In a replay of the mayhem in Delhi, 26 Sikh soldiers were pulled out of trains and killed.

After quenching their thirst for blood, the mobs retreated to savour their 'revenge'. The flames died and the winter air blew away the stench of death. Rajiv Gandhi's Government issued a statement placing the death toll at 425!

Rajiv Gandhi had no qualms about justifying the carnage. "Some riots took place in the country following the murder of Indiraji," Rajiv Gandhi said on November 19, 1984, even as thousands of families grieved for their loved ones killed by Congress hoodlums, "We know the people were very angry and for a few days it seemed India had been shaken. But when a mighty tree falls, it is only natural that the earth around it does shake a little."

Some riots? Only natural? Shake a little?

Demands for a judicial inquiry were stonewalled by Rajiv Gandhi. Human rights organisations petitioned the courts; the Government said courts were not empowered to order inquiries. Meanwhile, Rajiv Gandhi dissolved the Lok Sabha and went for an early election, which the Congress swept by using the 'sympathy card' and launching a vitriolic hate campaign.

Once in office, Rajiv Gandhi was desperate for a breakthrough in Punjab. He mollycoddled Akali leader Sant Harchand Singh Longowal into agreeing to sign a peace accord with him. Sant Longowal listed a set of pre-conditions; one of them was the setting up of a judicial commission to inquire into the pogrom.

Thus was born the Ranganath Misra Commission of Inquiry, which took on the job of crafting a report that would suggest extra-terrestrials were to be blamed for whatever had happened. Worse, submissions and affidavits were passed on to those accused of leading the mobs; some of these documents were later recovered from the house of Sajjan Kumar. Gag orders were issued, preventing the Press from reporting in-camera proceedings of the Commission.

For full six months, Rajiv Gandhi refused to make public the Ranganath Misra Commission's report. When it was tabled in Parliament, the report was found to be an amazing travesty of the truth; neither were the guilty men of 1984 named, nor was responsibility fixed.

Subsequently, nine commissions and committees were set up to get to the truth, but they were either disbanded midway or not allowed access to documents and evidence. India had to wait for the report of the Nanavati Commission for an approximate version of the real story.

Justice Nanavati's report said, "The Commission considers it safe to record its finding that there is credible evidence against Jagdish Tytler to the effect that very probably he had a hand in organising attacks on Sikhs." This is not an indictment, Mr Manmohan Singh and his Government decided, so why bother about it? Four years later they remain unrepentant, their attitude remains unchanged.

Two thousand seven hundred and thirty-three men, women and children killed in Delhi, another 2,000 killed elsewhere, scores of women raped, property worth crores of rupees looted or sacked. Families devastated forever, survivors scarred for the rest of their lives.

But the Congress doesn't care!

(This is a revised version of my article which originally appeared in The Pioneer in 2009.)

Also read my article for Rediff, Light a candle for 4,733 Sikhs slaughtered by Congress hoods, for more details of the pogrom.