Daily Excelsior... Editorial

EDITORIAL

By Allabaksh

By Ajay Kaul

The comment by LTTE's ideologue and Chief Negotiator Anton Balasingham: that it "deeply regrets" Rajiv Gandhi's killing has been interpreted differently by different sections. Many have construed it to be a confession by LTTE for the assassination . .......more

A July downpour
TALES OF TRAVESTY

By Dr. Jitendra Singh

‘‘It is nowhere mentioned in history that for want of a rain coat the lover had to defer his visit to his beloved. On the contrary it is stated that he swam across . ....more

Agni dives into sea

By Tushar charan

The scientific community in India has probably never suffered a more embarrassing blow than the failure of two successive ........more

EDITORIAL

Salaam, Namaste? Jullay!

How do we greet each other? We say salaam or namaste. Both the expressions come naturally to us in this State. We employ them as a matter of habit in the most humble and courteous manner. If we say salaam to an elderly person we bow lower than usual and place the right palm on the forehead that also we bring down. In the same age-group we may at times just exchange salaams without sharing the warmth these must carry. At best we may shake hands the intensity of which will again depend upon mutual relations. Not for many of us is the Arabian practice of following salaam with three light kisses. Obeisance is part of our common culture and we follow it to the hilt. Nama in namaste is actually Sanskrit's namah which means "bow" or "reverential salutation". Te comes from Sanskrit tvam for "you" in English. A literal translation of namaste, therefore, is "respectful salute to you" There is a prescribed drill that we follow perhaps without realising while saying namaste. We press both the hands together palms held firmly against each other in front of the person. A slight variation has been noticed with the passage of time. Instead of standing in this mudra with hands below the nose we sometimes take them above the head as if to drive home our deference for the visitor. Namaste is the same as namaskar. It has been elevated to a much higher level in religious contest. There it is used to signal that "the Spirit in me meets the same Spirit in you." The emphasis is on giving due recognition to the equality of all human beings. Salaam is also commonly spelt as salam. It means peace and is shortened As-Salamu Alaykum ('Peace be upon you') which is an Islamic greeting. It is also spoken as Assalamu Alaikum or As-Salaamu Alaikum. We respond it by saying wa Alaykum As-Salam ("and on you be peace'). Linguists have noticed that the pronunciation of these greetings vary from country to other. However, these are easily understood because of their wider acceptance. Some people just say Salamu Alaykum which the purists find offensive. If we attentively listen we will find that some of us simply utter Asala-ma w?le-kum. That too is wrong. Salaam and namaste, therefore, will appear to have rich nuances. Since, however, we have adopted English as one of our main languages we end up finding parallels for them in hello, hi and hey. There are other forms of welcome as well. "Good morning" is one which can be changed to "good afternoon" and "good evening" depending upon the time the two persons meet. Howdy (how do you do - informal in rural areas of the United States), Howya (Irish), shalom aleichem (Hebrew), Sat Sri Akal (Sikh, Punjabi) and Tashi Delay (Tibet) are the others.

Like salaam and namaste we have another melodious term jullay but it has not found a place in the popular list. Jullay is in vogue in the Ladakh region. It too signifies hello, good-bye and thank you. With the Buddhist youth making their mark in almost every field its usage has picked up of late. After all, as a scholar has observed "As long as there is true bowing the Buddha Way will not deteriorate." "In other words", according to him, "as long as we can fully recognise the goodness of others, and can focus ourselves fully in paying homage to that, without any thoughts of self-interest or ulterior motives, but to pay our respects wholeheartedly, we are very close to the enlightened state of mind, which is the focus of Buddhist practice." Therefore, there is more to salaam, namaste and jullay than is generally known.

Aftermath of Mumbai blasts.....

By Allabaksh

Nearly 13 years after a serial blast that took 250 lives in the metropolis, Mumbai, the financial capital of India, was rocked on July 11 by seven coordinated attacks within a matter of about 20 minutes on the suburban railway network during the evening peak hour. Living up to their valiant reputation, the Mumbaikars were on their feet the next morning. The blasts have also sent some messages that need to be mulled over both by the government and the class of politicians who do not hesitate to exploit a tragedy for their narrow partisan ends.

The first reaction of nearly every security expert in the country was to point out that the Mumbai attacks could not have taken place without the help of Pakistan-based outfits like the Lashkar-e-Taiba. Some other have drawn parallel with the London and Madrid attacks, suggesting that Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda, which has included the ‘Hindus’ among its declared list of enemies (Christians and Jews) that it wants to annihilate has started to hit targets in India too.

There is no need to look for contradictions here. The terrorist organisations in Pakistan came up with the backing of Pakistan’s ISI which crated the Taliban in Afghanistan. The Taliban in turn aligned itself with Al Qaeda and now about the only safe haven for the two organisations is in Pakistan. Islamabad has tacitly converted its tribal regions as the hiding place for the top operatives of both the Taliban and Al Qaeda, including Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden, as also the Indian don, Dawood Ibrahim.

For too long have the Pakistan-based terrorist played with the blood of innocent Indians. At one time India had refused to talk to Pakistan unless it stopped backing the terrorists. India has also been asking Pakistan-in vain-- to stop them from crossing the border. International pressure forced both India and Pakistan to start a so-called peace dialogue. Time has come now for India to tell Pakistan that its support to terrorists’ activities in India and the peace dialogue cannot go hand in hand. Of course, Pakistan would be happy to hear that, providing it an opportunity to malign India and also keep the Kashmir pot boiling-just what the Pakistani military wants.

That kind of risk may have to be taken because the patience of ordinary Indians has begun to wear thin in the face of continuous killings of the innocents in different parts of the country by Pakistan-backed and trained terrorists. With complaints of Pakistan’s support to terrorism reaching the US from Afghanistan’s Hamid Karzai too, Washington would probably see the reason behind the threat of the ‘dialogue’ with Pakistan being suspended. Can there be any real peace talk with a Pakistan that clandestinely sustains a bloodthirsty campaign against India?

Official investigations into the July 11 attacks in Mumbai will take a long time to be completed and it is only then that the government will formally identify the force or the forces behind the July 11 attacks. But the unofficial identification of the perpetrators looks plausible enough. In recent months, a number of terrorist modules have been interdicted and a lot of explosives recovered. Investigations into these cases have established the hand of Pakistan-based LeT and other terrorist organisations that have begun to use Bangladesh cities like Dhaka and Chittagong as their headquarters. Pakistan’s ISI seems to have outsourced anti-India terrorist assignments to extreme Islamist groups in Bangladesh, which has become a second home to Pakistan’s ISI. Bangladesh locations make it easier for the ISI to patronise Indian rebels from the North East.

Whatever its current name, the Lashkar-e-Taiba continues to have its headquarters in Muridke, near Lahore. The authorities in Islamabad are not willing to be tough against the LeT and similar terrorist organisations. The kind of attacks these organisations carry out against India suit the anti-India policy the GHQ pursues, sometimes overtly and sometimes covertly.

The government of India has to tell the Pakistanis in no uncertain terms that it should stop fooling India and the world by pretending that a proscribed terrorist outfit becomes a saintly organisation once it acquires a new alias? In the aftermath of the Kashmir earthquake of 2005 the ‘banned’ terrorist outfits in Pakistan, wearing new jerseys, had come out in the open and Gen Pervez Musharraf had declared that he would not stop them from becoming active because they were doing a ‘good’ work.

Pakistan has always been impatient in seeking a favourable resolution of the Kashmir ‘dispute’, which it calls the ‘core issue’. Foreign Minister Kasuri’s comment linking the ‘non-resolution’ of bilateral disputes to Mumbai blasts doesn’t come as a surprise therefore. New Delhi should move beyond its normal practices of voicing protests on such occasions. It has to be frank in telling Islamabad that the ‘core issue’ will not make any progress as long as the terrorist organisations it backs target Indians. Pakistan cannot feign ignorance about the presence of terrorists on its soil and the patronage extended to them by the ISI because by now even the Americans have started talking about it openly.

India cannot adopt a tough posture in the matter of continuing the peace dialogue with Pakistan unless the government gets the support of the bulk of the political forces. It is all very well for the BJP to say that the government is ‘soft’ on terrorism but the remedy it suggests, namely the restoration of laws like POTA, will not guarantee the end of attacks on soft targets by terrorists. Merely introducing a ‘tough’ law does not stop these attacks. Being ‘tough’ with terrorists is more important than arming the government with ‘tough’ laws. During BJP’s six-year rule the country had seen even more serious terrorist attacks-on parliament, the Red Fort, a hijacking etc.

The country may also have to decide whether it is the absence of ‘tough’ laws or, as is more likely, other factors that have failed to deter terrorist attacks and the spread of terrorist network in the country. Among these factors can be counted not only the usual suspects such as lethargy and corruption but also the country’s ill-equipped and short-staffed counter-terrorism forces. The terrorists have been able to penetrate areas in the west and south of India, areas which were at one time considered rather immune from the influence of extremism.

The process of trial of terrorist cases also needs to be expedited because a very long detention of a terrorist suspect only increases the chances of his being freed without being convicted. The terrorist suspects use their long jail sojourn in making new contacts, which helps them in recruiting men and arranging safe havens. Yet another danger from a long detention of terrorists, especially the ‘high value’ ones, is that their patrons would sooner or later try to get them out through ‘unconventional’ methods. The infamous Indian Airlines hijack was basically organised-by Pakistan-to secure the release of Masood Azhar and his ilk held in Indian jails. (Syndicate Features)

What is LTTE upto Now?

By Ajay Kaul

Moreover, it is clear that LTTE's newest position is aimed to create confusion and mislead the world at a time when Sri Lanka appears to be heading for hostilities between the Government and Tamil rebels.

Balasingham's carefully articulated views may also have been aimed garner India's support at a time when LTTE is being increasingly isolated across the world, the latest being a ban imposed by the European Union.

This was made explicit by Balasingham who said that India would put the past behind and approach the Sri Lankan ethnic issue differently. He pointed out that India has been "silent" for the last 15 years on the happenings in Sri Lanka and urged New Delhi to build a new relationship with LTTE.

The media fell for Balasingham's remarks that LTTE "deeply regrets" the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi and considers it to be a "monumental historical tragedy". Newspapers inferred it to be an apology by LTTE.

Although it is known that Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by LTTE, the outfit has been denying it repeatedly over the years. In fact the same denial was repeated by LTTE's Sri Lanka-based spokesman Daya Master after Europe-based Balasingham's remarks appeared.

The European Union recently declared a ban on LTTE, considering that the leaders of the outfit are believed to have been taking shelter in Europe over the years.

India dismissed Balasingham's statement without wasting time. While officials of the External Affairs Ministry refused to react to LTTE's remarks, Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma rightly emphasised that forgiving the LTTE for its "dastardly crime" would amount to endorsing the "philosophy of terror and assassinations".

The LTTE's statement is seen as an attempt to gain the support of India which has been wary of getting involved in the neighbouring island nation after having burnt its fingers by meddling in 1980s.

Balasingham's comment that India had earlier trained and armed LTTE is viewed as an attempt by the Tamil group to arouse ethnic sentiments in this country, especially Tamil Nadu.

But, anybody knowing LTTE would be hesitant to say that the outfit can be trusted. The words and the actions of the ruthless outfit never match and it is notorious for breaking its promises.

The outfit has been saying that it wants the peace process to succeed but on the ground it continued to carry out attacks on Sri Lankan armed forces and even civilians.

The case in point is the assassination of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, attacks on Army Chief and recent killing of Deputy Army Chief.

At the same time, it has pulled out of twice-scheduled Norway-brokered talks with the Government on some pretext or the other. This has even frustrated Norwegian peace broker Erik Solheim, who at one point threatened to call off its facilitation efforts.

"LTTE has as track record of entering into negotiations and then resiling "Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Samaraweera said recently.

This, he said, LTTE has done 'whenever a window of opportunity emerges to address issues such as democracy, human right and development in the North and East, as integral part of normalization under the ceasefire and the peace process."

Significantly, the rebel group has lately carried out attacks against top army commanders apparently to provoke the defence forces to retaliate. LTTE, in fact, succeeded once when the defence forces carried out raids following abortive attempt on the Army Chief in April

Otherwise the Government has acted with restraint. But no one is sure as to how long a full-scale war can be averted. In the wake of spurt in LTTE's activities, the international community has increasingly turned against the outfit.

"LTTE has a track record of entering into negotiations and then resiling from the process, using the flimsiest of pretexts," Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Samaraweera said recently amid frustration of dealing with the rebel group.

This, he said, LTTE has done "whenever a sound window of opportunity emerges to address issues such as democracy, human rights and development in the North and East, as integral part of normalisation under the ceasefire and the peace process." The rebel group has lately carried out attacks against top army commanders apparently to provoke the defence forces to retaliate. LTTE, in fact, succeeded once when the defence forces carried out raids following abortive attempt on the Army Chief in April. otherwise the Government has acted with restraint. But no one is sure as to how long a full-scale war can be averted.

In the wake of spurt in LTTE's activities, the international community has increasingly turned against the outfit. A significant indicator in this regard is the 23-country European Union's recent decision to ban LTTE.

This move is crucial considering that the LTTE leaders are believed to have been taking shelter in Europe over the years. There have also been allegations of arms supplies coming to the rebel group from Europe.

The EU ban, if implemented properly, is particularly expected to choke LTTE's funding as finances are believed to be raised for the rebel outfit by the Lankan Tamil diaspore and other sympathisers in Europe.

For the sake for argument, even if we concede that LTTE was apologising for its act, then the best thing would have been to surrender of its leader Prabhakaran to the Indian authorities to face trial for the crime and then seek forgiveness.

And instead of that, if the LTTE is confessing its role and still asking for apology, it will only be treated as brazen mocking.

In the midst of all this, Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse has offered to hold direct talks with LTTE chief Prabhakaran on the pattern of Nepal where Prime Minister G P Koirala has held two rounds of face-to-face dialogue with Maoist leader Prachanda.

"We are human beings, they are all Sri Lankans. Whether he is Prabhakaran or Mahinda Rajapakse both of us are from Sri Lanka. So we can sit and discuss this ..... so, this is what I am asking them, to come and discuss what they want," the Lankan President said in a gesture of reconciliation.

He said the Government will give the LTTE an outline to amend the Constitution.

"We can get the LTTE to sit and draft what they want... they can discuss," Rajapakse said.

LTTE had earlier rejected efforts to amend the constitution as well as solutions like federalism.

The Lankan Government has appointed a committee of experts comprising representatives of cross section of the society like Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim representatives, intellectuals, lawyers, even Government servants to draft and outline.

India has also expressed readiness to contribute in this regard. Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran last week travelled to Colombo and met Rajapakse. He offered India's experience in federalism as the means of helping conflict resolution in the island nation.

Now, only time can tell what course the situation in Sri Lanka will take in the future. One can only hope for the best for that country as having a "failed state" in the neighbourhood is not in India's interest. PTI Feature

A July downpour
TALES OF TRAVESTY

By Dr. Jitendra Singh

‘‘It is nowhere mentioned in history that for want of a rain coat the lover had to defer his visit to his beloved. On the contrary it is stated that he swam across the unfathomable ocean. That, however, refers to the history of the heart in whose deep waters I too am swimming. Shall I traverse that shoreless ocean?'' Thus speaks Amit, the hero of Rabindranath Tagore's novel ‘Shesher Kavita’ published in 1929. And a few pages later, taking a note book from his pocket. Amit tears out a leaf and writes ‘‘Blow gently over my garden, wind of the southern sea; In the hour my love cometh, and our four eyes meet.’’

A gentle blow of July wind stealthily ripples through the raised follicles. As it has done every successive season. The four eyes meet. Only the participants change. The yearning flows incessantly, nevertheless.

The scene remains unchanged. Year after year. Every monsoon season. A cloud advances from distant horizon. And the history of heart repeats itself. Revived by tiny rain drops! Mind transported back to bygone times. A familiar voice calling from public booth. The clank of the coin and then an impatient ‘hellow’. Over a deserted suburb cinema hall. Rain drops rattle on delapidated terrace. Capturing youthful passions ! Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman squeze their love moorings within the confines of an umbrella overhead. A tentalising spectre of romance majestically grips the black and white screen amid sultry notes of ‘‘Rim Jhim Ke Tarane Leke Aayee Barsaat...’’ Three decades slip in a split second. The heart still longs. For a shower of unending bliss.

A cry of loneliness humming across the wind as lightening grazes the skin. A cloud descends. And follows the dream's downpour. Solitude aggravated by rain drops. Enthused by the impulse unable to find an outlet. Burnt and weary, the unrequited youth still joins in rapturous chorus.

A downpour outside. A downpour within. Glasses of wine and sherry passed on with a sparkle in the roving eye. A drink or two. And the man gets closer. She takes a step backward. As panic rises inside her. This is the playing ground of the rich and the privileged. Much beyond the reach of a poor common man. Who skips a meal to go in for a bottle of beer that beats the humid afternoon. Where, then, is the downpour for Umapathy ? Begum Akhtar's voice fills the void of lament: ‘‘Hum To Samjhe The Ke Barsaat Mein Barse Gi Sharab; Aayee Barsaat To Barsaat Ne Dil Torh Diya.’’

The downpour leaves behind a ruthless stream of gushing waters washing away roofless slums and frail foot-path dwellings whose inhabitants are hardly aware of the elitist nuances of monsoon. But, their unsophisticated minds can sense the wind running through the grass; the thrush in the tree tops; the inexplicable mirth of children dancing in rain with their pot bellies and shrivelled faces brightened up for a brief respite.

Agni dives into sea

By Tushar charan

The scientific community in India has probably never suffered a more embarrassing blow than the failure of two successive space-bound vehicles in July when our most ambitious missile, the 3500-km range Agni-III followed by the much trumpeted communication satellite launch vehicle, GSLV-F02, fell into the sea without reaching their targets. A fate that also befell the North Koreans-and that is not a good company these days!

The Indian scientific community, however, insists that the effect of the twin setbacks will not affect the two different programmes, one related to security (Agni-III) and the other concerns augmenting communication capabilities. That may be true because even a country like the US, scientifically the most advanced nation, has also seen similar failures.

What probably rankles is, however, that with all the brouhaha about its scientific talent India’s record in scientific research is not considered impressive at the global level. Many important research and development projects, including those related to security, are years behind schedule, partly because of red tape and bureaucratic obstacles. Sometimes, the end-result has been rather unsatisfactory as would be indicated by the reported reluctance of the armed forces to use some of the indigenously designed products. The more worrying factor is that at times politics seems to override even security concerns.

The maiden flight of Agni-III, which ended disastrously off the Orissa coast on July 9, was originally scheduled for 2003-04. At that time, the reason given for the postponement was that scientists had discovered some ‘technical problems’ which included snags in the guidance and propulsion systems. By the time these ‘technical problems’ were overcome (or were they?), an altogether unexpected situation had cropped up in the shape of Indo-US civilian nuclear deal which got linked to issues like nuclear proliferation.

The hawks in the US were dead set against the nuke deal, alleging that the deal would only encourage further proliferation and India would be unfairly ‘rewarded’ for illegally trying to gatecrash into the exclusive nuclear club of five nations-US, UK, France, Russia and China.

Watching developments in the US cautiously, India waited till the so-called civilian nuclear deal was cleared by the House Committees where members had earlier aired very critical views, creating an impression that the deal would be aborted before take-off. However, when these committees gave their approval with surprisingly big majority votes, India decided that the time for a missile test had arrived. Unfortunately, the time chosen did not prove to be propitious. The missile had climbed 12 km but failed to achieve separation of the first and the second stages.

The latest Agni variant incorporated some new techniques like rocket motors with burn duration of more than 100 seconds, fault tolerant avionics and launch control systems. Also on test was the velocity of the vehicle, which is said to be 16 to 17 times the speed of sound. Agni-III is vital necessity for meeting India’s security concerns. With a projected range of 3500-km, it can reach targets in north and eastern China.

Despite the present good relations with China, it cannot be forgotten that China, which is militarily many times more powerful than India, had launched an aggression against India in 1962. China may have reconciled itself to the reality of Sikkim being a part of India but it still lays claim to a lot of Indian territory including the state of Arunachal. While nobody would want to see India and China go to war again, it will be unwise for India not to be ready with some kind of a deterrent against the huge Chinese arsenal.

The predecessors of Agni-III, Agni-I (700-800 km range) and Agni-II (2000 km range) are considered as Pakistan-specific missiles and so is Prithvi (150-300 km range), all of which form part of India’s readiness to meet hostile intentions from the western borders. Agni-II is yet to be fully inducted. There is no doubt that despite the so-called bilateral peace talks, India’s western neighbour continues to be hostile by refusing to rein in militants who operate in Kashmir and other parts of the country. Pakistan has also never hesitated in saying that it will attack India with nuclear arms.

The fluctuations in the geo-political equations also require India to look beyond Agni-III. The dismal end of the Agni-III missile may have caused some setback to taking the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) to the next stage with inter-continental ballistic missiles capable of reaching 5000 km or more. The IGDMP was launched way back in 1983; it has acquired some notoriety for cost and time over-runs and technical snags.

In missile technology China is miles ahead of India. Even Pakistan seems to have done better, though it has been largely possible only because of stealthy acquisitions from North Korea and overt and covert Chinese help in complete disregard for its obligations under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

In the field of commercial satellite, India is probably well placed, despite the July 10 fiasco of the 49-metre high and 44 tonne GSLV-F02 which had to be destroyed just 60 seconds after takeoff from Sriharikota. It was to place in orbit the INSAT-4C communication satellite. Its success would have also meant that India would be able to grab a lucrative portion of the business of launching communication satellites. Instead, the country lost a space vehicle that had cost Rs 150 crore and also another Rs 96 crore, the cost of building the communication satellite INSAT-4C.

The problem was believed to have arisen during the first stage itself when pressure in one of the four strap on booster motors (rockets) had suddenly dropped and it failed to develop the necessary thrust. This made it difficult to control the orbit of the vehicle. Earlier, the scheduled lift-off time was postponed by an hour or so because the safety valve in one of the pumps did not reseal when the vehicle was being filled with cryogenic propellants.

The chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation, G. Madhavan Nair, points out that the failure of GSLV-F02 had come after a record 11 successful launches. It could also be a ‘rare’ phenomenon, as some space scientists claim but the fact of the matter is initial flights of some previous communication satellites had ended in failure-in 2001, 2003 and 2004. Failure, may not be thus a startling development, but it does affect the image of an otherwise very dedicated and talented community and, indeed, that of the country itself. (Syndicate Features)