Daily Excelsior... Editorial

EDITORIAL

By Mahendra Ved

By Ramesh Kanitkar

The Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, has asked the state governments to desist from acquiring agriculture land for the special economic zones (SEZs). Taking a cue from her, the Commerce Minister, Kamal Nath, too parroted similar views. .......more

New centre of terrorism

By Prasanta Sahoo

EDITORIAL

A 'Kashmiri' assembly

Often on this side of the Line of Control we view the Muttahida Jihad Council (MJC) as an umbrella organisation of Muzaffarabad-based Kashmiri militant outfits. This is a misnomer. The MJC is actually a conglomeration of jihadi groups active in the State. It includes Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad, Brigade 313, Al-Bader Mujahideen and Jamaatul Furqan. All five of them have originated from Pakistan. The LeT has shifted its office to "Azad" Kashmir as the occupied territory is locally known. A highly informative study by renowned Pakistani terrorism expert Muhammad Amir Rana of the Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies (PIPS) points to strategic shift in tactics of jihadi organisations. The study notes that the "President Musharraf-led Government made all-out efforts to stamp out Jihadists but they are still surviving in Pakistan successfully. They have thrashed out new plans and tactics for their survival." Before the Pakistan Government's crackdown there were 104 active jihadi bodies "but now only 25 of them are active." The restructuring of the MJC has also taken place as part of this process. The idea is to project it as a political rather than a militant forum. It is more than a coincidence that the Jamaat-e-Islami (Pakistan) has adopted the same attitude towards Hizbul Mujahideen as Jamaat-e-Islami (Jammu and Kashmir) has done towards the "homespun" group. According to Mr Rana, the JeI (Pakistan) has declared that it does not have any organisational link with Hizb. This is despite the fact that the HM was operating from the premises of JeI offices in Pakistan since 1990. Now the HM has been asked to remove all hoardings and signboards from Jamaat offices across the country. Its offices have too been shifted to "Azad" Kashmir. It needs to be noted that the present JeI leadership in the Valley has also been making conscious effort to disown the HM. It does not even want to recall its one-time description of the HM as its "armed wing". Does this similarity not once again underline the ideological affinity between JeI (J&K) and JeI (Pakistan)? There seems to be a little difference though. The JeI (Pakistan), it seems, has gone about in a roundabout way to keep the HM as its "subordinate wing" as part of its young organisation Shabab-e-Milli (SM). On the other hand, the JeI (J&K) has distanced itself from the HM to the extent that it has picked up an open fight with one of its founders Syed Ali Shah Geelani who continues to exhibit sympathy and support for the HM.It is too much to believe that the JeI (J&K) leadership and Mr Geelani have indulged in a mock fight on the issue.

It is disturbing that all big terror groups remain active in Pakistan the majority of them under assumed identities. The LeT officially banned on January 12, 2002 remains in business without changing its nomenclature. However its "sister" organisation Markaz-Al-Daawa has "renamed itself as Jamaatud Daawa and dissolved LeT's Pakistan chapter and shifted its offices in 'Azad' Kashmir" Jaish-e-Mohammad (also banned along with LeT on the same date) too is active after having acquired the new name Tehrik-e-Khudamul Islam. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (using different titles), Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan now called Millat-e-Islamia Pakistan, Sipah-e-Muhammad (SM), Tehrik Nifaz-e-Shriat Muhammdi (TNSM), Tehrik-e-Jafria (now Tehrik-e-Islami), Hizbul Tehrir, Jamiat-ul-Ansar, Jamaat-ul-Furqan (Al-Furqan Trust), Millat-e-Islamia Pakistan (Sunni Action Committee), Tehrik-e-Islami (Millat-e-Jafrria Pakistan), Tehrik Khudamul Islam (Al Rehmat Trust) are the other jihadi teams visible in the field although these ere proscribed either in 2002 or 2003. Evidently they have succeeded in some cases in circumventing the bar by changing their signboards. Strict measures against them had followed following international pressure on Pakistan. The workers of several groups were arrested, their offices sealed and fun-collection campaigns declared unlawful. The fall of the Taliban seems to have added to their woes. A consequence was distrust among them. Jaish-e-Mohammad, for instance, was divided on the issue on carrying out attacks on Christian missions and foreign interests. A section of Harkatul Mujahideen has vowed to continue targeting foreign interests. It disregarded its high command's diktat to "only focus on Kashmir".

With this background in view there is a serious matter of concern for us in this State and the country. It is clear that most of Pakistan-based terror bodies are moving their headquarters to Muzaffarabad. This may be to claim immunity in the name of so-called "freedom struggle" in the State. One can't be sure either whether it is part of the broader strategy on the part of the Pakistani establishment to hoodwink the global opinion. There is more than one confirmation available that Gen Musharraf has declined to dub terrorism in the State as terrorism. Muzaffarabad has after all been the base camp for all terrorism in the State. Its reputation may take a further dip with accretion in the number of extremist elements. This only means that we can't afford to lower our guards for a long time to come.

Gateway or getaway?

Is Lakhanpur a gateway to Jammu and Kashmir or an escape route for smugglers and unscrupulous business persons? A report in this newspaper has revealed how overloaded trucks become "underweight" in a unique modus operandi adopted to skip excise duty at the State's border with adjoining Punjab. The trucks would get rid of excess load between 30 and 35 quintals by transferring it to smaller vehicles at a convenient point before the checkpost. They would then cross the barrier with the maximum permissible 90 quintals only to reload the transferred goods after "passing" the mandatory scrutiny. This would be done at a pre-determined spot. They would thus be able to substantially chew into the State exchequer. Such a shady arrangement would not be possible without the connivance of some of the concerned staff. Acting on a tip-off the State Vigilance Organisation (SVO) has carried out surprise raids. It is said to have detected large-scale irregularities. Besides seizing relevant records it has recorded statements of many truckers. Inquiries have shown that the truckers also manage to skip the Lakhanpur route. Some of them have driven throw shallow patches of the Ravi river to reach Kathua district at Mandi Manderkan. This is not amazing considering the fertile imagination of people engaged in underhand dealings. The pliable government apparatus further fuels their ambitions

Given the SVO's present high reputation one should feel assured that it would take its findings to the logical conclusion. The guilty must be brought to book. As it is our State is not known for enthusiasm for generating revenue. That it should fritter away what is its lawful due will only further soil its image.

Civilizational confluence in India

By Mahendra Ved

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last week rejected what he called ‘‘erroneous linkages’’ made by the Western world, of treating the actions of a few as typical of an entire community, thus tarring a single faith with the same brush. It was not correct to accuse members of one community of nursing terrorist sympathies. ‘‘On our part, every care is being taken to dispel any such notion,’’ he said, asking lawmakers and Congress party functionaries to ensure that the drive against terrorism was not allowed to degenerate into targeting an entire community.

His references were obviously to the Muslims. For the crimes of a few, many more are suspected and ostracised. That those convicted of terror acts are almost all Muslims makes it worse.

But if there is a clash of civilisations spawned by 9/11, India is trying hard to hold out.

Indians have never really accepted that there is a clash of civilisations. One of its foremost thinkers, the late president K R Narayanan said: ‘‘Civilizations do not clash. Only barbarians do. Civilisations only produce a confluence.’’

But moving against what seems a global tide, when terrorism has become synonymous with Muslims and where anyone with a Muslim name or just a beard is suspect, has not been easy.

Despite many faults and failures, things have held. There are enough avenues that allow people with grievances to seek redress or, at least, let off steam.

India has dealt with militancy among the Sikhs and Tamils. But as Singh told a group of Muslim ulema, who condemned terrorism in clear terms a month ago, supporters of the Sikh separatist movement or the sympathisers of neighbouring Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers do not represent entire communities.

Indeed, he used administrative experiences-- and lapses-- of the past to drive home the point to the investigating agencies that while there could be no compromise with terrorism, people should not suffer because of religious or regional affiliations.

He told the ulema: ‘‘The terrorist has no caste, no religion and no language. Terrorists are our common enemies.’’

He said that while the Indian state was secular, religious leaders were required to play their role in thwarting any ‘‘cheap conspiracy’’ that hurt the community and country.

Indian Muslims number close to 150 million, the world's second largest after Indonesia. Militancy among them is a fairly recent phenomenon. The reasons cited are many---a historical past when they were rulers and large landowners, economic disparities, illiteracy, unemployment, pan-Islamic influences-- but these pertain to the whole community, not only to the militants.

Indians have for long been proud that they are on the side of the right in the global war against terrorism. Hardly an Indian, anywhere, has been found involved in it.

But that is neither adequate nor comforting. People, after all, are not living in isolation. India has a particularly complex neighbourhood where militancy thrives and gets exported.

Then, there is the sectarian approach of sections of the majority Hindus, whereby prejudices beget prejudices, violence begets violence. Indians have yet to live down the numerous religious riots, the Sikh killings of 1984 in retaliation for the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards, and the more recent killings of Muslims in Gujarat.

Militancy and terrorism, even if ‘‘imported’’, require local support to thrive. The growth of indigenous militancy is a painful realisation. Each time explosions rock market places, railway stations and places of worship it adds to mutual distrust.

India's worst terror violence came to Mumbai in 1993 after the destruction of an ancient mosque in Ayodhya. Even as the metropolis stuggles to cope with another round of explosions that occurred last July, a string of judgments on the 1993 events is being delivered by a special court.

Investigations and trials over 12 years have shown that even if the conspiracy for serial explosions was hatched abroad, there were enough locals to carry it out.

It is reassuring that investigations and judicial processes have been meticulously followed.

Their fairness has not been questioned. But some of those convicted have pointed to the ‘‘circumstances’’ that led them to the path of revenge. They rightly asked, before full court and media, whether those responsible for unleashing violence on ther community, the Hindu mobs, would also be brought to book.

India is trying to set its house in order. But it is not easy with millions still illiterate, not when political and religious leaderships seek to ‘‘protect’’ and divide them.

Fatwas are still issued, asking Muslims, particularly women, to ‘‘purge their minds of corrupting influences’’ by shunning radio, TV and cinema, visiting friends or markets and having any contact with men other than their immediate relations. This stereotype is changing, but slowly. For a thousand such cases, there are also a few of silent defiance, of families sending their women to schools and colleges and reaching out to the wider world. Some of them at least will take the road trodden by Azim Premji, the richest Indian, tennis ace Sania Mirza or the man holding the highest office today, President APJ Abdul Kamal- to name a few.- CNF

Between agriculture and SEZs

By Ramesh Kanitkar

What about the most complicated part of pricing and the compensation? Going by the government's track record, pricing and compensation has always faced major hurdles, leading to litigation. All state governments are in the race to create SEZs, whether it is West Bengal, Maharashtra, Haryana or Uttar Pradesh.

With its panoply of tax write-offs, large-scale land apportionment under state auspices, a key policy intention when it comes to SEZs is to rev up investments in the high value-added sectors, petrochemicals and such, with high ratios of physical capital and skill-sets to labour. Since the capital labour ratio in the high value-added industries is higher than those in the low value-added sectors, a given level of investment would employ fewer people. Employment growth would decelerate. At the same time, since the capital-output ratio is far higher in the value-added industries, the rate of economic growth is actually likely to slow down without constantly rising investment levels and capital deepening.

In such a scenario, output per worker would of course be going up faster than before. But note that such productivity growth is also likely to result in sluggish employment growth in tandem. The capital-intensive, favoured sectors may not be economically inefficient, at least to start with. The high-wage rates on offer would tend to attract the better talent. But it's a moot point whether against the backdrop of open-ended give-ways and tax holidays there would be sufficient incentives to innovate and update. As for downstream linkages, the fact that some industries are inputs to other industries, does not in itself imply market failure and underinvestment down the value chain. Sans distorting factors, the market would verily produce appropriate amounts of investments in the linkage industries too.

Besides, it needs to be asked if growth needs necessarily to be at high cost. The chemical industry may have value-added per worker four or five times than, say, textiles, but its capital-labour ratio would also be several fold higher. Coagulating funds in some sectors at the expense of others (given scarce resources) via policy mandate may have thoroughly unintended consequences!

It could be argued that ambitious industrial policy turned Japan into an economic powerhouse. It is true that in its high growth years in the 1950s and '60s the level of per capita income there was still relatively low and proactive policy did boost growth to the double digits. But remember that in those 'take-off' years, Japan (and possibly Korea) had the world's highest ratio of human capital to per capita income. Given that we in India continue to have poor social indices, the proposed tax exemptions in SEZs seem doubly distorting. It means artificially diverting resources for outcomes that may not quite increase the social rate of return. In any case, extensive industrial policy play in the land of the Rising Sun comprehensively repressed the financial sector, which later led to stagnation and umpteen other untoward economic consequences that are eminently avoidable here.

Be that as it may be, the fear that India's food self-sufficiency could be weakened as some agricultural land is taken out of production needs to be grounded in hard facts, not emotion. A look at China's experience demonstrates how agriculture and industry can co-exist, and even flourish. Today, China produces almost twice as much food as India, and with less arable land! And its industrial sector is also outperforming India's.

India's land area is more than 297 million hectares according to World Bank estimates. Its arable area is 162 million ha. Area under cultivation is 120 million hectares (as per the ministry of agriculture data). So even at present a good 40 million hectares are left uncultivated. This does not include semi-arid lands, which can also be brought under cultivation of high value crops as demonstrated by Israel. Compared to these, the 150 or so special economic zones (SEZs) formally approved so far will cover a bare, minimal 30,000 hectares.

A large proportion of the land to be allotted to the approved SEZs will come from the land already acquired by the respective state industrial development corporations. Some large units being promoted by specific corporate houses have caught public attention, but that should not be used to pose an irreconcilable trade off between agriculture and SEZs. It is not very difficult for state governments to follow the Maharashtra example of stating unambiguously that arable and fertile land will not be acquired and whatever land is acquired will be at market rates. Under these two rather simply administered conditions, farmers' interests will be protected.

If Indian agriculture will be undermined it will be because of the unreformed policies in the agriculture sector which continue to encourage rice cultivation in Punjab and sugarcane cultivation in Maharashtra where the soil is completely unsuited for it and cultivation is based on total dependence on ground water exploitation, causing long-term environment degradation. The extensive input subsidies that are neither equitable nor conducive to efficient and resource-conserving agro-practices cause far greater harm than development of SEZs could ever do.

The closed nature of our agriculture sector where cumbersome Government procedures still impede a speedy import response to emerging supply shortages until it is too late and the misplaced notions of national security and self-sufficiency colour policy debates will be the bane of agriculture development and certainly not SEZs.

This is actually even more counter-productive and misplaced than arguing that all our problems in Indian agriculture are the result of a deep conspiracy being hatched by the rich countries under the aegis of the WTO. It is time, therefore, to have a good look at the state of policy and institutional regimes in agriculture than to be distracted by non-issues like SEZs. INAV

New centre of terrorism

By Prasanta Sahoo

According to Indian Intelligence agencies the recent incidents of terrorist attacks and trafficking of drug and human being has a very close connection with the Bangladesh based terrorists. Evidence says that the recent terrorist attacks in Baranasi and the serial blasts in Mumbai local trains and seisure of huge drug has close connection with Bangladesh based terrorists. During the recent Indo-Bangladesh talk on August 28, 2006, Indian delegations have provided evidences regarding the involvement of Bangladeshi terrorists in the Baranas and Mumbai attacks. They also provided enough evidences regarding the recent seisure of huge drug in Delhi and Mumbai and other trafficking of girls and children. New Delhi also raise the issue of North-East insurgent groups taking shelter in Bangladesh territory and carrying out their operations from there.

Bangladesh denying its involvement in India's security concerns

However, Bangladesh continues to maintain a policy of complete denial. It has started to make false counter-claims of anti-Bangladesh elements operating out of India. The Bangladeshi authorities have been quick to deny that groups from their country are involved in such incidents, and Dhaka-based Western diplomats tend to downplay the fundamentalist threat. They view local movements as rather insignificant fringe groups and emphasise that our Government has been denying categorically that it will not allow its territory to be used for anti-national works against any country. Also commented that many Bangladeshis were moved by the loss of up to 50 Bangladesh nationals in the 9/11attack. Even, a Bangladeshi embassy official in Washington branded the attacks ‘‘an affront to Islam.. an attack on humanity’’.

Recent Indo-Bangladesh talk: Some positive hopes

The last home-secretary level talk has ended on August 28, 2006 in Dhaka. During the talk India and Bangladesh have decided to set up a joint mechanism to solve border disputes, combat cross terrorism, curb insurgency and to stop proliferation of small arms and organised crimes. India has been conveying its concerns to Bangladesh since long and the matter was also raised at the four-day home secretary level talks. Both sides agreed to examine the possibility of quickly instituting a bilateral mechanism to deal all the bilateral security issues.

A joint statement was also signed by home secretary V K Duggal and his Bangladeshi counterpart Safar Raj Hussain. Indian officials have said New Delhi will seek Dhaka's cooperation in nabbing some Bangladeshi nationals who were allegedly involved in recent terrorist strikes in parts of the country. Bangladeshi Home Ministry officials also said they were likely to hand over a list of nearly 1,000 criminals dubbed as ‘‘top terrorists’’ to their Indian counterparts seeking New Delhi's intervention for their return home to face trials.

The joint statement also said that terrorism posed a common threat to both nations and requiring ‘‘improved co-operation in tackling the menace’’ This includes regular meetings between the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) and Border Security Force (BSF).

The two sides also noted the decision of the JBWG to meet annually and undertake a joint visit to the enclaves and areas under adverse possession without prejudice to each other's positions. According to the statement, the two sides have also decided to put in place mutual agreements that would lead to better prevention of the trafficking of drugs, arms and explosives across the border.

Conclusion : Some steps ahead

The terrorist attack on the United States on September 11, 2001 and the Afghanistan and Iraq was thereafter have radically changed the security environment facing countries. As the nerve centre of terrorism Bangladesh posing serious treat to India's national security. The subversive movements of cross border terrorism, fundamentalism, insurgency, proliferation of small arms, trafficking of drugs and human being has ruined the Indo-Bangladesh bilateral relations. All the bilateral talks have been dominated by the issues border management and terrorism. Improper management of Indo-Bangladesh border is the main reason of all types of security problems of India.

Instead of blaming Bangladesh about its involvement India should develop its border infrastructure, infrastructure agencies, should use more sophisticated technique and technologies to guard the border. India should make its own border security personnel, law enforcement and other official corruption free. The tools and technology of counter terrorism must stronger and more sophisticated. It should make its diplomatic channels more efficient.

Furthermore, the Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) like civil societies and think-tank groups should become more powerful. The groups and agencies working towards the cultural cooperation among the countries across national borders should be provided adequate resources to work freely and independently. There are several organizations working in both the sides as civil society like CPD (Centre for Policy Dialogue, in Bangladesh) and CPS (Centre for Policy Studies, in India) to bring the bilateral relations towards more positive way. India should build a very constructive bilateral diplomatic channel to deal with Bangladesh.

India should also make a very strong border management and national security strategies to defend its borders and preserve the national security. However, there is also a good sign of improvement in the bilateral relations after the recent bilateal talk between India and Bangladesh.- CNF