Daily Excelsior... Editorial

EDITORIAL

By Brig. (Retd.) S.N. Sachadeva

By Pinaki Bhattacharya

On 8 September, 2006, the last rites for the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty (NPT) were held when North Korea conducted a nuclear blast. It clearly proved that an unequal treaty, imposed upon the world to maintain the hegemony of a few, cannot uphold world peace and stability in the .......more

Ramadan - A month
of benevolence

Prof. M. Aslam*

EDITORIAL

'Dull' lake

It appears that there is no immediate end in sight to weeds and other eyesores in the Dal Lake, the showpiece of the Summer Capital. The water body is the first major introduction of tourists to the natural grandeur of the Kashmir Valley. There will be no exaggeration in saying this. However, for years now one has been exposed to its decline. It has by a long way lost its sheen. Its area has shrunk and it has wild growth. To make matters worse it has been encroached upon at places. These monstrosities are apart from the reality of a section of population traditionally using it as its home. A lot of noise has been made during the last decade for restoring the Lake's glory. Plans worth crores of rupees have been announced and perhaps implemented as well. One can come across a few clean patches and some improvements carried out on a stretch of one of its banks. But a lot more obviously needs to be done. The picture presented by the Lakes and Waterways Development Authority (LAWDA) in a report on unauthorised constructions from Boulevard to the famous Nishat Garden to the State High Court recently is self-explanatory. According to it, there are as many as 26 major drains that flow into the reservoir. From Nehru Park to Nishat Garden alone there are 363 structures of which only a few have obtained necessary permission. In addition, about 70 illegal buildings exist right opposite the Boulevard road. There are encroachments also near the left side of Saida Kadal in the Nageen Lake and within the Dal Lake. They are stated to have come up prior to 2004. They don't find a mention in the LAWDA report for, it has been stated that they are not covered under the Lake Conservation Programme.

A division bench of the High Court consisting of Acting Chief Justice Bashir Ahmad Khan and Justice Bashir Ahmed Kirmani has expressed serious concern over the existing scenario. It has directed that final notices be issued to owners of structures identified by the LAWDA before demolition to give them a chance to file objective. It has remarked: "If they fail yet again bulldoze their structures." It has asked the LAWDA to pull down unlawful constructions opposite the Boulevard Road after Id-ul-Fitr if the dwellers don't do so themselves. It has expressed shock that "the left side of Saida Kadal has been eaten by weeds and encroachments" and the "LAWDA does not know" about it. The Court has asked the LAWDA to carry out a survey of the Dal Lake and fence it after demarcation. It has observed that a high-level committee headed by the Chief Secretary should decide the type of fencing and executing agencies. It has lauded the efforts of inhabitants in cleaning the Lake. It has directed the authorities to utilise their services in the ongoing "save Dal" campaign.

"At least let us save what is left of it" is the opinion of the Court after taking note of the condition of the Lake. Can anyone disagree with it? Nothing that can be done should be left undone to preserve one of the most precious jewels of the State. The Dal Lake is the nature's rare gift to us. We can betray it at our own peril.

Matter of relief

The homecoming of 64 migrants of Sawara village in Gandoh area of Doda district last weekend should be a matter of immense relief. Their flight early this month to the adjoining Chamba district in Himachal Pradesh --- whatever the reasons --- had made concerned citizens squirm in their seats. Actually it had given rise to serious suspicion that everything was not well in their remote habitat. The State Government has done very well to persuade them back to their village. It appears that a police team from Doda has taken about one week of stay in Chamba district to help them regain their confidence. Initial reports had said that the rural folks had panicked fearing militants' reprisals. The genesis of fear, it appears, was the killing of a person when the members of the local village defence committee (VDC) opened fire on a militant. Since full details are not available it will be unfair to paint any person or officer in black. Nevertheless it is evident that there has been some degree of mistrust between the local inhabitants and uniformed men. It may possibly be because of the disarming of VDC members following the violent incident. It also can't be ruled out that the police may have been tough while probing the alleged murder. These factors are not something that should force a section of people to flee from their homes. With a little tact and understanding such situations can be easily resolved. It is good that to begin with the concerned authorities have agreed to step up security in Sawara. This is the minimum that is needed to be done in the existing circumstances. The promised appointment of five or seven special police officers (SPOs) from among the locals should be translated into action without delay. This will convince the people that they have not been taken for a ride. Their other demands should also be looked into. It will serve no purpose to keep the VDC without its weapons. It is like having a tiger without teeth. If prima facie there is some adverse evidence against one or more of its members they could be made to rest on the fence till the disposal of case against them. This can't, however, be the ground to sideline all of them at once. It hardly bears any reiteration that the VDCs like the security forces are being called upon to do a hard job especially in the undulating Doda terrain where they exist mostly in isolated pockets. This reality is underlined by the kidnapping of two VDC members and robbing of weapons of four of them in another village in Doda district on Friday night. Unlike the well-knit police outfits that move together it is not practical for VDC members to march jointly all the time. VDC members normally share security duties while carrying out their personal responsibilities as well. Such unavoidable manner of functioning makes them vulnerable to the militants who are always on the look out for them.

Given this background it is absolutely essential that everyone interested in peace and harmony works in unison. Police, administration and ordinary masses must live in an atmosphere of mutual dependence. Only as one entity they can ensure that there is no repeat of Sawara.

The ghost of Barak and Bofors

By Brig. (Retd.) S.N. Sachadeva

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed FIR against the former Defence Minister, George Fernandes, and Admiral Sushil Kumar for their alleged role in clinching the Barak deal for the Indian Navy. In the face of strong rebuttal by the retired Admiral and Mr. Fernandes, the investigating agency has stupendous task before it to prove its international and national credibility. The question being asked is if the CBI is allowing itself to be used as a plaything of the ruling entity - its focus swings like the proverbial weathercock - particularly in what politicians perceive as the mother of all scandals: dirty defence deals. It would be premature to write off as "cooked up" the CBI's allegations on the purchase of the Barak missile defence system for our major warships, but it is certainly more than just tempting to suspect that pandering to Sonia Gandhi has "inspired" the investigation, particularly after she made little headway when attempting to drive a nail into Fernandes' political coffin over the import of aluminium caskets to transport the bodies of the Kargil martyrs.

Ever since Bofors there has been open warfare. The CBI's timing is curious; it struck when the former defence minister's political fortunes are on a downslide. Even as the outcome of its probe is awaited, as indeed are the findings of several somewhat allied investigations, let it never be forgotten that a hand-picked parliamentary committee with a manipulated mandate did actually conclude that there were kickbacks in the Swedish howitzer deal.

Between 2002 and 2006, Navy conducted 14 tests of the Barak-I anti-missile defence (AMD) system installed on its frontline warships.

The result: 12 successful, two unsuccessful. The 14th test, incidentally, was witnessed by prime minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, himself on board aircraft carrier INS Viraat in May this year. The two tests which went awry were caused by "human error" and "a technical malfunction", not due to any systems failure.

The test-firing record belied aspersions being cast on Barak-I capabilities by the former Navy chief Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat and Western Navy command chief Vice-Admiral Madanjit Singh. Bhagwat and Singh have their own axes to grind.

If somebody has taken money, he should be prosecuted to the hilt. But why blame AMD system? Barak-I is by far the best system we have to protect our warships from sea-skimming missiles like Exocet and Harpoon acquired by Pakistan and others.

The Barak weapon system is a highly advanced ship-borne anti-missile-missile point-defence missile system, as well as an anti-air/anti-surface gunnery control system. The system is highly effective against anti-ship sea-skimming missiles and aerial threats. First test launch of Barak missile was in August 1991. Barak employs the vertically-launched Barak missiles and Command-to-Line-Of-Sight (CLOS) radar guidance to counter anti-ship missile and airborne attack by aircraft.

The system uses advanced radar techniques for target acquisition, target tracking, own-missile tracking and guidance. The Barak is vertically launched, supersonic, lightweight missile that has a very large and powerful warhead. The system provides a built-in autonomous capability of tactical picture building and threat evaluation. The system is operated automatically from the detection stage up to the target destruction, while providing the operators with a complete engagements situation picture and allowing their manual intervention.

The flexible modular architecture allows tailoring of the Barak weapon system according to warship size and customer requirements with respect to the number of Lines Of Sight (LOS), number of missiles, number of operating consoles, etc. The Barak system is installed and operated successfully on various ships of several navies.

The system provides 360 degrees hemispherical coverage, at 10 kilometers. Barak-1 system, developed in a joint venture between Israel Aircraft Industries and RAFAEL, is based on RAFAEL's vertically launched missile. The Barak system is dedicated to the defence of-naval vessels against subsonic and supersonic anti-ship threats, including aircraft, missiles, smart weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

The highly manoeuvrable supersonic missile uses a powerful kill mechanism based on a 22kg blast fragmentation warhead, which is optimised to provide a large kill radius against missiles and aircraft. To maintain low altitude effectiveness, the missile uses an altimeter to control the sensitivity pattern of the adaptive fuse, and overcome multi-path ambiguities when countering sea-skimming targets.

The system is operated automatically from the detection stage up to the attack and target destruction phases while providing the operators with a complete tactical and engagement situation picture, allowing manual interference. It can intercept threats at a range of 10 kilometers, down to 500 meters from the ship.

Instead of witch hunting we should try to indigenise military hardware. India has a whopping shopping list whose content, quantity and price escalate with introduction of newer technologies and an arms race with adversaries. The indigenous Arjun will be obsolete by the time it goes into commercial production - that is, in case it is accepted by the Army. A 15-year-old aircraft carrier Gorshokov from Russia has completed its repairs after an accident.

There are fast attack naval boats and remotely piloted vehicles from Israel, engines for the LAC from the US, mine detectors from Sweden and so on. The tax payer sees the defence budget going up year after year. The question that arises is: what has happened to the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) which was announced with much fanfare by the then Raksha Mantri on 30 August 2001? Its aim was to ensure procurement, production and research in the field of military hardware. Also, to check corruption. But then why not a Defence Indigenisation Council? Finally, what has gone wrong with the entire process of indigenisation?

If one analyses the circumstances which led to the Tehelka episode and as to whether India can avoid such a recurrence, the warning comes out loud and clear - indigenise or perish. Indigenise or be prepared for more Tehelkas. Because, foreign arms manufacturers have created a situation in South Asia where India and Pakistan have become the most flourishing arms markets.

It is in their interest, as such, that unstable political and deteriorating internal situations or adverse bilateral relations continue between New Delhi and Islamabad or between India and China. And they have succeeded beyond their dreams. INAV

NPT in death throes

By Pinaki Bhattacharya

But it can also signal a new dawn if the various nation-states of world seize the initiative and underline that, which formed the bedrock of anti-nuclear philosophy i.e. even in a chaotic world nuclear weapons as 'currency of power' is politically immoral for it does not secure the people and instead, enslaves them.

Pyongyang's passage on the nuclear road has clearly exemplified this fact. A country of 23 million people is a Cold War anachronism where the basic needs of food, shelter and clothing are unavailable to an ever larger segment of population. The totalitarian regime ruling the state still survives not because of their virtue but because a superpower and an emerging global power find it convenient to shadow box hiding behind its back. This is the regime that exploded the latest nuclear device not to secure its people from any immediate external aggression but to have a bargaining chip so that it can have seat in the comity of nations, possibly to negotiate for increasing food handouts. A more perfidious argument cannot be found in the history of humankind for embracing a nuclear arsenal.

But why has this turn of events come about? The seed for that also lay in the chronically ailing NPT that had promised in 1968, "Each of the Parties to the Treaty undertakes to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a Treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control," in Art VI of the treaty. Close to four decades have past since these pious assertions, but no attempt has been made to achieve this goal. Why?

The primary signatories to the treaty, the USA, the then Soviet Union and Britain never wanted to fulfill this goal. For the regimes which ruled these nations and their ruling elites were secure in the knowledge that the weapons themselves and their ideological arcana gave them power over their people in a way Max Weber had enunciated. He had recognized that the state had a 'monopoly over legitimate violence.'

But Weber did not account for a scenario when states competed amongst themselves to unleash that violence, and in fact when some strove to create an inter-state 'monopoly' of violence thus creating space for an international hegemony. To them their suzerainty is an antidote to an 'anarchic world' of the realist variety.

But now this superstructure they built, is crumbling. And people as much as states and political regimes like order. They thus seek ways to first uphold the moth-eaten edifice. So is all the talk about imposing more economic and political sanctions upon North Korea. This is clearly an attempt to manage the situation as much so the superstructure can be repaired in the interim. But no, the NPT is beyond repair. It has been exposed to be so hollow in the recent past that the more sensible in the modern world will find it to be an amusing relic.

What is the alternative? And who will bell the cat? For that one needs to hark back to the past again to see if there are lessons yet unlearnt. Indian representative at Geneva during the Eighteen Nation Disarmament Committee in 1965, VC Trivedi had laid on the table a proposal for the then proposed NPT. He had called for a two tiered treaty where in the first tier the nuclear weapon states will stop proliferating nuclear material and stop production of nuclear weapons and delivery, an in the second tier, the non nuclear states were to agree not to acquire or build nuclear weapons. In other words charity was to begin where it should have begun. May be some variant of this proposal can provide succor to this current logjam.

In the meanwhile, the world will have to remain vigilant against any attempt at hijacking the while debate on the necessity of possession of nuclear weapons by those who create mythical threat scenarios about a regime of 23 million - strong country handing over its arsenal to non-state actors like the al Qaeda. This has to be recognised as what it is: an effort maintaining the environment for continuance of nuclear weapons in the hands of some. These people fail to see that the proliferation of nuclear arms in the last few decades have turned the logic of deterrence on its head. Who would you deter? How many? Can the world dial back to the days of the Cold War when it bristled with nuclear weapons? - CNF

Ramadan - A month of benevolence

Prof. M. Aslam*

Fasting in one form or the other does exist in almost all the religions. We just had "Navaratra Fasting" for nine days among Hindus. Similarly, many people fast on various days of a week according to their beliefs. However, fasting or roza as practiced by Muslims is an elaborate process stretching over a period of one month every year. The' Qur'an says, "O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you, as it was prescribed for those before you (i.e. Jews and Christians) so that you may (learn) self-restrain" (2:183).

Normally the fast should not affect the daily avocations, and it should not be a pretext for neglecting normal duties. Islam never approves, much less demands, of keeping vigil during the whole night and passing the following day in sleep and indolence. Fast means a greater effort to perform all the usual duties and something else, more prayers and more charity, and all this in the absence of food and drink.

Fasting should make one remember the hunger and starvation of the poor and develop empathy for the deprived people. It is an opportunity to experience hunger so that people will understand the pain of the hungry and will go forward to help them. Ramadan fasting is also an exercise in self-discipline. For those who are chain smokers or who nibble food constantly, or drink coffee every hour, it is a good way to break the habit.

Psychologically the effects of Ramadan fasting are also well observed by many in terms of inner peace and tranquility. The prophet advised those fasting, "If one slanders you or aggresses against you, tell him 'I am fasting."' Thus there is little scope for personal hostility during the month, which remains at minimal. It restrains you from using obscene language. The Propher (SA) as reported saying in a hadith by Abu Hurairah: "He who does not desist from obscene language and acting obscenely (during the period of fasting), Allah has no need that he did not eat or drink." (Bukhari Muslim). We also observe that the crime rate in Muslim world falls drastically during this month.

The human being is creature of physical, emotional, biological and spiritual parts. A balanced mix of these can lead to excellence. The fasting during the month of Ramadan orients the observer to the art of balancing the spiritual essentials with other parts. It helps curb the animalistic tendencies originating from the stomach, in full. It is an effective tool for sobering of a mind and reconstruction of our spiritual faculties.

There are a number of healthcare benefits, which originate from the month of fasting. The basic among them being that Allah does not encourage overeating, the root-cause of many diseases. The Ramadan fasting is a sentinel against disease, provided the faster follows the strict dietary rule: eat during fast breaking and avoiding over-eating It is categorically stated, "...Eat and drink, but waste not by excess, for Allah loves not wasters." (Al-Qur`an, 7:31). We also have additional prayers prescribed after the dinner during the month of Ramadan. According to one estimate, using a calorie counter, the amount of calories burnt during the special night prayer of Ramadan (tarawih) amounted to 200 calories. It is stated that this form of prayer as well as the five daily-prescribed prayers use all the muscles and joints and can be considered a mild form of exercise in terms of calorie output.

The other areas of social significance expected to be developed and addressed during this holy month include helping the poor through alms, charity and practice the concept of neighbourhood and hospitality. Apart from helping to purity, body and soul through this process of self-purification, addressing these areas of social significance are bound to help people to shed all those things, which are not socially desirable.

The practice of the concept of neighbourhood is equally important. The Prophet had said, "one should behave decently with the whole of humanity and foremost among them is your neighbour". It only shows that how much concern one should feel about one's neighbour whether one talks of immediate neighbourhood or a distant one.

On the concept of hospitality, the Prophet had said "those who become happy on hearing the sound of the foot steps of a guest, God will forgive their sins". Since the Muslims try to practice good things to receive forgiveness from God, there cannot be better motivation than this to achieve the same.

One of the most important things fasting affords the observer is helping him control or change his or her habits, the reason being human life is an embodiment of acquired habits.

To change or control a habit is to wage a war on yourself. Fasting helps in conditioning the heart, the soul, and the body on the virtues of patience, tenacity, and firmness in the face of adversity. Let us hope fasting during the month of Ramadan turns us in to good human beings.

(* Prof. M. Aslam is a Sociologist currently working as a Professor, at IGNOU)