Sad indeed

Not very long ago we had expressed satisfaction in these columns that the Northern Command's focussed efforts had brought down suicides and fratricides in the elite force deployed in the State. Clearly, however, these remedial measures have to be a constant exercise. These have to be applied in an equal measure to the other uniformed forces as well. Working in just as challenging situations the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Border Security Force (BSF) too are exposed to such disturbing spectacles from time to time. In the latest occurrence a CRPF officer has shot himself with his service rifle at his camp in Kokernag. Why did he do so? It was not immediately known. The reason is perhaps not important. The moot question is: why should soldiers and jawans fritter away their precious lives? They are supposed to make supreme sacrifices only in the discharge of their onerous duties. That these happenings are a universal phenomenon can hardly be a cause of comfort for us. We have to completely get rid of their reasons sooner rather than later.

AQK threat to world peace

By Anirudh Prakash

With the US threatening that future aid could suffer because of the release of Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, with India making impatient noises at the delay in responding to the dossier on the Mumbai terror strikes, with the Obama team no longer trusting provisions for American troops in Afghanistan to safely pass through Pakistan and looking at alternative routes, and with the US envoy, Richard " bulldozer" Holbrooke in Islamabad, the writing on the wall is crystal clear for the Pakistan establishment: it cannot any longer remain in denial about its terror infrastructure.

That Islamabad is perhaps slowly coming to terms with this reality was evident from Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik's statement that "the reply to India's dossier is ready and will be given to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani." Gilani himself had stated earlier that Pakistan will make its report on the Mumbai terror attacks public, New Delhi, however, remained unimpressed. External Affair's Minister Pranab Mukherjee dismissed Gilani's statement, insisting that he cannot attach any importance to statements from Pakistani authorities, "irrespective of whether it comes from the lips of the Pakistani prime minister or from any other Pakistani authority" unless he received such communication through official channels.

As pressure mounts on the dossier issue, the new Obama administration, with no Bush baggage, will brook no nonsense when it comes to closing down terror camps in Pakistan. In what many consider as indicative of Obama's approach towards Pakistan, Washington has reacted strongly to the release of A.Q. Khan, whom it considers a serious proliferation risk.

The concern over his release turned into irritation when Pakistan refused US officials a meeting with Khan. The House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Howard Berman went so far as to suggest that US aid to Pakistan could suffer because of the development. The Congress will take Pakistan's refusal to allow US officials to interview Khan "into account as we review and create legislation on US-Pakistan relations and the circumstances under which US assistance is provided to Islamabad, "said Bergman.

US intelligence provided some of the data in the Indian dossier, including the phone intercepts between the terrorists and their handlers in Pakistan. By ignoring the dossier India has given it, Pakistan is showing the US-and the world--it is in denial. If Pakistan pins the blame on Bangladesh, it will only make the US more wary.

Indian American lobby groups have also had no trouble convincing lawmakers to stop throwing money at Pakistan's military. Sixty members of Congress and foreign diplomats recently attended a reception on Capitol Hill hosted by the Indian American Task Force.

The nuclear deal made the India lobby a powerful presence on the Hill. It brought together an Indian government that is savvier about playing the Washington game and the 2.3 million Indian American communities. They are now working with Washington think- tanks to urge the US to intercede on India's behalf.

India also has old friends in Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Three weeks ago, when President Asif Ali Zardari talked up the need for a $1.5 billion aid package pending before Congress, Joe Biden, then vice president-elect, said the Mumbai attackers had to be punished. Biden drew a link between aid and India's demand for action on a list of 20 terrorists but stopped short of asking Pakistan to hand over the suspects to India.

Obama's tough call against Pakistan is underscored by the drone attacks in Waziristan. No one doubts his commitment to using military pressure on terrorist groups there. After first slamming Obama's world view as "native," hawkish Senator Joe Lieberman told the Brookings Institution; "President Obama has made very clear that this is a war he intends to win and he has moved swiftly to take command of it. The Obama team is going for a tough love" approach. The administration has signalled, by the drone attacks for example, that it is going to take a hard line on reigning in Islamist extremists. But it also has announced an increase in the humanitarian aid budget for Pakistan to invest in schools and other infrastructure.

It appears to be an act of defiance on the part of Pakistan to have freed its supposed father of nuclear bomb, A.Q. Khan, after he was placed under house arrest by the former president Pervez Musharraf's government in 2004. Khan's arrest then and his release now seem to be calculated moves. Then, Musharraf wanted to assure the world that Pakistan is not a rogue state only in terms of Islamic terrorism but also for creating the dangerous nuclear black market with Khan as its underground CEO. The decision now seems to be exactly the opposite in intention.

President Asif Ali Zardari and prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani seem to be looking to revive local popularity by freeing Khan. The rightwing elements among the clerics as well as those in the army and intelligence establishment look upon Khan as a hero who had hoodwinked the Western powers and smuggled nuclear know-how to countries like North Korea, Libya and Iran. For these elements, Khan is a kind of Robin Hood.

But while running a clandestine nuclear WalMart may have pleased unsavoury elements, it was illegal and immoral. It flouted global proliferation norms and gave technology to irresponsible nations. Khan is thus not a mere troublesome and ideological foe-his actions have created a dangerous situation. Libya has opted out of the nuclear game but others have not. Khan has endangered the world by passing strategic technology to extremist regimes. What would stop him from now helping out the "non-state actors" who have proliferated in Pakistan and the neighbourhood?

That is why, the decision of the Pakistan government to free Khan should cause sleepless nights in capitals from New Delhi to Washington. Khan's release does not help Pakistan's credibility with the international community either.

Pakistan must, for its own safety, probe deeper the extra-mural activities of Khan. They have so far resisted any move to have him questioned by the Americans, despite their close links with the Bush administration. With Richard Holbrooke, Barack Obama's envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan visiting those countries, it is almost certain that Washington will take a dim view of the Zardari government's action. Pakistan better have a good excuse to give Washington and the rest of the world for this bizarre decision. INAV

BJP in dilemma

By Sondip Bhattacharya

Like "ghar vapasi" (home-coming) to some partymen, the strong revival of Ram Janmabhoomi issue by BJP president Rajnath Singh was also a reflection of the party's dilemma whether to adopt strident Hindutva posture during coming general elections or not. For BJP raising political temperatures on Hindutva issues has become a pre-poll ritual. Five years ago months before the general elections-the party had passed a resolution at its Raipur national executive reiterating its commitment to build the Ram Temple. Rajnath Singh did an encore at party's national council meeting in Nagpur, only a couple of kilometres away from the RSS headquarters.

BJP's dilemma stems from the RSS pull to tow a Hindutva line in lieu of its cadres' support during the elections and the allies' pressure to abandon contentious issues like Article 370, Uniform Civil Code and of course, the temple construction. Janata Dal ( U ) is already demanding more seats in Bihar on the ground that BJP won't be able to win them. The party is facing similar pressure from Biju Janata Dal in Orissa.

On the other hand, stung by "Babri-demolisher" Kalyan Singh's desertion, party cadre from UP want to rake up Hindutva to counter Samajwadi Party and BSP's assiduous courting of Muslim vote bank. The party's Lok Sabha tally from UP came down from 58 in 1998 to 10 in 2004 only because it diluted the Hindutva ideology. This is how some senior members of the party feel. The BJP has thus decided to revert to its crore issues while keeping a cushion to keep the allies happy.

Before the election in 2004, Venkajah Naidu famously opined that brand BJP was triple A rated. In his words, it had Atal, Agenda and Alliance. At a subtle level it meant the BJP had a leadership, which apparently the rivals could not parallel; it had distinct policies or a brand appeal; and a larger social appeal which translated into an alliance.

These are the defining characteristics that differentiate the BJP of the 1990s from that of 2009. In 1998, by propping up an ailing Sitaram Kesari as its president, the Congress created a leadership vacuum that Vajpayee just seemed to complement. In 2009 there is competition form Manmohan Singh, Gandhi Junior and importantly within the BJP-with an ex-vice president; a PM in waiting; and a chief minister who has carved out a niche following. Shekhawat's innuendoes have ensured that Advani would not enjoy the sort of edge that Vajpayee had in the late 90-an unchallenged projection for the top spot that helps mobilise the floating votes.

The BJP then spared no opportunity to build its brand-importantly constructing a premise of sympathy that Vajpayee was a man who had been denied power by a bunch of power mongers brandishing as secularists and then was robbed of power by a regional satrap who could not look beyond the quagmire of her litigations. Market communication was perfect-newspapers were swarmed with photos of a man whom India awaited, and who was distraught by political deceit.

Today the party's talk of susashan is not very easy to differentiate from its talk of suraaj in 1998; in fact LK Advani even had a rath yatra named after the same. In no two elections do voters want to listen to the same message, especially if you have already had a stint in power in between. It creates indifference amongst voters. As the brand market matures, mass products give way to numerous custom ones-a custom message for every segment, yet woven into the larger identity of the brand. This is exactly why in a state like, UP, where caste is the single biggest differentiator among voting segments, Mayawati organises sammelans by caste right down to symbolism and slogans coined for each one. Only a party conscious of the difference between its market segments could come up with a slogan like " Brahman shankh bajayega, hathi badhta jaayega". In a national scenario there are several more differentiators for each segment than simply caste and only a party that does this homework will come up with a message that promises some deliverable to each one. Jaded messages would not cut much ice. The BJP's growth in urbran and semi urban areas in the early '90s had much to do with the growth of the middle class in the late eighties which was looking for a political identity, especially after the left lost its charm.

Today post liberalisation, several upwardly mobile middle class youth, rightly or wrongly, assume that drinking in a pub is integral to their lifestyles. If championing the cause against alcohol consumption and waywardness of the youth was the goal of the Shri Ram Sena, the health minister did a better job at it by citing the drunken crime rate than what it achieved with violence. The means of delivering the message matters as much as the message, especially to a class that can catalyse one's journey to power, and politically correct brand associations constitute the imagery of the party in the voters' mind.

In the nineties, the BJP crossed the threshold of strength to emerge a strong value adder to regional forces and a nucleus at the Centre. The lack of catchy messaging and its precipitous decline in UP have reduced its gravitational pull and restricted its allies to half a dozen states where it is critical value adder. At the peak of its glory the NDA constituents numbered in dozens.

Multiple failed alliance with the BSP in UP broke the party's covenant with its core support base. The BJP failed to realise that it was this state which was delivering the most seats with voteshares in the range of thirty per cent, that this was a base that had to be nurtured longer before embarking on adventurous social engineering.

The run up to Battle 2009 starts with a seemingly challenged BJP, more than what it was in 1999 or 2004. The Congress made up for its lagging start in 2004 with a maze of alliances. With the number game now not on the BJP's side, its time for fresh ideas, focused communication, and innovative strategies. There are no circumstantial or default advantages now, the party needs to create them. INAV

Police: Understaffed, Ill-equipped

By Joginder Singh

Illusion, if any was there, has been junked by the Prime Minister, in his latest address at conference of the Chief Ministers of the States of the country, about the source of terrorism and unstinted support of the Government of Pakistan to it.

He unambiguously said on 6th January, 2009, that the terrorist attack in November, 2008 in Mumbai, was clearly carried out by a Pakistan-based outfit, the Lashkar-e-Toiba. On the basis of the investigations carried out, including the agencies, of some foreign countries, whose nationals were killed in the attack, there is enough evidence to show that, given the sophistication and military precision of the attack, it must have had, the support, of some official agencies in Pakistan.

Talking about the terrorism in 2008, the Prime Minister added, that , we faced a severe challenge from terrorist groups operating from outside our country. Many of them act, in association with, hostile intelligence agencies in these countries. The attempt has been to exploit our vulnerabilities, and at times they do succeed. Our problems are compounded, by the fact, that we have a highly unpredictable and uncertain security environment in our immediate neighbourhood.

The governments, in some of our neighbouring countries, are very fragile in nature. The more fragile a government, the more it tends to act, in an irresponsible fashion. Pakistan’s responses to our various demarches on terrorist attacks is an obvious example.

This is not for the first time, that India has laid, the malaise of terrorism at the doors of Pakistan. In every terrorist attack, the signature of Pakistan, either for providing training or logistic support has been there.

How is it, that this war, against terrorism, has not been taken up won so far ? The only solution, our hawks advocate, is attack on Pakistan and war with it. War might give a feeling of jingoism, but is no solution of any problem, as can be seen by the latest wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and our own past wars with Pakistan.

The answer, why the war against terrorism is half hearted and not at full steam has been given by the Prime Minister himself. He admitted that our defence mechanisms, to thwart the numerous threats are inadequate. There may be criticism, that the range of the instruments that we possess to deal with internal security threats are not sufficiently sophisticated.

Clearly, there is need to review effectiveness of our set up for the collection of technical signalling and human intelligence. The training and equipment provided, to our security forces also require a careful review

He also acknowledged that the 10 Mumbai attackers had managed to evade coastal surveillance, even though the need for greater vigilance along the coastline had been stressed at the last meeting of chief ministers, in view of threats that sea route was being explored by Jihadis as an alternative to land routes".

Obviously the Prime Minister has under lined that not only our intelligence collection is deficient, but so is, our preparedness to deal with such threats. I do not know whether it is due to ignorance or apathy or a mixture of both.

The Union Home Minister admitted in a reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, in 2008 that ’ "There are states with 25-30 percent vacancies in their police forces".

Look at Maharashtra, which has borne the brunt of terrorism. According to its then Home Minister, 11000 police posts were still be to be filled. The current strength of the state police force is 131,000 and there is a need for more 55,000 personnel. Assam, another State affected by terrorism and insurgency, has as many as 7,776 vacancies in different categories. Chhattisgarh has about 7,000 .

Our country has, one of the lowest, police-to-population ratios in the world. Against a UN international norm of 222 policemen per lakh of population, India has 143. We his works out to just 14,000 police stations for more than 6.5 lakh villages. In most Western countries, the figure is between 250 and 500.

Italy and Mexico, two countries, with strong presence of underworld and mafia groups, have 559 and 492 policemen per lakh of their population.

According to the latest figures compiled by the Centre, there are more than 1.3 lakh vacancies in the police all over the country.

Even out of this, nearly 15 to 20% ,are diverted for VIP security.

New counter terrorism operations require more information, intelligence and technology, apart from the use of force and latest sophisticated weapons.

The State Police Forces, which constitutes, a major bulwark against the menace of terrorism, needs to be strengthened, in numbers as well as in equipment and training to meet the challenges.

The CAG report for 2006-07 tabled in the AP State Assembly says ; "Given the magnitude of extremist activity in the state, requirement of AK 47, 7.62 mm Self Loaded Rifle, nine mm carbines, 5.5 mm for police stations were projected in perspective plan 2001-05 to improve striking capability of police force and Rs 45.71 crore were sanctioned during 2002-07. Most of the equipment were procured only during 2005-06. In all the police stations, of test checked districts, it was observed that they continued to depend on outdated weapons like 0.410 muskets and 0.303 rifles, with majority of weapons being kept in district headquarters.

The State Government did not release its matching share (Rs 98.9 crore in 2002-03 to 2005-06). The percentage of utilisation of funds in the year of sanction was very low at 13 to 38 per cent". The above report is only a sample and illustration, of what is prevailing, all over the country, in almost all the States.

The actual problem is, that police, which is a State subject, is understaffed, ill-equipped and poorly trained. Beyond doubt, once a person joins the force, after initial training, it is rare for him to be exposed to another refresher programme. It is more so, at the cutting edge level of the Constables and officers in charge of the Police Stations, who are the first to face, the initial onslaught of terrorism and crime. No overhaul of the security system will be effective, without improving the capacities, and capabilities of the police forces and equipping them with the latest gadgetry, to match, what the terrorists use against us.

The New Union Home Minister has tried to change the system, by bringing about a law to set up a National Investigation Agency and amending the Unlawful Activities Act. He wanted to do more, but the coalitions partners opposed the same, for their own reasons of vote bank politics. A major problem in the country, is that every reform, every change is viewed, in the light of the election prospectuses, and quite often the National Interests get a back seat.

An overhaul of intelligence and investigative agencies is also in the pipeline, which includes equipping the intelligence agencies with the latest gear and tools. Their manpower is also proposed to increased, apart from ensuring sharing of the intelligence.

The new measures, to tackle terrorism, have been widely welcomed, but several doubts, are already being raised about how effective they will be. The proposed measures, however ignore an overhaul of the State Police Forces, which is in most cases, is the first defence, against the terrorist attacks. Our leaders have to realise, that the country should come first and every time, where the National Interests are concerned. Where will be their perks, and offices, if India is destroyed, by the no non sense Jihadi’s, who are out to kill and demoralise us. It is true, that often the courage, to do the right thing, in public office, can be the price of the office.

Instead of searching for their elusive training camps in Pakistan, we should simply, stop putting the problem under the wraps. While human rights are alright, but we should also recognise victim’s rights. We must accept, that our citizens have a right to life, liberty, and property, along with the right to defend them in the best manner they can.

If in the fight, against terrorism, the terrorists are killed, no body should shed breast beat and shed tears for them. We must put an end to terrorism, or terrorism will end us. (PTI)