A promising gesture by PM Imran!

It’s only this morning that I had posted under the caption ‘Cowards,’ lamenting over the disgusting reaction of a section of the politicians, press and citizens who were apparently guilty as hell for the air the strikes, we had conducted two days ago, retaliating for the Pulwama terrorist attacks claiming 46 lives of Indian security forces.

A MiG Bison flown by Abhinandan was shot, and he was captured, paraded on the TVs as a proof of his custody. India talked, networked and argued endlessly, calling Modi names or PM Imran names, on an incident that could ordinarily happen in any aerial conflict.

I had written in my above-quoted post, Quote –“Grow up! Abhi is safe and will return safely! Or else…..”- Unquote

It was not a blind chest beating but based on a careful analysis of the situation on both sides of the border. Today, I watched on my TV PM Imran making an announcement in their National Assembly that he would ‘as a gesture of peace’ release tomorrow Wing Commander Abhinandan. Notwithstanding the recalcitrant and indisciplined media crying hoarse that it is a great victory for India, it was the sanest thing to do for PM Imran. Had they not made the mistake of parading him, gloating in joy as if they have taken back Kashmir, the Pakistan army could have just kept the truth of his captivity hidden for a while, which plot they lost. The international pressure was also mounting grossly against Pakistan, which would not have missed the sharp cricketer-turned-Prime Minister.

More extended captivity would have made India restive and reprisals would have been untenable for a cash-strapped Pakistan. Therefore, PM Imran had to yield returning the lad back to India. Nonetheless, I would welcome this as an effort to tear away from the shadows of his generals and hope PM Imran would show the same maturity in dismantling the terrorist camps stop fortwith the border firings and proceed against his listed terrorists, as per law.

The turn of event, of the promise of the return of the officer, was one of a surprise and Pakistan did promise to surprise India. I wrote earlier too, by destiny we are neighbours, and if terrorism is leashed on us, India can adequately respond, the point which has now been proven beyond doubt. It is now up to the leaders to discard jingoistic elements around and to smoke the peace pipe and plan ahead for a peaceful co-existence, Kashmir included.

The loud thumping of desks, as PM Imran announced his decision of returning to India tomorrow as a gesture of peace was unmissable and could probably reflect the secret desire of all Pakistanis. Till tomorrow when the Pilot Abhi returns home,

Jai Hind!

Sampath Kumar
Intrépide voix

Hello Mr. Imran Khan!

Destiny has made Pakistan our neighbour, and it is time that you must consider a rollback of the war-cries and usual rhetoric and try some out-of-box-thinking to come out of the rut. Your terrorists’ outfits have grown beyond controllable size and threaten the fate of your beleaguered nation. The groups, JeM, LeT or Hizbul, have spread their tentacles to many parts of India, from Kerala to Kashmir, as well as causing disruptions everywhere in the world bringing disrepute to your nation.

Your nation has a bloodied history with many leaders executed; Zulfikar Bhutto, Gen Zia, Benazir to name a few. A few others have been exiled or jailed for corruption. A mighty army prevails over puppet regimes, and generals are de facto rulers your nation, who live on their propaganda of annexing Kashmir valley and defeating India in a military war. They have not been able to come to terms with their successive defeats in 1965, 71 and 99 encounters with India.

In such a scenario you take charge Mr Imran Khan; you have been fighting the corrupt regime of Nawaz Shariff and were a welcome change. It is time you call the bluff of the generals, who often threaten us with their nuclear armaments. It is time that you come out of the shadows of the military and the terrorists.

Your nation’s obsession with Kashmir has cost you dearly, made your country bankrupt and a pariah. It is now time to make amends and re-write history, not for the sake of yourself, but for the sake of the millions of youth and children, who are growing amidst hatred and frustration. The past will be forgotten, the present has to be lived in peace, and the future must be secure and safe for every citizen of both countries.

India has never been a jingoistic or a warmongering state, our concern is elsewhere, and we have repeatedly proved it to you that your size and might are no match to ours. If our country would have wished, we could have chosen to retaliate in military terms after the cowardly URI attack but restrained with the surgical strikes. Now too, the air strikes are not a threat to your country’s sovereignty, but to erase the threat of terrorism from wherever, within our country or yours.

As the prime minister of Pakistan, do what your predecessors have failed to do. Please sit with India without crafty generals around you and analyze how our strong economic strength can bail your nation out. You could try the following: a) stop the Chinese usage of Gilgit region for any activity b) withdraw from OBOR, which will bleed your nation economically c) wind up all terror camps and make the listed terrorists face the law in our courts (don’t worry, there are several options for clemencies and condonation and they all could die of natural ageing) d) leave Kashmir in peace.

Do it not for you, but for the sake of humanity, and both our nations can thrive in prosperity, diverting a portion of the defence costs for the welfare of our citizens. Or stay with the generals and perish as a nation!

Sampath Kumar
Intrépide voix

A new josh!

A New Josh!

The agony and shame over the death of 42 soldiers of the CRPF, from a terrorist attack, could be somewhat redeemed by an airstrike by the Indian Airforce into the Pakistani Occupied Kashmir terror camps.

The operation involved a squadron of 12 Mirage 2000 fighters, who took off at 3.40 am today, flew 42 Kms into the enemy occupied territories. Balakot JeM Camp was struck at 3.45 am, Muzzafarabad camp was destroyed at 3.48 am, and Chakothi Camp erased at 3.58 am, all in a 21-minute operation dismantled a few JeM, LeT and Hizbul launch pads and terror camps.

The attack assumes greater significance than ever in the past, including the surgical strikes in response to the earlier URI attacks, because every wing of Pakistan armed force, para-military and intelligence were on the highest alert for Indian retaliation. The American President Trump’s recent statement that Indians will soundly respond adds credence to the Pakistani apprehension. Therefore, to intrude into the enemy occupied territory, dodging their surveillance equipment, completing their precisely targeted goals to return safely back home shows an entirely new India and a ruthless ‘josh.’

Embraer and AWACS system were deployed to pinpoint the target installations and our satellites hovering above were positioned to relay the right logs on the territory. I am sure that India has pricked the bloated ego, frequently and boisterously chanting, we too are a nuclear power and have cut off the itching fingers of the hawkish Pak army generals.

Back home, I will not be surprised if the political opposition yet again cries that it was all a sham and tuned for a comeback for Modi and his BJP party. Some leaders even went to the extent of blaming Modi wilfully sacrificing a few soldiers to whip up war hysteria and score a win in the coming elections. To all of them, my advice is, “Chill.” They can doubt Modi or a quieter defence minister, but not the jawans guarding the country’s borders, or the pilots who did their duty and returned safely.

India has exhibited a high degree of maturity in demolishing only the terror camps and not by reckless war cry driven by a revengeful attitude. However, there will not be much left of Pakistan, which will be erased from the world map, if it tries any misadventure, Vajpayee said it once and iterated by the former Pakistani President, General Parvez Musharaf too, recently in a press conference, post-Pulwama attacks.

PM Imran should wake up and realize that India is much longer than a pitch of 22 yards that he has been used to all his life with match-fixing referees!

Jai Hind!

Sampath Kumar
Intrépide voix
Pic: an armed-to-the-teeth IAF Mirage 2000 in sortie

Media R.I.P!

Media RIP!

It’s a known fact that most media houses are under the control of corporates and political parties, and thus it is not surprising that the same news is presented in many distorted ways to suit the tastes of their masters. Governments and political parties use the advertorials stick, or to a lesser extent denial of audience or interviews, to punish the media who stand up to question their acts. The nation, why, the world has never been in a worse kind of influenced media reporting, which are merely views preferred by the owners of the press, electronic and print alike.

Governments, both the Centre and the States continue to be the biggest spenders and publicity seekers and have bottomless pockets, which the media can never ignore. Taking a stand contrary to the government’s liking often results in denial of advertisements, rendering profound financial anaemia of the press.

The editor of one English newspaper published from Kolkata, before the last assembly election in West Bengal, had mistakenly concluded that the ruling party led by Mamata Banerjee would badly lose and went ballistic on Narada sting scam. They owned the most popular regional TV channel as well, which too echoed the editor’s choice to the extent of an overkill. Shockingly for them, they lost in their gamble, resulting in the editor silently quitting. During this entire period, the media was denied any rightful share of the state largesse of limitless advertisements.

The editor was replaced, the new one now toes the line of the state, singing paeans and obliterating the earlier stand of theirs. The advertisements are back, to the extent that a 16 page may find as much as 8 advertisements. The situation could be even more distressing when it comes to the Central government, which has vast resources and covers pan-India.

I guess the money spent is public’s and therefore the wielding stick of the government, forcing media to toe their line must be made more accountable. If the award of advertisements can be regulated transparently, it may reduce the opinionated and biased news as well as fake news that we are force-fed.

Real democracy is one, where there is a fearless press, daring to report as is without fear or favour.

Sampath Kumar
Intrépide voix

India is great and Indians, greater!

Jaish-e-Mohammad lost no time in gloating over the success of their attack on the convoy of CRPF personnel in Pulwama in which 40 or more jawans have died. The next day an army major was killed while diffusing an IED in Rajouri and on the following day a Brigadier, Lt. Colonel and a deputy inspector general of police were among those seriously injured, while four soldiers died as well, in the Pulwama’s Pingleena area in a seventeen-hour-long encounter. The army could eliminate a few terrorists, including high ranking leaders of the
J-e-M located in Kashmir.

The reaction across the country has been one of anger and disbelief, the opposition parties blaming the Prime Minister and the government and ordinary people mourning the death, with candlelight marches. Many states, organisations, sportspersons, film actors, industrialists and ordinary people have come forward to help with a kind of magnanimity towards the kith and kin of the soldiers, displaying a rare unity unseen recently.

There also is a sad aspect, as ordinary Kashmiri citizens, students and others living in many parts of India have been targeted and attacked by criminal elements, displaying a misplaced national fervour. This situation perhaps is just what the terrorists could be wishing to materialise – alienation of all Kashmiris, whose return to Kashmir could trigger retaliation and driving out of non-Kashmiris from the valley.

This just should not be allowed to happen. The impact of killing thousands of Sikhs in the aftermath of the orgy of violence over Indira Gandhi’s murder is not to be forgotten, the wound still raw and unhealed to those families and relatives of the slain innocents.

The government, I am sure, is weighing all options and would appropriately respond to the terrorists attack, sending a strong message to our recalcitrant neighbour against such misadventure in the future. Calling the army names- effeminate as one acquaintance quoted, is not only plain criminal, but also is an act of treason.

Kashmir is India’s, Kashmiris are Indians, and all Kashmiris are not Jihadis. Mischievous elements from across the border have infiltrated and mingled with the society in Kashmir to create trouble in a proxy war, where we as Indians should be vigilant and avoid communal hatred.

Our country will cross over this hurdle too, soon.

Jai Hind!

Sampath Kumar
Intrépide voix

What could be our role?

Not being able to digest its defeat in repeated battles and wars and conceding a sizeable portion of their country on the east, Pakistan has now resorted to growing vermin, duly trained by Taliban forces from their north.

Conventional warfare is hard to begin and harder to end. It required political will as well. The political one-upmanship at this juncture, where the most horrendous attack has taken 40 lives away, all young and posted to the border state. Moving adequate troops and armaments do not get unnoticed with surveillance technology vastly improved, ever since we fought the last war with Pakistan.

On the contrary targeted lone-wolf attacks have become the order of the day, by indoctrinated youth, often local, who are ready to lay down their lives. They are by far the worst fear for any government around the world today. What should not be forgotten is that enormous training, logistical support and explosives are provided to these terrorists before any operation.

Even remote association with any lone-wolf attacks are promptly denied by the recalcitrant neighbour, and to pin them legally down is an arduous, if not an impossible task, as we have witnessed after the 26/11. What do Indians have to do under the circumstances? Keep an eye for any suspicious new face in the neighbourhood, ensuring identity verification while letting out premises to strangers, watch their dialect. Do not hesitate to report to the authorities if anything is amiss.

Hardcore terrorists often present as devout family men checking in with woman and children to pose as a family, which too may be bogus. Schools and educational institutions should teach not to handle any strange objects and to report anything object unusual and out of place, especially at crowded areas like markets, temples and airports. Look out for overzealous radical students and radical members of faculty too, who could easily influence youth and act as recruiters and honeytrappers. Be wary of the rumour mongers and political garbage throwers.
Another ideal space to look out for terrorists is social networking sites like Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter. I wouldn’t care less if the government monitors the networks to catch these elements and would not waste my time crying that such actions in the more substantial interest of the security of our nation are attacking our freedom. It’s more important to avoid Mumbai blasts, Mumbai carnage of 26/11, URI and now Pulwama among many such.

Let the government and our army tackle the menace of terrorism in the manner best suited, but as the citizens, we all have a role to play, identify and isolate the culprits. Please also discard the loudmouth politicians who keep criticising and want holidays to mourn the martyrs. We do not wish holidays and will mourn by being vigilant and taking them all down by their neck, just like perhaps how Israel dealt with terrorism.

Enough of rhetoric and the nation stands united to pack these thugs away to hell forever. Do not hesitate to lend your hand!

Jai Hind

Sampath Kumar
Intrépide voix
pic courtesy: The guardian

Pulwama attack

The convoy of nearly 75 vehicles belonging to the Central Reserve Force was moving slowly in the snowy streets of Pulwama among mist and rain. Waiting in the hiding were a few and a car laden with hundreds of kilos of explosives, driven by a determined terrorist, a young Kashmiri, Adil Ahmad Dar, who was brainwashed to join the Jaish-e-Mohammad and offered a fast track union with the almighty in heaven and a permanent harem with seventy-two virgins at his command.

The worse happened when Adil drove his explosive-laden vehicle right into the convoy and a bus full of brave lads of the CRPF, 44 of them, and scores injured. The impact reduced the army vehicle to smithereens and its occupants charred and blown to pieces. The terror outfit of Pakistan Jaish took the responsibility in a clip soon after the incident, calling it retaliation for the killing of its leader Masood Azar’s nephew Usman Haider by the security forces last year.

The entire nation of 120 Billion Indians is seething in anger, expecting a frenetic PM Modi to retaliate immediately and with brute force, which he would expectedly do soon. The attack has come as a boon in uniting India, divided in the wake of elections and the related acerbic political attacks by and between the government and the opposition. If responded appropriately to the terrorist attack, PM Modi could straight win the electoral bout without putting his gloves on. Again, a misadventure could rejuvenate the ‘I told you so,’ opposition brigade, who will capitalise from any misstep.

For Imran the sporty PM of Pakistan, nothing could be worse than an attack on the mighty neighbour India and the much-despised Modi. His country is bankrupt, and he has been busy seeking necessary finance to avoid a failed nation status. It could blow a hole in his plans for a bailout for the flamboyant cricketer PM. Some juvenile Indian politicians are attempting to take a potshot at the government and PM Modi, which is sad and senile.

US, Russia, Israel, France and many other countries have rightfully condemned the dastardly attack and China is muted in its comments, refusing to condemn the attack outright. India is in consultation with a host of countries, to discuss the response to the attacks.

My heart goes to those young widows of the martyred personnel, to their parents, a few of them braving to send their left out living sons to the borders to face and finish the enemies. To me, they seem taller than the tall snowy mountains, while on the TV channels we also see a few virtually unable to hide their glee at the discomfiture of Modi and his government.

Strange could be the reason, but India has been glued together yet again by the attack and is demanding for asserting itself by a timely and an appropriate response.

Jai Hind

Sampath Kumar
Intrépide voix

The Indian Bureaucracy!

As I see the police commissioner of Kolkata being retained for further questioning in the chit fund related cases, I ponder at the fall in the overall levels of credibility of civil servants.

In my tenure as the Chairman of Leather Export Promotion Council, I had the opportunity to work with some of the outstanding IAS officers, upright and efficient, as well as a few not so. Overall the Civil Servants were the blue-eyed citizens of the society and commanded immense respect everywhere. However, most suffered from overburdened with the aura and kept to their own colleagues in the services. There again, seniority matters, the assigned department matters and the regulars look down upon the promotee officers elevated from the state civil ranks or had passed exams after being IPS or IFS officers.

Notwithstanding any, the bureaucracy is the combination of all internal organs of the administration, their political masters, merely the body and their acerbic tongues. The officers, under the fear of transfer or subjugation, has learnt to be passive and subservient to the legislature, often where they must disagree with their masters. ‘Bara Babu’ and ‘Babu’ sadly is all that could differentiate a high secretary in the government and a lowly clerk.

Not that everything is gloomy in the bureaucracy. The UP officers now have annual secret balloting to identify the most corrupt of their colleagues, though the government is dismissive of such noble efforts. Ironically in one case, an officer voted as most corrupt was selected as the Chief Secretary of the state. A transfer is a weapon wielded by the politicians, and here the courts have declined to interfere, ‘on normal administrative exercises undertaken by the government.’

It’s impossible for any government official at any level from Panchayat to Union ministries to indulge in any corruption without active or passive participation. The Commonwealth Games scam, the 2G, the land grabs could never have happened with an exercise of due diligence by the bureaucracy, which sadly they have utterly failed. It is only the signature of the officers that could move wealth. As the country marches ahead, there would be a need for greater probity and transparency in every step. From a few million dollars in GDP, in the seventy years, we are nearly touching US$ 3 Trillion which could treble in the next ten years.

The urge of the politicians to invent new ways and methods to subvert systems and plunder will not change too soon, in the wake of their greed to get rich, and also to feed the thousands of party cadres. It is in the interest of the politicians to allure the officers or by subversive methods to force the officers in meekly complying with their crafty designs. It is the job of an upright officer not to get entangled in placating wily politicians, like in the present case of the harassed Kolkata Police Chief, who is undergoing lengthy traumatic interrogation regarding scams.

Not all politicians are corrupt, and most officers are honest. It’s they who have to propel the nation forward without fear or favour, by identifying the black sheep and discarding the bad fish. I wish the return of the days when the proposals for marriages, place their first preferred choice for officers from the government.

Jai Hind!

Sampath Kumar
Intrépide voix

Needed, a rebooting!

If the Leftists grabbed power in 1977, it was the land issue and the reforms that the government did after that and kept the rural poor contented for the next 34 years. The youth, born in the intervening years, enjoying the ownership of the government gifted lands had nothing to be grateful as it was a matter of right by then.

Mamata, a politician for long, sniffed an opportunity in Nandigram and Singur and rallied her force to dislodge the leftists, in the wake of a clamour for a change by the people. This was even though Buddhadev Bhattacharya was, by far, the most industry-friendly Chief Minister and I had close opportunity to work with him. He was a victim of an internal power-struggle of an old group within his party, severely opposing him, without realizing the changes happening elsewhere in the world and in the country.

Be that as it may, Bengal seems to have lost the initial affable and approachable Mamata, who now is walled by a few crony capitalists, a few colleagues from her party and many film stars and favoured media-persons. After her initial trial of fielding Tapas Paul and Shatabdi Roy resulting in impressive victories for both, a long list of actors, sportspersons, poets and artists, thus conquering the culture space of an awestruck state. Her closeness to the film industry was perhaps by a few film producers and financiers, sadly not necessarily with a spotless image.

What happened in the seven years are endless shows, cultural, music, dance, sports and of course political and a few industrial. Bengal’s industrial decline started in the seventies and had not been reversed ever since, despite, great talks and endless hopes. The state suffers no different from the country in its failure to create employment, forcing the youth to empower themselves on street corners as unauthorized hawkers, driving auto rickshaws-most of which are unlicensed, or vending noodles and egg-rolls. This, despite the five years of the state-run business summits making a business proposal announcement running into several lac crores.

Mamata’s anarchist and street fighter role refuses to leave her and so is the stigma of the chit fund controversies, embroiling her many colleagues. She is ready to take on any and everything remotely challenging her authority, the latest being a notice slapped on the editor of a leading news channel. Such incorrigibility must end if she must attempt to portray herself as an alternative face of Modi.

Notwithstanding, her love for all her colleagues and her subordinate officers, the chair of Chief Minister has certain limitations. I guess by sitting in a dharna recently, she dared to breach it, regardless of the unpardonable delay of four and half years of hibernation in the investigation of the chit fund scams by the Centre. It’s widely believed that the BJP ostensibly sought TMC’s tacit support in the parliament for a closure of the scam files but had to strike suddenly and severely and if I may add, unintelligently at the police chief on a Sunday evening at his residence. Such things should not provoke a PM material!

I guess the advisory team around CM Mamata becomes mature and not let her indulge in brawls and acts, unbecoming of a state head. They could field a second face for such trivialities if they have one!

Sampath Kumar
Intrépide voix

Unassailable!

Unassailable!

Seldom has any head of the government come under such vicious attack from the opposition and the media combine, like in the case of Prime Minister Modi. I must begin with a preamble that I hold no brief either for BJP or Congress, but am unhesitant in stating my personal opinion, particularly for mis-governance or pathetic actions by either.

The more I watch Rahul, the more I get depressed as to how misdirected a man’s motto and the fight could be, being drawn into the blackhole of one-point agenda, of attacking Modi, right or wrong. The perception war, often unsubstantiated leaves one wondering about Rahul’s abilities beyond being an agent provocateur. Every time, while on the TV he displays some paper but does not muster the courage to go back to the Supreme Court with the new ‘revelations’ to pin the government.

Cropped noting, or fabricated papers are brought out on a free highway of deceit and disruption, which Rahul could have produced to the court for urgent intervention, which he has avoided. The Rafale Purchase negotiating committee member, Air Marshal Sinha was on the air, deriding the baseless allegations following the disclosures by N. Ram of Hindu. Ram now concedes that he published from whatever documents he could access, which appears a part and not the whole, and that too doctored.

There is no doubt of a concerted effort to malign Modi, his the government and the Rafale deal in particular by powerful foreign defence industry and lobbyists, who have lost billions of dollars due to India opting for Rafale. Their efforts are promoted by paid media and irreverent politicians like Rahul Gandhi. The more severe the attack, the coarser the shrill of Rahul, he displays utter lack of self-respect.

This afternoon Rahul claims that the “PM is a thief and has stolen Rs.30000 crores,” Rahul claimed. This is by far the most direct below the belly attack ever, and I expect PM Modi or his party to respond with alacrity and judiciously and shut such rabble-rousing either by the intervention of the court or by public disclosure on the Rafale deal. The time of passing the clarification in sealed covers to the Lordships in the court seems to be over now.

I do not personally conclude that Modi’s silence could be an admission of guilt, but he may be waiting for a massive retaliatory strike when ED could arrenst P Chidambaram or Vadra, embroiled in several alleged cases of fraud.

Rahul is doing a great job as the president of Congress, lifting the sagging morale of his party members in the wake of many contenders to the PM chair, Mamata, Mayawati, Akhilesh, Sharad Pawar, Yashwant Sinha, or even the lowly Azam Khan types. He as a Prime Minister material…. well, I guess the country may be spared of the ignominy.

This does not mean that I unequivocally support Modi, his several failed promises and many inconsistencies. For now, he seems unassailable. I’m ready to eat the humble pie!

Sampath Kumar
Intrépide voix