PM Speaks on Economic Crisis: Actions Not Words Will Do

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today spoke in Parliament on the current economic situation of the country. What he said was not different from the statement made by finance minister P Chidasmbaram a few days ago in Parliament. Prime Minister said to increase exports so did the finance minister. Prime Minister said external factor like the US Federal Reserve Policy and tension in Syria following Washington’s threat to strike as the reason for depreciation of Indian rupee. But these words are hardly reassuring unless the government acts to boost industrial production and encourage investments.

Another reason advanced by Prime Minister for falling rupee was Current Accounts Deficit. The only way to bring down the CAD is to increase exports and reduce imports. Oil is one item that costs India heavily since 80% of our requirement comes from import. On this Prime Minister said, “the current account deficit was unsustainably large and to remedy this there needed to be a reduction in our appetite for gold and consumption of petrol products, alluding to a need to reduce imports”.

There is an atmosphere of uncertainty on the economic front. The government’s failure to check corruption has eroded the credibility of the government. Only yesterday, the Supreme Court has reprimanded the government for the ‘missing files’ of coal block allocations describing it as a criminal act of the government.

Ratan Tata has said that India’s credibility in the global market has eroded considerably in the recent times due to lopsided policies. Tata said that many important economic policies were being manipulated or delayed to benefit vested interests in the private sector. Without naming anybody or any particular industrial house, Tata hinted that some leading industrialists were behind these manipulations.

Manmohan Singh preferred to keep silence on this pointed question raised by Tata.

Asking people to stop the lure of gold is not going to cut ice in the country. Indians would continue to buy gold no matter what the economic situation is like in the country.

Prime Minister thinks that Indian rupee has overshot its real value and hopes to reverse the trend, but how? He has not said much on this count. His cabinet colleague Anand Sharma, Minister for Commerce has come out with the suggestion that government should issue fresh ‘gold bond’ to attract gold from private individuals. But the Reserve Bank of India is yet to give its nod. The outgoing Governor of the RBI D. Subbarao in his last speech in Mumbai has blamed the government’s wrong policies for the present economic crisis and the slide of Indian rupee.

But our Prime Minister says, “Forex markets have the notorious history of overshooting... unfortunately this is happening not only to the rupee but other currencies too".

The notoriety of ‘foreign market’ is not a child play Mr. Prime Minister. People will not discard Indian currency for no reason. If our economy is strong and market robust, foreign exchange market would buy rupee and not sell it as is the case now. Remove the impression that the government policies are being guided and dictated by a handful of big houses. Infuse confidence in the investors foreign and domestic to revive economy. It may take time. But the government is in a hurry to push populist legislations to attract votes for the elections. When our Prime Minister talks of reducing fiscal deficit by controlling subsidies, he sounds far from convincing as subsidies will further rise by the food security bill and there is no question of government reducing subsidies on fertilizers and kerosene. Think again Mr. Prime Minister as the time is running out.

~R. K. Sinha  

‘Purvanchali’ Now a Vote Factor In Delhi: BJP’s Smart Move

Long neglected in Delhi, large number of the people coming from Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand in the national capital whose contribution in nation building cannot be ignored has finally got some recognition from the BJP. Congress has been taking dig at people of Bihar, Jhrakhand and Eastern Uttar Pradesh for making the capital ‘overcrowded’ and for rising crime graph. Chief Minister of Delhi Sheila Dixit is on record saying some time back that migration from Bihar is putting strain on resources of Delhi. Indirectly she has been blaming Purvanchali for water and power shortage.

With elections approaching, the BJP held an impressive rally of people from Purvanchal in Delhi on Wedensday and promised a number of steps for the people from this region. I was present at the rally in my capacity as ‘co-in-charge’ of Delhi elections to assist Mr. Nitin Gadkari who is in charge of the Delhi polls. Encouraged by massive response, Mr. Gadkari assured the people that if the BJP is voted to power in Delhi it will declare the festival of ‘Chhath’ a public holiday. It has been a long standing demand of the people of this region to declare ‘Chhath’ a holiday but the Congress government made promises to do so in the past, but never did it. 

According to one estimate there are more than 30 lakh voters in Delhi who are ‘Purvanchalis’ and can change the fortune of a candidate in at least 20 Assembly constituencies in the capital. But the people of the region also expect the BJP to field some candidates in the polls belonging to this region. But it is up to the Party leadership to decide.

Mr. Gadkari also promised the people to provide medical benefit under free health care scheme and 10 lakh low cost houses to benefit economically weak families of people of Purvanchal.

In electoral politics, ‘pressure group’ works. I am not suggesting that the people of Purvanchal are exerting any pressure on political parties for a due share in participation. But the fact remains that unless people are united as a group, political parties would not care for them. I have been working steadfastly in trying to infuse a sense of unity among the people from Purvanchal drawn from various caste groups but with a cultural bond. There are many festivals including Chhath that people from this region celebrate in a particular pattern. It has been my endeavor not to create any division in the society but to unite people of the region for better service to the nation with dedication as a group of people.

Purvanchalis are nationalists to the core. Their contribution to the freedom movement and in the post independent India can’t be undermined or ignored. They have gone too far from their hearth and home in search of livelihood. In the process people from this region has transformed states like Punjab into India’s granary by working as farm labourers. Mumbai for that matter owes its growth to the migrant population from Purvanchal. It is not only the labour class that works for the growth of the nation but hosts of qualified engineers, doctors, academicians, entrepreneurs and social workers besides politicians from the region are an asset to the nation by their continued contribution to the uplift of the society and the country.

~R. K. Sinha     

Food Bill or Vote Bill: Implementation A Challenge

Finally the Food Security Bill has been cleared by Lok Sabha. It is a matter of time when the Bill becomes an Act that ensures to provide subsidized grain to the poor at the rate of Rs. 3 per kg rice, wheat at Rs. 2 per kg and coarse grain like Bajra and Jawar at the rate of Re. 1 per kg.

The purpose of the bill to provide food grains to the poor is laudable; few can dispute it. But the implementation of the scheme is not only a big challenge but it also will open flood gate of corruption where the millions of tons of food grains meant for the poor would be sold in open market, the beneficiaries of the scheme would not get it.

The government would supply 5 kg of food grain in a month to the beneficiaries of the scheme. Now can the policy makers and the government of the day explain how a person can sustain himself or herself in 5 kg of grain for the whole month?  The people for whom this scheme has been brought generally eat only twice a day or maximum three times a day. There is no refreshment of snacks in between the meals. They are mostly laborers and daily wage earners who burn lot of calories while working. If you divide 5 kg by 30 it comes out to be less than 170 grammes a day. That means a person would have to divide his quota of ration into two or three and then he will consume just 85 grammes of rice or wheat for one meal. The policy makers and the people running the government like the Prime Minister Manmoohan Singh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Mantok Singh Ahluwalia should not compare their intake of meal with an average working class Indian!

Had the government the will to act, it would have brought new legislation to enforce the existing supply chain of ration under Public Distribution System strictly; it would have taken care of the needy people of the country. Then there are states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh where modified scheme of PDS provide rice and wheat to the people under BPL (Below the Poverty Line) at Re one a kilogram compared to Rs. 3 and Rs.2 a kilogram under the new Food Security Bill. The system is working well in these states. Where was then need to bring in the new legislation?

Burdened with scores of scams and corruption, the UPA Government finds itself at the receiving end. The people are angry. The Government has failed on every front, be it economy, industry and agriculture. The managers think that it was MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) that helped Congress win elections in 2009. This time it thinks the Food Security Bill will rescue the Party and help win the next general elections. This is not going to happen. It will take more than a year to make roll of beneficiaries who come under the scheme. Then it will depend how many people entitled to the subsidized grain get it through distribution system or by direct cash transfer.

In the mean time the food subsidy bill is going to rise to the tune of Rs, 1.30 lakh crores a year; thus increasing our fiscal deficit further. Only officials and middlemen are smiling, for 90 percent of the money would go into their pocket.

~R. K. Sinha 

Desperate Cong In Search of Allies

Congress appears to be desperate to get allies for the 2014 general elections. All indications point to a heavy loss of seats; above hundred seats in Lok Sabha from the present strength of 206. With prospects in Hindi heartland looking bleak for the Party, the Congress leaders have decided to save its position in four southern states. It is only in Karnataka where the Congress is poised to gain few seats because of the chief minister Siddaramiah who introduced some populist programmes soon after becoming chief minister this year. But in the remaining three states namely Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala the Congress is in hopeless situation.

In Tamil Nadu, the Congress is desperately trying to strike a deal with the DMK.  The Congress took first step when it ensured Karunanidhi to spare its votes for the Rajya Sabha elections so that Kanimozi could win. She retained her seat with the help of the Congress. Now Rahul Gandhi made gesture by greeting Karunaidhi on his birthday besides other Congress leaders. The CBI has gone slow on cases in the 2G scam against Kanimozi, A Raja and Dayanidhi Maran to appease the DMK. Karunanidhi is too willing to tie up with the Congress since its prospects in the elections are also bleak. The DMK will lose heavily and the Congress may draw a blank if it goes on its own in Tamil Nadu. Even Finance Minister P Chidambaram may not be able win a seat from Tamil Nadu in next elections. He is looking for a safe seat in Union Territory of Podducheery. Jayalalitha is poised to sweep the elections in the southern state and her Party the AIADMK will either support the NDA or go with the third front but not with the Congress.

In Andhra Pradesh, the political decision to split the state with an eye on 2014 elections has not paid. The Congress is facing hostile reaction from the people and its leaders from Andhra region. In Telegana it is advantage Congress but should Telengana Rashtriya Samiti  chief Chandra Shekhar Rao decide to retain its separate political identity there will be more trouble for the Congress in the region. The Congress is now trying for the merger of the TRS with it to win the region. But the BJP is set to gain in Andhra Pradesh. Massive response of the people to Narendra Modi’s rally in Hyderabad early this month is seen as BJP gaining ground in the state. On the other hand the Congress is facing stiff challenge from Jaganmohan Reddy and his party which is breakaway group of the Congress.

In Kerala, the allies of the Congress are intact in form of the United Democratic Front but the growing unpopularity of the chief minister Oman Chandy will cost the party heavily in the Lok Sabha elections. Chandy is involved in multi-crore scam of solar energy. The Congress bid to remove Chandy from the office has not been successful so far. With taint on its face, should Chandy continue to head the state government and lead the Congress in the elections next year, not only the Party but its alliance partners in the UDF including the Muslim League would suffer to the benefit of the Left Democratic Front; the Communists stand to gain in the polls.

~R. K. Sinha

Free Fall for Rupee: Govt Policy Failure

The free fall of rupee is a direct consequence of policy failure of the UPA Government on the economic front. To say that the foreign direct investment is not coming because of ‘negativism’ spread by the CAG reports on scams is a travesty of truth. Two senior ministers of the government are on record to blame the CAG for the current crisis. One should remind the government and the ministers that the scenario on the domestic front is equally bad as domestic investments are also not coming.

There is a crisis of confidence in the investors that is holding the investment besides liquidity crunch due to faulty policy of the Reserve Bank of India which has tightened screw on cash flow.

The government desperate measures like RBI selling dollars to arrest the fall of rupee has not helped. Today the rupee hit a record low of 65 for 1 US $. To say that exporters are happy is also wrong since in the long term the volatile rupee is not going to help the exporters in India whether it is in IT sector or automobile.

The Current Account Deficit (CAD) has increased to 10% of the GDP which is hitting the foreign exchange reserves. It has increased tenfold in the past five years. The CAD is estimated at more than 80 billion dollars at present.

The government allowed generous import of luxury goods like cosmetics, cars, foreign liquor, electronic goods like television and computers. There is no custom duty on bringing goods worth Rs. 35,000 from  places like Dubai, Bangkok and Singapore. Flat screen LCD and LED televisions are available in foreign markets at half the price in India. For instance 32 inch LED branded television can be bought for as cheap as Rs. 12,000 whereas in Indian market the price of the same set varies between  Rs. 30000 to Rs. 35,000. Many people who frequently visit these cities have made it a lucrative business. They buy cheaper sets abroad and bring them to India without paying any duty and sell them in India at higher price but less than price in Indian market making profit. It is sort of smuggling of the goods with government approval.

The government has woken up now and has imposed 30% custom duty on television sets brought from foreign land which will come into force from 26^th August. Similarly, the government has increased import duty on gold to check outflow of dollar without realizing that it will increase gold smuggling in the country since the lure of yellow metal will not die even if prices are high.

Economic experts are of the view that widespread corruption in the country has shaken the confidence of the investors who find government favouring only some select group of industry and business houses who have good political links in the corridors of power. The policy of showing favours to few and ignoring genuine entrepreneurs and investors has dented the investment environment in the country. The result is before us. I can only hope that the government even at this stage would revise its policy and take measures to instill confidence in the investors- foreign and domestic- to reverse the trend.

~R. K. Sinha

Taint & Politics: Criminals Not Untouchable

Political Parties are fully united on one issue- ‘criminals are not untouchable in politics’. My fear has come true. When the Supreme Court of India delivered historic judgement two months ago that people who are convicted of crime by the trial court would lose their Membership of the House – Parliament or/and State Legislatures even if an appeal lies in the higher judiciary against the conviction and they will be debarred from contesting elections. I had commented in my earlier blog on this issue saying that the UPA Government might challenge the verdict and go for amending the Representation of the People Act to nullify the SC verdict on criminals in politics.

The Centre challenged the verdict by filing a review petition in the Supreme Court against the judgment. The Government also now plans to amend the relevant sections of the R P Act to nullify the verdict apparently to protect criminals in politics.

But alert citizens of the country are equally determined to fight the government against its design to protect criminals in politics.

Supreme Court Bench Headed by Justice R M Lodha has said that the purity of the election process needed to be preserved and ensure that “criminals don not enter legislative bodies”. The judge observed that this should be done through legislation. While hearing a Public Interest Litigation Petition, Justice Lodha expressed displeasure over the government’s failure to reply to the notice issued by the court. He has given six week time to the government to reply.

The Supreme Court on Monday, August 19, 2013 observed that persons charge sheeted in the heinous crimes or indicted by the commission of inquiry should also be debarred from contesting elections. The court indicated that it would specify ‘heinous crime’ like murder and rape and also moral turpitude that would debar such persons from contesting polls.

Soon after the earlier verdict of the apex court that debarred convicted persons from contesting elections besides disqualifying such persons from being a Member of the House (Parliament or State Legislatures), political parties raised their voice expressing concern over the judgement  Their argument is that the verdict of the Supreme Court is likely to be used against politicians who may be implicated in ‘false’ cases by their rivals and see to it that they don’t contest and those elected lose Membership of the House.

Such apprehensions are baseless. It is difficult to implicate politicians in false cases of murder and rape and more difficult to establish the case leading to conviction. The fact of the matter is that political parties cutting across party line including the Left Parties patronize criminals many of them get elected to State Legislatures and Parliament.

It is the number that matters not the person in Parliament and Assemblies. Look what the Congress has done in Jharkhand. The Party has supported the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and got the government headed by it installed in Ranchi in bargain for sparing 10 Lok Sabha seats out of a total of 14 in Jharkhand for the Congress to contest in the next general elections in pre-poll alliance with the JMM. The JMM on its part agreed to the formula and accepted to contest in only 4 Lok Sabha seats since running the Jharkhand Government is its priority not seats in Lok Sabha. The Congress feared that going alone in the polls in Jharkhand may see a total rout of the Party and a clear victory for the BJP. The Congress had won only 1 Lok Sabha seat out of 14 in the state and it was the Ranchi seat bagged by Subodh Kant Sahay. The Party feared to lose even this seat, hence the compromise.

~R. K. Sinha 

Communal Violence in J& K: Omar Abdullah Ineffective CM

There is a drift in Jammu and Kashmir. Omar Abdullah who took over as the chief minister of the troubled state did try to improve things in the beginning particularly during his first two years in office. But later on he gradually started losing grip over the administration and sounded more like an opposition leader raising his voice at times in tune with the separatists in the valley. His off the cuff statements on presence of the Army in the valley provided ammunition to the Hurriyat leaders and pro-Pakistan elements in the state, causing big embarrassment to the Centre. The same chief minister now says that the strife torn Kishtwar in Jammu region was brought under control the moment the Army was called in to control the situation.

The state government imposed a blanket ban on the coverage of the violence incidents by not allowing the media to visit the place. Not only that, the local administration did not allow Arun Jaitley, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha to visit the troubled zone.

It is a normal practice not to disclose the identity of the victims of communal violence. But the chief minister chose to identify the victims of the riots by disclosing their religion. Omar Abdullah did this to drive home the point that more Muslims were killed than Hindus- two people belonging to the Muslim community were killed while one man, a Hindu died in the violence. Omar wanted to tell the world that the Muslims suffered in the riots but failed to admit that the flare up was ignited by his own man Shahjad Kichloo, Minister of State for Home Affairs in J & K Government. The Minister was present when the riots broke out. His role should be thoroughly investigated, although he has resigned as a minister after the incident after the chief minister found that there were grave charges against Kichloo.

It is surprising that the Centre has turned a blind eye to the role of the state government in fanning communal divide in J &K. On the contrary, the Congress leaders are trying to defend the chief minister for his failure to check violence.

One thing that puzzles the country is how and why the UPA Government is not taking a tough stand against the misrule of the National Conference Government in the state. Omar Abdullah is in office with the support of the Congress legislators.

How the UPA government did not act to contain Omar Abdullah who indirectly hinted the rise of militancy in the state after the hanging of the Afzal Guru. In fact, he had opposed the hanging of Afzal by writing to the Prime Minister and to the President of India saying that his execution would harm the peace in the valley.

Of late, Omar Abdullah has been venting his views on ‘twitter’. Well, Mr Chief Minister, you are holding the office as a Constitutional head and it does not bring grace to the office that you hold when you twit. The chief minister must face the people, must interact freely rather than confining himself to the twit culture of the day. Behave like a matured politician and not as a juvenile leader of a state that demands serious attention and good governance.

~R. K. Sinha

Encouraging Response for Modi in Hyderabad

A month back, when some local leaders of the BJP in Hyderabad proposed 5 rupee ticket’ as entry fee to listen to and attend the rally to be addressed by Narendra Modi, the organizers surprised everyone. In fact, the BJP was subject of ridicule and pun for charging entry fee for a public rally which is not done. In fact, as so far as my memory goes, there has not been any such instance of selling ticket for a rally of a politician. The Congress was quick to take a jibe at the BJP for selling Modi and selling ticket for his rally in the stadium in Hyderabad. But the Congress and other opponents of the BJP in general and Narendra Modi in particular were proved wrong by the people of Hyderabad who gave a thumping response to Modi’s rally as the massive turnout at L B Stadium on Sunday proved.

The organizers of the rally wanted to test the water. People would have come to the venue otherwise also if they wanted to attend the rally. But paying rupees five for entry to the stadium demonstrated a determined and committed crowd that cheered Modi during his speech.

The BJP should also thank the Congress leaders for unwarranted attack on Narendra Modi that goes on to create curiosity  about Modi. Seeing the massive crowd in Hydrabad, Rashid Alvi of the Congress said that the crowd in the rally does not mean electoral support for the BJP in the southern state. Agreed,  Mr Alvi, the crowd in any political rally is no guarantee that all would vote for the Party or the leader who are present in the public meeting. But why you Mr Alvi and your other Congress leaders fight shy of admitting that the massive response in Hyderabad is an encouraging signal indicating the mood of the people. It goes against the Congress.

The rally was also significant in BJP reaching out to regional parties in the south to join the NDA for the next year’s general elections. Modi appealed to the TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu and J Jayalalitha, chief minister of Tamil Nadu and leader of the AIADMK to join the NDA as both these parties were at one time ally of the NDA and were part of the Central Government headed by Atal Behari Vajpayee.

I would not like to repeat what the Gujarat chief minister said at the rally since it has been widely reported by the media, but would like to say that there was marked departure from the past when Modi addressed the rally.

By certain actions and some statements, the Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan was mistaken as taking a stand unfavourable to Modi. He donned a skull cap on the occasion of Eid celebrations something which Modi had declined once when he was offered the cap at a rally of the minorities in Gujarat. But Modi heaped praises on Shivraj  Singh Chauhan in Hyderabad. Chauhan on his part lost no time in returning the complement when he compared Modi with Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel. Modi also praised L K Advani who is generally seen as opposed to Modi.

The Congress Party and its leaders are a worried lot. After the Sunday rally in Hyderabad, the top leaders of the Congress have gone into huddle to check Narendra Modi from gaining fresh ground in the country. Will the Congress be able to turn the tide, perhaps not?

-R. K. Sinha 

Threat to Peace: Pak Army Support to Terrorists

Once again news from across the border is disturbing. The Pakistan Army are at it again, derail the peace process with India by supporting, engineering and increasing terrorists attack on one hand and aggression on the border by its forces on the other. As I mentioned in my earlier ‘blog’, the Pakistan Army is hell bent upon to create problems for its Prime Minister Nawaz Shariff who wants to start the peace process with India on a clean slate.

The Lashkar-e-Taiba has issued fresh threats to attack Delhi. The LeT chief Hafeez Sayeed has come out with fresh call to the terrorists to continue ‘jehad’ against India. He has opposed Shariff’s peace initiative with India. “If Pakistan Prime Minister does not want ‘jehad’ let him do so, but we will continue our jehad against India”, Sayeed is reported to have said. It is a well planned move to corner Pak Prime Minister.

When elections were being held in Pakistan few months back, the pro-peace lobby of both India and Pakistan were hopeful of ‘peace returning to negotiating table’ with the change of regime in Islamabad. Soon after being elected as Prime Minister of Pakistan Shariff officially stated that he wants peace with India. Not only that, in run up to general elections in Pakistan, all major political parties had declared that they want peace with India. But the Pakistan Army won’t let it happen. It has vested interests in keeping the pot boiling so that it can retain its pre-eminence and dominant role in Pakistan even in a democratic set up. Besides exploiting huge amount running into millions of US dollars that goes to the Army in maintaining peace inside Pakistan and so called defence of its territory bordering India. The ISI has its own slice of the money in providing arms, ammunitions and logistics support to the Talibans and Terrorists outfits operating from its land.

It is significant to note that Hafeez Sayeed in a recent statement made in Sialkot in Pakistan is reported to have said that ‘they have won the war on the western frontier’ that is in Afghanistan as the US and NATO forces are to disengage and withdraw from Afghanistan soon. The LeT has further said that the time has come to win on eastern front that is to attack India, not only in Jammu & Kashmir but in other parts of India as well including New Delhi.

Pakistan Government has its problems but that is not our concern. You can’t clap with one hand. Best of intentions of Nawaz Sahariff notwithstanding, India should not extend its hand for peace if aggression continues from across the border.        

There is an opportunity for a meeting between Pakistan Prime Minister and the Indian Prime Minister on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September next. Shariff has expressed desire to meet Manmohan Singh. On his part Manmohan Singh too has expressed his willingness to have dialogue with Shariff despite the unprovoked firing and killing of our jawans few days ago. If the meeting takes place at all, it will be not be more than exchanging pleasantries and providing a photo opportunity. For anything meaningful and constructive to establish peace in the subcontinent, Nwaz Shariff would have to fight its enemy within, the Talibans, the Terrorists and the ISI supported by the Army chief. Will he succeed?

~R. K. Sinha 

Govt. Soft on Pakistan: Army Demoralised

In Pakistan, it is the Army and the ISI who have virtually ‘veto  power’ in handling the border  with India. The Kargil war is an example in point. The then Army Chief Gen. Parvez Musharraf plotted intrusion and crossed the Line of Control and put up bunkers and posts inside Indian land. Nawaz Shariff, the present Prme Minister who was also Prime Minister of Pakistan at that point of time is said to have learnt the intrusion only after war broke out between the two countries.

In India, the Pakistan affair is handled not even by the Ministry of External Affairs or by Ministry of Defence but is under the domain of Prime Minister of India. But it is strange that even in the matter of ceasefire violation on the LoC by the Pakistan Army, our Defence Minister says that our jawans – 5 of them- were killed by ‘terrorists’.  It is unbelievable that twenty terrorists can reach the border without being notices and challenged by the Pakistan Army. They were all heavily armed. How could they cross the line of control without the approval of the Pakisan Army. Independent report suggests that the intruders were not terrorists but regular Army of Pakistan. To say that they were terrorists is like giving clean chit to Pakistan Government and its Army that they did not violate ceasefire and that they were not Pakistan army but terrorists who fired and killed our soldiers on the Indian side of the border.

I pity A K Antony, who is an honest politician, perhaps the only honest man in the Union Government for speaking like a tutored parrot on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday. Antony despite his other good qualities is not assertive. The Indian Army had said that the intruders were regular Army of Pakistan. But the Army had to change its stand and corrected its version of the incident. It had to toe the official line when the Defence Minister said that they were not Pak Army but terrorists. The Army or for that matter the whole of our defence forces felt demoralized by the government stand on the killings of our jawans.

There are standing orders from the Chief of the Army Staff that in case of skirmishes on the border or ceasefire violations, the local commander deployed on the border should take decision in handling the situation and retaliate accordingly to any act of aggression or transgression, sounds logical. But every time our soldiers and officers responded to firing from across the order or tried to repulse intrusion, they were subjected to volley of questions from South Block like why you resorted to firing, why retaliation etc. This has demoralized our men on the border to the extent that hostile forces whether they are from Pakistan or from China get away with incursion and occasional firing at our posts.

The impression being created that the Congress Party is concerned and serious about increasing hostilities from across the border and that the government and the Prime Minister of the country are not or at best are casual in their approach to the increasing ceasefire violations on the border- as many as 57 ceasefire violations this year by Pakistan, appears to be misleading.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi was prompt in shooting out yet another letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressing her concern over killings of Indian Army jawans by Pakistan troops and urging him to take appropriate steps to safeguard our territory. Sonia Gandhi knows and knows it well that the government has its own plan and it does not mind few intrusions and firing from the hostile armies from across the border so long its peace process is on.

Nobody wants war. But no nation can bend backward when it comes to defending its sovereignty and territorial integrity to please the super powers!

~R. K. Sinha

Congress’ Double Speak: Rajasthan CM Shunts SP for Action Against Smuggler

AKHILESH YADAV, CM, UP

ASHOK GAHLOT, CM, RAJASTHAN

'Two Sides of The Same Coin'

As the nationwide outrage against victimization of Durga Shakti Nagpal refuses to die down, there are reports that Congress Chief Minister of Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot has punished a police officer for taking action against a smuggler.

Only the other day the Congress President Sonia Gandhi wrote a letter to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh telling him that the government should see to it that no injustice is done to Durga Shakti Nagpal. In response, the Centre has asked the UP Government to send report on her suspension from service.

It may sound strange that even after knowing the mind of the Congress President, the chief minister of Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot has chosen to remove the Superintendant of Police of Jaisalmer, Pankaj Chowdhary. His offence was that he opened the case of one Hazi Fakir who was charged with smuggling and other illegal activities on Indo-Pak border. The first case against Fakir was filed way back in 1965, the year India was at war with Pakistan.

Is the Congress chief minister protecting the alleged smuggler and if so why? The reason is, Fakir is father of Saleh Mohammad, the local Congress MLA of Jaisalmer. The Congress’ nexus with criminals and mafia is well known. And the Party’s leaders don’t mind being caught in the company of smugglers and mafias.

In blatant display of supporting criminals, the chief minister of Rajasthan has hit at another Police officer in his state. The Congress government shunted out the Bharatpur SP because he had taken action and booked the mafias doing illegal mining.

The story does not stop here, only a few months back, the Harayana Government penalized Ahok Khemka, an IAS officer for initiating proceedings against Robert Wadhra, son-in-law of Sonia Gandhi for alleged land deals and financial irregularities with a private firm running into several hundred crores of rupees.

Before taking a position on corruption, the Congress leadership and the government it is heading in states and at the Centre should clean its stables first. The Centre still can show some guts in pinning down the Samajvadi Party and its government in Uttar Pradesh by taking up the case of Durga Shakti Nagpal seriously and sincerely. The Centre should not appear to be pretending to act and doing nothing under the garb of procedural delays. There is enough evidence to prove that the UP Government suspended Durga Shakti Nagpal on false charges.

Under the rules, the state government should reply to the Centre within 15 days of receipt of the communication from New Delhi. It is more than a week when the Department of Personnel and Training that controls the officers of Central Services has sent communications to the chief secretary of the state government. It is still awaiting a reply from Lucknow.

Given the track record of the UPA Government it may ultimately prove that the concern being shown by the Centre or by the Congress President Sonia Gandhi, are nothing but public posturing. It will be sad day for our democracy if the Centre withdraw its hands and let an honest and upright officer go down fighting against a system that is ruled by criminals and mafias.

~R. K. Sinha

Telengana: Make Hyderabad Union Territory

More troubles await the Congress in coming days as people opposed to creation of Telengana have lost the jewel – Hyderabad to the new state. The Congress leaders, the Congress Ministers in the Manmohan Singh Government, the core committee, the Prime Minister and the Congress President Sonia Gandhi have lit fire in the state. To douse the flame there is only one solution- make the city of Hyderabad a Union Territory that would serve as the joint capital of the two states like Chandigarh.

After the partition of India, the erstwhile province of Punjab was split into two. The east Punjab became part of India while west Punjab went to Pakistan and with that the capital of united Punjab, Lahore went to Pakistan.

The Indian government commissioned a team of experts to find a suitable city that would be the capital of Punjab. Somehow the existing cities of Punjab were found unsuitable to be made into a capital city. Finally a new capital of Chandigarh was created after ten years of Independence. But in 1966, Punjab was bifurcated and a new state of Harayana came into being. There was dispute over the capital as Punjab did not want to lose control of the planned city and Harayana was equally adamant to retain Chandigarh. Good sense prevailed and the Centre decided to make Chandigarh as a Union Territory which is the common capital of the two states.

In case of the latest decision the Centre has proposed that Hyderabad will serve as the common capital of Andhra and Telengana for ten years after the new state is constitutionally created. After 10 years, the Centre says, suitable place would be found to raise a new capital for Andhra Pradesh.

Under the scheme, even if Hyderabad is the shared capital of the two states, some infrastructure has to come up. For instance, a new Assembly House has to be built for Andhra. Unless it is decided that the High Court would serve as the High Court of Andhra Pradesh and Telengana, as is the case in Punjab and Harayana, a new premises of the High Court has to be built. A new secretariat has to be built for Andhra Pradesh in Hyderabad itself. Else, how and from where in Hyderabad Andhra would function for 10 years.

Once the structures come up what would happen to those buildings after 10 years when the capital of Andhra Pradesh is shifted out to a new place?

Andhra stands to lose heavily in terms of revenue as a large number of companies and industries in the united Andhra Pradesh have their registered office in Hyderabad. All revenue by way taxes and royalties would go to Telengana. Hyderabad is a hub of information technology besides being centre of large industry and business. It has inbuilt communications of rail and air links with rest of the country.

Hyderabad has a thriving Telugu film industry that generates capital running into hundreds of crores of rupees. All this will go to Telengana.

One wonders at the wisdom of the Congress stalwarts and its think tank who, apparently missed the point or deliberately refused to look at the history of Chandigarh. It is not too late even now. It is in the larger interest of the people of Adnhra Pradesh that the Centre by amending the Constitution declares Hyderabad a Union Territory and let Andhra and Telengana share the capital and its infrastructure.

The industry and business is a worried lot in Hyderabad for they don’t know how the new state government would conduct itself vis a vis industry, trade and commerce. A union territory would ensure smooth functioning of industry and trade. Also, the Centre stands to gain in terms of revenue collections. There would be no heart burning and agitation for sharing of the riches of Hyderabad between the people of the two states. The fire lit by the Congress and the UPA government would douse without firefighting! Will the Congress listen or the amend in the decision would be done by the next government at the Centre in 2014?

~R. K. Sinha