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Open Forum
Satyam: The Fraud Unravels:BANKS, AUDITORS, ET AL STAND EXPOSED, by Shivaji Sarkar,16 January 2009 |
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Economic
Highlights
New Delhi, 16 January 2009
Satyam: The Fraud
Unravels
BANKS, AUDITORS, ET
AL STAND EXPOSED
By Shivaji Sarkar
The Government’s
decision to defer the bail-out package for Satyam is unmistakably appropriate.
Apparently, it has recognized the fact that considering financial help for a fraudster
is not a social, economic or ethical option. More so, when it recognizes the failure
of different government mechanisms or instruments created by it such as auditors,
regulators and banks.
The proposal for
doling out about Rs 2000 crore to help Satyam out of its messy affairs was itself
not a well-thought of move. A private sector company adhering to unethical
standards as is evident so far and siphoning public money to serve personal
ends of its promoters and CEO does not deserve any mercy.
A bail-out for such
an organization is like rewarding a criminal. In simple economic terms it
should be seen as privatization of profit and socialization of losses. In both
the cases losses are of the people and the benefit is of law-breakers. The US Government’s
decision announcing a huge package for erring companies has been the most unethical
decision made by any government during the last 100 years. It has set a bad precedence
for governments all over. Further, it has encouraged erring companies and their
promoters to demand a share of public money forgetting that they have betrayed
public trust.
Thus, it is time for
serious deliberation on the legislation to amend the powers given to government
for money bills. Possibly another law is required to debar the government from
suo moto announcing any bail-out package for any organization without the
support of two-thirds of the members of both house of Parliament. This is not a
case of looking at the government with distrust, but preventing it from
functioning either under emotion or pressure from lobbies.
What Satyam has
done is nothing new. It is not that the practices are not known in the
corporate world. All companies resort to such measures. The extent varies. It
has come to notice that Satyam had swindled away funds for its sister concern
Maytas and even reportedly tipped off big institutional investors. They sold
2.45 crore shares between December 23 and January 5. Among those named in the
initial investigations of the Registrar of Companies are ILFS Trust Company,
Merrill Lynch, DSP Blackrock and Deutsche Bank. Each share was sold between Rs
146.66 and Rs 156.72.
It is not only the
institutional investors, who made tons. Satyam CEO Ramalinga Raju and his
associates reportedly garnered Rs 2065 crore over the past seven years by
selling his company shares.
Reports indicate
that about 10,000 salary accounts might have been created for non-existent
employees and money siphoned off. It now also raises doubts about the actual
number of employees working in the organization. The bail-out was primarily
considered to help the workers. Now it is obvious that any package would have
gone into more siphoning of funds. It could have also been utilized to help
other shareholders.
It raises serious
questions about the functioning of the labour department’s inspectors. Besides,
it raises the question of rationality of hire and fire as also giving reprieve
to the corporate from inspector raj.
Inflated fictitious
accounts of Satyam were apparently created with an eye on the stock market.
Healthier a company balance sheet is projected, the higher are its stock
valued. High equity value also helps a software company subsisting on various
contracted projects. No national or international contract is bagged merely on
merit. Wipro, Megasoft and other such companies had given to World Bank
officials its equities at initial public offer price – Rs 10. It simply meant
they could sell that in the market, which most of them must have done, to earn
tons. This again calls for having a fresh look at the functioning of the stock
market.
This suggests that
the stock market regulator, SEBI, is incapable of preventing fraud of most
kinds, including the most-hated insider trading. It exemplifies that mere
empowering an organization does not help. It needs to have necessary
understanding and intelligence to function effectively. New York stock exchange fraudster Bernard L
Madoff exposed that the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) lacked it and
Satyam has exposed the competence of SEBI.
The role of banks,
as in the Harshad Mehta scam, Ketan Parekh fraud and UTI bust, again remains
suspect. At least three foreign and three private sector Indian banks, as
per its auditor Pricewaterhouse Coopers, had helped the company
create a non-existent Rs 5361 crore cash hoard. A wayward corporate is only
expected to function in awry manner.
The motivation of
banks in aiding it remains a mystery. The methodology of the banks, which are
supposed to follow universal prudential norms, is also questionable. Has their
regulator, Reserve Bank, failed somewhere? Or is the banking process so
complicated that nothing can remain transparent? Creating fictitious funds is a
novel way of swindling. Lehman Brothers also had adopted some similar
techniques. The Satyam saga indicates that banking system in the country needs
to be thoroughly revamped. Each bank requires intense scrutiny of their
functioning.
So far nobody had
expected the banks to give false deposit certificates. It is intriguing as to how
could the banks could keep their account books “clean”. Then again, if these
were unclean then how nobody could detect these?
Does it mean that
not only Satyam’s auditors but banks’ auditors too are functioning in a manner
they are not supposed to? The role of Chartered Accountant firms has become
suspect. Enron, Worldcom were aided by the CA firm Arthur Anderson. Frauds in
CRB Bank, Global Trust Bank, Lehman Brothers, AIG were kept under wraps by
their auditors.
The recent frauds
in the US
by CA firms have occurred despite the stringent Sarbanes Oxley Act, the Public
Company Accounting Oversight Board. It has been advocated that India also
follow these norms. But the law here is extremely lax. Even the
Serious Frauds Investigating Office, that is supposed to probe Satyam, is
not an independent body and functions under the limitations of the
Companies Act. For fudging accounts the penalty for a company is Rs 5,000 fine
and or two years imprisonment. The CA firm can get away with a fine of Rs
10,000.
Would it make any difference if the provisions are made
stringent? Possibly not, says Joshua Ronen, professor of accounting at the
Stern School of Business in New York.
He suggests a different system for employing CAs for corporate auditing. As
long as they would remain dependent on the corporate for their fee, the CAs
would not be able to function independently, Ronen says. So should we continue
to expect more and bigger corporate frauds at the expense of poor investors?—INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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Economic Package-II:ELECTORAL MOVE, WON’T PEP UP DEMAND, by Shivaji Sarkar,9 January 2009 |
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Economic Highlights
New Delhi, 9 January 2009
Economic Package-II
ELECTORAL MOVE,
WON’T PEP UP DEMAND
By Shivaji Sarkar
The Government’s second monetary and economic package is
unlikely to lift the economy. The prescription is inadequate, faulty and does
take into account a holistic view of the situation. Sadly, the package ignores
agriculture and labour, the key components of growth.
The package itself is a recognition that the first dosage
announced last month has not worked. The steps taken are unimaginative and try
to address only the short-term slowdown.
It does not acknowledge that it is recession – long-term slowdown and
requires a different approach.
Worse, there is complacency too. The Government seems to
have a feeling that it has been able to contain inflation. The truth is far from
it. Essential commodities remain expensive and industrial and manufactured
items are losing their sheen owing to lack of demand. Both the packages do not
address the basic issue. They neither are able to create a demand nor add to
the purchasing power – something the situation demands.
Simultaneously, the Reserve Bank’s move of cutting
short-term interest rates by one per cent and the cash reserve ratio (the
amount banks have to retain as cash reserve) by 0.5 per cent to free Rs 20,000
crore of lendable funds is no good. This is so as it does not take into account
that neither the industry has the capacity to borrow more nor the banks are
willing to lend more. Previous such moves by RBI have too largely fallen flat.
It should have spurred the Government to delve deeper and
chart out the road map for Government investments to spur demand. Instead of
announcing packages in a hurry, ostensibly to beat the Lok Sabha election
deadline, the Government should have studied the situation in detail. Mere
electoral political considerations should not have overshadowed the real
concerns.
Besides, the finance part of the economy is unreal. Nor is it
possible to depend on this instrument alone to pep up the economy. The Government’s
concern had been the real estate sector, exporters, large corporates, and bus
and truck makers. They depend on finance to further their business only if
there is a demand. That is the vital oversight.
The present package, like last month’s Rs 35,000 crore
economic stimulus, is misdirected at whetting demand. Besides, it ignores many
essential aspects of the economy. Labour and agriculture have not found any
place in both the packages. In short, it ignores the consumers, who can give
the real boost to the demand.
Labour is in jitters. Huge job losses – five to 12 lakh as
per different Government estimates – have severely affected demand. Jobs are
being lost almost everywhere and in most sectors. Alternatives for creating
jobs are not seemingly being considered though there is hushed concern. When
people are losing jobs how would easier finance and low interest rate help
them?
It raises yet another vital question: whether banks, which
have become too stingy for obvious concerns of return of the capital, will be
able to lend freely? If they do, it is likely to increase their non-productive
assets (NPA), euphemism for losses. So freeing up of money by the RBI is of
little help at this stage. The banking sector instead of lending has parked Rs
2 lakh crore in Government securities recently.
The real estate sector and corporates have been allowed to
access overseas borrowings. It looks like a progressive move. But is fraught
with two big “ifs” – global meltdown has made external borrowings difficult and
even if funds are available the housing prices have been pegged so
unrealistically high that buyers are difficult to find. Unfortunately, no step
has been proposed to bring prices down. Possibly it is not an easy task for the
political masters in an election year. Both the sectors are known to be hefty
donors.
The Government has in fact thrown the nation into yet
another crisis. The Reserve Bank has stated that the external debt increased by
$ 51.5 billion, 30.4 per cent, to $222 billion at March-end 2008. Most of these
are corporate debts and have grave ramifications on the national economy.
Many commercial vehicle makers have temporarily shut production.
Raising the depreciation benefit on commercial vehicles to 50 per cent from 15
per cent looks a good move. It is again subject to the demand by the transport
sector. When all sectors are facing a slowdown, it is not easy to comprehend
how demand will be generated.
Pessimism is seen in the Planning Commission itself, with
its Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia saying that “We should expect, from
all the global projections that the next year is going to be a very difficult one,”
while announcing the measures.
He is right. It calls for drastic measures to boost the
essential engine of growth – demand. Importantly, it calls for giving the
neglected sectors - agriculture, infrastructure, small and medium enterprises –
a major push. This is not only necessary to increase production but also create
more jobs, which would empower consumers with disposable cash. The Government
is well aware that household consumption pattern is on the decline since
October last.
The Government finances are also reaching a critical
position as the revenue accruals are coming down. This puts pressure on the
crucial decision-making whether to reduce taxes. If the Government does so, it
fears its kitty would become thinner. On the other hand, if it does not, it
would put pressure on the market, as consumers would be left with little cash
for high tax liability.
Despite the pressures, reduction of taxes, including income
tax would be pragmatic. Though it would create an immediate problem for the Government,
in a year’s time its revenue accrual would also increase as the manufacturing
and industrial sectors pick up. It’s a
bitter pill alright but the Government needs to swallow it.
It must realize that without Government expenditure, the
economy cannot be lubricated. Its decision to inject Rs 20,000 crore in an additional
plan “in the remaining three months” is in the right direction. However, the Government
machineries don’t run that fast. In 2005, Rs 60,000 crore spending plan to
improve ports was presented. But the road map for the expenditure is yet to be
prepared. The golden quadrilateral highway project was to be completed three
years ago. Only the Delhi-Mumbai stretch is nearing completion. Simply put, the
Government must think deeper if it is keen to keep the country on the right
growth trajectory. ---INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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Of Job Losses & Food Prices:HOW ABOUT A PACKAGE FOR THE POOR?, by Shivaji Sarkar,2 January 2009 |
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Economic Highlights
New Delhi, 2 January 2009
Of Job Losses &
Food Prices
HOW ABOUT A PACKAGE
FOR THE POOR?
By Shivaji Sarkar
When the going gets tough, it’s toughest for the
weaker sections of society. Not considered creditworthy, the poor remain the
worst sufferers as economic growth slows down. After all, they are the most
vulnerable in terms of unemployment, homelessness and malnutrition. Worse, the present
crisis has accentuated their troubles.
It is thus imperative to evolve a protection package
for them this New Year. If not turned into an asset in the growth mechanism, the
poor have the capacity to affect the overall well-being of the country. This
crisis is seeing more poor losing their jobs. In the textile sector alone, Commerce
minister Kamal Nath says that 65,000 jobs have been lost. The Chairman of the Parliamentary
Standing Committee on Finance, Sudhakar Reddy, says “our information is that
five lakh workers lost their jobs in the last two to three months. The
situation is alarming”.
The job cuts are in both private and public sectors.
In the latter, those on daily wages or contract are being denied extension.
However, no unemployment figure is final. According to AITUC General Secretary
Gurudas Dasgupta ten lakh workers have become jobless in the past two months.
The parliamentary committee has asked the Government to come out with a report.
Fewer the jobs mean less consumption and more malnutrition.
The recent Mid Year Review (MYR) projected lower GDP growth. Industrial and
manufacturing production declined. It has also reduced the growth rate to 7 per
cent from last year’s 9 per cent.
Clearly, this would have a more serious impact on the economy rather than
just lower income. It is bound to affect the living standard of people and
their consumption pattern.
As per statistics, inflation based on wholesale price index
(WPI) is stated to be coming down. It is not being reflected in food prices,
which remain at a very high and unaffordable level. And, when people spend more
on food, it affects their spending on other necessities. This is further being
reflected in the manufacturing and industrial sectors. But for the poor it is
more serious. With food at unaffordable prices, the poor cut down their consumption
which leads to malnutrition.
According to the Global Hunger Index of the International
Food Policy Research Institute, India is home to the world’s largest
food-insecure population with 20 crore people facing hunger out of 88
countries. Both the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank have estimated
that 41 to 58 per cent people live below the poverty line in India. This only
indicates that the high growth rate has not benefited the poor. In addition, it
also means that the market reforms have not considered the poor as its integral
part and though they remain out of the market, they are not insulated from its
ills.
Even the projected 7 per cent growth seems a dream for who
it matters. Since it does not address the twin problems of growth and equity,
it is unlikely to save the country from the morass that has set in. The
Planning Commission, in its own assessment, has found the going to be tougher
and may further slowdown the growth process. Would it come down to 4 per cent?
Nobody says a no either.
Regrettably, the fiscal packages announced since October are
not addressed to the workers but are specific to just the industry and banking
sectors. The packages are supposedly expected to boost demand in 2009. But the poor
again aren’t the target, at least as direct beneficiaries. This apart, the National
Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) is learnt to have not given even
seven days of wages to the rural poor in some cases.
Clearly, the Government needs to prioritize empowerment of
the rural poor so that they could partake with some benefits of the market
economy. The WPI has dropped to below 7 per cent, but food inflation is yet to
be controlled. It has gone up to 10.43 per cent from 8.4 per cent in August
2008 when inflation was at 13 per cent. Important food items such as cereals,
vegetables, fruits, eggs and meat have become more expensive.
Though the market may not feel the necessity to give a
thought to the plight of the poor, it must realize that less disposable income,
particularly in the rural areas, means it would sell fewer goods to them. An
average poor family spends almost 70 per cent of its income on food items and higher
prices have seen direct fallout on purchases of goods such as textiles and
cloth. Besides, job loss in the textile sector has a bearing on higher food
prices.
In sum, the situation calls for a revision in policy. The
present scenario is an offshoot of neglecting food self-sufficiency and
creating a policy of food imports. This apart, the Government needs to rethink
its policy of doing away with the public distribution system (PDS). All through
the 70s and 80s, the PDS had indirectly aided the manufacturing and industrial
growth. It had acted as an interventionist system to protect the poor from
profiteering of the private cartels and kept the food prices under check.
The present meltdown world-over has put governments under pressure
to ensure its control to protect its people. In India too, the Government needs to not
only revive the system but maintain it too. Most fiscal initiatives so far
announced are for large enterprises. But the poor are mostly employed in small
and medium enterprises (SME) that include construction, handicraft, gems,
jewellery, handloom and small textile units. The slowdown has led to closure of
most of these units and the poor have lost their jobs.
A policy for helping the SMEs is yet not in place. It is so
because, in an era of multi-nationals, the SMEs are not considered good bait
for investment. Thus, a policy focus and change is required not only to revive
the jobs but also as a futuristic tool as the SMEs provide employment to the
uneducated and less skilled people, i.e. bulk of the poor. Besides, SMEs work
in backward areas. Properly utilised they could become the engine of growth in
the backwaters. As a result, it would raise rural income and a proper food
policy could keep the prices in check to save the poor from sliding into the
trap of hunger and malnutrition.--INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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Challenges Before Omar:HALT REGIONAL & RELIGIOUS DIVIDE, by Sant Kumar Sharma,13 January 2009 |
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Events & Issues
New Delhi, 13 January 2009
Challenges Before
Omar
HALT REGIONAL & RELIGIOUS DIVIDE
By Sant Kumar Sharma
Once
the euphoria of Government formation settles down, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah
will have to take things head on to prove his credentials in Jammu and Kashmir. Clearly, it will be a
tough call, tougher than anything he has done so far.
Undoubtedly,
the chief ministership of the trouble-torn State has never been a crown of
roses. Additionally, at this juncture it is even more cumbersome due to events of
the recent past. The sharp division that the whole State witnessed just a
couple of months ago in the wake of the Amarnath land row has not vanished. Worse,
the divide is not only regional, but deeply religious too.
The
slogans of `Bam, Bam Bhole’ in Jammu and separatist `Azaadi’
slogans in Kashmir are sharply etched in the
memories of the masses of the respective regions. Reconciliation between the
all-powerful Kashmir region and newly-assertive Jammu has not taken place after the bitter
fight so far. It is, however, an absolute must for any meaningful movement
forward in the State. Or else, the fear is that eruption on another emotive
issue could tear the social fabric of J&K asunder yet again. Thus, effecting
reconciliation is the first and foremost challenge before the new Government.
As
of now, the signals emanating from the National Conference and the Congress
that the two simply want to leave the bitter memories of the Amarnath land row
behind them is worrisome. Without even attempting or doing something substantial
to bridge the regional and religious divide. They must remember that the sharp
polarization is not just a bad dream, but a bitter reality that cannot be
wished away.
More
so, when the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with 11 legislators in
the newly-constituted Legislative Assembly, will be more than a handful for the
new Government. As will be the 21-members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),
which paddles `soft separatism’ as its USP and targets the NC.
In
all likelihood, in the coming days the BJP agenda in the State will become more
hardline Hindu, just as the PDP is all set to take diametrically opposite and
radical postures to garner support in the Valley. Sandwiched between these two
extreme positions, with top class legislators sitting in the opposition, it is
anybody’s guess as to how comfortable Omar’s position will be in the Assembly.
Or even in the day-to-day functioning of the Government.
In
fact, his entry into the Assembly could well be a baptism by fire, as the fiery
Mehbooba Mufti is unlikely to give any quarter to the new chief minister. She
will of course, be ably guided by her father, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, considered
(and not without good reasons) a past-master in intrigue. Besides, the two will
be supported by ‘brilliant’ Muzaffar Hussein Beigh, Basharat Bukhari and
others.
Amidst
all this, the big challenge of reconciliation cannot be wished away. Omar seems
to be aware of this pitfall and has already made an announcement to set up an
inquiry commission to look into allegations of discrimination voiced by the
regions. Playing safe, he has declared that the commission will be headed by a
retired judge of the Supreme Court, from outside the State.
On
ground zero, such a declaration or pious intentions will have little meaning if
they are not carried through with due diligence and devotion. As far as the Jammu region is
concerned, it does not have any good memories of such commissions. Omar’s
latest announcement is already being dismissed cynically as an attempt to hoodwink
the `Jammu
people’.
The
second big challenge before the new Government is the highly-emotive issue of
delimitation of Assembly as also the Lok Sabha constituencies. It is an
extremely divisive subject as both the NC and the Congress had a diametrically
opposite stance during the Assembly elections. The latter had in its manifesto said
that it will work to set up a delimitation commission and accused the PDP, as
also the NC, of blocking its efforts for a fair process.
This
is so, because there is widespread disparity in the distribution of voters in
the Lok Sabha constituencies of the State. In an area of 26,293 sq km, the Jammu region has only two Lok Sabha seats, whereas the
geographically far smaller Kashmir, with an
area of 15,948 sq km, has been electing three MPs.
During
the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, the Jammu region
had about 32 lakh voters, more than Kashmir
region’s below 30 lakh. The Jammu and Udhampur
parliamentary constituencies in the Jammu
region had 18.5 lakh voters and 13.5 lakh voters respectively. The Lok Sabha
constituencies of Srinagar, Anantnag and
Baramulla (in the Kashmir region), on the
other hand, had 10.50 lakh, 9.98 lakh and 9.40 lakh voters, respectively.
Incidentally,
the area of the Jammu
and Udhampur Lok Sabha constituencies is 7,401 sq km and 18,892 sq km
respectively. As against this, the constituencies in the Kashmir region are far
smaller: Srinagar
(3,599 sq km), Anantnag (5,382 sq km) and Baramulla (6,967 sq km).
Given
these stark inequities, the leadership in the Jammu region is now trying to stir the pot
and work towards a more even and equitable distribution of voters and areas
among various constituencies. This is something the Kashmir
leaders are firmly keen to avoid and delay. In the run-up to the ensuing Lok
Sabha elections, these facts may come into sharper focus, which have the potential
of polarizing the regions once again.
If
that happens, the two regions are likely to see hardening of postures. Worse, resultant
disturbances could greatly impinge on the stability of the Government, which in
turn could affect the already fragile economy. It is no secret that the economy
and State’s finances, are even at the best of times precariously poised. Trying
to stabilize the finances, (dependent on the Centre’s largesse), in the midst
of an all-round meltdown, will be a Herculean task. Remember, a reduction in
the flow of tourists last summer had led to colossal economic losses.
In
the midst of all its priorities, the Government has no choice but to call a
budget session soon and spell out its priorities, in black and white.
Simultaneously, reconciliation between the Jammu
and the Kashmir regions, Pandits and Muslims
and mainstream politicians and the separatists will need to be undertaken.
All
the more, because following 26/11, it is politically incorrect to even consider
improving ties with Pakistan.
However, the down side is that without any perceptible and abiding improvement
in relations with its neighbour, not much good can happen in J&K. If only,
the new Government could take an initiative, immediately or in the foreseeable
future. Sadly, it can’t. ---INFA
(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)
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Tackling Terror Attacks:TIME TO SHUN PARTISAN POLITICS, by Proloy Bagchi,9 January 2009 |
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Open Forum
New Delhi, 9 January 2009
Tackling Terror
Attacks
TIME TO SHUN
PARTISAN POLITICS
By Proloy Bagchi
(Former Civil Servant)
Ever since Liela Khaled of Popular Front for Liberation of
Palestine hijacked a TWA flight in 1969, many planes have been hijacked around
the world. India,
too, has had its share. But the one which is never allowed to remain buried in
the sands of history is the hijack on Christmas Eve, 1999 of IC 814, the Indian
Airlines flight from Kathmandu to Delhi.
What distinguished this hijack from the others is that at the end of the
tortuous hard bargaining, the then External Affairs Minister, Jaswant Singh, travelled
to Kandahar Airport with the three terrorists, the Government agreed to release
in exchange for the freedom of the passengers held hostages.
With 177 passengers and 11 crew members the hijackers forced
the pilot to fly to Kandahar via Amritsar, Lahore and Dubai. The passengers,
one of whom was killed on the way and his body unceremoniously dropped off the
aircraft at Dubai,
became objects for a trade-off against 36 terrorists held in Indian prisons.
Unless that was done, the hijackers threatened, they would blow up the plane.
The lengthy negotiations that ensued eventually ended with the Government
agreeing to release only three, though dreaded terrorists, viz. Mushtaq Ahmed
Zergar, Ahmed Omer Sheikh and Maulana Masood Azhar. While Masood Azhar was
later the mastermind of the attack on Parliament in 2001, Ahmed Omer Sheikh was
widely perceived to be responsible for the kidnapping and murder of Daniel
Pearle, Mumbai correspondent of the Wall Street Journal.
This hijack has been flogged ad nauseam by the Congress
Party to run down and denigrate its opponent, the Bharatiya Janata Party. In
the dog-eat-dog world of Indian politics, politicians cannot let go of an
opportunity to snap at each other. In the last session of Parliament, no sooner
had the leader of the Opposition accused the Congress-led United Progressive
Alliance Government of being soft on terror, Congressman Kapil Sibal harked
back to the 99 hijack. In a classic instance of one-upmanship, he wanted that
the Opposition, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), should apologise to the
people for not only freeing three terrorists, some of whom later perpetrated
even more vicious acts of terror, but also had them shamefully “escorted”
personally by the country’s External Affairs Minister. As is their wont,
regardless of their assurances to the contrary given earlier, politicians
started growling at each other.
Later, claiming firmness in handling of the Mumbai
terrorists, Digvijay Singh, another Congress biggy, a general secretary to
boot, asserted that his party-led Government refused to negotiate with the
Mumbai attackers. He went on to claim that yielding no quarter to the
attackers, the Government had them eliminated. The innuendo was clearly
directed at the NDA. However, the question of any negotiations with the
attackers never arose because they had never made any demand. During his
interrogation the captured terrorist, Ajmal Amir Qasab, has also asserted that
the mandate given to him and others did not include putting forth any demand.
In the highly competitive politics, truth is often the
casualty and bluff and bluster occupy centre stage. That the then fledgling NDA
Government was faced with an extraordinary situation was never so much as
mentioned. The unseemly demonstrations by the relatives of the passengers,
covertly stoked by some of those in the Opposition, sustained right through the
better part of the week asking for total surrender, including ceding of Kashmir
(to Pakistan), and the inexperience of the Government, which had just assumed
power, have never been referred to. Curiously, even Jaswant Singh’s unpleasant
trip, undertaken only because of his keenness to ensure safe release of the
hostages, was also given a malicious twist.
Moreover, the fact that terrorists had been released in
exchange for hostages earlier is conveniently forgotten. In the early 90s, five
terrorists were released from Kashmir jails to
free the abducted Rubaiya Saeed, daughter of the then Home Minster, Mufti
Mohammed Saeed. Sibal (or others of his ilk) have never made a mention of it as
his party until recently not only ran a coalition government with the Mufti’s
party in J&K, but the latter was also one of its allies in the UPA. Sadly,
this is precisely what politics is all about – to obfuscate, dissemble and
misrepresent to keep the opposition down.
In their petty squabbles, politicians tend to forget that
the misfortune that befell the NDA Government can chance upon any regime. Given
our lackadaisical way of functioning, a bomb blast, a terror attack, a high profile
abduction or a hijack are eminently possible. A number of terrorists, including
the one captured alive on 26/11 and another in the death row, continue to
languish in Indian prisons. An attempt to free them is very much on the cards. Recall,
there were several attempts to get Masood Azhar out of the Jammu prison. Their failure led to the IC 814
hijack as we never woke up to the threat his incarceration posed.
Clearly, the Jihadis and their promoters in the Pakistani
establishment do not distinguish between this or that regime. They seem to have
an unqualified antipathy for India,
an entity that they keenly desire to Islamise. India’s multi-culturalism, its
pluralist society and its economic progress despite all its handicaps is what
bugs them. What is more, they simply hate India and could even launch attacks
out of sheer hatred for it. Already a formation for promoting hatred for India has become operational in Pakistan.
If our politicians are really interested in doing good for the
people-- which they keep claiming they do-- they need to shun their narrow
partisan agendas and cooperate with each other in devising ways and means to
achieve what they claim. The need of the hour is ensuring security of life and
property of the people. And, this is precisely what politicians of all shades have
neglected while they bickered all the time. To make itself secure, the country
needs to pull itself by its boot-straps. From plugging the porous land and sea
frontiers to creation of a well-oiled internal security apparatus with all its
concomitant paraphernalia – there is enormous amount of work lying ahead before
the country’s political bosses.
With neighbours on its two flanks harbouring hostile
elements, the country cannot visualise a future without terror and/or devious
attempts to bleed it and retard its progress. Unflinching vigilance is
necessary – a price that has to be paid to ensure to the citizens freedom from
fear and anxiety. It is, therefore, time politicians stopped playing politics
with national security. People want no less, for the 26/11 security disaster
has made them angry – yes, at none other than the politicians. -- INFA
(Copyright, India News and Feature
Alliance)
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