DEFENCE BUDGET BRIG MAHAJAN

http://epaper.loksatta.com/93388/loksatta-pune/01-03-2013#page/17/2

China disarming India without fighting. Pakistan Too!!

By Claude Arpi on February 24, 2013

 

More than 2,000 years back, Sun Tzu, the author of the Art of War wrote, “For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill; to subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.”

If I was a Chinese general and keen to defeat India without combating, do you know what I would do?

I would provide ‘proofs’ that foreign arms dealers have corrupted some Indian officials or politicians by paying hefty ‘commissions’. I would repeat this for each and every armament deal.

The result would be terrific. The Indian Ministry of Defence would immediately cancel all the deals, no more arms for the three Indian services! It would be rather easy to realise. One just has to ‘inform’ the Indian Government that something has gone wrong in the procurement process, and ‘someone’ has taken money.

So easy to do and easy to believe! The reverse would be unbelievable.

A few days ago, a US company, Mandiant, identified the People’s Liberation Army’s Shanghai-based unit 61398 as the organisation behind most computer attacks against the United States. Through Unit 61398, I would leak some ‘details’ about the bribes to the MoD or better, to a gullible ‘breaking news’ channel.

Mandiant’s detailed 60-page study tracked individuals of a sophisticated hacking group, known in the United States as ‘Comment Crew’. The report said, “The activity we have directly observed likely represents only a small fraction of the cyber espionage that APT1 has conducted.” APT1 stands for ‘Advanced Persistent Threat’, the most dominant being termed APT1.

The report continues, “We have analysed the group’s intrusions against nearly 150 victims over seven years. We uncovered (in Shanghai) a substantial amount of APT1’s attack infrastructure, command and control, and modus operandi (tools, tactics, and procedures) Our research found that People’s Liberation Army (PLA’s) Unit 61398 is similar to APT1 in its mission, capabilities, and resources.”

Further, it was discovered that PLA Unit 61398 is located exactly in the place from which APT1 activity originates.

As a Chinese general, I would have the perfect tool to win the war. Let us take an example, the latest scam or Choppergate.

In 2010, the Government signed a Rs 4,000 crore contract for procurement of 12 AW101 helicopters from the Anglo-Italian firm AgustaWestland for the use of Indian VVIPs. Three of the 12 helicopters ordered have already been delivered (and an advance of 40 per cent has been paid).

Citing an ‘integrity clause’, Defence Minister AK Antony immediately announced that the contract will be cancelled and a show-cause notice was sent to the company to this effect.

Defence expert, Ajai Shukla commented in Business Standard, “Defence Minister AK Antony’s ‘strong action’ against Italian defence giant Finmeccanica, and its Anglo-Italian helicopter subsidiary, AgustaWestland, is aimed at making him sound like a man of steel.”

Now, Antony has no proof of any offence as yet, as the Italian prosecutors in Milan have refused to share incriminating documents with India. This is logical as the trial has not yet started, but it does not matter as, in India, loud voices have started asking for a ban. One commentator even suggested cancelling the deal for 126 Rafales because the fighter planes of Dassault Aviation were armed with missiles manufactured by the European company MBDA, of which Finmeccanica is a minority shareholder.

The rule, say the babus, is when a defence firm, Indian or foreign, comes under a corruption cloud, not only are all its contracts, present and the future, cancelled, but the entire group of companies are blacklisted and they can’t work in India for a minimum of 10 years.

According to this thinking, Dassault would be banned because Rafale may use weapons made by MBDA; the French firm being owned by BAE (37.5 per cent) and EADS (37.5 per cent). The Rafale’s rival Eurofighter would also be banned as Finmeccanica is part of the Eurofighter GMBH consortium, etc, etc, etc.

At the end, I, the Chinese general will effortlessly win the war, because India will not get a single piece of armament required for its defence and this, for the next one or two decades. I would merely have to leak some credible information into a few Indian computers.

Some will say, “It is a good thing; we shall now indigenise the defence production.” Faster said than done, the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft has been on the HAL drawing table for the past decades. Air Chief NAK Browne recently declared, “By my estimate the Initial Operational Clearance should be by the end of 2013 and the Final Operational Clearance (FOC) should take another year-and-half more.” Ditto for many DRDO projects.

So, as a Chinese general, I would used Unit 61398 or any other ‘research labs’ to pass on to South Block the information that there is something ‘fishy’ in each and every armament deal and the trick will be done.

The next day, the MoD will ‘cancel’ the deal using the ‘termination clause’.

I would subdue my enemy without a fight! That’s skill! India’s tragedy is that it prefers to punish the bribe-givers and leave free the bribe-takers and then ban the former in order to look honest. Unless the rotten apples are booked, the Chinese generals will keep laughing.

Separate issue: I am wondering what the Ministry of Defence is doing against Unit 61398 or its sister/brother concerns? Whether one likes it or not, cyberwar will be tomorrow’s war; the Chinese are far in advance on us in this field.

___________________________________________

An unacknowledged war -jihadi terrorism

<natuvijay@gmail.com>

An unacknowledged war By Tavleen Singh February 24, 2013

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/an-unacknowledged-war/1078709/0

The biggest threat to India's security today is jihadi terrorism. Have you ever heard any of our political leaders acknowledge this? Have you heard them admit that this jihad is a war against the very idea of India and that its ultimate goal is to see this country divided once more in the name of Islam? Have you heard them tell the people of this country in clear terms that what the Pakistani army did after its Kargil misadventure was arm, finance and train Islam groups to wage an insidious new war against India more lethal than those fought on battlefields? Quite the opposite has happened since Dr Manmohan Singh's 'secular' government came to power in 2004. On more than one occasion, senior Congress leaders have gone out of their way to emphasise that the real threat to India's security comes from 'saffron terrorism'. Rahul Gandhi said this to an American ambassador according to Wikileaks, and his political mentor Digvijay Singh publicly promoted a book whose title was, '26/11: an RSS Conspiracy'. The most recent statement of this kind came from the Home Minister himself when he charged the RSS with running terrorist training camps. No sooner was the statement made than the Home Minister got instant support from Hafiz Mohammed Saeed. If India's most wanted terrorist had listened to the Home Minister's statement after last week's Hyderabad bombings, he would have been totally assured that the Government of India was not serious about fighting jihadi terrorism. All that Sushil Kumar Shinde could come up with as words of comfort was a short catalogue of what he did in Hyderabad. "Along with the governor, the chief minister and other colleagues, I visited the places where the incidents took place and then we went to the hospital and met some of the non-critical patients. We talked to those who had suffered." From the Prime Minister we heard that the guilty would not go unpunished and, from Sonia Gandhi, that she suffered pangs of sorrow and anguish. Well, the time has come to admit that this sort of namby-pamby response is the reason why we are no closer to winning the war against jihadi terrorism than we were four years ago when Mumbai was attacked. After the 26/11 attack there should have been a concerted strategy, a robust time bound plan of action and it is time to ask why this did not happen. Did it not happen because of fears that it might alienate Indian Muslims? If this was indeed the reason, then it is hard to think of a bigger insult to them because it amounts to an admission that all Muslims support jihadi terror. Is this what 'secular' Congress leaders secretly believe? If, after the 26/11 attack, the Government of India had been serious about winning the war against terrorism the first thing that would have happened would have been improved policing at the lowest level. No matter how many national intelligence agencies we set up, real intelligence will only come when local policemen are trained in counter-terrorism. As someone who spends much time in Mumbai I can tell you that nothing has changed on the ground. Every now and then, armoured cars and armed policemen appear in the streets but this is usually to reassure visiting VIPs and not ordinary citizens. This city is as vulnerable as it was four years ago and so is every other Indian city. [Sic: So is Delhi. There are more policemen around 10 Janpath than at a major public place like Connaught Place. The whole assumption is that safety of 10 Janpath occupants are more important than the nation. So both policy and police are tailored to protect them before the nation. NSR] When P Chidambaram was in charge of the Home Ministry, he laid a lot of emphasis on setting up a National Investigative Agency. There is no harm in this if simultaneously we had seen state governments cooperate by setting up counter-terrorism units in local police stations. Without this happening, there is not the smallest chance of India winning the war against jihadi terror. I use the word jihadi deliberately because I am tired of hearing politically correct nonsense about how terrorism has no colour and no religion. It absolutely does. When jihadi groups kill innocent people in their cowardly war, they do it for what they believe is the greater glory of Islam. They believe infidel lives are worthless. And, when Hindutva groups try to counter this with their own cowardly attacks on unarmed people in bazaars and mosques, they do it because they believe they are defending the Hindu faith. What is not right is the consistent effort of senior Congress leaders to portray Hindu terrorist groups as the real threat to national security. They are not. The real threat to India's security comes from jihadi terrorist groups because they are financed and trained by the Pakistani army to the point that they act as its fifth column. Until those in charge of national security acknowledge this, there is every likelihood that jihadi terrorism will continue to spread its poison through the veins of India

HYDERABAD BLASTS

Thursday, February 21, 2013

MY TAKE ON HYDERABAD BLASTS

B.RAMAN

Eleven persons are reported to have been killed and over 20 injured in two well-timed explosions in the Dilsukhnagar area of Hyderabad around 7  PM on February 21,2013.

2. Initial reports indicated that one of the improvised explosive devices had been placed in a cycle or motor-bike and the other inside a tiffin box.These reports are yet to be confirmed. The two blasts appear to have been well-timed and not remote-controlled.

3.I do not so far see any sign of sophistication in the assembly of the IEDs and the synchronization of the blasts. There are no reports of any crater on the ground.If a powerful explosive material had been used, there would have been craters at the place where the IEDs had been placed.

4.The deaths and injuries seem to have been caused by the power of the blasts and not by the use of any projectiles such as nails, bicycle ball-bearings etc.When an IED is placed in a cycle or motor-bike, there would naturally be projectiles in the form of the splinters, but no other projectile has been discovered.

5.Reports of damages to nearby buildings also do not indicate the use of any powerful explosive material. The timer might have been of a conventional nature in the form of a mechanical ( with a clock attachment) or chemical device.

6.Two timed IEDs of this nature could have been easily assembled and planted by one or two terrorists. The involvement of a large team is unlikely.

7.The limited geographical area of the blasts also rules out the involvement of a large team of terrorists.The objective of the perpetrators was obviously to cause fatalities as an act of reprisal.

8.The indications till now are that the two blasts are the handiwork of locals who were in a position to assemble the devices quickly and use them.

9.Till more evidence is forthcoming, it would be advisable not to speculate on the motive and the possible identity of the perpetrators. (21-2-13)

( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi. Twitter @SORBONNE75 )

Friday, February 15, 2013

MY TAKE ON THE COPTER SCAM

B.RAMAN

The 12 AgustaWestland helicopters ordered for the Air Force for VVIP duties were meant for use by the Special Protection Group (SPG) for the transport of SPG protectees and also for the transport of other VVIPs not entitled to SPG protection. While the Air Force was responsible for the procurement of the best copters available and for their maintenance and for providing the crew for manning them, the SPG was responsible for indicating to the Air Force before the procurement the minimum safety and comfort requirements that must be met by the copters.

2. All that the late Shri Brajesh Mishra, the then National Security Adviser, reportedly did in 2003 was to point out in file that the inputs from the SPG had not been adequately reflected in working out the minimum requirements that the copters should meet. He did the right thing in doing so and it would be absurd on the part of anyone to contend that his action contributed the first step in the chain of wrong-doing relating to the final procurement that came about in 2010.

3.The wrong-doing came about during the subsequent action on the contract for finalizing the financial and other details. It would seem that someone in India as well as abroad claimed credit for bringing about the changes in the minimum requirements consequent upon the action of Shri Mishra and made illegal financial gains.

4.The copter scam brings to mind the Bofors scam of the 1980s when Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister. When the first details of the Bofors scam emerged in 1987,it became apparent that a small group of persons close to Rajiv Gandhi in India and Europe had financially benefitted from the contract.

5.Instead of ascertaining the truth, the Government of Rajiv Gandhi entered into a huge charade to prevent the truth from coming out. While making a huge pretense of having the matter investigated through the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and enquired into by a Joint Parliamentary Committee, the Government actually tried to have the illegalities covered up.

6.The truth of the illegal dealings ultimately emerged despite the cover-up exercise mounted by the Government due to some independent enquiries made by some brilliant journalists of the print media, with “The Hindu” being in the forefront. Despite the brilliant investigative reporting by the print media, the wrong-doers in India and Europe managed to escape prosecution due to the cover-up by the Government and its complicity in protecting the wrong-doers.

7. The CBI under Rajiv Gandhi came in for criticism for acting as a cover-up and not an investigating agency. Under Rajiv Gandhi, the CBI’s reputation hit the mud. It let itself be used by the Government as a willing tool for ensuring the cover-up.

8. It needs to be underlined that the huge web of corruption surrounding the Bofors contract did not vitiate the original decision of the Army to go for the Bofors, which played an important role in defeating the Pakistani intruders during the Kargil conflict of 1999.

9. It is important to keep this in mind because there have been demands for the cancellation of the contract for the delivery of the Westland copters. We should take a professional and not a self-righteous decision in the matter based on our evaluation of the performance of the three copters already delivered and their suitability for VVIP duties. We have already delayed by more than a decade the procurement process and a further delay as a result of any cancellation may  not be advisable.

10. At the same time, public and political opinion should ensure that a Bofors-like cover-up is not repeated by using the CBI as a tool for a diversionary exercise to prevent the truth from coming  out. India Against Corruption of Anna Hazare and the Aam Admi Party of Arvind Kejriwal as well as our media should play an active role in this matter.

11.One cannot expect a thorough-going investigation by the CBI so long as it acts under the supervision of the Government in the investigation. The CBI team investigating the copter scam should be placed under the day-to-day supervision of a special team of legal luminaries to be constituted by the Supreme Court. In the Bofors scam, the CBI team was placed under the supervision of the JPC which was dominated by the Congress and it saw to it that the CBI did not go after the truth.

12. There are three sets of wrong-doers in the copter scam. The first are the Indian nationals involved. The names of some close relatives of a former Air Force Chief have come up in this connection. Possibly, there are others. In the Bofors scam, the Indians in India and the diaspora managed to escape prosecution due to the protection extended to them by the then Government. We should see that this does not happen now.

13. The other two sets are intermediaries in Europe who played a role in the scam and senior officials of the Italian mother company (Finmecannica). The success of the CBI in establishing the truth about their role would depend on the co-operation extended by the Italian, Swiss and other European Governments. Here, the pressure of our diplomacy would be important.

14. In the Bofors scam, the Swiss and Swedish authorities were willing to co-operate, but it was the Rajiv Gandhi Government which avoided taking their co-operation lest the truth come out. Public and political opinion should see that this charade is not repeated by the present Government. (16-2-13)

HYDRABAD BLASTS-हैदराबाद स्फोटांनी हादरले

हैदराबाद - सायंकाळी सातच्या सुमारास झालेल्या शक्तिशाली बॉंबस्फोटांच्या मालिकेने हैदराबाद आज हादरले. राष्ट्रीय महामार्गावरील गजबजलेल्या दिलसुखनगर भागात पंधरा मिनिटांत तीन स्फोट झाले. यात 20 जण ठार झाले, तर 60 पेक्षा अधिक लोक जखमी झाले. या घटनेनंतर देशभरात अतिदक्षतेचा इशारा जारी करण्यात आला.

काही जखमींची प्रकृती गंभीर असल्याने मृतांचा आकडा वाढण्याची शक्‍यता आहे. जखमींना उस्मानिया हॉस्पिटल, यशोदा हॉस्पिटल आणि ओमीनी रुणालयात दाखल करण्यात आले आहे. दिल्लीहून विशेष विमानाने राष्ट्रीय तपास संस्थेचे पथक तातडीने घटनास्थळी दाखल झाले. घटनेनंतर आंध्र प्रदेशचे मुख्यमंत्री किरणकुमार रेड्डी यांनीही घटनास्थळी भेट देऊन पाहणी केली.

प्रत्यक्षदर्शींनी दिलेल्या माहितीनुसार, दिलसुखनगर बस स्थानकाजवळ पहिला स्फोट बरोबर सात वाजून एक मिनिटाने झाला. त्यानंतर पाच मिनिटांच्या अंतराने दुसरा, तर पंधरा मिनिटांच्या अंतराने तिसरा स्फोट झाला. बस स्थानकाजवळ असलेल्या कोणार्क आणि व्यंकटाद्री चित्रपटगृहांच्या परिसरातच हे स्फोट झाले. स्फोटांच्या धमाक्‍यानंतर भेदरलेल्या गर्दीत एकच खळबळ उडाली. या वेळी पळापळ होऊन चेंगराचेंगरी झाल्याने काही जण जखमी झाल्याचे समजते.

आनंद खाणावळीबाहेर उभ्या असलेल्या एका सायकलला अडकविलेल्या डब्याचा पहिला स्फोट झाला. त्यानंतर तेथून काही अंतरावरच असलेल्या मोटारसायकलच्या डिकीचा स्फोट झाला. पाठोपाठ महामार्गावर असलेल्या पादचारी पुलाखाली तिसरा स्फोट झाला. कोणार्क व व्यंकटाद्री चित्रपटगृहांजवळही दोन स्फोट झाल्याची माहिती प्रत्यक्षदर्शींनी दिली. मात्र, या दोन स्फोटांबाबत रात्री उशिरापर्यंत अधिकृत दुजोरा मिळू शकला नाही.

स्फोटाचा आवाज आल्यानंतर सुरवातीला परिसरातील हॉटेलमधील सिलिंडरचा स्फोट झाल्याचा अंदाज वर्तविण्यात आला होता. मात्र, दुसरा स्फोट झाल्यानंतर पोलिसांनी बॉंबस्फोटाच्या वृत्ताला दुजोरा दिला. स्फोट इतके शक्तिशाली होते, की परिसरातील दुकाने व घरांच्या काचा फुटल्या. एका हिरो होंडा मोटारसायकलमध्ये स्फोटके असल्याचा संशय व्यक्त करण्यात आल्यानंतर बॉंबशोधक पथकाला पाचारण करण्यात आले. अनेक शैक्षणिक संस्था, शॉपिंग मॉल, चित्रपटगृहे, फळबाजार व इतर बाजारपेठा असल्याने दिलसुखनगर परिसर नेहमी गजबजलेला असतो. या भागात साईमंदिरही आहे. आज गुरुवार असल्याने मंदिरातही बरीच गर्दी होती.

'आयएम', 'लष्करे'वर संशय
रात्री उशिरापर्यंत कोणत्याही दहशतवादी संघटनेने स्फोटांची जबाबदारी स्वीकारली नव्हती. मात्र, इंडियन मुजाहिदीन (आयएम) व लष्करे तैयबा या दहशतवादी संघटनांवर पोलिस व गुप्तचर यंत्रणेने संशय व्यक्त केला आहे. मुंबई हल्ल्यातील दहशतवादी अजमल कसाबला फासावर लटकविल्यानंतर या संघटनांकडून देशात घातपात घडविण्याची भीती व्यक्त केली जात होती. दहशतवादविरोधी पथक त्या दृष्टीनेही तपास करीत असल्याचे समजते. रिमोट कंट्रोल किंवा टायमरचा वापर करून स्फोट घडविण्यात आल्याचा अंदाज आहे.

मृतांच्या नातेवाइकांना दोन लाख
पंतप्रधान मनमोहनसिंग यांनी हैदराबाद बॉम्बस्फोटातील मृतांच्या नातेवाइकांना दोन लाख रुपये, तर गंभीर जखमींना 50 हजार रुपये देण्याची घोषणा केली आहे. कॉंग्रेस अध्यक्षा सोनिया गांधी यांनीही या घटनेबद्दल दुःख व्यक्त केले आहे.

हा पूर्वनियोजित कट - गृहमंत्रालय
हैदराबादच्या दिलसुखनगर येथे झालेले साखळी बॉंबस्फोट हा दहशतवाद्यांचा पूर्वनियोजित कट असल्याचे गृहमंत्रालयाने म्हटले आहे. गजबजलेल्या दिलसुखनगर भागात जास्तीत जास्त हानी घडवून आणण्याचा हा प्रयत्न होता, असेही मंत्रालयाने म्हटले आहे.

सूत्राने दिलेल्या माहितीनुसार, सायंकाळ सातची वेळ, गजबजलेला परिसर आणि पाच मिनिटांत झालेले साखळी स्फोट हे पाहता मोठी हानी घडवून आणण्याची दहशतवाद्यांची योजना होती. दिलसुखनगर येथील कोणार्क थिएटरच्या परिसरात फळभाज्यांची मोठी बाजारपेठ आहे. दहशतवाद्यांनी या बाजारपेठेला लक्ष्य केले.

पाच वर्षांत तिसरा मोठा स्फोट
यापूर्वी 2007 मध्ये हैदराबाद दोनदा बॉंबस्फोटांच्या घटनेने हादरले होते. मेमध्ये मक्का मशिदीजवळ झालेल्या स्फोटात तेरा जणांना जीव गमवावा लागला होता, तर ऑगस्टमध्ये पार्क भागात झालेल्या स्फोटात 42 जणांचा बळी गेला होता. या घटना अशा -

18 मे 2007 - हैदराबादमधील मक्का मशिदीजवळ शुक्रवारच्या नमाजपठणानंतर झालेल्या बॉंबस्फोटामध्ये तेरा जणांचा मृत्यू. यानंतर उसळलेल्या दंगलीवर पोलिसांनी केलेल्या गोळीबारामध्ये चार जण ठार

25 ऑगस्ट 2007 - हैदराबादमधील गर्दी असलेल्या पार्क भागातील खाद्यपदार्थांच्या स्टॉलबाहेर झालेल्या दोन बॉंबस्फोटांमध्ये 42 जण ठार आणि 50 वर लोक जखमी. हरकत-उल-जेहाद-ए-इस्लाम ही संघटना त्यामागे होती

दोन दिवस आधी इशारा दिला होता - शिंदे
'हैदराबादमधील स्फोटांमध्ये सायकलचा वापर करण्यात आला आहे. गुप्तचर यंत्रणांनी दोन दिवसांपूर्वीच दक्षतेचा इशारा दिला होता. गुरुवारी सकाळीही याबाबत मुख्यमंत्री किरणकुमार रेड्डी यांना याची माहिती दिली होती,'' अशी माहिती केंद्रीय गृहमंत्री सुशीलकुमार शिंदे यांनी दिली.

देशाला हादरविणारे दहशतवादी हल्ले
24 सप्टेंबर 2002 - अहमदाबादमधील अक्षरधाम मंदिरात दहशतवादी घुसले, 31 मृत्युमुखी.
25 ऑगस्ट 2003 - मुंबईत झवेरी बाजार, गेटवे ऑफ इंडिया येथे बॉंबस्फोट, 55 जणांचा मृत्यू.
29 ऑक्‍टोबर 2005 - दिवाळीच्या दोन दिवस आधी दक्षिण दिल्लीतील गर्दीच्या ठिकाणी तीन बॉंबस्फोट, 59 जण ठार.
11 जुलै 2006 - मुंबईतील सात उपनगरी रेल्वेगाड्यांमध्ये स्फोटांची मालिका. त्यात 189 लोकांचा बळी आणि हजारावर जखमी.
18 फेब्रुवारी 2007 - नवी दिल्ली-लाहोर समझोता एक्‍स्प्रेसमधील बॉंबस्फोटात 68 जण ठार.
30 ऑक्‍टोबर 2008 - आसाममध्ये बॉंबस्फोटांची मालिका. 61 जण ठार, तीनशेवर जखमी.
26 नोव्हेंबर 2008 - मुंबईवर दहशतवाद्यांनी केलेल्या हल्ल्यात 166 जणांचा बळी आणि तीनशेवर जखमी.
12 फेब्रुवारी 2010 - पुण्यातील जर्मन बेकरीतील स्फोटात 17 जणांचा मृत्यू, 54 जण जखमी.
13 जुलै 2012 - मुंबईतील गर्दीच्या भागात झालेल्या स्फोटात 27 जणांचा बळी आणि 50 जण जखमी.

कसोटीबाबत साशंकता?
हैदराबादला गुरुवारी झालेल्या बॉंबस्फोटांमुळे तिथे होणाऱ्या भारत आणि ऑस्ट्रेलिया यांच्यातील दुसऱ्या कसोटीबाबत साशंकता निर्माण झाली आहे. भारत आणि ऑस्ट्रेलिया यांच्यातील दुसरी कसोटी जेमतेम एका आठवड्याने म्हणजेच दोन मार्चपासून सुरू होणार आहे.

हैदराबादला झालेले स्फोट हे दिलसुखनगर भागात झाले. हे ठिकाण कसोटी होणार असलेल्या राजीव गांधी आंतरराष्ट्रीय स्टेडियमपासून सात किलोमीटरवर आहे. ऑस्ट्रेलियन क्रिकेट मंडळाची यापूर्वीची भूमिका पाहता ते हैदराबादला खेळण्याबाबत आता आक्षेप घेतील, अशी चर्चा क्रिकेट वर्तुळात सुरू आहे. अर्थातच याबाबतची चर्चा आता उद्याच सुरू होईल व त्यानंतरच तेथील कसोटीबाबतचा आढावा घेतला जाईल, असे भारतीय क्रिकेट मंडळातील वरिष्ठ आधिकाऱ्यांनी सांगितले

काय बोलणार आता आपण...अजून आपण कसाब आणि अफजल ला फाशी दिल्याचा आनंद विसरत नाहीत तो पर्यंत अजून एक ब्लास्ट....नक्की काय चाललाय ते आपल्याला कधीच कळणार नाही..आता परत चौकशी परत दयेचा अर्ज परत राजकारण...आपला देश यामध्येच सीमित राहिला आहे...खरा विकास आपल्या नशिबातच नाही....मृतांना श्रद्धांजली...

On 21/02/2013 09:28 PM शिवराम गोपाळ वैद्य said:

अब सुशील कुमार शिंदे, चिद्दू, दिग्गी, शबाना आझमी, तीस्ता सेटलवाड जैसे नेताओंकी बत्तीसी अच्छी तरह से खुलनी चाहिए और उन्होंने बताना चाहिए की आन्ध्र प्रदेश की कांग्रेसी सरकार इस जघन्य हत्याकांड की जिम्मेदार है और उसे सत्ता में बने रहनेका कोई अधिकार नहीं है ! अगर यह घटना गुजरात में होती तो सुशील कुमार शिंदे फिरसे जयपुर की रिकॉर्ड बजाने में डेरी नहीं करते ! चाहे जो भी हो इस हत्याकांड के पीछे जो लोग है उन्हें बख्शा नहीं जाना चाहिए ! कांग्रेस सिर्फ मुडदे गिननेका काम न करें ! कुछ ठोस एक्शन की उम्मीद है मनमोहन सिंग से ! अब बहोत हो गया ! पानी सर के ऊपर से बह रहा है !

On 21/02/2013 09:25 PM Dhananjay Gujrathi said:

अफजल गुरु चे मृतदेह न दिल्यामुळे हल्ला झाला असावा लवकरात लवकर चौकशी करण्यात यावी आणि दोशीना फाशी द्यावी त्यासाठी दहा वर्षाची वाट पाहू नका

On 21/02/2013 09:03 PM विजय तरवडे said:

अतिदक्षतेचा इशारा, नागरिकांना शांततेचे आवाहन, दहशतवादाच्या रंगावर चर्चा, निषेध, मेणबत्ती मोर्चा... हे असंच चालायचं???? याच्या पलीकडे जाऊन ठोस काही होणार का? आणि कधी होणार?

On 21/02/2013 08:32 PM janardan lute said:

which name will MR. Shinde give to this terrorism.....

On 21/02/2013 08:13 PM kedar said:

अफजल गुरु च्या फासी चा बदला...

On 21/02/2013 08:07 PM sunil said:

करणार कोण तर हे सारे राजकारणीच आहेत, या माघे.... election आले न आले कि झालीच यांची दिवाळी सुरु.....( असे बॉब हल्ले करून करतात दिवाळी साजरी ) मग त्यात कोणत्या धर्म जातीचा मारू कि जगू.... यांना निमित zhale भाषण द्यायला.....

Army averts disaster at Maha Kumbh, plug Ganga breach

PTI

February 19, 2013

A breach in an embankment along the Ganga caused by recent heavy rainfall which threatened to inundate a large area and affect Maha Kumbh pilgrims in Allahabad, has been plugged by a 60-member team of Army's Red Eagle Division who worked through the night averting a disaster.

Sector 10 of Kumbh Mela area was threatened by floods late Monday night when a water stream from river Ganga broke the embankment near a railway bridge and flooded the area following heavy rainfall over the last three days,

This gave rise to the possibility of inundation of a very large area which would have necessitated eviction of thousands of pilgrims from the area, he said.

"A request for assistance was made by the Divisional Commissioner of Allahabad, Devesh Chaturvedi to the Army subsequently,"

He said the 9 Engineers Regiment of the Army's Red Eagle Division swung into action as soon as it received the information about the "grim situation at 0130 hours" and a task force "comprising 60 engineer troops and heavy earth-moving equipment, led by Lt Col N Sundaresan, was mobilised within 20 minutes and were on site by 0200 hours".
http://www.rediff.com/news/report/army-averts-disaster-at-maha

The Shadow over Pakistan--Ayaz Amir

Friday, February 15, 2013....... Islamabad diary

 The Soviet pullout from Afghanistan in 1989 was a triumph for our
military establishment. The ISI and the Zia regime, while not solely
responsible for that outcome, had helped bring it about. But the
American pullout from Afghanistan, now underway and to be completed in
about a year’s time, far from being any kind of triumph looks set to
be a disaster...one for which we are wholly unprepared.

Afghanistan in 1989 was a simpler proposition, the highs and lows of
it etched in black and white. Afghanistan in 2013 is a place
infinitely more complicated and dangerous...not just for itself but
for us as well. This is because of one vital difference. Afghanistan
then was a country contained within its borders. Afghanistan now, to
our misfortune, is stretched across the Durand Line. Ask yourself two
simple questions: (1) Are the Taliban based in FATA more loyal to
Mullah Omar or to the state of Pakistan? (2) Is North Waziristan, in
real terms, more a part of Pakistan or Afghanistan?

When the American pullout is complete these facts will become starker.
Does anyone in his right mind think that in a year from now Amir
Hakeemullah Mehsud – amir of the semi-independent Islamic Emirate of
North Waziristan – will come down from the mountains and lay down his
arms before the army command in Rawalpindi?

The Afghan ‘mujahideen’ in 1989 exulted over the circumstance that
they had defeated one superpower. Now they can lay claim to a far
bigger triumph. Forget about the Afghan Taliban. Does any fool think
that when the Americans have drunk fully from their cup of
humiliation, the Pakistani Taliban will be in a more penitent mood,
ready to settle for modest or moderate terms with the hapless
representatives of the Pakistani state? What world of fantasy and
make-believe are we living in?

We can fit that old proverb to our circumstances: with friends like
the United States who needs enemies? The Americans made life difficult
for us by coming to Afghanistan in 2011. They will make life more
difficult for us by leaving the job they came to do not just half-done
but utterly undone. The Taliban before were just an Afghan phenomenon,
a curiosity to be observed from afar. Thanks to our American friends
they are now just as much a Pakistani phenomenon. And we will have to
deal with this phenomenon not in the remote future but in a year’s
time. When President Obama first said that American troops would be
out by 2014, it seemed such a distant date. Now it’s upon us and, far
from being prepared, we are seeing to it that we bury our heads deeper
into the sand, with sundry paladins saying we must talk peace with the
Taliban without being at all clear what this would entail.

Forget for a moment the modalities of peace talks, whether in the
mountains or Doha or wherever. Can the knights proposing talks with
the Taliban just spell out the terms of a likely settlement? We need
some clarity here, not woolly statements...specific outlines of a
settlement that would be good for Pakistan. If capable of this
clarity, they should not waste a minute. If not, then perhaps it would
be best not to brandish olive branches which can only encourage the
Taliban and confuse our own forces risking their lives in the killing
fields of Fata.

There has been no greater apologist for the Taliban than Imran Khan.
Yet when he wanted to march to North Waziristan the Taliban would not
allow him. Maulana Fazlur Rehman is a self-appointed mediator for
talks with the Taliban. Yet the Taliban, in so many words, have made
it clear they want to have nothing to do with him.

Do we take the Taliban to be a bunch of kids? They have been fighting
the Pakistan army and air force for the last so many years. Having
held out for so long will they settle for any kind of lollipops when,
across the Hindukush mountains, vindication is so close at hand for
their brethren under Mullah Omar from whom they derive their
inspiration? And from whom besides inspiration they will derive more
physical strength once the Americans are out of Afghanistan.

Are we in a position to dictate terms or negotiate from a position of
strength? Quite apart from the balance of military forces, is there
any internal cohesion on our side? If there are elements in Pakistani
society hostile to the Taliban, there is no shortage of elements
sympathetic to them. The Taliban suffer from no such confusion. We
need no videos from the Taliban spokesman, Ehsanullah Ehsan, to tell
us that they are united in their aim: the recasting of the Pakistani
state along lines prescribed by their own version of Islam.

What Swat was under Mullah Fazlullah, what North Waziristan is under
Hakeemullah Mehsud, what the Taliban-controlled areas of Afghanistan
will be under Mullah Omar, is what they would like the whole of
Pakistan to be. And don’t forget that their support network in the
form of friendly seminaries and friendly religious parties is now
spread across Pakistan.

  The MQM may have its own sins to answer for but it is not crying wolf
when it says that spreading areas of Karachi are now
Taliban-dominated, with their own jirgas to settle local disputes.
Indeed, the Taliban are stepping into the shoes of the Awami National
Party. And the MQM while not without its own power will, in times to
come, be no match for these veterans of multiple jihads. So the
dynamics of the national situation are changing and we remain
blissfully unaware. This is strategic depth in reverse; not
Afghanistan our depth but Pakistan with its religious parties and
Taliban sympathisers becoming, oh scary thought, an extension of
Afghanistan. Does this sound too apocalyptic? But then could anyone
have imagined in 2001 that in a few years’ time North Waziristan would
become a no-go area where our military boots would fear to tread? Or
that the spectre of Vietnam would come to haunt Afghanistan?

 Afghanistan is only living up to its reputation of being the graveyard
of empires. But who told us to play with fire there? Now it’s just not
our fingers that are being burnt but much more.

 Come to think of it, through our folly we are reversing 200 years of
history. Once upon a time most of the territories now comprising
Pakistan were part of the kingdom of Kabul. Then on these territories
Maharajah Ranjit Singh established his kingdom and, as a measure of
his power, wrested Peshawar from Afghan hands. With the Maharajah’s
death his kingdom fell on evil days and it was not long before it was
defeated and then annexed by the British.

 Of this tangled skein we are the luckless inheritors, successors of
course to the British but, at a remove, successors also to the kingdom
of Maharajah Ranjit Singh. His was a secular kingdom but let’s not get
into that minefield here. More to the point, he kept the Afghans at a
distance. We have been less successful than him in our Afghan policy.
Our military commanders talk strangely of training Afghan troops. Our
own house in disorder, we have the hubris to offer free advice to
others.

 And as the Americans prepare to leave, forget all the hogwash about
their continued interest in our affairs. A skeletal relationship will
of course survive but we will be largely on our own, with the rupee in
free-fall and the Taliban on the march, in spirit if not otherwise.
This about sums up our predicament.

That is why 2013 is so crucial for us, for the governing arrangement
that emerges from the coming elections will be the stewards of our
discontent when the Americans are out and the Taliban are dreaming of
duplicating in Pakistan their victory that side of the Durand Line

Time for Shias to leave Pakistan

Time for Shias to leave Pakistan
Murtaza Haider | 

It is a massacre alright. Sunni extremists, aligned with Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, are killing Shias by the dozens in Pakistan.

I was yet to compile the list of the 106 (mostly Shias) killed in the twin bomb blasts in Quetta last month, that the news of another bomb blast killing yet another 84 (mostly Shias) in Quetta came over the wire. As the Shia massacres in Pakistan gain momentum, the State, including the Superior Courts, appear completely impotent.

In such troubling times some Shias may have a choice. They may sit and wait for a messiah or relocate to a Shia-exclusive enclave elsewhere, or to escape from Pakistan altogether. It may sound harsh, but it is an inescapable truth that Pakistan has been run over by the extremists and life is going to be even tougher for the minorities and moderate Sunnis in the near future.

In the two consecutive months this year, bomb blasts have killed hundreds of Shia Hazaras in Quetta, a Garrison town where each and every street is manned by intelligence operatives. Still, the militants operate with impunity. Saturday’s bomb blast, which has killed over 80 and injured hundreds, occurred almost within a month of the last bomb blast that delivered even a higher death toll.

Space is fast running out in Shia graveyards in Quetta. It may be the time for Shias to relocate to protect their next generation.

Many naively believe that peace will prevail in Pakistan and Afghanistan after the scheduled withdrawal of Nato troops from Afghanistan in 2014. While I vehemently oppose prolonging the stay of the Nato forces in the region, still I believe this would spell even a bigger disaster for the minorities in Pakistan. The battle-hardened veterans of the Afghan war will return to Pakistan to target Shias, Ahmadis, and other religious minorities. Even Barelvis may not escape the wrath of the mostly Deobandi-led militancy.

There are reasons for my pessimism. I saw the same happen in the late nineties when the Afghan war veterans were pushed into Indian-administered Kashmir. The resulting militancy left over 70,000 dead in Kashmir but failed to make any tangible progress towards the resolution of the dispute that has pitched India, Pakistan, and Kashmiris in a deadly decades old conflict.

What looked like a gory beginning of a new millennium in Indian-administered Kashmir, the security landscape however suddenly transformed in 2002 when the militants started to relocate to Pakistan and Afghanistan to join the Pashtun Taliban. The result was a decline in militancy which is evident from the graph below that shows the drop in the number of news reports about militancy in Srinagar starting after 2002.

Source: Tabulations by the author using the Factiva (2013) database.

A spike in militancy in Pakistan however is observed at the same time when militancy subsided in Indian-administered Kashmir. See the graph below that documents the number of civilians and security force personnel who became victims of terrorist violence in Pakistan. Since 2003, Pakistan has been the target of terrorism orchestrated by the very agents who once afforded the state its strategic depth.

Source: http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/pakistan/database/casualties.htm (Feb. 15, 2013).

Shias and other religious minorities are the most targeted in Pakistan. No city is safe anymore. The past few weeks saw the targeted killing of Shia lawyers, doctors, and other professionals in Peshawar. Shia legislators were shot dead in Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi. While the State is struggling to suppress violence against Shias, the deep-rooted support for militants in society and the inadequate judicial system in Pakistan has created the situation where hardly any terrorist has been convicted of sectarian or other terrorism in Pakistan. In the past few years, several known militants have been set free by the courts because of the archaic judicial system that is incapable of convicting those involved in the modern-day guerilla warfare.

Some, not all, Shias have a choice. They can abandon the death traps in Quetta and Peshawar by relocating to the Shia majority areas in Karachi, Lahore, and other cities. A better option is to plead with the embassies in Islamabad for asylum for the Shia, especially the Hazara, youth.

Seeking asylum abroad may not win the approval of Pakistan’s superior courts, who have recently mocked those who held dual citizenship. However, it is better to be alive in exile than to be splattered on a wall in Pakistan.

 

---

Murtaza Haider, Ph.D. is the Associate Dean of research and graduate programs at the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University in Toronto. He can be reached by email at murtaza.haider@ryerson.ca

I do not think the author's suggestion for Shias to move to Shia dominated  of Karachi, Lahore and other cities will work! Will it prevent the fanatical Sunni Taliban from carrying out suicide attacks over there? No way ! "Those who live by the sword die by it"! The Shitlanders wielded sword to kill us through a thousand cuts, but now it's their turn to die through self inflicted million if not thousand cuts

HELOCOPTER SCAM ANOTHER BOFORS

आता हेलिकॉप्टर घोटाळ्यातही दलालीचे इटालियन कनेक्शन आहेच. त्याच्या चौकशीवरही शेकडो कोटी खर्च होतील, पण त्याचेही दुसरे ‘बोफोर्स’ होईल.

दलालीचे इटालियन कनेक्शन
केंद्रातील कॉंग्रेस आघाडी सरकार आम आदमीच्या भल्यासाठी नाही, तर त्याचा पैसा लुटण्यासाठीच सत्तेत बसले आहे. दुसर्‍यांदा सत्तेत आल्यानंतरही त्यांची ही लूट थांबलेली नाही. त्यामुळेच घोटाळा आणि भ्रष्टाचाराची नवनवीन प्रकरणे चव्हाट्यावर येत आहेत. आता ‘ऑगस्टा वेस्टलॅण्ड’ हेलिकॉप्टर खरेदीतील लाचखोरी उघड झाली आहे. सरकार आणि संरक्षण दलातील काही उच्चपदस्थांना ३६० कोटींची लाच याप्रकरणी दिल्याचा आरोप होत आहे. पुन्हा येथेही लाचखोर कंपनी इटालियनच आहे. दोन दशकांपूर्वी ‘बोफोर्स’ प्रकरणाने देशातील राजकारणात उलथापालथ घडवली होती. त्या इटालियन कंपनीने ६० कोटींची दलाली हिंदुस्थानी उच्चपदस्थांना देऊन तोफांचे कंत्राट मिळविले होते. आता ‘फिनमेकानिका’ या इटालियन कंपनीने १२ हेलिकॉप्टर्ससाठी ३६० कोटींची लाचखोरी केल्याचा आरोप आहे. गेल्या २० वर्षांत आपल्या देशाने भरपूर प्रगती केली. मग लाचखोरीतही ‘प्रगती’ व्हायला नको? पुन्हा सत्ताधारी कॉंग्रेसवाले आणि व्यवहार संरक्षण दलातील असेल तर लाचखोरीचीही उड्डाणे ‘कोटीच्या कोटी’च हवीत. बोफोर्स व्यवहारात थेट राजीव गांधींवरच शिंतोडे उडाले होते. आता ‘हेलिकॉप्टर बॉम्ब’च्या धमाक्यात
सोनिया किंवा राहुल गांधी अद्याप ‘जखमी’ झालेले नाहीत, पण फेब्रुवारी २०१० मध्ये हा खरेदीचा करार केला तो सोनिया मॅडम ‘चेअरपर्सन’ असलेल्या यूपीए सरकारनेच. विद्यमान संरक्षणमंत्र्यांनी भलेही सीबीआय चौकशीचे आणि लाचखोरांवर कारवाई करण्याचे बार उडविले असतील, पण या दुसर्‍या बोफोर्सच्या तपासाची गत पहिल्या बोफोर्सप्रमाणेच होणार नाही कशावरून? बोफोर्स प्रकरणाने राजकीय उलथापालथ झाली, पण मुख्य दलाल क्वात्रोचीचे काय बिघडले? सोनिया गांधींचा हा मामेभाऊ हिंदुस्थानातून सुखरूप पळून तर गेलाच, पण यूपीए सरकारनेच मध्यंतरी त्याला क्लीन चिट देत त्याची गोठवलेली बँक खातीही मोकळी करून दिली. हेलिकॉप्टर खरेदी घोटाळ्यातील कंपनी, त्यातील ‘क्वात्रोची’ही इटालियनच आहेत. भले ते सोनियांचे मामेभाऊ नसतील, पण इटालियन तर आहेत! पुन्हा सरकार जरी याप्रकरणी सीबीआय चौकशीची ग्वाही देत असले तरी सीबीआय केंद्र सरकारची बटीक असल्यासारखीच अशा प्रकरणात वागते हा इतिहास आहे. मुळात हेलिकॉप्टर घोटाळाप्रकरणी केंद्र सरकारने वर्षभर कारवाई का केली नाही? इटालियन कनेक्शन असल्यामुळेच सोनियांचे सरकार मूग गिळून बसले होते काय? फिनमेकानिका कंपनीचे मुख्य कार्यकारी अधिकारी गिसिपी ओर्सी याला इटलीने अटक केल्यानंतरच आमच्या सत्ताधार्‍यांना जाग का आली? ओर्सी याच्या अटकेनंतर हेलिकॉप्टर घोटाळ्याचा ‘झाकून ठेवलेला कोंबडा’ हिंदुस्थानातही आरवल्याशिवाय राहणार नव्हताच. म्हणूनच सीबीआय चौकशीची धूळफेक
केंद्र सरकार आता करीत आहे. टेट्रा ट्रक खरेदीमध्ये १४ कोटींची लाचखोरी झाल्याचे प्रकरण मध्यंतरी गाजले होते. त्याच्या चौकशीचे काय झाले? तो आरोप करणारे लष्करप्रमुख व्ही. के. सिंग नंतर निवृत्त झाले. आता हेलिकॉप्टर खरेदी घोटाळ्यात माजी हवाईदलप्रमुख एस. पी. त्यागी यांच्यावर आरोप झाले आहेत. त्यांनी त्याचा इन्कार केला आहे. आतापर्यंत अनेक गैरव्यवहारांनी आमच्या सैन्यदलांना हादरे दिले आहेत. तरीही गैरव्यवहार तसेच त्यातील दलाली सुरू आणि त्यांच्या चौकशांचे फार्सही सुरूच अशी स्थिती आहे. बोफोर्स प्रकरण ६० कोटींचे होते. त्याच्या खटल्यावर आणि चौकशीवर २५० कोटी रुपये खर्च झाले. हा सगळा जनतेचा पैसा खर्च झाला. पुन्हा एवढा डोंगर पोखरूनही क्वात्रोची इटलीत सहीसलामत पळून गेला. आता हेलिकॉप्टर घोटाळ्यातही दलालीचे इटालियन कनेक्शन आहेच. त्याच्या चौकशीवरही शेकडो कोटी खर्च होतील, पण त्याचेही दुसरे ‘बोफोर्स’ होईल आणि खरे दलाल पडद्याआडच राहतील. बोफोर्स तोफा ते ऑगस्टा वेस्टलॅण्ड हेलिकॉप्टर्स असे आमच्या संरक्षण गैरव्यवहारातील दलालीचे इटालियन कनेक्शन आहे. जोपर्यंत देशाची सूत्रे इटालियन मॅडमकडे राहतील तोपर्यंत हे कनेक्शन कायमच राहील असा आरोप कुणी केला तर तो चुकीचा कसा म्हणता येईल