KARGIL WAR & LT VIJAYANT THAPERS LAST LETTER

कारगिल युद्ध आणि लेफ्टनंट विजयंत थापरचे शेवटचे पत्र-ब्रिगेडियर हेमंत महाजन कारगिल युद्धाला १५ वर्षे पूर्ण झाली. त्या पाश्र्वभूमीवर या युद्धामध्ये पराक्रमाची बाजी लावून विजय पताका फडकवणार्या सैनिकांचे स्मरण करणे औचित्याचे ठरते. अत्यंत खडतर परिस्थितीत जीवाची पर्वा न करता ज्या सैनिकांनी देशाच्या सुरक्षिततेला अबाधित ठेवले त्यांच्या शौर्यापुढे नतमस्तक होऊन भारतीय नागरिक म्हणून आपली जबाबदारी पार पाडताना आपण देखील तेवढेच तत्पर राहिले पाहिजे ही जाणीव या निमित्ताने सर्वांच्या मनात रुजवली गेली पाहिजे. २६ जुलै या दिवसाला भारताच्या इतिहासात विषेश महत्त्व आहे आणि हा दिवस समस्त भारतीयांनी कधीही विसरू नये असा आहे. पंधरा वर्षांपूर्वी या दिवशी भारतीय सैन्याने कारगिल युद्धामध्ये पाकिस्तान विरुद्ध मोठा विजय मिळवला होता. १९९९ मध्ये तात्कालीन पंतप्रधान अटलबिहारी वाजपेयी यांनी पाकिस्ताशी मैत्रीसाठी हात पुढे केला होता. ते लाहोरला गेले . त्याच दरम्यान फेब्रुवारी ते एप्रिलच्या महिन्यात पाकिस्तानने त्यांच्या सैन्याची घुसखोरी भारताच्या कारगिल, द्रास, मश्को या भागात केली. या घुसखोरी दरम्यान हे घुसखोर दहशतवादी/ मुजाहिद्दीन होते असे पाकिस्तानने भासवण्याचा प्रयत्न केला. परंतु ते मुजाहिदीन नसून पाकिस्तानी सैन्याचे सैनिक होते आणि ते सिव्हिल ड्रेसमध्ये घुसखोरी करत होते.या भागाची उंची १० ते १६ हजार फूट इतकी असून वर्षातील नऊ महिने हा डोंगराळ भाग बर्फाने पूर्ण आच्छादलेला असतो. येथील तापमान उणे १० अंश सेल्सियसपासून उणे ४० अंश सेल्सियस इतके कमी असते. अत्यंत कडाक्याची तेथे थंडी असते. अशा डोंगराळ आणि प्रचंड बर्फ असलेल्या भागात आपले सैन्य खूप कमी असते. त्यामुळे ज्या ठिकाणी आपले सैनिक नव्हते त्या भागात पाकिस्तानने घुसखोरी केली आणि डोंगरांच्या शिखरावर आपले सैन्य आत शिरवायला सुरुवात केली होती. ते रात्रीच्या वेळेस घुसखोरी करायचे आणि दिवसाच्या वेळेस लपुन बसायचे.एप्रिलमध्ये या भागात कोणी तरी आले आहे याची कुणकुण भारतीय सैन्याला लागली आणि कितो संख्येने आत सैन्य घुसले हे समजण्यासाठी पुढचा एक महिना लागला. त्यानंतर जून पासून भारतीय सैन्याने ‘ऑपरेशन विजय" मोहिम सुरु केली. तरुण सैनिक आणि अधिकार्यांचे युध्द या युद्धाचे वैशिष्ट्य म्हणजे यामध्ये तरुण अधिकारी सहभागी झाले होते. कारण हा डोंगराळ भाग असल्यामुळे या भागात नौदल किंवा एअरफोर्सचा वापर करता एण्यासारखा नव्हता. तसेच इतर तंत्रज्ञानाचा, क्षेपणास्त्रांचा देखील फारसा उपयग नव्हाता. हे युद्ध पायदळाचे होते. या युद्धादरम्यान पाकिस्तानी सैन्यावर प्रत्यक्ष हल्ला करून त्यांना मारावे लागले. या युद्धात जे जवान शहीद झाले ते अतिशय तरुण वीस ते सव्वीस या वयोगटाचे होते. या युद्धात आपले जवळपास ३६ अधिकारी मारले गेले आणि ५२७ सैनिक शहीद झाले. अधिकार्यांची रॅन्क होती लेफ्टनंट, कॅप्टन, मेजर, लेफ्टनंट कर्नल. पाकिस्तानच्या या घुसखोरीला उत्तर देण्यासाठी आपल्याला देशातील या बुद्धिमान, साहसी तरुणांची किंमत द्यावी लागली. २६ जुलैला टायगर हिलवर ज्यावेळी भारताचा तिरंगा फडकवला गेला त्यावेळी आपण ही लढाई पूर्णपणे जिंकली. या लढाईमध्ये अनेकांना शौर्य पुरस्कार मिळाले. परमवीर चक्र चार , महावीर चक्र चार अधिकार्यांना, वीर चक्र हे २९ सैनिक व अधिकार्यांना मिळाले आणि सेना मेडल ५२ सैनिकांना आणि अधिकार्यांना मिळाले. या शिवाय ज्या बटालियन्सनी तेथे महापराक्रम केला त्यामध्ये १८ ग्रेनेडियर्स, राजपूताना रायफल्स, १३ जम्मु-काश्मीर रायफल्स, १८ गढवाल रायफल्स, ८ शिख रेजीमेंट यांना युनिट सायटेशन देण्यात आले. मोठा पराक्रम गाजवल्यामुळे त्यांना या प्रकारे गौरवीले गेले. या युद्धामध्ये ज्या जवानांनी आपल्या जीवाची बाजी लावून पराक्रम गाजवीला त्या सर्वांची नावे इथे नमूद करणे शक्य नाही पण आपल्या देशासाठी अत्यंत प्रतिकूल परिस्थिती युद्ध करून देशाचे रक्षण करणाèया या सैनिकांपैकी काहींची आठवण आपण नक्कीच काढू शकतो. यामध्ये ज्यांना परमवीर चक्र मिळाले होते त्यात कॅप्टन विक्रम बात्रा होते. त्यांचे ये दिल मांगे मोअर हे वाक्य अतिशय प्रसिद्ध झाले होते. कॅप्टन मनोज पांडे, रायफल मॅन योगिंदर्सिंग यादव आणि रायफल मॅन संजय कुमार यांना परमवीर चक्र मिळाले. या पैकी योगिंदर्सिंग यादव आणि संजयकुमार हे नशीबाने आपल्यामध्ये आहेत. बाकीनी आपल्या प्राणाचे बलिदान केले. महावीर चक्र मेजर आचार्य, लेफ्टनंट कर्नल विश्वानाथन, मेजर राजेश सिंग, मेजर विवेक गुप्ता यांना मिळाले असून त्यांची आठवण आपण नेहमीच ठेवली पाहिजे. या प्रत्येकाने तेथे शौर्याची परिसिमा गाठली. प्रत्येकाचे शौर्य प्रेरणादायी होते, पण येथे वर्णन करणे शक्य नाही. मात्र आपण किमान एका शुर विराची शौर्यगाथा थोडक्यात जाणून घेऊ शकतो. विर चक्र विजेते लेफ्टनंट विजयंत थापर लेफ्टनंट विजयंत थापर यांचा पराक्रम येथे नक्कीच नमूद करावासा वाटतो. विजयंत थापर यांच्या शौर्याबद्दल त्यांना वीरचक्र मिळाले आहे. लेफ्टनंट विजयंत थापर हे २२-२३ वर्षांचे जवान होते. सैन्यात अधिकारी बनून अवघी दोन वर्षे झाली होती. कारगिलमध्ये येण्या आधी त्यांची पलटण काश्मीरच्या कुपवाडा भागात दहशतवाद विरोधी ऑपरेशनमध्ये गुंतलेली होती. या ठिकाणी असताना दहशतवाद्यांनी एका संपूर्ण कुटुंबाला मारले. या कुटुंबातील केवळ एकच आठ वर्षांची मुलगी वाचली. त्या मुलीचे नाव रुखसाना असे असून आपल्या आई-वडिलांना प्रत्यक्ष डोळ्यासमोर मरताना बघितल्यामुळे तिची वाचा कायमची गेली होती. विजयंत थापरने या मुलीला दत्तक घेतले होते. ते तिच्या खर्चाकरता प्रत्येक महिन्याला त्यावेळी १०० रुपये ते पाठवत होते. ही १९९७ सालची गोष्ट आहे. एका शाळेत त्यांनी तिला घातले होते. अजूनही लेफ्टनंट विजयंत थापर गेल्यानंतर त्याचे वडील त्या मुलीकडे बघत आहेत. लेफ्टनंट विजयंत थापर यांचे वडिलसुद्धा सैन्यामध्ये मराठा रेजिमेंट मध्ये कर्नल होते. गनिमी काव्याने हल्ला ते अतिशय चांगले खेळाडू होते. इंडियन मिलेटरी अकादमी मध्ये असताना त्यांना पोहण्या करता आणि बॉक्सिंग करता अनेक पदके मिळाली होती. कारगिलच्या युद्धाच्या वेळी विजय यांच्या पलटणीला आदेश मिळाला होता की, थ्री पिंपल या शिखरावर असणार्या पाकिस्तानी सैनिकांवर हल्ला करुन हे शिखर पुन्हा जिंकावे. हे शिखर १६-१७ हजार फूट उंचीवरचे होते. त्या ठिकाणी पाकिस्तानचे १००-१५० सैनिक होते. या भागात हल्ला करणे अतिशय कठीण असते, त्यामुळे तुम्ही मागच्या बाजूने जाऊन गनिमी काव्याने त्यांच्यावर हल्ला करा, असे लेफ्टनंट विजयंत थापर यांना सांगितले गेले होते. ज्याप्रमाणे तानाजी मालुसरे सिंहगडावर सर्वात अवघड कड्यावरून चढले, तसेच लेफ्टनंट विजयंत देखील आपल्या १२ कमांडोना घेउन रात्रीच्या वेळेस अत्यंत अवघड भागावरून चढले. आणि तिथून पाकिस्तानी सैन्यावर हल्ला केला. हे ठिकाण असे होते की जिथून परत येणे शक्य नव्हते. दुसर्या बाजूने ७०-८० जणांची कंपनी हल्ला करणार होती. म्हणजे एकाच वेळी पाकिस्तानी सैन्यावर दोन बाजूनी हल्ला होणार होता. लेफ्टनंट विजयंत थापरचे शेवटचे पत्र ज्यावेळी लेफ्टनंट विजयंत थापर लढाईवर गेले, त्यावेळी त्यांना कल्पना होती की येथून जिवंत परत येणे अशक्य आहे. म्हणून त्यांनी आपल्या आई-वडिलांना एक शेवटचे पत्र लिहिले. हे पत्र त्यांनी बटालियनच्या ऑफिसमध्ये सोडले. त्यांनी ऑफिसमध्ये सांगून ठेवले होते की, मी परत आलो नाही तरच हे पत्र माझ्या कुटुंबियांना द्यायचे. लेफ्टनंट थापर शहीद झाल्यानंतर अनेक दिवसांनी हे पत्र त्यांच्या आई-वडिलांना मिळाले. त्यामध्ये त्यांनी जे लिहिले होते ते वाचून कुठल्याही भारतीय नागरिकाच्या डोळ्यामध्ये पाणी आल्याशिवाय राहणार नाही आणि मातृभूमीवरचे प्रेम जागृत झाल्या शिवाय राहणार नाही. हे पत्र विजय थापर यांनी आपल्या आई-वडिल, भाऊ आणि आज्जीला लिहिले होते. त्या पत्रात त्यांनी लिहिले होते, ‘ज्यावेळी तुम्हाला हे पत्र मिळेल तेव्हा मी या जगात नसेन आणि मी तुम्हाला आकाशातून बघत असेन. मी मोहिमेवरून परत येणे अशक्य आहे. पण त्याबद्दल मला काहीही दुःख नाही. मी पुन्हा पुढच्या जन्मी माणूस म्हणून जन्मलो तर मी पुन्हा फक्त भारतीय सैन्यातच जाईन आणि देशाकरता लढाईचे काम करेन. आपल्या वडिलांना त्यांनी म्हटले होते, ‘डॅडी तुम्ही युद्ध संपल्यानंतर नक्की "थ्रि पिंपल एरियामध्ये या आणि प्रत्यक्ष डोळ्यांनी बघा की, आम्ही आणि भारतीय सैन्य किती कठीण भागामध्ये लढलो. माझ्या युनिटला म्हणजे राजपूताना रायफल्सला जरूर सांगा की, त्यांच्या मंदिरात म्हणजे करणीमाता देवीच्या मंदिरात आमचा आणि इतर शहिद जवानांचा फोटो लागला तर फार चांगले होईल. प्रत्येक महिन्याला रुखसानाला पैसे पाठवत जा. सगळ्यांना शुभेच्छा. खरोखरच विजय थापर आणि त्यांच्या कर्तृत्वाला सर्व भारतीयांनी सलाम केला पाहिजे.

STOPPING TERROR ATTACKS IN INDIA

दहशतवादी हल्ले कसे थांबवावे:भाग १ दहशतवाद थांबवण्यासाठी आर्थिक नाड्या आवळणे जरुरी: हिवाळ्यापूर्वीच भारतामध्ये घुसखोरी करण्याच्या इराद्याने १५० ते २०० अतिरेकी हे सीमेपलीकडील छावण्यात दबा धरून बसले असल्याचा गौप्यस्फोट लेफ्टनंट जनरल के.एच सिंग यांनी कारगिल विजय दिवसाला पंधरा वर्षे पूर्ण झाल्याबद्दल ते नाग्रोटा येथील मुख्यालयात आयोजित कार्यक्रमात केला. पाकिस्तानने जो गोळीबार केला व दोन महिन्यांत अखनूर येथे दोन हल्ले झाले, त्याला पुरेसे प्रत्युत्तर देण्यात आले असे ते म्हणाले. त्यात अनेक अतिरेकी मारले गेले आहेत. गाझा हल्ल्यांचा आम्ही बदला घेऊ! १९९३ साली आम्हाला पकडण्यात तुम्हाला यश मिळाले. आता तुम्ही आम्हाला पकडून दाखवा, अशा धमकीचे पत्र पोलिस आयुक्त राकेश मारिया यांना शुक्रवारी मिळाले .पत्राची सत्यता पडताळून पाहण्यात येत असून, शहरात हाय अॅलर्ट घोषित केला आहे. पोलिसांच्या नियंत्रण कक्षाला मिळालेल्या या पत्रात गाझा पट्टीत सुरू असलेल्या हल्ल्यांचा संदर्भ देत, आम्ही त्याचा बदला घेऊ, असे म्हटले आहे. हिंदी आणी इंग्रजीत हे पत्र लिहिण्यात आले असून, पोस्टाद्वारे ते पोलिसांना मिळाले.ईद व आगामी सण पाहता शहरात सुरक्षा व्यवस्था चोख राहील याची काळजी घेण्यात येत आहे. नागरिकांना कुठलीही माहिती मिळल्यास ती पोलिसांपर्यंत पोहोचवावी, असे आवाहनही राकेश मारियानी केले आहे. पुण्यात ऐन वर्दळीच्या ठिकाणी झालेल्या बॉम्बस्फोटाच्या तपासाचे आव्हान उभे असतानाच कल्याणमधील चार तरुण इराकमध्ये दहशतवाद्यांच्या संपर्कात असल्याच्या वृत्ताने एकच खळबळ माजली. या चौघांच्या कुटुंबीयांनी या वृत्ताचा इन्कार केला. आता या प्रकरणातील नेमके तथ्य समोर आणण्याचे नवे आव्हान तपास यंत्रणांसमोर उभे आहे. अनेक वर्षांपासून ठाणे जिल्ह्यातील १५ ते ३५ वर्षे वयोगटातील काही तरुण हरवले आहे.कल्याणमधील चार तरुण इराकमध्ये 'आय‌ एसआय‌कएस'मध्ये कार्यरत असल्याची धक्कादायक बाब त्यांच्या पालकांनी तक्रार केल्यानंतर उघड झाली. यामुळे दहशतवादी तसेच कट्टर धर्मांध गटांकडून तरुणांवर होणारे स्लो पॉयझनिंगचे प्रयोग वर प्रकाश पडला आहे. आता त्याच्या सामाजिक पार्श्वभूमीचा अभ्यास करावा ला्गेल. बेपत्ता तरुणांचा डेटाबेस तयार करून तो एनआयएकडे जमा केला पाहीजे. कट्टर धर्मांधता, त्यातून आलेला देशाबद्दलचा अनादर, देशद्रोही घटना याविषयी गुप्तवार्ता, 'एखाद्या विशिष्ट जातीधर्मातील व भागातील तरुण बेपत्ता झाल्याच्या तक्रारी त्यांच्या पालकांनी नोंदविल्यानंतर त्यांच्या ठावठिकाण्याविषयी, पाठपुराव्याविषयी काही काळेबेरे होते का, हे पोलिसांनी तपासायला हवे,' नव्या तरूणांची दहशतवादासाठी भरती पुण्यात कोंढबा भागात जिहादी गटांना मदत करणारे काही लोक आहेत.बीड, औरंगाबाद आणि आता कल्याण , ठाणे , मुंबई या भागात जिहादी विचारांशी सबंधित गट आहेत आणि ते नव्या तरूणाना आपल्या गटात आणण्यासाठी प्रयत्न करतात. रियाज भटकळ आणि त्याचा भाऊ हे कर्नाटकातील भटकळचे तसेच सध्या कारावासात असलेला मुंबईवरील हल्ल्याचा एक सूत्रधार अतिरेकी हा बीडचा आहे. महाराष्ट्राच्या ग्रामीण भागातून अशा कारवायंमध्ये भरती केली जात आहे आणि छुपेपणाने ते काम सुरु आहे. बेपत्ता होणारी मुले गुन्हेगारीकडे वळवली जात असतील तर राज्यासाठी ती धोकादायक बाब म्हणावी लागेल. मुले बेपत्ता का होतात? त्यामागील कारणे नेमकी काय असावीत? याचाही शोध घेणे आवश्यक आहे. तरुण मने कोवळी असतात. थोड्याशा कारणाने ती नाराज होतात. मुलांचे संगोपन करताना सतर्कता बाळगली पाहिजे. पालकांकडून मुलांचे अवास्तव लाड व त्यांच्याकडे होणारे अक्षम्य दुर्लक्ष याला कारणीभूत आहे का? बेपत्ता मुले का सापडत नाहीत? यात पोलीस यंत्रणा कमी पडते का? सुरक्षा यंत्रणांनीही अधिक सतर्कता बाळगून मुले बेपत्ता होण्याच्या प्रकारांचा छडा लावला पाहिजे. यासाठी स्वतंत्र यंत्रणा उभारण्याबाबत गृहविभाग विचार करेल का? दहशतवादी बनविण्यापूर्वी ब्रेनवॉशिंग 'ब्रेनवॉशिंग करून दहशतवादी बनविण्यापूर्वी किंवा इराकला नेण्यापूर्वी एखाद्या शहरात, गावात एखादी 'जमात' उतरते, आठवडाभरात ते प्रवचने वगैरे आयोजित करतात आणि विशिष्ट घरांमधील मुलांना लक्ष्य करतात. त्यांच्या पालनपोषणाची जबाबदारी घेतात. मुलगा ताब्यात आला की त्याचे ब्रेनवॉशिंग सुरू होते. ही प्रक्रिया कित्येक वर्षे चालते. कल्याणमधून गायब झालेल्या चार तरुणांना इराकला जाण्यासाठी पैसे कुठून आले तसेच त्यांना कट्टरवादी बनवण्यामध्ये कोणाचा हात आहे, याचा तपास व्हायला हवा. आठवड्याच्या धार्मिक यात्रेसाठी गेलेल्या या चार तरुणांनी प्रत्येकी ५९ हजार ७८६ रुपये रोख मोजले होते. इराकमधील धार्मिक स्थळांना भेट देणारी ही यात्रा होती. यात्रेदरम्यान ३१ मे रोजी टॅक्सी पकडून हे चारही तरुण करबाला भेटीनंतर मोसूलला गेले. मोसूलला गेल्यानंतर इ.स्लामिक स्टेट इन इराक अँड सिरिया (आयसिस) संघटनेने मोसूल ताब्यात घेतले असावे. पंधरा हजारावर मुले बेपत्ता कल्याणमधून बेपत्ता झालेली चार मुले इराकमधील दहशतवादी संघटनेत सहभागी झाल्याची बाब समोर आली आहे. त्यामुळे अल्पवयीन मुले बेपत्ता होण्याचा मुद्दा पुन्हा ऐरणीवर आला आहे. महाराष्ट्रातून मुले हरवण्याचे, बेपत्ता होण्याचे प्रमाण कमालीचे वाढले आहे. याबाबतची सरकारी आकडेवारी थक्क करणारी आहे. २०११ ते २०१३ या तीन वर्षांत राज्यातून बेपत्ता झालेल्या अठरा वर्षांखालील मुलांची संख्या पंधरा हजारावर पोहोचली आहे. न सापडलेल्या मुलांचे प्रमाण धक्कादायक आहे. शोध न लागलेल्या मुलांची संख्या तेरा हजारांहून अधिक आहे. मुलांचे पालक तसेच पोलीस यंत्रणेने शोध घेऊनही ती सापडलेली नाहीत. पैसा सौदी अरेबियासारख्या इस्लामी देशांकडून दहशतवादी संघटनांसाठी पैसा सौदी अरेबियासारख्या श्रीमंत , इस्लामी देशांकडून पुरविला जातो.त्याना जागतिक काळ्या बाजारात हत्यारे मिळतात. दारीद्रयात जगणार्या भाडोत्री म्हणून मर्सिनरी- मारेकरी - जिहादी भरती केले जातात.अल्पवयात हातात बंदूक आलेली आणि हाणामार्या करण्यापलिकडे दुसरे काहीच येत नाही अशी हजारो तरूणांची फौज या पैशाच्या बळावर तयार केली जाते.अफगाणिस्तान, इराक, इराण , सिरिया आदि देशांमध्ये अशी फौज तयार आहे.पाकिस्तानमध्ये अल कायदा आणि तालिबानचे जिहादी तयार होतात व आसरा घेऊन रहात आहेत. जिहादचे हे सारे जागतिक संदर्भ असले तरी भारतातहि त्याचा शिरकाव होतो आहे . त्यात सुशिक्षित तरूण सहभागी होत आहेत.इंटरनेटच्या माध्यमातून जिहादचा प्रसार चालला आहे. आता देशाविषयी आत्मियताही नाहीशी होऊ लागली आहे. या संघटना पद्धतशीर प्रचाराद्वारे तरुणांच्या मनात देशाविषयी व येथील व्यवस्थेविषयी चीड निर्माण करत आहेत. ते प्रमाण मानून तरुण दहशतवादी कारवायांमध्ये सहभागी होण्यास तयार होत आहेत. त्यामागे सूड भावनाच अधिक प्रमाणात आढळते. अलीकडे करण्यात आलेल्या कारवायांमध्ये अनेक दहशतवाद्यांना कंठस्नान घालण्यात आले आहे. अशा परिस्थितीत नवीन तरुणांची भरती करून त्यांना प्रशिक्षित करून सार्मथ्य वाढवण्याचा दहशतवादी संघटनांचा प्रयत्न आहे.तेव्हा समाजातील सर्वच स्तरातील राष्ट्रप्रेमी नागरिकानी या हालचालींवर नजर ठेवली पाहिजे. चुकीच्या मार्गाने जाणार्या तरूणाना रोखा भारतात राहणार्या पाकिस्तान धार्जिण्यांकडून दहशतवादी कारवायांना पाठबळ मिळते. या लोकांना दहशतवादी कारवायांसाठी पैसा आणि प्रेरणा दिली जाते. अर्थात, यात प्रेरणेपेक्षाही पैशाचा भाग महत्त्वाचा ठरतो. एखाद्या सामान्य, गरिब व्यक्तीला अशा कारवाईसाठी १0 लाख ते २0 लाख रुपये मिळणार असतील तर ती त्याच्यासाठी बरीच मोठी रक्कम असते. या रकमेतून त्याच्या कुटुंबीयांना काही काळ आर्थिक दिलासा मिळू शकतो. शिवाय अशा व्यक्तींचा दहशतवादी कारवायांदरम्यान मृत्यू झाला तर त्यांच्या कुटुंबीयांना मोठी रक्कम दिली जाते. या आमिषापोटी दहशतवादी कारवायांमध्ये सहभागी होणार्यांाची संख्या वाढत आहे. अलीकडे दहशतवाद्यांना अतिरेकी संघटनांकडून नियमित वेतन दिले जात आहे आणि त्याची रक्कम सरकारी अधिकार्यातला मिळणार्याि वेतनापेक्षा किती तरी अधिक आहे. थोडक्यात, जिहादी तत्त्वज्ञानाला भुलून अशा कामासाठी येणार्यांयची संख्या मोजकीच आहे. बाकी सारे भरपूर पैसा मिळतो, आपल्या आणि कुटुंबीयांच्या सर्व गरजा भागतात याच विचाराने दहशतवादी कारवायांसाठी तयार होतात. ही बाब विचारात घेता अशा व्यक्तींना मिळणार्याव मोठय़ा प्रमाणावरील आर्थिक मदतीवर कसे नियंत्रण आणायचे याचा विचार गरजेचा ठरणार आहे. या आर्थिक नाड्या आवळायच्या तर अन्य देशांमधून येणार्या पैशांवर लक्ष ठेवले जायला हवे. त्याच बरोबर दहशतवादी संघटनांच्या जाळय़ात येथील तरुण अडकणार नाहीत याचीही काळजी घेणे महत्त्वाचे ठरणार आहे. दहशतवाद्यांना राहायला जागा देणारे आणि त्यांना पैसा पुरवणारे यांच्यावरही कठोर कारवाई झाली पाहिजे. दहशतवाद्यांपेक्षा त्यांना मदत करणारे जास्त मोठे गुन्हेगार असतात. हे लक्षात घेऊन पुढे पाऊले उचलली पाहिजेत. तरच असे हल्ले थांबवता येतील.

GAZA ON SOCIAL MEDIA

गाझातील युद्ध सोशल मिडियावर अनय जोगळेकर 1 इस्रायल आणि हमास या दहशतवादी संघटनेत ८ जुलै पासून युद्धं झडले आहे. गेल्या दोन आठवड्यात या युद्धात ६००हून अधिक पॅलेस्टिनी आणि ३०हून अधिक इस्रायली कामी आले आहेत. पॅलेस्टिनी बळींमध्ये या युद्धाशी संबंध नसलेल्या सामान्य नागरिकांचा मोठ्या प्रमाणावर आहे. लांबीला बोरिवली त कुलाबा म्हणजेच सुमारे ४० किमी आणि रूंदीला १० किमी असलेल्या गाझा पट्टीत तब्बल १८ लाख लोकं रहातात. सन २००० सालपासून हमास इस्रायलवर रॉकेट हल्ले करत असून गेल्या काही वर्षात या रॉकेटच्या मारक क्षमतेत मोठी वाढ झाल्यामुळे आज इस्रायलचा ७०% भूभाग आणि ५०% लोकसंख्या या रॉकेटच्या सावटाखाली आहे. युद्ध कालावधीत हमासने इस्रायलमध्ये २०००हून अधिक रॉकेट डागली असून नागरी वस्तीवर आदळणारे जवळपास प्रत्येक रॉकेट इस्रायलच्या क्षेपणास्त्र विरोधी यंत्रणेने हवेतच टिपल्याने इस्रायलचे बोटावर मोजण्याइतके नागरिक या हल्ल्यांना बळी पडले आहेत. याशिवाय गाझामधून जमिनीखालून ५ किमीपेक्षा लांब बोगदे खणून इस्रायलच्या सीमेच्या आत शिरून तेथील गावांना किंवा सैन्यतळांना लक्ष्य बनवायचे तसेच इस्रायली नागरिक आणि सैनिकांचे अपहरण करून त्यांना या बोगद्यांतून गाझामध्ये न्यायचे आणि त्यांच्या बदल्यात आपल्या शेकडो अतिरेक्यांची सुटका करून घ्यायची असे हमासचे धोरण राहिले आहे. युद्धक्षेत्र (गाझा पट्टी) अतिशय दाटीवाटीचे असल्याने इस्रायलसाठी हे युद्ध अतिशय कठीण आहे. याआधीची युद्धं उदा. सिरिया, इराक, अफगाणिस्तान इ. लोकसंख्येची तुरळक घनता असलेल्या भागात लढली गेल्याने लष्करासाठी लक्ष्य निश्चित करणे सोपे होते. त्यातून हमासने गाझामधील शाळा, मशिदी, हॉस्पिटल आणि घरांमध्ये आपली रॉकेट दडवून ठेवली असून तेथूनच ती इस्रायलच्या नागरी वस्त्यांवर जसं की शाळा, घरं, वीजनिर्मिती केंद्र आणि विमानतळावर डागण्यात येत आहेत. इस्रायलचे हवाईदल आज जगातील सर्वात अत्याधुनिक हवाईदलांमध्ये गणले जाते. हमास जिथून रॉकेट डागत आहे अशा इमारतींना लक्ष्य करण्यापूर्वी इस्रायली लष्कर फोन करून, हवेतून चेतावणी देणारी पत्रकं फेकून तसेच विध्वंस न करणारी “डमी” क्षेपणास्त्र डागून लोकांना त्या इमारती पुढील अर्ध्या तासात खाली करण्याच्या सूचना देते. असे असले तरी, अनेकदा लहान मुलं आणि वृद्धं एवढ्या कमी वेळेत दुसरीकडे जाऊ न शकल्यामुळे किंवा हल्ला केलेल्या इमारतीची आग इतरत्र पसरून किंवा अपेक्षेपेक्षा अधिक पडझड झाल्याने अनेकदा गाझामधील निष्पाप नागरिक या हल्ल्यांत बळी पडत आहे. इस्रायल आपल्या नागरिकांचे रक्षण करण्यासाठी गाझामध्ये क्षेपणास्त्र हल्ले करत आहे तर हमास आपल्या क्षेपणास्त्रांचे संरक्षण करण्यासाठी गाझामध्ये अडकून पडलेल्या नागरिकांचा ढाल म्हणून वापर करत आहे. आंतरराष्ट्रीय कायद्यानुसार हा दुहेरी गुन्हा आहे. गाझामधील युद्धं जमिनीवर जितक्या तीव्रतेने लढले जात आहे त्यापेक्षा अधिक तीव्रतेने ते सोशल मिडियावर लढले जात आहे. इंटरनेट आणि सोशल मिडियाच्या जन्मानंतरचे हे काही पहिले युद्धं नाही. अमेरिकेचे अफगाणिस्तान आणि इराकवरील आक्रमण, सुदानमधील यादवी युद्ध, सिरियामध्ये बशर अल-असाद यांच्या राजवटीचे अल-कायदा आणि अन्य बंडखोरांविरूद्धंचे युद्धं आणि इराकमध्ये आयसिसने घातलेला धुमाकूळ यातील प्रत्येक युद्धात गाझा युद्धाच्या अनेक पट अधिक सामान्य नागरिक मारले गेले आहेत. पण त्यांच्यापेक्षा गाझा युद्धं अधिक चर्चिलं जाण्याचं महत्त्वाचं कारण म्हणजे जगभरातील लोकांना अरब-इस्रायल संघर्षात रस असून तेलाचं राजकारण त्याभोवती फिरतं. आणखी एक महत्त्वाचं कारण म्हणजे, इस्रायल आणि पॅलेस्टाइन हा आकाराने ठाणे जिल्ह्याच्या दुप्पट असणारा प्रदेश जगातील मोबाइल आणि इंटरनेटने सर्वाधिक जोडल्या गेलेल्या भागांपैकी एक आहे. इस्रायलमधील सुमारे ९०%हून अधिक लोकं आणि पॅलेस्टिनी भागातील सुमारे ६०% लोकं अतिजलद इंटरनेट वापरतात. गाझा पट्टी इस्रायल आणि इजिप्तने ती संपूर्णतः वेढली असून या देशांच्या परवानगीशिवाय तेथून आतबाहेर करणं सहजशक्य नसल्याने आतापर्यंत काही निवडक पत्रकारांच्या वार्तांकनावर तेथील बातम्या अवलंबून असायच्या. पण आज उच्च दर्जाचे कॅमेरे असलेल्या स्मार्टफोनमुळे गाझातील लाखो नागरिक पत्रकार बनले आहेत. अरब मिडियाही या युद्धात हायपर-अ‍ॅक्टिवपणे उतरला असून आपल्याकडील सोशल मिडिया साधनांचा प्रभावीपणे वापर करत आहे. या मिडियाची सहानुभूती हमास आणि गाझापट्टीतील लोकांकडे आहे. इस्रायलच्या हल्यात झालेला विध्वंस, त्यात चुकीमुळे बळी पडलेले निष्पाप लोकं; खासकरून मारली गेलेली किंवा जखमी झालेली मुलं, त्यांच्या अंत्ययात्रा, हॉस्पिटलमधील आणीबाणीची परिस्थिती यांचे चित्रण तात्काळ फेसबुक, ट्विटर आणि युट्यूबच्या माध्यमातून उपलब्ध होत आहे. इस्रायलच्या हल्ल्यात मरण पावलेली कुटुंब, इमारतींच्या ढिगाऱ्याखाली मिळालेली मुलं, उध्वस्तं झालेली घरं आणि मशिदी यांविषयी मन हेलावून टाकणारी वर्णनं फक्त अरब आणि मुस्लिम जगातच नव्हे तर जगभर मोठ्या प्रमाणावर शेअर केली जात आहेत. “युद्धस्य कथाः रम्याः” अशी एक म्हण आहे. युद्धाचं वर्णन अनेकदा प्रेरणादायी ठरते. पण युद्धातून होणाऱ्या विध्वंसाची चित्रं आणि त्यात बळी पडलेल्या माणसांच्या करूण कहाण्या वाचून युद्धाच्या अपरिहार्यतेचे कुठल्या ना कुठल्या कारणाने समर्थन करणाऱ्यांच्या मनातही आपल्या हेतुबद्दल संशय निर्माण होतो. प्रत्येक युद्धात शक्तिशाली बाजूपेक्षा दुबळ्या बाजूला किंवा अधिक नुकसान झालेल्या बाजूला सहानुभूती मिळते. इस्रायलच्या आयर्न डोम रॉकेट प्रतिरोधक यंत्रणेने जिविताचे तसेच मालमत्तेचे नुकसान मोठ्या प्रमाणावर कमी केल्यामुळे पॅलेस्टिनींच्या तुलनेत इस्रायलची बाजू सोशल मिडियावरील प्रचारात लंगडी ठरते. गेल्या दोन आठवड्यात #gazaunderattack हा हॅश टॅग ट्विटरवर ४५ लाखहून अधिक वेळा वापरला गेला आहे तर # israelunderattack हा हॅश टॅग कसाबसा २ लाख वेळा वापरला गेला आहे. सोशल मिडियावरील ट्रेंड आज अनेक ठिकाणी जनमत घडवत किंवा बिघडवत असून विविध देशांच्या परराष्ट्र धोरणावरही प्रभाव टाकतात याची जाणीव इस्रायलला असल्याने त्याने या प्रचार युद्धात अत्यंत हायटेक आणि स्मार्ट कॅंपेन उघडली आहे. व्हिडिओ– हमासचा रॉकेट हल्ला तुमच्या शहरात झाला तर? या युद्धात इस्रायल संरक्षण दल (IDF) एका वेब न्यूज पोर्टलप्रमाणे काम करत आहे. इस्रायलच्या विमानांत तसेच ड्रोनमध्ये बसवलेल्या कॅमेरांद्वारे प्रत्येक हवाई हल्ल्याचे रेकॉर्डिंग करण्यात येत असून कशा प्रकारे हमासचे अतिरेकी घरांतून रॉकेट डागत आहेत, कशाप्रकारे अ‍ॅंब्युलन्सचा वापर अतिरेक्यांच्या वाहतूकीसाठी केला जात आहे, कशा प्रकारे हमासचे लोक लांब भुयारातून इस्रायलच्या प्रदेशात घुसखोरी करतात, कशा प्रकारे इस्रायलचे हवाईदल गाझा मधील लोकांना चेतावणी देते आणि कशाप्रकारे घरांमध्ये दडवलेले स्फोटकांचे साठे उध्वस्त करते इ. विषयांवरील व्हिडिओ रोजच्या रोज आपल्या स्वतःच्या यु-ट्यूब पेजवर (https://www.youtube.com/user/idfnadesk) उपलब्ध करून दिले जात आहेत. इस्रायलचे परराष्ट्र मंत्रालयही या सोशल मिडिया युद्धात उतरलं असून या युद्धामागच्या इस्रायलच्या भूमिकेचे स्पष्टीकरण करणारे व्हिडिओ, चित्रं आणि सादरीकरणं ती आपल्या जगभरातील दूतावासांद्वारे तेथील मिडियाकडे पाठवत आहे. या दूतावासांतील प्रवक्ते स्थानिक मिडियात व सोशल मिडियात या युद्धाचे पडसाद कसे उमटले आहेत याचं विश्लेषण करून त्याला उत्तर देण्याची रणनीती ठरवत आहे. आपला देश संकटात आहे हे ओळखून इस्रायलच्या विद्यापीठातील पत्रकारितेचे विद्यार्थी आपल्या उन्हाळी सुट्ट्यांमधला वेळ देशासाठी देऊन सोशल मिडिया कॅंपेनसाठी कंटेंट (मजकूर/संदेश) तयार करत असून जगभरातील महत्त्वाच्या भाषांमध्ये आणि संदर्भांमध्ये तो उपलब्ध करून देत आहेत. सोशल मिडियाच्या प्रभावामुळे या युद्धात बळी पडलेल्या इस्रायली सैनिकांच्या अंत्यविधीला २०-३० हजार नागरिक गोळा होत आहेत. इस्रायल समर्थक कट्टर ख्रिश्चन आणि अन्य संघटनाही या सोशल मिडिया युद्धात उतरल्या आहेत. पश्चिम अशियातील सोशल मिडिया युद्धात इस्रायलची बाजू लंगडी ठरत असली तरी भारतातल्या ट्विटर जगतात #indiawithisrael हा हॅशटॅग अतिशय लोकप्रिय आहे. गाझातील सोशल मिडिया युद्धातून आपण घ्यायचा सगळ्यात महत्त्वाचा धडा म्हणजे यापुढील सगळी युद्ध तसेच दहशतवाद विरोधी कारवाया सोशल मिडियावर अधिक तीव्रतेने लढल्या जातील. या कारवायांत तेथील नागरिक, फुटीरतावादी किंवा दहशतवादी संघटना आणि स्थानिक मिडिया सार्वभौम राष्ट्राच्या तोंडचं पाणी पळवू शकतील तसेच देशात दोन समाजांत तेढ निर्माण करू शकतील. ते टाळायचं असेल तर आपले पोलिस, सुरक्षा यंत्रणा आणि सैन्यदलं यांनीही अत्यंत प्रभावीपणे सोशल मिडिया वापरायची गरज आहे. या साठी नुसता पैसा आणि तंत्रज्ञान पुरेसं नाही तर ते वापरणारे लोकं आपल्या यंत्रणेत तयार करणे, या युद्धासाठी परिणामकारक संदेश निर्माण करणं तसेच कमांड आणि कंट्रोलद्वारे त्याचा पद्धतशीरपणे मारा करणंही तितकचं महत्त्वाचं आहे. आग लागल्यावर विहिर खणायला घेणे मूर्खपणाचं ठरेल.

ACCHE DIN LT GEN SINHA LONG BUT WORTH READING

A SECOND DAWN By Lt Gen (Retd) S K Sinha I belong to a vanishing generation which witnessed the dawn of 15 August 1947 from close quarters. I had a grandstand view of events in Delhi, from a key junior appointment in Military Operations Directorate at South Block, dealing with internal security. I had to shoulder great responsibility much beyond my ability, knowledge and experience. The sudden departure of senior and experienced British officers had led to this situation for Indian officers of my generation in the Army. Before Independence, the Indian Army had over 80 per cent British officers with no Indian in the rank of a General officer, half a dozen Brigadiers and a few Colonels and Lt Cols. After the Great Calcutta Killings of August 1946, communal violence with increasing intensity spread all over North India. This reached a crescendo after 3 June 1947, when Partition was announced. Mass migration of minorities from both Pakistan and India commenced. Millions got killed and millions uprooted. The civil administration in Delhi and Punjab had collapsed. The Army became the mainstay of the Government to restore order. The departing Viceroy Lord Wavell in his farewell address on 21 March 1947 had said, “I believe the stability of the Indian Army may perhaps be the deciding factor in the future of India.” Lakhs of Muslim refugees had concentrated in Delhi. They were living in make shift refugee camps in the then open space between Red Fort and Yamuna as also between Purana Qilla and the river. These camps had to be protected from marauding mobs. These hapless refugees used to be put in jam packed special trains with some sitting on the roof of compartments. The Army had to provide escorts for the refugee trains going to Pakistan. All normal passenger and goods movement in Punjab were suspended to provide rolling stock for refugee movement. Providing protection of miles long foot columns of refugees trudging to Pakistan was almost an impossible task. Chaos and violence reigned all over. In Delhi Army officers had to be in uniform armed with pistols all the time. We got food packed in Girls Colleges by girl volunteer students for minority refugee foot columns in Pakistan. These were picked up by the Army and dropped over these moving columns in Pakistan. Our Military Evacuation Organisation at Lahore arranged for evacuation of non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan by road and in Air Force planes returning after food drops. The Army established a staging tented camp for 5 lakh non Muslim refugees from Pakistan at Kurukshetra. The civil administration dispersed them to areas in Punjab and outside. They were allotted places vacated by Muslim refugees who had left for Pakistan. All these were gigantic tasks and we had to work round the clock. It was indeed an irony that British officers could travel all over Delhi and Punjab unarmed as there was no threat of their being attacked, while Indian officers, both Muslims and non-Muslims, had to remain armed with their pistols all the time. We had a division worth of troops deployed in and around Delhi. I may mention an incident of those times to show how disturbed the situation was in Delhi. One afternoon, I was in the Operations Room when Mr Dundas, the Defence Secretary came in looking agitated. A senior ICS officer, he had opted to go as Defence Secretary in Pakistan. He said that a mob of shouting Hindus and Sikhs with mashals in their hands was assembling near the hutments with the intention of burning the documents, office equipment, furniture etc packed and stacked to be sent to Pakistan. General Lentaign, our Director asked me to pick up two or three armed Defence Security soldiers at the gate below and disperse the mob. He also said that he would imstruct Delhi to send a mobile armed patrol to the spot. I rushed to the hutments as instructed. Dundas accompanied me. On reaching the spot I got my men to fire warning shots in the air and the mob dispersed. Soon a mobile patrol also arrived and we positioned an armed picket there. Much later, those hutments were demolished. The Sena Bhavan has come up at that site. On midnight 14/15 August I heard Jawaharlal Nehru’s soul stirring Tryst with Destiny speech in the Parliament on the radio. India had at last become free. I was overwhelmed with emotion. The much cherished Dawn had arrived. In the morning I saw the Union Jack was no longer flying over North Block, South Block and the Parliament House. I was thrilled to see our National Flag proudly fluttering in their place. A ceremonial parade was to be held near India Gate. We cordoned the whole area and tight security arrangements were made. Large crowds assembled on both sides of Kingsway (now Raj Path). Mountbatten and Nehru dove in State in the Viceroy’s open horse carriage escorted by the Viceroy’s Bodyguard. The jubilant crowd was shouting Pandit Nehru Ki Jai, Pandit Mountbatten Ki Jai. Mountbatten and Nehru mounted the saluting dais. The over enthusiastic crowd broke the cordon and began milling all round the troops formed up for the parade and near the saluting dais. The Parade could not be held. The Band played the National Anthem and gun salute firing in the distance could be heard. Mountbatten and Nehru jointly unfurled the national flag. Mountbatten is reported to have remarked that this was the best military parade he had seen! By middle October 1947 the situation was limping back to near normal when a storm broke out in Kashmir. Pakistan Army invaded Kashmir with Maj Gen Akbar Khan commanding the invading forces. They comprised a mix of Pakistan Army personnel in civilian clothes and tribal raiders. In three days the Pakistan Forces were in Baramulla after overrunning the heroic resistance put up by Maharaja’s small army. The Maharaja and the civil administration abandoned Srinagar and fled to Jammu. Srinagar was without any defence. The Maharaja acceded to India on 26 October. We received orders late that afternoon to rescue Srinagar. On 27 October only six Dakotas were available. From next day some forty private airlines Dakotas with European pilots were be mobilised for us.. I recall landing at Srinagar grass airfield with only 300 troops on 27 October 1947, when the enemy at Baramulla was 10,000 strong. They were indulging in rapine and plunder of the most brutal manner. This gave us time to feverishly build up of our military strength in Srinagar. The forty Dakotas were now each doing two sorties a day from Safdarganj airport to Srinagar. I saw a rare wave of patriotism and determination in all ranks of the Army to give of our best, no matter the odds and difficulties. We were for the first time fighting a war for Independent India under Indian military leadership in the field. We ultimately decisively defeated the enemy in the battle of Shelatang on the outskirts of Srinagar on 7 November 1947 and cleared Srinagar Valley despite all odds. I have mentioned all these details to highlight the conditions of unprecedented violence and chaos we faced in the wake of the great Dawn of our Independence and after. Winston Churchill had said, “India is merely a geographical expression. It is no more a single country than the Equator.” Prophets of Gloom maintained that India being a multi lingual, multi ethnic and multi religious behemoth will not be able to hold together. They were proved wrong. India not only held together but turned out to be the only successful democracy in the Third World on the three continents of Asia, Africa and Latin America. John Fester Galbraith the US Ambassador to India referred to Indian democracy as a functioning anarchy. The two decades of the Nehru era followed by a few months of Lal Bahadur Shastri at the helm, were a glorious era for India despite the unfortunate Himalayan debacle of 1962 in the closing years of Nehru’s life, being a big setback. Our national honour was soon vindicated in 1965 and in 1967 Artillery duel started by China in Sikkim, the latter had a bitter experience. Despite military and economic weakness during the Nehru era, India emerged a major international power on the basis of her moral strength . Our political leaders at the Centre and in States were very capable men of impeccable integrity, who had made great personal sacrifice during the freedom struggle. . Indira Gandhi became a great war leader. Defying the US and China, the two powerful patrons of Pakistan, she inflicted a crushing defeat on Pakistan in the Bangladesh War of 1971. This was India’s finest hour. India had not won such a glorious and decisive victory in the past millennium and more. However, she was responsible for decline in moral values in public life and undermining democracy. She once remarked that her father was a saint who had strayed into politics, implying that values did not matter with her. She also once remarked that corruption was an international phenomenon. This virtually gave license to this evil in public life. The maladies of rampant corruption and dynastic rule reached mind boggling dimensions during UPA- 2 regime. Churchill’s remarks about India like Equator not being a country was proved wrong after Independence, but now his very derogatory remarks about Indian political leaders with very few exceptions, started having a ring of truth. He had said, “Power will go into the hands of rascals, rogues, freebooters; all Indian leaders will be of low caliber and men of straw. They will have sweet tongue and silly hearts. They will fight among themselves for power and India will be lost to political squabbles.” By 2014 the common man in India was totally disillusioned, disgusted with rampant corruption at all levels and in every sphere eating into the vitals of the Nation. He was groaning under rising prices for long. We had a failing economy with little hope of things improving. On top of all this, the country had been reduced to being a feudal democracy with dynastic rule. Arrogance of power and poor leadership of the rulers and their lackeys had promoted what Mahatma Gandhi once called, slave mentality in the administration. There was also a paralysis of governance. Narendra Modi with a reputation of impeccable integrity and dedication having a record of providing good governance in his State swept the polls with his mass appeal through his unmatchable oratory that swayed the masses. A tsunami struck the Grand Old Party which wasreduced to a pitiable 44 members in the Lok Sabha. The aura of the Dynasty was in shatters. Giving a call for “Congress Mukt Bharat” Narendra Modi has come to power with a thumping majority. The dimensions of his huge victory were perhaps not anticipated by him, his party, his opponents or any political analyst. I have lived to see a Second Dawn. The dawn of 15 August 47 was drenched in communal violence and chaos all round. I was then a small cog in the wheel of the establishment. On 26 May 2014, as a bystander I avidly saw the new Dawn on the TV. The unique swearing in ceremony of Narendra Modi and his Council of Ministers was an unprecedented world event. Heads of State of adjacent countries attended the function including the Prime Minister of Pakistan with whom we have been on cold war punctuated by three hot wars and continuing low intensity conflict. Over 4000 eminent personalities of the country in different walks of life were at the function. 15 August 1947 heralded the dawn of freedom from foreign rule after several centuries. 26 May 2014 has generated much hope and enthusiasm for the future, emerging from a long era of despair and darkness. Modi’s path breaking foreign policy initiatives towards neighbouring countries are welcome development and so has his reaching out to countries in the East, up to Japan and South Korea. This should break China’s String of Pearl Strategy. He interacted with much aplomb at the Heads of State meeting at BRICS in Brazil at which it was decided to set up BRICS Development Bank. Foreign powers including the US have been too keen to invite Modi. Things have come a long way from the time the US had denied visa to him. After addressing the UN General Assembly in September, he will be visiting Washington on the invitation of President Obama. All this augurs well for the future. In the past few weeks welcome initiatives have been taken to meet India’s gigantic problems for her billion population. Funds have been allotted for 24x7 electricity in every house Swatch Bharat programme, Namami Ganga clean Ganga project, infrastructure development and so on. Measures have been taken to provide decisive and effective governance. The Chalta Hai approach among the bureaucracy at the Centre has been changed to a disciplined and dedicated approach, abandoning lethargy. The old environment and style of working appears to have changed overnight. Modi’s inclusive development agenda as against the divisive secularism of the previous regime provides a breath of fresh air. So far, all the initiatives taken by him hold great hope for the coming of Achche Din. As an old army veteran it gives me great satisfaction to see efforts to remove the UPA Government’s neglect of national security and of the military. Allocation of funds to procure modern weapons, doubling military strength on the Northern border, infrastructure development in that area, settling people in vacant land space near the border, increasing FDI to 49 per cent in defence production, promoting indigenous defence industry with private sector participation and so on. Private sector has been asked to produce light transport aircraft replacing AVROs, 32 light utility helicopters and small combat naval vessels. No doubt we need to develop cordial relations and mutually beneficial economic ties with our neighbours but this should be from a position of military strength. The long pestering personnel problem of one rank one pension has been suitably addressed. One thousand crores has been allocated for this in the current budget. The bureaucracy has been directed to ensure military participation in decision making. Service Chiefs have will now have periodic direct access to the Prime Minister as in Western democracies. It is significant that after a long time the practice of the Prime Minister giving a farewell dinner to a retiring Army Chief has been revived. This raises hope of the long awaited appointment of CDS like in all democracies, will become a reality in the near future. Yet another consideration shown for the military is to allot 100 crores for a National War Memorial round the India Gate complex New Delhi. For political and bureaucratic resons this project initiated over six decades ago had been hanging fire. Funds for these projects have been allotted. Work on them are likely to start soon. We have a large aspirational young generation among our people who are in a hurry to receive the benefits of better life. The promises held out must be fulfilled soon. The burning issue of rising prices which affects all must be tackled at top priority and. so should improving the quality of life for the people and reducing/removing unemployment. Narendra Modi does not have the magic wand of Ali Baba to overnight bring down food prices and provide other promised facilities. Yet every effort should be made to show tangible improvements within a short time frame. Electoral promises have to be delivered. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. We as a nation perhaps have a weakness for sycophancy because of having been ruled by foreigners for a millennium in medieval and early modern period. Mahatma Gandhi had called this slave mentality. Girilal Jain the Editor of Times of India had rightly said that Sycophants have destroyed Empires and Emperors. The UPA Government became a victim of sycophancy of its courtiers. Modi Government must guard against this pitfall. I conclude with full confidence that various measures being taken by the nesw Government holds much promise of its delivering on its election promises. Hopefully, the second dawn that I have the good fortune to see, would usher a glorious future providing India a rightful place in the comity of Nations and she becoming a leading world power. *****

WAR MEMORIAL FOR SOLDIERS BY MODI GOVT

Fulfilling a sacred contract with the soldier Nitin Gokhale The Ministry of Defence will soon invite international bids for constructing a National War Memorial at India Gate following the allocation of Rs 100 crore in the budget for 2014-15 presented to the Parliament on Thursday. Although a basic design and concept for the proposed memorial is available with the Indian Army, the authorities want to explore more possibilities within that framework. Defence ministry sources said the proposed concept includes a museum and a walkabout. Some of the images from a presentation made to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by the Army last month suggest Landscaping/sloping up of lawns around 'Chhattri' to create retaining walls for writing names of martyrs - post independence No disturbance at all to existing structure of India Gate and 'Chhattri' Construction of Shradhanjali Kaksh and auditorium at Princess Park and Armed Forces Museum at Jodhpur Hostel (adjacent but outside the India Gate complex) and connecting these with the war memorial through underground passages This is a welcome development. Otherwise 64 years after India became a Republic, we are still paying homage at India Gate, built by the British for the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the Imperial power in World War I! It is important to honour all the soldiers who have given blood, sweat and life for preserving India's independence and protecting its sovereignty. Otherwise, India will be like Japan or Germany, post-WW II—big economies without adequate military muscle. Let them know we care for them through the year and not just on two or three ritualistic occasions. It’s important to recall what Kautilya (not Sun Tzu as many of us are fond of quoting) said ages ago about the duty of the King (in this case the Government) towards the soldier: “A country makes a sacred contract with its soldiers. A country that refuses to respect this contract with its armed forces will eventually end up getting forces that will not respect the nation (government).” Kautilya, better known as Chanakya, also reminded King Chandragupta Maurya: “The day the soldier has to demand his dues, will be a sad day.” Fortunately, after years of stalling a War Memorial, soldiers can look forward to a befitting memorial for their fallen comrades

RASHTRIYA RIFLES NEED NATIONS GRATITUDE-GEN ATTA HASNAIN

The Rashtriya Rifles Deserves the Gratitude of the Nation by: Lt Gen (Retd) Syed Ata Hasnain, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, SM,VSM* 7/24/2014 Defense analysts and writers seldom use emotives when they get down to writing. Since I consider myself a bit of an upstart as a defense analyst I justify remaining emotional about subjects which are close to the heart. For a soldier the heart normally lays where he has served with honor. Thus for me one of the organizations closest to the heart remains the Rashtriya Rifles, commonly referred as the RR. Within the Army, the RR is well known as a specialist organization raised to fight terrorism in Jammu & Kashmir. The people outside the Army may have just heard of it, though sketchily. Yet, when an organization barely 25 years in being, rises to become an icon in itself there must be something about it which is worth knowing. Hence this piece on RR. It may pay dividends I were to commence this piece with a single statement which actually says it all. The Rashtriya Rifles, in my perception, is india’s finest military experiment in 67 years of existence as an independent nation. I never fail to repeat this wherever I go, ad nauseum. It makes me guilty to leave my audience guessing what I mean and how I justify such a remark. The Origin The origins of the RR go back to the days of Operation PAWAN, India’s first out of area (OOA) operation. Four frontline divisions were involved in an OOA insurgent situation leaving behind an adversely affected force structure to respond to the ongoing insurgency in the North East and none too stable situation on the western borders. Immediately thereafter the Army was again involved in holding the periphery to boost the confidence of the Punjab Police while the Punjab militancy raged in 1990-91. With the continuous deployment of the Army in OOA operations and CI duties, even as conventional threats loomed large in the form of the unpredictable Pakistan Army, it became clear that a special force was required to deal with India’s turbulent internal security situation; a credible force which would prevent frequent deployment of the Army’s frontline formations and units on internal security. Raised with the Punjab situation in mind the changeover to Kashmir and then the Jammu region was quick. Lending credence to this theory that it was never J&K which instigated the idea of RR, is the fact that HQ 8 Sector RR along with its three units, 18 RR, 32 RR and 33 RR was initially deployed in the North East and moved to its current location in the Lolab Valley only in in 1999, at the height of Kargil crisis. RR was raised as a specialized Counter Insurgency/ Counter Terrorist (CI/ CT) Force in 1990 to relieve the regular Army of its CI/ CT commitments, so as to ensure its ready availability at all times for its primary task. It was originally planned to constitute the Force with personnel on deputation from the Army, along with lateral inductees for permanent absorption in the RR and suitable ex-servicemen volunteers. It was however, later decided that the entire manpower would comprise personnel on deputation from the regular Army. The RR was thus raised with 100 percent personnel on deputation from all Arms and Services. The Organization The first few units had no regimental orientation or links but someone in authority (and to him we owe much) decided that one of the strengths of the Indian Army, its regimental system,also needed to be infused into this force. Thus came about the unique experiment of basing an RR unit on an Infantry Regiment as the core with another Arm (Armoured Corps, Artillery, Engineers and Air Defence) providing supplementary manpower; the logistics and support elements were provided by the Services. A look at a typical RR unit’s organization will explain this little better to a layman. 36 RR, one of the high achieving units, is organized with a little over 50 percent manpower from The Garhwal Rifles, 30 percent from the Artillery and rest of the elements coming from Engineers (one Engineer platoon), Signals (a communication platoon), EME (one Field Repair Increment – FRI), ASC (one Mechanical Transport Platoon), Ordnance (storemen) and AMC personnel. Add to this one JCO and 14 OR from JAK LI for interpreter and liaison duties. The total manpower comes to about 1200 all ranks but the capability to have six RR companies is a definite plus. This affords an ideal six point deployment i.e. occupation of six company operating bases (COBs) with one of the companies being co-located with the Battalion Headquarters. The logistics is kept to the bare minimum with specialists available in each field thus obviating any training of general duties personnel in specialist fields involving logistics. The Engineers complement is a major asset because it can be employed for anti-Improvised Explosive Device (IED) role, bomb disposal, demolition tasks in CT operations and very importantly for electrification, construction of habitat and maintenance tasks. Similar is the case with Signals. In many ways an RR battalion represents a battalion group which can be reorganized for tailor made tasks because of the inherent flexibility. It can latch on to any logistics node or specialist logistics establishment for its logistics needs and is completely self-contained in transport. Two other aspects need to be known. First, that RR Budget is additionality to Army Budget under a separate Head. All financial rules as applicable to regular Army are also applicable to RR Budget. Second, the manpower is supplementary to the authorized manpower of the Army and thus comes under Composite Table II. It means that it requires a special approval of its mandate for a fixed period after which the mandate has to be approved again and that too at the highest level. This has sometimes caused problems in functioning as such approvals are known to get delayed with resultant effects on the budget. The initial organizational concept was based upon two to three RR units functioning under a Sector HQ (equivalent to a Brigade HQ). This was supplemented in 1994 with the raising of the two HQ Counter Insurgency Forces; Victor for the Kashmir Valley and Delta for Doda in Jammu region. The CI/CT grid came under the two Force HQ which too were lean and mean, devoid of all the add on supporting units associated with a division HQ. In fact the first light division concept in India had thus taken birth. With the expanding arc of militancy through the Nineties, it was not possible to execute the CI/CT role over the large swathe of areas North and South of the PirPanjal with these two Forces alone. Additional forces were inducted, 8 Mountain Divison (from North East) in the Kashmir Valley with 25 Infantry Division and 39 Infantry Division doing service in Jammu region. It also led to the raising of additional RR HQ, Kilo Force for the Valley, with Uniform and Romeo Forces in Jammu region. That is where it rests today with the strength of RR units going up from 36 in 1999 to 63 by 2003 with fifteen Sector HQs to control these, along with the five Force HQ. The Directorate General of Rashtriya Rifles (DGRR), located as part of the Integrated HQ of the MoD (Army) at Delhi controls the non-operational part of the management of the Force. An extremely neat arrangement. The Ethos and Mode of Functioning Keeping the North East model as the backdrop, interoperability between the RR and the regular Army was ensured. Thus RR units form part of regular infantry formations just as an RR Sector HQ can have regular infantry units placed under it.There is even a unique case where an RR unit is placed under an artillery brigade of an Infantry division because it is the garrison battalion in a mid-size city for which the formation is responsible; flexibility of command and control is thus a mantra. Additional information, suitable to discuss under ‘ethos’ rather than ‘organization’, relates to the makeup of officers, the backbone of the leadership. The CO is invariably an Infantryman from the same regiment as the infantry troops, so is the Second in Command, although another officer (not from Services) can also perform duties if he is the senior most. There has been a running battle between the Infantry and Arms such as Armoured Corps and Artillery for a percentage of vacancies of command. It has yet to be resolved to satisfaction. However, if this is a negative, the positives far outweigh it. In the RR, while an officer may have his core competence based on his Arm or Service, no one denies him an operational role in command of troops. This gives huge fillip to the self-esteem of officers who proudly wear their RR badge, shoulder titles and lanyard, temporarily casting aside their original embellishments. The Military Secretary’s Branch has done its bit by ensuring that service in RR (usually 30 months) fetches the qualitative requirements (QRs) for consideration for foreign postings and career courses of instruction. While many an old timer from the Infantry may consider CI/CT operations as a purely Infantry domain, the RR experience has proved that ultimately it is an officer’s personal involvement and application which makes him a competent CI/CT leader. Besides numerous Infantry officers who perform marvelously there are an equal number of officers from Armoured Corps, Artillery, Air Defense, Engineers, Signals, Ordnance and ASC who perform outstandingly under the most stressful conditions. The bulk of the officers are from the Infantry (4-6), with the other Arm providing 4 and an officer each from Engineers, Signals, ASC and EME. A Regimental Medical Officer (RMO) is a must, considering that casualties are frequent and the rule of Golden Hour necessitating the presence of an RMO at the site of operations. The organizational ethos has refined over time with every effort to ensure that each RR Unit has a fixed number of Infantry and other Arm units to subscribe the manpower. Most RR units go to the extent of organizing themselves in sub units on the basis of sub division of the units which subscribe the manpower. For example 14 RR could have three Garhwal Rifles units subscribing to an RR company along with two or three Armoured units. This develops a close bond and the sub unit’s unique ethos and operational culture can many times be traced to the culture of the original units. RR companies are a proportional mix of Infantry and the main Arm which provides the manpower. It should be noted that the Indian Army’s concept of service in an operational area is quite different to that of Western armies who ensure that a single tour of duty of its servicemen is no more than six months. Officers and jawans in RR units serve for approximately 30 months during which there is no absence for training, temporary duties etc; the only time an officer or jawan may not be present is during the period of his authorized leave. Every effort is made to ensure that these personnel proceed home on leave at least once in three months. There are no training courses or promotion cadres in the RR. Each time a jawan is required to attend such a cadre he is required to return to his parent unit which provides a suitable relief for the period of absence. The Central Government’s decision to provide two free railway warrants to personnel in operational areas has paid dividends in terms of morale. The various chartered flights to Srinagar have also contributed towards this. The above system ensures something which every Army officer deployed in an operational environment is conscious of – manpower availability (bayonet strength). Ask an experienced infantry officer what is the bayonet strength available to him from a company when proceeding on a mission and he will state that he would be thrilled with 75 from strength of 120; of which at least 20 must be left behind to protect the company operating base and logistics follow up. More often it will be 60-65 (less 20). CI/CT operations can be very manpower intensive except when a deliberate attempt is being made to hunt in small teams. Even then the initial contact may be by the small team, the finishing has to still be done by reaction from a sub unit; that is if you wish to ensure hundred percent successes. In the case of an RR sub unit 90 would be a credible figure for availability for various operations but at a time an RR sub unit may be deployed on myriad operational tasks ranging from road opening, helipad protection, convoy protection for own logistics, QRTs for unit tasks such as attendance at courts and offices of local administration, Sadbhavna (WHAM) tasks etc. Lucky that a sub unit may still find 40-50 personnel for immediate reaction to a contact or a developing intelligence based situation. For an infantry battalion it would be well-nigh impossible. Thus, the slow buildup of ethos of functioning of the RR through directives such as those which ensure that its manpower is never frittered; the wisdom of the Indian Army’s system is indeed appreciable. It knows how to nurture a resource such as the RR. I have to admit that a senior DG of a CPO once visited me at Srinagar and inquired how the RR had come to be such an effective force. I was actually elated at his observation and offered to arrange for him a longish visit to one of my RR units. He spent a couple of hours with the unit (must admit the DG’s most professional outlook) after which he rang me up and told me he had learnt enough. In his view it was the Regimental system which was the glue which had the right potion to give these units a high. Of course, he had volumes to speak about the professionalism of the RR officers and men, the flexible yet firm control that the Sector and Force HQ ensured over all operational activities, the readiness to learn from mistakes and very importantly the continuity of presence in a given area of deployment where the unit gelled with the local population. He also observed how much importance was being given to intelligence gathering, briefings and debriefings. A word on continuity. An RR unit turns over almost 50 percent of its manpower every year, which means 600 men come and 600 go, making it an average of 50 a month. An RR CO may see as many as 2000 personnel through his command tenure. But the fact that the unit remains static except for minor tactical redeployment contributes to its hold over its area. The terrain is well known, the sources are more loyal, the SOPs are easier to follow and lessons of the past are always applicable to the ground. Besides a very simple direction is followed; no man can operate unless he undergoes pre induction training at the Corps Battle Schools(CBS)of either 15 or 16 Corps. These are very important institutions where the continuity factor is also ensured. Commonality of understanding the mission, the force ethos and the ramifications of various actions have to be starkly brought to the mind of every man especially now when conflict stabilization is underway. RR General Officers and Sector Commanders have to ensure they address their men right there at the CBS. It makes a world of a difference when you have such a focused command. Operational Aspects The RR has evolved over a period of time confronting first the hard core cadres of the Ikhwan, Hizbul Mujahideen, JKLF and Harkatul Ansar and then confronting the foreign terrorists who started to enter the Valley in droves. Hard power was a necessity otherwise the situation would have gone out of hand. As cadres of the Lashkar e Toiba (LeT), Al Badr and Jaish e Mohommad (JeM) started to emerge in greater strength the degree of coordination from across the LoC enhanced exponentially. Operational concepts had to rely on large scale cordon and search operations (CASO) of urban areas bringing the RR into direct contact with the people. There was then little need for intelligence so intense and dense was the presence of the terrorists. They employed IEDs at will and even confronted the RR troops frontally in encounters in the jungles of Rajwar, Hafruda and Rafiabad. It needed diligence and a degree of risk to move for operations. The terrorist cadres then used simple VHF radio for communications. This moved on to mobile technology before resting on satellite phones (Thuraya). The emergence of the Jihadi radical as a modern technical whiz kid (4th Generation Warrior) employing social media and Skype for communication forced the RR to technicalize both with authorized equipment and a lot of ‘Jugaad’. The RR today reflects the technical savviness of the modern generation. A major challenge that any RR unit faces today is the absolute need to ensure minimum collateral damage during an operation. The kinetic aspect of disproportional use of force of which CI/CT units are often blamed remains a critical component of execution and operations may be delayed only for this need. The RR has also travelled through the transforming conflict with aplomb. From large scale contacts and CT operations in the hinterland it is now also doing service in counter infiltration in the vicinity of the LoC and is optimized to be available for conventional role too. Its primary role in conventional conflict remains Rear Area Security. However, it has gone on to train and be ready for confrontation at the LoC itself. The transforming internal conflict scenario has also left many in a quandary about understanding the RR’s role in conflict stabilization and conflict termination, the stages that we are entering and will enter in the future. For a professional it is important to realize that of the continuously changing role of the RR this one aspect will remain constant. This is the original task; the integration of the State of J&K with mainstream India. It has never been articulated but is the intellectually evolved role which should have been spelt out at the outset. Thus, while many may bemoan the fact that today there are very few terrorists for the RR to eliminate and the romanticized and gung ho role may be over, the more difficult task starts now; the task of actually rebuilding and integration. No organization is better suited for this than the RR. With intimate knowledge of the socio-cultural landscape and sensitivities this Force now needs the right orientation to hold the periphery and assist in the integration effort which must be undertaken by the Central and State Governments in earnest. Its quasi-military experience of executing the hearts and minds game most innovatively over the last 17 years or so should give confidence to the various stake holders. Last, the RR would have seen the end of internal conflict with its continued efforts of Sadbhavna (the Indian Army’s Hearts and Minds program) under modified conditions of lower levels of violence. It has the experience, the organizational capability and the leadership like no other organization in India. If J&K has to be fully integrated in mind and spirit the continuation of the RR’s mandate is an absolute must.

DEADLY VIRUS CALLED TV NEWS

Bikram Vohra Consulting Editor bikram@asianlite.com It’s scary. There is an alternative government in India. It’s called the TV News and it has a Prime Minister called Arnab Goswami who is the chief anchor and a cabinet of clones who each try to outdo him in various languages. This lot spends hours a day stunning the public into submission by being obnoxious, impolite, breaking ever rule of journalism, aggressive, imperious, loud and hostile. There is an overwhelming “I” factor and they now style themselves as saviours of the nation. The sheer breathtaking meanness makes for riveting viewing till you realise you are being conned and it is all table thump­ing theatrics. The sad part is they actually come up with good subjects that are then wrecked by a tsunami of babble so that by the end of the show there is no concept left of the original issue, simply white noise. NRIs are gradually discovering these visual pundits on their feed but are not yet wholesale fans. In recent times their power to create public opinion has been recharged what with the political developments. In fact American TV has egun lampooning the shrill texture of the Indian ‘Foxes’ as they are being termed. The scenario is much the same. You get 8 tame individuals desperate to be on TV, put them into pigeonholes and then you whiplash them mercilessly with idiomatic bombardment...I don’t give two hoots about you, Sir, answer my question, yes or no, sorry you had your turn, this is disgraceful...just an endless barrage of attack. The trick is no one is allowed to finish their argument and every answer can be mocked without factual corroboration. It is a smirk how. On a dozen channels. In different languages. The non English ones are even more virulent. This bizarre entertainment has many takers because there is this verbal illusion that these anchors are bringing up hitherto hidden issues and airing them. True, but where they could be doing good they are turning everything into frenetic entertainment. The issue becomes secondary to the screaming match. And these anchors are neither culpable nor accountable, they can say what they want without consequences and you wonder why people volunteer to be the pigeons in the coop ready to be defeathered. From my brief exposure to these shows they are more part of the problem and not the solution. They hold the matchstick to the dry tinderbox that is India today and they can ignite it with their malice. Doesn’t anybody else see that? (Bikram Vohra has been editor of Gulf News, Khaleej Times, Bahrain Tribune, Emirates Evening Post and helped in setting up Gulf Today.)

IMPROVING GOVERNANCE BY MODI GOVT

The new Government has prepared a dossier on lobbyists. In India, they could be arms dealers, middlemen, fixers and other shadowy figures who hang out in the lounges of five-star hotels and exclusive clubs of New Delhi waiting for the kill. Their presence at these privileged zones seems to have diminished. Nor are these men in their Armanis seen swaggering past Delhi’s corridors of power with sleek briefcases, or darting back to their luxury cars after dropping by at the ministerial offices of friends. For the time being, they seem to have crawled back to inactivity. In a big departure, a top-bracket industrialist couldn’t meet a young minister recently for a private chat because the instructions of Prime Minister Modi forbade him from doing so. By Modi’s diktat, ministers must treat corporate leaders with respect and meet them in their offices, not at residences or hotels. The billionaire tycoon finally met a senior Cabinet minister, but in his office, and in the presence of bureaucrats. “No, we are not anti-corporate. On the other hand, we are pro-business but not pliable to machinations by top industrial houses, like the UPA Government used to be,” says a minister who adds that the NDA Government isn’t merely posturing here “to prove any point” but “is genuinely committed towards” creating an investor-friendly environment without interference and rule-flouting by big industrialists. In the run-up to the Lok Sabha election earlier this year, the BJP had come under attack for being soft on some corporate houses, implying that once it came to power, the party would dole out sweet deals to these companies. “It is that perception that the Prime Minister wants to get rid of. ‘No malice to anyone, but no undue favours either’ is his policy,” says a senior BJP leader. So far, so good. In a government where the Prime Minister is the only boss, the message has been sent out time and again that the wishes of business houses won’t be the regime’s commands. “We mean business,” says the minister, refuting charges that the Government is indulging in a mere public relations exercise. If so, he asks, why slap penalties on companies perceived to be close to the BJP-led coalition, like the Adani Group and Reliance Industries Ltd? His logic is that friendly business houses were never ‘touched’ during Congress rule. Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani himself had jokingly referred to the UPA as “our own government”, as heard quoted by an aide. It wasn’t any secret that many UPA ministers were close to Reliance, which had also managed to have ‘favourable’ ministers in charge of petroleum and natural gas, its core business sector. Both Mani Shankar Aiyar and S Jaipal Reddy have been vocal about their opposition to tweaking rules to suit the company’s needs. And they paid a price for it. Last week, India’s fair-trade watchdog Competition Com- mission of India (CCI) imposed a penalty of more than Rs 25 crore on Adani Gas for violating competition norms by abusing its dominant market position. The CCI ruling was on a case related to the supply and distribution of natural gas in Faridabad by Adani Gas Ltd—a unit of Adani Enterprises, which is part of the diversified Adani Group headed by its founder and chairman Gautam Adani, who is known to be a friend of Modi. “No such considerations are accorded by the current Government. Since coming to power, it has allayed the [fear] that it would allow itself to be run by corporates,” says a government official. Similarly, Reliance Industries, which has been trying to warm up to the Government and earn the ‘goodwill’ it enjoyed of the previous regime, was slapped a fourth penalty this week for failing to meet gas-production targets at its Andhra offshore field. With this additional Rs 3,500 crore fine, the total sum of fines imposed on the company stands at Rs 14,200 crore over four financial years starting 1 April 2010. Explaining the Government’s move, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said in the Lok Sabha last Monday that the Centre’s profit share would increase by $195 million with these actions. A production- sharing contract allows RIL and its partners, BP Plc and Niko Resources, to deduct all expenses incurred on the project before sharing its profits on the sale of gas with the Government. The accounts have been controversial. During the UPA rule, the Oil Ministry under Jaipal Reddy’s watch had served violation notices to the company for a total fine of $1.79 billion ($457 million for 2010- 11, $548 million for 2011-12 and $792 million for 2012-13), but he was soon shifted out of the Ministry. RIL, for its part, has maintained that the government’s latest move contradicts the contract. “Lobbying has never been this tough for businesses. It is frustrating for big business houses used to the luxury of walking into ministerial offices or homes of ministers and getting their work done. So far, the new Government has managed to keep them at bay. You never know how long they can resist corporate pressure and wooing. But as =of now, everybody within the Government is scared of being seen talking to corporates. There is fear of Modi,” says a Mumbai-based CEO of an IT firm. While the Government refused to bow to demands by oil-marketing companies to raise gas prices, it has created consultation panels to ease cumbersome procedures for doing business in several key sectors such as power, transport and water. This means, argues the BJP minister, that Modi will not buckle under pressure or yield to lures, but will, at the same time, work towards ushering in a greater level-playing field for entrepreneurs. The Government has deferred a gas price hike, saying the whole issue as well as the guidelines for gas pricing require a comprehensive discussion to take care of public interest. It is well known that demand for gas in the country far outstrips output, but prices have been kept low for crucial segments such as fertilisers and power. INSIDE THE GOVERNMENT Nripendra Misra, principal secretary to the Prime Minister, is hands-on and powerful, unlike principal secretaries during the UPA rule who were seen as inefficient. According to people close to the regime, he executes Modi’s insistence on the “vertical movement” of files and speed with which they are processed. “To and fro hurling of files is not there now. It is a big change from the days of the UPA, when files got stuck between bureaucrats and ministries over ego issues or lack of clarity on policy,” says a Government official. Misra also ensures ‘seamless’ communication between ministries over decisions. “He speaks to most ministers in chaste Hindi and leaves no chance for confusion about certain measures,” the official adds, emphasising that the former TRAI chairman also vets each Cabinet note and brings it to Modi’s attention before it goes to the Cabinet secretary. The new benchmark being set for effective governance is a maximum of four signatures to every file as it goes from a director- level officer to the minister. Ministries have also been told not to seek legal opinions, often a ruse for delaying files in the past; such advice can be sought only if a clear case is made for it. Besides, if there are conflicts of interest between ministries, the officer concerned has been advised to walk over to the other one and try resolving the issue in person rather than have long letters being shot back and forth. Modi has adopted a ‘zero-tolerance approach’ to any unwanted delays in clearing files. This forces many ministers to spend close to 20 hours a day in office. Unlike in the days of the NDA Government led by AB Vajpayee, who had to negotiate big egos and diverse views within his cabinet, Modi has a well-coordinated team at work, making Misra’s job much less abrasive than Brajesh Mishra’s (who held the twin positions of principal secretary and national security advisor). Back in those days, Vajpayee and Mishra had to strategise their moves in order to win majority backing of the Cabinet and Council of Ministers over key issues. For instance, to push forward with the disinvestment of some public-sector units, the duo had to first call a meeting of ministers such as Jaswant Singh, Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie, who favoured the action, to gain an edge over its opponents in the Cabinet such as LK Advani. Vajpayee and his team once even managed to secure the support of MM Joshi, typically a votary of Swadeshi politics, to take on the likes of Advani and Ram Naik. Ministers used to take part in debates in the alphabetical order of their names. Then Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission KC Pant used to be the final member to make a statement. “There were very powerful ministers and party leaders in the Cabinet then. Now, Modi has a smoother run,” says a former bureaucrat who has worked closely with Vajpayee. Under the previous dispensation, Cabinet ministers could walk in half-way through meetings or leave before they ended. But not anymore. Modi is the last one to enter a Cabinet meeting and the first to leave. Ministers such as Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Nirmala Sitharaman are the most ‘talkative’ ones in the current regime. Modi hears out each minister in a Cabinet session. When it comes to political issues, Home Minister Rajnath Singh is the one whose opinion is often sought by the Prime Minister; Arun Jaitley is given the floor when it comes to economic issues. Modi is intolerant of ministers who come up with frivolous suggestions. Nor are ministers allowed to flout etiquette or procedural propriety. According to people in the know, a request by HRD Minister Smriti Irani to raise an issue over the mid- day scheme for school children was declined because she had not gone through the process of taking suggestions from the PMO on a Cabinet note on the issue. THE PMO Modi has put in place a Prime Minister’s Office that is similar to the Chief Minister’s Office in Gujarat, where it served as the main centre of power, offering quick decisions on crucial matters, including big-ticket project clearances. However, unlike officials at his CMO, officers in the PMO neither remain low-key nor stay away from the media glare. They are, like the CMO staff, hardworking and available on call 24X7. While Misra, a retired IAS officer of the 1967 batch from the Uttar Pradesh cadre, plays the pivotal role, one of Modi’s favourite officers, PK Mishra was brought in to assist him as additional principal secretary. A former agriculture secretary, Mishra is a 1972-batch retired IAS officer of the Gujarat cadre. He had served between 2001 and 2004 as principal secretary to Modi when he was the CM of Gujarat. He was chairman of the Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission after his retirement in 2008 for a five-year term. Mishra has a long association with the Prime Minister and has known him since his days as an RSS pracharak. Others who work very closely with Modi include NSA Ajit Doval; Joint Secretary AK Sharma, a 1988 batch IAS officer of the Gujarat cadre who has deftly managed Modi’s showpiece Vibrant Gujarat summits; Public Relations Officer Jagdish Thakker; and IT expert Hiren Joshi, who handles the social media for Modi. Other junior officers include his favourites such as Sanjay Bhavsar, who is Modi’s point person on appointments. Thanks to such a closely knit and cohesive team, Modi often ends up impressing rival politicians with his grasp of subjects under review. He will shortly name an IAS officer at the PMO to oversee media affairs. POWER CENTRES With his ascension as BJP President, Amit Shah is clearly the second- most powerful person in the NDA regime. He also takes a keen interest in running the Government, according to people close to the party’s affairs. “That he enjoys Modi’s blessings in no secret. Modi also expects him to come up with out-of-the-box ways to improve governance,” says one of them. Shah, it is learnt, has made crucial suggestions to officials and ministers to envision projects and come up with ways to ease India’s myriad infrastructural bottlenecks. The Government is currently toying with the idea of ‘Israel-style’ implementation of infrastructure projects, by which it ropes in various arms of the State for civilian undertakings. With the Modi Government laying a lot of emphasis on water, power and transport, many such projects are likely to take shape in the near future, say officials. The internal target of the Modi Government is to cover 75 per cent of India’s homes with round-the-clock power over the next five years. Suresh Prabhu, a former minister and power-sector expert, has been roped in to advise various ministerial panels and stakeholders in refurbishing the country’s power sector. While the Centre isn’t pleased with one of the BJP- led state governments for not cooperating well enough in aiding the generation of a higher quantum of electricity in the short term, it has put in place mechanisms to iron out differences between various states over generating and distributing extra power. In addition, reforestation, Ganga cleaning and railway modernisation are also top priorities of the Government. Others include running trains to pilgrimage centres considered holy by Hindus, such as Badrinath, Kedarnath and so on. “Many officers are working in silence towards meeting many internal goals set by the Prime Minister,” says an official. Shah, like Modi, will also be closely monitoring various government projects. At least one junior minister has disclosed that the BJP President doesn’t take kindly to sloppy work. Says a government official: “That Shah is watching every minister and how they work puts them on their toes. Besides Modi’s instructions, Shah’s capacity to monitor each and every person in the Government and his or her movement puts fear in the minds even of bureaucrats who could be approached by corporates.” The BJP heavyweight, whose stature in the party has risen rapidly over the past year thanks to his proximity to Modi and his own skills at poll campaigning, and Finance Minister Jaitley have been closely watching the country’s coal sector—as part of efforts to reduce the shortage of this fossil fuel. The country’s coal production was 566 million tonnes last fiscal year, but its demand was in the range of 715-720 million. The Power Ministry recently launched its first major new project in at least five years at the Amrapali open cast pit in Jharkhand. The country has so far failed to raise output despite sitting on the fifth- biggest reserves in the world, making it the third-largest coal importer. The opening of this mine highlights the Modi Government’s priorities in the sector, Power Minister Piyush Goyal had said. The Cabinet often has senior ministers chipping in with advice for junior colleagues. While External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj remains largely low-profile, since Modi steers foreign policy, it is Jaitley who often plays the mentor’s role for many colleagues such as Pradhan, Goyal and Sitharaman, as also Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, among others, besides handling finance-related issues. It helps that Jaitley was senior to most others in the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the BJP’s students wing, as well as in the party. As Defence Minister, Jaitley knows only too well that he faces insurmountable odds to modernise the Soviet- era weaponry of a country that has in the recent past seen a lot of scams related to deals for the purchase of helicopters and other defence equipment. After a lull following an election year, defence manufacturers from across the globe have now arrived in the country, the world’s largest defence importer, peddling their products. “One has to take extreme care in the process of purchase. The Government’s tenacity will be tested as it goes ahead with replacing obsolete weaponry and buying new [equipment],” says a Defence Ministry official. Meanwhile, the Government has earned negative publicity over the its refusal to name Gopal Subramaniam as a Supreme Court judge—the apex court expressed its displeasure over the controversy that ended with Subramaniam pulling out of the race. Similarly, the appointment of Y Sudershan Rao as chairperson of the Indian Council of Historical Research raised many eyebrows over his qualifications. With Modi’s great expectations from his colleagues to work hard and preserve integrity, business houses accustomed to buying their way through to secure major gains are feeling the pinch. For them, a curtain has descended over Raisina Hill—and power has shifted from The Chambers and Belvederes to Shastri Bhavan and South Block.“It is a time of dread for them. The idea should be to get them used to it,” forewarns a senior bureaucrat. The Modi model of governance abhors the secret hand

आव्हान चीनी ड्रॅगनचे : चीनचे भारताशी मानसिक यु्ध्द

आव्हान चीनी ड्रॅगनचे : चीनचे भारताशी मानसिक यु्ध्द ब्राझीलमध्ये झालेल्या ‘ब्रिक्स’ परिषदेच्या उद्घाटनाच्या भाषणातच, नरेंद्र मोदी यांनी दहशतवादाचा मुद्दा उपस्थित केला. ‘ब्रिक्स’ परिषद हा केवळ उपचार होऊन जाता कामा नये. यातून जनताजनार्दनाच्या समस्यांना हात घातला गेला पाहिजे. ‘ब्रिक्स’ परिषदेच्या निमित्ताने त्यांची प्रथमच ख्यातीप्राप्त देशांच्या नेत्यांशी भेट होणार होती. म्हणूनच त्यांच्या या दौर्यानबाबत बरीच उत्सुकता होती. भारताकडे 'ब्रिक्स विकास बँके'चं अध्यक्षपद १०० अब्ज डॉलर्सचं भागभांडवल असलेल्या 'ब्रिक्स विकास बँके'चं अध्यक्षपद भारताकडे देण्यावर मोदींना यश मिळालं आहे. हे अध्यक्षपद मिळाल्यानं देशाच्या आर्थिक विकासाला चालना मिळू शकेल.या बँकेचं मुख्यालय मात्र चीनमधील शांघायमध्ये असेल. डर्बन परिषदेमध्ये नव्या बँकेची कल्पना जेव्हा पुढे आली होती, तेव्हा भारत चीनमागे फरफटत जाणार का अशी भीती व्यक्त होत होती. कारण अर्थव्यवस्थेच्या क्षमतेनुसार या नव्या बँकेची भांडवल विभागणी व्हावी असा आग्रह धरून जगातील दुसरी सर्वांत मोठी अर्थव्यवस्था असलेला चीन या नव्या बँकेमध्ये स्वतःचे स्थान बळकट करू पाहात होता. त्याचे ते प्रयत्न हाणून पाडण्यात भारताला यश आले आहे. भारताने हा समान भांडवलाचा आग्रह धरला होता. तो अखेर मान्य झाला. त्याचप्रमाणे, या पाचही सदस्यदेशांना प्रत्येकी केवळ एक मत असेल. कोणत्याही बहुराष्ट्रीय वित्तसंस्थेत असे 'एक देश-एक मत' नाही. झी जिनपिंग यांच्याशी भेट याच वेळी चीनचे अध्यक्ष झी जिनपिंग यांच्यासोबतच्या त्यांच्या भेटीची फलश्रुती काय होते, याकडे भारताचे लक्ष होते. कुठले मुद्दे चर्चिले जातात, कुठल्या मुद्यांवर एकवाक्यता होते आणि कुठल्या मुद्यांवर मतभेद होतात, यावरही देशांची नजर होती. मोदींनी चीनच्या घुसखोरीचा, सीमांचा मुद्दा उपस्थित केला. तसेच द्विपक्षीय व्यापार व आंतरराष्ट्रीय मुद्यांवरही चर्चा केली. प्रारंभी ४० मिनिटांची ही भेट ८० मिनिटांपर्यंत वाढवावी लागली. उभयतांनी एकमेकांवर विश्वाीस व्यक्त करून, परस्परविश्वा स वृद्धिंगत करून, सीमेवर शांतता कायम ठेवण्यावर जोर दिला. मात्र ब्राझीलमध्ये हिंदी - चिनी भाई भाईचा नवा अध्याय चालु असताना चीन सैन्याने भारतीय हद्दीत घुसखोरीचा प्रयत्न केला.भारतीय सैन्याने त्यांना रोखून ठेवले. अखेरीस अर्धा तासानंतर चीन सैन्याला माघार घ्यावी लागली. गेल्या तीन दिवसांत जम्मू काश्मीरमधील लडाख सेक्टरमधील देमचोक आणि चूमार या भागांमध्ये चीन सैन्याच्या पीपल्स लिबेलरेशन आर्मी या तुकडीच्या जवानांनी भारतीय हद्दीत घसुखोरीचा प्रयत्न केला. देमचोकमधील चार्डिंग नीलू नाला जंक्शन येथे चीन सैन्याच्या जवानांनी वाहनासह प्रवेश केला.त्यांना नंतर हाकलुन दिले. कैलास मानसरोवर यात्रेकरूंसाठी आणखी एका मार्गाचा प्रस्ताव मोदींनी चीनपुढे ठेवला. चीनच्या राष्ट्राध्यक्षांनी मोदींना आशिया प्रशांत सहकार्य शिखर परिषदेचे (ऍपेक) निमंत्रण देऊन, आमच्यासाठी भारताचा सहभाग महत्त्वाचा आहे, हे जगाला दाखवून दिले. उपराष्ट्रपती आणि जनरल विक्रमसिंगांचा चीन दौरा लष्कर प्रमुख जनरल विक्रमसिंग यांनी ०३-०५जुलैपर्यंत चीनचा दौरा केला.या मधुन काय निष्पन्न झाले? आपल्या पाच दिवसांच्या चीन दौर्यागसाठी भारताचे उपराष्ट्रपती हमीद अन्सारी बीजिंगमध्ये २८ जुन-०३ जुलैपर्यंत होते. दौर्या त त्यांनी चीनचे उपराष्ट्रपती ली युआनचाओ यांच्याशी द्विपक्षीय चर्चा केलीआणि पंचशील कराराला(ज्याचे चीनने कधी पालन केले नाही) ६० वर्षे पूर्ण होत असल्याबद्दल आयोजित केल्या जाणार्या् विविध कार्यक्रमांना हजेरी लावली. देशात पंतप्रधान नरेंद्र मोदी यांच्या नेतृत्वात नवे केंद्र सरकार स्थापन झाल्यानंतर भारताच्या मोठ्या नेत्याची आणि ही लष्कर प्रमुखांची पहिलीच चीन भेट होती. हमीद अन्सारी या दौर्याात चीनचे पंतप्रधान ली केकियांग यांना भेटले आणि अध्यक्ष शी जिनपिंग यांच्याशीही चर्चा केली.भारत आणि चीन या दोन्ही देशांनी नेहमीच उच्चस्तरीय संवाद कायम ठेवला आहे.पण अश्या चर्चेतून काहीतरी ठोस आणि सकारात्मक निष्पन्न झालेले नाही. चीनची पहिली कुरघोडी सीमावादाच्या प्रश्नावर चीनने पुन्हा एकदा भारतावर कुरघोडी करण्याचा प्रयत्न केला. चीनने नवीन नकाशाच्या माध्यमातून अरूणाचल प्रदेश आणि जम्मू-काश्मीरच्या काही भागावर दावा केला.उपराष्ट्रपती हमीद अन्सारी चीनच्या दौर्याकवर असताना हा प्रकार घडला आहे.चीनने याआधीही अनेकदा अरूणाचल प्रदेशावर दावा केला आहे. मोदींचे सरकार स्थापन झाल्यानंतर चीनने प्रथमच अशा प्रकारची कुरापत केली आहे. चीनला भारताबरोबर मैत्री का हवी ? मोदींचे सरकार सत्तेत आल्यानंतर पहिल्यांदाच अधिकृत पातळीवर चर्चा करण्यासाठी चीनचे परराष्ट्रमंत्री वॅंग यी भारत भेटीवर आले. विशेष म्हणजे भारतात सत्ताबदल झाल्यानंतर चीन हा पहिला देश होता, की ज्याने आपल्या परराष्ट्रमंत्र्यांना तातडीने भारत भेटीवर पाठविले. चीनला भारताबरोबर भविष्यात शांततापूर्ण आणि मित्रत्वाचे संबंध हवे आहेत, असा अध्यक्ष जिनपिंग यांचा संदेश वॅंग यांनी मोदींना दिला. या सगळ्या भेटीमागच्या चीनच्या उद्दिष्टांचे विश्लेंषण करणे आवश्यनक आहे. चिनी माध्यमांनी आर्थिक विकासाला, व्यापारवाढीला प्राधान्य देणारे सरकार म्हणून मोदी सरकारचे स्वागत केले. चीनला आता भारताबरोबर मैत्री हवी आहे, यामागे काही कारणे आहेत. पहिले कारण पूर्व आणि दक्षिण चीन समुद्रात वाढलेला तणाव. याचे कारण आहे चीनची तेथील वाढती आक्रमकता आणि विस्तारवादी धोरणे. सामरिकदृष्ट्या महत्त्वाच्या असलेल्या अनेक बेटांच्या मालकीवरून पूर्व चीन समुद्रात चीनचा जपानबरोबर, तर दक्षिण चीन समुद्रात फिलिपिन्स, व्हिएतनाम आणि इंडोनेशियाबरोबर वाद निर्माण झाला आहे. चीनच्या पूर्व सीमेवरील या संघर्षामुळे आपल्या दक्षिण सीमेवर म्हणजे भारताबरोबर चीनला शांतता हवी आहे. एकाच वेळी जपान आणि भारताबरोबर संघर्ष वाढवून चीनला चालणार नाही. चीनच्या विरोधात समदुःखी देशांची युती चीनच्या विरोधात आशिया - प्रशांत महासागर क्षेत्रात समदुःखी देशांची युती आकाराला येते आहे. चीनचा वाढता संरक्षण खर्च, लष्करी आधुनिकीकरणाचे प्रयत्न, वाढता नाविक हस्तक्षेप, अनेक बेटांवर चीनने सांगितलेला हक्क यामुळे जपान, दक्षिण कोरिया, फिलिपिन्स, इंडोनेशिया, व्हिएतनाम आणि ऑस्ट्रेलियासारखे देश असुरक्षित बनले आहेत. जपानने पुढाकार घेऊन या देशांची युती करण्याचा प्रयत्न चालविला आहे. या युतीला अमेरिकेचेही पाठबळ आहे.भारत या युतीचा भाग बनू नये, अशी चीनची इच्छा आहे.भारत हा जपानच्या आणि अमेरिकेच्या जवळ जाऊ नये, अशीही चीनची इच्छा आहे. एक कारण आर्थिक आहे. युरोपमधील सध्याच्या मंदीचा परिणाम चीनच्या युरोपीय देशांबरोबरच्या व्यापारावर झाला आहे. या मंदीमुळे पोहोचलेली झळ भारताबरोबर व्यापार वाढवून चीनला दूर करायची आहे. भारतात आर्थिक गुंतवणूक व निर्यातीला चीनला मोठा वाव आहे. चीनची आक्रमकता कमी होत नाही केंद्रात सत्ताबदल झाल्यापासून चीन वेगवेगळ्या मार्गांनी नव्या सरकारची भूमिका कशी आहे याची चाचपणी करत आहे. विशेषतः, अरुणाचल प्रदेशामध्ये गेल्या काही वर्षांपासून चीनच्या सैनिकांकडून होणार्या त्रासामुळे तेथील नागरिकांमध्ये भीतीचे वातावरण आहे. आता तर या नागरिकांचे हा सिमेवरील गावे सोडून जाण्याचे प्रमाण वाढल्याचे अरुणाचलच्या राज्यपाल लेफ्टनंट जनरल निर्भय सिन्हा यांनी स्पष्ट केले आहे. मागच्या महिन्यात चीनची दोन हॅलिकॉप्टर भारताच्या उत्तराखंडाच्या भागात आली होती. या हॅलीकॉप्टरद्वारे चीनी लोक सिगारेटची पाकीटे, खाण्याच्या वस्तू, पत्रक आपल्या भागात टाकत असतात. अरुणाचल प्रदेशातील मंत्री किरेन रिज्जु, जे आता गृहमंत्रालयात राज्यमंत्री आहेत, त्यांनी याबाबत काळजी व्यक्त केली आहे. चुकून कुठलेही हॅलिकॉप्टर किंवा सैनिक सीमेच्या आत येऊ शकत नाहीत. नव्या सरकारची मानसिक ताकद किती आहे हे जाणून घेण्यासाठी चीन अशी कृती करत आहे. उच्च अधिकारी, तज्ज्ञांच्या मनात घुस्खोरी चीनद्वारे भारतीयांचे मनोधैर्य खचविण्यासाठी आणखी एक प्रयत्न केला जात आहे. आपल्या देशातील उच्च पदावरील अधिकार्यांच्या मनावर हे बिंबवले जात आहे की, भारत चीनशी दोन हात करण्यास तयार नाही. अर्थातच हे पूर्णपणे चुकीचे आहे.चीनने आपल्या अनेक तज्ज्ञांच्या मनात घुसखोरी करून एक प्रकारे चीनबाबत दहशतीचे वातावरण तयार केले आहे. अशा तज्ज्ञांच्या सल्ल्यावर मागचे सरकार अवलंबून होते आणि चीनला घाबरत होते. चीनच्या या मानसिकता चाचपणीच्या लढाईमध्ये आपली भूमिका ही बचावत्मक किंवा कुचकामी असेल तर एक घाबरट देश असे आपल्याला चीन समजेल आणि येणार्या काळात आपल्याला अजून त्रास देईल. आत्ताच्या स्थितीत चीनद्वारे सीमेकडून होणार्या कुठल्याही घुसखोरीला उत्तर देण्यासाठी आपण तयार असले पाहिजे. तसेच भविष्यात लढाई झाली तर त्यासाठीही आपण तयार राहिले पाहिजे. वेगवेगळ्या पातळ्यावर आपल्याला चीन विरुद्ध लढण्यासाठी तयारी केली पाहिजे. या सर्व गोष्टींकडे सध्याचे सरकार लक्ष ठेवत आहे का? व पद्धतशीरपणे या सर्व पातळ्यांवर आपण तयारी करत आहो का?. सध्या भारतासाठी धोकादायक देश म्हणून चीनकडेच पाहिले जाते. भारताच्या बाजारपेठेतही चीनने, मोठ्या प्रमाणात घुसखोरी केली आहे. चीनी घुसखोरी ,आर्थिक घुसखोरी जर आपल्याला थांबवता आली आणी सीमा विवाद सोडवता आला तरच भारत चीन संबध्द खरोखर सुधारतील. चीनला रोखायचे तर शत्रूवर आक्रमण करून त्याला हैराण करण्याची चीनची प्राचिन काळापासून युद्धनिती राहिली आहे. चीनच्या सैन्याने भारतीय क्षेत्रात केलेली घुसखोरी हा युध्दनितीचाच एक भाग आहे . चीन वारंवार का घुसखोरी करतो? शेजारी देशाने गंभीर आक्षेप घेतल्यावर आपले लष्कर मागे का घेतो? त्याचा कठोरपणे मुकाबला करायला हवा. त्यामुळे केवळ चर्चेचे गुर्हाळ न करता ठोस प्रत्युत्तर देण्याची गरज आहे. संपूर्ण देशात चीनच्या विरोधात वातावरण निर्माण व्हायला हवे. सगळ्यात महत्त्वाची बाब म्हणजे चिनी बनावटीच्या वस्तूंवर बहिष्कार टाकायला हवा. एवढेच नव्हे तर, अशा वस्तू विकणार्यांना देशद्रोही मानायला हवे. व्यापार ही चीनची सर्वात मोठी आर्थिक शक्ती आहे हे लक्षात घ्यायला हवे. त्यामुळे या देशात चिनी वस्तुंच्या व्यापारावर निर्बंध आले तर ते त्या देशाला परवडण्यासारखे नाही. ही चीनसाठी एक प्रकारची नाकेबंदी ठरणार आहे.तरच भविष्यात या देशाकडे वाकडय़ा नजरेने पाहण्याची कोणाची हिंमत होणार नाही. 2.आव्हान चिनी ड्रॅगनचे - ब्रिगेडिअर हेमंत महाजन BOOK CAN BE ORDERED FROM :- NACHIKET PRAKASHAN ,24 YOGSHEM,LAY OUT,SNEH NAGAR WARDHA ROAD NAGPUR -PIN 440015,TELE-0712-2285473,9225210130 , email-nachiketprakashan @gmail.com, www.nachiketprakashan.wordpress.com

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मटा ऑनलाइन वृत्त । कादलपूर (ग्रेटर नोएडा) आयएएस अधिकारी दुर्गा शक्ती नागपाल यांनी कुठल्याही दबावाला बळी न पडता, अनधिकृत मशिदीची जी भिंत पाडली होती, त्या जागेवर आता भव्य मशिद उभी राहिली आहे. सरकारच्या वरदहस्ताशिवाय हे शक्यच नसल्यानं, दुर्गाला बाजूला करून अखिलेश सरकारनं मुस्लिम तुष्टीकरणाचा आपला डाव साधल्याचंच बोललं जातंय. ग्रेटर नोएडाच्या प्रांताधिकारी असलेल्या दुर्गा शक्ती नागपाल यांनी गेल्या वर्षी २७ जुलै रोजी कादलपूर येथील निर्माणाधीन मशिदीची भिंत पाडण्याचे आदेश दिले होते. सरकारी जमिनीवर ही मशिद उभी राहत असल्यानं कर्तव्यदक्ष दुर्गानं ही धडक कारवाई केली होती. परंतु, यूपीतल्या वाळू माफियांना दिलेला दणका आणि नंतर मशिदीचं काम रोखण्याची हिंमत दाखवणं त्यांना महागात पडलं होतं. उत्तर प्रदेश सरकारनं त्यांची पाठराखण करण्याऐवजी, स्वतःचं हित लक्षात घेऊन त्यांना निलंबित केलं होतं. धार्मिक भावना भडकवल्याचा ठपका त्यांच्यावर ठेवण्यात आला होता. त्यावरून बरंच राजकारण रंगलं होतं, पण अखेर दुर्गाशक्तीपेक्षा माफियाशक्तीच वरचढ ठरली होती. दुर्गा शक्ती नागपाल यांचा अडथळा सरकारनं दूर केल्यानंतर, कादलपूर इथं त्याच सरकारी जमिनीवर मशिदीचं बांधकाम पुन्हा सुरू झालं होतं आणि आता बरोब्बर वर्षभरानंतर तिथं भव्य मशिद उभी राहिल्याचं समोर आलं आहे. आता तिथे प्लास्टर आणि रंगकाम शिल्लक राहिलंय. आश्चर्य म्हणजे या बांधकामाबाबत जिल्हा प्रशासन अनभिज्ञ आहे, किंवा ते तसं दाखवताहेत. कादलपूर गावात मशिदीचं काम सरकारी परवानगीनं होतंय की नाही, हे आपल्याला ठाऊक नसल्याचं गौतमबुद्ध नगरचे मॅजिस्ट्रेट ए वी राजामौली यांनी सांगितलं. एसडीएम बच्चू सिंह यांनीही या प्रकरणातून हात झटकले. आपल्या नियुक्तीआधी दहा महिने मशिदीचं काम झालं आहे, असं सांगून ते मोकळे झालेत. या सगळ्या उडवाउडवीमुळे यूपीतील अंदाधुंद प्रशासकीय कारभाराचंच पुन्हा दर्शन घडलं आहे. दुसरीकडे, सगळ्या अधिकाऱ्यांना सोबत घेऊन अखिलेश सरकारनं मुस्लिमांना मशिद भेट दिल्याचं विरोधकांचं म्हणणं आहे. त्यामुळे त्यावरून पुन्हा मोठा 'राडा' होण्याची शक्यता आहे.

CAPT VIKRAM BATRA,PVC ,KARGIL WAR

Lieutenant Vikram Batra had to complete his mission successfully. Pakistani invaders had taken positions in bunkers at a height of 17,000 feet on Peak 5140 in Jammu and Kashmir. Lieutenant Batra and Captain Sanjeev Jamwal -- both from the Kangra valley in Himachal Pradesh -- were ordered to recapture the peak on the night of June 19, 1999, about five weeks after the Kargil war began. The operation was much too dangerous to be carried out during the day. Aware of the enemy's vantage point, Lt Batra -- who was later promoted to captain on the battlefield -- decided to attack the enemy from the rear. Peak 5140, the highest point on the Tololing Ridge, was one of the most arduous and crucial peaks in the Drass region. If it fell, it would clear the Pakistanis from that sector and pave the way for further victories. He knew they had to win. Captain Vikram Batra in the Drass sector It was dark and cold. The men crawled, quietly. Batra, who had earned an instructor's grade as a commando, was determined not to lose any men. He was deeply upset when a terrorist's bullet meant for him had struck his man behind him during his first posting in the terrorist-prone region of Sopore in Jammu and Kashmir. 'Didi, it was meant for me and I lost my man,' he had told his elder sister over the phone. But tonight his guide was the framed motto of the Indian Military Academy, Dehra Dun, that he had brought home to Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, at the end of his training. The safety, honor and welfare of your country come first always and everytime. The honor, welfare and comfort of the men you command come next. Your own ease, comfort and safety come last, always and everytime. The motto had been molded into his heart as a Gentleman Cadet. There was no better time to live by it than now -- when India was at war and he, in his first major battle. 24-year-old Vikram and his men assaulted the enemy. The camp was routed, many enemy soldiers killed and 13 J&K Rifles won a decisive victory. All his men had made it alive. Vikram was elated. 'Yeh Dil Maangey More' -- the Pepsi catchline those days -- he told his commander at base camp. His words became the catchline for the Kargil war. Vikram Batra had led a brilliant operation in one of India's toughest campaigns in mountain warfare. His men swore by him. General Ved Prakash Malik, then the Chief of the Army Staff, called to congratulate him. His triumph was being beamed from television screens across the country. Photographs of him and his men striding the captured Pakistani gun at the base camp made it to every newspaper. In a time of war, he became the face of the young Indian soldier who fought ferociously and died fearlessly. His code name was Sher Shah. The other soldier India knew with the same name had lived in the Middle Ages and was called 'The Lion King.' Sher Shah Suri was an accomplished commander who defeated the Mughal emperor Humayun and sat on the throne of Delhi for five years. Vikram Batra was the hero of the nation. Two weeks after his conquest of 5140, people would remember him as the Lion of Kargil. Daddy, I've captured.' G L Batra can never forget that phone call that June morning. Vikram's voice was cracking through the satellite phone. He was talking too fast and wasn't clear at all. For a moment, he thought his son was captured. But the school principal knew it was preposterous to think that he would be allowed to call his parents if he were a prisoner of war. Yet he was frightened and asked Vikram to speak clearly. 'Oh Daddy, I've captured the enemy's post. I'm OK, I'm OK.' 'Bete [son], I'm proud of you,' replied Mr Batra, 'may God bless you to carry on your task there.' It was the happiest moment of his life. He had named his son 'Vikram' because the name spelled character and strength and he had lived up to it. It was the morning of June 20, 1999. Through the previous night Vikram had commanded a daring operation and his father reveled in his accomplishment. The capture of 5140 would finally lead to the decisive fall of Tiger Hill, and to India's eventual victory. Nine days later, Vikram called from base camp. He was leaving for another crucial operation. He never called again. G L Batra in the office at the petrol pump awarded by the government in Vikram's honour G L Batra and his wife Kamal saw glimpses of their son on television. He looked different with his beard and camouflaged jacket. Like always, he was brimming with confidence and his spirit was soaring. Like always, that smile never left his face. Mrs Batra's heart had lurched when Vikram called to tell her that his unit was being sent to the Kargil front. The last war India had fought was in 1971, three years before Vikram and his twin, Vishal, were born. He was just 24, had served in the Indian Army for only 18 months -- what if… She quickly pushed that thought out of her mind. If all mothers were to think that their children shouldn't join the army, who would protect this vast nation? When she heard that he had captured his first peak it was as if she had won. She had lived most of her life in the lap of the Dhauladhar mountains in Palampur. She saw the mountains each day and knew them as invincible. Now her son was telling her that he had captured a perilous peak like the Dhauladhar, maybe even higher. She felt proud like only a mother could be. G L and Kamal Batra at their home in Palampur Vikram you are going for another crucial operation, what are your thoughts at this moment?' Mr Batra watched his son on the evening news when the television reporter questioned him at the base camp. Over the past few days, the school principal had tried to catch a glimpse of his son after he came home every day. But that day something about Vikram left him uneasy. 'I wish the families of the deceased soldiers are looked after well by the government and society,' Vikram replied and turned his face from the camera. Sitting in his home, hundreds of miles away, Mr Batra read the facial expressions of his son and instantly knew what was going on in his mind. Vikram doubted his return, Mr Batra thought. This time, the father turned away from the television screen and broke down. His wife asked him why he had suddenly become so sad. He did not have the courage to tell her what he felt. At that moment he knew their son wasn't coming back. Kamal Batra with a picture of Vikram. His cap and the Indian flag that had wrapped his body is kept in front. The last time Vikram was home with his family in Palampur was during the Holi festival in 1999. He had got leave for a few days and his mother pampered him with the goodies he liked best -- pakodas, home made potato chips and mango pickle. Like the ritual he followed on each visit, he went to the Neugal Café, a Palampur eatery by the Neugal river, for a coffee and met an acquaintance who spoke about the war. 'The war has begun, who knows when you will be asked to go, you better be careful.' 'Don't worry, Vikram told him,' remembers Mr Batra, 'I'll either come back after raising the Indian flag in victory or return wrapped in it.' Before Mr and Mrs Batra knew, Vikram's holiday was over and they were at the bus stop seeing him off. The mango pickle and potato chips were packed in his bag for him and his friends in Sopore. His unit had received orders to move to Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh but the war altered their deployment and Vikram was deputed to report for duty in Kargil on June 1, 1999. He informed his parents, asked them not to worry and called them at least once in ten days. He made his last phone call on June 29. He asked about everyone in the family. His elder sisters Neetudidi and Seemadidi. His twin, whom he fondly called 'Kushli.' She was relieved to hear Vikram say: 'Mommy, ek dum fit hoon, fikar mat karna [I'm absolutely fine. Don't you worry.] That was the last time he spoke to her. Vikram Batra would have joined the Merchant Navy. He was to join the ship in Hong Kong. His uniform had been stitched, his tickets booked. But he changed his mind. A decade later, his decision would become the opening line of an Indian Oil print campaign. The public sector company paid tribute to the Kargil hero and lauded him for rejecting a lucrative career for the service of the nation. 'Sometimes an ordinary Indian can make a Rs 120,000 crore company feel humble. For every step we take, there's an inspired Indian leading the way,' read the ad copy, alongside a black-and-white etching of Captain Batra. A framed picture of the text hangs in the petrol pump awarded in his honour to his parents. The advertising agency also sent the etching, which Mr Batra has kept carefully. On the wall on the other side is a photo-copy of a magazine feature commemorating 'The Lives and Good Times of a Country.' Vikram heads the list of heroes. In one entrance test for the Indian Administrative Service, says Mrs Batra, one of the questions was -- 'Name the peaks captured by Captain Vikram Batra?' "It is very rare and our good fortune that we were given a son like him who put the country first." Click for bigger image A fortnight after he became the face of the Indian soldier in the Kargil war, Vikram Batra died. He was mortally wounded on the morning of July 8 after fighting through the night while recapturing Peak 4875. He was ill but had insisted that he was fit for the mission and completed it in a manner that put him alongside some of India's greatest military heroes. Vikram with his men had begun a tortuous climb to strengthen the flanks of the Indian troops fighting the invaders at 16,000 feet. The conditions were extremely tough. At a gradient of 80 degrees, the thick fog made the advance even more precarious. The enemy got wind of Batra's arrival. They knew who Sher Shah was, by now his military prowess had become the stuff of legend. Vikram with another young officer, Anuj Nayyar, fought the enemy's counter-attack ferociously. They cleared enemy bunkers, egged their men forward, engaged in a hand-to-hand combat and forced the Pakistani retreat. The mission was almost over when Vikram ran out of the bunker to rescue another junior officer who had injured his legs in an explosion. "His subedar begged him not to go and said he would go instead," says his father, "but Vikram told him: 'Tu baal-bacchedar hain, hat ja peeche. [You have children, step aside]" He lunged forward to save the young lieutenant, when a bullet pierced through his chest. By the morning India won back Peak 4875 but lost Vikram Batra. For his sustained display of the most conspicuous personal bravery and leadership of the highest order in the face of the enemy, he was awarded India's highest decoration in battle -- the Param Vir Chakra, posthumously His comrade in battle, Anuj Nayyar, also died while clearing his fourth enemy bunker. He was awarded the Maha Vir Chakra -- the nation's second highest honour. Captain Vikram Batra's statue in the town centre in Palampur Vikram's parents received the news of his death the same day. No one was at home when two officers arrived at their doorstep that afternoon. When Mrs Batra, a schoolteacher, came home and her neighbours told her about the visitors -- she screamed. Army officers would only come home if there was bad news, she thought, and prayed fervently before dialling her husband's number. When Mr Batra reached home and saw the officers, he doubted Vikram was alive. He told the two colonels to wait, went inside and bowed his head in the pooja room first. When he came out, one officer stepped out, held his hand and said: 'Batrasaab, Vikram Batra is no more.' Mr Batra collapsed. The next day, his son's body received a hero's welcome and was cremated with full military honors. In their sorrow, the family drew strength from Lord Rama, whose twins Luv and Kush were the inspiration for the pet names of the Batra boys. "Our child had captured three peaks, he had taken the nation by storm and suddenly he was no more," says Kamal Batra, rivulets of tears flowing down her cheek. "But when God gives you a mortal blow, he gives you the strength to cope with the grief. Guru Gobind Singh sacrificed four sons for the country. Maybe there was some reason why God gave me twins -- one he had marked for the country and one for me." Captain Vikram Batra's funeral was attended by a host of dignitaries and citizens. The Chief of Army Staff visited Vikram's home and commended the young officer's courage. 'Had this kid returned from Kargil, he would be sitting at my post in 15 years,' General Malik told Mr Batra. His father laughs heartily. The first time in the four hours we have spent talking about his son. Vishal, Vikram's brother, had hoped his brother would be a brigadier one day. His friends would be so impressed, he thought, when he walked by Vikram's side. Now he has lost count of the number of times Vikram has given him a chance to be proud of being his twin. It happened again recently when he was away on work in the UK. He had gone to Scotland and entered his name in a visitor's book at a tourist hot spot. 'Do you know Vikram Batra?' asked an Indian onlooker on reading his name. "Is there any better reward than that people remember his name in a far off place like Scotland!" says Vishal, a banker, who returned from London last month. Vikram was the family charmer. So popular that his friends, teachers -- and even the barbers in Chandigarh's Sector 17 -- remember him to this day, smiles his father. Chandigarh was the city where Vikram went to college. It was also where he found the girl he would have married had he lived.