Tuesday, August 25, 2009

INDIAN ARMY CHIEF TASTES BRITISH AUSTERITY

AUM
INDIAN ARMY CHIEF TASTES BRITISH AUSTERITY
By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM

General Deepak Kapoor, top most commanding general of the Indian Army went round the defence establishments of the United Kingdom to update his knowledge about what was cooking in India’s former colonial master’s kitchen. The British Army Chief also drops in off and on to take a look at the Indian army that his ancestors had raised, trained and led into battle. After all old colleagues on back slapping terms must visit each other’s country to compare notes. Absolutely fine and traditional.

When the British officers of high and middle ranks visit their old units and regiments they are looked after well. There is wining and dining galore. The officers mess hosting the dinner or lunch takes out its finest silver collected or captured in post victory loot euphemistically called spoils of war. With great pride young officers narrate the regimental history in battles won or lost from Ghazni to Ghaza and from Faizabad to Flanders and associate the silverware to the places and events of historical importance. The menu of the meal to be served for the British officers is scrutinized not only by the president of the mess committee who also doubles up as the second-in-command of the outfit but also by the wife of the commanding officer who had done a course in cookery in her school days. The mess havildar or the steward is briefed and briefed again that chicken legs must be soft but meat and bone must remain intact. When the commanding officer declares that everything is ship shape the British officers are ushered in and treated like Maharajahs. The Indian hospitality puts its best foot forward.

Let us move to the Kensington Palace in London, UK. General Deepak Kapoor, Chief of the Indian Army Staff is on an official visit and is invited by his counterpart General Sir Richard Dannatt to an official get together. Indeed, Kensington Palace is an important place and some of the Royal family members including Prince Charles and his family lived there. Foreign dignitaries are also entertained there in a place earmarked for the purpose. As a matter of protocol the Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Shiv Mukherjee was one of the dignitaries invited. Was there an army band in attendance to play some martial music? Not sure if it was there or was cut out as the first step in British austerity.

It would be a good idea to take a look at the menu for the visiting dignitary, the Indian Army Chief. What would you like to drink, the host enquired of guests. Without waiting for a reply he signalled wine to be served. My goodness! What a cheap wine it was. Tasting is believing. In India nothing short of a single malt Scotch whisky would be served on an important occasion like this. Mind you the incident being narrated took place before boycott of Scotch whisky following premature release of the Lockerbie bomber and his royal reception in Libya. Anyway, good guests do not crib and the Indian Army Chief is well known for his good manners. The main meal followed. Entry and starter need not be mentioned in detail as the column space is limited. It is understood from reliable sources that General Kapoor was served a meal consisting of” pastry, cheese and salmon”. The insiders confide that it was bought off the shelf from a mass retail chain. No further comments, please.

A word on cost of the meal would be in order. It cost GBP(Great Britain Pound) 5.15 per plate. You see the British Army does everything with aplomb, be it making love or fighting a war. Indeed in these days of recession, austerity in hospitality must be observed meticulously. Never mind if the guest goes home hungry and diplomacy goes down in dumps. After all the British themselves recount the saying “penny wise Pound foolish”; whatever that may mean.

Address. UPVAN, 609, Sector 29, NOIDA – 201303, INDIA.
Mobile : 0091-9811173590. Phone : 0091-120-2454622.Email: sawantg.chitranjan@gmail.com

Saturday, August 22, 2009

PEOPLE PREVAILED TEROORIST TROUNCED

AUM
PEOPLE PREVAILED TERRORISTS TROUNCED
By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM

Kabul to Kandhar and Hindu Kush to Helmand- the story was the same with shades and colours varying. The ballot had beaten the bullet in the national elections in Afghanistan to elect a President of the country and 420 members of provincial assemblies. Of the 17 million registered voters only 40 to 50 percent turned up to exercise their franchise as per an unofficial estimate. Of a score plus in the fray for the post of the top executive, only two are serious contenders. The present incumbent Hamid Karzai , a Pashtun educated in USA and a former darling of Washington now professing an independent foreign policy; and Abdullah Abdullah an ethnic Tajik from the northern Afghanistan who is a soft spoken eye surgeon and once was a foreign minister under Karzai. The latter is not predicted to win but will become a stumbling block for the former and may force a second ballot within two weeks of the counting of the first. More on that a little later.

TALIBAN TERRORISTS MISCALCULATED

The Taliban terrorists had deliberately leaked their sexed up plans of infiltrating into the capital Kabul and southern city of Kandhar to launch major bombings and stage gun duels to disrupt polls. Nothing of that sort happened. They did manage to attract attention by making a tally of 76 in gun firefight and bumping off 26 compatriots. The tally did not go up because the Afghan security forces were on full alert throughout and they were ably backed by the NATO forces. Killing of two Taliban terrorists in Kabul and capture of their third colleague proves the high degree of preparedness to beat terrorists back and not let them disrupt the polls. Of course, if one looks at the figure of voter turnout one may concede the point that Taliban terrorists succeeded in instilling fear of losing life or limb if people dared to exercise their right of franchise. The threat of terrorists was that if they see Afghan men and women with fingers sporting indelible ink as a proof of voting, the fingers would be cut. Everyone knows that terrorists have no compassion and they may go to any length to intimidate the law abiding citizens to prove that the government of the day is non-functional. On the other hand the Kabul administration backed by the Obama administration was equally determined to ensure a free and fair poll without violence. In the opinion of impartial observers who toured the booths in the North and the South, the Afghan elections could be termed as fair and open. It is a soothing feeling to know that terrorists did not succeed in severing fingers bearing indelible ink as a proof of participating in the democratic process.

Women in the Afghan society are by and large non-entities. However, they made their presence felt in all major cities. They were not much in evidence in rural areas and non-descript towns. The first woman to vote in Kabul was none other than the wife of President Hamid Karzai. She was calm and composed and betrayed no sign of fear of terrorists. Indeed both the husband and wife voted in a polling booth near the Presidential Palace and had been provided a heavy security cover. Moreover, there were two women candidates too in the fray. The political observers do not rate their chances of making a dent in votes of serious candidates as high. Anyway they will go down in history as women candidates who challenged established male candidates in a male dominated Islamic society. As mentioned earlier in another despatch by this correspondent one of the female candidates always dressed as a man to merge in the milieu. We must give due credit to women voters too. Wearing Burqas or just head scarves they came out of the house despite Taliban warning and exercised their franchise. One may safely surmise that the Afghan social set up is undergoing a change for the better. A word of warning to the progressive elements in the society should be sounded. The bearded Mullahs of the old and archaic school may be down but they are not yet out.

OUTCOME AT HUSTINGS

The polling is over. It had started at 7 AM and went on till 4 PM on 20 August 2009. At some booths extra time was officially allowed to make up for the administrative delays. In any case, all those who had lined up in the booth before the expiry time were allowed to vote. Where do the Afghans go from here? Well, a success is a success, howsoever moderate it may be. The age old saying is – Nothing succeeds like success. Despite the low turnout 50 percent or so compared to 70 percent or so in the first presidential election in 2004, 9.5 million Afghan men and women have voted this year. Who can ignore their preference for a democracy? Not even the Kalashnikov wielding terrorists. The people’s power is stronger than the terror power. In Afghanistan the power now comes out of the ballot box and not out of the gun. The social and political environment is undergoing a change. What will be the outcome of this poll? It is hard to predict but we may speculate.

The South has not come out to vote in full strength. The Pashtoons live in the southern Afghanistan. Comparatively speaking the North has been more enthusiastic in going to the polling booths and voting. But we cannot be oblivious of the fact that there are more voters among Pashtuns than among Tajiks and they can tilt the balance.The Tajiks, Hazras, and the warlords like General Rashid Dostum live in the North. So does Abdullah Abdullah. Of course, Dostum has pledged his support to Karzai despite the latter being a Pashtun. One wonders if the old tribal loyalties are now crumbling like the Berlin Wall. The results alone will tell. The manual counting has begun but it may not be before early September that results are out unofficially. If Karzai succeeds in getting 50 percent or more of the total votes polled, he will be declared a winner and enjoy a second term in office. If he fails there, then there will be a second round of voting between the two candidates polling the highest number of votes and standing first and second. Thus karzai and Abdullah may stand eyeball to eyeball once again. The voters will have a second opportunity to choose the President of Afghanistan. Political pundits wish to bet on Karzai as the winner in the second round. May I suggest that we stay neutral and keep our fingers crossed for peaceful poll in October 2009 or whenever. May God be with both Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah! May God be with the people of Afghanistan in their fight against the Taliban terrorists!

UPVAN, 609, Sector 29, NOIDA – 201303, INDIA. Mob. 0091-9811173590.

Monday, August 17, 2009

INDEPENDENCE DAY AT RED FORT

AUM
INDEPENDENCE DAY AT RED FORT
By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM

The Prime Minister reaches the red Fort Delhi at 7.20 AM; he inspects the Inter-Services and Police guard of Honour; he reaches the ramparts and addresses the Nation for 40 minutes or may be more depending on the skies, says Jai Hind with the crowd of school children and goes home. The Media is in full attendance and they faithfully inform the countrymen of policy statements, if any. We all head home and look for a cup of hot tea brewed by the lady of the house. For most of us of the British Raj days the Independence Day means much more. It sends us down the memory lane and a sense of nostalgia sets in.
How can I not remember the Quit India movement of 1942 when as a young boy not yet in my teens, I came out of my classroom encouraged by bigger boys and headed for kutchery to shout slogans against the British Collector and others of his tribe ?Quit India?. The mercenary police beat us with batons but undeterred we kept on saying ?VANDE MATARAM VANDE MATARAM?. The big boys bled as they were badly beaten but held the tricolour high .IT WAS A SIGHT TO SEE AND ADMIRE. At the kutchery the senior students were arrested and sent to jail; we the junior ones were admonished and told to go home and have some mother?s milk. I had the inner satisfaction that I too told the foreign masters to quit our country. That they did five years thereafter. All Indians celebrated Independence with great gusto. Of course, the partition of Bharat Mata had left an emotional scar and a deep wound difficult to forget. Then as now, the main celebration was held on the ramparts of the Red Fort Delhi. Sad to say the enthusiasm of yester years has faded over a period of time. A true patriot feels bad about it but that?s the way it is.
Unbelievable but true it is that no Tricolour was hoisted by Pt Jawaharlal Nehru on ramparts of the Red Fort Delhi on 15 August 1947. That great day it was done in New Delhi. A day later Nehru went up the ramparts and hoisted the new National flag and fulfilled the wishes of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. Indeed every Independence Day has been seeing the incumbent Prime Minister do this national duty with great aplomb. It would be interesting to recall various Prime Ministers do it a number of times, some just once and one not even once. Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru walks away with the cake with a tally of 17. His daughter Smt Indira Gandhi is close behind with a total tally of 16 in two parts : 11 times in the first innings, was voted out of power, staged a political comeback and ascended the ramparts five times in the second innings. In between was Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri who unfurled the flag twice. An elevator was installed for him as he was forbidden to ascend the stairs on medical grounds. Now there are two to accommodate the growing number of sick but important people. Care has been taken to see that the walls of the elevator match the architecture of the fort so that it does not look like an eyesore. Now every Prime Minister uses the elevator to go up but some come down the ramparts using stair case.
A reader may be waiting with baited breath to find out the name of the Prime Minister who did not have an opportunity to perform this sacred national duty even once. It was Shri Chandra Shekhar. Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee did it six times and he is bracketed with Dr Man Mohan Singh.I recall that over these years Dr Man Mohan Singh?s Hindi has improved tremendously. Rajiv Gandhi and Narsimha Rao did so five times each, Morarji Bhai twice but he is in good company with Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri. Among those who just opened an account and returned to pavilion are: Chaudhary Charan Singh, Sarvashri Vishwanath Pratap Singh, H.D.Devegowda and Inder Kumar Gujaral. Indeed the list makes an interesting reading and speaks volumes about the party politics in Parliament. Of course, what they all said need not be mentioned separately for each. The bottom line in each speech was a Promise to the common man to ameliorate his living condition but not much was done thereafter. Some promise makers were dethroned as they descended the stairs; never to ascend again. Indira ji was a singular exception.
As a commentator I feel that the Prime Minister should not take too long to say what he does not mean. Some do not have the magic number to back their words, someone may not muster support within the party as other stalwarts treat him as an usurper of the throne that did not rightfully belong to him. A long speech does not go well with the audience on the spot who sit in the sweltering heat of August in Delhi or in torrential rain depending on the whim of El Nino. The global warming is mentioned in the passing but no need to fan it with a copy of the Independence Day programme printed on thin paper. Most of the senior bureaucrats who could not skip the ceremony and had to put in an appearance by order, just ignore the promises made by the Prime Minister. They know from experience that passing a law in Parliament is one thing and having it implemented just another. ?The twain shall never meet?. Indian babus just echo Rudyard Kipling. Will education come within reach of an urchin on the street? Don?t be silly, so they say. Pray, what happened to the Act of Parliament banning child labour. Just go to any eatery in the national capital or NCR and the Truth will prevail over promises made from ramparts of the Red Fort. A Prime Minister who has blessings of the most powerful lady east of Suez will just recount names of Nehru, Gandhi(forget the mahatma) and think that he has earned his daily bread. Thus the gap between preaching, precept and practice is widening day by day. Perhaps a peaceful revolution is required to deliver the goods.The right to resent and protest against a government diktat is enshrined in the constitution and judiciary protects it like the assets of judges.
Lip sympathy is paid to victims of Islamic terrorism. The new economic terror factor is not even touched lest the vote bank is lost. Just preserve your place in power and worry not about the nation or the common man. Let them fend for themselves. Let the lentil be sold at Rs 100 per kilo; just announce from house tops that there is enough food stock in government godowns. Just exhort the state governments to use all laws against hoarding but allow the Food ministry to be the biggest hoarder. Let the finance people say that inflation is now zero or in minus, don?t worry if the prices of common vegetables and fruits render them beyond the reach of common man. Indeed paying lip sympathy to the common man pays rich dividends. So why bother about implementation of plans to ameliorate his condition. Let the plans remain on paper and save the Chair.
Address : UPVAN 609, Sector 29, NOIDA ?INDIA. Mob. 0091-9811173590.
Email- sawantg.chitranjan@gmail.com Phone -0091-120-2454622.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

INDIAN INDEPENDENCE DAY AT RED FORT

AUM
INDEPENDENCE DAY AT RED FORT
By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM

The Prime Minister reaches the red Fort Delhi at 7.20 AM; he inspects the Inter-Services and Police guard of Honour; he reaches the ramparts and addresses the Nation for 40 minutes or may be more depending on the skies, says Jai Hind with the crowd of school children and goes home. The Media is in full attendance and they faithfully inform the countrymen of policy statements, if any. We all head home and look for a cup of hot tea brewed by the lady of the house. For most of us of the British Raj days the Independence Day means much more. It sends us down the memory lane and a sense of nostalgia sets in.
How can I not remember the Quit India movement of 1942 when as a young boy not yet in my teens, I came out of my classroom encouraged by bigger boys and headed for kutchery to shout slogans against the British Collector and others of his tribe “Quit India”. The mercenary police beat us with batons but undeterred we kept on saying “VANDE MATARAM VANDE MATARAM”. The big boys bled as they were badly beaten but held the tricolour high .IT WAS A SIGHT TO SEE AND ADMIRE. At the kutchery the senior students were arrested and sent to jail; we the junior ones were admonished and told to go home and have some mother’s milk. I had the inner satisfaction that I too told the foreign masters to quit our country. That they did five years thereafter. All Indians celebrated Independence with great gusto. Of course, the partition of Bharat Mata had left an emotional scar and a deep wound difficult to forget. Then as now, the main celebration was held on the ramparts of the Red Fort Delhi. Sad to say the enthusiasm of yester years has faded over a period of time. A true patriot feels bad about it but that’s the way it is.
Unbelievable but true it is that no Tricolour was hoisted by Pt Jawaharlal Nehru on ramparts of the Red Fort Delhi on 15 August 1947. That great day it was done in New Delhi. A day later Nehru went up the ramparts and hoisted the new National flag and fulfilled the wishes of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. Indeed every Independence Day has been seeing the incumbent Prime Minister do this national duty with great aplomb. It would be interesting to recall various Prime Ministers do it a number of times, some just once and one not even once. Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru walks away with the cake with a tally of 17. His daughter Smt Indira Gandhi is close behind with a total tally of 16 in two parts : 11 times in the first innings, was voted out of power, staged a political comeback and ascended the ramparts five times in the second innings. In between was Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri who unfurled the flag twice. An elevator was installed for him as he was forbidden to ascend the stairs on medical grounds. Now there are two to accommodate the growing number of sick but important people. Care has been taken to see that the walls of the elevator match the architecture of the fort so that it does not look like an eyesore. Now every Prime Minister uses the elevator to go up but some come down the ramparts using stair case.
A reader may be waiting with baited breath to find out the name of the Prime Minister who did not have an opportunity to perform this sacred national duty even once. It was Shri Chandra Shekhar. Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee did it six times and he is bracketed with Dr Man Mohan Singh.I recall that over these years Dr Man Mohan Singh’s Hindi has improved tremendously. Rajiv Gandhi and Narsimha Rao did so five times each, Morarji Bhai twice but he is in good company with Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri. Among those who just opened an account and returned to pavilion are: Chaudhary Charan Singh, Sarvashri Vishwanath Pratap Singh, H.D.Devegowda and Inder Kumar Gujaral. Indeed the list makes an interesting reading and speaks volumes about the party politics in Parliament. Of course, what they all said need not be mentioned separately for each. The bottom line in each speech was a Promise to the common man to ameliorate his living condition but not much was done thereafter. Some promise makers were dethroned as they descended the stairs; never to ascend again. Indira ji was a singular exception.
As a commentator I feel that the Prime Minister should not take too long to say what he does not mean. Some do not have the magic number to back their words, someone may not muster support within the party as other stalwarts treat him as an usurper of the throne that did not rightfully belong to him. A long speech does not go well with the audience on the spot who sit in the sweltering heat of August in Delhi or in torrential rain depending on the whim of El Nino. The global warming is mentioned in the passing but no need to fan it with a copy of the Independence Day programme printed on thin paper. Most of the senior bureaucrats who could not skip the ceremony and had to put in an appearance by order, just ignore the promises made by the Prime Minister. They know from experience that passing a law in Parliament is one thing and having it implemented just another. “The twain shall never meet”. Indian babus just echo Rudyard Kipling. Will education come within reach of an urchin on the street? Don’t be silly, so they say. Pray, what happened to the Act of Parliament banning child labour. Just go to any eatery in the national capital or NCR and the Truth will prevail over promises made from ramparts of the Red Fort. A Prime Minister who has blessings of the most powerful lady east of Suez will just recount names of Nehru, Gandhi(forget the mahatma) and think that he has earned his daily bread. Thus the gap between preaching, precept and practice is widening day by day. Perhaps a peaceful revolution is required to deliver the goods.The right to resent and protest against a government diktat is enshrined in the constitution and judiciary protects it like the assets of judges.
Lip sympathy is paid to victims of Islamic terrorism. The new economic terror factor is not even touched lest the vote bank is lost. Just preserve your place in power and worry not about the nation or the common man. Let them fend for themselves. Let the lentil be sold at Rs 100 per kilo; just announce from house tops that there is enough food stock in government godowns. Just exhort the state governments to use all laws against hoarding but allow the Food ministry to be the biggest hoarder. Let the finance people say that inflation is now zero or in minus, don’t worry if the prices of common vegetables and fruits render them beyond the reach of common man. Indeed paying lip sympathy to the common man pays rich dividends. So why bother about implementation of plans to ameliorate his condition. Let the plans remain on paper and save the Chair.
Address : UPVAN 609, Sector 29, NOIDA –INDIA. Mob. 0091-9811173590.
Email- sawantg.chitranjan@gmail.com Phone -0091-120-2454622.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

TOP PAKI TALIBAN WISHED TO SIRE A SON BUT .....




AUM

WISHED TO SIRE A SON BUT...By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM

Baitullah Mehsood was a dreaded name on both sides of the Durand line that separates Afghanistan from Pakistan. Son of a small time cleric, Mehsood earned a notoriety for himself as a terrorist who had no remorse in killing adversaries and also those who toed a softline. For him what mattered was just spreading the word of Allah as enunciated in QurĂ¡n and illustrated by the life led by Hazrat Muhammad, sallallah wasale wasallum. The world beyond that did not exist for him. If anything existed and flourished without obeying the order of Allah, it deserved to be destroyed. Indeed, Baitullah Mehsood was a dangerous man to be in the vicinity. Pakistan encouraged him initially but found later that the Frankenstein monster was spreading its tentacles far and wide. In the second phase of love and hate relationship between a failed Islamic State and a bandit like Jehadi the closeness was too uncomfortable to be ignored. Pakistan chose, nurtured, trained and cohabited with Mehsud until the American intelligence agency, CIA announced a whopping 5 million US dollar reward on his head. The battle scenario changed thereafter.A SON A SON ANYTHING FOR A SONIn the tribal areas of Waziristan and frontier tract the tribesman celebrate birth of a son with gunfire. Mehsood did not get a chance to do so. He had three daughters who came to the world unannounced and uncelebrated as per custom. The terror god took a second wife. He had an ardent desire to sire a son but had not succeeded so far. He was diabetic too. Nevertheless, he always desired to cohabit with his second wife to go through the natural process to father a son. He was too busy to go into niceties of sex life. He would just have it anywhere anytime with his newly wedded wife. After all he was just 35 years old and had married a pretty girl, daughter of a minor cleric of the region.On the fateful night, he was in his father-in-law’s mud plastered house to be with his second wife for the whole night. The heat was sweltering as is generally the case in that part of Pakistan. He chose to sleep on the roof of the ground floor on a couch out in the open. His second and pretty wife was sharing the couch with him. It was both pleasure and pain.The Americans came to know of it. After all they run Intelligence services that claim to be efficient, next only to Mossad of Israel. The drone, that pilotless aircraft famous for being tasked to do anything that a normal snooping aircraft does, was soon ordered to the place in question. The powerful cameras fitted in the drone zeroed in on the Mehsood couple lying out in the open. The computer targeted the devastating missiles called Hellfire and locked on to Mehsoods. The command came from thousands of mile away control centre in Nevada, Fire. In no time the missiles hit the target with accuracy. All was over for Mehsoods. All that was left was debris and pieces of human flesh. The most dreaded terrorist of Pakistan had met his doom the way he had planned and executed the end of life for others. It was a matter of rejoicing for those who had been hunting him for quite some time.What an irony of fate. The top terrorist had wished to sire a son but death came rushing to court him. Thus common man’s faith in the Divine Justice was strengthened. Atheists became believers.Address. UPVAN 609, Sector 29, NOIDA-201303. India. Mobile : 0091-9811173590. Email. Sawantg.chitranjan@gmail.com

Saturday, August 8, 2009

CORRUPTIONAND PUNISHMENT IN CHINA

AUM
CORRUPTION AND PUNISHMENT IN CHINA
By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM

The People’s Republic of China is an economic giant now. The economy is ever growing. The Chinese consumer goods have flooded markets of the world. Go East or go West, go North or go South, the department stores, the malls and even the street vendors sell Chinese goods. Notwithstanding the anti publicity that the Chinese manufacturers got on account of unacceptable proportion of led in paint on its goods, especially toys, the market all over the world is ever eager to import merchandise from China. Playing, of course, with those toys was detrimental to the health of children. Some goods were even shipped back to China. And yet the international trade of China has flourished. It speaks well of the price structure and marketing technique of Chinese manufacturers. So much so that even the United States of America had an adverse trade balance with China in respect of consumer goods. It did not grow more because China was keen on buying Defence weapon systems and equipment from America to modernise the People’s Liberation Army. Indeed America was too happy to sell but not transfer technology in case of weapon system where her own defence could be adversely affected in future. This is the case with Europe and other developed and developing countries too. India is no exception. India had no military hardware that China needed but has plenty of Information Technology and software thereof on which China has always been keen. Thus China’s international trade has grown by leaps and bounds and hard currency has flown in.

MONEY CORRUPTS POWER CORRUPTS

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely – that has been the saying from time immemorial. History bears out the truth of this saying. The political system may be anything from monarchy to democracy via aristocracy, the ruler or the ruling elite fell from grace when they enjoyed absolute power in the absence of checks and balances. Eventually they fell from the throne or the seat of power too. While that saying still holds sway, a new one has crept in. Money corrupts and abundance of money corrupts abundantly. This phenomenon of monetary corruption has made heavy inroads into the culture and body politic of China. Among many reasons we may choose two to start with. One is the political system and the other is territorial imbalance in economic growth. As China will be completing the Diamond Jubilee of Red Star over China on 1st October 2009, it is time these two issues were addressed on a priority basis. It may be clarified right here that we are making a mere friendly suggestion and it should not be taken as a criticism of the political and economic system of China.

Let us take the political system first. Although the one party rule in China has hastened the country’s progress it has made men and women who matter in the party all important who brook no criticism. The Communist Party of China has been the monarch of all it surveys from the beginning. The Communists and their Army , PLA, won the hard fought battle against the Nationalist party of Chiang Kai -Shek and threw them out beyond the shores of Chinese mainland to Formosa (now Taiwan). 1st October 1949 onwards they held unparalleled power and executive authority to take the country forward. Mao Tse-tung, the great leader and architect of Communist victory and military takeover of China said “power comes out of the barrel of a gun and it is the party that controls the gun”. This theory and practice of political philosophy holds good even today. The Communist party has got the taste of power and the country has made tremendous progress, so the ideologues feel there is no need to change or to bring in a type of democracy that is practised in the West. However, this absolute power did corrupt some people in power and brought a bad name to the party and the people. It must, however, be said that it goes to the credit of big leaders that they ensured trial and punishment of those who had gone astray.

The credit for this unprecedented economic growth of China must be given to a leader diminutive physically but a giant in political thought and economic philosophy, Deng Hsiao-ping .It was he who broke China from shackles of orthodox Communism and motivated men and women to enter into a new era of production and consumption and encouraged private enterprise. With the result the floodgates of economic growth opened. China did not have to look back. However, the People’s Republic of China was no more a Communist country, if one were to interpret Communism as Karl Marx did. Never mind that, so thought Deng Hsiao-ping and added “how does it matter if a cat is black or white as long as it catches mice”. Sure, the cat is catching mice and exporting it too. The need of the hour is to keep an eye on leaders who wield authority so that they do not line their own pockets and deprive the national exchequer of its revenues.

The law and its implementation to curb economic corruption are showing results. It may be mentioned that an ex-airport chief of Beijing, the national capital, was executed on 7 Aug 09 for corruption and embezzlement. Li Peiying, 60, was found guilty of accepting four million US dollars in bribe. He was also found guilty of embezzling 12 million US dollars of public money since 1995. The law eventually caught up with him and he has now lost his life. Although a plea for leniency was made by his attorney since he had returned the stolen money, the court still ordered his execution which was confirmed by the Supreme Court. It may be noted that the government is also investigating head of the country’s nuclear programme for alleged corruption. The head of the biggest oil company, Sinopec, has also been given a suspended death sentence for accepting a bribe of 29 million US dollars. If the big fish are caught the small ones may not go that way. As a matter of fact China may like to take the world community into confidence and let other countries know how to stop economic corruption in big places. The names of big guns in politics who have been caught and punished for economic corruption may also be made public.

TERRITORIAL IMBALANCE IN ECONOMIC GROWTH

Taking a look at the areas in China that have been a beneficiary of rich economic growth, one finds these are located in the coastal areas only. The trade and commerce, both national and international, have grown phenomenally in these areas. Consequently the people living there have become rich and have improved the quality of life. Among the metropolitan cities is Shanghai which has now an international character. No wonder the civic authorities now advise the Chinese residents not to roam about in the markets or streets in pyjamas as that does not look smart. The citizens should be suitably and smartly dressed to leave a good impression on foreigners who now visit Shanghai in large numbers. Will there be a punishment for those who infringe this advisory? Not yet. The aim of putting the best foot forward and presenting a good image of China to the world has to be achieved, though.

The large areas of North-west China and other outlying provinces like Xinjiang, Chinghai and even Tibet have not had a share of the apple pie. With the result the poverty that existed before has not been removed to the extent as has been done in the coastal areas. This imbalance in economic prosperity has obviously led to social and political tensions among the people of different ethnic groups. Of course, the leadership in Beijing is quite aware of this problem and plans are being made to establish employment generating industries in the hinterland. These newly provided plants may manufacture goods, garments, toys etc for export and earn foreign exchange for the country. This will help remove the financial disparity in the long run and consequently social tensions may disappear.

Beijing is quite aware of the fact that regional disputes with neighbouring States should be resolved and war like situation should be prevented. Of course, the policy makers may like to ensure that the philosophy of peace should permeate all echelons of the government and the people. Indeed the path to prosperity lies through peace.

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Email : sawantg.chitranjan@gmail.com. Phone :0091-120-2454622.

Friday, August 7, 2009

ARMED FORCES TRIBUNAL INAUGURAL SOON

What a relief it is to know that now the aggrieved officers and men of the Armed Forces and Ex-Servicemen will not have to knock at the doors of different High Courts to get their grievances redressed. As of now as many as 9800 cases are of serving defence personnel (including some retired personnel) are pending disposal in different High Courts of the country. This factor of indecision and delay has been affecting the morale of officers and men which is detrimental to defence of the country. With a view to ameliorate this hardship, the Ministry of defence brought a bill before the Parliament to establish an Armed Forces Tribunal and it became an Act of Parliament in December 2007.
Smt Pratibha Devisingh Patil, President of India has kindly agreed to inaugurate the Tribunal on saturday, 8 August 09 in New Delhi. The President is also the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. She was concerned about the rising litigation involving serving and retired Defence personnel in civil courts. Now the situation will undergo a sea change and it will be a morale raising factor as well as a force multiplier in a war or war-like situation.
The Armed Forces Tribunal will have the authority to hear appeals preferred against the order of Military Courts Martial. Should a defence personnel be in military custody, the Armed Forces Tribunal will have the authority to grant bail.
The Principal Bench of the Tribunal will be located in New Delhi and there will be eight regional benches. In all 15 Courts will be established - three each in New Delhi, Chandigarh and Lucknow; and one each in Jaipur, Mumbai, Kolkata, Guwahati, Chennai and Kochi. The Tribunal is expected to give speedy justice to aggrieved personnel among officers and men of the 1.3 million strong armed forces and 1.2 million ex-servicemen.
The Chair person of the Tribunal will be a serving or a retired judge of the Supreme Court. presently Justice Ashok Kumar Mathur, a former judge of the supreme Court is holding office of the Chairman of the Armed Forces tribunal. Each court will have ajudicial member - aserving or a retired judge of a High Court and an administrative member who will be a retired Major general or an officer of equivalent rank from the other two services.
It is hoped that the tribunal will start functioning the moment Government of India issues a notification to that effect. Indeed hopes of all concerned have soared high.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Men may not beat bigamy law

AUM
Remember Chandra Mohan, the then Deputy Chief Minister of Haryana. He is son of Bhajan Lal , abig gun in Congress political circles who disowned his son because he converted to Islam to marry another woman while his first wife is still alive. The lady love of Chandra Mohan is none other than a former legal luminary of Chandigarh, now named Fiza. The case of conversion to beat the bigamy law created a furore in both social and legal circles. Chandra Mohan who was renamed as Chand Mohammed had a change of heart once again , re-embraced the Hindu Dharma and got his Hindu name back. He is again known as Chandra Mohan.
For Fiza, who blew both hot and cold time and again, the paradise was lost. For her beau ideal it was a case of Paradise regained. He is back in the arms of his lawfully wedded wife and their children. Fiza had sworn love and hatred alternately for Chandra Mohan depending on the changing scenarioand the nuptial situation. Nevertheless, the case has shaken up the society in general and law makers as well as law interpreters in particular.
No less a legal body than the Law Commission took note of the aforesaid case and many similar unpublicised cases and went into the causes and effects. Such cases certainly cause social tensions. Men and women who are over sexed go in for marriage in a superficial way but the motive is out and out cohabitation for satisfying sexual desires. Thus the due process of law was taken for a ride. Hindu males who wished to have more than one living wife, forbidden under the Hindu Marriage Act,1955, underwent a superficial change of religion and assumed Muslim names to beat the bagamy law. Under Islam a male is permitted to have four living wives at the same time.
Justice Lakshamanan, chairman of the Law Commission, has recommended to the Government of India that the hindu Marriage Act be amended to discourage the phoney conversion for lust. Under the amended act the husband will not be permitted to solemnize a second marriage, irrespective of conversion to Islam, unless his first marriage is dissolved through due process of law. Everyone knows that the divorce proceedings under the Hindu Law take a lot of time and that will be the compulsory cooling period for the infatuated man, may be for woman too. Thus conversion for lust will be avoided and there will be no social tension either.
It is hoped that the amendment is couched in correct language to meet the test of time and also legal scrutiny in a court of law. It will be a regressive step otherwise Hindu males could be allowed to have more than one living wife under certain situations so that matrimonal love is not sacrificed at the altar of infatuation.

Monday, August 3, 2009

LAST OF THE LEGIONARY LEGEND

AUM
LAST OF THE LEGIONARY LEGEND
By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM

5 grand children, 12 great grand children, 14 great great grand children and one great great great grandchild – that is the report card of Henry Allingham, a noted ex-serviceman of the First World War who died at age 113 years in the United Kingdom. A man of many parts, he was much sought after by scribes and lensmen as he always made news but shunned newsmen. A very private person indeed .He did not wish to talk about the war until gradually drawn out of the shell by his ghost biographer, Goodwin. On his demise the Queen of England said that she was saddened. Allingham sacrificed so much for all of us.
His name found a mention in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest living man and sole surviving founder member of the Royal Air Force. Born in 1896, he lived in the Victorian era England when peace reigned all over. But it was World War I that made him known to the world. He recalled that as a child he did not see many cars on London roads and the speed limit for them was two miles an hour. When the Great War broke out his mother begged him not to enrol in the military and he honoured her wish. When she expired next year he joined the Royal Naval Air service in 1915 and later the Royal Air Force and saw action in France and Flanders. He could never forget some gory scenes of war and did not wish to talk about them. He saw soldiers standing in 2 ft deep water in trenches and he himself once landed in a bomb crater full of dead rats and guts of dead soldiers. He did not bathe for 3 months for lack of an opportunity to do so. This was the last of the trench war from where almost a million men never returned home. 70,000 Indian soldiers and labourers were there too. Of them 13516 men could not be cremated or buried and their names are inscribed on the India Gate in New Delhi.

Henry Allingham was asked many times what the secret of his longevity was. He could never think of one. However, he prescribed for the youth “the trick is to look after yourself and always know your limitations.”Allingham lived a happy married life and was always faithful to his wife. Never cheated on her. He recalled “I have only ever kissed one girl, my Dorothy. We met in 1915, married in 1918. I never gave my cherry away when I went to the front”. Perhaps that was the secret of his becoming more than a centenarian – Brahmacharya as we understand in India. Historically speaking, his life spanned three centuries and he saw six monarchs on the throne of England. But for the efforts of the Ex-Servicemen’s associations the world would not have known many human interest stories of those veterans of the First World War who “gave their today for our tomorrow”. Whenever there is a Reunion of veterans of World Wars , Queen of England or an important member of the Royalty makes it a point to attend. 10 Downing Street does not go unrepresented either. Indeed it is a great morale raising factor for both the serving soldiers and ex-servicemen. Of course, a positive signal to the youth to enrol for the defence of the motherland.
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