NATO supports suicide bombers (PO)

M D Nalapat
Terrorism in any form and for whatever cause is unpardonable. The use of deadly violence against innocents, which is what terrorism implies, is morally completely at variance with the tenets that are enshrined in the Holy Qur’an. Because there were more than 120,000 prophets before Prophet Mohammad [PBUH], several faiths other than Islam contain tenets that are similar to that enunciated more their fifteen centuries ago, all of which stress the need for compassion, mercy and tolerance, qualities that were best practiced during the golden age of Islam . In contrast, the use of terror has never in a single instance delivered anything other than temporary success to the perpetrator.

The LTTE, after three decades of waging a campaign in which suicide bombers played a key role, was defeated by the Sri Lankan army in 2009. The Taliban was speedily vanquished in 2003,and despite NATO’s errors, will never regain control of Afghanistan. In the Holy Land, the use of terror against Israeli civilians has meant nothing other than misery for the residents of Gaza and the West Bank There is nothing specifically related to any single faith about suicide bombing, whose practitioners have come from numerous religious backgrounds.

LTTE cadres were overwhelmingly Hindu, while Japanese “kamikaze” pilots (who killed themselves on the decks of enemy ships) were mostly Shinto. Some members of the IRA - all of whom were Catholic - were in effect suicide bombers. Hence it may be said with accuracy that the cult of the suicide bomber is independent of religion. However, because of NATO’s focus on Muslim-majority states, these days, suicide bombing is being regarded as being the monopoly of a single faith. Unfortunately, some within that faith give credibility to such false charges by resorting to the use of terror, including through suicide bombing.

After 9/11 showed the blowback inherent in the US-led effort to create and sustain the Taliban in the 1990s, NATO capitals adopted a Zero Tolerance policy towards suicide bombers, refusing to accept that any situation justified the use of such an extreme and inhuman measure. Countries where there was a rash of suicide bombers and attacks began to be targetted, including by drone strikes. However, cracks began to develop in this - correct - policy when NATO began giving tacit backing to Jundallah in Iran. The extreme Wahabi militia regularly carries out terror attacks in Iran, and does so without any condemnation by NATO capitals.

However, a far more serious breach of the Zero Tolerance (towards suicide bombers) policy has occurred in Syria. The July 17 suicide bombing in the heart of the Bashar Assad regime was conducted by the “Free Syrian Army” (FSA). It is no secret that this “army” ( exactly as its counterpart in Libya) makes extensive use of terror operations in order to force the fall of the present Syrian government. Even more than in Libya, suicide bombings have been regularly carried out. Despite this self-declared link with terrorism, NATO continues to encourage its regional allies to arm the “Free Syrian Army” and provide it with lavish funding.

It is dismaying to watch while television channels such as BBC and CNN turn into cheerleaders for suicide bombers. In most NATO capitals, there is not even a ritual condemnation of such methods, nor indeed mention of the fact that the murdered Defense Minister of Syria was a Christian. Clearly, David Cameron, Francois Hollande and Hillary Clinton approve of the methods of the FSA. What would be their reaction if similar tactics were to be carried out during the London Olympic ceremonies, or in Paris or Washington? Terror is evil, and suicide bombing is morally wrong. Years ago, Indira Gandhi trained and funded the LTTE, the organisation that killed her son Rajiv in 1991. NATO’s backing for terrorism in Syria will soon come back to haunt an alliance that ought to know better.
http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=165697

Congress plans sleaze campaign against Modi (Sunday Guardian)

MADHAV NALAPAT  New Delhi | 15th Jul

Narendra Modi waves at the crowd during the 135th Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra in Ahmedabad last month. PTI arendra Modi is the target of a disinformation campaign run by a task force set up for the purpose in September 2011. This has been revealed by two of the Congress strategists involved in the initial phase of "Operation No Namo", which is designed to ensure that the Gujarat Chief Minister remains confined to his home state up to and during the 2014 parliamentary elections. "Operation No Namo" is designed to reduce the BJP's seat tally in Gujarat to lower than three figures, ideally less than 90. "Any tally below that would be seen as the defeat of Modi," the source claimed, adding that "such a result would ensure that he remain confined to Gujarat". Should the BJP tally fall to around 90, Congress strategists calculate that the push within the BJP to bring Modi to the Centre will lose momentum. "The Congress leadership wants to avoid Modi becoming the BJP's Prime Minister alternative in the next Lok Sabha elections, hence the effort at seeing that the Gujarat CM remain confined to his state", a source claimed. Op No Namo's political strategy follows the "Uttarakhand and Karnataka models, of developing contacts within the BJP so as to incentivise dissidents into acts of sabotage against their party's chances", on the principle that the most effective foes are those within a party. Congress leaders in Gujarat are giving "logistical and other help to anti-Modi elements, including within the state BJP". Keshubhai Patel is seen as the best bet. "Should Keshubhai damage the BJP, at least 17 Assembly seats will be lost to the BJP. This will enable us to succeed in keeping his tally to about 90 seats," a Congress source claimed. A bare majority in the coming elections would make it much more difficult for Modi to spend more time outside Gujarat. Strategists point out that the BJP got only half the total votes polled in the 2007 Assembly elections, and that in 109 seats, the Congress came second to the winning BJP candidate. "Our operations over the past nine months have had a huge effect on Modi's image, which after all is the trump card of the BJP." More controversially, Operation No Namo has also a component designed to "blacken the personal image of the CM". Congress strategists, despite considerable effort, have failed to come across corruption by Narendra Modi or his close relatives, all of whom live in modest circumstances. They are, therefore, turning to the personal. A key strategist claimed that "a secret task force is engaged in using modern technology to create CDs" that purport to show the Gujarat CM in a bad light. According to a source, "An NDA office-bearer from Punjab and a starlet from Tamil Nadu have been incentivised to supply affidavits about their contact with Narendra Modi." The source claims that "both the women have been given flats in Mumbai, while the NDA office-bearer has also been given property in Chandigarh and the starlet roles in two Tamil movies", to induce them to agree to digitally-created CDs being released. Those familiar with modern technology say that it is "relatively easy", given sophisticated equipment, "to create whatever digital images or voices as are needed". Similarly, computers can be hacked into so as to create records of surfing pornography on the net, or lewd messages can be sent from a designated computer (belonging to the target individual). Clearly, the Congress in Gujarat is taking its cue from Dirty Picture while working on strategies to reduce the BJP tally to 90 seats or less. http://www.sunday-guardian.com/investigation/congress-plans-sleaze-campaign-against-modi

It’s time for a general amnesty to revive the economy (Sunday Guardian)

ROOTS OF POWER

MADHAV NALAPAT

www.sunday-guardian.com/profile/m-d-nalapat

New Delhi | 15th Jul

ixated as they are on making themselves and their friends and relatives as rich as possible during the time that they hold high office, it is scant wonder that policymakers in India come up with nostrums that are not simply ineffective but harmful to health. Out of numerous examples, a single one would suffice to show the way policy gets made that hurts Indian interests. For years — decades — it was difficult for foreign investors to place their money in infrastructure schemes, including housing. However, investing in the share market (and being able to take out the funds plus profits) is easy. The consequence is that most of the so-called "foreign investment" coming to India comprises of money that can easily be taken away. On the other hand, it would be a trifle difficult to relocate a housing complex or a highway to another country. Funds poured into infrastructure would remain within the country, no matter what the economic conditions are. Which is why such investment ought to have been given preference over others that are less stable, rather than banned altogether. While it is fashionable these days within Yojana Bhavan and North Block to mutter about Mamata Didi whenever there is talk about dysfunctional policies, the reality is that Sonia Gandhi and her hand-picked team have done far more damage to the economy that Mamata ever has or could. She can have the satisfaction of knowing that two of her favourite destinations, the European Union and China, need no longer have any fear of competition from the Indian corporate sector. This has been comprehensively neutered by policies initiated by Palaniappan Chidambaram/Yaga Reddy (the previous Finance Ministry-RBI duo) and continued by Pranab Mukherjee/Duvvuri Subbarao. It took a while for most to understand the extent of the damage that was being caused to the economy by the dirigiste policies of Chidambaram et al. Babus love to constantly add on to the rules and regulations confining businesses to a low-level trajectory. The more there are of such, the greater the opportunity for bribes. Since 2004, the Indian bureaucracy has never had it so good. Even as the economy is winding down, the unaccounted incomes of the 20% of officialdom that is dishonest have ballooned greater than the fiscal deficit. If pricey restaurants are still doing good business, it is because of the wads of currency in the hands of those close to politicians and bureaucrats. Those unfortunates who are honest find themselves in a losing battle with price rise, with disposable incomes dwindling to zero long before the end of each month. Pranab's term was defined by as his efforts at getting Vodafone to pony up taxes on its purchase of Hutchison Whampoa's shares. The problem is that it is Li Ka-shing who ought to pay the tax, not Vodafone, and hopefully the Government of India will initiate legal action against the Hong Kong-based magnate in an effort to get its dues. To tax the buyer when it is the seller that made the windfall profit flies in the face of common sense. Of course, the probability that Li Ka-shing will pay out even a rupee is low, but filing recovery suits across the globe is the minimum needed to show that India is not a country whose interests can be trampled upon with impunity, no matter that such a perception would be entirely contrary to the fact that it most certainly is, and has been since winning freedom in 1947. Another action of Pranab's that cries out for review is his alleged agreement with the Swiss authorities, that made disclosure prospective rather than retrospective. Again going by press reports, the former Finance Minister and future President of India seems to have worked out an amnesty scheme for those whose illicit overseas accounts have been discovered. His successors need to broaden the scope of such an amnesty to include any individual willing to send back his or her illicit holdings, after paying a 20% tax on it as well as placing 30% of it in India Development Bonds. If Manmohan Singh truly wants "animal spirits" to return to the economy, the only way this is possible is by such a general amnesty. http://www.sunday-guardian.com/analysis/its-time-for-a-general-amnesty-to-revive-the-economy

NATO not delivering for GCC (PO)

M D Nalapat


While television channels across the world have been focussing on the “pain and hardship” being endured by populations in Spain, Greece and other Eurozone countries that are in effective default (although not admitting the fact), one of the biggest losers of the financial policies and institutions of key NATO states has been the GCC. Investors across the alliance of Arab monarchies lost $1.3 trillion during the 2008 crash, and are on track to watchhelplessly as another $2 trillion disappears in a Eurozone meltdown. Despite the certainty that the Eurozone is unsustainable, and that what is being created is an illusion of salvage ability, GCC investors have remained locked into NATO-based financial institutions, rather than immediately taking steps to diversify into real assets in locations where there is not the constant threat of sequestration for political reasons. The frequent expropriation of assets invested in NATO capitals indicates that these are safe only as long as their holders do not go against the wishes of NATO. Once they do, the amounts get taken over the way Libya’s assets were. Incidentally, less than 20% of the seized Libyan assets have thus far been returned to the post-Kadhafi dispensation in Tripoli, even though this is itself a creation of NATO.

Investors outside the charmed circle of NATO and it’s satellites face huge risks in placing their funds in institutions based within the military alliance. Apart from the economic risk of a collapse of the euro Nd consequent effects on the dollar, there is the risk of takeover of assets. This is being resorted to with impunity within the NATO bloc, even while they protest when Argentina, for example, takes over the assets of a Spanish company that refuses to invest any surplus in added production, preferring to drain the profits homewards to Spain. Countries within NATO have also been very critical of Moscow, because that capital has not allowed companies such as British Petroleum to continue to exploit the resources of Russia on the same giveaway terms as were offered during the Yeltsin period. Only NATO, it would seem, has the right to seize assets at will and not any other alliance or country.

As mentioned in these columns, NATO is seeking to deliver services and outcomes to the GCC in order to ensure that the group continue to place at risk their national savings by keeping them in financial institutions in West Europe and the US. Within the Arab world, NATO has systematically sought to remove from power regimes that are anti-monarchist, and has thus far succeeded in the case of Iraq and Libya. Both Saddam Hussein as well as Muammar Kadhafi opposed the sheikhdoms of the GCC, and both have paid the price for such a view. Their opposition was based on the proposition that the sheikhdoms did not do anything more than lip service to the Palestine cause, while they themselves did much more, although of course in the final years of his reign, Kadhafi too abandoned the Palestinians in favour of attempting to make peace with NATO. Today, regionally, there are only two countries that still oppose the very existence of the State of Israel, and these are Iran and Syria. Once both witness political change that ensures regimes that are less tractable, it would be an immense geopolitical victory for NATO and its GCC allies. Hence neither can be blamed for working hard to ensure regime change in Teheran and Damascus.

However, while Libya was a cakewalk, thus far the alliance has not succeeded in Syria. The regime of Bashar Assad is still in power, and still in possession of sufficient means to deter the growing band of NATO-backed insurgents that have plunged the country into civil war. Given that the GCC has invested $4.6 trillion in the NATO bloc, about 40% of which is likely to go up in smoke once the Eurozone collapses, this is an unsatisfactory state of affairs. The GCC countries are entitled to greater geopolitical returns, i view of the immense financial contribution they are making. Hence the acceleration in back-channel contacts in Moscow and Beijing, to force through a Chapter 7 resolution in the UN Security Council that would lift all restraints on regime change, so that Syria can go the way of Libya, including the end of the ruling family in dungeons and in execution chambers. In the case of Russia, the NATO capitals are placing their faith in Prime Minister Medvedev, who is their man and who is waiting to pounce as soon as President Putin falls in public standing before he takes over full powers. In the case of China, there is no Medvedev within the Politbureau, and hence only economic incentives will work. However, i its wakened state, NATO needs China as much or more than China needs NATO, and hence leverage is low.

Should the Assad regime go the way of Kadhafi, it would be clear to the international community that Russia and China are not reliable friends, and that they would be willing to sacrifice their allies should the price be right. It is unlikely that either Vladimir Putin or incoming Chinese President Xi Jinping would agree to such a climb down. Both are proud nationalists, and are known to be tough bargainers. Hence what is likely is that NATO will continue to weaponise the insurgents against Assad, without being able to deliver a knockout blow to the regime. The danger in such a strategy is that theinfection (of armed insurgency) could easily spread to Turkey, Bahrain and even Saudi Arabia, where there exist huge pockets of disaffected individuals. Once such a fire spreads, putting it down would become almost impossible. NATO is playing with fire in Syria but the alliance has no choice. Having made GCC investors lose so much cash, and after having placed even larger sums of money at risk by their policies of greed and graft, the alliance has no choice but to continue to act as a mercenary force that will ensure regime change for its financiers.
http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=164623

What makes the Kashmir Jamaat so ‘liberal’? (Sunday Guardian)

ROOTS OF POWER MADHAV NALAPAT www.sunday-guardian.com/profile/m-d-nalapat

Tourists enjoy a shikara ride at the Dal lake in Srinagar in June. PTI he Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, which is the original Jamaat, distinguished itself for its work on spreading education within Muslim women, and for its relatively moderate approach towards other faiths. However, in Kashmir, taking their cue from the hardline Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan (JIP), some within the Valley set up the Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir (JIK). They advertised the new formation as being dismissive of liberal trends and strongly backing the absorption of Kashmir in Pakistan, a country that the US State Department has several hundreds of times classified as "moderate". However, it is clear that the members of JIK need to go much farther if they are genuinely to be regarded as standing against the liberal ways associated with the US, the EU and suchlike cultures. An example is the lax dress code they follow with respect to women. Credible reports say that more than a few women related to members of JIK actually allow their fingers and toes to be shown to the outside world. Worse, they sometimes colour their fingernails and toenails. If the purpose of such an unnecessary waste of dye is not to attract the attention of the opposite sex, what is it? The Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir needs to ensure that any member of the feminine gender associated with it cover the entire hand and foot, including the nails. These can be sheathed in gloves and socks. However, the fabric for these ought not to be nylon, light cotton or any other cloth that permits the outline of the limb to be seen from the outside. The material should be of thickness enough to ensure that not a trace of the fingers and toes is visible, except as shapes through the cloth. There are rumours that some ladies who claim to be supporters of the JIK actually put on perfume and talcum powder before going on an outing. While both perfume and talcum powder are permissible inside the home, provided the only males close by are the father, husband or son of the woman concerned, to wear perfume when going out is clearly indicative of a desire to attract the attention of males from categories that ought never to be attracted in the least. This is shocking. Reports are that more than a handful of female JIK supporters in Kashmir spray perfume or attar on themselves before stirring out of their homes. The ideal number of such transgressors from the path of virtue ought to be zero. Indeed, the Jamaat would do well to look back at Kerala's Namboodiri community, the highest caste among that state's Hindu community. Namboodiri women used to be called "Antharjanam" (or "indoor life-form"), as they were not allowed to leave their rooms. Of course, a few feckless Antharjanams used to even walk up to the garden walls of their home, rather that remain indoors as any self-respecting Namboodiri lady ought to do. In order to prevent any of the Jamaat women from attracting strange males (the way city dwellers so regrettably do), they ought to follow the Antharjanam example and stay indoors. Another lapse on the part of Kashmiri Jamaatis ought not to go unmentioned. It is a known fact that a feminine face may attract emotions within males that are far from pious. In order to avoid giving rise to such temptation, the entire face of a lady ought to be covered, the way it is in those parts of Afghanistan run by the Taliban. Only netting should denote the locations where there are eyes, nostrils and mouth. This way, males can be rescued from succumbing to their own worst impulses. The Taliban in Afghanistan has indeed taken commendable strides in ensuring that women not provoke men who are from categories other than spouses, or show themselves to them, except to fathers and children. However, it needs to be said that even in their fiefs, some women go around showing their fingers and their toes, though not of course their faces, the way some so-called Jamaat backers in Kashmir immodestly do. Clearly, there are far too many liberal trends within the Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir. The JIK needs to be stricter in ensuring that the path of virtue gets followed by its own flock, before seeking to impose dress codes on foreign tourists. http://www.sunday-guardian.com/analysis/what-makes-the-kashmir-jamaat-so-liberal

Indo-Pak-China military ties needed (PO)

M D Nalapat


The warm response by the Chinese side to a recent Indian Navy ship visit highlights the potential for military cooperation between the two sides. Both sides have a strong historical basis for this.During the days in 1929 when it seemed as though the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) was waging a battle against the Kuomintang (KMT), Mao Zedong said that ‘the Party controls the Gun” ie that the armed forces must always function under political (civilian) leadership. In this,he differentiated the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from the Kuomintang,which had been taken over by military officers. Mao understood that a country,especially one as vast as China,ought to be administered by people with a broad overall vision for the present and future,rather than dominated by those who placed military viewpoints and priorities above other considerations.

This subordination to civilian control sets the PLA apart from other militaries in Asia,South America, Africa and in Europe,where those in uniformhave sometimes taken power away from civilians and concentrated them within the military. Spain, Portugal, Greece, Nigeria, Indonesia, South Korea and Chile are examples,although all have now come under civilian control There are also countries where the military is a “state within astate”, which has special powers independent of the civilian authority. Turkey till recently was an example of such a system.However,Prime Minister R T Erdogan has - with the support of the European Union - ensured the taking back of executive authority to civilian hands, the same way as the armed forces of India and China are. Indeed, together with Communist China, the Republic of India has been among the very few countries in Asia where the military has always remained under civilian contro.

This common culture has the potential to forge a close partnership between the armed forces of China and India Another factor that can bind China and India together in the military sphere is the fact that both countries face the same twin threats: Terrorism and Splittism. Both China and India have been facing terrorist attacks aimed at disrupting the lives of citizens,and hence it is logical that both share their experience and expertise in counter-terror operations,as well as take part in joint Counter-Terrorism drills. Indeed,ideally the Pakistan military too ought to join hands with their Indian and Chinese counterparts in formulating defenses against acts of terror,given that Pakistan has become one of the biggest victims of terror attacks in recent years Another common threat facing both India and China is splittism.

Small groups of individuals are seeking to separate some territories from China and India. The urge to redraw boundaries is what caused so many wars in Europe. Hence it is necessary that countries in Asia avoid going the way of Europe till 1945. Asian powers ought to settle what boundary disputes there are in a wholly peaceful and Win-Win manner.The use of force is similar to drowning oneself in alchohol to “cure” a headache.Once the effect of the alchohol tapers off,the individual feels even worse than before. Asian countries ought to come to a joint agreement that does away with the use of force in the settlement of territorial disputes with each other,given that the military option would have such negative consequences for overall stability and development. Although conventional wisdom in several thinktanks has been that territorial disputes ought to get settled before better relations come about,the fact is that the atmosphere needed to resolve such differences will come about only after there is harmony between both sides.Beijing was able to resolve its boundary disputes with Moscow very quickly,once ties between the two sides improved.Similar is the case with the Sino-Myanmar boundary,which has been resolved to the satisfaction of both sides,in a context where Myanmar and China are friendly to each other. Apart from China and India,another major military power in the region is Pakistan. Hopefully,a situation will come about when - after China and India establish close military to military ties - Islamabad joins hands with Beijing and Delhi. Indeed, India has been extremely tardy in understanding that military-militarycontacts are essential in good diplomacy. In this,Pakistan has beaten India hands down. Delhi needs to reach out,through its men and women inuniform, to militaries in countries such as Turkey and Indonesia.

It is not enough for simply Asian leaders to talk to each other, their militaries must also join this process. Although there are several forces that oppose closer cooperation between China and India in the military sphere,yet geopolitical necessity may yet bring the two sides together. Hopefully,they will be joined by their counterparts in Pakistan. Should these three armed forces come together rather than remain at loggerheads,the entire continent would be the winner.
http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=163525