The faux pas of a diplomatic denial
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s decision to send a special emissary on a secret peace mission to Islamabad came out into the open courtesy Pakistan media.

75 Years Ago
Sikh Educational Conference
PREPARATIONS here are complete for holding the Sikh Educational Conference. The “dharmic diwan,” langar, residence, camps and the exhibition are all fitted with electric lights.

by Harihar Swarup
Zinni — part warrior, part diplomat

America’s main cause for worry is rise of rabid fundamentalist organisations in Pakistan and adoption of Taliban type of functioning as their role model. For the bigots an Indian is as “infidel” as an American. It has now been established that the mastermind behind terrorist movement the world over, Osama bin Laden, has set up training camps in Afghanistan and he has been aiding and abetting the militants who cross over the LoC to create disruption in Kashmir.

Look at a recent remark of the Lashkar-e-Tayaba supremo, Hafiz Mohammed Saeed: “Whether General Zinni comes to Pakistan or even President Clinton visits Islamabad, the Mujahideen will not withdraw from their posts in Dras and Kargil”. The Lashkar is a terrorist outfit which proclaims from the house top that it had sent the largest number of Mujahideen to Kargil to fight the Indian “infidels” and “capture Kashmir”.

It was in this background that President Clinton rushed his Commander-in-Chief, Central Command, Gen Anthony Zinni, to Islamabad to warn as well as caution Pakistan not to follow the disastrous course of escalating the Kargil crisis but withdraw intruders and army regulars from the area. Gen Zinni is not an ordinary military man. Officially, he is Chief of the US Central Command with responsibility for US troops in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf but he knows entire South Asia as the palm of his hand.

Gen Zinni had already visited Pakistan twice. He was personally deputed by President Clinton to accompany Deputy Secretary of State, Strobe Talbott, to visit Islamabad and urge Pakistan’s leaders to exercise restraint in the wake of India’s nuclear tests. Gen Zinni had told Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif then “if Pakistan tries to match India’s tests, Pakistan will face the same cut off of economic and military assistance that President Clinton imposed on India”.

Gen Zinni again paid a visit to Islamabad in July (after Pakistan conducted its nuclear tests) and discussed with the then Chief of Army Staff, Gen Jehangir Karamat and other top military authorities Pak-US military relations in post-nuclear South Asia. He visited Pakistan’s various military installations and, according to a PPP story, was apprised of the situation at the LoC by Pakistan’s top military brass. Little did Gen Zinni know he would have to visit Islamabad again within a year as an emissary of President Clinton to urge Pakistan to pull back its troops and intruders from the Indian side of the Line of Control. Depending on developments Gen Zinni may return to Islamabad, as someone pointed out, like a bad coin.

Well respected by the military community and its analysts, Gen Zinni has a reputation for sophistication, political sensitivity and a clear understanding of South Asia’s geopolitical situation. U.S. diplomats and military persons generally tend to think from American point of view but Gen Zinni has a great deal of depth that goes beyond service and military lines to consider the political and diplomatic repercussions of an action experts say.

A decorated Vietnam war veteran and four-star Marine General, Zinni served in the peacekeeping efforts in Somalia in 1992 and as Chief of Staff and Deputy Commanding General for operation — “Provide Comfort” — which gave relief to the Kurds in Turkey and Iraq in 1991. It was there that he became conversant with the methods of Saddam Hussein.

“I went into the Kurdish villages that were gassed”, he said, of his seven-month stay in Northern Iraq. “ I went into villages where no stone stood upon stone and the villagers told me that five times the villages were destroyed. We still detected traces of chemicals in those areas and could not let Kurds go back....”. Experiences like these gave Gen Zinni the insight for which he is so highly praised.

As a US Marine General several years ago in Somalia, Gen Zinni found conventional military doctrine little help in figuring out how to conduct humanitarian relief operation in a world of violent warlords and political mayhem. He, therefore, wrote his own rules. His “Twenty Lessons” became a reference for the kinds of non-traditional peace operations that have occupied US forces increasingly since the Cold War came to an end. Among his pointers rules are precepts like “coordinate everything with everybody” and “don’t make enemies but if you do, don’t treat them gently”.

Now, as the four-star commander responsible for US forces in the Middle East, Gen Zinni has to make some more rules to keep 36,000 troops charged to strike Iraq while taking pains to avoid offending Arab leaders sensitive to expanded US troops presence. Part warrior, part diplomat and part intellectual, Gen Zinni has lectured widely on the importance of understanding the larger political and cultural contexts in which US military power may be exercised. His colleagues say he feels equally at home in a class room or in the field.

Zinni never had intended to make a career of the Marines when he started studying economics in the University which was within commuting distance of his home in the industrial town of Conshohocken, northwest of Philadelphia. An encounter with Marine recruiters while he was registering for classes led Zinni to enroll in summer Marine training. After graduation in 1965, he entered the Marines as a Second Lieutenant.

Youngest child of Italian immigrants’ family, Zinni says he joined Marines as a sense of duty having grown up hearing of a grandfather who served the Italian army and a father who fought in World War II in the US army. Two years after his enlistment he was in Vietnam as an adviser to Vietnamese Marines, living with them and studying Vietnamese. “We learnt the hard way the importance of appreciating the culture and of having a deeper understanding of the nature of the conflict”, he says. “We did not understand the nature of the war, it was a fight for freedom”.

Gen Zinni, (54), belongs to a generation of military leaders who have come of age rethinking when and how to use American force. He emerged from Vietnam disillusioned with the set-piece tactics that left a larger US force mired against a tenacious guerrilla army.

The faux pas of a diplomatic denial

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s decision to send a special emissary on a secret peace mission to Islamabad came out into the open courtesy Pakistan media.

With the lid off, public relation officers in the Prime Minister’s Office here swung into a damage-control exercise and tried to convince the media personnel that no such visit had taken place.

Officially, the Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesman pleaded ignorance about any such visit having taken place. Since the official version failed to cut ice with the Indian media, the PMO resorted to an indigenous exercise to confuse the electronic and print media.

The PMO promptly issued a denial that reports about Mr Brajesh Mishra, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, visiting Islamabad on a peace mission was not factually correct.

The PMO at that stage was well aware that it was R.K.Mishra, Chairman of the Editorial Board of Observer (India) Ltd, an English daily controlled by the Reliance group of the Ambanis, who had undertaken the visit and Mr Brajesh Mishra was in no way involved in the ‘back-channel’ diplomatic initiative.

They were hoping against hope that the denial on Mishra’s visit would sort the matter out. The denial was ignored and the local media continue to report on Mr R.K.Mishra’s visit. Unlike what was expected by the PMO, there was everything in a name here.

Back to Bofors
Bofors, the much maligned Swedish company, is back in the news thanks to the Kargil developments. The decade-long political storm over the Rajiv Gandhi Government’s decision to buy the 155 mm guns notwithstanding, these guns have been the mainstay of Indian artillery in the icy mountains ranging from Siachen to the current battle in Kargil.

That was the reason why eyebrows were raised in political circles when the government decided to restart talks with Celsius Corporation, who are now manufacturing the 155 mm Howitzer guns for spare parts. Bofors AG which originally supplied the guns was blacklisted after controversy of alleged kickbacks surfaced in the late 1980s. However, that mark has been erased from the new owner, Celsius.

Not only that, the government sprung another surprise when it announced that Mr Arun Singh, a former Minister of State for Defence in the Rajiv Gandhi Government, was being appointed as Special Executive Assistant to External Affairs Minister, Jaswant Singh.

Mr Arun Singh, who had resigned from the Rajiv Gandhi Ministry after the furore over the Bofors deal, had offered his services to the government in the wake of the Kargil conflict.

Government insiders reveal that the world should not be surprised over Mr Jaswant Singh’s decision to induct Mr Arun Singh in his Ministry. Personally, Mr Jaswant Singh had no reservations about the Bofors guns. He had maintained, even during his days in the Opposition, that the Bofors were best suited for the Kashmir terrain.

A war-like situation is definitely a great leveller even if politics is not.

Railways and the opticians
It may not quite gel but the Indian Railways may seem to be promoting the cause of the opticians. Well that is at least how the Minister and his Deputy saw it. The promotion was not on account of any philanthropic mission but the experience of having to go through the Railways timetable in fine print.

At a function to officially release the reader-friendly ‘Trains at a Glance at Rail Bhavan last week, the Railway Minister, Mr Nitish Kumar and his Deputy, Mr Ram Naik narrating their personal experience said the print size in the earlier timetables was so small that one ended with weakening of eyes.

Mr Naik set the tone stating that the earlier print size was so small that there was a saying that if you have to lessen your vision, glance through the railway timetable.

When his turn came, Mr Nitish Kumar went a step further stating that owing to problems of small print he stopped referring to the trains schedule.

The new publication they promised would at least do away with that complaint since the size of the printed word has been enlarged. The new Trains at a Glance also has many features to make its use both easy and effective.

A close call
Well not quite so but certainly the situation became somewhat tense when supporters of the Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal and their rivals arrived around the same time at the residence of the Bahujan Samaj Party supremo, Mr Kanshi Ram.

It all happened on the day when Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, President of the newly-formed SAD, was scheduled to meet the BSP chief. Just when he was due to arrive at the residence of Mr Kanshi Ram, some supporters of Mr Tohra saw that Mr Simranjit Singh Mann, President of SAD (Amritsar), Mr Kuldip Singh Wadala, chief of SAD, (Democratic) and Mr Jasbir Singh Rode, leader of SAD (Panthic), were about to enter the premises.

Mr Tohra was there to discuss and finalise his party’s poll pact with the BSP and obviously fish from the same pond could obviously not be swimming around the same time.

The staff of the BSP chief’s office had to intervene just before the battle of words between supporters of the rival groups could have escalated into an embarrassment for the leaders and the host.

The matter was defused with the other three leaders being requested by the staff to move to another waiting area till their turn to meet Mr Ram came. Phew, did some one say it was a close call !

Battle for the chair
While the general election is still away, politicians are always at the game of what has now become famous by a Hindi film “Kissa Kursi Ka”.

This time around, the situation was not exactly to grab a chair of authority but to make way for a leader of the ruling party by Union Minister belonging to the same party.

The occasion was the all-party meeting called by the Prime Minister to discuss the Kargil situation. The original seating arrangement was to have the Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr P R Kumaramangalam be flanked to the right of the Prime Minister after the Defence Minister. The Home Minister and three other Union Ministers were to be left of the Prime Minister.

However, just as the leaders started taking their seats the BJP President, Mr Kushabhau Thakre walked in. Spotting a chair vacant close to the Prime Minister, he went and occupied it. Now, Mr Thakre is the chief of the BJP, but the chair he sat on was meant for Mr Kumaramangalam.

The protocol people were in a bit of mess till the matter was sorted out by inserting a backless stool allowing the sporting Minister to squeeze himself in.

The camera effect
While the spurt of television in India has circulated the western phrase of ‘couch potato’ (a viewer relaxing in sofa, surfing channels and resembling a potato sack) it has ushered a new culture for the politicians — at least some of them.

Both the ruling BJP and its main political rival, the Congress have drawn up a list of party members who have been prepared for appearances on behalf of the party.

With a proliferation of channels, the demands on the times of ‘netas’ has gone up and frontline parties are finding it difficult keeping pace with the requirement of having party members who are not only properly briefed on party lines and are articulate but are also ‘television friendly’.

After all television is the medium of the masses and in this battle of the ballot, the effect of television cannot be denied. So away from the traditional methods of personalised campaign, the political parties are making best use of the mass media specially the television.

As the TV network lingo goes “It is all for the soundbite”.

(Contributed by TV Lakshminarayan, KV Prasad and PN Andley)

75 YEARS AGO
Sikh Educational Conference

PREPARATIONS here are complete for holding the Sikh Educational Conference. The “dharmic diwan,” langar, residence, camps and the exhibition are all fitted with electric lights.

The city is gay with bunting and triumphal arches.

The Hon. Sardar Sundar Singh Majithia, C.I.E., Revenue Member, Punjab, President-elect, is expected this evening by a special train with a batch of delegates from Lahore and Amritsar.

The exhibition will be opened this evening by His Highness the Tika Sahib of Patiala. The exhibition, both agricultural and industrial, have received exhibits from all parts of the country and represent a very choice selection.