End of Kargil process
THE “Kargil process”, the Pakistan-invented counter to the Lahore process, has formally ended and the sub-continent has Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s word for it.

Towards peace in
W. Asia
THE return of the Labour Party in the commanding position in Israel has enthused the votaries of peace once again. The May 18 elections have brought into being a new coalition government, headed by Mr Ehud Barak, which stands for promoting friendly relations not only with the Palestinians but also with Syria and Lebanon.

Price war in the air
AIR travellers never had it so good. After suffering fares which were among the highest in the world, they are being offered fabulous discounts, which put the cost of the air ticket on the Delhi-Mumbai route at only slightly higher than that of a Rajdhani berth in the air-conditioned second class coach.

DISCUSSIONS ON KARGIL
The enemy within
by M. G. Devasahayam
FROM the way “the battle of Kargil” is being discussed, dissected and debated under the full glare of TV cameras and in the print media, one could as well coin a new adage, “All is not fair in politics and publicity mongering”. Defence and military “experts” articulate ex-servicemen and foreign policy mandarins freely discuss anything and everything, which include “political bungling”, “intelligence fiasco”, “strategic mistakes” and “international reaction”.

Problems of war widows
by B.S. Taunque
GIVEN the prevailing scenario and the national mood, it is worth examining what are the minimum aspirations of the widows and children, who dedicate their husbands and fathers respectively to preserving the honour, dignity and integrity of the country.

Living with reality in Kargil
by Maj Gen Himmat Singh Gill
IT seems the mid-summer heat of 1999 has completely engulfed some of the country’s political, former military and in some cases, a small segment of the so-called intellectual community too, in the wake of the Kargil blow-out. We have newspaper reports that Mr Bharat Karnad, a member of the National Security Advisory Board has opined that there is a little validity or sanctity about the LoC in J&K. He is believed to have been given the marching orders by Mr Jaswant Singh, the Foreign Minister, and very rightly too, if one were to venture one’s opinion.

Is all well with our agriculture?
By Khushwant Ahluwalia
WITH just a few months to go before we set into the 21st century the question that probes our mind is: Is all well with our agriculture? The answer is “no” as the last couple of years have been marred with high suicide rates and growing indebtedness among farmers.

Unread and unreadable
by I.M. Soni
JOURNALISM is “literature in a hurry.” Literature is “writings considered as having lasting value because of their beauty, imagination etc.” Thus, the former is ephemeral, the latter enduring. Journalism has short life, literature long. The Americans say that the previous day’s newspaper is fit only for wrapping stalefish. Very few preserve newspapers while literature, the lighthouse of knowledge, is carefully preserved.

75 Years Ago

L. Duni Chand’s appeal accepted
THE appeal of Lala Duni Chand, Vakil and Member of the Legislative Assembly, from the sentence of Rs 100, the fine passed upon him for contempt of court by Khan Ahmad Khan, Subordinate Judge, was accepted yesterday by Colonel Knolls, District Judge, Ambala.

End of Kargil process

THE “Kargil process”, the Pakistan-invented counter to the Lahore process, has formally ended and the sub-continent has Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s word for it. He was convincing when he announced in his address to the nation on Monday that his government had appealed to the so-called mujahideen to abandon their perch atop barren hills and trek back home. But hopelessly unconvincing when he claimed that the request had been accepted. For within hours the apex body of 15 Pakistan-based separatist organisations condemned the decision to pull out the intruders, vowing to keep their struggle alive. The contradiction between the Prime Minister and the militants explains why he suddenly donned the mantle of a passionate peace campaigner, inviting his Indian counterpart to rush to any place he pleased and join him in diverting money from making war to making peace and ushering in prosperity. Being a neo-convert to peace, Mr Sharif allowed eloquence to have the better of his discretion and raised this rhetorical question: “For how long will we snatch food from our people and buy guns...?”

A dead Kargil is a clear roadmap to future failure of more Kargils, an allusion the Pakistan leader and his Foreign Minister are fond of making. They hope and the militants must be in agreement that the latter can cross the LoC at will and entrench themselves in a strategic place to create problems for this country’s security. That is a wild hope. India will not allow a relapse of the Kargil syndrome and not without extracting a heavy price from the misadventurers. The Army is already shopping for a variety of high-tech surveillance equipment and as one Lieut-General told a private television channel, the old routine of patrolling round the year (as the BSF did even last winter) would be resumed. The Army now readily admits that there had been intelligence failure both in terms of collecting hard facts and in collating and analysing them to read the rival’s dark designs. It is but one step away from setting things right. Also, as Mr Sharif said in a different context, the extremists once occupied the sacred Hazratbal shrine in Srinagar and came out without losing anything, except the surprise element which helped them to enter the place. Like in Srinagar, so in Kargil the intruders have surrendered their trump card — the capacity to spring a surprise.

What Indian leaders do after Kargil is difficult to say. There are as many voices against politicising the issue as there are in favour of promoting it as the dominant issue in the coming elections. But the case of Mr Sharif is easy to understand. Until a few months back, he was hailed as the most powerful Prime Minister Pakistan ever had. He could and did have his candidates as President, Chief Justice and the army chief, the last success proclaiming him as the real ruler. Today he is much devalued, although there is no threat to his top position. This is despite Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes’s ardent efforts to declare him guiltless and even guileless. His loss of influence is sure to cast its long shadow across the foreign policy of Pakistan. That is an area which warrants constant vigil, as do the uninhibited stretches of the LoC.

Towards peace in W. Asia

THE return of the Labour Party in the commanding position in Israel has enthused the votaries of peace once again. The May 18 elections have brought into being a new coalition government, headed by Mr Ehud Barak, which stands for promoting friendly relations not only with the Palestinians but also with Syria and Lebanon. Egypt and Jordan, the two other significant players in that highly volatile area, have already started writing a new chapter of cordial relations with the Jewish nation. Mr Barak not only made announcements full of pointers to this end while presenting his government before the 120-member Knesset (the Israeli parliament) the other day but also included in his Cabinet many such faces as are strong supporters of the 1993 Oslo peace process that led to the signing of the Wye river accord with American mediation. Mr Barak, a former Chief of Army Staff, has kept with himself the most important portfolio of Defence, but his Foreign Minister is Mr David Levy, a defector from the Likud Party of the former Prime Minister, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu. Mr Levy is not new to this position as he held it twice before, but he represents the continuation of the epoch-making process the seeds of which were sown by Mr Barak's late friend, Yitzhak Rabin, together with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at the Norvegian capital, Oslo. The other distinguished figure in the Labour-led government is Mr Yossi Beilin, who has been given the Justice portfolio. A political thinker of left leanings, Mr Beilin is the man who helped the signing of the Oslo accords with the Palestinian leadership.

Mr Barak's critics may say that his intentions are not as pious as they appear from his pronouncements. He has given the sensitive Housing portfolio to a representative of the National Religious Party, which, it is feared, may come out with new Jewish settlement plans in the West Bank areas still under the control of the Israelis. The doubts appear to be without foundation as Mr Barak can undo any move which comes in the way of his declared goal that has found favour with the majority of the electorate. However, one fails to understand why he could not include in his Cabinet any of the 10 representatives of the Arab parties. In any case, he is clearly moving towards unfreezing the peace process. The most significant step he has taken after the Cabinet formation is his meeting with Mr Arafat on Sunday when both leaders pledged to revive the trust between the two sides that got shattered because of the thoughtless policies of the Netanyahu government. The new Israeli Prime Minister did not say this for nothing: "It is about time to find a way to nurture mutual respect, a kind of partnership, to make peace together." These sentiments got immediate support from the Palestinian side when Mr Arafat declared to work whole-heartedly as partners in constructing the superstructure of peace, which is needed more than any other thing for the people of the entire West Asian region. As the Israelis have reaffirmed their faith in the Rabin doctrine of "land for peace", Mr Arafat must implement with the help of all the resources at his command his promise of containing terrorism, which was used by the previous Israeli regime as a pretext to abandon the path of establishing cordial relations with the Palestinians. One hopes the Israelis will not take such steps as provoke the extremist fringe of the Palestinians to indulge in destructive activities like terrorism.

Price war in the air

AIR travellers never had it so good. After suffering fares which were among the highest in the world, they are being offered fabulous discounts, which put the cost of the air ticket on the Delhi-Mumbai route at only slightly higher than that of a Rajdhani berth in the air-conditioned second class coach. This unheard of development in the history of domestic civil aviation in India has come about because of the stiff competition introduced by the private airlines which are determined to nibble at the share of Indian Airlines. But the latter has entered the fray lowering the fares more than the competitors. Private carriers are topping it with other freebies like designer ties and exclusive pen sets. There are also added incentives like an extra ticket or a free hotel reservation. Air India too has offered steep concessions on its seats within the country. This is separate from the special rates for flying during night time. In a way, it is good because the air tickets have been irrationally priced here, to the extent that a return Delhi-Chennai ticket costs only slightly less than a return ticket to London.

The sudden drop raises the question whether this discount can be sustained. Private airlines have started the price war but they cannot bear the burden for long. Indian Airlines has the resilience to do so but it too would be in serious trouble soon enough because it is bled by the powers that be in various other ways. Not only does it have to operate on uneconomical routes because of political compulsions, it also has to suffer because of the planes being grounded for being prepared for VIP flights every now and then. Some people have also voiced fears that the ostensible concessions might also have an undesirable effect on the services offered. That will be like taking away by one hand what is given by the other. But for the frequent traveller, the fare cut is quite a relief. It is a pity that most of the concessions are offered on the saturated Delhi-Mumbai route. This sector is a milch cow and all carriers have increased frequency and capacity here. In the lean season they have spare seats and they just have to fill them. A common traveller would have been happier if he was offered relief on all routes. The pinch will be felt when the prices will again go sky-high. Perhaps the main contenders can sit together and decide on price rationalisation across the board. That strategy will actually help them earn more because it will persuade many more train travellers to travel by air. Because of the prohibitive fares, the domestic aviation market has been shrinking alarmingly. Perhaps healthy competition will also force the railways to go in for fare cuts. That will be a concrete benefit of liberalisation.

DISCUSSIONS ON KARGIL
The enemy within
by M. G. Devasahayam

FROM the way “the battle of Kargil” is being discussed, dissected and debated under the full glare of TV cameras and in the print media, one could as well coin a new adage, “All is not fair in politics and publicity mongering”. Defence and military “experts” articulate ex-servicemen and foreign policy mandarins freely discuss anything and everything, which include “political bungling”, “intelligence fiasco”, “strategic mistakes” and “international reaction”. The “expertise” is so widespread that a retired naval officer, whose exposure cannot be beyond the waters of the Blue Seas, appeared on a regional TV network and lectured as to how battles should be fought at the dizzy heights of 17000 feet above mean sea level! His “qualification” was that he had done some mountain trekking in J&K! Thanks to the “idiot box” the public has a surfeit of updates and “expert” opinions on the situation on India’s borders.

The gullible cricket crazy populace of this country formulates its opinions and perceptions based on these media inputs. Many of them tend to believe that battles, that too at such hostile heights as Kargil, could be commented upon as if it were cricket match. For them, air sorties in treacherous weather, artillery duels at unseen heights and infantry combats on rarefied peaks are no more than Azharuddin batting or Ajit Agarkar bowling at the English greens.

Everyone watching cricket becomes an “expert” of sorts, making comments and offering unsolicited advice as to how the players should play. If the team wins a match the players are praised sky high, and if they lose one they are outright condemned along with the selectors and the managers. The same mindset works with regard to battles and soldiers who have their lives on line every minute of their existence. The only time people seem to realise that the battle is a game of “flesh and blood” and not “bat and ball” is when they see dead bodies of soldiers being brought home to be cremated. But as the state governments and others announce cash and some other relief to the bereaved families, their conscience is satiated. Otherwise it is all true to the age-old poignant words of an anonymous soldier whose scribbled piece of paper was found in a sentry box in the Gibraltar sector during World War I:

“God and the soldier all adore, only in times of danger and not before. When the danger is past and everything righted, God is forgotten and the old soldier slighted”.

As for professional politicians it is a dog-eat-dog situation. Hypocrisy and double-speak mark every word they utter. Take for instance the recent public statement of the Congress President at Varanasi where she declared that her party was fully behind the armed forces in their fight against the “enemy”. But her tone and tenor indicated that it was an act of favour only to the soldiers and not to the government, thereby creating a cleavage between the troops and the decision-makers. She went on to say that “Pakistan had dared to intrude on Indian land only because the government at the Centre was weak and unstable.

Her “shadow Foreign Minister” and former diplomat Mr Natwar Singh, has been appearing on TV and berating the government and its ministers as inexperienced and immature. In an imperious manner he suggested that if the Congress had been in power they would have handled the Kargil crisis more efficiently since they have vast experience in conducting wars! Little does he realise that claiming experience in war means conceding failure in diplomacy!

Indeed, both Prime Minister aspirant Sonia Gandhi and diplomat Natwar Singh are right. It is true that the present “government at the Centre” is “weak and unstable” and the Congress and its “stable governments” have had lots of experience in conducting wars and, in fact, bungling them. And the whole nation knows that it is the Congress that is responsible for weakening and destabilising successive governments at the Centre and forcing two general elections in as many years. Within months of pledging unconditional support, they threw out the Deve Gowda government on the pretext that “enough courtesies” were not extended to their erstwhile President, Mr Sitaram Kesri. Then they withdrew support to the I. K. Gujral government because he refused to sack the DMK ministers on the basis of some concocted and unsubstantiated remarks in the now forgotten Jain Commission report. Recently, in utter haste to capture power through the back-door, they destabilised the Vajpayee government in cohort with Ms Jayalalitha who had a personal score to settle with her former alliance partners! In the event, the accusation of a “weak and unstable” government at the Centre will fly in the face of the Congress and its leadership. By pursuing this “power-hungry politics” bereft of principles, the Congress has been weakening and destabilising the nation thereby encouraging our hostile neighbour to entertain false notions of India’s capability to defend itself.

As for the Congress government’s experience in conducting wars are concerned, their is a lot to say. First it was the 1947 Indo-Pak war wherein India lost one third of Kashmir (78,000 sq. km) to Pakistan in spite of the brilliant performance by the armed forces and their capability to secure the entire territory in a matter of days. The 1962 fiasco and national shame are attributed largely to “total intelligence failure” and the then Congress government’s parochialism in promoting clansman Lt Gen B M Kaul and placing him in charge of NEFA Command just two weeks before the Chinese launched the “perfidious” invasion. Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi did salvage some of the armed forces’ prestige through victories in the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak conflicts. But these were nearly shattered by Indira Gandhi’s own “Operation Bluestar” in Punjab and Rajiv Gandhi’s colossal misadventure in Sri Lanka through the IPKF, derisively known as India’s People Killing Force in military circles.

Even otherwise, the fact that Congress governments that ruled this country during 45 of the last 52 years have not given enough attention to modernising the armed forces is evident from the truth that while Field Marshal Wavell’s report in 1946 talks of “a stable Indian Army”, the Joint Memorandum submitted by the three Service Chiefs in 1982 painfully points to “a severe erosion that has taken place in the intellect, self-respect and dedication among the members of the armed forces”. Inefficient political management and lack of modernisation have affected the combat effectiveness of the armed forces and has made it unattractive to the talented youth of this country as a career option. The result is for all to see. The hackneyed technology upgradation system and absolute surveillance methods have exposed our borders to infiltration and our troops to heavy casualties. This has been conceded by no less a person than the Chief of Army Staff himself. As of now, in the Army alone there is a shortage of 12,972 commissioned officers and 59,435 junior commissioned officers and other ranks. In the Air Force the shortage is 508 pilots and 8,516 officers and airmen on ground duty. In the Navy the shortfall is 625 officers and 2,608 sailors. The successive Congress governments at the Centre should share the major blame for this sorry state of affairs.

It is a measure of the degeneration and insensitivity of our political process that even as our valiant soldiers die defending the country’s borders, political manipulators are pursuing a devious campaign to glorify corruption and put together alliances with the sole aim of bringing these venal elements back to power. Do these “apologists” of corruption realise the immense damage this could cause to the morale of the defence services for whom honour and integrity are more precious than life itself? Would these worthies advocate the supply of corruption-tainted, spurious and substandard weapons, ammunition, stores and equipment of the fighting forces, thereby crippling their fighting capabilities and compromising the country’s security? It is a tragedy that due to the actions and activities of these politicians and their cohorts, the “Four Modern Horsemen of Apocalypse” have taken over the Indian nation and are having a free run in politics, government and society. They are cronyism, symbolised by abject subservience to autocratic and dynastic elements; collusion between money power, muscle power and state power, corruption, which destroys the soul of the nation; and complacency, a natural outcome of political and administrative degeneration. These “modern Horsemen”, and not any foreign country, are the real enemies to nation — building and they are within our borders.

The most emotional words of adieu that could be spoken by soldiers silently making the supreme sacrifice are ingrained at the entrance to the Kohima War Cemetery. These immortal words read:

When you go home tell them of us and say,

For your ‘tomorrow’ we gave our ‘today’.

The Kargil conflict and the resurgence it has brought about among the people need to be canalised in order to secure a better and value-based “tomorrow” for the present and future generations. This is the real tribute to the departed brave-hearts and this, in fact, should be the endeavour of political and other leaders in the country, instead of indulging in political one-upmanship and scoring debating points in the media. If they fail to do this despite the excellent opportunity offered by the ensuing elections, they would be once again betraying the valiant sentinels of the nation who are willingly giving up their “today” for our “tomorrow”

The author is a former officer of the Indian Army (Infantry, Madras Regiment) and a retired member of the IAS.

Problems of war widows
by B.S. Taunque

GIVEN the prevailing scenario and the national mood, it is worth examining what are the minimum aspirations of the widows and children, who dedicate their husbands and fathers respectively to preserving the honour, dignity and integrity of the country.

First of all , a wholesome compensation in terms of a regular monthly pension should be given to them. The pension which is equal to the last salary drawn by the deceased should be correspondingly increased with each enhancement of time-scale ranks upto the level of Lt-Col in the case of an officer. A similar yardstick should apply to the soldiers in whose case the pension should automatically get enhanced upto the rank of Subedar. The modalities and the formula to work out the nitty-gritty could be finalised by the authorities. This should be income tax-free.

The second important question is that of housing. The allotment of plots or land is unlikely to mitigate the hardships on this account. What is needed is a built-up accommodation at the place of choice of the family. With the break up of the joint family system, a separate dwelling unit is a basic need, which the state must fulfil. For an officer’s family, a one-bedroom house with living room and a kitchen should suffice. The widow of a junior commissioned officer or of other ranks could be provided a two-room set with a kitchen and a toilet.

A proper arrangement for the education of children is the third most important requirement. In most of the states there is a talk of free education for the wards of the widows upto the 10+2 stage. As part of a national policy, the widows/children should be allowed to choose an institution upto the university level, and the state should bear all the expenses, including hostel charges. Also for admission to engineering and medical colleges, the wards should not be required to compete with the candidates of any other category, but must possess the qualifications as applicable to other candidates. Similarly, those wards, who wish to enrol themselves in the defence services should be assured of selection. They should not be pitted against the other general category candidates. They should be only required to pass the various tests for entry at the level of both officers and other ranks.

Ex-gratia payments are being made by the Army as well as by the states. There is no uniformity in the amount. Some states are paying Rs 5 lakh while the others Rs 2 lakh or still smaller Rs 1 lakh. This should be standardised and fixed as Rs 5 lakh. The claims on behalf of widows/dependents of deceased soldiers should be taken up by the Services Headquarters and the payments monitored. The Service Headquarters should also advice the families regarding the investment of the ex-gratia payments received by them.

The war widows’ rehabilitation is national responsibility. The widows who are unable to stand on their own feet initially are vulnerable and likely targets of unscrupulous relatives and family friends. They need protection, especially with regard to the financial grants paid to them. The Services must ensure that widows are not exploited and deprived of their financial benefits. Suitable schemes, specially designed to meet such challenges, need to be drawn up speedily and implemented with equal speed.

Rehabilitation of widows has yet another aspect — widow remarriage. Servicemen are the most suitable and appropriate matches for these widows. For this purpose a rehabilitation cell will have to be set up at Army, Navy and Air Force headquarters to lay down the policy norms. The task of implementation of the scheme will have to be accomplished at the divisional headquarters level. The modalities of the scheme will have to be carefully worked out as it is a very sensitive subject.

(The author is a retired Brigadier.)

Unread and unreadable
by I.M. Soni

JOURNALISM is “literature in a hurry.” Literature is “writings considered as having lasting value because of their beauty, imagination etc.”

Thus, the former is ephemeral, the latter enduring. Journalism has short life, literature long. The Americans say that the previous day’s newspaper is fit only for wrapping stalefish. Very few preserve newspapers while literature, the lighthouse of knowledge, is carefully preserved.

Newspapers are also compared with women — old editions are out of favour. Literature must be timeless; journalism timely.

The issue is clinched by Oscar Wilde’s quip: Literature is unread; Journalism is unreadable.

Thus, some line of demarcation does exist between literature and journalism though the general reader finds himself puzzled as to which is which.

He finds names of contemporary writers in newspapers and magazines and calls it journalism. Later, he may find the same material bound between the covers of a book and calls it literature.

It is a different matter that such literature usually decorates the shelves of the book stores for long long years, and then is returned to the publisher. Many excellent ‘middle’ writers have suffered this fate.

James M. Barrie observed that journalism was that form of writing which honours a man after he has given it up. He had in mind the many literary men who started as writers for periodicals and then turned to “literature”.

Sometimes the best writing of an age is done for newspapers and magazines though there is a difference between newspaper articles and literary, historical, and philosophical writings.

The roster of good newspapermen who have helped to make good literature is a long one. The list in England of the last two centuries is impressive.

It begins with Daniel Defoe, Joseph Addison, Richard Steele and Jonathan Swift. It takes in Charles Dickens and William Makepeace Thackeray. It includes Rudyard Kipling, James M. Barrie, Arnold Bennett, John Galsworthy, G.K. Chesterton, John Ervine, H.G. Wells, George Bernard Shaw and Rebecca West.

In the USA the list may well begin with Alexander Hamilton and take in such names as William Cullen Bryant, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Mark Twain, Eugene Field and writers Ernest Hemingway and John Steinbeck.

The practice of regular journalism gives literature the highly desirable stylistic qualities of clarity and punch.

That is why Simeon Strunsky once suggested: “It would be an excellent thing, if authors were sent for a thorough postgraduate course under a good copy desk and city editor. There would be a good deal less of the ‘beautiful’ writing for which our admiration is so continually being invited”.

Security and strategy

Living with reality in Kargil
by Maj Gen Himmat Singh Gill

IT seems the mid-summer heat of 1999 has completely engulfed some of the country’s political, former military and in some cases, a small segment of the so-called intellectual community too, in the wake of the Kargil blow-out.

We have newspaper reports that Mr Bharat Karnad, a member of the National Security Advisory Board has opined that there is a little validity or sanctity about the LoC in J&K. He is believed to have been given the marching orders by Mr Jaswant Singh, the Foreign Minister, and very rightly too, if one were to venture one’s opinion. An internationally recognised Line of Control acting as a de-facto border ever since 1972. Consequent to the Shimla Accord, and which even today Mr Nawaz Sharif agrees to respect in his talks with President Clinton, cannot just be wished way, at anyone’s asking. One has as the Brigade Major of the Independent Brigade group headquarters located at Kargil in 1970-71, walked along much of this LoC, along side Tiger Hill — Pt 13,620 — Shangruti Heights and Chorbatla, and have found a very clearly recognisable, and delineated LoC, (signed and authenticated by Lt-Gen Prem Bhagat, VC, and his Pakistani counterpart in 1972, with the ground position maps still in our and Pakistan’s possession), all along the border right up to NJ9842 point, and from where it is to travel northwards to the glacial region (and not north eastwards to the Karakoram Pass as Pakistan obviously wants), placing the Siachen massif squarely and fully in Indian territory. I cannot help it if Mr Karnad has not travelled to any of these wild parts, which for me then I must admit, was something like a frequent ritual every two months or so.

The other personage who is very unhappy with the handling of the Kargil episode by the government, is one of our former Foreign Ministers, Mr Natwar Singh. One did not want to say it, but said it must be in the interest of national security, that his frequent, mundane and frantic statements about Kargil, sans any professional security inputs, have put most of the TV viewers on guard, as and whenever he appears on the telly.

Now that he has suddenly discovered that there has been an intelligence failure, (incidentally, by not only the Army and local field units, but the RAW, our embassies abroad, including all the accredited Defence Attaches posted there, the B.S.F. and the J&K state machinery posted on the LoC for over four decades, the IAF who should have periodically been giving us aerial photo cover along and “looking into” POK and yes the well established Joint Intelligence Committee, J.I.C. in New Delhi), the moot point is, that would he wish to suggest a remedy in this direction, or go on criticising this rather obvious failure. One would welcome a national debate in any of the media on this subject, where we could trace the genesis of the intelligence failures commencing 1962, on to 1965 (Rann of Kutch), 1971 (the sudden bombing of Amritsar just before the start of the war), and a host of other instances including our totally misplaced and militarily confusing involvement in Sri Lanka where the Indian soldier, first going in for a peace-keeping and weapon-disarming mission, ended up fighting a full-scale war. Or would Mr Singh like to talk about Siachen too, but may be, he would have rarely travelled beyond Srinagar or outside the town of Leh.

And then for the present, coming to another well known columnist, we have Mr Mani Shanker Aiyar holding forth on the virtues of the Bofors gun, as if it were single-handedly winning the Kargil war for us. Mr Aiyar, one was posted in Sena Bhavan in the Mechanised Forces and the Army’s Strategic and Perspective Planning Directorate during those crucial years of the Rajiv Gandhi — Arun Singh era in the mid 1980s when the Bofors issue was being enacted. Incidentally, the Artillery Directorate was dealing with the subject then. The issue then, and now, never was that the Bofors or say the SOFMA was a bad gun to buy. All these foreign guns, with years of technology and hard work put in behind them (unlike our white elephant, the “Arjun” tank to just name one, which still is nowhere near mass-production stage, ever since 1974), were guns which any Evaluation Team would have all accepted. The point of issue, was and still is, the sudden induction of the Bofors into Field Service without much trials, and the alleged scam that is still haunting the county. If the Bofors is performing well, (though incidentally, these guns are better employed in fluid armoured battles in the plains and not the mountains, with their “shoot and scoot” capability, which the late General Sunderjee often (in fact, too often highlighted), it does not mean that the country has forgotten the Bofors scam. It is as good or as normal a gun as many others, and it is the sheer grit and determination of the Indian infantry soldier, in hand to hand combat, that is finally getting you the Tiger Hill or Tololing.

Is all well with our agriculture?
By Khushwant Ahluwalia

WITH just a few months to go before we set into the 21st century the question that probes our mind is: Is all well with our agriculture?

The answer is “no” as the last couple of years have been marred with high suicide rates and growing indebtedness among farmers.

The success of the Green Revolution has long been forgotten, when the proud farmer on his shoulders had carried the burden of the entire nation and exhibited to the world what hard work and good planning could achieve.

Beyond that era we have nothing to talk about except disaster and decline in the agriculture sector. There is stillness and nothing exciting to discuss in one’s drawing room on agriculture.

The government agencies involved with research and development seem to have gone into a deep slumber, still dreaming about the prosperity of the seventies.

We seem to have lost pace in the fast changing world scenario or more so run out of steam in our will to achieve what we intended to. The ideas are stale, planning is haphazard and implementation nil. There is no willingness to accomplish the given task amongst our bureaucrats and technocrats. The politicians who are meant to steer our country are directionless and busy in their own economics. One wonder’s why doesn’t recession bother them.

Today we form part of the modern world where technology holds the key to success. It is sad to learn that we have not utilised the available information and resources to our advantage. Our shortsightedness and inability to comprehend the situation is cause for much alarm in the farming domain.

As an educated farmer I feel we can achieve a lot through proper and effectual management of available information and technology.

Timely weather forecasts spelled through television, radio, newspapers and specially set internet centres can prevent crop loss due to untimely rains and other natural calamities.

Everybody remembers the havoc rains played with the onion crop and still nobody wants to come out with a long-term solution.

A farmer if alerted about the weather behaviour in the next four or five days can easily manipulate his sowing schedule and can save his crop.

Moreover with prior information he can plan his sprays, his labour timetable and more importantly he can change his harvesting dates. He can also save is tilled crop by taking timely action and storing it.

Till today we have made no provision by which a farmer can be informed of the national graph of each crop, respectively.

If some farmers make profit in a particular crop, for example in potatoes then everybody wants to sow potatoes resulting in a glut. It only happens because the Punjab farmers does not know how much potato is being sown in Uttar Pradesh and the UP farmer is not aware of what is happening in West Bengal and they all get their produce to the mandis at the same time.

If information based on demand and supply is highlighted through various means of technology it is sure to benefit the farmers.

We haven’t been able to yet establish a system which disseminates information about the arrival of fruit and vegetables in the various markets on a day to day basis. Such a system would help the farmer in planning the marketing.

Furthermore our agriculture universities and departments have failed to keep pace with the emerging trends all over the world. The staff has no motivation and lack ingenuity. The literature they print is obsolete and things have taken longer strides than they can anticipate.

Some university handbooks still recommend use of DDT, an insecticide which has long been banned by the World Health Organisation. This reflects poorly on the state of affairs.

To give another example, some of the fungicides or insecticides recommended are not available in the market due to some reason or the other. The poor farmer gets stuck with the brand name not knowing what substitute to take for there is no mention of the salt or the compound in the prescription respectively. It clearly goes to indicate the languid approach of our institutions which are meant to show the path towards progressive farming.

Enough money, time and man-hours have been wasted by our governments in making unnecessary trips abroad. The hul-la-ba-loo about Israel is in excess, for it is not the technology that has made them progressive but it is their ability to use available information and technology to their advantage that makes them stand out. We till now haven’t realised this, and at any time we need to feed ourselves with new things we run there.

It is high time we give way to our sluggish attitude and react to evident signals of declivity amongst our farming public.

The issue of their headway lies with our political people and the instability in agriculture is a manifestation of the pitiable condition of our ministries, departments, universities and corporations concerned with promoting dynamic agriculture and horticulture practices.

75 YEARS AGO

L. Duni Chand’s appeal accepted

THE appeal of Lala Duni Chand, Vakil and Member of the Legislative Assembly, from the sentence of Rs 100, the fine passed upon him for contempt of court by Khan Ahmad Khan, Subordinate Judge, was accepted yesterday by Colonel Knolls, District Judge, Ambala.

He held that it was imperative upon the Subordinate Judge to pass the sentence the same day, and his not doing so vitiated the proceedings.

Without going into the merits of the case he, however, prominently drew the attention of the subordinate court to the desirability of giving the utmost latitude to the lawyers in the discharge of their duties and not to construe their conduct as contempt of court.