Victory of the brave
THE nation has been informed by the Director-General of Military Operations that the last Pakistani intruder has been pushed out of the entire Mushkoh, Dras, Batalik and Kargil region.

Help as handicap
IF Kargil brought the fauji to the front pages of newspapers for a brief period, the unsavoury goings-on in Mansa district and the neighbourhood in Punjab have dragged the poor kisan to face the harsh limelight.

Killing Pak cricket
THE roots of the current crisis triggered by the ad hoc committee of the Pakistan Cricket Board can be traced to the team's performance in the World Cup in England.

POLITICIANS & THEIR PROMISES
Real issues before the nation
by M. G. Devasahayam
WITH the nation on the election mode, politicians, who have been momentarily stunned by the Kargil conflict, are on overdrive, chalking out strategies, clinching alliances and hitting the campaign trail. For several weeks now, the leaders among them have been searching for and fine-tuning “issues” to be placed before the electorate for seeking their mandate to rule the country.

The expected new battle fronts
by P. K. Batra
THAT the Kargil aggression has not paid off must have been digested by Pakistan by now as the fourth defeat in the last 50 years. The Indian military’s response, bravery of its young officers and soldiers and the nation rising as one to back the military must have shaken Pakistan.

Kargil: some unanswered questions
Maj Gen Himmat Singh Gill
THE two-month-old war in Kargil has almost ended with a resounding victory, moral ascendancy and military elan for the armed forces of the country, and the LoC in the process of being restored to the status quo ante, pursuant to the completion of our strategic and national aims.

Growing “highway terrorism”
By Khushwant Ahluwalia
OUR main roads offer a free for all situation with nobody respecting the sanctity of the traffic rules and regulations. Over-speeding is a virtue to be displayed and wrong overtaking satisfies the ego. Traffic lights are meant to be crossed and signals to be disobeyed. Lighter vehicles are conceived as small fries and resolved to be intimidated by the bigger sharks. This is the kind of ambience our highways provide when one takes a journey.

Overtures to sleep
by Darshan Singh Maini
EVER since my continuing and disabling illness I have been trying to cope with the problems of sleep. For the first three years or so, I screwed up my spirit for the ordeal in progress, and continued to resist the idea of sleeping-pills even as the troubled hours kept stretching my resolve to the point of distraction.

75 Years Ago

Pandit Jawaharlal
WHATEVER other reason may exist for the resignation by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru from the Chairmanship of the Allahabad Municipality, “manifold public duties” is no good reason for it.

Victory of the brave

THE nation has been informed by the Director-General of Military Operations that the last Pakistani intruder has been pushed out of the entire Mushkoh, Dras, Batalik and Kargil region. Valour has vanquished the enemy. The collective strength of the Indian people has triumphed. The sanctity of the Line of Control (LoC), clearly delineated and demarcated after the 1971 Pakistani aggression, has been restored. The people, with about 100 crore brave hearts, have a reason to rejoice. True, we have cleared our own territory of intruders and invaders. But the whole operation has been marked by matchless military action, intense patriotism and spontaneous sacrifice. A silencing reply has gone to Pakistan's half-a-century-old itch to dare India and cause blood-letting. Pakistan has been defeated on high cliffs and uneven surfaces yet again. Stray episodes of artillery-caused arson and killing will predictably continue, but India is now fully vigilant and prepared to nip any trouble in the bud. Gratitude is the word for those who have attained martyrdom or proximity to this ultimate honour.

Here are a couple of lessons for politicians, bureaucrats and others. Politics should not taint bravery. The victory, in what can be broadly described as the battle of Kargil, has come through the soldier at the front who stood there knowing full well that the snow might be his winding-sheet and the rock and the dust beneath his feet might be his sepulchre. The political parties must not make this battle a source of electoral gains or a pretext for mutual mud-slinging. It has been a neat operation and Mother India has emerged more resplendent than before because of the baptism of her sons by fire. A review of sorts has been instituted. As we have said before, the labours of the team should not be futuristically assessed. The exercise may lead to unexpected revelations. The Armed Forces have an institutionalised system, which generates "after-action reports" (AARs). These reports are the result of an in-house study, which looks into the beginning of a conflict and the performance of the forces. It inevitably draws adequate conclusions from various circumstances. We are in dire need of better technology and equipment. We cannot make a soldier cling to each rock for surveillance. National development is linked with national defence and the financial allocations for these have to come from the same coffer. The battle of Kargil has shaken us and left us wide awake. Pakistan, unfortunately, is not cooperating in normalising the situation. It is massing more troops along the LoC. However, it will not find the Indian forces and their policy-planners wanting in vision and action. Such glory emanates from a nation's inner strength. The final stocktaking will require a broad and national approach to and a non-partisan view of the whole episode. The wily politicians and time-servers should not be allowed to belittle the honourable achievement at the battle front. Mutual acrimony should be sublimated appropriately without any politicisation of the Kargil successes or failures. Why should there not be patient confidence in the ultimate justice of the people with regard to the battlefront as well as the battle of the ballot?

Help as handicap

IF Kargil brought the fauji to the front pages of newspapers for a brief period, the unsavoury goings-on in Mansa district and the neighbourhood in Punjab have dragged the poor kisan to face the harsh limelight. Thanks to the social commitment and also perhaps the political compulsions of a local MLA, the story has once again come to be told of the utter helplessness of the gullible kisan to protect his meagre interests. He is illiterate, and the rules and regulations of the government and banking institutions are so complex as to make most people illiterate. Repeated crop failure caused by pest attacks, adulterated pesticide and water-logging has made the Mansa farmer broke and this has made the private money-lender wary and the cooperative banks plainly hostile. Enter government-sponsored institutions which offer a loan only to buy machinery and equipment. What the farmer needs is consumption loan to meet his financial liability and domestic needs. What the government offers through the Punjab Agricultural Development Bank (PADB) is unsuitable to the needy kisan. This encourages the emergence of traders who seemingly sell the items which meet the bank’s approval but which also provide hard cash to the farmer. This is done through the oldest known trick: produce bogus bills and receipts to make the bank happy but pass on a part of the loan to the farmer. A part is detained by the middlemen.

This would have been legal and even socially commendable since it helps the kisan tide over the banking hassle and secure cash. But in this case, the operation is highly questionable. The middlemen are politically connected. The bank branches are manned by people chosen by the middlemen and, on top of it, the whole operation is said to be blessed and guided by a top political leader. Thus the PADB working is reduced to a ploy to help the political leader and his cronies to become rich while projecting them as crusaders of social justice. It is this invidious attempt that galls concerned people, irritates the Mansa MLA and cheats the farmers of as high as 20 per cent of what they are supposed to receive.

The story which The Tribune broke in two instalments has had a desirable and welcome impact. The Chief Minister has ordered an urgent and close scrutiny of the inquiries conducted earlier with a view to correcting the situation and freeing the farmer from the clutches of greedy middlemen without depriving him of a channel to secure timely financial help. Punjab would do well to follow the model set up by the Kerala government in the mid-seventies when it made available consumption loans (at a slightly higher rate of interest) to be disbursed by village level all-party committees. This eliminated middlemen, encouraged the kisan to seek just the amount he needed and ultimately ensured loan recovery in full. Middlemen thrive in a similar situation in cities in the name of lobbyists, liaison men, consultants and the more modern tribe of project facilitators. But rural areas cannot sustain greedy middlemen and their political patrons and also ensure a minimum level of subsistence of the kisan. Mansa underlines the need to erect one more wall of protection around the kisan.

Killing Pak cricket

THE roots of the current crisis triggered by the ad hoc committee of the Pakistan Cricket Board can be traced to the team's performance in the World Cup in England. Disgraced captain Wasim Akram in the eyes of the fanatic fans in Pakistan committed two unpardonable acts in the post-league phase of the tournament. One, he and not the team, as far as the Pakistani followers of the game are concerned, committed the first crime by losing the Super Six game to India — a team, which critics point out, could not beat even the under-rated New Zealand side. And when Pakistan lost the final, the fans back home refused to see that Australia was temperamentally better equipped for withstanding pressure after the nail-biting back-to-back wins in the games against "hard as steel" South Africa. Wasim Akram was not wrong when he said that “in Pakistan they put you on cloud nine if you win, but bury you nine feet deep if you lose”. That is what the fans did when Pakistan lost the 1996 World Cup quarter-final match to India in Bangalore. The team had to go into hiding and Wasim Akram received threats for having "thrown the match against India". Another country would have feted its cricket team for having reached the final of the World Cup. But the Pakistani fanatics, ably aided and abetted by the spiteful media, demanded the heads of the cricket players for allegedly entering into a deal for losing the final to Australia. The ad hoc committee of the PCB has, in a manner of speaking, satisfied the public demand for the blood of the losers by placing Wasim Akram Ijaz Ahmed and Salim Malik under temporary suspension until they are able to prove their innocence.

The entire issue of match-fixing and betting should be seen against the background that there is more money in international cricket than ever before. The current infrastructure stands on the financial support of the corporate sector.If it were to withdraw support, international cricket, in its present form, would simply wither away. The international promotion of the game has also made cricket a money-making proposition for the bookies. To deny that the bookies and the sponsors together now have the power to influence team selection, the international calendar and the outcome of a particular match would amount to refusing to read the writing on the wall. The International Cricket Council and the national cricket boards together should recognise the reach of money power in influencing the course of a match in a game once played by gentlemen. They should together evolve workable guidelines for keeping the game as clean as possible. But what has happened in Pakistan is neither good advertisement for international cricket nor conducive for the growth of the game in the country which has produced some of the best cricketers at the international level. Reports have only added to the confusion about the number of enquiries which have been ordered for investigating charges of corruption against players. The manner in which Pakistani President Rafeeq Tarar replaced the elected board by hand-picked nominees itself needs to be investigated.

Mr Mujibur Rehman, who has been appointed Chairman of the ad hoc committee of the PCB is the brother of the chief of the Ehtisaab (accountability) Committee established by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for investigating charges of corruption against public figures. He has named virtually the entire team which played in the World Cup and charges of match-fixing and betting are to be framed against them. Perhaps the evidence against Akram, Malik and Ijaz Ahmed, was more convincing for the PCB to place them under temporary suspension. But what about the judicial enquiry into the same charges by a sitting Judge of the Lahore High Court? If the ad hoc committee of the PCB is satisfied with the findings of the non-judicial panel, a case for scrapping the judicial enquiry can be made out.If the ad hoc committee is not restrained from indulging in acts of recklessness, it will imperil the growth of normal and wholesome cricket in Pakistan. Had Pakistan won the World Cup, public opinion in the country would have forgiven even the players actually found guilty of having indulged in match-fixing and the act of betting.

POLITICIANS & THEIR PROMISES
Real issues before the nation
by M. G. Devasahayam

WITH the nation on the election mode, politicians, who have been momentarily stunned by the Kargil conflict, are on overdrive, chalking out strategies, clinching alliances and hitting the campaign trail. For several weeks now, the leaders among them have been searching for and fine-tuning “issues” to be placed before the electorate for seeking their mandate to rule the country. The issues projected invariably reflect the perception of the political leadership as to their acceptability and vote-catching potential.

Among the national parties, the Congress is convinced that only someone from the Nehru clan can give this country a “strong and stable” government. The BJP holds a totally opposite view and believes that a “pure swadeshi” leadership is what India needs. For the communists, corruption versus communalism is the issue, with themselves pitching headlong for the former. The BSP revels in the thought that the welfare of the Dalits lies in political and economic instability. As for the Janata Dal, it is a matter of time before the party faces extinction. The issues projected by the regional parties largely depend on their sectarian and local perceptions. As to the Kargil factor, all of these parties have been groping in the dark as to how to exploit it to their advantage.

Elsewhere in the world, in democracies like the USA candidates and political parties offer advanced socio-economic options, such as healthcare schemes and utilisation of budgetary surplus, for the electorate to choose during elections. Here in India, after half a century of democracy and 12 general elections, the electorate is being asked to choose between communalism and corruption, and a foreign-born and India-born Prime Minister! And what is worse, in this exercise, minority communities are being forcibly pitched on the side of corruption and foreign-born aspirant for the position of Prime Minister! Can there be a worse commentary on the sad and sorry state of India’s politics and political process?

The self-styled and self-appointed “protectors of minorities” are taking refuge under a vaguely defined concept called “secularism”. In fact, they are marketing “secularism” as a branded commodity and are busy propagating the myth that minority communities feel safe and comfortable with the forces of corruption and a “foreign-born” leadership. This is totally unacceptable to the largely self-respecting and nationalistic citizens of the religious minorities. By attempting to establish a nexus between secularism and corruption and foreign-born leadership to stability, these opportunist politicians have been causing irreparable damage to the national psyche in general and minority interests in particular.

Semantics apart, the fact remains that as we approach the new millennium, politics in this subcontinent is in a deep and terrible mess. The public at large is torn between the fear psychosis generated by “rabid communal elements” and the feeling of revulsion caused by the “practitioners of venal corruption”. Asking the electorate to choose between these two is nothing but a cruel joke. One-sixth of the human race that populates this country certainly deserves better, and there have to be choices and issues that truly reflect their needs and aspirations. The forthcoming Lok Sabha election that will throw up the leadership for the next millennium offers a good opportunity to identify these issues and bring them into sharp focus. These issues need to be tempered by the fact that India is facing serious challenges, both external (global competition triggered by economic liberalisation) and internal (threat to national security caused by Pakistan’s belligerence).

Now that the Kargil crisis has ended, in time for the election, the cacophony has recommenced. By insisting that the caretaker government has a lot to answer, the principal Opposition parties have given notice that Kargil will be a major election issue. The Congress has, in fact, fired the first salvo when its spokesman, Mr Ajit Jogi, charged the government with deception and demanded that a chronology of events leading to the Kargil flare-up should be made public. The ruling party, on its part, is taking conflicting postures. General Secretary and BJP spokesman Venkiah Naidu states that the party will not make Kargil an election issue. But party President Kushabhau Thakre counters him and says that “we have won the war and Kargil will be an election issue”. It was left to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to place the matter in proper focus when he said, “During election time every issue becomes an election issue. But Kargil is a national issue and political parties should not allow it to come in the way”.

Indeed, Kargil is a national issue and needs to be dealt with as such. And if it is a national issue people must have a decisive say in this. There is a lot of bickering and controversy about the non-convening of the Rajya Sabha to discuss Kargil. This must cease now. What are a few hundred “elders” indulging in empty rhetoric over Kargil compared to 600 million voters deliberating on this issue and pronouncing their verdict? If the electorate believes the Opposition’s charge that the government has bungled and mishandled the whole thing it is curtains for the ruling party and its allies. If not it would be wilderness for those who make the charge. Either way it is a rare and distinct opportunity to demonstrate the inherent strength and vibrancy of India’s democracy and the maturity of its electorate.

Nevertheless, before giving their verdict, the voters would be justified in asking as to what precisely is this national issue called Kargil. Is it the few thousand Pakistani mercenaries who had managed to sneak into Indian territory under cover of snow and sleet? Or is it the Air Force bombers, the Artillery guns and Infantry mortars that pounded the peaks occupied by these intruders? Does it concern our valiant men who fought against heavy odds and salvaged the nation’s honour at a heavy cost paid in blood? Is it the intelligence failure and complacency that allowed the conflict to flare up in the first place? Does it concern the now familiar “foot-in-the-mouth” disease of our irrepressive Defence Minister? Or is it the silent cries of the mothers and wives who have lost their beloved ones forever?

The issue is all these and more. Essentially it concerns the strength and security of the nation. Strength, not in terms of military hardware but in terms of economic might. Security, not the one provided by nuclear missiles but the one emanating from the unity and solidarity of its people. Corruption and communalism, the two reprehensible evils from which people are being asked to choose, pose a serious danger to the strength and security of the Indian nation. By choking and debilitating the economy with its widespread tentacles and corroding its moral fibre, corruption has considerably weakened the country and its people. By spreading hatred and disaffection among its people, communalism has emerged as a real threat to India’s security. If a choice between these two is all that the present political and administrative system can offer, it is time people took a close look at the utility of this system itself.

The real issues that face the nation as it goes to the polls to elect the last Parliament of this millennium are best posed in the form of a few questions. Is the present political system capable of achieving accelerated economic development in the country? Are the political parties equipped to provide the intellectual and mass leadership that is needed to make this country strong and secure? Is the administrative system motivated to give a fair, just, value-based and development-oriented governance to the nation? Is there political and administrative will to usher in substantial and sustained reforms in government, academics, business and industry so as to take the country out of the quagmire of poverty, backwardness and illiteracy?

These are the questions that the electorate must ask the political parties and the leaders who come to seek their votes. These are the issues that should agitate their minds, and not mundane matters like alliances and promises that are made only to be broken. And if the answers are not satisfactory, people must seriously consider alternatives that should include rewriting of the Constitution and electoral laws as well as major restructuring and retooling of the government machinery from top to bottom. Far too long the hapless millions of this country have suffered in silence, and it is time they stood up and be counted.

Inscrutable is the ways of we Indians. One day we revel in patriotic fervour and salute the valour, integrity and selfless sacrifice of our men in uniform. Next day we bow before dishonest, self-seeking and venal elements who happen to be in power or threaten to capture power by hook or by crook. Like sheep we also go and vote for these selfish elements just because they have fabricated some “alliances” and give some false and frivolous assurances. We are happy to become mere arithmetical numbers to be multiplied or subtracted depending on the convenience of these political manipulators. On the one hand we hail and praise our genuine soldiers who face bullets in the battlefield. On the other we go and cast our ballots to unreal and make-believe “leaders” who offer nothing but slogans and “charisma”.

The avowed practice of this double standard, in fact, is the true tragedy of the nation. Only the electorate can rescue the nation from this tragedy by exercising due diligence and discretion at the time of elections.

The expected new battle fronts
by P. K. Batra

THAT the Kargil aggression has not paid off must have been digested by Pakistan by now as the fourth defeat in the last 50 years. The Indian military’s response, bravery of its young officers and soldiers and the nation rising as one to back the military must have shaken Pakistan. Coupled with this, the international community backing India’s just cause has as good as isolated Pakistan for its betrayal and violation of the sanctity of the LoC, which has been a bilateral instrument for 27 years. However, it is too early to conclude that the Pakistani establishment has learnt any lessons from its Kargil misadventure.

Now that the Clinton administration has made Mr Sharif to pull back the intruders from the Indian side of the LoC, the pulls and pressures of the fragile democracy in Pakistan are coming to the fore. Ever since the July 4 meeting between Mr Clinton and Mr Sharif there is no evidence to suggest that Mr Sharif is in a position to change the fundamental template of Pakistan’s policy on Kashmir. We will, therefore, have to expect new battles on four different fronts.

Firstly, some of the fundamentalist groups which have outrightly rejected the Clinton-Sharif agreement may activate some of their agents and sympathisers to foment trouble in J and K. Pakistan has reaffirmed its moral and political support for militancy. Islamabad may want to engineer terrorist actions through these groups to keep the Kashmir issue alive as a “struggle for self-determination”. The Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Mr Sartaj Aziz, has already promised “more Kargils”.

Secondly, the next area will be international fora. Pakistan will try to prove to the international community that by tilting towards India the USA has not addressed the aspirations of the Kashmiri people whose “struggle” still remains the core issue for good relations between India and Pakistan. In this context a point that Mr Sartaj Aziz repeated quite a few times in his interview with Mr Tim Sebastian in “Hard Talk” on the BBC a couple of days back was Mr Clinton’s “personal interest” in the India-Pakistan dialogue. Mr Sharif would like to use this as a window of opportunity to successfully internationalise the Kashmir dispute.

Thirdly, Pakistan would like to exploit the election-eve situation in India as political parties trade charges on the Kargil issue. It would exploit the situation by spreading terrorist activity across the country.

Fourthly, Pakistan may try and create a new Kargil every winter and keep the Indian Army busy during summer in tackling the situation. Needless to say, the precious lives lost in the process will create a wedge between the politician and the bureaucrat on the one hand, and the politician and the military on the other.

By its aggression in Kargil, Pakistan has not only stabbed India in the back but also, as the External Affairs Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, says ,“transgressed the territory of trust”. Unfortunately, Pakistan does not appreciate these fine feelings or sentiments. As far as their national interest vis-a-vis India is concerned, they have taken a cold-blooded surgical approach.

India has, therefore, done well to give a bloody nose to the Pakistan-supported infiltrators so that they dare not venture into crossing the LoC ever again. The Army must not be caught off guard again. The vigilance in these areas must be intense and round the clock through satellites and other means. Those who have faulted must be punished. We must remember the old saying, “Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.” To keep the crown safe, you have to be strong and vigilant.

India must comprehend the strategic objectives as they have unfolded with the Kargil aggression.

(The author is a retired Major-General).

Overtures to sleep
by Darshan Singh Maini

EVER since my continuing and disabling illness I have been trying to cope with the problems of sleep. For the first three years or so, I screwed up my spirit for the ordeal in progress, and continued to resist the idea of sleeping-pills even as the troubled hours kept stretching my resolve to the point of distraction. For in those dark nights of insomnia I could still summon the thoughts of a beauty sleep during the long years of my life till my “fall”, and sometime manage to ward off the menace of chemicals and other indigenous “grandama” blandi shments. However, the mounting torment had begun, finally to make me a problem for those close to me, including my suffering spouse, and I was prevailed upon to accept the inevitable — and soon after, the irresistible pill.

If the story had ended there, this “middle” would have remained a distant bad dream, and stored like other intruder ideas, in the altics of my memory. But, no, after the first few months of relative relief, the pills too started to catch up with the multiplying problematics of my situation and add to the sum of suffering. And, thereafter, they have, in one form or another, become a siren of dark charm, always serenading me to the hidden rocks — and to song.

So, over the last 3 years, the problem of inducing sleep even with the pills in my blood stream assumed a character whose own nature began to develop into a nightly campaign, if you like. In other words, I started devising and revising strategies of sleep. They haven’t always worked well, but I keep using them — a kind of mixed “cocktail” of associative, suggestive and seductive “drink.”

For a while, I tried the thing itself — a whisky peg or two to court my mind — and head, into a pleasurable stupor, but sadly, the fugitive fille of sleep was not to be woed with such dubious devices. Even the soothing Scotch didn’t do the trick, and I was left “dry” and in distress fairly frequently.

Of course, during all these years, I had continued to recite the bani after retiring, an exhausted patient on the rack, so to speak. It was a brief jap of the mul-mantra, or of the Japji as far as I could go... . Often, I ended up with a simran of Nam, as ordained. But I learnt soon enough to add, when sleep till eluded me, a few mantras, or a mechanical silent count from one to hundred, or a roll-back count. And till this day I continue to do so still I’m driven into an uneasy slumber.

Well, there are yet a couple of other strategies to swell this sorry song. I had read somewhere that in such situations one should try to imagine a field of falling snow flakes, of drifting fleece, of white expanding piles of cotton... and in this extended exercise, sleep would at some moment envelop one’s wandering consciousness. And this ploy often reminded me of a flight from Warsaw to Poznan in Poland in the year 1977 in connection with an international conference, the Conference of the University Professors of English. I distinctly recall how for the better part of that flight, our plane was flying high up in fleecy clouds, banks after banks of blinding fields of whiteness. That scene anchored deeply in my consciousness often comes in handy when mistress sleep spurns other overtures.

Security and Strategy

Kargil: some unanswered questions
Maj Gen Himmat Singh Gill

THE two-month-old war in Kargil has almost ended with a resounding victory, moral ascendancy and military elan for the armed forces of the country, and the LoC in the process of being restored to the status quo ante, pursuant to the completion of our strategic and national aims.

Many intellectuals and others commentating on international affairs and the country’s security environment, in their exuberance or perhaps the lack of understanding of mountain and high altitude warfare, and also the ravages brought about by even a limited tactical nuclear conflagration, seem to have gone overboard in their reactions and recommendations on the future conduct of the Kargil issue, and what it has thrown up. Some have even recommended the crossing of the LoC, and limited offensives along the LoC in other sectors. Even two former Chiefs of the Army Staff, (one is proceeding to the Rajya Sabha from West Bengal), have suggested the crossing of the line, amongst other pro-active measures advocated by them.

Some relevant questions need to be posed herein at this stage itself. If the LoC has been respected since the 1972 Simla Accord by both us and Pakistan, (except now suddenly by the latter), does India get any added advantage by trying to alter the alignment now? On the contrary, all the political and diplomatic gains, (the international community is by and large with India today because of the restraint exercised so far), would be nullified overnight. India will stand branded an aggressor, as much as Pakistan is today.

Secondly and more importantly, would such an incursion be in unison with India’s foreign policy formulations vis-a-vis Pakistan and, which to the best of one’s knowledge, is not to dismember but have a stabler neighbour, with whom we can do business and live in comparative peace? So what happens then, once we have crossed the LoC, and what would be India’s long and short term geo-strategic objectives? Or is the crossing of the LoC an end in itself?

Thirdly, and this is for those of the hawks who suggest such outlandish solutions. Might one suggest a trip to the telling museums of Hiroshima or Nagasaki to acquaint them with the after-effects of a nuclear war. They would also need to go and live up at the icy heights of Ladakh and understand the basics of mountain warfare, before shouting meaningless bravado at seminars and the like. Quite clearly, some of these gentlemen who had weeks earlier suggested lightning land and air strikes into and over Pakistan-held territory, need to calm down a little, and think of the consequences of their unthought of utterances.

Mercifully, the Kargil operations, as one had suggested all along, have been localised and not enlarged in their scope. Any solution that brings in a form of stability and permanence to the LoC, needs to be seriously looked into. Talk of wars, hot pursuits, and pro-active policies advocating crossings of internationally recognised lines and borders, add up to the escalation factor for no rhyme or reason, and only upgrade the threshold of the confrontation, with a sensitive and jumpy neighbour, already in the throes of a civil-military struggle for supremacy. Now it would be fruitful for our military planners to urgently reequip the mountain brigades and divisions (more NVDs, battlefield surveillance radars and lighter weapons), carry out additional recruitment from the hill areas of the country, (to live, and fight in the mountains), and upgrade and modernise the Indian Army that is to also fight in the plains, in any emerging eventuality. The IAF, too, after valuable lessons learnt from the Kargil battle, must now turn its attention to fine-tuning its operational commitments with the armoured and mechanised formations.

Two points have to be made here. On the diplomatic and the media front. There are never any permanent enemies, or for that matter permanent friends. What is permanent are your national interests, and any talks anywhere must be welcomed. But, of course, only after our national aims have been met. It is only the weak and the rigid, who are not prepared to listen to the other side, not the victorious. As regards the electronic media and press coverage, though they have brought the war right into the drawing room, it must be remembered, that we do need to look after the security aspect, and not give away the order of battle, ORBAT, and locations and names of units taking part in the operations, as this affects the secrecy and the country’s overall force levels theatre-wise, on all our other borders.

The troops have done a commendable job in the toughest of terrain found anywhere in the world. Militarily, one has maintained from the start of the Kargil conflict, that the Indian ground positions should be fully restored, without having to cross the LoC, unless of course, the other side carries out a reckless act, and for which one is sure, India has pre-positioned the force levels and strategic reserves desired. We do not need experts who have questioned the very validity of the LoC, and all that it has stood for all these years. Neither do we need experts from anywhere, many of whom have turned more hawkish than even some of the Pakistani Generals.

Our national interests now call for us to tread the path of statesmanship and nuclear conflict control, which most well-meaning nations of the world will welcome. China, on another plane, is visibly worried about the spread of Muslim fundamentalism through Afghanistan’s Wakhan corridor into not only PoK, but its own Xingkiang province, which has a sizeable Muslim populations. India would need to also further strengthen its growing ties with France, which because of its independence of action and thought in world affairs, has always counted as a world power of no mean significance. America, too, has played a sanguine role in putting Pakistan on the spot, for its wayward ways.

India after restoring the LoC must be wary of Pakistan, lest they reach in a wholly illogical manner, conventionally or on the nuclear front. And even as we retake the last of the heights, it is time to cash in on the diplomatic front, the rewards for the cool and restraint our statesmen have exercised. Looking beyond Kargil, one can only see a resurgent and confident India, taking its rightful place in the Security Council and the comity of nations. The holding of the Lok Sabha elections in time, and the restoration of the LoC, all point to a hastening of the process of the Simla Accord and the bus ride to Lahore that followed it.

Let us keep on this track, and not the one often advocated by unthinking political windbags and pseudo-defence analysts, many of whom have often spoken without thinking of the long-term consequences that could follow their utterances.

Growing “highway terrorism”
By Khushwant Ahluwalia

OUR main roads offer a free for all situation with nobody respecting the sanctity of the traffic rules and regulations. Over-speeding is a virtue to be displayed and wrong overtaking satisfies the ego. Traffic lights are meant to be crossed and signals to be disobeyed. Lighter vehicles are conceived as small fries and resolved to be intimidated by the bigger sharks. This is the kind of ambience our highways provide when one takes a journey.

Is life so cheap that our successive governments are overlooking the growing ‘highway terrorism’ in our country which in fact is a reflection of their zero concern for human lives?

In my opinion the swelling menace of traffic on the road is a result of an undetermined approach of our government added with the lax attitude of the police that is responsible for enforcing, controlling and regulating traffic rules.

For instance it is beyond the police’s capability to even avoid a traffic-jam at railway crossings. Two wheelers can be seen passing from beneath the railway gate under the very nose of the policeman on duty. Trucks and buses form parallel lines on both sides of the crossing with contempt, while the cop on duty enjoys his cup of tea on the roadside dhaba.

He is only activated by the sound of a siren for that could be of some minister, police officer or a bureaucrat’s car. Within minutes by wielding his magic wand he gets the deck cleared for the safe passage of the entourage of the VIP.

Many die pointlessly because danger or warning signs are not put in places where repair is being undertaken, cross-bars are placed illegally at check points, tractor-trolleys are carted without tail lights during night time, stalled vehicles are not towed away and remain parked in the middle of the road for days and loading, unloading of passengers and merchandise are done anywhere along the highway.

One can see fallen power cables, uprooted trees, open gutters, unwanted animals disrupting and endangering traffic movement.

Who’s responsible for taking care of all these things?

If the enforcement authorities expect commuters to be more responsible on the road, they are highly mistaken. Nowhere in the world have people shown self discipline. It is always enforced and people slowly get used to the existing system. Ironically we have trained ourselves to behave negligently.

Our highways remain devoid of emergency facilities while much money is blown away by means of wasteful expenditure. No, first aid is available for miles if an accident takes place away from the city. Hospitals are allergic to ambulances, oxygen cylinders and more importantly patients.

There is no driver on the road who possesses a driving license after passing a valid test as prescribed by law. Every one of us has managed to clear medical check-ups and driving tests by hook or by crook. It happens because there is not much seriousness attached to issuing of driving licenses. This attitude manifests itself in the form of gruesome accidents.

Just to give an example of government’s importance; in its effort to control noise pollution the government banned the use of pressure horns in all vehicles. These horns blow rampantly till today on our Punjab and Haryana state transport buses. It has not been able to tame its own bus drivers yet, what to talk about private operators. Bus drivers can be seen bulldozing their way on highways and mowing people with disdain.

It is high time the government pulled the reins of its departments concerned with maintenance and enforcement of roadway discipline. It is in their interest to come out with a comprehensive programme that shall educate community groups, individuals, schools and colleges on road safety measures.

It needs to take initiative to minimise accidents associated with juvenile drivers, older drivers and those with special problems such as drug and alcohol addiction. It needs to implement measures to maximise the deterrence of deliberate unsafe behaviour on the roads and promote amongst the people ways and methods of minimising injuries in case of accidents.

It’s time the government pressed the accelerator and committed itself to providing unmolested, safe highways to travellers with a more efficient and dedicated law enforcement staff for the life lost because of your ignorance could be of your loved one.

75 YEARS AGO

Pandit Jawaharlal

WHATEVER other reason may exist for the resignation by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru from the Chairmanship of the Allahabad Municipality, “manifold public duties” is no good reason for it. Those duties can neither be so many nor so onerous in the case of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru as in those of Mrs C.R. Das in Bengal; nor can they be more onerous or more numerous than those of Mr Kelkar in Maharashtra or Mr Patel in Bombay.

If those three gentlemen do not find the duties of Chairmen of their respective municipalities inconsistent with their other public duties, it is not easy to see why Pandit Nehru, who is much younger than any of them, should find them so.

As regards the other reason, which is said to have precipitated the step, we don't have enough details before us to form a judgement. But whatever one may think of this reason, it is safe to assert that the Pandit’s decision will be deeply regretted by most right-thinking persons in the country.