O P I N I O N S

EDITORIALS

A virtual washout
Another session of disruptions, walkouts
Ask a school student why we send our elected representatives to Parliament, and he is supposed to say that it is to make laws. But if he is worldly wise, he is more likely to comment that it is for causing disruptions and staging walkouts.

Now onion’s turn
Food inflation defies solution
The government on Thursday banned the export of onions, while allowing wheat and rice exports. The belated decision is expected to cool the onion prices, which have been rising for the past few months. Earlier, the government had raised the minimum export price of onions but the measure did not have the desired effect.

A grim reminder of 9/11
The world is a lot more unsafe than before
A decade is but a blink in the march of history. But the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terror attack on the twin towers in New York on Sunday will still be a grim reminder of how much the world has changed or not changed during these 10 years.

• Thought for the Day

ARTICLE

PM’s visit to Bangladesh
Boycott by Mamata hit India’s interests
by B.Z. Khasru
During the Indo-Pak talks in New Delhi on February 8, 1974, the Pakistani delegation leader suggested the inclusion of a phrase — “on the basis of sovereign equality” — in the agreement they were about to sign, which reiterated the two nations’ resolve to work toward achieving durable peace in the subcontinent.

MIDDLE

Corruption non-practising allowance
by Amar Chandel
THE jailed netas were livid over the lack of basic amenities in prison. They first raised slogans in support of their demand for ATMs of Swiss banks on the jail premises, and then decided to go on a relay hunger strike for three hours every day after lunch.

OPED WORLD

As rebels take over in Libya, fears rise that huge arsenal may have fallen into the hands of terrorists"
When missiles go missing
Kim Sengupta
The long metal crates strewn on the grounds of the warehouse were empty. Hundreds of surface-to-air missiles, craved by terrorist groups and “rogue states”, had disappeared in the past few days, looted from one of Libya’s overflowing arms dumps.

EDITORIALS

A virtual washout
Another session of disruptions, walkouts

Ask a school student why we send our elected representatives to Parliament, and he is supposed to say that it is to make laws. But if he is worldly wise, he is more likely to comment that it is for causing disruptions and staging walkouts. That ugly tradition was maintained in the just concluded monsoon session too, which as Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari pointed out with a sad heart, had lived up to its reputation with “stormy” proceedings. The Lok Sabha lost 45 per cent of its time to disruptions and the Rajya Sabha 44 per cent. With so much time being wasted, parliamentary work suffered greatly, but nobody seems to care. Nothing can come close to the winter session which was laid low by the 2G spectrum scam, but even the monsoon session ended up being among the three worst since 2009.

Facts and figures in this regard are instructive. Out of the 37 Bills listed for passing, only 22 were passed. Out of the 34 listed for introduction, only 14 could be introduced. Worse, very little time could be devoted to discussing the important Bills. In the Lok Sabha, only 22 of the 138 available hours went into debating Bills. The worst sufferer was Question Hour, which was not taken up in the Lok Sabha on 16 days. Out of 500 listed questions, only 51 were answered by ministers. Things were no better in the Upper House, where 435 of the 500 listed queries remained unanswered.

Then there was also the questionable behaviour of some of the members. Since their deeds and gestures are beamed live to millions of homes, they leave a bad image in the minds of impressionable people It is time that the MPs realised that their reputation is not besmirched as much by what the people say about them as by what they themselves do. Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar says “I’m sure members are committed to checking this tendency,” but her optimism seems to be misplaced. There should be no need to remind the representatives that they are lawmakers. Ironically, repeated reminders have become inevitable under the present circumstances. 

Now onion’s turn
Food inflation defies solution

The government on Thursday banned the export of onions, while allowing wheat and rice exports. The belated decision is expected to cool the onion prices, which have been rising for the past few months. Earlier, the government had raised the minimum export price of onions but the measure did not have the desired effect. The onion price rise is partly due to lower production and partly seasonal factors like rain disrupting supplies. Hoarding by farmers and middlemen is also not ruled out. The persistently high global oil prices, which led to a hike in the domestic diesel rates recently, have also contributed to the onion price spiral.

Despite being frequently in the firing line for high food inflation, which recently touched a double-digit figure before easing to 9.55 per cent, the government has failed to put in place an effective mechanism for controlling prices. Commodity import-export decisions should not take so long. Government agencies should be given more freedom for commodity trading, offloading products in excess supply (like wheat and rice) when global prices turn attractive and importing commodities in short supply (like edible oils, pulses, onions) when prices are down. Futures trading indicate commodity prices well in advance and quick decisions can be taken accordingly. Otherwise, private participation may be encouraged with a regulator in place to keep an eye on cartels.

Commodity prices rise in turns. Sometimes it is sugar, sometimes onions or pulses. That Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has sympathies for certain farm and corporate lobbies is well known. Government inaction sometimes appears motivated. States too are either pro-farmer or pro-trader and hoarding often goes unpunished. There is need to balance the interests of growers and consumers. Barring some like Delhi, states do not make effective market interventions and remain silent spectators to price rise as the Centre gets all the flak.

A grim reminder of 9/11
The world is a lot more unsafe than before

A decade is but a blink in the march of history. But the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terror attack on the twin towers in New York on Sunday will still be a grim reminder of how much the world has changed or not changed during these 10 years. A Nobel Prize winning economist, Joseph Stiglitz, summed it up recently when he wrote that the attack not only weakened the United States and destabilised the Middle East but also led to oil prices move northward, thereby adversely affecting the global economy. While the audacious and coordinated attack killed a staggering 3,000 people in a matter of minutes, hundreds of thousands have died since then in America’s war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan and in terror strikes all over the world, notably in Pakistan and India. The attack has changed air-travel completely with intrusive security checks adding to both time and cost. The security industry has boomed in the midst of the gloom and racial intolerance and hatred have vitiated several communities in several parts of the world.

The report that the United States has credible information of the threat of an attack on the tenth anniversary of 9/11 indicates how unsafe the world is today, far more than it was before the attack. While it has taken the United States 10 long years to track down and kill Osama Bin Laden and break the back of Al-Qaeda, the threat of terrorism has ironically increased. While the attacks may not be as spectacular, they will increase in frequency and will be carried out by ‘lone wolves’ or individuals, warn experts. According to credible estimates appearing in the Western media, as many as 119,000 people have been arrested in 66 countries under anti-terror laws, almost one-fourth of them in Pakistan. Even more astonishingly, as many as 35,000 of them are said to have been convicted. The spiraling web of insecurity and suspicion, made worse by increasingly intrusive governments and more and more draconian laws, is frightening.

America’s war on terror has turned the Indian subcontinent into a dangerous neighbourhood. Misplaced priorities and fears have indeed created a situation that needs to be handled with utmost care and statesmanship. "

Thought for the Day

Honest differences are often a healthy sign of progress. — Mahatma Gandhi

ARTICLE

PM’s visit to Bangladesh
Boycott by Mamata hit India’s interests
by B.Z. Khasru

During the Indo-Pak talks in New Delhi on February 8, 1974, the Pakistani delegation leader suggested the inclusion of a phrase — “on the basis of sovereign equality” — in the agreement they were about to sign, which reiterated the two nations’ resolve to work toward achieving durable peace in the subcontinent.

In marking the proposal, Aziz Ahmed, then Pakistan’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs, pointed out that sovereign equality was the phrase India used repeatedly when it raised the subject of possible discussions between Pakistan and newly independent Bangladesh.

To Pakistan’s surprise, Kewal Singh, then India’s Foreign Secretary, brushed off the idea, saying that he was “sick” of hearing this phrase. Swaran Singh, then India’s External Affairs Minister, dismissed it as mere platitude.

Pakistan, which negotiated from a point of weakness just after suffering a crushing defeat in the Bangladesh Liberation War, dropped the subject, not wanting to kinder the adoption of the pact over this one point.

India’s reluctance to include the phrase suggested to the Pakistanis that their giant neighbour considered itself more than equal to Pakistan. This episode continued to trouble Pakistan for quite some time.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banarjee’s decision to boycott Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s just concluded visit to Bangladesh over Teesta river water sharing might also continue to trouble her neighbour for a long time to come. Bangladesh might reflect back on this even more acutely, given the Bangalees on both sides of the border share a common heritage.

Mamata’s decision would adversely affect the Bangalee mind not just because she wanted more water for her state. Of course, as the chief executive of the state, she must protect her people’s interest. What will bother Bangladesh is that she found it prudent to stay away, instead of engaging in talks to resolve the matter to both sides’ satisfaction.

Her decision not only holds the potential to cause wrinkles in Indo-Bangla relations, it also has dealt a blow to the Central government’s image, causing a negative perception about its authority to conduct foreign policy in the interest of the entire country — and the region as a whole. India is not merely a country in South Asia, but also a regional superpower and a potential global player. A veto power by a state over its foreign policy is certainly a matter into which the External Affairs Ministry needs to look closely.

Mamata’s pulling out of the Prime Minister’s entourage embarrassed Dr Manmohan Singh. Her dramatic protest dealt a severe blow also to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who had expected India to reciprocate her bold steps in addressing New Delhi’s security concerns and its long-time request for transit through Bangladesh.

The Teesta fiasco also killed two other key potential deals: Sharing of the Feni river water and letting India use Chittagong and Mongla seaports to carry goods through Bangladesh.

To India’s credit, it has tried to reassure its neighbours by being correct and even generous in its official dealings with them. But its specific security considerations, its self-image as the dominant power in South Asia, domestic political pressures and bureaucratic differences within the government continued to create tensions between India and its smaller neighbours.

The largest and most important of these smaller neighbours — Bangladesh — went through ups and downs in its relations with Delhi, thanks to some imprudent steps by India and political upheavals in Bangladesh. As a result, problems left over from the period of confrontation under Pakistan were not proving amenable to a quick solution.

Since 1971 India has sought to reassure its smaller neighbours, Bangladesh included. Indian officials have been visiting, discussing, explaining and giving assistance. Discussions with Bangladesh had been almost continuous.

Dr Manmohan Singh prudently reinforced India’s policy in Dhaka when he declared: “India will not, I repeat and assure you, India will not take steps that will adversely affect Bangladesh.” It will be sweet music not just for the Bangalee ear, but for others as well — far away. It will reassure not only Bangladesh, but also others beyond the Himalayas.

India’s main interest in its smaller neighbours is its security against China. This is particularly true in the case of Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan, any of which would provide China with strategic access to the southern side of the Himalayas.

The linkages between India and its smaller neighbours have created groups within India with a special interest in Indian relations with these countries. Despite occasional clashes of interests, some West Bangalees and other Indian businessmen have both real and sentimental interests in forging a beneficial relationship between Kolkata and Dhaka.

Regional differences and bureaucratic inefficiencies play a big role in India’s behaviour to its neighbours. The correct posture represents the position of the External Affairs Ministry. On important issues, it can usually impose its view on other ministries. But parochial interests come into play and tend to undermine the good intentions of the foreign office. Regional politicians may well be advised to remember that they are not just Bangalees or Punjabies, they are also Indians.

The writer, based in New York, is the author of a bestselling book on Bangladesh.

MIDDLE

Corruption non-practising allowance
by Amar Chandel

THE jailed netas were livid over the lack of basic amenities in prison. They first raised slogans in support of their demand for ATMs of Swiss banks on the jail premises, and then decided to go on a relay hunger strike for three hours every day after lunch.

A veteran of many mega scams advised them to shun the agitational path and instead use their forced leisure period – free from the worries of running the country – to mull over the reasons for their changed circumstances. So, the proposed fast was converted into a closed-door chintan baithak.

Speaker after speaker stressed the point that politicians had been treated as mere mortals only because of internal dissension. If all of them had stood together, nobody would have dared to question corruption by them. Only their fratricidal tendencies had emboldened the hoi-polloi to demand an end to their hereditary right. Even now it was not too late to restore their past glory. All that was needed was unity among politicians of ruling parties and the Opposition.

They pledged to close ranks in this hour of crisis and fight “one for all, and all for one”. A “Neta Bachao Front” was formed there and then.

It was pointed out that the demand for an end to corruption was a subversive move that could sound the death-knell of politics as a profession. Talented persons would not join the professtion in the absence of adequate returns. Who would want to be a neta if he could not make good the investment made during elections at least a 100 times over?

One pesky leader even went to the extent of suggesting that they should file a PIL (politician interest litigation) that perks and perquisites given to them since time immemorial could not be withdrawn arbitrarily. When a lawyer-turned politician-turned-undertrial corrected him that speed money could not be claimed as a fundamental right, the former defiantly declared that there was no harm in trying. If courts objected, the leaders could always turn around and say that the advocate had exceeded his brief.

But the suggestion on which there was near unanimity was that if politicians were to be deprived of regular avenues of corruption, they must get non-practising allowance. It could range from Rs 500 crore to Rs 5,000 crore per year depending on their seniority and the position they hold.

The amount would be over and above the 10 per cent commission which must be legally granted to them for every project that they sanction, be it the construction of a bridge, road or railway line or the purchase of an aircraft or a ship.

If necessary, the Constitution must be suitably amended.

When it was pointed out that this may cause heart-burn among those who were heading less lucrative departments, it was proposed that there should be a Neta Relief Fund for economically weaker politicians. Each member should be given a subsistence allowance of Rs 10 crore per annum from it.

The Neta Bachao Front issued a warning to newspapers and TV channels that anyone devoting more than 5 per cent of its space/ time to the coverage of protests against corruption in the country would be treated as an enemy of the state. The licences of habitual offenders would be cancelled — to be restored only on under-the-table payment of Rs 200 crore each.

OPED WORLD

As rebels take over in Libya, fears rise that huge arsenal may have fallen into the hands of terrorists"
When missiles go missing
Kim Sengupta

An anti-Gaddafi fighter stands on a SA-5 SAM missile in Burkan air defence military base, which was destroyed by a NATO air strike on September 6, 2011. — Reuters photo

The long metal crates strewn on the grounds of the warehouse were empty. Hundreds of surface-to-air missiles, craved by terrorist groups and “rogue states”, had disappeared in the past few days, looted from one of Libya’s overflowing arms dumps.

Among the missiles taken away were 480 Russian-built SA-24s, designed for use against modern warplanes, which the US had been attempting to block from falling into Iranian hands, and the older SA-7s and 9s, capable of bringing down commercial airliners, which al-Qa’ida has been striving to obtain.

Abandoned, stripped bare

As Libya’s bloody civil war reaches its conclusion, myriad bunkers and barracks containing the regime’s weaponry, from Kalashnikovs to missiles, armoured cars and tanks, have been left unguarded, many to be stripped bare by militia fighters and the public.

The numbers involved are far larger than the caches that armed the insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan. And in Libya there are even fewer guards at these sites. Unlike those two fronts of the “war on terror”, there are no foreign troops present in Libya, and the opposition forming the new government has its resources tied up attempting to subdue the remaining loyalist strongholds and repairing infrastructure to safeguard the arsenals.

The ransacking of the depots containing missiles has set alarms ringing among security agencies in America and Europe. The SA-24 “Grinch” surface-to-air missile targets fighter-bombers, helicopter gunships such as Apaches, and even Cruise missiles, and can strike at as high as 11,000ft. Washington had lobbied the Russians to block sales to Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and to Tehran.

Surface-to-air missiles

The SA-7s and 9s are older but can destroy civilian jets or be used against military targets such as the drones increasingly employed by the US. Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director for Human Rights Watch, charting the arms depots, said: “The problem is pretty huge. There are around 20,000 surface-to-air missiles in Libya and a hell of a lot of them are missing. The Western agencies are obviously pretty concerned. This lot can turn the whole of North Africa into a no-fly zone.”

Nato air strikes destroyed an estimated 600 missiles, radar systems and storage facilities in the course of the campaign. In response, regime forces moved some of the weaponry away from military into civilian areas, where they could be accessed once the rebels gained control.

The missiles found to be missing recently had been taken from the Tripoli headquarters of the 32nd Brigade, under the command of Gaddafi’s son, Khamis al-Gaddafi, to a commercial storage area. Although the missiles had gone, there were still dozens of cases of mortar rounds, artillery shells, rocket-propelled grenades and rifle ammunition left in the vast room.

Dangerous land mines

Across the road, in an open field, lay piled-up boxes of anti-personnel mines, a weapon which has already caused a series of deaths, many among children, in districts where hostilities have ended. Some 12,000 land mines were reported missing yesterday. Ian Martin, the UN’s special adviser on Libya, said: “Proliferation of weapons is a major concern. We are taking this extremely seriously.” Unmas (United Nations Mine Action Service) is supposed to be taking the lead on this matter but, due to security concerns, it has only one member of staff in the Libyan capital.

There is increasing evidence of arms from Libya slipping into other countries. Abdelkader Messahel, an Algerian Foreign Minister, claimed al-Qa’ida fighters are “reinforcing themselves with arms coming from Libya”. The Chad government has reported that SAM-7s have arrived there from Libya, while the authorities in Niger are trying to track down consignments of Semtex, the plastic explosive once favoured by the IRA, heading for dissident Tuareg tribes.

Tanks for protection

At the town of Tarhuna, near Bani Walid, more than 100 Russian-made tanks and armoured personnel carriers are parked in hangars.

A group of armed local men had come to see whether they could make use of the armour. “These have been here for a long time,” said Mahmood Ishmail Zubeidi.

“We thought maybe our villages could have our own tanks to protect the revolution. We have even got two drivers. But all the fuel has been drained. So we are going to Tripoli to get ourselves some other things like AKs (AK-47 assault rifles). Maybe we’ll get some machine guns as well.”

The British division of an American arms company was upgrading the communications equipment of Muammar Gaddafi’s most feared army unit when the revolution against his rule broke out, documents unearthed in Tripoli show.

Radios for communication

General Dynamics UK had a contract to install new radio units for tanks, artillery and armoured troop carriers of the Khamis Brigade, an élite unit led by Colonel Gaddafi’s youngest son.

When the popular revolt against the Libyan dictator broke out in February, the Khamis Brigade spearheaded the regime’s military crackdown and has since been implicated in human rights abuses, torture and hundreds of extra-judicial killings.

Researchers for Human Rights Watch and the Reuters news agency unearthed letters from General Dynamics UK updating the Libyan military on the progress of its work at the Khamis Brigade headquarters. The latest letter, written by the UK project director Simon Kirkham, was dated 25 January and listed a variety of armoured vehicles in which the radio units would be installed.

General Dynamics pulled its 12 staff out of Tripoli on 19 February, two days after popular revolts were violently suppressed across the country.

Defending the deal

Andrew Boyle, a spokesman for General Dynamics UK, defended the company’s role in Libya. “General Dynamics worked with the Libyan government to deliver a communication system to one unit of the Libyan army and was part of a wider deal by the UK Government to bring the Libyan regime in from the cold. We did not provide any weaponry to the Libyan army.”

But Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director of Human Rights Watch, said Libya’s élite units were able to become so strong thanks in part to procurement from Western countries.

Mr Bouckaert said: “We’ve documented arms sales from not just the usual suspects but also Western companies. I think the lesson is that if you’re going to sell weapons to dictators, at some point down the line you’re going to be deeply embarrassed.” — The Independent

Latest on Libya

The following are the latest political and military developments in the Libyan crisis:

n More than 1,700 sub-Saharan African migrants have now taken refuge at a southern Libyan desert town and Gaddafi stronghold amid urgent efforts to try to evacuate them to safety, an international aid agency.

n South Africa’s refusal to recognize Libya’s new rebel rulers has again exposed the bureaucracy that often stymies decision-making in Pretoria.

n Already awash with bandits, ex-rebel nomads and a growing number of al Qaeda-linked gunmen, Niger’s desert north is now the main escape route south from the war in Libya-and could yet emerge as Muammar Gaddafi’s bolt-hole.

n Rebuilding Libya could be worth at least $200 billion over 10 years, but France’s role in ousting Gaddafi will not be enough to seal deals, the chief of France’s overseas business federation said.

n Gaddafi was last tracked heading for Libya’s southern border, the man leading the hunt told Reuters, though Burkina Faso again denied any plan to offer the deposed leader refuge.

n Haunted by gun-toting loyalists and festooned with faded portraits of Gaddafi, the besieged Libyan town of Bani Walid remains stubbornly in the hands of die-hard gunmen raring to fight for their deposed leader.

n Niger’s interior minister denied on Tuesday that hundreds of Libyan vehicles had crossed into the country, saying that, to his knowledge, only the head of Gaddafi’s security brigades and his family had been welcomed in the country.

n Gaddafi is still in Libya and is safe and well, his spokesman said, saying he had no idea about a convoy of Libyan army vehicles which are believed to have crossed the desert frontier into Niger.

n NATO said it conducted 118 air sorties Tuesday, 40 of them strike sorties to identify and hit targets.

n It said key targets hit included: one surface-to-air missile container, one multiple rocket launcher, four armed vehicles, one ammunition store, six tanks, six armoured fighting vehicles and one self-propelled artillery piece in the Sirte area

n Since NATO took command of air strikes on March 31, its aircraft have conducted 21,780 sorties including 8,180 strike sorties. NATO members participating in air strikes include France, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Belgium, Italy and the United States.

n Fourteen ships under NATO command are patrolling the central Mediterranean Sea to enforce a U.N. arms embargo. On Tuesday, 13 vessels were hailed to determine destination and cargo. Four were boarded but none diverted.

n A total of 2,514 vessels have been hailed, 262 boarded and 11 diverted since the start of the arms embargo.