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Article108.pngGods in God’s own country Kerala seem to have been displeased by man’s callous disregard for the lives and safety of fellow human beings. The devastating explosion in the wee hours of Sunday caused by fire crackers in a store house at the century-old Puttingal Devi temple in the coastal town of Paravur in Kollam district, some 60 kilometres from the state capital Thiruvanthapuram, that killed as many as 110 people and injured some 350 people was a tragedy waiting to happen. It was a result of gross negligence and callous attitude. Mishaps from bursting of fire crackers have been a regular occurrence in Kerala temple festivals but April 10 tragedy that flattened an entire area near the store house apparently stocked about 50 tonnes of gunpowder and assorted explosive material, which sent shock waves across the country. There were around 15,000 people in and around the complex when the fire started. Temples in Kerala always have an fascination for pyrotechnics and decorated elephants and it is an integral part of festivals in Hindu places of worship and churches for decades and their scale has been rising year after year, mainly due to the element of competitiveness.

Competitive fire works displays are relatively recent additions in festivals to entertain and attract crowd and business in Kerala. At many places, such displays are held as competitions with one group trying to outdo another. Nothing is seemed excessive in these exhibitions of financial clouts – not even incendiary materials of dangerous potency. Banned chemicals are known to have been used in crackers burst at the festival contests.At Paravur too, there used to be a competitive fire works display every year. But this time, the District Collector and the Additional District Magistrate had decided to refuse permission for fire works show on the grounds of safety. The temple authorities flouted the ban and went ahead with the display. With growing scale of pyrotechnic displays disregarding all safety norms, fire works related accidents have also been on the rise. Many have died in explosions as fire crackers were being manufactured or burst. The first major fire works mishap that shocked Kerala was in 1952 at the famous hill-shrine of Sabarimala in which 68 people died and many maimed. Another tragedy occurred in 1987 when 27 spectators sitting on a railway track and watching the fire works at the Sri Jagannatha temple in Thalassery were run over by the train.

The deafening noise created by the display had drowned out the sound of approaching train. Since then, there have been major fire works accidents every now and then killing and injuring people in different parts of Kerala. Rough estimates show that in the last 50 years, there have been more than 400 such incidents and they have claimed many lives. The world famous Thrissur pooram, around the corner, an annual temple festival, which is known for its mutiple rounds of competitive fireworks display held at the Swaraj Round at Vadakkunnath temple, has been hit thrice with high casualties. It is not just the pyrotechnics that make Kerala temples veritable disaster sites during the annual festivals but also parading elephants and over crowding. Along with the fire crackers casualties, what is also on the rise is the loss of lives and property due to attacks by elephants who run amok. Festivals in Kerala are getting bigger and bigger and both the fireworks and elephants have a pride place in the scheme of things. Incidents have also taken place where terrorised elephants due to stampede have gone astray and injured mahouts and innocent bystanders.

Most often this is the outcome of continuous tortures of these giant creatures by the insensitive owners and mahouts, who overwork them, bundle the elephants in lorries, tie them so that they cannot move and ferry them from one temple to another without food in searing heat to collect maximum possible revenue during the festival season.The state’s temples – managed by rich and powerful trusts that often flout local regulations – and a clutch of religious organisations have planned to do away with fireworks displays. But the Travancore Devaswom board that manages about 1,255 temples in Kerala said it does not favour a blanket ban. Since 2003, Kerala has a law that bans the use and storage of certain types of locally-made firecrackers, the ones predominantly used for festivals. That the police raided and seized more that 150 kilograms of explosive- the legal limit is 15 kg– from various places in and around Kollam also shows that if officials had been alert, this tragedy of such magnitude could have been avoided. Kerala High Court has banned use of high decibel crackers and fireworks display after sunset in places of worship across the state.Thirteen people, including the members of the managing committee of Puttingal Devi temple have been arrested in connection with Sunday’sfire crackers tragedy.”

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Article113.pngPakistan’s unexpected diplomatic one-upmanship on India when its High Commissioner in New Delhi Abdul Basit, who has been hawkish in his approach, announced with much fanfare on April 4 that the “”Comprehensive Bilateral dialogue”” between the two neighbours stands “”suspended. There are no talks being planned now between the foreign secretaries,”” he added, leaving it to the scribes to interpret it in any manner they liked. It sent the mandarins in the imposing South Block housing the high profile Ministry of External Affairs into a tizzy. Islamabad not only caught India napping but on the wrong foot which is bound to compel Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reassess matters for himself about what is it since his stunning and unannounced visit to Lahore on Christmas day last year that has compelled his counterpart and host Nawaz Sharif to suspend the “”Comprehensive Bilateral dialogue”” even before it has got under way.

Pakistan’s powerful Army

Clearly, the powerful Army establishment in Pakistan has played its pre-eminent role of being a spoiler as always when it comes to India. Be that as it may, Modi and Sharif’s efforts to invest afresh in the bilateral peace process with the former’s initiative on December 25 appears to have been snuffed out prematurely. After the terrorist attack in Pathankot in the new year, New Delhi postponed the Foreign Secretary level talks. India and Pakistan are again back to square one in their efforts to normalise relations which has remained a exercise in futility so far. On his part Modi, known for thinking out of the box, will become highly circumspect in the future when it comes to Pakistan. He is not one to throw in the towel. At the same time his National Security Adviser Ajit Doval may have to change tack. Doval spoke to his Pakistani counterpart Naseer Khan Janjua on April eighth after giving more than 30 hours to Islamabad to put the record straight. That did not happen and Janjua maintained that Basit had only stated the factual position. Nevertheless, Janjua was not averse to the two NSAs meeting and trying to sort out the differences or misunderstanding.

There is no guarantee that Janjua can stop or negate the Pakistan military’s continuing efforts to block any forward movement in the political leadership’s attempts to resolve protracted issues and irritants between the two sides. However, former Pakistan President Gen Pervez Musharraf insists he ordered “”Operation Kargil”” as a revenge for the humiliation suffered by them 45 years back when that neighbouring country split with the creation of Bangladesh. Discriminating observers believe the inputs provided to Modi in evolving his Pakistan policy has fallen flat.

Denial of reciprocal access to NIA

A case in point is Pakistan’s denial of reciprocal access to India’s National Investigative Agency (NIA) after having created a controversy by allowing the neighbour’s SIT to come to this country and visit Pathankot in the first instance. This is believed to have been agreed to at the level of the two Prime Ministers. The opposition has launched a frontal attack against Modi for his theatrics but the ground realities cannot be overlooked requiring reconciliation along with some give and take by both sides. Islamabad and the General Headquarters of the Army in Rawalpindi must understand that the vale of Kashmir is never going to be handed over to the neighbour. The resolution adopted by Parliament is categoric that Jammu and Kashmir is an inalienable and integral part of India.

Terror remains India’s dominant concern having faced its brunt not only in Jammu and Kashmir but in different parts of the country for more than three decades. There is a strong section of opinion in India that it should give up being a soft state and become pro-active in giving it back to Pakistan where it hurts the most for aiding and abetting terrorism for nearly four decades. Once again the Pakistan Army is trying to undermine the political leadership of Sharif. As expected it has deliberately sought to derail and scuttle the bilateral dialogue. Indeed Basit played his part effectively. Despite New Delhi’s objections, he has continued to hob nob with the separatists in Srinagar.

On April 9 an NIA special court in Mohali adjacent to Chandigarh in Haryana issued arrest warrants against Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar and three others wanted in January’s Pathankot air base attack case. The others were Abdul Rauf, Kashif Jan and Shahid Latif. On March 28 when the talks began between the NIA and Pakistan Joint Investiation team, the former showed the visitors the evidence of the Pakistani link including the involvement of JeM in the attack.

India has been quite miffed with Pakistan’s posturing over the last few weeks specially in the wake of new allegations of India’s spying activities. Not only there were calculated leaks in the Pakistan media while their SIT was in India, Islamabad doubted whether any Pakistani militants were involved in the attack. The GHQ in Rawalpindi wants matters between India and Pakistan to remain in a limbo. It is evident New Delhi failed to factor in that NIA will not be allowed to visit Pakistan once its Special Investigating Team had returned home. The MEA cannot absolve itself of failing to read Pakistan’s real intent or the machinations of the Inter-Service Intelligence. What is bewildering is Pakistan backing away from a terror investigator after having achieved its goal. Unfortunately, some of the Pakistan High Commissioner’s remarks in New Delhi about the suspension of the “”Comprehensive Dialogue”” process has the portends of worsening the atmospherics between the two neighbours.

What is painful is that attempts to promote peace has suffered a grievous blow time and time again. Pakistan’s powerful men in uniform, who control 70 per cent of that country’s economy, need to awaken to the painful reality that the Frankeinstein monster created by them is leading to its own annihilation and inevitable destruction.

(The writer is a senior journalist and commentator. Views expressed are personal.)“

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Article112.pngWith the BJP firmly committing itself to the “”Agenda of Alliance”” and reticent about the confidence building measures proposed by Mehbooba Mufti following the death of her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in January left the heir apparent no option but to take oath of office and secrecy as chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir on April 4. This time Governor’s rule lasted 87 days in the sensitive border state. Mehbooba could not have pushed her luck any further as the chances of a revolt against her in the PDP was brewing. Had it erupted and come into the open, it would have been disastrous for the PDP as the Mufti’s legacy in the only Muslim majority state in the country would have come to nought. In the event of a snap poll that she had cautioned her party time and time again, it was no secret that the PDP would have lost the plot. The advantage would have rested with her rival National Conference and the Congress to make a comeback bid.

Finally, Mehbooba has come out of the shadows enjoying the distinction of being the first woman chief minister of J & K. Caught in a delicate situation, she has to tread guardedly between the cacophony of the separatists on the one side and the unthinkable aspect of getting the North Pole and the South Pole especially the PDP-BJP combine working in tandem for development and progress rather than pushing their extreme ideologies. On his part Prime Minister Narendra Modi after returning from Saudi Arabia telephoned Mehbooba and assured full cooperation and financial assistance from the centre. She told her council of ministers that her mission is to realise the vision of her father of “”a peaceful, prosperous and stable J & K.”” Interestingly, she conceded having more BJP ministers in her council of ministers.

No sooner than she had assumed the office of chief minister she was staring at a flare up in the National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Srinagar where a section of students were roughed up. The matter should have best been left to the NIT administration. But that was not to be given the penchant for central intervention by the HRD ministry under the charge of Smriti Irani. It posed a challenge to Mehbooba’s leadership in ensuring that the situation did not go out of hand along with soothing ruffled feathers so that calm prevailed. It has become apparent that the unwarranted Central intervention has added to the Valley’s sense of bias against Delhi. Such interventions took place in other institutions of higher learning like the JNU in the national capital and the Central University in Hyderabad attracting national attention and complicating matters. Growing instances of intolerance in higher institutions of learning must be curbed rather than fanning it with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student wing of the BJP, in the forefront backed by the fringe elements of the Sangh Parivar.

The crisis in Srinagar brings to the fore the divisive politics of nationalism. The dangers of such tactics cannot be overlooked. The bottom line is for the PDP and BJP to work in concert for instilling confidence among the people at large. Considering the rising militancy in J & K there is mounting frustration in the Valley. The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) is complicated as it pertains to the protection required by the Army and whether they should be redeployed out of relatively calm areas. The Supreme Court has already laid down strict guidelines for counter terrorism operations that has contributed to adequate decline in human rights violations by the military. In Jammu and Kashmir the clamour is for according priority to police reforms.

At the first cabinet meeting chaired by her earlier this week on Monday, Mehbooba announced people welfare measures like doubling the ration from 5 Kg to 10 Kg per person involving an annual additional expenditure of Rs 1500 crores to an enhanced population of 1.19 crores. Pensions have also been raised by 30% for those between 85 to 90 years, 40% for those between 90-95 years, 50% to those in 95-100 age group and 100% for the centurians and above. Travel allowance has also been revised from Rs 15000 to Rs 20,000 per month for the Durbar move with immediate effective. Mehbooba wants to fulfil her father’s wish of making J&K a welfare state. Mehbooba needs to generate goodwill for herself in all the three distinct regions — Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh — of the state peculiar to J&K alone.

Simultaneously, she has to build bridges with the centre. It is in this context her meeting with the Prime Minister on Wednesday assumes importance. She reminded Modi of his desire to make J&K a model state. She requested him to include Srinagar and Jammu in the plan of making them part of the “”Smart Cities Mission”” of the Urban Development ministry. Looking back it makes immense sense why the Mufti as a tall leader preferred having an alliance with the BJP led NDA government on the majestic Raisina Hill in the national capital. After mulling over matters for 90 days from January to March last year, the Mufti proposed an unimaginable tie up with the BJP without which he was convinced the centre would have throttled J&K for direly needed financial resources.
Going with the Congress or anyone else for that matter was not a viable option. Considering his tall stature as a leader in J&K, no one dare oppose him openly despite the underlying resentment in his party. There is no doubt despite the stone walling by the BJP on the CBMs that Mehbooba direly wanted to put in place, she had to necessarily take the plunge of forming the government despite the challenges it presented. Politics is the art of the possible. Lets wait and see.

(T R Ramachandran is a senior journalist and commentator. The views expressed here are personal.)”

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Article111.pngThe Modi government has come under sharp attack from the Congress-Left combine on its in principle decision to sign the Logistics Support Agreement with the U.S., expressing strong reservations and claiming that it was intrusive and amounted to compromising national sovereignty and strategic autonomy of the country. Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Anand Sharma said that the LSA was earlier proposed by the U.S. in 2004 but the UPA government, led by the Congress, had resisted it for the past 10 years on the basis of some valid concerns. The agreement, still under negotiation, envisages providing logistical support, fuel supplies, services and repair facilities to each other’s military.

Mr. Sharma said the LSA would be misconstrued by India’s other strategic partners as India being drawn into a Military Alliance with the U.S. and two other agreements form the part of The Foundational Agreements as they are called – the second one is CISMOA i.e. The Communication and Information Security MOA and the third is BECA – Basic Exchange and Co-operation Agreement. “”Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government do not have a national mandate to push India into a situation in closer, deeper Military Alliance and become part of the larger operational designs and requirements of the US in Asia, in Pacific and South China Sea. It would be detrimental to India’s interests, our security interest and also undermine or rather underrate the critical geo-strategic balance and also the balance for forces in India’s extended neighbourhood in the Region,”” Mr. Sharma said.

He clarified that India has refused to be drawn into any Military Alliance and has only strategic partnerships. He asked the government to retrace its steps and ensure that India’s past position of not leaning or being drawn into Military Blocks is respected. He also questioned the U.S. decision to supply lethal weaponry, including F-16 fighter jets, to Pakistan knowing fully well that Islamabad’s armed forces do not have any friendly intention towards India and its people. The Communist Party of India (CPI) feared that the proposed agreement would allow the US Armed Forces to be stationed on Indian soil in the name of repairing and maintenance facilities for American ships and aeroplanes.

“”While the people of Japan, Philippines, Cuba and other countries are fighting to remove the American bases from their soil, India is providing such a facility to USA, though in the name of “Maintenance facility” is very dangerous. The CPI said such strategic agreements should be discussed in Parliament and there should be no compromise on the question of national sovereignty,” the CPI said in a statement. The CPI (M) said the Modi government has taken the dangerous step of deepening military collaboration with the U.S. by agreeing to allow US armed forces to use base facilities in Indian naval and air force bases. In doing so, the BJP government has crossed a line which no other government has done since independence – converting India into a full-fledged military ally of the United States. All political parties and patriotic citizens should oppose this surrender to the USA, the CPI (M) said.”

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Article115.pngThe suicide bomber of Jamat-ul-Ahrar, a breakaway faction of Pakistani Taliban, carried out bomb blasts in a park in Lahore on March 27 where Christians were celebrating Easter. The powerful bomb explosion in which more than 20 kgs of explosives was used killed more than 72 persons and caused injuries to about 340 others, mainly Christians. The spokesman of the terrorist outfit not only took the responsibility of the heinous act but also threatened of more such attacks against Christians. The ghastly act was condemned by Pakistani Prime Minister, Pakistani Chief of Army staff as well as by several other local leaders. Indian Prime Minister as well as leaders of United States, Australia and other countries also condemned the blast.

Both Pakistani Prime Minister and Chief of Staff chaired separate meetings to deal terrorism especially in Punjab. Nawaz Sharif promised to take stringent action and the police also arrested few persons suspected to be involved in the blast. Pakistani civil as well as military leadership project Punjab as a peaceful state hence terrorist activities in the province are kept underground instead of dealing with them severely. At present military operations against terrorists are going on in North Waziristan and Karachi while Punjab is publicized as a safe province. The Islamic Jihadists attacked Christians, whose population is about 2.5 million in Pakistan. In the past too, two blasts in Lahore in March 2015 killed 14 persons and injured 80. In 2013 more than 80 persons lost their lives in bomb blasts that shook Peshawar.

The Islamic extremism is increasing in Pakistan rapidly. Christians are badly treated in the country and face inequity, abhorrence and constant maltreatment by the Muslim majority. There were reports of destroying dwelling places, villages, churches and even the religious books of Christians without provocation. The blasphemy laws in Pakistan are grossly misused against the minorities to settle their personal feuds. The minorities have to face mob fury even on false allegations of blasphemy. Both civil and military leadership made tall claims to prevent such occurrences but no worthwhile effort were made to protect the Christian minorities.

Pakistan administration claimed that bomb blasts were not against Christians and more Muslims were killed in the explosion than the Christians but it was a distortion of facts as Christians were celebrating Easter with their families and in the blast more women and children were killed. Not only this spokesman of Jamat-ul-Ahrar the terrorist outfit took responsibility of the blast and unambiguously mentioned that the blast was against Christians and they would carry out more such terrorist attacks. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who wanted to avoid attending 4th and final Nuclear Security Summit held in Washington cancelled his visit under the pretext of Lahore bomb explosion. The summit was expected to converse about the safety and security of nuclear and other radiological weapons in view of terrorist threat.

Pakistan Army is the real custodian of nuclear warheads and the civilian government headed by Nawaz Sharif has a little sway over it. Besides this Pakistan is also a breeding ground of terrorists and the world community is worried about the safety and security of the nuclear weapons especially of ‘Nasr’ missile which is capable of carrying nuclear warheads up to 60 kilometers. There are umpteen number of press reports that Islamic State (IS), the most powerful and resourceful terrorist organization, is trying to procure nuclear warheads from Pakistan. Several Islamic terrorist organizations active in Pakistan also claim that they would procure nuclear warheads through some Islamic fanatic who can lay hands on the nuclear weapons. The cohorts of Mumtaz Qadri, the assassin of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer surrounded Islamabad and demanded the execution of Aasia Bibi who was guilty of blasphemy. The administration is unable to take stringent action against the protesters who were supporting a murderer of a governor who was against blasphemy law.

Pakistani administration should take stringent action against the perpetrators of terror on Christian minority. The security agencies are taking half-hearted action against the terrorists especially in Punjab hence terrorist outfits are strengthening. There are also reports that Christians are migrating to other countries especially Sri Lanka, Thailand as migrating to Europe and America is difficult from Pakistan. The Pakistani administration must take corrective measures as migration of Christian community would send out wrong signals. The administration must understand that extremism and terrorism have no limits. The Islamic extremists first eliminate non-Muslims and then to Shia Muslims and afterwards various Sunnis groups like Hanafi, Hanbali, Maliki, Hanafi, Wahabis, Shafi, Barelvi, Deobandis would fight among themselves. According to an estimate more than 44 percent Madrassas of Pakistan are in Punjab and they are propagating extremism in the province. These Madrassas are financed by various terrorist outfits as well as by few Mid-East countries hence controlling of these Madrassas is essential.

(Jai Kumar Verma is an independent security analyst based in Delhi.)“

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dialdfordon.pngFormer Delhi Commissioner of Police Neeraj Kumar’s book — DIAL D FOR DON : Inside Stories of CBI Missions — is highly absorbing for its forthright narrative which puts one on the edge of a seat. Needless to say it involves painstaking investigation in the cloak and dagger game which is real with all the concomitant dangers. There have been several instances where the author has been caught in tricky situations along with his team in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) where he was on deputation for nine years and established some enviable benchmarks.

Kumar provides an account of the country’s underworld particularly in Mumbai ranging from organised crime to match fixing along with the blood letting and mayhem of terrorism. He has tried to put matters in perspective without undermining its deleterious impact on society. Being his first book the author’s personality comes across as being a pragmatic and a dogged sleuth leading to convictions in court. There have been moments when he has wondered if he has taken a wrong decision which might bring a bad name to the CBI, acknowledged as the premier investigating agency in the country. Ultimately his steadfast approach and quiet confidence paid rich dividends.

Raja Vijay Karan, former Director of CBI as well as Commissioner of Delhi Police, draws pointed attention to Kumar’s remarkable memory with “”no notes, no documents and no background papers”” which has held him in good stead. In his foreword, he refers to Kumar’s narration which brings out though mutedly the anxiety that he had to face due to personal jealousies of fellow officers in the CBI and the police. “”It is a shame that we human beings are such imperfect entities, capable of spite, deceit and needless oneupmanship.”” Further, India still continues to pay a heavy price for the communal riots that occur frequently in the country. Pakistan is always there to exploit this faultline in our country both to to give this country a bad name and inveigle the minority community into terrorism against India,”” observed Karan.

A book of this kind is uncommon as one has hardly come across real time painstaking investigations on transnational terrorism which has never been the forte of the CBI. Nevertheless the agency had taken up the challenge and come up trumps despite the handicaps. Subsequently there was a felt need to constitute the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to exclusively probe terrorism in its entirety. The book has been devoted to the investigations connected among others with the serial bomb blasts in Mumbai along with Mumbai’s shady and dangerous under world. The topics range from — Gifts from the Gulf, The rise and fall of Aftab Ansari, Operation Desert Safari: the story of an anti-kidnap, Dial D for Don: My Conversations with Dawood Ibrahim, Devil Wears Khadi, Our Man in Dubai: the CBI versus the ISI and Between 22 yards: Tracing of ‘MK’ the pioneer of match fixing in cricket.

“”Operation Desert Safari”” is the tantalising story of an anti-kidnap operation pertaining to an Abu Dhabi based entrepreneur Thekkat Siddique ready to venture into uncharted territory. He arrived in Delhi on 11 March 2001 at the invitation of one Vijay Rathore whom he had never met. Vijay had repeatedly spoken to Thekkat on the telephone and through emails inviting him to Delhi for business negotiations. Hailing from Calicut, Thekkat had moved to Abu Dhabi more than two decades back. As it turned out a Dubai based gangster had received news of Thekkat’s ‘boundless riches”” and plotted to have him kidnapped during his visit to India. He was received at the airport by one of Vijay’s PAs and taken to a well appointed bungalow in South Delhi. Once inside the house Vijay was conspicuous by his absence. Instead Thekkat was confronted by unkempt men who roughed him up.

The captive was informed he would have to pay a ransom of $ two million if he wanted to be set free. Thekkat realised his mistake of not checking the antecedents of his host in Delhi. He was made to speak to his wife in Abu Dhabi and notify her about his abduction. On the following day on March 12, Thekkat’s family members met India’s then ambassador in Abu Dhabi K C Singh seeking his help. The Ambassador took a written complaint from the victim’s wife and faxed it promptly to R K Raghavan, the then Director of CBI. Kumar was not sure how to respond especially as the CBI’s capabilities in tackling a live kidnap situation had never been tested. The option was to take up the case in the Economic Offences wing of which the author was the Joint Director. At this stage the CBI had three divisions: Anti Corruption Division, the Economic Offences Wing and the Special Crimes Division.

A hostage situation requiring search and rescue operations was unheard of in the CBI. Volunteering to investigate such a case was “”sticking one’s neck a bit too far.”” Kumar took it up as a challenge and did not want to disappoint the Ambassador who had reposed faith in him. To cut a long story short Kumar worried endlessly for the man being held hostage by transnational criminals. His perseverance and resoluteness paid. His highly dedicated team facilitated Thekkat’s rescue along with the Special Cell of Delhi police. All the surviving accused in the case were awarded life sentences. Kumar found operation Desert Safari easily one of the most thrilling and satisfying experiences of his professional life.

In Dial D for Don, the author drew attention that before moving to CBI on deputation he was DCP, Crime Branch in the national capital where he became aware of the movement of gangsters acting at the behest of the dreaded Dawood Ibrahim in securing arms and ammunition in large quantities for creating chaos in the western metropolis of Mumbai. Two names that figured often were Ahmed Mansoor from the Jama Masjid area in Delhi. Mansoor had grown up with Dawood and knew a lot about his formative years and his later life as well. Dawood’s father was a constable in the police and extremely strict with his seven children. The family lived in a small room in a crowded chawl. Dawood knew there was no future for him in these environs.

Mansoor also told police about Dawood’s lavish lifestyle in Dubai, his fondness for mujras (soirees musicale) and women along with keen interest in cricket and Bollywood and how his word was the law in Mumbai. Most disputes involving real estate, monetary matters, release dates of films by different producers, casting of film stars etc were decided in his ‘court’ in Dubai. Kumar and the Don had three long conversations on 10 June, 20 June and 22 June 1994. “”What Dawood wanted to convey to me was that Tiger Memon had approached him ostensibly in connection with his dispute with Haji Ahmed. Tiger had tricked some of his aides into thinking that he was part of the overall controversy behind sending consignments of weapons and explosives. Dawood was kept in the picture when the conspiracy was hatched. “”D”” continues to be safely hiding in Pakistan with no chance of India getting him back.

Pakistan, despite being given Dawood’s place of hiding, routinely denies his presence in the neighbouring country. Giving up Dawood is a difficult demand for Pakistan to comply resulting in ISI losing its credibility in engaging Indians for terrorist activities in the future. Willy nilly but happily destiny brought Kumar to be part of four major inquiries/investigations into match fixing malpractices in cricket. “”I was exposed to the rot that has set in the game once played by lords and royals on sunny afternoons. It was common for batsmen to ‘walk’ even when declared not out if the batsman knew he had nicked the ball and had been caught behind. If given out even when he was not, the batsman would still walk.”” A few rotten eggs have muddied the waters and given the game a bad name,”” emphasises Kumar.

He acknowledged he needed hard facts to beef up the stories in this book and while researching the author had to reconnect with police officers at all levels in Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Gujarat and the CBI. The book has some explosive details and nerve tingling suspense. Overall a must read book.

TR

(T R Ramachandran is a senior journalist and commentator.)
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Article114.png“Jawaharlal cannot become a dictator. And yet he has all the makings of a dictator in him – vast popularity, a strong will directed to a well-defined purpose, energy, pride, organizational capacity, ability, hardness and with all his love of the crowd, an intolerance of others and a certain contempt of the weak and the inefficient. His fleshes of temper are well known and even when they are controlled, the curling of the lips betrays him.” These are the few lines from an anonymous article bylined Chanakya, published under the heading ‘Rashtrapati’ in 1939 in the Modern Review, edited by Ramananda Chatterjee. It caused a sensation. Nehru eventually owned up and explained he had himself written the article because he did not want a third term as Congress president.

Even when the Web was in its infancy, two decades ago, The New Yorker magazine ran a cartoon with a dog sitting in front of a computer, one paw on the keyboard. The caption read: “”On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.” Anonymity has always been an appeal of online life. But its menace has increased manifold as users of social media have taken for granted that the territory was both a free-for-all and a digital disguise, allowing them to revel in their power to address the world while keeping their identities concealed. It is as if people lose all empathy and that the person they attack online is not a human being. People lose all sense of decency and humanity through online communication.  This shows that if that is the major legacy of the Internet then the web has been a bad development for humanity.

What’s important is that one has the freedom to engage in a conversation, not that one has the right to be as unpleasant or rude as possible.  The bottom line is that civility is important in personal relations and on the internet too. At its worst, it gives trolls and cyber bullies licence to pick arguments, threaten and abuse. Anonymity has become the refuge of scoundrels. Because of anonymity the Internet is the biggest showcase of inanity and stupidity. The misinformation, the paranoia, the childish illogic, the endlessly repeated Internet hoaxes, the phony statistics, fake quotations, the doctored-up examples from history: all go under the cover of anonymity. Deceit and fakery have destroyed the fabric of Internet culture.  Anonymous commentators definitely write more scathingly and righteously and angrily. Anonymity has made comment streams on websites havens for a level of crudity, bigotry, meanness and plain nastiness that shocks the Internet public.

Votaries of the anonymity on the web argue that even voting is anonymous. It’s the basis of democracy. The often repeated allegation that anonymity encourages vileness from some (not all) people is not correct. There are also thoughtful and perceptive anonymous comments – so it is not the anonymity alone that leads to vileness in comments. Anonymity rather gives you the means to express your true viewpoint, free of any pressure. Anonymous comments more accurately reflect the true opinions and insights of the commentator. People have varied opinions on lots of things. You might have some views on one subject, but quite different from your bosses. We don’t live in a fair world, and if those bosses see your point of view on the Internet, odds are you’ll lose your job, or worse. There are sensitive subjects like abortion, gay marriage, political leaning and so on. Moreover, some people on the Internet don’t understand the concept of sarcasm.

I have never posted any comments online anonymously.  I believe this defeats their purpose: namely, to stir up debate on important issues of our day, and solicit the views of others—who may disagree. What has perhaps stunned me the most are the negative and vile comments on Indian news sites. To eliminate or censor comments, however, does not seem to be the answer either. I agree that personal attacks should be eliminated.  However, here is a catch. Too many prominent Web sites censor political views, and exclude those that are not “”politically correct,”” which is absurd.

The New Yorker has quoted the psychologists Marco Yzer and Brian Southwell putting, “new communication technologies do not fundamentally alter the theoretical bounds of human interaction; such interaction continues to be governed by basic human tendencies.” Whether online, on the phone, by telegraph, or in person, we are governed by the same basic principles. The medium may change, but people do not. The question instead is whether the outliers, the trolls and the flamers, will hold outside influence—and the answer seems to be that, even protected by the shade of anonymity, a dog will often make himself known with a stray, accidental bark. Then, hopefully, he will be treated accordingly. Few news organisations, including The Times, have someone review every comment before it goes online, to weed out personal attacks and bigoted comments. Some sites and prominent bloggers, like Andrew Sullivan, simply do not allow comments.

Most news sites do not have the resources to do routine policing. Many sites allow readers to flag objectionable comments for removal, and make some effort to block comments from people who have repeatedly violated the site’s standards. If commentators were asked to provide their real names for display online, some would no doubt give false identities, and verifying them would be too labor-intensive to be realistic. But news sites executives say that merely making the demand for a name and an e-mail address would weed out much of the most offensive commentary. Several industry executives have cited a more fundamental force working in favour of identifying commentators. Through blogging and social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, millions of people have grown accustomed to posting their opinions – to say nothing of personal details – with their names attached, for all to see. Adapting the Facebook model, some news sites allow readers to post a picture along with a comment, another step away from anonymity.

Free speech has its limits. Let the warning go out to all those who engage in such attacks, that “”truth”” will not be a defence. Incidentally, it’s a pity they didn’t have these laws in place. 250 years ago in France, when Voltaire used false names to publish nasty “”whistle-blowing”” attacks against Rousseau, viciously exposing the fact that Rousseau had abandoned his children in orphanages.  Rousseau pointed out that the author of these pseudonymous attacks was a coward, but it would have been good to put Voltaire in jail too for what he did. We’ve seen how unfettered anonymity quickly breaks down into digital anarchy on other sites, and vowed to approach things differently at our current online news and information offering. Some news sites executives are extremely pleased with the result, finding that taking a hard stance against trolls and fifth columnists goes a long way toward preserving civility and, ultimately, the value of the site for their readers.

Online behavior, the mere isolation behind the screen, leads to a host of problems that are not really related to usage of one’s real name or an anonymous one – this comes from being alone behind the screen, not unlike that of being a sole driver in a car in traffic. The isolation and anonymity is there, and the anger, rudeness and aggression are there as well.  The widespread phenomenon known as cyber bullying is prevalent among teens regardless of whether the real name is used or not. Internet use today is a large, unchecked playing field where people are not taught how to behave civilly. Various circles are trying to figure out what creates this behaviour.

In the early days of the Internet, anonymity ruled in chat rooms and message boards. The interest in an anonymous web has never disappeared. But it has become less popular amidst the growth of Facebook. The early days of the Internet resulted in a largely negative connotation towards anonymity, but that is shifting as anonymity is coming back into fashion. The recent revelations about NSA monitoring of phone and Internet activity only increase concerns about privacy, Web companies like Airbnb are using real identity on the Web to make sure users are safe when they travel to strangers’ homes. The Facebook verification is a key part of establishing trust for such sharing economy companies. Travelers can see that a user is a normal person, not, say, a psychopath. Airbnb has also gone beyond Facebook to add another layer of identity verification, wherein people have to upload a photo of their driver’s license or passport to be verified. The information age is really the age of disinformation. We all know that, of course. Not only is public discourse marred — or perhaps defined, which is even more unfortunate — by various propaganda campaigns waged by one party against the other.

Not only is the public trust betrayed by those in public office and those who report on it, but disinformation has leached into our personal lives. If you’ve ever read a review of a hotel or restaurant that proved to be entirely false, then you’re a victim of the disinformation age. If you’ve ever left a negative comment because of some slight, or trashed a book without reading it because you’d heard something about the author or the topic that didn’t appeal to you, then you’re just like so many people who use modern technology to disseminate age-old vitriol. It’s a start. So-called trolls who use comments sections to espouse negative views or to threaten or foment discord will always find ways to keep fanning the flames of disinformation. Will traffic drop to the sites that require a person behind the comment? Who knows? And if traffic is strong as a result of anonymous comments, which by their anonymity play to the cowardly worst in human nature – that tendency to be cruel without being discovered – then if traffic drops when anonymity is banished then the site is attracting a better class of visitor, even if there are fewer of them.

The Internet is for building relationships, not for belittling others or for dropping insults behind a false screen name. In the conversation that’s supposed to occur in an online community, anonymity breeds contempt. The Huffington post, the thriving US news site has recently denied anonymous comments. In the post, announcing this decision, it said, “it’s the tension between anonymity and accountability that is at the heart of a recent decision the Huffington Post has made to move away from anonymous accounts on its commenting platform. From its earliest days, The Huffington Post prioritised investing in its community. We wanted to create a positive environment for people to have a real conversation with each other. We pre-moderated all comments, developed state-of-the-art moderation technology, and hired a platoon of human moderators – a 40-person-strong team to supplement the technology and ensure a civil environment.

“But one glance at our comment section or the comment sections of other sites demonstrates what we’re all up against. Trolls have grown more vicious, more aggressive, and more ingenious. As a result, comment sections can degenerate into some of the darkest places on the Internet. At HuffPost, we publish nearly 9 million comments a month, but we’ve reached the point where roughly three-quarters of our incoming comments never see the light of day, either because they are flat-out spam or because they contain unpublishable levels of vitriol. And rather than participating in threads and promoting the best comments, our moderators are stuck policing the trolls with diminishing success. “It’s simple and painless to decry online toxicity; it’s harder and more important to do something about it. We at The Huffington Post have chosen to take an affirmative step by verifying the identities of new commenter accounts. We won’t eliminate every last note of negativity and nastiness on the site, but we believe this change will offer the guarantee of a gut check.

“Our hope is that this decision will lead to more of the robust conversations that we love having on HuffPost.” Newspapers in their web sites are also turning toward regulated comments. Of the largest 137 U.S. newspapers — those with daily circulation above 50,000 — nearly 49% ban anonymous commenting, according to Arthur Santana, assistant communications professor at the University of Houston. Nearly 42% allow anonymity, while 9% do not have comments at all. No one doubts that there is a legitimate value in letting people express opinions that may get them in trouble at work, or may even offend their neighbours, without having to give their names, said William Grueskin, Dean of Academic Affairs at Columbia’s journalism school. “But a lot of comment boards turn into the equivalent of a barroom brawl,” he said. “People who might have something useful to say are less willing to participate in boards where the tomatoes are being thrown.”

(The writer is a senior journalist and had a long innings with The Hindustan Times. Views expressed are personal.) “

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Article118.pngJust before the peak summer season sets in the country, foreign tourist arrivals during March 2016 touched 8,17,000, showing a growth of about 12 per cent over March 2015 when 7,29,000 foreign tourists had arrived in India. According to figures released by the Ministry of Tourism, foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) during the January- March 2016 period were 2.50 million, registering an increase of 10% as compared to the FTAs of 2.28 million with a growth of 3.5% in January- March 2015 over January- March 2014.

Among the top 15 source countries from where the tourists visited India during March 2016 were from Bangladesh (14.07%) followed by UK (13.16%), USA (11.84%), Germany (3.74%), Canada (3.57%), Sri Lanka (3.48%), Malaysia (3.45%), Russian Federation (3.19%), China (2.92%), France (2.92%), Australia (2.83%), Japan (2.43%), Nepal (1.72%), Singapore (1.67%) and Thailand (1.60).

The percentage share of FTAs in India during March 2016 among the top 15 airports was highest at Delhi Airport (33.82%) followed by Mumbai Airport (15.97%), Chennai Airport (7.30%), Bangaluru Airport (5.44%), Goa Airport (4.05%) and Kolkata Airport (4.02%). Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) from tourism in India during March 2016 were Rs. 13,115 crore as compared to Rs. 11,133 crore in March 2015 and Rs. 10,479 crore in March 2014. The growth rate in FEEs in rupee terms during March 2016 over March 2015 was 17.8%, according to official figures. FEEs from tourism in rupee terms during January- March 2016 were Rs. 40,411 crore with a growth of 15.9% as compared to the FEE of Rs. 34,875 crore during January- March 2015. FEEs in US$ terms during March 2016 were US$ 1.958 billion as compared to FEEs of US$ 1.783 billion in March last year.

The Ministry of Tourism compiles monthly estimates of FTAs on the basis of Nationality-wise, Port-wise data received from Bureau of Immigration (BOI) and Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) from tourism on the basis of data available from Reserve Bank of India.”

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Article117.pngFour days before the signing of the historic Paris Agreement, religious leaders from across the world have signed and issued an Interfaith Climate Change Statement impressing upon their respective governments to ratify the Paris Agreement. The Statement has been signed by 250 global faith leaders from across 50 countries, demonstrating a positive sentiment towards making the Paris Agreement work, and urging prompt ratification by governments so that it can come into force as soon as possible. Paris Agreement will be signed on Earth Day (22 nd April,2016) in New York. India along with rest of the countries will be present for a high level signing ceremony convened by UN secretary General Ban Ki Moon.

The Statement impresses upon the governments to rapidly sign, ratify and implement the Paris Agreement and to increase pledges to reduce emissions in line with keeping the global temperature ruse to 1.5 degrees C above pre-industrial levels. The Statement insists on rapid emissions reduction and peaking by 2020, in order to keep the 1.5 C goal within reach and strongly advocates for greater flows of finance, especially for adaptation and loss and damage. The Statement urges the swift phase out of all fossil fuel subsidies and a transition to 100% renewable energy by 2050 and encourages faith communities to reduce emissions in their homes, workplaces and centres of worship and to support and stand in solidarity with communities already impacted by climate change while calling for fossil fuel divestment and reinvestment in renewables, including within our own communities. The Statement was signed in Church Center of the UN.

The Statement also reaffirms the faith community’s support for increased ambition in climate change action and for the commitment to limit the global temperature rise to no more than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

The signatories include twenty religious leaders from India – Swami Agnivesh, President of the World Council of Arya Samaj; Swami Chidanand Saraswati, President Parmarth Niketan, Rishikesh and Co-Founder/chair Global Interfaith WASH Alliance; Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Founder of Art of Living Foundation; Swami Atmapriyananda, Vice Chancellor of Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University; Swami Charukeerty Bhattarak, Pontiff of Jain Shravanabelagola Math; and Acharya Shrivatsa Goswami of the Vaishnava tradition. Dr Imam Umer Ahmed Ilyassi, Chief Imam, All India Organisation of Mosques; Dharmacharya Shantum Seth, Ahimsa Trust, Plum Village International Community of Engaged Buddhists; Dr Mar Atsongchanger, President, National Council of Churches in India; Oswald Cardinal Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay, and President, Federation of Asian Bishops´ Conferences (FABC); Ven Khandro Rinpoche, Teacher in both the Kagyu and Nyingma traditions of Tibetan Buddhism; Mata Amritanandamayi (Amma); Bhagwati Saraswati, Secretary General, Global Interfaith WASH Alliance; Dr A.K.Merchant Trustee, Lotus Temple and National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is; Lieutenant Colonel Dasari Daniel, National Secretary, The Salvation Army; Dr. Roger Gaikwad, General Secretary, National Council of Churches in India; Wahidudin Khan, Founder of the Islamic Centre – Urdu Islamic Institution; Dr. Acharya Lokesh Muni, Ahimsa Vishwa Bharati; Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, Director, Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery among others.”

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Article116.pngCentre and the World Bank have signed a USD250 million credit agreement under the Jhelum and Tawi flood Recovery project for reconstruction and recovery support in flood-affected areas of Jammu and Kashmir in which public infrastructure and livelihoods were impacted severely. It will also strengthen the capacity of the state government to respond to and better manage natural disasters in the future. The Project will focus on the 20 flood-affected districts including Anantnag, Baramula, Budgam, Bandipora, Ganderbal, Kupwara, Kulgam, Pulwama, Shopian, Srinagar, Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Reasi, Doda, Kishtwar, Ramban, Poonch, Rajouri and Udhampur.

The project will be funded by credit from the International Development Association (IDA) – the World Bank’s concessionary lending arm with a maturity of 25 years, including a 5 year grace period. The credit agreement for the project was signed by Mr Raj Kumar, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs on behalf of the Government and Mr Onno Ruhl, World Bank Country Director, India on behalf of the World Bank.

The continuous spell of rains in September last year, caused Jhelum, Chenab and Tawi rivers including their tributaries and many other streams to flow above the danger mark. Due to the unprecedented heavy rainfall, the catchment areas, particularly the low lying areas were flooded for more than two weeks. The Jhelum River breached its banks at several places. Over a million families were affected, directly or indirectly, and some 300 lives lost. More than 648,000 hectares of agricultural and horticultural land were affected causing huge loss to crops, plantations and animals.

“”The project will focus on restoring critical infrastructure damaged by the floods using international best practice. The infrastructure will be designed to improve resilience to future flooding and landslide, as well as seismic risk,”” according to Mr Raj Kumar.

World Bank assistance has been sought in rebuilding damaged public buildings, such as hospitals, schools, higher education buildings, fire stations, and selected block and district offices, and other important public buildings. It will restore and improve the connectivity disrupted by reconstruction of damaged roads and bridges. The infrastructure will be re-designed to withstand earthquake and floods as per the latest official design guidelines.

“”This region is highly vulnerable to natural disasters that can push millions into poverty. In addition to reconstruction, which includes reconstruction of roads, bridges and public infrastructure, the project will also help the region to better prepared for the future,”” Mr Ruhl said. Another key component of this project will be to strengthen and reinforce existing weak and vulnerable flood control infrastructure. It will strengthen the capacity of government entities in managing disaster risks, enhancing preparedness, and achieving resilient recovery through the preparation of a Hydro-Meteorological Resilience Action Plan with a focus on extreme weather events; River Morphology study for some key rivers impacted by the disaster; and an urban vulnerability assessment among others.”