Vietnam comes back to haunt...
The US in the wake of Iraq mess

“The price of America’s withdrawal (from Vietnam) was paid by millions of innocent citizens,” so said US President George W. Bush, in an unexpected attempt to draw parallels between the Iraq war & America’s cold war nightmare in Vietnam. He also argued that, if the US gets out of Iraq, when the threat of militancy looms large over the West Asian country that would affect the credibility and morale of the US in its global “War on Terror.” So far, the critics of the Bush administration have called the Iraq fiasco, the Vietnam of President Bush. The President is now trying to shift the entire focus from Iraq invasion to the presumed consequences of an immediate withdrawal. Many US watchers are of the view that Bush’s risky game with historical examples is aimed at wining the support of the conservatives, who, still, believe that the Vietnam withdrawal was the manifest of vulnerability of the US political class. “Unlike Vietnam, Iraq is more than ideological. Vietnam doesn’t have oil where as Iraq plays a central role in America’s grand energy plans. Bush doesn’t want to lose that,” Prof. Chinthamani Mahapatra of JNU told B&E. Bush’s remarks have came just one month ahead of the scheduled tabling of the Petraeus-Crocker Iraq progress, which is unlikely to sound different from the official stand. Bush’ will use both the report & Vietnam to once again befool the public & inform Pentagon that democracy would not be allowed to interfere with military demands.

The ebb & flow of diplomacy!
Germany wants Japan to play a more proactive role in global affairs

(column by Stanly Mambilly)

German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, on her maiden visit to Japan has reiterated her resolve to conjoin with Japan in its fight against climate change and terrorism. Kicking off her three-day visit to the land of rising sun last week, she entered into serious discussion with the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on issues ranging from climate to Taliban. Despite, showing her concern for the South Koreans, taken hostages by Taliban in Afghanistan, Merkel’s greater emphasis is on evolving a global treaty aimed at slashing greenhouse gas emissions. The Chancellor has urged Japan to play a pivotal role in pushing a plan which would assist in reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases by 50% by 2050. And since Japan will be hosting G-8 summit of industrialized countries in 2008 & is also in the process of pushing for a successor to 1997 Kyoto Protocol, Merkel has sought Tokyo’s support to persuade the US to pay greater attention to environment issues. “Europe can contribute, but Europe cannot alone produce a G-8 position. So Japan must also play a key role, remarked Angela Merkel. On security related issues Prime Minster Shinzo Abe has reaffirmed the Japanese commitment to provide logistic support to the US forces operating in the Indian Ocean and pursuing the war on terror in Afghanistan. This was necessitated because Ichiro Ozawa, (leader of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan), spat with Merkel, where he categorically expressed his opposition to extend the mission (which expires on Nov. 1) to refuel ships fighting in Afghanistan, . That Japan should begin to shoulder “heavier responsibility” in terms of global peacekeeping & security efforts; stop operating from the fringes is what the Chancellor wanted to inform her Japanese counterparts.

(End of Stanly Mambilly column)

Malgudi marred!

(column by Saurabh K Shahi)
The dark terror clouds are hovering over South India

The Hyderabad blast has reiterated the fact that terror outfits are targeting South India as their potential module. Names of terror outfits such as Harkat-ul-Jihal-al Islami (HUJI) & other fringe groups related to al-Qaeda are being taken in preliminary investigation. To understand the threat posed by radical Islam in South India, we must understand the war within Islam. Of the 5 schools of thought in Sunni Islam, Salafi School of thought that is also called Wahabbism is the most puritan of all. Funded by Saudi billionaires & pumped up through Petro-Dollars; the doctrine is being spread with tremendous zeal. In its spread lies the story of Muslim fundamentalism. Wahabbism draws most of its recruits & foot soldiers from the Asian immigrant community who work in West Asia. A substantial population among them is of immigrant professionals from Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra. Fed up with the jibes of “Al-Hindi” and “Al- Kharaji”; they find conversion to Wahabbism as the easiest way out to prove their belief in puritan Islam. Literatures, Periodicals, Micro- Films and Documentaries based on Islamic-Nationalism movements in Palestine, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Chechnya and likes are provided in order to brain-wash these young professionals. Then; comes the role of money. The cash rich patrons of this movement spare millions of Dollars to fund their seminaries in India, Pakistan and likes. As most of the Indian immigrants are from the Southern states & Western UP; most of its strongholds are also located in these very regions. And it is here that sleeper-cells are mostly confined to. Caroline Wadhams, a Senior Security Analyst at the Centre for American Progress said while talking to B&E, “…It shall be foolish on our part to ignore the fact that most of these terrorist organisations such as Al Qaeda & Muslim Brotherhood draw their inspirations, money and cadres from the Wahaabi School of thought. Many of its recruits are from south India as well”

South India has not become the terrorist safe-haven overnight. It has been an important target of the Pakistani intelligence agency, ISI, mainly because our defence, nuclear & space establishments are located here. Furthermore, the availability of impressionable Muslim youth in the region have helped the out-lawed outfits to deepen their roots. These youth are being used to form sleeper cells in southern India, which in many cases are controlled through the Pakistani High Commission in Colombo. In 2004, Col. (Retd.) Bashir Wali, former Director of Pakistan’s Intelligence Bureau, took over as the Pakistani High Commissioner South India has not become the terrorist safe-haven overnight. It has been an important target of the Pakistani intelligence agency, ISI, mainly because our defence, nuclear & space establishments are located here. Furthermore, the availability of impressionable Muslim youth in the region have helped the out-lawed outfits to deepen their roots. These youth are being used to form sleeper cells in southern India, which in many cases are controlled through the Pakistani High Commission in Colombo. In 2004, Col. (Retd.) Bashir Wali, former Director of Pakistan’s Intelligence Bureau, took over as the Pakistani High Commissioner in Colombo. This gives us an idea about the strategic importance of Colombo for those perpetuating terrorism. On the other hand, since the late 80s, the educational institutions in South have been attracting radical Arab & Iranian students. In early 90s, Israeli authorities had recovered explosives from a Palestinian student studying in Bangalore. They had warned Indian authorities that South India in general & West Karnataka in particular were attracting radical students. Around the same period, the Egyptians had cautioned the Indians that radical students denied admission to Arab universities were managing to get admission to institutions in South India. The development indices in South India are higher than those in rest of the country. We cannot afford to let the region fall pray to the enemies of the nation. The authorities must take firm action to tackle the menace & get the errant youth back into the mainstream. Enhanced vigilance dovetailed with an education and employment campaign will help mitigate the problem.

(End of Saurabh K Shahi column)

Don’t act fresh...
with the infant retail chains in UP

“Power corrupts & absolute power corrupts absolutely”, is an old saying, oft en used to describe the misdemeanours of politicians. It is this very absolute power, which has led the Chief Minister Mayawati to close all standalone retail outlets in UP. And the ostensible reason for this rather bizarre decision is that the retail industry is harming the farmers. Interestingly, the entry of retail giants into the vegetable market has been instrumental in obliterating the middlemen from the system by directly dealing with the farmers. And all that these retail outlets are endeavouring is a win-win environment for all the three players in the business-the farmer; the consumer & the company. Gibson G Vedamani, CEO, Retailers Association of India feels, “Retail provides immense benefit to consumer and small scale manufacturer. You can’t deprive consumers from these benefits on the ground of closing of small shops. Organised retail also means mass scale employment.” Ironically, just 15 days prior to ordering the Fresh shops to down their shutters, the CM had passed the agriculture policy, permitting the private companies to directly deal with the farmers. All Mayawati needs to do is, take a fresh look at the problems farmers’ face while dealing with the middle-men in the mandis’. And if, indeed her concern for the farmers are genuine, she needs to think beyond settling political scores with Mulayam Singh & his cohorts. One only hopes that this time, Mayawati will use power to graduate from being a vote grabber to being a serious policy maker.

Framing farmers
How to kill the farmer with double speak!

Absolutely bizarre and inexplicable actions by policy makers in India are nothing new. Nor is their penchant for double speak and double standards. Add one more to this ignominious list-the recent decision to import millions of tons of wheat to ‘help the Indian farmer’. Quite frankly, that is akin to UP Chief Minister peremptorily shutting down Reliance Fresh outlets in the state to lend a helping hand to Mukesh Ambani. Both actions defy logic, and both make a mockery of the stated objective of the UPA government and of Mayawati of helping the poor Indian farmer earn a better and more dignified livelihood. Elementary economics states that prices have a tendency to fall when supply increases in the market place. So if the government places contracts with multinational food companies like Cargill to import as much as 5 million tonnes of wheat around the time the Kharif season domestic output is coming out of the farms, common sense states that the farmer will be the loser since there will be a downward pressure on prices. And look at the sheer effrontery of it all: the government will pay almost $400 per tonne for imported wheat. That works out to more than Rs.16,000 a tonne while the same government reluctantly agrees to pay Rs.8,000 to Rs.10,000 per tonne to the Indian farmer. In effect, the Indian policy maker is willing to pay a 50% premium to the western farmer who is already fattened by subsidies. In the process, it will deliver a double blow to the Indian farmer who might not even get Rs.10,000 per tonne if imports inflate supplies and depress prices! Sure, wheat imports will dampen inflationary pressures in the Indian economy. But surely the government cannot brazenly proclaim this pro urban consumer move as one meant to benefit farmers! Equally astonishing is the manner in which Mayawati is dealing a double whammy to the farmer in UP. The fact of the matter is, the entry of organised retail companies like Reliance, Spencer and Subhiksha would have turned out to be a boon for the farmer. That’s because they would paid more than what the rapacious middlemen pay; besides guaranteeing regular payments and financial stability to the farmer. By shutting down the retail outlets, the Mayawati government has ensured that the farmer will remain at the mercy of the middlemen who will pay rock bottom prices and delay payments. Quite clearly, when it comes to both the allegedly pro-poor governments ruling at the centre and in UP, the power and clout of vested interests carries far more weight than the plight of the Indian farmer. And they claim to be pro-farmer! That really takes the cake, doesn’t it?