Remembering 26/11

Today is the anniversary of 26/11 Mumbai attacks, where ten terrorists from Pakistan ventured into the shores of Mumbai and wreaked havoc. 172 people lost their lives and 293 got injured. The panic it created in the minds of Indians was beyond these numbers; but we as a nation responded courageously, the security forces swung into action and killed 9 terrorists and captured one alive. The assault lasted for long 72 hours, where the whole country was dreadfully watching the television to know the events as they unfolded.

The terrorists went on a killing spree at Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), Cama Hospital, Leopold Café, the Nariman house, the Oberoi-Trident Hotel and the Taj Mahal Hotel. People from the security forces and laymen died in the attack, but only after giving a good fight back. The bravery shown by ordinary people, including the staff of the Taj and Oberoi hotels is part of the folklore now. Brave men in uniform, with scant regard for their own lives, went on to take on the terrorists and defeated them. Some of these brave men lost their lives while doing their duty and we salute them for their courage and bravery. The courage shown by ordinary Mumbaikars is in itself a matter that deserves huge accolades.

When we Indians are observing the first anniversary of the Mumbai terror attacks, the Pakistani anti-terror court has indicted seven men - Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi (the operations commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba, LeT), Abdul Wajid alias Zarar Shah, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Mazhar Iqbal alias Abu al Qama, Shahid Jamil Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younus – for the attack. All these men have pleaded not guilty for the crime. The court proceedings are expected to go on for some months, if not years. In the meantime, the court proceedings against Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist captured live by India is also moving on in a slow manner.

Though there were a lot of knee-jerk reactions from people in India, including some political parties, the Indian government showed restraint and didn’t go on for a war with Pakistan. It was a sensible thing to do because had India gone out for a war with Pakistan we would have done exactly what the terrorists wanted from the attack on Mumbai - the destabilising of the region. At the same time the Indian government has been on the offensive ever since using the diplomatic channels by pressurising Pakistan to bring to justice those responsible for the attack on Mumbai. As of now, no credible actions have been taken by the Pakistani government as is expected because of the overt and covert support that the Pakistani ISI has been giving to the terrorists to launch attacks against India.

Since the Mumbai attack last year, there have been no more attacks of that scale till now. But is this a matter for complacency or is it just a lull before the next major strike that the terrorists are planning, we don’t know. But what we know is that we have to beef up the security apparatus in the country. A step in the right place was immediately taken by the government by removing the incompetent minister Shivraj Patil from the Home Ministry and posting the ever-competent P Chidambaram to the post. The no-nonsense attitude of PC has already started to show some results and he is working over time for making sure that the security services in the country are ready to face another eventuality. But he has warned the country that we are still vulnerable to terrorist attacks and therefore has to work ever so faster to close all gaps that are there in the security system of the country. Not only the central government, but also the state governments, public and private organisations as well as ordinary citizens need to be alert and should do everything possible within their realm to increase the security systems in the country.

People in Mumbai were killed by the terrorists irrespective of their religion, race, caste, creed, nationality, gender or the states from which they were coming. Indians from different parts of the country came out in support of the Mumbaikars during their time of grief. NSG commandos from north India came to Mumbai and rescued the city from the clutches of the terrorist and the Mumbaikars gave a great reception to the NSG commandoes after the operation was over. This sense of strong nationality should have opened the eyes of regional chauvinists like the Shiv Sena of Bal Thackeray and the Maharashtra Nava Nirman Sena (MNS) of Raj Thackeray, but unfortunately it hasn’t. Instead they still go ahead with their narrow regionalism and it is up to the people of Mumbai and Maharshtra to teach them a lesson by voting both these parties out of reckoning.

Mumbai is not only the major trade centre in India but also a place that is an avenue for all those who pursue their personal and professional dreams. Mumbai has always been a resilient city and the resilience of the Mumbaikars was made all the more evident by the opening of the Leopold Café only after two days of the Mumbai attacks. And what more, people thronged Leopold Café in such large number to show their support on the opening day that the café had to be closed earlier than normal time on that day as it was not able to meet the demand of the large number of customers. With such show of solidarity the Mumbaikars were telling the terrorist that they may be able to shock them but can’t beat them. On this day, I join in the grief of the bereaved, salute those brave men who lost their lives saving the city and country’s pride and show solidarity with the people of Mumbai.

The Thackeray Brand of Regional Chauvinism

Sachin Tendulkar is perhaps the most loved and admired sports person in India and therefore no sane man in his wits would have the audacity to criticise the great man on his patriotism. And may be after the election reversals, the Shiv Sena Supremo, Bal Thackeray would be finding it difficult to keep a calm mind, otherwise how one can define his outburst against Sachin Tendulkar.

As a reply to a question Tendulkar said this: “Mumbai belongs to India, that’s how I look at it. And I am a Maharashtrian and I am extremely proud of that. But I am an Indian.” A statement any Indian should have been proud about hasn’t gone down well with the ageing leader of Shiv Sena. He criticised Tendulkar for making what he calls a ‘political statement’ and said that he has hurt the sentiments of the ‘Marathi Manoos.’Bal Thackeray has always been the self proclaimed ‘Neta’ of Marathi Manoos and he played the same sort of chauvinism all through his political career. The goons of the Sena have always threatened people and created a sort of ‘Goonda Raj’ in Maharashtra. As if one ‘Sena’ was not enough to create mayhem in the city, Mumbai has got another Sena these days, called the Maharashtra Nava Nirman Sena (MNS) headed by Bal Thackeray’s nephew Raj Thackeray. He created a party of his own when Bal Thackeray overlooked Raj and made his son Udhav the chief of the Shiv Sena.

The Shiv Sena activists resent people calling Bal Thackeray an old man. So I don’t want to tickle the resentful minds of Shiv Sainiks. So the “83 year young” leader of the Sena has been trying to find out an issue to reignite the subject of Marathi pride after the big electoral defeat they faced in Maharashtra. And he got a good subject when Sachin Tendulkar in an interview said India is for all Indians. The Sena chief happily jumped into the scene and criticised Tendulkar and said that Tendulkar has got “run out” in the “pitch of Marathi Manoos” by telling so. He was unaware that by telling so he has got himself out “hit wicket” in the minds of Indians and most importantly, the Marathis. Sachin Tendulkar is one of the greatest sons of Maharashtra and a jewel in Indian conscience. No person in India has ever got away unhurt by criticising Tendulkar personally. It would be a good thing for the Sena chief to remember it if he has some interest in regaining the lost respect of Marathis. As if the tirade was not enough, Samna, newspaper of Shiv Sena, has again come down hard on Tendulkar and said that he has not done any sacrifices for India and Maharashtra and he is not a great Maratha at all.

The goons and thugs of Shiv Sena have attacked the newscentre of CNN IBN in Mumbai and Pune recently. What is interesting is the proud way in which the Sena has taken responsibility of the attack. They have said in a statement that the attack was a natural response of the Shiv Sainiks for the alleged disrespect that the channel showed to Bal Thackeray. The media or the fourth estate is one of the most important pillars of democracy and any attack on the media should be condemned with earnest words and action. Instead, the Shiv Sena, which is a registered political party, has condoned it, which makes it all the more important to proscribe the party and ban it. But the political establishment of this country doesn’t seem to have the courage to do such a thing. So it is up to the common people to give a fitting reply to the Shiv Sena by voting against them in the coming elections as well. But the high number of votes that thuggish parties like Shiv Sena and MNS got in the recent elections should be a matter of worry for all those who believe in the values of democracy.

What people like Bal Thackeray and Raj Thackeray don’t understand is that respect is not earned by violence and brutality. Sachin Tendulkar, the most respected and loved sports person of this country, has earned it through his dedication and commitment to the nation’s cause. The man is widely respected because of his humility and modesty. People like Bal Thackeray are losing the respect they used have among people by such ridiculous utterances. The earlier they understand it, the better.

Tendulkar @ 20 – A Committed Fan’s Heartfelt Tribute

Today, 15 November 2009, its 20 long years since Sachin Tendulkar, the God for a billion people to whom cricket is nothing but a religion, has been wielding a willow and making tons of runs and bringing victories to team India. He was a man destined to win battles single-handedly and bring enormous pleasure to the fans of the game. People rejoiced when he hit the cricket ball to different parts of the ground; they celebrated when he cut and pulled shot balls, when he drove on the rise, when he leaned on to drive the ball through the covers, when he straight drove down the ground, when he swept and reverse swept, when he punched off the backfoot, he flicked through the on side, guided the cricket ball to the third man and when he danced down the track and lofted the bowler down the ground.

The aura of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is far beyond the runs he has scored or the wins he gave to the team. It is about the emotion that he brings to the billion people, the expectation, the motivation and the hope. Till he is there in the middle, cricket fans believe that everything is possible, the moment he gets out, the hopes get blown out and people switches off the television sets or move out of cricket grounds. For many of my generation, Cricket has been Sachin Tendulkar, nothing more, nothing less. He has been a role model for a lot of people – not only cricketers but people in all fields and professional backgrounds. He taught us how to fight alone when things are tough and when the circumstances are nothing but favourable. He taught us how to face criticisms and how to behave when things go wrong. He taught us the worth of concentration and values of humility. He taught a generation of Indians the importance of being aggressive yet humble. He never chased milestones; milestones begged him to chase them.

On this occasion of Sachin Tendulkar celebrating his twenty years in International cricket, I dedicate this tribute to the man who is perhaps the greatest icon of my generation. Inarguably, my greatest hero. I salute the great man for his tenacity, his humility, his hard work and his genius and I hope that he will continue for some more years bringing Indians a sense of great achievement through his willow.

CPI (M) Faces Unprecedented Downfall

The by-elections made one thing clear beyond any significant doubt – the CPI (M) is facing an unprecedented downfall in India. People have given a clear mandate against the politics played by the CPI (M); it is another matter whether they will accept the defeat or not. Biman Bose, West Bengal State Secretary accepted it; CPI (M) leader and Kerala Chief Minister, VS Achuthanandan did not.

A strong anti-left wind is blowing in West Bengal owing to the governance failure of the government there and the emergence of the Maoists who are committed in bringing violence in the state. Trinamool Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee is effectively utilising the anti-left wave to her advantage and is not leaving any stone unturned to make sure that the left is losing its hold in the state. Of the 10 assembly seats that went to poll on 7 November, the left front was able to win only in 1 seat, where Forward Bloc won. The major party in the left front, CPI (M), lost in all 5 seats that they contested. They got their greatest blow when they lost in East Belgachia, a seat hold for many years by late Subhas Chakravarty, which was contested this time by his wife. The losses have made the left front more vulnerable than ever before, where some ministers and party leaders have already asked for dissolving the assembly and go for early polls. One of the coalition partners in the Left Front, Socialist party, raised the issue through their leader and Fisheries Minister Kironmoy Nanda. Other coalition partners like CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc said that the issue will be discussed in the next meeting of the left front.

Land struggles in Nandigram and Singur have had a great impact in the imminent fall of the 33 year old edifice of Communist government in West Bengal. The chaos over Tata’s Singur plant had been instrumental in bringing an anti-government feeling in the state. It was very skilfully exploited by Mamata Banerjee and her TMC. The Maoists who are spread over various states in the Country, known as the “red corridor”, have been very active in the state of West Bengal. Though only in three districts do the Maoists have strong hold, they are violently active in the state and have been instrumental in creating a strong anti-government sentiment in the state. The left government in WB is caught in a predicament between controlling the Maoists and containing anti-government sentiment among the public.

In Kerala, the situation is entirely different where the heavy loss faced by the Left Front in the Parliament election and the by-polls is mainly because of the inability of the government in providing good governance in the state. Adding to their woes is the general arrogance displayed by the various leaders of the party. By their diatribes against Bishops of the Catholic Church, the CPI (M) leaders, headed by State Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, have distanced the Christian community from them. The general governance in the state is dismal, the law and order situation is pathetic and the development efforts are in a moribund state. Another feature of the CPI (M) in Kerala is their inability to accept that they have faulted in various fields. Instead they are still going on criticising the media and threatening the individual voices that have raised genuine concerns. (In this regard it would be sensible to note the life threatening mail that I recently got from one of the anonymous cadres of the CPI (M) – someone with an email id priyaprem90@gmail.com for criticising the party policies)

Some left front leaders in the state have made pledges that they will bring about a big change in the style of governance in the state in the next 15 months. They feel that, by doing so, they can resurrect their ailing fortune before the general assembly election that is due in 2011. The state committee of CPI (M) is meeting now in Trivandrum where they are supposed to discuss the rectification document made by the Polit Bureau that is intended to overcome shortcomings within the party and to remove the “wrongs” at all levels of the party.

It is imperative for the party, in the national level and state level, to change the status quo and bring back communist norms and values to the party leaders and cadres, if they have to have some realistic chances of regaining lost ground in the country. They should also accept the fact that the political strategies initiated by their leaders like Prakash Karat at the national level and Pinarayi Vijayan and Budhadev Bhattacharjee in the state level, have all resulted in fiasco. It would also be good, if the party discuss the reasons why they are not able to become a strong force in the various states of the country, other than West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura, in all these decades, where as certain parties with less historical backgrounds have become forces to reckon with. In this regard, the CPI (M) would do good to study the growth of BJP as a national party within two decades of its formation.

I Take a Bow to the Little Master for Crossing 17,000 in ODIs

I take a bow and congratulate the Little Master, Sachin Tendulkar, for crossing the landmark of 17,000 One Day International runs, first ever in the history of International Cricket. His epic innings of 141 balls 175 (19x4, 4x6) against his most favourite rivals, the Aussies, was a treat to watch. By tragic twist of fate he was not able to convert his record making innings into a match winning innings, as the all too familiar saga of Tendulkar single-handedly fighting the battle for India on a cricket field ended up in a failure. But whatever the outcome of the match, the legend of Sachin Tendulkar moves on and on. Keep going Sachin, even after 20 long years, we are not done with seeing your genius wielding a willow and letting opponents do the leather chase.

(Photo courtesy: AFP)

Afghanistan’s Election Drama Comes to an End

As Abdullah Abdullah has withdrawn from the Presidential election runoff that was set for November 7, we can safely presume that Afghanistan’s election drama is finally coming to an end. Abdullah quitted the runoff in protest over, what he believes, the ‘biased attitude’ of the Independent Election Commission (IEC). It is widely believed that the IEC appointed by Mr. Hamid Karzai had been instrumental in the election rigging that put Karzai ahead of Abdullah in the Presidential election held in August.

The NATO, particularly the United States, was hoping to bring in a legitimate President in Afghanistan to gain some advantage in the losing battle there with the Taliban and other insurgents. But the Presidency that Hamid Karzai got after an election fraud by IEC, which was corroborated by U.N.-supported Election Complaint Commission (ECC), can hardly bring in any legitimacy. Karzai also has the dubious distinction of being a President who has two Vice- Presidents who are said to be a drug baron and a war criminal respectively. The withdrawal of Abdullah from the runoff is widely seen as another US attempt to convince the world that Afghanistan has got an elected government. In Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai is seen is a person with no support base and a person more close to the Americans than to fellow Afghans.

It is highly probable that Abdullah has withdrawn from the Presidential runoff under the behest of the United States. By doing so the US would be counting on Abdullah as a future candidate for Afghan Presidency, if things fail to work out with Karzai as expected. The United States is in such a quagmire and dire confusion, both politically and militarily, that they are not sure about the right strategies that they need to follow in Afghanistan. In the domestic political scene, things are getting difficult for Barack Obama and the Democrats. The Republicans are asking for a very high surge in US military presence in Afghanistan, which Obama doesn’t believe in. At the same time he is mulling over increasing the US military presence in Afghanistan by 15,000. With the electoral victory of Governorship by their candidates in Virginia and New Jersey, the Republicans would become more assertive than before. So it has become imperative for Barack Obama to take some steps to increase his popularity.

The incumbent President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai will have his task cut out in his second consecutive term in the office. The rising corruption and lack of effective governance are the two most important factors that he has to worry about. But to make amends in both these areas, he has to make some changes in his current administration. Moreover, his political rival, Abdullah would be breathing down his neck, which was made evident by Abdullah’s speech on 4th November, where he said that he is determined to continue his struggle for the betterment of the people of Afghanistan. Hamid Karzai would be looking forward to a reconcilement with Abdullah by stitching a coalition with Abdullah’s party. But with the high moral standing that Abdullah has acquired, by his protest against vote rigging by Karzai, he would not be thinking about it.

It would be interesting to watch how things turn out in the political drama in Afghanistan in the coming days. India, which is having a high stake in the stability of Afghanistan, along with Pakistan, Iran, China and Russia, would be watching things closely. So would be the NATO and particularly the United States.