The history of growth of parallel Hindu-Muslim nationalism since 1857 has been chronicled in my voluminous book: Battleground India-Prognosis of Hindu Muslim Exclusivism. In this short essay we cannot condense the history of nearly 1000 years.

I would rather like to focus on the Diamonds and Rasools of Pakistan, besides Jinnah and Addus Salam, the Nobel laureate. Though Chandrashekar and Hargobind Khorana were born in western Punjab before partition, now in Pakistan, they cannot be categorized as Pakistani luminaries.

Z A Bhutto cannot also be called a diamond. He got Pakistan involved in two wars against India, in which Pakistan was badly mauled and humiliated.

The Pakistani sky was star-studded not by great people. That sky has been clouded by several great terrorists and jihadis. They are the new Rasools of Pakistan. We will pick up only a few great warrior of Islam. They were spawned by the ISI and some of them committed earth shaking offences right from Pakistani ISI’s involvement with the CIA, Saudi Ri’āsat Al-Istikhbārāt Al-’Āmah. These personalities were also intricately connected with the Al Qaeda al Sulbah.

The matter of ISI-Al Qaeda and Taliban collaboration in promoting Islamist terrorism around the globe has been well documented. However, Operation Oplan Bojinka (explosion-in Bosnian language) planned by Al Qaeda and ISI affiliates Ramzi Yousef and Mohammad Khalid Sheikh, both of Pakistani origin, involved hijacking of 11 US aircrafts operating in the Pacific region, assassination of Bill Clinton and Pope Paul II during their visits to the Philippines. These were more ambitious than the 9/11 attacks on the USA. The plan also involved ISI input as Khalid and Ramzi were nurtured, sheltered and trained by the ISI in its Peshawar camp and they had also undergone training in Khowst camp in Afghanistan. The stories of Ramzi, a nephew from the sister of Khalid Sheikh, and Khalid Sheikh himself are intriguing.

Khalid Sheikh would eventually become deeply involved in the world of the ISI, as well as Al Qaeda al Sulbah. But initially he seemed an unlikely candidate for a career in espionage and terrorism. His father, a Baloch Pakistani, had migrated to Kuwait as a religious preacher. Khalid was born in Kuwait. He studied in the USA, a brilliant student attending the best private schools. While still at school, he excelled in studies and displayed little devotion to his religion.

His life took a turn when the CIA, for aiding the Muslim rebels in Bosnia in late 1992, allegedly picked him up. That was the time when he was also contacted by the ISI. The rebel of Pakistani origin returned to Pakistan a committed Muslim radical after his CIA sponsored Bosnian sojourn. Because of his impressive abilities in engineering, as well as fluency in English and complete understanding of Western society he was a very valuable asset to any terrorist group.

In 1993 Khalid and Ramzi Yousef, his nephew, planned the WTC bombing, with the knowledge of the ISI operatives and the Al Qaeda al Sulbah supremo. Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, birth name Abdul Basit Karim, was one of the masterminds behind the first World Trade Centre attack. Yousef attended college in the USA. He studied electrical engineering there. Starting in the late 1980s, Yousef started making trips to Pakistan, where he was tutored by his maternal uncle and an ISI operative, simply called Rahmatullah. The same Rahmatullah had latter arranged a tanzeem orientation course for Ramzi at a Markaz-ud-Dawa camp near Lahore.

In 1992, Yousef entered the United States with a false Iraqi passport with his partner, Ahmed Ajaj, who also had a false passport. Yousef rented a Ryder van. On February 26, 1993, the van was loaded with explosives and driven into the garage of the World Trade Centre, where it exploded. He escaped to Pakistan. After meeting Khalid Sheik Mohammed, he stayed in safe houses funded by the ISI. There are reports that Khalid had brought Ramzi in close touch with Osama, who also funded the firebrand Islamist.

While staying in those safe houses, he attempted more terrorist attacks. He and Khalid had chalked out a plan to assassinate Benazir Bhutto allegedly in collaboration with some ISI operatives, who wanted to get rid of the democratically elected prime minister. It was alleged that the ISI had paid Osama to mastermind the assassination plan. The plan was compromised and Ramzi was dispatched by Khalid and Osama to the Philippines. While in the Philippines he had planned for the assassination of President Bill Clinton and Pope Paul II, which did not materialize due to accidental disclosure of his bomb preparation activities.

While in Manila, his first bombing was at a mall in Cebu City, which detonated several hours after Yousef placed it in the generator room. Nobody was hurt. Yousef masterminded the bombing of the Miss Universe pageant at PICC and Roxas Boulevard, both on May 21, 1994. On November 13, 1994, he masterminded the bombing of a Wendy’s hamburger stand at Nataghan Corner at J.P. Laurel Sts. On December 1, his friend Wali Khan Amin Shah, another ISI trained Pakistani, bombed the Greenbelt Theatre in Manila. It may be mentioned that Amin Shah was trained at Peshawar and Muridke camps in preparing explosives and carrying out targeted shooting.

The trial run for the 9/11/2001 attack on the USA was hatched by Khalid Sheikh, Ramzi, Osama bin Laden and a faction of the ISI operatives, in which it was planned to hijack 11 US aircrafts plying over the Pacific and blow them up. The grand Operation Oplan Bojinka had not remained a secret to the ISI operatives, though none in the ruling Pakistan government was involved. But the ISI had failed to tip off the CIA and the other US security agencies. The Filipino intelligence sources later confirmed that Wali Khan Amin Shah had visited the Pakistani embassy in Manila twice to meet the ISI station in charge. In all fairness Pakistan should have alerted the US intelligence and security agencies about the grand Islamic attack against the U.S. properties.

On December 11, Yousef boarded Philippine Airlines Flight 434, which was on a Manila-Cebu-Tokyo route. Yousef assembled a bomb and planted it under his seat on the first leg of the flight. He left the plane at Cebu. The bomb exploded on the second leg, killing one passenger. The plane made an emergency landing in Okinawa, Japan. The dry run was successful. Yousef and Khalid Mohammed had already started crafting Operation Oplan Bojinka. The plot would have had catastrophic consequences if it was carried out. The plot was abandoned after an apartment fire occurred in Manila, Philippines. Yousef’s plan was discovered on a notebook personal computer inside his apartment, two weeks before the apocalyptic acts of terror were contemplated. Murad, an accomplice of Ramzi, was sent to the apartment to retrieve the computer after the fire was extinguished. Ramzi left for Pakistan, and was housed in an ISI safe house but was arrested under the US pressure.

On February 7, 1995, Ramzi Yousef was arrested by a group of FBI, U.S. Diplomatic Security Service, and Pakistani police officers at the Su-Casa Guest House in Islamabad, Pakistan. On September 5, 1996, Yousef, Murad and Shah were convicted for planning Oplan Bojinka.

While Ramzi Yousef was finally neutralized, his maternal uncle Khalid was encouraged by the ISI to migrate to Pakistan in 1992 and continue his jihadist activities under ISI guidance and in collaboration with bin Laden and Mullah Omar of Taliban. Khalid played important roles in training the Al Qaeda al Sulbah and foreign mujahideen in ISI facilities in Peshawar, Karachi and the training camps set up by Mullah Sayyaf and bin Laden. As an engineer he had helped Al Qaeda al Sulbah in establishing an information network based in Karachi, Lahore, Gujarat, Kuwait and Dubai. His involvement in the recruitment of fidayeens for the 9/11 attacks on the USA was known to the ISI but he moved around as a free man till the US authorities compelled Pakistan to arrest him.

Some claims have been made by Pakistani authorities that Khalid was a Kuwaiti national. There is no doubt that Khalid was a Baloch Pakistani born in Kuwait. For his first visit to the USA as a student Khalid had introduced himself as a Pakistani national and Pakistan had issued him the first passport. Khalid had made Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore his main theatres for Al Qaeda al Sulbah operations, with occasional trips to Afghanistan, to meet Zawahiri and Osama and frequent trips to the Arabian Peninsula to recruit fidayeen volunteers to carry out attacks against the US targets. His arrest, trial and subsequent revelations by western intelligence agencies prove beyond doubt that Khalid Sheikh Mohammad was one of the most important links between Osama bin Laden and the Inter Services Intelligence. Pakistan had fully supported him till such time it was forced to succumb under US pressure.

In an interview with Al Jazeera television, recorded in May 2002, Khalid Mohammed described himself as the head of Al Qaeda’s military committee. He said, “About two and a half years prior to the ‘holy raids’ on Washington and New York, the military committee held a meeting during which we decided to start planning for a martyrdom operation inside America.” That would date the inception of the 9/11 plot to early 1999. Later, that same year the men who would execute the 9/11 operations were chosen, he said.

In the months after Sept. 11, 2001 Mohammed was moving back and forth between Pakistan and Afghanistan. One Afghan General, Ziaudeen Deldar, said ‘Khalid Balochi’ was among hundreds of Al Qaeda al Sulbah fighters who escaped on foot to Pakistan from a camp near Shahi Kot in south eastern Afghanistan when American forces launched Operation Anaconda — an attempt, they said, to finish off Al Qaeda al Sulbah. He disappeared in Pakistan and for a while remained under ISI protection, before he was arrested.

The third illustrative face of ISI and Al Qaeda al Sulbah collaboration is Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, s/o Saeed Ahmed, a cloth merchant of Pakistani origin. Omar alias Omar Sheikh alias Saeed Sheikh was born in the UK and was educated there. He grew up in London, a brilliant student, attending the best private schools. He studied mathematics and statistics at the London School of Economics. There are reports that Omar was baptized in terrorism under CIA patronage in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

In 1993 he emerged in Pakistan as a member of a militant group fighting for the liberation of Kashmir from India. Omar Sheikh drifted closer to Harkat-ul-Mujahideen. He was given training by the ISI at Peshawar and Muridke. In 1994, he began training at a training camp in Afghanistan.

Omar Sheikh was arrested in India in 1994 while on a kidnapping mission designed to trade Western tourists for Kashmiri separatists. The ISI paid his legal fees openly; nonetheless, he was sentenced to a long prison term in an Indian jail. While in prison, his natural abilities soon allowed him to become the leader of the jail’s large Muslim population. By his own admission, he lived practically like a Mafia don. Indian intelligence fraternities were certain of Omar’s Pakistan linkage. The same was the case with Maulana Masood Azhar, another ISI backed militant, who took part in crimes along with Sheikh. Masood had earned distinction as a jihadist after taking part in Bosnia and Somalia jihad, especially in killing of the US army personnel in the Mogadisu helicopter (Black Hawk) downing incidents. According to Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 3/3/02: “There are many in Musharraf’s government who believe that Saeed Sheikh’s power comes not from the ISI, but from his connections with our own CIA. The theory is that … Saeed Sheikh was bought and paid for.” However, the western intelligence sources are silent about the queer triangular connectivity of Omar and Masood, spanning the handlers in the ISI, CIA and Al Qaeda al Sulbah.

In December 1999, terrorists hijacked an Indian Airlines aircraft and flew it to Kandahar, Afghanistan. Kathmandu and Pakistan based ISI operatives and Afghanistan had masterminded the hijacking with a view to retaliate against the Kargil discomfiture, as well as to secure release of its two important agents –Omar Sheikh and Masood Azhar. Omar was later to play a vital role, in collaboration with the ISI chief and Osama, in organizing the 9/11 attacks on the USA.
After an eight-day standoff at Kandahar, 155 hostages were released in exchange for Omar Sheikh and Maulana Masood Azhar and other two Pakistani terrorists held by India. Masood Azhar, at the instance of ISI, started a new outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad. Indian intelligence operatives, who had visited Kandahar to negotiate with the hijackers, were convinced that the ISI operatives sheltered in the ATC tower were in constant radio contact with the Taliban leaders and the hijackers. Omar must have been already highly valued by the ISI and Al Qaeda al Sulbah, because the hijacking appeared to have been largely funded and carried out by them. Omar stayed at a Kandahar guesthouse for several days, conferring with Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar and Osama bin Laden. An ISI colonel later escorted him to a safe house in Pakistan.

In his roughly two years of freedom before 9/11, Omar was a very busy terrorist. According to Newsweek, once in Pakistan, he lived openly and opulently in a wealthy Lahore neighborhood, hired by the ISI. The US sources had noted that Omar did little to hide his connections to terrorist organizations, and even attended swanky parties attended by senior Pakistani government officials. He visited his parents in Britain in 2000 and again in early 2001. The British citizens kidnapped by Omar in 1994 called the government’s decision not to arrest and prosecute him a ‘disgrace’ and ‘scandalous.’ This mystery has still remained unsolved. Did he have a secret understanding with the MI5 and MI6? It appears that he had either struck a deal with the MI6 or the CIA influenced the British agency. Why was the CIA protective of Omar, the key figure who financed the 9/11 perpetrators at the instance of the ISI chief? Only Washington can reply these gnawing queries, if the American people are interested to know the degree of accountability of their secret services.

It has been reported that Omar Sheikh helped train the hijackers and others in Afghanistan, where he travelled regularly. He also reportedly helped to devise a secure, encrypted Web-based communications system for Al Qaeda al Sulbah. His future in the network seemed limitless; there was even talk of his one day succeeding bin Laden.

At the same time, much of his time was spent working with the ISI. He worked with Ijaz Shah, a former ISI official in charge of handling terrorist groups like Jaish-e-Mohammad and Laskar-e-Tayeba, Lieutenant. General Mohammad Aziz Khan, also a former deputy chief of the ISI, in charge of relations with Jaish-e-Mohammad, and Brigadier Abdullah, a former ISI officer, who oversaw ISI operations in Kashmir and sabotage and subversion of Indian Muslims vulnerable to Islamist jihad and related propaganda. He was well known to the senior ISI officers of Joint Intelligence North, Joint Intelligence Miscellaneous and Joint Intelligence X—three important divisions of the military intelligence establishment. He was constantly seen in their company and some dare devil journalists also speculated on his open participation in social events attended by senior army and intelligence officers. It is, however, not known if these ISI officials had prepared Omar for the grand attack on the USA. There is apparently no one to ask these questions as the USA has developed diplomatic amnesia.

During this period Omar made several trips to Kandahar and Kabul to consult Osama bin Laden. He also visited Kuwait, Dubai and Yemen and was constantly in touch with his collaborators in Europe and the USA. The contours of the 9/11 operations were finalized by mid 2000. Someone was transmitting huge funds from the UAE to 9/11 plotters in the USA. Omar Sheikh was suspected to be in the centre of these financial transactions. On October 6, CNN revealed, ‘US investigators now believe Sheik, using the alias Mustafa Muhammad Ahmad, sent more than $100,000 from Pakistan to Mohamed Atta.’ CNN also asserted that this was in fact the same Omar Sheikh who had been released from an Indian prison in 1999. 

Soon after the 9/11 attack, President Pervez Musharraf transferred out Lt. Gen. Mahmood Ahmad, the head of the ISI. It was revealed in Indian and the US media that he was fired for his suspected involvement in the 9/11 attacks. For instance, a Pakistani newspaper stated, “Lt. Gen. Mahmood Ahmad has been replaced after the FBI investigators established credible links between him and Omar Sheikh, one of the three militants released in exchange for passengers of the hijacked Indian Airlines plane in 1999… Informed sources said there were enough indications with the US intelligence agencies that it was at Gen. Mahmood’s instruction that Sheikh had transferred 100,000 US dollars into the account of Mohammed Atta…” Dawn, 09.10.2001.

Indian newspapers claimed that Indian intelligence had been instrumental in helping to establish the connection. Western media did not highlight this news. In the US, only Wall Street Journal mentioned that, “The US authorities … confirm the fact that $100,000 was wired to WTC hijacker Mohammed Atta from Pakistan by Ahmad Omar Sheikh at the instance of General Mahmood.” Wall Street Journal, 10/10/01.

The story would strongly suggest that the ISI played a key role in the 9/11 attacks. Why was the White House silent on such an important piece of evidence of Pakistani collaboration with the 9/11 attackers? The reason was palpably clear. Bush regime had no other option but to cajole Pakistan into a partnership in its war against the Taliban and Al Qaeda. It simply did not want to antagonize the President of Pakistan, who was rather forced to collaborate with the US war machine. The two fulcrums of evil have had excellent track record of cohabitation for strategic reasons.
With these developments Omar Sheikh, an ISI agent and a collaborator of the CIA, became a persona non grata. He was again mentioned as the 9/11 paymaster the day before the Mahmood story broke and then suddenly, all mention of him ceased. While the FBI and media have been putting forth a series of names sounding remarkably similar to Sheikh or the aliases he used, they had been ignoring solid evidence that linked Sheikh to the funding of 9/11. Such assertions by US agencies would have confirmed Omar’s ISI ties, and the possibility that he was acting on orders from Mahmood, or even President Musharraf. There are reasons to believe, if one trusts secret repots of Indian Intelligence Bureau and the R&AW, President Musharraf was fully aware of the ISI plan of hijacking the Indian airline flight from Kathmandu to Kandahar and the demands put forth by the hijackers. However, diplomatic compulsions have forced India to maintain silence on this earthshaking event.

During the five years Omar Sheikh spent in an Indian prison, he developed friendships with some underworld mafia. One such person was Aftab Ansari. Ansari, an Indian gangster, who was released in 1999 on bail, had fled the country. Omar also met a prisoner named Asif Raza Khan, also released in 1999. Ansari moved to Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and began expanding his India-based criminal network with Asif Raza Khan and others. By early 2001, they had organized a kidnapping network. They kidnapped rich Indian businessmen and used the money to fund terrorist activities. Omar had provided training and weapons to the kidnappers in return for a percentage of the profits.
Ansari’s criminal underground network also assisted the ISI in conducting terrorist attacks inside India. He had set up networking with the HUJI and Jamait-e-Islami of Bangladesh for carrying out jihadist attacks against Indian and US targets in India. In late July 2001, a wealthy Indian shoe manufacturer was kidnapped in Calcutta, India. In early August, his ransom was paid to Ansari’s group, and the victim was released. According to Los Angeles Times, 1/23/02, Ansari gave about $100,000 of the approximately $830,000 in ransom money to Omar, who sent it to 9/11 hijacker Mohamad Atta.

A series of e-mails recovered by intelligence agencies showed that the money was sent just after August 11, 2001. This $100,000 could be the same amount ISI Director Mahmood supposedly told Omar to send to Atta. It could refer to a separate approximately $100,000 sent to Atta from Dubai, UAE, between June and September 2000. There were probably other transactions, since it is believed the hijackers spent between $500,000 and $600,000 in the US. At least $325,000 came from the person using the alias “Mustafa Ahmed” and variants on that name, which is identical with Omar Sheikh. It does not stand to reason to assert that the ISI had conducted only a single money transfer on orders of General Mahmood. Even rudimentary reasoning can lead to the inference that the Pakistani Establishment—may be the President included—were aware of the linkages between Omar, Ansari and money transfer to Mohammad Atta. Musharraf was the CEO of Pakistan at the time of the catastrophic event. Or was it being run by the ISI at the behest of OBL (Osama bin Laden)?

The FBI later confirmed that many of the 9/11 hijackers had passed through Dubai and had met with the paymaster. They were given Visa credit cards, travelers cheques, and help in opening bank accounts. This further confirmed that the paymaster was Omar, since he was making frequent trips to Dubai at this time. It may be interesting to note that during this period Omar Sheikh had befriended another ISI/Al Qaeda al Sulbah operative Khalid Sheikh, who was also frequenting the Middle Eastern countries in connection with the 9/11 attack. According to intelligence sources both Khalid and Omar had at least two meetings with Osama bin Laden before they met in Dubai for consultations. Reliable reports also indicate that Khalid Sheikh had two meetings with a top ISI Deputy Director at Karachi prior to the 9/11 incidents.

The presumption is not correct that ISI sponsored jihadist outfits fighting against India are not connected to the jihadists fighting against the USA, and other western countries. This distinction does not exist in reality. For instance, terrorist Maulana Masood Azhar was freed with Al Qaeda al Sulbah and ISI help in the 1999 Indian airplane-hijacking swap that freed Omar Sheikh. Azhar quickly returned to Pakistan in January 2000, but didn’t face arrest. Instead, a few days after being freed, he told a cheering Pakistani crowd of 10,000 supporters: “I have come here because this is my duty to tell you that Muslims should not rest in peace until we have destroyed America and India.” AP, 1/5/00.

He then toured Pakistan for weeks under the protection of the ISI. Omar had drifted closer to Azhar in Indian prison. In early 2000, Omar and the ISI helped Azhar to form a new terrorist group called Jaish-e-Mohammad, and soon Azhar was behind more terrorist acts, mostly in Kashmir. Jaish-e-Mohammad worked with the ISI, Omar Sheikh and Ansari in numerous attacks against Indian targets. For instance, shortly after the October 2001 series of Kashmir bombing, Indian intelligence claimed that Pakistani President Musharraf was given a recording of a phone call between Jaish-e-Mohammad leader Maulana Masood Azhar and ISI Director General Mahmood, in which Azhar reported the bombing, was a ‘success.’ In early January 2002, the FBI was interested in questioning Maulana Azhar, and a Pakistani official agreed that the Americans were aware of Azhar meeting bin Laden often, and were convinced that he could give important information about bin Laden’s whereabouts and even on the September 11 attacks.

Besides direct contact with bin Laden, the ISI had maintained through these proxy terrorist groups, deep ties with Al Qaeda al Sulbah. In 1993, the same Azhar and Omar had helped Al Qaeda al Sulbah train and fund Somali warlord forces so they could kill the US soldiers stationed in Somalia. Reports about ISI funding the Somali warlords were never confirmed by the US intelligence agencies, though Indian intelligence fraternities were aware of such connectivity. These attacks forced the US to withdraw from that country.

“None of these details will be unfamiliar to US intelligence operatives who have been compiling extensive reports on these alleged activities.” Jane’s Intelligence Digest 9/20/01. The US media later reported that bin Laden had emergency medical care in Pakistan the day before September 11. He was spirited into a military hospital in Rawalpindi for kidney dialysis treatment. Pakistani military forces guarded him. They also moved out all the regular staff in the urology department and sent in a secret team to replace them. The same issue of Jane’s Intelligence Digest also commented, “It is becoming clear that both the Taliban and Al Qaeda al Sulbah would have found it difficult to have continued functioning—including the latter group’s terrorist activities — without substantial aid and support from Pakistan.”

After the 9/11 incidents, General Musharraf had come under severe US pressure to restrict the activities of ISI’s top agent Omar Sheikh. He was shifted to an ISI safe house in Lahore, Pakistan. In January 2002, he celebrated the birth of his baby at a party he hosted in the city. During this hibernation period Omar Sheikh had acted as a go-between for bin Laden and the ISI. The US aggression in Afghanistan had temporarily disrupted ISI’s communication lines with Osama. Omar Sheikh and the tanzeem members of Lashkar-e-Tayeba and Jaish-e-Mohammad helped out the ISI in maintaining contact with Osama and Mullah Omar.

Meanwhile, Omar collaborated with the ISI and Ansari. On October 1, 2001, a suicide truck-bomb attack on the legislative assembly in Indian-controlled Kashmir killed 36 people. On December 13, 2001, terrorists attacked the Indian Parliament building in New Delhi. Fourteen people, including the five attackers, were killed. On January 22, 2002, gunmen attacked some West Bengal policemen guarding the US Information Service building in Kolkata; four policemen were killed and 21 people injured. It was proved that Omar Sheikh and Ansari were behind all of these attacks. Ansari even called from Dubai to take credit for the Kolkata attack. Jaish-e-Mohammad, Maulana Masood Azhar’s group, was also involved in these attacks. He had mobilized Bangladesh based cadres of the HUJI.

Pakistan was alerted by rumors floating after the 9/11 incidents about involvement of Saeed Omar. It was an open secret that Omar was an active agent of the ISI. British intelligence had begun asking Pakistan for assistance to arrest Omar probably for kidnapping a Briton in India way back in 1994. In November 2001, a US grand jury secretly indicted Sheikh for kidnapping a US citizen seven years earlier. Pressure was put on Pakistan for arresting him. The US ambassador to Pakistan officially requested the Pakistan government for help in arresting and extraditing Omar. It took the events relating to the decapitation of Daniel Pearl for Pakistan to ‘finally discover’ Omar Sheikh’s location. It was an open secret in Lahore and Islamabad that Omar was living in an ISI safe house and was attending official parties as an honored guest.

The ISI was suspected for supplying the blueprint of kidnapping of Daniel Pearl, a Wall Street Journal reporter. Pearl was allegedly snooping around for facts to establish definite proof of connectivity of the ISI with bin Laden, Omar Sheikh and the 9/11 hijackers. Pearl had become fascinated in a number of stories involving the ISI. On December 24, 2001, he reported about ties between the ISI and a Pakistani organization that was working on giving bin Laden nuclear secrets before 9/11. The latter discoveries made by the ISI about top Pakistani nuclear scientists selling nuclear secrets to North Korea, Iran and Libya had conveniently forgotten to admit that the father of Pakistani nuclear bomb had maintained steady connections with Osama. It could also not be beyond the knowledge of the ISI and Pakistani President that the father of their nuclear technology was selling nuclear secrets to the countries described by Bush as ‘axis of evil.’ However, the USA is well known for developing periodical diplomatic and strategic amnesia and collaborating with strange bedmates.

A few days later, Pearl reported that Jaish-e-Mohammad still had its office running and bank accounts working, even after President Musharraf had claimed to have banned the group. He began investigating links between shoe bomber Richard Reid and Pakistani militants connected to the ISI. His investigation also took him to the secrets of connectivity between Indian mafia don Dawood Ibrahim, a powerful terrorist and gangster, and the ISI. Robert Baer, a former CIA agent, later claimed that he was working with Pearl on investigating 9/11 masterminds, Omar Sheikh and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

On January 23, Omar took part in the kidnapping of Daniel Pearl. The FBI Director went to Pakistan next day from India and discussed Omar Sheikh’s involvement in terrorist activities with President Musharraf. Mueller then flew to Dubai on his way back to the US to pressure the government there to arrest Ansari and deport him to India. Ansari was arrested on February 5 and deported four days later. The USA was convinced by Indian intelligence reports about Ansari’s and Omar’s involvement in the attack on the US consulate in Kolkata.

Around January 31, 2002, his kidnappers murdered Daniel Pearl as he had reportedly gathered plenty of evidence of ISI’s involvement in terrorist activities all over the world. Pearl was the first western journalist to spell out Pakistan as the Eastern Fulcrum of Evil. Musharraf even brazenly stated, “Perhaps Daniel Pearl was over-intrusive. A media person should be aware of the dangers of getting into dangerous areas. Unfortunately, he got over-involved.” Hindu, 3/8/02. Did Musharraf know about the ISI plan to assassinate Pearl? It is speculated that Musharraf had decided around the same time to silence Omar Sheikh to hush up ISI involvement in 9/11 incident.

Under pressure, Omar Sheikh finally ‘surrendered’ in February to his ISI boss Ijaz Shah. He and the ISI worked out a deal how much to say to the US authorities. Neither the Pakistani police nor the US Embassy nor the FBI, who were in Islamabad investigating the kidnapping, was informed that Omar was being held by the ISI during this period. The deal done, a brazen Omar Sheikh gave himself up to police, telling them of Pearl’s capture but misleading them on every possible fact, including his ISI linkage. Omar’s surrender was made public on February 13. He then confessed to the murder of Daniel Pearl.
President Musharraf was reluctant to extradite Omar to the USA for fear of exposure and wanted to “hang him myself.” The US media had extensively reported on Omar’s connectivity with the ISI and Al Qaeda al Sulbah. However, under extreme diplomatic pressure the US Secretary of State Colin Powell ruled out any links between “elements of the ISI” and the murderers of reporter Daniel Pearl. The Guardian had boldly contradicted Powell, “If he was extradited to Washington and decided to talk, the entire story would unravel. His families are fearful. They think he might be tried by a summary court and executed to prevent the identity of his confederates being revealed.” Colin Powel was also contradicted by his colleague Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, when he “acknowledged reports that Omar Sheikh may have been an ‘asset’ for the ISI. However, under compulsion of having Pakistan as an ally in war against Taliban and Al Qaeda al Sulbah, the US authorities lapsed in incurable amnesia and embraced Pervez Musharraf and the ISI as dearest friends.

A month after, Omar Sheikh was given death penalty Vanity Fair in August 8, 2002 issue, explored all his connections, but the article seemed to make no impact at all. There was no doubt that 9/11 mastermind Omar Sheikh was the killer of Daniel Pearl as well, and may even have cut Pearl’s throat himself. This not only showed that Al Qaeda al Sulbah worked to benefit the ISI in silencing Pearl, but also helped to confirm the theory that Omar had been supported by the ISI. Since Sheikh has been linked to almost many attacks against the United States that in turn raises the possibility that the ISI had also been involved in all of those attacks, at the very least by not helping to arrest Omar and his cohorts.

Had the ISI been leashed by Musharraf? He was hailed for firing ISI Director General Mahmood, and generally has been presented as a pro-Western figure trying to root out the pro-terrorist factions of the ISI. On January 12, 2002, in the face of US pressure, Musharraf made a forceful speech condemning Islamic extremism, and arrested about 2,000 extremists around the same time. Yet, by the end of the month, at least 800 had been quietly released. Since then, almost all of those arrested have been released.

The fact remains that the Islamist Jihadi tanzeems continue to flourish. They are accruing strength and their activities have also been directed against pro-American policies of Musharraf. Pakistani military actions against Al Qaeda al Sulbah in the tribal areas have so far resulted in minor losses to the Arab elements of Al Qaeda. The self-ruling tribal communities have been alienated and it is now openly discussed in Pakistan that without ISI connivance Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar could have not survived the US and Pakistani onslaught.

The case studies of Ramzi Yusef, Khalid Mohammad Sheikh and Omar Sheikh have been narrated in detail as these three players typify Pakistan and its intelligence agency Inter Services Intelligence’s (ISI) umbilical connectivity to the CIA, Royal Saudi Intelligence, Al Qaeda al Sulbah, Taliban and acts of the Islamist jihadists in all the continents—America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. The ISI and Al Qaeda al Sulbah are equal partners in global Islamist terrorism, fought in India, Central Asian Muslim Republics, Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Algeria, Egypt, Somalia, Sudan, Indonesia, Southern Thailand, and Malaysia and to a lesser extent in Australia, especially the Australian targets abroad.

Pakistan’s emergence as a global exporter of Islamist terrorism has been well documented by scholars and media persons all over the world, though the USA and UK are now feigning that the terror breeding and exporting country is their great ally in war against International Islamist Terrorism.

The Islaim jihadist forces, of which the Jamait-e-Islami, Jammat-Ulema-ul Islami and Markaz-al-Dawa-al-Irshad are spearheads, were encouraged to mill out jihadis from over 50,000 madrassas, which preached unabashed jihadist messages and basically prepared Pakistani and foreign students for jihad against India, communist regime in Afghanistan and for getting involved in global jihad against the Christian and Jewish targets.

Pakistani establishment was the prime moving force that spawned scores of terrorist organizations with the main objectives of fighting jihad against India, assisting Afghan jihadis, coordinating with foreign jihadis recruited by the CIA, ISI and Saudi intelligence and several International Islamist organizations. The Islamist forces of Egypt, who acted as guiding angels, facilitated the resurgence of Islamic jihad by formulating new jihad policies.These jihadist forces were funded by the state of Pakistan, Saudi intelligence, Saudi financed NGOs, and the ISI.

Proliferation of jihadist organizations has become a self-activated mechanism of the societal growth of Pakistan. A vast segment of Pakistani society has been subverted by the mullahs and ISI operatives in collaboration with the Arab jihadists of Egyptian, Saudi and assorted origin. They are now treated as the flag bearers of Islamist jihad all over the world. They are as bigoted as the Al Qaeda al Sulbah, Taliban and other Islamicized groups are in almost all the continents. These new societal elements in Pakistan often stray beyond the briefs provided by the ISI. A number of such jihadist organizations have drifted closer to Al Qaeda al Sulbah and other Islamist organizations that have sprung up all over the world. A new ‘Islamist International’ has emerged mainly due to shortsighted foreign policy of the USA and its allies.

Before finishing, rather a lengthy essay we must not forget the present shining diamond of Pakistan-Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, on whom the US has declared $ 10 million bounty. Whether Pakistan can preserve itself as a nation state or not, it is frenetically trying to protect this new Rasool of Allah. Only US can take care of this Rasool by droning him.

Hafiz Muhammad Saeed born 1950 is the amir of Jama’at-ud-Da’wah, a facade charity organization that is widely considered to be a cover organization for Lashkar-e-Tayeba (LeT), one of the largest and most active Islamic terrorist organizations in the world, operating mainly from Pakistan. The organization is banned as a terrorist organization by India, the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Russia and Australia.

India considers Hafiz one of its most wanted terrorists because of his alleged ties with Lashkar-e-Tayeba and his involvement in attacks against India. The United Nations declared Jama’at-ud-Da’wah a terrorist organization in December 2008 and Hafiz Saeed a terrorist as its leader. According to Hafiz Saeed, he has no links with LeT. United States of America has announced a bounty of $10 million on Hafeez Saeed’s head, for his alleged role in 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

In 1950, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed was born in Sargodha, Punjab. His family originally hailed from Haryana and was engaged in agricultural activities. His family reportedly lost 36 of its members when migrating from Shimla to Lahore during the Partition of India. It was the time when Muslims butchered Hindus in Pakistan and Hindu-Sikhs butchered Muslims in Indian side. He is married and his wife’s name is Maimoona.

General Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq appointed Hafiz Muhammad Saeed to the Council on Islamic Ideology, and he later served as an Islamic Studies teacher at the University of Engineering and Technology (Lahore), Pakistan. He was sent to Saudi Arabia in the early 1980s by the University for Higher Studies where he met Saudi Sheikhs who were taking part in the Afghan jihad. They inspired him to join his colleague, Professor Zafar Iqbal, in taking an active role supporting the Mujahideen in Afghanistan. There he met some youth who later became his companions. In 1987 Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, along with Abdullah Azzam, founded Markaz Dawa-Wal-Irshad, in Afghanistan. This group was rooted in the Jamait Ahl-e-Hadis and Al Qaeda.

This organization spawned the jihadist group Lashkar-e-Tayeba in 1990, with the help of Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence officers and the Al Qaeda.

Lashkar’s primary target is the disputed Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. Saeed is also quoted as saying, “There cannot be any peace while India remains intact. Cut them, cut them so much that they kneel before you and ask for mercy.”

Hafiz Muhammad Saeed holds two masters degrees from the University of Punjab and a specialization in Islamic Studies & Arabic Language from King Saud University.

Pakistan detained Hafiz Muhammad Saeed on December 21, 2001 in relation to Indian accusations of his involvement with the December 13, 2001 attack on the Lok Sabha. He was held until March 31, 2002, arrested again on May 15, and was placed under house arrest on October 31 of the same year.

After the July 11, 2006 Mumbai train bombings, the provincial government of Punjab, Pakistan arrested him on August 9, 2006 and kept him under house arrest but he was released on August 28, 2006 after a Lahore High Court order. He was arrested again on the same day by the provincial government and was kept in the Canal Rest House in Sheikhupura. He was finally released after the Lahore High Court order on October 17, 2006.

After the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, India submitted a formal request to the U.N. Security Council to put the group Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, was on the list of individuals and organizations sanctioned by the United Nations for association with terrorism. It accused the organization and its leader, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, of being virtually interchangeable with Lashkar-e-Tayeba. India said that the close links between the organizations, as well as the 2,500 offices and 11 seminaries that Jamaat-ud-Dawa maintains in Pakistan, “are of immediate concern with regard to their efforts to mobilize and orchestrate terrorist activities.”

On December 10, 2008 Hafiz Muhammad Saeed denied a link between LeT and JuD in an interview with Pakistan’s Geo television stating that “no Lashkar-e-Tayeba man is in Jamaat-ud-Dawa and I have never been a chief of Lashkar-e-Tayeba.”

On December 11, 2008 Hafiz Muhammed Saeed was again placed under house arrest when the United Nations declared Jamaat-ud-Dawa to be a LeT front. Hafiz Muhammad Saeed was held in house arrest under the Maintenance of Public Order law, which allows authorities to detain temporarily individuals deemed likely to create disorder, until early June 2009 when the Lahore High Court, deeming the containment to be unconstitutional, ordered Hafiz Muhammad Saeed to be released. India quickly expressed its disappointment with the decision.

On July 6, 2009 the Pakistani government filed an appeal of the court’s decision. Deputy Attorney General Shah Khawar told the Associated Press that “Hafiz Saeed at liberty is a security threat.”

On August 25, 2009 Interpol issued a Red Corner Notice against Hafiz Saeed, along with Zaki ur Rehman Lakhvi, in response to Indian requests for his extradition.

Hafiz Muhammad Saeed was again placed under house arrest by the Pakistani authorities in September 2009. On October 12, 2009, the Lahore High Court quashed all cases against Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and set him free. The court also notified that Jama’at-ud-Da’wah is not a banned organization and can work freely in Pakistan. Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, one of two judges hearing the case, observed “In the name of terrorism we cannot brutalize the law.”

This proved him innocent as evidence provided by Indian government and blown by the Indian news channels were not at all successful in proving him a terrorist in the Pakistani court of law. Pakistan did very little to submit additional evidences. The full bench of Lahore High Court in Pakistan declared him free of charge and set him free. Moreover the respected Supreme Court of Pakistan also rejected the proofs given by India in alleged case of terrorism against Hafiz Saeed. In addition he has challenged any one to take him to the international courts and prove him guilty there, but as per now neither USA nor India is ready for it

On May 11, 2011, in an effort to place pressure on Pakistan, India publicly revealed a list of its 50 most wanted fugitives hiding in Pakistan. India believes Hafiz Saeed is a fugitive, this arrest warrant presently has no effect on Saeed’s movements within Pakistan, following the Lahore High Court ruling Saeed has been moving freely around the country.

In 2012, United States announced a bounty of $10 million on Hafeez Saeed’s head, for his alleged role in 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. Saeed stated that he had nothing to do with the Mumbai attacks and also condemned the attacks. When asked about the bounty, Saeed replied “I am living my life in the open and the US can contact me whenever they want.” He subsequently stated that he is ready to face “any American court” to answer the charges which he denies, adding that if Washington wants to contact him they know where he is: “this is a laughable, absurd announcement. Here I am in front of everyone, not hiding in a cave.” Saeed identified his leading role in the Difa-e-Pakistan council and United States attempts to placate India as reasons behind the bounty.

Hafiz, under direction of just retired ISI chief Shuja Pasha cobbled an organization named Difa-e-Pakistan in 2011. The declared agenda of the Difa-e-Pakistan Council was to oust the United States from the region, break Pak-US ties, back Taliban militants, force the government to revoke the Most Favored Nation status being granted to India and stop the NATO supplies pass through Pakistan. The increasing activities of a recently formed religious and militant parties’ alliance — Difa-e-Pakistan Council — has invited the wrath of United States’ State Department, which has expressed serious concern over the appearance of Jamaat ud Dawa Amir Hafiz Mohammad Saeed in the continuing anti-US rallies being staged across Pakistan.

The US State Department has reminded Islamabad that the JuD was simply a front for the Lashkar-e-Tayiba which had been banned by the United Nations Security Council and the United States in the aftermath of the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks, invoking international sanctions.

The retired director general of the Inter Service Intelligence Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha is considered to be the moving spirit behind the creation of the Difa-e-Pakistan Council which is yet another dummy alliance of religious parties aligned with jihadi non-state actors. Pakistan’s intelligence establishment had been creating such alliances even in the past with a view to fight covert wars in the neighboring states of India and Afghanistan.

The council, which is an umbrella of around 40 banned jihadi outfits and religious groups, seems to have been unleashed by the country’s security establishment because of Pakistan’s fraught relationship with the United States in the aftermath of the November 26 killing of 25 Pakistani army soldiers in a NATO airstrike targeting the Salala check post on the Pak-Afghan border. The council has been holding public meetings and rallies in major Pakistani cities for the past month, announcing that force will be used to spread Islamic ideology in the country by suppressing anti-Islamic, secular and liberal elements.

Hafiz Ibrahim Saeed and Osama bin laden were inspired by the ISI to plan and launch maritime attack on Mumbai on 26/11/2008. Following persons were fully involved in the planning and execution of the attack:
1) Hafeez Muhammad Saeed @ Hafiz Saab,
2) Zaki-Ur-Rehman Lakhvi,
3) Abu Hamza, (Al Qaeda)
4) Abu Al Kama @ Amjid, (Al Qaeda)
5) Abu Kaahfa,
6) Mujjamil alias Yusuf,
7) Zarar Shah,
8) Abu Fahad Ullah,
9) Abu Abdul Rehman,
10) Abu Anas,
11) Abu Bashir,
12) Abu Imran,
13) Abu Mufti Saeed,
14) Hakim Saab,
15) Yusuf,
16) Mursheed,
17) Aakib,
18) Abu Umar Saeed,
19) Usman,
20) Major General Sahab – Name not known (ISI Officer)
21) Kharak Singh, (A suspected Babbar Khalsa member).
22) Mohammed Ishfak,
23) Javid Iqbal,
24) Sajid Iftikhar,
25) Col. R. Saadat Ullah, (ISI Official)
26) Khurram Shahdad,
27) Abu Abdurrehman,
28) Abu Mavia,
29) Abu Anis,
30) Abu Bashir,
31) Abu Hanjla Pathan,
32) Abu Saria,
33) Abu Saif –ur- Rehman,
34) Abu Imran and
35) Hakim Saheb.

Investigations revealed that the terrorists involved in the terrorist attacks underwent a rigorous, arduous and disciplined training schedule. Only on successful completion of the training module did they graduate for the next phase. Training was a very important component of the planned conspiracy and was very vital for the successful execution of the diabolic and nefarious designs of the Lashkar-e-Tayeba. It was revealed during investigation that the terrorists were trained at various locations inside Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir. The training modules, on a graduating scale, were held at Muridke, Manshera, Muzaffarabad, Azizabad, Paanch Teni, etc. in Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir. The ten terrorist accused underwent a grueling training schedule, graduated with flying colors at every phase, ultimately to be hand-picked for the execution of this audacious and bold mission. They were trained for physical fitness, swimming, weapon handling, tradecraft, battle inoculation, Guerilla warfare, firing sophisticated assault weapons, use of Hand Grenades and Rocket Launchers, Handling of GPS and Satellite Phone, Map Reading etc. They were also indoctrinated in the tenets of Jihad and the recitation of Quran and Hadis. The trainers, namely Abu Fahadullah, Abu Mufti Saeed, Abu Abdurrehman, Abu Maavia, Abu Anis, Abu Bashir, Abu Hanjla Pathan, Abu Saria, Abu Saif-ur-Rehman, Abu Imran, Zaki- ur- Rehman, Hakim Saheb, Hafiz Saeed, Kaahfa, Abu Hamza and others were experts in their field and trained them to a degree of perfection. During the last phase of their training, the selected 10 accused terrorists were shown the maps of the targeted sites of Mumbai City by their co-conspirator Abu Kaahfa. On being questioned as regards the authenticity and accuracy of the maps, Abu Kaahfa informed the terrorist accused that the maps had been meticulously prepared by arrested accused Fahim Arshad Mohammad Yusuf Ansari @ Abu Jarar @ Sakib @ Sahil Pawaskar @ Sameer Shaikh@ Ahmed Hasan, aged-35 yrs, Sabauddin Ahmed Shabbir Ahmed Shaikh @ Saba @ Farhan @ Mubbashir @ Babar @ Sameer Singh@ Sanjiv@ Abu-Al-Kasim@ Iftikhar@ Murshad @ Mohammad Shafik@Ajmal Ali, aged-24 yrs. It is further revealed during the investigation that wanted accused Zaki Ur-Rehman Lakhvi handed over the maps of targeted locations to the attackers before they left Karachi for Mumbai with a direction that the said maps of the sites at Mumbai were prepared by arrested accused Fahim Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmad and with the help of the said maps they could reach their assigned targets easily.

Cofounder of the Markaz and LeT was Abdullah Azzam, who was also the initial teacher of Osama bin Laden. Abdullah Yusuf Azzam (1941 – November 24, 1989) was a highly influential Palestinian Sunni Islamic scholar and theologian, who preached in favor of defensive jihad by Muslims to help the Afghan mujahideen against the Soviet invaders and became the first leader of Al Qaeda. He raised funds, recruited, and organized the international Islamic volunteer effort of Afghan Arabs through the 1980s, and emphasized the political ascension of Islam.

He is also known as a teacher and mentor of Osama bin Laden, and persuaded bin Laden to come to Afghanistan and help the jihad, though the two differed as to where the next front in global jihad should be after the withdrawal of the Soviets from Afghanistan. He was also a co-founder of Hamas and Lashkar-e-Tayeba. He was killed by a bomb blast on November 24, 1989, after he developed differences with Osama.

Abdullah Yusuf Azzam was born in 1941 in the village of as-Ba’ah al-Hartiyeh (Silat al-Harithiya village), a few kilometers northwest of the city of Jenin, in the Jenin Sanjak (District), then administered as the British Mandate of Palestine.

After completing his elementary and secondary school education in his home village, he studied agriculture at Khadorri College near Tulkarm. After college graduation, Azzam worked as a teacher in the south Jordanian village of Adder. In 1961, at the age of 20, he married a girl named Umm Muhammad. He subsequently joined Sharia College at the University of Damascus where he obtained a B.A. in Sharia in 1966. After the 1967 Six-Day War ended in Israeli military occupation of the West Bank, Azzam left the West Bank and followed the Palestinian exodus to Jordan, where he joined the Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood.. Azzam, a Palestinian, “deeply driven by the injustice to his people” founded Al-Qaeda. He later turned over leadership of Al-Qaeda to Osama bin Laden due to financial and control pressures, he is quoted as saying of the Saudis, “They will relax, because when they feel Osama is out of control, they can stop him. But I am a Palestinian. They have no way to stop me.

There are several such jihadi diamonds of Pakistan which are still working with Afghan Taliban, LeT, and Jaish-e-Mohammad etc terrorist bodies created by Pakistan. They have not attained Rasool Allah status as yet.

Congress had pitched very high in Uttar Pradesh. Rahul Gandhi, the projected future prime minister of India and scion of Nehru-Feroze Jahangir Ghandy (Indira had started using Gandhi instead of Parsi family name of Feroze Ghandy) jumped into the fray with the mission of trouncing BSP from power and restoring Congress roots in the state. His efforts were strengthened by Priyanka Vadra, Sonia Ghandy and rags to riches son-in-law Robert Vadra. Scores of Congress luminaries-Khurshid Alam, Digvijay Singh (in charge UP affairs), Kapil Sibal, Rita Bahuguna, Jaiswal etc carried out hectic campaign. Rahul Ghandy was projected as the star campaigner. Uttar Pradesh was selected as the catapult that was likely to throw up Rahul to the ornate chair of Prime Minister of India. Some Congress leaders had even started counting days for the exit of Manmohan and coronation of Rahul Ghandy at midnight. Nobody could understand why the midnight coronation! Some interpreters expressed that Rahul was likely to imitate his forbearer Nehru by declaring second independence of India at the stroke of midnight. Whatever the gimmick might be the raw factor remains that Rahul has been swept away by voter rejection. Overnight he has become irrelevant in electoral politics and the corona of the crown has disappeared.

Let us have a look at the final results in the semifinal race for 2014 parliamentary election:



It is amply clear that both the national parties Congress and BJP received serious drubbing in Uttar Pradesh election. That scandal ridden, corrupt and whimsical BSP headed by mercurial Mayawati had lost credibility and her own reputation hanged in balance under the boots of the CBI was known to all political observers. Congress went full thrust against Mayawati, attacking her jugular, blaming her abetting with acts of murderers, rapists, and looters. She took very belated action against corrupt ministers and MLAs. The allegation that she frittered away state exchequer to install her own idol, that of Kansi Ram and innumerable elephants; the symbol of her party BSP could not be credibly refuted. Her involvement/complicity in land acquisition of the farmers, acts of rape and murder by police had alienated several sections of Dalits and farmers.

Mayawati’s caste equalization policy to incorporate the dominant Brahmins, Thakurs and other OBC castes in party had also alienated the Dalits. In the name of broadening her political sway Mayawati alienated the OBC castes and large section of Dalits and Muslims.

The BJP was uncertain what for it was campaigning in Uttar Pradesh. The party did not repeat the Mandir slogan fearing its empty fuel tank. Surprisingly the Vishwa Hindu Parishad , Bajrang Dal, Bajrang Mahila Vahini etc remained aloof from BJP campaign efforts. The RSS cadres also remained aloof. In some cases they leaned towards SP. The star campaigners like Gadkari (no image in people), Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitly, L. K. Advani and other state-level leaders failed to carry the voters with them. The BJP opposed Congress’ minority reservation issue and other concessions given to them by the UPA II government. They carried out negative campaign against BSP, SP and Congress. However, the national leaders failed to campaign for the own party. They failed to rally even marginal Muslim support, snatch away OBC votes from Congress and SP and even could not convince the upper caste Hindu votes. BJP campaigned on Negative issues, by passing Positivism expected from a national party.

It must be added that UP leaders of the BJP were faction ridden. They behaved like marginal local satraps and exhausted their time and spirit in fighting, dragging and drowning their perceived competitors. Local satrapism was another important cause of debacle of the party. The BJP campaign had failed to arouse Hindutwa fervor. They even lost the Ayodhya seat. BJP had no connectivity with the Dalits, despite Uma Bharti being projected as the star campaigner. Local UP leaders had criticized her prominence in UP as an outsider. This inner bickering sabotaged the party. The Brahmin and Thakur cores of BJP vote bank did not accept Uma as their leader. There was near- disconnect between the local units of the party and the voters. As mentioned earlier the RSS remained more or less silent spectators. The party organization had totally collapsed. The BJP and the RSS might do some kathan, chintan and manthan to analyze if an imageless, lackluster and avoirdupois personality can successfully lead the party. Nobody can prevent BJP from committing suicide; but many wish that it should emerge as the viable national alternative.

From the beginning of the campaign it transpired Rahul Ghandy charged at the UP war situation like Don Quixote de La Mancha and his team of Shanco Panzas. He toured all over the state emphasizing reservation and better deals to the Muslims, attacking Mayawati personally, and disparaging the SP and BJP. Rahul and his backroom analysts failed to identify the real enemy in the electoral battle. Even the Ansari (weaver) community was not impressed by largesse ceded to them by the UPA II government and announcement of better MNREGA scheme for the state. Kutil Kapil Sibal and Congress’ OBC face Sam Pitroda propagated several statics to impress the electorate. Wish Congress leaders understood that Pitroda, a billionaire NRI, is better known as an in-house whiz kid and not actually accepted as an icon of the OBC community of India. He could not relate to Yadav, Kurmi, Koiri etc OBC groups in UP. His main qualification is: a friend of Rajiv Gandhi, who had introduced computer in India for common use and innovation in telecommunications. Between 1985 and 2011 computer science has infected human society like knowledge virus particles. Communication has taken quantum jump. Sam may be useful to Ghandy household, but not for the nation and obviously not a vote catcher.

Congress targeted BSP as the main foe. Some senior ministers and leaders even responsively talked about tagging on SP as a junior partner in the government making efforts. 24 Akbar road computers had conceded SP only 80 seats; 140 for itself. They presumed: majority Muslim votes would come to the party, as Congress and some its ministers (K. Alam etc) touted higher reservation for Muslims. Congress’ minorityism had not impressed the Muslim voters. The intelligence apparatus of the government and expensive studies carried out by the party had advocated nearly 55% Muslim support to the Congress. What they did not probe was Mulayam’s intimate contacts with the maulana community, religious schools in UP and special institutions like Deoband, Barelvis, Firangi Mahallis and Muslim Personal Law Board etc. It had become clear after the first phase of poll that Muslims were committed to vote for SP. They did not trust Congress for alleged failure to implement the Sachhar Commission Report and other promises extended by the Congress. Muslims, considered as block voters of Congress turned away to the SP.

Rahul Ghandy, Sonia Ghandy and Priyanka Vadra failed to understand that the government decision of taking away 4.50% OBC reservation quota and shifting the same to Dalit Muslims would boomerang. The OBC community classes and castes recognized by the State and Central governments include certain Muslim professional classes and castes. This administrative decision adopted on the eve of the election alienated certain tiers of the OBC classes. The Yadavs, Koiris , Kurmis etc were perceived as higher-classes of OBCs, to be differentiated from Telis, Nais, Badais, Mallahas, Julahas etc. The so-called higher classes among the OBC made strenuous efforts to swing away from the Congress kitty to SP kitty. The Ghandhys, Digvijay, Khurshid, Kapil, Pitroda and other MBA/IIT backroom boys of Rahul had no inkling of the ground shift.

All these factors left Congress and BJP as marginal players. Several other factors like upper-caste pandering by Mayawati, her failure to protect interests of the Dalits, severe allegations of corruption, lack of personal integrity and haughtiness had alienated Dalit votes of the BSP. Mayawati failed to garner Muslim support as well.

The arithmetic of election was poised in favor of Samajwadi Party from the very beginning. What transformed the SP campaign penetrative was meticulously planned action by young SP leader Akhilesh. Like Rahul Ghandy he did not fly high. His grassroots approach mobilized the party workers like army of ants. The amazing part of the SP game plan was directed at mobilization of the booth committees. They managed to bring their voters to the booth. Both Congress and BJP failed in this crucial aspect of game plan. Certain observers commented that even floating RSS workers helped the SP. In several places observers noticed BJP booth in charges “selling” the booth to SP. Party supporters were absent and their job was done by SP duplicates. BJP should make on ground investigation to understand how many booths were “sold” by their booth in charges. That might give some idea to the devastating erosion that the party suffered. In last one decade BJP managed to lose support of nearly 35% of committed voters. BJP should try to understand as to why the RSS, VHP, Bajrang Dal and other fronts of the Parivar stood idle like the army of Mir Zaffar. BJP supports have genuine concern about efficacy of the president Gadkari and other small time party satraps. Kathan, Manthan and Chintan go on, but no butter is churned out from the minds of the old fogies.

UP election has brought out a new trend in Indian political scene. Marginalization of the two major national parties is palpably visible. Old tricks of Congress- divide & rule, segmenting and sub-segmenting the castes, pandering to minority have failed. BJP’s Hindutwa slogan suffered serious erosion. It has failed to connect with major castes, religious communities and failed to erase the stamp of “communal and non-secular” party assigned to it by the so-called secular parties. All other parties in India are hyped as “secular” except the BJP. It is depicted as anti-Muslim. Even the BJP does not point out that by accepting the constitutional safeguards provided to the minorities the BJP has suo moto accepted the principle of India being a multi-religious, multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-racial country. Hindu rhetoric is not likely to work in near future.

It is not only the BJP or RSS which cause communal riots. Communal riots are an Indian reality dating back to 1714 (Ahmedabad- readers may like to read my book: Battle Ground India-Prognosis of Hindu-Muslim Exclusivism). There are recorded proofs that Congress, RJD, SP and other parties were equally responsible for communal riots. Communal riots do not originate, normally, from religious differences. It mainly originated from economic, commercial and other reasons. Unfortunately, Congress and the Left had succeeded in branding the Hindus as communal. BJP is not the only Hindu organization. There are Hindus in all parties. All of them, sometime or other get involve in rioting. How will BJP wash out this stigma? The Party has to introspect. It has to clear the situation to common Indians. Congress’, Communist’s, TMC’s, SP’s, RJD’s minorityism is communal in nature. This requires explaining to the people. BJP has done very little in this direction.

Besides erosion suffered by the national parties another trend “rise of regional forces” has started taking shape. The days of monolithic Congress ruling the waves have gone; the BJP appeared as a sudden surge. The religion based surge has abated. Congress is gradually fading away to memory and BJP is yet to find out which rope they want to hold to return to political limelight. That politics in India is gradually, but surely transcending caste, class, Jati and Varna is palpably visible. However, it may take ages for the Indians to jump out of the Blackhole of millennium old social garbages. The voters are more conscious about corruption, economic progress, employment and greater connectivity between urban and rural growth. To some extent the Muslim voters have started maturing. They do not line up like flock of sheep behind the Congress, perceiving as the messiah of the minorities. These are positive developments. Political power is now more related to good governance. People are not moved by the name of Gandhi or Ghandy.

Another distinct contour is emerging out of the rejection of Congress and BJP in UP elections. Rise of the regional parties has brightened the prospect of emergence of a third front or “federated united front” in the Centre. The previous concept of Congress leading UPA I, UPA II and possibly innumerable UPAs has become redundant. In a possible midterm election to the parliament or in 2014 elections there is hardly any possibility of Congress bagging 205 seats. BJP’s 116 may marginally improve. But the parties like SP, BSP, JD-U, BJD, TMC, AIADMK, Left Front, Shiv Sena and NCP are likely to increase their kitty considerably. Under both the scenarios (midterm poll or 2014 poll) Congress does not have even the outside chance of leading another UPA. The new UPA may be headed by a regional leader (Say Jayalalitha, Nitish Kumar or Mamata) with Congress as a supporting faction.

Let us have look at the possible line up:

JD (U), 20 MPs: Nitish Kumar faces no serious challenge from RJD and towers over partner BJP. He did well in the last Lok Sabha elections and is confident of doing better. Hopes to be a PM candidate if BJP fails to get the numbers

TMC, 19 MPs: Mamata is working for a non-Congress, non-BJP pressure group. Wishes to stay in UPA but wants to translate her political domination of Bengal into a larger number of LS seats. She will prefer midterm poll.

BJP, 114 MPs: Not fully ready because of its poor showing in UP and fear of backlash in Karnataka. Serious corrective actions in MP and Karnatak are on the anvil. But feels it can ride current anti-Cong mood and take a shot at power in Centre

SP, 22 MPs: After the big win in UP, Mulayam would want leverage at Centre. Feels SP can grab a lion’s share of UP’s 80 Lok Sabha seats

BJD, 14 MPs: Naveen Patnaik’s main adversary Cong suffers credibility deficit and Naveen may want to cash the opportunity by going in for early polls

Shiv Sena, 11 MPs: Hurting due to Raj Thackeray’s rebellion, but wins in municipal elections have bolstered its confidence. May bank on Cong’s incumbency for better show in urban areas

AIADMK, 9 MPs: Jayalalithaa routed DMK in 2011 and hopes to increase her LS tally in an early poll, before anti-incumbency kicks in. Also keen to have a say at Centre

NCP, 9 MPs: Sharad Pawar is open to other alignments if Cong fails to muster numbers. He can fancy his chances in an early election

TDP, 6 MPs: Chandrababu Naidu would like to challenge Cong at its weakest because of Jagan Reddy’s revolt, hoping that this time he will exploit Cong’s double incumbency

Akali Dal, 4 MPs: With Cong defeated and demoralized, Akalis stand to gain if polls are held now rather than later by when the euphoria over its comeback may ebb

JD(S), 3 MPs: Deve Gowda feels BJP’s problems with Yeddyurappa and alliance with Cong may make him a power player in Karnataka. But he may not act independently of the Congress.

JMM, 2 MPs: Running a stable coalition with BJP, JMM may go along with the saffron outfit

TRS, 2 MPs: Early poll suits its statehood demand. In coalition with BJP or TDP it can boost its numbers and make stronger pitch for Telangana

AGP, Haryana Janhit Cong & YSR Cong, 1 MP each: These regional outfits reckon that they can improve their tally in an early poll.

There is visible reluctance of the Left combine to go for midterm poll. They realize that Mamata is still popular amongst the masses. They prefer to wait her credibility to wane and reorganize their own demoralized party cadres.

However, the arrogant, dictatorial functioning and trampling on the rims of federalism by the Congress is likely to be contained. It is busy in wooing Mulayam and cementing bonds with SP. While Mulayam may be lured to accept an important cabinet post (Defense) and two more junior minister’s post, Mamata is not likely to lower her guard. For Mulayam it may be a strategic step towards consolidating his position in Delhi. He has been a longtime Congress collaborator. The scenario may become clear soon, as Sonia Ghandy and her emissaries are busy running between Delhi and Lucknow. Most political analysts think the Swan Song of the Ghandy family has started. We shall wait for the requiem.

Besides, the present government is also introspecting on adopting a holistic approach to counter the influence of radical thoughts. As a step forward, it has decided to include the ‘Qaumi Madrasa’ education system within the purview of general curriculum to prevent its students from getting drawn towards extremism.

Bangladesh is divided in three broad ideological segmentations. The Awami League generally represents the Bengali nationalists; fringe left elements, secular mass-political groups which accept Islam as the state religion with equal respect for other religious groups. Bengali language, culture and tradition are separated by them from the political ambiences. It has lead following among the rural masses, urban professionals, intellectuals and middle classes. Its existence is rooted in the greater autonomy/independence movement started by the towering leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the freedom war (Mukti juddha) against the darkest military regime of Pakistan. The Awami League is now arresting and legally trying the stalwarts of Mass massacre of Bengalis by elements of Jamait Islami, Islami Chhatra Shibir, Ansar and Razakar forces patronized by Pakistan.

In contrast, the BNP is a creation of Gen. Ziaur Rahman, once a freedom fighter and later a usurper and military dictator. The period between of brutal killing of Mujibur Rahman, his close associates during the freedom war and other important colleagues, Pakistan inspired army officers jostled for power and finally through processes of betrayal, intrigues and elimination of opponents, General Zia assumed power and tried to perpetuate the myth that he was the father of Bangladesh. Mujib was consigned to lost pages of history. The period of Zia and subsequently General Irshad witnessed return of Pakistani stranglehold on Bangladesh, collaboration between Pakistan’s ISI and Directorate of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), created by Zia. Bangladesh was transformed to an Islamic state and secularism was thrown to the winds. Zia rehabilitated the Jamait-e-Islami and its adjunct forces, which continued to clamor for establishment of purest Islamistan in Bangadesh.

Zia and Irshad’s collaboration with Pakistan, USA, and Saudi Arabia etc countries encouraged thousands of Bangladeshi nationals joining the mujahideen groups in Afghanistan. After the Afghan war nearly 10,000 Bangladeshi mujahideens returned to the country and started mentoring hundreds of Quami Madrasas and several terrorist groups. That was the period when India’s northeastern terrorist groups like the NSCN (IM), ULFA, Manipur terrorist groups and Bodo militant groups were welcomed by the ISI/DGFI and were trained and armed to fight inside India.

The terrorist groups wanted total wiping out of the minorities, fully fledged conversion, raping and marrying minority women and indulge in wanton acts of terrorism with a view to grabbing state power. These groups and the BNP, having symbiotic relationship often joined hands with a view to spread reign of terror in the country, accelerate anti-India hysteria and pro-Pakistan and pro-Islamist ideology and activities. During the fag end of her tarnished regime Begum Zia had banned four terror groups under tremendous national and international pressure. These groups are HuJI, SAH, JMJB and JMB.

The film of distinction between the BNP and the terrorist groups is absolutely luminescent and transparent. The BNP has mass hold in several rural areas, ulema community, Islamic fanatics, Islamicized urban intelligentsia, professionals and working classes. By raising the bogey of General Zia being the creator of Bangladesh and his legacy being closer to Islamic ideals, Begum Khaleda had so far been successful in mesmerizing the Islamist groups, bands of army officers loyal to Zia. She had succeeded in infiltrating the armed forces with Jamait and pro-terror elements, hoping that they would come to her rescue and reinstall her in political power. Out of power, she always avoided the national parliament and took the national politics to the street with a view to raise mass hysteria. International political watchers are reasonably sure that Khaleda is financed by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, pro-Pak Bangladeshi Diasporas.

The recent attempted coup in Bangladesh was reported to be the handiwork of Hizb ut-Tehrir. Some 16 Bangladesh military officers, who were members of HT, are accused of planning to overthrow Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government. After the security agencies cracked down on the coup plotters, HT claims to have organized public speeches outside mosques across Bangladesh calling upon people to “protest against the Hasina government’s plot to subjugate the Muslim Army of Bangladesh to US and India. According to HT’s own statements in the wake of the failed Bangladesh coup, its members have been claiming that Hasina “was brought to power by the Americans, in partnership with India. The Americans have a design to prevent the return of the Islamic Khilafah in this region and contain the rise of China. For this purpose she prefers a strategic partnership with India in order to secure her strong presence in this region and tighten her grip over the Muslim countries within the region. These two enemy countries are using the government, the opposition, and some in the military leadership in Bangladesh as agents to solve the standing issue of establishing a Khilafah in Bangladesh

The HT called on “sincere officers in the army to remove Hasina and the current ruling regime from authority at once; and to transfer the authority to Hizb ut-Tehrir which is a sincere and aware political party. Hizb ut-Tehrir will establish the Khilafah state which will eject USA, Britain, India and their allies from Bangladesh. The Khilafah will build this country as the starting point for becoming a global super power. This is by securing the basic needs of the people and solving the long running problems faced by the people such as poverty and unemployment, industrializing the country’s economy, building the army as a strong and advanced fighting force, and unifying with the Muslim Ummah.”

Ishraq Ahmed, one of the conspirators behind the army coup attempt as described by the army on Thursday, studied at Rajshahi Cadet College during the 70s and maintained connections with many of his friends who joined the army during the 80s. His family was close to the Pakistani regime. His two sisters were married in Pakistan and still live there. According to the army statement made on Thursday, one of the main plotters of the coup Maj Syed Mohammad Ziaul Haque on January 10 communicated with Ishraq, who is possibly living in Hong Kong, about “developments and execution process of the coup”.

According to analyst there is more to the aborted coup attempt in Bangladesh than meets the eye. The conspiracy to dislodge the Sheikh Hasina government did not involve only anti-India and pro-Islamist army men. Investigations point towards former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s exiled son Tareque Rahman’s role in trying to trigger a mutiny within the army with the aim to remove its top brass and the government that wants better ties with India. Rahman, now exiled in London, is alleged to have coordinated part of the conspiracy with UK-based operatives of Hizb ut-Tehrir, which was banned in Bangladesh 2009. Though he was neither party MP nor a minister, Rahman’s writ ran on every major political and business decision in the country when his mother was in power between 2001 and 2006.

Hizb ut-Tehrir, that is banned in India and the US as well, is emerging as the key element in the plot to instigate a coup through “rightwing and hardliner” officers, investigations indicate. Unconfirmed reports hint at Hizb ut-Bangladesh National Party (BNP)- Jamait-Islami axis behind the plot. Jamait, which collaborated with the Pakistan Army in 1971, is desperate to topple the Hasina government as it tightens the noose around the party by fast-tracking trial of its leaders on war crime charges.

While the coup plot was unearthed last month, initial indications surfaced seven months ago with the arrest of two mid ranking officers in Dhaka on charges of links with a terror group. Sources said two high-ranking officers – Major-General Kamruzzman and Brigadier Tareque – were placed under house arrest. The army had on Thursday said 16 people were linked to the plot, there were unconfirmed reports that 50-60 officers were put under watch or detained.
The rebels, in a note circulated among some fellow officers, described the Hasina government as “Indian agent” and claimed that “senior army officers are on India’s payrolls and New Delhi wanted to convert Bangladesh into a protectorate”. The note, circulated at the beginning of this year, was seized. Two retired officers, who reportedly admitted to their role in the plot, would be tried. These renegade officers were members of the Hizbut.

Fifteen months after it was banned, the Islamist outfit Hizb ut-Tehrir is once again in the spotlight after the army pointed to its involvement in the recent foiled plot to topple the government. The banned organization on January 8 circulated provocative leaflets based on fugitive Maj Syed Ziaul Haq’s internet message throughout the country, the army said at a press conference on January 19.

The Bangladesh chapter of Hizb ut-Tehrir was banned on October 22, 2010 for its anti-state subversive activities. However, instead of ceasing its activities, the outfit tried to bring out processions and hold rallies on several occasions in and outside the capital and advertised several of its publications. It circulated the internet message of Maj Ziaul, who met a serving officer on December 22 last year and instigated him to engage in activities subversive of the state and democracy.

The banned outfit also circulated a provocative leaflet in Bangla and English in December asking army officers to remove Sheikh Hasina from power and “establish Khilafat”.

The army at its press conference said a few arrested and suspected officers involved in the foiled plot were linked with the outlawed outfit. “If you review the mode of activities of militant organizations, their indoctrination system, and ideology and how they work, you will know that two to three officers who admitted their links with Hizb-ut-Tehrir relate to the patterns’ said Brig Gen Mashud Razzaq while responding to journalists’ queries.

“Besides, information given on email has been mentioned in Hizb ut-Tehrir leaflets,” he added. He, however, said the links could be confirmed once investigations had been completed. Against the backdrop of the latest developments, the law enforcement agencies have strengthened their efforts to trap Hizb ut-Tehrir activists in the country. A number of activists have already been arrested in the act of distributing posters, leaflets and other publications.
The outfit, however, continues promoting its activities, thus defying the government ban and challenging the law enforcers. Its members are continuously posting Tehrir posters on walls, bringing out processions, distributing leaflets and carrying out motivational activities across the country.

Posters at different strategic points across the country contain calls to support the outfit to topple the government and implement its proposed Islamic government. Several top-ranked officials of the elite Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and Detective Branch of police expressed their inability to combat the outfit’s activities. They have stressed the need for a separate tribunal to check unabated militancy. They said they had already launched a crackdown on Tehrir, pointing out that the arrest of five activists in Uttara, in Dhaka was a part of the ongoing crackdown.

Lt Col Ziaul Ahsan, director of the Intelligence Wing of Rab, told “It is tough to stop Tehrir men as they get all kinds of support from the organization if they are arrested. Families of the detained activists also get financial support. As a result, they don’t bother much about the arrest.” Since the ban, some 500 Hizb-ut men have been arrested, but most of them are now out on bail. In such circumstances, Lt Col Ziaul Ahsan opined, a specific and separate tribunal should be in effect to fight the militants. “Specials courts through a specific tribunal system should be set up at all district headquarters by enacting a new law for the trial of the militants,” he observed.

“As Tehrir has strong financial support, members from JMB, Hizb-ut-Tawhid, Allah’r Dal and other militant organizations are also joining it,” added Lt Col Ziaul. “Some teachers of several universities, English medium schools and madrasas, doctors and businessmen have been identified as new leaders in the banned organisation.”

Monirul Islam, deputy commissioner of DB (South), said the law enforcers had arrested a large number of people in connection with Tehrir, but most of them resumed their activities after they came out of prison on bail. He said students coming from solvent and educated families were being exploited and getting involved in Hizb-ut because of motivation based on wrong explanations of Islam and least care from their parents. Hizb ut-Tehrir is an international Islamist political party founded in Jerusalem in 1953. It commenced its activities in Bangladesh in 2000. Main sources of finance are Egypt, Turkey, Saudi, Pakistan, Gulf countries, Malaysia and Indonesia.

The Hizbut started operating in Bangladesh in 2000. Within a decade it attracted activists from HuJI, JMB, Allar Dal etc banned outfits. Many professionals, intellectual and men in uniform subscribe to the ideology of Hizbut- a united Islamic world under a Khalifa. On 23 January 2012 Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested Dr. Golam Haydar Rasul, a noted physician of United Hospital of Dhaka for his connection with the organization. His father, Dr. Golam Rasul, former professor of surgery, Dhaka Medical College and former director general of Directorate of Health Services, Bangladesh was also a famous surgeon of the country. Most top BNP leaders are entangled with the Hizbut. These two forces together along with the forces of Pakistan backed Jamait Islami are likely to continue their nefarious efforts to establish a hardcore Islamist regime in Bangladesh.

What can retrieve the situation?

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, also called by secular elements as Bangla Name Pakistan, is a registered party, which works as a political umbrella party for all anti-India forces, Islamists, pro-Pakistani groups and groups which uphold Ziaur Rahman as the creator of Bangladesh. As stated earlier, it has large following amongst the religious clerics, fundamentalists and even terrorist groups. Deepest hatred nursed by the vast Muslim majority of East Bengal against pre-partition Hindu affluent societies is reflected by the same elements through the BNP.

It is not possible for Awami League to crush these forces through administrative actions alone. The BNP continues to have strong following amongst the police and civil administrations, along with its political partner Jamait Islami and allied forces. Awami League is portrayed by them as an adjunct to India and opposed to Islamic values.

Trial of the war criminals, especially the Jamait chief has caused serious consternation among the fundamentalist clerics, pro-Pakistan elements and even political and terrorist elements in Pakistan. Pressure is also brought upon through the Tablighi Jammat, which has strong roots in Pakistan, India, UK and several other countries. Funds are being pumped to the BNP and Jamait to build up agitation and seek out opportunity to stage military coup to oust Sheikh Hasina.

The latest attempted coup allegedly at the behest of Hizb ut-Tehrir was supported by the Jamait, Islami Chhatra Shibir, Razakar, al Badr etc groups and Begum Khaleda Zia.

There have been serious allegations of misgovernance, lack of governance and heavy corruption in the ruling party. Several cases have been detected and prosecution launched. The Indian subcontinent-be it India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have been well marked by international studies as the most corrupt countries. Hasina government has not been able to crack down on corruption. Her Awami League and front organizations are not well knitted and united. It has not been able to build up counter rallies and people’s pressure against the constantly agitating street politics of Khaleda. Khaleda’s demonstrative street politics, shunning of the parliament and linkages with the fundamentalist and have started wielding effect on wavering people of Bangladesh. As in Pakistan, in Bangladesh also, anything going wrong is attributed to Pakistan, be it drought, flood, pestilence or any natural disaster. River water sharing continues to be a big barrier between Indo-Bangla relations. The issues of India seeking river transport up to Assam through Bangladesh, direct rail links, open border trades etc still considered as stumbling blocks.

Observers in Bangladesh feel that after the bloody BDR revolt and the attempted coup have unfolded several weaknesses in the system. The tainted bloody legacy of army rule in Bangladesh still haunt the psyche of some serving and retired army officials to revert back to the days of Islamist rule under the garb of uniform. The process of democracy taking root in Bangladesh is not yet complete. Khaleda Zia still dreams the days when she and her husband and sons had bled Bangladesh white through repression and corruption. She still dreams of army coup with terrorist support and return to her old palatial house inside the army cantonment.

Sheikh Hasina will be required to work harder to build up parallel popular upsurge against BNP and allies, deliver good governance and demonstrate that she is capable of delivering the goods. Secular democracy is the only option for Bangladesh. The façade of democracy in Pakistan under army tutelage cannot be the model for Bangladesh. The Bangla army has shown the grit of scoffing another coup attempt and it is hoped they will stand behind firmly behind the democratic government and help eradicating the specter of Islamist terrorism from the country and send message to Begum Zia that her dreams of ruing Bangladesh with support of the army have been permanently shattered. The witch behind the mirror has been exposed.

Soon after the assassination of OBL on May 2, 2011 a contingent of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and al Qaeda forces attacked the naval airbase in Karachi on May 21, destroying prestigious assets. Army intervention finally brought the situation under control. In addition to these there had been several attacks on army and ISI establishments. My journalist friend had declared Pakistan army as the most discredited and humiliated force in the world.

Indeed, the assassination of OBL has initiated avalanches of political tremor in Pakistan. The present epicenters revolve around three erupted volcanoes: Memogate Scandal, Supreme Court’s direction to act against corrupt politicians who were given amnesty by National Reconciliation Ordinance of President Musharraf, which exempted the president from any legal action for any action taken by him. Chief Justice Ifitkhar Chaudhry in a constitutional judgment has nullified that ordinance and directed the federal government to initiate action against corrupt politicians like president Zardari. Zardari-Gilani duo’s efforts to assert supremacy of the elected government and targeting ISI chief General Shuja Pasha and Chief of Staff Pervez Kayani added to political uncertainty and open expression of fears of military takeover of the reins of the government. The Army/ISI are capable of staging a coup; a natural event in Pakistan. But it appears that four pillars of Pakistan are not yet ready for another protracted stint of army rule. The political class are keen to cling to jamhooriyat (democracy), the judiciary is not keen to send democracy to hibernation by playing into the hands of the Generals, the Army is not yet willing for a putsch as the country is in financial doldrums, its relationship with the USA is at all time nadir and internal terrorist forces have firmed up grip on the Pakistani polity. Peoples of all sections of Pakistan are poised against Army rule; though they want tainted regime of Zardari to go. The fate of Pakistan hangs in balance.

To understand the scenario it is necessary to understand the Memogate affairs. The Memogate controversy revolves around a memorandum (addressed to Admiral Mike Mullen) seeking help of the Obama administration in the wake of the Osama bin Laden raid to avert a military takeover of the civilian government in Pakistan and conversely to assist in a civilian takeover of the military apparatus. Central actors in the plot included American-Pakistani businessman Mansoor Ijaz, who alleged that former Pakistan Ambassador to the United States Husain Haqqani asked him to deliver a confidential memo asking for US assistance. The memo is alleged to have been drafted by Haqqani at the behest of President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari.

The US-Pakistan relationship was at an all-time low before the assault on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbotabad on May 2, 2011. Civilians and the media blamed the Pakistani armed forces for being unable to locate bin Laden’s whereabouts and further criticized them for letting the United States conduct a unilateral operation on Pakistani soil, thereby prompting a furor over violation of Pakistani sovereignty by the United States. The incident put the civilian government and military officials at loggerheads. A meeting of the president, prime minister and the chief of army staff was called to discuss the issue in detail. The memorandum was allegedly written less than two days after the meeting was called, and a few days after the raid on the bin Laden compound.

According to messages leaked online from Mansoor Ijaz, Ambassador Husain Haqqani sent him a BlackBerry message on May 9, 2011, asking him to return a call to London, where the ambassador was on visit. The message further asked him to deliver a prompt proposal, initially verbally, for assistance to Admiral Mike Mullen. Ijaz, whose BlackBerry exchanges with Haqqani indicate he was in Monaco at the time, claims Haqqani had dictated the contents of what was to be relayed verbally in that first telephone call. Ijaz has further stated that his US interlocutors insisted on a written memorandum because of consistent problems in the recent past with Pakistani officials making verbal offers and later not honoring the same. Ijaz then drafted, on the basis of the Haqqani instructions, the memorandum in question and confirmed the contents by telephone and over numerous BlackBerry Messenger conversations with the Pakistani ambassador.

The following morning, Ijaz emailed a copy of the memo draft to the ambassador for proofreading and asked for assurances that the memo had the approval of the president of Pakistan. Shortly after a meeting with British delegates at 10 Downing Street, Haqqani read the proof for the final proposal and asked for it to be delivered immediately to Michael Mullen through a US interlocutor, James L. Jones, former NATO commander and US national security adviser to President Barack Obama. Prior to delivering the memorandum, Ijaz made clear that his military-go-between Jones, who would deliver the memorandum to Mullen, required assurances that the document had clearance from the highest office in Pakistan, upon which Haqqani allegedly responded by telephone “he had the boss’ approval”.

Content of the confidential memo were published in its entirety on Foreign Policy magazine’s website on November 17. The memo was addressed to Michael Mullen, and requested the Obama administration to convey a “strong, urgent and direct message to General Kayani and General Pasha” to “end their brinkmanship aimed at bringing down the civilian apparatus”. The memo then makes certain explicit offers to the United States government in exchange for their support. These include the following quoted from the memo:

“In the event Washington’s direct intervention behind the scenes can be secured through your personal communication with Kayani (he will likely listen only to you at this moment) to stand down the Pakistani military-intelligence establishment, the new national security team is prepared, with full backing of the civilian apparatus, to do the following:

A. President of Pakistan will order an independent inquiry into the allegations that Pakistan harbored and offered assistance to UBL and other senior Qaeda operatives. The White House can suggest names of independent investigators to populate the panel, along the lines of the bipartisan 9-11 Commission, for example.

B. The inquiry will be accountable and independent, and result in findings of tangible value to the US government and the American people that identify with exacting detail those elements responsible for harboring and aiding UBL inside and close to the inner ring of influence in Pakistan s Government (civilian, intelligence directorates and military). It is certain that the OBL Commission will result in immediate termination of active service officers in the appropriate government offices and agencies found responsible for complicity in assisting OBL.

C. The new national security team will implement a policy of either handing over those left in the leadership of Al Qaeda or other affiliated terrorist groups who are still on Pakistani soil, including Ayman Al Zawahiri, Mullah Omar and Sirajuddin Haqqani, or giving US military forces a green signal to conduct the necessary operations to capture or kill them on Pakistani soil. This “carte blanche” guarantee is not without political risks, but should demonstrate the new group s commitment to rooting out bad elements on our soil. This commitment has the backing of the top echelon on the civilian side of our house, and we will insure necessary collateral support.

D. One of the great fears of the military-intelligence establishment is that with your stealth capabilities to enter and exit Pakistani airspace at will, Pakistan’s nuclear assets are now legitimate targets. The new national security team is prepared, with full backing of the Pakistani government – initially civilian but eventually all three power centers – to develop an acceptable framework of discipline for the nuclear program. This effort was begun under the previous military regime, with acceptable results. We are prepared to reactivate those ideas and build on them in a way that brings Pakistan s nuclear assets under a more verifiable, transparent regime.

E. The new national security team will eliminate Section S of the ISI charged with maintaining relations to the Taliban, Haqqani network, etc. This will dramatically improve relations with Afghanistan.
F. We are prepared to cooperate fully under the new national security team s guidance with the Indian government on bringing all perpetrators of Pakistani origin to account for the 2008 Mumbai attacks, whether outside government or inside any part of the government, including its intelligence agencies. This includes handing over those against whom sufficient evidence exists of guilt to the Indian security services.

On October 10, 2011, Ijaz wrote a column in the Financial Times revealing and confirming that he had helped deliver to Admiral Mullen a memorandum drafted by a Pakistani official stationed in the United States at the behest of President Zardari. The op-ed did not explicitly name Haqqani as being the author of the memo. This disclosure fueled frenzy in the Pakistani media. The affair became the buzz of front pages in local newspapers in Pakistan when Mullen admitted that he had received the confidential memorandum soon after the raid on the bin Laden compound. Local media speculated as to the identity of the memo’s author. When asked whether he received the memo in May, Admiral Mullen said he had no knowledge of the memo but later changed his statement, saying he knew of the memo but “thought nothing of it”. Pentagon spokesman Captain John Kirby revealed in a press briefing that Mullen did not know and had never communicated with Mr. Ijaz.

The memo reached Mullen without any government seal or signature but the contents indicate that the memo was allegedly prepared by the civilian government in Pakistan. Kirby suggested that nothing about the letter had the approval of the Pakistani government and Mullen never acknowledged its relevance despite leaked BlackBerry messages between Haqqani and Ijaz indicated otherwise. On November 22, 2011, an official meeting took place at the Prime Minister House in Islamabad between President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, Chief of Army Staff Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, Director General of ISI Ahmad Shuja Pasha, and Ambassador Haqqani over the affairs of the alleged memorandum. Soon after, Haqqani tendered his resignation, which was duly accepted by the Prime Minister.

Several senior Pakistani government officials denied that the memo was written at the behest of the civilian leadership, either the Pakistani president or the prime minister. Multiple meetings were called regarding the contents of the memorandum between the President, the Prime Minister, and the Chief of Army Staff. The results and proceedings of the meetings have not been made public. President Asif Ali Zardari termed the allegations as a conspiracy against the government, further stating that he did not need intermediaries to convey messages since he had “direct access” to the President of the United States.

Several Pakistani opposition politicians saw opportunity in turning the scandal into a major political issue, accusing the Pakistani government of compromising Pakistan’s sovereignty and conspiring against the Armed Forces of Pakistan. At a major political rally, Pakistan Muslim League (N) leader and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif demanded an urgent inquiry into the matter. He also threatened to petition the Supreme Court of Pakistan, and resign from the National Assembly if the Zardari government did not satisfactorily investigate the matter. TIP leader Imran Khan has also made strident demands for adequate investigation into the scandal.

While several people presently and formerly associated with the US Government have acknowledged the existence of the memo, the Obama administration has relatively distanced itself from the controversy in the public eye. When asked about the matter, US National Security Adviser Tom Donilon declined to comment. Similarly, at a daily press briefing on November 18, 2011, US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner stated “this is – I understand this is a big story in Pakistan. It’s partly a domestic story. We – and we’ll all treat it as such. I mean, our – we remain in contact with Ambassador Haqqani”. Admiral Mike Mullen’s former spokesman, captain John Kirby, acknowledged the existence of the memo, but clarified that “neither the contents of the memo nor the proof of its existence altered or affected in any way the manner in which Admiral Mullen conducted himself in his relationship with General Kayani and the Pakistani government. He took no note of it”. Later, Kirby also stated that Admiral Mullen was confident the memo did not originate from President Zardari. In an email to Pakistani media, former National Security Advisor James L. Jones acknowledged that he personally delivered the memo to admiral Mullen, but clarified that he was not a serving government official at the time he forwarded the message.

Many of Pakistan’s civilian leadership fear that the military is on the cusp of seizing control of the country once again, in the wake of the memogate scandal that has accused President Zardari of conspiring to plot a coup against the military. General Kayani and General Pasha have submitted their affidavit before the SC appointed enquiry body through the defense secretary, who forwarded these without approval of the government. He was removed by the Prime Minister and replaced by a loyalist. Many in Pakistan believe that the investigation is a sign of the democratic process actually working. Allegations of requesting a foreign government to remove the highest-ranking military officials of the country are matters of national security, and as such, it is imperative that these matters be thoroughly investigated. Pakistan has long become victim to the executive branch enjoying unquestionable authority, and for too long this authority has been granted by the courts. Whether or not Justice Chaudhry’s emphasis on a more involved and proactive judiciary – one that truly balances the clout of the ruling party and military – is sustainable, remains to be seen. Regardless, for this particular incident, perhaps the first time that the judiciary has been challenged on issues of national security, he has reinvigorated the belief that democracy in Pakistan can indeed work.

However, a comical situation has gripped Pakistan. At the height of rising tension between the PM and the army chief, Zardari flies to Dubai to attend a marriage, kicking up speculation that a coup was imminent. If Pakistan were not home to the largest collection of terrorists in the world, possessor of a nuclear weapons arsenal and right next door to India, its present political contortions could almost pass as comical.

Unfortunately, Pakistani politics is no laughing matter because it is the most visible symptom of the deeper malaise that afflicts the country. The present crisis has revealed all the known flaws in the Pakistani political system, but in greater relief than before. There is a military that refuses to allow any civilian leadership to genuinely run the country; a polity where institutions are so weak that personalities and personality clashes are all that matters. In this case, the character of the Supreme Court justice is arguably the most decisive issue. The leadership lacks the internal coherence to find compromises. Hence the propensity of Pakistani interest groups to seek the interference of outside powers, whether the United States, Saudi Arabia and increasingly China. Pak authorities have developed the habit of reclining on Saudi Arabia before any major is taken. To top it all the electorate is dominated by feudal interests in most parts of the country.

There can be little argument that the Pakistan military is largely responsible for this state of affairs. The military has worked assiduously to ensure that the civilian political leadership is weakened and that the institutions of government remain ineffective. It has intervened so often that Pakistan has never been able to have two civilian governments hand power to each other through an election. The men in khaki have a single motive: to ensure that they are the final authority in all matters in Pakistan. The present crisis shows that this policy is now delivering decreasing returns.

The army may be unhappy with the present civilian leadership, but it is also unable and unwilling to take over itself. The civilians, on the other hand, are using tricks taken from the army’s own shelf including trying to divide the corps commanders, use foreign governments and claiming the military is too close to America. The result is the present chaos where the military is trying to stage a constitutional coup through the courts. The President is trying to stage a coup within the military. And the Supreme Court is simply out to settle scores on behalf of its chief justice. In all probability the Army will side with the judiciary. The Prime Minister is making frenetic efforts to hide behind the Parliament, stressing on resolution in support democracy and validity of the stand taken by his government. President Asif Ali Zardari knows well that after revocation of the NRO by the SC, he stands naked before the law of the country. The PM cannot delay anymore initiating action against the President (Swiss bank enquiry) and other politicians. The final tragedy is that there are few things going right in Pakistan: its western provinces are in flames, terrorist of different denominations are active inside the country, its exchequer is empty, it is still reeling from the effects of last year’s floods and its internal social problems are mounting. But its leadership is playing musical chairs to a tune solely of their own making.

As we compose this essay the Supreme Court has held PM Gilani guilty of contempt of court and asked him to appear in person on January 19th. Law Minister Maula Bux Chandio said that the government would consult lawyers with respect to the court’s notice and that whatever would be done would be done in accordance with the law and constitution. On the other hand, the Memogate case is also being heard in the SC. Mansoor Ijaz is yet to arrive in Pakistan to depose in the case. The Blackberry phone of Hussain Haqqani has not been found in his office and residence. It is simply missing. Ijaz is yet to produce his phone. Blackberry authorities are reluctant to share data without valid and legal request from Pakistan.

Another PIL is being heard in Lahore High Court which requested the judiciary to ban for all time to come, military takeover of Pakistan. The outcome will be intently followed by pro-democracy people of Pakistan. Nawaz Sharif is inclining more towards the Army-SC entente, visibly gravitating away from his earlier stand of protection of Parliamentary Democracy.

The National Assembly gave the PPP led coalition government a major morale boost on January 16, in the face of perceived challenges with a resolution passed with a big majority reposing trust in the political leadership and urging all state institutions to strictly remain within their constitutional limits. A jubilant Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani called the vote a `historic moment` in support of democracy and parliament and declared amid cheers from the house that he would appear before Supreme Court on Thursday to comply with summons to answer a contempt show-cause notice.

So far the triple tango in Pakistan that started after US raid on OBL at Abbotabad and exacerbated with the Memogate, has neared the peak. Coming days should determine if Zardari and Gilani will become victims of judicial activism and pro-active Army-judiciary alliance. The dangerously instable nuclear power is threatened from within and can pose threat to neighbors. Let’s count the moments.

Poverty is widespread in India, estimated to have a third of the world’s poor. According to a 2005 World Bank estimate, 26.1% of the total Indian population was below the international poverty line of US$ 1.25 a day, in nominal terms Rs 21.6 a day in urban areas and Rs 14.3 in rural areas. A recent report by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative states that 8 Indian states have more poor than 26 poorest African nations combined which totals to more than 410 million poor in the poorest African countries. According to UN Millennium Development Goals Report, as many as 320 million people in India and China are expected to come out of extreme poverty in the next four years, while India’s poverty rate is projected to drop to 22% in 2015. The report also indicates that in Southern Asia, however, only India, where the poverty rate is projected to fall from 51% in 1990 to about 22% in 2015, is on track to cut poverty in half by the 2015 target date.

The 2011 Global Hunger Index (GHI) Report ranked India 45th, amongst leading countries with hunger situation. It also places India amongst the three countries where the GHI between 1996 and 2011 went up from 22.9 to 23.7, while 78 out of the 81 developing countries studied, including Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Kenya, Nigeria, Myanmar, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Malawi, succeeded in improving hunger condition.

Percentage population living on less than 1 dollar a day from 2007-2008. (Click to expand)

India stands at 41% to 60% nearly at par with some African and SE Asian countries in comparison to 4-20% in Pakistan and China. Despite claims of increased GDP and estimated 7-8% growth rate, present statistics indicate that in industrial sector growth rate has slowed down and turning to over -5% index. Several strange facts are not known to the common people, even the conscious middle class about socio-economic conditions of India. The following chart will offer a quick glimpse. These are official statistics. Real ground situation is more serious.

Number of people, in India, who are below poverty line (Real estimate 50 cr) : About 300 million (30 Cr.)

Number of people, in India, who work in the organized Public Sector, i.e. with the Central and State Government ( Nearly 2.5 cr) : About 19 million (1.9 Cr.)

Number of people, in India, who work in the organized Private Sector : About 8 million (0.8 Cr.)

Number of people, in India, who work in the unorganized Sector (nearly 40 cr) : About 320 million (32 Cr.)

Number of people, in India, who are unemployed approximately (Nearly 50 crore) : About 300 million (30 Cr.)

Number of JOBS which need to be created every year, to fulfill the aspirations of the people of India (Nearly 2 cr) : About 10 million/yr. (1 Cr.)

Number of people BORN every year in India (China is only 10 million per year. Population growth alarming. : About 27 million/yr. (2.7 Cr.)

There has been no uniform measure of poverty in India. The Planning Commission has accepted the Tendulkar Committee report which says that 37% of people in India live below the poverty line (BPL). In fact it is nearly 50%. The Arjun Sengupta Report (from National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector) states that 77% of Indians live on less than Rs 20 a day (about $0.50 per day). The N.C. Saxena Committee report states that 50% of Indians live below the poverty line.

A study by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative using a Multi-dimensional Poverty Index (MPI) found that there were 645 million poor living under the MPI in India, 421 million of whom are concentrated in eight North and East Indian states of Bihar, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. This number is higher than the 410 million poor living in the 26 poorest African nations. The states are listed below in increasing order of poverty based on the Multi-dimensional Poverty Index.

Multi-dimensional Poverty Index, Click to enlarge

Poverty alleviation in India progresses at slow rate. Presence of a massive parallel economy in the form of black (hidden) money stashed in overseas tax havens, black money hoarded inside the country and underutilization of foreign aid have also contributed to the slow pace of poverty alleviation in India. Although the Indian economy has made progress over the last two decades, its growth has been uneven when comparing different social groups, economic groups, geographic regions, and rural and urban areas. Between 1999 and 2008, the annualized growth rates for Gujarat (8.8%), Haryana (8.7%), or Delhi (7.4%) were much higher than for Bihar (5.1%), Uttar Pradesh (4.4%), or Madhya Pradesh (3.5%). Poverty rates in rural Orissa (43%) and rural Bihar (41%) are among the world’s most extreme.

Despite claimed economic progress, one quarter of the nation’s population earns less than the government-specified poverty threshold of 32 rupees per day, approximately US$ 0.25.

According to a recently released World Bank report, India is on track to meet its poverty reduction goals. However by 2015, an estimated 53 million people will still live in extreme poverty and 23.6% of the population will still live under US$1.25 per day. This number is expected to reduce to 20.3% or 268 million people by 2020, in case job generation programmes progress evenly and growth in industrial and agricultural sectors keeps pace with the domestic and market expectations. However, at the same time, the effects of the worldwide recession in 2009 have plunged 100 million more Indians into poverty than there were in 2004, increasing the effective poverty rate from 27.5% to 37.2%. Between 1999 to 2011 this rate has marginally gone up because of devaluation of the Rupee, high inflation and abnormal price rise.

There is no doubt that during last three decades about 10-15 million people have crossed the BPL level and graduated to lower and upper middle class. But their elevation has been neutralized by devaluation of the Rupee and abnormal price rise. The definition of poverty in India has been called into question by the UN World Food Programme. In its report on global hunger index, it questioned the government of India’s definition of poverty saying: The fact that calorie deprivation is increasing during a period when the proportion of rural population below the poverty line is said to be declining rapidly, highlights the increasing disconnect between official poverty estimates and calorie deprivation.

While total overall poverty in India has declined, the extent of poverty reduction is often debated. While there is a consensus that there has not been increase in poverty between 1993–94 and 2004–05, the picture is not so clear if one considers other non-pecuniary dimensions such as health, shelter, education, crime and access to infrastructure. With the rapid economic growth that India is experiencing, it is likely that a significant fraction of the rural population will continue to migrate toward cities, making the issue of urban poverty more significant in the long run. Urban poverty is another scaring problem that may haunt the nation sooner than later.

Some, experts like P Sainath, hold the view that while absolute poverty may not have increased, India remains at an abysmal rank in the UN Human Development Index. India is positioned at 132ond place in the 2007-08 UN HDI index. It is the lowest rank for the country in over 10 years. In 1992, India was at 122ond place in the same index. It can even be argued that the situation has become worse on critical indicators of overall well-being such as the number of people who are undernourished. India has the highest number of malnourished people, at 230 million, and is 94th of 119 in the world hunger index, and the number of malnourished children; 43% of India’s children under 5 are underweight (BMI<18.5), the highest in the world as of 2008.

A 2007 report by the state-run National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector (NCEUS) found that 77% of Indians, or 836 million people, lived on less than 20 rupees per day USD 0.50 nominal, USD 2.0 in PPP, with most working in “informal labor sector with no job or social security, living in abject poverty. However, a new report from the UN disputes this, finding that the number of people living on US$1.25 a day is expected to go down from 435 million or 51.3 percent in 1990 to 295 million or 23.6 percent by 2015 and 268 million or 20.3 percent by 2020.

Two important projects of the Government: MGNREGA and the latest Food Security Bill (Act likely soon) which aimed at poverty alleviation and economic sustainability of the poors and the BPL are considered as flagship programme of the government. The NREGA was introduced in 2005 with a view to provide minimum 100 days employment to the rural people at minimum daily wage rates. Dr. Jean Drèze, a Belgian born economist, at the Delhi School of Economics, has been a major influence on this project. A variety of people’s movements and organizations actively campaigned for this act. The act directs state governments to implement MGNREGA schemes. Under the MGNREGA the Central Government meets the cost towards the payment of wage, 3/4 of material cost and some percentage of administrative cost. State Governments meet the cost of unemployment allowance, 1/4 of material cost and administrative cost of State council. Since the State Governments pay the unemployment allowance, they are heavily incentivized to offer employment to workers. However, it is up to the State Government to decide the amount of unemployment allowance, subject to the stipulation that it not be less than 1/4 the minimum wage for the first 30 days, and not less than 1/2 the minimum wage thereafter. 100 days of employment (or unemployment allowance) per household must be provided to able and willing workers every financial year.

Several misuses and corrupt practices have haunted the programme. Though designed to provide some subsistence income to the rural poors this scheme is tied down in labyrinthine shackles of panchayet and bureaucratic systems. The MGNREGA is one of the largest initiatives of its kind in the world. The national budget for the financial year 2006-2007 was Rs 113 billion (about US$2.5bn and almost 0.3% of GDP) and now fully operational, it costs Rs. 391 billion in financial year 2009-2010. It was argued that funding would be possible through improved tax administration and reforms, yet the tax-GDP ratio has actually been falling. There are fears the programme will end up costing 5% of GDP. Can India afford such colossal expenditure in the name of giving employment, which do not create infrastructure, generate jobs, improve home and small industries, encourage artisans and turn the jobless people productive and national assets? NO. MNGREA is another name of making people dependent on beggary, through limited manual work.

Another important criticism is that the public works schemes’ completed product (e.g. water conservation, land development, afforestation, provision of irrigation systems, construction of roads, or flood control) is vulnerable to being taken by over wealthier sections of society. A monitoring study of NREGA in Madhya Pradesh showed the types of activities undertaken were more or less standardized across villages, suggesting little local consultation. Panchayet sharks, lower level officials cooked up the roster of attendance and misappropriated huge funds. Thousands of names were found to be fraud in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Further concerns include the fact that local government corruption leads to the exclusion of specific sections of society. Local governments have also been found to claim more people have received job cards than people who actually worked in order to generate more funds than needed, to be then embezzled by local officials. Bribes as high Rs 50 are paid in order to receive the job cards from the panchayets.

A multi-crore fraud has also been suspected where many people has been issued the NREGA card who is either employed with another Government Job and who are not even aware that they have a Job Card. The productivity of laborers involved under NREGA is considered to be lower because of the fact that laborers consider it as a better alternative to working under major projects. There is criticism from construction companies that NREGA has affected the availability of labor as laborers prefer to working under NREGA to working under construction projects. It is also widely criticized that NREGS has contributed to farm labor shortage. In July 2011, the government has advised the states to suspend the NREGA programme during peak farming periods. The National Advisory Committee (NAC) advocated the government for NREGA wages linkage with statutory minimum wages which is under Minimum wages act as NREGA workers get only Rs100 per day. Many observers have commented that the UPA government has been trying to create a bonded vote bank through huge state expenditure in a mammoth project, which has become ungovernable, ridden with corruption and giving an impression to the people that beggary is better than productivity. This is enlarging the pyramid base of paupers, poors and beggars in India, dependent on various kinds of doles.

The Food Security Bill, another brain child of Sonia Gandhi and her NAC (same Dr. Jean Drèze, a Belgian born economist, at the Delhi School of Economics and N. C. Saxena as seed propagators). This scheme proposes subsidized food grain, pulses etc supply to nearly 65% of the population with no end-date limit and no fixed budget provision. This new act will add immense burden on national resources and will nearly drain the treasury. “While the purpose of ensuring food security to the poor is laudable, the food security bill is not the right mechanism for it,” said Biswa Nath Bhattacharyay, lead professional, Asian Development Bank. Bhattacharyay said that with already high inflation and ballooning budget deficit because of the falling rupee, expenditures on nonproductive activities like this would further aggravate the economic problems of the country which is faltering in many areas. He said the government, facing a trust deficit in the market, does not have enough money. “Still it is planning to spend on nonproductive activities. It is not at all sustainable. I can understand if the government is investing on sectors like infrastructure. If you go on doing these activities which is very difficult to sustain and have pilferage and other problems, the confidence of India goes down,” He added the proposed legislation would lead to larger outflow and decreased inflow of money, creating money scarcity and free fall of rupee.

Very valid criticism of the FSB has come from R. Ranganathan, eminent journalist and economic analyst. According to him The Food Security Bill is not the way to ensure food security. Nothing could be further from the truth. Food security comes from ensuring three things: creating jobs and income, ensuring higher food output by raising productivity, and creating a safety net to feed those who can’t do so in distress situations. What the Food Security Bill does is to make the exception the rule: offering food subsidies to almost all people (65 percent of the population) without an end-date. This is irresponsible populism. A government that does nothing in its seven-year tenure so far to improve agricultural productivity and which fails to invest in research and infrastructure suddenly wants to end food insecurity with a bill two years before an election. If it genuinely cared for the poor, what stopped the government from helping them in phases every year from 2004? By now hunger could have been eliminated. The FSB is thus an attempt to fool the electorate before elections, with the bill being paid by all of us – either as taxes or higher inflation. The 2011 move is well calculated to garner vote by offering subsidized food; creating new class of beggars.

He feels government is afraid of withdrawing any subsidies to the better off for fear of offending them, and then claims that those opposing the FSB are anti-poor. Even a petrol price hike gets Congress party men worked up enough to get it withdrawn. Pranab Mukherjee is shrinking from imposing a tax on diesel cars. The UPA is willy-nilly subsidizing the rich – and unwilling to back off from this. The Congress exploits the middle class and small and marginal traders and manufacturers and gives tax holidays to the rich. The problem is politicians want to eat their growth cake and have it, too. The last budget (2011-12) put the total revenue forgone as a result of direct and indirect tax concessions at a stupendous Rs 5,11,630 crore. This sounds like an easy bank to raid to finance the ambitious FSB, but let’s look at what these tax-breaks include: Rs 88,263 crore in corporate taxes forgone for encouraging exports, etc, Rs 50,658 crore in individual tax breaks (two-thirds of it is the ubiquitous 80C deductions – PF, NSCs, LIC premium – which the middle class loves), and the balance (Rs 3, 72,709 crore) constitutes excise and customs concessions of various kinds.

These are the taxes forgone on the “rich” and on “business”. But are they really only that? Concessions to export houses create high-value jobs in the IT and other sectors (and prevent the rupee from crashing much more); concessions to companies to set up industries in backward areas and the north-east are the only way to create jobs there; concessions to middle-class salary earners are the only way to get them to save and buy insurance. And excise and customs cuts lower prices on all goods. Which “benefits” do we want to eliminate? The finance ministry has fought shy of withdrawing even the 2008 post-Lehman stimulus package, or raise customs duties on items like petroleum goods. The UPA can choose how it wants to tax the rich to feed the poor. It has ducked this choice – and this is why we are in a financial mess, unable to fund a legitimate food security measure.

The UPA’s self-serving answer is to keep throwing money at the problem and hope it gets solved. But the FSB is not India’s first crack at hunger. In the past we have had the food-for-work programme (a mix of NREGA-like work with payments being made in kind), the Antyodaya scheme (targeted at the ultra-poor), the mid-day meal scheme for children, and the anganwadi schemes for mother and child. Above it all, we have a leaky public distribution system (PDS) which works well in some states and badly in others.

The only logical way to tackle hunger is to try different methods in different states and see which one works best and extend the model nationally. This is how the mid-day meal scheme introduced in Tamil Nadu – and much derided by critics then – was adopted nationally. Like burning a candle at two ends, social security should either target the income-generating side of livelihood (which is what NREGA tries to do) or the consumption side (which is what the FSB tries to do). Ensuring that at least one works well will ensure the other. Both need to be backed with an efficient public distribution system – which need not be publicly owned.

However, what do we see now? NREGA is in the doldrums, since states and district administrations are unable to provide enough work for the poor. The scheme is riddled with massive corruption. Money is being spent carelessly, and the scheme is not achieving its basic goals – ensuring higher incomes, and the creation of assets in rural area that will ultimately improve agricultural productivity.
The right way to approach food security would have been to fix NREGA first – even by extending it to six or nine months a year – and then launching food security schemes in places where NREGA has not worked. By making both a creaky NREGA and FSB nearly universal, the UPA is actually saddling the country with huge costs without delivering worthwhile results. There is no enhancement of productivity, job generation, promotion of industry, promotion of cash-crop initiative, and utilizations of the vast human resources in nation building work. By vote-bank doling the Congress is pushing the vast segment of the populace to beggary. A subsidy makes a beggar out of the poor. It is demeaning. An income is what the poor need – though no one denies the need for direct food supply schemes when things are bad. Most farmers don’t find farming remunerative, so government gives them cheap electricity, cheap fertiliser, subsidized power and diesel and a minimum support price for their produce. Government does not tax the rural rich. Money flow from big industry to agri-sector is increasing rapidly. It is a ruse for tax evasion.

There are many economists who wonder how India will cough up the funds to finance the scheme which will see the country’s food subsidy bill climb to $19bn from $13bn. The government insists money will not be a problem. There are also questions about how beneficiaries will be identified and targeted in a transparent manner in a country where there are different official estimates of the poorest of the poor – from 37% to 77% of the people, depending on whom you believe.

India’s state-run cold storage and grain storage system is shambolic, so where is the guarantee that some 65m tones of food grains procured from farmers for distribution for the scheme – up from 55m tones presently – will not rot before reaching the beneficiary? How can the food grains be distributed through the leaky public distribution system shops without reforming them? So is India again putting the cart before the horse? Without reforming its laws and public institutions, welfare schemes with the best intentions run the risk of floundering. The FSB is likely to fatten the procurers, distributors and black marketers.

For the scheme to work, the government will need to target beneficiaries properly, rebuild the storing capability and revamp the distribution system. The public distribution system, for example, could be made accountable by issuing smart cards to beneficiaries to eliminate bogus cards and fraudulent withdrawal. If the food security scheme does not work, economists believe, India is doomed to remain a hungry republic. It is already one of the fast-growing economies with the hungriest people in the world. And it can get worse.

Sonia Gandhi’s election eve gamble is likely to drain out Indian resources to unproductive charity, a confused political perception which can at best turn 65% of Indians to perpetual beggars-unable to come out of the dungeon of poverty, unemployment and wastage of human resources. Sonia appears to be determined to turn India to a nation of beggars.

Goa, though not a major State, has been a vexing scene of Ayarams and Gayarams of Indian electoral abuses. In 2007 election Congress had won 16 seats and the BJP 14. Two independents were induced to join Congress, thus, offering the party another opportunity to form the government. Since last elections Goa’s political scenario has been dominated by sex scandals, murder charges and rampant corruption. Since criminality is not a disqualifying factor in Indian politics, it is anticipated that when Goa goes to the hustings again same pack of political wolves would dominate the stage.

Political pundits speculate that in Gujarat Narendra Modi is likely to make a repeat performance. Congress camps hope that besmearing Modi with several coats of scandals of alleged police excesses, victimization of apparently honest and upright police and administrative officers and continued media and legal focus on 2002 communal riots, they would succeed in making serious erosion of Modi’s popularity.

In the 2007 elections BJP won 117 seats out of a total of 182. Modi’s several political and public actions of extending healing touches, broadening grassroots contacts and noticeable economic progress despite national slowdown have attracted voter’s attention. Several industries have already started operations in the State and despite BJP’s stand against direct FDI entry into India; Gujarat continues to attract foreign investment mainly because of comparatively peaceful labor situation and tax incentives. Agriculturally also Gujarat has made significant progress, in spite of flood and drought ravages in certain regions. Gujarat is considered an entrepreneur and capital investment friendly State.

Congress stalwarts, including prince in waiting, Rahul Gandhi have not made any serious foray in Gujarat. Though carries, by accident, the Gandhi surname after him, the Gujaratis are aware that this one Gandhi is fake and has nothing to do with the Father of the Nation. Party supremo Sonia and the PM Manmohan Singh have not yet started maneuverings in the State. Some party insiders hope against hopes that the tools of the central government would succeed in putting Modi behind the bars under some charges or other. Such machination is not new for the Congress High Command and some of lackey departments like the CBI and NIA. Their main concern is with the higher judiciary that has declined to toe the wished of Congress High Command and its tools of governance.

Election forecasting is not an astrological pseudo-science. It depends on the mood of the people, prevailing political textures, evaluation of past performances, appreciation or depreciation of actual benefits reaching the people and campaign fodder. From distance views, sampled evaluations and attitudinal approaches of the Congress it appears that Gujarat voters are likely to opt again for Narendra Modi; may be by an increased margin. Very frequently hurled communal stigma has not hit the bull’s eye in Gujarat, vast number of populace, including sizeable Muslims do not personally blame him for communal riots. Some Gujaratis aver: if Modi was guilty for non-action, so was Rajiv Gandhi in 1984 mass Sikh pogrom.

Himachal Pradesh continues to be in the eye of political storm. The BJP had won 41 seats out of 68 seats in 2007 elections. Some vapor of hope has been generated in Congress chest after its candidate Lakhwinder Singh defeated BJP candidate Gurnam Kaur by a small margin at Nalagarh assembly bye-election. However, Congress lost the holding seat at Renuka ® constituency during the same bye-election process.

A recent Supreme Court judgment reversing the High Court judgment on HP Congress secretary Asha Kumari in a land grab case in Chamba has created fresh political embarrassment for the party. However, Congress tried to balance the situation by accusing that HP BJP government had consented to direct FDI in retail trade. This has been refuted by the party.

In last two years Himachal have gone through vagaries of drought, excess rainfall, flooding that hampered cash-crop production and marketing. Economic hardship aside, the BJP has suffered image-erosion because of several scandals involving important political figures. Generation of jobs for the youth has come under sharp criticism. Investment has come from outside the State, but not in bulk job generating sectors. The much touted live labor and employment portal has not been updated since March 2005 and records 8.80 lakh unemployed people in the state. On the other hand government employment has reached a saturation point as Himachal already has the highest percentage of government employees in the country.

A recent World Bank study on Himachal Pradesh categorically stated that “‘difficult choices in public policies will be needed that mark some break from past development strategies. The role of the state, in particular, must change increasingly from a direct provider of services and jobs to being an enabler of human and natural resource development potential.”

Besides economic issues intra and inter party bickering have weakened the party structures of both the BJP and the Congress. The NCP and other smaller parties are trying to secure spaces for themselves. However, from present trends it appears that the BJP may be able to maintain its grip on power after the 2012 elections.

Punjab is likely to be in for surprise. The BJP-SAD coalition presents an apparent conjunction of Hindu and Sikh political forces in the State. Punjab politics and administration are being severely haunted by charges of rampant corruption by the politicians and all layers of bureaucrats and police. The Congress governments under Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and Capt. Amrinder Singh had come under severe criticism for heavy corruption, siphoning of development funds to political pockets and neglect of infrastructural developments. Personal and group scandals had pervaded the political scene.

Situation did not improve with BJP-SAD coalition. Prakash Singh Badal, chief minister from Malwa region had taken over the reins after claiming that if allowed a five year tenure he would change the face of Punjab and saturate it with growth. Nearly after 5 years the coalition government has been able to do little in the core agricultural sectors of the State. High cost of input, fragmentation of land, increased salinity, non-remunerative price, tyranny of commission agents and whims of the FCCI have added to the woes of the grain-bowl of India. Besides the land degradation, a number of secondary issues have resulted due to the Green Revolution, which has the potential to impact the growth of Punjab in future. Land consolidation is one such issue. Small or marginal farmers have found it difficult to benefit from HYVs, machinery and fertilizers in their fields due to which the wealth disparities have widened further than before. Also, installing pumps and using higher amount of fertilizers have increased the cost of production, thereby increasing the average debt taken by the farmers. Every year, a lot of subsidies have to be provided to the farmers in form of cheap electricity, loan waivers and lower interest rates. These costs are seldom counted as the costs of production in awarding the success crown to Punjab. The real GDP growth of Punjab from 2007-08 to 2008-09 has been about 14% as compared to its neighbor Haryana that grew at about 18% during the same period. This is an indicator of the growth stagnation for Punjab’s economy that’s highly dependent upon agriculture to an extent of 65%.

Agricultural indebtedness is very high and in recent years nearly one thousand farmers have committed suicide due to pressure of poverty, indebtedness and unsustainable growth of products. Big mechanized farms have increased in numbers. But the middle rung and small farmers are dependent on migrant labor coming from UP, Bihar and illegal Bangladeshis. The Congress, SAD+BJP governments have failed to address the deteriorating condition of the marginal and small farmers.

In the industrial belts of Ludhiana, Jullandhar etc areas large employment providing infrastructure industries have not come up since 1980. Migrant labors and growing communal conflicts have added to the woes in the industrial belts. Two incidents taking place within a span of two days in the state’s commercial capital Ludhiana have created communal and migrants-locals tensions. In the first incident which created migrants-locals tensions the police was mainly responsible for allowing the situation to deteriorate. It first refused to register a complaint by two migrants who were robbed by the bikers’ gang alleging that the police had failed to do anything about the snatching incidents taking place for the past few days. The enraged migrants, mostly from Bihar and UP, blocked highways and set ablaze vehicles. Having failed to check rioting, the police encouraged youth of nearby villages to combat the migrant protesters with lathis and swords. As a result, what began a clash between migrant laborers and police, quickly turned into a clash between locals and the migrant laborers. Several social reasons are responsible for dependence on migrant labor force. This has caused severe restraint on job opportunity of the original Punjabis.

Religious communalism has taken different dimensions in Punjab. The SGPC and the Sikhs in general do not recognize the Nirankari sect as a part of true Sikh Panth. There had severe clashes between the two groups in the past. Skirmishes between the Sikh groups and the Dera Sachha Sauda sect of Sikhism are common. Communal heat generated by alleged anti-Sikh activities of Divya Jyoti Sanstan (Nurmahal) had created serious communal situation in the recent past. Punjab is full of several Deras and Akharas, which represent amalgamated forms of Sikhism and Hinduism. Besides the Arya Samaj movement these splinter groups have also emerged as communal irritants.

The recent Muktsar incidents of assault of a woman teacher by a SAD sarpanch and fracas during visit of PS Badal to his home town area have kicked up new controversies. Unless astutely handled the may snowball into a popular agitation against SAD government.

On the other hand, Congress is also in disarray. Leadership tussle, weak organizational structure and failure to offer viable alternative have left little choice before the voters. Legendary corruption charges against Amrinder Singh government is still vivid in memory, though corruption per say, has little impact on the people. Most of them lament but breathe in corrupt political vapor.
From present studies it appears that the BJP+SAD combine has minor edges over the Congress. Much would depend on the viability of BJP-SAD alliance, seat adjustments and last minute image repair works undertaken by senior and junior Badals.

A BBC story recently carried a political analysis in the context of UP, titled Waiting for Rahul Gandhi. Since 2008 Rahul had set to the mission of Discovery of India, visiting towns, places, sleeping and eating in poor and tribal homes and trying to enervate the youth workers of the party. Uttar Pradesh, the political cradle of the Nehru family, has shut doors on the Congress party. Kaleidoscope governments of Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Bartiya Janata Party have ruled the state for nearly two decades. Rahul’s foray in the last election in Uttar Pradesh in 2007 did not yield spectacular results. The Bahujan Samaj Party won an absolute majority in the 2007 election. The incumbent chief minister is Mayawati. BSP won 206 seats out of a total of 403 seats.

Mayawati appears to be well entrenched in power. Despite several corruption charges against her and family members, allegations of spending unnecessarily on construction of her own statues and those of innumerable elephants (party symbol), Mayawati continue to maintain stranglehold on her dalit vote banks and by modifying her caste mixology chemistry she has succeeded in drawing the upper caste vote banks nearer her. Once a bitter enemy of savarna (upper caste) Hindus, Mayawati has changed track to adopt the slogans of Bahujan Hitaya and Bahujan sukhaya policy. In highly caste ridden society of Uttar Pradesh this slogan may succeed to some extent. Her allegation that Congress is dependent on Thakur, Rajput votes, she is trying to draw the Brahmins and other intermediate castes (OBC) etc support.

Corruption is a major issue in UP. Sexual misdemeanor, murder and plundering of the exchequer are few of the charges on which six ministers were sacked. Allegedly huge budget and non-budget funds were diverted to pet projects of CM Mayawati. Bhatta Parasaul land deal with the construction companies at hefty commission and alleged personal gain, Yamuna Expressway and several other scandals have besmeared the image of the CM. The CBI had also taken cases about her disproportionate assets. However, with sizeable strength in the Parliament Mayawati has played her card well to blackmail Congress which heads the fragile UPA II government in Delhi.

As far as general economic health of UP is concerned that despite allegations huge corruption the State has made steady growth in certain sectors and aggregate growth is appreciable. Between 1999 and 2008, the economy grew only 4.4% per year, one of the lowest rates in India. But between 2007 and 2011 under the Mayawati govt, the economy grew at over 7% GDP growth rate in the time when Indian economy faced the melt down due to global recession. Furthermore, UP has been one of the five state including Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Maharashtra, have registered growth rates higher than their respective targets set for the 11th Plan period (2007-12) so far, Parliament was informed today. UP registered growth rate of 7.28% against the target of 6.10%. Uttar Pradesh attains an 8.08% GDP growth rate in year of 2010-2011.

Congress icon Rahul Gandhi has jumped into the UP election fray with full vigor and sincerity. Besides other party stalwarts Digvijay Singh, in charge of UP, is also working with teams of workers. Rahul made several frontal attacks against Mayawati. The Samajwadi Party Mulayam and son Akhil Yadav have also been campaigning viciously. The BJP column is spearheaded by Uma Bharti, herself a dalit leader. The election war has warmed up.

However, Mayawati played a master stroke. She managed to get a motion passed in the legislative assembly through voice vote splitting the State into four States- Purvanchal, Bundelkhand, Avadh Pradesh and Pashchim Pradesh. Eastern UP and Bundelkhand areas have been complaining about developmental neglect since 1970. A special grant from the central government for Buldelkhand and personal attention by Rahul and Sonia Gandhi has not improved the situation. Rashtriya Lok Dal of Ajit Singh (aligned to Congress) has been demanding creation of Harit Pradesh in western UP. This will now be known as Paschim Pradesh. Naming the central part of UP as Awad Pradesh has ignited hopes of Avdis (especially Muslim nobility) that the heart of the core of UP would regain its pristine glory. The division has put the ruling Gandhi family is disarray. Both Amethi and Rae Bareilly constituencies have been clubbed with Purvanchal.

The demand for vivisection of UP, a huge Hindi heartland State is old. Earlier Uttarakahnd was curved out of UP to give the hill areas a distinct political character. However, by making this announcement Mayawati has stolen march on her political opponents. The UP government is likely to send the proposal of quadric-section of the State to the central government.

As the situation stands the BSP of Mayawati enjoys edge over her closest rival SP. The BJP and Congress are running at distant third and fourth position. There are indications that the BJP is making significant gains at the cost of SP and Congress. Uma Bharti’s campaign may succeed in garnering more dalit votes. However, dalits plus Brahmins and edges of OBCs and Muslims are inclined to again favor Mayawati. She is likely to emerge as the leader of the largest party in the assembly. Speculation about another BSP and BJP coalition in the state is still in nebulous stage. Rahul Gandhi in UP and national election scene may still remain as an unarrived Godot, for which Congress party awaits so eagerly.

This newly acquired economic and military prowess is not solely responsible for China’s obsession with the South China Sea, claiming a vast segment of the Pacific Ocean as its backwater. Increased sea presence in South China Sea by Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, USA and China has prompted China to aggressively display its rights in the open seas.

In an earlier essay I had stressed on the aspects of the need for greater Indian presence in the Indian Ocean, right from the Malacca Straits to the mouths of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Hormuz. Increased collaboration between India and the US in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Thailand and South China Sea was also suggested. It was pointed out how China was Thailand to create a Panama Canal type passage from the Indian Ocean to the Gulf of Thailand to escape any future crunch on the Straits of Malacca. A Chinese effort to open up rail and road connection to the sea ports of Myanmar was also highlighted. All these are directed at greater Chinese access to the Indian Ocean and the Gulf oil routes. For the purposes of creating strategic outposts around India, China has been successful in establishing string of Pearls in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar. It’s presence in Bangladesh, Maldives and Afghanistan is on the increase. So is the situation in the Central Asian Republics.

However, Chinese media often come up with undisguised warning whenever India successfully lands in forward airfields like Vijaynagar in Arunachal Pradesh, reinforces troops presence near Indo-China border, stations fighter units and missile positions in the forward border regions. China played funny game when an Indian Navy vessel made a routine call at a Vietnamese port. On a routine call at a Vietnam port, Indian naval assault vessel, INS Airavat, was harassed by the Chinese navy when it was travelling in open international waters in the South China Sea. The Chinese naval ship had warned the Indian ship for entering the territorial waters of China. The Indian Captain called the Chinese bluff by ignoring the warning and asserting that it was navigating in the international waters.

India has several times protested China’s presence in the Northern Areas of Jammu & Kashmir now under illegal occupation of Pakistan (Gilgit-Baltistan), their engagement in hydro-project, road, rail and other construction matters. Reported presence of over 11,000 Chinese PLA personnel in Pakistan was also protested by India. China refused to take even diplomatic cognizance of the Indian protests.

However, China has vehemently protested against India’s ONGC exploring oil and gas in the Vietnamese territorial waters, considered a part of the so-called South China Sea. The issue came up in the recently concluded ASEAN summit in Bali. India firmly rejected China’s objections to its presence in the South China Sea, with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh telling Chinese leader Wen Jiabao that Indian interests were “purely commercial” and sovereignty claims must be settled according to international law. The same view has been reiterated by Japan, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Sources said the PM’s response came during the interaction that saw Wen seek greater coordination between India and China on the agenda of the East Asia summit. Wen’s raising of the South China Sea issue with Singh signaled Beijing’s growing concerns particularly as it has fought hard to keep this out of the purview of both ASEAN and East Asia Summits, preferring to deal with the matter bilaterally. Other nations are not interested in Chinese approach. They prefer international adjudication.

Addressing Asean leaders during the Asean-China summit later this morning, Wen warned “outside forces” from getting embroiled in the South China Sea dispute. The Chinese uneasiness reflects increased preoccupation with neighbors like Vietnam with whom the Asian giant has not always had peaceful relations.

“The dispute which exists among relevant countries in this region over the South China Sea is an issue which has built up for several years,” Wen told Asean leaders. “It ought to be resolved through friendly consultations and discussions by countries directly involved. Outside forces should not, under any pretext, get involved,” he added.

China has reason to sweat. Not only is India exploring for oil in areas Beijing feels lie in its territory. China’s Asian neighbors and rival claimants to South China Sea want the differing perceptions to become a multilateral issue so they together have a stronger case. And now the US has jumped into the dispute as well by pushing maritime security to the forefront of the East Asia summit.

US President Barack Obama, attending his first East Asia Summit here, told PM Manmohan Singh that this forum should be the premier one to discuss maritime issues, despite China’s objections. The gathering “can be the premier arena for us to be able to work together on a wide range of issues: maritime security or nonproliferation,” Obama told Singh. India has raised China’s hackles because of an oil exploration agreement with Vietnam, signed during the Vietnamese president’s recent visit to New Delhi. A joint statement after that visit said pointedly, “disputes in the East Sea/South China Sea should be resolved by peaceful means… in accordance with universally recognized principles of international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 2002 Asean-China Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.”

The issue of South China Sea (?) is required to be understood in historical context.

South China Sea

The South China Sea contains over 250 small islands, atolls, cays, shoals, reefs, and sandbars, most of which have no indigenous people, many of which are naturally under water at high tide, and some of which are permanently submerged. The features are grouped into three archipelagos (listed by area size), Macclesfield Bank and Scarborough Shoal:
Main islands are: The Spratly Islands, The Paracel Islands, The Pratas Islands, The Macclesfield Bank and The Scarborough Shoal. There are raging disputes over the Spartly, Paracel and Pratas Islands. Countries in dispute are PRC, ROC, Japan, Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore. It is an extremely significant body of water in a geopolitical sense. It is the second most used sea lane in the world, while in terms of world annual merchant fleet tonnage; over 50% passes through the Strait of Malacca, the Sunda Strait, and the Lombok Strait. Over 1.6 million m (10 million barrels) of crude oil a day are shipped through the Strait of Malacca, where there are regular reports of piracy, but much less frequently than before the mid-20th century.

The region has proven oil reserves of around 1.2 km³ (7.7 billion barrels), with an estimate of 4.5 km³ (28 billion barrels) in total. Natural gas reserves are estimated to total around 7,500 km³ (266 trillion cubic feet). According to studies made by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Philippines, this body of water holds one third of the entire world’s marine biodiversity, thereby making it a very important area for the ecosystem.
The following map will illustrate the audacious expansionist demand of China in the so called South China Sea:

Such belligerent attitude of China, as indicated by the red dotted line, indicate that recent attitude displayed by China at ASEAN + conference in Bali is confrontationist. With further growth of Chinese maritime power and indicated declining presence of the USA this part of the Pacific Ocean may turn to a virtual war zone.

Such belligerent attitude of China, as indicated by the red dotted line, indicate that recent attitude displayed by China at ASEAN + conference in Bali is confrontationist. With further growth of Chinese maritime power and indicated declining presence of the USA this part of the Pacific Ocean may turn to a virtual war zone.

In the recent meeting between Obama and Wen Jinbiao the South China Sea issue had come up. US National Security Adviser Tom Donilon said the “informal meeting” between Mr. Obama and Mr. Wen focused mainly on economic issues. He said the two leaders discussed “specific issues around business practices” as well as Chinese currency controls. Mr. Donilon said the United States did not have a view on sovereignty on the South China Sea, but wanted to see shipping lanes remain open.

“We don’t have a claim, we don’t take sides in the claims, but we do as a global maritime power have an interest in seeing these principles applied broadly,” he said. On Friday, in comments which appeared directed at the US, Mr. Wen warned “external forces” not to get involved in the maritime dispute. The Philippines had asked the US to step in to help solve the row, but ASEAN secretary general Surin Pitsuwan said that ASEAN and China could resolve the issue peacefully by themselves. India, however, pointed out that it was not interested in territorial claim or permanent naval presence in South China Sea. However, India mentioned that its presence in Vietnam waters for oil and gas exploration was only commercial in nature. The ONGC has been exploring oil and natural gas in different parts of the world under bilateral contracts. As India’s look east policy gathers strength in coming years such commercial activities may extend to the waters of the Philippines, Indonesia and Brunei etc countries. India’s approaches to Myanmar for oil and gas exploration are also likely to mature in commercial activities. Bangladesh has not formally approached India. With improved relations such commercial activities cannot be ruled out.

Besides growing tensions along the land borders, diplomatic and strategic observers believe, India-China maritime confrontation is likely to increase around the countries considered as Chinese String of Pearls around India and in and around the South China Seas. Indian naval power growth is no more Pakistan specific. It is China oriented too. Confrontation with China at sea is a part of the strategic game the two countries are playing, with Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam and the USA as keen stage-players.

Hillary did not know that in the subcontinent there are snake charmers, Bedes and Saperas who rear snakes, earn living by showing snake dances and often succumb to snake bites. Pakistan is not a western style snake charmer. Pakistan is a kind of snake lover which in Bangladesh is described Badiyas and in north India as Saperas. Pakistan Army and the ISI are expert snake-catchers and snake keepers. Only problem with them is that their snakes flourish in religious bigotry, hatred and ceaseless bloodletting and often bite back venomously paralyzing the Pakistan society and the state. The ISI is not a Been (a kind of flute) maestro who can keep his snakes charmed forever.

It is not necessary to revert to the history of fabrication of jihadists by Pakistan, USA and Saudi Arabia and their allies during the crucial turning era of swan song of the Cold War USSR and its blundering geopolitical thrust in Afghanistan. In short, Islamists from Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi and other Arab countries and few other Muslim nations were allured to join the Afghan jihad by the USA, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. The history is tortuous. In short the Islamic Unity of Afghanistan Mujahideen (Seven Party Mujahideen Alliance or Peshawar Seven) was an Afghan organization formed in May 1985 by the seven Afghan Mujahideen parties fighting against the Soviet and Democratic Republic of Afghanistan forces in the Soviet-Afghan War. The alliance sought to function as a united diplomatic front towards the world opinion, and sought representation in the United Nations and OIC.

The constituents of the alliance fell into two categories, the political Islamists: Khalis faction (Khalis), Hezb-i- Islami (Hekmatyar), Jamiat-i-Islami (Rabbani-recently killed), and Islamic Union for the Liberation of Afghanistan (Sayyaf), and the traditionalists: National Islamic Front for Afghanistan (Gailani), Afghanistan National Liberation Front (Mojaddedi), and Revolutionary Islamic Movement (Mohammadi). All of the groups were Sunni Muslims, and all were majority Pashtun except Jamiat-i-Islami, which was Tajik.

At present three major Afghan Taliban groups operate in vast areas of Afghanistan. These groups are:

The original group of Taliban formed with ISI and Pakistan Army help is headed by Mullah Mohammad Omar. Mullah Mohammad Omar is the founder and spiritual leader of the Afghan Taliban. After his defeat by U.S.-led forces in 2001, he fled to Pakistan, and most reports say he now controls the group’s shura (council) from the Pakistani city of Quetta. In a statement released in September, he said the Taliban were pursuing a nationalist agenda that would not “cause jeopardy to others.” With debate widening over how, or if, the U.S. should reconcile with the Taliban, some analysts saw it as an opening and the Taliban moving away from al Qaeda’s ideology; while others saw it as non-negotiable rhetoric from an extremist group. The Taliban was dealt a major blow in February, when Omar’s top deputy and military strategist, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, was captured in Karachi by U.S. and Pakistan intelligence. As well as running the day-to-day operations, Baradar had been a key Taliban negotiator in Saudi-brokered peace talks with the Afghan Talibans. Elimination of Osama bin Laden by the USA has also weakened the Omar group. Recent revelations indicate that the Inter Services Intelligence of Pakistan and Saudi intelligence are still supporting Omar group, with sanctuary in Pakistan, fund and weapons supplies. Pakistan treats Omar a strategic asset in Afghanistan for negotiating terms with Washington and NATO.

Omar group has strong operational bases in Pak Balochistan areas, Helmand, Kandahar and Zabul provinces. Its forces often carry out anti-US operations in Kabul and adjacent areas and generally collaborate with ISI for obstructing US/NATO supply systems to Afghanistan via Pakistan.

The other strategic asset of Pakistan is the Hezb-i-Islami group of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. The Pashtun commander has re-emerged as a potent force in Afghanistan, with strong support in the north around his native Kunduz province, where Hezb-i-Islami has been gaining ground. Hekmatyar has been a player in Afghan politics since before the Soviet occupation in the 1980s, when he was backed by the U.S. and Pakistan. He briefly served as Afghan prime minister in the mid-1990s and was driven out by the Omar-Taliban during the fall of Kabul. After years in exile in Iran before being expelled after 9/11, he is now believed to operate his insurgency from Peshawar in Pakistan. He is in constant touch with the ISI and some US sources had also tried to influence him. The ISI uses Hekmatyar for subduing US influence in the northern areas of Afghanistan, where forces loyal to late Commander Massoud still hold forts.
Although the U.S. has kept Hekmatyar on the terrorist list, President Karzai has been talking with him about a role in Kabul, where the political party Hekmatyar founded in the 1970s holds 19 seats. Considered less ideological than the Taliban — even though his insurgents fight alongside them — analysts believe he will hold out for a dominant role in Afghanistan’s future. Hekmatyar group mainly operates in Kunduz, Baghlan, Kapisa, Laghman and Kunar region of Afghanistan. Though the US was trying to solicit support from Tajik and Uzbek authorities and the Northern Alliance of anti-Taliban groups of general Massoud, it appears that Pakistan supported Hekmatyar groups have gained ground considerably.

Hillary’s reference to backyard snakes was mainly directed at the Haqqani Network of Taliban, which operate from the shadowy areas of Afghan-Pakistan borders and is in firm control of the ISI. The history is chequered.

The Haqqani Network is an insurgent group fighting against US-led NATO forces and the government of Afghanistan. Originating from Afghanistan during the mid-1970s, it was nurtured by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the 1980’s Soviet war in Afghanistan. Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani along with his son Sirajuddin Haqqani lead the group, which is believed to be based in the Waziristan tribal frontier of Pakistan, although it operates on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. It is allied with the Omar-Taliban and affiliated with Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda network.

According to US military commanders it was the most resilient enemy network and one of the biggest threats to the US-led NATO forces and the Afghan government in the current war in Afghanistan. In October 2011, U.S. Secretary Hillary Clinton explained that American officials have contacts with the group.

Maulvi Haqqani rose to prominence and was recognized as a senior military leader during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. The Haqqani family hails from southeastern Afghanistan and belongs to the Zadran Pashtun tribe. Like Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Haqqani was more successful than other resistance leaders at forging relationships with outsiders prepared to sponsor resistance to the Soviets, including the CIA, Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and wealthy Arab private donors from the Persian Gulf. In the late 1980s, Haqqani had the CIA’s full support. Foreign jihadists recognized the network as a distinct entity as early as 1994, but Haqqani was not affiliated with the Taliban until they captured Kabul and assumed de facto control of Afghanistan in 1996. After the Taliban came to power, Haqqani accepted a cabinet level appointment as Minister of Tribal Affairs. Following the U.S. led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and the subsequent overthrow of the Taliban government, the Haqqanis fled to the Pakistani bordering tribal regions and regrouped to fight against coalition forces across the border. As Jalaluddin has grown older his son Sirajuddin has taken over the responsibility of military operations. Journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad, allegedly killed by the ISI, reported that President Hamid Karzai had invited the elder Haqqani to serve as Prime Minister in an attempt to bring “moderate” Taliban into the government. However, the offer was refused by Jalaluddin.
Main leaders are:

Jalaluddin Haqqani
Sirajuddin Haqqani
Badaruddin Haqqani – younger brother of Sirajuddin

Sangeen Zadran – According the US State Department, he is a senior lieutenant to Sirajuddin and the shadow governor for Paktika province in Afghanistan.
Nasiruddin Haqqani.

Abdul Aziz Abbasin – According to the U.S. Treasury, he is “a key commander in the Haqqani Network” and serves as the “Taliban shadow governor of Orgun District, Paktika Province, Afghanistan.”
Haji Mali Khan – According to NATO, he is “the senior Haqqani commander in Afghanistan” and is uncle to Sirajuddin and Badaruddin.

The US and allies are more concerned about Haqqani Network after its recent attack on US embassy in Kabul and other prominent targets. The leadership is based in Miranshah, North Waziristan in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan along the Afghan border. The network is active in Afghanistan’s southeastern areas of Paktia, , Paktika , Khost , Wardak , Logar , and Ghazni provinces. Haqqani is reported to run his own training camps, to recruit his own foreign fighters, and to seek out financial and logistic support on his own, from his old contacts. The New York Times reported in September 2011 that the Haqqanis have set up a mini-state in Miranshah with courts, tax offices and madrassas, and that the network runs a series of front companies selling automobiles and real estate. They also receive funds from extortion and smuggling operations throughout eastern Afghanistan. In an interview a former Haqqani commander called the extortion the most important source of funding for the Haqqanis.

Estimates of the Haqqanis’s numbers vary. A 2011 report from the Combating Terrorism Center places its strength roughly at 10,000-15,000. Throughout its history the network’s operations have been conducted by small, semi-autonomous units organized according to tribal and sub-tribal affiliations often at the direction of and with the logistical support of Haqqani commanders.

The Haqqani network pioneered the use of suicide attacks in Afghanistan and tends to use mostly foreign bombers whereas the Omar-Taliban tends to rely on locals in attacks. According to a tribal elder in Paktia Haqqani’s people ask for money from contractors working on road construction. They are asking money or goods from shopkeepers, District elders and contractors are paying money to Afghan workers, but sometimes half of the money will go to Haqqani’s people. The network, according to the National Journal, supplies much of the potassium chlorate used in bombs employed by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Also, the network’s bombs use more sophisticated remote triggering devices than the pressure-plated activators used elsewhere in Afghanistan. Modern technology of bomb manufacturing was taught by the ISI.

Anti-American groups of Gul Bahadur and Haqqani carry out their activities in Afghanistan and use North Waziristan as rear. The group’s links to Pakistan have been a sour point in Pakistan – United States relations. In September 2011 the Obama administration warned Pakistan that it must do more to cut ties with the Haqqani network and help eliminate its leaders, adding that “the United States will act unilaterally if Pakistan does not comply.” In testimony before a US Senate panel, Admiral Mike Mullen stated that the network “acts as a veritable arm of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Agency.” Although some U.S. officials allege that the ISI supports and guides the Haqqanis, President Barack Obama declined to endorse that position.

Pakistan in return rejected the notion that it maintained ties with the Haqqani network or used it in a policy of waging a proxy war in neighboring Afghanistan. Pakistani officials deny the allegations by asserting that Pakistan had no relations with the network. In response to the allegations, Interior Minister Rehman Malik claimed that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had trained and produced the Haqqani network and other mujahideen during the Soviet war in Afghanistan. The Pakistani interior minister also warned that any incursion on Pakistani territory by U.S. forces would not be tolerated. A Pakistani intelligence official insisted that the American allegations are part of “pressure tactics” used by the United States as a strategy “to shift the war theatre.” An unnamed Pakistani official was reported to have said after a meeting of the nation’s top military officials that “We have already conveyed to the US that Pakistan cannot go beyond what it has already done”. However, Pakistani claims were contradicted by the network’s warnings against any U.S. military incursions into North Waziristan and by the Pakistan Army’s public acknowledgement of contacts with the Haqqanis.

Pakistani denial apart, global intelligence agencies and capital are convinced that the Haqqani Network and the Hekmatyar Taliban groups are firmly connected with the ISI and Pakistan Army.

These are not the only snakes Pakistan rear and feed in Afghanistan and Pakistan. There are more sinister strategic assets which have turned Pakistan to a virtual snake pit. The top of the most visible snake-hood is that of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. Pakistan is plagued by home grown Taliban groups.

Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (the TTP) is an umbrella organization of various Islamist militant groups based in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas along the Afghan border in Pakistan. Most, but not all, Pakistani Taliban groups coalesce under the TTP. In December 2007 about 13 groups united under the leadership of Baitullah Mehsud to form the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. Among the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan’s stated objectives are resistance against the Pakistani state, enforcement of their interpretation of sharia and a plan to unite against NATO-led forces in Afghanistan.

The TTP is not directly affiliated with the original Afghan Taliban. Pakistani Taliban groups which had fought in Afghanistan later retreated to North and South Waziristan after US attacked that country. In late 2008 and early 2009 Mullah Omar asked the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan to stop attacks on Pakistani targets and instead support the war in Afghanistan. In February 2009 the three dominant Pakistani Taliban leaders agreed to put aside their differences to help counter a planned increase in American troops in Afghanistan and reaffirmed their allegiance to Mullah Omar and to Osama bin Laden. Yet, the TTP has almost exclusively targeted elements of the Pakistani state. Qari Mehsud claimed in April 2010 the TTP would make cities in the United States a “main target” in response to U.S. drone attacks on TTP leaders. The TTP claimed responsibility for the December 2009 suicide attack on CIA facilities in Camp Chapman as well as the attempted bombing in Times Square in May 2010.

TTP clashes heightened in 2002 when the Pakistani military ordered incursions into the tribal areas to originally combat Arab, Uzbek, Tajik, and Chechen etc militants fleeing from the war in Afghanistan into Pakistan. It was in July 2002 that Pakistani troops, for the first time in 55 years, entered the Tirah Valley in Khyber tribal agency. Soon they were in Shawal valley of North Waziristan, and later in South Waziristan. This was made possible after long negotiations with various tribes, who reluctantly agreed to allow the military’s presence on the assurance that it would bring in funds and development work. But once the military action started in South Waziristan a number of Waziri sub-tribes took it as an attempt to subjugate them. Attempts to persuade them into handing over the foreign militants failed, and due to apparent mishandling by the authorities, the security campaign against suspected al Qaeda militants turned into an undeclared war between the Pakistani military and the rebel tribesmen.

In December 2007 the existence of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan was officially announced under the leadership of Baitullah Mehsud. On August 25, 2008, Pakistan banned the group, froze its bank accounts and assets, and barred it from media appearances. The government also announced that bounties would be placed on prominent leaders of the TTP. In late December 2008 and early January 2009 Mullah Omar sent a delegation, led by former Guantanamo Bay detainee Mullah Abdullah Zakir, to persuade leading members of the TTP to put aside differences and aid the Afghan Taliban in combating the American presence in Afghanistan. Baitullah Mehsud, Hafiz Gul Bahadur, and Maulavi Nazir agreed in February and formed the Shura Ittehadul Mujahideen (SIM). In a written statement circulated the three affirmed that they would put aside differences to fight American-led forces and reasserted their allegiance to Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden. However, the SIM did not last very long and collapsed shortly after its announcement.

In August 2009 a missile strike from a suspected U.S. drone killed Baitullah Mehsud. After severe power struggle Hakimullah Mehsud had been selected leader of the TTP. Faqir declared that the 42-member shura had also decided that Azam Tariq would serve as the TTP’s primary spokesperson, rather than Muslim Khan. Under the leadership of Hakimullah, the TTP intensified its suicide campaign against the Pakistani state and against civilian Shia, Ahmedi and Sufi targets.

The TTP differs in structure to the Afghan Taliban in that it lacks a central command and is a looser coalition of various militant groups, united by hostility to the central government in Islamabad. Several analysts describe the TTP’s structure as a loose network of dispersed constituent groups that vary in size and in levels of coordination. The various factions of the TTP tend to be limited to their local areas of influence and often lack the ability to expand their operations beyond that territory.

In its original form, the TTP had Baitullah Mehsud as its amir, and he was followed in the leadership hierarchy by naib amir, or deputy, Hafiz Gul Bahadur and then Faqir Mohammed. The group contained members from all of FATA’s seven tribal agencies as well as several districts of the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), including Swat, Bannu, Tank, Lakki Marwat, Dera Ismail Khan, Kohistan, Buner, and Malakand. Some 2008 estimates placed the total number of operatives as 30–35,000, although it is difficult to judge the reliability of such estimates.

Hakimullah Mehsud commands about 7000 TTP followers. Other groups operate more or less independently. The pattern of leadership is as follows:

Hakimullah Mehsud – second amir of TTP and former commander in the Khyber, Kurram, and Orakzai agencies – South Waziristan
Omar Khalid – Mohmand Agency
Waliur Rehman Mehsud – South Waziristan
Faqir Mohammed – Bajaur
Wali Muhammad – son of Nek Muhammad appointed head of TTP in Wana.
Maulana Fazlullah, “The Radio Mullah” – Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat
Hafiz Gul Bahadur – North Waziristan – Although originally credited as the TTP’s amir in North Waziristan, Gul Bahadur has more recently been described as “pro-Pakistan” and opposed to Hakimullah. He exclusively focuses on NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Maulavi Nazir – South Waziristan (eastern half).

The last two groups are not aligned to the main TTP formations.

Director of National Intelligence and United States Navy Admiral, Dennis C. Blair, told U.S. senators that the Pakistani state and army meanwhile draw clear distinctions among different militant groups. While there are links between the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban, they appear to be sufficiently distinct for the Pakistani military and ISI to treat them very differently. American officials said that the S Wing of the Pakistani ISI provided direct support to three major groups carrying out attacks in Afghanistan: the Afghan Taliban based in Quetta, Pakistan, commanded by Mullah Muhammad Omar; the militant network run by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar; and a different group run by the guerrilla leader Jalaluddin Haqqani, all considered a strategic asset by Pakistan in contrast to the TTP run by Hakimullah Mehsud, which has engaged the Pakistani army in combat.

Besides the main Afghan Taliban and TTP groups, Pakistan has provided strong bases for al Qaeda, despite assassination of Osama bin Laden by the USA near Abbotabad.

Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan has close ties to al Qaeda, sharing money and bomb experts and makers. John Brennan, President Obama’s chief counterterrorism adviser, said: “It’s a group that is closely allied with al-Qaeda. They train together, they plan together, and they plot together. They are almost indistinguishable.” Ambassador-at-large Daniel Benjamin stated, “The T.T.P. and Al Qaeda have a symbiotic relationship: T.T.P. draws ideological guidance from Al Qaeda, while Al Qaeda relies on the T.T.P. for safe haven in the Pashtun areas along the Afghan-Pakistani border… This mutual cooperation gives T.T.P. access to both Al Qaeda’s global terrorist network and the operational experience of its members. Given the proximity of the two groups and the nature of their relationship, T.T.P. is a force multiplier for Al Qaeda.”

Ayesha Siddiqa of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars describes the TTP as “a franchise of al Qaeda” and attributes strong ties to al-Qaeda’s acquisition of “a more local character over the years.” Since the days of the Soviet era, some al-Qaeda operatives have established themselves in Pashtun areas and enmeshed themselves in the local culture.

In 2008 Baitullah Mehsud met with Ayman al-Zawahiri in South Waziristan. Prior to this meeting the Pakistani Taliban answered to the Afghan Taliban and pro-Pakistan militant commanders. At the time Pakistani authorities believed that Mehsud was in fact an al-Qaeda operative. In February 2009 Baitullah Mehsud, Hafiz Gul Bahadur and Maulavi Nazir released a statement in which they reaffirmed their allegiance to Osama bin Laden.

It is globally recognized that the ISI had especially crafted, reared and nurtured the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Harkat-ul Jiahd Islami for fighting its proxy war against India. The details are too elaborate to accommodate in these short essay. Besides these two the Markaz-ud-Dawa of Sayeed Hafiz Ibrahim is another strategic asset of Pakistan exclusively directed against India. The Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist outfit is another creation of the ISI. The list is excitingly and boringly long.

The Ghazi Abdul Rashid Shaheed Brigade, whose name is commonly shortened to Ghazi Brigade or Ghazi Force, emerged as a jihadi organization after the Lal Masjid massacre of 2007. In 2009 the Ghazi Brigade worked closely with the TTP during military operations in the Swat Valley, and the two groups jointly planned attacks on western targets in Islamabad.

The TTP and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) have a long history of collaboration. At one point prior to his appointment as TTP chief, Baitullah Mehsud lived with Tohir Yo’ldosh, the IMU’s former leader, who became an ideological inspiration and offered the services of his 2,500 fighters to Mehsud. In April 2009 Muslim Khan listed the IMU among the TTP’s allies in an interview with AP. The IMU posted a video online in September 2010 that featured footage of Yo’ldosh’s successor, Abu Usman Adil, meeting with Hakimullah Mehsud and Wali-ur Rahman Mehsud.

The Punjabi Taliban is allegedly a loose network of members of banned militant groups based in South Punjab, the southernmost region of Pakistan’s most populous Punjab province. Punjab being the heart of Pakistan, the ISI and Army decline any connectivity with the TTP-Punjab. Major factions of the so-called Punjabi Taliban include operatives of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan and Jaish-e-Muhammad, who have previously been involved in the Kashmir insurgency with India. The TTP has significant recruits from Punjab based sectarian organizations also called Punjabi Taliban. The Punjabi Taliban has also developed strong connections with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, the Afghan Taliban, Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi and various other groups based in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). It has increasingly provided the foot-soldiers for violent acts and has played an important role in attacking Ahmedi, Shia, Sufi and other minority civilian targets in the Punjab.

American officials admitted to The New York Times that they found it increasingly difficult to separate the operations of the various Pakistani militant groups active in the tribal areas of Pakistan. Individuals and groups that are believed to have a supportive relationship with the TTP include:

.Harkat-ul Jihad Islami (HuJI), an al-Qaeda-linked terror group
Ilyas Kashmiri
Qari Saifullah Akhtar
.Jaish-e-Mohammad
.Lashkar-e-Islam (based in Khyber Agency, Pakistan)
.Mangal Bagh Afridi
.Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
.Lashkar-e-Taiba
.Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan
.Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (based in Swat, Pakistan)

Other Pakistan based jihadist, terrorist groups which operate in Pakistan and also in India are:

Lashkar-e-Omar, Tehrik-e-Jaferia Pakistan, Jamat-ul-Fuqra, Nadeem Commando Popular Front for Armed Revolution, Muslim United Army, Harkat-ul- Mujahideen-al Alami, Karkat-ul-Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Jabbar, Muttahida Jihad Council, Al Barq, Tehriq-e-Mujahideen, Muslim Janbaz Force, Al Jihad Force, Al Umar Mujahideen, Islami Jamat-e-Taluba, Ikhwan-ul-Mujahideen, Tehrik-e Jihad-e-Islami, Al Mujahid Force, Islami Inquilabi Mahaz etc.

hese organizations are mostly Sunni, except Shia organizations like Tehrik-e-Jafria Pakistan. Most of these are aligned with Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Taiba, TTP and TTP Pakistan. They target government installations. foreigners and indulge in criminal activities. They are also involved in attacks against minority Hindu, Sikh and Christian groups. With a view to maintain stranglehold on the civilian society the ISI frequently use one or the other armed terrorist groups to cause depredation and spread the ambience of fear and dependence on Army as the deliverer.

Karachi has become a killing field of Pakistan. Ethnic clashes between the Urdu speaking Mohajir groups, Baloch, Pashtun, Afghan, Sindhi groups have become routine affairs. Vast areas of Karachi have been divided into ethnic pockets. The ethnic groups normally clash on issues like territorial control, Bhatta realization (protection money) from business establishments and citizenry and on religious issues as well. Normally the Shia, Ahmadia and Bahaullah etc sects are attacked with impunity.

Besides four distinct MQM armed groups other important groups which operate in Karachi are: Sunni Tehriq, Burmese bandits, Bengali slum bandits, Afghan Kuchi camps, Baloch Liberation groups, Jund Allah, Jaish-al- Qiba-al- Jihadi-al-Siri-al- Alami and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Al Sunna etc.

Pakistan often blames India for supporting the Baloch liberation groups, supplying weapons to TTP and other FATA rebels, funding certain Karachi mafia groups and fomenting sectarian trouble by encouraging the Seraiks, Hindcos and Sindhis. These are panicky reaction of the Army establishment. Punjab, the heart of Pakistan is in convulsions. Besides the Seraiki speaking groups, other regions of Punjab have started demanding separate province status. Loss of Punjab monolith will make Pakistan weaker. Baloch independence movement, Balawari (Gilgit-Skardu) independence movement, and demand for separate Pakhtun homeland have been haunting Pakistan. Renaming of NWFP has not quenched the thirst of separate Pakhtun identity. Though Sind is the stronghold of PPP it may be recalled that the Jiye Sindh movement has resurfaced in different forms.

Pakistan had created terrorist Strategic Assets with a view to gain geopolitical stranglehold on Afghanistan and creating a strategic depth in the west of the country that would give it deeper connectivity with central Asian republics, Iran and the Arab worlds. Pakistan still endeavors to emerge as the pivotal point of the Islamic powers of the world. This vain running between dreams to dreams has made Pakistan totally depend on only a single elixir of survival-Hate India. To understand this deeper study of hate-teaching in madrasas, maqtabs is necessary. The maulvi class is used in propagating hatred against Hindus and India. Sometimes ago The Friday Times fortnightly of Pakistan had chronicled the salient features of hate Hindu-India syllabi in Pakistani text books. That itself is a vast subject of study. Indian scholars have not yet ventured into those dark areas of the Pakistani nation and society.

Besides Afghanistan ambition and longing to emerge as the deciding factor in solving the Afghan imbroglio the Strategic Assets are directed against India. Some Tanzeems are directly pitted against India and the other Tanzeems are used to spread hatred amongst the Pak masses against Hindu India.

A tottering, disintegrating Pakistan now braces assault from some of its own strategic assets, from the separatist forces and assorted terrorist groups which have converted Pakistan to a perpetually violent playground of jihad and terror. Its souring relations with the USA, on the other hand has started pushing Pakistan to the lap of China. Sooner or later Pakistan may alternate between being a client state of the USA or China.

India is faced with the paramount problem of strengthening its fences, so that, the snakes, the Strategic Assets, created and nurtured by Pakistan, do not contaminate the Muslims of India and infiltrate in India as a part Pakistan’s game plan of pushing forward the strategic depth to the east.

Permit me to add two personal anecdotes.

In the good year of the Lord 1992, I was posted as SA (special assistant) to the Union Home Minister, supposed to be a plum post for an IPS officer. One day I received a call from a doctor friend from Patna. His son had qualified for the IAS, but had not yet received the offer letter and his course had already started at Mussourie. Could I help? Who could help, if a mighty SA to HM could not? I walked into the room of the Joint Secretary Personnel in the ministry of DOPT (Dept of Personnel& Training). He immediately asked his PA to take me to XXX sitting in a 3rd floor room of the North Block. I was pompously announced in. The baboo seated on a chair, sipping tea and puffing a cigarette was not impressed. He looked up: anything I can do sir? Yes, Mr. Section Officer, please check this name in the IAS list; he has not yet the offer letter. He looked at his watch and said: it is lunch time sir. I’ll call you after lunch. I knew he was playing a game. I offered him lunch at a respected restaurant, bought him a packet of Dunhill. We returned to NB. The well fed baboo made me to sit, lighted a Dunhill and went near a pigeon hole on the wall. He brought a paper out and gravely replied: his police verification is not complete. Don’t worry, I replied. I’ll tell the Secretary Personnel. He ordered two cups of coffee at my cost and most reluctantly commented: okay sir. I’ll issue the order today. The lunch was excellent. My pleasure, I said. He was highly pleased and added: you may collect the letter by hand tomorrow after lunch. I got the hint, offered him another lunch and another packet of Dunhill. The offer letter was in my hand. The boy joined Mussourie after 7 days of beginning of the course. I confronted the JS. Why don’t you punish such officers? He was a cool wise guy. Said, you can smash a particle friend, you can’t push a baboo. He is infinitely finite.

The second lesson was learnt on January 1st, 2009. Around 7 am a mufti clad tall man knocked my door. I opened it and found the man with a bunch of paper in his hand. There is a court warrant against you, he said. Why, for what offence? Well…on such and such date your car violated traffic rule at ZZZ place and at YYY hours. But I did not get any challan. Well, we sent it. Now the court will decide. Who are you? I’m from traffic division of DP. I did not announce my police avatar identity. I tried to call the CP of DP. He prevented me: why take all the trouble? It’s we, who decide such matters. Court is nothing. Pay R 300 and there won’t be any trouble. On the New Year day I threw him out of my home and sent a mail followed by fax to CP DP. After a few days I received written apology. I could get away because of my one of the avavtars and my “connection.”

My neighbor in an east Delhi locality, adjacent to our apartment block, was not so lucky.

Paresh Rajkhowa from a nowhere State called Asom and a strange place called Chapakhowa in upper Asom had landed up in Delhi with the job of a programmer in an IT company in NOIDA. The cheapest place he could rent was in Patparganj urban village in east Delhi. We had no common meeting ground. Very few souls from Asom lived in our neighborhood. I happened to meet Paresh Rajkhowa from Chapakhowa in upper Asom at the morning congregation where we visited every morning to purchase milk pouches and bread. My long acquaintance with the northeast of the country made me curious about the peculiar Mongolian feature of Rajkhowa. Old memories of my Asom, Nagaland and Manipur attachment elbowed my mind to make some space for Rajkhowa. His ahomiya accented Hindi and English prompted some neighbors to ask: Is he from China? Is he a ULFA? Is he a Naga terrorist? Is he a Meiti terrorist? It would have been useless to argue with my neighbors and other dwellers of next-door Patparganj. But I welcomed Paresh Rajkhowa.

The first hurdle for him was his zamindar-a Gujjar house owner who owned the building where Paresh had hired two rooms with a kitchen and a bath. Like me, Paresh was an avid fish lover. He required fish for both the meals. The Gujjar zamindar was adamant. No fish or meat cooking in his precincts. I was like an oasis for Paresh in his vicinity. I could not help him. The Gujjar was as tough as skins of the buffalos he owned. I advised Paresh to turn eggattarian at home and fishatarian out side. He was welcome to share my fish if he so desired. Only a fish lover can understand the pains of another fish lover. Praesh could not afford to leave the place as it was impossible to get a two room tenement in Delhi-even in an urban village for R. 5000.00.

His next brush was with the RRO (regional rationing officer), the mahamahim who was authorized to issue ration cards to people. Normally, facilitators like Mahavir had easy access to good lords like the thanedar, havaldar, beat constables, RRO and committee (MCD, Jal Board, PWD, electricity etc) snouts. Paresh did not know Mahavir. Even after production of his school certificate, residence proof, and a letter from his employer, the Baboo in RRO office was not convinced if a person called Rajkhowa could be from Earth or Mars. Was Chapakhowa in India or China? Paresh approached me. Have you paid the nazrana to the Baboo? What’s that? That is ghoos, bhet, Chai pani, charawa, upri etc. Why are you so uneducated? I mildly rebuked Rajkhowa. You live in India and want to get things done free? Paresh fumbled. How much to offer? I was confused over the rate of graft demanded by the Baboo. I remembered Bajrangbali Mahavir, who could get anything done like a wizard.

Mahavir, the wily Bihari thekedar > zamindar, turned up with his roly-poly rotund body. Any service for me sir? Yes Mahavir can you help Rajkhowa to get his ration card? Mahavir lowered his voice.

Sir, Yah aadmi to chini (Chinese) jaisan dekhat lage. Teroris to nahi hai na? Don’t worry Mahavir, I said, he is not a terrorist. He is not a Chinia; he is an Assamese. Kya bolot sir? Ek daagi Assami (convicted person) kaison hamara basti ma basan lage? Oh Mahavir! I frowned at thekedar Mahavir. He is not an asami. He is an ahomiya, a person from Asom. Have you heard the name of Gwahati? Jaha Gwa (betel nut) bikta hain? Oh no Mahavir, Gwahati is the capital of Asom like Patna is of Bihar. Rajkhowa has a problem, please help him.

I explained the problem with the Baboo in the RRO office. Yeh koi badi kaam na hoi saab. Kara denge. Par…Why hesitate? Tell me. Thora Chai pani ke waste dena parega. Kitna? Sir, pehle to naam darj karana hoga, uske baad berifikeson hoga. Card to uske pichai hot payaega. Baboo ko ek hazar dena parat. What about verification Mahavir?

Sir oi kaam to pulis karat ba. Hum thanedar sahib ko janat. Sasta ma karai dewat. So assured, I advised Rajkhowa that Mahavir was his passport to the Baboodom and police in Delhi. The wonder worked. The ration Baboo completed his formality and sent the paper to Patpargani police station and F&S (food and supply) inspector’s office for verification.

First an officer of the F&S department knocked the door. He head-counted the family, asked about monthly income and expenditure etc. Nupur w/o Rajkhowa entertained the officer with a cup of tea and some salted snacks. After the queries he demanded R. 200.00 for service fee. What service fee. Visiting Rajkhowa’s house by his scooter, wastage of time etc, etc. Paresh had started gathering some wisdom. He paid R. 200.00 to F&S officer.

Next a havaldar visited Paresh’s home for kerekter berefikeason. Havaldar Mitha Singh’s belly walked before his legs. The belt could not contain the bulge. He too was from the ancient entity of Magadha, somewhere near the capital city of Pataliputra (Patna). This meeting was very interesting.

Your name is Paresh Barua? No sir, I’m Paresh Rajkhowa. So, you are a convicted person, as you’re called Asami. Sir, I’m not Asami, I’m Ahomiya. Where is Ahomiya? Sir, people living in the State of Asom are called Ahomiya. Asom hain kahan? Sir, it is a northeastern State of India, look at the map.

Havaldar Mitha was satisfied with the geographical existence of Asom in India. Par, ek baat hai. Tera naam suna suna lagta hain. Tu koi teroris Rajkhowa ka bhai to nahi? Sir, Rajkhowa is a family title, like your title of Singh. Hum Thakur hote hain, Rajput. Sir, Rajkhowa’s are descendants of the Ahom kings of Asom. Kees cheez ka naam Ahom hain? Sir, cheez nahin, Ahoms were a group of people who once ruled Asom. Mitha was not really convinced.

Yeh Barua, Rajakhowa bagerah to ULFA ke neta hain. Kya subut hain tere pas ye sabit karne ke liye ki tum ULFA nahin hain? Sir, I’ve a clean record. I’ve never supported ULFA. My father was a police Havaldar too. Nahi bhai main to risk sisk nahi le sakat. Hum Chapakhowa thana me bhej denge. Woha se berifikeson aneke baad tera kuch kara denge. Chal, mere sath thane me. Chotababu tereko puch tacch karenge. Nupur, Paresh’s wife came running to my place. Sir, please save my husband. Police is taking him to thana.

Mahavir again came to rescue. Sir, aap ek purane pulis wale hain. Kaam lene ke liye thora bahut khana puri to karna hi parta hain. Kuch dila dijiye, sab thik ho jayega. Mahavir, yeh to thik nahi, ek mamuli verification ke liye bhi paisa? Kya kare saab, dastur aisan hi hoi gaila. Paisa dijiya to chakka chalta hain, nahi to pulis or komite wale kuch chalne nahi dewat. Mahavir graciously negotiated with his Bihar compatriot and rescued Paresh Rajkhowa at a nominal cost of R. 500. Within two weeks Paresh Rajkhowa became a proud owner of a ration card.

Our area PDS shop was located in a congested lane in Acharaya Niketan market. The PDS owner was Mahinder Tikait, a Jat from western UP. Paresh was listed as an APL (above poverty line) person. His daily income was over R. 32.00 per day. Mahinder told him: aap chamal nahi le payenge, gehu mil jayega 10 kilo; chini milega dui kilo, par chini out of stok hain. Kerasin milega 5 liter. Par we bhi out of stok hain. Kyon bhai, out of stock kyon hota hain? Kya kare sarkar, upar se aata nahi. Yeh upar kahan hain? Sarkari gudam se milta hain. Supply wale adha kha jate hain. Baki duniya mere upar tut parti hain. Mai kya karun? Jaisa aata hain oisa supply karte hain.

Paresh boastfully said: Hum to shikayat karenge. Mahinder sized up Paresh with a squint look. Where from this creature had descended on him? Is he a Martian? Does he not know the quida kannon, taur-tariqa of Hindustan? Bhai yeh Hindustan hain, aapka China nahin. Ehan shikayat karna mana hain. Jyada bologe to carad cansil ho jayega.

Paresh had become wiser. He approached Mahavir directly. Are asami baboo. Kya chota mota batan lagi latar patar karat? Mahinder dada chor hain. Sare saman belek kar deta hain. PDS to paisa daria me danle ki ek bahana hain. Sarkar chori karne me madad karte hain. Ek kaam karo. Mera naukar Bisu ko le jao. Kerasin ke liye panch rupiya jiyada lega, chini ke liye das rupiya aur chamal ke liya panch rupiya. Tumko sab mil jawat. Bhai mahavir, yeh to chori hain. Aap galat kahat bhaiya. Chori nahi. Yeh to thora bahut lena dena karna hi parat hai na. Nahi to Hindustan ka chakka jam hoi jawat. Paresh learnt his second lesson in a hard way and prepared himself to be a proud inhabitant of Delhi.

I did not have to undergo the hassle of visiting the PDS as I was listed as MAPL (much above poverty line). My housekeeper used to draw ration from the same PDS. One day he reported that living in my address (a 1400 sft) flat, he could not draw ration. I reconciled with the decision of the mahamahim RRO. But Paresh again ran into trouble. Kerosene supply from the PDS suddenly stopped. Mahavir made me wiser: Saab kya karat. Petrol, dizel mahangai hoi gaila. Pump wale kerasin milaike petrol dizel bikat lagan. Yeh buddhu asami baboo ko kahiye gas konekson le le. I advised Paresh accordingly.

He visited the Indane Gas outlet Panchali Gas at Pandav Nagar. The owner Kaloo Yadav also hailed from the Sitamarhi in northern Bihar. Kaloo said: faram lei jao babu, fillup karke makanwala aur nigam parshad ka drkhast lagakar jama kar do aur dui hazar rupiya deposit karwa diwat. Aapka bari aanese hum foon karat denge. Paresh collected the form, attached residence address proof, letter from his employer, copy of the ration card and approached his landlord. The Gujjar had willingly put his LTI. But to get a signature and stamp of the Nigam parshad (municipal councilor) was a tough job. The hallowed representative of the people gave darshan (audience) only between 8 and 10 a.m. Paresh went to his house only to face a massive crowd queued up with their grievances. After queuing for a week Paresh approached me and requested that I should write to the parshad in my letterhead. I explained to Paresh that I had become an extinct haired mammal. Only a serving police officer has fangs to scratch.The parshad won’t care for me. I asked him to approach sankat mochan Mahavir Bajrangbali.

Mahavir again turned up at my place. Sir, aaap mereko sarminda kar rahe hain. Boliye kya sewa kar sakat. I explained that Paresh required a signature and stamp of the parshad for getting a gas cylinder. Sir, har kaam ka tariqa haut. Paresh baboo ko kahiye panch sau rupiya dei dilat, mera Bisu kaam kara lega. Why Mahavir? Sir, baat aison hai ki MP ke pas jau to drkhast ke liye panch hazar lagat, MLA ko jaut to teen hazar. Parsad sahib ka ret kam hain. Itna to denahi parat. Hindustan ka taur-tarike jaisan hai aisan chalna parat.

This is high corruption Mahavir. Mahavir scratched his rotund belly: huzur korupson bolon koi cheez nahin. Ei to riwaz hain. Fuul chrawaat, mannat mangat. Tab hi to kaam puri hawat. I left the matter to Paresh and Mahavir. After about a month Nupur invited me to her home for a cup of tea. She proudly boiled the water in a gas stove. The lightly flavored Assam tea tested very well. I was happy to see strangers from upper Asom’s Chapakhowa were finally settled in our neighboring Patparganj urban village.

I would have been happy if the story ended here. Paresh had purchased a second hand scooter to move about with his family of three for R.5000 from an auto-garage owner at nearby Masjid galli (lane). He commuted to office by Metro Rail. Old is not always gold. The machine worked well but after about six months Nupur and her son knocked my door. Dada, we are in big trouble. What has happened Nupur? Paresh has been taken to the police station and our scooter has also been taken away. Why? Police said Paresh had stolen the scooter from Vikaspuri of Delhi. Vikaspuri in west Delhi was about 35 km away as the crow flies and 45 km if one travels by the snaky Ring Road. It was a puzzle. Why would Paresh go all the way to unknown Vikaspuri to steal a scooter? He did not even know the geography of Delhi.

Bajrangbali Mahavir was not home. I sent Nandu Thapa (a Nepali), a vegetable vendor across the street to go to the police station and find out the initial information. Nandu returned promptly. Gazab bhayo saab. Kya hua Nandu? Saab, thanedar Paresh lai hazat ma rakhe chan. Dui sipai danaddan mardaicha. My goodness. Paresh was put in the lockup and was being assaulted. I asked Nupur to sit in my car and we drove to the police station. The officer in charge did not even look up. He continued directing the sepoys to beat Paresh. He had a confession written in his hand and insisted Paresh to sign it.

Finally I produced my IPS printed visiting card and an ID issued by the MHA. The OC got back to senses, saluted profusely and allowed us to sit. I tried to argue that Paresh was an honest person. He had bought it from Suleman, the auto-garage owner. Nupur produced the papers. Thanedar Rathi took me to a corner: Sir, Yeh insan Chinia jaisa lagta hai. Hame check karna parega ki iske sath Arbind Rajkhowa aur Paresh Barua ki koi rista to nahi. Weh to ULFA leaders hain.

Look Rathi, there are thousands of Rajkhowas and Baruas in Asom. All of them are not terrorists. These are Ahomiya family titles. But sir, Yeh aadmi ke pas to churaya hua maal hai. He is a receiver. I had to put on my police face. Look Rathi, he was not the receiver. Suleman garagewala could be the receiver. Paresh had only purchased from him. Why don’t you pick up Suleman?

Sir, ek problem hain. Suleman ek bada Congressi neta ka ristedar hai. Aap to jante honge, hamare elaka me hi rehte hai. So, a relation of the Congress leader is a saint? Baat aisa nahi hai sir. Aap kahte hai to mai Paresh ko chod deta hu, par scooter to jabd karna parega. Yeh to churaya hua maal hai.

It was a pragmatic suggestion. We agreed that Paresh would be released and no FIR would be registered.

Aap kaise investigataion aage badaenge? I asked Rathi. Wo aap hamare upar chhor dijiya sir. Maal jab mil gaya, chor bhi mil jayega. Dui char ddagi ko thus kar denge andar. Mereko to mamla khatm karna parega.

We brought Paresh home and Nupur nursed him for a few days. He suffered a loss of R. 5000, police beating and humiliation. The beat constable knocked his doors at regular intervals. Fortunately Paresh was not declared Das numbari, but he had learnt the trick of shutting the mouth of law by pushing 5/10 rupee bills. That bought him peace from the sin he committed being a son of Chapakhowa and having a suspicious name like Rajkhowa and a sinister Mongolian appearance.

I decided to follow the matter. One evening I knocked the door of the Congress leader and spokesperson. Arre Dhar sahib, kaise aana hua garibkhane me? Formaiye kya khidmat karun. KKK sahib ek baat kehna tha, manjoor hai to kahe. Bilkul, bilkul koi fikr mat kariye. Hum to janta ka sewak hain. Sun na mera kam hai.

I narrated the story of Suleman, who bandied around the name of the leader and dealt in stolen cars and scooters. Mai kya kar sakta hu? Mai to Masjid me namaj ada karne jata hu. Ohi mil mulaqat ho jata hai. Kabhi kabar Eid ke mauke par mil lete hai. Mazhab ka mamla hai. Mera koi ristedari nahi hai.

To ek kaam kariye. Thnedar Rathi ko kahiye Suleman se puch tach kare. Wo kaise kar sakta hun? Dhar saab mereko aapne mazhab me aapne biradari me rehna hain. Sare mulloh ne mera khal khinch lega, Musalman mera bad dua karega. Akhir me chunao to larna parta hain Dhar sahib. Aap to sab jante hai, sarkar chalaya aapne.

I declined to be fooled by KKK. Agar aap aisa hi chate hain to main TV channel ko bolake ek bayan de doo? Aap to jante hain mai bich bich me TV programme me hissa leta hu. Aur eh bhi keh deta hu ki Suleman aapko hissa deta hain. Aisa mat kariya Dhar saab. Mera khilli ur jayega. Madam bhi gussa krenge. Mataji bigar janese mera kya hoga! Mera ek position hai party me. Sare mamla ujagar mat kariye. Kuch to parda rakhiye. Aapto pension me gujara kar lete hai, par mere ko chunavi paisa ikattha karna parta hai. Khuda ke waste thora madad kariye.

To sir, meherbani karke Rathi ko ek phone lagaiye. Kya kare, aap humko dhamki de rahe hain. KKK reluctantly called the PS and told Rathi that Suleman was not related to him and was misusing his name. I thanked KKK and returned to my apartment.

Rathi acted quickly. Suleman was picked up, interrogated in police-science way and tons of information was vomited by him about a car thief gang in Delhi.

Paresh Rajkhowa visited my home with his wife and child, shared my fish dinner and said painfully.

“Sir is it a sin to be an Ahomiya and having Mongolian look?”

“No Paresh. Unfortunately for you and all of us you come from Outer Indian state called Asom. I can assure you 85% Indians are not aware of the Outer Indian states like Asom, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Arunachal. We are yet to be one India.”

“How long such things would continue?”

“Can’t say. We appear to be drifting apart more. Our ethnicity is again dividing us and corruption demon is devouring us. The system does not work anymore. Anyways, as long as I’m here you have no fear. I served and lived in the northeast for a long time. I understand your pains.”

“Can Anna Hazare do something?”

“I don’t think Paresh. Indian corruption is beyond Jan Lokpal and Lokayukt. Nearly 85% of us appear to be infected by the jinn of corruption. Our system has collapsed.”

The author is available at maloy39@gmail.com

I had earlier written an essay: Indian Corruption beyond Anna Hazare (April 12, 2011) not with a view to belittle him, but to highlight that Indian corruption perhaps, runs through genes. In that essay I had presented nearly all available data regarding India’s standing in the committee of nations in corruption rating. I request the readers to browse through that easy in this portal.

We hail Anna Hazare for his moral strength, conviction and dedication to the mission of fighting corruption in various walks of life and governing system of our republic. He is the third Indian leader who has had succeeded in galvanizing the grassroots for building up spontaneous mass movements. M. K. Gandhi had rescued the Congress’ nationalist movement from the elites and provincial leaders and connecting with the vast masses (mostly Hindus). His weapons of satyagrah and fasting were unique to India, though most of his satyagrah movements had taken violent turn, which was beyond his control.

The other national leaders who succeeded in connecting with the people during the independence movements were Subhas Chandra Bose (secular-all segments of people) and Mohammad Ali Jinnah (only Muslims). Subhas had chosen, following Bengal’s tradition of armed struggle against the British, the path of international geopolitical power conflicts to join the enemies of Britain for frontal war against the British empire. He failed because of frequent changes in warfront alliances and fortunes. The Congress and Communists at home also betrayed him by collaborating with the British.

Jinnah’s movement was backed by vast majority of Muslims (a finger-full remaining with Congress) and his collaboration with the British had made him achieve what he wanted for himself: a country to rule; a home for the subcontinental Muslims.

Gandhi, despite his unique sacrifices and moral fads did not succeed in achieving his goal: independence to a united India, in which Indians of all faiths, cultures and languages could live together unitedly. The saint had not realized that India was/is a country where even before and after partition people of various faiths lived together separately. He did not aspire to be the king of India; though, ironically, his mausoleum is called Raj Ghat. But his closest followers like Nehru, Patel, Rajendra Prasad etc aspired to walk into the shoes of the British when they were ready to escape from India. Disillusioned and devastated Gandhi was not in Delhi on August 15th when Nehru made the midnight declaration of tryst of destiny. Over the remains of a British dynasty Nehru established his own dynasty with tacit approval of Gandhi. Gandhi was helplessly sitting, fasting and weeping with hundreds of dead bodies of communal carnages in a slum area of Kolkata.

Gandhiji generally attributed corruption to the centralized governance policy of the British and their protégés in the Princely States. His idea was that with swaraj the people would abandon the slavish habits of surviving by bribing. Nehru, the new king and founder of a new dynastic rule had loudly declared in the parliament that he would hang the corrupt people by the next lamppost. He never found a lamppost; and his dynastic successors had also gone light-blind and did not see any lamppost. Under them, slavish corrupt Indians continued to be corrupt and turned to worst type of corruption, as the political dispensation and the governing systems encouraged corruption and thrived on the juices drawn from the emaciated, hungry and deprived Indians.

I should share two small hitopodesh I received as a child of 12 and a youth of 25. Way back in 1956 I was cycling back home at 5.30 pm from soccer ground. In front of the police station a fat bellied havaldar stopped me with a long baton. He enquired about light in my cycle. There was daylight in the June evening. I had the audacity to say that the Sun was not yet down. He shouted at me and said it was he, who would decide when the Sun would set and rise. He threatened me with a chalan if I did not pay Rs. 2.00. I did not. Got a chalan and had to appear in a court to pay Rs. 5.00 as fine.

On my 25th year I joined the All India services. Following mother’s wish I visited my eldest aunt to get her blessings. She was surprised to see me with a box of sweet. She asked: what service was it? Could be Audit & Accounts or police, I replied. So you have become a Daroga? No aunt, little bigger. Do you have upri income? Probably not. The lady was highly annoyed and said: You are not a Daroga and don’t have Upri. What bloody job is that? Job without Upri income is just majdoori. She flattened my ego. I did not like the comment. Now I realize what the wise lady had said when I opted for police with the foolish intention of reforming it.

As ASP in Naxalbari in 1965, I received a complaint that my Additional SP had purchased gold worth 20,000 from Nepal through a subinspector. But did not pay. Later as SDPO Kalimpong I received complaint that the Additional had given a lavish party to Dilip Kumar, Saira Bano etc in a hotel costing Rs. 12,000. The Officer in Charge had to pay. I dared him by taking the complaint to the SP, an honest gentleman. He forced the Additional to pay up. I was threatened by the Additional that he would spoil my ACR. He could not write one.

When in IB and posted in the northeast I noticed a colleague was forging letters purportedly written by A. Z. Phizo from London and taking Rs. 5000.00 per letter. After some research I discovered that my colleague was forging the documents borrowing known information and data. Boss was made wiser and my colleague was posted out.

These are few instances of Indian corruption. But I must acquaint you with the experiences of some of my friends living in rural India, urban slums and urban middle class societies, if you have the patience of reading real-life thrillers.

Friend Munnalal lived in village Kanakhali in eastern Bihar. He owned two bighas of land, two cows, two buffalo, had a wife and three kids. In off season he made baskets with split bamboos and sold in the market. In 2008 flood he lost two cows and his home. Flood sand had covered his land and he did not have the money to rebuild his shack and remove the sands from his field. Munna approached the gramsabha. The pradhan had received some fund for relief works in his village. After several visits, the pradhan offered Rs. 30.00 to Munna and took a thumb impression on a receipt of Rs. 300.00. The money was well spent for daily needs that lasted for a few days.

Munna was advised to approach the Panchyat Pradhan to help him with a certificate that he had lost his cattle, home and land in the flood. The PP demanded bhet (graft) of Rs. 50.00. Munna sold the nathni (nose ring) of his wife and borrowed Rs 30.00 from the sahukar (loan shark) and paid the PP. After obtaining the certificate Munna visited the BDO’s (Block Development Officer) office and after paying Rs. 5.00 bhet to the chaprasi reached the BDO after seven days. Mahamahim (His greatness) BDO examined the documents and jotted down on a paper that Munna could get Rs. 5000.00 from Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Griha Nirman Yojana (rural house building scheme), but his name was in the waitlist. He should come after three months. As he emerged out of the office the chaprasi caught him. He advised that grant could not be availed without spending some bhet. To whom? Simple arithmetic, the Chaprasi declared. The bhet should be offered at several levels. Rs. 1000.00 for him, Rs. 1000.00 for the baboo and Rs. 1000.00 for the sahib. You agree to pay and I would get your grant in three days. Munna calculated in his fingers and concluded that he would be left with only Rs. 2000.00. How could he build a shack with that amount? Out of Rs. 2000.00 he would have to pay Rs. 30 + 20 as interest to the Sahuhar. He would have to pay Rs. 200.00 to an affluent neighbor with whom he had pawned his buffalos. He would have to bear the expenses of visiting the nearby dispensary at a distance of 5 km to get some medicine for his daughter suffering from malaria. That would cost him nearly Rs. 300.00. He would be left with only Rs. 1000.00 for rebuilding his home. Munna decided to avail of the grant, live under plastic sheets and decided to spend at least Rs. 150.00 to remove the sand cover from his field. There ended the story of Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Griha Nirman Yojana.
Munna retrieved his land after two months hard labor. In late June he decided to plant paddy. He borrowed Rs. 300.00 from the mahajan @ 50% annual interest. Munna hoped with a good harvest he could pay back the loan and have enough grain for the family. He purchased seeds and some fertilizer with the borrowed money and irrigated the land by drawing water from a well. That year monsoon failed in Kanakhali and surrounding areas. Feet long paddy plants did not survive despite irrigating through well water. The well also nearly dried up in late August. The earth cracked, the plants wilted and Munna was back to where he was, burdened with extra loans. The mahajan of Kanakhali, Ravidas impounded the land of Munna for failing to pay back the loan amount and the interest. Thus, Munna had no roof on his head, his buffalos were gone and his land was impounded by mahajan Ravidas. He was on the streets with his wife and three kids. He pitched a tent under a mango tree outside the village.

Some neighbor advised him and his wife Kamla to visit the school ground of next village Sitapur to hear the big minister from Delhi visiting their area in a flying bird (helicopter). Few thousand villagers had assembled near the school ground of Sitapur Raja Vikarm Singh Higher Secondary School. Helicopter seemed like a heavenly bird to the villagers. As the rotor blades churned air with sounds the villagers looked up. From a tiny dot it gradually materialized to a flying machine bird and landed in a specially prepared helipad, which was surrounded by a posse of armed policemen. Over one thousand policemen were deployed in and around the ground. The big minister from Delhi stepped out from the chopper. With a well starched pajama and a white kurta and a heedful of pepper-salt long hairs he looked like a film star from Mumbai. He was escorted to the podium by local MP Sangram Singh, the district collector, SP and a minister in the state government, Jagvilas Paswan.

The minister from Delhi looked around and was nauseated by the dark mass of crowd clothed in some bare cloths and most having no upper apparel on their bodies. They were stinking. His nausea was partly removed when a group of nicely dressed school girls performed a dance and sang a few eulogia songs. Sangram Singh and Jagvilas Paswan announced on the microphone: Dearest villagers. Our honorable minister has come all the way from Delhi to remove your poverty. Now onwards you will not have any problem with your two square meals, roof on your heads, drinking water, irrigation water, medical care and schools. You will have enough clothes for your women. Wait, the minister has some special declarations to make.

The honorable minister Sanchar Nigam started with a eulogistic speech praising Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and said that the legacy of Gandhi-Nehru-Gandhi was the most valuable contribution of Gandhiji. He had driven out the British Raj and had handed over India to Nehru-Gandhi Raj. From 1920 onwards the Gandhi forces fought the British and the Gandhi family was still committed to fight for the improvement of the poorest of the poor in the country. He elaborated on several Yojanas (schemes) adopted for the rural poor by the Gandhi Raj; named after Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, and other Gandis of the Gandhi Royal family. NREGA, Sampoorn Gramin Rozgar Yojana, National Food for Work Yojana, Swarna Jayanti Gram Rozgar Yojana, National Service and Assistance Programme, Diksha, PURA, Bharat Nirman, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, Rural Housing, Rural Water Supply Programme, Central Rural sanitation Scheme, Indira Awas Yojana and Priyanka Priyadarshini Balika Yojana etc. He asked the villagers to wait for Sonia Kanya Vivah Yojana. Sonia Ammaji will grant Rs. 10,000 for each daughter’s marriage. Rahul Siksha Yojana will provide free schooling in all villages. Nehru Swayatha Rakhsha Yojana would give free medical care to each villager. All these Yojanas were being implemented to lift up the rural people to the level of people living in Delhi, Hilli and other big cities. Garibi (poverty) would vanish in the air. People would be able to bathe in milk and eat cakes, sausages and pizzas. Children would go to school; girls would be married out at government cost. Gandhi Raj would usher in Swarg Raj.

The minister’s speech pumped in some fresh hope in Munna and Kamla’s minds. On advice from some neighbors they went to the BDO office, stood on queue for 5 hours and enrolled in the NREGA scheme, which ensured 100 days work in a year. Kamla opted to join the Sampoorn Gramin Rozgar Yojana. Munna was directed to meet the field officer who supervised NREGA in his area. Vishal Yadav, the supervisor, noted down the details of Munna, checked his muster roll and shouted back. Munna was a cheat. He was already enrolled as a NREGA beneficiary and was drawing Rs. 300.00 per month for last one year. It was news to Munna. Yadav showed him the list and left thumb impression as proof. Munna, he said, would be handed over to police for cheating the government. Munna was illiterate and he was not aware of uniqueness of finger prints of different people. Mere threat of calling the police sent Munna urinating in his tattered dhoti.

“Hujur mai baap,” Munna begged, “Sher ko bolana cahte hai to bola lijiye. Police mat bulaiye. Galti muaf ho sarkar” (You are my father and mother. If you want to call a tiger, please do. Don’t call the police. Pardon my mistake.)

Munna was not aware that Yadav and his higher formations had employed 5000 villagers from the constituency of Thakur Sangram Singh. For five thousand people Sangram managed to get Rs. 15 lakhs per year. Out of those only 500 supporters of Sangram and few lackeys of the district and block officials were paid for 100 days in a year. Rest of the master roll was faked and the allotted amount was divided amongst Sangram, the officials and local self government representatives.

“Fine. I can give you a job in Swarn Jayanti Gramin Rozgar Yojana.” Yadav offered him another hope. He explained that Munna would have to work for three months in a year in road construction and canal digging works. He would be paid Rs. 1,500 for the job. Out of that he would have to pay 1000 to him, panchayet pradhan, sahkari samiti (cooperative body) as their share. He could take rest 500. Yadav explained that if he worked one full year he could earn Rs. 2000. Rest Rs. 4000 he would have to pay as taxes to the providers. He simplified the matter by explaining that to please the gods people offered flowers, sweets and other costly items. Like gods these money suppliers were very important. It was a give and take situation as it was prescribed in Hindu dharma. Munna was convinced and enrolled as a privileged worker in the SJGRY, locally pronounced Segi Rai.

Kamla had a different experience with the Sampoorn Gramin Rozgar Yojana (SGRY), locally pronounced swargy (divine). Panchayet pradhan Budhan Kewat was surrounded by a group of women seeking SGRY employment. Budhan explained that they would have to work in some local spinning mills, dyeing the threads and handing the same back to the spinning mill manager. They would work all seven days a week and would be paid Rs. 300 per week. Monthly income would be Rs. 1200. Out of that 700 hundred would have to be returned back to the pradhan as work guarantee money. Once they left the job they would be given back the guarantee money. If they were ready they should put thumb impression on a paper against their names. Kamla, like other women in the group, signed up. Both Munna and Kamla expected to earn a neat income of Rs. 8000 to 10000 in a year. That would cover up the cost of atta, some lentil, salt, chili and onion. They could also invest some money to maintain a buffalo. Once the kids grew up to eight years or so they could also be pressed into the services of affluent villagers. Sitting under the shade of their plastic tent Munna and Kamla calculated that in another few years they could pay back the mahajan and get their land back, cultivate and grow some grains. He could purchase a dhoti and a sari for Kamla from the local haat (market) in another six months. It should be possible to purchase a frock for the daughter and two knickers for sons, who roamed about with makeshift langotis.

Munna’s problem was compounded when one evening Kamla did not return home from the spinning mill. Munna visited Budhan Kewat and enquired of his wife’s whereabouts.

“Have I taken contract for your wife? Look at my attendance register. She came in the morning and left at about four. I’m not a cowherd to run after cows like Kamla.” Budhan rebuffed Munna and threw him out.

Kamla had another tryst with destiny. About 30 years old Kamla was known in Kanakhali area as a beautiful lady. In happier days she used to wear a choli and blouse and cotton saris. Her oiled and groomed hairs were shining. Her youth was attractive. Even in these days of drudgery and poverty she had not lost her luster. Budhan had allured Kamla to the residence of the mill manager and advised her to do some domestic work if she wanted to retain her job. That night manager Chotelal Kurmi ravished Kamla and left her only in the morning. Worried Munna and the children had spent the night under the mango tree. Kamla did not share with her husband that she was raped by manager Chotelal. She silently prepared some roti and locally collected green leaves with salt and chili. The kids went to sleep.

Kamla shared the tragedy of being raped. She told Munna that earning a living in the village was impossible for poor people like them. Flood and drought were their constant companions. The Yojanas were meant for sahibs, baboos and pradhans. They should better go to the sahar (town) for earning some living. Munna had no idea about a sahar. Kolkata and Patna were big cities. But what would they do there?

“Look at Mahavir. He was like us in Kanakhali. He went to Delhi. Now he is a rich man. He is constructing a brick house in the village. His kids in Delhi go to school.”

“Should we ask him?” Munna was yet undecided.

Kamla pushed him. Mahavir was in the village. He advised them to come to Delhi. He would arrange some jobs for them and a jhuggi to stay with monthly rental of Rs. 300. One fine morning Munna, Kamla and the children went to nearby station Sitapur and boarded a train for Delhi with only Rs 100.00 in their kitty.

Mahavir rented one of the 500 jhuggis to Munna, set up by him on government land in an east Delhi locality. Mahavir had to pay Rs. 600.00 to MCD officials, Rs. 400.00 to electric company and Rs. 400.00 to Jal Board supervisor for maintaining his jhuggi cluster. In addition he charged Rs. 20.00 per family for the Sulabh Sauchalaya facility set up in the cluster. In fact, Mahavir was a landlord, who purchased all services from government officials to run his empire. However, he could not provide an instant job for Munna. Again Mahavir came to his rescue. He offered a rickshaw pulling job to Munna. He was required to take out a cycle rickshaw out of 300 owned by Mahavir, all parked overnight on PWD roadside. For the parking space he had to pay Rs. 500.00 to the havaldar of the area and Rs. 500.00 to the PWD supervisor. At the end of the day Munna had to deposit the rickshaw and pay Rs. 40.00 in cash to Mahavir. Hardworking Munna earned about 200.00 per day.

Kamla started with cleaning and washing job in nearby apartment blocks. For three hours she charged Rs. 400.00. Her monthly income was about Rs. 1,500.00. Gradually Munna and Kamla dreamt of sending their kids in a local primary school. The Headmaster interviewed Munna, Kamla and the children. He demanded Rs. 2000.00 for admitting the three kids. After acute bargaining they settled on Rs. 1000.00. Munna and Kamla paid up and purchased the dress and school bags after cutting corners and reducing some kitchen items.

That was not the end of Munna’s tryst with the law and procedure enforcers. One evening a police constable cornered Munna and asked him for identity card. What was that? Prove that you are not Bangladeshi. How to do that? Do you have a ration card? Do you have a voter ID card? Do you have a MCD token number for plying a rickshaw? Huzoor mai baap, how does one get all that? The constable forced out a gratis of Rs. 20.00 and asked Munna to approach Mahavir.

Mahavir scratched his head and said that all these documents could be obtained in seven days. But Munna would have to spend Rs. 500.00 for the ration baboo, Rs. 200.00 for the PDS owner, Rs. 200.00 for MCD token and Rs. 400.00 for the voter ID card. By spending Rs. 1300.00 Munna could prove his legal existence as an Indian. Mahavir was sympathetic to his village pal. He agreed to realize the amount in three installments. An employee of Mahavir took Munna and Kamla to different offices and spent some money on ‘chai-pani’ of the baboos and finally they became proud possessors of identity proof and the right to draw ration from the PDS and plying a rickshaw. Munna’s neighbor was Abdul Naskar, a Bangladeshi national. Mahavir had performed the same trick in his case too. Naskar was turned to a proud Indian citizen.

After about eight months a Congress leader accompanied by the municipal councilor and local leaders was ushered in by a huge gathering organized by Mahavir. He directed all the jhuggi dwellers to enroll as his party members and vote for him in the next election. He promised to construct drainage system, brick paved lanes and Jal Board drinking water pipe to the jhuggi cluster. On his direction an employee of the municipality affixed identity plates before every jhuggi and promised them 70 sft lands in a new development area for construction of their own homes. The municipality issued token cards to each jhuggi dweller. That would be the basis for claiming land in the new location, when offered.

Mahavir acted very fast. He collected all the tokens from jhuggi dwellers like Munna for safe custody and liaising with DDA baboos. Surreptitiously he contacted a builder, Bharat Sundar and sold the tokens to him. His formula was simple. He would take from the builders Rs. 2. 5 lakh for each plot and the jhuggi dwellers would be given only Rs. 5000.00 as compensation. They were advised to visit the DDA office to enroll for the promised plots. The DDA baboo demanded Rs. 500.00 from each jhuggi dweller for registering their names. He pumped in some hope that they would soon be eligible for land allotment.

The election fever also inspired Munna to mobilize voters for the Congress leader. He won with a comfortable majority with support of about 30,000 jhuggi dwellers, 50,000 Bangladeshis and etc votes. After a few weeks of celebration, a DDA official visited the jhuggi clusters and announced that the unauthorized juggis would be demolished in four weeks time. The dwellers, having valid token and names registered with the DDA would be allotted land at Zundli phase III. Mahavir also delivered a lecture that he would invite top leaders to prevent demolition. He even arranged a rally headed by a retired union minister who declared that the demolishing forces would have to walk over his body. Finally, DDA demolition bulldozers started demolishing the jhuggis and the residents were thrown out. Mahavir turned out with a crowd, but they were driven away by armed Rapid Action Force personnel.

Someone, from an opposition party, gathered the dislodged Jhuggi dwellers and organized a demonstration before the Deputy Director of the DDA. He heard a delegation of the uprooted jhuggi dwellers and finally disclosed that these unauthorized land grabbers were not entitled to have land at Zundli phase III. These cheats had already sold their jhuggis and lands to a builder called Bharat Sundar.

They all turned to Mahavir. He expressed helplessness. The jhuggi dwellers had sold their tokens to Bharat Sundar for consideration money of 70,000 per jhuggi. However, he was not a cruel person. He paid Rs. 5000.00 in cash to each of the former jhuggi dwellers.

Bharat Sundar paid Rs. 20 lakhs to DDA, Rs. 20 lakhs to MCD and Rs. 10 lakh to police and floated Indira Gandhi Awas Yojana at Zondli phase III. He constructed 400 apartments on the land earmarked for allotment to the jhuggi dwellers and sold each flat for Rs. 45 lakhs.

Mahavir constructed another three storied 30 roomed building at Rajiv Gandhi Nagar and rented out each room for Rs. 3000.00 per month.

Munna again turned to Mahavir:

Mahabir bhaiya, where should we go?

Don’t worry Munna. I am here to protect people like you. I have constructed 300 new jhuggis on the Jamuna flood-basin land. Out of Rs. 5000.00 I paid you, you pay me only 2000.00. It is a special consideration, because we are from the same village. For others I’ll charge Rs. 4000.00.

How is that place?

Fine, open space, Jamuna water near you. And in spare time you can grow vegetables and sell in the market.
Munna had changed. He understood the entire charade of Mahavir. Only relief was that in the village the mahajan exploited him and the mill owner raped his wife. City brought a big change in him. The debauchery of the system was unfolded to him after he was cheated several times.

On a day in mid August Munna and few others like him picked up small national flags and went to Ramlila ground to offer satyagrah on the call of Anna Hazare. Finally he realized what corruption meant.

He had an opportunity to ask Anna: Anna Bapu Lokpal se corruption khatm ho jayega?

Ummid rakho aur larte raho. Mashal jal utha, abhi nahi nivega. Main to tumhe larne sikhna chahta hu. Ees andherako hatao. Roshni ekdin aayegi.

Mahavir visited the Jamuna jhuggi clusters with a gang of five.

Hai Munna tu neta ban gaya?

Nahi bhaiya. Main khetihar majdoor se rikshawala ban gaya, aur larne sikha. Hamare iha mat aao. Lathi hamare ghar me bhi hai.

Mahavir retreated.

What would happen to him if people like Munna start shouting against corruption with a national flag in hand? He called on the Congress MP.

Mahavir, forget these rats, said the MP. They will shout for a few days, but we will continue to rule. This royal family cannot be displaced by a donkey called Anna. I have decided to give you a ticket in the next municipal election. Start campaigning now. Election is our strength. Right from municipal council to sansad we will have our royal sovereignty on the nation. Why worry? People like Anna and Munna can be tackled by police, income tax, enforcement directorate, criminal cases, slander campaign and communal riots. If Munna and others trouble much pay the Bangladeshis to start communal riot. We will send police to evict people like Munna and flood the Jamuna flood basin by releasing extra water from Haryana. You can get some banya tran (flood relief) tents constructed on the road bunds with Delhi government help, and earn gratitude of the flood affected people. Yeh sale, humse banchke jayega kaha?
Mahavir was reassured. The royal family was there to protect him. He took out a procession near the residence of the royal family and shouted slogans wishing: jug jug jiyo maharani.