Yaroslav Hunka and the "Nazi" Chimera: Can he be called a WAR Criminal

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books

Yaroslav Hunka is 98 years old, He is in extremely poor health. And frail. He was at the behest of the Speaker of the Canadian Parliament, Anthony Rota, given a standing ovation for having fought  for Ukrainian Independence against Russia. Of course this does imply working on behalf of the Germans. The Canadian Press and Politicians promptly started a campaign of self righteous indignation that threatens the stability of the Justin Trudeau regime. Let us look at the facts.

Canada has always been "permissive" as Foreign Minister Dr S Jaishankar pointed out recently in the context of the reluctance to repatriate serious offenders an criminals to face trial. Soon after World War II ended, Canada took in refugees from Europe and did not screen the immigrants for Nazi antecedents. At least 6000 Ukrainians were allowed entry along with a  considerable number of Germans. By 1948 the two Anglo Saxon powers, Britain and USA decided that USSR was a great threat and that there was no point in pursuing past enemies when one more loomed large. The Nuremberg Tribunal was abandoned and by 1950 even the prohibition, largely on paper, of keeping out Nazis was dropped from the category of those denied entry into Canada. After all, Nazis had a proven record of being anti communist.

It was against this background that Yaroslav Hunka entered Canada and his Nazi past was not discovered even though Professor John-Paul Himka has used his papers to document atrocities that were committed against Jews. Surprisingly the State of Israel has not made a public statement on the controversy nor has it demanded the extradition to Israel to face charges. This should give us reason to stop and pause and not be carried away in the cacophony emanating from Ottawa. 

The Government of Canada appointed the Deschenes Commission in 1985 to investigate the infiltration of Nazis into Canada and it specifically looked into the charges against the Waffen SS to which Yaroslav Hunka belonged and concluded that the Waffen SS did not commit WAR CRIMES. While they did participate in violence against Jews and Poles, the Commission clearly stated that war crime charges cannot be brought against those who were part of the Waffen SS. This division served in Galicia and was involved in ethnic cleansing the Poles who had settled in the region after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire following World War I. White politicians, academics and media propagandists are sensitive to the anti Semite trope and hence the unwillingness to go into the details. As a non white I have no such blinkers.

I am not suggesting that Hunka was innocent and does not have blood on his hands. He certainly does but I am only clarifying the point whether he can be considered a war criminal as he is alleged even by George Galloway, whose opinions are usually grounded in research. 

There were groups that participated willingly in arresting and transporting Jews from Ukraine and these groups associated with the OUN, Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and its armed wing, UPA, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army were deeply anti Semitic and their participation in the Holocaust is established. The case of John Demjanjuk makes this point clear.

There is no reason to join the collective chorus against Yaroslav Hunka. He is certainly an unsavory fellow  with a shady bood soaked past. But the Canadian Law has always been apathetic to criminals and that explains the presence of gangsters, drug lords, Mafioso, Nazis and internationally wanted terrorists in Canada. Right from World War II Canada has been permissive in its immigration policy.

MULAYAM SINGH YADAVA, MAYAWAT, MAMTHA BANERJEE AND THE CIRCUS OF INDIAN POLITICS

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and bOOKS. In Casablanca, the classic film of the 1940,s there is a famous line: One in one out, thats the way it goes. This line is equally true of Indian politics; One out, Mata, one in, Mulayam. This merry go round will continue until the next election which are scheduled to be held in 2014. Unfortunately opportunistic alliances of sheer convenience whose only purpose is to cling on to power at all cost is legitimized using the "secular" card. It does not take too much imagination to realize that the most corrupt and obsessively dynasty based are the so called secular parties. The DMK is neck deep in the 2G Spectrum scam and the old bandicoots daughter too was in jail for nearly a year, Laloo Prasad Yadava is caught in the Fodder Scam and though the witnesses are being killed systematically the case is still alive, Mulayam Singh Yadava if facing a disproportionate assets case and since the CBI is a coalition partner of the UPA, the case is weakening or strengthening based on the politics of the Yadava chieftain and there is no need to even mention Mayawati with her diamond nose rings and flashy salwars with bags in tow.With such specimens in the political field the UPA will not run out of partners who will suddenly discover the virtue of "secularism" in order to hide their sins. There is however, one snag in the calculations of the UPA and its potential partners in crime and power. All these parties are directly in competition with the Congress for the same political space and the more they support the Congress the more they will have to face the responsibility for the scams, scandals and corruption. It will also have to bear the backlash and it is inevitable for the FDI in the retail sector which will dominate the next elections more than any other issue. The Congress will be able to dilute peoples anger by pointing fingers at their partners, and therefore it is not in the interest of these parties to throw a life line to the Congress. Of all the regional players only Mamtha Banerjee has understood the inherent logic of the emerging political scene. The Congress Party is heading for a total disaster in the coming elections and with the revival of the Left in West Bengal, Mamtha had few options left. She pulled the rug from underneath the feet of the UPA hoping to create a crisis and she has succeeded eminently. The options before Mulayam and Mayawati are rather slim. THe next elections both these parties will not be able to retain their seats and they also have to take responsibility for all the sins of the dynastic fascist party, the Congress. Without understanding this basic issue both these parties are falling over eachother to extend support.

BABA RAMDEV AND POLITICAL CORRUPTION IN INDIA; THE STRUGGLE INTENSIFIES

India is presently ranked very high in the list of the most corrupt counties in the world. Only Nigeria and Burkina Faso rank a few places below. With such a d distinguished ranking, may I add that the leadership of that corrupt government headed by Sonia and ManMohan Singh even want a place at the high table of diplomacy and statecraft. I have said so several times on this blog and else where that India does not deserve a security council seat given its track record of governance. Having said that let me get back to the question at hand.

A very powerful civil society movement against corruption has begun in India: this movement is partly inspired by the example of the Arab Resistance against corrupt and tyrannical regimes and partly by the disclosures made by WikiLeaks. Those who rail against WikiLeaks are unaware of the positive role played by this organisation in inspiring people across the world. All corrupt and criminal regimes such as the one in power in India, have learned to fear WikiLeaks. A Yoga Guru from the north India state of Uttar Pradesh has become the unlikely leader of the anti corruption movement and the Government of India unleashed the most barbaric acts of repression against him on the midnight of June 4th 2011.



Baba ramdev, a well respected Yoga Guru, gathered a crowd of nearly 100,000 men women and children in the Ramlila Grounds of New Delhi after getting permission from the Government. The regime was so rattled by the movement started by Baba ramdev that it deputed 4 senior Government ministers to negotiate with him. It appears that the Government of India put up a presence of negotiations in order to prepare the ground for an all out attack. Like the Night of the LOng Knives, the Congress regime unleashed its police against the followers of Baba Ramdev who were badly beaten up by the police. It must be stated very categorically that the demonstration against corruption was both peaceful and disciplined. The regime had absolutely no justification for the brutal mid night attack. The Baba himself was arrested and sent out of Delhi. The Supreme Court of India is likely to rule that this action on the part of the Sonia-ManMohan Regime was both unconstitutional and illegal.

The real reason for the panic reaction on the part of the dynastic regime in power is because for the past few years a series of scams have dented the image of the government and corruption has become a huge political issue in India. The Political Party the DMK, a South Indian regional party and a partner in the coalition in power lost the elections in Tamil Nadu solely to the public perception that the present government was irredeemably corrupt. The daughter of the former Chief Minister, Mr Karunanidhi is presently in prison awaiting trial as she was exposed as a recipient of kickbacks from the 2G Spectrum scandal in which telecom mobile licenses were issued to favored few without going through due process. It has been estimated that nearly 5.5 billion dollars were taken as kickbacks in this scandal alone and much of this ill gotten wealth is invested in tax havens like Virgin Islands, St Kitts, Swiss banks and the most favored destination of Tamil politicians, Mauritius. The corrupt Government of India refuses to take any step to get back the money on the spurious argument that going after ill gotten, illegal wealth stashed abroad is against the double taxation agreements. A totally false and baseless justification for complicity in crime. I must say that the US Treasury was able to get the notorious Swiss bankers to reveal the names of American holders of Swiss accounts and Baba ramdev wants the Indian Government to make a serious effort to retrieve India's wealth in foreign bank accounts.

The Congress Party has been in power for most of the time since Independence and one dynasty, the Nehru dynasty has controlled the party. It is believed that the Congress in neck deep in political corruption and hence will both unwilling and unable to act against political corruption. Even so the savagery of the attack against baba Ramdev has shocked the entire nation and the Congress and its alliance partners will pay a very heavy price in the next elections. As I have said right at the very beginning of this blog, Indians are used to corruption and bad governance, unlike the Chinese who expect a degree of honesty and patriotism from their Government. Yet the attack on a spiritual leader with a huge following has resulted in a sea change in the mood of the people.

The peaceful protestors were beaten up and nearly 75 of them very seriously injured. TheMahatma, Baba Ramdev himself was pushed from the dais and barely escaped with his life.A corrupt and criminal government has shown that it will use force against its own people who protest against corruption.