PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA'S PLAY STATION WAR

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books In most parts of the world children learn the alphabet by association letter A with "Apple" or something innocent. In parts of the world children learn the alphabet by reciting A is for AK-47 and D is for "Drone". USA has emerged as the world largest and most determined practitioner of "play station warfare" in which operators sitting in gaming consoles in Fairfax, Virginia, determine who should live and who should die in parts of the non-white world--particularly Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan. While George W Bush started using drones to target al-Qaeda operatives, it was the present President Barack Obama who expanded the scope and intensity of drone attacks. Not a week passes without a drone attack and in each strike scores of civilians are killed and USA has no answer for the large scale destruction of human lives it is causing in parts of the non-White world. The rhetoric of Islamic Terrorism is sometimes deployed to obscure the fact that the victims of the drone attacks are non-white, non-combatants for the most part. Now there are people who argue that drone attacks are a variant of "targetted assasinations" and Israel is known to have used this method. In the case of Israel we can say that there are mitigating circumastances and even targetted assasinations are launched only after the identity of the chosen victim has been firmly identified. In the case of Israel there has been only one case of mistaken identity so far and Israel uses its field operatives to carry out the strikes. To the best of my knowledge Israel has not used drones though it drops bomb on Gaza whenever its airforce needs target practice. So I ma making out a distiction between targetted killings ordered by the State and massive, extensive and non discriminatory killing by drones. The US constitution does not empower its Commander-in-chief to order the killing of human beings on the presumption that they are "Islamic terrorists". In fact pre-emptive attack is explicitly outlawer by International law. So far nearly 3,000 persons have been killed by drone attacks and over 80% of the victims were civilain non combatants. USA has a term for such casualities" Collateral damage. USA has been less than honest in its public statements about the casualities of drone warfare. All males from 1 year to 100 years are counted as "terrorists" and by this ingenous calculation declares to the rest of the world that its drones have largely killed terrorists. In fact if USA kills terrorists by the truck load no one will complain, least of all this blogger. However, the vast majority of those killed happen to be combatnats. In fact, George W Bush was far more circumspect in his use of drones and he ordered during the course of 8 years less than a dozen strikes. Now Barack Obama has extended the definition of drone warfare to include suspicious pattern of activity. This expansion in the definition of the policy has resulted in several social gatherings being targetted. The mountain people of Waziristan and Afghanistan being a rumbustious lot often fire their weapons in the air as a sign ofsocial acceptance. This kind of exuberance has often led to the wedding celebrations being targetted. The result large scale death and a devastated society. And Barack Obama had critisised precisely the drone strikes of President Bush during his campaign and now it appears that Obama is Bush on steriods as David Miller observed. Drone warfare has extended the powers of the US president to each and every part of the world and no one is safe. The lack of accountability in the execution of drone warfare is another disturbing feature. A group of middle level NIA operatives prepare a list of potential targets and there is absolutely no Congressional or political scrutiny over the entire process. I request the US Congress to hold special hearings on Drone Warfare and let the Obama Administration explain to the American people the guidelines on the basis of which targets are delected and the political oversight, if any on the actual process of carrying out the attacks. The drone warfare has turned into a publicity bonanza for the al-qaeds and its affiliates because with each strike the number of potential recruits keeps rising.

KOCHI, THE QUEEN OF THE ARABIAN SEA; MY HEART IS IN KOCHI

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books As our plane descended over Kochi, my daughter said "look Papa. solar panels everywhere. The people of Kochi must be energy conscious". I looked down and saw shimmering in the sunlight bright sheets of steel. Later we learned that the roofs of houses in Koch had a sheltered space for drying clothes during the long monsoon season which lasts nearly 4 months. The drive from the airport to Palavivattom where we stayed was thrilling, the road clean and the traffic manageable. We stayed in Hotel Rennai Cochin, a well maintained hotel will all modern amenities. Of all the cities that I have visited, I think Kochi is by far the most interesting and though my stay was short, I loved every minute of it. Cochin has a long history and everywhere the past creeps up and confronts the visitor. The island on which the port of Cochin stands was the creation of a natural disaster in the fourteenth century which reshaped the coastline of Kerala. The Portuguese were the first to arrive here and in 1661 were driven out by the Dutch who controlled the valuable spice trade of the Travancore kingdom for nearly 132 years. On January 8th 1663 the Dutch seized Fort Kochi and the Queen of the Arabian Sea had to compete with other suitors for the attention of the Dutch Administration. Batavia and Cape Town were prefereed by the Gentleman XVII of the VOC. In 1741 the Dutch were defeated in the Battle of Calachel and the English became the dominant power in the Malabar region, though the power of the English was contested by the rising garrison states of Travancore and Mysore. The prosperity of the town is reflected in the many Dutch buildings that festoon Fort Cochin. The "pepper highway" brought huge profits to the European companies creating problems for the Mappillas, the Malabar Muslim community, who slowly faced economic stagnation as a direct consequence of the monopoly over the pepper trade established by the Dutch, the Portuguese and finally by the English. The history of Cochin's encounter with the resurgent Europe is found everywhere, particularly in Fort Cochin and Bolghotty Island. We started our tour of Cochin with a visit to the Sacred Heart College, Thevara, in which I had some official work. The College is well maintained.

Cochin is famous all over the world for the small community of Jews who migrated to this port town to escape persecution during the frequent outbreaks of violence against them in Europe. India can be proud of the fact that when Europenas were killing Jews as recently as the German Holocaust in the 1940s, India protected and patronised the jewish population. Unfortunately the silly policies of Nehru di8d not enable India to develop good ties with Israel. The Jewish quarter is replete with history.

The shops alongside the Jewish Synagogue are full of interesting alcoves where one probably can get genuine antiques if one's pocket is deep enough. The churches of Cochin are a marvel. One of the oldest churches in Southern India is located in Cocin. The Santa Cruz Basilica which was constructed by the Portuguese is an architectural marvel.

The seascape around Kochi has now become nerve center of oil terminals, container docks, ship building platforms, naval yard and a score of other unlovely things. Yet the Arabian Sea around Kochi retains a grandeur that is best witnessed when one takes the boat ride around the harbor. Kochi has some incredibly beautiful spots and the area around the High Court is one such.

The beauty of the buildings, the historical sites of memory, the grandeur of the sea around Kochi will linger long after one has left this beautiful city. My daughter, her friend Divya and Sandesh visited an elephnat training camp and here are the pictures:

Like all good things in life our trip to Kochi too came to an end. We a heavy heart my daughter and I packed our bags and returned to Pondicherry. But we took back from Kochi memories that will live in our hearts forever. KOCHI YOU ARE THE QUEEN OF THE ARABIAN SEA

Kerala, Violence, Piracy and the past

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books The killing of two fishermen by Italian marines on the High Seas has led to a diplomatic row between India and Italy. In spite of the Congress dominated UPA Government giving contradictory evidence, the judicial process is still on track. The recent killing of T P Chandrasekaran has brought home to large sections of the Indian public that God's Own Country is rife with violence and Kerala with the highest rate o9f suicide and literacy must reflect on its own past to understand the reality it faces. The so called Communist faction dominated politics has given the state a thin veneer of sophistication which is wearing thin every passing day. Kerala historians eager to please their party bosses create a history which ignores the reality of Kerala's past. Thus the very questioning of the senseless acts of violence indulged by the Mappillas of Malabar during their frequent outrages will be branded by the so called progressive historians of Kerala as a reactionary/communal interpretation. Indian historiography is still stuck in the prehistory or Jurassic park of polemic and abuse rather than seasoned discourse. I think al_beruni was absolutely right when he said that Indians do not have a sense of history. The killing of the two fishermen ought to provide a moment of reflection: Is the Malabar Coast piracy prone and what reputation does the coast of Malabar enjoy in existing historical sources. The Malabar region and the seas adjoining Calicut have the reputation of being the most pirate infested through out history. K N Panikkar and other Pannikkars following him do not want to admit that piracy was an important aspect of the Malabar economy through out history. Since Kerala did not have a highly developed Governmental institutions we can say that piracy operated in tandem with landed and merchant groups especially during the late medieval period when the price of pepper rose in the international market. Some even glirify piracy as resistance to the Portuguese naval power. During the so-called "Sangam Age" which is only a literary culture, Kerala is said to have had extensive trade with the rst of the world, particularly the Roman world. The Roman Empire had extended upto Egypt and Alexandria became an entrepot for Indian exports. Pliny the Elder whose statement about the gold being drained by India because of Roman thirst for luxuries from mthe Orient is known to every school boy, also lamented that Malabar was full of pirates. The records from the Cairo Geniza, the Jewish depository for paper containing the name of Jaw eh, has a document that record the plight of a Jewish trader who was robbed twice on the way to India and back. Both times he blames the pirates of Malabar. Marco Polo very eloquently records the presence of pirates in Malabar and cautions people from going there. From Maghreb, we have the famous Ibn Battuta who said that Malbari pirates were rife in the coastal region of Calicult where he landed. Ibn Battuta was attacked by 12 warships and the envoy to Vijayanagara from Moscovy, Nikitin also compalined of pirates in the seas around Calicut and Kochi. From the Portuguese period onwards we get the chronicles of Barbossa and Tompires which speak of pirates harassing the Portuguese shipping. Of course by this time Portugal had acquired virtual stranglehold on the pepper trade and the Mappilla traders were reduced in economic status as a consequence. It is in this set of changed circumstances that the statecraft of Zainuddin al Malbari must be viewed. He wanted a grand alliance of all India kings against Portugal. Instead of fabricating progressive history it would be far better if historians of kerala start looking at Piracy as a factor that shaped the social and economic life of people of Malabar.

Twenty Second Convocation of Pondicherry University

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Today the 22nd Convocation of Pondicherry University, a major central university of India, was held and as is always the case the event was choreographed to perfection. The University has seen a fantastic progress during the course of the past few years particularly during the administration of Professor J A K Tareen the current Vice Chancellor. I had to attend the Convocation in the usual academic robes and I most most impressed with the Convocation Address of Her Excellency Nirupama Rao, India's Ambassador to the United States. The D Litt (Honoris Causa) was conferred on two distinguished individuals:Justice M N Venkatachaliah and Her Excellency Nirupama Rao. Both have achieved a high degree of recongined stature in their respective field of endeavor. As Chief Justice of India M N Venkatachaliah was instrumental in shaping jurisprudence in a fundamental way and he also presided over the Commission set up to Review the Working of the Indian Constitution. He gave an erudite speech in which he effortlessly flitted from quantum physics to literature to history and he spoke of the convergence of different streams of science during the course of the present century which will enhance the life span of people. Her Excellency Nirupama Rao spoke with a clipped accent of one well trained in the corridors of power. Her Address was inspiring as my young daughter who attended the Convocation was most impressed with her speech. Being a serving Ambassador she could not touch on aspects of Indian foreign policy which are controversial. However, she did recognize the vital importance of maintaining friendly relations with China. I personally believe that India must do more to improve relations with China and must not make the blunder of coming under the influence of the USA which regards China as a threat. India can learn a great deal from China and I wish the speaker who was an envoy in China had spoken of this as well. The number of students in the University has increased 7 fold and this year 85 Ph D degrees were awarded and the picture captures one of then receiving her degree from Nirupama Rao.

THE VIOLENCE IN GOD"S OWN COUNTRY: KERALA SEEME TO FORGET THAT PARTY POLITICS IS NOT ALL

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books Shri T P Chandrasekharan, an activists of the CPM and a follower of V S Achutanandan, the former Chief Misister of Kerala was brutally killed near Calicut yesterday. The life and death of this 51 year old Party activist illustrates the perils of Indiasn political life. By all accounts this man was a committed party worker who joined the Student Federation of India and rose through the ranks. Extremely popular with grass roots workers, this activist had built up a following for himself in the Communist stronghol;d of Onchiyam. In the recent polls his Revolutionary Marxist Party won the Panchayat polls and this seems to have alarmed the faction led by Pinyari Vijayan. Even the Congress Home Minister of Kerala T Radhkrishnan has hinted at the involvement of the Pinyari Vijayan faction in the killing. The CPM and the Muslim League both practice the politics of violence in Kerala with great abandon. Who can ever forget the brutasl killing of Balkrishna, the schoolmaster who was killed in front of his students in the classroom about a decade back. The highly politisised nature of Kerala society has led to a situation in whcih political violence has become the tool for maintaining control over the cadres. The frequent hartals and strikes have given Kerala the reputation of being a state on the brink of anarchy. I cannot understand why politics cannot be conducted in a civilised manner in Kerala. I must say that Tamil Nadu too is given to violence. Shri T P Chnadrasekaaran was travelling on his two wheeler when 3 or 4 men armed with country bombs and sharp weapons waylaind him and hacked him to death. One more loyal party worker was sacrificed on the red altar and I am sure that within days there will be a retaliatory killing and the spiral of violence will spin out of control like what is happening in Rayalseema, Andhra Pradesh. Political parties like the Congress and the Communist factions and of course, the Muslim League which promote violence in the political realm must be banned from Inidan politics. League which promote criminalisation of politics and deploy litical Shri T P Chnadrasekaaran was travelling on his two wheeler when 3 or 4 men armed with country bombs and sharp weapons waylaind him and hacked him to death. One more loyal party worker was sacrificed on the red altar and I am sure that within days there will be a retaliatory killing and the spiral of violence will spin out of control like what is happening in Rayalseema, Andhra Pradesh.

Bangaru Laxman was entrapped by Thelka and his conviction can be challenged

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books Bangaru Laxman, the Dalit face of the BJP, was trapped by a Congress friendly mediam outfit called Thelka accepting cash to the tune of Rs 100,000 for favouring an entity called Westland. It turns out that there was no such defence deal and that ther whole episode caught on camera was only play acting. Corruptiuon as defined by the law involves giving a bribe to a public servant for obtaining tangible gains. When there was no deal and the reporters were only pretending to be defence contractors then no publiic interest was affected in the whole fictitious transaction. In fact if Bangaru Laxman can be convicted then the 2 journalists involved must also be proscecuted for induling in bribery of a public funtionary. I think the whole episode reeks of entrapment and Bangaru Laxman, though not innocent certainly cannot be called the only guilty party. It appears that the quantum of punishment was set high so as to deny him bail. I feel such vicious political proscecution will undermine peoples faith in the judiciary which must be seen to be above board. Now contrast this to the Bofors case. In that case, it has been established above any reasonable doubt that bibes were givnen in the form of " winding up charges' to the tune of 64 crores. It is known from investigation from Sweden, India, Switzerland and other parts of the world that the money trail led to Quatrrochi, an Italian known to be close to the resident non-Indian first Dynasty of India, the Gandhis. Yet, the CBI being a piable politicasl tool did not conduct any reasonable and sustained investigation so much so that after 25 years not a single conviction has taken place. Furtehr even in the 1984 anti Sikh riots organised by the cngress party, the CBI has been able to file the charge sheet against Sajjan Kumar only last month. This shows that the CBI operates on the basis of political pressure. When there is a real and tangible case of corruption then the CBI and the Courts are unable to act. However when there is no case of corruption based on public interest as is the case with the bangaru Laxman episode the CBI and the coutrs are quick to convict. Bangaru Laxman incriminated himself and self incrimination is not admissible evidence. Furtehr, the Courts must be sure that public interest was affected by the act of bribe taking. In this case no public ionterest was affected as there was no defence deal. Henc there was no corruption. Entrapment is not a judicially permissible method of evidence gathering. Laxman at best was guilty of an indiscretion and I wonder why the Thelka "journalists" are not brought into the judicial priocess as "bribe givers". In this case we have judicial overreach. Thelka thinks that the Abhishek Manu Singvi CD is not evidence of misconduct as they want to protect the image of their paymasters, the Congress, while pioor Bangaru Laxman is found guilty. I venture to say that this judgement will be set aside during the appeal. Why is it that only dalit and tribal politicians are convicted. We have Raja, Madhu Koda, now Bangaru Laxman all of whom belong either to the SC or ST category. A Karunanidhi or Sonia Gandhi seem to be above the reach of law.

THE AGNI MISSILE WILL DEGRADE INDIAN SECURITY

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

The early morning launch of the Agni V missile from the Wheeler Rocket Launcing base has been hailed as a great strategic breakthrough by self styled "defence experts" and "secuity analysts". The reginme in power has a stable of "tele intellectuals" who will justify each and every mistake of the Congress dominated UPA regime. Not one of them asks the question: How does the possession of the intermediate range inter continental ballistic missile capability help or enhance Indian security. I think for purely ideological reasons some self styled experts like Bharat Karnad who want India to embrace the US strategic doctrine vis a vis China are hailing the launch as a major security boost. Nothing can be more far from the truth than the delusion that ICSMs help India deter China. The reginme sponsored "strategists" want to use the non existent threat from China to drive India into the deadly embrace of the USA.

The range of the missile is around 5000 kms which means that much of China is actually not in the range of the missile. This missile is only an empty gesture of provocation by projecting China as threat. China does show its disdain from time to time and that is an expected reaction from a great power which no longer sees India as a rival or even as a threat but only as hired gun slinger for the USA. By taking the US strategic doctrine which posits China as a threat, India is making a grave mistake because the interests of the US and India do not converge. USA will always use Pakistan as its proxy and it is not worth the while for India to treat China as an adversary. India's difficulties with China are purely bilateral and there is no need for India to jump on to the American divide in order to settle its bilateral issues with China. On the contrary, China has shown great statesmanship in dealing with India and by using the Tibetan Independence issue to annoy China, India is not doing its national security or interests any good.

China does not need missiles to punish India. And India does not have the political strangth to use its missiles against Chia. In fact the USA will [put pressure on India to "show restarit" and India will as ususal make virtue of neccisity. So in what way does this 5000km rage missile contibute to Indian security. Against Iran, India is again making a grave mistake by taking the American argument that Iranian nuclear ambitions are a threat to the region. Iran is only reacting to Israel and it is a well known fact that Israel has nuclear capability. Any regional peace plan must recognise the Israeli capability as well.

China will soon emerge as the world's largest economy and India has a lot to learn from the Chinese experience. Even in human rights I think China has a better track record than some Indian states. Chinese universities have become the cynosure of the world and India cannot hope to catch up for decades to come. Instead of just aping the US let India rethink its strategic options.