Autonomy for the Central Bureau of Investigation: Why the CBI must be given autonomy

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books The observations of the Supreme Court of India that the CBI is a "caged parrot" mimicking its master,s voice has resulted in a debate in Indian liberal circles. As usual the India liberal will always jump to extreme conclusion. The "policeman" cannot be "autonomous" screamed one well heeled liberal as if the Supreme Court mandated an unaccountable CBI. The issue here is the rampant misuse of the Government investigative agencies for partisan political purposes. The Income Tax Department, the Intelligence Bureau, the Enforcement Directorate, the CBI and scores of other Central and State agencies are being misused almost on a daily basis for either protecting political clients or harassing political opponents. Consequently Rule of Law has succumbed to the Rule of Outlaws and the Supreme Court is only attempting to set right the balance. The Indian liberals abet in the crimes of the Establishment of staking extreme positions which results in the existing aberration in institutions go unchecked. The ease with which they jump up and down ranting and raving about a "police state" in case the CBI is insulated from political control shows that the liberals actually want the current misuse of the CBI to continue. The other favorite ploy of the Liberals is to see "communal" conspiracies in any attempt at improving governance: the result once again is status quo. The Congress Party has been misusing the CBI right from Independence. The investigation carried out by the CBI in cases involving high level criminals has always been lackadaisical. An example may be give; The investigations in to the Nagarwala Case in which all the prime accused were killed including the magistrate who conducted the trial still haunts the pages of history. The Investigation into the 1984 riots against the Sikhs organized by the Congress Party has drawn the ire of the courts repeatedly. The main problem with the CBI is that it calibrates its policy to the political demands of the Congress Party. I must say that the BJP did not abuse the CBI in this shameless manner when Hon'ble Lal Kishen Advani was the Deputy PM and Home Minister. Unfortunately given the ideological blinkers of the Indian liberals they are unable to see that the abuse of the CBI is the original sin of the Congress Party which the other major party of governance did not commit. The use or rather abuse of the CBI to coerce political allies and associates is yet another problem. See how the Taj Corridor case is progressing according to the co operation or otherwise of Mayawati. The CBI is now going slow on Laloo Prasad Yadava and the other Yadava, Mulayam Singh Yadava because of political compulsion and see the alacrity with which it raided the house of the DMK rougue Stalin just days after the withdrawal of support by the DMK. What the Supreme Court is trying to do is to insulate the CBI from such abuse. The Supreme Court is not mandaing a police state and the Indian liberals by raising this bogey are actually playing to the Congress Gallery,

The Congress Party and its complicity in the 1984 Riots: Why Sajjan Kumar and Jadish Tytler need to be punished

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books The news that Sajjan Kumar, the senior Congress leader from De3lhi has been acquitted as come as a rude shock to many of us who have been following the 1984 Massacre Case. To recapitulate: On November 1st after Indiara Gandhi was eliminated by two Sikh bodyguards, masquerading gangs of Congressmen aided and abetted by the highest political functionaries including her son, Rajiv Gandhi went on a murderous rampage alll across Delhi and killed Sikhs in retaliation and revenge. The Sikh President of India, Zail Singh and his Home Minister Narashima Rao were silenbt spectators when Sikhs were pulled out of their homes and petrol thrown on them and set ablaze in full public view. The police were instructed to keep quiet and even Sikh policemen were attacked. The complicity of the Governmenbt of India was all to clear and the more notorious killers like Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar were even give tickets by the Congress Party and they went on to become MPs and one of them even became a Cabinet Minister of the dynastic fascist party. Nearly 29 years later, the Sikhs are still awaiting justice and not a single Congressman has been convicted. The police were instructed not to file the FIRs and the Sikh survivors approached the Courts and in the case of Jagdish Tytler the CBi even closed the case on the ground that there is no evidence against him. This is the same CBI which rushes to show its interim report to the outlaw Minister Ashwini Kumar on the coal gate scam. The closure was contested and last month the Delhi High Court gave the order that Tytler can be prosecuted. Sajjan Kumar another notorious killer from the dynastic fascist party, the Congress, the darling of the Indian middle class. The criminal investigation procedures were all subverted in order to shield the criminals and in this the Congress Party should be made accountable in every manner for abetting the crime of 1984. By making a Sikh the Prime Minister behind whose back the dynastic fascists amass wealth, does not absolve the Congress of its barbarism. The Government of India under successive Congress regimes adopted a set of 3 strategies in order to shield the criminals of 1984. First, it deliberately filled wrong details about the lo9cation and events leading to the c crime and in some cases even fabricated names which could be easily proven to be wrong so as discredit the victims of the crime. The second strategy was to question the wrong people and then say that no witnesses could be found. The Sikhs like most Indians have a set of common names. If the witness is named Jasbir Singh, the CBI would get a statement from the wrong Jasbir Singh and produce it in the court. The third was the good old Congress method: intimidation and physical threat. The acquittal of Sajjan Singh is a blot on the entire judicial system. The case must be reopened and the criminals punished. Due to the fact that several decades have passed and many of the witnesses and the corroborative evidence destroyed, the words of the Witness must be taken as the truth, just as was done in the Eichman Trial. The Criminal procedure and its code is being misued to shield the dynastic fascists from the punishment due to them and this must stop if India is to be regarded as a civilized country with rule of law.

THE FOUR YEAR DEGREE PROGRAM OF DELHI UNIVERSITY: WHY THE FUSS

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books Indian academics need some issue to scream their throats off. A few years back it was the Ayodhya question, then it was the Godhra issue and now the four year degree programme. I am amazed at the tenacity with which they enter the public domain and start screaming about issue over which they have just not applied their limited minds. I cannot say that they oppose innovative schemes just for the sake of sounding the bugle of war. Rather it is an identity issue. To be taken seriously as an "academic' one must reinforce his/her credentials by staking out positions which are then amplified as they move form one opinion maker to another. Soon we have a cacophony of noises and the real issue gets submerged. Unfortunately these opinion makers and academics have very close links with the ruling establishment and any voice of dissent is branded "sfforization". Thus India has intellectuals whose only claim on public indulgence is the capacity to stray from one noisy issue to another without waiting to think of the consequences. The same is true of the 4 year degree programme introduced by the University ofDelhi. These public intellectuals who rail against this new innovation are well aware of the fact that all over the world the undergraduate degree is of 4 years duration. India is not able to make the cut to the Shanghai list o9r the Times list only because there is a serious disconnect between undergraduate and graduate programmes. Even in USA the undergraduate degree is of 4 years length. Indians wanting to go to the USA for their post graduate education are now expected to have an MA degree which is recognized as the equivalent of the 4 year degree course. Delhi University is only falling in line with global norms. The cacophony has already started. This morning's Hindu published from Chennai carried a center page article by a tele intellectual from that bastion of intellectual and social snobbery, JNU, in which the author has stated that the 4 year undergraduate programme is an error both in letter and spirit. She finds fault with the courses termed bridge courses which have been introduced in order to make the students competitive on the job front. It is highly elitist to say that the University should be concerned only with knowledge and not the job market. These privileged academics unlike those of us struggling in less well endowed universities do not have to bother about the first generation learners and their concern for the education of "dalits" is just that, notional and theoretical. The courses suggested and introduced by the University will go a long way in helping the stu dents get jobs in an ever shrinking job market especially after the introduction of the Mandal reservations for the OBCs who are both politically and economically well off. The major criticism seems to be that procedures were not followed. If the Academic Council and the due procedures were to be followed no innovation can ever be introduced as vested interests will organize themselves with such vigour that the Vice Chancellor will look foolish. I think the University of Delhi has done the student community a great favor and the UGC must ensure that the rest of the country follows suit. h

The Boston Marathon Terrorist Attack, the American Law Enforcement and the Media: Lessons for India

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books The President of the US, Barack Obama vowed in the memorial service that justice will be done to the victims of the Boston Attack. And just four days later one of the terrorists is dead and his brother Zzhovar Tsarneav has been arrested. Can we in India ever imagine a terrorist attack being brought to such a speedy and resolute end. I say it is very near impossible because at every step of the way Congressmen like Dig Vijaya Singha and others will advocate politics based on the identity of the perpetrators of the terrorist attack and Indian law enforcement has become the joke of the country and even in those rare cases where the terrorists have been convicted and sentenced to death identity politics is ensuring that the sentence is reduced or "commuted" to life imprisonment. India can learn quite a few lessons in becoming a hard state from the example of the USA. Right from the moment the bombs went off the Boston, Massachusetts and Federal; Law enforcement agencies like the Alcohol, Firearms and Tobacco Bureau (AFT), the Boston city police and the FBI acted in clear concert with each other without making politics over jurisdiction. In India whenever there is a terrorist attack the first casualty is investigation because "Law and Order" is a state subject. Of course when the silly constitution of India was drafted it lifted whole passages from the Government of India Act of 1935 which instituted Dyarchy and at that timne terrorism either as a national or international issue did not plague India or for that matter most of the Asian world. Now the state are unwilling to concede to the CBI because under successive congress regime the Central Bureau of Investigation has become a political tool to harass and intimidate opponents and the most recent being the Coalgate issue which is supposed to be monitored by the Supreme Court of India directly. Yet the CBI allowed the Outlaw Minister Ashwini Kumar to whet the report so that the involvement of the Prime Minster and others can be obfuscated. I call Ashwini Kumar an Outlaw Minister because he is been found guilty of misconduct in a court for bribing the witness and yet he is the Law Minister of the UPA. Just imagine what credibility this fellow has. In USA on the other hand the case was recognized as a potential federal case and all niggling issues over jurisdiction set aside till the man hunt was over. This is the first lesson: Investigation should be done by an Independent body which is not controlled by the executive as most Indian ministers are rapists and criminals. The participation of the public in the investigation was exemplary. The call from the FBI and the police to post video and cell phone footage of the race was rewarded immediately as the 2 brothers were spotted walking with absolute nonchalance toward the spot where they detonated the bombs. No attempt was made to sensationalize the crime. I remember Brakha Dutt and her "heroics" during the Kargil war and more recently during the November 26, 2008 terror attacks on Mumbai. Her coverage of the 26/11 attack provided advanced information to the terrorists holed up in the Taj Hotel who could see on their television screens the landing of the Black Cat Forces thanks to that f@c@ing B@@ch Barkha Dutt. Many policemen lost their lives due to the senseless acts of this Padma Shri of the UPA government. Then came the statement of the m,ad dog of the Congress Party Dig Vijaya Singha that Henant Khrakhae was not killed by the Pakistani terrorists buit by "Saffron" terrorists. This code word is now used in India to deflect attention from Jehadi terrorism. Even the flak jackets used by the India special forces was sub standard because the dynastic fascists took commissions and sub standard flak jackets were supplied. I was amazed at the professional manner in which the police took charge of the crime scene and imposed the lock down of Boston, Waterfront and Cambridge. The American police Identified, Isolated and Killed the prime suspect. If this happens in India the first thing which the tongues of our so called "experts" and Teleintellectuals from JNU will holler is that it is "fake" encounter" and then all kinds of silly conspiracy theories will do the rounds in the electronic media. Dig Vijaya Singha did not even spare the Bhatala House encounter in which a policeman was killed. I think it is time policing became professional in India and freed from line control of the political class. In UP a young honest and perhaps earnest police officer called Zia - ul - Haq qas killed by the criminals associated with Raja Bhaiya aa thug turned politician of the Samajwadi Party. Till now that fellow has not been even questioned let alone arrested. In USA a young officer was killed on the campus of MIT and within hours the terrorist was killed. This is the right way to enforce justice. The people of Boston behaved in an exemplary manner and I salute the Federal State and County police.

The vulgarity of dynastic fascism: Why dynastic politics harms India

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books Ajit Pawar, the nephew of Sharad Pawar has said something so terribly obscene even by the standards of Indian politicians that I am forced to write about it. The drought in Maharashtra is due to wrong water derangement policies and rampant corruption in the Irrigation Department. In fact the department has figured recently in a huge scam andf of course given the fact that a UPA ally is involved nothing came out of the exposure. In fact Indian politicians are not afraid of indulging in high level corruption because they know that they can get away. The Hindu this morning revealed that Rajiv Gandhoi way back in 1975 even before he entered politics was the middle man who negotiated a deal for a feet of aircraft for India. Wikileaks must be complimented once again for this exposure. Then came Bofors and not a single conviction. The same is true of the anti -Sikh Riots of 1984: the Congress hushed up the entire episode under the convenient blanket. Ajit Pawar says that he cannot fill the dam by "urinating " in them. When the people of Maharashtra are facing the most severe crisis caused by the drought his remarks only reveals a dynastic fascist mind set that has only contempt for the people of India. Do you think that the people of India i. e the voters will punish such politicians when they come up for reelection. I do not think so. Indians do not have a powerful public memory and vote on the basis of extremely short term considerations. Had the Indian voter been intelligent and discerning he would not have voted the UPA to power by defeating the BJP led NDA Government. Of course, the first past the winning post electoral system that India is saddled with makes it possible for undesirable elements to gather the plurality of votes. Rahul Gandhi made yet another of his stupid meaningl;ess remarks that has rightly earned him the title Amul Baby. He says that India is a "bee hive". Does this stupid fellow even understand the implications of his remark. In a bee hive you have a parasitical queen bee and an army of drones and workers who gather "honey". The Congress Party is gathering honey for a "queen bee" and the drones i.e the chidambarams, the C P Joshis, the ManMohan Singhs, the Kapil Sibals etc gather honey. How apt this metaphor is. Even a stupid man like Rahul can come up with amazingly accurate analogies. If Indian reward dynastic fascism they are only putting the seal of approval on a culture of violence, corruption, criminality and rape. I hope the Indian voter has more sense in 2014.

SANJAY DUTT AND THE POLICTCS OF MERCY: WHY HE MUST SERVE TIME IN JAIL

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books Rule of Law is a regime in which the law is equally enforced against all, irrespective of status, wealth and pedigree. Unfortunately, this time honoured convention is being undermined by the senseless manner in which politicians like Dig Vijaya Singha and Markendeya Katju are loudly advocating clemency for Sanjay Dutt. This politicization of the judicial process has already led to the delay in carrying out the executions of the Rajiv Gandhi killers and the Sikhs convicted of killing Beant Singh. There is nothing new in this: right from the time of Jawaharlal Nehru, the India judiciary is being undermined by the political class. The Supreme Court of the land has found Sanjay Dutt guilty of illegal purchase and storage of arms. Worse he acquired the weapons from Dawood Ibrahim who was the mastermind behind the 1995 serial blasts in Mumbai. Sanjay Dutt was 33 years old and he cannot claim that he was not aware of his actions. If he is pardoned because of the clamour from both the glitterati and from the political goons, then a very bad precedent will be set. When Laloo Prasad Yadava is convicted for his role in the fodder scam and when Salman Khan faces the punishment for the killing of innocent animals or in the hit and run case these very man will quote the Sanjay Dutt precedent and ask for clemency/ pardon. The political class and the influential will be beyond the reach of law. Even now the political class is shielding its own and with the bad precedent of pardon then they can just walk out of court rooms the moment they are convicted. In fact Karunanidhi the bandicoot from Tamil Nadu used the executive privilege to pardon a DMK criminal who killed Maekala, a very bold dalit councillor in Madurai who used her position to supply piped drinking water to the homes od dalits and freed them from depending on the water tankers run by the associates of DMK politco-criminals. The constitution has to be amended to do away with the "clemency" power granted to the Presidents and Governors. In fact Pratibha Patil pardoned convicts guilty of heinous crimes and earned for herself opprobrium and universal contempt. Sanjay Dutt was aware of the illegality of possessing arms and he was also aware of the fact that the arms were coming from Dawood Ibrahim. It is entirely another matter that most of the Bollywood films are financed by the underworld and perhaps even some of Sanjay Dutt's own films. However, to say that he deserves to be pardoned for this crime is to insult the memory of 257 men, women and children killed in the 1993 blasts. The rights of the victim for justice too needs to be taken into consideration. The fact that Sunil Dutt was a Congress MP and his daughter Priya is a sitting MP is behind the campaign for mercy. Political considerations need not weigh matters of justice and law. In fact every politically connected criminal will now be emboldened by the ugly precedent which will be set. The law must take its course and politicians must not be allowed to deter the course of justice. The call for pardon is mispalaced and it is being drummed up keeping the interests of film financiers, who take money from the underworld and of cource clelebrity criminals like Salman Khan, Tabu, Saif Ali Khan and the like. If this man is given pardon whu not Manu Sharma, Vikas Yadava, the killers of Nirbhaya and the list is endless.

Sri Lanka, the Tamil Issue and the DMK: The theatre of the absurd

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books A wave of student unrest is spreading across Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry. The students and youth are out on the streets protesting against the Sri Lankan Government and its alleged involvement in the civilian casualties during the tail end of the war in May 2009. I have elsewhere pointed out that India did not put pressure on Sri Lanka to minimize civilian casualties, probably keeping the LTTE and its horrendous record of ,mass killing in mind. The fact that is now forgotten is that the LTTE took 250,000 men, women and children hostage during the last days of the war and used this civilian population as a human shield. The DMK was in power in Tamil Nadu at that time and Karunanidhi did nothing except go on a farcical hunger strike that lasted just 15 minutes. His fast was called off within less than fifteen minutes and this itself shows that the old bandicoot is not serious about the Tamil cause. The issue now is the US sponsored resolution about alleged human rights violations by the Sri Lankan army. The DMK wants India to support this US backed resolution before the UNHRC. USA is a country that has destroyed Iraq, supported insurgents in Libya, arranged for the killing of Qadaffi, now arming the Syrian rebels to create lawlessness in Syria and with this track record no one can take US protestations on human rights seriously. However, human rights is a very good instrument by which great powers can intervene in the internal affairs of other copuntries. The US backed resolution is likely to be defeated as there is a great deal of opposition to the inclusion of internal security problems in an internationally binding resolution. India cannot afford to back a UN resolution calling for international inveerstigation in alleges war crimes comitted by Sri Lanka as Indian track recors in Kashmir and Nagaland is perhaps worse than that of the Sri Lankan Army. Therefore the criminal Congress dominated UPA under Man Mohan Sigh did what it does best: it spoke in contradictory voices. Chidambaram was dispatched to placate the old bandicoot and he said that Karunanidhis's concerns will be addressed. All the time the External Affairs Ministry knew that India cannot be party to a UN resolution which will set a precedent for India. Knowing full well that the mind of the UPA was made up,. Karunanidhi walked out of the UPA. His calculation is that by walking out, the sentiments of the people will be turned toward the DMK. This is unlikely as the DMK is perceived to be a corrupt and criminal party and the daughter of the old bandicoot himself is facing criminal charges stemming from her involvement in the 2G spectrum scandal. However, the UN resolution and the declining credibility of the DMK has led to a very serious problem. Sri Lankan citizens are being attacked everwhere. A few days back a Buddhist monk who had gone to the Big Temple, Tanjavur, was beaten up. Tamil pilgrims from the Planatations who were visiting the pilgrimage town of Vellankani were roughed up. Sri Lankan cricket players are being attacked and the office of the Deputy High Commissioner in Chennai is under threat. The UPA under Man Mohan Singh knowing full well that it cannot support the US resolution should have argued its case in a transparent manner which it did not do. The DMK is going to be wiped out in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls along with the Congress. The people of India have decided to give Hon'ble Narendar Modi a chance and so the BJP will win by default. The fact is that the Sri Lankan Army under General Fonseka did kill a large number of civilians incl;uding Balachader, the son of Prbhakaran. The video images are now being selectively being released and Channel IV seems to have an unlimited access to war footage. Of course dark deeds were done. But is the Government of Sri Lanka responsible for them under international Law. In conditions of war collateral damge do take place.