Ever since India retaliated with the surgical strikes in Pakistan, some people have been extremely perturbed. Pakistan first denied any such attack by India, yet we saw their “experts” promising vengeance. Then they claimed that it was a minor LoC skirmish in which 2 Pakistani soldiers died. Finally, in a case which fits the bill for state-sponsored propaganda, Pakistani agencies shuttled journalists to an area along the LoC, to prove that the surgical strikes did not take place.
The comical part was Pakistan took this media contingent to an area of their choice, after a few days had elapsed, and expected the world to believe that this was undeniable “evidence”. The world, of course, did not fall for this as even the European Parliament today backed India’s surgical strikes. The only one who seems to have got influenced was Delhi CM Kejriwal who demanded proof “so that Pakistani propaganda was countered”. He, however, did not fail to share the very propaganda he was trying to counter.
Now, some Pakistani media outlets have begun a new narrative. Some reports claim that India and PM Modi have admitted that the surgical strikes never happened:
ARY NewsA viral news site
These articles have been seen shared by some in India, especially those with leaning towards Congress and AAP, in an attempt to embarrass Modi.
Indians Left Looking Foolish After Modi Admits That No Surgical Strike Took Placehttps://t.co/BS4flxFc7R
So did Modi actually admit to this? Did Indian media completely miss this? All these Pakistani media stories are based on the Prime Minister’s statement at the inaugural ceremony of the Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra. The PM said:
This country has never been hungry for land. We have never attacked any other country. We are a nation that has laid down lives for others. During the two World Wars, more than 1.5 lakh Indians became martyrs. Unfortunately, we have not been very effective in telling this to the world
The second sentence in the above statement has been deviously twisted by Pakistani media. They claim that by saying India has never attacked any other country, Modi has admitted that the surgical strikes did not happen. What they deliberately do not highlight is that the statement was firstly not made in the context of the surgical strike. It was meant to show that India has a history of never being the aggressor country.
Even if one were to take it in context of the surgical strikes, the choice of words needs to be seen carefully. Modi says India has not attacked any “country”. This remains a fact even with respect to the latest surgical strikes. The attack was conducted across the Line of Control i.e. in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, which is very much a part of India. The army did not venture across the international border into Pakistan’s territory.
Secondly, the DGMO himself has clearly mentioned that India attacked “terror launch pads” and in the process, anyone who was defending the terrorists within these pockets. This was never an attack on Pakistan or its army. Hence, the PM’s statement is not at all contradictory.
But how can we expect Pakistan to comprehend English? Pakistani school textbooks replaced “Good morning” with ‘Assalamo Alaikum’ to satisfy radicals. But can we expect some decency and thoughtfulness from our own Indians, be it from the Congress supporter base or AAP supporter base, before sharing highly misleading Pakistani media reports?
The foundation of credible journalism consists of various ethics which I don’t want to discuss here. I am concerned for just one aspect that is asking the right questions to the right persons. Are the tough questions really being asked to expose the hypocrisy of so called liberals or these questions are only reserved for the particular political leanings. Just one example I want to mention –
A few months ago in the mid of JNU row, India Today Conclave invited Kanhaiya as guest with a few other young budding leaders from ABVP and NSUI. As very likely, Kanhaiya was asked to explain the JNU incident. But one particular question which caught my attention was about Afzal Guru. He was categorically asked whether he believed Afazal as terrorist and, if he was indeed, why the programme was organized to celebrate his death anniversary. His answer was on a typical communist line. He replied that Afzal was convicted by the apex court so he did respect the judgment but was against the capital punishment. He further reiterated that he would oppose each and every capital punishment irrespective of the political ideology of the convict. The instinctive counter question came in my mind whether he wanted to celebrate the death anniversary of all the convicts of capital punishment including Nathuram Godse. Why the leftist opposition to the capital punishment had remained limited to only Makbul Bhatt and Afzal Guru? Anyone can imagine how uncomfortable this could prove. But this important question wasn’t asked at all.
We, by not asking some crucial questions, not only give the hypocrites (leftists in particular) an easy escape route but also serve as a catalyst to their political as well as ideological hegemony. This kind of journalistic generosity is more towards those forces which openly challenge the cultural and political unity of our country. The worst example of this partiality is Jammu & Kashmir. No one is willing to question the basic foundation of separatism in the valley.
The very first question must be asked why the separatist sentiments are prevailed only in the valley not in Jammu and Ladakh. The history of the accession is as much same for Jammu and Ladakh as much for the valley but why only the valley is suffering from the separatist syndrome? Is religion not among the major factors? Everyone talks about a political solution of the problem but I am waiting for someone who can tell what precisely the political solution is. What the Pakistani with ISIS flags and the slogans like “KASHMIR BANEGA PAKISTAN” (Kashmir will be made Pakistan) are doing to achieve the political solution?
There are three major voices heard in the valley. First one is of the ultra separatists who insist that Kashmir should be given to Pakistan , second one of the separatists who demand for an Azad Kashmir from both India and Pakistan and the third one of the political class which demands to strengthen Article 370. The voice of ultra separatists are Pakistani so I don’t have any question for them. I want to ask those separatists who demand for freedom what their dream about independent Kashmir is. Do they want to make it an Islamic nation or a secular one? What is the composite nature of their so called freedom struggle , secular or based on Islamic ideals? Where are Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhist in their struggle? Is it a freedom movement or a religious movement? Why there was a need to drive away Pundits from the valley and what purpose did it serve?
The political class which is the most beneficiary of the constitution of India often demand more liberty under Article 370. But will it ever tell us what benefit the article serves for the betterment of the Kashmiri people? Has it helped them to generate more economic and social opportunities? They often talk about political aspirations of the people but why their political aspiration is different from that of those who live in other parts of the country? Why I as a Bihari don’t have the same political aspiration? I also want to ask those Kashmiri leaders who (pretend to) request the Pundits to return their homeland whether they are ready to punish the perpetrators of the ethnic cleansing of 1990.
We know the Muslims of the valley in spite of being in majority opted India as their country ( which, I think, wasn’t the appropriate justification of the accession) but is it the valid reason for their distinct political aspirations. Have they done a great favour to India by opting it as their country? They demand everything, more or less, on the behalf of this factor as if India has a debt to pay. Have Muslims , Dalits , Buddhists and many other sects of Indian society done something wrong by not having the same political aspirations as the people of the valley have?
Kashmir has been facing a massive unrest for last 70 days after the killing of a terrorist. Many intellectuals have raised their eyebrows over the manner in which the forces are handling the violent mob. It is well within their right to raise questions but they also should question the manner as well as the goal of the protest. If it all is not sponsored then what do the protesters want to achieve? And above all can India, the largest democracy in the world, afford to institutionalise stone pelting as a democratic way to protest?
These are some questions which need to be asked before reaching to any conclusion of the Kashmir problem. I am not the expert who know all the right answers but I hope some day I will get the right answers. Only then we will be able to find the root cause of the problem. But the biggest question-
It was just a few days back when Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal had to face the ignominy of being rebuked by Pakistani and Bangladeshi citizens for toeing and anti-India line in respect of the tense relations between India and Pakistan after the Uri attack. Kejriwal had tweeted a farcical article by a little known author, which claimed that rather than Pakistan, India was getting isolated world-wide.
Not only did Kejriwal get severe criticism for this from Indians, a Pakistani journalist and a Bangladeshi activist also rebuked him:
That whatever moment when Delhi, yes, Delhi CM, tweets an Indian article about India’s isolation while India is trying to isolate Pakistan ????
Of course, as all SAARC nations boycotted the SAARC meet to be held in Pakistan and as countries from all over the world censured Pakistan and backed India’s surgical strikes, Kejriwal’s foolish stance was exposed.
As if that embarrassment was not enough, Kejriwal tried another trick, this time trying to be too clever. He put out a tweet saying he fully supports the PM, but his sugar-coated message in the attached video could be seen plainly:
We fully support PM on surgical strikes. Urge him to similarly counter Pak’s dirty propaganda. Do watch this msghttps://t.co/jk1CvYmcan
In the video, Kejriwal referred to Pakistan’s move to ferry media outlets to the LoC in an attempt to prove that no surgical strikes had taken place. Kejriwal, very cunningly tried to portray it as if he wanted Modi to counter Pakistani propaganda, but it was obvious, that Kejriwal had once again strayed into anti-India territory from being anti-Modi. Even the principle national opposition party Congress, along with unbiased experts, have repeatedly said that India does not need to prove anything to the Pakistani side whose credibility is zero. But Kejriwal chose to play a different tune.
Even as AAP’s IT cell was busy trending hashtags which tried to demonstrate that Kejriwal was backing Modi, Kejriwal was busy tweeting videos which were shot under ISI supervision by journalists who were ferried by the Pakistani Government. If indeed Kejriwal wanted Pakistani propaganda to be destroyed, why was he tweeting and sharing exactly such propaganda videos?
Kejriwal tweeting anti-India video
No sooner did Kejriwal adopt the Pakistani stance, albeit using sugar coating, social media users from Pakistan began backing him:
This is the same Kejriwal who had demanded that PM Modi apologise to the nation for calling Pakistani investigators to Pathankot, when India was showing them the evidence of a Pakistani hand in the attack. Pakistan of course later denied any wrong doing inspite of voluminous proof presented by India. This time, Kejriwal is the one saying India should provide proof to the same Pakistan. This clearly shows that Arvind Kejriwal, in his blind hatred for Modi, is ready to take any extreme position even if it is siding with Pakistan, just to try and embarrass Modi.
The Income Tax department recently issued a summons to Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain, asking him to appear before it in connection with its tax evasion probe against certain Kolkata-based firms. The summons came after the IT Dept found a link between some firms being probed for black-money in Kolkata, with some firms in Delhi with which Satyendra Jain was linked.
Satyendra Jain on his part has made the following statements: “As an investor, I had made investment in these companies four year back, but I have nothing to do with these companies since 2013. Everyone knows it. It is a conspiracy “. In another statement, Jain even made a remark that he also held shares in Reliance Industries, hence his links with that company also need to be checked.
Delhi CM Kejriwal also was quick to issue a clean chit, much like the time he backed former AAP Minister Tomar in the fake degree scandal: “I summoned Satinder this morning. Saw all papers. He innocent, being framed. If he ws guilty, we wud have thrown him out. We stand by him”. In Tomar’s case, once guilt was proved, Kejriwal claimed he was shown fake documents by Tomar, hence one wonders about the credibility of such clean chits.
Satyendra Jain never denied links with the companies, nor did he deny owning shares at a point in time. But he painted a picture as if he was just a passing investor, with no say or control in any of the companies. And further he added that he had no connection with the companies since 2013. So are these statements tenable?
Four Delhi-based companies were named in the media, which were allegedly linked to Jain, three of which are: Akinchan Developers Pvt Ltd, Indo MetalImpex Pvt Ltd, and Paryas Infosolutions Pvt Ltd.
Akinchan Developers Pvt Ltd
According to documents filed with the Registrar of Companies (RoC), Jain was the founding promoter-director of the company, owning 25% of the company when it was formed. He himself signed the company formation application, and also signed the first audited Final Accounts of the company. Even the address used to register the company is the exact same address declared by Jain as his residential address in his election affidavit:
Address match
Jain continued to be a Director until July 2013, when he resigned due to “personal reasons”. In Feb 2015, Jain sold off his shares to his wife Poonam Jain, probably after he became a Minister in the Delhi Government. The address of the company was also changed in May 2015. According to the latest documents available on the RoC site, Poonam Jain continues to be a shareholder in ADPL and holds approximately 19% of the shares issued.
So when Satyendra Jain says he was just an “investor” at least in case of ADPL, he is plainly lying, and when he says he has “no connection”, it may be legally true, but the shares which he held, are now held by his wife.
As for ADPL itself, it is in the business of real estate and properties as per the MCA filings. The revenue from operations for the years 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 is Nil. Income from other sources for the year 2014 is INR 3,08,90,001 which drops to INR 98,080 in the year 2015. As per the Balance sheet the Company holds an investment in agricultural land which costs INR 6,64,79,464. On 15th December 2015 1,00,916 shares were allotted for a premium of INR 190 per share to 7 Companies which are situated at Kolkatta or Howrah, one of which was raided by the IT Department.
Paryas Infosolutions Pvt Ltd
Satyendra Jain was first involved in Paryas Infosolutions Pvt Ltd (PIPL) from August 2007 when he was appointed as a Director. The Final accounts dated 31 March 2007 were signed by his wife Poonam. From August 2007 itself, the registered address of PIPL was changed to Jain’s residential address, the same which was used by ADPL. PIPL used this address till August 2015. In 2008, Jain and his wife owned the entire 10000 shares of the company. Both of them later extended loans to PIPL too.
As in the case of ADPL, Jain transferred his shares in PIPL to his wife in February 2015. Owing to shares being issued to other people, Poonam Jain’s net shareholding as on March 2015 was 1.74% in PIPL, yet even the latest Balancesheet was signed by her in her capacity as a Director.
Although the company’s name suggests otherwise, the Directors’ report of March 2015 stated that the main business activity of the company was pursuing investment in immovable properties. PIPL reported NIL turnover for the year ending 2014 and 2015. The only significant part of the balance sheet is that it holds agricultural lands costing INR 4,54,72,229.
Again, Jain cannot claim he was just an “investor” nor can he morally claim that as of now he has no connection with the company since even the latest available Balancesheet has been signed by his wife.
Indo MetalImpex Pvt Ltd
In Indo MetalImpex Pvt Ltd (IMPL) Jain and his wife were issued shares in March 2011. After this issue, they together held 23.53% of the shares of the company. In legal parlance, any share holding above 20% is considered to be of “significant influence”. The Final Accounts of March 2011 were signed by Satyendra Jain himself.
Again in February 2015, Jain transferred his shares to his wife Poonam. With this, at least till March 2015, Poonam was the single largest shareholder having 22.78% of the total shares of the company.
Again although the name suggests the company deals in import-export, the Directors’ report for March 2015 states that the main business of the company is to deal or invest in all kinds of properties. The balance sheet for year 2014 and 2015 shows Nil revenue from operations. IMPL owns agricultural land costing INR 6,90,49,527. The other significant point being it holds shares worth 56,00,000 in PIPL as per Balance sheet for the year 2015
IMPL also has about 31 other shareholders and most of which are based out of Kolkatta. 13 of these shareholders are companies sharing the same address: 85 Netaji Subhashchandra (NS) road. This was the address that was raided by the Income Tax Department in Kolkata.
Shell companies?
All the above companies combined hold 18.33% in IMPL. Are these shell companies formed just to create a web of companies to avoid tracing the real person owning the company?
Again Satyendra Jain cannot claim to be a mere investor nor can he morally claim he has no connection with the company anymore since, his wife is the single largest shareholder, as per the latest data available.
Summary
Going by just the records available to public, one can say this: Satyendra Jain is intimately connected with these companies. All the companies are purely into the business of owning land properties in Delhi. Companies with the address 85 NS road, which were raided by the Income Tax for black-money and hawala transactions, own some portion in the above companies, either directly or indirectly. So if these Delhi-based companies are found to be involved in wrong-doing, it would be very hard for the Jains to avoid responsibility.
“Hi, boss is quite worried. He feels he should do something. You know na those guys are roaming all around the city”.
“Those guys” aren’t robbers, thieves, rioters, or terrorists. “Those guys” are Income Tax sleuths who were undertaking “surgical strikes” via raids at random business houses, during the tenure of the Income Disclosure Scheme, and the conversation is a real conversation which I had with a CFO of a firm.
A mission which lasted for 4 months just ended. The Income Disclosure Scheme of the Income Tax Department officially ended last night with reports saying more than Rs 65000 crores was reported as undisclosed income by various people in India, until 8pm on 30th September, and the amount is expected to increase. This is a very large amount, especially considering the scheme didn’t have a great start. This marks the end of scheme wherein the Income Tax officers used all tactics, saam, daam, dand, bhed.
The Income Disclosure Scheme was a scheme wherein people who had undisclosed income or assets (commonly called as black money) could come clean, pay tax and buy peace with the IT Department. The main benefits of this scheme were:
1. The tax rate was 45% on the amount voluntarily disclosed as opposed to a possible 60% (excluding interest) when the Income Tax Department detects tax evasion and issues penalty
2. Taxpayers were given the opportunity for staggered payment of tax in order to reduce hardships due to cash-crunch
3. It included an assurance of privacy to the people who came forward
4. Most importantly it promised immunity from prosecution and a few other laws, which would have been applicable if the Department had detected evasion on their own
So in a way, this was a welcome scheme for crooked businessmen, where they could buy peace of mind by paying a concessional rate of tax. But such schemes hinge on one crucial factor. When businessmen choose to evade taxes, they are playing the percentages game. They are betting that:
A. The Department will not be able to trace them and catch them
B. If at all they’re caught, they will get away cheaply either by hiring a hotshot tax professional or by bribing or a combination of both
Most crooked businessmen never even get detected or caught by the Tax Department. So the lure of an amnesty scheme would be low. Why give up my black money when the chances of getting caught and penalised are minuscule? Hence initially the scheme saw a lukewarm response. But then, some “surgical strikes” were required. The Tax Department played multiple cards to lure people to comply with the scheme:
1. They started off with a massive education cum awareness drive, with each officer being given a target of conducting at least a fixed number of meetings with tax professionals as well as businessmen, educating them about the scheme.
2. Businessmen were informally called to IT Department offices where the officers would flash the evidence they already had. The message was clear: We know everything about you, once the window closes, we will come for you. Better you get in line now and file under the IDS scheme. In some cases this might have even been bluffs, but it was a tactic.
3. Finally, as the deadline loomed, we heard news of raids being conducted, not only on the usual mid and large size suspects but even on roadside food stalls etc whose income would almost entirely be unaccounted. There were some concerns among the public that such small eateries were targeted, but reports say such people have declared over Rs 50 crores as black money, within Mumbai itself! Such raids have a ripple effect: You raid 1 guy and 10 other guys are woken from their slumber.
And all these efforts bore fruits, the kitty surged as the deadline neared. Some of the effect may not be captured in the IDS figures since many businessmen have chosen not to go for IDS, but just clean up their books, showing a truer picture rather than going with the same fudging which was going on for decades.
The key here is fear. For the first time in recent memory, the business community was actually scared that the Tax Department will screw them post the closure of the IDS scheme. How did this happen? It is obviously the impact of a clean no-nonsense leader, who is backing his tax sleuths to the hilt, who in turn know that they are being watched, because of which usual under the table settings wont work. The tax officers were also given targets, and would be held responsible for not meeting them, so any out-of-office “settlement” would mean trouble for the tax officers. Mind you, this is not a permanent shift in behaviour of businessmen and tax officials, but at least its a start.
With the IDS scheme and the way collections were augmented, by using fear as a tool, the Modi government has made its stand on black money crystal clear. At the same time, it is a huge political gambit from Modi. The business community is a traditional vote base and funding source for the BJP, which is seen to be a pro-business party. Already one can see some disgruntled voices in the medium-sized business lobby, the group which is not big enough to be fully clean, and not small enough to be immaterial, basically the prime target of the Tax Department.
And the amusing part is, all these complaints and grumblings came up during an amnesty scheme! Here a Government is giving crooks an opportunity to renounce their sins, pay up, and move on without getting penalised heavily, and on the other hand, a section of the crooked businessmen is crying foul. What they do not realise is that the real game will start now. Now that the window is closed, it is time for the IT Department to act on all the information they claimed to have. This was precisely the fear driven into the minds of the crooks, and now it is time follow-up on it.
Will the department do it? Does it really have all the information needed to go after the corrupt? They probably do have the information, since in today’s highly networked world, data flows seamlessly from sector to sector and the Tax Department has also sharpened its data mining tools. The only question remains will the Tax Department act? If they do act, will the cases be settled by “amicable settlements” or will we see a new uncompromising side to the IT department?
The worst part of the upcoming storm would be the collateral damage. In trying to nail the crooks, one can easily expect a few honest businessmen being harassed. This will give rise to “Tax terrorism” and may affect the ease of doing business in India, another pet project of PM Modi. It may very well become “Na khaaoonga, Na khaane doonga” vs “Ease of Doing Business”. This is where “surgical strikes” are needed, where the crooks are identified, isolated and brought to book without unduly harassing the honest taxpayer. One thing is for certain, if the Department decides to act on the massive information it claims to have, then business folk would have to endure a long and chilly winter. And if GST is on track for a release on 1st April, then the summer will also be painful for the tax evaders.
At the moment, we must just trust our army to do what is needed, “at a time and place of their choosing.”
It was written in the backdrop of the reported counter attack which had taken place, but which was denied by the Indian army. Given the fact that no one could ever say whether it was a covert strike or it never happened, it was wise for all to just wait. Wait for the army to give it back. And now that time has come.
After more than two years in office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has finally given shape to what the now National Security Advisor (Ajit Doval), had once famously described as the “Offensive defence” tactic of dealing with the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The surgical strike in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) should be celebrated, for it displays India’s righteous resolve to inflict measured punishment, on those who seek to bleed India with terrorism. At the same time, attempt should be made, to place this strike, within the ambit of a wider foreign policy doctrine, which India has clearly adopted, in the last couple of months- one that has “Offensive Defence” written all over it.
The Diplomatic Offense
Ever since the Uri army base was attacked, Prime Minister Modi has stayed away from knee-jerk reactions, and mindless chest-thumping. He has stayed in the background, and allowed the experts to do their job. A level-headed Sushma Swaraj was sent to expedite Pakistan’s “diplomatic isolation” – at the annual session of the United Nations General Assembly. As it turned out, the duo of a junior diplomat Eenam Gambhir, and India’s External Affairs Minister was enough to give voice to reason- something that was totally missing in the speech of the Prime Minister of Pakistan.
Any other government, and this would have been it. But little did Pakistan know that India had given up “strategic restraint”, in favour of “strategic retaliation”, and indeed “strategic isolation”. Top diplomats orchestrated the SAARC pull-out, by countries that matter, in the region. What is important to note is that the letters given by the likes of Bangladesh, and Afghanistan hold Pakistan just as guilty of spreading terrorism in their own countries. Therefore, what was “visible” was not arm-twisting by India, but the message that South Asia’s regional body- as a whole, had no place for Pakistan, given its establishment’s love affair with terrorism.
As far as the issues of Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status, and Indus Water Treaty (IWT) are concerned, the Prime Minister continues to be briefed by experts from the concerned Ministries. Chances are that the MFN status will be revoked. Business lobbies have also welcomed the prospect of such a revocation. So far as the IWT is concerned, India has announced its intent to scale up construction of dams, and move towards ending the unilateral concession, which it had granted to Pakistan. In doing so, India will not violate international law, for it will only be claiming its rightful share, as per the Treaty. Other options relating to a review of the Treaty itself, are also being considered.
Another major objective of our “diplomatic offense” has been responding to interference in Kashmir, by giving voice to the freedom struggle of Balochistan. In doing so, India has made it clear that the great game is not limited to Kashmir anymore. Open endorsement to the freedom struggles of Balochistan, Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan was not made in passing. It is a discourse that India has held on to. Perhaps the first major step will be granting of asylum to Brahamdagh Bugti, whose application has been sent to Intelligence Bureau by the Home Minister, for vetting purposes. The final call will be taken by the Union Cabinet, soon enough.
The Military Offense
This is obviously not the first time that the Line of Control (LOC) has been crossed, but this is surely the only time (in recent memory) when the crossing has produced tangible results. This highlights the conviction that Prime Minister Modi has displayed. Gen (Retd) Bikram Singh, the former Chief of Army Staff, had the following words to say, in a TV interview:
“These kinds of operations have been done in the past. I’ll be honest with you .But, the scale at which it has happened, the political will after which it has unfolded is something to be appreciated. Earlier, it was left to the military to carry out. But this time the military operations have been supported entirely. I would say, they’ve been steered by political will, by political agenda.”[1]
The Indian Army, after Uri, clearly said that they reserve the right to retaliate at a time, and place of their choosing. The Prime Minister gave them the operational freedom, and the go-ahead to execute it as per their wish. Even so, the strike was a limited one, and conducted in a disciplined manner. The strike was on terrorists, and not on the military. The objective was not to take back the territory, but to send the message that such open attempts at infiltration will not be tolerated. What were the terrorists doing 3 kilometres away from the LOC, if not waiting for the opportune moment to infiltrate, quite possibly with the aid of cover firing from Pakistan Army? Such terrorist launch pads deserve to be targeted. Justice has been served, to the martyrs of Uri attack.
At the government level, immediate evacuation of border villages was ordered. This was done, quite predictably, to ensure that no civilian casualties are incurred, should Pakistan provoke India again, to save its face.
“Offensive Defence”
All this has been done, after engaging in more than two years of regular diplomacy. Attack after attack, PM Modi continued to engage. He paid a visit to Pakistan, and even laid a red carpet for a visit by their intelligence officers. All such efforts were subject to widespread condemnation by his own vote-bank, and yet he pursued them. This has helped, for the world can now see through the designs of the rogue state, which Pakistan is. India has converted its diplomatic setback into an advantage- one that it will now use to further justify its “offensive defence” doctrine.
The response of the international community illustrates that the world respects India’s choice of retaliation. In the statement by the United States (US), there was no condemnation, or censure of India’s strike. That NSA Doval was in touch with his American counterpart- Susan Rice, is further proof of the growing realisation that India has had it enough. Reports further specify that China, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia have so far refused to issue statements de-legitimising India’s strike.[2] The fact that Pakistan is still giving contradictory statements regarding the surgical strike is causing further damage to whatever is left of its credibility. Till the time it doesn’t confirm, its so-called allies will have nothing to support it for. And if it does decide to confirm, it will end up implicating itself as a terrorist state.
The “boys” in Uniform have played well. And so has the man himself. Well done, Mr. Prime Minister.
It wasn’t very long ago that media (or press, as it was better known as) enjoyed near universal public trust and respect as the fourth pillar of democracy (the legislature, executive and judiciary being the first three). This because of its onerous role of keeping the other three pillars honest. It was rightfully considered as people’s watchdog, representing their voice against corruption, injustice, malpractices and all other forms of exploitation that the people were otherwise hapless to raise.
Not that there wasn’t cynicism against this even back then. Worries of big newspapers being in bed with politicians and bureaucrats have always existed. The classic Kundan Shah movie ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron’ was a tongue in cheek satire on this very relationship. The slapstick sequences including the hilarious Mahabharata scene apart, the movie portrayed mutual back scratching relationship between a newspaper editor and corrupt officials working towards the interests of some builders. Notwithstanding the huge success of the movie, the media continued to enjoy its high pedestal.
Possibly the reason was that before the era of social media, they had a monopoly on dissemination of information. So, as a common citizen if I wanted to express my disagreement with their point of view, the best option I had was to write a letter to the editor of a leading daily, and hope like hell that it would be published. Even in the off chance that such a letter, criticizing the very people deciding whether to publish it or not, was published, I had no way of knowing how others reacted to it. Of finding out how many people out there shared my opinion, connecting with such like-minded people and joining my voice to theirs to make a chorus loud enough for it to be heard over the raucous decibel levels of the mainstream media.
With the advent of social media on ubiquitous smart phones and other devices, powered by ever rising internet penetration, all this has changed. The stranglehold that newspapers and TV channels had long maintained on information has broken. And how. Today, a single tweet of some of the big influencers on twitter (many of whom are ordinary citizens) often has more views / impressions that the viewership of large TV channels. And this visibility is available at the low cost of a smartphone and internet connection.
This has resulted in a situation where the word of a media doyen is no longer above scrutiny, questioning and rebuttal. Somewhere along the way, scandals like the Nira Radia tapes affair and the Essar phone tapping scandal exposed the cosy, incestuous relations that the journalist – politician – corporate triad shared. Where favours, inside information and favourable reporting is fully convertible currency. This caused a major dent in the people’s confidence and belief in the word of all journalists. With information tools now available, it was much easier for Mr Average Singh to start questioning the duplicity of some journalists, who were seen as partisan, building their stories around a particular narrative they wanted to push to the public. Such as the narrative of 2002 Gujarat riots, Narendra Modi’s complicity in the same and the whole fear psychosis around the hell that would break loose if he became the Prime Minister.
And then their worst fears came true. Not only did Narendra Modi become the Prime Minister, he also got a majority in parliament on his own. The cabal that had so doggedly fought to keep this from happening slowly came to realize why this was even worse than they had feared. Because suddenly the gravy train came to a grinding halt. Government patronage in the form of junkets abroad and exclusive access to corridors of powers, allowing wheeling and dealing journalists to play power brokers, suddenly dried up.
The resulting backlash was in form of a concerted malicious media campaign to show the government in a bad light in any which way. So a stone thrown by a drunk miscreant became a communal attack on a religious institution. Stray, stupid utterances by unknown nobodies became indicators of the government and ruling party’s evil designs. The narrative of rising ‘Intolerance’ in the country was actively promoted. Deprivation made some so depraved that they were even willing to go along with the narrative of Pakistan against that of their own country, possibly forgetting the difference between opposing the government and opposing the nation. Some of them continued in the mistaken belief that their role was not reporting information but ‘shaping public opinion’.
The backlash to the backlash was on social media, particularly on Twitter. The same people who had reposed their faith in the leadership of the prime minister questioned started posing counter questions to the journalists, tearing holes into the narrative they sought to build. These journalists reacted by dismissing those questioning them variously as ‘Sanghis’, ‘Internet Hindus’, ‘Bhakts’ and ‘trolls’. Instead of engaging in a dialogue and justifying their argument, they even threatened those who questioned them and their narrative. Possibly because the narrative itself was indefensible, being built on half-truths, conjectures and heresy. The tone, tenor, and even the language used by some of these so called journalists would give even the most abusive of trolls a run for their money.
There has even been an underhand attempt to try and stifle the freedom of expression on social media, ironically by the very people who are supposed to be the guardians of free speech.
The outcome of all this is that today, media has fallen below politicians, bureaucrats, police and judiciary as a profession in the eyes of the people. The following two polls are an illustration of this.
Mainstream media is already facing a crisis of survival because of the shift in the way people consume news and information, relying more and more on crowd-sourcing online rather than conventional sources. While most media players are adapting to this change in form, they also need to take into account the threat to the credibility of the profession as a whole primarily because of the actions of a few desperate individuals who’re unable to stomach their own fall from the pedestal they had placed themselves on. Though unfair, it’s common for the whole herd being labelled because of a few black sheep. It’s time for the rest of the herd – those who continue to do their job honestly and in an unbiased manner – to disown the black sheep and cast them aside.
The silent Maratha protests in Maharashtra demanding reservation and repeal of Scheduled Caste Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (SC/ST Act) is unprecedented because it has brought together the Maratha groups that were till now widely regarded as too heterogeneous & diverse to forge any unity of purpose. The underlying motive is not the repeal of SC/ST Act; the alleged incident of rape and then subsequent burning of the girl belonging to the Maratha community by some Dalit boys was just the trigger needed for ignition.
Politics, the cooperative societies and the sugar industry have been largely dominated by the community in the state and Dalit politics is hardly in a stage to offer strong challenge to it. When we talk of the SC/ST Act, it is worth keeping in mind that out of 45000 such cases in the previous year, the conviction rate was less than 10 percent. So, to say, SC/ST Act is being misused to a large extent, is simply exaggerated.
The root cause of the Maratha discontentment is no access to reservation in public jobs & educational institutions. Disconnect with higher education & global process and agrarian distress have led to worsening of their socio-economic clout. The fact that the Maratha protests have kept distance from OBCs and dalits makes it pretty clear that they nurse some grudge towards the groups that are beneficiaries of reservation.
Let’s get out of Maharashtra and notice such mass uprisings & reservation demands in states like Haryana, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan recently. The Patels, Jats, Gujjars and Kapus have been relatively affluent and dominant communities in agricultural hinterlands; they have enjoyed political power. All of a sudden, why they want reservation? Like the Marathas, they lack connect with global forces & higher education. Agriculture has deteriorated leaving public employment as the only viable option for the youths. When they see erstwhile marginalized groups doing better than them economically, their frustration multiplies.
The implementation of Mandal Commission report has legitimised the claims of dominant agricultural communities to reservation. It has widened the claims since reservation is now no longer confined to specific communities that had suffered historical atrocities. Reservation has become less about deprivation and more about political resource. All the communities think they can get reservation benefits if they have electoral numbers and strong community leaders. Since there is a ceiling of 50 percent imposed by the apex judiciary, the state governments can’t provide benefits to the demanding communities without curtailing the benefits of reserved communities.
This offers a Hobson choice for them. They are caught between the devil and the deep sea. The nation stands on the cusp of caste wars and it is high time, reservation policy is reviewed taking into account the changing socio-economic ground realities. Jats, Kapus, Marathas and Patels are feeling the pinch because there is a wide intra community socio-economic gap also.
The same applies to OBCs and Dalits. Only a small percentage has benefitted from reservation and the majority is still deprived. The reservation benefits have not evenly dispersed and have created layers within the OBCs/Dalits. Reservation boundary should have been process enabling groups to move within and move out based on socio-economic indicators but has any government thought about it? The status quo continues. No one wants to bell the cat.
Often one gets the lame excuse for inaction that reservation benefits can only be provided to those classes who are socially and educationally backward and economic criteria is simply unconstitutional. But then, how class became caste? Reasons for backwardness may not be caste alone but others also. The backwardness may stem from lack of education, lack of economic opportunities, lack of awareness and gender discrimination. Handicapped persons, transgender and displaced rootless people may owe their backwardness to factors other than caste. OBC reservation has a creamy layer which does not fall within the ambit of reservation; this layer is based on income which is an economic criteria.
Moreover, Mandal Commission while preparing the OBC list took 11 criteria into account – 4 were social, 4 were economic and 3 were educational. Economic yardsticks were always there and it would be naive to resist their introduction. Rather land possession should also be factored in economic yardsticks to strengthen the cause. Economic liberty is the very foundation of human emancipation and empowerment. If you want to empower a community, increase its economic choices & independence, education & health will see improvement and so will be the social standing.
Will the nation move away from the caste centric orientation of reservation and adopt the economic criteria and deprivation index? I doubt this will happen anytime soon. The judiciary, the civil society and sections of media may be nudging the political class to reservation review but our leaders seem too reticent and apprehensive of bringing the reservation genie out from the corked bottle. Don’t forget most of them are community leaders and adherents to vote bank politics. Social justice is akin to community justice. But then, portends are ominous.
More than ending backwardness and deprivation, the OBC reservation has acted as a political resource for the OBCs and the intermediate castes are annoyed, feeling cheated. The poor sections of the upper castes are also feeling victimized. Reservation benefits to upper OBCs whose socio-economic conditions are at par or even better than upper castes/intermediate castes in several states have led to intense heart burning. The unwillingness of the better off among reserved classes to abdicate reservation benefits in favour of their own less fortunate brethren, leave alone other social groups, has further muddied the waters.
In the coming days, there may be some sort of realignment of social forces as the upper castes & intermediate castes may come together for their cause. The options before the policy makers have constricted. With 50 percent of the population below 25 years and dwindling employment avenues, disconnect of the majority from globalization & education required for private sector entry and revival of identity politics based on caste & culture, the reservation politics may lead to more fractures in an already fragile social structure.
This will be hard to believe today, but there was a time when Narendra Modi was a near-nobody in national politics. Way back in those times, a ‘Chintan Baithak‘ was organised in Shimla, post-2009 loss. It ended with the announcement that L.K. Advani will make way for the next generation. Sushma Swaraj, and Arun Jaitley were chosen as the new Leaders of Opposition. Both of them lacked the mass base that Modi can today boast about, but once ‘chosen’, they tirelessly gave voice to the anti-Congress , anti-Left perspective that was so badly needed in the country.
I strongly believe that the Anna movement was an important page in the history of BJP. The movement was a wake-up call. It made the party realise the importance of transforming itself from a ‘cadre-based’ to ‘mass-based’ party, and from an ‘ideology-driven’ party, to an ‘individual-driven’ party. The failure of traditional Left in India can be attributed to the failure in having successfully transformed, along the same lines. From introducing ‘membership by missed call’, to the search for a truly mass leader, a lot changed. Anna movement’s biggest success was making the masses realise the importance of leveraging their collective strength. It made politics ‘interesting’ again. It introduced a new generation to politics- a generation that BJP was eager to tap into its own party.
Modi’s sudden elevation in BJP was nothing short of magical. It was a carefully orchestrated ‘mission’. Nitin Gadkari got discredited due to leaked files (charges which turned out to be false later). Soon after becoming the President (almost overnight, following Gadkari’s fall), Rajnath Singh appointed Modi as the PM candidate, and Amit Shah as the incharge of UP. For the elections, Arun Jaitley was given his favourite seat, so was Rajnath himself. How they orchestrated this ‘mission’, will be a subject of history writing in the years, and decades to come. But the fact remains that while all of this was happening, there was someone who ‘allowed’ Modi to rise. She may not have had the mass base to win as big as him, but she had enough political positioning, to deny him one, by involving him in a prolonged internal feud of succession. She could have revolted, but she instead placated the ones who were revolting for her. She was the first one to rush to Advani ‘s residence, when he shook the nation by momentarily resigning from the party he not only founded, but built- brick by brick, and made it the national force that it eventually turned out to be. Mrs. Swaraj went to Goa, where Modi’s name was announced as the campaign committee chief. She gave him her stamp of approval, soon enough.
Sushma Swaraj was no Modi fangirl, something that looks like a criteria, to rise in this “new” BJP. But she understood the jolt that the party, and the country would have faced, had she acted as irresponsibly as the likes of Advani. So, the de-facto, ‘chosen’ PM-in waiting (who until a decade back was the prime challenger to the Gandhis) stepped aside, and made way for Modi. This was probably because she understood that while she may be the ‘chosen’ one, Modi was the one the cadres, wanted to ‘elect’.
During General Elections, reports came that she was fighting a lone battle for her own seat. Only insiders can tell if this was true, but what no one can deny is that she was not a part of the ‘core’ team. Arun Jaitley turned out to be everything that the fictional Frank Underwood initially wanted to be (that is, be the one who sends his man to the White House, and act as his Deputy). Rajnath Singh made himself available to Modi, when he needed someone like him the most, and this gave a fresh life to his dying political career. As for Mrs. Sushma, she quietly campaigned, and earned herself the External Affairs portfolio. As External Affairs Minister, she has been eclipsed by Modi completely- to the extent that he decides the high-profile officials of her Ministry. Yet, there has been no visible sign of resentment. I do not suggest that Modi has wronged her; for this was unavoidable. As PM, his stature is higher, and deserves a central position in India’s diplomacy. Even so, given the egos involved, I cannot imagine Modi giving this kind of leeway to his internal competitors (of the same age).
Today, BJP has changed. “Modi Mantra”, and “Modi for India” booklets can be seen in the hands of all National Executive members. Two men from a single state (Gujarat), have, in a short period of 3-4 years, established their rule over the now-country’s largest political party.
It was a proud moment, to see her become India’s voice, at the UN General Assembly. The whole country was looking forward to the speech, and she did a fine job with it. She gave it hard to Nawaz Sharif, and in a language that he can very well understand. Had Atal Bihari Vajpayee been healthy today, he would have surely seen a bit of himself in her, for he too gave some of these fiery Hindi speeches, at the United Nations.
Many will argue that the Bharatiya Janata Party has evolved, and transformed for good. Maybe it has. But even so, the journey is one memorable story- one that deserves to be told, again and again. For lovers of Indian politics like me, the “old” BJP’s transformation will remain one of the most fascinating subjects of study. And so, this is to the woman, who is the last of the crop of leaders, who really believed in “Nation first, Party second, Individual last”.
Well done, Ms. Swaraj. The country stands behind you. As for BJP, only Lord Ram can predict what lies ahead, once Modi retires. That will be yet another important page in BJP’s history.
Last week, the Union cabinet cleared the long-awaited purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets from Dassault Aviation. With this Rs 58000 crore deal, the nearly two-decade-long Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) saga finally comes to an end. All 36 planes will be delivered to India in a span of 66 months.
The deal was inked after negotiations that lasted close to 18 months, with the Indian side finally bringing down the price by approximately Rs 2460 crores, according to Defence Ministry sources. Even after this, we saw some memes on social media claiming that this was a very bad deal financially:
A sample of the memes floating around
Even defence “experts” like Saikat Datta and Ajai Shukla raised their doubts. Saikat writes (emphasis added):
Some have claimed that the Indian government managed to bring the price down significantly to about Rs 58,000 crore. But different figures have been provided by the defence minister. The original price for 126 aircraft was pegged at Rs 90,000 crore, he said in an interview to Doordarshan on April 13, 2015. He revised this figure to Rs 1.3 lakh crore in a subsequent interview to PTI. How this figure was escalated by the defence minister has not been explained. However, if the earlier figure of Rs 90,000 crore is correct then the 36 aircraft are nearly double the cost of the original deal to buy 126 of them.
Ajai Shukla wrote in his first blog, parroted an identical argument, as if both he and Saikat were fed by the same source (emphasis added):
Speaking to Doordarshan on April 13, 2015, Parrikar had revealed Rafale’s bid for 126 fighters, stating: “When you talk of 126 [Rafale] aircraft, it becomes a purchase of about Rs 90,000 crore”, i.e. Rs 715 crore per fighter after adding all costs. Now Parrikar would be buying 36 Rafale fighters for Euro 7.8 billion (Rs 58,000 crore), which is over Rs 1,600 crore per aircraft — more than double the earlier price
So is the latest Rafale deal really a bad one? Not really, considering that the UPA’s Rafale Deal and the latest deal are incomparable as far as the details are concerned, hence comparing the costs of the two without factoring in the differences is basically intellectual dishonesty.
The original deal for the Rafale was indeed pegged at around Rs 90,000 crore during the UPA era sometime in 2012. But from there till now when the deal was actually finalised, many terms and conditions have changed. India has managed to squeeze in many add-ons into the new deal.
1. Dassault has agreed to make India-specific modifications to the planes, allowing the integration of Israeli helmet-mounted displays. The aircraft will be customised in line with the requirements of the IAF which include radar warning receiver, Doppler beam radar, infrared search and track among others.
2. The deal includes the supply of Meteor, an air to air missile, and Storm Shadow (also known as SCALP), an air-launched cruise missile with a range of over 560 km, with the Rafales. These additions mean the IAF can hit targets inside both Pakistan and Tibet while still staying within India’s own territorial boundary.
3. The deal is said to include a provision for a complete transfer of technology, including for the Thales RBE2-AA radar and software source code, spare parts and maintenance. The French have agreed to supply spares for a period of seven years at initial cost.
4. In addition, the French are also guaranteeing performance-based logistics support, which means that 75 per cent of the fleet will have to be airworthy at any given time. Till three years ago, only about 48 per cent of the Sukhoi fleet was able to fly at any given time, because of poor maintenance.
5. The deal provides for free training of 9 IAF personnel, including three pilots. The IAF will also get a guarantee for an additional 60 hours for the trainer version of Rafale fighters, and a concession to keep the weapons storage in France for an additional six months without any charge (in case the Indian infrastructure is not ready for storing the weapons).
6. The deal comes with a 50% offset clause which means that Indian companies, big and small, will get businesses worth over €3 billion. One main point of the offset was that 74% of it has to be imported from India. This means a lot of business and job opportunities in India, people familiar with the matter said.
7. The deal price was calculated on actual cost (price as on today) plus European inflation indices. In order to further reduce costs, the MoD has capped the European Inflation Indices to maximum 3.5 per cent a year. Thus, if inflation indices go down, India will have to pay less. Even if it goes up India will not pay more than 3.5 per cent increase. By negotiating the inflation at actual indices, but limited to 3.5 per cent, in comparison to 4 per cent or more in earlier deals, we are said to save Rs 4,000-14,000 crore over the deal
8. In the original proposal, the first batch of 18 planes were to be manufactured in France, and the next 108 were to be manufactured in India. Later, as negotiations began, it was discovered that the cost would go up substantially (in fact to the tune of Rs 150 crore per plane) since the cost of labour man hours in India were 2.7 times higher than in France. In contrast, the new Rafale deal is for purchase of 36 aircraft in ready to fly condition meaning the planes would be made in France, eliminating the above price escalation.
Thus, in the original UPA Rafale deal, as the graphic above shows, the price for a Rafale jet itself, just the aircraft, as fixed in 2012 odd was approximately Rs 629 crores per aircraft. This is excluding the estimated price increase of approximately Rs 150 crores per aircraft due to difference in labour rates, as explained
In the latest Rafale Deal which has been finalised, the “plain vanilla price” (of just the aircraft, excluding above add-ons) is about Rs 712 crores per aircraft as per the Economic Times and about Rs 687 crores as per PTI.
Ajai Shukla, in his first blog, claimed that the new price was “over Rs 1,600 crore per aircraft”. In the same blog, he then deducted some amount for all the add-ons and arrived at “price of each at over Rs 1,000 crore” per aircraft, Finally, in his second blog he conceded that the bare-bones price of each aircraft would be around Rs 686 crores per aircraft:
Rapid cost de-escalation?
So this defence “expert” Ajai Shukla has pegged 3 different prices per aircraft over the span of 2 blogs over 2 days. What caused this change of facts? In the second blog he claimed to have talked to MoD Officials. So are we to conclude, the assertions in the first blog were largely ill-informed “facts” which were not verified?
Saikat Datta too had made similar claims: “the 36 aircraft are nearly double the cost of the original deal to buy 126 of them”. While Ajai Shukla at least mentioned some of the add-ons which were obtained, which explained the change in cost, Saikat Datta was completely silent on all these aspects, even though they were in public domain. Being a journalist on the defence beat, one would expect him to surely know about these. In fact other journalists had a faint idea about the add-ons even back in May 2015. Certainly strange that Saikat Datta completely failed to mention them and in fact even claimed “How this figure was escalated by the defence minister has not been explained”.
Irrespective of above ramblings by “experts” the point is this: The price of just the aircraft, has risen from about Rs 629 crores in 2012 to about Rs 685 crores in 2016 which is a paltry CAGR of 2.16%, and can be easily attributed to inflation and currency fluctuation. Only a fool would expect the price to be constant over 4 years.
In totality, the Rafale deal seems to be a good proposition. Of course just 36 aircraft will not suffice and India will soon have to start negotiations for further procurement, but this indeed is a good deal to close. In the mean-time, it is advisable to take unverified opinions with a truckload of salt, especially after revelations of the existence of “Agusta Patrakars”, journalists who were on the payroll of defence companies during the Agusta-Westland scam.
