Do new-age Terrorist organizations behave as nation-states?

This becomes a very pertinent question in today’s world where boundaries and traditional concepts of nation and states are taking a beating in the face of newer, ever-evolving challenges – the common example being ‘terrorism’, that is threatening the very core of peaceful human existence globally.

Nitin Pai in his video “Rise of the Netions” [below] mentions positive aspects of the political interactions that were hitherto unimaginable are now becoming more relevant given today’s scenario; he highlighted the example of Facebook and other imagined communities, that are not sovereign, but has a considerable presence and clout to sway public opinion and cause impact at different parts of the world.

In the same vein, would like to draw attention to the menace of terrorism – that is often touted to have no religion – true; but are now behaving more as organizations, capable of taking on nation-states head on. Let us take 3 such examples – ISIS, LTTE and FARC, that covers the broad spectrum of extremism.

According to Anderson, in order to give rise to a nation, the underlying basis, i.e., nationalism should be an imagined community, that should be also limited and sovereign. Does ISIS, LTTE and FARC fit the bill? Let’s evaluate.

ISIS is fundamentally based on religious extremism that plans to build an Islamic Caliphate on most stringent sharia laws, now defunct LTTE was borne out of discontent against Sinhalese majority oppression and FARC of Columbia is based on Communist ideology that believes that the government is the oppressor. Now, we can definitely agree that these organizations are/was imagined – as not all members will not know each other and has their own version of ideals in their mind in tune with the organization they affiliate with. They are obviously limited as only those who believe in the ideals of these organizations align themselves. They fall in the traditional definition of community as only those people affiliate themselves who’s the ideals match with those of the organizations and they have a sense of bonding and comradeship that makes them willingly die and many cases kill primarily for their ideals.

Also, in reference to Anderson’s 'Print Capitalism', it needs to be added here that information dissemination through print, television and digital media, plays/played a very critical role to build the support base and mobilise sympathy from followers/believers of the ideals and has/had acted as a key catalyst in their spread and reach.

But when it comes to Sovereignty, one can argue that none of these are/was sovereign in nature. True. But, in all the 3 cases, sizable area of land is/was under their direct supervision and control – where the elected government had no say and the law of the land are/was decided by these organizations rather than the elected government. But who decides sovereignty? According to me, it depends on perception and which side of the line one is standing. In the eyes of the world, these may not be sovereign organizations and does not represent the will of the majority people; but again none of these organizations would have flourished without the basic common denominator – Human Resource; which means there is a sizable chunk of population that still considers themselves as part of a larger goal of these organizations – wherein sovereignty may exist in their mind as imagined! And why not?

So, in a way, it can be argued that all these 3 organizations are imagined communities – but do they theoretically fulfill the requirement of a nation and a state to be ascribed as nation-state?

In order to be considered as a state, it needs to be under a specific political community, having a political institution, that acts as a vehicle or agent to carry out day to day functioning. In all the 3 examples mentioned, they are political communities and had large tracts of land under their command, a sizable armed forces, a functioning judiciary which can be a kangaroo court following their own diktats, financial arm to generate and finance their ideologies which can be donations, kidnapping, selling drugs, etc., media & public relations wing that maintain and promote their viewpoints to the world, acting as their mouthpiece, setting up a brand image and so on and so forth. In short, they have/had set up parallel governments.

From this perspective, it can be argued that these terrorist organizations are definitely imagined communities and behave as nation-states. It is a different discussion altogether whether there is any folly in engaging with these organizations considering them just as an offshoot representation of an ideology or needs to be tackled in the manner nation-states are usually dealt with.

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#IndiaStrikesBack - Part 2 | Implications

India’s retaliation in the form of surgical strike is a watershed moment in India’s foreign policy with Pakistan. This has multiple far-reaching implications and long term ramifications not only on our foreign policy, but also as a growing economic power. Let’s, delve into each one of these aspects and dissect the same.

1. Indian retaliation will now become the benchmark in future dealings

A clear shift in policy with respect to India’s approach in dealing with the menace of terrorism emanating from Pakistan’s so-called non-state actors - The Policy of Offensive Defense.

Despite conducting surgical strikes across terror camps of Naga militants in Myanmar last year, India till date did not consider surgical strikes as a viable option against Pakistan based terror groups, expecting rising escalation. This encouraged Pakistan to continue with such attacks with impunity without the fear of being retaliated. So called India’s “Strategic Restraint” which was basically to do nothing and wait, had boosted their morale to bleed India with their “thousand cuts” policy. The Indian retaliation will now become the benchmark in future dealings. If India doesn’t continue to retaliate in similar fashion against future terrorist adventurism, we will fall weak in the eyes of the terror-bosses and hence need to maintain the onslaught of hitting terror infrastructure hard every time India is attacked – to reinforce the point that there are negative consequences attached in attacking India. There cannot be any half-hearted approach and backing down at this stage. “An eye for an eye” is the motto to be adopted. A lot can be learned from the way Israel has been able to cope with this issue. This is not war-mongering – but leveraging fear to prevent loss of innocent Indian lives for the greater good. It is a shame that India’s military despite being twice the size of Pakistan has been brought to its knees in the past due to poor political will and support. Thankfully, that phase is hopefully a passé.

2. Pakistan’s nuclear sabre-rattling is a farce and will never engage in a conventional war.

Pakistan’s use of proxy is primarily because it can never take on India in a conventional war and sustain. Hence this asymmetric warfare and trying to kill India through thousand cuts. Bring nukes into the picture and it’s a powerful concoction.

After the surgical strikes, the Indian side of International Border and LoC have been cleared of civilian population, expecting a retaliation from Pakistan. The chances are less of engaging into a full-scale war. The reasons are many, one being Pakistan is still in the mode of denial that I have discussed in the next point. Also, Pakistan’s army is tied up in Baluchistan and Zarb-e-Azb operations in Northern Areas. They are stretched thin to fight out a two pronged war, reducing chances of full blown war further. Though Pakistan has very little to lose if ever a full-fledged war arose, still they will not go for a nuclear war with India, primarily because India’s actions were well-calibrated to localise the issue. Escalating this localised conflict from LoC to international border across Punjab and Rajasthan, especially when India is on high alert would be the most foolish action Pakistan can resort to.

Pakistan understands and also realises the fact that it can never win against India in the conventional war; hence designed the Tactical Battlefield Nukes against India’s Cold Start Doctrine. Pakistan also knows and understands that any use of even battle-field tactical nukes will warrant a massive barrage of nukes from Indian side decimating Pakistan completely. Hence, Pakistan’s bluff of nuclear sabre-rattling has been called. Once, this is out in the open, Pakistan has nothing up its sleeve of which India has to fear of directly. China, as a staunch ally of Pakistan brings in a different complexity which I will discuss in another blog post in this series.

As possible outcomes that I envisage, Pakistan will act through its proxies. blaming India for the escalation of attacks without taking responsibilities. It can activate the sleeper cells across India or attack diplomatic missions in other countries like Kabul, Afghanistan to spread the message. It can also initiate cross-border firing with mortar and heavy artillery across LoC and IB to heat up the situation, but still will not escalate it a full blown war, unless India chooses to. It will also go crying to US and UN of blaming India instigating a war and shed crocodile tears of being affected by terrorism itself – as if one expects to sleep with the cobra without being bitten – such naivety.

3. The message is loud and clear – time for talks are over

Indian government has openly acknowledged and announced the fact that Indian Army has conducted cross-border raids, and has laid it bare in front of the world. The Indian DGMO in his press briefing, clearly highlighted that, had it not been pre-empted, there were three dozen terrorists lying in wait to conduct attacks on Indian civilian and military population like Uri and Pathankot.

Previous such sanctions, remained covert activities which were hardly announced by Indian Government – which suited Pakistan so long it’s nefarious activities aren’t impacted and exposed by media coverage. Indian Army PR and Government must be lauded at the well-articulated message that has been sent out clearly stating that the main target of the operations were terrorists and terrorist infrastructure and were not conducted against the Pakistani Army. The few Pakistani jawans killed in the operation raises further questions, for Pakistan to answer, as to why these jawans were colluding with the terrorists at the time when the India’s retaliation took place.

India has clearly demonstrated that we will walk the talk when retaliation is concerned.

4. World is behind India and has hardly condemned Indian Action!

A very important point to note here is the world reaction. Hardly, any country has condemned India’s retaliatory strike. This proves how well India has been able to isolate Pakistan on the diplomatic front; even US has not openly condemned India. This shows the efficacy of Mr. Modi’s continual reach out to heads of foreign governments [those who questions his frequent foreign trips], relaying India’s stance and preparing ground-work for a situation that has now taken place. China’s reaction has been surprisingly guarded. Partly because, if it condemns, it contradicts Pakistan’s stance that it was a cross-border firing and nothing more.

Today, India doesn’t need to defend its actions and the world stands together as one behind India! A remarkable shift in attitude towards India since early 2000, I must say. Even Mr. Tony Blair in an interview with Barkha Dutt, way back in 2010 had acknowledged that the West should have listened to India more during the nineties regarding terrorism and how it has now become a huge headache for the countries that believed themselves reasonably beyond the reach of these Jihadis. 9/11 finally woke them up. Watch the video…

5. Pakistani Army is no longer Sacrosanct

Pakistani Government and Media is in a state of denial, no doubt in shock as well; I would prefer to call it a temporary comatose state. They are in total dis-array, how to respond to this armed retaliation – simply because, they had taken India’s “Strategic Restraint” for granted. There have been 5 different press releases on different lines from Pak Army, Foreign Ministry and other Pakistani government agencies, exposing the fact that there is a no clear ownership in Pakistan on this issue. India was always perceived to be a gentle giant, incapable of retaliating in the fashion it did. Only bravado that India demonstrated according to Pakistan’s foreign policy makers [I mean Pak Army and ISI] was on the diplomatic table. Humiliating defeat and surrender of 93,000 Pak Army soldiers in 1971 war is now a distant memory – one of the largest such PoWs captured ever after WW2.

Acknowledging the surgical strike will be a huge moral blow to Pakistani nation as a whole that diminishes the izzat of Pakistani Army which is highly worshipped and respected. Once it sinks it, there will be a tremendous impact on the psyche of the Pak Army generals and the masses as a whole – that they cannot allow which will shatter the myth that Pak Army is sacrosanct and is now vulnerable.

I can well imagine, the shock and chatter that must have followed after the surgical strikes, amongst Pakistani Terror CEOs Forum; that none of them have so far openly challenged India or promised further strikes. That’s odd, unless one is hit where it hurts the most.

6. Taking advantage of Baloch issue

Mr. Modi has openly urged Balochs, Pashtuns and other groups to ask their local government as to why Pakistan exports terror while India exports Software to the world after 70 years of independence? It will not be improbable to imagine that India fully supports the cause of Baluchistan and other oppressed groups like Pashtuns in Pakistan and will also prefer to go for covert offensive, best held and discussed behind closed doors – with enough plausible deniability in place. It is India’s interest that these issues are fully explored and deftly manipulated so that we have enough aces up our sleeves to deal with this menace emanating from Pakistani non-state actors. Granting asylum to Brahumdugh Bugti would be a good start. If Pakistan can shelter Dawood, we can very well support the genuine cause of Baluch repressions.

There are some analysts who also believe that future of Pakistan’s integrity is bleak. There might a good possibility that the country might break into fractions and republics, if Pakistani Army is weakened. It will be a menace for the world and especially, India and Afghanistan, which has to bear the brunt as it will be playground for different terrorist factions, running amok unless checked. But I have full trust in our NSA Mr. Doval who am sure will look at it from a long term perspective, that works out best; even if it means that geographies and boundaries needs to be altered. There can be a very well thought out plan that is already in action without our knowledge... that is what covert action is supposed to be.

In this complex situation, ownership and safeguard of Pakistani Nuclear Weapons should be kept in mind ensuring that it does not fall into Jihadi hands – that already has an eye on it, in the event of Pakistan collapsing as a state and Pak Army not in a position of control.

7. Indian Covert and Operational Readiness needs to be re-looked

Some news commentators of Indian Media channels, high on jingoism, have baffled me by comparing this surgical strike with the one conducted by US Navy Seals in Abbottabad to capture and kill Osama bin Laden. I was not sure whether to laugh or cry at the suggestion – simply because there are no similarities in the nature and scale. Both were covert actions no doubt – but it ended there. Do not doubt my patriotism and respect for the Indian Army; but some Indian news channels stretched it a bit far. If we conduct a similar operation to nab Dawood Ibrahim from his Lahore or Karachi hide-out and present him to the world, well it will be worthy of the comparison to the Abbottabad Mission.

Though Indian Special Forces were involved, various experts do believe that India hardly possesses capabilities to conduct offensive covert capabilities during peace-time like British SAS or German GSG-9. Our Special Forces are more trained for war-time conflicts in the methodologies and techniques. But this does not undermine in anyway the professionalism and the bravery of our soldiers! Only NSG comes close, in dealing with such operations – but again its more of a reactionary force rather than a pre-emptive force. Only a small section of Frontier Force that RAW operates is capable of performing such damage and carry out sabotage behind enemy lines on terrorist infrastructure to an extent. India should acknowledge this fact and strengthen its doctrine to plug this operational gap.

Conclusion:

In the end, it is may not remain a “Zero Sum Game” as many pundits claim; status quo will be maintained, atleast at this stage. But it is possible that politically, Pakistan may again go under an Authoritarian / army rule if the Pak civilian government tries to normalise ties with India, witnessing a coup. It will be a huge win for Narendra Modi led Indian government as it administers a dose of Pakistan’s own medicine on Pakistan.

There will be economic impact, one which has already impacted Sensex in India – tanking by 500 points in a single day. Pakistan has little to lose in this regard.

But this one single strike has a huge implication. Pakistan had dared India to carry out surgical strikes within Pakistan after Myanmar operation and face the wrath of the mighty Pakistani Army. 72 hours have passed, yet to face that wrath. Wrath doesn’t happen in cold blood or when one is at the losing end. Mr. Modi’s single largest legacy may not be his dramatic economic policies; but his diplomatic and foreign policy in dealing with Pakistan and creating a range of options previously unexplored due to lack of political will / courage.

I would like to end this post with the following video. More post in this series to follow soon.

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#IndiaStrikesBack - Part 1 | Striking Parallels

#IndiaStrikesBack – Finally! Something that was long overdue.

For my uninitiated readers across the globe, for the first time since India’s Independence in 1947, Indian Army has crossed the unresolved Line of Control [LoC] in Kashmir and entered Pakistan occupied Kashmir [Pok], neutralising 7 terrorist launch pads across 4 locations. It is a proud moment for any Indian that loves peace. Finally, an answer back to the instigators that adventures like Uri and Pathankot attacks on Indian army instalments, killing scores of Indian soldiers without provocation would not go unpunished. Today, being a proud Indian, I can state that India does and can attack at its own will and choosing of a time and place against any adversary that works against the interests and integrity of India. It looks good on text-books when one reads that India has never been an aggressor in the last 5000 years of its existence. Now when the existence and more importantly the ideologies are threatened that makes up the very nation, it is high time, the polices are reviewed, revised and updated.

Every surgery aims to cure the patient. In this case, the surgery precisely took out a tumour [terrorist launch-pads] and rendered the patient [Pakistan] in a coma as a fallout, albeit temporarily – a first of many firsts to come. It is the coming of age of India as a stronger nation in the current geo-political set-up where foreign policies are concerned. But the cancer has spread far and wide. It needs regular chemotherapy at different parts of the body – starting with Baluchistan, NWFP, Gilgit-Baltistan under PoK, etc.

There are many areas that I would like to touch upon but is not possible to compile into a single blog post. This is the first of the series that touches upon how Pakistan as a state has failed and has remained unchanged over the last 70 years despite its ideologies and failing as a state every time when its time to rise and shine came and went away; the similarities between the situation of 1971 and 2016 are starkly similar!...

For any Army in a Democratic set-up, Political backing is must [Pakistan doesn’t fall into this category; it is the other way around in case of Pakistan]. An army is what it’s political masters wants it to be. It can be a destructive lethal weapon, like German SS in World War II leading to Blitzkrieg or it can be completely apolitical like Indian Army which hardly meddles in the political affairs of the country. Indian Army had almost lost its edge and was toothless in its effectiveness after Independence due to Nehruvian policies of pacifism and NAM; believing China to be too docile to attack India. Jolt – rather a rude shock came in the form of humiliating defeat of 1962 Chinese aggression that left India red-faced and was caught pants down; showing that if you value peace, one cannot compromise with its defence. It’s easy to preach about love and compassion when the borders are secure. Henderson-Brooks report was instrumental in highlighting the deficiencies that were rectified to an extent by 1965 and finally fully implemented before 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War under the stewardship of Mrs. Indira Gandhi. Indian Army, has been always held under a tight leash with poor political will throughout its 70yrs of existence, except during brief periods of Prime-Ministership of Mrs. Gandhi. Hopefully, Mr. Modi’s Prime Ministership  would bring back that old glory that every major power yearns to achieve.

There are many parallels that can be drawn in this regard, between 1971 situation and 2016.

Firstly, Pakistan was in a similar situation of instigating conflict in both the occasions. Massacre of Bengali intellectuals and mass genocide and meddling in the affairs at provincial level then, overriding the federal government in East Pakistan was the chief cause of 1971 conflict; that eventually led to the creation of Bangladesh. In current scenario, it’s the low intensity conflicts and now continuous disturbance in Kashmir since the killing of Hizbul Commander Burhan Wani, which are alarmingly occurring at regular intervals within India.

Secondly, India was and is almost perceived a weakling globally; India had lost the 1962 war; From 1966-1969, India was in a constant state of famine and also had to fight a costly war in 1965. We had to import wheat from US which were not fit for human consumption under PL-480 where Mrs. Gandhi had to face humiliation from Kissinger and Nixon; which ultimately gave rise to the Green Revolution. Presently, India has gone through a political logjam of UPA2 that throttled Indian growth to a huge extent being a coalition government with an extremely poor track-record with scams to gloat about. After 2001 Parliament Attack, followed by 26/11, Indian response has been largely muted. Every possible trick in the book in accordance with diplomacy and Track-II dialogues have been explored to cajole Pakistan, but without any success.

Thirdly, in a bi-polar and pluralistic world, there were NATO and Warsaw Pacts during 1970’s that influenced the world engagements. US clearly sided with Pakistan while India had the backing of USSR in the 1971 conflict. Today, while US is in a difficult position to side with Pakistan out of little choice, Pakistan’s real ally is the new super-power in rising – PR China. India still has the backing of USSR and USA – a reversal of policies [which I will cover in Part 2 on this topic]; but the point that I want to drive home is that there are clearly 2 groups that has to gain out of this engagement; One is China which is a now behemoth in its own rights with enough economic clout and the other is US that has a natural ally in India as it stretches itself thin across the world and cannot do without India given the decline in the world authority that is has seen over the past decade. America’s glory days are well over and is in slow decline.

Fourthly, the brazenness with which India had intervened in 1971 and now proactively conducted the surgical strikes inside Pakistani territory when the world, and especially Pakistan least expected it. Pakistani army was actually caught napping; Pakistani army and terrorist casualties in the recent surgical strikes by India were being passed as cross-border firing by Pak DG-ISPR; too humiliated to accept the fact that a surgical strike indeed has been conducted by India, that stains the reputation of Pakistani Army, which is sacrosanct.

Fifthly and rightly so – a strong personality based Indian leadership. Mrs. Gandhi left a lasting impression on the history of Independent India during her tumultuous rule. So does Mr. Modi who had to face enough political challenges to rise and become the PM. Both became the PM due to their charismatic personality and being able to move the masses. Both have uncanny similarities in the way they function.

Lastly, the raison d’etre of Pakistan’s existence [a topic in itself]. Pakistan [which is an acronym] was created based on Jinnah’s “Two Nation Theory” propagated by Iqbal but actually initiated by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. During 1971, it was a nation still in experimentation, going though alternate coups and civilian government leadership and subjugating the more learned and intellectual East Pakistanis under the rules, culture and traditions of West Pakistan. Urdu was declared the national language without taking into account the rich Bengali literature and traditions that has given a Noble Laureate and ultimately the National Anthem of both Bangladesh and India; basically a culture clash between two groups in the same country separated by a thousand miles that were broadly dissimilar in every possible way but united by a common faith. After the humiliating loss of half the territory in 1971 which India had to intervene giving rise to the independent nation of Bangladesh, Pakistan then focussed single-handedly on bleeding India through thousand cuts that started at the fag-end of eighties and have continued to this date, unabated – reaching its pinnacle during the Kargil misadventure. In reality, Pakistan as a state, in my opinion, failed in 1971 – unable to uphold the tenets of ‘Two Nation Theory” advocated by the founding father, Mr. Jinnah.

Today, Pakistani intelligentsia and military elite have been subjugated under a systemic pressure and culture to identify India as a common enemy, to the extent that history has been completely re-written in school text-books that identifies India as the aggressor in the all the wars that has been fought with India and none of the wars where Pakistan has conceded any defeat. Pakistan officially denies any defeat at the hands of India and has been able to brain-wash generations through its education system. There are enough proofs of the same – the most vocal being Ms. Christine Fair who has done extensive studies on Indo-Pak relationship, having written numerous books and spent a number of years in Pakistan; at the moment she is banned to travel to Pakistan at behest of Pakistan’s infamous ISI. She has even lambasted a Pakistani Fulbright scholar on his ignorance that Kashmir is not an integral part of Pakistan based on UN resolution when he foolishly tries to portray that Mr. Fair’s evidence of Pakistani legitimacy on Kashmir is questionable. The video below is the proof in itself!

So what is next for Pakistan? Now, that it is no longer a functioning state like it should? The thought is scary indeed. It is a melting pot of terrorists – Specifically, Wahhabi ideologies funded by Middle East and sympathizers of Al-Qaida, Haqqani Network and then you have Good Taliban [Anti-India] and Bad Taliban. Not to forget and mention that some of the Uighur dissents that keeps China on their toes in Western China had their training in Pakistan. Pakistan today stands out like a sore thumb where terrorism is concerned. Most of the terrorists across the globe have some link or other with Pakistan. Shia-Sunni is another complex matter/dimension that would take up an entire discussion altogether.

It is not in India’s interest that Pakistan fails as a nation. But when the national ideology, the basis on which a nation was formed has failed, it is pertinent to ask the question – is it relevant to prop up a nation on ventilator? Or let the patient die? For long Pakistan has solely survived on the aids provided by USA that has gone into arms procurement to deter India. Today, if one delves in finding out what Pakistan exports, it will not be wrong to say that, “Terrorism as a service” [TaaS] is the only thing that comes to mind.

It needs to be pondered!

To be Continued...

Game of Anarchy, touches upon few of the points of backdoor diplomacy in such tricky situations...

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Brexit & Britain's Colonial Past - The Causal Relationship

The dawn of the Industrial Age started with Britain. This initiated a race to find new colonies and conquer new worlds amongst the European powers - The French, Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese all joined the bandwagon. New continents were explored, messengers and diplomats were sent to the famous and legendary kingdoms far and wide - notwithstanding India, new markets were opened that brought in riches, unheard of previously.

But human greed is insatiable. Soon, the economic vision was replaced with a political vision to dominate these markets, turning them into colonies, serving their European masters. India was considered the crown jewel of the British Empire — the Empire where the Sun never sets! India suffered harshly under the British rule no doubt, draining of wealth, turning one of the wealthiest nations into a nation of poor and beggars. All we had intact was a bit of our past culture & heritage and a new found feeling of nationalism of India as a nation - that was missing in India's history for the last 5000 years of its existence. Never ever was India united in the manner as it was at the time of our independence.

Now, what benefits arose out British Rule in India? Many or none as all would argue, depending on your level of nationalistic feelings at that moment and the side you are arguing for. But it is undeniable that English is the Lingua Franca of the world today and Indians are the largest English speaking population outside of England which otherwise wouldn’t have been possible without the British ruling us and replacing the Brahmanic schooling with Victorian curricula. English has benefited us tremendously. It is the sole reason why India is ahead of China in the Services sector. It is a paradox and a case-study how we grew at such a fast pace without manufacturing sector - jumping almost directly from agriculture one day to services the next.

But why am I blabbering about these details… one may wonder? Because when osmosis happens, so does reverse-osmosis. There is a direct causal relationship of the British ruling us and in return impacting them in a manner they couldn’t imagine which would bite them back - so much so that it would be a subtle cause for Brexit.

Imagine a country, who got the taste of tea from India and China which now is part of their daily morning and evening ritual. A country whose national dish is Chicken Tikka Masala, which is so bland in the spices compared to the roadside Chicken Tikkas in India. A country which invented Cricket, but its England and Wales Cricket Board is dependent on BCCI to agree on matches and slots and bow down to them periodically. A country which ruled us through its proxy for almost a century, East India Company, is now owned by an Indian. A country which receives the third largest FDI from India, except US and France. India and its culture has permeated into many aspects of British life - which now no longer can be called uniquely British. So in short, India culturally dominates Britain today, without even sending a single soldier across the border.

Shakespeare would not have imagined even in his wildest dreams that one day his play "A Midsummer Night's Dream" will be hosted at the renovated Globe Theatre at Bankside - with lead actors of Indian origin, the background music score dominated by Veena and supported by Dholak played by Indians resembling a Bollywood ensemble.

A snap-shot of the play: A Midsummer Night's Dream at Shakespeare's Globe, London

In London, when you walk into a Tesco or Sainsbury's, any of Her Majesty's Post Office, board a bus or a train or tube, the servers at major restaurants and the list goes on - majority of staffs are of Indian descent. That ought to say something. Britain would not have had such a bustling Indian population had it not been for the colonial past...

And when a survey was conducted amongst the Indian expats who were eligible to vote for the Brexit Referendum, they voted for Exit as Indian and South-East Asian expats had to go through a more stringent process of immigration as compared to the Europeans and they voted for Exit en masse! It was the point of inflection that resulted in Brexit - where Remain camp lost by only 4 percentage points; it was that close.  In a different context, it may be worthwhile to note that, a fellow South-East Asian, a Pakistani to be precise, Mr. Sadiq Khan has been elected as the Mayor of London, which is no mean feat. And that my friend, as an Indian, makes me feel proud.

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New Form of Entertainment: Journalism!

Journalism and social media today have converged together as a powerful medium. Flurry of news channels have cropped up in the last decade, which dish out the same news over and over again, albeit in a different format, but the content mostly remains the same. The threshold has been breached wherein no news channel today stands unique and has rather turned itself into a commodity.

And what can help sell this commodity? Sensationalism! The tiniest uninteresting point is displayed as the most important facet of the news; forget even if it is relevant at all or not, it is BREAKING NEWS still! All in the hope to garner few more TRPs than the rivals – to feed in the 24 X 7 news generating machine. And sometimes to create sensationalism, the news editors overlook the ethical aspects and undermine the consequences – putting a lot at stake, their lives, careers and even their country. Welcome to the dawn of new era of irresponsible journalism;

- Excerpt from the book "Game of Anarchy"

Media today is considered as the fourth pillar of democracy. That is a very important role indeed, especially in democracies like India and USA where capitalism has taken over socialism in most of its forms. Though there are social policies that govern the core of the government objectives, it is fuelled through capitalistic means, thus creating a conflict between benefits provided vs benefits that actually reach the intended. Hence, it is imperative that Media should act as a watchdog and remain apolitical bringing in unbiased news coverage to the masses. Judiciary and Legislature are often bound by rules and regulations that prevent them to go beyond certain boundaries; and hence may not be able to check the excesses of the Executive. But Media can and it does. It has been a very effective tool that has formulated public opinions and has changed the course of history in many countries.

But how reliable is the media today in the fast paced world of digitization ruled by few conglomerates? Majority of the media are owned by few of the wealthy patrons who often have ulterior motives in swaying public opinion for their own desires. Media acts as a very powerful medium in building up a persona where none may exist. It may help create a facade for more sinister objectives. There have been allegations of some western media overstepping the bounds in gathering information – Rupert Murdoch’s Sun is one such example. Ambani’s of Reliance fame in India created a furore in media circles when they became majority stakeholders in TV18, resulting in exodus of top journalists from the channels who believed, they cannot remain unbiased under new bosses or at the least, there will be clashes of ethos that they conceived.

At the same time, there have been numerous instances where media has behaved as the judge, jury and executioner without even letting a fair trial. Powerful journalists have been able to sway public opinion on key political issues driving wedge and creating chasm amongst the masses. They have acted against the very ethos they are supposed to protect; no wonder the term “#Presstitutes” have gained a lot of prominence in India. Gone are the days where the citizens were gullible. In this digital age with information overload, the common citizen is now more critical of receiving each news and analysing it in his own terms of reference. The public is no longer isolated and openly voices their opinions on social media platforms. Heckling of reputed journalists like Barkha Dutt is now a regular phenomenon on twitter if any tweet promotes certain ideologies that are against the societal norms. Thus public scrutiny itself has now become a safety-valve against the errant journalists who earlier used to get away with such arm-chair activism.

This thus gives rise to a very vibrant democracy. With the annulment of the draconian Sec 66A of IT Act by the Supreme Court of India, it has been proven that the masses have the power to criticise each and every aspect of governance without fear; it includes the media as well. Alas, we haven’t achieved much more in areas of RTI to rein in the political parties, but the day is not far where public pressure will force the government of the day to pay heed and make the necessary changes.

But the question remains – How neutral is today’s media? #PaidMedia is a common twitter hashtag. That in itself demonstrates public confidence. There always has been a nexus between the business and the politicians – giving rise to crony capitalism. Media has remain divided on these issues depending on whose interests to defend; given the difficult situation that the patrons of the media houses tend to be either politicians are businessmen.

Lastly and most importantly – the media circus. It is more of an entertainment channel where scores of panelists/experts are brought in to air their views to have a meaningful debate. Instead, it’s turned into a high octane drama with chest thumping and mud-slinging, raising the volume of fervor of pure unadulterated idiocy and lowering the bar of journalistic ethos. It is a shame that such channels garner more TRP than real news channel where meaningful debates are performed. These channels on prime-time give the staple Saas-Bahu serials a run for their money!

In short, journalism doesn’t enjoy the respect once it commanded. Reputed journalists were respected and feared by all even few decades back. Today, there are rarely any journalists who can be unanimously voted to remain unbiased and true to the journalistic ethos, atleast in India – barring the small cities where the reach of influential hasn’t penetrated much. Every citizen is aware of the news that is being fed and questions it authenticity. It is not far when even journalists will be brought down and discredited in public. It has already started happening in India and it is a revolution in itself – unique in nature, fascinating to observe.

So, the fourth pillar of democracy as we call it – today, unfortunately is crippled. Thanks to online social networks, truth travels much faster in the midst of coordinated chaos and as time will pass, online scrutiny will hold these travesties of journalists accountable and responsible. It is the only glimmer of hope in this era of information overload.

"Game of Anarchy" is available on Amazon

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Women Empowerment: Challenges & Prospects

Human beings are the most advanced life form on this planet that sits atop the pyramid of all sentient beings. Being sentient, puts the onus of moral duty on us to be just, altruistic and compassionate to fellow beings and lesser life forms, taking a lead in ensuring peace and order to sustain the balance on Earth.

While present day Homo sapiens are considered more civilized than their barbaric ancestors, it is disquieting to note that, the blessing of a civilized brain did not automatically render the virtues of liberty and equality to be bestowed on all fellow humans across the globe since the first rational human being descended some 40,000 years ago. Whether be it the exploitation of black versus white, poor versus rich or women versus men, human history is replete with innumerous examples of savagery, cruelty and suppression of weak, that defies the very attribute of being sentient. The best example of which being gender inequality and suppression of women even to this day of twenty-first century, so much so that it has become a buzzword both at  global and national forums.

Women empowerment refers to the conducive environment that provides the basic rights and a level playing field to women to excel in all spheres of life – social, political, economic. This also includes extension of specialized treatment by all stake-holders of the society, viz., government agencies, private institutions and NGOs in the areas of health, education, legal, etc. where there has been traditional neglect with respect to women. The crux being the ability to make free and fair decisions by women without being coerced by undue unfavorable circumstances allowing them to perform at par with men.

If one delves into the root cause of why women are treated as inferior sex even today at many parts of the world including India, it directly points out to the informal division of labour that has been the norm in our societies since eons. The quintessential role of men has been to take care of livelihood and protect the family while for women it has been about taking care of children, household chores and other activities within the boundaries of four walls. There have been exceptions though but these are few and far between. India and world as a whole were more tolerant of women a few thousand years ago, than it is today. If one talks about the glyphs of Egypt, Mesopotamia or Indus Valley civilizations, it depicts the various freedom that the women enjoyed – many of which went missing during the subsequent medieval and dark ages of our civilization. Even in India, women during Rig Vedic Period enjoyed greater freedom in all forms including the right to remain spinster and spend entire lives with parents, study and contribute to the hymns of Vedas which vastly diminished during the later Vedic periods. Thus, it is the traditional mindset of thousand years that needs to be broken free to empower women and bring them at par with men in all aspects. In a country like India where people are deeply religious and traditional in nature, it is a greater challenge to percolate the values and ideals of women empowerment, who constitute 49% of Indian population.

Firstly, men are the biggest stakeholders in Women Empowerment. Without their participation, it is bound to fail since it is the men who mostly formulated the rules of engagement with women in the societies. In one of her UN speeches on Women Empowerment, Hillary Clinton noticed that less than 30% of the audience were males. This is a big concern since awareness creation and gender sensitization needs to start with men. This was taken up so seriously that at the recent UNGA, Iceland and Suriname announced that they will be conducting men-only conference on gender sensitization campaign to secure greater cooperation and understanding from men. A welcome move indeed.

It must be mentioned here that some of the greatest reformists of modern India were men, whose contribution has immensely helped to transform the lives of Indian women. The crusade of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Vidyasagar, Jyotiba Phule against the evils of child marriage & sati and promotion of education of girls, widow remarriage are extremely commendable in a period where going against the norm could mean potential isolation from the society at large. They had the courage, will and determination to set the wrongs of Brahmanical tradition right which in turn gradually changed the conditions of women in India to a large extent. Still there is a long way to go.

Secondly, right to equality has to be implemented in earnest where women have equal rights just like men. A little over hundred years ago, New Zealand became the first country to allow universal adult suffrage that included women, ahead of other western countries. The first European country to do so was Finland followed by other Nordic countries. Today if one takes stock of the situation, Nordic countries are far ahead in terms of social well-being and rights granted to women along with other HDI factors. In every sphere of the society, women there today occupy important positions and have demonstrated their capabilities directly contributing to the growth of these nations. An example to put it in perspective – Major General Kristin Lund of Norway became the first female force commander of UN Peacekeeping Mission in Cyprus.

Major General Kristin Lund with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon

The scenario in India is vastly different despite our constitution having provisions to ensure gender equality. The apex democratic institution of India – the Indian Parliament is yet to pass the Women’s Reservation Bill that reserves 33% [and not 50%] of the seats for women at both central and state legislatures. Due to prejudice, aborting female fetuses was a very common recurrence in India, which exists even to this day despite enacting Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act. The incidences have tapered down, but has not stopped completely. This has resulted in a skewed sex ratio in India where there are 940 females for every 1000 males – an alarming trend that has other ramifications like purchasing brides especially in north Indian states; a complete devastating infringement on women’s right and a direct challenge to women empowerment.

While India is ahead of many nations for right to equality at workplace, for example, providing mandatory maternity leaves to all female employees for a period of 84 days by law, it is not universally implemented, especially for those women working in informal sectors. Additionally, latest NSSO survey reveals that 2 out of 3 Indian women in their prime working years are engaged in unpaid housework. There is also an informal discrimination of wages and promotion even in formal sectors as well.

In most of these cases, the biggest roadblock seems to be education and poverty eradication – the third reason why women needs to be empowered in these areas that are critical for their upliftment in the society. Government and NGOs have taken definitive steps to battle the same. But it is happening in pockets. Social sector schemes like MNREGA have given definite employment to a big percentage of rural women, who otherwise would have had to look for jobs at a lower wage. Various women centric self-help groups and micro-finance institutions have sprung up to help women earn their own livelihood, making them less dependent on others. Swayamsidha Programme run by Ministry of Women and Child Development is one such example. Similarly, there are various state run schemes that focus solely on women, especially those working in informal sectors. But unfortunately, many of these schemes are mired in corruption which needs to be checked while the real beneficiaries are left high and dry.

It is encouraging to note that the introduction of Mid-Day meal scheme has not only reduced the school dropouts especially among girls, their participation is also increasing. Many of the state governments have further encouraged girl child to enroll in schools by providing special assistance programmes like gifting bicycles, books, etc. – such social welfare schemes need to be stepped up further. If Malala Yousufai, the youngest recipient of Nobel Peace Prize can fight for her right to education in Taliban infested North-West Pakistan, India, which enjoys democracy and freedom can definitely achieve goal of 100% education of girl child through proper implementation of RTE Act.

Fourthly, women’s health and sanitation is a big concern. Though India has been able to reduce MMR to 178 deaths per lakh live births, a key Millennium Development Goal, but it still falls below the target of 100 per lakh live births. Women have been empowered by government to be able to go for institutionalized deliveries as envisaged in Janani Suraksha scheme and take care of her livelihood during her pregnancy and post-pregnancy through Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana Scheme where government compensates wage loss for expecting mothers. Similarly, government’s latest movement of building clean India through construction of toilets in rural areas and important public places, preventing open defecation is a welcome move for sanitation needs of women and general population as a whole.

Shakti Devi being felicitated by UN officials

Last but not the least, an important area of focus should be women’s safety and legal assistance. While India has to cause to be proud of Shakti Devi of J&K police, serving in UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan who has been awarded UN International Female Police Peacekeeper Award, 2014 for her efforts towards helping victims of sexual and gender-based violence in Afghanistan, India as a nation has been put under scanner due to poor performance related to women’s safety. The Nirbhaya incident of Dec 16, Badaun Rape in UP, recurrent rapes and sexual violence against females not even sparing infants & toddlers are turning our society back in time. In a recent judgment, the honorable Supreme Court mentioned that the women are not even safe in matrimonial homes where there are instances of dowry deaths, physical violence, etc. Despite passing the Criminal Law Amendment Act 2013, on the recommendations Justice Verma committee, things have changed little. Those clamoring for capital punishment for these crimes against women have seen a spike of such incidents in the recent past. The only remedy lies in changing the mindset of the society, especially males, imbibing in them the values of respecting women, in addition to enactment of stringent laws, putting in place an expeditious judicial and sensitive police system.

Even when it came to succession of properties, only recently, wives and daughters of the deceased have been given the legal right to claim property which otherwise was the dominion of male members of the family only.

If one takes a holistic view of the entire situation currently, India is ranked 132 out of 187 in Gender Inequality Index according to 2013 report of GHDR, even below Pakistan. This is a definitive cause for worry, but does not essentially mean that our efforts so far went in vain. There are imperceptible changes that have taken place, but in order to bring in a visible dynamic change, there needs to be cohesiveness in the plans and schemes that are being executed by the government. Our honorable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has often emphasized on India’s Demographic Dividend as an edge over other countries. If we have to utilize it effectively, women empowerment has to be the most serious challenge that new government must face since women form 49% of our population. Keeping women empowerment out of development ambit will essentially be a stumbling block in India’s development despite launching radical and new schemes of financial inclusion, poverty elimination, National Rural Health Mission, Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, Make in India, etc.

A lot has been done so far and still a lot remains to be done to reach a stage where an Indian woman can proudly proclaim to the world that she is truly empowered and free from the clutches of family, society, poverty, inequality and illiteracy. To conclude the prospect of women empowerment presently, the following lines from Robert Frost’s poem aptly sums it up in my opinion:

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

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Child Labour is India's Shame

“One of the luckiest things that can happen to you in life is, I think, to have a happy childhood.”

—     Agatha  Christie

Childhood, as Agatha Christie the famous writer says, should be enjoyed. It is supposed to be the most carefree phase of life when the child gets to explore the world with all its eccentricities and quirks and question each aspect of it. It is the most important development phase in the life of a human being when values and morals develop through knowledge and education being imparted. Guidance of elders at this stage defines the place in the society the child is going to occupy in future. Childhood is akin to platform of life, often waiting to board the right train in the quest for a human being’s ultimate goal in this material world – even though the child is too young to comprehend the importance of the same.

But, what happens, when the child boards the wrong train or inadvertently gets to the wrong platform – say bonded labour at a very tender age of six, even before he understands what this is all about? What is the root-cause that drove the child to earn his livelihood when he should be in school learning the basics? Who is responsible? What repercussions does it have on the child and on the society as a whole? What steps should be taken to address the same? These questions should intrigue us as moral responsible citizens who are often witness to such instances in our daily life but have come to accept it as a norm. We need to understand that it not only derails the entire future of the child, but also has a disastrous effect on the mental well-being of the child which steers much of his adult life. Such grownup adults often have a distorted outlook about life and may pose a threat to the very society that pushed them in the wrong path.

Child labour is a serious blot on our society and our tolerance towards it shows our cold-heartedness in tackling this serious issue. Each underprivileged child, if empowered to learn and study during the crucial formative stages of life can advance our nation to the next level – we very well could have a high probability of the next Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Sachin Tendulkar, Chetan Bhagat, Mary Kom, Kiran Bedi, future Prime Minister, President, Chief of Army or Chief Justice of India rising up from among them. It should give one much pleasure to ponder on the fact that so much talent could be harnessed by diverting the right resources and environment to the needy.

Though there has been conscientious effort by both government and private organizations [NGOs] to address the issue of child labour, it has borne little fruit. Every other day, we get to read in the newspapers about children being rescued from factories, industrial units, hotels and urban homes. This, despite the fact that Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 has been passed, which clearly articulates that any child below 14 years of age cannot be employed in hazardous or menial occupation enforcing Article 24 of Constitution related to fundamental right against exploitation. The amendment to the act in 2006, also prohibits children to be employed as domestic workers and servants in households. Still, we do come across numerous instances wherein children are toiling day and night for a decent livelihood whilst they should be playing around with their peers.

We first need to understand the magnitude of the problem. UNICEF estimates that India has 12.5 million child labourers according to 2001 census, the highest number of child labourers in the world. This number is a huge increase from 11.3 million as per 1991 census and is a worrying trend. One aspect is clear – there has been little curtail on child labour, indirectly pointing to the fact that the measures taken to curb including penalties are not deterrent enough to stem the tide. An article published in the Hindu dated 21st July, 2014 mentions 4,300 child labourers being rescued from Delhi alone since 2009 – most of them employed in barred places like factories and hotels. If this number is compounded with the number of metropolitan cities, mega-cities and tier-1 cities taken into account, the count would increase exponentially, ignoring the count of unreported cases.

 Copyright: The Hindu

The issue needs to be looked at from a 360 degree view rather than a piece-meal approach. One needs to understand what forces the child to work at such a tender age, often at places far away from their families and the most basic reason would be the meagre pecuniary condition of the family – the divide between the rich and the poor has increased drastically since the advent of globalization, where the government pegs the BPL limit at measly Rs. 32 for rural and Rs. 47 for urban spend for an individual. For the poor, getting two square meals a day becomes a daily hurdle to be crossed which ultimately drives the child to fend for himself. Desperation also plays an important role, taken advantage of by the hawks aka agents of human trafficking on whose behest the child is often sold at few thousand rupees by needy parents; such is the real value placed on the child.

The child if lucky enough lands up with a good employer, but more often than not has to work under unbearable circumstances for long hours and no holidays. For girls, the situation is even worse where they are at the mercy of their employers and are targets of sexual predators; molestation and at times rapes are recurring events of their life. Many of the unfortunate girls, directly land up in the flesh trade, which has the most serious consequences on their mental well-being. Human Trafficking is one of the worst crimes that can be imagined and the perpetrators should be punished strictly according to Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, 1956 enforcing Article 23 of Constitution related to Fundamental right to Prohibition of Traffic in Human Beings and Forced Labour.

The prevalent solution in most of the cases where children are rescued is repatriation to their native place for rehabilitation. It is to be noted here that most of the rescued children are from poor families of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Chhattisgarh; all belonging to the bottom quartile in the list of states as per Indian Human Development Index while Kerala leads the pack with highest HDI. The Labour Department sends Rs. 25,000 to District Magistrates annually for the welfare of each rescued child, but there are no effective tracing and tracking mechanism. More, importantly, the money is often not enough to sustain the basic requirements of each child. The family situation of the child remains same as before and the family still has to struggle to make both ends meet. It does not solve the real problem.

The government has to develop a multi-pronged solution to address the root-cause. Much has been done, but it must be fool-proof solution. First and foremost being poverty alleviation. MNREGA is one such initiative that touches the bottom of the pyramid directly. But it is mired with corruption that needs to be tackled strongly. More such initiatives need to be taken to improve financial condition of the poor. Secondly, ensuring that all children attain primary education which is their fundamental right as per article 21a of the Constitution. Various incentives like Mid-day meal schemes has been a huge success in most of the states. It has not only resulted in the decline of school drop-outs in primary classes, but has also provided a cost-effective means for the under-privileged child to continue his education, who otherwise may have been forced to take up a job. An additional aspect is rewarding family of girl child. For example, in Punjab, girl students have been gifted bicycles to travel comparatively larger distances to reach school along with free education. It also needs to be mentioned that though RTE has been passed, it needs to be implemented in earnest at all levels. Thirdly, with the passage of Food Security Act of 2013, it is expected that the poor is supposed to derive most of the benefits of subsidized food items through targeted Public Distribution System [PDS]. This should provide some respite to the poor so that they are not forced to send their wards to work. Fourthly, the judiciary and police needs to work hand-in-hand to curb this menace. All cases, pending before the National Commission and State Commissions for Protection of Child rights and Children’s courts should be fast tracked. Lastly, all Labour Inspectors should be held accountable for any child labourers being employed under his area of jurisdiction. Any lackadaisical approach should be done away with stringent punitive measures in place.

But one cannot put the onus on the government alone. Given the vast size of our country, huge population and the economic imbalance, the responsibility to address the issue of child labour lies equally with the citizens of our country. We, as responsible human beings, have to be conscious of the impact of child labour and the negative impact on our society and cannot afford to turn a blind eye. All instances of child labour should be promptly reported to the concerned authorities. To achieve this, we need to alleviate ourselves to cherish the ideals that the founding fathers of our nation envisaged, by developing a strong sense of moral character within ourselves and ensuring that the children from underprivileged families also lead a happy and joyous childhood.

For the growth of any nation, youngsters play a very crucial role. Nation rides on the well-being of these youngsters who are ultimately responsible for leading the nations in the world-stage. It is upto us, what kind of future, we as responsible citizens imagine for our successive generations – one, that is compassionate and upholds the freedom for all, foregoing the rooster coop mentality and pulling up the deprived ones by the more fortunate citizens as Gandhi-ji envisioned, or remain self-centered and concerned with the well-being of self, taking full advantage of the deprived sections of our society, to the extent of forcing a child to forego his childhood. In case of latter, future of our society will be pretty bleak indeed unless we strive towards eradicating the blot – the child labour in all its forms.

As Franklin D Roosevelt said, “We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.”

Link To The Hindu's Article

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