The Invisible PM

In living memory, it is difficult to recall a Prime Minister so conspicuous by his lack of visibility. In a couple of my earlier posts, I did mention that Mr Manmohan Singh needs to wake up ………………… Read Here.

Can the PM afford to stay invisible and silent and be seen only in the company of foreign dignitaries? Or, at the behest of the Party leadership make election speeches in states which are about to go to polls?  On a lighter note, for those who suffer from ‘insomnia’, Manmohan Singh’s rallies are the place to be.

In a democracy, a PM cannot always take decisions on important policy matters, as there is a constitutional process in place which cannot be short circuited. The least that can be expected of the PM is to keep his cabinet, top bureaucracy and top military leadership above reproach. Isn’t it strange that a PM who commands so much respect, and has a reputation of being Mr Clean chooses to look the other way while his ministers are busy siphoning off taxpayer’s money from right under his nose? With a new scam or scandal tumbling out of some or the other closet, every other week, not only are media channels and opposition parties having a field day, even individual citizens are attacking the integrity of the PM’s Office(PMO) and getting the judiciary to give a rap to the highest office in the country too.

Today we had Mr Subramanian Swamy accusing the Prime Minister’s Office of the following:-

·         Lying. While PMO claims Mr swamy’s letters have been replied to, Mr Swamy claims to have received only the acknowledgements.

·         Of Illegal conduct, in forwarding Mr Swami’s petition to Mr Raja, the accused against whom prosecution was sought.

·         And of course, the BIG QUESTION – What was the PM doing for eleven months?

Never has the office of the Prime Minister been under direct fire and scrutiny of the Supreme Court, Media, entire opposition……….. all at once, so much so, that the very office of the PM is under a cloud of suspicion. Did he let compulsions of coalition politics get the better of his judgement …………. or should we say, the judgement of the party high command took precedence over objective and timely decision making?

Mr Manmohan Singh was allegedly chosen by Sonia Gandhi as the PM to be her stooge, but surely, he must have some self respect. When are we going to hear from him? How long can he keep hiding behind his spokespersons ………… Manish Tewari and gang?

It took more than a few years for the PM(or was it Sonia) to give Mr Raja the boot, how long does Mr Kalmadi have as the chairman of IOA?

A very interesting poll in Times of India points out (at the time of publishing this post) that the PM is culpable in the 2G spectrum scam by an overwhelming 91 to 9 percent. Access it here.

While ‘Rome was burning, Nero was fiddling’, Is Mr Singh sleeping?

Adarsh: Really for Kargil Martyrs?

I got this piece as an email forward from a friend. I can not vouch for its veracity, but it does sound credible. Only question that comes to mind is, “Why the Armed Forces or the Ministry of Defense do not refute the claims made by the media?”

 The media has misled us on the Adarsh scam.

By

Carl H. Gomes

Now that the dust has settled and the stench (from the shit that hit the fan) has blown away, we can perhaps look at the Adarsh scam a little dispassionately. The media (both print and electronic) really went to town on this because there is nothing that the media loves better than to tear a person‟s reputation to shreds and the truth be damned. If Armed Forces officers are involved, the ferocity of the attack is worse because they can in addition sully the uniform and the institution, since the politician and the bureaucrat are impervious. And as they say, “the bigger they are, the harder they fall!”

The „housing for widows of the “martyrs” of Kargil‟ is a media creation because the scheme was never meant for them nor was the plot reserved in their name. No government, however magnanimous, would have allotted such a prohibitively expensive plot in a prime location to Kargil heroes or their widows. A more likely place would have been in the satellite town of Navi Mumbai, or in Nagpur or Nasik, where land is available aplenty. The project was never promoted as a housing project for the „widows of Kargil‟; but the Kargil conflict itself was used as a ploy to get the land transferred to the society with the active connivance of the Defence Estate Officers, one of who became a promoter. Because of its location on the boundary of defence land and was in the physical possession of the Army, it had no commercial potential for a civilian project. It was the brain child of Maj Gen AR Kumar, Area Cdr/GOC (1999-2000), when the Kargil war was in progress and his deputy Brig TK Kaul. Subsequently all Area Cdrs and Sub-area Cdrs from 2000 to 2010 have been allotted flats in the building as a quid pro quo apparently to buy their silence. The Navy had no role to play in giving clearances at that time but top naval brass were offered flats all the same as one of the promoters was a naval officer. They were probably offered the “right of first refusal” but refused to refuse the offer. The other lower ranked officers (including a Petty Officer) either got it courtesy of one or other of the promoters or they just got lucky. No one looks a gift horse in the mouth!

The Adarsh plot is not located in far away Yeotmal or Aurangabad but in tony South Bombay (So Bo, as it is called) where property prices are the highest in the world and there is little vacant land left. It is just a stone‟s throw away from and in full view of the headquarters of the Maharashtra government, “Mantralaya”, the BMC Headquarters and the Headquarters of the GOC, M&G Area. The building did not come up surreptitiously but grew in stature under the benign gaze of the worthies who occupy these hallowed premises and had their blessings.

The problems really started when the Revenue Minister (now Chief Minister) Ashok Chavan demanded 40% of the flats for civilians (read politicians and bureaucrats). A modest housing project of 6 floors slowly expanded to 31 floors to accommodate the swelling demand from these big wigs who high jacked the project and colluded with the builder to break every rule in the statute book with impunity. The building is a monument to deceit to all the people of Maharashtra/Mumbai/India and not just the Kargil heroes/widows, most of whom have already got houses in New Delhi in the Dwarka project. This project never had any link to 'war veterans and/or widows of Kargil' who were the invisible pawns in the game. We have only been compelled by the media to think that way. In fact, membership was restricted to Maharashtrians and those who could prove domicile in Maharashtra – so much so even the two former Army Chiefs did not just walk in – they had to get exemption from the highest levels of the government, even though this is not a government project.

Let us consider the following:

·         This is India, the country where the Armed Forces are just 'use and throw‟ commodities like “curry patha”. This is Maharashtra which is one of the few states that does not have any sympathy or respect for the Armed Forces – the only state that charges the maximum taxes on goods sold through the CSD, including liquor. This is Mumbai which is the only city that does not exempt Armed Forces veterans from paying property tax on their houses even if it is „self-occupied‟.

·         The Govt could have selected a location where the land is cheaper and available in abundance like Navi Mumbai or also in places to which most of such heroes and widows would have belonged. It is hard to imagine a farmer from Haryana or a villager from Bihar wanting to stay in a tony area with the Ambanis as their neighbours – the Ambani residence SEAWIND is just next door.

·         The plot had CRZ restrictions due to which only a six-storied building could be officially built; thus, with 3 to 4 flats per floor, maximum 20 three bedroom flats - OR - not more than 30 two bed-room flats. would have come up

·         This is a self financed scheme – not free houses. Their life-time savings (even if those martyrs had been alive) could not have enabled them to dream of possessing a house at the above location. The cost of land alone is in excess of Rs 60,000/- per sq. ft.

·         Heroes and widows of Kargil war number more than one thousand. Most of them have already been allotted flats in Dwarka in Delhi or in their own home states – and hence have no need for a second home. Besides, it is unthinkable that the Army would think of a welfare activity which could benefit just a small fraction of deserving personnel.

·         The Navy did not participate in the Kargil conflict yet there are several naval personnel amongst the members. The Air Force did participate but not one AF person is a member.

·         Security clearance from the Navy became an issue only in 2009 after the Navy was made responsible for coastal security in the wake of the 26/11 terrorist strike on Mumbai. The spot where the terrorists landed is only a few hundred metres up the road from Adarsh on Cuffe Parade. That is how the Navy raised a flag; but by that time the building was almost complete.

This was a scandal that was waiting to happen – it is neither the first, nor is it the last in an unending series of such scams that have dotted the Maharashtra landscape. Because of its location, Adarsh is very visible but it is just the tip of the iceberg; what of the innumerable Adarshes across the country which is driven by the greed of the rapacious builder-politician- bureaucrat nexus? The armed forces personnel, serving and retired are guilty by association and of impropriety and collusion. They will definitely face justice of one kind or another but will the politician and the bureaucrat be touched? We have seen what happens to them post 26/11.

55% of Mumbai‟s population of 15 million live in slums or on the streets while 13 % live in ownership flats. 70% of the rest live in one-room tenements, some of which are crumbling. In a scenario of such abject deprivation, Adarsh is a monument of shame. Let us not drag the names of Kargil heroes into this filth even by association, which the media (Arnab Goswami and Rajdeep Sardesai) insists on doing. I cannot ask retired officers to stop appearing on TV talk shows, but I wish they would because they make asses of themselves.

- Carl H. Gomes. 

Incredible Dance

An incredible performance.............. full of strength, balance, grace, vitality, poise, finesse, creativity............. Be patient and watch till the very end. Mesmerising stuff.

Kudos : Bopanna Qureshi

It was indeed a heroic effort on the part of the Indo – Pak pair in the finals of the US Open men’s doubles finals yesterday. The intensity of the finals was nothing short of breathtaking, with electric reflexes, booming serves, great anticipation and precise coordination. Bopanna – Qureshi were obviously not intimidated or over awed by their much more accomplished opponents. while the former were playing in their first grand slam finals, the latter were the holders of eight major titles. the hallmark of the match was the fact that none of the two teams could break their opponent’s serve even once. As it turned out, the outcome was decided in the Russian Roulette of tie breakers in both sets. However, as the match statistics would reveal, there was hardly anything to choose between the two teams.

The spinoff of the Indo – Pak duo’s partnership was that, at least for some time it made Indian and Pakstani fans in New York forget their animosity and join hands to cheer the team. Much as media and certain individuals, hail the partnership as a step towards improving relations between India and Pakistan, it is nothing more than a partnership of convenience. And in any event it would take much more than a tennis partnership to propel the two countries towards peace and friendship.

Notwithstanding the same, let us hope that Indo Pak express, as they are fondly called, continue to do well and give us that elusive opportunity to rejoice in sporting excellence by our countrymen, particularly in a sport other than cricket.

Wishing the Indo – Pak Express much greater success and glory in times to come.

Pak’s Tainted Trio: Tip of the Iceberg?

Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and Test captain Salman Butt are in the dock in the spot fixing scandal. Mazhar Majeed is to blame for having been careless enough to let himself be filmed accepting loads of cash ………………. And thus Pakistan Cricket finds itself in the midst of a fresh controversy. Nothing new there.
However who is to say that others including Indian cricketers are not involved in match fixing. Leading Indian cricketers like Navjot Sidhu, Azharudding, Jadeja, Prabhakar ……………have been accused of it in the past and its difficult to imagine that the current lot would be any better. And so would be the case with cricketers of other countries. A leading Indian bookie has alleged that India Sri Lanka Rajkot ODI was fixed.
The fact of the matter is that match fixing accusations are extremely difficult to prove and in almost any sport, it is next to impossible to differentiate between the real and fake. Sports like Wrestling, the WWE variety are known to be rigged, but still are hugely popular. Davydenko, a tennis player who has been in the world top 10 for close to a decade was accused of fixing. Is Davydenko, who is a multimillionaire, short of money.
Was it not Gandhi who said, “There is enough in the world for everyone’s needs, but not enough in the world for one man’s greed.”

 
 Mohammad Amir (centre) and Mohammad Asif (back) arrive at the Pakistan High Commission.

Corrupt Way to Go(CWG 2010)

I just read Shobhaa De's take on the CWG controversy. I have to say, she can put things in the correct perspective in the most succinct and satirical manner.

The sheer scale of corruption is mind boggling. Lalu Yadav and Babu Lal Marandi must be green with envy, to see Mr Kalmadi and gang laughing all the way to the bank. And what's more, shamelessly on every other news channel, refusing to take moral responsibility and stepping down. They are probably looking at hosting the Asiad next, to fill up the coffers of those other distant relatives who got left out this time.

But what are Manmohan and Sonia doing? Looking the other way, or have they got cotton in their ears? Or have they, like Mr Mani Shankar Iyer, after stirring up the hornet's nest, decided to go the Gandhian way, "Bura mat dekho, Bura mat suno............?"

With cases of corruption, the likes of which have never been dreamt of, tumbling out of the woodwork every other day, it seems we are trying to showcase not our economic progress but our progress in promoting corruption in the most ingenuous of ways. Our phlegmatic Prime Minister is however, not weathered by ordinary storms. Despite a 'Leaky CWG stadia, Scourge of Naxalism, double digit inflation, Natural calamity in Leh, Kashmir valley on edge.......' our PM is invisible. Like they say in Hindi, "unke kaanon me joon tak nahi reng rahi." He is only seen in foreign capitals, meeting heads of other states or in Parliament, where his sleepy gaze is visible but his sing song, barely audible, hardly comprehensible voice is conspicuous by its absence.

Wake up Mr PM get a hold of things, lest History should blame you for showcasing our incompetence to the world.