Karachi Airport Attack: PakistanTasting Its Own Salt

On  8th of June 2014 Pakistan has experienced yet another terrorist attack on its airport in Karachi which left more than 37 people killed and many more injured. It is tragic and unfortunate that our neighboring country is suffering from inhuman act of terrorism time and again but who is to blame Pakistan government or its army or ISI or terrorists or or all the four. But who are the sufferers ? Only the people of Pakistan who are forced to lived under threat and tragedy. Heavily armed 12 terrorists  dressed as the air marshall entered the Karachi airport  from the back gate and started indiscriminate firing in the every direction killing and injuring many people at the airport .But they were challenged by theASF and other security staffs.The bloody fight continued for more than twelve hours and finally all terrorists were killed making Karachi airport once again ready for the operation.

During the operation heavy weapons were used from both the sides and it resulted into damaging a few aircrafts and handler area . Pakistani police and army claimed that these terrorists belong to Wazeristan area dominated by Taliban group opposed to Pakistan. According to press release of Taliban group this was done to take revenge for killing of Taliban commander in the drone attack.According to Taliban spoke person Shahidullah Shahid "We will continue such attacks.Today attack on ASF in Karachi is in response to the bombardment on innocent people in Tirah Valley and other tribal areas."

Pakistan has been declared as factory of terrorism and how many terrorists groups operating in the country is even not known to the government. Therefore what has happened in Karachi is surely unfortunate but it is not surprising. In the beginning the government promoted terrorism for anti India movement as well as to consolidate its position in Afghanistan. Out of too many terrorist groups Taliban and Laskar-e Taiba and Al Qeada are more dominant and powerful. The growth of Taliban was supported openly and covertly by Pakistan for its regional aspirations.Pakistan President Zia -ul-Haq better known as the grandfather of global Islamic Jihad directed General Akhtar Abdur Rahman to lead insurgency against USSR.

Taliban means students, is an islamic fundamentalist group formed against Mohd. Najibullah government in Afghanistan in 1992.It is inluenced by Deobandi fundamentalismand Mohd.Omar is its serving spirutual leader since 1994.In the beginning Taliban has only 30 fighters but within months 15000 students from Pakistani madrassa have joined Taliban.With able support of Pakistani government they were able to control 12out of 34 provinces and by 1997 it captured military base of Abdul Rashid Dostum.When Taliban formed government, Pakistan was the first country to give recognition and ISI and Pakistani army supported Taliban to enhance its dominance in this region.After its association with Al-Qeada in the post 9/11, Taliban was included in US hit list and it led to a military attack on Afghanistan and destroyed and dismantled Taliban government.

ISI and Pakistani army have a great desire to use Taliban for its anti Indian movement but many ledears of Taliban became anti Pakistani and are not supporting Pakistani closeness to US. Therefore, today Pakistan is tasting its own salt.As we know that Pakistani army is against peaceful relationship with India therefore when PM Nawaz Sharif decided to visit India then both army and ISI vehmently opposed this move.When he didnot cancelled his visit then first Indian Consulate in Herat was attacked and now this Karachi airport.All these attacks are bound to affect peace process but can we allow peace process to derail?

Indo China Relationship :A New Power Balance in Asia

Indo-China relationship has been a matter of great interest among the political thinkers and policy makers.It has many phases and many dimensions since the beginning of 1950.In the initial days both Nehru and Chinese leadership tried to build up a foreign policy based on the principles of Panchsheel under which both the countries will respect boundaries of each other and will cooperate for economic growth. Nehru even said Hini Chini Bhai Bhai.But this euphoria was broken very shortly in 1962 when China attacked on NEFA border and captuered about 43000 sq.miles of Indian territory.Since then Indo China relationship became personality based than the principle based ie a few persons or politicians have iniatiated to bring back the relationship on track but these steps were short lived and short sighted like visit of Atal Vihari Bajpai in 1978 and visit of Rajiv Gandhi in 1985.

Chinese leadership is highly unpredictable and highly unreliable in regards to its international relations. It has a close relationship withUSSR but it was broken as soon as tgere was a dispute on border.The same has happened with India when India opposed Chinese move to capture Tibbet and to utter surprise of Indian leadership China has claimed its ownership on Indian areas in NEFA.Therefore dealing with the dragon requires great pragmatism and sterness in policy matters. 

Modi government from its very beginning , is trying to create a new power balance in Asia because of its look east policy and preference given to neighbouring countries that includes SAARC members. .It is to be remembered that China was among the first few countries that welcomed Modi on his win in the general elections.It may be concluded that Modi has already visited China three times as CM an therefore he has friendly relationship with Chinese leaders but is it so simple. Modi love for China must be seen in the light of his growing alienation with US after denial of Visa to him.The Sangh Pariwar has taken this step of US very seriously and felt hurt and therefore prevailed upon Modi to keep a distance from US and welcome those countries which are defying US influence to invest in Gujrat.As Chinese investment flourished in Gujarat it further helped to develop smooth relationship between Modi and China. 

As seen clearly from Indian government cold attitude at the time of swearing in ceremony and reply to US at the last. Now US seems to be perturbed by this cold behavior of Indian leadership and change of US ambassador in India was the first few steps taken by the US administration to create warmth in Indo US relationship but still things are not attheir best and it gives sufficient space for China to fill the gap.China wa ts a government in India which is not pro US if not pro China.It will  provide China sufficient space for maneuverability in South Eastern Chinese sea where China is planning to build up an artificial island bigger than Deo garsia an  US military base.

Besides the military gains Chinese leadership is more interested in the economic gains from India which has a 120 crores consumers market with 100 billion dollar trade . Since India's gains from this trade is not big and  Chinese gains are huge therefore China will liketo see trade fflourishing. As a result the visit of Chinese Foreign Minister can  be seen in tgis light.Now question arises that can India go ahead with China at the cost of its relationship with US? India largely depends  for arms supply on US and its allies therefore for the strategic treaty to move on and  be strengthened  India  needs a fine balancing act in its foreign policy. 

AAP In The Crisis As Resignations Are on The Rise

In the post general elections the AAP is fighting a battle for its survival as most of its core committee members are deserting the party. There is a long list of leaders who resigned from the party and more importantly the resignations of Shazia Ilmi and Devender Yadav from the party and PAC has raised eyebrows of political thinkers.What has gone wrong with the AAP? The answer to this question is not simple as during the six months times many things have happened so fast that AAP was not able to match up with the pace of incidents.  Firstly AAP formed its government in Delhi then resigned and then decided to contest election on four hundred seats and then had to face Modi wave and many more have infact confused AAP to what to do and what not to do.No doubt there was and will be a great scope for the alternative politics in India but for a party claiming to occupy that position must have a clear vision and policies. It is this stage where AAP has failed to convinced the people that the new party is not for political gains and for occupying ministerial positions but for changing the corrupt system of governance. 

There are many inherent contradictions within the party. It is blamed that the party is being run by a coetrie of four people Mr.Kejriwal Mr.Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and Gopal Rai who take majority of decisions and others have no say in policy matters.This led to great dissstisfaction among top leaders who felt disillusioned with the party ideology and decisions. When it came to the power in Delhi  on high emotions and voters confidence , instead of ruling the State and providing the people a taste of new governance it made mess of the opportunity and Arvind Kejriwal resigned on an issue which hardly convinced the people. Even during 49days of its governance it failed to impress the people who have great faith in it and huge expectationsfrom it.It ooften bewilders political thinkers that what led to Arvind Kejriwal tocommit a political suicide . Perhaps a novice in politics he over estimated himself and took a disastrous decision expecting great performance at the national level. But it is often repeated in politics that history seldom repeats in the elections.Without party cadre and political base general elections can't be fought and can't be won.

The disastrous results of the general elections not only created acromineous relationship between the party leaders but also created ripples among its workers. Now for every leader of AAP there are many remours about ticket distribution. It is this theory of allegations that led to the resignation og Devender Yadav from PAC.According to the inner sources of AAP, there are even allegations of sale of tickets by a group of leaders. At the same time it is also alleged that the decision to fight election by Kejriwal from Banaras against Narender Modi has neglected other constituencies which resulted into big flop show of AAP.It not only annoyed many leaders but candidates who were fighting for their survival against Modi wave.

AAP performance in Delhi not only disheartened party leaders but also the party workers.In fact. AAP had a great expectation from Delhi as it was its birth place and source of political experiment but the way it was wiped out from Delhi had broken faith of the party workers. Then after another disputed decision was taken by Arvind Kejriwal in the defamation case of not taking bail .The party felt that it will get massive support but its protest flopped and it further complicated already agrievated situation. Shazia Ilmi left the party on the groud that there is no internal democracy and Devender Yadav left the party on the ground of one man show.

Finally AAP central leadership decided to arrest the worsening situation of the party and convened three days meeting of the PAC to discuss burning issues. As reported Devender Yadav withdrew his resignation.Anjali Damania has also decided to stay in the party .Let us hope that every thing goes fine for AAP.It is often said that our political system is do complexed that it does not allow any new idea to grow easily and as a result every political perty after a point of time gets the same color.It is to be seen that for how long AAP is able to save itself from this process.
Since no important leaders from the party is representing it in the Parliament therefore, the newly elected leaders from Punjab will have to be inducted into the central committees and this will shift the power balance against the old leaders.At the same times there are ekections in other States and AAP has to accordingly plan for a better show rather it will be difficult for the party to save its house.In other words restructuring of AAP is the need of hour and for that one man show will have to give place for joint consultation.

BADAUN RAPE INCIDENT: A Blot On UPGovernment

"There should be justice for the family of the two teenaged girls.Voilence against women is a human right issue,not a women issue. Voilence against women is preventable not inevitable. The Badaun incident highlights the danger the women in India are exposed due to lack of toilets ."This comment of UNO itself explains severity of incident of rape in Badaun and deplorable record of SP government in protecting women.It also raises many serious quesrions of our effectiveness in dealing with issues related to crime against women.

The act of rape is the most heneous crime against the mankind and the severity of the crime cannot be described in words.But in India during the past decade the rate of crime against the women has been on the rise.It all reflects social attitude towards women as well as the growing perversion among the people.It is generally said that the society that doesn't respects women is not going to be progressive and bound to pay for its aurthodox and feudal outlook and India is one of those countries.The rape of two teenaged girls in Badaun is a blot on the forehead of the UP government.What is shocking that after gangraping the two girls,they were hanged from a tree.UP is a unique state because since indeoendencce it is divided strictly on caste lines and under SP rule this tendency of caste division becomes glaring.Badaun where the gang rape took place is a suitable example where women of the lower caste are exposed to every types of sexual assaults.These two young girls are victims of the system that prevails in UP under SP rule.

Among a few states of India where crime against the women are alarmingly high is UP.During the last year there were 30000 cases against women out of which there are 1967 case of rape.An astonishing fact and a slap on the face of the state government.But for the shameless politicians of the ruling party it is an act of mistake that takes place during the young age.It is very easy to use such words for the others but what is more surprising that such statements are tolerated in India.

Now for Samajwadi Party rape incidents are haunting like a ghost and with the passing of each day a new incident of rape is reported in UP.The recent case of Badaun is not only a rape but it shows how the administration of UP has been divided on the caste line and to which extent it has been corrupted and politicized.The incident in which two young girls of OBC has been gang raped and then killed raises many questions which the Akhikesh government needs to answer.Why did police not act when the incident has been reported?What did the government do when the incident came to its knowledge? Why did police not act in accordance with the law?

Just imagine what will be the mental status of a father of two young girls running from pillor to the post for saving honor and life of his daughters and police is saying just wait you will get your daughters as soon as they are free.And humanity was torned into pieces.This incident has raised the political temperature of the state and has been criticized by all the other political parties.The Central Government has sent its minister at the scene of crime and asked for a detailed report.

Even UNO has criticized increasing incidents of rape in India and especially raised question over Badaun.UNO has compared this incident with the abduction of girls by Boko Haram in Nigeria.It has happened for the first time that India had to face such a shameful situation.The NWC team visited under the leadership of Mrs.Mamta Sharma has enquired and investigated the crime and clearly pointed out the failure of state administration to curb increasing incidents of rape in the state.

                                        Picture of mother of raped girls

Now as if Badaun incident was not enough ,within the gap of two days four more incidents of rape have taken place at different places in UP.Nothing can be more shameful than this.Now as usual political leaders started visiting Badaun to show sympathy to the family but again it is a more serious question that can honour and life of the woman be compensated with Rs. five lakhs .But the father of the two girls put a slap on the face of the UP government by denying to accept state help.The state governnent delayed action inthis incident has further raised many eye browse.What is more shocking that the state government has tried to cover up the incident.The police officials involved in this case are not charged with gang rape,this clearly indicates attitude of the SP governnent.

100 Days Agenda Of Modi Government

Modi government,like its predecessor,has also set a hundred days agenda to get the things rollingas well as to still confidence of people in the system of the governance.No doubt the present time is not very conducive for business and industrial sectors as market mood is subdued and depressive.As a result the first thing that the Modi government needs to do is to encourage the business class to think positive and work for the better future.Challenges before the government are huge and therefore it needs to be very careful while deciding its priorities and policies.

The first important step the government had taken is to issue certain guidelines for its ministersto not to appoint any of their relative as their staff and not to give any tender to their known.Modi wants that in the eyes of the people his government must not look like UPA government suffering from inaction and lost in policy paralysis.Therefore he set the ball moving from the very beginning.The new age of governance has certain parameters in which party and the government will work together for quick delivery of fruits of development and implementation of the government policies will not be delayed on account of indecision.

The ten poins agenda of the government includes
1. removal of hurdles for the economic development by quick and transparent clearance of the investment proposals.
2. Control of the inflation using supply chain.
3.Initiation of reforms in the infrastructure sector.
4.Time bound implementation of policy measures.
5.prioritize education,health,water and energy sectors.
6.Provisions of people oriented government and good governance.
7.Stability and consistency in policy matters.
8.Promotion of e-auctioning.
9.Building confidence of bureaucracy and empowering it.
10.Improvement in the inter ministerial coordination.

Every Minister as well as the minister has been given direction to prepare a list of innovative ideas to be implemented inthe first hundred days.The PM will evaluate performance of the each ministry after this period and give suitable directives to improve their performance.All these efforts are designed and directed towards improvement in performance of the government.He clearly indicated that what matters most is the outcome of the governance and people must feel that government must look functioning.

These hundred days functioning of the Modi government are very crucial because during the election time there was a mass hysteria of good days are ahead.Therefore both Modi and BJP are aware that mass support can last only for a brief period and unless and untill the good things are delivered people will be very critical of the new government.Among a few decisions that are going to enhance morale of the bureaucracy Iis direct contact with PM.Infact during the previous rule bureaucracy has become non functional and it has affected goverance.

The new government has also put great imphasis on transparency in its functioning to curb corruption.Restrictions on the appointment of relatives as private secretary or as any official will further curb corrupt practices.

Modi And His Cabinate:Men Are On The Mission

On Monday 26th May 2014 ,the world will witness a historical oath taking ceremony of Narender Modi and his cabinet at six pm in the front lawn of the President House.It will mark a beginning of of the tenure of a common man as the PM of India and on the background of grandeur of President House ,India will witness rise of Sun of Indian politics in the west(normally the Sun rises in the east).As till now it has been deliberated in lengthand breath that the Modi's cabinet will be small but full of men on mission.On the decorated occasion we will witness arrival of a few new faces to provide energy and dynamism to the process of government.

 Core committee of the Modi Cabinet will constitute Modi as PM,Rajnath Singh as Home Minister,Arun Jaitely as Finance and Defence Ministetand finally Sushma Swaraj  the Foreign Minister.This team is not only dynamic but also very experienced as a result wonderful things are expected.

After that other Ministers include Nitin Gadkari, Shada Shiv Gawda ,Ram Vilas Paswan,Gopi Nath Munde, Kalraj Mishra,Uma Bharati,Dr.Harsh Vardhan, Maneks Gandhi,Dharmendra Pradhan,Anant Kumar,Smriti Irani,Najma Heptullah,Nirmala Sitaraman ,Ravi Shankar Prasad,Prakash Javarekar,Radha Mohan Singh,Harsimrat Kaur,Rao Indrjeet Singh,Kishan Pal Gujjar,Vishnu Dev,Narender Singh Tomar and a few others who will carry out the agenda of the Modi government.

As Modi shifts to 7,RCR today at around ten pm it will be a shift of M to M ie Manmohan to Modi but it is magical and majestic change.It signals the end of an era of policy paralysis to performance. Now the world today experienced a spectacular show of democracy and power of the people at President House at the time of oath taking ceremony.When the Sun was setting ,India was rising among Asian nations as a nation ready to take care of their interest and providing them confidence that the new age has arrived where growth will be the agenda.In the presence of several heads of the States and a large number of distinguished personalities Modi and his men took oath and promised to serve the nation with a motive of sacrifice and change.

What separates the new government from the old is the feeling of performance and motivation among the ministers as no body is talking about what he or she has got but what he or she is supposed to perform.That is these forty five men are on a mission to serve the nation. At the same times Modi has done all types of social and political engineering as a result the States that are going for the elections are given more representation in the cabinet.

Modi And Changing Equations of Asian Politics

The victory of BJP in 2014 general elections has opened a new chapter in foreign relations of India and neighouring countries like China,Pakistan,Bangladesh,Sri Lanka,Afghanistan and Bhutan.Modi will like to have a peaceful environment in the Asian continent because his main agenda is economic growth and prosperity of the region. As a result Modi has invited all the heads of the SAARC to attend Oath Ceremony of the new government on 26th May 2014.Before going into deeper analysis of this step let us know what development has taken place.Most of the head of State have gladly accepted the invitationas they were waiting for the new beginning in the relationship between the SAARC members but as usually Pakistan got involved in diplomatic tantrums and trying to gain attention more than other members countries.It is a common perception that Pakistan has become a politically sick nation that is the mother land of all terrorist activities and a source of destablity. Even western countries have also declared Pakistan a rogue state .

The intention behind this move to invite all the leaders of neighouring countries to  give an idea to what the new government feels about the region and what it expects from these countries in futuristic development programs. Modi in his various interviews explained that he wants friendly relations with all the neighouring countries based on mutual respect without downsizing any country but at the same time India can't allow any country to play foul with its area. This new concept went well with all the countries except Pakistan because it is not ready to accept changed situation.It has to play foul political game therefore firstly the PM of Pakistan invited Modi even before he became PM of India.Question arises why was Nawaj Sharif in great hurry to do so ?Because Pakistan wanted to put the ball in India's court and make a hue and cry over the issues if Modi doesn't accept his invitation.Normally head of States congrats each other on the victory in the elections and then wait for government to form and start functioning before going for bilateral talks.But Pakistan is in a great hurry only to further complicate the issues.Further Iit has to be remembered that Indo Pak relationship has to be viewed in the light of inluence exerted by army,ISI,Terrorists outfits and political establishment.Generally army and ISI are deadly opposed to any talk because it affects their existence and role in Pakistan.As a result Pak PM has very little choice to make in any diplomatic matter with India

As expected Pakistan started delaying its decision of accepting the invitation,only to gain attention and to do bargaining even before the talk.India's new government has come to the power with a different mindset and determination to deal with Pakistan.There is no reply from the government but BJP spokeperson has rightly said that now ball is in Pakistan court and the leadership of that country has to take a decision what it feels about future relationship with India.Since 1971 after the defeat in war,Pakistan has decided to fight a shadow battle with India and during 1980's it promoted terrorism in Punjab.After that when India was able to control terrorism in Punjab, it selected Jammu&Kashmir.Time and again there cross border incursions and firing to provoke India.Therefore it was expected that Pakistan will firstly create furor and then will take a decision.

But one thing that Pakistan must know that Modi government is not going to bear tantrums and will not allow Pakistan to play foul.It may adopt tit for tat policy and that is the worrying factor.As a result terrorist organizations are pressurzing Mr.Sharif not to go India.We know that not only the terrorists organisation but army too of Pakistan is not interested in smoothening the relationship with India.Therefore this media circus is going on.India knows that there are six more heads of States are coming who deserve equal attention and respect as a result it decided to play down the delaying tactics and drawing media coverage.

Now question arises why did Modi decide to invite SAARC memers on his swearing ceremony?Modi has a vision of becoming statesman of Asia by bringing new changes in economic and political equation.He has a clear mindset about the relationship which will be build up on mutual respect and inclusive growth of the region.Now it is for Pakistan to decide whether it suits to it or nor and where Pakistan find itself in the greater design of Modi Statemanship.There have been opposition to the invitation of Sri Lankan President also but BJP has not given importance to such demands as our foreign policy can not be state oriented and at the appropriate plateform the issues of Tamilian population will be addressed.

Similarly,with Bangaladesh ,India needs a broader vision to short out its outstanding issues like border disputes harbouring terrorists activities.Some times stern decisions are also required and strong message are to be given to these countries. Minor issues like water sharing can be solved using technical data.Similarly with Nepal we need issue based talks.In fact India's Look East Policy requires cooperation of all the countries so that interests of Asian countries can be safeguarded.Pakistan may feel isolated if it is not ready to bend its back but in the long run it will have to accept the policy of Panchtantra and peaceful co existence.

Modi vision for Asia is grand as he feels that without Asian Unification like European ,this region development prospects are not very bright.According to Modi Asia has tremendous potential and therefore cooperation among Asian coutries will open uo new vista.It will not be exgeration to say that twenty first century belongs to Asia and key to the power will shift from US to Asia.So the role of SAARC becomes very prominent and it is the reason why Modi wants SAARC to play dominant role in the economic and political matter.Modi this way wants to reduce  US interference in Asia and here he sees great role for him as a Stateman.