Sowing Seeds of Discontent in Success?

In May 2009, I had written a piece appreciating the coordinated approach the military and the civil administration had taken in Sri Lanka to tackle the menace of the LTTE.
I thought the manner in which the grand defeat of the LTTE was orchestrated was an ideal example for the Indian establishment, which is why I had titled the blog post as "The Fall of the Tiger - A Lesson for India".
But the way events have played out in Sri Lanka only go on to show that if the success is not managed, seeds of discontent leading to a potential disaster could be immediately sown.
The squabbles between former General of the Sri Lankan Army, Sarath Fonseka and the president, Mahinda Rajapaksa only show that success is not easy to manage, it's certainly more difficult than managing in a crisis.

It's all too easy to stand together in times of crisis. That's when you can see doomsday right in front of your eyes. It becomes a fight of survival, an existential fight. And you can't make it without standing together. You need each other to survive.

But success changes everything. Existence is no longer threatened. And egos take over reason. It becomes every man to himself, at least in the mind. Each individual sets out to achieve what his ego dictates.

That's precisely what happened in Sri Lanka.

Rajapaksa's actions against Fonseka were certainly a clear indication of an ingrained insecurity that successful politicians have. Rajapaksa is not the only politician like that.

The greatest political leaders have deeply ingrained insecurities. At home, the hugely successful Indira Gandhi was so terrified of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw following the 1971 war that she confronted the Field Marshal and asked him if he was plotting a coup. The witty Field Marshal replied "Don't you think I would be a worthy replacement for you, Madam Prime Minister? You have a long nose. So have I. But I don't poke my nose into other people's affairs."
The Russian case of Mikhail Khodorkovsky is another example, where Vladmir Putin's insecurities were at work.

I am not trying to suggest that Sarath Fonseka's conduct following his resignation from the army is not questionable. He had been spilling beans on what transpired in the military campaign against the LTTE. That's not what is expected of a seasoned general.

The real risk for Sri Lanka would come in now. How Rajapaksa deals with Fonseka and other opponents will determine the destiny of Sri Lanka. If he's not careful, he may end up sowing seeds of discontent leading to another round of unrest, which is highly undesirable from India's perspective.

Respect the Soldier

One news report I heard last night is haunting me.

NDTV carried a story last night saying that there was a great deal of frustration in the armed forces on the huge disparity between the salaries of the armed forces and other wings of the government. Though the recent Pay Commission has tried to increase the payout to the armed forces, it is still peanuts. Fortunately the service chiefs recognised this and rejected the revised pay-package to bargain for more.

And if you pay peanuts, you will get monkeys. But national security is no monkey business.

It's sad, really really sad. These brave men lay down their lives defending our borders for us and yet we fail to give them sufficient dignity and respect. The corrupt bureaucrat takes a fatter paycheck than the average army officer. Is this how the honesty and bravery of our soldiers is rewarded? This is probably why the armed forces are not able to attract talent.

Today we dream of becoming a world power, a superpower - of having an economic might, exceeding some G8 countries. But we forget that economic power and military might go hand in hand. To defend our economic interests, we need a blue water navy patrolling the key shipping lanes. We need a air force that allows us to reach the Atlantic, Europe, Australia-Pacific, Africa, etc. And we need a land force to guard against our deceptive northern neighbour, whom we should not trust at any cost.

To do all this we need strategic minds -- minds that can plan not for today but for the next 30-50 years -- minds that can craft a viable military doctrine. In short, we need sharp minds. And we need a lot more officers and soldiers who are able to implement the crafted military doctrine. But today, why would any sane mind join the armed forces today, when a peer who is not so bright can join, say a BPO, earn more and enjoy life?

It's sad that the government is living in a state of denial -- it is shocking. They did show some foresight in enabling acquisition of the required military hardware -- Phalcon AWACS, IL78 mid-air refuellers that enable our Sukhoi Su30s to reach Alaska without halts, but that is simply not enough. But where is the talent to run these machines?

Respect is not only about the pay-package. It is also about honour. Not very long ago, we fought the Kargil war with Pakistan, came out victorious, thanks to some heroes, some of whom laid down their lives. These brave men were honoured - Vir Chakras, Ashok Chakras, etc. But their families did face a lot of harassment at the hands of greedy bureaucrats when it came to handing out the compensation -- this was well documented in the media and cinema also highlighted this issue. Is this how we respect our soldier? We all remember how the government recently Field Marshall Sam Maneckshaw "honoured" in death.

Dr. Manmohan Singh had the foresight to craft the nuclear deal for energy security. Dr. Singh yesterday mentioned that India loves Bush, for whatever he did for India.

But Dr. Singh, India also loves their brave soldiers and so you better show some respect to them. Don't test the soldier's patience anymore.

Is India truly "Independent"?

This day, the 15th of August, as we celebrate our 62nd Independence Day, I am sitting here in the capital of our country, thinking about what independence means to us individually as citizens and collectively as a nation.
What does independence mean to us as citizens? Was it merely the transition of power that happened in 1947, from British rule to self rule? Is it a mere relic, a casual remembrance of an event that happened 61 years back, or crudely put, a mere public holiday to relax? Or is it freedom of thought and expression and freedom from fear? Does it mean economic empowerment? Or does it mean social development?
As a citizen of this nation, independence for me today means an independence from fear -- are we free from fear? Do I know I will be alive tomorrow? The answer is a big NO. We are not free. We as a nation are being held hostage to fear coming from various ideological movements that threaten the fabric of the very freedom our forefathers fought for. Successive spineless rulers are solely responsible for our "slavery" to fear. They have have made India a "soft state", a place where any Tom, Dick or Harry has been virtually granted a right to violent expression at the expense of an ordinary Indian. The encouragement of religious politics and "minorityism" at the cost of national interest has been the root cause of this. That is why Indian citizens were subjected to the humiliation at Kandahar, of numerous terror attacks, of countless release of militants to free influential hostages and of a systemic failure to curb naxalism.
Gandhi said that we are a peace-loving nation and that an eye for an eye will make the whole world blind. In today's scenario, we can't just give ourselves away that we lose both our eyes. Wouldn't it be better that if one of our eyes is taken away, we blind the enemy in one eye, so that he doesn't return for our second eye? We have had enough of this idealism for 61 years of our so called freedom. Gandhi was certainly a great man, we all respect him, but I am sorry, we Indians can't give our "eyes" away. So our ruling class better take notice.
Nothing can happen in country where heroes are not respected and honored. We continue to pay homage to sons of dynasties, who did little for the country besides organised extortion. But we forget the real heroes who die guarding our borders in appalling conditions. We forget heroes like Field Marshall Sam Maneckshaw, who gave India one of its finest victories in military history. Nothing can become of a nation that forgets its heroes.
Nothing can happen in a country where traitors who supported the Chinese aggression against our country today hold positions of power in Parliament, hold the country to ransom and brazenly take positions detrimental to the nation.
Nothing can happen in a country where I cannot travel to certain places, cannot have ownership rights in certain states and where locals are displaced on the basis of religion, with the state being a mute spectator? We had for decades taken a moral high ground on issues like the South African Apartheid in global fora, yet we shamelessly practise a Apartheid against our own people within our own land.
Today we take pride in a booming economy. We take pride in being recognised as an economic might in the world. Indeed, India has changed. India has seen economic freedom in the last two decades. There have been multiplier effects on job creation and opportunities as a result of outsourcing of manufacturing, technology and services as result of which the common citizen does feel economically empowered.
But economic freedom and freedom from fear go hand in hand. One can never be really free without freedom from fear.
So while we "celebrate" the anniversary of an event that happened 61 years ago, we Indians still yearn for our TRUE INDEPENDENCE from fear.