Animals not be like humans but it doesn’t mean that they do not have right to share benefits of labour.

Looks like the Uttarakhand High Court is the biggest biosphere advocate there is and is laying down the rulebook for a compassionate balance of survival. For, after graduating rivers to “living entities”, the Court has now held that all animal life, on ground and in water, should have equal rights as human beings. In simple terms, it means that humans can no longer reference animals with or make them subservient to their needs. Instead, all creatures of the animal kingdom have as much of a right to a good life as humans do. With the exception of a New York court, which granted partial human rights to chimpanzees, such legal verdicts are rare considering that they question the theory of evolution itself, challenge the food-chain logic and leave a perplexing mess of defining what constitutes human-animal conflict.

Perhaps the Court’s intent was to make the point that as humans were on top of the food chain, only they could be appealed to for reason. While pets get a lot of human attention, other animals do end up getting mistreated and exploited as vagrants, milch and poultry resources or as transport carriers. And since they contribute to the human economy and gains, they should partake of shared benefits, is the logic. The Court’s ruling came in response to a petition seeking the vaccination of horses coming in from Nepal to prevent infectious diseases among native animals. For a State dependent on a tourist economy that peddles horse and mule rides, economics demands that their health and fitness levels be top grade. While owners have to be conscientious about the animals’ diet and not overwork them, the Court has also provided for societies of prevention of cruelty to animals at the district level and local infirmaries on the lines of primary health centres. With “over-tourism” stretching the State’s resources, flora and fauna have been greatly affected and the ruling, more than the funny memes it has spawned, factors in these serious conditions. Fish in the upper reaches of the Ganga, near Alakananda and Rishikesh, was dwindling at one time due to human depredation till the Ganga cleanup happened with the Swachh campaign. At one point, the elephant rides at Jaipur’s Amer Fort came under cloud because of the declining number of pachyderms; now, with a dedicated village where both owners and government are stakeholders and where elephants are taken care of according to rulebook, the rides are back. Perhaps we need laws for conscientious zoo-keeping and animal breeding too.  

Writer: Pioneer

Courtesy: The Pioneer

The media takes to opportunistic reporting by disparaging Modi whom it once projected as a demi-god and a cure for all ills. This is creating a cloud of delusion and confusion everywhere.

It is disheartening to watch heavily charged television debates these days. Overwhelming and tangible emotions against the current dispensation are evident in some circles. Media outlets appear to have honed their skills of selective reporting and lambasting the Narendra Modi Government.

A profound sense of anxiety seems to have enveloped a number of people who enthusiastically voted for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2014. However alarming this may sound, one has every reason to dispel biases and forcefully argue that the doomsday scenario, which is unfolding so vividly in the media, is a myth and a marvelous creation; let us give them that at least.

In his book, The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined, Steven Pinker strenuously argues that violence has declined rapidly in the world. This is true for the short-run and the long-run. The crux of his argument is that human beings are vital assets for commerce, and without them, monopolies would not thrive. So it is in everyone’s (nation states) best interest to promote peace and not propagate violence.

Ironically, our perception and impression of violence seems to have risen exponentially due to unmitigated rise in media and communication. Think about it. New mediums we choose to make our platforms communicate are a source of information which can be circulated widely in a matter of minutes.  This is what seems to happening in India today. Reports of lynching are getting frequent, aren’t they? And if an outsider were to follow the Indian media for a week, he would conclude that we come second after the IS. But this is definitely not the case and we are a peaceful and tolerant country.

It is certainly not hard for a well- funded media channel to engage in selective reporting. Unfortunately, the debate in India is focusing around personalities and not on issues that need attention.  The case of the couple who furnished wrong information for their passports and then played the victim card was astonishing. But the media was quick to reprimand the BJP for it. One can argue that we are a more receptive society today and the entire brouhaha is the product of misaligned interests.

After the skyrocketing inflation which marked the United Progressive Alliance-II (UPA-II) era, people were desperately seeking an alternative. Expectations were high, and the BJP has performed spectacularly in many domains.

Unfortunately, and much to the benefit of the Opposition, the media is quick to create an uproar by reporting stories which portray the Government in poor light. The same media which projected a demi-god image of Modi and portrayed him as the panacea for our ills, is now looking for opportunities to denigrate him. This is translating into a palpable sense of delusion at a certain level. No Government has ever or will ever be perfect for everyone. That is simply democracy.

Recent debates about how we live in times of an ‘Emergency’ are simply ludicrous.  Do many people in this country suffer from selective amnesia? Have we forgotten the Congress era and its policies which brought India to the precipice? It would be foolish to ignore the benefits of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, National Health Scheme and rural electrification.

The pace of construction of roads has increased rapidly under the current Government.  Even the road from Jolly Grant Airport, Dehradun, which passes through the forest got built when Prime Minister Narendra Modi went there for the International Yoga Day.

Debates today must focus on the efficacy of specific policies and not on the acute failure of some. At times, well-crafted policies fail to achieve desired objectives.

One of the most banal arguments one can hear is the image of Modi as someone who is adept at marketing himself and the Government. Well, is it wrong for a leader to disseminate the work done by his party? Is it a failure to market India? People can misrepresent facts but the truth is that in today’s world every country is like a commodity, and therefore, a wise statesman must be able to market his country well to convince multi-nationals to invest. Let this not be considered a case of policy mismanagement.

His critics also spearhead the argument that by marketing Yoga Day, Modi emboldened the saffron brigade and revived Hindutva. This is again a laughable attempt at undermining his image. There have been repeated attempts to patent some yoga asanas by the so-called gurus in America and Europe.

So, as the Prime Minister of India, if he is reviving an ancient Indian practice, what really is the harm done? The public discourse reached a nadir recently when prominent networks began to question the validity of the story concerning a ‘Rajiv Gandhi’ type incident. The security of the Prime Minister is sacrosanct and it is certainly not an issue which should be dealt with in such a loose manner.

Media channels began to question the veracity of the letter recovered by the Pune police from the house of Rona Wilson. The Congress was quick to call it an ‘old tactic’ that Modi employs. Perhaps many people who engaged in this mudslinging are not familiar with the level of planning, intelligence gathering and execution which the Special Protection Group (SPG) uses to protect the Prime Minister. In his book, India’s External Intelligence: Secrets of Research and Analysis Wing RAW, Major General VK Singh enlightens the reader as to how a global tender to procure a frequency-division multiple access (FDMA) 800 MHz Digital System by the SPG had to be cancelled because the company in question — Motorola — used algorithms which were used for other devices in other countries. The Prime Minister’s security could not be compromised and the deal was cancelled in November 2003.

Intelligence agencies rely on human intelligence (HUMINT) and signals intelligence (SIGNIT) to gather threats and information. For most agencies, including the Research and Analysis Wing of India (RAW), 80 percent of the gathering is done by employing electronic means.

So, when the SPG says that there is a perceptible threat to the Prime Minister’s life, let us not make a mockery out of it like every other issue. They are not relying on the sole letter to issue such a notice.

Domestic politics apart, the man has made India and its diaspora proud on the world stage. Sure, the intricacies of international relations require further deliberation. But he is trying to create a mark for India in the world.

India’s foreign policy bureaucracy was initially reluctant to adhere to policy changes being announced by Modi, but slowly and steadily a visible change is apparent in the power corridors of Delhi. Surely, there are limits to the power we can project due to financial constraints but with the Indian economy registering a robust growth rate, all that will change in the future.

So what is our duty as well-read citizens? It is important to navigate the prevalent discourse which is laced with biases and vested interests. I think we all need to be mindful of that.

When someone gets trolled on twitter — like Sushma Swaraj did recently in the passport case — do some background research before arriving at a conclusion. The state of television debates is only going to nosedive as the General Election approaches. So in all this chaos, one has to make the right choice so that the best candidate wins.

Writer: Ishaan Saxena

Courtesy: The Pioneer

China has been expanding its boundaries to fulfil its dream of becoming the world’s most powerful nation. But the picture is not rosy. Resentment among the best of China’s friends is growing

Since the new Emperor sat on the throne in Beijing in 2012, the Middle Kingdom has steadily extended its influence in the periphery of the Empire. The CPC proclaims today: “The great rejuvenation of Chinese nation is an unstoppable historical trend that won’t be diverted by the will of any individual country or person.” The CPC has a dream: For its 100 years in 2049, it wants China to be the most powerful nation in the world. But if one looks at the Empire’s neighbourhood, all is not rosy and resentment has been created everywhere, even amongst China’s best ‘friends’.

Take Pakistan, whose friendship is deeper than oceans and sweeter than honey; according to The Tribune, the border trade with China through Khunjerab Pass resumed last week after a three month gap.  The reason? A traders’ strike against a Web-Based One Customs system newly introduced at the Pakistan-Xinjiang border. The newspaper explained: “The decision to end the strike took place during a meeting held in Gilgit under the supervision of the Army. Traders had blocked the strategic Karakoram Highway which is a part of the multibillion dollar China Pakistan Economic Corridor project.” It is obvious that not everyone is delighted by the largesse of the all-weather sponsor, particularly  inhabitants of Gilgit-Baltistan and Baluchistan.

A similar phenomenon is happening elsewhere. Last month, The Washington Post published a long investigative piece on Sihanoukville, a new city of 90,000 inhabitants, which has been developed by China in Cambodia. The number of Chinese tourists doubled in a year to 120,000 in 2017, according to The Post: “Restaurants, banks, landlords, pawnshops, duty-free stores, supermarkets and hotels all display signs in Chinese. The Cambodian government has allowed extraordinary levels of Chinese investment…Thirty casinos have already been built, and 70 more are under construction.” The Blue Bay casino promotes itself as “one of the iconic projects of China’s One Belt, One Road initiative.” The smallest studios start at $143,000, while the most prized apartments cost more than $500,000. The Post continued: “With the exception of those working in the hotels and casinos, most Cambodians, whose average income is $1,100 a year, are seeing little benefit from this investment. And resentment is mounting.” It is the pet project of Hun Sen, the Cambodian Prime Minister, who has been ruling for the past 34 years, “his willingness to be embraced by China is most evident,” said the US newspaper.

As a result, serious tensions have appeared between the new landlords and the locals. As The Financial Times put it: “Cambodia is not alone in weighing the mixed blessings of Chinese investment, which elsewhere has been welcomed for its scale and relative lack of conditions attached. What is unusual about Sihanoukville’s transformation is that tension in the town has coalesced into a public backlash — unusual in a country where personal freedoms are fading.”

Vietnam, too, is caught between the generous Chinese investments and the nationalists’ demands to not bow to Beijing. The South China Morning Post reported: “Earlier this month…more than 1,000 workers went on strike at a Taiwanese shoe factory in Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam, blocking a highway.” The workers were singing: “We don’t want to give any of our land away to China, not even for one day.” They protested against their own Government’s plan to set up three new special economic zones where foreign companies (read China) would be granted decades-long leases. Later the protests swept across Vietnam.

The Hong Kong paper said: “Police shut down protests in urban centres, and at times clashed with demonstrators, including in Binh Thuan province near Ho Chi Minh City, where protesters burned police vehicles and defaced Government buildings.…Production stopped at multiple Chinese — and Taiwanese — owned factories across the south of the country.” Hundreds of demonstrators had gathered, holding up banners shouting: “I love my fatherland — don’t let China lease our land.”

Already last year, Forbes titled a report as  “Violent Protests Against Chinese ‘Colony’ In Sri Lanka Rage On.” In January 2017, as the first brick of a Southern Industrial Zone was laid in Hambantota, violent protests erupted in the new port. It left more than 10 people hospitalised and many others were sent to jail. According to an  economic newspaper: “A group of demonstrators led by Buddhist monks from nearby Amabalantota took to the streets as the opening ceremony of the industrial zone took place. However, these protesters were met by mobs of Government supporters, who reputedly attacked them with clubs and fists. The monk-led demonstrators fought back by throwing rocks. The police, meanwhile, found themselves in the middle of the fray, using water cannons and tear gas.”

The reason for the protests was the handing over of the port to the Chinese; “the perceived loss of autonomy to a foreign power as well as the potential land grab that could be necessary to build the 15,000-acre industrial zone.” One can wonder if Nepal has thought of this aspect of the Chinese ‘generosity’. Last month, Prime Minister KP Oli visited Beijing and told Xinhua that Nepal attached great value to its relationship with China “which has always respected its sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence”. During the visit, it was announced that China would build a railway connecting Tibet with Nepal. It was one of several bilateral deals signed during the Nepali Prime Minister’s visit. The rail link will connect the Tibetan city of Shigatse to Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital, via the border port of Kyirong. According to a Chinese official website, the two sides further signed 10 other agreements involving technology, transportation, infrastructure and political cooperation.

Nepal has also inked a $2.5 billion deal with China’s state-owned Gezhouba Group to build a hydropower facility in the west of the country. The China Daily quoted Li Keqiang, the Chinese Premier, saying: “China would also like to work with Nepal to build a ‘cross-Himalayan connectivity network’ through aviation, trading ports, highways and telecommunications.”

It sounds good, especially in Kathmandu,  but as I was finishing writing this piece, a Twitter message came in saying, “A Chinese rubber factory in Talgar, Kazakhstan, burned by locals today.” Talgar is located some 20 km from Almaty, the Kazakh capital. Here too resentment is growing. The moral of the story: There is no free meal and a nation like Nepal will sooner or later realise this, even if the Chinese dishes are appetising to start with; in fact the Indian food may be less tasty, but it definitively leaves less hangovers.

(The writer is an expert on India-China relations and an author)

Writer: Claude Arpi

Courtesy: The Pioneer

National Fertilisers Limited (NFL) has adopted many villages in India, and they are promoting the use of compost to enrich the soil. In addition to offering all products and services to farmers in India, NFL wants to protect the environment.

As maintaining soil health has become crucial for a sustainable green cover, the National Fertilisers Limited (NFL) is aggressively promoting the use of  compost in its adopted villages and in the process lending impetus to the Swachh Bharat campaign. Calling the product City Compost, its chairman and managing director Manoj Mishra says the company is offering the lowest price in the industry to give an opportunity to farmers for using it widely. Excerpts from an interview:

What is your plan to implement and promote use of City Compost?

NFL is offering the lowest prices in the industry for City Compost so that farmers at least try it out.  The company also undertook a three-year project under CSR at 10 adopted villages in Madhya Pradesh and Haryana to promote the benefits and use of City Compost. In addition, 43 villages were adopted in its marketing territory to demonstrate the benefits of its use. As a result, we sold around 2660 MT of compost in the year 2016-17 and 11695 MT of compost in the year 2017-18. However, we have set an ambitious target to sell around 20,000 MT of compost in 2018-19.

Can you share the highlights of financial year 2017-18?

The year 2017-18 was a record year for the third time in a row for NFL when the company set new records of production and sale of urea. The company recorded the best-ever urea production of 38.10 lakh MT with 118 per cent capacity utilisation, highest-ever sale of 43.09 lakh MT of fertilisers and highest ever turnover of Rs 8,928 crore. With these efforts, the company recorded a profit of  Rs 335 crore in 2017-18, the best in the last 15 years. This is despite keeping an amount of Rs 246 crore aside as provision for higher ceiling of Gratuity and Pay Revision of employees. Otherwise, the profit figure would have crossed a new high of Rs 500 crore. Neem-coated urea has become increasingly popular among the farmers because of its higher yield and anti-pest qualities. In compliance with the government’s policy, NFL is producing this variant of herbalist urea at all its plants.

How do you plan to make NFL more responsive to the needs of farmers?

We were primarily a urea manufacturing company. After adoption of “NFL Vision 2020-21”, we forayed into the marketing of other fertilisers like DAP, MoP, NPK, Bentonite sulphur, bio-fertilisers, city compost, seeds and agro-chemicals. We are offering bio-fertilisers in three strains and promoting their use by organising regular trainings to farmers. The company is also providing certified quality seeds to farmers through its own seed multiplication programme. We have opened 100 model retail outlets or Kisan Suvidha Kendras in our territory for providing all types of products and services to farmers at one place. The company is getting regular feedback about the demand of new products and is planning to add such products in its product line in the future.

What is your non-urea product bouquet?

NFL has steadily transformed from a single to a  multi-product company. Apart from fertilisers, the non-urea business of NFL has almost doubled in 2017-18 with import of 4.59 lakh MT of fertilisers (DAP, MoP, NPK). NFL has commissioned its own Bentonite Sulphur plant in Panipat in December, 2017, with an annual capacity of 25,000 MT. The seeds and agro-chemical business of company are also picking up. This non-urea segment has significantly helped NFL in increasing the profitability as the income from this segment increased to 15 per cent in 2017-18 from a mere one per cent in 2014-15.

What are your new plans for Direct Subsidy Benefit to farmers?

NFL has procured and deployed point-of-sale (PoS) machines at retailers’ points for implementation of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) in its territory. The company has trained retailers for use of these machines. NFL will work closely work with the Government in a similar manner when the next phase of DBT is implemented.

How far has the Ramagundam project progressed?

The Ramagundam joint venture project is progressing satisfactorily and is likely to start commercial production by the end of the financial year. The plant will have a capacity to produce 12.72 lakh MT urea per annum. Since NFL will be marketing Ramagundam urea under its brand name, the company has strengthened its marketing network in southern states. NFL is also providing its HR expertise to the JV by supplying experienced technical manpower in addition to recruitment and training of fresh manpower of RFCL.

Writer: MANOJ MISHRA

Courtesy: The Pioneer

With the assembly elections for three major states around the corner, the parties have initiated their poll sops, making larger than life promises. Will the nation figure out who is right for them?

Assembly elections for the three major States of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan scheduled for later this year to be followed by the General Election in early 2019 evoke very different reactions in the rulers and the ruled. The regular or garden variety of citizen is busy working hard to earn a living and will, perhaps, only apply her/his mind to issues shortly before exercising that one right s/he knows is the most powerful tool in a democracy — the right to vote. But political parties scrambling for that vote have a different take. Whether in the BJP or in the Congress, think-tanks have apparently done their research and are ready with policies which they feel will gain traction among the electorate. In a sad commentary on what our rulers think of us that sops top the list of both parties.

The Congress has apparently decided on the basis of a combination of empirical evidence and echo chamber generated data that unemployment rates, especially among the youth, are going to be a major issue in the forthcoming elections. Especially, as it believes the problem is one which the Narendra Modi Government has not been able to tackle effectively. Let us assume the Congress is right for the purpose of this argument. So, what is its solution? Unsurprisingly, it is the dole. The plan is that the state will provide a job guarantee — Back to the USSR! — to all educated youth in the 18-30 age bracket and if the Government fails to provide them a job commensurate with their qualifications, it will disburse a ‘respectable’ monthly allowance on the lines of provided in European countries, i.e. the dole. Scarily, the Congress policy planning unit is studying the MNREGA pattern before it finalises this scheme presumably in time for the forthcoming elections. The contours of this alternative employment-generation plan with a ‘youth focus’ are clear: Government as mai-baap will be back with a bang with the politics of patronage and rent-seeking built into the system. The cumulative effect of this approach, quite apart from the distortions such heavy-handed state intervention will introduce to the ability of the Indian economy to generate growth and employment in a free market paradigm, is likely to be disastrous. The Congress System which was dismantled by the 1991 reforms, is readying for a comeback by the looks of it. The ruling BJP, has its own demons to battle, however. Its go-to response, too, has been to guarantee crop prices for farmers, especially paddy, coarse grain and pulses cultivators at a cost to the exchequer of Rs Rs 15,000 crore. Now, nobody is arguing that an agricultural sector in deep crisis and farmer distress should not be addressed and the MSP of 1.5 times the input cost — though nobody can say how this cost will be calculated and/or can be uniform — promised by the Government in the Budget should certainly be paid. But how about simultaneously bringing the farm sector/agricultural income into the income tax net and spending the revenue thus accruing to the Government to at least part-compensate for the MSP spend? Naturally, sharecroppers and small landholders should be exempted just as there is an I-T exemption limit for others who earn very little. But those in a poll sop state of mind won’t be receptive to such suggestions.

Writer: The Pioneer

Courtesy: The Pioneer

The ruling party has been using surgical strikes to master the art of politicization, which prides itself on its commitment to the military and national security. By launching a new video of the same, the party is doing what it does best – politicize!

It is unfortunate that the already politicised issue of surgical strikes against terror camps in PoK was revived through a video clip, 20 months after the event. It triggered a tsunami of competitive nationalism among ‘loyal to Government’ TV channels, a bitter battle of words between the BJP and the Congress and sporadic criticism by military experts. It would have been better to let sleeping dogs lie. It will, however, be useful to recall two of the many epochal statements made by the BJP president Amit Shah following the surgical strikes. First, that it was the first time in 68 years that Indian troops crossed the LoC. Second, the party would take the issue of surgical strikes to the people.

The LoC has been crossed many times in the past covertly for similar raids. Our political class is severely deficient in military history, strategic thinking and political direction of operations and war. They rely on the generalist civil service, making it the blind leading the blind. Surgical strikes, and later Doklam, were used by the Government during the elections for political gains, particularly to showcase the strategic acumen of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

I was among the seven military veterans who were briefed by Army chief Dalbir Singh and DGMO Lt Gen Ranbir Singh on the morning after the surgical strikes. Those facts do not require repetition. The video clip is authentic but for a layman, difficult to decipher. It could have been taken out of any Sylvester Stallone movie. Even before going public, the DGMO displayed exceptional civility in informing his Pakistani counterpart immediately after the last commando was back home that the target of the strikes was not the Pakistan Army but terrorist launch pads. He added that there were no plans for further strikes. This was Incredible India. Pakistan helped by denying the strikes altogether and called the video clip ‘farcical’. Fortunately, this prevented retaliation and escalation for which India was unprepared. The rest is folklore.

This was not the first time a raid/raids were carried out covertly. Yes, it was the first time multiple and coordinated raids were executed across the LoC and the Army, instead of maintaining silence and secrecy, was asked by the Government to go public for the first time ever. According to the Army, the operation was in retribution for the terrorist attack at Uri. Contrary to claims then that the surgical strikes as also the demonetisation that followed would deter Pakistan’s cross-border terrorism, the spin now is that it was primarily a revenge attack. What happened in the past were silent raids — including exchanging body parts of military personnel. I have witnessed such mutual bestiality since 1957 on both sides of the PirPanjal range. The ground situation changed significantly after the rigged elections of 1987 when the seeds of insurgency were sown.

Today, even the military community is divided over the merits of releasing the video clip. The disclosure can be viewed as a force multiplier for the forthcoming Assembly Elections but anyone who questions the military utility of the strikes is considered anti-national. Further, it does little to cheer the military whose modernisation woes have been publicised by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence chaired by BJP military veteran, Maj Gen BC Khanduri. The Government’s latest charade is of the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft 2.0 (MMRCA) for the Indian Air Force.

About marketing the strikes, as pledged by Shah, full marks to him and Modi’s team for their superb advertising skills. The surgical strikes were first milked in Lucknow by former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar at public rallies in October-November 2016. I was with the Army in Central Command Lucknow and was, therefore, privy to Parrikar’s operations. Posters and hoardings blanketed Lucknow as never before. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, also in town, was clouded by BJP event managers. What was striking was that for the first time, posters and banners carried pictures of the DGMO, Lt Gen Singh flanked by Modi, Shah, and Parrikar. This depiction was gross politicisation of the Army and the General who is today the Northern Army Commander.

This was not all. A few days later, Modi arrived in Lucknow at a public felicitation at the grand Sheesh Mahal.

BJP and RSS leaders indulged in grandstanding, talking up Modi as the conqueror in chief and presenting him with the mace of conquest. This Army-reflected glory was lapped up by the BJP brass as Parrikar narrated stories of how he had injected in the Army the great Hanuman spirit. In every election since Uttar Pradesh, surgical strikes have found a mention, including in Karnataka where Modi’s scriptwriters got their history of the Kodava Generals Cariappa and Thimayya completely wrong. Once again, Modi is denigrating the Congress and politicising the Army for votes.
However modest, surgical strikes were morale boosters. For the common man, it meant India was not always going to turn the other cheek. In that sense, it lifted the morale of the people but it did nothing to stop Pakistan from fighting its proxy war even more violently. After the victory in the 1971 war, Indira Gandhi was deified as Durga and Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw as the key architect of victory. On June 27, a day after Modi tore into the Congress for the Emergency, was Manekshaw’s 10th death anniversary. Except for Meghna Gulzar, who is making a film on the iconic Manekshaw, no one spared a thought for him.

The BJP prides itself on its commitment to the military and national security. It considers OROP as its crowning glory. But having squeezed the Army for maximum political advantage, it has done little for modernisation, enhancing capacities, defence reforms, and status vis-à-vis civilian services. The strategic utility of a 2-km deep incursion is questionable. Last Saturday, a Citizens Conclave in New Delhi pledged to safeguard the Constitution, the judiciary, civil services and the armed forces. A military veteran noted that the armed forces and civil services are pandering to those in power. The reverse is also true. The political class must not forget that the armed forces are secular, apolitical and professional. Once-in-68 years military operations must be game-changers and never politicised. National interest must not become synonymous with winning elections.

(The writer, Ashok K Mehta, is a retired Major General of the Indian Army and founder member of the Defence Planning Staff, currently the revamped Integrated Defence Staff)

Writer: Ashok K Mehta

Courtesy: The Pioneer

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi is urging muslims to vote along religious lines. What does he have in mind?

Was it to boycott other community candidates or to get more Muslims into legislative chambers or was it to avenge the takeover of Nizam’s State by New Delhi in 1948? Because his grandfather, Abdul Rashid was the right-hand man of Kasim Razvi who headed the Nizam’s unofficial roughnecks called the Razakars.

My earlier impression was that educated Muslim leaders must think before they articulate in public. This view somewhat faded recently after I read a book, Pathway to Pakistan, by Chaudhry Khaliquzzaman, the leader who succeeded Muhammad Ali Jinnah as the president of the Muslim League. Despite being a staunch follower of Jinnah, Khaliquzzaman stayed back in India, to begin with, and headed the League.

Khaliquzzaman corresponded with Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, the mastermind of the Great Calcutta Killing in August 1946. On September 10, 1947, he wrote to Khaliquzzaman, strategizing for Muslims who were left behind in Hindustan. He recommended that they should continue to hold fast to the two-nation theory but at the same time have cordial relations with the Hindus.

They should form themselves into strong pockets or clusters which would enable them to survive better and be culturally benefited. He did not favour population transfer; although he confessed that he had not anticipated Bengal to be partitioned and be reduced to Muslims becoming a minority in West Bengal.

He strongly felt that their co-religionists had been let high and dry to shape their own destiny without any homeland. Neither Suhrawardy nor Khaliquzzaman betrayed any enthusiasm for the two-nation theory which was injurious to the left behind Muslims. Yet as Leaguers, they had to swear by it.

Nevertheless, both the leaders appeared earnest and dedicated to the welfare of the left behind Muslims, and yet both of them packed their bags long before and landed in Pakistan: Suhrawardy to become the Prime Minister and Khaliquzzaman to take over as the successor of Jinnah as party president.

Since Owaisi is ideologically a bird of the same feather, could he also be a comparable acrobat? Politically, Muslims vote for Muslims makes no sense in the Indian electoral system either at the Parliamentary or the Assembly; level except perhaps for the fact that it would enable his own party to field more candidates.

Finally, has Owaisi considered the reaction of non-Muslims to his proposal that Muslims should vote for Muslim candidates? Should Hindus, for example, vote for only Hindu candidates? What would then be the profiles of the legislatures? Does he not know that Jinnah and his colleagues had demanded an exchange of populations?

In 1946, Dr Rajendra Prasad published a book, India Divided, wherein he responded to Jinnah that those Muslims who could not go to Pakistan should reside in Hindustan as aliens on the strength of visas and Jinnah had promptly confirmed his agreement on a reciprocal basis. If accepted by the Nehru Government, what would have been the status of Owaisi? Was not the Partition a final settlement: Pakistan for Muslims and Hindustan for the rest?

(The writer is a well-known columnist and an author)

Writer: Prafull Goradia

Courtesy: The Pioneer

One of the grimmest chapters in the history of India, many events led to the Emergency. The least we can do is learn something from it.

A courageous judgement on electoral malpractice indulged in by the Prime Minister to win her Lok Sabha seat in the 1971 General Election was delivered on 12 June, 1975, by Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha of Allahabad High Court. It had the potential to reveal the inner strength of Indian democracy to the world. Everyone, except a few, experienced a sense of pride in the autonomy of the judiciary and the vision contained in the Constitution. But the sense of elation was short-lived. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi did not submit her resignation in the wake of her conviction, nor even even after humiliating and debilitating restrictions were imposed on her on 24 June by Justice Krishna Iyer of the Supreme Court. What followed next was a sordid saga of unashamed mutilation of the Constitutional provisions by a coterie around Indira Gandhi. The Emergency lasted for 21 months starting June 25, 1975, to March 21, 1977. India was converted into a state ruled by a couple of persons who could incarcerate anyone without caring for the rule of law.

Though apparently everyone was scared, uncertain and apprehensive, slowly stories of heroic action by young and old alike began to emerge. India had tasted democracy, internalised it; and even an illiterate Indian was aware of his/her rights for which the leaders of the freedom struggle had made every possible sacrifice. The Emergency was imposed at a time when traditional respect for political leaders had begun to fade; those in power had become self-centred and drifted away from the welfare of the people. For the informed Indian, the manner the Emergency was declared was shocking.

The Prime Minister was in such a terrible hurry that she had no time for even a formal Cabinet Meeting before going to the President. And what a supportive President, who was supposed to be the defender of the Constitution! He accepted the recommendation without blinking an eyelid. The Cabinet ‘met’ at 6 a.m., just in time to hear that the Emergency had been proclaimed. And it is said that the Cabinet consists of Ministers in which the Prime Minister is only the first amongst equals. One wonders why all or even one of them did not protest. They just meekly acquiesced.

All three major organs of democracy were under test by Indira Gandhi. The Legislature emerged in poor light. The judiciary could not emerge as the defender of law and the Constitution. Not much was expected from the bureaucracy as they always have a defence: We are not policy-makers but implementers. While Justice Sinha and also Justice Iyer kept the flag of the judiciary flying, there was too much of disappointment in store when a five-Judge Bench of the apex court examined what is known as the ADM Jabalpur case. In his brilliant analysis of the Emergency in the volume, Emergency: Indian Democracy’s Darkest Hour, veteran journalist A Surya Prakash writes: “The case was decided on 28 April 1978. Four Judges — AN Ray, MH Beg, YV Chandrachud and PN Bhagwati – held that no citizen had the right to move a writ of habeas corpus in light of the presidential order of 27 June 1975 or to challenge detention as illegal.” Of the three judges, Justice Beg went so far as to praise the ‘maternal’ attitude of the Government. He said: “We understand that the care and concern bestowed by the state authorities upon the welfare of the detenus, who were all well-fed and well-treated, is almost maternal. Even parents have to take appropriate preventive action against those children who threaten to burn down the house they live in.” This probably was the biggest joke inflicted on the people of India and their Constitutional rights and will be read with profound sadness even when other details about the dreaded Emergency are forgotten.

Here too, however, there was a ray of hope for the future. The fifth judge on the Bench, Justice HR Khanna, was the only one who dissented as he found no merit in the case as presented by the Government. This was courage personified in the days when every Indian, irrespective of his station in life, was unsafe under a tyrannical dispensation. Justice Sinha was the original hero. Justice Khanna brought hope to the masses, inspired the young in the judiciary and in the process sacrificed his right to become the CJI. When superseded, he did the most dignified thing: He tendered his resignation. His contribution in sustaining the dignity of the judiciary shall be remembered with respect and admiration.

On the people’s front, none should forget how an underground movement was organised by the young throughout India. Several leaders went underground, forgot their political differences and organised the younger lot successfully, as well as educated the masses in what was at stake if the mutilators of democracy were not thrown out of power. The media was fully gagged by Sanjay Gandhi and Vidya Charan Shukla, people had evolved their own systems to gather information. Who could forget the courage and sufferings of Ramnath Goenka and others who stood like rocks against attacks on media?

The manner in which the censors did their work during that period will remain a dreaded memory in the minds of many. The resistance to all this and the coterie behind it would not have been possible but for the cementing presence of JP. He was the trusted leader of the people, he became courage incarnate. A life lived in selfless service of the motherland, he shall continue to inspire young generations in times to come. He followed Gandhian ideals in letter and spirit. Unfortunately, those who learnt their politics at his feet were swept away by power and perks. They did not learn the lesson that the Emergency taught us. But lessons must be learnt. Indira Gandhi’s return to power cannot justify her imposition of the Emergency. India cannot ignore the darkest period of its democracy. It cannot forget how the offspring of the Prime Minister could become a power centre without accountability. Dynasties have debilitating, destructive tendencies. These have no place in dynamic democracies.

Some would not like any mention of the Emergency in textbooks. That indeed is an amazing view of history and the lessons it offers for future generations. Why should young Indians not know how the implications of suspension of fundamental rights, including the right to life, were interpreted by the then Attorney General Niren De before a Bench of the Supreme Court? Justice Khanna wrote in his autobiography that his colleagues — normally very vocal about human rights — were sitting tongue-tied listening to De. Justice Khanna asked him what the remedy was “If a police officer because of personal enmity killed another man?” The Attorney General’s response shall remain an eye-opener for the Indian judiciary: “There would be no judicial remedy in such a case so long the Emergency lasts”. Can anyone ignore, forget and not learn from it?

Before June 25, 1975, teachers throughout the country were articulating the principles of democracy and the salient features of the Constitution with a sense of pride. Students were rehearsing to participate in ‘mock Parliaments’. But Indira Gandhi’s coterie was rewriting the principles of democracy for the “person, family and the dynasty”. India will never allow a repeat.

Thousands were already in jail, most of them unaware of why they were there. Within days of the Emergency, people gathered that the country was being run by Sanjay Gandhi and a couple of people around him. Stories of citizens being forced to undergo sterilisation became the talk of the town. A sense of fear gripped practically every household. At a rough estimate, victims of the ‘Sanjay Sterilisation Effect’ could be more than 70 lakh men. Imagine what a devastating impact it would have created on the person himself, at least five immediate family members and a further 10-15 close relatives. Think of families in which young unmarried persons were also forcibly subjected to this cruelty. In addition to these victims, the number of persons detained during Emergency under MISA and the Defence of India Act reached a staggering 1,11,000. Officials were given instructions to complete the quota of arrests and sterilisations ‘anyhow’, and no one was in a state of mind not to obey. No Indian should suffer such ignominies in future and, hence, must know everything about the dark days of Emergency. The description of democracy in Indian textbooks would always remain deficient if the learner is not educated through the example of Emergency on how a functional democracy is to be sustained and strengthened against diabolical onslaughts.

(The writer, JS Rajput, is the Indian Representative on the Executive Board of UNESCO)

Humanity has come to a standstill, and even depreciating day by day. The most innocent witnesses of this horrible truth are the children of Syria. With thousands of kids being killed, the fate of the nation seems grimmer than ever.

Casually skimming through several news websites, I stopped at a news item about a young Syrian boy who had fallen unconscious after a bomb attack. When he woke up in a hospital, he had become blind. The boy must have been six or seven years old. The news also carried a video in which the boy was screaming in terror, as his father held him to his chest trying his best to console him.

Can you imagine the terror of waking up blind? Can you imagine this happening to an innocent child? The boy was almost my nephew’s age, whom I am very close to. I tried to flush the images out of my system. I had to. I was about to make a presentation. I am not a very emotionally demonstrative man. But that day when I went back home, I instinctively found myself sitting quietly in a secluded corner. And then I wept. Forlorn, I lay on my bed and closed my eyes for a nap. After about half an hour or so, I suddenly woke up, gasping. I could see my surroundings to assure myself that I had woken up from a bad dream. But that child, he woke up to complete darkness. An entire generation of Syrian children faces psychological damage, ever-increasing danger and death. These are terrible times for children. They are being raped, tortured and killed as if society, as we know it, has declared war against them — a mad war against the future of the human race. Being mutilated by mentally ill perverts, maimed by vicious dictators, slaughtered by those who want to “bring democracy” to faraway lands, and butchered by men who do so in the name of faith.

Each of these sadists may have different ideologies and views, but inherently, they all carry a perverse existentialist streak which is apocalyptic. It makes them believe that there is no tomorrow, just a lonesome today. Some want to gluttonise life as much as they can from this today, while others want to destroy it because they think there’s something better waiting for them in the hereafter. They feel threatened by children because they remind them of a future — a continuation of life and the human race. By killing and maiming children they think they are halting this continuity. Some are doing it because they are deranged (yet respectable, pious members of the sane society). Some are doing it because of those grand sounding “geopolitical” reasons, in which supposedly a devastating war would end a dictatorship and herald a utopian democracy. Some are doing it because they don’t want to let go of power. They are scared of a different future; a future without them at the helm. Some are doing it because they believe the Almighty has sanctioned them to go on killing sprees so that their places in paradise are confirmed. The day after I watched that tragic video, I saw on my Twitter timeline, a journalist colleague exhibiting patience and tact while trying to engage with a Twitter handle that claimed to exhibit deep love for Pakistan’s Armed Forces. He/she suggested that it was wrong of the Government and military of Pakistan to have gone to war with the extremists because they were not anti-Pakistan.

Emotionally ravaged by the video that I had seen — and still remembering stories about how during a suicide bombing at Lahore’s Moon Market some years ago, children holding their parents’ hands were simply blown to pieces — I wanted to snap at the person tweeting such convoluted claptrap. I wanted to tell that person that it was narratives such as these that not only tried to justify the tragic, gruesome demise of thousands of Pakistanis at the hands of extremists, but eventually led to the extremists attacking and slaughtering over 140 schoolchildren in Peshawar in December 2014. Had this ridiculously imprudent person who claimed to be a lover of Pakistani military already forgotten about that attack? Or about how the extremists played football with the heads of executed Pakistani soldiers?

In 2013, when a prominent extremist was killed in a US drone attack in North Waziristan, then interior minister Chaudhry Nisar actually held a Press conference condemning the attack. Opposition leader Imran Khan was not far behind, calling the attack “an attempt to derail peace talks between the state and the extremists.” Even though hundreds of children had already been killed in suicide bombings, and hundreds more had lost a parent, and, in some cases, both the parents, between 2004 and 2013, yet these two gentlemen and others who were regulars on rabid television talk shows, couldn’t stop themselves from gazing at their navels and brazenly concocting reasons in their bid to hold back the military from launching an all-out operation against extremist groups.

But Gen Raheel had had enough. This nation of mine only managed to get the spell of the apologists over it broken by the tragedy of 140-plus students mercilessly killed by extremists in Peshawar. Just imagine, it had to take a tragedy of this proportion for many of us to finally realise how all that convoluted and conspiratorial nonsense barefacedly spouted by the apologists was a sham. By the way, many still hold on to such hogwash. On the other end, tragic images of children suffering the most terrible effects of war in Syria and Yemen often get overshadowed by the drawing room and social media debates about “geopolitics”. As if these wars were board games played by men who wanted you to believe that they were the most rational, yet okay about a few thousand children being mutilated by bombs and starvation. Collateral damage. Happens in wars, you know.

When children die, so does humanity. Those killing them know this. And they are doing this because they are not human anymore. They justify their murderous lust through a plethora of convoluted political and theological ideologies. But nothing will stop history from remembering them as nothing more than madmen who wanted to prolong their psychotic presence by killing innocent children.

Writer:  Nadeem Paracha

Courtesy: The pioneer

No matter what is the outcome of Pakistan polls, it seems like the Army and Islamic clergy will be the ones calling the shots, with the only intention of friction against India.

As Pakistan’s eastern neighbour, New Delhi cannot close its eyes to political and social developments that take place in that country. Especially, when it is on the eve of a General Election precipitated by the apex court forcing the ouster of the then Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on charges of corruption with the publication of what is known as the Panama Papers which disclosed money stashed abroad by the high and the mighty.

July 25 is the deadline for the election. The interesting fact is that the leading party, Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) is facing a revolt from within. The giving of a ticket to Hamza Sharif, Nawaz Sharif’s nephew, has prompted a leading PML-N leader Zaeem Qadri to challenge his own party high command by threatening to contest as an Independent candidate.

Nawaz himself has been barred by the apex court verdict from contesting. His brother and till recently Punjab Governor is expected to take over if PML-N makes it to the top. The expectation is that if it gets a fresh electoral verdict in its favour, the party, thrice the ruling party and twice ousted by the Army, will be strengthened enough to assert legitimate civilian democratic power against interference by the Army in politics and could prevail over other contenders for power, the clerics.

The main electoral contest is between PML-N and former cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, from the Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). But Imran Khan has had his reputation besmirched by his ex-wife Reham Khan though their marriage lasted for just 10 months. Her book, which she claimed was not timed for the election, however saw excerpts leaked clandestinely. The book as a whole does not flatter Imran; and his opponents are using its contents to blacken his reputation.

But Imran ‘s third marriage early this year with Bushra Maneka is also in trouble, apparently. She is described as a “respected Pir”, a faith healer. Bushra, also known as “Pinky Pir”, was married for several decades and had five children, including two married daughters. She divorced her husband, a senior customs officer, to marry Imran. Now the two newlyweds are reported to be having problems and are heading for a separation. It should be remembered that, in this context, his much publicised first marriage to a British Jewish billionaire’s daughter lasted almost a decade but was called off after an exchange of several allegations.

Last year, Imran Khan organised a Parliament shutdown which was resolved only by the Army’s intervention. That shut down had the backing from militant clerics who are still in power in Pakistan politics. There is, in fact, an allegation that Imran’s party has a deep understanding with fundamentalist clerics.

The political outcome of all this could be that either the election will not take place or the Army might intervene as the same Supreme Court, which brought down Nawaz Sharif, is yet to give its finding on allegations against Imran Khan on “moral turpitude”. If Imran is also disqualified then the two main leaders will not be contesting and the elected party leader will be a nominee and thus lack power to withstand the two other power forces — the Army and the clerics. Either way, there is little hope for those who are looking forward to strong civilian rule and policy stability in the nuclear weapons equipped country with fundamentalist forces within Pakistan with links to similar militant fundamentalists in  Afghanistan dictating policies.

That brings us back to the need for a strong and stable Government to continue for five years.  Pakistan has now virtually switched from its alliance with the US and gone over to China which is giving it critical support, both politically and financially, like never before. This should be considered in the context that our southern neighbour Sri Lanka is facing evidence of its top politician and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa as having been financed in the General Election two years back by China’s investments in the port which has been leased out for 99 years to China along with 15,000 acres of adjoining land to develop an industrial park. Details of payments made to Rajapaksa through various Chinese channels have been made public. That Sri Lanka had been virtually drowned in a debt amounting to eight billion dollar to China was the reason Sri Lanka had to give in to Chinese demands for the strategic post.  Yet the country still owes some seven billion dollars even after deducting the estimated value of the port. This puts Sri Lanka under pressure of Chinese political demands. Many independent analysts have cautioned about how Sri Lanka would be affected by the deal and its problems would multiply.

For India, its western neighbour and the southern strategic island neighbour both coming under China’s influence cannot be good news. Pakistan, it must be remembered has been promised a Chinese investment of 50 billion dollars for the industrial corridor connecting Xinjiang on Karakoram north to Gwadar on the Arabian Sea-Indian Ocean in Pakistan.

That also involves Pakistan ceding part of its territory in Kashmir, which it holds by force and which belongs to India by virtue of entire Jammu & Kashmir being part of India, thereby entering into an illegal transaction at our cost. In the process, it poses a threat to our security. Now Sri Lanka also poses a similar threat through leasing out a strategic port along the sea lane near our coast. China played a part in getting the Seychelles to hum and haw on going through with the naval facility it was willing to provide India. It is to the great credit to the Indian Government that it was able to persuade Seychelles President Danny Faure to cancel a proposed deal with China and restore naval and maritime facilities to India. The way China is building up its “road and belt” surrounding India is a warning to us that Beijing’s repeated statements of working for peace and security in the region should be taken with a pinch of salt.

Irrespective of what happens in Pakistan during the forthcoming polls — three things are certain: The Army and the Islamic clergy will continue to call the shots in the strife-ridden country and its policy of bleeding India through a thousand cuts followed by successive regimes in Islamabad too will remain unchanged. And Pakistan will continue to be China’s partner and a co-conspirator against India.

(The writer,  Balbir Punj, is a political commentator and a former BJP Rajya Sabha MP)

Writer:  Balbir Punj

Courtesy: The Pioneer

Spells of trouble await for Germany. First, elimination from the FIFA World Cup, and then, the ultimatum issued to Chancellor Angela Merkel by a coalition partner to act decisively and put an end to any more accommodation of asylum seekers from West Asia and North Africa. Coalition partner from Bavaria is demanding that Germany regain control of its own national borders.

What the regional party from Bavaria — a long-term ally of the ruling Christian Democrats — is demanding of its national Government is not unique. Ever since Germany stunned the world by accommodating nearly a million refugees — mainly Muslims — from war-affected zones, the European Union has been rocked by political convulsions. Two of its foundational principles — the free movement of people within the EU and the protection of human rights—have come under sharp attack from national governments of member-states.

It was Hungary’s pugnacious Viktor Orban who raised the banner of revolt by refusing to accommodate any of the refugees/ asylum seekers within its national borders because he felt their cultural assumptions were alien to the core assumptions of the EU — ‘Christian’ or ‘western’ values. Hungary was followed by Poland and Slovakia. Now Italy —by no means a late entrant or one of those states that had been under Soviet tutelage — has joined in the resistance to immigration from non-EU countries. The United Kingdom, still awkwardly perched between being in and out of the EU, has, in any case, never really acquiesced in taking on a flood of asylum seekers.

Germany, not least because of its extremely troubled history in the 20th century, had always resisted the trend to accommodate exclusively national sentiments. The post-1945 consensus deemed that Germany would find a new role for itself by embracing an European ideal and devolving many aspects of national sovereignty to a multilateral, pan-European body. Consequently, despite grave domestic compulsions, Chancellor Merkel has not succumbed to the pressures from within Germany to take unilateral action that pitted national sovereignty against multilateralism. Even when her own Government was on the verge of collapse, she took the matter of asylum seekers to Brussels to ensure that whatever measures Germany took had the backing of the EU and didn’t violate the larger principle of free movement of EU citizens.

Merkel will, however, be accused of doing too little and too late. That charge is valid. The Chancellor’s real folly was to unilaterally announce that she would take in a million asylum seekers at one go in 2015. She was lavishly praised for her enlightened sense of accommodation by the world’s liberal fraternity but there was a huge price she has paid for her decision.

First, Merkel clearly miscalculated the extent of simmering resentment of ordinary Germans to the influx. Despite the sympathy for people whose lives had been destroyed by the conflicts triggered by fanatical politico-religious movements in Asia and Africa, many Germans wondered why it had become obligatory for them to take a disproportionate burden of a problem that, in any case, had not been created by Germany.

After the details of Hitler’s holocaust were fully grasped, Germans were sufficiently demoralised and guilt ridden to accept the loss of one-fifth of its territories. The country disavowed militarism completely and its Constitution made it impossible for any strong leader to emerge. However, the crisis of 2015 left Germans completely unmoved. They felt no responsibility for it and Merkel’s undeniable over-generosity left them unmoved. They resented the fact that they weren’t consulted. In effect, Merkel’s 2015 open door policy undermined the guilt consciousness that had dominated German consciousness since 1945. The feeling that Germany had more than done its fair share of atonement now became prevalent.

Secondly, the attempts to meet Germany’s present concerns over asylum seekers has eroded the country’s touching faith in multilateralism and the lofty ideals of the EU. Although Merkel still preferred to take the matter to Brussels rather than initiate national action, there is a growing realisation that Germany cannot be the only guys playing by the rules. The Government in Budapest may appear abrasive to the editorial classes but there is no question that Orban’s stubborn refusal to extend hospitality to asylum seekers enjoys widespread support within Germany. The EU too appears to have grudgingly recognised this too. Hence its recent decision that gives national governments scope for autonomous action. What this means is that the Franco-German moves towards a deeper EU that will, in time, evolve a common foreign policy and even have a common EU military, has suffered a setback.

Predictably, the strains in the EU and within Germany as a result of the asylum seekers problem will be welcomed by Russia’s Vladimir Putin. The Russian leader may even find comfort with the growing strains between the EU and US over tariffs and contributions to NATO. That, however, is an incidental consequence. What is probably more consequential is that events may be propelling Germany and France to take a more active role in promoting European interests in an age of nationalism. Will that create opportunities for China? Or will European countries now acknowledge that China’s economic expansion also has a definite political sub-text.

A Great Game is also being played out in Europe. It offers India some new openings, if only we are far-sighted enough to realise what these are and move accordingly.

Writer: Swapan Dasgupta

Courtesy: The Pioneer