We pay for the rising decibels not just with our health but also with the loss of urban wildlife. Sound pollution is preventable
The one thing that strikes people the most when they visit Western nations is the systematic functioning of the civic infrastructure that is clean and not overburdened with a huge population. Another aspect in which these countries score over developing nations is the efficiency, punctuality and superior connectivity of public transit. Besides all these factors, one particular feature that becomes instantly evident on stepping out into public spaces is the relative reduction in ambient noises as compared to any of the Indian metropolises.
This relative calm is even more overwhelming as you proceed towards the city’s outskirts. This low level of urban noise is not incidental to these nations; they worked for it and got it through strict regulations and even stricter execution of the same. These efforts are increasingly helping these nations to co-exist in harmony with nature.
Urban tranquillity in the case of India is virtually unheard of and so is noise control. Multiple sources of noise exist in the form of vehicular, commercial and industrial activities, noisy weddings and religious functions — the list is endless. These discordant noises result in a nightmarish situation where neither can one take a deep breath freely thanks to the ambient air pollution in megapolises, nor can one keep the nerves calm amid the cacophony. However, the focus has always been on air pollution because it is visible and, therefore, immediately concerning. But noise pollution is not treated with the same seriousness, even though it is just as harmful as air pollution.
In simple terms, noise or sound pollution is the generation of sound waves that harm humans and animals. If one starts observing how much of unwanted noises one is subjected to in a day, it will be a shocking discovery.
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has specified that noise levels in residential areas cannot be more than 55 decibels during the day and 45 at night. However, these levels are breaching 100 decibels at most locations across Delhi-NCR. These conditions exist not because we have inept laws but because we have a lax implementation regime. Implementation of existent laws has always been the Achilles’ heel as we have a great set of rules and regulations but they are mostly circumvented or “managed.”
The worst part of noise pollution in India is that it can easily be reined in and controlled, yet, it is allowed to proliferate. Be it loud weddings or religious processions or the carefree usage of diesel generators, there is virtually no control on volumes. This has severe health repercussions in the form of rising cognitive and hearing disabilities, stress and high blood pressure levels besides heart diseases and sleeping disorders. Owing to these conditions, we now have an urban fabric comprising sleep-deprived and unhealthy citizens, who are unable to lead a quality life which happens to be their fundamental right as well.
Besides, due to these loud environs in urban India, nature, too, has been slowly withdrawing from our lives. Many bird species, such as the common house sparrow, have already become absent in cities thanks to the worsening air quality and rising decibel levels. Additionally, the exponentially increasing numbers of cell phone towers have made matters worse. The rising radiation levels, which are increasing the disease burden of humans, are exceedingly detrimental for urban wildlife. The fact that compared to a decade ago we don’t hear much of either bird calls or squirrels chattering in the trees, is a clear indication of how much the cityscape has changed.
Smart cities that are replete with the latest technology and infrastructure facilities are the dream of every citizen but this cannot come at the cost of the urban flora and fauna. The Indian Government must take a page out of Singapore’s urban development plan that is in sync with nature.
Singapore is one of the few city-States that had been able to balance lush green urban spaces full of teeming species of natural life forms with soaring skyscrapers. This model of co-existence can ensure that the very flora and fauna that is conserved and protected will, in turn, negate to some extent the impact of air and noise pollution.
Urban India must also strive to bring down noise pollution actively, re-introduce itself to nature, be one with it and bring back the rhythm of life as it is meant to be.
(Writer: Kota Sriraj; Courtesy: The Pioneer)
We need to take our animal resources seriously and utilise them efficiently for economic and social uplift in rural areas
India is endowed with huge genetic resources and is one of the 17 megadiversity nations of the world. Human-animal interactions date back to early civilisations and are not restricted to economic reasons. They have deeply impacted the cultural, spiritual and religious life of people. These genetic resources have played a critical role in our agrarian economy. In domesticated livestock and birds, the documented breeds are 30 of cattle, 10 of buffalo, 40 of sheep, 20 of goat, 18 of poultry, nine of camel and six of the horse.
World over, scientists have been seeking animal germplasm in their quest to utilise their genome for medicine and food, to feed growing populations and shore up the dwindling genetic base due to deforestation and climate change. There have been cases in India and Nepal when scientists from Western countries on a tourist visa were found trapping beetles.
We need to take our animal resources seriously and utilise them efficiently for economic and social uplift in rural areas. Traditionally, livestock had been the backbone of small farmers for nutrition, farm work as well as other activities. A whopping 21 million people are dependent on livestock for their livelihood and this sector contributes 4.11 per cent to the country’s GDP. The share of animal products in agriculture is more than 25 per cent. Though the country is the largest producer of milk in the world, its production from indigenous cows is minimal. The world is tapping the genome of Indian cows for the healthy A2 milk as the A1 milk produced by foreign breeds like Holstein Friesian and Jersey is not very healthy because it contains Beta-Casein which causes hypertension, heart ailments and diabetes.
These foreign breeds are also prone to infections and need big investments for better milk output. In our quest to increase cow milk production in the past, we had indiscriminately used foreign breeds and neglected Indian cows. There was not much emphasis on research targetted at improving milk production from local breeds. However, countries like Brazil, Uruguay and New Zealand realised the genetic potential of Indian cows early on and have now emerged as world leaders in the production of A2 milk. The Giri cow and other Indian breeds in Brazil won the prize for the highest milk production in a 2014 contest. This germplasm was supplied by India to Brazil during the early and middle part of the last century.
Though the Indian Government has now taken steps for promotion indigenous cow breeds, the attempts are half-hearted at best and lack focus on integrated planning for the future. The Department of Animal Husbandry must focus on converting hybrid cows into fully domestic breeds in the next 15 years. India should initiate bilateral arrangements with Brazil and other countries to get the superior high-yielding Indian cow gene pool back to improve the productivity of bovines back home. Similarly, we should have a breeding programme with South Asian countries which are home to Indian breeds. For instance, both Pakistan and India have breeding tracks for Red Sindhi, Sahiwal and Tharparkar cows and joint programmes can be launched for enhancing milk production from these breeds and their conservation. This programme should be launched for buffaloes simultaneously as they also produce A2 milk.
Thankfully, now in India, people are working towards making world-class products from cow dung and urine and exporting them.There is also a foundation that is proving that cows can be economically reared for their entire life and is working with more than 75,000 Indian cows in 25 shelters. It offered help to Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand but is yet to get a response from the States.
There should be a plan for economic utilisation of cows when they become unfit to yield milk. At present they are let loose and stray cattle foraging on the streets and blocking traffic are a menace apart from being a big problem for Government agencies. It is well-known that the desi cow’s urine and dung have great cultural, economic and medicinal value. This has been proved by several scientific studies. The Animal Welfare Board and the Kamdhenu Commission should be assigned the task of preparing projects for this, so that cows are treated well once their productive years are over. An integrated farmer-centric decentralised programme must be initiated for all other animals like horses, ducks, camels, donkeys, goats, sheep, pigs, quail and so on, with the sole aim to energise the earning potential of farmers. This will require sufficient funds, manpower and technological upgradation through research.
Stray dogs are yet another neglected species in the country. With people preferring foreign breeds, the local dogs are left to roam the streets and scavenge. There should be a complete ban on breeding pedigreed dogs and people should be encouraged to adopt strays. The management of animal wealth should get top priority if we have to bring prosperity in rural and tribal areas.
(Writer: VK Bahuguna; Courtesy: The Pioneer)
If Gulf oil facilities continue to be targetted, the Asian century is unlikely to materialise as this oil, which fuels the engines of growth, is transported eastwards via the Indian Ocean
The present time is colloquially being called the Asian Century for all the right reasons. If the 19th century was Britain’s Imperial century and the 20th was American, then the 21st century is apparently becoming the Asian century. By 2020, the economic growth (in purchasing power parity terms) of Asian giants put together will surpass the rest of the world and that is likely to be the future trend as well. The Indian Ocean Region (IOR) has played and continues to play a vital role in boosting this Asian prosperity by being the “road of development in the 21st century.”
The major source of development for most of the Asian countries is oil, the supply of which comes from West Asia—the Gulf region—while the major consumers, India, Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, South Korea and Japan lie to the East.
Of late, some incidents impacting oil security have exposed the vulnerability of Asian powers to events occurring in the Gulf. The mine attack, which blew off the hull of a Japanese oil tanker at a UAE port and 30 Indian sailors being detained by Iran, who were on board a British tanker flying a Panama flag, are cases in point.
However, of even greater concern is the attack which took place on Saudi oil facilities on September 14, which has not received the attention it deserves. If oil facilities continue to be targetted in the Gulf, the Asian century is unlikely to materialise any time soon as this oil, which fuels the engines of Asian growth, is transported eastwards from the Gulf via the Indian Ocean.
As a share of oil imports, the Gulf region accounted for 44 per cent for China, 63.6 per cent for India, 86 per cent for Japan and 77.1 per cent for South Korea, according to 2017 data compiled by the Observatory of Economic Complexity. The security of the production centres as well as the oil’s transportation across the sea lanes are thus vital for Asia and any disruption could put a huge question mark on the emergence of the 21st century as the Asian century. Oil thus is the most important governing factor of geo-politics these days and owing to its criticality, the word “ge-oil-itics” needs to be brought into common strategic parlance.
The first-of-its-kind stealthy air strike on Saudi oil facilities took place using drones and cruise missiles. The attack was claimed by the Houthi rebels in Yemen but evidently, there were other powers behind it, using the Houthis as a front. The undetected strike, carried out with high precision left people speechless. When the Houthi rebels took responsibility for it, people termed it a “black swan” event.
However, if one studies the consistency in the effort, one will find that such strikes were being practised since January 2018 and it was the 19th attempt, which was successful beyond imagination. So this was a “grey rhino” and not a “black swan” event. And if it could happen to one of the most heavily-guarded facilities in the world, then India also needs to pay attention to the security of its own refineries and other coastal strategic assets, given the threat of State-sponsored terrorism in the vicinity.
Any strike on oil facilities will push up the price of oil which in turn will adversely impact India’s economy and dent GDP growth rate. For example, according to Nomura, an increase in oil prices by $10 per barrel will lead to a drop in India’s GDP by 0.2 per cent points. This would place in jeopardy, the nation’s dream of becoming a $5 trillion economy by 2024.
Safety of the Gulf: At present, the US has a strong naval presence in the Gulf (and in IOR as well) and has traditionally safeguarded its energy security, including Sea Lanes of Communication (SLOC). It has ensured the same for its allies or strategic partners. However, its relative energy dependence on the countries of the region is diminishing with the exploitation of shale oil and gas at the home front and it is less dependent on oil from the Gulf.
The US still continues to provide a security umbrella over the region for the sake of oil but in the last few years, discussions with the Trump administration have brought up the issue of India and China being free riders banking upon American naval assets to protect their access to energy supplies from the Gulf without making any significant contribution themselves. China has evidently increased its naval presence in the IOR and is continuing to do so because Xi Jinping has understood that in the long-run, “ge-oil-itics” will control geo-politics.
Lessons for India: This attack by drones and cruise missiles has brought out the lethality and accuracy of air power, while defeating another pillar of airpower which is air-defence (detection, identification, timely interception and destruction). It also shows that non-State or State-sponsored non-State actors have acquired sophisticated systems that can impact the global economy and cause collateral damage of an unprecedented nature. The threat in the Indian context is real with Pakistan sponsored non-State actors looking for opportunities to cause collateral damage within Kashmir and across India.
Attack drones can target high-value national leaders, critical infrastructure, power grids, oil refineries, military installations and population centres. Drones are highly versatile and can deliver explosives, biological, chemical agents and also act as the eyes and ears of the terrorists.
This is not mere speculation, because recently drones from the Pakistani side dropped weapons in Punjab. A large number of AK-47 assault rifles and grenades dropped in Amritsar by heavy-lifting drones that came from across the border were for terrorists to create trouble in Jammu & Kashmir. The drones carried out eight sorties in 10 days in September to drop the weapons, including satellite phones.
If one can see the similarities in the pattern of usage of drones by non-State actors against a State, it shall appear as the beginning of a larger plot against India. Indian security forces thus need to prepare to negate any such threats. This is a lesson which Indian policymakers, strategists and tacticians must learn fast and evaluate the country’s airpower preparedness for this kind of attack from land or maritime borders. The recent events in the Gulf, the unsettling situations in Iran, Iraq and the Saudi kingdom and an ever-increasing Chinese footprint are a wake-up call to India to review its role in the IOR with a reduced American presence. It is thus time to strengthen India’s defence and foreign policy for IOR while focussing on maritime security along with IOR countries. Defence interactions focussing on strengthening the air defence capability of the IOR countries, sharing the air picture for better awareness and joint exercises between Indian Air Force (IAF) and other air forces or air wings of the region will not only enhance the security of the IOR but also deter the elements wanting to disrupt the peaceful growth of the region.
India’s maritime borders are exposed from three sides and there are many high-value assets located long the Indian coastline.
Given the limited air power assets and constraints of the defence Budget, conventional and non-conventional aerial threats can only be tackled through a rejuvenated air-power philosophy focussed on better integration of naval and air force assets.
It would not only give the nation insurance of predicted economic rise but also give assurance to neighbouring IOR countries for mutual growth under a secured environment.
Security And Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR), which is India’s vision for Indian Ocean (Hind Mahasagar) can become vision MAHASAGAR (Mutual, Aggregate, Homogeneous and Assured Security And Growth for All in the Region) if India actively assumes the role of security-provider through invigorated diplomatic and defence engagements with IOR nations.
Is the World Anti-Doping Agency’s decision to ban its athletes from international competition justified?
Vladimir Putin is not a happy man. In fact, the Russian President is extremely angry. This because the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has decided to ban all athletes competing under the Russian flag for four years. This is an unprecedented punishment as the ban will cover all major competitions, including the Olympics and the football World Cup. In the case of the latter, even if Russia qualifies for the 2022 World Cup, the athletes will not be allowed to represent their nation. And while Russian athletes, who can prove that they did not submit to what WADA called a systematic State-sponsored doping regime, can represent themselves at global competitions, they cannot do so under the Russian tricolour. President Putin described this as proof of a global anti-Russian campaign. But was WADA justified? Yes, thanks to Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of the Moscow anti-doping laboratory, who called out how Russian spies were tampering with results and even managing to break open and reseal apparently “untamperable” urine sample bottles. So the case was strong. This systematic tampering has been going on for years and was apparently part of an attempt by the Russian authorities to paint the nation as a sporting superpower, much like it was done in the days of the Soviet Union. Some Western analysts say that the ban doesn’t go far enough with some athletes, who apparently gained from the doping regime but were never caught and were still able to compete, albeit under the Olympic flag. If the Russian team qualifies for the World Cup in Qatar, a workaround will be found. Incidentally, this ban does not apply to tournaments not classified as “major” like the Euro 2020 football championship, where the Russian city of St Petersburg will host some matches and the team has qualified.
All said and done, the sports world has to continue to crack down on drug cheats. The drugs that some athletes use are getting more and more advanced and is easy to hide. Moreover, in a technological arms race between drugs and detection, the latter is losing. Was Russia just a bit stupid that it got caught? Would such a punishment ever be imposed on a Western nation? These are questions that need some answering. But for now, this is not final as Russia has said that it will appeal against this decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
(Courtesy: The Pioneer)
It is certain that climate change forced 60 Polar bears into a Russian village. It will lead to more human-animal conflicts
The small Russian village of Ryrkapiy on the shores of the Arctic Ocean faces enough problems as it is, particularly with bitterly cold winters. But over the past week, it has emerged that over 60 Polar bears have descended on this village, which is home to over 500 people, because their traditional hunting grounds are off the limits. The bears, which usually live in Wrangel Island, move out into the Arctic Ocean on the thick Arctic Sea Ice that forms every year and hunt for seals. But with the frozen sheet melting faster, becoming thinner and taking longer to form, the bears find it impossible to go hunting. Instead, now they go scavenging near human habitations. Thankfully, there are several seal carcasses in the vicinity that have kept them preoccupied. But since last time a Polar bear killed a human in the town in 2011, leaders are taking nothing for granted and have shut shop, cancelling all public functions. The problem with the Arctic Sea ice is a result of rising temperatures, which have heated the world’s oceans. And while this example might be an extreme one, the Polar bear has indeed become the face of the climate change crisis as its habitat has been particularly impacted by rising temperatures. Certainly, we should be expecting more behavioural aberrations. Rising temperatures and its results — less oxygen in the sea, for example — are already playing havoc with the coral reefs across the world. At the same time, several species that have evolved to be in very specific conditions, are threatened with habitat loss. All thanks to increasing human encroachment and the loss of plant and prey species. While humans might be unconcerned about all this, consider the dramatic decline in honeybees for a second. It’s not the loss of the honey they produce which is the biggest problem but honeybees are the biggest pollinators in the planet. Without them global food supplies could collapse.
Climate change is already responsible for increasing extreme weather phenomena across the world. The raging bushfires that are threatening to consume the suburbs of Sydney, for example, and the floods across East Africa, thousands of miles apart, are manifestations of a shared problem. We have realised that the challenge is a massive one and that we should look towards solving it. Yet, politicians continue to dig their heads in the sand and not do anything. They are aware that when the crisis finally hits home, they will no longer be on this planet, so why bother? We cannot carry on like this. We have to drive change now if we have to save the human species and the rest of the planet as well.
(Courtesy: The Pioneer)
The concurrent rise of China and the communist parties of Nepal in South Asia is a fundamental shift in negating India’s primacy in Kathmandu. We must scale up ties in the neighbourhood
Who would have ever imagined that effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had conquered the hearts and minds of most Nepalese in 2014, would be burnt across Nepal? (There’s some consolation though that while the Red Star is over Nepal, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s effigies, too, were set on fire in that country last month). The provocation was the first political map of India that was released last month, which depicted the reorganised Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir with Pakistan-occupied Kashmir shown in Jammu & Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan in Ladakh.
The map reportedly depicts the highly-emotive issue in Kathmandu, the disputed Kalapani territory, in India. An Indian foreign office official said, “The new map has in no manner revised our boundary with Nepal.” The Chinese have allegedly encroached into four to five areas, usurping more than 25 hectares of land. The pan-Nepal revival of Kalapani has stirred the pot of anti-India sentiment that was settling down after the 53-day economic blockade of 2015, which catapulted the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) into unprecedented political power.
The Kalapani dispute has, as is usual, a Nepali and Indian version. The former claims that the Kali river originates at Lipulekh whereas the latter contends that its source is at Kalapani. The tri-junction between China, India and Nepal is also contested: Tinker-Lipu versus Lipulekh. India says Nepal and China have bilaterally shifted it about 6 km north. Indian posts at Kalapani and Navidang routinely patrol till Lipulekh. The Kalapani dispute is ancient and a sensitive issue for the Nepalese. Joint/boundary working groups and technical committees have failed to resolve the dispute. According to Nepal’s Foreign Ministry, “The two foreign secretaries were tasked to resolve border-related issues with concerned technicians.” I have been travelling in Nepal for the last two weeks. The by-elections held on Saturday to elect 52 representatives were not the only reason why Kalapani has become a hot potato and requires early resolution.
Xi’s landmark visit to Kathmandu, the first by a Chinese leader in 23 years, was well timed though it raised the hackles in New Delhi. The concurrent rise of China and the communist parties of Nepal in South Asia is a fundamental shift in negating India’s primacy in Nepal (and the region) by reducing Kathmandu’s dependence on India. New Nepal is secular, democratic, federal and a republic. Monarchy, which unified Nepal 250 years ago, was abolished due to the 10-year-long Maoist insurgency and 19 days of street protest in 2006. Globalisation has affected Nepal in a big way. Around 25 per cent of its population is abroad. Connectivity and urbanisation have changed social contours and nationalism is at an all-time high though economic prosperity has not matched the aspirations of the people.
For India, Nepal is geostrategically the most important country in the neighbourhood. That is why Prime Minister Modi visited it for an unprecedented four times during his first term. No Indian Prime Minister had been there for the past 17 years.
India has lately been focussed on Nepal’s development agenda, dovetailed with a stable Nepal and a prosperous one. Emphasis is on trade, hydel power projects, business, tourism and substantial improvement of border infrastructure. Dozens of my reports in the 1970s and 1980s to the Government, urging better border connectivity, went unauctioned when the Nepali side was getting roads ahead. The bottom line for India is to deliver projects on time with quality perfection so as to match and better China.
Of Nepal’s total trade of $13.5 billion in 2017-18, 65 per cent was with India and just 14 per cent with China. The Indian embassy in Kathmandu has prepared a handbook for Indian investors in Nepal. It is not easy doing business in Kathmandu, which is expectedly a highly-protected economy though OYO, which entered Nepal in 2017, has now established 120 outlets. As far as tourism is concerned, Indians remain the number one though in Kathmandu, a fading Shangri-La is competing with Bangkok and Dubai. Border trade has immense scope but has not been exploited due to roads still rotting on the border. India’s aid to Nepal increased by 73 per cent — from Rs 375 crore in 2017-18 to Rs 650 crore in 2018-19 — but we are yet in no position to match China’s deep pockets. Beijing pledged around $500 of development aid for the next two years during Xi’s visit. Another $23 million have been given for military stores.
The numbers of integrated checkposts are being expanded — one at Kakarbhitta and the other at Biratnagar — which is to be inaugurated shortly by Prime Ministers Oli and Modi. A new bridge has been built over Mechi river near Kakarbhitta, which will expedite movement into east India. India has already submitted to Nepal a project report on the 113-km Raxaul-Kathmandu railway line. The other rail line from Jayanagar to Janakpur has been completed and is being extended to Bardibas in Nepal.
The Motihari-Amlekhgunj oil pipeline was constructed six months ahead of schedule, making petrol Rs 2 per litre cheaper in Nepal. Of the nation’s 28 million population, 25 per cent is abroad, looking for greener pastures. Around six to eight million people reside in India and are gainfully employed.
Chinese-aided/constructed projects are grouped broadly into two categories: The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects, estimated to cost $8 billion, which include the Trans Himalayan Connectivity Network and three north-south corridors. Another is a basket of 35 projects worth $10 billion under consideration or project review. China has opened a commercial office in Kathmandu from which Nepal, as a member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, can secure loans. Unsurprisingly, there is little transparency on the grants and loan components and interest rates. China’s track record in supporting infrastructural development is suspected and can lead to a debt trap.
Nepal ideally wants a triangular economic growth model, maximising its dividend from the two fastest-growing economies of India and China, but New Delhi prefers a bilateral relationship unlike Beijing, which promotes India-China plus one which Prachanda, the executive Chairman of the Nepal Communist Party, rejected last week. Neither Kathmandu nor Beijing has taken New Delhi into confidence about China’s trans-Himalayan connectivity network. Nor is there any clarity on the Raxaul-Kathmandu railway. Both railway lines are huge geological and ecological challenges with costs outweighing benefits.
The extension of the Chinese railway line to Lumbini will breach an old Indian red line for Chinese projects in the Terai. Deeper military cooperation between the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the Nepal Army is another troubling threshold for the Indian Army. Nepal’s “Look North” policy contains the seeds of serious security challenges for India. But the immediate concern must be to resolve, for mutual satisfaction, the long-festering Kalapani dispute through high-level dialogue and arrest the anti-India sentiment.
(Writer: Ashok K Mehta; Courtesy: The Pioneer)
Trump’s short-term tactic of intruding into the hallowed precincts of military order is to play with fire in the long term. It is sure to dilute the culture within the rank and file
Participative or liberal democracies are predicated on the concept of civilian control over the military. In his book, The Soldier and the State, Samuel P Huntington expands on the idea as “the proper subordination of a competent, professional military to the ends of policy as determined by civilian authority”, wherein the State apparatus of the armed forces is constitutionally subordinate to the civilian-elected politicians or the constitutional heads. Various democracies have wired this uniquely within their own political frameworks, with the President assuming the role of the supreme commander of the Indian armed forces. In the UK, the reigning monarch is referred to as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the Crown. In the US, Article II of the Constitution establishes the President to be the commander-in-chief.
However, the healthy deference to the professional, doctrinal and experiential realm of necessities and skills has ensured that there is minimal interference on military matters. Only in exceptional cases has the “commander-in-chief” exercised that power to intrude — other than ensuring the overall direction and deployment of the armed forces — in line with the national plans, objectives and vision. This delineation of day-to-day functioning has resulted in the discipline and efficacy of the armed forces, as indeed in the fruition of the democratic culture in such countries.
Instances where a US President intervened in the affairs of the military are far and few and such occasions entailed a certain seniority and issue-of-magnitude, wherein the direction of the military was seen to be going in contravention with the declared sovereign preference. For example, Abraham Lincoln dismissed General George B McClellan in the American civil war; Harry S Truman relieved Gen Douglas MacArthur during the Korean war. More recently, former US President Barack Obama accepted Gen Stanley A McChrystal’s resignation. These are instances, which had stakes of policy or strategic dissonances.
However, the recent act of US President Donald Trump intervening churlishly in the proceedings against the chief petty officer, Edward Gallagher, the Navy Seal, had all the hallmarks of undercutting professional authority, systems and culture of American armed forces. Gallagher was initially accused of murdering a wounded Islamic State (IS) militant (for which he was acquitted by a military court) and for posing with the dead prisoner’s body (for which he was found guilty). A US Navy had initiated a probe to determine the suitability of Gallagher continuing to serve in the elite Navy Seal team, which earned Trump’s attention and ire. In a shocking callous manner, Trump tweeted against his own Navy and ordered a probe by the Trident Review Board. He ranted, “The Navy will not be taking away Warfighter and Navy Seal Gallagher’s Trident Pin. This case was handled very badly from the beginning. Get back to business!” This unnecessary interference with the military-judicial proceedings led to the resignation of the Secretary of Navy, Richard Spencer, who stated dignifiedly, “Unfortunately, it has become apparent that in this respect, I no longer share the same understanding with the commander-in-chief, who appointed me.” Spencer’s comment was eerily similar to the parting comment made by James Mattis (former Secretary of Defence), who, too, met with a frustrating roadblock in explaining military matters to the whimsical Trump.
Both Spencer and Mattis are former Marines, who understand the command structures of the military realm where the authority to exercise and enforce discipline ought to be respected, uninterrupted. No amount of professional counsel by the “uniformed” staff or experienced veterans in the Trump regime — about the larger impacts on discipline, morale, authority-command structures, as also setting a dangerous precedent — could convince him to backtrack his ill-thought decision.
Navy Seals are acknowledged as the “cream of the crop” in terms of combat efficacy that is born out of superhuman training, discipline and skills in combat operations. Yet, concerns have been expressed lately by none more relevant than the Commander of Naval Special Warfare Command (in-charge of Seals), Rear Admiral Collin Green. He warned bluntly, “We have a problem. I don’t know yet if we have a culture problem. I do know that we have a good order and discipline problem that must be addressed immediately.” He noted the importance of accepting the same to “recalibrate culture and regain credibility.” While the importance of discipline, ethics and character can never be overstated for the sort of sensitive and high-profile operations that the Seals undertake, the heft of the same is completely lost on Trump. He milks any opportunity towards his populist, reckless and divisive politics.
This latest slight in the ongoing civil-military relations is not just about Spencer but the entirety of the Naval “uniformed” staff (including Rear Admiral Collin Green), who were in favour of restoring discipline and professionalism. The psychology behind Trump’s intransigent and irascible politics is rooted in his supposedly “muscular” actions that seem to allay the manufactured fears of various supposed “dangers.” Towards the same, positing such deviant Seals as “heroes” is the sort of Ramboism that goes down well among a large section of the ignorant and polarised society.
All of Trump’s actions are part of the uber-nationalism drive that necessitates fear mongering, extremist military reactions and unashamed disdain for decorum. This gives him the bullet-proof image to emerge as the all-American superhero in the heartland of the proverbial “rednecks.” It is an approach that the late military veteran, Senator John McCain, lamented towards his supporters, “What he did was he fired up the crazies.”
However, this short-term tactic of intruding into the hallowed precincts of the military order, traditions and ethos is to play with fire in the long term. It is sure to dilute the culture within the rank and file of the military with the infusion of partisan politics, interference and the diminishment of the existing command structures.
This unprecedented precipice risks undoing the proud steel of the US military and its accompanying culture that has persevered for centuries, especially that of the Navy Seals who pride in saying, “The only easy day was yesterday” — all for vote bank politics.
(Writer: Bhopinder Singh; Courtesy: The Pioneer)
Foreign Ministries across the world must be spending hours trying to figure out the US President’s Twitter account
Where would Twitter be without its most influential user today? A single user to be precise because without Donald Trump, it is impossible to imagine what social media would be like, for better or worse. Jack Dorsey, the chief executive of Twitter, might have taken measures to stop political advertising and misinformation on the network but stop Donald Trump? No, nothing doing. The tweets by the 45th President of the US must be keeping hundreds of diplomats across the world gainfully employed and have given birth to a full-time news analysis industry, with reams of newsprint and thousands of television hours dedicated to them. His core audience is in the US and across the world. The reaction to his “covfefe” tweet put political analysts and psychoanalysts side by side and puzzled the heck out of diplomats. But his latest tweet, where he edited his face onto a picture of Hollywood actor Sylvester Stallone in his famous Rocky Balboa avatar, seems to have confused everyone. Just what is Trump trying to say? Has it something to do with the ongoing impeachment inquiry being conducted by the US House of Congress? Or has it to do with the elections next year? Or is it that Trump is just goading his opponents, implying that he will take on all comers? Whatever it is, Trump’s presence on Twitter is entertaining, market-moving and often positively frightening. The man, who holds the power to destroy human civilisation with the press of a button, has shown little restraint on Twitter. He makes the tweets of Tesla founder Elon Musk seem pedestrian in comparison.
In the process, Trump has made Twitter an essential part of the global political discourse. It is unlikely that he would have been swept to power in 2016 without the social media network. Other politicians across the world have learnt from him and have weaponised it as well. Unfortunately, this has also meant that the social media network and others, particularly Facebook, have become vulnerable to fake news and its promotion. It is not enough to take slow action on this and such platforms have to just step up their act. While Trump and many of his fellow politicians are entertaining, social networks cannot become a means to spread hate and disinformation. As for that Rocky Balboa picture, well, analysis of that will not stop for a while.
(Courtesy: The Pioneer)
The atrocities against humanity during the Bangladesh Liberation War were such that no country could forget them. Dhaka, too, is making efforts to keep the memories alive
December 3, 1971, saw the beginning of the third India-Pakistan war with Pakistani aircraft treacherously attacking India’s military bases in the country’s north-western parts. The war, which ended in Pakistan’s ignominious defeat, also led to the culmination of Bangladesh’s (then East Pakistan’s) liberation struggle in the form of its complete independence and emergence as a sovereign State. Further, it paved the way for the revelation of the full, chilling dimensions of the genocide and mass rape perpetrated by the Pakistani Army and its Bangladeshi collaborators from the night of March 25, 1971, when Islamabad’s military launched its savage crackdown, to December 16, 1971, when Bangladesh emerged into freedom.
Reports from across the border had already conveyed some idea of the horrendous atrocities unleashed by the Pakistani Army and its collaborators. Now the complete picture began emerging. The cold figures — three million people slaughtered, perhaps as many as over 500,000 women raped (against the initial official figure of 200,000), more than 10 million fleeing to India as refugees and 30 million internally displaced — are horrifying. No country can forget such massive trauma. Unfortunately, there was a time when it appeared that Bangladesh might, given a concerted effort to ensure collective amnesia.
It is hardly surprising that the Jama’at-e-Islami Bangladesh (Jama’at), its students’ wing Islami Chhatra Shibir (Islami Chhatra Shangha until 1971), its allies like Nezam-e-Islami and spawns like al-Badr, al-Shams and Razakars, and other collaborating organisations and individuals, did their best to deny the genocide and the mass rapes. Maj Gen Zia-ur Rahman (Zia), who grabbed power following Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s assassination, also did the same besides rehabilitating the collaborators and trying to annihilate the Awami League. This was in keeping with his mindset as revealed by his drive to Islamise Bangladesh, destroying the secularism enshrined in its post-Liberation 1972 constitution and establish close ties with Pakistan.
Zia’s attitude towards the victims of the Liberation War, in which he is said to have been forced to participate by Bengali troops of his regiment who had made him their prisoner, was revealed by his Government’s closure of the rehabilitation centres for raped and tortured women, established when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was in power. His assassination on May 30, 1981, did not change matters. Lt Gen HM Ershad, who came to power on December 11, 1983, following the removal of two civilian Presidents through two coups, pursued the same approach until he was forced to resign as President on December 6, 1990, following a massive popular upsurge.
What Zia, Ershad and the other generals, who either supported — or did not oppose —them did is entirely understandable. In the introduction to his book, Bangladeshi Generalder Mon (The Mind of Bangladeshi Generals), Muntassir Mamoon points out that they were steeped in the Pakistani mindset. The latter included extreme communalism and sectarianism, use of religion, the furtherance of group interests, violence, unbelievable anti-Indianism and destruction of civilian authority. Mamoon further states in his introduction that 20 out of the 21 Bangladeshi Generals had been trained as officers at the Pakistan Military Academy at Kakul, Abbottabad, in the Pakhtunkhwa province, where they had come to acquire the Pakistani mindset. The influence of their training was so strong that they could not get over it despite their participation in the Liberation War. It is no surprise then that they had a natural affinity with the Jama’at, whose weltanschauung was very similar to the Pakistani mindset.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s first innings in Government, stretching from 1991 to 1996, with Begum Khaleda Zia as Prime Minister, had a different agenda. It sought to project Zia as the sole hero of the Liberation War and simultaneously sought to play down Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s role as the architect of the country’s freedom struggle and the Father of Bangladesh as a nation. It, therefore, sought to project some aspects of the events of 1971 and relegate the rest.
Yet the memories did not die. They were too horrific to be forgotten, particularly by the families of the victims and their children and grand-children. Nor were they forgotten by the witnesses to the mass slaughter and rape. There, however, was the serious danger that, with the passing of generations, memories would burn in fewer and fewer hearts and be reduced to a passive presence in the backwaters of the popular mind. It seems that far from this happening, a beginning has been made for increasing salience in the public mind thanks to two remarkable organisations and their leaders.
The first was the Ekatturer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee (the Committee for the Eradication of the killers and Collaborators of Seventy-one) that, established in January 1992, has tirelessly sought to bring to justice those who killed and collaborated with the Pakistanis in 1971. Shahriar Kabir’s landmark book, Ekattorer Ghatak O Dalalra Ke Kothaye (The Killers and Agents of Seventy-one: Who Where), has played a signal role in identifying and locating them. The organisation has played an important role in keeping alive the memories of 1971 by focussing on Bangladeshis like Ghulam Azam, Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed and Quader Ali Molla, all from the Jama’at, who perpetrated atrocities along with the Pakistanis. Needless to say, all of them were from the Jama’at.
A more direct role has been played by the 1971: Genocide-Torture Archive and Museum founded on May 17, 2014, at the initiative of the noted Bangladeshi historian, Professor Muntassir Mamoon. The only genocide museum in Bangladesh as well the whole of South Asia, its importance was recognised by Sheikh Hasina, who offered it a plot of land and a building. The museum began functioning from its own premises from March 26, 2016. It is now going to have a much bigger building of its own.
Of the many ways it seeks to keep memories of genocide and Bangladesh’s struggle against it alive is by holding conferences and seminars. The latest one was an international conference, held on November 22 and 23 in Dhaka and was titled, “Genocide of 1971: Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh and Birth Centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.” The deliberations covered a whole gamut of subjects, including Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s architectural role in leading Bangladesh to freedom, the Liberation War, the mass murders and rape that occurred and the need to bring the perpetrators of the last to justice. Condonation of genocides encourages further genocides.
(Writer: Hiranmay Karlekar; Courtesy: The Pioneer)
Xi Jinping’s hardline tactics have come up against the strong will of citizens who won local polls
Results of the district council elections in Hong Kong, which saw pro-democracy parties scoring a landslide victory, have dealt a severe blow to China in the perception war that it so convincingly wins. It may try to dismiss these local polls as inconsequential, considering these form the lowest political tier that is responsible for neighborhood issues like garbage collection and public transport. But because China allows these self-governance elections to be fully democratic unlike legislative elections, they become a barometer of the popular mood. One that ensured scrapping of an extradition law and will now push for release of political detainees and the removal of Chief Executive Carrie Lam. No wonder she is making the right noises about an “open mind.” Protests in the city-state are still making headlines across the world and China’s spinmasters are failing to contain news of police brutality leaking out. A British Consulate employee gave an interview to the BBC where he alleged that the Chinese authorities had tortured him. And when the city’s riot police surrounded the Polytechnic University, images of students trying to escape from barricades went viral. Worse still, the continuing impact of events over there is not just hurting China’s image in the West, it is impacting Chinese investment plans. Global leaders, too, are watching the news and are not liking what they see. As it is, China’s Belt and Road Initiative is facing huge problems as nations across the world realise how it is trying to strangulate them economically by trapping them in debt. The Hong Kong crisis in the middle of all this is, therefore, egg on Xi Jinping’s face.
Even if Hong Kongers may not consider themselves fully Chinese, they are, as the authorities keep reminding us, citizens of the People’s Republic of China. Xi’s attitude towards their problems sounds similar to those leaders of the Communist Party of China, who led the nation into the Tiananmen Square debacle. He needs to learn from the attitude of Deng Xiaoping and his immediate successors that led China towards the path of immense growth and helped lift millions out of poverty. He harks back to history and wants China to retain its stature as the “Middle Kingdom” between heaven and earth. But his current attitude is leading to a war-like situation. That’s not good for either China or the world.
(Courtesy: The Pioneer)
India has to amp up its strategic engagement and economic presence to neutralise Gotabaya’s pro-China tilt
In a multi-polar world that’s grunting through protectionism and a slow economy and where every nation is trying to steer its course, each has been unanimously electing a muscular leadership to helm its destiny. In that sense, the victory of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the nationalist strongman of the Sri Lankan People’s Party (SLPP) and the brother of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, in the island nation’s elections does not come as a surprise. Particularly in the aftermath of the Easter bombings, which showed how scattered IS modules were choosing virgin targets, the Sinhalese Buddhist majority consolidation has been complete. And from the citizens’ perspective, they elected a militarist who was responsible for the clean-up of the Tamil movement and its fighters earlier and whom they believe can tackle terrorism as well as execute what’s best for them. At the same time in a revisionist throwback, they have entrusted their collective fate to the Rajapaksa clan. For with Gotabaya as President, he is sure to bring in brother Mahinda as Prime Minister (he has been President before but can still be PM) and as is their wont, the power structures are expected to be concentrated in a family that has been punishing to Tamils, worrying for India and benevolent to Chinese strategic interests and investment. Going by India’s troubled relationship with Mahinda and the Tamil wipeout, there are stressors no doubt and apprehensions about Gotabaya. Apart from taking down Tamils, Mahinda sought to reduce dependence on India by aggressively pursuing the Chinese, accusing New Delhi of intervening in the internal affairs of Sri Lanka by propping up his own protege Maithripala Sirisena against him and ensuring he lost the elections. Sirisena’s SLFP and ally UNP, whose leader Ranil Wickremesinghe became Prime Minister, formed a coalition Government which was pro-India. The Indian establishment was also too overt rather than being covert about its interventions. So a hurt Mahinda never settled down, his party scoring in local elections till he forced a coup last October, subduing Sirisena, getting him to sack Wickremesinghe and becoming Prime Minister for 51 days. Gotabaya took charge of Defence and Security, kept the Tamil-majority areas under strict military vigil and put Indian diplomats under surveillance. It is this distrust that needs to be healed now for geo-strategic reasons if we don’t want China to run far ahead.
Of course, India’s latest diplomacy in the neighbourhood has factored in the pragmatism by smaller neighbours, who have successfully played on its anxieties with China and are negotiating the best of both worlds given the competitive muscle-flexing by two Asian majors. Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka are all happily walking the trajectory of “trade ties” with China and “historical linkage” with India to buttonhole both nations into giving concessions. Gotabaya, too, has seized the PR advantage by calling India “our relative” soon after his win and holding his oath ceremony at Anuradhapura, the city born out of our historical linkages. The Modi Government has changed tack over the last year and is pushing proactive participation over historical assumptions in its Lanka policy. The Chinese are way ahead here and we cannot be immune to their growing footprints. They have a 99-year lease on the Hambantota port after Sri Lanka’s failure to repay loans and are using it to enhance their military arc in the Indian Ocean region all the way to east Africa. The Chinese have even created an island off Colombo, a new financial hotspot and a key conduit to east Africa, besides securing hold of the island nation’s infrastructure sector, hospitality and supply chains. And while we may be debating about the adoption of Huawei’s 5G technology in the country, Sri Lanka has made it abundantly clear that it has no security fears about the new-generation mobile telephony technology. India has, therefore, got to do a very tightrope act with Lanka if it wants to protect its strategic interests amid a Chinese swamp. That, too, without compromising too much on Tamil and minority interests. Economics is a good starting point. We need to work on investment and project partnerships, encourage soft diplomacy via people-to-people contacts and strengthen an institution like BIMSTEC to ensure a more multi-layered communication. Thankfully, Gotabaya has good personal equations in the power corridors of Delhi and will be amenable to negotiations. But for a win-win, India has to be a respected stakeholder, not appear like an exploitative neighbour.
FREE Download
OPINION EXPRESS MAGAZINE
Offer of the Month