Press Statement on National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Judgement

Today’s Judgement delivered by the Hon’ble Judges of the Supreme Court of India striking down the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) as constitutionally ultra vires and invalid raise our respect and gratitude for the Judges as defenders of the constitution our panoply of human rights and democracy has gone up sky high. The nation owes them its heartfelt gratitude.

I am glad I was on the right side of this controversy but our forensic success is mainly the achievement of my colleagues Fali Nariman , Rajiv Dhawan , Anil Divan , Arvind Datar and many assisting juniors. We are all enjoying the success and are proud of it.

Now some comment for which I alone am responsible. This must bring some shame and remorse to the Prime Minister and his advisors. His crime serious enough is ignoring leaders of the Bar and well known constitutional experts in the field of law practitioners and teachers and preferring mediocrities with no distinguished record of protection of civil liberties and the core India’s constitution. To atonefor this grave crime against the nation the Prime Minister and those who made him adopt this horrid piece of legislation must resign office.

The Prime Minister of course has a very plausible double defence of being a constitutional ignoramus and busy with world jaunts of course of no value to us at all. Democracy will have its revenge if you continue to weaken its foundations.

Antrix Devas Scam continues: What I predicted in 2013 has happened.

I learn from the newspapers that an international arbitration court has directed Antrix, the commercial arm of Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), to pay $672 million, (Rs 4,435.20 crore), in damages to Devas Multimedia for "unlawfully" cancelling a contract four years ago, and unanimously ruled "that Antrix is liable for unlawfully terminating the Devas-Antrix agreement in February 2011."

The tax payer of India is being mowed down yet again with another huge financial liability, a payment unwarranted and unnecessary, made possible only due to intentional collusion by the top brass of ISRO and Antrix with Devas, clearly blessed by criminal misdemeanour and corruption of the previous regime and its dispensation in the Space Department. But what is shocking is the inability of the present regime to have rectified it, even though the arbitration proceedings were on going for a good one year after it took charge.

I have been writing about this scandal ever since it came to light, more so, because it was happening right under the nose of the then Prime Minister, who was also the Minister for the Space Department and ISRO. I had predicted the fate of the Arbitration way back in 2013, after witnessing the completely anti-national and corrupt decisions being taken in the Department of Space.

Let me recall to my readers the history of this scam. On 24 December 2004, Madhavan Nair, Chairman of Antrix Corporation, a public sector undertaking under the Department of Space, approved a contract with Devas Multimedia at a board meeting, leasing 90% of S-band transponder capacity of two geostationary satellites to be produced and launched by ISRO, for 12 years. On 28 January 2005, the same Madhavan Nair, in his capacity as Secretary of Department of Space approved the contract. He then submitted the proposal for production of GSAT to the Space Commission, of which also he was chairman, not disclosing that in his capacity as chairman of Antrix, he had already concluded a deal with Devas in December 2004 or that Antrix was committed to giving away 90% of the transponder capacity of GSAT 6 without factoring in the launch and spectrum costs in the financial estimate. Having the approval of the Space Commission, Nair now put on his fourth hat as chairman of ISRO and commenced the process of production of GSAT 6. So a private player, Devas, walked away with a financially succulent contract, the burden of which is now being borne by the taxpayer. It later emerged that Devas was a company comprising of former ISRO employees who managed to pocket precious S-band spectrum for a song for their company.

However, it is said that this innovative Antrix Devas scam soon became a reference point for Raja’s own 2 G scam, and it wasn’t long that the media soon got a whiff of it. What followed was public outrage pertaining to a Department falling directly under the Prime Minister at having violated all financial and administrative procedures before taking this decision. By now, Dr K Radhakrishnan had become Secretary, Space Department and Chairman, Space Commission, consisting of the MoS in the PMO, Principal Secretary to the PM, National Security Adviser, Cabinet Secretary, Finance Secretary, and other eminent space scientists.

In July 2010, the Space Commission, directed ISRO (also headed by Radhakrishnan) to terminate the contract. The matter remained shrouded in secrecy until February 2011, when finally, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), based on a Note submitted by Radhakrishnan, decided to direct the Space Department to ‘annul’ the contract, by invoking force majeure. The government had suddenly realised that the spectrum allocated to Devas was required for the nation’s genuine and urgent social and strategic objectives! 

Let me reproduce what I wrote in the Sunday Guardian and the New Indian Express in August 2013. My words hold good as on date:

“ISRO’s confidentiality immunity was unable to contain the public exposure of the scam, and risks for the PM as Minister for Space, were intensifying. Hence, a corresponding process for building an effective firewall around him was set in motion through the standard operating procedures -- setting up inquiries headed by cronies, selecting convincing scapegoats, and most importantly, drawing up an innovative post-facto blueprint for salvaging some of the losses of the aborted deal at the taxpayers’ cost. This hidden post-facto segment of the scam resonates of the Bhopal compensation case, where through deliberate, calibrated errors and omissions, state power conspired with the culprits to appropriate maximum compensation for common benefit, from India’s unfortunate taxpayer.”

Devas had claimed in the Antrix-Devas Contract of January 2005 (Clause 12 b) that it had the ability to design Digital Multimedia Receivers (“DMR”) and Commercial Information Devices (“CID”) and had the ownership and the right to use the intellectual property, viz. SDMB technology, involved in their designs. Allegations regarding the deal started mounting, including to the Space Department Vigilance Officer, who in his preliminary findings submitted to Dr.Radhakrishnan, intimated that the IPR of technology which Devas said will use, was highly suspect. This was in 2009. Perhaps to scuttle this, the ISRO chairman in December 2009 appointed B N Suresh, a senior retired scientist, to report on the technical, legal and financial aspects of the deal, which Financial Advisor G Balachandran was asked to examine in June 2010.

Balachandran’s findings, submitted to the ISRO chairman in January 2011, apart from revealing the absence of due diligence in the scrutiny of the contract, also revealed some shocking new facts. On December 2, 2010, the Financial Advisor had submitted a note to Radhakrishnan, based on the findings of a leading ISRO scientist, which stated, inter alia, that the SDMB technology claimed by Devas in the Antrix-Devas Agreement to be used by it is not a confidential and proprietary technology held by Devas. The note recommended that the ISRO chairman should get this confirmed by Antrix and if confirmed these facts should be intimated to the CCS and the contract should be cancelled on the grounds that Devas had given false information when signing the contract about its ownership and right over the technology and intellectual property. Balachandran reiterated his recommendation twice in January 2011 that this vital fact be incorporated in the Note to the CCS, so that the Contract/Agreement can be terminated on grounds that Devas had acted fraudulently.

This clearly reveals that the contract was induced by fraud and misrepresentation and was void. Stating this as a reason for cancellation would have greatly strengthened the government case against Devas in arbitration and compensation claims.

However, Radhakrishnan disregarded this unimpeachable advice of his Financial Advisor and concealed these facts from the CCS. On the basis of his misleading note, the CCS decided to ‘annul’ the contract in February 2011 and informed the Space Department that in view of the “increased demand for allocation for national needs and having regard to the needs of the country’s strategic requirements, the government will not be able to provide orbit slot in S band to Antrix for commercial activities, including for those which are the subject matter of existing contractual obligations for S Band.”

The government thus manipulated its own record to show that the contract was breached by it for its own needs and without lawful justification. The people of India, who were actually the plaintiffs were converted into defendants by the government. A red carpet was being spread to legally enable Devas’ sure success in the expected arbitration and extract maximum reparation.

The people of India are entitled to seek answers from the Hon’ble Prime Minister, also Cabinet Minister for the Department of Space:-

i) What was the compelling reason for Radhakrishnan to scuttle the vigilance enquiry in the Space Department, and constitute the Suresh Committee?

ii) Is it a fact that Secretary, Space, Radhakrishnan ignored without any credible reason, the advice of his Financial Advisor supported by the note of a senior Space Department scientist, that the DVB-SH/SDMB technology claimed by Devas in the Antrix-Devas Agreement, was not its confidential and proprietary technology?

iii) Is it a fact that Radhakrishnan concealed these facts from the CCS in his note in February 2011, which annulled the deal on a non-existent ground that it had no spare S Band spectrum to offer?

iv) Why was the real reason, that the Antrix-Devas contract had been induced by fraud and misrepresentation, excluded from our case as a ground for terming it null and void?

iv) What action is proposed to fix the responsibility on the then Secretary, Space Department for concealing the crucial and vital facts from the CCS, the consequences of which are going to cost the taxpayer several billion dollars in the near future.

v) Devas demanded around $2billion in damages and Deutche Telecom, which purchased a good chunk of the Devas shares after its Antrix contract separately demanded another $1 billion, amounting to Rs 19,500 crore (@Rs.65/USD) that the country would have to shell out, if the government lost the arbitration, a highly likely eventuality, judging from the government’s actions.

I had asked the then Prime Minister to appoint a panel of legal experts to put the Department of Space on the right legal track to safeguard national interest and the taxpayers’ money. Legal amends could still have been made to save the nation and the taxpayer from being robbed of the damages which were sure to come by way of the Arbitration Award. But, of course, nothing happened.

Well, the Arbitration Award of $672 million, (Rs 4,435.20 crore) has been ordered, just as I had predicted. Because the Space Department, still under direct charge of the Prime Minister, did nothing to rectify the wilful fraud on the people of India, regarding the closure of the contract, even though it could have.

More so, I learn that Antrix did everything possible not to win the case.

i) Even after Space Commission directed in July, 2010 that the contract be terminated, Antrix continued to write to Devas about the preparatory steps that are being taken to get the satellites ready for handing over to Devas. Radhakrishnan was Chairman of Space Commission and Antrix. How is it his right hand and left hand were taking different directions?

ii) Again, Antrix even failed to nominate an arbitrator to the arbitration tribunal and to have a say in fixing the terms of reference. Rather, it chose to petition the Supreme Court to commence a separate arbitration against Devas, an appeal that failed. In June 2011, when Devas commenced arbitration seeking specific performance of the agreement or a claim of damages, Antrix refused to participate. On August 19, 2011, when the ICA announced its decision to go ahead with the arbitration, Antrix did not send its nomination, which forced the ICA to nominate, on its own, Justice A S Anand. Who was responsible for this deliberate sabotage? 

May I ask the Prime Minister what action he plans to take on those who were at the helm of affairs both in the Department of Space and the PMO, for their misrepresentation to the Cabinet Committee on Security for terminating the Antrix Devas Contract in a manner that has caused this great financial loss to the nation? And against those who allowed the Arbitration to proceed in a manner which spelt sure failure for the Government?

The present NSA is a person of unimpeachable integrity and patriotism. How did he allow affairs to drift to this stage, so that the corrupt intentions of his predecessors were allowed to bear fruit, at the cost of India’s tax payer?

My second set of questions to the Hon’ble Prime Minister.

Dear Reader, I know the Hon’ble Prime Minister is busy with Bihar elections and is devoting a part of his time to Bihar elections.

He is concerned the whole world is waiting to have a glimpse of him and Bihar elections involve a great sacrifice on his part. He has a brilliant galaxy of ministers and beaurocrats making his stay in India wholly dispensable.

My questions are primarily intended to allow him to stay far away from home. A few minutes about two per question should be enough; of course that is feasible when the answer is nothing but plain truth. Concocting plausible lies does take some time even for the unusually bright Prime minister of India.

In this set of questions I am concentrating on the gross misfeasance of the Prime Minister, his colleagues and the Party as a whole with our Army jawans, again a case of cruel breach of faith insulting and hurtful to those who lay down their life for the security and survival of India as a Vibrant free Nation.

Question 1: Since when in the history of India has the demand popularly summarized as ‘One Rank One Pension’ been vociferously raised by the brave jawans of India? Surely long before you thought of being India’s Prime Minister an unusual raise from a one State Chief Minister of Gujarat to the Prime Minister of 29 States constituting the Indian Nation. Is it not true that all that this demand of India’s defenders and their widows is just a few thousand crores in Indian Currency.

Question 2: When you decided to wage an almost impossible battle for becoming India’s Prime Minister, you did realize the importance of the votes of our jawans and their pending demands?

Question 3: Did you at any time either in your election manifesto or oral speeches tell the jawans that you will not accept their demands in full. In fact you promised full satisfaction. Your manifesto amongst ten items under the heading External Security mentioned ‘implement One Rank One Pension’ without any qualification.

Question 4: Did you in your Red Fort Speech on August 15th, 2015 declare that the demand has been accepted in principle?

Question 5: Did you by any clear words even hint that your declared acceptance is subject to veto by the Finance Minster declaring that the cost is too heavy for his Government?

Question 6: Did you use the following words which were heard by one Veteran who was on fast until death- “let me assure all veterans- we are committed and we are in final stages of deciding”?

Question 7: Some veterans were aghast at your lack of complete clarity in one or two sentences and they expressed their resentment. Did you tell them that your demand will be met only if Finance Minister is able to find 10,000 Crores more in his kitty?

Question 8: Do you admit that in a speech delivered by you on September 15th at the Ex-Servicemen Men’s rally in Rewari you proudly proclaimed – “ this land has always created a centenary of martyrdom whether it was the war of Thrissur or of Kargil…No one can imagine this land is of such brave men and heroes!!”

Question 9: Did you then praise and thank god for having given you an opportunity to be in the midst of the jawans: “it is some sign from god” you said.

Are you not embarrassed that now you will cause misery to those great children of India because your Finance Minister can’t find the 12000 crores to pay our defenders?

Question 10: Has not the great social worker and moral leader Anna Hazare complained to you about your unfair dealings with the jawans. In no ambiguous words he has accused the BJP of reneging on the poll promise of implementing the One Rank One Pension. Do you require a more respectable yet polite citizen of India to tender you good advice?

Question 11: Has he not drawn your attention to what even the UPA government at a high level meeting of Defence officials on the 26th February, 2014 decided to accept and implement this demand in full. Did we commit a mistake in substituting you in their place? By the way there are two ministers in your cabinet whose integrity I fully accept. One is Suresh Prabhu our Railway Minister and the other Shri. Manohar Parrikar our Defence Minister. I would like to hear what they have to say on your surrender to a Finance Minister who has allowed (six thousand three hundred ) 6300 crores of black money in cash to be sent out of India through the Ashok Vihar Branch of the Bank of Baroda to a bank in Hong Kong. It all started in July 2014 after Amritsar defeated Arun Jaitley became our Finance Minister. Thanks to your irrational fondness for him. More about this later!!

Open Questions Addressed to the Prime Minister

Dear Prime Minister,

You are now busy capturing the votes of the adult population of Bihar. Your flattering supporters are expecting what they call the ‘Modi Magic’ to capture the votes of Biharis for you. I have experienced Modi Magic once and badly burnt my vitals. I do not wish to repeat the performance. My vote capturing ability has no comparison to yours but it the duty of every citizen even the humblest of them is to declare the truth and share it with the voters. It may bear no fruit but the duty to the nation requires it. I am convinced that if I do not speak up and sink into silence instead, providence and the people will not forgive me. I propose to ask you through the available media some questions every day. I do not mind if your Finance Minister or some other subordinate answers them. But I hope you will speak the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

1. You are doubtless aware that the German Government took an extraordinary step of securing the 1400 names in Liechtenstein Bank of illicit account holders majority of whom were probably Indians by rewarding an employee of the Bank. The German Government offered publicly to share the information with every friendly Government including India without cost or condition. Yet the previous government took no steps to secure the relevant information obviously because it wanted to shield those who controlled it. The German government was wanting to stop the customer confidentiality practices of Banks in notorious tax havens an object fully legitimised by the United Convention Against Corruption signed by India in 2005. Did you ever read the Supreme Court judgment obtained by me and my co-petitioners which rejected the untenable and antinational stand of the Congress government that they could get this information only under the DTAT with Germany as also the contention they made that the secrecy clause of the DTAT prevented disclosure of the identity of the criminals. It is a reasonable expectation of the people of India from your government which made removal of corruption and recovery of Black money stashed in tax havens abroad its main declared objective. You had declared often that you would not only recover this stolen wealth but put 15 Lacs Indian Rupees in the pocket of every poor family of India? How come you did nothing of the kind!!

2. Are you aware that Admiral Tahiliani President of the Indian Chapter of Transparency International repeatedly referred to the Indian government’s failure to take the proper and easy course of getting the information by a simple approach to the German government to share the names publicly offered and promised by it ?

3. Did you once ask your two leaders of opposition at that time, whom later you have included in your cabinet , to approach the German government or even its Ambassador in India to provide us this information ?

4. Did you not read my repeated public complaints about the manner in which your election promise was being made to look like an act of deception and fraud on the people. Have you ever had the decency and moral courage to explain this gross misconduct of yourself and your Finance Minister.

5. You are aware that the appointment of CVC has been challenged in the Supreme Court and even though permission was granted by the court to make the appointment at the request of your government the appointment is subject to all the contentions raised which will now be decided by the Hon’ble Court. Do you know that this gentleman went to Paris to do some investigation in the Black Money case. Who made him advisor to the SIT, who sanctioned his visit to Paris, what was he required to do what did he did there, what places did he visit, whom did he contact, whom did he interrogate or question, what did he achieve, what places did he visit, what expenses did he incur and what report did he make on return? Do you know till today any of these things and whether they have relevance to his appointment as CVC? Are you willing to tell the people and me as one of them what did he achieve for the nation and what relevance did his actions have to the port of CVC which he got ,may be by way of reward. It is my duty to tell the people that both the Chairman and Vice-Chairman have told me that all these matters have been done and sanctioned without their knowledge or consent. No report of his activities abroad is available with the SIT. Obviously he did somethings  to secure his appointment as CVC.

6. Are you aware that under orders of the Supreme Court , the then government was ordered to disclose to me as petitioner all the correspondence that had taken place between the government of India and the German authorities. With great difficulty and persistence 17 letters between 27/02/2008 and 18/03/2009 were supplied to me under the Governments letter of 27th May, 2014. All the names of the writers and the addressees have been scored out by indelible ink. The excuse for this criminal behaviour is that this is in accordance with international practice. This is a fraud and a total falsehood. The last letter i.e. 18.03.2009 refers to some information enclosed. That has not been supplied. The correspondence is not with the German Government but a tax office which deals only with honest taxpayers who by the law of two or more countries have to pay tax on the same income. It has nothing to do with the dacoits of Liechtenstein. The blacking out of the names and identity of the writers and addressees of the letters has nothing to do with any international practice. 

These matters have been raised by me more than once. Has your Finance Minster or any one so far salvaged the information enclosed with the letter of 18.03.2009. The CVC appointed by you has everything to do these forgeries and falsehoods. Will you now seek and supply the information?

7. It appears to me that no explanation plausible and truthful is available with you or your Ministry of Finance. No wonder the newly appointed President of the B.J.P, obviously your choice ,has found an easy way to fool the people, “It was all a Jumla an election joke”. You have never repudiated this stunt and you are solemnly using this stunt master to get votes in Bihar. In your place I would have felt insulted if someone seriously lampooned me as a joker. 

8. Do you agree that a whole year has gone by and not a farthing has been recovered from the millions which the employee of the Liechtenstein Bank has disclosed to the German government. You have visited Germany after you became Prime Minister of India and the Hon’ble Chancellor of Germany was with us this week. Have you ever asked her or any other German authority to give you the names furnished by that employee of the Bank. If you don’t know ask Mr. Jaitley or the new CVC. Are you even now willing to make an appropriate and honest request to the government of Germany? Otherwise the people are entitled to conclude that you were party to a criminal conspiracy to defraud the Indian nation which you continue to do without any revolt or revulsion by your conscience. 

9. Lastly I must tell you and the people of India that I have personally been to Germany and was pained to hear that no request of any kind has come from the government of India or even the opposition which you did head at the relevant time. In paragraph 82 of its judgment the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India Held “We have perused the documents in question, and heard the arguments of the Union of India with respect to the double taxation agreement with Germany as an obstacle to disclosure. We do not find any merit in its arguments flowing from the provisions of double taxation agreement with Germany.”

Anyway the DTAT with Germany has nothing to do with the contents of the material supplied by the Liechtenstein employee.

10. You can mend matters by seeking the forgiveness of the people India and getting rid of your Minister of Finance.

                                                                                                                           

An accurate statement on reservation must from Bhagwat ji

Early in my life in Sindh ( now in Pakistan) where I was born I had been pained at the sight of the Harijan woman who came to our house to clean up the lavatories and remove the human excreta on a bucket she carried on her head. I was appalled but beyond a temporary revulsion against this sinful practice I could do nothing to stop it. The dreadful injustice of the Indian society came back into my consciousness when as a practising lawyer I read the Mandal Report . One paragraph of it stuck for ever in my memory “The real triumph of the cast system lies not in upholding the supremacy of the Brahimin , but in conditioning the consciousness of the lower castes in accepting their inferior status in the ritual hierarchy as a part of the natural order of things.. It was through an elaborate, complex and subtle scheme of scripture, mythology and ritual that Brahminism succeeded in investing the caste system with a moral authority that has been seldom effectively challenged even by the most ardent social reformers.”

Little did I know that many years later I will be engaged as a counsel for two state governments ,Bihar and Tamil Nadu, to argue the Mandal case before a Nine Judge bench of the Supreme Court of India to uphold the legislation to enforce the Mandal proposals for the removal of this blot on the Hindu society . My contribution to the success of the Mandal proposal was gracefully acknowledged by the leading judgment particularly by Justice Jeewan Reddy. After referring to the galaxy of eminent counsels who fought for the Congress, BJP and others to oppose Mandal , he referred to my contribution in Para 749 of the judgment:-

“At the other end of the spectrum stands Sri Ram Jethmalani, counsel appearing for the State of Bihar supported by several other counsels. According to him, backward castes in Article 16(4) meant and means only the members of Shudra caste which is located between the three upper castes (Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas) and the out-castes (Panchamas) referred to as Scheduled Castes. According to him...the expression "backward classes" does not refer to any current characteristic of a backward caste save and except paucity or inadequacies of representation in the apparatus of the Government. Poverty is not a necessary criterion of backwardness... ..the provision for reservation is really a programme of historical compensation. It is neither a measure of economic reform nor a poverty alleviation programme. The learned Counsel further submitted that it is for the State to determine who are the backward classes; it is not a matter for the court. The decision of the Government is not judicially reviewable. Even if reviewable, the scope of judicial review is extremely limited - to the only question whether the exercise of power is a fraud on the Constitution’’.

The Majority’s judgment is one of my proud forensic achievements.

The purpose of writing this is to correct and explain what my respected friend and RSS Cheif Shri. Mohan Bhagwat has publicly stated on this very serious issue on the eve of the historic elections which will take place in the next month in the state of Bihar my old clients.

Most newspapers have reported that he called for a social review of the reservation policy in an interview to mouth piece newspapers ‘ Organiser and Panchjanya.’ I am conscious that R.S.S has tried to downplay the Bhagwat Statement but it is time some outsider like me should make things clear even if it means I am contradicting publicly and clearly what my venerable friend has declared at a most inopportune and some what unfortunate timing. I write this with all my affection and respect for Bhagwat Ji. If he has been misreported let him say clearly and remove all doubts in the public mind about the necessity and veracity of his reported assertion.

Now to annul reservations for Scheduled Castes and Tribes and other Backward Classes requires a Constitutional Amendment. The BJP ruling party has been compelled to desist from inviting a vote on less important measure which the Modi government has urgently wanted because the move would have met with a disastrous rejection calling for the resignation of the Government. Why did Bhagwat ji expect a Constitutional Amendment to be passed when ordinary legislation could not go through? You cannot amend the Constitution by an Ordinance.

It is a reasonable inference that every citizen is entitled to draw that this was intended to be an election bribe to voters belonging to the higher castes for just this election. I am sure this will not even win the Patel votes because they are too intelligent to believe that the Government can make good this immoral and unconstitutional promise at anytime in the near future. Bhagwat Ji and others who share his views must honestly ask whether the Shudras, Harijans and OBCs for whose benefit the reservations have been put in place can be said to have completely got over their inability to compete on equal terms with other classes or the higher castes.

It is a pity that no serious effort has been made by the previous Congress government to create effective educational institutions to terminate the obstacles in the way of long suffering fellow citizens of ours to compete with higher caste candidates on terms of equality and merit alone.

Bhagwat Ji should have atleast made the claim that the intellectual and educational qualifications of these long standing sufferers have now achieved higher levels to make equal treatment a reality. No Mr. Bhagwat, this will be a myth.

And finally may I ask how you will guarantee that your BJP President Amit Shah will not turn round and mock the victims of this fraud : “ oh it was all an election Jumla ( Joke)’’. By the way Bhagwat Ji have you consulted the Finance Minster and the Attorney General whether they think of a Constitutional Amendment at this time even a conceivable possibility?

Why is Sustainable Population not part of the UN Sustainable Development Summit ?

A great event will be taking place at the United Nations Headquarters, New York, between September 25-27, 2015. More than 150 world leaders, including our Prime Minister, will be attending the UN Sustainable Development Summit, formally to adopt the new sustainable development agenda. This agenda serves as a template for action for all governments of the world for the next fifteen years, to promote prosperity and protect the planet for posterity.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will replace the Millennium Development Goals which expire in 2015. International discussions regarding the SDGs have been ongoing since 2012 and hence resulted in the final document Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which will be adopted in the UN Sustainable Development Summit, a few days from now. These are based on a consensus of 193 countries on the following seventeen proposed goals:

1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere.

2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.

3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.

4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.

8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.

9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.

10.Reduce inequality within and among countries.

11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.

15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.

16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.

17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.

These larger goals have been broken down to more specific targets, and will be incumbent upon governments to achieve them.

These universal sustainable development goals for the betterment of people across the globe and the good health of mother earth are badly needed, especially at a time when the mantra of greed and profit is destroying whole eco systems, whether on land, or on water, or in the skies. We have brought our planet to a sorry state with our greed and exploitation, and nature has started showing us the results of our deeds. Climate change and global warming have become a reality across the world, with weather and rainfall patterns changing drastically. Their disastrous long term effects have been recorded by scientists all over the world and are being gradually being validated by events all around us – rising temperatures, melting glaciers, rising sea levels, erratic rainfall, drought, to name a few. And the greatest sufferers of the ensuing shocks will of course be the poor and vulnerable, something that has already started.

But what I find missing notably in the list of sustainable goals is the goal for achieving sustainable levels of population growth, and I wonder why this, a seriously relevant goal was excluded. As far as India is concerned, we must understand that the most pernicious and potent cause of our poverty is our uncontrolled population growth, as it far exceeds our growth of capital and national wealth. This must be halted with all our national might. Nature’s bounty in not infinite, especially when we damage and deplete the earth by human abuse - unlimited pollution, filthy rivers, holes in our ozone layer, CO 2 emissions, melting ice caps, global warming resulting from our fetish for artificial warming and cooling.

But what I find missing notably in the list of sustainable goals is the goal for achieving sustainable levels of population growth, and I wonder why this, a seriously relevant goal was excluded. As far as India is concerned, we must understand that the most pernicious and potent cause of our poverty is our uncontrolled growth, as it exceeds our growth of capital and national wealth. This must be halted with all our national might. Nature’s bounty inn not infinite, especially when we damage and deplete the earth by human abuse-unlimited pollution , filthy rivers, holes in our ozone layers, CO2 emissions , melting ice caps , global warming resulting from our fetish for artificial warming and cooling.

Obscurantists and fanatics who refuse to see contemporary reality for population stabilization need to be educated that our country needs youth who are healthy in body and mind, and free in thought, and our population and economic policies must also reflect our genuine secularism. I hope our Ministries of Health, Human Resources, and Minorities will show harmony of thought and action, and bring out an enlightened rule of law that shall make the nation an enviable lesson and model for the entire comity of nations.

Thomas Malthus in his “An Essay on the Principle of Population.” Published in 1798 made a somewhat pessimistic prediction about the threat of poverty and the suffering that goes with it. He forcefully argued that development of mankind was severely limited by the pressure that population growth exerted on availability of food. It was his firm conviction that since food and passion between the sexes are both essential for human existence but the world’s population would increase at a faster rate than its food supply. Population grows at a geometric rate but the production of food only grows arithmetically.

The growth of poverty and social conflict are inevitable was his gloomy prediction. But the Industrial Revolution that soon followed in Europe falsified his prediction for quite some time. This new phenomenon produced a remarkable increase in productivity particularly generated by unlocking of energy contained in fossil fuels like coal and oil. Availability of energy increased six fold between 1820 and 1950, while population only doubled. Yes these changes have made us forget this Malthusian horror. Another sixty five years have gone bye and it is time to recall the Malthusian nightmare and think of mastering it again. Scholar James Martin in his fantastic book “The Meaning of the 21st century has this to tell us.” Some authorities have attempted to calculate how many people the Earth can support in the second half of this century. The number declines as the ecological footprint grows due to increasing consumption patterns. It also declines as global warming shrinks the farm production of marginal areas and increases the spread of deserts. Farm production is also lowered as aquifers run dry and huge amounts of water are diverted to the rapidly growing cities. Modellers attempt to calculate the future increases in grain prices. Today we have a fairly good understanding of the Earths control mechanisms, and we have highly intricate models of climate change. The conclusion is that the Earth could not support today’s population if they lived decently. The drive for eliminating poverty must be combined with a drive for population decline.

I regret that neither the new Prime Minister nor his advisors are qualified to handle this revived probability of a collapse of the world in which our young are living today.

REJECT THE SAUDI CLAIM

The actions of the Saudi Arabian embassy invoking diplomatic immunity in the case of its Diplomat accused of rape and sodomy is a shocking and immoral claim. The rules of the diplomatic immunity are not wholly statutory. They are the product of long standing usage which necessarily required that a foreign sovereign and its accredited agents should be immune from any interference with their person or property, which interference may well be interference with the discharge of their Ambassadorial functions within the guest country. There is no rule of absolute immunity for any foreign sovereign under International Law.

Two facets of this immunity are however beyond controversy – 1. No foreign diplomat is subject to any arrest or detention or compulsory attendance in any court 2. That he must be treated with extreme courtesy, respect and honour and nothing should be done to diminish or destroy these. It is equally well known that if a foreign diplomat otherwise enjoying immunity, cannot claim it in respect of civil actions arising out of any commercial operations of his not connected with discharge of its diplomatic functions. What has happened in this case, should have deeply embarrassed the Government of Saudi Arabia, for the malevolent conduct of its diplomat in India. Innocent women who were not the nationals of Saudi Arabia but another independent country were being kept in wrongful confinement, treated as slaves and subjected to outrageous sodomy and rape, not only by the diplomat but also his guests whom he wanted to entertain. The Saudi government owed a large dose of gratitude to India for having discovered these beastly activities of which any normal human being should be ashamed.

However, it seems the Saudi government requires a more fitting and virulent justification for what the Indian authorities have done. The action of the Saudi diplomat amounts to the offence, which in the relevant United Nations conventions is called ‘slavery’ and the actual practice of it as ‘slave trade’. Under the anti slavery Conventions starting from the one signed in Geneva in September, 1926, and after many amendments and additions thereafter this definition remain in force. Forced labour is included in the definition of slavery and certainly sodomising of the women for a long time by more than one male is the cruelest breach of International Law and cannot be justified by any reliance on diplomatic immunity. No state can rely on such repulsive breach of International Law defined with precision by the binding written conventions.

The sodomised women are Nepalese citizens. The cries of these unfortunate women were heard by the inmates of the housing society in Gurgaon where they were confined by the Saudi diplomat. The inmates of the society are grateful to the Government of India and so is the Government of Nepal. Surely the laws of Saudi Arabia do not permit sodomising of unwilling women held in slavery by any diplomat. It is time that India should frankly tell the Saudi Government that we shall not tolerate such activities in India. They are free to wind up and quit.

I cannot conclude this piece without congratulating the famous Islamic seminary of Sunni Muslims, Lucknow based Darul Uloom Nizamia Farangi Mahal, for the much needed Fatwa against the Satanic ISIS now in its new incarnation after it has dropped one IS and made itself a world wide movement for conversion of Darul Harb into Darul Islam. The second IS in its initials which confined its sinful intentions of forcing the Islamic state of their conception in Iraq and Syria only is now extended to the whole world.

God is the creator of all religions prophets and humans. He has not yet taken the decision to destroy all religions except Islam. Every human being is God’s creation. For any human, even to think that God is wrong and he needs human help to destroy an overwhelming majority of his creation is an insult to God and I believed that God will destroy those who are guilty of entertaining such a satanic ambition which treats God as an impotent lunatic. The thousands or more clerics from all over India who have ordained the much needed Fatwa and the leaders of this rational group the Mumbai based Mufti Manzar Hasan Khan have justly earned the gratitude and admiration of the Secular nation of India.

My Preface to My Friend's Book

I normally do not write prefaces to books written by friends but Dr. Lalwani is an exception, because the subject of the book is rather unusual and I respect him for writing it.

Many Indian patriots may not like to hear or read that an Indian, though today domiciled in UK for many long years should publicly confess that Indians have to be grateful for some valuable almost colossal benefits that British rule has bestowed on India. The fear is genuine and I am almost sure that such patriots exist in very large numbers.

False conceit often trumps unpleasant truth. A highly educated author belonging to the brave Sikh community should without the slightest hesitation publish and declare the truth, the whole truth and nothing but truth. Loyalty to history cannot be diluted by an irrational fear. The author’s reputation guarantees that no sensible person will suspect any fly in the ointment. Dr. Lalwani is no sycophant or buyable with a material reward. Besides I fully concur that Indians should be grateful for some permanent blessings of colonial rule which only the civilized British could confer upon us.

Indians have been the heirs of the Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro civilization which flourished in our part of the world more than five thousand years before the birth of Christ. Europe had long fondly believed history had started with the Greeks and that India was a dark continent inhabited by barbarians until their civilized cousins, the Aryans brought to them the light of civilization. This insolence was shattered in 1924 by the breath taking discoveries of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa, a few hundred miles to the north of India. The excavations disclosed 4 or 5 superimposed cities with hundreds of slightly built brick houses and shops ranged along with wide streets, as well as narrow lanes, rising in many cases to several storeys. The evidence indisputably established that during the third and fourth millennium BC there existed in the area very highly developed city life, housed with wells and bathrooms and an elaborate drainage system and a general condition of citizens superior to that prevailing in contemporary Babylonia and Egypt. There was much more to make India proud but I must skip the temptation to beat my own drums.

As civilization matures the humans become peace loving, weak and sometimes indifferent to the mundane affairs of this world. These ancestors of ours met the Alexander the Macedonian Emperor on the banks of the Indus. They laughed hysterically when he told them about his plans of world conquest. By ridicule, they persuaded him to abandon his foolish plan and return to his native place. But they did give him a glimpse of their spiritual life. Even so India did continue its process of debilitating indifference to the world around them. Foreigners took advantage and continued to pour into India, Mohammed Bin Kassim in the 8th century, the Gauris, Ghaznwis and the Mughals. By the 17th century, India was a part of the Mughal empire. But that dynasty gave us magnificent emperors like Akbar the Great, and Shah Jahan the Magnificent. They became respectable Indians and ruled justly and earned the respect of their subjects. Unfortunately their descendants turned out to be religious fanatics and forfeited the respect and loyalty of their subjects and the British Crown took over from the Company. But the Dynasty left remarkable architecture like the famous Taj, local industry and exports. The British had ventured into India during the regime of Emperor Akbar, of course, initially as traders.

We were so helpless, emaciated and corrupt that a British company called the East India Company almost became a sovereign power. They had strong physiques, the benefit of scientific discoveries, the Industrial revolution, superior education and weapons of war.

Yes, like all colonial powers, even British practised economic exploitation but in the process conferred large benefits on us. British ruled us but surely they rescued the majority of Indians from the hated Jaziya Tax which converted all non Muslims into degraded inferior serfs of some sort.

A crazy young philosopher, I forget his name or the name of his Book, decided to answer a question, a very famous one by the great Einstein: “Did God have any choice in creating the Universe”?

For long he examined the mind of God and reached a not very flattering answer so far as God is concerned. His answer was: “It is a universe with no edge in space, no beginning or end in time and a Creator who had nothing better to do.”

History of this crazy world is a long story of changes in every aspect of human life. The rise and fall of ruling dynasties, ever changing ethical and religious beliefs, periods of peace and growth, new discoveries of science and growth alternating with war, famine and destructions, new discoveries of science and growth of religions, vast changes in the styles of living alternating between prosperity and penury.

The Europeans had developed a new outlook of respect for India within a few decades. India was making a strong claim to self rule and political independence.

Dr. Lalwani has good cause to be appreciative of the great good the British Connection has brought to us. They prepared us for self rule and finally made a graceful exit.

Even in the period of monarchy when Democracy and a Secular Constitution for free India was still a distant dream , education of the leaders like Gandhi Ji and Jawarlal Nehru in British Universities had created a longing for democracy, Rule of Law, an independent Judiciary to make the weak prevail against the strong, eliminating religious fanaticism and hatred and a life guided wholly by reason and logic but inspired by love and compassion. Our new Constitution of free India anxiously copied the British model of governance. Debates in our Constituent Assembly testify to this finest gift for which we do owe to the British a lot of appreciation and gratitude.

Even before the discovery of the ancient Harappa Civilization, the West had discovered in Swami Vivekananda, an amazing Indian philosopher with very few to come near him in his intellectual attainments. He attempted to combine Indian Spirituality with Western Materialism and became the main force behind the Vedanta movement in the West. The West has not forgotten till today his speech at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago, Illinois in September 1893. For years before the amazing Harappa discoveries, right in their country, he attacked American attitude of contempt for the Blacks and their praise for the Whites. To put an end to this cultural homicide he advised that the Negro must rise up with an affirmation of his own Olympian manhood. “No Lincolnian Emancipation Proclamation or Johnsonian Civil Rights Bill can totally bring this kind of freedom” he thundered. Then he turned to Nietzschean philosophy ‘Will to Power’ and rejected it. We must get the thing right; We must realize that power without love is reckless and abusive; and love without power is sentimental and anaemic . He then propounded the doctrine of non violence. It is the most important weapon available to the Black in this struggle for justice. Through violence you kill the hater but you do not conquer hate, he argued.

The Americans learnt a lot from what this great Indian said to them. India rose in the esteem of our rulers too and I am almost sure that after the first quarter of the next century was over the British had decided that their rule will have to end soon and a new era of mutual respect and cooperation will start. The legatees of Harappa can’t remain slaves. The peaceful transformation of the next quarter of the century is proof of British grace and goodwill.

While I write this, it is impossible to ignore the great British born theosophist Dr. Annie Besant who was a scholar of Hindu Shastras, accepted as an axiom for life the shastric principle ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ meaning the whole world is my family. She wrote and lectured on Hinduism. She was a poet, excellent orator and a versatile tornado of power and passion. She loved India, became its leader and in her speech in South India at the First Students Conference in June 1916 she advised the students to get ready to be the leaders of India by mastering history, logic and political economy. She had obviously a strong intuition that British Rule was coming to an end, and India deserves its freedom.

While coming to the end I remind myself that I am the country's oldest practising lawyer and teacher of law. I can't resist citing judicial precedents to support my views. When our Constituent Assembly was drafting the new Constitution of free India we doubtless had decided to copy a Westminster model of democracy. We created a Council of Ministers to aid and advice the President but we forgot to provide in express terms that the President of India will normally be bound by it . This lacuna, somewhat serious in a written and detailed constitution ,was noticed only after about a quarter of a century after the Constitution came into force in 1950. The lacuna was filled up by a judgment of the Supreme Court of India afterwards. One of our finest judges, Justice Krishna Iyer in his inimitable style wrote -' Not the Potomac but the Thames fertilized the flow of the Yamuna, if we may adopt a riverine imagery'. In this thesis we are fortified by the precedent of this Court, strengthened by the Constituent Assembly proceedings and reinforced by the actual working of the organ involved for about a silver jubilee ' span of time '. Thus was laid the rule that the President of India is as much bound by ministerial advice as the British monarch.

Dr Lalwani is on the right track.

The unstoppable Lalit Modi

He is unstoppable, the ‘happening’ man, L’Enfant terrible, not only of the Indian Premier League, but also of the Indian political establishment. He has the capacity to convert a monsoon session of Parliament into a hurricane. His tweets and interviews spare no one, high or mighty, or anyone who has crossed his path or threatens to do so in future.

It all started with a news item in the Sunday Times on June 14, that Labour MP Keith Vaz had pressured UK’s top immigration official using the Indian Foreign Minister’s name to grant British travel papers to Lalit Modi, then resident in the UK, and hounded by Indian authorities. E-mails to and from Keith Vaz and Lalit Modi about grant of his travel papers and the intervention of India’s Foreign Minister, and some about helping Sushma Swaraj’s nephew secure admission in a British law school, surfaced in Times Now television channel, creating sensational headlines. The Opposition went berserk, baying for Sushma’s blood.

Rather inexplicably, what followed was a statement from Lalit Modi’s legal team that Vasundara Raje, then Leader of Opposition in the Rajasthan Assembly, had also been extremely helpful. She had stated on affidavit to British authorities that she was in favour of Lalit Modi's immigration application, on the strict clause that her name will not be revealed to the Indian authorities. The opposition’s shrieks got shriller, demanding that both Sushma Swaraj and Vasundara Raje must resign. The public is well aware of how this was used as an excuse to hijack the entire monsoon session of Parliament.

There is still no information as to how private e-mails between Keith Vaz, Lalit Modi, and the Swaraj family become public. Keith Vaz says his e-mail account was hacked, and this may well be true. But hacking e-mails is a very serious criminal offence in the UK, and it is not very clear yet if he has filed any complaint in this regard.

If the mails were indeed hacked, then the first question that arises is - who is the most likely hacker? And the second - who passed them over to Sunday Times and the Times Now television channel? Answers to these questions would pinpoint the real motives for causing the political turbulence, and also who it was meant to destabilize. It does seem a little unusual that neither the media, nor politicians or informed citizens have shown any curiosity in this regard.

Lalit Modi’s statement that Rupert Murdoch is behind the present controversy because of Champions Twenty20 League conflicts appears more of a red herring. There is enough loose talk going around the Capital, that the entire Lalit Modi episode is part of a larger intrigue going on within the ruling party. If this was meant to undermine the Foreign Minister, then it is not difficult to hazard a guess regarding who her fiercest competitor is. And if this really is an intrigue engineered by him, then he perhaps did not anticipate the unexpected bite-back, despite his defence of Sushma Swaraj that he was made to give in Parliament. It was an unusual threesome. One Minister defending another with whom there is no love lost, and whose best friend is his worst enemy! Sushma would be an ideal witness to speak up, but I respect her obligation as a colleague in the same Cabinet of Ministers under the same Prime Minister.

In his recent interview to Rajdeep Sardesai in London, Lalit Modi repeatedly stated with his usual confidence and devil may care, that the Finance Minister is as deeply involved in the IPL rot and part of the ‘cricket mafia’, as are Srinivasan, Dalmia, Mathur, and Rajiv Shukla. In fact, he concludes his interview by saying that the greatest bond between the Congress and the BJP is the murky side of the IPL.

It is also a little surprising that Lalit Modi’s second interview to India Today TV has been blacked out of the Internet, though Aaj Tak seems to have put out a dubbed Hindi version of it. So too, his statements against the Finance Minister hardly find mention in the reportage, though everything else does. Does this mean that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting or the Enforcement Directorate are flashing their iron fists to the media?

I am reminded of the long arms of censorship that reached even the Sunday Guardian, blacking out certain articles, particularly an article of mine criticizing the Finance Minister over the Black Money issue. No prizes for guessing who the mastermind behind it was, or the conspirators that were used. I left the Sunday Guardian, of which I was Board Chairman for years, but printed my article nevertheless as an advertisement in the Indian Express just a few days later.

The crisis seems to have blown over for the moment. Sushma Swaraj has been her own staunchest defender. After all, this was neither a case of corruption or bribery. It was merely use of her political standing to help an old family friend facing a tragic family crisis. She had her own moment of sweet revenge educating Sonia, Rahul and the Congress about the true meaning of corruption and quid pro quo, through the Quatrocci and Anderson examples. The Gandhi-Mainos had silently to stomach this in Parliament.

Meanwhile, Lalit Modi continues unfazed and undeterred.He is confident that the Government has no case against him under the PMLA, and he is victim of vendetta first by Chidambaram, and now by Jaitley. He has almost challenged the government to issue the Red Corner notice against him, and then face him in an international court. He always had a ready, credible answer and counter for every question that Rajdeep Sardesai asked. So much so, that by the end of the interview, the interviewer came through more like the interviewee.

Meanwhile, the public are enjoying Lalit Modi’s tweets and look forward to more of them, whether about Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal and their sons, Tharoor and his Kochi scam, Rahul Gandhi and Vadra, or Varun Gandhi and his Aunty demanding 60 million dollars to be handed over to her sister to settle his affairs in India.

Lalit Modi, mind you, has not yet been sued by anyone, though his tweets are very much alive. This speaks for itself.

Congress party must apologize to the nation: Congress Party’s anti-nation fiction of ‘Hindu Terror’ busted

Only future historians will be able to inform posterity regarding the surreptitious plans and tenacity with which the Congress Party in its UPA years tried to attack everything that has held our country together over the centuries. Most present day historians are either tunnel-versioned or disoriented.

The Congress Party had its governance strategy well chalked out. UPA 1 was all about creating a perfect enabling environment for the plunder of India – getting the right people in the right places, building the corruption pathways, manipulating the system and documentation – and presto, the gold had started pouring in abundance. The poor were kept busy in NREGA and its doles, the rural middle class with the emergence of a new breed of contractors to put in place a just division of NREGA spoils, and the urban middle class was engrossed in their own prosperity and the economic boom. The field was clear for the UPA to start its scam operations.

But two things went wrong. First , the Congress party and its allies became a little too rapacious and brazen in their plunder , and it wasn’t long that the scams started surfacing almost on a monthly basis, with all roads stopping either at No 10 Janpath or Number 4 RCR. Second, the incidents of jehadi terrorism targeting India rose sharply. In the years from 2005 there was a succession of terrorist attacks in Bombay, Delhi, Benaras and several places in UP.

Sonia Gandhi’s think tanks started working overtime to create a new and powerful deflection strategy, to serve a twofold purpose – to take people’s attention away from jehadi terrorism and Congress corruption and scams, and to start an attack on India’s fabric of identity. The strategy was straight from Goebells – create a vicious fabrication against the majority community and give it universal currency and credibility. The Congress Party by now had moved into a fantasy world, convinced that they could preserve their minority vote banks by creating   a fictitious monster called ‘Hindu Terror’ and justify their minority appeasement and majority debasement. Their home trained secular intellectuals and political serfs were delighted and took no time in condemning everything Hindu, turning the security threats of jehadi terrorism to the greater dangers of ‘Hindu Terror’.  Home Ministers Sushil Kumar Shinde and Chidambaram, Rahul Gandhi the then heir apparent, and his tutor Digvijay Singh went overboard circulating this fiction, and denigrating their own countrymen before foreign powers, as reported by American ambassador Roemer in Wikileaks. They may have been sitting in the court of Ghori or Curzon.

 In retrospect, I am not convinced that this fiction of ‘Hindu Terror’ was created only for vote bank politics. I think it went beyond that, and was in addition intended to paralyze the identity and self-esteem of the majority community. Self-esteem did not pose too much of a problem - Sonia Gandhi was quite accustomed to seeing the behavior of her native courtiers - that they were capable of enduring the most humiliating insult without any retaliation. But the invisible Hindu identity was strong and had to be attacked, for which the deadliest weapon was creation of the Hindu Terror fiction. There can be no other explanation for the humiliation heaped upon the Hindus during the UPA years, summed up most graphically in the notorious, anti-national Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence (Access to Justice And Reparations) Bill, 2011, which clearly reveals Sonia Gandhi's contempt for the majority community. And for this diabolic, concerted strategy targeting the backbone of India, I don't think it was not Italian thinking alone that was involved. It went well beyond our borders, and contained the sinister designs of some other countries who want to prevent the emergence of a strong India. Let the nation be reminded that none other that Hafiz Saeed, leader of terrorist group Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JUD), congratulated the Congress Party on their ‘Hindu Terror’ contribution.

The last few years have been bad for Sonia Gandhi. She failed in all her ambitions. Unprecedented corruption and anti-national vote bank politics made her the greatest polarizer in Indian politics since independence. The silent majority came together and left her with just 44 seats in the 2014 elections. And her son couldn't make it as Prime Minister. The wheel has done full circle.

Her fiction of ‘Hindu Terror’ has been busted. Cases regarding the Malegaon blasts, 2006 and 2008, the Samjhauta blast, 2007, the Mecca Masjid, 2007, Ajmer Sharif, 2007 are still sub judice with contradictory evidence implicating SIMI and Indian Mujahideen (IM), and nothing against the accused Colonel Purohit, Sadhavi Prgnya, Aseemanand, except police torture and statements under duress. As I write this, I see on television that a Pakistani investigator into the 26/11 Bombay blasts, has confirmed that Kasab was indeed a Pakistani, and the terror attack emanated from Pakistan. Will the Congress Party stalwarts and their cronies at least now apologize to the nation, particularly to the RSS and Hindus in general, for spreading vicious and anti-national propaganda against their own country and country- men.  

Why are the Congress Party and its intellectuals more particularly Muslims who understand the beauty and grandeur of the real Islam of the Prophet not daring to speak the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth. India is a truly secular state and the majority community is largely Gandhian in belief and conduct. The Muslims are safer here much better than Muslims in Sindh Pakistan; more about which I will write soon.

 

Our Great Democracy Tamasha

Democracy, a precious jewel in the crown of any government, came rather easily to us for historical reasons. And in utter ungratefulness, we have only contributed towards its subversion, one of them being a new, reprehensible process and terminology called ‘stalling Parliament’. This is the licence that the opposition has appropriated for itself of not allowing Parliament to function, on any illegitimate pretext that it chooses.

The great Indian tamasha seems to be fast becoming an institutionalised fixture of our dysfunctional version of democracy, manifesting itself day after day. MPs have come to believe that once they are elected, they acquire a fundamental right to derail democratic processes of decision making in Parliament, particularly against the greater good of the country, without any accountability to their voters for wasting crores of rupees of the tax payers’ money meant for running Parliament.

The stalling of the monsoon session of Parliament was quite expected. The most popular interpretation is that the Congress Party is taking its own sweet revenge for similar tactics employed by the BJP when it was in the opposition, particularly during UPA 2. But what it forgets is that BJP stalled Parliament during that regime because the answers it sought from the government regarding the mindboggling scams engineered by the UPA government, such as the 2 G scam, the Asian Games scam, the Coal scam, never came nor were they allowed to be debated in Parliament. The situation today is a little different. The ruling party wants to make a statement regarding allegations against its ministers, particularly, Ms Sushma Swaraj, but the Congress still wants to prevent Parliament from functioning. So clearly, the motive for stalling Parliament appears to go beyond discussion on topical issues.

There is also speculation that this ‘stalling’ Parliament is really neither a tit for tat by Congress Party nor an act of simple vendetta. Yes, it certainly does seem to be turning into an ugly corruption competition, but apparently the motives are actually far more sinister, namely that the Congress Party will not allow Parliament to function, as they would like to prevent the Government from undertaking any economic reforms that will bring dividends to the country in the next 2-3 years. For example, the GST Bill, The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill, 2015, popularly known as the Land Bill, must not be allowed to pass, lest they bring about economic growth and attendant trickle-down prosperity to the common people of India, and enhance the BJP’S prospects in the next election. If this is indeed so, and there appears to be no reason to believe otherwise, judging from the fact that every new headline for the day is being used as an excuse to disrupt Parliament, then this is one of the most anti-national acts that the Congress Party is indulging in, for which they will have to pay dearly.

Democracy was a great gift we received at Independence. It had remained buried in the Dark Ages after the glory of ancient Greece until it was resurrected again, gradually step by step, through Bills of Rights, punctuated in turns by bloody revolutions and constitutionalism, revolutions and regicide, spanning over almost six centuries in Europe and Britain. The generations who inherited democracy in the west had fought hard and shed their blood for it. To this day, they consider their hard earned political rights sacrosanct, and passionately respect and protect them.

In our case, democracy was acquired in a reverse process. We received it without a political or ideological struggle. True, it was embedded in the concept of Swaraj, during our struggle for independence, but the real fight against our colonial rulers was for Independence. Democracy to us came as a huge collateral benefit on a platter without shedding a drop of blood, for which others in foreign lands had fought for and sacrificed their lives . We gave to ourselves the most magnificent democratic Constitution that embodied the struggle and wisdom of centuries in foreign lands. But how many of our people in 1947 understood what it meant, and how many of us today understand its true meaning? Certainly not the political parties or MPs who believe that ‘stalling’ Parliament is a high expression of democracy.

The Congress Party while it led UPA 2 perfected the art of innnovative "floor management" with multiple strategies — inducements and rewards, political and budgetary quid pro quos, walkouts by amenable Opposition parties at the right time to defeat legislations like the Lokpal Bill, and the CBI stick of course. And now that it is in opposition it is banking upon a misguided strategy of ‘stalling’ the constitutional process of Parliament, a strategy that seems to be boomeranging on it.

All streams of the media should explain these facts to the people of India, and the harm that stalling of Parliament is causing to the progress of our country and our people, all because the Congress wants to prevent the BJP government at all costs from achieving a positive report card to take to the voters for the next election. The media and enlightened civil society organisations should mobilise voters to hold their representatives in Parliament accountable for thwarting democracy and wasting crores of the tax payers money for this anti-national activity.

Since both parties, the one before and the other after May 2014 have liberally made use of this atrocious parliamentary behaviour, it has become difficult for honorable non-party men and women to make an effort to outlaw this abominable practice. But even if the effort has slender chance of success we must try. Perhaps sanity will prevail.

Pakistan’s Truculence and Obduracy

Yes, even the holy festival of Id-ul- Fitr did not prevent the ugly fighting on our international border. Both leaders through their joint secretaries while in Russia condemned terrorism in all its forms and agreed to cooperate with each other to eliminate this menace from South Asia.” Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif reiterated his invitation to Prime Minister Modi to visit Pakistan for the SAARC Summit in 2016. Prime Minister accepted the invitation. This was clearly too much for the Pakistani army to swallow, and the guns went firing again at innocent civilians.

Now what should be India’s firm response? This is my answer and not necessarily of Modi ji or Sushmaji. So long as Pakistan will remain an Islamic state India will not compel a single Indian citizen in any part of Jammu & Kashmir to be a citizen of a non secular state. Pakistan must recall the famous speech of Quaid Azam Jinnah Saheb the day Pakistan came into existence. Obviously Pakistani leaders have totally forgotten it and reduced it to a cruel joke. But there was one person who was an honorable exception. Paradoxically, he too happened to be a military dictator. I think he was and is more sensible than many in Pakistan with whom we have had to deal with from time to time.  I want to reproduce briefly the Quaid-e-Azam’s forgotten wisdom:

He spoke of the unprecedented happening in the political life of the Sub-Continent. ‘There is no parallel in the history of the world’ he said. “This mighty Sub-Continent with all kinds of inhabitants has been brought under a plan which is titanic, unknown, unparalleled. And what is very important with regard to it is that we have achieved it peacefully and by means of an evolution of the greatest possible character.”

He then dealt with the first duty of the Government of Pakistan. It is not merely to maintain the rule of law but also to fully secure the life, property and religious beliefs of its subjects. Then he referred to the curse of corruption in both India and Pakistan – black marketing, evils of nepotism and jobbery.

Then he dealt with the question of minorities. I quote his exact words, “Now, if we want to make this great State of Pakistan happy and prosperous, we should wholly and solely concentrate on the well-being of the people, and especially of the masses and the poor. If you will work in co-operation, forgetting the past, burying the hatchet, you are bound to succeed. If you change your past and work together in a spirit that everyone of you, no matter to what community he belongs, no matter what relations he had with you in the past, no matter what is his colour, caste or creed, is first, second and last citizen of this State with equal rights, privileges, and obligations, there will be no end to the progress you will make”

Referring to the British example, he proceeded and said “Now I think we should keep that in front of us as our ideal and you will find that in course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the State.”

I believe that General Musharaf always wanted to act on this and bring peace between India and Pakistan. I have the testimony of eminent journalist Tavleen whom I greatly admire and respect. She had met the General at Davos about ten years ago and she frankly asked the general what he meant by his ‘out of the box’ solution for the two nations. The General patiently explained to her what he had in mind. Nothing in General’s proposal meant independence or redrawing the borders but it only meant self governance for Kashmir with security guarantee by a Managing Council consisting of Indians, Pakistanis and Kashmiris.  The General was concerned about wasting of national resources on a futile conflict which must be stopped to make Pakistan prosperous. He was determined to terminate terrorist activity in the state.

Therefore the moderate Hurriyat leaders and the Kashmir committee evolved five principles of a permanent solution:

1. Terrorism and violence are taboo.

2. A lasting and honorable peaceful resolution must and can be found.

3. The resolution must be acceptable to all political elements and regions of the state.

4. Extremist positions held by all for the previous five decades have to be and will be abandoned.

5. Kashmiri pundits will be rehabilitated with honor and rights of equality.

I must confess that when General Musharraf came to India and negotiations for settlement were going on in Agra, President Musharraf had come determined to solve the problem. Unfortunately the talks failed and the failure was the result of Indian obduracy. The General was  sad and angry, but he did not give up his noble effort. I got from him through his friend Mr. Bhandara his draft proposal for a settlement. With his permission I made some changes which he gladly accepted. I published them as proposal of the Kashmir Committee. These occupy more than a full page in my book ‘Maverick Unchanged, Unrepentant’.

The Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir framed by its independent Constituent Assembly should be accepted by all rational politicians as the end of the Pakistani ambitions in that State. Its preamble reads:

‘We the people of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, having solemnly resolved, in pursuance of the accession of the State to India which took place on the twenty-sixth day of October, 1947, to further define the existing relationship of the State with the Union of India as an integral part thereof, and to secure to ourselves

‘Justice, social, economic and political; liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;

‘Equality of status and of opportunity; and to promote among us all; Fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity of the nation.

‘In our Constituent Assembly this seventeenth day of November, 1956, we do hereby adopt, enact and give to ourselves this constitution.’

Then came the elections of 2011 in the State. These elections were watched closely by press reporters from all over the world. Without any dissent from any responsible quarter elections have been declared as totally fair and free. There is no evidence that any vote was cast in favor of Kashmir becoming a part of Pakistan or seceding from India. International law and a Judgment of Supreme court of Canada rule out any right to secede.

Listen To A Genuine Well-Wisher

It has been my declared ambition of life to see India and Pakistan locked in a genuine embrace of mutual love and understanding and become together a bulwark of World Peace. Sitting in the departure lounge of God’s airport my hope of success is fast fading out. I am in a hurry and I must declare my last wish and testament for my friends in Pakistan who care to listen and ponder.

Indian statesmen despite serious objections from many influential sections of our people decided not to become a Hindu state. It was not an easy decision to make when the demand of partition was wholly based on the ambition of Muslims to constitute an Islamic State. Many Muslims residing in Indian part would have migrated to their new homeland but for the surprising Indian decision not to act in anger and retaliation. I am quite sure that almost all the Muslims who did not migrate to the homeland of their dreams and creation because of this adorable decision of Indian statesmen. I have been and remain proud of this. Secularism is the rule of reason over blind faith and the triumph of science over superstition. I am glad our leaders understood the oceans of innocent blood that had been shed in the name of religion in the long history of our sorry world. I know that Muslims now citizens of India obviously unanimously want India to be a citadel of secularism. The few malevolent hypocrites are hoping to make India too an Islamic State. The ISIS certainly harbours this evil ambition. These are certainly some Muslim traitors who secretly share the ISIS evil ambition but fortunately they are few and almost harmless.  

The hope of a friendly and peaceful coexistence which had almost died out seemed to be coming back to life when Modi ji and Nawaz Sharif Saheb met in the city of Ufa in Russia; a vain hope was flickering in some hearts but not in mine. I know that when they are far away from their countries. They try to behave better but they know that at home a mere assertion ‘I have been misreported’ is a complete defence and convincing excuse.   

It has not been more than a couple of days for our borders to become a hot territory of unprovoked firing and cross border terrorism. India has already threatened an ‘effective and forceful response’. It is a small mercy that the armed forces on both sides are a little reluctant to die without good cause. The devilish orders of their army bosses would not even ensure a gate pass to heaven. Before the horrendous mutual killings start let me recall few well known facts of history:

1. It was agreed that on the partition of India coming into-force the hundreds of semi independent states will become free from British paramountcy and the rulers would become sovereign masters of their future destiny in the Indian sub-continent. 

2.The State of Jammu & Kashmir have been a peaceful state though with a Muslim majority with a Hindu ruler.

3.He was busy negotiating a standstill agreement with India and Pakistan when Pakistan organized armed raiders entering the state and taking the state by force in complete defiance of rules of International Law or decency. Maharaja the legal sovereign invited Indian help which was readily made available and the Maharaja signed an instrument of the State’s accession to India.

4.Legitimate Indian forces recaptured occupied territory and the intruders pushed back compelling Pakistan to sue for peace and a ceasefire. The foolish Pandit Nehru accepted this and a good chunk of the state remained in Pakistani control. They call it Azad Kashmir. Under the law of nations it remains illegally occupied territory.

5.India’s title deeds to the whole of the state are completed, de-jure. Even de-facto they are perfect with regard to the territory now part of Indian Jammu and Kashmir.

6.India has not been serious in claiming the area called Azad Kashmir and by us the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.

7.We took the matter to the United Nations. They passed some resolutions the main one being a plebiscite. But this was to be held after every intruder vacated the POK and Indian Flag flew over the whole state.  Pakistan had no hope of winning while Shekh Abdullah was alive and his loyalty to India undiluted.

8.The state created its own Constituent Assembly to frame a Constitution. That separate Constituent Assembly, not the one which was framing or framed the Constitution of India” made the State a part of India and adopted some parts of the Constitution of India as applicable to the State. Article 370 of the Indian Constitution reflects the near sovereignty of the State. India cannot change the Constitution of India or that of the State without the consent of the Constituent Assembly of the State.

9.In 1965 the military dictator Ayub Khan decided to capture the State again by force. It was a shameful act of aggression and repugnant to modern International Law and the U.N Charter. The illegal and aggressive attack failed. Peace accord was signed under Russian auspices and its terms are simple but eternal in effect. Called the Tashkent-Declaration it ordained that neither party shall attempt to change the status-quo by force or war and will even refrain from propaganda for changing it.  

If Pakistan wants change it can only be by litigation in the International Court Of Justice. Is Pakistan Ready? A peaceful dialogue between two brothers is the only solution. Any war will be suicide, for both or one, providence will decide. 

Will the PM ask the real Arun Jaitley to please stand up?

My critics love to accuse me that whenever I criticise Arun Jaitley for his anti national activities, I tend to sound very personal. Let me assure them and my readers that I have no interest in Jaitley’s personal life or any of his activities if they are confined to it. But if his actions as a person, private or public, compromise public good or our national interest, no force on earth will keep me quiet.

I have written enough about how his actions as finance minister have done everything that is possible to ensure that our black money abroad never returns to India. He has packed the Enforcement Directorate, who are key to the SIT for Black Money, with persons of questionable antecedents, many former henchmen of the former Finance Minister, P Chidambaram, for whom he has appeared as lawyer in the Fairfax case. And now the appointment of the CVC, Mr. K V Chowdary, former Chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes, (under Chidambaram) for which Jaitley is reported to have been present in the Selection Committee, (of which he is not and was not member), only confirms in my mind that his actions are anti national. Chowdary, the new CVC, against whom there are reams of evidence of irregularity and impropriety, is many shades worse than ‘tainted Thomas’ who appears so tame now, whose selection by the previous Prime Minister drew outrage in the nation. The Prime Minister is surely aware that the highest flak he is receiving for anti-national decisions, whether for the black money issue or the selection of the tainted CVC, are all the result of the public action of Arun Jaitley. And the question everyone is asking is how the Prime Minister allowed all this to happen.

The Central Vigilance Commission is required to be an office in combating corruption and he himself should be possessed of unquestionable integrity. Holders of such office have not to prove beyond reasonable doubt to have this great qualification. This is required when a person is to be convicted of crime and sentenced to punishment prescribed by criminal law. I had four heavy bundle of evidence of his complete unfitness for the office of CVC yet the gentlemen was appointed after I had sent one bundle to the Prime Minister and promised to send 3 more without any delay. The Finance Minister’s certificate of fitness proves nothing but it certainly proves beyond doubt that Mr. Jaitley is not fit to be a Finance Minister who is not even a member of Cabinet Committee of Appointments. Yet he participated in the process. It reflects on the Prime Minister too. I do not wish to say more because the matter will be hopefully thrashed out in courts of law or the Sovereign People of India.

I was quite surprised to see an article in the May edition of the Caravan magazine that does an in depth analysis of Jaitley’s rise to power, how he managed always to step higher, through a deliberate cultivation of the media, the power brokers, corporate, the glitterati, and the influence and power that he came to acquire over them, officially and unofficially. Media moghuls, many of them his good friends, refused to publish any information that exposed or criticised his questionable, and sometimes corrupt actions. I give my highest compliments for Caravan magazine, for their courageous piece “Talk of the Town”, despite the facts they are writing forthrightly about not only the present Minister for Information and Publicity, but also the Finance Minister, with his intimidating outfit called the Enforcement Directorate.

The article explains Arun Jaitley’s steady rise to the commanding heights that we perceive today, beginning from his student union days of 1974, riding a well calculated, well orchestrated strategy right from the start of net-working, disinformation and manipulation, and befriending and controlling the media. He realised the strategic necessity of befriending media captains. He used the latter as his political career progressed to stifle information about his murky side in some of the prestigious Indian newspapers of some extremely dubious legal opinions given regarding allocation of coal blocs, a scam that the BJP was loudly accusing the UPA Government of. These facts were effectively obliterated from the mainstream national media. So too, have his past relations with Chidambaram and NDTV, with Vodaphone, and Ketan Parekh who faced charges of defrauding the Madhavpura Mercantile Cooperative Bank, been deleted by mainstream media.

He also cultivated the right Delhi durbar style for building up his social, corporate and media constituency, in lieu of the political constituency that he so badly lacked, all of it based on expediency to move on, and not ideology. And with their support he appears to have become master of the plantation industry – for planting stories and entrenching disinformation about his political foes and friends, and people whom he wanted to demolish. Several leaks planted in media, that have tried to damage reputation of many of his party colleagues are reportedly traced to him.

According to the Caravan article, Jaitley appears to have hobnobbed with every important politician of the Congress, the BJP and other parties, and is a pathological gossip and bad mouther, even of his friends and political leaders, including Prime Minister Vajpayee, and Advani, who has been his greatest benefactor. He hobnobbed with the Judiciary as Law Minister, misused his power, particularly regarding appointment of judges, inspite of advice and opinions from the IB.

His relationship with Narendra Modi seems interesting. To begin with, both were trying to draw advantage from each other’s strengths. Jaitley, a suave English speaking Delhi durbari with no political base, but by now, with a vast high society, business and media network; and Modi with a vast political base, but no savvy, sophisticated Delhi durbar. In the Vajpayee years, Jaitley had to play second fiddle to Promod Mahajan, who was much higher in the BJP pecking order, but after Mahajan’s death, he found his great opportunity to rise within the party.

His elections from Amritsar was a disaster, but Modi instead rewarded him and for whatever reason, placed Defence and Finance in his control. His ironfist in velvet glove romance with the press continues, more so, after he was removed from Defence, and given the ministry of Information and Broadcasting, where he can call the shots with greater force to black our stories about his own misdeeds.

I had warned Modi ji not to set him up as the party candidate and I assured him that he will lose. My advice was based on my belief shared by millions that Jaitley is a member of the notorious 160 club which hoped and worked on the project of ensuring that BJP does not get an absolute majority in Lok Sabha.

His role as President of Delhi and District Cricket Association a post he is said to have headed for 13 years, has brought to light by eminent veteran cricketers like Bishen Singh Bedi and Kirti Azad, smacks of nothing less than manipulation, nepotism and corruption. The usual cheap corruption tricks of a low level minion, construction of a stadium, falsification of bills and accounts. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs constituted a three-member team of the Serious Fraud Investigation Office to investigate Azad’s claims, but by the time the SFIO’s report was completed, in March 2014, Jaitley was no longer DDCA president, and he did not contest the 2013 election. The SFIO’s report confirmed Azad’s allegations of financial irregularity, but Jaitley managed to escape any indictment for the corruption under his watch. Clearly, a scam closed up by the scamster who occupies a position of great power in our country.