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Mainstream Vol. XLVIII, No 17, April 17, 2010

Eyeless in New Delhi

Editorial

Monday 19 April 2010, by SC

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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Washington to attend the Nuclear Security Summit offered him an opportunity during his meeting with the US head of state to raise India’s concerns in the wake of the latest Afpak policy framed by President Barack Obama. It must be pointed out that he did so quite effectively, and told Obama in clear terms that New Delhi could never forego its strategic and security interests at the altar of US expediency in that region, particularly when both sides had the same objective, that is, the defeat of terrorism. It was also noteworthy that ahead of the Obama-Manmohan meeting the Indian side made it abundantly transparent in unusually blunt language that New Delhi would not surrender its core interests in its sphere of influence just because of the Pakistanis’ existential problem; this was conveyed in the context of Afghanistan.

Obama’s response was reportedly positive. He promised to make the required effort to ensure that India gets access to David Headley. He also, in the same vein, accepted Manmohan’s contention that Islamabad must take appropriate action against the perpetrators of the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai in 2009 for the Indo-Pak dialogue to resume, and it was encouraging to find him highlighting this approach of India to the Pakistan PM, Yousuf Raza Gilani, in the course of his talks with the latter in the US capital. Furthermore Obama welcomed India’s continued interest in and commitment to the reconstruction process in Afghanistan, and this too was of considerable significance. However, the fact that Obam’s priorities are not in tune with the Indian approach to the Afpak situation as well as the Indo-Pak negotiations is well known to all observers of the regional scene. And it is no secret that at this point in time the US is, for its own reasons, more dependent on Pakistan than any other regional player. Herein lies the dilemma of New Delhi which had put all its eggs in the US basket in the expectation of Washington delivering on its assurances. Now that those expectations have been belied, it is in a quandary. The PM’s plainspeaking in Washington cannot hide this reality.

Meanwhile even as the murky dealings within the IPL come out in the open in the light of the personal spat between Lalit Modi, the IPL Chairman; and Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor centring on the controversy over the Kochi franchisee issue with the BJP and the Left demanding Tharoor’s resignation from the Union Council of Ministers pending an inquiry into the charges levelled against him, the resumption of Parliament’s Budget session today after the recess witnessed there-adbare discussions in both Houses on the Maoist problem that has assumed a new dimension after the April 6 incident at Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada resulting in the killing of 76 CRPF personnel by an armed Maoist group. The BJP members, taking a hardline militaristic position, not only conveyed their sense of outrage at that gravest Maoist attack on the paramilitary forces but also magnified what has lately been written in the RSS mouthpieces, Organiser and Panchajanya, that is, advocating “a free hand to the security personnel to exterminate the insurgents till the last cadre”. While the BJP-RSS extend full support to the paramilitary and police offensives by the Centre and the affected States to “wipe out the Maoists”, the problems faced by the tribals and the possibility of they suffering maximum casualties do not seem to really bother these organisations. This was revealed during the discussions on the subject in both the Houses. So they had no hesitation in backing Chidambaram to the hilt while taking pot shots at Congress leader Digvijay Singh for his cogent analysis of the ground reality and call for rethinking the Home Minister-sponsored strategy to counter the Maoists (as reproduced below). The Opposition Leader in the Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley, even went to the extent of charging half the Treasury Benches with being pro-Maoist, not to speak of the intellectuals (criticising the operations) whom he described as the “overground face of the underground Maoists”.

In contrast several Congress MPs spoke at length on the intense deprivation and destitution of the tribals compelling them to join the Maoists and forging strong links with the latter. JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav pointed to the brutal methods being used to counter Maoist insurgency on the lines of the strategy employed in J&K and the North-East whereas RJD leader Laloo Prasad urged the Union Government to make concerted efforts to initiate dialogue with the Maoists at the earliest. Predictably the CPM members trained their guns at Mamata Banerjee for her ‘ties’ with the Maoists and her outbursts against the West Bengal CM as well as the Lalgarh operation but what was most striking was the support they received from the BJP benches on these issues.

The discussions threw up several ideas from all sides but at the end the Home Minister, in his reply to the debate in the Lok Sabha, stuck to his old stand declaring that the Dantewada killings on April 6 had failed to weaken his resolve to fight the Maoists tooth and nail and flush them out of the affected areas although he did repeat his offer for talks if the Maoists “abjure violence” even if temporarily.

Nevertheless, what came out in sharp focus was the inability of the Congress leadership to devise a coherent policy to tackle the Maoist problem that would essentially rely on political means to combat the virus in the so-called Red Corridor instead of treating it as a law and order issue in the main.

It is this lack of a clear perspective and vision to meet the major challenges both at home and abroad that is progressively eroding the credibility and efficacy of the principal constituent of the ruling coalition occupying the driver’s seat in the UPA Government.

April 15 S.C.

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