Darjeeling At The Crossroads

by Bappaditya Paul

WHEN Franklin Prestage laid the railway tracks to Darjeeling Hills in 1879, in order to conquer the insurmountable steep incline, he employed a unique technique called the ‘Z-reverse’.1

‘Z-reverse’ is an ingeniously simple concept: while negotiating with the steep hill, the train climbs up a slope into a shunting neck and stops. It then backs up another steep incline reaching the other shunting neck higher up and there from, resumes the onward journey but at a higher level.

The inherent philosophy propelling the ‘Z-reverse’ technique is: when you cannot really move forward, better make a retreat and then find a new way ahead.

But for Franklin Prestige putting to use this commonsense, Darjeeling Hills would have never got to see the steam locomotives chugging at 7,400 feet above the sea level.

In 2005, Subash Ghisingh too, rightly embraced commonsense and reasoning when he agreed to the inclusion of Darjeeling Hills in the Sixth Schedule of Indian Constitution.

This was to facilitate a greater autonomy to Darjeeling, which has been demanding a separate statehood out of West Bengal.

A significant move it was. For, Ghisingh had been the man who had propagated the bloodstained Gorkhaland movement in the 1980’s. At that time, he acted like a stubborn leader, who did not dodge from the statehood demand until a large number of cadres were killed in the agitation.

Darjeeling got an autonomous governing body ~ the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC), in 1988. DGHC was set up under a state Act. But Ghisingh realised the achievement came too costly against the massive bloodbath that the agitation had incurred.

Thus, when he got a second chance to bargain in 2005, instead of waging another bloody agitation over the statehood demand, his political maturity guided him to accept the Sixth Schedule status for Darjeeling.

Those in the know-how of the Sixth Schedule provisions would acknowledge, it was indeed going to be a remarkable step forward towards fulfilling Darjeeling’s aspiration for self-governance.2

More importantly, the achievement was coming without any fresh agitation on the ground or mindless insurgency, as has been the case with the Bodoland Territorial Council in Assam.

It was surely a compromise, but never the end of the statehood prospects. The simple reason being that the Constitution of India was not obliterating the clause pertaining to the creation of new states. Nowhere in the Constitution there is any implicit or explicit mention that an area governed under the Sixth Schedule, cannot become a full-fledged state in future.

But Ghisingh’s political rivals misinterpreted the implications of the Sixth Schedule status on Darjeeling and compelled the Union government to shelve the idea midway.

The common public in Darjeeling, who were discontent with Ghisingh for his inept handling of the DGHC and growing isolation from the masses, swallowed the misinformation campaign. The ‘king of Darjeeling’ was dethroned overnight.

But the political culture of hero-worshipping has not ended in Darjeeling. Only that now Ghisingh has been replaced with Bimal Gurung and the GNLF with the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha or the GJMM.

Bimal Gurung

In the past one and half year of his political reign that commenced in October 2007, Gurung and his party have gifted Darjeeling unrest and anarchy, all but for the demanded Gorkhaland.

His achievement so far ~ stalling of the proposed Sixth Schedule status, dethroning and ousting Ghisingh and other GNLF leaders from the Hills and compelling the Union government in convening tripartite talks on the Darjeeling impasse.

All these are but negative achievements and have facilitated nothing other than coagulating Gurung’s control over the Hills. But negative achievements can hardly hold public sentiment to ransom for a prolonged period.

Had not Gurung imported the BJP stalwart Jaswant Singh to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Darjeeling, by now, he would have probably found place in the political history of the Queen of Hills. Jaswant returning as a MP from Darjeeling has certainly extended the life span for the GJMM. But the NDA’s defeat has turned this extended breath completely useless.

Now, the GJMM has a friend in BJP that is only capable of paying lip service to Gorkhaland and an all-omnipotent foe called the Congress, which would not yield an inch to fulfill the statehood demand.

UPA government’s second-in-command, Pranab Mukherjee, has already made this clear and loud. As the GJMM leaders try to play down Mukherjee’s comments arguing that his is not the government, they are only living in self-denial for obvious political reasons.3

But conceding the reality, ally BJP has already advised the GJMM to go slow on the statehood movement. BJP leaders have called for reformulating a long-drawn strategy, replacing the March 2010 deadline that Gurung has set for achieving Gorkhaland.

If the agitation goes the other way around, it is only obvious that the saffron party would distance itself from the GJMM. After all the BJP cannot act as parochial as the GJMM over the Gorkhaland issue, for unlike the latter, its political sphere is not limited to Darjeeling.

Also the BJP West Bengal unit is openly against the Gorkhaland demand and it is a signatory to the all-party motion adopted by the state Assembly ruling out any further division of Bengal.4

Given the scheme of things, the obvious question now is ~ what can happen to Darjeeling? How can Darjeeling be freed of the suffocating state that it has slipped into?

To be candid, the probability of statehood is bleak, at least in the near future.

This is not only because West Bengal would do the last thing but part with Darjeeling. But the Union government too would not concede the demand, because, granting statehood to the Darjeeling district (even ignoring the fact that Siliguri is dead against the Gorkhaland demand), would surely open up a floodgate.

Every other district or region in India that represents one community or the other would start claiming statehood and there would be no end to it. The statehood demands for Telegana, Vidharva, Bundelkhand, Bodoland and several others are already active.

Bimal Gurung may stay adamant and shutdown the Darjeeling Hills for months, but that can hardly compel the UPA government to treat Darjeeling as a special case.

Gurung’s outfit has raised a voluntary youth force ~ the Gorkhaland Personnel (GLP), which is being imparted physical training by ex-Army men. The GLP are equipped with batons, as of now.

Some 4000-odd GLP cadres have already been deployed in the Hills to ensure “public discipline” during the shutdowns called over Gorkhaland demand. There are also reports of the GLP confiscating illegal liquor and so on.5

But to think of waging an armed rebellion in the coming days, so to pressurise the Union government concede the statehood for Darjeeling, would prove irresponsible and futile. The immediate instance is the Bodoland insurgency in Assam. In the past one-decade or so, hundreds of Bodo militants have died in pursuance of the statehood agitation but have achieved nothing.

Moreover, waging insurgency over political demands only allows the authorities to take a military approach on the pretext of national security. Darjeeling’s geographical proximity to Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and China would only bolster the approach further.

The bottom line is until and unless the Union adopts a holistic approach towards the active statehood demands or constitutes another State Reorganising Committee as is being suggested from several quarters, Darjeeling attaining statehood is completely an improbable proposition.

Under these circumstances, the best option before Gurung is to renegotiate the Sixth Schedule status that he had denounced earlier. Gurung can ask for some Darjeeling specific amendments in the Sixth Schedule clause and there should not be any problem for the Union government to concede.

By doing so, Gurung would be in a position to convince his followers that there is much difference between the Sixth Schedule of Ghisingh and the one that he has negotiated.

But if Gurung really feels serious about this, he will have to act fast. Fast enough before the Opposition overpowers the current Left Front government in West Bengal in 2011. It is now almost apparent that in the 2011 Assembly polls, Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamul would dethrone the Left Front from Writers’.

Once that happens, it would be truly difficult for Gurung even to bag the Sixth Schedule status for Darjeeling, leave aside the demanded statehood. For, new into power, Mamata would not take the risk of annoying the majority sentiment in the state, which is evidently against granting any further autonomy to Darjeeling.

Moreover, considering that CPI-M is likely to play the role of a well-informed and organised Opposition, Mamata would be excessively cautious to avoid any criticism projecting her as an “anti-Bengal” element from the parochial point of view. Being an important ally of the UPA, Trinamul would also keep the Centre at bay from meddling into the affair.

This means Darjeeling would have no other option but to wait till 2016, if not more.

Hence, the best time for Gurung to negotiate the Darjeeling issue (even if as an interim measure) is right now. The more closer the state gets to the 2011 Assembly elections, the less inclined the Left Front government would be to grant Darjeeling the Sixth Schedule autonomy. This is irrespective of the fact that the state government was in agreement to this effect.

Even on accepting a renegotiated Sixth Schedule status for Darjeeling, Gurung can still carry forward the campaign for Gorkhaland in conjunction with other statehood demands like the Telengana. The focus of such a united campaign would be to bring about a policy direction in the Indian Union, vis-à-vis the creation of new states.

There is another option though. That is, instead of accepting the Sixth Schedule arrangement, Gurung can allow the existing autonomous council ~ the DGHC to function, while sustaining the statehood campaign simultaneously. This would however, prove less remunerative for Bimal Gurung, but that’s how politics progress.

Many a times, one needs to halt back and employ the ‘Z-reverse’, keeping an eye on the steep incline. After all politics is seldom a straight drive.

---

1 Souvenir, Darjeeling Himalayan Railway 125 Glorious Years, 2006, CPRO, NF Railway, Guwahati.

2 VI Schedule, The Constitution of India, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India.

3 Pranab rules out Gorkhaland demand, The Statesman, North Bengal & Sikkim Plus, Dt. 20 July 2009.

4 Bengal BJP flays Jaswant Gorkhaland stand, says will hit party, The Indian Express, New Delhi, Dt 20 July 2009.

5 Morcha displays ‘seized’ liquor, The Telegraph, North Bengal & Sikkim, Dt. 7 August 2009.

[The author is a senior journalist with The Statesman (India), currently based at Siliguri and has been reporting on the Darjeeling fiasco since 2005. This article originally appeared in The Statesman Festival Number 2009]

BJP-Jaswant discord not new

by Bappaditya Paul

Jaswant Singh might have been expelled from the BJP only this week, but the discord between the political stalwart and the party had probably begun way back in April when the BJP nominated him for the Lok Sabha polls from Darjeeling.

As per sources close to Mr Singh, the former external affairs minister was “upset” when the party “pushed” him to Darjeeling under a pact with the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) ~ the proponent of a separate Gorkhaland state out of West Bengal.

Mr Singh was aware of the opposition to the Gorkhaland demand in the plains of Darjeeling and hence, did not take it easily when the BJP pushed a leader of his stature to the controversial constituency. The BJP top brass did so even as the GJMM’s first choice, Mr SS Ahluwalia, had declined the offer to contest from Darjeeling.

But already in discomfort with the cash-distribution controversy at the Barmer election rally; the Rajasthani politician accepted the party’s decision without an open fuss. Yet he never expressed exhilaration at being nominated from Darjeeling.

In an interview to The Statesman (published on 19 April) prior to the Lok Sabha polls, Mr Singh was asked why he had chosen to contest from Darjeeling. The veteran’s response was: “I didn’t choose. My party said we need to send somebody senior to Darjeeling this time and you have to go. And being a loyal, obedient member of the party, I said fine and that’s why I am here.”

Mr Singh’s close associates also testify his displeasure on being sent to Darjeeling. “Mr Singh had no reason, whatsoever, to go to Darjeeling unless the party had pushed him,” said one of his close aides, unwilling to be named.

Some of his associates also viewed the BJP’s move as a ploy to alienate the veteran politician from the national arena. “Remember, he was the only leading face in the BJP who does not come from a RSS background and there was always some itching at his rise in the party,” said another aide.

But the Colonel-turned-politician returned to Delhi with a landslide victory from Darjeeling. In fact, contrary to the general expectations, by way of his individual charisma, Mr Singh got over 85,000 votes from the Siliguri plains of the constituency that is a sworn opponent of the Gorkhaland demand.

Thus, after the results showed the BJP’s near rout across India, it was Mr Singh’s turn to take on the party top brass. In TV interviews, he openly started criticising the party leadership for the poll debacle and also raised questions on the concept of “Hindutva”, thus inviting an orchestrated opposition from the RSS brigade. Finally, his book praising Jinnah facilitated an excuse to show him the door.

But by now, the 71-year old politician too is probably not averse to sacrificing his saffron-image. For, after spending four long decades in politics, Mr Jaswant Singh is now more willing to be revered as a statesman, than a face of the “conservative” BJP.

(The author is on the staff of The Statesman, India. This piece originally appeared in The Statesman on 21 August 2009)

‘Varun not BJP’s benchmark’

Interview ~ Rajiv Pratap Rudy, BJP spokesperson

by Bappaditya Paul

A former Union minister, Rajiv Pratap Rudy is now a national spokesperson of the BJP. Mr Rudy recently spoke to BAPPADITYA PAUL on the post-poll controversies that are pilloring the BJP and the saffron brigade’s plan for rejuvenation.

After 2004, this time too, you lost the Lok Sabha election against Lalu Prasad. What really went wrong?

I must appreciate one point: whatever be the impression about Mr Prasad outside, in the past five years, his contribution to the parliamentary constituency of Chhapra (Saran) has been immense.

I don’t think in any district of Bihar, ever since Independence, so much investment was proposed with several railway projects to the tune of over Rs 8,000 crore. So, a parliamentary constituency getting so large an investment probably had a positive impact on the electorate in Mr Prasad’s favour.

Yet, I increased my vote share by about one lakh from the previous election. Out of the 40 Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar, there are 26 seats where the winning candidates got less votes than me.

That’s why, I lost the election, but don’t stand defeated.

But wouldn’t these repeated failures affect your political career?

No, I don’t think so. My party chose to pitch me against Mr Prasad because I was considered the fittest one to take on a leader of his stature.

I may have lost, but the fact remains that my candidature from Saran created a real buzz and everyone was forecasting Mr Prasad’s defeat in the seat. Even Mr Prasad was so unsure of his win from Saran that he was compelled to contest from the Patna constituency also as a fallback plan.

And the deceptive wave that Mr Prasad is losing in Saran adversely affected his party’s poll prospects across Bihar. So, I virtually became a martyr and my martyrdom in Saran gave victory to the ruling NDA in the state.

Coming to the BJP’s poor show in this Lok Sabha election, what according to you went wrong?

It was because of the pre-election contradictions, clearly visible now, that we could not fare as expected in the polls.

But I personally feel that following the party’s National Executive meeting in Delhi on 21-22 June, the contradictions have more or less been sorted out.

All the grievances have been vented. All those view points, which were not taken into consideration earlier, were considered and those aspects, which are important for the party to reorganise itself, have been taken note of.

I believe things are falling in line now and we have the stamina to face the defeat and start the resurgence process.

But post-election, a serious question is occupying the public space. That is, which Hindutva the BJP stands for ~ the “inclusive” Hindutva that the party puts on record or Varun Gandhi’s brand of Hindutva that seems to be in practice?

It is really a sad situation that we need to define Hindutva again and again, especially in the BJP. The BJP and the RSS have always talked of Hindutva in the inclusive sense.

The inclusive Hindutva , which talks of tolerance, which talks of giving space to all religious denominations. We talk of constitutional propriety; we talk about nationalism or Indianism, which is part of a larger geo-cultural concept.

For us, all these sum up to a tolerant Hindutva and there is no scope for fundamentalism in it.

But Varun Gandhi’s speeches during the campaign did not toe this line.

Absolutely not. (What Varun said) was never the party line and I say it categorically.

Why didn’t the BJP stop Varun when he went on making speeches violating the party line?

The party disassociated itself from his words. We were against the National Security Act being imposed on him, but no one at any given point of time endorsed his speeches.

Yet the BJP did not deny him a ticket?

That does not happen in politics. If an individual commits a mistake then there are processes in the party (based) on which, one has to take a decision.

The fact that the NSA was imposed on Varun created a situation that he had to be given the opportunity (to contest on party ticket). But we have categorically said that any individual should not become so important that he makes an ideological benchmark.

Varun is not a benchmark for the BJP’s ideology, but if you want to make him a benchmark, it is for you to decide and not us.

In an interview to NDTV, Jaswant Singh too has said that there was ambiguity on the BJP’s definition of Hindutva. How does the party response to that?

Mr Singh raised the issue prior to the party National Executive meeting in Delhi. But when the National Executive took place on 21-22 June, it was again reiterated that when the BJP talks about Hindutva ~ it is the inclusive one.
Mr Singh is now completely convinced, for he only wanted this explanation.

What about Yaswant Sinha? He has resigned from party positions calling for the top brass to take responsibility for the poll defeat.

He has expressed his point of view, and I think he did cross, emotionally trespassed, his own position by tendering resignation from party posts and that’s why his resignation was instantly accepted.

But what about the point that he has raised?

There are many issues that are raised and all such issues were raised openly during the National Executive meeting. But Mr Sinha made his point prior to the meeting and tendered his resignation.

If he was there at the National Executive, he could have raised the issue. But he crossed the emotional barrier and that was a mistake.

As far as fixing the responsibility for the electoral defeat is concerned, the National Executive heard all viewpoints and then gave LK Advani a full mandate to act on those.

While the party has removed Uttarakhand chief minister BC Khanduri for the poll debacle in that state, no heads are rolling at the central level?

The change of leadership in Uttarakhand was in consideration much before the parliamentary elections. It is not an outcome of the defeat. The change in leadership there cannot be exclusively attributed to as fixing the responsibility for poll debacle.

What about the issue of passing the party leadership to younger hands?

This is a wrong question being posed. The BJP possibly has the largest spectrum of young leaders and the party does not only have first general leaders; we already have in place the second generation or third generation leaders and the fourth generation is just behind.

We have or had chief ministers like Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Vasundhara Raje, Sushil Kumar Modi or for that matter Narendra Modi ~ they are all young and can easily be categorised as the second or third generation leaders. Then we had several young Union ministers whether it was me, Shahnawaz Hussain, Ravi Shankar Prasad ~ many of them.

So, to say that there is a resistance in the BJP to allow the second generation leaders to come forward, is wrong. The second and third generation leaders are already playing very critical roles in the party.

By simply positioning someone in the Congress party who is a part of the dynastic rule, does not mean that the BJP which has hard groomed individuals, do not have a young face.

Can Narendra Modi be the BJP’s future face?

Well, Mr Modi is the chief minister of Gujarat and I think he has done very well there.

So you are not endorsing Mr Modi as the party face?

I am not the right person to decide his fate and being the party spokesperson, I cannot give my personal opinion.

Lastly, what are the BJP’s rejuvenation plans after this electoral rout?

It is not a rout; it’s a setback. The people of India have given the BJP the mandate to be the principal Opposition party and we still run six state governments.

The National Executive has chalked out an action plan that begins with the new membership drive and then organisational elections.

(The interviewer is on the staff of The Statesman, India. This interview originally appeared in The Statesman on 11 July 2009)

Lalgarh is not a Communist Movement: Kanu Sanyal

With heavily armed state forces marching fast to end Maoist dominance at Lalgarh, a major bloodshed could be in the offing in the tribal hinterland.

In an exclusive interview with Bappaditya Paul, founder of the Naxalbari uprising, Kanu Sanyal, expresses his views on the Lalgarh turmoil

Excerpts:

Q Do you support the Lalgarh agitation spearheaded by the People’s Committee?

A No, we don’t. Because the Lalgarh agitation is strictly an ethnic insurrection by the Adivasi community and it is not inclusive of other communities living in there. It is easy to name an organisation as “People’s Committee” but that does not necessary mean it represents all people cutting across the various communities.

Q Given that the Maoists are actively participating in the Lalgarh agitation, do you consider this a Communist struggle?

A I just told you that Lalgarh agitation is confined within the Adivasi community alone. How can an ethic uprising be termed a Communist struggle? Lalgarh is certainly not a Communist uprising. The Maoists are only exploiting the situation by using the Adivasis as stooges to carry forward their agenda of individual terrorism.

Q Activists of the People’s Committee are now taking to arms to resist the police and paramilitary foray into Lalgarh. Do you think they are doing the right thing?

A See, the Adivasis hardly have access to sophisticated arms. Whatever arms they might be equipped with now, have been supplied selectively by the Maoists. But the handful of arms and ammunitions can barely resist the march of the state forces. The resistance will be crushed in no time.

Q How do you weigh the Centre and the state’s role on the Lalgarh turmoil?

A No one is wiling to take charge of the situation. Rather both the state and the Centre are trying to pass the buck on each other.
The CPI-M-led state government allowed the Lalgarh crisis to escalate by not addressing the genuine grievances of the Adivasis on time.
And now the Congress and Trinamul are on the look out to exploit the situation to dislodge the Left Front from power either immediately or in the 2011 Assembly election in the state.

Q What would be your suggestion to end the siege at Lalgarh?

~ Both the People’s Committee and the state government must instantly launch an unconditional dialogue.
The People’s Committee should place their demands in clear words and the state will have to address them earnestly.

Q Should they keep the Maoists out of the process?

A It’s for the local people to decide.

Q Would you support a ban on the CPI (Maoist) in West Bengal?

A State suppression can never be the answer for tackling any sort of terrorism. You ban one outfit today and another would crop up tomorrow.
Thus, the need is to alienate them by going close to the poor people and address their grievances fast.

(The interviewer is on the staff of The Statesman, India / This piece orginally appeared in The Statesman on 20 June 2009)

Slam this Buddha

Its Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and not Prakash Karat, who should be held accountable for the Left debacle in West Bengal ~ argues Bappaditya Paul

Introspection. That’s what the Left leaders, especially those in the CPI-M, are now pitching for after the Left’s electoral debacle in West Bengal and Kerala.    While Kerala has this tendency of alternately voting in and out the Left, the performance in West Bengal this General Elections is certainly a disaster.

After 32 years of being in power, the Left tally in West Bengal has now been reduced to only 15 Lok Sabha seats, whereas the Congress-Trinamul Opposition combine has occupied 26. In terms of geographical consideration, the Left has lost its bastions in ten out of the 19 districts in West Bengal.

As far as the CPI-M is concerned, the leading Left party has begged only nine seats. This is CPI-M’s worst ever Lok Sabha poll performance in WB in the last three decades, after that it started off with five MPs in 1967.

The obvious question now is, who should be held accountable for this disaster? The popular argument that has been instigated by an indirect remark of the ousted CPI-M leader Mr Somnath Chatterjee is that, Mr Prakash Karat be held responsible and be removed as the party general secretary.

This argument is based on the reasoning that, had not Karat pulled back support from the UPA government at Centre, there was remote possibility of a Congress-Trinamul tie up in West Bengal and thus, the Left could have easily avoided an united assault by the Opposition.

But those who are pitching for Karat’s removal should be ashamed of the very fact that after savouring power for long 32-years, they now have to rely more on a divided Opposition than their own mass base.

This shows the Left Front government’s bankruptcy that has largely been the contribution of Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in the past eight years as chief minister.

Buddadeb has proved to be a failure both as an administrator and a politician ~ take the examples of Rizwanur death case, the Nandigram massacre, the Dinhata firing or the Darjeeling tangle.

One can justifiably ask, why Buddadeb had to defend the Kolkata Police commissioner Mr Prasun Mukherjee and his coterie of senior police officials, until the court compelled the state government to remove the sleuths for wrongfully meddling into the Rizwanur Reham-Priyanka Todi affair leading to the former’s mysterious demise?

After the infamous Nandigram Massacre of 14 March 2007, Buddhadeb has apologised several times saying that he would not have given the police a marching order, if he could even sense that the police would go on a shooting spree.

Given his statement, are we to believe that without assessing the level of possible resistance and a detailed assault plan, the police went on for the massive troop buildup at Nandigram in the run up to the massacre? That too, without the knowledge of the chief minister, who is also in charge of the Home ministry?

That, the magistrate or senior police officials who were leading the 14 March foray into Nandigram, did not contact the Writers, especially the chief minister, before triggering the bullets?

No sensible person can probably believe this story.

The truth is, in Nandigram the ruling Communists were losing out their political stake to the Opposition and thus, political considerations overlapped Buddhadeb’s administrative reasoning and he ended up facilitating the massacre.

But when it came to the Dinhata firing on the Left Front partner Forward Bloc members or the impromptu rise of Mr Bimal Gurung in Darjeeling, Buddhadeb wrongfully took a cent percent administrative approach.

In case of Dinhata, Forward Bloc had beforehand made public announcements about its proposed march on 5 February 2008 demanding a full-fledged ministry for north Bengal’s development. But in reality, it was a show of strength by Cooch Behar FB leader Mr Udayan Guha, whom the CPI-M was paying no heed after his defeat in the 2006 Assembly polls.

Had Buddhadeb been a sensible politician, utilising both his administrative and political machineries, he would have reached out to Guha prior to the march and convince him to keep the agitation pitch lower so to avoid any confrontation with the police.

But here came his CPI-M ego and he treated the Udayan Guha march only from an administrative point of view, ending up in killing five FB activists in police firing.

With this Buddhadeb earned the rare ‘credit’ for blotting the three decades’ of Left Front rule in West Bengal, first with his police killing the common people at Nandigram and then, showering bullets on the chest of his Front ally at Dinhata.

Yet, he gleefully continued as the chief minister and did not even bother to relinquish the Home ministry portfolio.

Then came Darjeeling, when a novice politician Mr Bimal Gurung rose from nowhere to denounce the proposed Sixth Schedule status for the Hills and initiated the second bout for Gorkhaland.

In late 2007, Gurung had only started to raise his head and was garnering public support for Gorkhaland through mass gatherings.

One such meeting was organised at the Sukna playground on the outskirts of Siliguri on 9 December 2007and Gurung himself was present on the dais waiting for his turn to speak. But all of a sudden, Gurung got a call on his cell phone and climbed down the stage while hanging on to the call and then left the meeting venue abruptly.

Later, his party’s Press and publicity secretary Mr Binay Tamang requested the journalists present not to publish/show Gurung’s name/images as being present at the gathering.

Reportedly, it was the then Darjeeling superintend of police Mr Rajesh Subarna who had called up Gurung on his cell and warned him of arrest on pending criminal cases, if he continued to appear in public meetings.

Till then, the fear for the administration was apparently so strong in Gurung’s mind that he in fact left the venue instantly.

Given that until then, Gurung had not been able to consolidate his support base; the CPI-M could easily try an offensive political campaign in the Hills against him. But Buddhadev, who is in charge of the Darjeeling Hills both in his party and in the government, decided otherwise and turned his party and the administration a mute spectator as Gurung grew from strength to strength.

The rest of the story is known to everybody ~ Gurung now almost controls the Sunrise at Tiger Hill!

In the light of these performance records, would it be too harsh to conclude that as chief minister and as a leader, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has become a burden for the CPI-M in West Bengal? Surely not.

Buddhadeb and his coterie ~ that spreads from the south to north districts of the state, must be shown the doors at once and thus kick-start the rectification drive so that the devastated Red citadel can again be repaired brick by brick.

(The author is on the staff of The Statesman/India)

“Will rework Nuclear Deal if Third Front comes to power”

Interview ~ Sitaram Yechuri, CPI-M Politburo member

by Bappaditya Paul

Desperate to see a Third alternative government at the Centre, the CPI-M this time is too busy in the permutation and combination of smaller parties like never before. And with its man for all seasons, Mr Sitaram Yechuri on the prowl, both the Congress and the BJP must worry about their flocks. In an exclusive interview with BAPPADITYA PAUL, Mr Yechuri throws light on the goings-on at the backstage and the proposed priorities of the Third alternative government, if that happens at all.

Excerpts:

Q After the 2004 elections, CPI-M supported the Congress to keep the BJP away from power. But this time around, what will be your priority ~ to stop the BJP or the Congress?

~ Both. We want to stop both the Congress and the BJP from occupying the power and instead, form a Third alternative government at the Centre.

Q In every practical sense, what you foresee the outcome of this polls?

~ Well, what I foresee is that the final act of this drama will unfold only post elections. This is in the nature of the political developments in the last two decades or so that, it is only post elections that the ruling front is formed. This happened in 1996 with United Front been formed post elections, in 1998 NDA been formed after the elections and in 2004 UPA formed after the elections.

So this time around what we are working for is a post election non-Congress, non-BJP alternative.

Q But is it really practical to think of a non-Congress, non-BJP front to occupy the power?

~ Well, this will be a new thing. I understand when people say, if it is viable, if the arithmetic will work? But remember when the 14th Lok Sabha ended, the total of the BJP and Congress MPs was less than the majority for the first time. So that’s an indication, in which way the wind is blowing.

And as you can see, more and more BJP or Congress allies like the BJD, AIADMK or the RJD, NCP has either deserted them or is keeping the options open. That’s why I say; concretely it will depend on the post election arithmetic.

Q Given the kind of alliances that we are witnessing this time, is ideological politics have become a thing of the past even for the Left?

~ No, no, that’s not true. We have been the one who constituently stuck to our ideological positions and we continue to do that. Because what is the necessity for such formation. You see, every time ~ 1996 or 2004, there was always the objective to stop the BJP from coming to the power which we believed, had to be achieved at that point of time for the future development of our country.

Here at the present moment, the objective is to give an alternative policy direction to the country and this we believe is very very important both for tackling the Capitalist global recession and also for the growing problems within the country like terrorism, social injustice etc. So who will affect a shift in this policy direction, that’s the issue.

Q Do you see the parties like AGP, NCP etc as potential Third alternative partners post elections?

~ As far as the AGP is concerned, I would consider it as most unnatural alliance with the BJP. Remember, the AGP was an important element in the formation of the United Front in 1996 and it was the UF that initiated the process of treating the Northeast as a special case ~ announcing special package for the NE, North East Council and so on.

All these were actually the contributions of a non-Congress, non-BJP government. So the AGP sticking with the BJP, I think its most unnatural. Lets see, what happens after the elections. Again our party is already into an election alliance with the NCP in Orissa.

Q Are you trying to woo others like the RJD, LJP?

~ Actually, today there is no need to go and woo anybody. Because the parties themselves are fairly mature and my observations in the last six months say that each of these parties are under tremendous pressure from their own social following. People are yearning for change and its now up to us, the political leadership, to give a tangible expression to the public sentiment.

Now, this pressure is working upon every small/regional party leadership and thus, some of them are already in touch (with us) for post poll tie-ups.

Q Does that include Mr Lalu Prashad?

~ Yes, he is in touch.

Q Can the Samajwadi Party also be a post-poll ally?

~ Well, we have appealed to all secular parties to come forward. We have worked with them in the past, so that should not be a problem.

Q Given the fact that both SP and BSP can’t be on the same boat, who would be your choice?

~ These are the things we will decide post elections. We have an understanding with the BSP that we would work together post elections. Now this working together is crucially depending on its political strength post elections.

Q But even after all this permutation and combinations, if the numbers are still not enough for the Third alternative to form a government, will the CPI-M concede to outside support from the Congress, like 1996?

~ Our objective would be not to have such a situation. Because, it was always the outside support that was the cause for instability of the previous governments be it (late Mr) VP Singh, (Mr) Devegowda or (Mr) Gujaral. Therefore, our objective would be to work for a government without the need for outside support.

Q So under any circumstances, the Left won’t do business with the Congress again?

~ Well, this is a question, which will have to be considered on the situations that emerge after the polls. But right now, our focus is to form a non-Congress, non-BJP alternative government.

Q You broke up with the Congress because of the Indo-US Nuclear Deal. If the Congress decides to drop the Nuclear Deal as per the Left’s wishes, will you back the Congress then?

~ If the Congress was to drop the Nuclear Deal, why it went with it in the first place? If the deal was not an important thing (for it), then why they break such a stable arrangement with us? I don’t think this will happen; much water has passed by this time.

Q But if a Third alternative really comes to power, as you are envisaging, would you rework the Nuclear Deal?

~ Yes. Certainly we will rework the deal in the sense that there are provisions in the 123 Agreement that and our objective would be to eliminate all the baggage that came with the Nuclear Deal. Nuclear commerce per se is not any problematic; the problem is the conditions that have come with it.

There are pressures on our foreign policy, on defence agreements and understanding, the logistic support like refueling etc that we have to give to the USA whenever it undertakes any military adventure. All these conditions will have to be eliminated.

Q Would the Left, particularly, the CPI-M join the Third alternative government if that really happens?

~ We are bound by our 1998 party Congress decision, which says if there is such a situation in future, the Central Committee of the time would take a decision whether to join the government or not. So now we will have to wait till the elections are over and then the Central Committee would meet.

Q So you are not ruling out the possibility?

~ Yes. I said, the CC would discuss this and take a decision.

Q Of late, the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Mr LK Advani are involved in a debate attacking each other. How do you evaluate the episode?

~ Neither of them have anything concrete to offer to the people. They are not able to offer anything tangible to offer the people and in the absence of this, they have indulged in hurling charges and counter charges. The whole thing is so surreal. I must say, both PM and Mr Advani has stooped to the same level.

Q Coming to West Bengal, what is your take on the Congress-Trinamul alliance?

~ What was de facto arrangement between the Congress and the TMC has now become a de jure arrangement. So lets see what impact it can possibly have this elections.

Q Given the trend in the recent panchayat, by-polls in WB, do you think that the common people are shifting away from the CPI-M?

~ No, I don’t think so. Whatever loss we have suffered was primarily because of the differences within the LF allies. But now the LF unity has considerably improved and it is our great source of strength. The common people too are realising that the LF government is on the right path vis-à-vis industrialisation and development.

Q Last General Elections, the Left’s MP tally was around 60. Where would the number stand this time?

~ I am not an astrologer. But whatever be the number this time, one thing is sure that politics in India without the Left is not possible anymore.

Q It was the undivided CPI that raised the issue of separate homeland for the Gorkhas, but now your party says that Gokhaland demand is unacceptable. Has Bengali chauvinism taken over the CPI-M’s policy on this?

~ Certainly not. We are not only saying no to Gorkhaland, but are also opposed to the demand for other smaller states that exists elsewhere in the country, like Telegana, Bhidarva etc.

We are opposing not because of the sentiments in the concerned region, our opposition stands on the solid reasoning that after the loss of so many lives and debates in between 1953-56, we came to the final conclusion that new sates will be formed on the basis of dominant language.

So what we are saying that do not disturb the basis for this state reorganisation. The moment you deviate, a Pandora’s box will open up and there will be no end to it that will ultimately weaken the country.

(The interviewer is on the staff of The Statesman, India/ The highlights of this interview appeared in The Statesman on 23 April 2009)

‘Kandahar: Sonia & PM said please do anything, save the passengers’

Interview/ Jaswant Singh

by Bappaditya Paul

BJP stalwart and former Union minister, Mr Jaswant Singh’s candidature from Darjeeling seems to have offered a higher profile to the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM). But many wonder why a leader of Mr Singh’s stature risked his political career by coming to the Queen of the Hills.

And given that he, along with Mr LK Advani, is the central figure in the relentless political attack on the BJP’s handling of the Kandahar hijack crisis by the Congress, Mr Singh’s surprise candidature from Bengal ~ where the Left Front is accusing him and his party of trying to “divide West Bengal” ~ has become the talking point.

In an exclusive interview with The Statesman, Mr Singh maintains that Dr Manmohan Singh and Mrs Sonia Gandhi had pleaded with the NDA government to ensure IC 814 passengers’ safety and says that the BJP won’t bypass the state government on the Gorkhaland issue.

Excerpts:

Why you chose to fight the Lok Sabha poll from Darjeeling?

~ I didn’t choose. My party said we need to send somebody senior to Darjeeling this time and you have to go. And being a loyal, obedient member of the party, I said fine and that’s why I am here.

One of those convicted for helping the hijacking of the IC 814 from Kathmandu when you were the external affairs minister hails from Kalimpong. Would you term it your destiny that you are now contesting the polls from Darjeeling, of which Kalimpong is a part?

~ Of course it is my destiny.

Was it not a sad day when you had to accompany the terrorists to Kandahar?

~ I didn’t have to go… but I went. Because the choice was between saving 166 lives or otherwise.If the Congress party really wishes to know about Kandahar, they may read the newspapers of those days and (refresh the memory of) their own role in the crisis.

Present-day Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Mrs (Sonia) Gandhi were present at an all party meeting two days before (the release of the terrorists) and their only requirement from the NDA government was ~ “Please do everything possible to save the passengers.”

Your candidature from Darjeeling is largely because of the GJMM, which has a one-point agenda: Gorkhaland. What’s your specific stand on the statehood demand?

~ The BJP manifesto is quite specific on this. We are sympathetic to it, that’s why we are considering the demand.

How would you proceed with it?

~ Through consultation, through accord, and through finding a peaceful resolution by which all can conquer.

But the West Bengal government has already closed the door on the demand for a separate stat?

~ If they close the door, we will knock on the door and try and seek reconciliation with everyone.

So what you are saying is that if the NDA comes to power the Centre will go ahead ~ even if it means bypassing the state government ~ on the path to the creation of Gorkhaland, maybe by amending the Constitution?

~ The NDA government has never bypassed any state (in the past). We shall not bypass (even now) certainly, we will take the views of the state government into consideration.

What’s your reply to the Election Commission’s notice over you allegedly distributing money at Barmer?

~ I have given my reply to the CEC and no doubt the EC will take appropriate action.

(The interviewer is on the staff of The Statesman/India and this piece originally appeared in The Statesman on 19 April 2009)

‘Sonia’s alien origin still an issue’

Interview ~ Mr PA Sangma / Ex-Lok Sabha speaker and NCP general secretray

by Bappaditya Paul

Born on 1 September, 1947 at Tura in Meghalaya, Purno Agitok Sangma began his stint as Lok Sabha MP in 1977. In the following years, he took charge of various Union ministries such as Commerce & Industry, Labour, Coal, Information & Broadcasting etc and was also the chief minister of Meghalaya from 1988-90.
In 1996, at the height of his political career, Mr Sangma rose to become the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
Following differences over Sonia Gandhi’s prime ministerial ambitions, notwithstanding her foreign origin, Mr Sangma left the Congress in 1999 and along with Sharad Pawar and Tariq Anwar founded the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), of which he is a general secretary till date.
BAPPADITYA PAUL recently spoke to him on the latest national political scenario and his future plans.

Excerpts:

Currently, you and your two sons are MLAs and your daughter is a Lok Sabha MP. Aren’t you introducing dynasty politics in Meghalaya?

Not at all. It is the people who will judge and decide why my children are into politics.
I have been an MP for 30-years and because of this, all my children had the privilege of very good education, including the scope to study in some of the best universities abroad.
This is against the backdrop of me being a school dropout, who would have missed education had not the charitable Christian Missionaries picked me up after my father’s demise in childhood.
Had not the people elected me MP nine times, would I have been able to give the children the quality education they have had? No, and hence I told my children that they must pay back to the people of Garo Hills, the people of Meghalaya, by joining politics.

All that is fine, but by nominating your children as party candidates, aren’t you depriving other NCP activists in Meghalaya, who work for the party day and night?

There is a system in the NCP of inviting applications during every election from those aspiring for party nomination. My children never applied for party tickets; rather it was the people who wanted them as their candidates and the party honoured the sentiment.
There are so many politicians who put up their sons, daughters or wives to fight polls but not all could win. So, it is the people who take the ultimate decision and choose who they want as leaders.

But why did you leave the blooming national political career and return to state politics? Is it because of your differences with Sharad Pawar?

No, that is not the case. You see, I am aging and at the time I decided to return to the state, I was already 60. On several occasions I have said that there must be a time when a politician must retire, they should not stick to power.
Today, people over 80, even 90 and above are still in politics. I do not subscribe to this idea and I have set 70 as my retirement age.
Now, I want to spend the remaining years of my political career in training the upcoming politicians in my state and that’s why I decided to return to Meghalaya.

Are you suggesting that instead of eyeing a second term, Manmohan Singh should retire?

I am not suggesting anything; it is for them to decide. But everywhere in the world you see, people are opting for the young generation, people are opting for young-dynamic leadership.
Times are changing, times are different; there is such a huge generation gap. We are already outdated. How can we stay leaders now? We must give way to the younger generation.

Give way to Rahul Gandhi may be?

Well, Rahul Gandhi belongs to a political family and he understands political nuances. But there is a difference between politics and administration. Administration is completely a different area and it demands certain amount of experience.
Perhaps, Rahul should go for more experience before taking up the ultimate leadership as his grandmother Indira Gandhi did; before becoming the Prime Minister she was a cabinet minister first and learnt about the administration.
I had an occasion to tell Rajiv Gandhi: “Sir, you should not have become the PM straightway. Instead, you should have first become a minister for two years or so.” I would suggest the same for Rahul.

You split up with the Congress over Sonia Gandhi’s leading the party and India. Has there been any change in your stance?

I have never objected to Sonia Gandhi’s leading the Congress, never objected to her becoming the president of the AICC.
But when it came to the question of her becoming the Prime Minister, I objected. Because, I thought, in a country of one billion we are in a position to produce one Prime Minister; we don’t need somebody who is not born in India. I firmly believe it and I stick to it.

So Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origin is still an issue?

Principle is principle, it never changes. Yes, it is an issue, if Sonia Gandhi again claims to be the Prime Minister.

Sharad Pawar’s name is making the rounds as the next Prime Minister. What are your views?

Having been in national politics for 30-years, I can certify that Mr Pawar is one of the very few Indian politicians who is development oriented, who knows administration, who understands science and technology. He is the right man to become the Prime Minister; he is cent percent PM material.

What are your predictions for the ensuing general elections?

Very confusing, I should say. But one thing is sure, it will be a hung parliament once again and no party would have a major game to cherish.
Perhaps, regional parties like the AIADMK, the BSP will gain over the Congress and the BJP and it may happen that a non-BJP, non-Congress alliance comes to power.
But even if that happens, I would have my reservations about its sustainability.

Your tenure as Lok Sabha Speaker was utterly uncontroversial. But Somnath Chatterjee was not that lucky and had to break up with the CPI-M while in office. Do you think Mr Chatterjee was right?

Absolutely right, and this will go down in the history of the Indian Parliament that here is a man, who upheld the dignity of the Speaker’s chair. He has proved that the Speaker is above any political affiliation and political party.

So the CPI-M was wrong in expelling Somnath Chatterjee from the party?

Hundred percent wrong. The CPI-M had no business to ask him to resign or ask him to cast a vote against the ruling coalition. Why should a political party tell the Speaker what he should do?
An MP is elected by the people after being nominated by his/her party, but a Speaker is elected by Parliament. Hence, a Speaker is answerable only to Parliament.

Do you think, Prakash Karat was actually responsible for ousting Mr Chatterjee?

I don’t hold any individual responsible for Somnathda’s ouster from the CPI-M. I know, in the CPI-M it is always the collective decision of the Politburo.

Do you have any plan to return to national politics, even if for a brief period?
No, not at this moment.

(The interviewer is on the staff of The Statesman, India / This piece originally appeared in The Statesman on 11 April 2009 )

‘Bangla must flush out Ulfa’

 

Interview/ Tarun Gogoi, Chief Minister, Assam

The second son of a tea estate doctor, Tarun Gogoi was born on 10 October 1934 at Rangajan, Jorhat in Assam. A former Union minister, Gogoi became the chief minister of Assam on 17 May 2001 and is now enjoying a second consecutive term.

Bappaditya Paul recently spoke to him at his official residence in Guwahati.

 Excerpts: 

Mr Tarun Gogoi, CM, Assam

 

 After Bimala Prashad Chaliha, you are now the longest standing chief minister of Assam. What are the achievements of your Congress government in the past seven and half years?

 ~ The achievement is the turnaround of Assam economy. When I took over the governance from the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), Assam’s economy was really in a bad shape ~ employees were not being paid salaries, developmental activities had stopped completely.

Today, the economy has been stabilised. Earlier the state budget used to be deficit every time, but now we are presenting surplus budget. The state government is not only paying the salaries on time, we are also paying dearness allowance equal to the Centre.

We have constructed almost 10,000 kms of roads so far, provided funds to all educational institutions ~ colleges Rs 10 lakh, three to five lakh to high schools, Rs 15-20 crore to universities and Rs 100-crore to the medical colleges.

Starting with zero, we now have 1,60000 SHGs working across the state and creating earning opportunities for the commons. Again, we are helping in farming mechanisation by distributing power tillers and tractors to the farmers.

 With the Union government implementing the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations, the Assam employees too are expecting a hike in the salaries. Is there any such move?

 ~ The state government has already constituted a new pay commission and we hope to get the report may be in six months time. But keeping in mind the impending hike in state employee salaries, we want the Centre to share the additional burden that waits us. Without this, it would be very difficult to take the state salary close to that of the Central employees and this is the problem with other states as well.

But as an interim relief, we have declared a 15 percent DA to the state employees recently. Earlier we had announced a 10 percent DA and thus cumulatively, it now stands at 25 percent. 

What are the future initiatives that the government contemplates?

~ We are setting up three more medical colleges in the state at Jorhat, Tezpur and Barpeta and the foundation stones for the same have already been laid. With these projects materialised, the total number of medical college in Assam would rise to six but we want one or two more.

Then, next year we are going make one-lakh government recruitments in various departments. Earlier, we made another one-lakh recruitments during the past few years.   

 But the IIM – Northeast slipped out of Assam and has now been set up in Shillong.

~ I tried my best and even the expert committee opined that the IIM should come up in Guwahati. But then there were some who felt that Assam already has too many higher education institutes like the IIT etc and other northeast states should also get a few. 

There is this talk about upgrading the Gauhati University into a central university. What is the possibility?

~ There is no such proposal as of now. We already have two central universities in Assam.

But a world-class central university will come up in Guwahati and the Union government has already announced its decision to this effect.

What is the Assam government’s stand on the demand for inclusion of north Bengal in the North East Council (NEC)?

~ No, we are not in favour of this. With the inclusion of Sikkim, NEC is already overcrowded and now if north Bengal were included in the council, then we would be deprived of the allocation that we are enjoying now. 

Then, once north Bengal is included in the NEC demand would crop up from other adjacent states as well and there is no end to it.

But we don’t mind if the Centre adopts some other special schemes for north Bengal or other backward areas of the country.

With the Ulfa turning 30 this year, the militancy in Assam seem to have become more vigorous than ever before and they are now targeting the common masses mostly?

~ Not only in Assam, the subversive activities have increased across India. Earlier there were no blasts in the North and South of the country, but now there are blasts at Hyderabad, Bagalore, Mumbai and even Delhi. No place is safe today; none can give hundred percent guarantee.  

As far as Ulfa is concerned, its public support base is fast eroding and that is why it is now targeting the masses to create a fear psychosis. If they had public support, what was the need for triggering blasts every now and then, killing innocent people.

Why you think that the Ulfa is loosing popular support?

~ Because the people have realised, this (insurgency) is not the way to solve the problems of Assam. The problems can be solved by development and political will and not by mindless violence.

By its insurgency, the Ulfa has retarded the progress of the state and has made Assam more backward. If you go on killing people, who would come and invest money here to give employment to your youths. People of Assam have realised this.

There were times when a thousand people will gather at Ulfa’s one call, but now after 30-years of waging mindless terror, it has got none to back them. 

You have been iterating time and again that the Ulfa has its base in Bangladesh and that the anti-Assam militancy is being bred in from there. Why not then the government exerting diplomatic pressure on Bangladesh?

~ Pressure is being created upon the Bangladesh government. We are categorically telling Bangladesh that it must flush out the Ulfa from its territory and extradite the arrested militant leaders to India.

The external affairs minister Mr Pranab Mukherjee has himself raised this matter several times but unfortunately the Bangaldesh government has not acted on this so far. Now, with the change of guard in Bangladesh, we hope that the new regime will realise the dangers of global terror and would dismantle all Ulfa camps from its soil.

But what if they do not concede now as well?

~ The Union government will decide on that. I am not the competent authority to comment on this, that’s beyond my jurisdiction.

Is the Assam government still open for a talk with the Ulfa?

~ Yes, we are. But the conditions are that the Ulfa must drop arms and the demand for independent Assam. 

The insurgent group DHD (J) is hampering national projects like the Lumding-Silichar Broad Gauge rail route. What is the state doing?

~ Earlier they were creating much trouble. But now, we have provided sufficient security cover for the project to run smoothly. The Assam government is committed to the rail project.  

Bangladeshi infiltration into Assam is being viewed as a national threat. What is your government doing?

~ The Bangladeshi infiltration into Assam has been blown out of proportion for political reasons. Is not there infiltration into West Bengal? Then why blame Assam only!

The 2001 population census put the population growth in Assam three percent less than the national average. If there were so much infiltration, then where the Bangladeshis must have gone.  

But yes, I don’t say there is no infiltration in Assam, but it has witnessed a drastic fall in the past one decade. To stop the Bangladeshi infiltration completely, we have started upgrading the National Register of Citizens (NRC) 1950 and the task would be completed in four-five years time.

Again, we have constituted vigilance committees at the police state level to identify the Bangladeshi migrants quickly. Also, about 75 percent of the Bangladesh border has already been fenced. 

More importantly, we are formulating a law that no foreigner can procure land in Assam without the state government’s prior approval. A bill on this will be tabled in the state Assembly in the next session itself.

Keeping in mind the coming Lok Sabha polls, do you support an alliance with the minority-backed Assam United Democratic Front (AUDF)?

~ No, I am not in favour of any alliance with the AUDF. If they want a merger (with the Congress), that can be considered.

After seven and half years reign, what are your major disappointments?

~ I lament not being able to put an end to insurgency and the bandh culture that plague Assam.

 

(This interview first appeared in The Statesman on 14 February 2009 and is now reposted on this site with some additions/ The interviewer is on the staff of The Statesman, India.) 

‘Rahul ready to lead India’

Interview – Jairam Ramesh

Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jairam Ramesh is a Rajya Sabha member. He is also member of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, the Standing Committee on Finance, the Committee on Government Assurances and the National Advisory Council. Bappaditya Paul spoke to him on the fallout of the Mumbai terror attack, ties with Pakistan and the Congress’s prospects in the impending Lok Sabha polls.

Excerpts:

The Mumbai terror attack was an assault on India’s security. Was it also an assault on the country’s economy and industry?

Well, in the short term, there is some discomfort and unease among travellers coming to India, among investors looking at Mumbai particularly. But over a period of time, I am sure that this discomfort and uncertainty will subside and the resilience of India will be shown once again. For example, we were going to have the India International Tea Festival in Kochi between 19 and 21 February 2009; we are going ahead with it…But there is (a) certain degree of unease, since the Mumbai attacks captured world headlines and a number of foreigners were also killed.

Will this terror attack adversely affect India’s investment prospects and economic growth?

India is a very large country you know and there should not be any worry that because of the terrorist attacks investment is going to be adversely affected. In any case, 94-95 per cent of investment required for India’s development is generated within India; foreign investment is a very small proportion of the total investible surplus. So, I am sure that would not be affected but foreign investment would certainly, as there is a certain degree of unease. But over the next three to four months, the situation will come back to normal.

There will be a short-term impact you suggest?

Yes. In fact, in the short term, the slowdown in the world economy would have a much greater impact on us than the terrorist attacks. Export slowdown that has been seen in October, export slowdown, which probably we will be seeing in November also, and for the first time, we are seeing industrial growth in negative in 15 years. So, the slowdown in economy worldwide will have a far greater impact on our economic growth than the Mumbai attacks itself.

Was it the incompetence of our intelligence and security setup that made the Mumbai strike possible?

No, I can’t say this. …all I can say (is) that we need to substantially improve our anticipatory intelligence capabilities ~ both human intelligence as well as technological intelligence and more importantly, our ability to act on that intelligence.
The intelligence reports cannot be like weather reports: “Today it will rain in Bengal”, “Today there will be a terrorist attack in western parts of India” ~ it does not make any sense. The intelligence has to be focused, has to be sharp, actionable and then action must be taken based on that intelligence.

So you are saying that we are lacking in certain aspects of intelligence and internal security?

No, I am not saying that we are lacking. Unless I have inside information, I can’t be able to pinpoint. But all I can say is that we have many agencies gathering intelligence, all that has to be coordinated, all that has to be analysed and all that has to be acted upon. We will have to strengthen our anti-terrorist forces. We can’t only have the National Security Guards sitting in Manesar in Haryana, we have to have mobile facilities to quickly dispatch them to different parts of the country. So, a comprehensive overhaul of the intelligence and the anti-terrorist mechanisms has to be carried out. Also the police system has to be empowered because the first layer of fighting the terrorist forces always is the police. After all, in Punjab Mr KPS Gill won the battle against the terrorists because the Punjab police were empowered politically, administratively and by technology and modern means.

Are you saying the Mumbai police were not empowered to act against the terrorists?

No, no. I am saying something positive and you are trying to convert that into negative, please don’t do that. I am saying that we need to substantially modernise our police system. However horrific the Mumbai attacks were, we need to look upon this as an opportunity of completely overhauling our machinery relative to intelligence gathering, analysis of intelligence, acting upon the intelligence and carry out anti-terror operations. I think the media’s role also has to be completely redefined. The way the Indian media behaved during the Mumbai mayhem, I didn’t see this happening after 9/11 in the US, in the UK, in Spain. I think, the Indian media really in its race for TRPs, didn’t enhance the national interests by the live coverage of what was happening in Mumbai.

Isn’t it the job of the media to convey authentic information fast?

No, it’s not. By live coverage, you can’t give the militants information that the commandos are landing in such and such a place. It is well documented and well proven that based on images seen on our televisions, orders were being sent from the headquarters of the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) to the terrorists in Mumbai. So I am afraid, the media have played a highly irresponsible role during the Mumbai terror attacks.

Will the government carry on trade with Pakistan as usual?

There will certainly be some effect on the normalisation of our relations with Pakistan. I was myself scheduled to visit Pakistan from 6 to 15 January, but all that is now on hold. There were a large number of confidence-building measures we were taking, like opening banks in each others’ country, promoting Pakistan’s export to India, opening up of the land customs station at Wagah, promoting rail movement of freight on the Munabao-Khokrapar rail route between Rajasthan and Sindh. A lot of these things have got affected. It is not wise to proceed on the assumption that everything is business as usual; everything is not business as usual and until Pakistan comes up with a credible response to what India has been asking for, I don’t see us going back to the way we were before the Mumbai attacks. The ball is in Pakistan’s court, we are ready to engage; we have an agenda for engagement.
But Pakistan has to make up its mind whether it wants the economic engagement and while not taking action against organisations like Jaish-e-Mohammad, LeT and all the all the other terror outfits that are operating freely from Pakistan under the watchful eye and support of the ISI. These two things can’t go side by side.

Recently the Muzaffarabad trade route was opened. Have we suspended trading through this corridor?

No, that’s continuing. The LoC trade is continuing, what was there is continuing. India is continuing its exports; tea is continuing to go to Pakistan from India and we are continuing to import from Pakistan. We import roughly $350 million worth of goods from Pakistan and our exports to Pakistan are about $ 1.7 billion and that will continue. We are not going to put a physical restriction but the trade negotiations, the trade discussions, the normalisation of our bilateral relationship ~ all that has been certainly affected because of the Mumbai attacks.

Given the prevailing tension, is a war with Pakistan imminent?

No. Our external affairs minister has said categorically that there is no war with Pakistan. We will retain the pressure diplomatically. War is the last solution and whatever the headlines in the media may be, it has never been India’s intention to go to war…

Given the bitter experience that the Congress has of the Left, is there a possibility of future alliance with them?

Let us see what the future holds. But we are going into elections seeking a mandate for ourselves. We are not seeking a mandate for the coalition government. We are seeking to come to power on our own two feet. I think the people of India want single-party rule and only the Congress can provide the single-party rule.

What will be the Congress’s slogan for the general elections?

Panch saal aur (elect us for another five years).

What for?

To carry forward with the good work that has been initiated and ensure India’s march to progress. And for this, India needs a 40-year-old leader more than an 80-year-old Prime Minister and we have that.

So you are saying, Mr Rahul Gandhi is ready to lead the Congress and the nation?

Of course he is and we are all there to back him.

(This interview was first published in The Statesman, India on 20 December 2008. The interviewer is on the staff of The Statesman)