india editor’s note foundation journal€¦ · the government’s paradigm shift by amending the...

India Foundation Journal, May 2015 {1}

for private circulation only

Publisher

India FoundationNew Delhi

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Websitewww.indiafoundation.in

IndiaFoundation

Journal

Vol. IIIIssue No.2

May 2015

Editor

Shaurya Doval

Assistant Editor

Anjana Deepthi

Editor’s NoteDear Readers,

The first full year budget by the new government was presented amidst very highexpectations of announcement of big bang reforms, by a government which enjoysunprecedented majority in the lower house of Parliament. The proposals set out in thebudget lay out the roadmap for accelerating growth, enhancing investment and passingon the benefit of the growth process to the common man, woman, youth and child:those, whose quality of life needs to be improved. More importantly the Finance Ministerunderlined that this is the path which will be doggedly and relentlessly perused.

The economic survey noted that India is today in a sweet spot, largely relieved ofthe vulnerabilities associated with an economic slowdown. Inflation has steadilytapered down, thanks to the sharp reduction in the price of crude oil, fiscal deficit hasreduced, domestic demand is picking up, and the external value of the Indian rupeehas also stabilized.

The Budget 2015 was balanced between growth and fiscal prudence and saw aparadigm shift in its thinking to bring ideas of social security for the weaker section. Italso expanded the savings pool by creating a fungibility mechanism to convert physicalsavings into financial savings. In its refined architecture, the government has realignedits relationship with the states by empowering them through higher devolution (62%of national revenue) which could be channelized toward on-the-ground spending.Though fiscal road map has been stretched by a year, incremental deficit is beingearmarked for infrastructure spending.

The government’s paradigm shift by amending the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Actand create a monetary policy framework with a target of keeping consumer inflation(CPI) below 6% is a move that formalizes the Indian central bank’s role as an inflationtargeter. This framework will decrease the uncertainty around the decision makingprocess and there will be limited possibility of any speculation. To check black moneymenace, the government announced 10-year imprisonment for hiding foreign assets,along with a host of other tough measures including dis-incentivising of cash dealingsin real estate and other transactions. Overall, the Budget addresses three strategicpillars of the economy by inter-weaving pro-poor, pro-growth and pro-investors agendain the same breath.

In this issue we explore in greater depth the changing role of the RBI andimplications of crackdown on black money. We also bring an extensive report of all ourevents in the last few months. We have been very busy with many activities some ofwhich have been on the scale and size we had never conducted before. It is our hopethat the reports that we have sent out in this issue will motivate our readers to join usin our programs on as we embark on an ambitious journey of bigger and biggerprojects of national rejuvenation.

The country is brimming with energy and enthusiasm. There is hope that goodthings await our great nation. However, hard work and commitment must precede oursuccess. We at the Foundation remain committed to this journey no matter how long ittakes and how hard it is. We hope our readers will continue to share our enthusiasmand keep sending us their valuable feedback. This motivates us to do more.

India Foundation Journal, May 2015{2}

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Budget 2015 and Changing Role of RBI: Reform and Institutional Development ................ 3- Shakti Sinha

Combatting Black Money and the Recovery of Black Assets .............................................. 9- Vikramjit Banerjee

OP-EDs

Conflict in Yemen and Pakistan’s Dilemma ......................................................................... 14- Alok Bansal

Emerging Crescendo of Free Speech in India ..................................................................... 17- Guru Prakash & Raghav Pandey

REPORTS

National Seminar on Integral Humanism ............................................................................ 21India-Myanmar: Together the Way Ahead .......................................................................... 24Bilateral Conference on India-China Relations ................................................................... 29Discussion on “The Future of Indo-US Relationship” ........................................................ 32Counter-Terrorism Conference 15 ...................................................................................... 34Discussion on “Worldwide Terror Trends: Terrorist Tactics, Targets and Weapons” ........ 45Seminar on Gilgit-Baltistan: Gateway to Inner Asia ............................................................ 48

BOOK REVIEW

The Shade of Swords – Jihad and the Conflict between Islam and Christianity ................ 50


he presentation of the Union Budget onFebruary 28th every year is a much awaitedevent not just for the finance professionals and

economic analysts since it announces changes intaxation regime and fiscal deficit numbers that is asignificant pointer to macroeconomic stability but, forpeople at large since its sectoral allocations and policyannouncements largely determine economic growth.Earlier the President’s address to the joint session ofParliament, like the British crown’s annual addresswas the platform for the government to present itspolicy agenda. With the advent of liberalisation, andthe close link between opening up of the economyand growth rates, the budget has usurped this role.

Less understood till recently was the importantrole of institutional reforms and restructuring inachieving economic, social and political goals of acountry. Despite the pioneering work of the Nobleprize winning economist Douglas North, Indian policymakers tended to ignore systemic factors and largelyassumed that policy announcements were enough toget the ‘animal’ spirits going. Where institutional gapswere noticed, or became rather obvious, specificinterventions were made and often, new institutionscreated to meet these narrow challenges, or mandatesof existing institutions were modified. Fortunately, inrecent years, this approach has been seen to belimiting India’s ability to grow near its potential.Consequently, there have been efforts to correct thesituation, e.g., the draft direct tax code, theestablishment by executive order of a FinanceStability & Development Council in the wake of the2008 trans-Atlantic financial crisis etc. Perhaps the

Budget 2015 and Changing Role of RBI: Reform andInstitutional Development

*Shakti Sinha

*The Author is Chairman, South Asian Institute for Strategic Affairs, India

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T most ambitious, and potential game-changer, was thesetting up of the Finance Sector Legislative ReformsCommission (FSLRC), headed by Justice (Retd.) B.N. Srikrishna, which submitted its report in March2013. The FSLRC drafted an omnibus Draft FinanceCode (IFC), of 450 articles covering all financialactivities. This article looks at the Budget 2015 andthe evolving role of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI),particularly in the context of the draft IFC. (I will notcomment on other aspects of the IFC, which wouldrequire a detailed monograph).

Monetary Policy FrameworkThe Finance Minister’s announcement in his budgetspeech that the government had concluded aMonetary Policy Framework Agreement with theRBI, the first in the 70 years that the RBI has beenin existence, did not get the attention it deserved.The media attention was obviously concentrated onchanges in taxation regimes and how these wouldimpact on different sectors like infrastructure, onfiscal numbers and on the revolutionary tax devolutionthat effectively shifts the action to the States.However, in terms of institutional innovation and itspotential impact on investment and growth, thisagreement is no less revolutionary. It gives the RBIspecific objectives and acknowledges its operationalindependence while holding it accountable. Thesethree characteristics of sound governance, if appliedto all public institutions including the bureaucracy,judiciary and the police, will see a sea change ingovernment effectiveness and developmentoutcomes.


Specifically, the agreement lays down thatIndia’s monetary policy will be guided by the need to“maintain price stability while keeping in mind theobjective of growth.” The price stability sought isnot a fixed number but a band, 4% +/- 2%. Whilerightly recognising inflation as the key issue inmonetary policy, this approach is realistic since itprovides adequate flexibility, recognising that themonetary transmission mechanism is far from perfect.This is because substantial sections of the Indianeconomy are still unbanked, credit to GDP ratio islow, and considerable force majeure effects insectoral performance leading to fluctuating levels ofnon-performing assets of the banking sector. In suchcircumstances, price stability cannot be a rigid numberand the RBI would need to be able to use a range ofinstruments depending on the circumstances.

The target band is in line with therecommendations of the Urjit Patel Committee report(2014) set up by the RBI to look at what is broadlyknown as ‘inflation targeting.’ The Committee hadrecommended a ‘gentle glide path’ approach so asto avoid abrupt destabilising action in cases there wasa rush to meet the target. Instead it recommendedbring down consumer inflation rate to 8% by January2015 and 6% by January 2016. Since inflation hadcome down to around 5% by 2015, helped by policyinterventions that had tamed the rise in food pricescontrary to the general belief that the main factorwas the fall in petroleum prices, the monetary policyframework agreement eliminated the intermediatetargets and seeks to bring down the rate of inflationto 4% by March 2017. For the current year, the RBIhas to ensure that the inflation does not exceed 6%.The (+/-) 2% band will kick in next year.

If the target band is missed in three consecutivequarters, the RBI Governor would have to write aletter to the Finance Minister giving reasons why thishas happened and list the remedial steps. The RBI

proposes to take and give an estimate of wheninflation would be back on track. While this makesclear RBI’s accountability and operationalindependence, it is anchored on the understandingthat both monetary and fiscal policies influenceinflation. The substantial fall in consumer price indexover the past months convinced the RBI that theFinance Ministry was serious in its attempts tomoderate inflation. In the context of two unscheduledrate cuts by the RBI on January 17, 2015 and onMarch 4, 2015, The Economist commented, “theCentral Bank seemed to accept the argument fromthe Finance Ministry that, the fiscal squeeze so farhas been far harder than suggested by the headlinebudget-deficit numbers.1 It is no surprise that the RBIgovernor Raghuram Rajan, taking about theagreement, said that it “makes explicit what wasimplied before – that the government and the RBIhave common objectives and that fiscal and monetarypolicy will work in a complementary way.”

To most international and casual observers, thismonetary policy framework agreement does not seemrevolutionary at all, so why is this claim being made?This is because public institutions in India are ‘vested’with functions, often couched in the broadest of terms.And accountability measures are absent, with nosanctions listed for failures2. The RBI is a case wherethese characteristics can be seen. It was set up as aconsequence to the Great Depression of the 1930’swhich saw bank failures, contraction of internationaltrade as a result of panic-induced erection of tariffwalls and a breakdown of monetary system,cumulatively leading to a collapse of demand andsupply. India, fairly globalised in terms of supply ofraw materials and import of finished products, wasnot immune to these developments. The preamble tothe RBI Act (1934) accepted that since the globalmonetary system had become ‘presently’disorganised, ‘it was not possible to determine what


will be suitable as a permanent basis for the Indianmonetary system.’ The way out was ‘to maketemporary provision’, and in the circumstances ‘toleave the question of the monetary standard best suitedto India to be considered when the internationalmonetary position has become sufficiently clear andstable to make it possible to frame permanentmeasures.’

Ironically, the present executive, though notstatutory, agreement has come when the internationalmonetary position can hardly be called ‘clear andstable!’ Fortunately for India, over the past quarterof a century the RBI has moved away from being ahandmaiden of the government to actingindependently on monetary policy, often despitenudges from successive Finance Ministers. The firststep at institutionalising RBI autonomy was the 1997Ways and Means agreement with the FinanceMinistry that stopped the automatic monetising of thecentral government’s fiscal deficits. Though thisagain, like the present framework agreement wasthrough executive action, it has served the purposeof fostering fiscal fortitude, and making government’sborrowing needs transparent and creditable. Thepresent framework agreement credibility gainsstrength in the context of moves to amend the RBIAct to provide for a Monetary Policy Committee, inline with standard practise in central banks insystemically important countries. However, beforegoing into that, a short diversion into inflation targetingand its usefulness in our context is important.

Inflation Targeting and RBI AccountabilityIt was the central bank of New Zealand, a smalleconomy dependent on exports of primary goods thatestablished the efficacy of inflation targeting inrunning a successful monetary policy. Central banksare often tasked with multiple goals, oftencontradictory and it is no surprise that the results are

mixed, with price stability often sacrificed at the altarof growth. Further as the case of the RBI makesclear, the goal of price stability can clash with thecentral bank’s role as both the guardian of the bankingsector and the manager of public debt. The NewZealand example showed how there is no realcontradiction between growth and price stability overthe medium term once inflation is factored out ofnominal growth figures. Gradually, inflation targetingbecame almost de rigueur across developed countrycentral banks, even when there were no formaltargets. Post 2008, the prolonged recession in theadvanced economies has led to sustained periods ofreal negative interest rates despite unorthodoxmeasures like Quantitative Easing (QE) where centralbanks buy up limitless amounts of debts/assets ofthe banking sector releasing equivalent amounts ofmoney into the system. However, growth andemployment seem largely immune to this stimulus.These unexpected developments that do not seem tohave an end have largely relegated inflation targetingto the sidelines, with central banks being heldresponsible by many for the 2008 crisis caused bytheir ‘regulatory forbearance’ that allowed suchsystemic risks to build up and collapse.

The situation in India is markedly different. Evenwhen growth collapsed from 2009-10 onwards,consumer price inflation remained stubbornly high;India was an outlier in that all large developingcountries saw inflation decline and in fact struggledwith deflation. The unusual Indian situation was onaccount of two factors. One was a consciousgovernment policy that changed the terms of tradebetween agriculture and the rest of the economy, farin excess of changes in input prices. The resultantfood price inflation took away from the ruralconsumers all the gains from this flow of funds tothe rural areas. Two, the government turned anti-growth with all kinds of bottlenecks and capricious


decision-making that prevented growth- andemployment-enhancing investments. Lack ofinvestments led to supply bottlenecks that pushed upprices even further. Supply constraints ideally couldbe countered by lowering interest rates. However,the RBI could not bring down the interest rates dueto high fiscal deficits and high consumer inflation. Itfinally required a rigorous fiscal squeeze of the qualitythat convinced Raghuram Rajan to cut interest ratestwice with two months outside the normal cyclicalmeeting to really tame inflation, something for whichthe current government has not been given its due.

With rising expectations, increase in purchasingpower and supply bottlenecks that acts as cost-plus,inflation would continue to be an issue in India,particularly when growth rates are poised to take-off. Similarly, other limitations referred to earlier,makes the transmission system inefficient andinadequate. Keeping these unique characteristics inmind, both the aspects of the new monetary policy,the rate band and definition of failure (threeconsecutive quarters), are well thought off and whileplacing price stability at the core of monetary policydoes not relegate the growth concerns to a footnote.The RBI is not expected to squeeze inflation out ofthe system even when the target has slipped for threeconsecutive quarters; it has to only lay down itsremedial plan and the expected time to bring inflationback within the target band. This flexibility wouldalso be necessary were India to face deflation, whereadmittedly available monetary tools have limited efficacy.

Monetary Policy CommitteeRBI’s monetary independence would make senseonly in the context of a rigorous, transparent andcredible decision-making process, as any practitionerof public policy would argue. Presently, the RBIgovernor exercises unchecked powers in setting thepolicy rate. This was understandable, though still not

appropriate, when the RBI functioned as an arm ofthe Finance Ministry, so in effect the former used totake guidance from the latter. Any unchecked powerson any authority particularly exercising powers in thepublic domain would be disastrous; the Greek conceptof a Philosopher King is best left as a concept. TheFinance Minister’s announcement in the budgets ofgovernment’s intention to modify the RBI Act toprovide for a Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) isto be seen in this light. However, no details are yetavailable about the composition, decision-makingprocesses etc. There have been apprehensions thatthe Government would have large role to play inappointing its members, particularly in view of therecommendations of the FSLRC, as below.

At present, the governor sets the policy rate. Hedoes have the benefit of advice of a group of eminenteconomists, as also of his deputy governors andexecutive directors who attend the monetary policymeeting. The Urjit Patel Committee recommendeda five person MPC consisting of the governor, deputygovernor (monetary policy), executive director(monetary policy) and two external membersselected by the governor and deputy governor. Therewould be no veto power. The FSLRC on the otherhand had earlier recommended a seven person MPCincluding the governor and one executive member ofthe RBI Board. Three external members would bepicked by the government and two external membersby the government again but this time in consultationwith the RBI governor. A representative of thegovernment would also attend but have no votingrights. The governor would be entitled to exercise aveto but this would need to be backed by a publicdisclosure of the reasons for such a veto. The Bankof England (BOE) has a nine person MPC with fourexternal members nominated by the Chancellor ofthe Exchequer (Finance Minister), with a governmentrepresentative present but not voting. The governor,


three deputy governors and the chief economist ofBOE outnumber the external voting members. TheUS Federal Reserve has a very different structureso the composition of its Open Market Committee,its equivalent of the MPC, is not helpful forunderstanding how India should go about the job.Brazils’ MPC is purely an in-house committeeconsisting of the governor and seven deputygovernors, with the former having veto powers.

Public Debt Management AgencyThere are two other issues in the budget speech andrelated statements by the Finance Minister and RBIgovernor that has implications for the changing roleof the RBI and institutional development of thefinancial sector. These are the proposed setting upof a public debt management agency to handle alldomestic and external debt of the government, andwhether capital controls and its liberalisation is apolicy or a regulatory issue. Of course there are othersignificant aspects of the FSLRC recommendationsthat would impact the RBI, and lead to changes andinstitutional restructuring e.g. grievance redressalprocesses etc., these two need particular attention.

The Finance Minister stated in his budget speechthat the government would establish a public debtmanagement agency (PDMA). Presently the RBImanages government’s domestic debt based on thelatter’s borrowing programme, by selling andredeeming government bonds. Externally, mostgovernment debt is due to borrowing from multilateraldevelopment banks, though occasionally governmenthas approached international lenders. Due to thepredominant structure of external debt, itsmanagement is done by the Finance Ministry. Twoimportant concerns that have arisen from thismanagement approach are the lack of an integratedapproach of government liabilities, and RBI’s conflictof interest as the manager of government’s debt and

as the authority responsible for the health of thebanking sector and for maintaining price stability.While the first concern can be dealt with by having aPDMA, the latter is more difficult as RBI mustbalance the need for low cost financing for thegovernment with the macroeconomic consequencesof having a permanent low interest rate regime.

A further potential liability not captured in thepresent arrangement is government’s increased useof guarantees to public sector entities, para-stateentities etc., that does not show up anywhere in thebooks. While central bankers and few others haveobjected, the FSLRC was right in recommending thatthe PDMA should be lodged in the government. Cashand contingent liabilities management is a treasuryfunction, best exercised by the executive. RBI’s focusshould be responsibility for maintaining price stabilityand the health of the banking & payment systems,particularly the challenges for meeting the latestversion of the Basel requirements. The FinanceMinister should move towards setting up a PDMA,which would require legal changes, and considerableadministrative preparations.

Capital ControlsThe last issue that would require a very consciousmove is to understand that decisions on capitalcontrols are much more political than a matter offoreign exchange reserve management. India hasfreed up all controls on the current account, whichwas essential to have a competitive trading regime,reduce the generation of black money etc. TheForeign Exchange Management Act 1999 andvarious, often confusing and contradictory, regulationsby different regulators control the trans-bordermovement of capital, e.g., individual approval for FDIabove a threshold, organisation of regulations by assetclass – equity/ quasi-equity/ debt, multiple investmentvehicles like foreign institutional investors (FIIs)/


foreign venture capital investors (FVCIs)/ qualifiedforeign investors (QFIs)/ NRIs / PIOs.

Capital controls are different from control on thecurrent account because these are about ownershipof assets. Governments globally decide the sectorsin which they would like, or not like, foreign ownership,how much exposure to be allowed, and whether theywould like to retain specific country restrictions forstrategic reasons. Despite objections by manybankers that the executive should not interfere, theFSLRC recommended that the policy governingcapital controls is an executive function. Specifically,the Finance Ministry would make the rules governingthe inflow of capital, in consultation with the RBI.Since outflows can more potentially destabiliseexchange rate stability, the RBI is better placed tomake regulations in consultation with the government.This division of functions, while apparently typically

bureaucratic, has considerable merit. The FinanceMinister’s statement that decisions on reforms of thecapital controls regime was a policy matter indicatesthat in principle the government agrees with theFSLRC’s recommendations.

ConclusionReforming the architecture of the financial sector toserve the needs of a rising India is not going to beeasy or quick. However, all indications point togovernment’s acceptance of the need for taking asystemic view and refrain from patchwork approachthat has led to a plethora of laws, regulatory institut-ions and regulations that are crying for reform. Inaddition to an integrated approach, the three principlesof clear objectives, autonomous decision making andaccountability should guide this reform andrestructuring process.

1 The Economist, ‘Lights, action, cut’, March 4, 20152Ila Patnaik and Ajay Shah, ‘Reforming India’s Financial Sector’, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace,January 2014.

References:


oday there is a lot of discussion about blackmoney. The discussion is not only in India butall across the world. According to many it is

black money and the parallel economy which is beingused by dictators, mafia gangs, drug dealers andterrorists to run a very complicated racket whichmixes illegal finances, illegal arms and illegal extractionof resources. All over the world, global corruption isan issue which cannot be disregarded anymore. Theblasé attitude which many of the extractionary eliteswhich ruled postcolonial countries from the time ofthe independence from colonial masters had towardscorruption has created this Frankenstein monster. Itis therefore time, that there is a clean up of dirtyfinancing which is the basis of all this web ofillegalities if we are to have rule of law as afundamental basis on which society is governed.

In India the problem with the black economy orparallel economy is not a new one. The black economyexisted at the time of independence. It possiblyexisted even though unaccounted for during theBritish tenure but exploded on the scene with WorldWar 2 when huge profits were made on the blackmarket through illegal means. The seeds of today’sblack economy is therefore to be found in the warprofiteering which resulted in untold wealth justbefore independence.

This deviancy has been coupled with thetendency of the postcolonial elites of the country tosiphon off money from illegal actions including bribesand investing the same either in foreign bank accountsor in assets within the country. Needless to say thishas resulted in a huge bubble specially in real estateconstruction which has been sustained by this paralleleconomy based fundamentally on corruption. The

Combatting Black Money and the Recovery of Black Assets*Vikramjit Banerjee

* The author is an Advocate, Supreme Court of India

T heights of such corruption and stacking of blackmoney and black assets was reached during theUnited Progressive Alliance’s government between2004 and 2014. This in turn resulted in the tremendousbacklash which resulted in installation of the presentgovernment. The present article is focused on howto combat black assets both on a national scale aswell as on an international level.

There are very many different aspects of blackmoney and they need to be addressed including howto stop the generation of black money and to accountfor the same. However the present article does notconcentrate on all the aspects. The present articleonly deals with steps which can be taken to combatand/or bring to an end of black money menace. Thearticle also in the second half concentrates on howto use law to recover the unaccounted for assetswhich are the result of this generation of black money.

How to Combat the Black Asset EconomyThe single biggest reason for the generation of blackmoney and creation of black assets in the world iscrony capitalism. Black assets are those assets whichare created from illegal earnings and corruption. Thetendency of those in power to promote cronies andensure that economic benefits are given to cronies inexchange for financing at the time of elections andfor private purposes has resulted in an unholy nexuswhereby unaccounted for financing is used inexchange of favours granted. The favours obviouslyare illegal because in most countries and jurisdictionsthe favours are barred by corruption laws. Tocircumvent the corruption laws crony capitalists andtheir political friends devise complicated methods togenerate illegal wealth and thereafter to ensure such

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illegal wealth is invested in a manner so as to avoidthe scrutiny of law. What happened duringthe telecom spectrum scam and the coal mineallocations scam during the last years of the UPAGovernment is the perfect example of this nexus ofcrony capitalism.

The solution is of course to have an establishmentwhich follows the rule of law, that is, the impunity ofthe crony capitalist should be taken away. The cronycapitalist should be aware that any violation of ruleof law would result in harsh punishment. The longarm of the law should also be made independent soas to be able to follow and nail the corrupt includingthose who are in high positions of the government aswell as very important industrialists without the fearof being subverted.

Another reason for the generation of blackmoney is the prevalence of secrecy jurisdictions. Thesecrecy jurisdictions are jurisdictions which giveprotection against disclosure of financial assets whichare invested in them. As all of us know Switzerlandis famous for having banks which are completelyopaque. Throughout the world the Swiss bank has areputation of not disclosing who has invested or putmoney in it. This is taken advantage of by corruptpoliticians everywhere who stash their illegally earnedwealth in secret jurisdictions like Switzerland. Thoughrecently there has been a lot of pressure onSwitzerland to be more transparent however eventoday there are large amounts of money stashed awayin Swiss banks which have been earned from corruptpractices throughout the world. Interestingly thoughit is Switzerland which has a reputation of havingopaque secret jurisdictions, various different countrieshave created this secret jurisdictions so as to benefitfrom this illegal wealth. Even so-called transparenteconomies like United States and the United Kingdomhave created offshore illegal havens beyond thescrutiny of law, like the state of Delaware and theChannel and Caribbean Islands. There must be a

movement globally to close down these secretjurisdictions.

Thirdly it must be acknowledged that another ofthe biggest sources of corruption is the multinationalcompanies. These multinationals which are hugebehemoths whose earnings are sometimes more thancertain countries, have used corruption and briberyfor the purposes of getting concessions and contractsthroughout the developing world. It is interesting tonote that even in India the telecommunication scaminvolved foreign companies as well as nationalcompanies. Notably the allegations of defencecorruption which have so caught the imagination inIndia have always involved foreign companies,including Bofors, Agusta Westland and Tatra. Thepower project involving Enron also was rumoured tohave involved a large amounts of money for thepurposes of “educating” the Indian public about thebenefits of power. It is important that this has to stop.It has to stop because multinationals have aninordinately large power and very deep pockets.Multinationals also have the easy wherewithal toensure that corrupt politicians are able to invest moneyin different jurisdictions beyond the scrutiny in theirown countries.

Fourthly there has to be a movement which willclamp down on political corruption. Political corruptiongenerates unaccounted for black wealth. This blackwealth is then transferred and distributed throughoutthe world and within the country. In India themovement of India Against Corruption was anincredible movement which stood up against politicalcorruption in all its forms. However, it seems thatthere is need for an institutionalisation of this clampingdown on political corruption. Whether it be themultinationals, whether it be local industrialists, thepolitician is the sole fulcrum on which the entire edificeof corruption revolves. The reason is because thepolitician is in a position to change policy as well asdistribute state largesse. A person so inclined to


benefit from both these can easily do so. Lee KuanYew in Singapore therefore made it one of his chiefgoals and the growth that we see in Singapore todaycan be attributed to this success in dealing withpolitical corruption. If India is to grow and get aheadin the next century, the biggest impediment is politicalcorruption. As a country we therefore need to worktowards not only getting stronger laws to combatpolitical corruption but also a methodology to ensurethat the laws are implemented and the corrupt arebrought to justice.

The fifth major source of black asset generationproper world is organised crime. We have heard ofanecdotal evidence of how both the political playersas well as industrialists have collaborated withorganised crime in this country. The boom in distantcountries which are closely linked with Indianorganised crime networks especially in real estateand ultra luxury investment is an indicator of thisphenomenon. The presence of a large number ofindustrialists and politicians frequently in these globalhavens show that these linkages are very strongindeed. It is time that we clamp down not only onmoney being stashed away in Swiss banks as werightly should but also against investment in thesehavens. It is an open secret as to how these havenshave nurtured organised crime bosses and used thewealth generated by these networks in India in orderto pump in money into their real estate. Whether itbe Dubai or Bangkok , it is important that thoseinvesting in these places be under stronger scrutinyand the money moving to and fro from India to theseplaces be investigated. It is also important that withinthe country crime networks which act as conduitsfor rich and the powerful be dealt with strictly andwith the highest punishment possible for their crimes.

It is important under the above-mentionedcircumstances to hold business people and industriesto a high standard and therefore make themresponsible for corrupt practices. A large part of the

solution to combat black money is to hold those whoare its major facilitators, that is, industrialists as wellas business people to anticorruption standards. Theindustrialists should be put on notice that stashingaway of illegal wealth or creation of illegal blackassets within or outside the country would result instringent action against them. It is also important toensure that a consensus is created amongst variousdifferent industries and trade bodies that they willensure that they are not facilitators of black moneyor black wealth. To that end some have suggestedthat the government should therefore take the leadto arrive at industry wide anticorruption agreementsbetween business, government and industries. Thiswould set the standards which cannot be violated bythe players who are interested in carrying on businessin the country. It will also result in some sort of checkon politicians when they deal with business people.

Lastly, it is extremely important for thegovernment, that it creates a mechanism and astructure for repatriations of black assets. Thegovernment should make it known that black assetsanywhere in the world will not be tolerated and thegovernment will do its utmost and very best to ensurethat black assets created whether inside the countryor outside the country will be recovered. There canbe two methods of how to recover black assets. Onemethod is to hold those holding the black assetscriminally liable along with those who have createdthose black assets and recover the same as proceedsof the crime of corruption. The other method is tomake corruption a civil wrong which can be used bythe government to get possession and injunction onsuch assets. It is obvious that the first method is muchmore thorough and in much more accordance withhuman rights values, it is the second which has thebiggest chances of success. The Indian governmenthas come out with a slew of anticorruption legislationincluding various anticorruption statutes and thevarious laws on prevention of money laundering in


India, however in spite of their stated purpose theyhave not been very successful. Possibly, the biggestreason for their spectacular failure has been that, inconforming to the high standards which are requiredin the criminal prosecution they have failed to combatthe menace for which they were enacted that iscorruption and money laundering. In the next part ofthe article a new method is suggested based on theexperiences in the United Kingdom as to how wecan have recovery of black assets through civil law.

Asset Repatriation through Civil Law -A SuggestionAs a first step, it is suggested that an Asset RecoveryAgency (ARA) be created dedicated only for thepurposes of ensuring recovery of black assets earnedthrough crime and corruption whether the same isinvested in the country or invested outside the country.The said agency should be a dedicated one and shouldwork in coordination with various other agencies ofthe government dealing in crime, corruption, seriousfraud and money laundering. The ARA should havethe power of investigation including the power ofsearch and seizure of documents. Needless to saythat the ARA will require special officers who willbe selected only for the purposes of ARA so as toensure that these officers are isolated from the restof the structure and therefore largely impervious tooutside pressure. The outside pressure under ordinarycircumstances would be very huge since it involvesthe high and mighty of the country and it is veryimportant that the ARA is insulated.

The next step would be to create a legal systemwhereby it would be possible for the ARA to approacha civil court to get injunction against assets which inits mind are either proceeds of crime or are in thenature of black assets. It is suggested here that thecivil court which is going to be designated for thepurpose of granting this injunction should be the HighCourt of the state. This will ensure that there is some

sort of scrutiny over the actions of the ARA and willalso ensure that ARA acts in accordance with ruleof law and not in blatant violation of fundamentalrights. The High Court will always have the right togo into any violation of fundamental rights by the ARAwhile proceeding with its investigation.

The other remedial method which can beincorporated into the proposed law would be the rightto the High Court to force those who are alleged tobe the owner of black assets, which are underinjunction, to disclose their documents in relation tothe said black assets. The said power should bebacked up by penal provisions which would allowthe High Court to put those alleged to be holding theblack assets, in prison and hold them there withperiodical review till they come up with documentsin relation to the same. On the face of it the samewould be in violation of fundamental rights andtherefore it is my suggestion that the powers only bevested in the High Court so as to ensure that thesame is not misused. Of course those affected willhave the power to approach a larger bench of theHigh Court and thereafter to approach the SupremeCourt so their right of judicial review is not takenaway completely. As the experience with Saharashows this method can be quite effective in forcingthe recalcitrant to act in accordance with the law.

The third remedy which can be brought into aspart of the civil law which is to be enacted is that theassets on which injunctions are put as a result of theproceedings as discussed above should be in thehands of a Receiver appointed by the court itself.This Receiver should have the power to sell the assetsunder the directions of the court. It is suggested thatthis would also further strengthen the hands of thecourt against those holding black assets, besides ofcourse making it clear that those responsible for thecreation of the black assets cannot enjoy the fruitswhich they intend to do.

The fourth important point in this civil


methodology is to shift the burden of proof from thatof the prosecution, being the ARA, to prove that theassets are black assets and proceeds of crime on tothose alleged to be holding these black assets oncethe ARA has made its case that, the properties whichare held are a result of either proceeds of crime orcorruption. It is also suggested that the governmentshould also dilute the standard of proof required toattach the above-mentioned assets. One of the primereasons in classifying this legislation and structure asnot a criminal proceeding is to ensure that the criminalstandard of proof that is “beyond reasonable doubt”is brought down to a “balance of probabilities” whichis the standard of proof for civil matters. The loweringof the standard of proof will help the ARA in beingable to make out a case much more easily againstthese black assets.

The question will obviously arise is whether givingof such powers would result in violation offundamental rights and whether the same would beliable to be misused by those inclined to do so forwhatever reason anyone may want to. It is for thatreason that the powers as has been suggested shouldalways be with the High Court which will ensurethat neither the government nor the ARA can misuseits powers.

Fifthly it is suggested that the mere fact that theblack assets or the assets created out of proceeds ofcrime has been transferred to third parties shouldnot be a ground for exempting the assets from beingattached. The defence which would obviously suggestitself from those holding the black assets would bethat, they obtain the black assets without knowingthat, they were proceeds of crime or corruption andin “good faith”. It is suggested that this obviousdefence should not be allowed to outweigh the

apparent benefit of recovery of assets whichhave been created out of cheating the people ofthe country.

Lastly as has been suggested variously before, itis important for the purposes of rule of law that theabove-mentioned measures which can be construedto be too strong be balanced with checks and balancesto ensure that they are not misused. To this end, it issuggested that a separate determination within theOriginal Side of every High Court be created with adesignated High Court judge to specifically go intoissues of asset recovery. The said benches whichwould be created would be on the lines of commercialbenches which are being envisaged across the country.

Last WordsThe industry today rightly wants the freedom toconduct business without interference of thegovernment. However, it is neither in the interests ofthe people or of the industry to have crony capitalismand creation of a parallel black economy and blackassets. It is time both the government and the industrytherefore take concrete steps to weed out the badapples within the industry and the government. It isfor the industry to embrace the rule of law so as toensure that the market continues to perform freelywithout being distorted by external forces. The burdenis both on the government and the industry to endcrony capitalism and the extractionary state. Thepresent National Democratic Alliance governmenthas taken steps to end this corruption regime. Thesteps including the proposed new Black Money Billand changes in the Income Tax Rules should thereforebe welcomed both by the common people as well as theindustry at large. The article is written to remind that thereis yet a lot of more work to be done in that regard.


Conflict in Yemen and Pakistan's Dilemma*Alok Bansal

*The author is Director, Centre for Security & Strategy, India Foundation.

OP-ED

emen has been in turmoil for some time. Afterthe Arab Spring successfully claimed the scalpsof entrenched rulers in the Middle East, the

youth yearning for change also started protestingagainst President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Yemen. Saleh,a Zaidi Shia, who had been ruling since 1978, first asthe President of North Yemen till 1990 and thereafteras the President of unified Yemen; was eventuallyforced to step down in 2012 by the protesting youth.He was replaced by his Vice President Abed RabboMansour Hadi, a Sunni Arab. His regime wasopposed by a militia of Zaidis, who had captured largeterritories in three provinces in the North. The militiacalled as Houthi militia, after their leader HusseinBadreddin al-Houthi who was killed by the Yemeniarmed forces in September 2004; attacked Sana’a,the capital of Yemen in January 2015, forcingPresident Hadi and Prime Minister Khaled Bahah toresign. However, both subsequently, claimed that theirresignations were not accepted by the Parliament.The Houthis officially took over the government ofYemen on 06 February.

Hadi, who had been put under house arrest inSana’a, escaped and managed to reach Aden, whichhad been the capital of South Yemen, beforeunification. On 21 February, he declared Aden asthe provisional capital and started running thegovernment from there. On 20 March 2015, al-Badrand al-Hashoosh mosques were attacked by suicidebombers, which resulted in killing of 142 worshippersand injuring 351 others. Although, the Islamic Stateclaimed responsibility, the Houthis accused the USand Israel of supporting the attacks. They also blamedregional Arab states for financing terrorist groups

operating inside Yemen. Consequently, the Houthimilitia in conjunction with the troops loyal to formerPresident Saleh attacked Aden and captured theairport. President Hadi fled Aden to reach SaudiArabia and sought Saudi help. Saudi Arabia, alarmedby the rise of a de facto Shia state in its backyard,accused Iran of helping the Houthis and to counterthem established a coalition of five Gulf States (SaudiArabia, UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar), Egypt,Sudan and Morocco. The alliance was widelyperceived as a Sunni alliance against Shia Houthisand an extension of existing conflict between Shiasand Sunnis in Syria and Iraq. As the coalition assumeda sectarian hue, it was opposed by Shiite states likeIran, Iraq and Syria, besides Hezbollah. Oman, apredominantly Ibadi state has maintained neutrality,despite being a neighbour of Yemen.

The turbulence in Yemen concerns the Saudis,because the Saudi regime is neither representative,nor has the support of all sections of its population.Besides, the Shiite minority in Saudi Arabia has beenrestive for some time. Yemen is Saudi Arabia’s softunderbelly and although Saudi Arabia is resource rich,with sophisticated military hardware, and in terms ofarea is more than four times the size of Yemen, thepopulation of Yemen is almost comparable to that ofSaudi Arabia. As the capacity of Saudi ground troopsto fight has always been under question ever sinceSaddam had invaded Kuwait and Egypt, the onlycountry in the coalition with worthwhile groundforces, was unwilling to commit troops, despite havingreceived billions of dollars worth of Saudi aid.Egyptian unwillingness stemmed from their disastrousexperience of having intervened in Yemen under

Y


Nasser. Consequently, Saudis looked at Pakistan andNawaz Sharif, who is personally indebted to the Saudiroyal family, readily agreed. The Saudi Kingaccordingly named Pakistan as also a part of thealliance of the Sunni States. Not only that, as soonas the Saudis raised alarm bells about the Houthis,Pakistan’s government made pompous statement thatPakistan will shed blood to defend Saudi Arabia.Nawaz Sharif, grateful to the house of Al-Saud forhaving bailed him out from Musharraf’s jail, was morethan keen to be of use to Saudi Arabia and was eagerto be with them in this fight.

To make this intervention more palatable to thedomestic public, a twist was given to the whole taleby projecting Pakistan’s offer of support as defenceof Mecca and Madina, the two most holy cities inIslam. Based on Pakistan’s verbal assurance ofsupport, Saudi forces launched aerial strikes onYemen. Saudis formally requested Pakistan foraircraft, ships and most significantly ground troops,as none of the other countries from outside the region,including Egypt agreed to contribute ground troops.There were already, over 1000 troops from Pakistanin Saudi Arabia for a military exercise and weremobilised for operations. However, the aerialintervention in Yemen, in no way helped to consolidatethe regime of President Hadi, while it did force Houthisto retreat in some sectors, they made gains in someothers turning the conflict into a stalemate. Moresignificantly, this conflict enabled Al Qaeda in ArabicPeninsula (AQAP) to make significant gains in theSouth as the government forces have eitherdisintegrated or are busy fighting the Houthis.

As facts became clearer in Pakistan, there wasfurore against Nawaz’s proclaimed support to Saudis.Unlike in the past, Saudi Arabia does not drawundisputed admiration from Pakistani populace,cutting across sectarian and ethnic divisions. One ofthe first, to advise Nawaz against jumping into the

quagmire in Yemen was former President Asif AliZardari, the leader of opposition Pakistan PeoplesParty and himself a Shia. On the other hand, most ofthe religious groups aligned with Sunni Wahabiideology, started drumming support for Saudi stanceand proclaiming that Pakistan’s military was meantto defend Islam, thereby implying the Islamic holycities in Saudi Arabia. As the sectarian polarisationincreased, the Shias in Pakistan came out openlyagainst any support by Pakistan to the Saudioffensive, claiming that it was Saudi Arabia, whichwas interfering in Yemen’s internal affairs. Evensecular political parties, like Pakistan Peoples Party(PPP) of Zardari, Muttahida Qaumi Movement(MQM) of Altaf Hussain and Awami National Party(ANP) led by Asfandyar Wali Khan advised againstinterference into Yemeni conflict.

Similarly, most intellectuals, who were aware ofYemen’s history and the reputation of Yemenis asfierce fighters, opposed Pakistan getting embroiledinto an Arab conflict and stated that there was nothreat to Saudi Arabia, less so to the holy cities. Theyalso felt that there was no point in antagonising Iranat this stage. Most significantly, the Army ChiefGeneral Raheel Sharif, informed the government thatArmy which been operating against Tehrik-e-TalibanPakiastan (TTP) as part of Operation Zarb-e-Azbsince 15 June 2014, was over-stretched and had nospare capacity to depute ground troops to Yemen.Considering the salience of the Army in Pakistan’spolitical matrix, it became impossible for Nawaz toeven consider ignoring his view point.

Pushed into a corner Nawaz talked of consultingTurkey another Islamic country, which had not yetcommitted itself to the conflict. Turkey, with a gloriouspast, has been trying to rediscover its Ottoman Pastand of late had become fairly active in Arab affairs,especially in Syria. More significantly, Turkish reactionwas considered significant, as the Ottoman Empire


had ruled over Yemen and suffered major reversesthere. Meanwhile, to deflect criticism, Nawaz Sharif,called for a parliamentary debate on the issue, sothat the decision either way could not be attributedto him. Meanwhile public clamour for Pakistanmediating, rather than interfering in the conflict grew.After a visit by the Iranian envoy and discussionswith Turkey, the two countries issued statements,which talked of restrain by both the sides. Parliamentafter a long vociferous debate passed a resolution on10 April 2015, asking the government to stay awayfrom the conflict and try to resolve the differences.At the behest of Imran Khan’s PTI, which is believedto be close to the Army, a clause was inserted thatPakistan should maintain neutrality in the conflict.

Pakistan’s denial of ground troops for theoffensive perturbed Saudi Arabia and moresignificantly United Arab Emirates (UAE), which hadtaken Pakistani collusion for granted. Saudis madetheir displeasure known and dispatched their Adviseron Religious Affairs, Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah AlAmmar to Pakistan to mould public opinion in theirfavour, whereas the army spokesperson of theKingdom, clearly stated that although the operationswill undergo without Pakistan. Pakistan Army’sparticipation would have been very useful. They alsomade it absolutely clear that Saudis were not lookingfor Pakistani mediation, but for military support againstthe Houthis. UAE was more brash and castigatedPakistan for talking of neutrality. UAE Minister ofState for Foreign Affairs Dr. Anwar MohammedGargash even warned Pakistan of heavy price to pay.He went on to accuse both Turkey and Pakistan ofpandering to Iran. He accused Pakistan of overlookingthe Gulf countries, although it expected them to bailit out in times of crisis.

The statement by Gargash led to some show ofnational pride by some Pakistani ministers, and moresignificantly by some columnists in the media.

However, Pakistan was in a big dilemma, as half ofits remittances, which are an extremely importantsource of Pakistan’s Foreign Exchange reserves, arereceived from Saudi Arabia and UAE. In the firstnine months of current fiscal year ie from July 2014to March 2015, Pakistani migrant workers fromacross the globe sent home 13.327 billion dollars, ofwhich 4.045 billion dollars sent by Pakistanis in SaudiArabia and 2.948 billion dollars from sent by Pakistaniexpatriates from UAE. Any disruption of thisvaluable and recurrent source of foreign exchangecould be catastrophic. The strong reaction by bothSaudi Arabia and UAE indicated that the Pakistangovernment willingly or unwillingly had given animpression that they were willing to provide militarysupport.

Nawaz tried to placate Saudis by moving awayfrom neutrality position and condemned Houthis. Heeven mentioned about restoration of President Hadi’sgovernment. He talked of attaching great significanceto Saudi Arabia and tried to obfuscate the issue bytalking about the two holy mosques. He sent hisbrother Shahbaz Sharif, the Chief Minister of Punjab,to placate the Arab allies and got a welcome relief,when the United Nations passed a resolution againstmilitary supplies to Houthis. Pakistan immediatelydeclared that it had put in place necessary measureson the force of the UNSC resolution to carry outassets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo, on allthose suspected of carrying weapons for Houthimilitia and forces loyal to former Yemeni leader AliAbdullah Saleh. Shahbaz also stated that Pakistanwas ready to implement UNSC resolution. To furtherassuage the Saudis, Nawaz, along with his DefenceMinister, the Army Chief and the Foreign Secretaryvisited Riyadh on 23 April, 2015 to explain as to whyPakistan could not contribute troops.

It is believed that Pakistan in lieu has volunteeredto help Saudis recruit Sunni militants of different hues


from Pakistan for the conflict on Yemen. Pakistan’snaval ships, along with some aircraft and token groundforces are likely to be employed for “preventingsupplies to Houthis”. Pakistan is still faced with adilemma, as irrespective of what Pakistan contributes,it is unlikely to satisfy the Arab countries, who arepeeved with parliamentary resolution. Moresignificantly, Pakistan Army is not in a position tospare substantial troops and in any case has no desireto get embroiled in a hostile and alien land. BothOttomans and Egyptians have learnt in the past thatit is not easy to subdue Yemenis.

On the other hand, this attempt by Pakistan ofshowing solidarity with the Arabs, and pandering to

the Saudi Royal family, has irrevocably tarnishedPakistan’s relations with Iran. There have been inthe past firings across Pakistan’s border with Iranand more recently, after the Yemen imbroglio, Iranhas unilaterally placed trade ban on almost all ofPakistan’s products. This move has virtually signalledthat the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA)between the two has been suspended.

This conflict like those in Bahrain, Syria and Iraqearlier has split the Islamic world and will furtherexacerbate sectarian tensions in Pakistan.Domestically, the frequent flip flops have providedthe opposition a handle to castigate Nawaz and hisgovernment.


e shall exult, if they who rule the land, Bemen who hold its many blessings dear,Wise, upright, valiant; not a servile band,

who are to judge of danger which they fear, andhonour, which they do not understand.

The above wise words were said by WilliamWordsworth and have been echoed not literally butfiguratively by the Supreme Court in the case ofShreya Singhal v Union of India, in the judgmentit delivered on 24thMarch, 2015.

Exploring the question “What should freedom ofspeech mean in a democracy?” Rodney Smolla inhis book “Free Speech in an Open Society” arguesthat it is a value of overarching significance. Freedomof speech, he says, is not merely an aid to selfgovernance, but is uniquely connected to all thatdefines the human spirit – to imagination, creativity,enterprise, rationality, love, worship and wonder.

Before venturing into the legal knowhow of thepresent issue, it becomes important for us to discussthe conventional contours of free speech jurisprudencein India. Article 19 of the Indian Constitution thatforms the bedrock for the right to freedom has beentraditionally contested in the theatres of justice andcivil society. Our affection for the one quote of thefamous thinker Voltaire, “I do not agree with whatyou say, but I will defend to death your right to sayit” gains much traction with the intelligentsia in India.However, on the contrary the establishment hasalways viewed this citizen’s entitlement with an eyeof suspicion. On a world map of democratic freespeech, India is doubtlessly located in one of thevulnerable zone. An unbiased historical account of

Emerging Crescendo of Free Speech in India*Raghav Pandey

*Guru Prakash

*The authors are Research Associates in India Foundation

OP-ED

W free speech made on a comparative global scalewould be albeit fair to India. The free speech paradigmunder the constitutional scheme and practices iscentred on the individual rather than an institutionaldiscourse. The law governing this has premised theindividual as the protagonist against the behemothstate and its machinery. We have tried to decode thejudgement in prevailing context and the historicalabuse of section 66A by the authorities.

The debate, which ensued in the case, wasfocused on Constitutional and Criminal Law issues.Section 66 A envisages criminal liability for a certainform of behaviour and its saving was sought underArticle 19(2) which offers for exceptions to Article19(1) which provides freedom to speech andexpression.

It is pertinent to highlight that the provision inSection 66 A was enacted by the then UPAgovernment through an amendment in the year 2008and was not part of the original legislation which wasenacted in the year 2000 by the NDA government.It is a matter of fact that the provision was very illdrafted and suffered from the vice of vagueness. Itis a settled principle of Criminal Law that a criminalprovision should never be vague and the culpabilitywhich it creates should be clear and can be connectedto a well-defined behaviour, section 66A did not doany of that. The vagueness in any criminal lawprovision is looked down upon because it alwaysleaves a scope for misuse by the enforcementagencies, which was exactly the case with thisprovision. The newest in the sequence of suchmalignant cases was the case of an 11th class student


who was booked under Section 66A for postingcomments against Uttar Pradesh State Minister AzamKhan.

Justice Nariman while delivering the judgmentrightly observed-

“Any law seeking to impose a restriction onthe freedom of speech can only pass muster if itis proximately related to any of the eight subjectmatters set out in Article 19(2).”

The defence of curbing liberty under Article 19(1)was sought under 19(2) in the form of ‘public order’.To this the court cited the famous judgment of theUS Supreme Court Chaplinsky v. New Hampshireand subsequently gave a wider meaning to thefreedom of speech and expression than what is foundunder the US Constitution saying:

“that a restriction in order to be reasonablemust be narrowly tailored or narrowly interpretedso as to abridge or restrict only what is absolutelynecessary. It is only when it comes to the eightsubject matters that there is a vast difference. Inthe U.S., if there is a compelling necessity toachieve an important governmental or societalgoal, a law abridging freedom of speech may passmuster. But in India, such law cannot pass musterif it is in the interest of the general public. Suchlaw has to be covered by one of the eight subjectmatters set out under Article 19(2). If it does not,and is outside the pale of 19(2), Indian courtswill strike down such law.” before striking downthe provision.

It is pertinent to highlight that the court did notoverrule the fact that the state can not have arestriction of such kind, instead the objection of thecourt was with respect to the ill drafting of theprovision whose substantive effect was giving ofarbitrary and unregulated power to the executivewhich is ipso facto unconstitutional under the schemeof the Indian Constitution.

Deliberation, speech and expression have beenconsidered as the most important concomitants ofthe democratic functioning of the state, the same hasbeen elaborately articulated by Article 19(1) but theissue with Section 66A was that the inherentvagueness made it draconian and henceunconstitutional and made the protection sought underArticle 19(2) redundant.

The petitioner also sought the constitutional checkof Section 69A and 79 also. The first out of the aboveprovisions grants the government the power to blockthe transmission of information, including the stallingof websites, when it is essential or expedient to doso, for among various other reasons, the interest ofsovereignty and integrity of India, public order or forpreventing incitement to the commission of anycognisable offence. The second provision Section 79grants protection, in certain limited circumstances,to intermediaries (examples of websites such asFacebook and YouTube) for use of their platformsby individual users. The court refused to strike downeither of the provisions.The court was of the opinionthat the law embodied in these provisions containssufficient safeguards against governmental abuse.Hence rightly the court was of the considered opinionthat only the lack of proper drafting which renderedthe provision arbitrary and subsequentlyunconstitutional.

The civil society, academia and the political classhave hailed the judgement in unequivocal terms. Theatmosphere of antagonism that was prevailingbetween the champions of free speech and the statewould certainly calm down after this landmarkjudgment. As the saying goes, ‘God is in the details’,the present judgment has left no stone unturned whilestriking down the draconian section 66A of theInformation Technology act.

The collective wisdom of the two respectedjudges is neatly reflected in the nuanced observations


that allay the possibility of any upcoming fears andconcerns.

Thomas I. Emerson in ‘Towards a GeneralTheory of the First Amendment (1963)’ rightlyobserved, “The attainment of freedom of expressionis not the sole aim of the good society. As the privateright of the individual, freedom of expression is anend in itself, but it is not the only end of man as anindividual… Any theory of freedom of expression

must therefore take into account other values suchas public order, justice, equality and moral progress,and the need for substantive measures designed topromote those ideals. Hence there is a real problemof reconciling freedom of expression with othervalues and objectives sought by the good society.”The idea lies in reconciling with the diversity ofopinions within the well-guarded contours of theconstitution of India.


fter successfully organizing a series ofbrainstorming academic seminars on CulturalNationalism in Delhi, Bangalore and Lucknow,

Center for Study of Religion and Society (CSRS)India Foundation has embarked upon a similaracademic trajectory on decoding the philosophicalcontours of Integral Humanism. The idea of “IntegralHumanism” as propounded by Resp. Sh. Deen DayalUpadhayay has acquired much relevance andtraction in contemporary India. The ideologicalfoundation of Integral Humanism or “EkaatmaManavdarshan” lies on the idea of placing the‘Individual’ at the center. Evolving an indigenousapproach and thinking in policy sphere can beachieved through the bedrock of Integral Humanism.

Academics, thinkers and research scholarsacross the length and breadth of the country

National Seminar on Integral Humanismat Indian Institute of Public Administration,

25-26 October, 2014, New Delhi

REPORT

participated in two-day National Seminar that washeld at the Indian Institute of Public Administration,New Delhi. After the formal registration of theparticipants, Sh. Suresh Soni, Joint General Secretary,RSS delivered the inaugural address. Emphasizingon the contemporary relevance of the philosophy, Sh.Soni elucidated on the nature and inception of IntegralHumanism. He observed, “There is an importantneed to decolonize the discourse which is still fraughtwith bipolarity of left and right”. In his address, hetouched the nuances of policy canvas in India andsuggested prognosis through the philosophy ofIntegral Humanism. The inaugural session waspresided by Sh. T.N. Chaturvedi, Chairman, IIPA.The inaugural session was followed by the plenarysession that was addressed by Prof. Dilip KumarMohanta and Prof. Ashok Modak and chaired by

A


Prof. C.B. Sharma.Two technical sessions were set up after the

inaugural and plenary session where academics andthinkers across the disciplines deliberated, discussedand attempted to evolve a common ground on thedifferent dimensions of Integral Humanism. “Theuniqueness of Pandit ji’s Integral Humanism is thatbeing himself not a mere theorist, not an emptydreamer, but on the contrary, a thoroughly practicalphilosopher, a dedicated social worker, he had anearnest desire to make a practical application of theprinciple of Integral Humanism to everyday life. Inthis context, Pandit ji’s universal humanism has alsoa proximate connection with practical Vedanta ofSwami Vivekananda.” Dr. Madhumita Mitra,Department of Philosophy, University of Calcutta,Kolkata observed in one of the technical sessions inher presentation. In the same session, Prof. AshaMukherjee, Department of Philosophy and Religion,Vishwa Bharati, Central University, Kolkataremarked, “The model of ‘progress’ and‘development’ we have taken pride in adopting iswestern. Pandit ji insisted, “It is true that a narrowsense of nationalism should not be allowed to obstructthe progress of the nation. However western scienceand western way of life are two different things;Whereas western science is universal and must beabsorbed by us if we wish to go forward, the same isnot true with the western way of life and values. Infact thoughtless imitation of the west must bescrupulously discarded.” The first day of the sessionwitnessed heavy cross-questioning and high-leveldeliberations on the founding principles and ideas ofIntegral Humanism.

The second day of the National seminar wasdivided across 4 technical sessions and acomprehensive valedictory session.

“While elucidating the notion of Dharma in thephilosophy of Integral Humanism, Pandit Deen DayalUpadhayay often talks about reformation of certainprejudices and restoration of some ideals in HinduDharma.” Prof. Priyambada Sarkar, Department ofPhilosophy, University of Calcutta, Kolkata observedin her detailed presentation on “Dharma and IntegralHumanism: Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhayay andBankim Chandra Chatopadhayay. She articulated abrilliant perspective of fighting the socio-religious evilsthrough the tenets of Integral Humanism. Prof.Ramesh Chandra Sinha, Patna Universitycommented, “Integral Humanism steers clearbetween capitalism and communism and maintainsbalance between them. Deen Dayal Upadhayay jirejects Nehruvian economic policies ofindustrialization on the grounds that they wereborrowed uncritically from the capitalist westerncountries in disregard of the cultural and spiritualheritage of the country. The concept of IntegralHumanism is also different from M.N.Roy’sphilosophy of New Humanism since the fundamentalbasis of New Humanism is materialism whereas thethrust of Integral Humanism is spiritual.” Theobservations made by Prof. Sinha in his presentationreceived much accolades and widely resonated withthe perspectives of other participants of the seminar.Integral Humanism can potentially be utilized as athinker’s bedrock to evolve a socio-economicparadigm that impacts all the citizens of the society.India is a land of varying diversity and hence a nichepolicy devoid of any ideological antagonism can onlycater to her needs.

Acknowledging the needs emerging from thediverse socio-political canvas of India, there was aconspicuous unanimity on the ideals of IntegralHumanism amongst the leading thinkers, academics


and scholars. The technical sessions culminated whilegenerating a good amount of literary material fromthe presentation and research papers of theparticipants.

Resp. Dr. Krishna Gopal, Joint General Secretary,RSS delivered the valedictory address of the seminar.His address touched the inception, emergence,significance and contemporary relevance of the ideaof Integral Humanism. Citing incidents from the lifeof Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhayay, he inspired the

participants to realign the existing thought processthat has delayed the advent of progress anddevelopment in India towards a more inclusive andpragmatic principles of Integral Humanism. Dr. S.P.Singh, Chair Professor, IIPA summarized theproceedings of the seminar referring to inputs,interventions raised by the participants in the courseof the two-day national seminar on IntegralHumanism. Prof. S.R. Bhatt delivered the vote ofthanks and formally concluded the seminar.


ndia Foundation, an independent think tank fromNew Delhi, in association with Institute forTransnational Studies (ITS), Germany,

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute for AsianStudies(MAKAIS), Kolkata and the MyanmarInstitute of Strategic and International Studies(MISIS) organised a two day conference: IndiaMyanmar Together the Way Ahead, in Yangon,Myanmar on Nov 21 and 22, 2014.

The conference was inaugurated by Shri. SushilModi, Leader of Opposition, Bihar Legislative Counciland Former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, India,Shri. U Nyunt Maung Shein, Chairman of MISIS andShri. Gautam Mukhopadhyay, Ambassador of Indiato Myanmar.

Shri. U Nyunt Maung Shein, in his openingremarks at the inauguration said that the conferencewas a welcome step taken by the think tanks from

India-Myanmar : Together the Way AheadNovember 21 and 22, 2014,

Yangon, Myanmar

I both countries as this follows the visit of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi to Myanmar.

“According to PM Modi, Look-East has nowbecome Act-East, and India is actively involved inmany cross-border projects. India and Myanmar areclose neighbors, and this is the first conference forMISIS with India in 2 years since its reorganization”,he said Shri. Sushil Modi in his address recalled thehistorical and cultural connections India shared withMyanmar and called for deeper engagement betweenboth the nations.

“India is the land of Lord Buddha, and thus is animportant place of pilgrimage for the people ofMyanmar. Similarly Bal Gangadhar Tilak when lodgedin Mandalay wrote his commentary on the BhagavadGita.”, he said. Shri. Modi added that in Myanmarone can come across various South Indian templesas well.

REPORT


Shri. Modi also cited the vital connection thatSubhash Chandra Bose shared with the people ofMyanmar. “Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose raised hisarmy comprising of 40,000 soldiers from both Indiaand Myanmar. Aung San, Burmese independencehero, was a friend of Netaji in Myanmar.” he said

Shri. Modi also advocated the idea of sourcingconsumer goods from Myanmar than from far offplaces. “Looking North-East and towards the regionaround it, including Myanmar and Bangladesh willhelp eradicate poverty. It makes more sense to sourceconsumer goods from Myanmar than from other faroff places in India, as this region could be a “naturaleconomic zone”, he said.

Towards closer engagement between both thecountries, Shri. Modi called for setting up a large multimodal Special Economic Zone near Sittwe, a 10 yearprogramme to share benefits of Science andTechnology, modus operandi through whichexperiences of democratic institutions can be sharedand a Memorandum of Understanding between bothcountries in the field of Defence Co-operation.

Ambassador Shri.Gautam Mukhopadhyay saidthat the new government in India has a vision thatleads India to the South- East which can in turn leadtowards a significant relationship between India andMyanmar in the future.

“Myanmar and India relations face a deficit interms of trade, investment and connectivity. In thecoming years, we must attempt to balance and bridgethis gap. Fortunately the ASEAN master-plan andthe East-West Corridor give us an opportunity tofurther strengthen ties.” he said.

The conference then progressed to discuss issuesof common interest like Overview of Political, Socialand Economic Developments, Enhancing Trade andInvestment, including opportunities and challenges,

followed by Regional Connectivity and Linkages, andTerrorism and National Security Concerns.

Overview of Political, Social and Econo-mic DevelopmentsThe session focussed on speakers elucidating thecurrent political, social and economic developmentsin both the countries. Shri. U Denzel Abel fromMISIS in his presentation explained that Myanmar isunder a reform process and the President ofMyanmar is keen for a successful and a peacefulreform process.

“Over time there has been a significant changein Myanmar, this has given rise to a betterunderstanding of internal dynamics which can paveway for her reform process”, he said.

Abel also acknowledged that Myanmar is not aunitary actor and that there are many forces at play,one among them is the armed forces. He explainedthat many in Myanmar see USA and China asimportant bilateral partners.

“Today, Myanmar operates under three notes,USA, China and the role of the internationalcommunity.” he said. Abel added that because ofthe triangle there is meant to be instability and thusthere is an urgent need to maintain the right balance.Abel also mentioned that to contribute to the country’speace process many countries have come forwardsuch as Norway, Switzerland, Australia and Japan.

Shri.U Than Lwin, Deputy Chairman, KBZBank, Myanmar put forth perspectives on theeconomic reforms front which Myanmar hasundergone over years. “Nationalization of banks andprivate businesses led to Myanmar becoming one ofthe poorest in Southeast Asia.”, he said. Lwin saidthe main challenges which Myanmar faces today isCapacity Building and Acquisition of Financial


Technology. He said this can be dealt with, by enablingentry of foreign banks and significantly return ofMyanmar nationals from abroad who can help withcapacity building. Lwin also hoped to see more Indianbanks in Myanmar in the near future.

Shri. G Parthasarathy, Former Ambassador ofIndia previously to countries like Myanmar, Australiaand Pakistan said, India has maintained steady andgood relations with everyone including the EuropeanUnion and the USA, he however termed the relationswith China as challenging.

Parthasarathy also reiterated that days whenIndia kept shy of active military engagement are over.“We want to keep a balance of power, and believe indomination by no one.” he said. Parthasarathy putforth that for India’s interests, Myanmar’s unity iscrucial and thus Myanmar’s co-operation was valuedin the borders. He added that India is not here tomake money but to support Myanmar ably.

Shri. Dattesh Parulekar, Assistant Professor,International Relations, Goa University, in his addresssaid there are four important dimensions to India’sforeign policy, Rediscover significance inneighbourhood, Focus on extended neighbourhood,South-South cooperation and Focus on gateway tothe East. He maintained that India is looking atMyanmar with a qualitative foreign policy. “Early inthe 90s, we looked at Myanmar only with a securityperspective, but today, building relations in the regionis not a counterbalance effort, the idea is to diversifyforeign policy”

Enhancing Trade and Investment:Opportunities and ChallengesThe session focussed on the investment and tradeopportunities prevalent in both the nations.

Shri. V.S. Seshadri, Former Ambassador of India

to Myanmar in his talk called for close and cordialeconomic relations. “Both the Governments in Indiaand Myanmar are focussed on Infrastructure. Thereis a need for investment in the field of Services,Education and Health Care in both the countries.”he said

Shri. V.S. Seshadri pointed out that Myanmartoday enjoys a trade surplus of over $1 billion dollarswith India and that there are moderate levels ofgrowth in terms of bilateral trade. He also called forimproving and diversifying border trade between boththe countries.

Seshadri noted that think tanks have an importantrole to play in formalising and strengthening trademechanisms. He also said that Indian investors needto invest in Myanmar just like how they have becomesignificant investors in other countries.

Shri.Khin Maung Nyo, Economist and Adviser,MISIS, who spoke next, called for early action interms of India’s Act East Policy. Khin noted thatpeople from Myanmar prefer goods from China thanIndia because they are cheaper compared to Indiaand because of Myanmar’s social construct.

“The Indian Prime Minister is keen to buildinfrastructure to regulate the flow of goods in theregion, which is a welcome sign. Indian – ASEANFree Trade Agreement can add great impetus to tradewithin the region. Moreh and Imphal in Manipur canplay a significant role in the years to come whennew train, road, air and internet connectivity arrives.”he said

Shri. Shakti Sinha, Former IAS Officer from NewDelhi, in his address stressed on PM Modi’s 3 Cs :Culture, Connectivity and Commerce and in thiscontext, called for trade to be seen in a big picture.

“Myanmar is India’s gateway to the ASEAN.We must keep in mind that it is always easier to


become part of a larger supply chain, than to go witha single product. It is always a range of economicactivities spread all across the economy that makesa difference – not just one or two big investments.”he said.

Shri. Shakti noted that there is a huge potentialin Myanmar for oil, gas etc and that India’s biggestexport unit is by itself petrol. And in so far as IndianFDI into Myanmar, Shri. Shakti termed it as verylow and that there was a long way to go for bothcountries to become economic partners.

Regional Connectivity and LinkagesSpeaking in this session, Shri.U Wynn Lwin of MISISsaid that ASEAN and India should look at developingPPP (Private Public Partnership) models to facilitateconnectivity which will enable greater momentumtowards bilateral trade. Linn also stated that it wasgood to see India support the ASEAN master plan.

Shri. Jaideep Saikia, South Asian Security andTerrorism Analyst, reiterated Indian Government’spolicy to ensure adequate and quality infrastructurein North East India and pointed out that there is aneed for a sustainable development plan for the NorthEastern region of India which can help benefit bothMyanmar and India on the connectivity front.

Shri. U Ba Hla Aye, Joint Secretary 2, MISIS,who spoke next, mentioned that some of theconstraints to ensure better connectivity between bothcountries include rugged terrain, weather, lack ofresources, adequate security, illegal immigration,human trafficking, and legal instruments.

In conclusion, Shri. Anirban Ganguly, Director,Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Foundation, New Delhi,called for greater participation of India’s study sharein key universities of Myanmar and said it isimperative that India and Myanmar together

uphold their civilizational partnership to envision theAsian Century.

Counter TerrorismProf. Daw Carole Ann Chit Tha, Member of MISIS,opened this session by stating that terrorism hasbecome a vicious challenge for the globaladministration. She further explained that the last twodecades has witnessed the rise of Islamic State andExtremism.

“ISIS is better than Al Qaeda in generating itsown resources. The emergence of ISIS will leadto more violent groups to come up in the region.”she said.

Ambassador U Hla Myint, Executive Director,MISIS,who spoke next said that religious extremismis not a recent phenomenon but a driver of terrorism,she further elaborated that India has the highestnumber of terror incidents in the world, all fundedand managed by religious drivers.

Lt. General KT Parnaik, Former GoC- In Chargeof the Northern Command, Indian Army, put forthhis views by stating that Islamic extremism came toIndia after the 1971 Pak-India war and that manyIndian groups get support from across the border.Towards this he called for both Myanmar and Indiato collaborate and work together towards problemsbrewing across the border.

“Intelligence- based people friendly approaches,training establishments for counter-terroristoperations and fighting inside out rather than outside-inside approach is need of the hour.” he said

Finally, Alok Bansal, Director, Centre for Securityand Strategy, India Foundation said that IslamicRadicalization was a common problem for both Indiaand Myanmar and it is in this context that close co-operation between both nations is critical.


“Calibrated De-radicalization programmes arethe need now, for instance Cyber media is very potentand plays a significant role in radicalization evenbefore physical content. Thus there is a need to crafta deradicalization programme in addressing thisspecific issue as well. “, he said

Dr. Klaus Lange, CEO, ITS in his concludingremarks stated that Europe is interested in Myanmar– India relations because Europe is increasinglyrunning the risk of losing its identity. “One of the waysto regain this identity is through interaction with newpartners and the most ideal partners are in South Asiatoday.” he said

Shri. Sitaram Sharma, Chairman, MAKAIS,termed the two day conference as fruitful.“Deliberations over both the days have showed us

that both public and private sectors have a role toplay in bringing both the countries together. We hopethat the deliberations will also pave way for apragmatic foreign policy between both the countriesin the days and years to come.” he said

Shri. Shaurya Doval, Director, India Foundation,called the two day conference which witnesseddiscussion surrounding a gamut of issues which areof common interest and concern to both the nationsa success.

“We must make bilateral exchanges between thinktanks of both countries an annual affair. We nowlook forward to MISIS visiting India next year andparticipating in a conference on similar lines in orderto contribute to a long lasting relationship betweenboth countries.” he said.


he Centre for Security and Strategy (CSS),India Foundation organized a bilateralconference with the Institute of International

Studies (IIS), Fudan University, China on India-ChinaRelations at India International Centre, New Delhion 11th December 2014.

Inaugural SessionA Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) wassigned by Captain (IN) Alok Bansal, Director, CSSon behalf of CSS and Prof Wu Xinbo, Executive DeanIIS, on behalf of IIS, to collaborate on academic andresearch cooperation and exchanges.

Delegates from China remarked that relationswith India are assuming a higher priority in ChineseForeign Policy, and the visits of Premier Li Keqiang and President Xi Jinping to India, were bothsubstantive initiatives. They noted that since Sino-Indian relations are fast-paced, scholars from both

Bilateral Conference on India-China RelationsIndia International Centre,

11 December 2014, New Delhi

T sides have to catch-up quickly. The participants wereinformed that Fudan University is one of the topuniversities of China, having over 15 researchcentres, including a strong South-Asian studiesprogramme. Delegates fromFudan Universityexpressed their commitment to this partnership, andthe potential role that both institutions could play inreshaping the geopolitics and economic landscapein Asia.

Shri Jayant Sinha, Hon’ble Minister of State(Finance), Government of India delivering the keynoteaddress, and speaking as a director of the IndiaFoundation, noted that there is a unique opportunitybetween both participating institutions to shape howIndo-Chinese relationship evolves over the nextdecade or so. Three key areas were outlined wherecollaboration between the two nations could provemutually beneficial, namely business, Science &Technology, and geopolitical security.It was

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emphasized that collaboration between the twonations could be deepened in the manufacturingsectors, particularly through the Make in Indiaprogram, while taking lessons from the speed andscale in which China has boosted its ownmanufacturing sector. Both nations were called uponto explore shared interests, particularly in the fieldsof climate change and maritime trade, to worktowards geopolitical security. It was also highlightedthat this bilateral relationship is part of IndiaFoundation’s larger initiative of having people-to-people dialogue.

Session IThe first session focused on discussingcontentious issues in the context of Indo-Chinarelations. The delegates discussed issues such asIndo-China border issues, river water disputes,Economic Trade Imbalance and Sino-Pak Nuclear and Defence Cooperation.

Indian delegates noted that it was important tounderstand that both countries share a long culturalhistory, and are growing on the same planes. WhileIndo-China trade has been rapidly growing, there isalso a need to achieve a balance of trade from bothsides. The Indian delegation called upon China tosupport India in the Make in India campaign,particularly in the skill development sector for a morebalanced trade partnership. Greater cooperation wasalso encouraged in sectors such as energy security,software engineering, medicines, and cost-effectiveresearch, where India can provide a comparativeadvantage. The Indian delegates noted that it isimperative for India and China to manage the border-issue effectively. It was suggested to take lessonsfrom the basis on which China and Myanmar wereable to address their border issues to reach a mutuallybeneficial agreement. The Indian delegationemphasized that though the Indian media does shapepopular opinion on the Indo-China border dispute, it

is the price that India has to pay for a free media, andsociety.

The Chinese delegation noted that strategiccooperation between India and China was reachinga new high. In this context, it was suggested toestablish principles that would address the trust deficitbetween the two nations. The delegation noted thatthe Indo-China border issue must not besensationalized, but at the same time, there shouldnot be further delay in addressing it. Moreover, thedelegation explained that the perceived border-conflictwas essentially due to the two sides having differenceson the Line of Actual Control (LAC), which must beaddressed. The delegates from China noted that thetrade imbalance is a recent issue, arising primarily asa consequence of the positive and welcome increasein trade relations between the two nations.

In terms of cooperation in the North-East, andparticularly on water issues related to the YarlungTsangpo or Brahmaputra River, the Indian delegationhighlighted the need for hydrological experts from bothparties to discuss a mutually beneficial arrangement.It was also noted that keeping the discussions on atechnical level would also help to gradually reducethe knowledge-deficit to address the issue effectively.The delegates noted that lessons could be learnt fromthe Indus water treaty between India and Pakistan.The Chinese delegates welcomed the suggestions onhydrological cooperation between the two nations inthe North-Eastern region, and agreed for greatertransparency and accessibility to the upper reachesof the river for better understanding of the flowpatterns and to allay the fears of water diversion,particularly among the local population.

The Indian delegates expressed concern over theincreasing engagement of China with Pakistanparticularly in the field of nuclear cooperation, sincethe radiological material produced could be misusedby radical elements operating in Pakistan. It wasemphasized that it was under the NDA government


that the relations between India and China improvedconsiderably, and China should move away from thepast approach of looking at India through the prismof Pakistan. Delegates from China remarked thatboth India and China are peace-loving, and havesimilar policies particularly in the defence sector.They explained that, China is cooperating withPakistan to support them to tide over their currentproblems. The delegates also reiterated that India isa far more important partner in terms of foreign policyfor China, and Chinese relations with Pakistan willnot come at the expense of the relations betweenIndia and China.

Session IIThe second session focused on exploring avenuesfor cooperation and the way-ahead for relationsbetween India and China. The delegates discussedeconomic and trade partnerships, cooperation onregional security and stability and culturalexchange.

The delegates from China highlighted that thetrade relations between India and China have beencontinuously expanding and the recent tradeimbalance between India and China is perhaps a resultof the different economic models that the twocountries follow. They suggested that increasingChinese investments in India, in view of the Make inIndia campaign, could in turn help correct the tradeimbalance. The Indian delegation noted that in additionto addressing economic relations between the twonations, it is also important to manage emotional andpolitical expectations.

In this context, it was emphasized that China andIndia both have a unique opportunity to cooperate onInvestment; India would benefit from Chineseinvestment to boost its industry at home, while Chinawould be able to diversify its investments by investingin India. Moreover, it was emphasized that India

would be a particularly good financial investmentdestination for China.

In this context, it was stated that China plans toinvest$20 Billion in India over the next five years.The Chinese delegation also called for greatercooperation in Maritime affairs, as both countrieshave common interest in smooth flow of shipping inthe Indian Ocean. It was suggested that India couldprovide security to Chinese vessels in the IndianOcean, if requested. It was also suggested that infuture, the Indian government must review its visaregulations for Chinese business travellers, and alsofor scholars travelling for conferences and otherresearch exchanges to facilitate greater Chineseinvestment and better understanding. The delegationalso called for channelizing greater awareness aboutIndia and its tourism among the Chinese populationto increase tourist activity of Chinese in India.

The Indian delegation called for collaboration toaddress the transition in Afghanistan collectively, inthe interest of the region’s security and stability. Itwas also noted that the Afghanistan issue could notbe addressed without looking at it in the context ofPakistan, and its influence on the region. The Chinesedelegation recognized that both the countries had arole in helping Afghanistan with the transitionprocess, and suggested that perhaps a trilateraldialogue could be held between India, China andAfghanistan in future. Moreover, they reiteratedChina’s policy to help Afghanistan maintain itsnational defence and strategic independence, anddesire to achieve it through regional and internationalcooperation. In conclusion, the Indian delegationhighlighted that both countries have a long civilizationallinks, which stems from strong influence on eachother’s faith and culture. In this context, it wassuggested that a greater exposure to each other’sculture and traditions through media and educationalcurriculum must be explored.


ndia Foundation organized a discussion on “TheFuture of Indo – US Relationship” at the IndiaInternational Centre (IIC), New Delhi on 03

January, 2015. The Keynote Speaker was Ms. TulsiGabbard, Member of the US House ofRepresentatives.

The evening started with welcoming Ms. TulsiGabbard, Member of the US Congress (House ofRepresentatives). She started her note by thankingthe people for making her first trip to India a fabulousjourney with all the enthusiasm and also thanked IndiaFoundation for inviting her to speak people and discussthe future of Indo-Us relationship.

Ms. Gabbard emphasized on the new dimensionsof Indo-Us relationship taking off, which isempathetically manifested in the fact that Mr. Obamais the chief guest for India’s Republic Day paradethis year. It would be for the first time that any

Discussion on “The Future of Indo-US Relationship”India International Centre (IIC),03 January, 2015, New Delhi

Ipresident of USA would be visiting India twice in histerm. She began with the asking people to explorecommon grounds between India and USA where theflowers of mutual interests and understanding couldblossom.

She recalled the spirit of aloha, which stresseson the deepest respect and opening of hearts.Indulging in the spiritual dimension of the foreignpolicy, she stressed on the need for understandingbetween the two countries with mutual respect foreach other and with an open heart. She gaveimportance to India’s soft power tools like its eminentculture envisaged in its civilization and its divinespiritual teachings scripted in Bhagwad Gita.

Talking further, she recalled her life-long journey,how she started a non-profit organisation with herfather to serve the people of her province and topositively intervene in various concerns relating to

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environment, public service, etc. She portrayedwomen as equal partners in 21st century’s globalconcerns and world politics, through the narration ofher experiences of serving in the US military for twoterms in the most dangerous zones of Middle-Eastand Iraq.

Taking her note to the final end, she urged tovalue the spirit of aloha in bridging the gaps betweenthe contentious issues between the two countries.She concluded her address by recalling one of thegreatest leaders of this century, Mahatma Gandhi-Be the Change you want to see in the world.

Mr. Kanwal SibalMr. Sibal was the moderator of the discussion.Previously, he has held the post of Foreign Secretaryof India. He started his note by thanking Ms. Gabbardfor presenting a philosophical guidance to the foreignpolicy. He embarked upon on his note by mentioningthat the relationship between India and US is the mostsignificant relationship between two countries in this21st century. The Indo-US relationship took a newvoyage when the log-jam over the Nuclear Deal wasbroken and two countries signed the nuclear deal in2005. The unprecedented and serious relationshipbetween both the countries has taken many newdimensions in the last decade, especially in defenseand trade sectors where US has become one of theleading exporters of arms and ammunition to India.The invitation to the US President for the Republic

Day celebrations and his acceptance for the samesignaled the high priority given to the growth of therelationship between the two countries.

The countries have witnessed a paradigm shiftin their relationship from being the natural allies tobeing the long term strategic partners in the last fewyears. There have been some of the contentiousissues between the countries like Indian IPR policy,Civil Aviation securities, drug and pharma issues thatled to the slowdown of the relationship momentum inthe second term of President Obama. Nevertheless,the US has always shown the positive sign to supportIndia’s bid for permanent seat in the UNSC and thecountries have been working positively on thecontroversial issues since the new regime has cometo place in New Delhi under the guidance of ourenthusiastic Prime Minister.

It’s important for two countries to find commongrounds to deal with issues concerning geo-politics,Carbon emissions, peace and security, etc.

After the stimulating address of theCongresswoman on the discourse of bilateral interfacebetween the two nations, the Director of Centre forSecurity & Strategy (CSS), India Foundation, ShriAlok Bansal delivered the vote of thanks expressingheartfelt gratitude to the Congresswoman and ShriKanwal Sibal on the behalf of India Foundation.

The discussion was then followed by a stimulatingQ&A session where the participants raised thought-provoking questions and clarified their doubts.


he scholars and area practitioners of counter-terrorism from around the world gathered for a3-day event in the monumental city of Jaipur

in one of the largest provinces of India, Rajasthan.The event was envisioned as a historical milestonein the future of research and action in the field ofSecurity, Strategy and Counter-Terrorism. For thefirst time in India, the representatives of researchorganizations, think tanks and arms of governmentdealing with the subject gathered under one roof forsetting the global security discourse.

The Special Keynote Address by Sh. AjitDoval, National Security Adviser of India and one ofthe foremost strategic thinkers set the ball rolling forthe next three days of the conference. GeneralV.P Malik, Former Chief of Army Staff chaired thesession. As anticipated, the special lecture by

Counter Terrorism Conference’ 15Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

India Foundation, New Delhi and Sardar Patel University of Police,Security and Criminal Justice, Jodhpur, 18-21 March 2015

T Sh. Doval comprehensively dealt with the minutestdetails of the existing terror predicament, internationalprocedural complications and the missing linksbetween inquiry, investigation and prosecution. Thereis hardly a day when the common conscience is notstirred with some ghastly act of terrorism in somecorner of the world. The act of terror is omnipresentwith differing forms and dimensions in different partsof the world. Terrorism has no definite nationality; itis not restricted to any particular geography, it is notbounded within the contours of any specific ethniccommunity or society. Attaining martyrdom by killinginnocent people including children is the principalmodus operandi of terrorists and terror organizations.India has long been a victim of terrorism however ithas successfully been dealt with in Mizoram, Punjabetc. Sh. Doval said 9/11 was a defining moment in

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shaping the global approaches and thinking towardsterrorism. Now is again the watershed moment torethink on the strategies to deal with this menace. Itis time to take stock of the last 13 years and do somecourse correction. Coercive military actions, bilateralcooperation and domestic capacity building weresuggested as some measures to address the dangersposed by terrorism. He quoted the combined surveyof Brown and Boston University that pegged thecosts of dealing with terrorism as 5.3 Trillion US$.For every single dollar spent by the terrorist theequivalence from the other side was pegged at adisproportionate sum of 75,000 US$. Eliminating theAl-Qaida has been an expensive proposition for theinternational community. The idea is to learn fromthe US experience. Sh. Doval broadly suggestedfollowing strategies. Emphasis on the need to developpreventive and preemptive action based onintelligence input has to be realigned with the globalstrategy to promote deterrence. The capacity buildingto prevent terror mishaps and collect intelligence alsorequires the attention of the policy makers; there

could possibly be a special force catering to thesetechnical objectives. International politics and Securitymanagement is another area where a uniformregulatory framework is required for states to fall inline. Global counter terrorism strategy has to be builtupon the twin foundations of international cooperationand collective action.

He observed that the geography of terrorism hasvastly expanded in the recent times. Initially therewere only a select few nations affected by the plagueof terrorism. Today almost the entire West Asia, Syria,Africa and parts of Europe is vulnerable to terroristactivities. Pakistan’s case is peculiar in the sense thatit is both victim and sponsor of terrorism. In the lastdecade and a half, the terror paraphernalia has alsoundergone transformative changes i.e. windfallincrease in human resources, up gradation ofweaponry and ammunition, modes of finances, controlover oil wealth, technological advancements andpossession of WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction).He made it a point to discuss the reasons behind thefailure of the Global war on terror. Faulty political


management led to wrongful exemptions for thesponsoring states operating on the ideology of thehatred. Lack of collective efforts and inquiry to findthe state perpetrators reflects the deficiencies in theglobal legislative framework dealing with terrorism.Sh. Doval advocated for a new and comprehensivepolicy wherein all terror groups will be treated at par,adopting non-discriminatory approaches in deliveringjustice in terror related cases. The role of civil societyis also important in negating the impacts of terrorism,groups affected with the viruses of religiousfundamentalism needs to be distinctly identified andde-radicalized. Another important area where hereflected on was the questionable role of internationalagencies such as the United Nations with respect tothe formulation of ambiguous treaties such as UNconvention on terrorism. There also has been certainpositive deliverables from the struggle in the lastdecade and a half like nations have maximized theirinternal security apparatus and capacities, specialforces with technical expertise like anti-hijacking havecome into action, there has been a large scale

technical up-gradation in defense armory of nations.He concluded his address by mentioning the

lessons for the future in dealing with the menace ofterrorism. Nations must develop own internal capacityto fight terrorism with stronger national laws andcapital efficiency for building security infrastructure.Internationally zero tolerance policy has to bemandatorily adopted with UN mandated sanctionson faltering states. More importantly rationalizationof international laws on terrorism is significant forexpediting trials, prosecutions and extraditions. Atan ideological level, there is a need to fight thesponsoring over-ground organizations with a definitepolicy on such structures. Greater convergence canbe achieved through developing common standardsand procedures for dealing with this menace. Thespecial address was thus ended with a rider thatterrorists are now more mobile, resourceful and unitedand they can only be fought with collectivedetermination of the international community. Sh.P.C Dogra, Former DGP, Punjab introduced themembers of the organizing committee to the


audience. Sh. Bhupendra delivered the vote of thanksto conclude the session.

The Inaugural Sessionof the conference wasattended by Sh. Rajnath Singh, Union Minister ofHome Affairs, Smt. Vasundhara Raje Scindia, ChiefMinister, Rajasthan, Sh. Gulab Chand Kataria, HomeMinister of Rajasthan, General VP Malik, FormerChief of Army Staff and Sh. ML Kumawat, ViceChancellor, Sardar Patel University of Police, Securityand Criminal Justice, Jodhpur. General Malik initiatedthe session by mentioning the objective of theconference i.e. to discuss and evolve pragmaticsolutions to terror related problems. Sh. Gulab ChandKataria welcomed the delegates to the city ofRajasthan and conveyed his wishes for the successfulorganization of the entire conference. Smt.Vasundhara Raje underscored the relevance ofevents like these, which includes the perspective ofboth traditional and non-traditional stakeholders ofthe terror ecosystem. She observed, “Peace is aprerequisite for happiness and a bedrock on whichthe socio-economic infrastructure would grow”.

Religious fanaticisms have been the principlemotivator behind the growth and extent of terrorism.The growing sophisticated usage of Internet and othertechnological tools for the advancement of terror isanother area of concern. She also quoted Kofi Annan,“Human Rights is central to the global response onterrorism”. She concluded her observations by urgingthe delegates to come out with some actionableelements in the discussions and deliberations for abetter, safe and prosperous future of the world. Sh.Rajnath Singh, the Chief Guest and the Union Ministerof Home Affairs spoke comprehensively on theexisting predicament. Events like these should be aconsistent feature that discusses the ways and meansfor countering the menace of terrorism. He observed,“Influence of terror outfits like ISIS is a cause ofconcern to global community”. Terrorism is againstpluralism and diversity. It destabilizes the democraticorder. He mentioned that destruction of Bamiyanstatues and other primitive relics reflects thedestructive mindset of terror operatives andinstitutions. He expressed concerns on the online


propaganda that is used as a fuel for radicalizationamong the youth. Displaying a sigh of relief, hecommented that a very miniscule amount of youthsfrom India have been influenced by this and also saidthat, Indian Muslims are in essence a patrioticcommunity with extremism alien to their nature andbelieves in peaceful coexistence. The source of localterror lies across the border in Pakistan, which hasto rethink on its strategy of using terrorism as aninstrument of proxy war against India. In the age ofchemical, biological and radioactive warfare, theinternational community needs to display resonanceand renewed faith in global bonhomie andcooperation. Inputs from think tanks and deliberationslike this will be discussed in the government as policyprescriptions. He concluded his speech by urging thedelegates to come out with new strategic discourseto deal with the growing menace of terrorism. Sh.Shaurya Doval, Director, India Foundation concludedthe session by delivering the vote of thanks.

Two Special Lectures followed the inauguralsession. Gen. Sarath Fonseka, Former Chief of

Defense Staff, Sri Lanka delivered the first speciallecture sharing his experience of dealing with LTTEand uprooting it completely. General Fonseka madea detailed presentation of his tryst with the last stageof war with the LTTE on the ground. The speechmentioned of his fascination with the ideas of greatChinese strategist Sun Tzu. His war tactics ofemphasis on specific areas where the terrorists wereconcentrated was greatly appreciated by theparticipating delegates. Mr. Amrullah Saleh, FormerDirector of National Directorate of Security,Afghanistan delivered the next lecture. He rightlypointed out that international coalition have failed totackle the issue of terror sanctuaries across theAfghan border. Outlining the strategic operatives ofthe Taliban, He said it could be understood throughthree levels. The outermost circle consists of thepeople who get killed like fighters who do ambushand die on a daily basis. The mid level circle consistsof the Taliban commander leading the action fromthe ground. The most influential is the inner circle;the strategist circle that is completely out of the reach


of Afghan forces staying in Karachi, Peshawar, andQuetta etc. It is this circle of leaders with whom thePakistan wants Afghanistan to negotiate with. Onthe building narrative of negotiations with the Taliban,he advocated that reconciliation or cohabitation withthe terrorists is out of question. The entire idea forreconciliation will embolden extremists and they willconsider it as a victory and they will see the worldcreating space for them.Pakistan is creatingimpediments, as they want extra constitutional spacefor Taliban, as they know that Taliban will not survivethe democracy. The entire philosophy of Taliban isredundant now. The way forward according to himis political reintegration of the Taliban. Praising theAfghan army he said, they have not lost an inch ofterritory in the history of the nation and the entirenation is solidly standing behind the army withunconditional support and faith. Good Afghanistan iscivil society, democracy and Bad Afghanistan is ISIS,Taliban wherein Good is much larger and bigger thanbad. He concluded by insisting that the internationalcommunity should not compromise the good for the

bad. Sh. Shaurya Doval concluded the sessionsummarizing the speech and extending a vote ofthanks on behalf of the organizers.

The special lectures were followed by varioustechnical session and parallel workshops thatdiscussed various dimensions of counter terrorism.The first parallel session was “The Case Study ofEthno-National Terrorist Groups: LTTE &Chechen Rebels”, Ms. Natalia TereshchenkoResearcher, Institute of Oriental Studies, RussianAcademy of Sciences, Russia spokecomprehensively on the causes of growth andemergence of Ethno-National terrorist groups withspecial reference to Sri Lanka and Chechnya. Thesession was chaired by Lt Gen. A. S. Kalkat, DirectorEmeritus, Centre for Joint Warfare Studies, India.Running parallel to this session was a detaileddiscussion on “Legal Regimes and Terrorism”.Prof. Timothy Parsons Senior Lecturer in Policingand Criminology, London Metropolitan University, UKpresented a comprehensive overview on theInternational legal framework on terrorism and


related activities. Shri G. K. Pillai, Former HomeSecretary, Government of India succinctly chairedthe session. The next session was on “MaritimeTerrorism and Piracy”. Vice Adm. Shekhar Sinha,Former Chief, Western Naval Command, India, Adm.James Loy, Senior Counselor, Cohen Group, USAand Dr. Rahul Roy-Chaudhury, Senior Fellow forSouth Asia, The International Institute for StrategicStudies, United Kingdom spoke on the presentpredicament of maritime terrorism. Commodore C.Uday Bhaskar, Former Director, Institute chaired thesession for Defence Studies and Analyses, India.Running parallel to this session was discussion on“Terror Trade: Weapons, Narcotics and FakeCurrency”. Shri Balwinder Singh, Former SpecialDirector, Central Bureau of Investigation, India, Ms.Cristina Albertin, UNODC Representative for SouthAsia, UNODC Regional Office, India and Dr. AmitKumar, Fellow, Homeland Security andCounterterrorism, Centre for National Policy, USApresented there viewpoints on modes of finances ofterrorism. Shri P. S. Gill, Former DGP of Punjab, India,

chaired the session. After the lunch, the subject ofthe Breakout session V was “CBRN (Chemical,Biological, Radiological and Nuclear)Terrorism”. Mr. Kyle B. Olson, President, OlsonGroup Ltd, USA, Group Capt. Ajey Lele, ResearchFellow, The Institute for Defence Studies andAnalyses, India and Dr. Jean-Francois Daguzan,Deputy Director, Foundation for Strategic Research,France spoke on the subject. Capt. (IN) Alok Bansal,Director, Centre for Security and Strategy, IndiaFoundation, chaired the session. The next sessionwas on “Intelligence Sharing and Reforms” ShriR. N. Ravi, Chairman, Joint Intelligence Committee,India, Prof. Andrea Margelletti, Chairman, Ce.SI -Centre for International Studies, Italy and Mr. SautSitumorang, Centre of Strategic Intelligence,University of Indonesia presented varyingperspectives on the topic. Shri N. C. Padhi, FormerSpecial Director, Intelligence Bureau, India chairedthe session. The next couple of breakout sessionsalso generated immense interest among theparticipating delegates. The topic of the session was


“Illegal Migration and Border Security”. Prof.Dr. John Nomikos, Director, Research Institute forEuropean and American Studies, Greece, Mr. ThinlayWangchuk, Director General, Department ofImmigration, Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs,Bhutanand Prof. Imtiaz Ahmed,

Professor of International Relations, Universityof Dhaka, Bangladesh spoke on the predicament andprognosis of terrorism on frontiers. Shri M. L.Kumawat, Vice Chancellor, Sardar Patel UniversityOf Police Security And Criminal Justice, Jodhpurchaired the session. The parallel session was on“Cyberspace, Social Media and Terrorism”. ShriNandkumar Saravade, Former Director, CyberSecurity and Compliance, India and Shri SubimalBhattacharjee, Cyber Security Expert, India spokein the session. Shri Prafulla Ketkar, Editor, OrganizerWeekly, India chaired the session. The next breakoutsession was on “Left Wing Extremism:Terrorism under the Garb of Empowerment”.Gen. Rookmangud Katawal, Former Chief of ArmyStaff, Nepal, Shri M. A. Ganapathy, Joint Secretary

(Internal Security-I), Ministry of Home Affairs,Government of Indiaand Shri K. Vijay Kumar, SeniorSecurity Advisor, Ministry for Home Affairs,Government of India shared their respective expertiseand experiences on dealing with the red brand ofterrorism. Shri Prakash Singh, Former Chief, BorderSecurity Force, India chaired the session. The tenthbreakout session deliberated upon “Technology andEquipment for Counter-Terrorism”. Dr. RaoTatavarti, Director and Senior Professor, GVP-SIRCand Gayatri Vidya Parishad College of Engineering(Autonomous), Indiaand Dr. Darko Trifunovic,Faculty of Security Studies, University of Belgrade,(Representative for Serbia and Montenegro, TheInternational Strategic Studies Association, Defence& Foreign Affairs) Serbia spoke on the issue. Lt.Gen. K.T. Parnaik, Former GOC-in-C, NorthernCommand, Indian Army chaired the session. The dayended with a fabulous cultural event based onRamayana, which was then followed by Dinnerhosted by Smt. Vasundhara Raje Scindia, ChiefMinister of Rajasthan.


The next day started with the third SpecialLecture that was delivered by Dr. Daniel Pipes,President, Middle East Forum, USA and chaired byDr. Sreeradha Dutta, Director, Maulana Abul KalamAzad Institute of Asian Studies (MAKAIAS),Kolkata, India. Mr. Pipes shared from his wealth ofexperience in the area of strategic affairs andterrorism studies.

The first Plenary Session was dedicated to the26/11 Mumbai attacks. The topic of the first plenarywas “Narrative: Modus Operandi of theTerrorists, Operation against Terrorists: ACritical Analysis”. Maj. Gen. (R) Afsir Karim,Editor, Aakrosh Journal, India chaired the session.Shri Ram Pradhan, Member, High Level EnquiryCommittee for 26/11 Mumbai Attacks, India andShri Nitin Gokhale, Author & Defence Analyst, India.Both the speakers shared their respective real timeexperiences from the incidents and the lessons learntfrom the disaster.

Sh. Dhruv Katoch, Former Director, CLAWS,India chaired the second plenary session on

“International Aspects and Impact, Failure toDetect Infiltration, Role of Media andStakeholders”. Shri Rana Banerji, DistinguishedFellow, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, Indiaand Shri Rajan Medhekar,Former Director General,National Security spoke on the role and relevance ofmedia and other stakeholders in the fast changingdynamics of global terrorism.

The next Special Lecture was delivered by ShriShuja Nawaz, Distinguished Fellow, South AsiaCentre, Atlantic Council, USA on the growingmenace of terror in the region. The session waschaired by Prof. Dr. Klaus Lange, CEO, Institutefor Transnational Studies, Italy.

The Third Plenary session discussed “Counter-Terrorism Capacity and Infrastructure: Need forPolitical Consensus, Preventive Steps-Administration, Security and Legal”. Shri P. C.Dogra, Former DGP of Punjab, India, chaired thesession. Shri Ujjwal Nikam, Special Public Prosecutor,Mumbai Police, India, Ms. Lisa Curtis, SeniorResearch Fellow,The Heritage Foundation, USA and


Dr. Namrata Goswami, Research Fellow, Institutefor Defence Studies and Analyses, India presentedthere viewpoints and perspective on building properlegislative framework and security infrastructure.

The Fourth Plenary session was titled as “Cross-Border Terrorism” Shri Tariq Karim, Former HighCommissioner of Bangladesh, India chaired thesession. Lt Gen. Syed Ata Hasnain, Former GeneralOfficer Commanding 15 Corps, India, Dr. StephenTankel, Assistant Professor, American University,USA and Dr. Christine Fair, Assistant Professor,Centre for Security Studies, Georgetown University,USA comprehensively presented multipleperspectives and solutions to deal with the virus ofterrorism.

After a day of full throttle deliberations andbrainstorming, the delegates were welcomed at thehistoric Amer Fort with a telling sound and light show.The Special Dinner was followed by the event at thefort itself.

The plenary sessions on the last day were broadlythemed on “Global Terrorism”. The day started withthe Fifth Plenary session on “Talibanisation ofPakistan-Afghanistan Region: State Sponsorsand Non-State Actors”. Thesession was chairedbyShri Shakti Sinha, Director, South Asian Institutefor Strategic Affairs, India. Dr. Habil. ChristianWagner, Senior Fellow, Stiftung Wissenschaft undPolitik, German Institute for International and SecurityAffairs, Germany, Shri Senge Hasnan Sering,President, Institute for Gilgit Baltistan Studies,USAand Prof. Marvin Weinbaum, Scholar-in-Residence, Middle East Institute, USA spoke on roleof state and non state actors amidst the growingturbulence in the Af-Pak region.

Plenary Six was titled as “New Caliphate inWest Asia, Its Impact on Al Qaeda and GlobalJihad”. Capt. (IN) Alok Bansal, Director, Centrefor Security and Strategy, India Foundation, Indiachaired the session. Dr.Yossef Bodansky, Director

of Research, The International Strategic StudiesAssociation, USA. Dr. Waiel Awwad

Senior International Correspondent, Syrian ArabNews Agency, India, Dr. Thomas F. Lynch III,Distinguished Research Fellow, Institute for NationalStrategic Studies, National Defense University, USAand Shri M. J. Akbar, Author of “The Shade ofSwords: Jihad and the conflict between Islam andChristianity” spoke passionately on the multipledimensions of the ISIS.

The last plenary session of the conferencediscussed “De-radicalization: Approaches andStrategies”Prof. Efraim Inbar, Director, Begin-SadatCenter for Strategic Studies, Israel chaired thesession. Prof. Rohan Gunaratna, Director,International Centre for Political Violence andTerrorism Research, RSIS, Singapore, Shri SultanShahin, Founder & Editor, New Age Islam, India,Dr. Ayesha SiddiqaCharles Wallace Fellow, OxfordUniversity, England and Shri Farooq SobhanPresident& CEO,Bangladesh Enterprise Institute, Dhakaspoke on global best practices and methods of de-radicalization.

Shri Tarek Fatah, Author and Weekly Columnistfor The Toronto Sun, India delivered the last SpecialLecture. In his lecture he broadly suggested fourrecommendations for the government.

“Disengage with Pakistan completely. No talks,no visits, no trade.Since Pakistan itches for parity with India,please shut down the silly March of theRoosters at the Wagah border cross point. Thisis the single most spectacular circus that puts therogue state of Pakistan at par with the democratic,secular and dignified Republic of India.End the ridiculous “Aman ki Aasha” that is aone-way traffic of ISI aunties coming to Indiaand running circles around Indians, and evencause the fall of one of India’s brightest sons.‘Aman ki Aasha’ is nothing but a shameful


NoteThis is just a summary report of the conference. Complete videos of the presentations and speeches from everysession will be uploaded on the website of the India Foundation.India Foundation intends to bring out a detailed conference publication consisting of papers and presentationsmade by the participating delegates.

exercise by Pakistan’s upper class Hindu-hating, pan-Islamist Jinnah’s Orphans whobenefit enormously. An entire industry hasbeen created that is milking Indian goodwill todo the Pakistan military-civilian establishment’sbidding and propaganda.Finally. Please don’t wait for a second Mumbaito create a Balochistan. Please start assistingthe brave men and women of Balochistantoday.”

The session was chaired by Shri A.Mukhopadhaya, Addl. Chief Secretary (Home) ofRajasthan, India.

The Valedictory Session was attended by ShriKiren Rijiju, Hon’ble Minister of State for Home

Affairs, Government of India, Sh. Shaurya Doval,Director, India Foundation and Sh. ML Kumawat,Vice Chancellor, Sardar Patel University of Police,Security and Criminal Justice Jodhpur. Sh. RamMadhav, National General Secretary, BJP chairedthe session. Sh. Ram Madhav said that an Institutioncatering to research, studies and action in the field ofcounter terrorism is on the anvil. India Foundationwill make continuing efforts in the field of knowledgerelated to security, strategy and counter-terrorism.Sh. Kumawat delivered the vote of thanks whereinhe expressed gratitude to the participating delegates,volunteers with a promise to meet again.

The 1st International Counter TerrorismConference ended with the National Anthem.


Discussion on“Worldwide Terror Trends: Terrorist Tactics,

Targets and Weapons”13 April 2015, New Delhi

ndia Foundation, New Delhi organized aDiscussion on “Worldwide Terror Trends:Terrorist Tactics, Targets and Weapons” at

the India International Centre (IIC), New Delhi onApril 13, 2015. The Keynote Speaker was Prof. GaryLaFree, Director, National Consortium for the Studyof Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START),University of Maryland, USA.

The discussion initiated with the welcoming ofProf. Gary LaFree. Capt. Alok Bansal, Director, IndiaFoundation delivered the Opening Remarks byobserving that terrorism has become the biggest threatto global peace in the 21st Century. There is a direneed for nations across the world to come togetherand collaborate to tackle this global menace. Overthe years, India Foundation has been dedicated tocome up with path breaking ideas and initiatives tocounter terrorism. Recently, the Foundation had

I organized the 1stInternational Conference onCounter-Terrorism in Jaipur, Rajasthan that washugely participated and appreciated by the expertsand academics from across the world.

Prof. LaFree began his note by thanking IndiaFoundation for giving him this opportunity to speakon this significant topic. He went on to describe theactivities and objectives of the research organization,Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism(START). START advances science-basedknowledge about the human causes andconsequences of terrorism as a resource forhomeland security policymakers and practitioners. Ithas been recognized by Department of HomelandSecurity, USA for outstanding contributions to thesecurity of the United States for its long-term supportof the Global Terrorism Database (GTD), an open-source database including information on more than

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1,25,000 domestic and international terrorist eventsaround the world since 1970 through 2013.

Prof. LaFree, referring to the database generatedby START since 1970 till 2013, demonstrated thatthere has been a rapid increase in the number ofterrorist attacks over the past four decades with thelowest number of attacks in 1970-72 and 1998-99.However, since then, the terrorist activities havebeen on rise with the highest in 2012-13. He thentalked about the Terrorism Hotspots. According toGTD, the concentration and intensity of the terroristattacks depending upon the combination of incidentfatalities and injury can be seen in most parts ofPakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Bangladesh and Easternand South Eastern region of Indian subcontinent.

Prof. LaFree, through his well-consolidateddatabase in the presentation, pointed out the topmostcountries with most terror attacks and fatalities from1970 to 2013. Iraq is the one country with most terrorattacks and fatalities while India being at number 3with a total of 8207 attacks resulting in 17496fatalities.Moving on to the different types of weaponsused in terrorist attacks, he observed that explosives,

bombs, dynamites are the most common weaponsincluding firearms. Also, in the course of hispresentation he identified the top twenty perpetratororganizations around the world that included Talibanwith most number of attacks and fatalities along withISIL, Al-Shabaab, Boko Haram and Naxal wing ofCommunist Party of India. On the other hand, thetop terrorist groups that have been active in Indiaover the last four decades include (CPI-M), SikhExtremists, Maoists, United Liberation Front ofAssam, etc.

The most important concept introduced by Prof.LaFree during his presentation was the concept ofunderstanding terrorism according to DavidRapoport’s “Waves”. Rapoport theorized that terroristactivity could be uniquely characterized by “Waves”of specific types of terrorism. He also categorizeddifferent types of terrorist “Waves” includingAnarchist Wave (1880s-1920s); Anti-Colonial Wave(1920s-1960s), New Left Wave (1960s-1990s) andReligious Wave (1979-current).

The discussion was then followed by aninteractive question and answer session. There were


varied questions ranging from collection of data, datarelated issues and analyzing nature of terrorist attacksin the recent past.

Sh. Manohar asked, “What do you think is thereason for less number of suicide attacks in India,particularly in Kashmir?” To which Professor LaFreeresponded, “We have found dramatic differences inthe data of different countries as per the suicideattacks are concerned. We have observed that overthe time, a higher number of groups (but specificgroups) have started adopting suicide attacks.”Sh. Ram Madhav, Director, India Foundationobserved, “India has witnessed such attacks in whichthere is no escape for the perpetrators – they arequite similar to the suicide attacks.”

Sh. Nalapat made an observation on the ‘Ideaof waves’ that goes up, peaks and comes down. Hesubsequently questioned,”What are the reasons andcauses behind the waves of terrorist attacks/groups?”To which Professor LaFree observed, “Our dataincludes all major attacks that have had the highest

number of fatalities and also the attacks that didn’tkill anyone. It is quite impossible to club these groupsand determine some common causes behind theirattacks.”

Sh. Ram Madhav asked, “Do u have any datathat highlights the motivations behind terroristattacks?” To which Prof. LaFree observed, “This isvirtually impossible for an organization like us todetermine the motivation of groups around the world.We have data primarily for US. We can identifyfactors – sociological issues, radicalizing groups,social and political movements, etc. But it is beyondour ability to come up with a consolidated data forthe world.”

After the fruitful discussion, Capt. Alok Bansal,Director, Centre for Security & Strategy (CSS)delivered the vote of thanks with a special mentionto Prof. LaFree for taking time out of his busyschedule and presenting a brilliant discourse on trends,tactics, targets and weapons in InternationalTerrorism.


Seminar on “Gilgit-Baltistan: Gateway to Inner Asia”13 April 2015, New Delhi

he Chair for the day Major General (Retd.)Dhruv Katoch welcomed the diverse gatheringranging from strategic thinkers to research

scholars. He formally welcomed the speakers andbriefly introduced them to the audience.

Shri Alok Bansal, Director, Centre for Securityand Strategy, India Foundation initiated theproceedings by setting the context and providing abrief background about the Gilgit-Baltistan (GB)region. He highlighted the differences between GBand Mirpur-Muzaffarabad. GB is the moststrategically significant part of J&K, and connectsPakistan and China. Analyzing the strategicsignificance of the region, he gave a succinctpresentation to the audience about the people, theland, the historical background, the changingdemography, the resources, the culture and theeconomic exploitation of GB region.

The chair for the day Major General (Retd.)

T Dhruv Katoch then welcomed Shri Senge H. Sering,President, Institute of Gilgit-Baltistan Studies,Washington to speak on the subject. Sh. Sering saidthat he is extremely grateful to India Foundation andJammu Kashmir Study Centre for organizingdiscourses and discussions on the otherwise ignoredissue of Gilgit Baltistan region. He started byobserving that, “It was the people of Baltistan whogave Buddhism to Central Asia, and thus therelationship with this region goes far back than 1947.”While the area is very commonly associated withthe Silk Route, there are other important trade routesas well. The China-Pakistan economic corridor isexpected to cut distance from China to Pakistan from22 days to less than 3 days. It is an important locationgeographically which is a key for development, tradeties, geo-politics etc. Speaking on peace he said,“Gilgit is more peaceful than Afghanistan, so it is moreideal for China to invest in.” He gave some of the

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precious insights into the living condition of the people.He also talked about the increasing Chinese influencein the G-B region. The influence can be seeneverywhere, as many of the roads and highways inG-B are being built by China. Chinese presence canbe felt at the grass root level too as they are comingup with Chinese markets, local street shops, and evenschools and cultural centers. It can be easily saidthat China will be able to dominate G-B in the next15-20 years.

On concerns he said, “There are two main issuesin the region that we must look into: Violence andTerrorism. It is important to note that economicdevelopment, infrastructure development, improvingtrade routes, revival of culture, opening borders etc.will all help in combating terror and reducing violencein the region. Another major concern that he pointedout was the plight of the local populace wherein heobserved, “There is no structured policy or programto benefit the locals. Eventually, they might even facethe fate of Tibetans. They are technically not part ofany nation, so it does not help!”

After the detailed presentations, the Chair opened

the floor for questions. Questions were raised oncurrent status, nationality and growing Chineseinfluence in the region; to which Sh. Sering replied,“If China wants this land to be peaceful, they mustcondemn and fight all forms of terrorism – not onlyselect issues or types. There is expected to be over100 Billion dollars of Chinese investment in thisregion.” On point of nationality he said, “We have aPakistani passport, which serves as a traveldocument, but apart from that it being of Pakistaninationality does not help much – we can’t vote, wecan’t access the judicial system etc.” As a solutionto which he suggested, “A civil society movement isneeded to really see big changes in the way this regionand its people are treated. Therefore, more awarenessis crucial so that the region starts talking about issuessuch as Human Rights etc.”

The concluding remarks were given by ChairGeneral Katoch, “Both universities and institutionsmust play a key role in raising awareness about thisimportant issue.” Gen. Dhruv Katoch subsequentlythanked everyone for participating in the Seminar andmaking it a fruitful discussion.


he Shade of Swords traces a line that begins inthe deserts of Arabia and flows through thelifeblood of a decisive battlefield in the war

against terror, Pakistan and Afghanistan.This book is an effort to sift the difference by a

search through text and history. The temptation toreinterpret both text and history to suit contemporary‘politically correct’ requirements is the first trap tobe avoided. There are Muslims today, for instance,who will convert jihad into a holy bath rather than aholy war, as if it is nothing more than an injunction tocleanse yourself from within.

It is true that the Prophet insisted that a greaterjihad was the struggle to cleanse impurity within, butthat does not take away from the fact that lesserjihad inspired the spirit that once made Muslim armiesall-conquering, enabled Muslims to protect their holyplaces, and ensured that most of the community livedwithin the protection of Muslim power despiteformidable challenge from Christian alliances in aworld war that was virtually coterminous with thebirth of Islam.

So often did Muslim armies, whether in the westor the east, triumph against odds that it conjured up asense of a self-replicating miracle. Faith in Allah’s

bargain was reinforced by each victory, particularlyagainst Christian armies who mobilized repeatedlynot only to destroy Muslim empires but also Islam,which they called a heresy against Christ.

After the collapse of the Caliphate in 1922, andits abolition by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1924,Muslim nations have not really been able to find amodern idiom for governance. The Caliphate, aremarkable institution that took nearly thirteencenturies to outlive its utility, is synonymous with thehistory of Islam. The first caliph, Abu Bakr, tookcharge of the umma after the death of the Prophet.As the community grew at an unforeseen pace, itwas impossible for one caliph to remain the executivehead of every Muslim. A mixture of temporal andspiritual responsibility devolved on what might becalled the pre-eminent power within the Muslimworld. This was based in Medina to begin with. Itshifted to Damascus and Baghdad, and then toConstantinople where the Ottomans provided the lastline of caliphs. For all his actual and vaunted power,the caliph was never omnipotent. After the Caliphatewithered, defeated in its last jihad (the First WorldWar), Muslim nations have been unable to create asustainable representative system of government.

BOOK REVIEW

The Shade of Swords -Jihad and the Conflict between

Islam and Christianity

Author : M. J. Akbar

Publisher : Routledge; Revised edition (2 Ocober 2003)

Price : Rs.338

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It is extraordinary that after so many centuriesof proximity, the worlds of Christianity and Islamshould remain so widely separated bymisunderstandings over religion, culture and power.Plastic images abound. Sometimes it seems as ifBede the Venerable1 were still alive to shape thediscourse. In the 8th century he argued that since theArabs of Mecca were descended from the spurnedwife of Abraham, Hagar, and their son Ishmael, thewhole race was illegitimate. The lineage was thenstretched back to Cain, making Muslims by extensionresponsible for the second original sin, fratricide.Revenge became thereby obligatory on thedescendants of the other children of Adam (Christianswere said to have descended from Seth, throughNoah). Muslims are equally willing to demonize the‘Christian’ West when reality is subtler than the darkclaims made by fundamentalists.

The spirit of jihad entered Islam at Badr. It is aspirit that inspires among believers a heroism beyondthe bounds of reason; equally, it inspires dread amongthose outside the fold of Allah. Its root lies in theArabic jihad, meaning exertion or striving. Itsresonance comes from the nature of this strife: jihadis the holy war, the war of righteousness, the struggleagainst tyranny. It is a passion indifferent to the fateof battle because the jihadi wins either way: in thelong run, the war will be won; and in the short run,death will bring martyrdom and paradise.Simultaneously, the strife is also to cleanse one’s soul,for no martyrdom is possible without that inner purity.

The greater of the two kinds of jihad, the Jihadal Akbar, is the war against the enemy within; againstone’s own weakness and wandering. It is the Jihadal Asghar, or the lesser jihad, that is fought on thebattlefield.

Islam, as the word itself implies, does not seekviolence. Equally, Islam does not permit meek

surrender either. There are circumstances in whichall Muslims are commanded to fight to defend theirfaith. In such times war becomes a duty, and thosewho shirk it are condemned by the Quran. It mayonly be a lesser jihad, but for some twelve hundredyears only a comparative handful of infidel armiesemerged from the lesser jihad either with their prideor their power intact.

Uhud is triumph through inner cleansing, andtherefore the greater jihad. The 286 verses of thesecond Surah of the Quran, the Al Baqarah, constitutethe longest chapter in the Quran and set out its moralprinciples, just as the seven verses of the openingchapter, Al Fatiha, sum up its essence. (The ‘Verseof the Throne’, or the Ayat-ul-Kursi, that describesthe attributes of Allah, is in this Surah, Verse 255.)The defining story of jihad is one that should be asfamiliar to Jews and Christians as it is to Muslims. Itis the story of David and Goliath.

The very first of these verses is quite emphaticin its rejection of terrorism. ‘Fight in the cause ofAllah those who fight you, but do not transgress limits;for Allah loveth not transgressors.’ What are thesetransgressions? Abdullah Yusuf Ali explains: ‘War ispermissible in self-defence, and under well-definedlimits. When undertaken, it must be pushed withvigour [but not relentlessly], but only to restore peaceand freedom for the worship of Allah. In any casestrict limits must not be transgressed: women, children,old and infirm men should not be molested, nor treesand crops cut down, nor peace withheld when theenemy comes to terms.’

There is enough space in Islamic jurisprudenceto accommodate the flux of history, but none for theimposition of another law. The problem arises withdegrees of influence from the rest of the world –other civilizations, if you must. These tensions ofinfluence and space are familiar in the contemporary


world, particularly when the mores of non-Islamic,Western societies are advertised as synonymous witha modern, scientific ethos and the Islamic pastdenigrated as primitive. The excesses of the purdahin certain Muslim countries do not help the Muslimargument; and the excesses of the hamburger do nothelp the Western model, but neither the burqa northe hamburger take away from the importance ofthis debate and modern tension. Islamic history haswitnessed such tension from a foreign influencebefore.

When the Prophet, in his last days, asked Muslimsto ensure that no two religions were left on theArabian peninsula, what did he mean? It is obviousthat he did not say that no two religions should be leftanywhere in the world. A whole canon of Islamicjurisprudence deals with the behaviour towardsinfidels; implicit therefore is the fact that there willalways be those who will not accept Islam.Whichreligion could have been on the Prophet’s mind whenhe asked Muslims not to let two religions exist on theArabian peninsula? There was a mighty empire tothe north of Medina, ruled in the name of a religionthat Muhammad had been sent by Allah to replace,for Muhammad was the Prophet after Jesus. Thethird on Aisha’s list of those who had troubled nascentIslam were the Christians.

Such raw passions have eased in a thousandyears, but each age offers its own variation on aconfrontation that begins with the birth of Islam. Thisis not a ‘clash of civilizations’ because both Islamand Christianity embrace more than one civilizationand culture. At the heart of this conflict, often manifestas a political struggle for territory and power, is abasic, even fundamental, theological and ideologicaldifference.

For Muslims, Muhammad is a man and the lastprophet in a sequence that begins with Adam and

includes Jesus; for Christians, Jesus is divine, andthe final redemption of mankind. It is consequentlyincumbent upon the Church to declare Muhammadan impostor. To do anything else would be to makeChristianity a 611-year-old religion and Christ’smission could not be deemed eternal. The Quranrepeatedly tells Christians to return to the monotheismof Abraham, renounce the concept of the Trinity, andaccept Muhammad as the Last Messenger. TheQuran venerates Jesus; for the Church to return thecompliment would be suicide.

The first Islam-Christianity conflict, between theArabs and the Byzantines, was fierce, but it was notvitiated by an excess of venom. St John of Damascus,born about forty years after the Prophet died,established the dialectic of the Christian theologicalresponse, first rebutting the Quran’s verses onChristianity, then disputing the basic concepts: wasthe word of God created or uncreated? Was Godever wordless? Then came the ridicule that was tobecome a constant Christian theme, accusing theProphet of sexual indulgence. A doctrine of Christiansin complemented this dialectic. The only explanationfor the defeat of mighty Christian kingdoms was thatGod had punished them for their sins.The similarityto the Muslim lament during their moments of distressis striking: Muslims had exactly the same complaintagainst Allah when the age of Christian victoriescame. It is a syndrome that has been well-describedas half self-pity and half bravado. Futurecompensation is generally inadequate balm for sucha mood.

Muslim power had fractured by the last centuryof the millennium when Christian kings were uniting,or at least being forced by the Popes and publicopinion to set aside their formidable differences andtake on Muslim empires. Muslims were then blessedwith a man called Saladin. He inherited another


conviction from his mentor: that the key to this jihadlay in the unification of Syria and Egypt. As long asArab power was split, the Kingdom of Jerusalemwas unshakeable. Understandably, the official policyof the Franks, holding the space in between, was tokeep the two divided.

As Saladin gathered Muslims into one kingdomunder the banner of the true jihad, the disease thathad cost the Muslims Jerusalem now grew rampantamong Christians: disunity. The principal schism wasaround, inevitably, the policy towards Muslimsbetween the peace party and the war party. Theargument travelled from the bottom to the top. At asocial level, the raw and powerful Crusader spirithad been replaced by settler comfort amongst secondand third generation Christians. Many of them, somewith eastern mothers, had begun to think ofthemselves as Orientals.

They took something as decadent as a bath, usedsoap, spoke Arabic, listened to local music, wore thekeffiya, and some women even took to the veil whenshopping. It was convenience rather than conversion.Inevitably, Europeans married local women, and amixed race called the poulains was born. The problembecame far more serious as it reached the decision-makers at the top. The hawks wanted permanentholy war, while the doves argued that the realities ofthe neighbourhood demanded a spirit ofaccommodation.

On 2 October 1187, or 27 Rajab 583 by theIslamic calendar, Saladin entered Jerusalem. It wasthe day on which Muslims celebrated the ascensionof the Prophet to heaven from Jerusalem. Saladinkept his word. Not a single Christian was killed.Saladin had, consciously, emulated the Caliph Umar,and taken Jerusalem without bloodshed ordestruction.

The nineteenth was the century of loss for

Muslims. As early as in 1808 the Serbs wereencouraged to revolt, and by 1830 a Serbian statehad been established. In 1821 it was the turn ofGreece, encouraged by the music of Byron’s poetry,to demand freedom from the Ottomans. Greecebecame independent in 1833. In the Caucasus, Russiamoved into the Turkish penumbra. In 1839 Britainoccupied Aden to consolidate her control over thesea routes to the jewel in her crown, India. Adenbecame the base from which Britain operated throughthe Arabian Peninsula, eventually creating allianceswith the Trucial States, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, andSharjah. France occupied Algiers. In contrast to theBritish experience in India, the capital was occupiedbefore the country.

Russian insults provoked the students of Turkey’smedressas (the Taliban of their time) to come on tothe streets, and Abdulmecid obtained a fatwa todeclare war on Russia on 4 October 1853. This washowever one war that the House of Osman couldnot fight alone. Britain and France, determined tokeep Russia out of what would become their prize,joined Turkey in what is famous as the Crimean War.By 1856 the alliance had defeated Russia andAbdulmecid presented himself with a new palace,deserting Topkapi.

There was however a price to a seat on the sametable as England and France. In 1856, for the firsttime since 1453, church bells were permitted to ring,by the authority of an imperial decree, inConstantinople. Many Muslims declared it a day ofmourning. By 1877 Bulgaria had been givenautonomy; Crete won similar terms in 1898 (andjoined Greece in 1913). The weakness ofConstantinople had gone to the heart. It was in hugeexternal debt, and its revenues were being scannedby lenders. Muslims all over the world shudderedwhen a Bulgarian army reached the walls of


Constantinople during the Balkan wars.The largest Muslim population in the world at

that time was not in the Ottoman empire but in theBritish empire, in India. Agitated by the fate of theirCaliph, Indian Muslims sent a medical mission toTurkey during the Balkan wars under the leadershipof Dr M.A. Ansari. That mission of 1912 initiated awave that became tidal in ten years.

The nineteenth century had also been fatal tothe other great Muslim empire in the world, theMughal, in India. The Mughal Empire of India had,during the glory years of Akbar, Jehangir and ShahJehan, considered itself superior to the Ottoman, aclaim that the fellow-Turks of Constantinopleshrugged off as insolence. After a century of dismaldegeneration, the British buried the Mughals in 1857after a war that changed the British as much as itchanged India. The Mughal Empire died unwept, butnot unloved.

As we have seen, Muslim armies beganincursions into India, and a lot of it too, during thefirst decades of the eleventh century, a little beforethe Crusades began in West Asia. India’s wealthwhetthe appetite for more. In the mid-twelfth century,Muslims established themselves in Delhi, and did notleave until the British prised them out after a bitterwar of blood and nerves in 1857. India was always aHindu-majority region, but Muslim power lived on,or sometimes limped on, till Britain eliminated it.

The Muslim response swung between anger andanxiety. The jihads ofthe nineteenth century werecrushed by the British; the spirit revivedearly in thetwentieth century, where it merged with the largernationalistmovement under Gandhi. In a uniquedeparture, Gandhi persuaded Muslimsinto their onlyexperience of a non-violent jihad. It failed.

A history of anger and a literature of revengedivided India and created Pakistan. Jinnah won the

argument in India before 1947. Pakistan’s tragedywas that he lost the argument after 1947. How did ahomeland for Muslims become a homeland forMuslim terrorists? Fundamentalists who could notcapture power at the inception of Pakistan graduallycreated a parallel state with two objectives: theindoctrination of young minds through thosemedressasthat were undertheir control, and thedeclaration of jihad against a succession ofenemies:India, Russia, the United States of Americaand, periodically, their owngovernment. Afghanistanunder the Taliban became a formal ally of thisstatewithin a state. More important and less obvious wasthe use theymade of one government or the otherfor their wars. Funds came, discreetlyor in the nameof a higher cause like religious education, fromSaudiArabia; no one questioned where those funds went.There wereother security blankets. The jihad againstthe Soviet Union was of coursefinanced and armedby the West and most of the Muslim world,andresources poured into that war are still visible inthe Kalashnikov culture. The United States andBritain havelong distanced themselves from thatjihad, but the parallel state of Pakistancontinues theholy war against Russia through its support forChechens.

The jihad against America came into its own inthe 1990s and was notwithout its friends in thePakistan and Saudi establishments.Washington’sinfluence has made it impossible for acontrary voice to be heard after11 September 2001,but it cannot prevent the contrary whisper.

So what happened to democracy in Pakistan?The only Muslims in theworld to enjoy sustaineddemocratic liberty are not in Pakistan, but thosewhoremained in India. Indian Muslims have had moreproblems thananyone deserves, paying the price fortheir ancestors, on the one hand,and the success of


the Muslim League, on the other, but they remaintheonly Muslims – and there are now over 150 millionof them – withguaranteed democratic rights. It wouldbe foolish to say that democracyhas removed theirgrievances; it has not. As in the case of thewantondestruction of the Babri mosque in 1992, itmay have even added to theirproblems. Resultantriots are often an exercise in lynch mobbarbarism,with the administration giving a friendly nodto violence, as in Gujarat in2002. But democracy hasgiven Indian Muslims the means topunishgovernments and political parties who areeither antagonistic to theirsentiments or have betrayedtheir interests.

In an age of despair the need for a hero who caninspire pan-Islamicvictories becomes acute. Thesituation today is akin to a thousand yearsago, whenCrusaders conquered Jerusalem and Christiansestablishedpowerful states in the heart of Palestine,in territory approximate to whereIsrael exists today.A revival by Zengi, Nuraddin, and above allSaladinlifted Muslims from a morass then. There isno such hero on the horizonnow. Despair can becomea breeding ground for mavericks who believeinthemselves and their version of the faith.

There may be a lesson here for modern times.When Saladin gave acall for a jihad against RichardII, response came from as far away as India.Thestreet is still ready, but there is no Saladin. Dictatorslike SaddamHussein exploit this disenchantment todivert some of the anger againsttheir own tyranny.The United States, most Muslims believe, onlydispenseswith those dictators who fall out withWashington; in other words,it is Washington’s interestthat must always be served, not theirs. TheSaudfamily remains the outstanding example ofWashington’s tolerance forobedient kings. ‘King’ isnot the most important of the titles of the Saudi-

monarch; he is also custodian of the holy places. Tomany Muslims, theSaud family is only the custodianof American oil.

There were no limits to covert operations.Regimechange is not a 21st century war cry. It waspart of a superpower’s strategic needs, and theUnited States sought to destroy governments in everycontinent, whenever it feltits interests weresufficiently threatened, with full authority from thePresident in each case, for the rest of the 20thcentury.As long as it lasted, the Soviet Union did the samething more brutally, and bled to death when a regimechange in Kabul went wrong. The United States andthe Soviet Union had defined their line of controlacross Europe. The rest of the world was open gamefor their diplomatic, defence and intelligenceestablishments.

The most successful American covert action didnot take place in East Europe, since it was off limits,but in an oil-soaked nation on the borders of the SovietUnion. The mostvital of interests was involved, oil.The year was 1953, and itwas an authentic Dullestriumph that sent church bellspealing through theestablishment. The methodology was verydifferent,but the mission in 1953 was much as the samemissionin 2003: a government that had become hostile andwestern interests had to be removed. In 1953 themeans was covert action; in 2003 it was called pre-emptive strike. In the first instance, it was Iran; inthe second, Iraq.

The American-British-Australian invasion of IraqinMarch 2003 is the penultimate chapter of a conflictthat began on 2 August 1990 as a consequence of awar that Saddam Hussein launched against Iran on22 September 1980.

The credibility of the war had self-destructedeven before it began. This was why George Bushmanaged the unique feat of creating a peace move-


1 Also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede was an English monk at the monastery of Saint Peter atMonkwearmouth and its companion monastery, Saint Paul’s in modern Jarrow, Northeast England, both of whichwere located in the Kingdom of Northumbaria.

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ment before any war had begun. What Bush couldnot appreciate was that anti-war sentiment did notcorrespond to support for Saddam. This wasespecially true of the Muslim reaction. Many Muslimssaw a much larger picture, in which Saddam wasnot their ally, buta dangerous irritant and intrusion.This larger picture was painted on evidence providedby a few friends of George Bush. Is it any wonderthat Muslims increasingly believe that’weapon ofmass destruction’ that the American Right,itstemporary leader George Bush, is searching for isnot chemical or nuclear arms, but Islam.

This might be a worst-case scenario, but theMuslim street saw the Iraq war in ways significantlydifferent from the best intentions that Washingtonand London might have had. This is whyevents arebeing overtaken by the law of unintendedconsequences. The Anglo-American occupation ofIraq has induced a radical response among thepreviously uncommitted, or indifferent (it would be amistake to considerradical a fundamentalist, even ifall fundamentalists areof the radical response). IbnKhaldun’s theory of rise, fall and renewal, that destinycan be changed by a return to principles, is at work!

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