Gamechanger? Why the cash transfer math doesn’t add up

Minhaz Merchant
30 November 2012, 02:10 PM IST

In his 2012-13 Budget speech, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the government would restrict subsidies to "two percent of GDP".  Can it?

GDP in 2012-13 is estimated at Rs.101 lakh crore. Two percent of that is just over Rs.2 lakh crore. If the government sticks to the Budget, India's total subsidy bill should be no more than Rs.2.02 lakh crore. Let's do the math.

There are four broad categories of subsidies: food, fuel, fertilizer and welfare schemes. 

Food subsidies in 2011-12 totalled Rs.72,823 crore. This excludes any increases the Food Security Bill, still under review, might entail.

Fuel subsidies, including LPG cylinders, diesel, kerosene and petrol amounted to Rs.49,000 crore in 2011-12. This too excludes indirect subsidies provided for on the balance sheets of oil marketing companies (OMCs) like Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum.

Fertiliser subsidies added up to Rs.63,776 crore in 2011-12. Fertilizers comprise two basic types: urea and nitrogen-phosphorous-potash. The bill is rising and the volume of imported fertilizers exceeds Rs.12,000 crore of the total.

Social welfare subsidies on schemes like MNREGA and Bharat Nirman Yojana accounted for over Rs.47,000 crore in 2011-12. There are a total of 42 social sector welfare schemes the union government administers. The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), for example, has an allocation in 2012-13 of Rs.20,822 crore. Thus three of the principal welfare schemes account for around Rs.70,000 crore.

Taken together, food, fuel, fertilizer and welfare subsidies amount to Rs. 3,23,000 crore – over 3% of GDP, 50% higher that the government's budgeted figure. This excludes the proposed food security bill and the controversial formula to measure the number of people living below the poverty line.

Now slice the numbers.

Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has confirmed that, due to complex logistics, food and fertilizer subsidies will be kept out of the direct cash transfer scheme to be executed through Aadhaar. Thus around Rs.1.35 lakh crore worth of subsidies will continue to be handed out every year through a corrupt, leaky process.

Among social welfare schemes, the biggest, MNREGA, is already paid out in cash. Pensions and scholarships are also already given out in cash.

What will go through Aadhaar are principally fuel and social welfare schemes. Here too fuel will create logistical problems. LPG, diesel, kerosene and petrol consumers will have to undertake cumbersome paperwork to receive cash in the right bank account with self-certified LPG/kerosene requirements, leaving the process vulnerable to corrupt middlemen and multiple bank accounts.

The government faces two contradictory challenges. First, to restrict total subsidies to 2% of GDP as mandated in the 2012-13 Union Budget. Second, to hand out as much of the total subsidy amount as possible in cash to woo voters ahead of 2014.

The first target is clearly going to be missed. The second, without food and fertilizers – and with MNREGA and other welfare schemes already being paid in cash – is looking too small to be voter-friendly and too complicated to implement without a robust technological infrastructure.

In principle, direct cash transfers are a good way to bypass corrupt middlemen. Many countries, notably Brazil, have proved this. But without a strong backend in place, it will not work.

As several development economists, including Jean Dreze, a former member of the National Advisory Council (NAC), have have pointed out, a combination of physically-delivered subsidies, with mechanisms to cut out middlemen-fraud, and incremental direct cash transfers is the way to go till Aadhaar develops a robust technological backend.

The government's desire to rush headlong into direct cash transfers is understandable. With a Lok Sabha election looming, Aadhaar-driven cash handouts are tempting. But by putting politics above principle, the government could raise expectations among poor voters of a cash bonanza that might turn out to be – to use a currently familiar term – notional.

Follow @minhazmerchant on twitter

21.16 | 0 komentar | Read More

Welcome to Delhi Airport

Veeresh Malik
30 November 2012, 05:21 PM IST

 

There was a day and age when I put in about 3-4 flights a week, in and out of Delhi's Airport, and before that, often enough as a seafarer, to say with confidence that I have seen it evolve from the small little terminal it used to be, called Palam. The main 09-27 runway went right over our home, and the little-known Air Force Museum behind the Technical Area was always a winner, when time permitted.

So it has been also with some interest that one sees how the bespoke Terminal-3 of Delhi's vast Indira Gandhi International Airport, often also referred to as Delhi International Airport Ltd., despite a vast amount of money ostensibly spent on a cricket team by GMR, has evolved, especially since many of us still refer to the Tea-One in the vicinity of the older airport as Palam.

The newer and bigger Tea-Three, as it is now known, as different from Tea-One, has its own story, and nobody calls it Palam anymore.

To start with, it has a unique distinction - there are no public toilets visible anywhere. Ofcourse, if you peek hard enough, or follow your nose, then you will find where the Pee-Trees of Tea-Three are to be found.

Ladies excuse, you should have gone pee be four you headed for the airport, or you buy a ticket and enter. I don't know how to solve this one, sorry, please ask the big boss of Tea Three, they should be back from Maldives by now.

Then, Tee Three has a very pretty looking high-speed railway line emerging from under the ground near Tee One and then going all the way to New Delhi Railway Station. Hole in One, anybody? Photography is not permitted of this line. Why? Because there are no trains on it, of any speed, and if one comes, they are scared you will catch it. There was some talk that this train may fall down. More government money gone with buffalo into lake. With some brains this could have been a brilliant New Delhi to Gurgaon link, but then, a toll operator came in the way.

Toll on trains? No, on the highway next to the railway line, who would use it if, then? So, no Metro train to Delhi's Airport, and plenty of traffic jam instead.

But you can still avoid paying some part of the toll and skip a bit of the jam. Avoid deftly the misleading signage for Tea Three, when coming from Delhi side, follow the boards for Tea One, and then turn left at the traffic lights for the short-cut to Tea Three.

Use the tunnel underneath runway 10-28, on emerging you will spot a large number of buildings under construction. Famous hotel brand names shine out. JW Marriott. Lemon Tree. Also others.But you can ask a question - who does the land belong to? Silly billy, what a question, who does the land on which the Radisson is built belong to? Buffalo is still in lake, showing nostrils, that's who the land belongs to.

Go past the security posts smartly, though you may have some chai-paani times if you are driving or in an out-of-state registration car, the whole airport is named after tea.

After that, you climb the most confusing ramp for arrival or departure at Tea Three. It is designed to eliminate common sense. But wait, what do you see, abandoned dusty airplanes of a famous airline? Oh yes, and then the same as you go down the ramp, more abandoned dusty aircraft. All bought on public money borrowed from our banks. Truly, liberalisation means, money to fly away. From Tea Three? Oh no, those planes are not going anywhere - many of them don't even have engines.

Were those engines used for Formula One cars? Buffalo is now drinking beer in lake?

Very soon, you will have this smog fog causing flight delays at Tea Three, nobody knows why this happens so much lately. Actually, as has already been explained, this is also due to large amount of open fires in the vicinity. Books are being cooked, as my CA explained to me, will you get a calculator which can calculate in 20 digits now, these are the kind of numbers? Cooking books has never been so widespread, as it is in and around our airport, Tea Three, along with computers.

Lake is getting hot, buffalo is running out of lake, but on other side.

This, then, ladies and gentlemen, please upright your seats and fasten your seat-belts, we are about to land at GMR DIAL IGIA Palam New Delhi. Be careful of the dengue, the Delhi Belly, the assorted scamsters and especially please be careful of all the VIP convoys doing hither and thither in and around the airport pointing guns at you, like with buffalo in lake, please do not make eye contact with them, the gun people or the VIPs.

Because. Delhi's shiny new airport where you are made to walk till you fall out of fatigue into one of the shops within, is fast becoming a symbol of all that is going wrong with the country lately.

Contrary to all the spiritual teachings, this airport is a vivid example of how India is heading down a road of so-called economic self-satisfaction for a few at the expense of most others. You just have to open your eyes to see this.

Or keep sitting back, sipping your tea, and wonder - what happened to tea-two?

21.16 | 0 komentar | Read More

Uttar Pradesh on a boil - Part II

Amaresh Misra
30 November 2012, 06:00 PM IST

Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav is in a bind.

On September 30, 2012, Ambika Chaudhary, the SP minister, supported other speakers and me on the demand of releasing boys in whose cases a frame-up by the UP STF or the Uttar Pradesh Police looked likely. 

Consequently, the Akhilesh Yadav led government wrote to the district magistrates of different UP districts asking why cases against certain boys from among the 33 detained in terror cases, hailing from their respective districts, should not be withdrawn.

This was a routine enquiry. But instead of asking authentic questions, the Delhi-based electronic media—particularly a certain English news channel that also runs a weekly magazine—went to town with the news story of the SP UP government freeing terrorists! This is absurd, as the UP CM had only asked the district magistrates for an opinion—also, if a lawfully constituted commission has placed some findings on record, a state government carries the right under the Indian Constitution to act as per the commission's report. The media could have waited for the Nimesh Commission report or they could have used their sources in the UP government to get a sense of the findings of the Commission. The argument that it should be left to the courts decide who is a terrorist does not hold in these cases as court cases take a long time to get resolved either ways—and since the cases are between the government and the accused, the former can step in any time to withdraw charges made earlier.  

The best part is that even though Akhilesh Yadav sounds sincere, the UP government seems hesitant—remember Akhilesh's uncles—and several old faces of the SP in his ministry—have a dubious track record. If the entire UP cabinet was interested in acting fast and furthering the political agenda of the SP, the cases could have been withdrawn by firm administrative action combined with political build-up, aimed not at letting the guilty off but securing, release of the innocent—after all, who wants to hang a guiltless man? Victims of the 2007 serial blasts—in whose name the BJP and even the BSP—a party which constituted the Nimesh Commission—in the first place—are playing narrow political games and making exaggerated noises—also feel that only the guilty should be punished.  Getting bogged down in procedures might prove to be counter-productive for the government as the District Magistrates will pass on the reports to the STF—and why would the STF say that it acted wrongly in the past?

The current SP government is caught in a bind—none of the promises made by its 2012 poll manifesto have been fulfilled. Youths are not getting Rs. 2000 as unemployment allowance; no intended beneficiary has so far obtained the promised laptops. Schemes like Kanyadhan sound good on paper but their implementation and monitoring is poor. On the other hand—beginning from March 6, 2012—the day the UP electorate handed over a historic win to the SP—cases of atrocities against Dalits began taking place one after the other. The trend continued even after March 15, 2012, when Akhilesh Yadav was sworn in as UP's new CM. Senior Dalit leaders and elected representatives of the weaker sections—some of them Gram Pradhans—were killed; houses were torched; women and children injured and murdered in a series of violent incidents—78 according to a conservative estimate—that continued till at least August 2012 in the entire length and breadth—from Agra to Ghazipur via Sitapur and Lucknow—of Uttar Pradesh. 

Given the compulsions of the central government and `Mulayam Singh's support' issues, even a detailed report of atrocities against Dalits has not been prepared; as an opportunist party, the BSP of course is sitting content after making some minor noises as Mayawati knows that the more Dalits and weaker sections are beaten up, the more they will gravitate towards her party.  

Also, a perverse political logic which seems to run in UP's political class makes it mandatory that during the SP rule `Dalit to laat khaayenge hee'. By contrast, it is expected that Yadavs and goons affiliated to the SP will have a free run.

Anti-Muslim violence in Ghaziabad

But no one expected the SP to strike at the very Muslim hand that made smooth its journey to power in UP—the Akhilesh Yadav government has yet to complete a full year—but more than 5 major cases of atrocities against Muslims have already occurred; the incidents in Mathura, Barielly,  Ghaziabad, Pratapgarh, and Faizabad—in particular—have conspiracy—written all over their scripts.

These are no riots—in Ghaziabad, torn Koran pages were thrown from a passing Kashi-Vishwanath train. The pages had a mobile number—whoever dialled that number heard abusive, anti-Muslim religious slurs coming from the other end. Local Muslims gave the pages to the local Masuri thana—there was a gherao after which the Police fired killing 6 muslims. Two succumbed to their injuries later, putting the toll to 8 dead. Yet, the police version spoke of a heavily outnumbered police forced to fire to save itself—has anyone heard of a small police force firing successfully to break a massed cordon without a single fatality on its side? If, as the SP government would like the nation to believe, the police fired in self-defence, then at least one or two police personals would have died—no? 

But police casualties in the Ghaziabad incident are zero—it is a clear case of state violence against its own people, a monstrous act if ever there was one, of a government killing its own supporters. Maybe the CM does not have a clue of what really happened at Ghaziabad—but then it is his job to get to the bottom of the truth.

The Ghaziabad fracas makes it abundantly clear that communal forces have finally infiltrated the SP government and the party itself.      

The matter does not end here—after the firing, Avdhesh Kumar Singh (mobile number—9911771745), kotwali in-charge, Masuri thana Police returned the torn Koran pages to Abdul Qadir Muazzam of Rafiqabad Colony Masjid. Ranvijay (mobile number—9650572455) is the CO of the area.

But this time the Koran pages were not the original ones submitted by Muslims to the police but Xerox copies—surprisingly and inexplicably, they carried a mobile number different from the previous one found on the pages of original torn Koran pages!

Xerox copies of torn Koran pages returned by the Ghaziabad Police to Muslims—notice the number—who does it belong to?

Allegedly, the new number belongs to Rizwan, an Uttar Pradesh Police informer! He promptly switched his phone off and vanished from the scene!

Isn't this bizarre? Wouldn't it be proper for the UP government to order an enquiry into the affair?

Pratapgarh violence

On June 23, 2012, following the gang rape and murder of a minor girl, violence erupted in Asthan village of Pratapgarh district. 46 Muslim houses were torched. Several villagers had to flee for their lives. Locals say that left to them, the issue could have been sorted out—but the interference of outsiders—who seemed to have planned the operation to perfection—spoiled the whole picture.

Despite arrests of some alleged culprits, victims are afraid to return to their houses. Most of their men-folk work in the spinning mills of Bhiwandi, Maharashtra. Fear looms large and the compensation of Rs. 50,000 appears to be a case of too little too late.

The burning of huts phenomenon was seen with particular savagery in the anti-Muslim violence at Kosi Kalan, Mathura also. 

The affected Pratapgarh area comes under the Kunda Vidhan Sabha of Raja Bhaiyya.  Most of the attackers were his men. But they have not been arrested. Instead, Praveen Togadia was allowed to visit Pratapgarh. He gave an anti-Muslim speech, after which the remaining 10 Muslim houses were also torched! In the evening, Togadia was the guest of honour in a dinner party thrown by Raja Bhaiyya's father!

Though not formally part of the SP, Raja Bhaiyya is a minister in Akhilesh Yadav's cabinet. He was mostly in jail during Mayawati's tenure—once in power, Akhilesh Yadav gave him the jail portfolio!

21.16 | 0 komentar | Read More

Gamechanger? Why the cash transfer math doesn’t add up

Minhaz Merchant
30 November 2012, 02:10 PM IST

In his 2012-13 Budget speech, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the government would restrict subsidies to "two percent of GDP".  Can it?

GDP in 2012-13 is estimated at Rs.101 lakh crore. Two percent of that is just over Rs.2 lakh crore. If the government sticks to the Budget, India's total subsidy bill should be no more than Rs.2.02 lakh crore. Let's do the math.

There are four broad categories of subsidies: food, fuel, fertilizer and welfare schemes. 

Food subsidies in 2011-12 totalled Rs.72,823 crore. This excludes any increases the Food Security Bill, still under review, might entail.

Fuel subsidies, including LPG cylinders, diesel, kerosene and petrol amounted to Rs.49,000 crore in 2011-12. This too excludes indirect subsidies provided for on the balance sheets of oil marketing companies (OMCs) like Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum.

Fertiliser subsidies added up to Rs.63,776 crore in 2011-12. Fertilizers comprise two basic types: urea and nitrogen-phosphorous-potash. The bill is rising and the volume of imported fertilizers exceeds Rs.12,000 crore of the total.

Social welfare subsidies on schemes like MNREGA and Bharat Nirman Yojana accounted for over Rs.47,000 crore in 2011-12. There are a total of 42 social sector welfare schemes the union government administers. The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), for example, has an allocation in 2012-13 of Rs.20,822 crore. Thus three of the principal welfare schemes account for around Rs.70,000 crore.

Taken together, food, fuel, fertilizer and welfare subsidies amount to Rs. 3,23,000 crore – over 3% of GDP, 50% higher that the government's budgeted figure. This excludes the proposed food security bill and the controversial formula to measure the number of people living below the poverty line.

Now slice the numbers.

Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has confirmed that, due to complex logistics, food and fertilizer subsidies will be kept out of the direct cash transfer scheme to be executed through Aadhaar. Thus around Rs.1.35 lakh crore worth of subsidies will continue to be handed out every year through a corrupt, leaky process.

Among social welfare schemes, the biggest, MNREGA, is already paid out in cash. Pensions and scholarships are also already given out in cash.

What will go through Aadhaar are principally fuel and social welfare schemes. Here too fuel will create logistical problems. LPG, diesel, kerosene and petrol consumers will have to undertake cumbersome paperwork to receive cash in the right bank account with self-certified LPG/kerosene requirements, leaving the process vulnerable to corrupt middlemen and multiple bank accounts.

The government faces two contradictory challenges. First, to restrict total subsidies to 2% of GDP as mandated in the 2012-13 Union Budget. Second, to hand out as much of the total subsidy amount as possible in cash to woo voters ahead of 2014.

The first target is clearly going to be missed. The second, without food and fertilizers – and with MNREGA and other welfare schemes already being paid in cash – is looking too small to be voter-friendly and too complicated to implement without a robust technological infrastructure.

In principle, direct cash transfers are a good way to bypass corrupt middlemen. Many countries, notably Brazil, have proved this. But without a strong backend in place, it will not work.

As several development economists, including Jean Dreze, a former member of the National Advisory Council (NAC), have have pointed out, a combination of physically-delivered subsidies, with mechanisms to cut out middlemen-fraud, and incremental direct cash transfers is the way to go till Aadhaar develops a robust technological backend.

The government's desire to rush headlong into direct cash transfers is understandable. With a Lok Sabha election looming, Aadhaar-driven cash handouts are tempting. But by putting politics above principle, the government could raise expectations among poor voters of a cash bonanza that might turn out to be – to use a currently familiar term – notional.

Follow @minhazmerchant on twitter

21.16 | 0 komentar | Read More

Welcome to Delhi Airport

Veeresh Malik
30 November 2012, 05:21 PM IST

 

There was a day and age when I put in about 3-4 flights a week, in and out of Delhi's Airport, and before that, often enough as a seafarer, to say with confidence that I have seen it evolve from the small little terminal it used to be, called Palam. The main 09-27 runway went right over our home, and the little-known Air Force Museum behind the Technical Area was always a winner, when time permitted.

So it has been also with some interest that one sees how the bespoke Terminal-3 of Delhi's vast Indira Gandhi International Airport, often also referred to as Delhi International Airport Ltd., despite a vast amount of money ostensibly spent on a cricket team by GMR, has evolved, especially since many of us still refer to the Tea-One in the vicinity of the older airport as Palam.

The newer and bigger Tea-Three, as it is now known, as different from Tea-One, has its own story, and nobody calls it Palam anymore.

To start with, it has a unique distinction - there are no public toilets visible anywhere. Ofcourse, if you peek hard enough, or follow your nose, then you will find where the Pee-Trees of Tea-Three are to be found.

Ladies excuse, you should have gone pee be four you headed for the airport, or you buy a ticket and enter. I don't know how to solve this one, sorry, please ask the big boss of Tea Three, they should be back from Maldives by now.

Then, Tee Three has a very pretty looking high-speed railway line emerging from under the ground near Tee One and then going all the way to New Delhi Railway Station. Hole in One, anybody? Photography is not permitted of this line. Why? Because there are no trains on it, of any speed, and if one comes, they are scared you will catch it. There was some talk that this train may fall down. More government money gone with buffalo into lake. With some brains this could have been a brilliant New Delhi to Gurgaon link, but then, a toll operator came in the way.

Toll on trains? No, on the highway next to the railway line, who would use it if, then? So, no Metro train to Delhi's Airport, and plenty of traffic jam instead.

But you can still avoid paying some part of the toll and skip a bit of the jam. Avoid deftly the misleading signage for Tea Three, when coming from Delhi side, follow the boards for Tea One, and then turn left at the traffic lights for the short-cut to Tea Three.

Use the tunnel underneath runway 10-28, on emerging you will spot a large number of buildings under construction. Famous hotel brand names shine out. JW Marriott. Lemon Tree. Also others.But you can ask a question - who does the land belong to? Silly billy, what a question, who does the land on which the Radisson is built belong to? Buffalo is still in lake, showing nostrils, that's who the land belongs to.

Go past the security posts smartly, though you may have some chai-paani times if you are driving or in an out-of-state registration car, the whole airport is named after tea.

After that, you climb the most confusing ramp for arrival or departure at Tea Three. It is designed to eliminate common sense. But wait, what do you see, abandoned dusty airplanes of a famous airline? Oh yes, and then the same as you go down the ramp, more abandoned dusty aircraft. All bought on public money borrowed from our banks. Truly, liberalisation means, money to fly away. From Tea Three? Oh no, those planes are not going anywhere - many of them don't even have engines.

Were those engines used for Formula One cars? Buffalo is now drinking beer in lake?

Very soon, you will have this smog fog causing flight delays at Tea Three, nobody knows why this happens so much lately. Actually, as has already been explained, this is also due to large amount of open fires in the vicinity. Books are being cooked, as my CA explained to me, will you get a calculator which can calculate in 20 digits now, these are the kind of numbers? Cooking books has never been so widespread, as it is in and around our airport, Tea Three, along with computers.

Lake is getting hot, buffalo is running out of lake, but on other side.

This, then, ladies and gentlemen, please upright your seats and fasten your seat-belts, we are about to land at GMR DIAL IGIA Palam New Delhi. Be careful of the dengue, the Delhi Belly, the assorted scamsters and especially please be careful of all the VIP convoys doing hither and thither in and around the airport pointing guns at you, like with buffalo in lake, please do not make eye contact with them, the gun people or the VIPs.

Because. Delhi's shiny new airport where you are made to walk till you fall out of fatigue into one of the shops within, is fast becoming a symbol of all that is going wrong with the country lately.

Contrary to all the spiritual teachings, this airport is a vivid example of how India is heading down a road of so-called economic self-satisfaction for a few at the expense of most others. You just have to open your eyes to see this.

Or keep sitting back, sipping your tea, and wonder - what happened to tea-two?

21.16 | 0 komentar | Read More

Uttar Pradesh on a boil - Part II

Amaresh Misra
30 November 2012, 06:00 PM IST

Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav is in a bind.

On September 30, 2012, Ambika Chaudhary, the SP minister, supported other speakers and me on the demand of releasing boys in whose cases a frame-up by the UP STF or the Uttar Pradesh Police looked likely. 

Consequently, the Akhilesh Yadav led government wrote to the district magistrates of different UP districts asking why cases against certain boys from among the 33 detained in terror cases, hailing from their respective districts, should not be withdrawn.

This was a routine enquiry. But instead of asking authentic questions, the Delhi-based electronic media—particularly a certain English news channel that also runs a weekly magazine—went to town with the news story of the SP UP government freeing terrorists! This is absurd, as the UP CM had only asked the district magistrates for an opinion—also, if a lawfully constituted commission has placed some findings on record, a state government carries the right under the Indian Constitution to act as per the commission's report. The media could have waited for the Nimesh Commission report or they could have used their sources in the UP government to get a sense of the findings of the Commission. The argument that it should be left to the courts decide who is a terrorist does not hold in these cases as court cases take a long time to get resolved either ways—and since the cases are between the government and the accused, the former can step in any time to withdraw charges made earlier.  

The best part is that even though Akhilesh Yadav sounds sincere, the UP government seems hesitant—remember Akhilesh's uncles—and several old faces of the SP in his ministry—have a dubious track record. If the entire UP cabinet was interested in acting fast and furthering the political agenda of the SP, the cases could have been withdrawn by firm administrative action combined with political build-up, aimed not at letting the guilty off but securing, release of the innocent—after all, who wants to hang a guiltless man? Victims of the 2007 serial blasts—in whose name the BJP and even the BSP—a party which constituted the Nimesh Commission—in the first place—are playing narrow political games and making exaggerated noises—also feel that only the guilty should be punished.  Getting bogged down in procedures might prove to be counter-productive for the government as the District Magistrates will pass on the reports to the STF—and why would the STF say that it acted wrongly in the past?

The current SP government is caught in a bind—none of the promises made by its 2012 poll manifesto have been fulfilled. Youths are not getting Rs. 2000 as unemployment allowance; no intended beneficiary has so far obtained the promised laptops. Schemes like Kanyadhan sound good on paper but their implementation and monitoring is poor. On the other hand—beginning from March 6, 2012—the day the UP electorate handed over a historic win to the SP—cases of atrocities against Dalits began taking place one after the other. The trend continued even after March 15, 2012, when Akhilesh Yadav was sworn in as UP's new CM. Senior Dalit leaders and elected representatives of the weaker sections—some of them Gram Pradhans—were killed; houses were torched; women and children injured and murdered in a series of violent incidents—78 according to a conservative estimate—that continued till at least August 2012 in the entire length and breadth—from Agra to Ghazipur via Sitapur and Lucknow—of Uttar Pradesh. 

Given the compulsions of the central government and `Mulayam Singh's support' issues, even a detailed report of atrocities against Dalits has not been prepared; as an opportunist party, the BSP of course is sitting content after making some minor noises as Mayawati knows that the more Dalits and weaker sections are beaten up, the more they will gravitate towards her party.  

Also, a perverse political logic which seems to run in UP's political class makes it mandatory that during the SP rule `Dalit to laat khaayenge hee'. By contrast, it is expected that Yadavs and goons affiliated to the SP will have a free run.

Anti-Muslim violence in Ghaziabad

But no one expected the SP to strike at the very Muslim hand that made smooth its journey to power in UP—the Akhilesh Yadav government has yet to complete a full year—but more than 5 major cases of atrocities against Muslims have already occurred; the incidents in Mathura, Barielly,  Ghaziabad, Pratapgarh, and Faizabad—in particular—have conspiracy—written all over their scripts.

These are no riots—in Ghaziabad, torn Koran pages were thrown from a passing Kashi-Vishwanath train. The pages had a mobile number—whoever dialled that number heard abusive, anti-Muslim religious slurs coming from the other end. Local Muslims gave the pages to the local Masuri thana—there was a gherao after which the Police fired killing 6 muslims. Two succumbed to their injuries later, putting the toll to 8 dead. Yet, the police version spoke of a heavily outnumbered police forced to fire to save itself—has anyone heard of a small police force firing successfully to break a massed cordon without a single fatality on its side? If, as the SP government would like the nation to believe, the police fired in self-defence, then at least one or two police personals would have died—no? 

But police casualties in the Ghaziabad incident are zero—it is a clear case of state violence against its own people, a monstrous act if ever there was one, of a government killing its own supporters. Maybe the CM does not have a clue of what really happened at Ghaziabad—but then it is his job to get to the bottom of the truth.

The Ghaziabad fracas makes it abundantly clear that communal forces have finally infiltrated the SP government and the party itself.      

The matter does not end here—after the firing, Avdhesh Kumar Singh (mobile number—9911771745), kotwali in-charge, Masuri thana Police returned the torn Koran pages to Abdul Qadir Muazzam of Rafiqabad Colony Masjid. Ranvijay (mobile number—9650572455) is the CO of the area.

But this time the Koran pages were not the original ones submitted by Muslims to the police but Xerox copies—surprisingly and inexplicably, they carried a mobile number different from the previous one found on the pages of original torn Koran pages!

Xerox copies of torn Koran pages returned by the Ghaziabad Police to Muslims—notice the number—who does it belong to?

Allegedly, the new number belongs to Rizwan, an Uttar Pradesh Police informer! He promptly switched his phone off and vanished from the scene!

Isn't this bizarre? Wouldn't it be proper for the UP government to order an enquiry into the affair?

Pratapgarh violence

On June 23, 2012, following the gang rape and murder of a minor girl, violence erupted in Asthan village of Pratapgarh district. 46 Muslim houses were torched. Several villagers had to flee for their lives. Locals say that left to them, the issue could have been sorted out—but the interference of outsiders—who seemed to have planned the operation to perfection—spoiled the whole picture.

Despite arrests of some alleged culprits, victims are afraid to return to their houses. Most of their men-folk work in the spinning mills of Bhiwandi, Maharashtra. Fear looms large and the compensation of Rs. 50,000 appears to be a case of too little too late.

The burning of huts phenomenon was seen with particular savagery in the anti-Muslim violence at Kosi Kalan, Mathura also. 

The affected Pratapgarh area comes under the Kunda Vidhan Sabha of Raja Bhaiyya.  Most of the attackers were his men. But they have not been arrested. Instead, Praveen Togadia was allowed to visit Pratapgarh. He gave an anti-Muslim speech, after which the remaining 10 Muslim houses were also torched! In the evening, Togadia was the guest of honour in a dinner party thrown by Raja Bhaiyya's father!

Though not formally part of the SP, Raja Bhaiyya is a minister in Akhilesh Yadav's cabinet. He was mostly in jail during Mayawati's tenure—once in power, Akhilesh Yadav gave him the jail portfolio!

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Sports fan’s plea for SICK leave, IOA style

Amit Karmarkar
29 November 2012, 05:48 PM IST

If you are a sports fan following developments in India, and particularly the buildup to the IOA elections, you are entitled for 'sick' leave. You wish 'sick' leave is also made compulsory for IOA officials, personnel of National Sports Federations and sports politicians, who instead of being servants of the game, intend and turn out to be obnoxious beneficiaries.

I'm not particularly fond of BCCI officials. But let's try to be somewhat fair to them. They publish BCCI's balance sheets, take decent care of the majority of their stakeholders (though fans are the most neglected), give every state association more than Rs 20 crore a year and most importantly, spend 26 per cent of their gross yearly earnings on players (13 per cent on international players and 13 per cent on domestic players).

Most NSFs do just the opposite. They don't give any details about association's finances (as if it's their property), go to the government and sponsors with a begging bowl whenever they are forced to do something for the stakeholders, don't share TV revenue with state associations and pay a miniscule share of the association's gross earnings to players.

Until officials from the other sports, especially NSFs of team sports, try (at least try) to follow the above BCCI policies, they don't have any moral right to utter the word cricket and come up with the same mundane allegation that cricket hampers the growth of other sports in the country. 

I requested IOA bigwigs for a copy of their balance sheet many times. But I never got to see one. Even for NSFs, this should not be a matter through RTI query. Their balance sheets, and details of player payements and receipts from sponsors and government funding should be on their websites without demand. They won't do any favours to sports fans by this act. Unlike the BCCI, they take taxpayers' money via government funding.

Having said that, the BCCI has its own unwanted arrogance. They feel they can use the word Team India and legally remain a private body. They feel they can do all good things (mentioned earlier) and remain above board.They treat the ICC as their affiliated unit. Whether they should remain outside RTI is debatable, but some of their  officials' bullheadedness is not. Recently, a BCCI official's daughter questioned her father. He suffered a slip of the tongue when he said, "I'm not answerable to you!" (Of course, this is a joke).

Sports officials don't want to be questioned. But does that mean they are efficient? Even cricket has taken government aid in the past. How can you forget Doordarshan's contribution to its growth before 1990? Or lands provided by the government on which stadiums were built and international matches played before the BCCI became absolutely self-reliant and their state associations built their own stadiums?

Some may find this article has not provided any new information or new thought. If that's the case, blame it on IOA! Nothing new happens in their corridors of self-promotion.

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'Bored' of cricket control

Robin Roy
29 November 2012, 07:21 PM IST

Don't get me wrong on this, but history has repeated itself. If in 1987, a gentleman, who served the game for 20 years, had called the then "wise men" a bunch of jokers, 25 years later things haven't changed much.

Today's "wise men", except Sandeep Patil, did not have an illustrious career to flaunt. In fact, "illustrious" is an understatement. 

It is a wonder how Syed Saba Karim and Vikram Rathore can be selected to select the chosen few in a country bubbling with talent.

In the 34 ODIs that Saba Karim played, his average was a meagre 15.74. He played only one Test and scored 15 runs!!

On the other hand, the least said about Vikram Rathore, is better. Rathore's ODI batting average was 13.1 and his Test batting average was 15+.

In  such a scenario, when the media reports such things like, "The board was not reading too much into Tendulkar's recent failures," one may wonder if Saba Karim and Rathore have the conviction to speak about others' failures when they themselves were fillers in the scheme of things!

Is it a deliberate move by the board to have people on the panel who have been thorough underperformers or sycophants, so that they can't question the capability or have the ability to judge players' worth?

Few months ago, when Mohinder (Jimmy) Amarnath was the north zone selector and was tipped to be the chief selector, he had said that MSD should step down as skipper. The rest is known. Jimmy was back in the archives.

I had earlier mentioned in this column and would like to reiterate please don't get me wrong, as in India "freedom" speech/thought of late, has become a bone of contention.

A board, an organisation or an institution, should always remain above individuals and should never the individual to set riders like "if you (selectors) think of dropping me you can.' 

It is sad to see a GREAT player like Sachin Tendulkar undergo such a phase. It really hurts a diehard Sachin fan. But as they say everything must come to an end. This also reminds us of how graceful Sunil Gavaskar was who played on his own terms and had planned his retirement. Even in his last innings he had scored 96 in Bangalore, thus leaving enough room for speculation whether he should have continued for some more time.

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Uttar Pradesh on a boil - Part I

In UP: Atrocities against Dalits, hooliganism, proposed release of terror suspects and the Faizabad violence.

The Beginning: 

On September 30, 2012, I was invited to speak in an intellectual meet organized by the United Muslim Organization (UMO) in Lucknow. Since 2nd October was around the corner, the topic aptly revolved around `Mahatama Gandhi and today's India'. Ambika Chaudhary, the Samajwadi Party Minister of Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation, was the Chief Guest; other speakers included SMA Kazmi, former advocate-general, and Prof. Anis Ansari, a renowned academician, of Lucknow;  Muhammad Khalid, a veteran social activist, coordinated the meet;  Shakeel Samdani, a well known, eloquent, fiery Aligarhian—alumni of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU)—conducted the proceedings. 

Comparisons with secular ideas and practices propounded by Mahatama Gandhi dominated the minutes.

The disturbing trend of framing innocent Muslim boys in terror related cases came up for discussion. Given the general perception that Muslims had voted en masse for the Samajwadi Party in the 2012 UP assembly elections, the criticisms directed at some Muslim faces of the SP—especially a high profile Muslim leader from Rampur—caught me by surprise. 

When my turn to speak came, I raised the issue of 33 Muslim boys—some detained in Uttar Pradesh jails since 2002—and prospects of the Samajwadi Party implementing the findings of the Nimesh Commission—set up by the previous Mayawati Government—to probe alleged wrongdoings—by the Uttar Pradesh Police—in 2008. Reportedly, the Commission submitted its report to the Akhilesh Yadav led Government in August 2012. But the UP Government has not made the testimony public or announced its intent of laying it on the Uttar Pradesh assembly floor. 

I said that the best gift the SP government can give to Mahatama Gandhi on his 143rd birth anniversary was to release at least some boys facing terror charges whose matter has been taken up by civil liberty organizations like the PUCL and the Rajeev Yadav led Rihaee Manch.

The Letters 

There exists a backdrop to my statements: in October 2008, I came across the cases of Muhammad Hakim Tariq Qasmi of Azamgarh and Muhammad Khalid Mujahid of Jaunpur; still in jail for the 27th November 2007 serial blasts at Varanasi, Faizabad and Lucknow, they had written poignant letters to the presiding judge. 

The letters are in my custody. I take full responsibility of proving their authenticity. 

I reproduce the letters—written originally in Hindi—in full:  

Letter Number 1  

To,
The Jail Superintendent and the Chief Judicial Magistrate, from the district jail,

 "I, Muhammad Khalid, am a resident of mohalla Madeeyahoon, district Jaunpur, UP. On 16-12-07, the STF people picked me up in front of a large crowd from a shop in Madeeyahoon; I was taken to an unknown place. There they tortured me; they beat me up in different ways. The hairs of my beard were uprooted from various places. Both my legs were literally torn apart—STF people stood on my face and forced me to lick their penis. Petrol was poured on my anus; it became commonplace to tie one end of a string to my penis, and the other to a stone and leaving me in a standing position. Burning cigarettes buds were stubbed on my penis several times. Despite me being a Muslim I was made to drink alcohol, eat pork and drink urine again and again. Ice was put all over me; I was made forcefully to drink water through my nose because of which I used to almost lose my consciousness. I was burnt several times because of electric shocks and battery charges. All this happened so that I accept that I am guilty" 

Letter Number 2

To,
The Jail Superintendent and the Chief Judicial Magistrate, from the district jail,

"I urge that I, Muhammad Tariq, son of Riaz Ahmed Sakeen, hail from Sammupur Rani Ki Sarai, Azamgarh. I was picked up on 10th December (2007) in front of my medicine shop in Azamgarh by the STF and for 10 days I was tortured mercilessly and a video was made, which showed planted false stories regarding my person. On 22nd December, the STF people took me to Barabanki and showed my arrest with RDX and other explosives. This, when I was in their custody for 10 days—I had never possessed RDX or any other explosives—from 24th December to 2nd January, the STF put me in their office on remand. The second remand phase started from January 9th when I was under the charge of the Faizabad CO. They tortured me day and night to force me to say things they wanted to me to say; on the night of 17th January 2008, Rajesh Pandey, the CO City of Faizabad, and OP Pandey, the STF daroga, forced me to hold a red colour battery (on which the word Shakti was prominent and there was something which was constantly sticking to my hands). Then I was a forced to hold bottles of Dabur Kevda. Then I was blindfolded and taken to another room.  I do not know what other things they forced me to hold as I was blindfolded. This much I understood that there were bags and boxes. I am afraid that they tried taking my fingerprints through various means. I beg of you these people want to frame me; I am a peace loving, patriotic citizen of India. I have never committed any crime—neither am I of this nature".

Nimesh Commission

The UP STF (Special Task Force) never rebutted serious charges—currently in public domain—made against them by the both Khalid and Tariq. Apart from the plain illegality of the torture both the accused went through, one of them—Tariq from Azamgarh—openly says that he was picked up (December 10, 2007) much before his arrest was actually shown on record (December 22, 2007). 

Just consider this as things are about to get very interesting in a macabre sense: between December 10, 2007 and December 22, 2007, Tariq was in Police custody—right? If he indeed was caught with RDX and other explosives, the STF would have shown December 10, 2007, as the date on which he was caught by them red handed; but as per the  STF, Tariq was caught by them with RDX and other explosives on December 22, 2007; but then, between December 10 and 22,  2007 Tariq was with the STF—if someone questions that Tariq might be lying about the date when he was picked up and the STF version—that Tariq was arrested on December 22, 2007 is correct—then what about the eye witnesses who saw Tariq being picked up on December 10, 2007 in front of his medicine shop in Rani ki Sarai, Azamgarh? The STF has failed to answer this question; the eyewitnesses who saw the Police taking Tariq away on 10th December 2007 have deposed before the Nimesh Commission—everything is on record; so, if Tariq was actually forced to go with the Police on December 10, 2007—and he had no RDX or explosives on him at that time—then how come RDX et al suddenly appeared on the scene on his person on December 22, 2007? It is crystal clear that the Police-STF team that took Tariq away from his medicine shop planted the RDX and explosives on him! 

To be continued... 

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The forgotten story of Kargil’s first hero and a tireless fight for justice..

Shantanu Bhagwat
28 November 2012, 01:00 PM IST

There are times when words simply flow.. Writing in such moments of extreme lucidity is sheer pleasure..This happened to me last evening. The news that triggered this was one of joy but tinged with a great deal of sadness – and lots of anger too.

This is the forgotten story of Kargil's first hero and a tireless fight for justice. This is the sad tale of Captain Saurabh Kalia. Some of you may be too young to remember the name and it may fail to ring any bells at all. But the story of Capt. Kalia is a tragic story of a spineless government and an indifferent administration that has managed to keep a wound alive for more than 13 years.

That wound is of Dr Kalia and his family.

My first interaction with Dr Kalia was a truly moving and humbling experience, more than a year back. It was the consequence of a chain email that had found its way in my Inbox. That email left a deep impression on me. I tracked down Dr Kalia's number and called him. What I heard that day angered me and made me ashamed in equal measure.

It angered me to see and realise the behaviour of a callous administration. It made me ashamed that most of us are silent spectators to the heartless indifference with which we treat most of our brave soldiers who die defending our borders..

The story of Capt Saurabh Kalia is brief but truly horrifying..

"On May 15, Lt Kalia along with five jawans – Sepoys Arjun Ram, Bhanwar Lal Bagaria, Bhika Ram, Moola Ram and Naresh Singh – had gone for a routine patrol of the Bajrang Post in the Kaksar sector when their patrol was captured by the enemy.

They were in their captivity for over twenty-two days and subjected to unprecedented brutal torture..

...The postmortem revealed that the Pakistan army had indulged in the most heinous acts; of burning their bodies with cigarettes, piercing ear-drums with hot rods, puncturing eyes before removing them, breaking most of the teeth and bones, chopping off various limbs and private organs of these soldiers besides inflicting all sorts of physical and mental tortures before shooting them dead, as evidenced by the bullet wound to the temple" [link]

Numerous letters by Capt Kalia's father and others failed to move the government to pursue the matter in international fora and declare this horrific and brutal treatment of these men as a war crime. In disgust, Dr N K Kalia was forced to say: "I am ashamed of being an Indian. The country has spineless leaders"

Subsequent to my brief call with Dr Kalia, I received a deeply moving reply from him.

His truly heroic and lonely battle inspired me to seek ways in which I could help. That is how I came  in touch with another remarkable soul – the indefatigable Jas Uppal. Jas is better known as the tireless spirit behind the campaign to free Sarabjit Singh and numerous other Indians illegally detained in Pakistan. She has been single-handedly fighting for the cause of Dr Kalia – and numerous others without any assistance from anyone (nor funding). Hers and Dr Kalia's has been a long and almost thankless fight.

Until yesterday – when the Supreme Court finally admitted a plea by Dr Kalia seeking the Court's intervention in the matter so that the Union Government takes up his son's case at the International Court of Justice.

This man who served the country so honourably as a scientist – and whose pain only a parent who has lost a child in the prime of youth can begin to understand - has been reduced to making applications and requesting "help" from the government for his rights and justice. Hopefully this is a turning point in Dr Kalia's fight for justice.

I would like to end this piece with excerpts from Dr Kalia's email, which is deeply touching & truly inspiring. I wish it is read and shared by a large number of people, especially youngsters – who may not be aware of the sad history of this case (I have his permission to share this publicly).

"Dear Shantanu Ji, Heartiest aashirvaad. Many grateful thanks for your phone-call & mail.

I often state that losing one Saurabh, though physically only, we got thousands Saurabhs all over the globe. They never let us feel alone even for a moment. The love, respect, honour showered on us by in-numerable persons in last over twelve years is overwhelming. You too are our Saurabh. Over 1.55 lac emails and more than 42,000 hand written letters apart from countless persons visiting or calling from India or abroad vouch for that. Certainly, we would have to take more births to repay all that.

Our sufferings and pains can never exceed to what brutal torture those six valiant sons of Mother India faced for over 3 weeks with Pak army. We get infinite inspiration and strength when we think so. In fact, Saurabh & his men made every Indian proud.

Sacrificing for the Nation is not a new phenomenon. Over thousands of years, to safeguard our motherland & culture, honour of our mothers, sisters & daughters, sacrifices have been made. If we all hesitate to send our sons in army, who would defend theirs honour.

But what happened to these valiant soldiers is totally unacceptable. Personally, I feel it is not the question of Saurabh or his men but the dignity of our all men in armed forces, rather a National issue and this mine crusade would continue till I am alive. It is more shameful and frustrating when men in power promising me to take up this issue with Pak and also at international forums. Unfortunately, these were tall promises. Regretfully, I am fighting the callousness of our own system.

...I am afraid I would achieve anything but this humble endeavour would at least stir the conscience of common Indian and sensitize them. Sadly our Netas are more Internationalists than Nationalists. We have lost the very sense of National Pride, so common in several other Nations.

You please do read the article http://specials.rediff.com/news/2004/jun/07kalia.htm

Kindly visit us whenever convenient to you.  Yours affectionately, N K Kalia"

Please do share this tragic tale of Dr Kalia's fight for justice with your friends…and please leave a comment here if you can help in any way in this matter and please take a moment to sign this petition. Thanks a lot. Jai Hind, Jai Bharat!

Track me on twitter: http://twitter.com/satyamevajayate

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Look what it says in today’s newspaper!

Rumy Agarwal
28 November 2012, 01:27 PM IST

The newspaper vendor is an eagerly awaited man every morning. But that's by sheer force of habit I guess—we've been conditioned to see our  parents, and their parents before that, enjoying the morning cup that cheers  with the newspaper—because the newspapers of today do not really give any cause for such joyous expectancy. 

Bizarre though it may sound, newspapers are actually injurious to our (mental) health. And you don't even have to wonder why. Check out Page 1 of any daily any day and you will be badgered with news of terrorist activities / natural disasters / horrific accidents / puke-inducing crimes / scams and frauds etc that have jolted the nation in the last 24 hours. Move on to the next page and you have a smaller edition of similar fare on a local level. In other words, one bad news after another strung together to make a noose to be tightened around your neck to squeeze out any vestige of joy left in your heart—almost as if to say, "Hey, how dare you feel happy and contented when there are so many morbid things happening all around you?"  When you have survived these pages can you hope for some respite in the entertainment or sports pages. But glamour is a poor substitute for gravitas and it is the latter which forms the staple diet of avid newspaper readers! So what does the reader do ? Suffer from an acute case of acidity and indigestion every morning ? Yes, more or less.

But why is the situation so pathetic? Don't good things ever happen any more, or do newspapers have a self-imposed ban on writing about them ? Well, I will answer the question as best as I understand it. For one thing, the world is not such a miserable place as journos will have us believe. Good things happen alongwith the bad ones but newspapers have a long-standing prejudice for using bolder and larger print for the bad news and smaller font for the good tidings. Why? Because they have been conditioned to behave like vultures—y'know, swoop in on death, disaster and destruction. They feel almost morally bound to find chinks in the armour of the establishment and report them faithfully to make the public aware of how it is being hoodwinked. And the more sensational the reporting, the more copies sold— is the firm belief  of media behemoths. That readers suffer from panic, anxiety and stress is part of the plan—tabloids are fuelled by the unshakeable notion that the gory truth must get out there and they (the newspapers) are actually doing the public a great service by serving that truth, garnish and all.

But you know what, it is the good news which really keep us—the news-reading public—going. Happy tidings renew our faith and belief in the basic goodness of human nature; they have a feel-good quality which palliates our panic and keeps us from coming unstuck.. That doesn't mean that newspapers should ignore or trivialise traumatic events, because that would be a head-in-the-sands approach. I simply wish that all news are kept in proper perspective. Like,  when we read about scams, more scams, and then some, we react with impotent rage, right? Maybe that  rage could've been mollified a little had the print media also mentioned a couple of those people who refused to be bribed (and they too definitely do exist). See what I mean? A kind of balance between the savoury and the unsavoury, y'know.

Journalists come up with catchy captions, pithy taglines and sensational headlines to grab the readers' eyeballs and ensure that they don't stray to rival tabloids, and thus often blow a news item totally out of proportion. Therein lies the danger because most readers are gullible enough to believe as gospel truth whatever is written in their favourite newspaper! Hence, proper presentation of a news item is of the utmost importance here. Newspapers should refrain from insulting the readers' intelligence by upholding lopsided priorities. And some positive stories (for example, regarding civic issues, economic development, human interest, unbelievable feats of science and technology and so on) on the front page could make for a day's good beginning, don't you think? 

It is the bounden duty of newspapers to inform and enlighten, not anger and frighten. The print media is powerful—it can inform, it can motivate people to abide by the  right and condemn the wrong, it can stir up patriotism and ignite solidarity. Such power should not be misused.

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Tale of Aakash tablet (Part 2)

Javed Anwer
28 November 2012, 07:11 PM IST

Another year and another Aakash story.

But unlike how it unfolded last year, the story is rosier this year. In the last few days some of the sheen has been lost due to the 'made in China' controversy but, according to stories, Aakash 2 looks to be a lot more promising tablet than its predecessor, Aakash.

I am not convinced. And I say this not because Datawind bought some no-name cheap Chinese tablet from Shenzhen for $42.5 and sold it to the public as a product developed and manufactured in India. This is an issue too. But it is more of a breach of trust.

Earlier, I wrote about the problem with the way the original Aakash was conceived and executed. Same problems exist with Aakash 2. The whole project is basically useless and conceived with no proper goal in mind. There is no vision in it. It is not viable.

But what about Forbes and TechCrunch, etc, which are going gaga over Aakash 2?

I have some ideas. But I think a tweet from Vivek Wadhwa, an academic (and apparently a friend of Datawind CEO Suneet Singh Tuli) in the US, explains it better.

Two days ago, after the Indian media started asking Datawind questions on their 'made in India' claim, Wadhwa said, "This is why I had US media review Aakash 2 first. Some in Indian media have inferiority complex, don't understand tech."

So, there you are. It seems Aakash 2 is getting rave reviews because people writing those reviews are those who "understand" technology. In contrast, the reviews of Aakash were done by dumb Indian journalists! And who is Wadhwa, and how does he come into the picture? Well, he himself explained it in an article for Washington Post.

"I was all but certain that, after reading Indian newspapers and extensive criticism from Indians on Twitter that, no matter how good this device was, Indian politics would triumph and the device would die a fast death. Based on my previous experience, I was convinced that no Indian reviewer would have the courage to say anything nice, and the negative publicity would build on itself... In light of this, I asked Tuli to ship me a handful of Aakash 2 units—hot off the manufacturing line—to New York, where I was speaking at an education conference. I showed it to attendees whose responses were overwhelmingly positive. I also gave the tablet to tech journalists I knew, all of whom worked for publications to which I have previously contributed pieces."

So, basically, Wadhwa pulled a few strings, selectively seeded the tablet with tech journalists whom he "knew". It's a standard PR trick. Is it any wonder that the journalists sang paeans to Aakash 2?

There is another angle here. When it comes to the press in the west, selling the feel-good stories like "affordable tablet that is going to revolutionize education in a makeshift school in a dirty village" are pretty easy. It works in a manner similar to stories on "yogis who can stand on nails and can attain nirvana". It is exotic. People love reading and writing about stuff that helps the poor.

The problem that I see with the coverage that the western media has given to Aakash 2 so far is that the people writing on TechCrunch and Forbes are neither familiar with the tablet market in India nor do they know the grim realities that exist in Indian schools and colleges. They probably just regurgitated what Wadhwa and Datawind told them. Access to a tablet is hardly the biggest problems many of schools in India face. There are bigger issues. Like access to drinking water for school kids. Or, maybe, a room where they can study while it is raining outside.

Even if we assume that access to the tablet is paramount and a pressing problem that needs to be solved, Aakash 2 doesn't do it. The people who reviewed the tablet at TechCrunch or Forbes did it in their office. They did not use it in places where there is no Wi-Fi. They did not give it to a 10 year-old kid who had not used a computer ever, and seen his reaction. They found some faults with the tablet but claimed that its low price more than make up for them. They did not know that already, in India, there are several tablets selling for around $80 to $90, which are better than UbiSlate 7Ci, the commercial version of Aakash 2. They did not know that even these better tablets are virtually useless. They had no idea how people in India can turn even well-meaning projects topsy-turvy and make truckloads of money, all in the name of helping the poor.

Primarily, Indian government has to share much of the blame for the Aakash mess. But that doesn't mean Datawind is not part of the mess. The fact that Aakash 2 is just a Chinese rebranded tablet doesn't inspire much confidence in a firm that hailed Aakash as a national achievement by telling people that it is developed and manufactured in India.

Then, there are people who had ordered UbiSlate, the commercial version of Aakash last year, and paid money by demand draft but are yet to get their tablets! One of them is Manoj Shirawala from Surat. He told me in October that he had not received UbiSlate even months after he had paid up Rs 2,999. Shirawala repeatedly wrote mails to Datawind but in vain. The situation is same with D K Mahant, a lawyer in Delhi, as well as many others who have posted at the UbiSlate page on Facebook, seeking an answer.

I wrote to Datawind about the incomplete orders. "The key reason for the delay is the overwhelming demand. We have completed deliveries for almost 80% of the customers that have pre-paid, and expect to complete the rest in the next few weeks," Tuli said in an email.

Nearly a month after I got the mail from Tuli, Mahant is yet to get the UbiSlate 7+ that he had booked months ago.

Given this background, the Chinese connection, and the fact that Datawind continues to hide the tablet from the Indian media, don't blame me for being sceptical about the Aakash 2 story. 

Follow Javed Anwer on Twitter

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After 'Life of Pi'

R Edwin Sudhir
27 November 2012, 02:21 PM IST

Even as Richard Parker and Pi wow audiences around the world, I thought it might be interesting to see what their creator Yann Martel had been up to after the stupendous success of the 'Life of Pi'. Had there been a sequel? That's how I came across his interaction, one-sided for the most part, with Stephen Harper.

As he describes it: 'For as long as Stephen Harper is Prime Minister of Canada, I vow to send him every two weeks, mailed on a Monday, a book that has been known to expand stillness. That book will be inscribed and will be accompanied by a letter I will have written. I will faithfully report on every new book, every inscription, every letter, and any response I might get from the Prime Minister, on this website.'

Which he did with metronomic regularity and unflagging enthusiasm until he'd sent a hundred books. Stephen Harper is still the Prime Minister of Canada and during a recent visit to Bangalore came across as an affable man who made time to exchange garlands with his wife at an Ulsoor temple and pass it off as a "renewal of wedding vows". I won't go into the books Martel sent Harper – there're all listed on the website along with his explanatory note. The notes have been spun off into an e-book but I can't seem to find a copy online. Maybe I wasn't looking hard enough, but if you do, drop the link in the comment box.

Anyway, this got me wondering if any our writers would be brave enough to launch something similar here. It'd be interesting to see what our writer thinks Manmohan Singh should be reading to know his country better. Actually, the task is forbidding, for not only is our erudite Prime Minister a regular reader with a scholarly bent of mind but also because he may have already read the book our writer sends him.  Also, the books should be interesting enough to hold his attention given his extremely busy schedule.

So, with what will our writer start, and with what will end the project whatismanmohansinghreading (hat-tip to Martel)? Martel started with 'The Death of Ivan Ilych' by Leo Tolstoy and ended with 'In Search of Lost Time' by Marcel Proust (the 101st actually). My suggestions, for whatever they're worth, would be to start with 'Behind the Beautiful Forever: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity' by Katherine Boo and end with 'India Becoming: A Portrait of Modern India' by Akash Kapoor.

What would your Hundred Books for Manmohan Singh be?

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Choose between removing corruption or bringing self respect?

Veeresh Malik
27 November 2012, 03:57 PM IST

 

A few evenings ago I met up with a friend, after years, now fairly senior in the civil services. Alumni of one of the best engineering colleges in India, he was amongst those who consciously opted out of heading out of India in the late '70s, choosing instead to stay and work within. So, in the course of the evening, I asked him a direct question - would he, given the chance, join the civil services again?

This, by the way, is a question I have asked more than a few people from the civil services and barring one person, the answer has been the same in all cases. A very blunt and direct "no". 

Obviousy, this was followed by a discussion on the main reasons why not, and here's the gist.

Was the main reason corruption? Not really. Corruption in a variety of ways is a simple fact of life, as inevitable as nature, and we as humans can only attempt to shake and stir it somewhat. Yes, the big corruption in India is now mind-boggling, of a scale unseen ever before especially in a democratic set-up.

The personal approach to corruption is, exactly, very personal. You try to lead by example, you hope that some people, especially your children, will follow you, and where it is inevitable, you have a choice of keeping your eyes shut or moving out of the way. In extreme cases, especially if you have secured your pension and benefits and are capable of striking out in the private sector, resign.

Somebody gives you, say, a tray full of dry fruit, sweets, suit-pieces, electronic items and maybe even some cash. Some would return all of it but not make a complaint, others would keep all of it, and some would keep a token box of sweets and refuse the rest.

What do you do about larger corruption, at the policy level especially, is increasingly out of the civil servant's hands I was told. So whose hands is it in? Consultants and lobbyists of all sorts, with their one-line invoices to their masters, and their power structures which tolerate no opposition. Get out of the firing line, is the only option.

So who is corrupt, who is not, is it really all that black and white? Is accepting an out-of-turn reservation for a railway berth or hospital bed corruption, and if not, why not?

That's also because the supply side of corruption, as practised by some of the so-called most transparent and clean countries and corporates and people, is even more difficult to defeat or even define than the demand side of corruption often seen in so-called least transparent and corrupt countries and corporates and people.

I mean, is hard-selling soft-drinks and junk food corruption or not? Is passing off coloured bars of refined oils as chocolates corruption? Is motivating people to get into debt for generations in the name of liberalisation and reforms corruption?

This has been there since time immemorial, there are many schools of thought on the possible benefits of the trickle down effects of living with corruption, and even a country like China could not stop itself from getting corrupted by opium, though they were able to keep the colonials out. And who supplied the opium but could not keep the colonials out?

The bigger issue, according to some of them, is the degradation and denial of basic self-respect to an increasingly larger number of people in India. That's also a fact, though agreeing with it too loudly could have you and me branded as "Maoists".

So for this, point of view of a rickshaw-wallah, in this case a young man with a post-graduation qualification, again from amongst the best colleges in India - and his friends.

The older rickshaw wallahs have this to say - we have always lived with corruption. But till a few years ago, maybe a decade or more, let us say, if we had a real problem and went to the police for example, then even the harshest of policemen or most corrupt of local elected representatives or crooked of babus, they listened to us. And if required, intervened on our behalf, if the assault on our dignity went past a point.

Something has to be left on the table for everybody, right?

All said and done, we got water to drink without paying for it, public shelters were not torn down in the middle of winter, and there were somehow more public toilets or other places for a free relief, if we looked around for them. Now, we have to pay for water and sometimes get kicked in the middle of a shit because somebody wants to make us pay, even if we are doing it in a sewer or nullah.

That was about the most all-encompassing definition of a corrupt society attacking the basic self-respect and dignity of a citizen of a free country. Taking away his rights to free drinking water and having a dump in peace.

I think most of us can not relate to this. But try it. Try to survive a day in Delhi, for example, without buying water or running in somewhere nice or which charges money to take a dump or a pee, and tell me and yourself:-   what comes first, stopping the destruction of self-respect or stopping corruption?

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Congratulations, Chief Minister

Markandey Katju
27 November 2012, 05:33 PM IST

Dear Chief Minister,

This is just to congratulate you on your strong step in suspending the police officers who arrested the girl who put up an item on Facebook objecting to the shutdown in Mumbai on the death of Bal Thackeray, as well as the girl who supported her.

The Supreme Court (in the appeal coming from the judgment of the Kerala High Court ) and High Courts have repeatedly held that such Bandhs and shut downs are illegal as they paralyze the entire civic life in the city. Hence what the girls did was in accordance with the Supreme Court judgment. How then could their act be called illegal? In fact it was the policemen who arrested the girls who acted illegally and committed the criminal offences mentioned in sections 341 and 342 I.P.C.

In the Nuremburg Trials the the Nazi war criminals took the plea that orders were orders, and they were only carrying out the orders of their superior Hitler. This plea was rejected by the International Tribunal, which held that such orders were illegal,and illegal orders should be disobeyed, and consequently those found guilty were hanged. 

If a policeman is issued an illegal order by his superior (whether political or police) it is his duty to refuse to carry out such illegal order, otherwise he must be charged for a criminal offence, and  given harsh punishment. For instance, if a policeman is given an order by a superior to commit murder, dacoity or rape, he must not obey such order. It seems to me that the delinquent police officers who ordered the arrest of Shaheen and the other girl, and those who implemented this illegal order, succumbed to the pressure of the hundreds of hooligans who came to the police station. What kind of policemen are these who succumb to hooligans ?You have therefore acted correctly in taking strong action in the matter.

I am informed that in recent years hooligan gangs have flourished in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra, and they have terrorized people living in the state. Some of them profess a separatist ideology. In my opinion these should be crushed with an iron hand, and it is your duty, as the Chief Minister to do this, as Chanakya has advised in the Arthashastra, and Bheeshma Pitamah in his upadesh to Yudhishthir in the Shantiparva of Mahabharat.

Regards 
Justice Katju

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Aam Admi kidnapped only to be set free

Babita Basu
26 November 2012, 02:18 PM IST

The Great Wall, Kejri-Wall, peered into the man's face as his eyes fluttered open. He splashed more water onto that brown, weather-beaten face, and The Mango Man coughed a little, coming round slowly. The Mango Man, who had passed out a few hours ago after The Great Wall had announced a political party in his name at a Press conference, was just beginning to coming round. He was a weak, thin and wiry, with a very feeble voice. That was whole damn trouble with him – he was hardly left with a voice.

The Mango Man was held captive in the mango orchards of the Congress fortress for several years, hence his name. His decades in captivity had left him dazed, unable to speak. It was only yesterday that The Great Wall had actually kidnapped him from the Congress fortress and freed him afterwards. Perhaps only for a while, but it was still the unmistakably sweet taste of freedom. He had been made to stand on stage and was propped up with power by The Great Wall's team. The heady rush of adrenaline was too much for the Aam Admi after decades of being led on – he had passed out in an instant.

Inside the fortress, however, Bob the Builder sat sulking. He was the one who had given that teaspoon of a man his name, and none gave him the credits anymore. His brother-in-law, Raul da Phool too fell silent, for a change. But one man – one Man-ish The Warrior cried foul. "Thief, thief – that Wall is a thief – he stole our Mango Man," he said. The Mango Man suspected it was imitative behavior by Man-ish The Warrior and a shameless rip-off from Tagore's Do Bigha Zameen – wherein he was forced to relinquish his ancestral land to a land shark and left his country in saffron self-denial, only to return years later to sit under the shade of a mango tree and be blamed for theft of two mangoes that had ripened and fallen from above. The Mango Man will now turn around the republic that had gone the banana way for decades. True that, Bob - he foresaw the future.

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Getting it Right

Dileep Padgaonkar
26 November 2012, 02:27 PM IST

Home Minister Shinde's statement on J & K strikes a fine balance between realism and hope. 

Gaffe-prone in the early days of his tenure, Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde appears to be swiftly learning the ropes of his onerous calling. His recent statement on Jammu & Kashmir is a balanced mix of hard-headed realism and measured optimism. He has lauded the J & K government for its successful efforts to control violence, noted the whopping rise in the number of tourists and appreciated the efforts of the state authorities to ensure the success of the latest Amar Nath yatra. But, he was quick to add, the central government is also fully cognizant of the "continuous thrust of Pakistan-based militant groups to infiltrate terrorists and hardware across the border and elevate the level of terrorist violence in all parts of India." Then followed some robust advice to the security forces to remain vigilant at all times, share intelligence more effectively and coordinate their activities with a firm but discreet hand. 

Such caution is equally clear from his appeal to separatist outfits to show a spirit of accommodation that "can create the backdrop for democratic aspirations of the people to be achieved." Their response, sadly, has been true to form. They have set conditions to engage with him in the full knowledge that these can accompany or follow, not precede, the dialogue process. By continuing to chase the chimera of secessionism they run the risk of becoming obsolete.  Meanwhile, regardless of the abasement of public discourse in the country, Shinde must now involve political parties in a sustained dialogue to address the issues in J & K on the basis of several government-commissioned reports, including the latest, exhaustive one authored by the Group of Interlocutors.      

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Can word of mouth be more effective than advertising?

Parakram Rautela
26 November 2012, 03:23 PM IST

Cynically speaking, there was little point to Felix Baumgartner jumping down to earth from "the edge of space", unless you count the fact that the world watched him do it. And that in the 9.03 minutes it took him to get from there — 39 kilometres up — to down here, his sponsor Red Bull got more publicity than it ever would have had it spent the millions of dollars which the jump cost on traditional advertising and marketing. Red Bull will not say how much the giant leap cost but the estimates range from $35 million to $60 million, while the publicity garnered by the company is valued at $160 million. 

A recent report in the McKinsey Quarterly, A New Way to Measure Word-of-Mouth Marketing, says the same thing. That "consumers, overwhelmed by choice, are tuning out the ever-growing barrage of traditional marketing." 

According to Professor MM Monipally, who teaches communication at IIM Ahmedabad, it is because all advertising is so exaggerated that it becomes unbelievable. "A company gets 10 seconds to pass on its message so it's forced to do it. But every time an advertiser says you dip your shirt in a bucket of my detergent and it'll come out better than new, my wife's reaction is, 'That's so stupid'." 

Therefore, says the McKinsey report, what consumers are instead listening to is word of mouth — what they're told by friends and family. And that it "cuts through the noise quickly and effectively". 

Could a company then establish itself and grow using only word of mouth, while eschewing traditional advertising and marketing? 

Ironically, a "yes" answer is provided by two graduates of the Mudra Institute of Communication, Ahmedabad, who went on to work with an advertising firm in Delhi. 

Rahul Anand and Rajat Tuli are co-owners of Happily Unmarried, which sells quirky — their bestseller is the Sandaas ashtray which looks like an Indian squat toilet — items from 60 stores around the country, and also in the UK, France, Australia and the UAE. 

Photo courtesy: Piyal Bhattacharya

In the early 2000s, like anybody else who'd wearied of the employer-employee relationship, Rahul and Rajat decided to set up Happily Unmarried. The decision to not advertise — taken while travelling in a bus from west to south Delhi — was made because, simply put, they did not have the money for it. 

"So we decided," says Rahul, "that we would turn our packaging into our advertising. Every brown box that left our store, we put writing or pictures on it." 

The writing — again quirky in the company's signature style. They have a footmat which says Beware of The Wife, although that might be thought of as rude — "connected" with buyers. Sometimes better than the products themselves. Rahul says people often kept the packaging even after the product that was in it had been discarded. 

It also helped, he adds, that they were small. "People tend to talk about the small things they discover," says Rahul. What he means is nobody is ever going to talk to a friend about a Nike store that he might have discovered. "And because of that," says Rahul, "word of mouth helps level the playing field between the big boys and the small fry." 

Another ex-advertising executive who has so far not used big advertising is Ranjiv Ramchandani, who cut away in 1997 from his old job in Mumbai to start Tantra T-shirts. 

Although he does say that if he could afford it, he would advertise. But that at the moment, "it would drive him bankrupt". 

Ramchandani too puts humour-filled writing with an India-connect — "We're desi cool," he says — on his T-shirts, his packaging and also his wash care labels. And a cheaper range of his T-shirts is called Loose Motions. 

This quirkiness, humour, and desi cool, says Professor Monippally, are the qualities that get these companies talked about, helping them in the absence of them advertising. 

And that the rules do not change as companies get bigger and begin to advertise, that they will still require a certain set of qualities in order to be talked about. And that it is because of those qualities — a certain coolness, trust — that Harley Davidson has clubs built around its motorcycles, and Apple has its fanboys with their slavish devotion to every new iProduct. 

That "certain something" is not easily defined. Gopal Kaushik's pub in Manali, The Lazy Dog, for example, gets talked about because he did what the rest of us can only aspire to. Riding through the mountain town on a bike trip, he decided to chuck up his big city life in Mumbai, stay back and start what is now fondly referred to as The Dog. 

The power of word of mouth, however, has not yet cut into the amount of money spent on advertising in India. Annual ad spend, according to the Pitch-Madison report, has grown by 10.3% over the last four years, with total spend touching Rs 25,594 crore in 2011. 

But, according to the McKinsey report, word of mouth can sometimes sell more than traditional advertising and marketing. For example, when the iPhone was launched in Germany, "sales directly attributable to word of mouth outstripped those attributable to Apple's paid marketing". Six times over. 

The report adds that the influence of word of mouth will probably grow, because of the internet and social media. That because of them, "word of mouth is no longer an act of intimate, one-on-one communication. Today, it also operates on a one-to-many basis". 

Flipkart for example used only the internet and social media to put the word out about itself as a start-up. It started selling books in October 2007 and did not advertise till March 2011. And yet, say the experts, everybody knew who they were and what they did before they finally began to advertise. 

"It's free," says Ramchandani, "which means a consumer will talk about your product or service only if he likes it." Therefore, he adds, word of mouth — both positive and negative — is that much more effective. But he also warns that what is said about you will finally depend on the quality of your product. You begin to cut corners, or do not deliver on the promises you make, and word of mouth will only start to work against you.

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Atrocities against the idea of India

TK Arun
25 November 2012, 12:44 PM IST

Two terror accused who have languished in jail for 16 years have been acquitted by the Delhi High Court. A group of teachers at Jamia Milia Islamia had brought out a report in September that listed 16 people whom the Delhi police had arrested for terror and put behind bars, only to release them later after the courts acquitted them.

All these are young Muslim men, many of them from Kashmir. Delhi is not alone when it comes to putting young lives, ever so slowly, through the wringer of the law enforcement machinery.

Terrorists have struck in many parts of India. In all those places, the police have caught the perpetrators, their associates and conspirators, most of whom confess to their sins, persuaded by the tender loving care they are administered. They spend years in jail, some are acquitted by the trial court itself, some others by higher courts.

A few are convicted and, even after a protracted processof appeal, some of these convictions stand. But some of the founding convictions of the Republic fall in the process, felling many things they uphold.

India is supposed to be a liberal democracy, whose Constitution guarantees citizens certain fundamental rights. When the police themselves flout these rights with apparent abandon, the Constitution stands undermined, our democracy turns illiberal. The issue goes beyond abstract principles and the tragedy of maimed individual lives.

India is not a homogeneous country. It is a union of multiple identities— of language, religion, region, caste, ethnicity. Each one of these multiple identities is an articulation of the richness and variety of humankind's evolution on this planet.

A pre-requisite for India's unity as a nation is shared confidence among members of any and every one of the groups constituting these different identities that they can live with dignity and security and prosper, within a shared framework of rights and duties, mediated by a state that does not discriminate against anyone.

That confidence is sabotaged, whenever the police carry out wilful wrong arrests, kill people in so-called encounters and oppress members of minority communities.

The police might engage in such behaviour because of communal bias or, often enough, sheer expedience — they are under pressure to apprehend the perpetrators of some heinous crime against society and, to save their own skins, pick up convenient victims and frame charges against them.

This might seem sweeping and unfair to the police, an under-staffed, underpaid and overworked body of public servants whose vigilance and action are still summoned to protect the citizens from all threats to normalcy. But the fact remains that the police have failed, dismally, to change their culture from when the British set up the force to subjugate the subjects of an unruly colony.

They have to evolve into an agency that serves citizens and are accountable to them and not just to their own internal hierarchy.The police will not do it out of the goodness of their hearts. It is the job of politics to make them.

Political failure on this crucial count mutilates young, promising lives and creates alienation and schism, instead of unity in diversity. This must stop.

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Atrocities against the idea of India

TK Arun
25 November 2012, 12:49 PM IST

Two terror accused who have languished in jail for 16 years have been acquitted by the Delhi High Court. A group of teachers at Jamia Milia Islamia had brought out a report in September that listed 16 people whom the Delhi police had arrested for terror and put behind bars, only to release them later after the courts acquitted them.

 All these are young Muslim men, many of them from Kashmir. Delhi is not alone when it comes to putting young lives, ever so slowly, through the wringer of the law enforcement machinery. 

Terrorists have struck in many parts of India. In all those places, the police have caught the perpetrators, their associates and conspirators, most of whom confess to their sins, persuaded by the tender loving care they are administered. They spend years in jail, some are acquitted by the trial court itself, some others by higher courts.

A few are convicted and, even after a protracted processof appeal, some of these convictions stand. But some of the founding convictions of the Republic fall in the process, felling many things they uphold.

India is supposed to be a liberal democracy, whose Constitution guarantees citizens certain fundamental rights. When the police themselves flout these rights with apparent abandon, the Constitution stands undermined, our democracy turns illiberal. The issue goes beyond abstract principles and the tragedy of maimed individual lives.

 India is not a homogeneous country. It is a union of multiple identities— of language, religion, region, caste, ethnicity. Each one of these multiple identities is an articulation of the richness and variety of humankind's evolution on this planet.

 A pre-requisite for India's unity as a nation is shared confidence among members of any and every one of the groups constituting these different identities that they can live with dignity and security and prosper, within a shared framework of rights and duties, mediated by a state that does not discriminate against anyone.

 That confidence is sabotaged, whenever the police carry out wilful wrong arrests, kill people in so-called encounters and oppress members of minority communities.

The police might engage in such behaviour because of communal bias or, often enough, sheer expedience — they are under pressure to apprehend the perpetrators of some heinous crime against society and, to save their own skins, pick up convenient victims and frame charges against them.

This might seem sweeping and unfair to the police, an under-staffed, underpaid and overworked body of public servants whose vigilance and action are still summoned to protect the citizens from all threats to normalcy. But the fact remains that the police have failed, dismally, to change their culture from when the British set up the force to subjugate the subjects of an unruly colony.

They have to evolve into an agency that serves citizens and are accountable to them and not just to their own internal hierarchy.The police will not do it out of the goodness of their hearts. It is the job of politics to make them.

Political failure on this crucial count mutilates young, promising lives and creates alienation and schism, instead of unity in diversity. This must stop.

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An inner sense of justice

Santosh Desai
25 November 2012, 06:44 PM IST

For once, television went hungry. The hanging of Ajmal Kasab, that made-for television extravaganza starring hyperventilating news anchors,  pontificating  experts  and  dramatic  background  music,  took  place  in  a  decidedly unspectacular way. Acting with uncharacteristic secrecy and a sense of efficient urgency that comes completely against the run of play, the government carried out the sentence swiftly after the rejection of the mercy petition. In its wake it left a whole range of reactions from different sides of the ideological spectrum.

For some, the sentence was carried out far too quietly, for any satisfaction to be derived from the action. He should have been hanged publicly, some aver, apparently relishing the prospect of a public display of vengeance. There has been a significant section of opinion that has watched the Indian judicial process with great frustration, as it seemed to take an interminable amount of time to come to what most saw as a foregone conclusion. The  idea  that India was spending large sums on money, looking after someone that had committed such heinous crimes, was deeply offensive to this group.

On the other hand, there are those that use this example to argue against the death penalty, labelling it a medieval form of blood-letting that no civilised nation should be party to. The fact  that  evidence  suggests  that  the death penalty is not an effective deterrent and that there is always the possibility of a miscarriage of justice, points to the need to look at other modes of punishment. Also, hanging Kasab, according to this view, does  not  in any way make the country safer or deter future attacks; on the contrary it might well fan the flames of self- righteous anger on the other side.

The trouble with terrorism is that it stands outside the usual frameworks that govern the sense of right and wrong, of action and consequence, of the very idea of reciprocity and its value in society. The terrorist,  attacks  the idea of civilisation by detaching his actions from any specific purpose, and punctures society's ability to respond by voluntarily giving up a desire to live. The foreswearing of life dismantles  one  of  civilisation's  founding assumptions and renders it incapable of meting out punishment, which is otherwise its way of maintaining control. How do you punish someone that has embraced the worst punishment one can imagine as a starting position? The Mumbai attacks were mounted with no specific purpose in mind; there were no 'demands', nor did the attackers plan on being caught alive. The terrorism that they practise has no answer within the structure of civilisation- in that  there is no equivalent response that is possible. Terrorism is an idea- the people carrying it forward seem to be spearheading it, but they are merely transient vehicles that get replaced by others. All form of retaliation attacks  the surface of the problem; for the real product that terror sells is fear and doubt, and once implanted, no amount of reciprocal action can eliminate these. It is possible to attack people and places, but how does one attack an idea that is present in one's own mind?

Faced with such an implacable negation of the idea of civilisation, the only method of response available if for any civilisation to re-assert its belief in itself and play uncompromisingly by the  rules  it  has  laid  down  for itself, without any deviation. Arguments that focus on the outcome of one's actions- whether a certain kind of punishment acts as a deterrent or not, are of no use. The key is not whether killing a terrorist by finding him guilty in a court of law signals our ability to strike back strongly, nor whether it actually might provoke more attacks. Justice here is not an outward signal, but an inner compass.

Our response to terrorism must be as far as possible, independent of external considerations, for any discussion of this kind is by definition unproductive in a scenario where causality does not operate in a  conventional  sense.

Justice in this case, is only about confirming an existing way of life- of acting with stillness and an inward sense of purpose, without factoring in possible consequences. The key to dealing with the issue of justice in  a  case like this is to act exactly as per the existing law of the land. Nothing more, nothing less. No need to underline the sense of vengeance (after all, Kasab had come here to die in any case), no call to triumphantly revel  in  the victory of due process, and no reason to use this event to ask larger questions about the death penalty.

Whether the death penalty should exist or not is a legitimate question and needs to be debated, but to do so in this case is to risk muddling two different issues. The position India chooses to take on the capital punishment must step outside individual cases and rest on a philosophical determination of where it stands. If there were reasons, within the existing framework of the law, to ask if Kasab were not worthy of mercy or doubt, then surely they  can be asked, but as it turns out, in this case that doesn't seem to be the case.

The 27 crores spent on Kasab, were in fact not spent on him at all. They were spent on preserving a sense of self for the nation in the face of the gravest provocation. Terrorism has managed to implant a nagging sense of fear  in our everyday life, but to allow it to infect us with doubt about a chosen way of life would be the real defeat. Those who bemoan India's softness forget that the real battle here is one for the idea of civilisation. And while the Indian idea of civilisation as it is practised today has many flaws, in this case, by following the letter of the law, the right thing has been done, in the right way, for once.

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