Most Pakistanis feel uneasy coming to terms with the reality that is Bangladesh. They hide themselves behind a shoddy narrative of 1971, and neatly categorise the whole thing as a “conspiracy.”But who conspired against whom and when? What were the Bengalis up to? And how did they reach breaking point? A Pakistani reality check about the birth of Bangladesh on December 16, 1971.

Joy of freedom: Bangladeshi citizens take part in a parade to mark the country”s 45th Victory Day in Dhaka on December 16, 2016.

THE areas that constituted Pakistan in 1947 were ruled by the British under different arrangements. Bengal, Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (then ‘NWFP’) were provinces with elected assemblies. Balochistan was governed by an appointed Commissioner; tribal areas by Political Agents; and a number of so-called princely states by Rajas under the paramountcy of the British Crown. 

***

The people who were handed over the reigns of the new country on August 14 were tasked with working out a system which allowed all the above-mentioned entities to coexist peacefully and prosper together. But when they sat down to figure out this formula for an equal distribution of power, every option they considered led to the same concern: the Bengalis were more in number than all the rest put together, and under a democracy, nothing could bar them from getting a majority share in the new state. Now that did not sit well at all with the infant country’s larger, grander designs of spearheading a new Islamic renaissance and hoisting its flag on every other building in South Asia. The dark-skinned Bengalis, who shared their language and culture with their Hindu compatriots did not cut a figure to fit the coveted slot. This glorious feat could only be performed by the blue-blooded Muslim elite that had migrated from India, with a few others playing second fiddle and the rest serving as foot soldiers. So, that was the first crossroad that our nation found itself at; that if the simple democratic path was to be taken, we would miss the golden opportunity to revive all of our lost glories (by losing the government to a Bengali majority). And if we stuck to this cherished goal, we would need to get around democracy and find some undemocratic solution to ‘the Bengal problem’. At the end, it didn’t turn out to be very difficult. Bengalis held faith in democracy and lost in Pakistan.

***

East Pakistan was deadly against separate electorate while the central and Punjab Muslim Leagues were its biggest supporters. Almost a quarter of East Pakistan was Hindu and/or Scheduled Caste while non-Muslims in western provinces made less than five per cent of population. In present- day Punjab, non-Muslims (mainly, Christians) are barely two-and-a-half per cent of the population. So the province that had a miniscule population of non-Muslims advocated separate electorate while the one with a sizeable and significant one wanted Muslims and Hindus to vote jointly!There was an ideological dimension to the issue as well. Those who wanted to make Pakistan an Islamic state considered it important to not let the votes of non-Muslims mix up with those of the chosen faithful so that the sacred state’s mandate is not “polluted”. For others, the non-Muslims started symbolising all of their identity markers other than Islam — like language and culture — which they shared with them and did not want to abandon while building the new state. But I think more important than the ideological exegeses were the hard political facts, the hardest being that there were more Bengalis than all the rest put together. This was worsened by the fact that “the rest” were divided into too many smaller units. So under a democracy, Bengalis would always win. And Bengalis ruling Pakistan was somehow against the blueprint of Islamic republic as laid down by its self-appointed architects. It had to be ruled by the rent-seeking jagirdars of Punjab and khandani bureaucrats hailing from northern India. They had no respect for the Bengali political leadership comprising mainly of middle class persons who were politically conscious, articulate and quite active.They fretted at the prospects of numerically dominant Bengali Muslims ruling over them. They fumed at the tenets of democracy and geared up to fix it. They engineered a two-pronged strategy: One, was to “unite” all except East Bengal into one state entity, called One-Unit scheme resulting in what was named the West Pakistan province. But even that was not enough to counter-weigh Bengalis who were a whopping 54 per cent of population. The second part of the strategy thus was to divide East Bengal into smaller units. And Muslim League had the experience of only one kind of division, that is, along religious lines. So if Bengali voters were separated on the basis of religion, the Bengali Muslim representatives will fall fewer than the elected members of West Pakistan. 

***

It was embarrassing for many in the government to be unable to agree upon one system of elections in a country that wanted to take pride in its Muslim unity. The Act was soon amended to provide for the same joint system for both the wings. However, no elections could be held under this law, as General Ayub took over and abrogated the nascent constitution. When the general was tailoring a constitutional dress for his brazen military rule, he too was advised to separate electors but he didn’t. Nor did General Yahya dare to do that while drafting his Legal Framework Order that provided the basis for the first general elections in the country held in 1970. 

***

The Constituent Assembly found itself in a perpetual logjam. Bengalis were not asking all else to bow before them. They simply demanded their democratic rights — their language, culture shall be respected; their resources shall belong to them; they should get from the federal pool a share proportionate to their population. The blue-blooded Muslim League thought that it could continue to gamble on the back of the wild card of religion. So if you demanded rights for your homeland, you were accused of narrow provincialism that was against the lofty pan-Islamist ideals, if you dared to ask for your share in resources, you were blamed for obstructing the renaissance of Islam and if you wanted respect for your language, you were definitely a traitor and an Indian stooge. 

***

Bengalis were not afraid of their fellow Hindu citizens and the ruling elite of Pakistan could not instill this fear into them either. Or maybe the Bengalis had started fearing their fellow Muslim overlords more and the state of Pakistan failed to divert their fear towards Hindus. Whatever the case, the Bengali refusal to reject Hindus as integral part of their polity actually made our elite dread Bengalis even more, or perhaps their fear of Hindu and Bengali dominating them got mixed with each other. Blocked effectively on the premise of democracy, they did what people who feed on fear do. They inflicted the worst possible fury on Bengalis to stir fear in their hearts and yet, the lean, placid Bengalis smiled, refusing to be afraid of their freedom. That’s how Bangladesh was born.The writer works with Punjab Lok Sujag, a research and advocacy group in Pakistan. By arrangement with the Dawn

Note ban can have rippled effect on GDP growth and job creation, says ex-PM.

New Delhi, December 9

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in remarks published on Friday that Indians should be ready to face “a tough period over the coming months” due to demonetisation.

Writing in The Hindu newspaper, the Congress leader also said the November 8 decision would cause grievous injury to the honest Indian while those with black money will escape with a mere rap on the knuckles.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

The economist-turned-politician described as “impetuous” Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s move to ban the 500 and 1,000 rupee notes and warned that this would cause severe hardships to ordinary Indians.

It has “shattered the faith and confidence that hundreds of millions of Indians had reposed in the government of India to protect them and their money”, Manmohan Singh said.

The demonetisation has led to an unprecedented cash crunch across the country, with the Reserve Bank of India unable to supply adequate cash in exchange for the 86 per cent of all currency that was spiked.

This has led to long, daily queues at all banks and ATMs, both of which frequently go dry. The government has also put a cap on how much a person can withdraw from his own bank account.

Manmohan Singh, who was the Finance Minister when India unleashed economic reforms in 1991, said Modi’s stated intentions behind the note ban — fighting fake currency as well as corruption and black money — were honourable.

“However, the popular saying ‘the road to hell is paved with good intentions’ serves as a useful reminder and warning in this context.” Manmohan Singh underlined that all cash was not black money and all black money was not hoarded in cash.

“More than 90 per cent of India’s workforces still earn their wages in cash. These consist of hundreds of millions of agricultural workers, construction workers and so on.” He pointed out that more than 600 million Indians still lived in towns and villages with no bank and cash was the bedrock of their lives.

“To tarnish these as ‘black money’ and throw the lives of these hundreds of millions of poor people in disarray is a mammoth tragedy.” The demonetisation decision had breached the government’s fundamental duty to protect the rights and livelihood of its citizens.

Chiding the government for introducing the Rs 2,000 note, he went on: “This brazen policy measure (demonetisation) has neither tackled the stock of black money holistically nor has it stemmed the flow of it.” He said other countries which went for currency swap did so over a period of time “and not as a sudden overnight operation”.

“As someone who has experienced long lines for rationed food during war time, I never imagined that one day I would find my own countrymen and women waiting endlessly for rationed money. That all of this suffering is due to one hasty decision makes it even more disconcerting.” Manmohan Singh warned that the note ban can act as a negative shock to the economy.

“Consumer confidence is an important economic variable in a nation’s growth prospects. It is now evident that the sudden overnight ban on currency has dented the confidence of hundreds of millions of Indian consumers, which can have severe economic ramifications…This can have rippled effect on GDP growth and job creation.”

“It is my humble opinion that we as a nation should brace ourselves for a tough period over the coming months, needlessly so, ” he said. —IANS

SC asks Centre whether cooperative banks can accept banned currency

New Delhi, December 9The Supreme Court on Friday sought response of the Centre on the issues including whether the district cooperative banks can be allowed to accept deposits with certain conditions and can there be a minimum assured withdrawal from banks.A Bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur asked Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi to seek instruction and apprise it about the stand of the government on issues including the bar on district cooperative banks from accepting deposits in demonetised currency notes.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)The bench also comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud said that when the minimum weekly withdrawal limit has been fixed, then why people are not able to get that amount.“Can we say that this will be the minimum assured weekly withdrawal amount that a person can get from the bank,” the Bench asked and while fixing the batch of petitions for further hearing on December 14.The Bench, meanwhile, proposed to frame various legal questions to be deliberated upon in the future hearing.Rohatgi sought a direction that cases in various high courts on the demonetisation issue be stayed.The Bench said that it would take up this issue on next date of hearing.The top court had on December 2 asked the Centre to spell out the measures taken to ease suffering of and inconvenience to the people in rural areas.While hearing a batch of pleas challenging various aspects of demonetisation, the court had said that all parties should sit together and prepare a list of categories of cases which could be referred to high courts and those that could be heard by the apex court.The AG had said that the government was aware of the situation in cooperative banks which lack proper infrastructure and mechanism as compared to scheduled banks.The Centre had on November 24 filed an affidavit in the apex court on demonetisation and had said that the “bold move” would eradicate black money and slush funds operating since Independence which cast a “parallel economy” hitting the poor and the middle class.On November 29, the apex court had agreed to hear pleas of 14 cooperative banks of Kerala seeking its nod to transact business like banks and others seeking demonetisation of any currency note higher than Rs 100 denomination. — PTI

Government decides to print plastic currency notes

The Reserve Bank for long has been planning to launch plastic currency note after field trials. PTI file

New Delhi, December 9The central government told Parliament on Friday that it had decided to print plastic currency notes.”It has been decided to print banknotes based on plastic or polymer substrate. The process of procurement has been initiated,” Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal said in a written reply in Lok Sabha to a query whether the Reserve Bank of India intended to print plastic currency notes in place of paper ones.The Reserve Bank for long has been planning to launch plastic currency note after field trials. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) In February 2014, the central government had informed Parliament that one billion plastic notes of Rs 10 denomination would be introduced in a field trial in five cities selected for their geographical and climatic diversity. The selected cities were Kochi, Mysore, Jaipur, Shimla and Bhubaneswar.Plastic notes have an average life span of about five years and are difficult to imitate. Also, currency notes made of plastic are cleaner than those made of paper. Such notes were first introduced in Australia as a measure against counterfeit notes.Replying to another question, Meghwal said the RBI had said in December 2015 that they had received some banknotes of Rs 1000 without having security thread that were printed at Currency Note Press (CNP), Nashik, on paper supplied by Security Paper Mill (SPM), Hoshangabad.Security Printing and Minting Corporation (SPMCIL) and the units involved (SPM and CNP) has initiated an inquiry.”Major penalty chargesheet has been issued to the personnel concerned. Disciplinary proceedings have been initiated as per departmental rules,” the minister said.Meghwal said action has been taken to strengthen quality procedure and online inspection system in manufacturing process and special training has been given to the persons concerned to avoid such types of mistakes in future.”Additional inspections have been introduced to ensure defect-free production,” he said. — PTI

A digital red herring

‘Cashless’ drive a bid to distract from currency disaster

Demonetisation: CJI pained at lawyers outshouting each other

New Delhi, December 9“What kind of memory I would take with me,” was how a dejected Chief Justice of India TS Thakur, who is demitting office early next month, reacted when lawyers tried to out-shout each other during the hearing on demonetisation.A visibly pained CJI made his displeasure known by saying that never in his career as a judge for 23 years he has seen such unruly behaviour when junior lawyers are shouting and attempting to pin down senior advocates and making the atmosphere of the court like that of a “fish market”.Justice Thakur was anguished when some of the lawyers raised their voice to interrupt the submission of Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, who was arguing for the government, and senior advocates like Kapil Sibal and P Chidambaram.”This is not a way to argue. You people are making it a fish market. You people don’t want senior advocates like Sibal to speak. See Mr Chidambaram has not yet stood up. This is very unfortunate.””In 23 years of me as a judge, I have not seen such behaviour. This is the last week as a judge and I would be going with a heavy heart. What kind of decorum is maintained? This is CJI’s court and yet no decorum. You can’t be allowed this kind of behaviour,” the CJI, who will be demitting office on January 3, said. — PTI

Govt stalls debate to avoid Oppn fire, SC turns up heat

DEMONETISATION Rahul hits out at ‘nervous’ Modi, SC asks if any groundwork was done before announcing policy

NEW DELHI: The government’s move to recall high-value banknotes came under fire in Parliament and the Supreme Court on Friday, with judges questioning cash rationing by banks and opposition lawmakers accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “running away” from a debate.

*NOV 8 WAS THE DAY THE PM DECLARED DEMONETISATION OF HIGH-VALUE BANKNOTES

As a lingering cash crunch seemed to temper the initial euphoria over the high-stake policy move, the government has appeared less effusive about the November 8 decision. And with only three working days left, it wants to see off the winter session without any major embarrassment in Parliament.

So much so that ruling lawmakers were seen on Friday preventing a debate in the Lok Sabha, prompting opposition charges that the government didn’t want to be called out on the so-called demonetisation move which suddenly culled 86% of cash in the economy. The Opposition had initially sought a debate with a vote on demonetisation but later relented to one without voting. Only this time, the government has seemed reluctant to hold one at all.

“If they allow me to speak in Parliament, you shall see an earthquake will come,” Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi told journalists. “This is the biggest scam in India’s history. If I say this inside the House, Modiji will not be able to sit.”

The Parliament’s winter session has so far been lost to disruptions by opposition parties, but, in a role reversal on Friday, BJP chief whip Rakesh Singh was seen gesturing to ruling NDA MPs to get up and shout the opposition MPs down.

For the government, the day was no better at the Supreme Court, which wondered if the restriction on withdrawal of “legitimate and taxed money” violated fundamental rights. Cash withdrawals from banks are capped at `24,000 a week, but most banks are unable to pay even that.

A bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur asked the government to consider fixing a minimum assured withdrawal which banks cannot refuse and allow district cooperative banks to accept banned 500-and 1000-rupee notes after stringent verification of the customers.

The court told Mukul Rohatgi, the government’s top law officer, to report back the progress on this on December 14 when it will issue an interim order to reduce people’s hardship.

“Did you have any projections as to how much will you receive and how much notes were to be printed? What would be your gestation period?” the bench asked Rohatgi, wondering whether there was any application of “mind” or “planning” before the demonetisation announcement.

A constitution bench will be set-up to hear 25 petitions that have challenged the government’s demonetisation move, aimed at curbing black money and counterfeit currency. The court said it will frame 11 questions for the consideration of the constitution bench.

Back in Parliament, ruling party lawmakers refused to allow Gandhi to initiate a fresh debate while parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar demanded an apology from the opposition benches for disrupting the proceedings during the past days. At one point, BJP leader LK Advani was seen asking his party MPs not to disrupt the proceedings.

Later, a visibly upset Sumitra Mahajan, the Lok Sabha Speaker, adjourned the Lok Sabha till Wednesday morning.

“Jao sab chhutti par (Go on leave, everyone),” she said on the microphone. Her rebuke came a day after President Pranab Mukherjee castigated MPs for disruptions, asking them to run Parliament “for god’s sake.”

With only three working days left this session, the government is unwilling to allow opposition leaders an opportunity to attack it in Parliament for people’s hardship due to demonetisation, said sources. “The PM is giving speeches across the country but is afraid of coming to the Lok Sabha and is not willing to sit there,” Rahul Gandhi said, wondering about the reason for this “nervousness”.

Cash withdrawals from banks are capped at `24,000 a week, but most banks are unable to pay even that.

A bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur asked the government to consider fixing a minimum assured withdrawal which banks cannot refuse and allow district cooperative banks to accept banned 500-and 1000-rupee notes after stringent verification of the customers.

The court told Mukul Rohatgi, the government’s top law officer, to report back the progress on this on December 14 when it will issue an interim order to reduce people’s hardship.

“Did you have any projections as to how much will you receive and how much notes were to be printed? What would be your gestation period?” the bench asked Rohatgi, wondering whether there was any application of “mind” or “planning” before the demonetisation announcement.

A constitution bench will be set-up to hear 25 petitions that have challenged the government’s demonetisation move, aimed at curbing black money and counterfeit currency. The court said it will frame 11 questions for the consideration of the constitution bench.

Back in Parliament, ruling party lawmakers refused to allow Gandhi to initiate a fresh debate while parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar demanded an apology from the opposition benches for disrupting the proceedings during the past days. At one point, BJP leader LK Advani was seen asking his party MPs not to disrupt the proceedings.

Later, a visibly upset Sumitra Mahajan, the Lok Sabha Speaker, adjourned the Lok Sabha till Wednesday morning.

“Jao sab chhutti par (Go on leave, everyone),” she said on the microphone. Her rebuke came a day after President Pranab Mukherjee castigated MPs for disruptions, asking them to run Parliament “for god’s sake.”

With only three working days left this session, the government is unwilling to allow opposition leaders an opportunity to attack it in Parliament for people’s hardship due to demonetisation, said sources. “The PM is giving speeches across the country but is afraid of coming to the Lok Sabha and is not willing to sit there,” Rahul Gandhi said, wondering about the reason for this “nervousness”.

Cashless economy a long way to go since cash is still king

HURDLES Vast rural population, few debit cards, fewer ATMs and point of sale machines… the problems are too many

NEWDELHI: Apart from the war on black money, the government’s move to ban old ₹500 and ₹1,000 banknotes was also a push towards a cashless economy (the old notes constituted 86% of the total money in circulation). Ever since November 8, the Centre has announced a number of sops to push for a cashless economy — discount on buying petrol and diesel through cards, waiving off service charge on card transactions up to ₹2,000 and no transaction fees on public dealings with PSUs if they are done digitally, among others.

PTIEven after a month, the queues still remain longer

But is India ready for a cashless society? Or how feasible is it for people to actually go cashless?

Two-thirds of Indian population live in rural areas. The number of bank branches and ATMs are far and few and very few people actually have bank accounts. Besides, most shops in these areas do not have the infrastructure to accept digital payments or plastic money.

There are around 1.45 million point of sale (PoS) machines in use in India, which makes it around 856 PoS machines per million people.

In a population of around 1.3 billion, India has only 662 million debit card holders as of March 31, 2016, according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Most people use their debit cards only to withdraw cash.

Around ₹27 lakh crore worth of transactions happened through debit cards in 2015-16. Out of these, 92% were cash withdrawals from ATMs.

And people still prefer to withdraw money through cheques and slips.In 2015-16, cash withdrawal using plastic cards in India was only 32% of the total cash withdrawals; the rest of the money was withdrawn using paper clearances like cheques.

Lack of required infrastructure is another roadblock to the country’s digital drive. India’s mobile teledensity — the number of telephone connections for every hundred individuals living in an area — is 81, whereas in rural is areas it is even less – 51, according to data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Though India is the fastest growing as well as the second-largest smartphone market in the world, there are just a little over 300 million smartphone users in India. The majority still use feature phones.

“India has probably has reached the tipping point. The infrastructure cannot be created overnight but you need to have that intent. There is a lot of ground to cover in terms of spreading financial and digital literacy,” said Rachna Nath, partner and head, digital consulting , KPMG India. “We need to use the complete ecosystem, such as community service centres, to create awareness.”

How note ban was kept secret

Prime Minister Narendra Modi handpicked revenue secretary Hasmukh Adhia to spearhead a radical move to abolish 86% of the country’s cash overnight and take aim at the huge shadow economy.

Adhia, and five others privy to the plan were sworn to utmost secrecy, sources with knowledge of the matter said. They were supported by a team of researchers working in two rooms at Modi’s New Delhi residence.

The secrecy was aimed at outflanking those who might profit from prior knowledge, by pouring cash into gold, property and other assets and hide illicit wealth. “One is never ready for this kind of disruption — but it is a constructive disruption,” said Narendra Jadhav, former chief economist of RBI.

Over more than a year, Modi commissioned research from officials at the finance ministry, the central bank and think-tanks on how to advance his fight against black money, a close aide said. He demanded answers to questions such as: How quickly India could print new banknotes; how to distribute them, and whether state banks benefit if they received a rush of new deposits.

The topics were broken up to prevent anyone from joining the dots and concluding that a cash swap was in the offing.

“We didn’t want to let the cat out of the bag,” said a senior official directly involved. “Had people got a whiff, the exercise would have been meaningless.”

But though secrecy was paramount, clues had been left.

The RBI disclosed in May that it was making preparations for a new series of banknotes that were confirmed in August when it announced it had approved a design for a new ₹2,000 note.

The printing presses had only just started turning when the media finally started to run with the story in late October.

“The plan was to introduce it around November 18, but there was a clear sign that it could get leaked,” said one person with direct knowledge.

Gap between haves, have-nots has widened: Manmohan

Says education can overcome division of people on religious, caste lines

Former PM Dr Manmohan Singh at CRRID in Chandigarh on Friday. RP Bhamba (centre), Chairman, CRRID governing body, and SR Hashim, Chairman, IASSI, are also seen in the picture. tribune Photo: Manoj Mahajan

Amaninder Pal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 9

Former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, the architect of India’s economic reforms initiated 25 years ago, today said the progress the country witnessed during the past 25 years was not “equitably distributed”. Certain sections of society such as SCs/STs, OBCs and minorities and those living in the rural areas had lagged behind and their gain or share in the progress of the country was much less than that of the well-off sections of the country, said Dr Singh, who had opened up the country’s economy with his Budget speech in 1991.Though Dr Singh emphasised that the country had made considerable progress, particularly during the past 25 years, but he also underscored the point that “inequality has increased substantially in the country.”Delivering the inaugural address at the 17th annual conference of the Indian Association of Social Sciences Institutions (IASSI), organised by the Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRIID), Chandigarh, here today, the former Primer Minister spoke on “Education and Development: Issues, Challenges and Opportunities.”“The size of our economy today is two trillion plus ($ 2.076) compared to the $ 0.327 trillion economy in 1990-91.  The literacy rate has increased from 52.21 per cent in 1991 to 74.04 per cent in 2011-12.The population living below the poverty line has declined from 45.3 to 21.9 per cent from 1993-94 to 2011-12, but the benefits of this progress are not fairly distributed”, said Dr Singh.“The disparity in the country has increased considerably. As per socio-economic surveys for rural India, there were 74.5 per cent households with a monthly income below Rs 5,000 in 2011,” he further added. Dwelling on the quality of education being offered by government schools, he said it was far from satisfactory due to various factors such as lack on infrastructure, inadequate teaching faculty and equipment, etc.“Now, there are schools for the haves and have-nots leading to social segregation of children belonging to various sections of society”, he said.Critically commenting on the private education system, Dr Singh said though private schools were better monitored, they charge a high fee and were beyond the reach of the poor, who could not bear the financial burden such schools entail. He said there was a dire need to address issues like inadequacy of classrooms, shortage of teaching material, equipment and above all shortage of teachers in the schools.

Social divisions

The current tendency to generate and promote social divisions among people on the basis of religions, castes and regional lines can be overcome by educating people to acquire those values which characterised the struggle for Independence and the idea of India. Education must promote what Jawaharlal Nehru described as “scientific temper” and humanistic values. The technically educated individuals can be transformed into culturally advanced citizens, who have the capacity to enjoy their own liberty and respect the liberty of others in a multi-cultural and multi-religious society of India, which is correctly described as ‘unity in diversity’.  The educated and conscious citizens become participants in the deepening and the widening of democracy, in observing the rule of law and saving the polity from deviations from democratic principles, keeping it on the path to follow the cherished ideals of our Constitution, the ‘Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic’.   

Education as business

The new educational institutions coming up in the private sector are mostly for “profit” and are not like the old non-profit charitable private educational institutions. Though at the same time, it must be admitted that some of the private education providers have maintained high quality but there number is not much. He also stressed on empowerment of women through education.

‘Month on, no relief in sight any sooner’

Sqeezing cash, stretching queues: A long queue of people outside a bank in Ludhiana on Friday. Photos: Inderjeet Verma

Gurvinder Singh

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, December 9

 

There seems no end to the cash crunch. Most banks and ATMs remained out of cash today as demonetisation completed a month. Even if cash at a few banks was available, withdrawal amount hardly exceeded Rs 6,000.Those who managed to get cash had a mixed expression of some relief and confusion about how they would use the ‘big note’. Most of the banks and ATMs are dispensing only Rs 2,000 notes. Many traders are not accepting Rs 2,000 notes as they don’t have enough change.“Though people have started coming with Rs 2,000 notes, there is no change in the market. Owing to the cash crunch, sales are already down. I have about twenty-four Rs 100 notes. If I give 19 of these to someone purchasing products worth Rs 70, what am I going to give other customers?” asked Baljinder Singh, a shop owner of the Dugri area.Rakesh Singla, a resident coming out of the SBI branch at Fountain Chowk, said he requested the bank official if he could get notes in small denomination. But he told me that those had been distributed in the first hour of cash disbursal and now only Rs 2,000 notes were available.“This is the height of mismanagement on the part of the government. One decision, 30 days, no relief yet and nor in sight any sooner. On top of that, none of the benefits of demonetisation has started manifesting as yet. The only results so far have been negative,” said Yoginder Grewal, a resident at a bank in the Feroze Gandhi market.

This is height of mismanagement

• This is the height of mismanagement on the part of the government. One decision, 30 days, no relief yet and nor in sight any sooner. On top of that, none of the benefits of demonetisation has started manifesting as yet. The only results so far have been negative. —Yoginder Grewal,a residen

Job of a military commander is to lead soldiers into battle with utmost commitment and focus by an authority bestowed in him by an order of the head of the state. Logic often fails to motivate men in the face of death, thus, the task of a commander is to blind the logic by evoking emotions. A good commander will always assemble his men and throw them to the wolf. But when he does so, he too lead his group deep into enemy territory leading from the front. Before men went for surgical strike they all wrote the last letter before crossing over the LOC to be delivered to their next of keen if some of them did not return. Robert Greene wrote in his book 33 Strategies of War, that best way to motivate men is not through reasons, but through emotions. Manipulation of emotion is the art of military leadership.

Humans are defensive by nature, logic make them meek, because if soldiers start reasoning the outcome of their actions during war, they will never be able to fight a war. Logically it is foolish and absurd to run up a hill when the guns are blazing from top with no place to take cover. Yet soldiers do it every time they are asked to do so fully knowing the outcome of such acts. It is all about fogging logic by emotions. Soldiers fight under the influence of emotions but the leaders lead them by logic and reasoning. A tactical commander is not blinded by emotions, he knows what he is asking his men to do and what price he would pay. Lt Anuj Nayyer knew before going to his final assault that he will not return back, yet he went with a smile. It is the rank that makes a military leader do what a normal human being will never do.

Emotion is most essential aspect of soldiering, and the attachment and attraction of a solider to his rank is infectious and fatal. That is why he carries his rank to grave and retains it till eternity. Ask a soldier how has he got his first stripe and his answer will be by blood and sweat. Thus he guards his rank with great degree of pride and self-respect. He feels it insulting when someone starts comparing his rank to a clerk, or a section officer of even to a secretary in the government. It is contemptuous and insulting. Ask Special Forces how they earn the dagger with wings. His reply would be by mortgaging his life for the nation. To go where no human can go, to do what no human can do and survive where no human has ever survived. Those who do not understand what it takes to be a soldier, they may consider soldiering as another government job, but try and live that life for one day and your head will bow in respect. There is lot of pain, sacrifices, physical rigors and mental stress that a soldier is put through during peace and war. There is a streak of ruthlessness in a soldier and his leader, but before they are ruthless with the enemy they have to subject themselves with ruthlessness.

Naik Hanamanthappa survived for six days under 35 feet of snow. It was the ultimate human endeavour. But remember his Commanding Officer did not leave the site till he dug every mortal remains of his men in minus 35C degree without proper shelter without adequate food and under constant threat to lives of his men and his own. It was the ruthless leader in him that led from the front in a life threatening environment. Can he be compared to any other government employee how high and mighty he may be? One can’t even imagine any other government official performing such act.

A soldier fights along the border and LoC because adversary challenges his authority on the territorial jurisdiction entrusted to him by his superior military authority. His task is to ensure territorial integrity and no loss of territory is acceptable during peace and war. When his authority is challenged he does not wait for the orders, rather he acts. His authority comes from his rank that forces him to act against his enemy even if it means war.

A civilian bureaucrat is often defined by designation and military by rank. Designation means label, name, title and description. Whereas military ranks mean order, level, status and authority. Military leaders command the territory, men and resources at their disposal by their word of command. Whereas bureaucrats only can lay restrictions through proxy and suggest pros and cons. Military commander’s word is an authority and he does not issue an order in writing to his men to go to war. In the recent case of surgical strike, no written orders were issued by Special Forces commanders to their men to cross LoC when they all knew the risk to their lives. Men were briefed and orders issued by word of mouth. The men trusted the wisdom of their commanders because of the rank and authority they held. Whereas if a bureaucrat has to get a job done even if it has zero risk to life, he has to issue a government order.

It may appear to be a non-issue for political leadership or bureaucrats to compare military ranks with civilian counterparts, but it is sacrosanct for a soldier. The difference is that when a soldier salutes his superior it means “sir I am ready to carry out your command” and an officer returns the salute by acknowledging that “I will lead you till last breath”. That is why an old soldier never saluted a civilian irrespective of his position because a civilian cannot lead a soldier to war. Comparing a rank with civilian designation is blasphemy but bigger crime is downgrading the ranks. If a soldier and military commander start behaving like a government servant, the army and the nation are doomed. No nation can afford their army to behave like a government organization because government is run by rules and wars are fought by defying rules and conventions. That is why military ranks have sanctity and military accruements are prohibited to be sued even by police. Government of India has committed cardinal mistakes of firstly comparing military ranks with that of civilian counterparts and second is that military personnel’s have been placed under police officer in NSG where the police officers have no idea of command of military personnel’s that too special forces.

The day elitism is destroyed among the soldiers, that day nation is rendered insecure. It is the greatest disservice a political leader or bureaucrat can do to the nation. A visionary political leader of a nation surrounded by inimical forces would never distract his army by causing imbalance in emotional equilibrium of men and tempering with their pride and status. Any force in a state attempting to erode the morale of army especially at a time when there is war like situation along the borders/ LOC is an act of high treason. Military leaders can’t be unsettled and distracted from the main task at hand. Those who attempt to do so are furthering the cause of enemy. We as a nation must remember that Xenophon had said in (Circa 430-355) “whichever army goes into battle stronger in soul and morale, their enemy generally cannot withstand them”. Thus political leaders must prevent endeavours of those who wish to weaken the morale and spirit of the soldier.

Narender Kumar

Brig Narender Kumar is an Infantry Officer with close to 15 years’ experience in counter insurgency and anti-terrorism operations having served in Sri Lanka (Operation PAWAN) J&K and North East. He has been part of UN Mission in North Africa and had a tenure in Indian Training Team in a foreign country. He has served as Brigade Major in Western Theatre, Col Administration of a Division and Brig General Staff of an Area responsible for Northern Border. Commanded a Rashtriya Rifles battalion in J&K and Assam Rifles Sector in North East.

In the build-up to the Heart of Asia (HOA) Conference at Amritsar on December 3-4, there is speculation that India and Pakistan will resume bilateral talks. Tribune file

New Delhi, December 1The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday issued a statement on bilateral talks with Pakistan saying that they would not accept continued terror as the “new normal” in bilateral ties. In the build-up to the Heart of Asia (HOA) Conference at Amritsar on December 3-4, there is speculation that India and Pakistan will resume bilateral talks.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)“We have not got any request for bilateral meeting from Pakistan. We are always in favour of talks but not in atmosphere of terror,” the MEA said. On the Nagrota attack, the MEA said that the government had taken the incident very seriously and would do what it felt was required for national security. “We are awaiting specific details on Nagrota attack before deciding on next step,” the MEA said. — PTI

Air Chief Marshall Arup Raha.

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 28

Indian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshall Arup Raha on Wednesday came out in support of former IAF chief SP Tyagi saying that “they stand by him till he is proven guilty”.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)
He also listed the IAF requirement of an additional 200-250 fighter jets to meet the short fall arising out of future phasing out of the MiG 21 jets.

Raha, who retires on December 31, was meeting the media in New Delhi when he, without naming Tyagi, said the former Chief was part of the IAF family and “they stand by him, however, if charges are proved against him, they will have no sympathy”.

He said blaming the IAF alone for the AgustaWestland bribery scandal was not right.

Tyagi, a former IAF Chief – retired in 2007 – was arrested recently by the Central Bureau of Investigation on alleged bribery charges in the Rs 3,600 crore deal to buy 12 helicopters from Italian firm AgustaWestland for use of top VVIPs.

On being asked about fighter jets, Raha said we need more medium weight fighter jets – a classification for jets. The Sukhoi 30 MKI is in the heavy weight category, the Tejas is the light-weight category, while the Rafale was ordered recently from France.

“We need a second line of production of fighter jets under the make in India procedure”, Raha said while putting the collective need at 200-250 jets in the next 10 years.

In a setback to the CBI probing alleged irregularities in the AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter deal, former IAF chief S P Tyagi was granted bail Monday after 18 days in custody. In its order, the court of special CBI judge Arvind Kumar said the CBI had “failed to state how much cash was paid to accused and when it was paid” despite conducting an investigation for “3 years and 9 months”.

The pronouncement of the order had the Tyagi family in tears. They declined to comment, only saying that their “faith in the judiciary has been restored”. The former Chief of Air Staff was arrested by the CBI on December 9 for his alleged involvement in changing specifications for VVIP choppers, allowing AgustaWestland to participate in the bidding process.

The CBI had alleged that Tyagi received money and used his influence to change the service ceiling for the helicopters. It also alleged that the “bribe amount” had been transferred “through different companies” in the name of “consultancy services” to persons related to Tyagi.

The agency had opposed grant of bail to the former IAF chief, saying evidence was yet to be received from various countries and other witnesses. The court noted that Tyagi had joined the investigation for questioning several times prior to his arrest and raids had been conducted at his residence in 2013 where a number of documents had been seized.

“It has not been the contention of the CBI that accused had tampered with the evidence or influenced any witness since the time of lodging of FIR,” the court said. It also said that since Tyagi had retired from service in 2007, “the apprehension of CBI that he would influence the witnesses who had been subordinate to him during the tenure of his service appears unfounded”.

The court noted that the CBI had not been able to link the properties owned by the accused to any illegal gratification. “The correctness or otherwise of the allegation as to whether the accused has taken the kickbacks and in what manner he was connected to the same can only be looked into during the course of the trial,” it said.

The court asked Tyagi to submit a personal bail bond of Rs 2 lakh with one surety, and directed that he cannot leave the National Capital Region without prior permission of the court. He was also directed not to contact any witness in the case.

The court is yet to pronounce judgment on the bail pleas filed by the co-accused including S P Tyagi’s cousin Sanjeev Tyagi and advocate Gautam Khaitan, who have been alleged to be “middlemen’ in sourcing the money from foreign countries. Orders on their pleas are likely to be pronounced on January 4.

The petitioner had contended that the morale of officers of the armed forces has been lowered by the government by non-grant of the NFU and thus lowering the established status of the armed forces officers since independence.

The bench comprising the officiating chairperson of the AFT, Justic BP Katakey and Lt Gen Sanjiv Langer today delivered the judgement on the petition which had been reserved some weeks back.

In a verdict, which meets the long-standing demand of thousands of defence services officers, the principal bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) in New Delhi has allowed a petition demanding Non-Functional Upgradation (NFU) for defence officers on the pattern of civil services officers of Group ‘A’ services. The bench comprising the officiating chairperson of the AFT, Justic BP Katakey and Lt Gen Sanjiv Langer today delivered the judgement on the petition which had been reserved some weeks back. Col Mukul Dev of the Army’s Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Branch was the principal petitioner in the case which also has around 500 serving Army officers as co-petitioners.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Col Rajiv Manglik (retd) advocate for the petitioners said, “NFU been allowed as given to defence officers on the pattern of civilian officers as given by the 6th Pay Commission and it will be applicable for all three services-Army, Navy and the Air Force. It has also been stated if NFU is implemented for civilians in 7th Pay Commission it will be given to armed forces officers also. The advocate also said that the bench has allowed arrears for NFU for a period not exceeding three years from the date of the judgement. “The AFT has also denied the leave to appeal in the Supreme Court to the respondents ie. the Union of India,” said Col Manglik.

The petitioner had contended that the morale of officers of the armed forces has been lowered by the government by non-grant of the NFU and thus lowering the established status of the armed forces officers since independence. He had also argued that the stagnation in the armed forces is more acute than the civil services and that the denial is in clear violation of Article 14 and 16 of the Constitution “as the equals since independence have been made unequals”.

It was also argued that the purpose of grant of NFU is not to equate the monetary benefits or earnings enjoyed by a particular service, but it is granted with the aim to remove the stagnation due to the acute shortage of vacancies and grant parity of promotional avenues within the IAS with stipulated lead of two years to the IAS.

The petitioner had said that the parity established since independence and upheld by the pay commissions in succession between the armed forces and the All India Services/ Group ‘A’ services and IPS in particular has been disturbed and the petitioner has been deprived of the benefits extended to his counter parts in parity in the civil services.

It had been contended that the armed forces officers cadre meets all the attributes attached to the Group ‘A’ organised service. The petition says that the NFU has been denied on the pretext that Military Service Pay (MSP) has been given to armed forces officers. Citing this as a “gross mis-concept” the petition said that the grant of NFU is to alleviate the acute stagnation in service, whereas the MSP and other allowances is due to the postings at various difficult terrain and living conditions.

It was also pointed out that there are a number of Group ‘A’ services, which do not meet all the criteria for the group, yet they have been awarded NFU. The services mentioned are Indian Legal Service and Indian Trade Service, Indian Statistical service, Indian Economic service and Central Information service.

What is NFU?

Non Functional Upgrade (NFU) entitles an IAS officer and other Group ‘A’ services officers of the civil services to get the pay scale of the highest promoted officer of their batch even if he or she is not promoted to the same rank. This higher grade is given two years after the batchmate achieves the promotion. The aim of giving NFU is to alleviate the stagnation in the service due to non-promotion. Due to the steep pyramid of promotion in armed forces hierarchy, a large number of officers do not make it to the next selection rank. However, NFU has not been made applicable to armed forces. The Delhi High Court in its recent judgement has held that NFU is also applicable to officers of the central paramilitary forces.

Tribune News Service

Rewari, December 21

Former minister and Kosli MLA Bikram Singh Yadav today inaugurated the army recruitment sub-centre on the premises of the Sainik Parivar Bhawan here.The centre was announced by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh while accepting the demand of Union minister Rao Inderjit at the Sainik Samman rally organised here on November 16.“Now retired army personnel residing here need not to go to Charkhi Dadri to get their problems regarding pension and other benefits resolved. All their grievances will now be redressed here. Even, local youths will be able to get latest information about army recruitment from the centre,” said Yadav.Meanwhile, Naresh Chauhan, general secretary of the Rezang La Shaurya Samiti, has urged the Centre to put up hoardings of the army recruitment on the premises of the Rezang La Memorial, Rezang La Shaheedi Park, District War Memorial, Rao Tularam Park, District Sainik Board, Sainik School and the Secretariat so that agents could not cheat the youths.