Africa Roundup - August 2011

1. India is confident of reaching the trade target of $15b, by 2014, between India and South Africa. An India-South Africa joint CEO forums just concluded.

2. An Indian NASSCOM delegation is set to visit Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya. NASSCOM is looking for a long term partnership with some of the African countries, and considers Kenyan government as being very supportive. Ghana is considered as the Gateway to West Africa and as the best in terms of investment in the region.

3. Rotary Club Chandigarh has been instrumental in providing free surgeries for some children from Malawi. Talking about Malawi, its President Bingu wa Mutharika is an alumni of Sri Ram College of Commerce. He studied economics in India, and calls himself 'Dilliwalla". There are many Africans who fondly recollect India's help. For example the Namibian High Commissioner said:

"India never forgets Africa's development. There is a very special bond between Africa and India and it should continue with the younger generations to really fulfill our dream. Like Mutharika, India also made us proud by recognizing our efforts every time,"

Shri M. Hamid Ansari, Vice President of India
meeting with H.E. Dr. Bingu Wa Mutharika, 
President of Malawi in Malawi on January 07, 2010.

India ranks first, ahead of China, for Malawi's imports.However, Chinese immigrants into Malawi is high owing to their merchants and investments. India for its part, is second to China, and has extended $180 million in credit lines.

Read more »

No mercy to terrorists

An attack on a former PM of India or the Parliament or the Supreme Court or a broad swathe of the Indian polity is as much an attack on the idea of India. Once a PM, you get into the elite club where what you say matters, what you do matters more, and what others do unto you a lot more.

Hang the planners/killers of Shri. Rajiv Gandhi. No mercy, and no tears for a bunch of folk who claim to do it for the cause of Tamils. Such Tamils need to get out of India, but before that hang and then get out.

Breaking News: Dr. Bhattarai as PM

More at: Linky

Nepal's legislature-parliament on Sunday elected Baburam Bhattarai, Vice-Chairman of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), new Prime Minister. The Maoists were supported by the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF), an alliance of five Madhesi parties. In the House of 594 MPs, 575 members participated in the election and around 340 voted for Dr. Bhattarai, helping him secure a simple majority.

The other candidate, Nepali Congress Parliamentary Party leader Ram Chandra Poudel, got 235 votes. The NC was supported by the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist). NC and UML leaders said they had no reason to trust the Maoists. Mr. Poudel told the House: “The NC is totally committed to democracy and democratic principles. The Maoists have constantly breached past agreements and continue to retain their military apparatus.” The UML said it had not received a credible and acceptable peace process proposal from the Maoists.

Read more »

Northeast and terrorist updates (August 27, 2011)

1) Sadar Hills agitation:

The Manipur Assembly today adopted a resolution urging the state government to constitute a district boundary commission. As agreed upon by the members yesterday, the House adopted a private member’s resolution moved by Okram Joy Singh of the Manipur Peoples Party urging the state government to constitute a district re-organisation commission for Manipur. As members, including chief minister Ibobi Singh, had agreed to constitute such a commission during yesterday’s discussion on Sadar Hills district creation issue, the Assembly passed the resolution today. While moving the resolution, Joy Singh said reorganisation of district boundaries for effective and efficient administration was necessary.

Read more »

Terrorism and Internal Security: A MHA assessment

1) From SATP:

Assam Tribune reports that the Centre may have opened dialogue with some militant outfits, but according to an estimate of the Union Home Ministry, there are 79 militant groups including splinter factions, which are active across six North Eastern States. A detailed list of the militant outfits furnished by Minister of State for Home Affairs M Ramachandran in the Lok Sabha (lower house of Parliament) reveals that Manipur has the dubious distinction of having the highest number of 50 active militant outfits in the region including 22 valley-based and 27 hill-based outfits. One militant outfit, Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) has 12 factions, while Kuki National Front (KNF) has four factions.

While Assam has five active militant outfits including United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), Black Widow (BW), United People's Democratic Solidarity (UPDS) and Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO), neighbouring Meghalaya has overtaken the State and now boasts of nine militant outfits. In neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh, apart from the two factions of National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN), NSCN-Isak-Muivah and NSCN-Khaplang, another militant outfit, National Liberation Front of Arunachal has reared its head in the State. Another interesting revelation is that barring Sikkim, rest of all the North Eastern States are now affected by militancy. Mizoram, which was given a peace bonus by the Planning Commission last year, now has three militant groups including Hmar Peoples Convention- Democracy (HPC D), Hmar National Liberation Front (HNLF) and Kamatapur Liberation Organisation (KLO). Nagaland and Tripura have six and three militant outfits respectively.

Read more »

Nepal updates (August 27, 2011)

1) Prashant Jha writes this: Linky

A day after he presented his credentials, the new Indian ambassador to Nepal, Jayant Prasad, faces his first major challenge of formulating and implementing a unified Indian position with regard to the government formation process underway in Nepal. The decision will bring to the fore all of New Delhi’s dilemmas regarding domestic Nepali politics.

Efforts at forging a consensus government have failed. The Nepali Congress asked the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) to give in their weapons immediately and make ‘irreversible progress’ on the peace process, primarily the integration and rehabilitation of combatants, first before they could be supported to lead a government. The Maoists asked for government leadership first, and promised to move on the peace process subsequently. There will now be elections through a majority vote in parliament. The Maoists have now projected vice chairman Dr. Baburam Bhattarai as their candidate, while the Nepali Congress has put forward its parliamentary party leader Ram Chandra Poudel to be PM.

For the Maoists to win, they need the support of the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF), which consists of five Madhesi parties, or the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist). For Mr. Poudel to win, he will need the support of both the UDMF and the UML. Neither UML nor the Madhesi parties have made their positions clear yet, but the overwhelming mood among Madhesi MPs is to support the Maoists. Madhesi parties feel that the radical left is a natural ally in terms of issues of ‘state restructuring and federalism’, and calculate they can extract a better power sharing deal by supporting the Maoists. Senior leaders of the UML, such as former PM Madhav Kumar Nepal, K.P. Oli, and general secretary Ishwor Pokharel, are understood to be veering towards NC though the younger MPs in the party want to give time-bound support to the Maoists making it conditional on progress in the peace process.

Some comments are in order at this stage:
a) The Madhesi feeling of support for Dr. Bhattarai's candidacy is not a unilateral move that has not been blessed by the South Block.
b) The feeling of disenchantment in the UML cadre is understandable given the factionalism that has ridden the UML, its Khanal vs. Nepal vs. Oli. The fact that Oli and Nepal are on one side does not mean that they are friends and comrades, except in grandiose posturing. Both are out to get their pound of flesh vis-a-vis Khanal.

NC leaders have told India that the CA will get dissolved without a new statute, and in that scenario, it is in Delhi’s interest to have an NC PM leading the government. If the Maoists are allowed to return to power, ‘democracy would be in danger’. For their part, the Maoists have argued that progress in the peace and constitutional process is possible only under their leadership. ‘Isolating and encircling’ them, as was tried when Madhav Kumar Nepal led an anti Maoist coalition between 2009 and 10, was doomed to fail, both Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ and Dr. Bhattarai have assured Delhi that they will implement past commitments if voted to power.

The whole problem with the Maoists is that they do not understand a single thing about upholding the honor of committing to a task. So what exactly do they mean by "implementing past commitments?" Write that in red ink (if need be) on the running Sarda river. Whatever that is, Jha is a bit too optimistic to opine that:

If India still wants to see the framework succeed, it should not try to block the Maoists from forming a government by influencing the Madhesi parties against them. The Maoists have said they would move forward on the regrouping of combatants immediately and hand over the weapons as soon as their government is formed. They can be held accountable for these commitments, and the threat of allies withdrawing support would generate additional pressure on them.
...
The dishonesty and overwhelming ambition of the Maoists collides with the fear and insecurity of the status quoist older parties. The internal rifts within each party make inter-party compromises even more difficult.

How does the latter square with the former? Let me read this: Maoists are ambitious, their ambition is in capturing the State with power or without, as the need may be. The other parties are a bumbling mass of idiocy. The Maoists have not adhered to their past commitments. Yet, India should let it go and not be suspicious because Dr. Bhattarai is now the contender. Thank you, sir.
2) Meanwhile, Jayant Prasad meets Sushil Koirala and Ram Chandra Poudel and any number of meanings can be attached to these meetings. That said,

At present Prasad is secretary at the public diplomacy section of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, serving for the last 1 1/2 years. He is a career diplomat who started in career in 1976. Prior to his current role in the EAM, he has served as the Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan and Algeria. Moreover, he has also served in different sectors of the strategic departments of Geneva, Paris and Brussels. Prasad is the son of former Indian ambassador to Nepal Bimal Prasad (1991-1995) who was appointed by then prime minister Chandrashekhar. He replaces Rakesh Sood in the Ambassadorial role.

Meanwhile,

Departing Ambassador Rakesh Sood will now be posted in Paris as the Indian ambassador there. The delay by the French government in forwarding its agreemo, thanks to public holidays in France, contributed to his delayed departure and Prasad’s delayed arrival.

3) Elsewhere in Darjeeling: Linky

Social and religious issues so long overshadowed by the larger cause of statehood has starting resurfacing in the hills, now that a political settlement has been reached on Darjeeling with the signing of the agreement to set up the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration. Hundreds of Buddhists today took to the streets in Darjeeling to revive some of their longstanding demands, one of them being a paid holiday on the birthday of Lord Buddha. The Lepchas, an indigenous community, also brought out a rally to demand a development council. The Buddhists made the demands under the banner of the All Buddhist Minority Welfare Association, which consists of various Gorkha communities like the Tamangs, Gurungs and non-Nepali tribes like the Sherpas, Bhutias and Yolmos.
...
Religious minorities, which includes Buddhists, Christians, Muslims and Jains, make up about 40 per cent of the hill population. “The state government has come up with a policy to declare a particular district Minority Concentrated District (MCD) if the minorities form 25-30 per cent of the population. But the same status has not been extended to Darjeeling district despite its higher concentration of minorities,” said Bomzon. The association claimed that 12 districts in Bengal have been accorded this status. “The government has accorded this status where the concentration of Muslim population is high. They have conveniently forgotten us,” said Bomzon. “An MCD status would entail benefits for construction of houses and stipends for education to minority members, among others.” North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur, Malda, Murshidabad and Cooch Behar are among the 12 MCDs in north Bengal.

4) On the Indo-Nepal border and a reviving circus: Linky

The SSB official said people from Nepal could trade only through Pashupatinagar and Panitanki. “The customs offices are situated in these two places and if people from Nepal want to trade, they can do so from these two points, but not from Manebhanjan.” Gohian admitted that even cattle were being stopped by his personnel. “That is because most of the cattle are brought in from the other side of the border. The bribe allegation is totally false,” he said. The India-Nepal border is porous and one can step into Nepal from any place undetected.

5) More on the Gorkhaland agitation with no need to go over it beyond a certain point: Linky 1 and Linky 2

Dravidian Movements & Parties - late 19th and early 20th century

Continuing the study of the evolution of various Dravidian Parties, I collected the names of some prominent movements and parties that were launched in the late 19th century and early 20th century. The period 1890 through 1930 seem to have seen lot of activities among the non-Brahmins leaders. These leaders were not from the most backward castes but came from some pretty forward castes claiming to speak for the ALL non-brahmins. The much heralded or scorned Dravidar Kazhagam was yet to be formed.

The important take away are not the names, years and people who started these; but that there were plethora of sabhas, associations, leagues and parties bustling and fighting for recognition and for the causes of non-brahmins. Each party has its own history and complexity. And the Christian Missionaries and Indian National Congress were always around; just like the Brahmins of those days.

The games that people play: Anna, this is Thambi speaking

This is the season for conspiracies and grander conspiracies. Everyone has a take on what is going on in India, everyone indulges in pet farces. So strictly off limits from standard discourse where sensibility is the idea, let me also indulge in a pet farce. Let me explain, as I see, what the hell is going on in India.

First, the actors:
1) Arvind Kejriwal: Magsaysay Award winner, Saathi of AID India supported by Lefties and uber-lefties such as Balaji Sampath
2) Kiran Bedi: Another Magsaysay Award winner
3) Anna Hazare: Gandhian socialist, Care International (Norwegian group with one Rothschild in the Exec. Committee) Award winner -- A socialist (like Gandhi) inspired by Hindu mores, even if his peers are not quite like that
4) Agnivesh: Mediator with the maoists
5) Prashant Bhushan and Shanti Bhushan: Defenders of anti-national acts under the guise/excuse of judicial independence/autonomy

To me, the whole set of actors sound like a broken record from a leftie rag. The whole "Jan" specialization only makes it more clearer. Let me make more "Jan"-type examples: Jan Andolan of Nepal, People's Liberation Army of China, People's War Group, Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – Ejército del Pueblo of Colombia, and so on.

Basically, there is a division in the leftie ranks -- most probably precipitated by the wanton acts of violence perpetrated by the maoists. On the one extreme of this leftist cabal lie the maoists who want to capture power by the barrel of the gun. In the middle lies Team Anna, who also want to capture power, but by satyagrahic means. On the other extreme lies the Government, which derives its agenda from Nehruvian socialism as and when this idea suits it the best. This team already has power, so there is no question of "capturing" it from someone. The jostling for power between these three groups means a steady changing of alliances in the known rank and file that are in the forefront of Leftist politics in India. So it should not be surprising to see Arundhati Roy (who firmly belongs to Camp maoists) kick the can at Team Anna, or to see Aruna Roy of the NAC fame (who firmly belongs to the Govt side) kick the can also at Team Anna.

In this ring-a-ring-a roses that is an intra-Leftist feud, wades the Youngistan brigade probably wounded by the wanton corruption that is India. Rest assured, Youngistan will not see a corruption-free India in the short- to near-term future. The case of BJP and assorted pawns such as Ramdev is even more funnier. It appears that they have a clue that they are wading into an intra-Leftist feud and mucking the waters, but it is even more true that they have no locus standi on corruption given the plethora of scandals that many BJP governments themselves have indulged in. Not to mention the mining mafia-raj of Yeddyurappa, the Commonwealth Games scam initiated by the likes of Sushma Swaraj and VK Malhotra (obviously the bigger cake is borne by Kalmadi, but sports associations are egalitarian affairs for cross-party politics). Not to mention the massive corruption under Pramod Mahajan & co. etc.

So we really have a Joker's Pack here, with an intra-factional feud fuelled by different people who want to derive different benefits when the fire douses itself. Game theoretically, there is only one guarantee with high probability at the end of this mess: anarchy. On any day, I would prefer the prospects of a Leftist Government of India which is answerable in some vague sense to the People than any "Jan"-induced movement that is unpredictable. Stochastically speaking, Expected Risk under Scenario A > Expected Risk under Scenario B with Scenario A being the capitulation of the Govt and Scenario B being the successful implementation of the Jan LokPal Act and the various precedents such an act sets in. Further, of all the three Leftist contenders, the Govt is the most rightist of the Lefties, pardon the pun/innuendo there.

Say no to anarchy. Goodbye Team Anna, your time has passed by. India shall live with its corruption with or without you, please do not ruin the process of uplifting the teeming millions out of poverty. Please go home.

Elsewhere, Prabhat Patnaik makes some good points in this op-ed Linky
barring the following:

Besides, even if a majority of the people genuinely wish at a particular time to elevate a messiah over Parliament, this is no reason to alter the constitutional order, just as a majority wishing to abandon secularism at a particular time is no reason to do so. The Constitution is the social contract upon which the Indian state is founded, and it cannot be overturned by the wishes of a majority at a particular time.

How is that the case? Logically speaking, if a majority so chooses, they can elect their representatives to amend the Constitution as they see fit. Even the supposedly sacrosanct Fundamental Rights allowed under the Constitution of India are not sacrosanct objects. Changes to the Fundamental Rights require a constitutional amendment which has to be passed by a special majority of both houses of Parliament. The bottomline being, such changes are even visualized by the framers of the Indian Constitution.

That is only natural in a democratic polity. The Constitution as was promulgated on Jan. 26, 1950 is not a universal dictum that is to stand the test of time immemorial. It is a document that was viewed to be best fit for that era, and even it has formulations on how a future document shall be formulated subject to a majority's wishes. What Prabhat Patnaik wants is a document that he sees in his personal capacity as the embodiment of a universal virtue (which is perhaps the document as it exists now) should also be a document of universal virtue for long since he has passed, even if the majority decries such assumptions. That is undemocratic, Mr. Patnaik.

India-BD bhai bhai, season for unilateral concessions?

1. Teesta agreement:

The 60-year-old Teesta dispute between India and Bangladesh could become a thing of the past with Delhi likely to agree to a 50-50 water-sharing deal, an official source in Dhaka has said.
...
The two sides have agreed to a 50-50 water-sharing deal that has been a longstanding demand of Bangladesh, the source said, but there could a rider in the pact favouring India. Delhi may want to draw more water at certain times of the year, he hinted. Bansal is expected to sign the deal for a 15-year term and leave before Singh’s arrival, he added.
...
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is said to be under tremendous pressure to extract a fair deal from India because the dispute has become an emotional issue in her country.

How about a fair deal to West Bengal?

According to media reports in Bangladesh, International Farakka Committee chairman Atiqur R.K. Eusufzai, a leading water activist, favoured setting aside at least 25 per cent of the water for the river and splitting the rest — 60 per cent for Bangladesh and 40 per cent for India. Delhi is unlikely to agree to such terms, but a 50 per cent share will vastly help dilute apprehensions in Dhaka.

2. Extradition treaty: Linky

Official sources in Dhaka said India was keen on inking the treaty during Hasina’s tenure and were ready with a draft, which has to be given to Bangladeshi officials for inputs and feedback. “India is keen that the treaty is signed during this regime as Indo-Bangla ties have never been better. We are at the most positive stage of our relationship and the treaty will heighten this sense of mutual confidence. Also, one has to take into account that Bangladesh is a highly polarised country and for us the time and situation is just right to go ahead with the deal,” said a senior official closely associated with the developments. The sources said the deal would most likely be inked during Hasina’s next trip to India and before Bangladesh goes to polls in 2013.

How naive of people to think that Sh. Hasina will be able to sign a deal before the Polls and will commit hara-kiri?

Delhi’s concerns are understandable. A sizeable section of the public and the opposition, led by Khaleda Zia’s BNP, have been criticising Hasina for selling out to India. There are also doubts whether the Awami League will return to power in the 2013 elections. However, it is not just India which will benefit if the treaty is signed. India is holding some 200 Bangladeshi criminals and Dhaka has given the Indian home minister a list of 100 wanted men.

Bangladesh is also keen to lay its hands on 19 absconding persons accused of involvement in the August 2004 grenade attack on Hasina. While Dhaka has already sent Interpol notices on all of them, those in India — Haris Chowdhury, Mohammad Hanif, Ratul Babu, Anisul Morsalin and his brother Muttakin — could be handed over if an extradition treaty is inked. Also on the radar are two killers of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who are believed to be hiding in India.

3. Elsewhere, slowing down coal project: Linky

Bangladesh and India's move for a $1.5 billion joint venture coal-fired power plant in Khulna has somewhat slowed down due to various hitches, and a feasibility study has scaled up cost of civil construction at the project site due to poor soil condition.

4. However, BD wants power from the Indian grid: Linky

According to officials, Bangladesh will formally place a proposal in the Bimstec technical committee meeting to import 500 MW of additional electricity from India and also another proposal to import electricity from Myanmar. “We'll try to convince India to export 250 MW power from its under-construction Palatana power plant and another 250 MW from other plants in West Bengal,” said an official at the power ministry who is a member of the Bangladesh working group for the meeting.

Officials said Bangladesh's present target is to import a total of about 1000 MW of electricity from neighbouring India. They further said another proposal for establishing inter-regional power grid connectivity among the member countries, particularly among Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Bhutan, will be placed in the meeting from Bangladesh side.

And more news on the power grid: Linky

Bimstec member states plan to finalise a memorandum of understanding today on exchange of electricity among them, said Power Secretary Abul Kalam Azad yesterday. The secretary was talking to reporters after the inauguration of a two-day Third Task Force Meeting on Trans Power Exchange of the Bimstec (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel in Dhaka.

The process of exchanging power through the national grids among the Bimstec members is still at the initial stage though it was thought a lot earlier, Azad added. “We are hopeful this initiative will provide energy security in the region as it will enable the member states to share their surplus gas and electricity with each other.” Once it is finalised, the member countries will sign the MoU in the next ministerial meeting, said the power secretary.

5. On border settlement: Linky

Of the 4,156 km borderline, 320 km border with the Indian state of Mizoram had been drawn earlier. Land surveyors of both the countries have been working on the rest of the borderline, and so far finalised 1,083 maps for 3829.5 km of the borderline except 6.5 km strips along Panchagarh, Moulvibazar and Feni. The remaining 6.5 km boundary line will be drawn in a month, said Abdul Mannan, director general of Directorate of Land Record and Survey (DLRS).
...
A total of 628 maps have been drawn for 2,262 km border with West Bengal, 93 maps for 264 km border with Assam, 20 maps for 320 km border with Mizoram, 269 maps for 874 km border with Tripura, and 139 maps for 436 km border with Meghalaya.
...
The prime ministers of the two nations will decide on 111 Indian enclaves (17,160 acres of land) with a population of 37,000 and 51 Bangladeshi enclaves (7,110 acres of land) with a population of 14,000 during Manmohan Singh's Bangladesh visit on September 6-7. The two countries have disputes over land at about 25 points in West Bengal, Tripura, Meghalaya and Assam. Bangladesh adversely possesses 1,880.81 acres of India's land at seven points while India adversely possesses 1,165.49 acres of Bangladesh land at 18 points.

6. On Transit fees: Linky

A government panel on transit may suggest charging India, Nepal and Bhutan minimum transit fees between 2.5 cents and 7 cents a tonne for every kilometre of travel depending on the mode of transport. The committee, led by Tariff Commission Chairman Mujibur Rahman, is likely to submit its report to the government soon.
...
Wishing anonymity, a commerce ministry official said the protocols may not be signed during the Indian prime minister's visit. They could be inked after the fixing of transit fees. The finance minister said the charges have to be fixed after discussions with India, Nepal and Bhutan. The government formed the committee on transit in November last year after the signing of the joint communiqué. The committee submitted a report to the government in April without recommending route-wise transit charges or details of Bangladesh's benefits from transit. The government asked the committee to submit a more detailed report. Apart from India, two major development partners -- the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank -- have been pressing Bangladesh for the last two decades to give transit to the three countries.

Wishing anonymity, a foreign ministry official said deals on transit will be signed with India in line with the joint communiqué inked in January 2010. The communiqué reads, “It was agreed that Bangladesh will allow use of Mongla and Chittagong seaports for movement of goods to and from India through road and rail. Bangladesh also conveyed their intention to give Nepal and Bhutan access to Mongla and Chittagong ports.”

7. Sea boundary demarcation: Linky

The United Nations will hear Bangladesh's claim on the continental shelf in the Bay of Bengal on August 25, months after Dhaka sought international arbitration following disputes with neighbouring India and Myanmar. Foreign Minister Dipu Moni will present Bangladesh's case in the hearing scheduled at the UN headquarters in New York, official sources said in Dhaka. Bangladesh's claim on the Bay of Bengal continental shelf extends up to 400-460 nautical miles (850 km) from the coast. Dhaka says it should have total rights over the undersea natural resources within this area.

The continental shelf is an undersea extension of a continent which can stretch for many miles out to the sea. Many nations have asserted mineral and land rights to their associated continental shelves since these are rich in natural resources. Bangladesh submitted its arbitration on February 25 to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS), a UN body that deals with the continental shelf.
...
Bangladesh's claim is that the dispute should be resolved on “equity principle” meaning that the countries adjacent to the Bay of Bengal would get proportional areas in the zone. India and Myanmar favours "equidistance" system to get bigger maritime areas. Under a UN charter, the principle of "equity" takes into account a country's population, economic status and needs, GDP growth, and other human issues, while the "equidistance" system marks the boundary through geometric calculations.

8. And finally, the gullibility of the Indian neta-class. Gogoi pins hopes on Dhaka visit Linky

Gogoi is of the view that Assam can gain a lot from improved connectivity — air, land and waterways — between the state and the neighbouring country as this would give a big boost to the Look East Policy in the real sense of the term. “More importantly, he is also looking for connectivity of the minds. More person-to-person interactions will help understand each others point of view, improve neighbourly relations,” one of them said.

A question that is often missed is: how stable are person-to-person interactions to sea changes in popular identification of The Other? Have nt we seen enough of this Indira Gandhi-Bandaranaike, Sheikh Mujib-Indira Gandhi-type special bonds? What have they come to today? We already have precedents on unilateral concessioning that has come back to bite us: Linky

I have written extensively on the 1974 Maritime Boundary Agreement between India and Sri Lanka and the background to the ceding of the Island of Kachchatheevu. I do not propose to dwell on those details here. However I would like to highlight one point. New Delhi’s decision that Kachchatheevu is a disputed territory was a political decision taken by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The personal chemistry between Sirimavo Bandaranaike and Indira Gandhi came into play in a big way and the island was ceded to Sri Lanka. As stated earlier, if the principle of median line was strictly enforced Kachchatheevu should have been an integral part of India. In order to gift Kachchatheevu to Sri Lanka the precedent of the 1921 fisheries agreement was followed (where Kachchatheevu came within the fisheries jurisdiction of Ceylon). Let us await Supreme Court’s decision in this subject.

The personal equation between Indira Gandhi and Sirimavo Bandaranaike which played a decisive role in the conclusion of the 1974 Agreement has been aptly summed up by Prof. Partha Ghosh of Jawaharlal Nehru University. To quote Prof. Ghosh, “Kachchativu was the most typical case of a personal equation, playing the role of diplomacy. When the negotiations had virtually failed, and the Indian official delegation was virtually pressurizing Indira Gandhi not to give up India’s claim on the islet, Sirimavo Bandaranaike made a personal appeal to Indira Gandhi to come to her rescue, as it would otherwise spell political disaster for her. Indira Gandhi appreciated Mrs Sirimavo Bandaraniake’s predicament and manipulated the situation in such a way that it became a fait accompli even before the Indian delegation could react. Sirimavo Bandaranaike remembered this gesture as late as 1990 with immense gratitude”.

9. As a postscript, Why India's largest textile exports hub is dying? Linky
10. And as a post-postscript on what BD-Burma relations are like: Linky

Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh Mijarul Quayes will be paying a visit to Myanmar to meet his counterpart on August 24 for two days to discuss bilateral and regional issues. The last meeting at the foreign secretary level took place in Dhaka on December 28, 2009. The trip is welcomed. It is reported that the issues to be discussed, among others, may include:
* Multi-modal transport connectivity;
* Border security to prevent criminal activities and illegal immigration;
* Facilitation of trade;
* Repatriation of remaining Rohingya refugees;
* Cooperation in other areas including energy and agriculture.
...
Since the present government came to power, there has been an attempt to inject momentum and dynamism into bilateral relations. On May 16, 2009, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr. Dipu Moni visited Myanmar and held official talks with her counterpart U Nyan Winz. They reportedly discussed a host of issues, including repatriation of the remaining Myanmar refugees, relaxation of visa requirements for citizens of either country, facilitation of banking services, increased border trade, export of surplus power to Bangladesh, road link between the two countries up to China, direct air link, and sharing bandwidth with fiber-optic cable.

Response to Op-ed Column on AFSPA by Ms. Kalpana Sharma

Hi Kalpana,
This is ******. I am writing in response to your article in "The Hindu" dated August 20, 2011 with the title "The Other Half - Another India, another protest" posted online at Linky 0.

Let me start by agreeing with with you when you state that:

Yet even as Hazare's anti-corruption crusade gained momentum with hundreds courting voluntary arrest, in another part of India, a protestor who has used a similar tactic, of going on an indefinite fast, continues to be ignored by the rest of the country and by the political leadership.

It is a pity that much of "mainland" India cannot count the number of Northeastern states, nor tell us much about the issues that lie beneath the various terrorist activities that are rife in these states, nor tell us much about the response of the various State governments and the Union Government of India to these different internal insurgencies, often openly backed and aided by our neighbors both near and far. I congratulate you in picking this topic for your op-ed column.

However, when you say that,

... some might consider it irrelevant to talk about a corner of the country where a lone woman continues her fight against the truly undemocratic Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) imposed on Manipur that has made life a living hell for the ordinary people of that State.

First of all, you are dealing in what can be said to be circular logic, lest you did not know. The Armed Forces Special Powers Act has been imposed in Manipur on the insistence of the State Government of Manipur. Please see Linky 1 where you will find that:

The Articles in the Constitution of India empower state governments to declare a state of emergency due to one or more of the following reasons:
• Failure of the administration and the local police to tackle local issues.
• Return of (central) security forces leads to return of miscreants/erosion of the "peace dividend".
• The scale of unrest or instability in the state is too large for local forces to handle.

Please also see Linky 2 which reports that the Government of Manipur is the entity that recommends the continuance of AFSPA for all areas except the Imphal Valley.

Second, the Government of Manipur is a Government that has been elected by the people of Manipur in the 2007 Assembly elections. While there may have been small discrepancies that are a part of the normative discourse of any participatory democracy and as seen in every place in India ("mainland" or otherwise), much of the 2007 Assembly elections in Manipur have been regarded as free and fair. The Election Commission of India had made immense measures to ensure that it was free and fair, see Linky 3 and Linky 4, for example. A report from the Manipuri media claimed the following (see Linky 5):

In line with the deep rooted sense of democracy, inherited from the past, the people of Manipur are more conscious of the electioneering system as was apparent by the large turn out of voters in past few elections as well as favourable response from the electorates to the current the 9th Manipur Legislative assembly election. Despite sporadic violent incidents and incessant rains, the voter turn out in the first and second phase polling hovered near the 90 percent mark.

In addition, 80% turnout was seen in the third phase (see Linky 6). See also Linky 7 for Manipuri newspaper E-Pao's 2007 election coverage. I can dig up similar statistics for the 2009 Parliamentary elections, but I will refrain from that as of now. My point is that the people of Manipur have overwhelmingly placed their confidence in the electoral process and as a product of this affirmation of trust that we keep seeing repeatedly, the Government of Manipur derives its power to promulgate laws and run the State. This is despite all the various ills that plague governance in India as is witnessed by the campaign of Anna Hazare and his team.

Ergo, when the State of Manipur wants the AFSPA to continue knowing the ground realities on the security situation in the State, how is that a violation of the popular will of the people (which is exactly what is meant by the term "undemocratic")? How is that the people who want the AFSPA to be revoked in Manipur not taking part in electoral exercises and instead indulging in popular/fiat-type protests? The same can be asked about Anna Hazare and his team as to why they are not standing in elections on a one-line plank of rooting out corruption in Indian society given that they believe and claim to be People's true respresentative or representing the "popular will" of the People. Lest I digress from my main point, why are people, who have an issue with anything that an elected Government does, not taking part in elections and testing how much popularity their plank with the People they claim to often represent in some sense lies? Why is this fact not called out by the Indian media across ideological proclivities?

I am sure there are various sentiments to support a "David" who is slinging against a "Goliath", but then should not these metaphorical comparisons be also subjected to the same scrutiny in every sense: a David of the Hindu Kashmiri Pandits against the Goliath of repressive terrorism of an overwhelming Islamist religious tinge that is responsible for internal dispersion of one set of Indians within India, a David of Jammu activists against a Goliath of the supreme embodiment of Justice in India -- the Hon'ble Supreme Court -- that has not allowed for redistricting the electoral constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with the "one-man/woman, one vote" paradigm to which India Constitutionally acceded to on Jan. 26, 1950, a David of Hindu Ahomese against a Goliath of the political plank across the state and across partyline that has normatized demographic invasion of India and Indian territory by Bangladeshi Muslims somuchso that Muslim percentage in the border districts have been growing at an abnormal pace vis-a-vis the rest of India Linky 8. We have neither seen the fruition of the implementation of the IMDT Act nor its continuance in the form it was meant to take. A David of pre-dominantly Hindu Meitei residents of Manipur state against extra-State factors such as both factions of the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagalim that supports both the Kuki as well as the Naga rioters, including ANSAM, in blockading NH-39 and NH-53, and so on and so forth.

More pertinent to the point, regarding the Jeevan Reddy commission recommendations that you highlighted, did you take a look at a report linked at Linky 9, where it is said that:

• The Army is not averse to review of AFSPA provided its concerns are addressed. The Army would require special powers to combat terrorism as all other instruments of state to restore normalcy have failed.
• The civil government still retains control as they would have to declare an area as ‘disturbed’ under the ‘disturbed area act’ before AFSPA can be applied.
• Why dilute the Act which provides legal cover to the Army to operate. If the Army is not required, the area should not be declared as ‘disturbed’.
• Since Army is called in only when the situation has deteriorated to unacceptable levels, the requirement of very strict enabling provisions is necessary.
• Army is aware of its responsibilities and its outstanding human rights record reflects the same.

Despite this report, when you claim that,

The committee recommended, amongst other things, a withdrawal of AFSPA. So Sharmila's demand is not unreasonable; a government-appointed committee has endorsed it. But the recommendation was given more than six years ago. Yet today, the security forces continue to enjoy the right to act with impunity, while the citizens of Manipur, who are also citizens of India, live without many fundamental rights guaranteed to them under our Constitution.

you are factually as well as rhetorically wrong. The fact is that the Indian Army will have no locus standi in Manipur unless the democratically ELECTED Government of Manipur "invites" the Army to maintain peace and security of its citizenry. The fact is that this is done by a Government elected by the people of Manipur only means that they know what they are doing when they invoke AFSPA. That is because the civil/State police forces have FAILED to maintain peace and security and as a last resort available to any democratically elected Government, the Army has been invited. Further, it is no walk in the park for the Army. Their personnel die or get maimed, willingly, in services for the call of ANY elected Government in India, independent of the Party in power, and often unrecognized by even the respective States where they die for because of the nature of rabble-rousing indulged by small sets of their population, in contrast to any democratic credential with which any State has to mediate often with.

The fact that just because one Irom Sharmila demands a withdrawal of AFSPA or a Justice (Retd.) Jeevan Reddy Commission says the same, does not put all the blame on the Indian Army. In the post-1947 history, the Indian Army has always acceded to the demands of an elected Government and the Indian Army has so far not done anything to the contrary on the AFSPA episode. Thus, you can do a follow-up on your op-ed and clear any ambiguities/doubts that may persist in the mind of a gullible reader that the Indian Army is to blame for this mess. Put the blame where it squarely lies, with the People of Manipur of whom Irom Sharmila is only one citizen. Factually, as well as rhetorically, that is the right course to take here.

Further, one Irom Sharmila does not Manipur make. Manipur or rather ~90% of its electing population, DID vote for some Party/individuals that contested elections. That speaks enormously in contrast to populist bandwagonning that the media often indulges in. I must also mention that you are not the first person to claim (directly or indirectly) that the Indian Army/the Government of India is all wrong in imposing AFSPA in poor-poor Manipur. I must bring to notice CPM ideologue Mr. Ashok Mitra's op-ed column in the Telegraph Linky 10. I replied to him and the Telegraph on this matter and my response can be seen at Linky 11. Sadly, neither the Telegraph published my response nor Mr. Mitra responded to me on my questions/comments. I hope that you/the Hindu group will do one better than Mr. Mitra/the Telegraph.

Looking forward to an exchange of ideas,
Sincerely,
********

PS: I must admit that I did not have any idea about your writing till I googled for your columns in crafting a response to your column. I will take a look at your co-edited book titled, "Whose News? The Media and Women's Issues and Terror Counter-Terror: Women Speak Out." since I am keen on learning about the issues in the Indian Northeast from different perspectives.

What's in a name? The curious case of Paschimbanga

I am as amused as you are at why certain states/cities change their names: United Provinces to Uttar Pradesh, Central Provinces to Madhya Pradesh, Madras State to Tamil Nadu, Orissa to Odisha, West Bengal to Paschimbanga, Bombay to Mumbai, Calcutta to Kolkata, Ahmedabad to Amdavad, Bangalore to Bengaluru, etc. The more interesting case of Madras to Chennai is something over which I have strong personal biases/opinions. For someone who grew up in Madras, Chennai makes zero sense and I dont intend to call it Chennai any time soon.

What is the case for this renaming? The most obvious issue is one of linguistic/cultural pride as Linky

legendary magician P.C. Sircar Jr. expressed happiness over the decision. "I am very happy and excited. Finally Bengali sentiments have been honoured. No other state in the country has an English name except ours. The new name will remind the coming generation about the painful history of division of Bengal. It will help them grow strong."

If it was just pride that is the burning issue, that should be stated so. Here is one reason that is suggested: Linky

State Commerce and Industry Minister Partha Chatterjee has said a change of name is essential as West Bengal, which begins with the letter 'W', figures last at inter-state discussions when it comes to the alphabetical order of things. "Since the name of the state starts with W, our representatives get to speak only at the fag end of any function when most of the audience has left. To do away with the problem, the chief minister has suggested the name be changed," Chatterjee said. "We wanted a change in the name of the state to get the administrative advantage," he said.

This makes absolutely no sense, going from 35th in the list of speakers to 27th is NOT improvement however Partha Chatterjee wants to spin it. Further, the fact that the Mamta Banerjee-led government chose to rename it as Paschimbanga and not Bangla or Bangabhumi suggests that the state still has not moved away from the 1905 division that fed into the Naokhali carnage and Partition of 1947. To me, there does not seem to be inner peace, whatever the case may be. Atin Bandyopadhyay says:

"East Bengal and West Bengal came into existence after the bifurcation of Bengal. East Bengal became Bangladesh. The name West Bengal signifies that Bengal has been divided," he added. Partha Chatterjee added that, "Paschimbanga as a new name also mirrors history."

We will have to wait for a while to figure out what administrative/economic, popular/cultural, sociological/historical issues were considered in the renaming. That said, I am yet to see a decent case study of renaming a State in the Indian context. In any case,

Once a bill is passed by two-thirds majority in the Parliament and ratified by the President, the state would get the new name.

With respect to Tamil Nadu, the state was renamed and this renaming was codified by the "Madras State (Alteration of Name) Act, 1968" which was then approved by the Union Government via the "Central Act 53 of 1968." This happened in the immediate aftermath of the 1967 victory of the DMK when renaming the State became an electoral issue due to various other baggages of linguistic pride. Of course, the question of why Tamil Nadu and why Chennai has been confronting many a jobless people, including me. A PIL was filed that the name of the state should have been Tamizh Naadu and not Tamil Nadu (the Anglicized version). The PIL was of course dismissed with the only comfort being that it was not dismissed as "frivolous," see the case history at Linky. On the 1967 elections, I must digress. Here is a voter % in the first few elections that mattered in the then Madras State and Tamil Nadu (Click on the pic for a better resolution):


Certain facts should be clear from the above table:
1) The DMK excelled in mobilizing people along ideological lines and in getting people to vote (especially the youngistan of those days). This is seen by the clear jump in voting % from the 1957 elections to the 62 elections. This jump stayed consistent at 70+% in those days. While some of it could be attributed to the post-Independence euphoric polity, there are clear evidences of ideological polarization along the lines of Tamil pride, which was channelized by the new "kid" on the block, the DMK.
2) In a head-to-head battle in 1967 that changed the electoral face of the then Madras State, it is surprising that the DMK garnered a lesser popular mandate in terms of voting % than the Congress. Of course, the most famous display of this verdict was the defeat of K. Kamaraj, but this is belied by the fact that the Congress was ahead of the DMK in terms of voting %.
3) The lack of any stalwarts in the post-Kamaraj era delivered a death knell to the fortunes of Congress in the state from which it has still not recovered. The same cannot be said for the DMK as the grassroots of the DMK covered the bases well.
4) Characterized by a Stalinistic purge that became the DMK in the Karunanidhi-era, and depleted by the purging of the grassroots/money spinning vehicle/propaganda machinery that mattered, the ADMK delivered the same medicine to the DMK in a multi-cornered fight that was the 1977 elections.

Bangladesh update (August 18, 2011)

1) On Anup Chetia: Linky

Sources said the Ulfa general secretary was expected to withdraw his petition, filed in the high court in 2003, seeking asylum in Bangladesh. Once he withdraws his petition, he will be handed over to the Indian authorities. It had been reported earlier that Chetia could not be handed over to India until his asylum case had been disposed of. The Bangladesh government has to approach the high court to seek permission to release him.
...
The sources said Dhaka was considering handing Chetia over to India as soon as the legal formalities were over but it was also expecting an assurance that India would extradite the two remaining killers of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who are allegedly hiding in India.

No idea who these two are, since the last known collation of data showed that they were all elsewhere, see Linky
Another unknown nugget:

Chetia, a Muttock from Upper Assam, belongs to the same ethnic group as Paresh Barua. They are first cousins and Chetia is believed to have been Barua’s mentor in the early days.

2) Rail Bhavan ki Diplomazy: Linky

Bangladesh wants the Dhaka-Calcutta train service to be extended to other Indian cities, including Delhi and Ajmer. “We want India and Bangladesh to agree to at least two more cities which will be connected by rail. Right now, it’s just a Calcutta-Dhaka service, we want it to be a service which connects Bangladesh with India, not just the two Bengals,” Bangladesh high commissioner Tariq Karim said.
...
With the Dhaka-Calcutta service already in place, India is now working to link Bangladesh with neighbouring Tripura.

If you missed more of that news, here it is:

India will construct an 18-km-long railway line at a cost of Rs 267 crore to connect Agartala with Akhaura via Gangasagar in Bangladesh, a top railway official said today. B N Rajsekhar, additional member of the Indian Railway Board, said here that the project, second after the Kolkata-Dhaka line, would be completed in two and a half years. A six-member delegation, led by Rajsekhar, yesterday saw the alignment of the railway line and gave a final nod to it. Rajsekhar said the project was held up for a long time and got a fresh lease of life only after Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited New Delhi last year. "Two months ago the Planning Commission had asked the Railway Board to finalise the alignment of the railway," he said

In any case, we have more:

The train plan is part of a larger sub-regional pact Dhaka wants to sign for better road and rail connectivity, power grid and water-sharing with India, Nepal and Bhutan. It has been flagged as “the key issue” in Prime Minister Singh’s planned talks with Sheikh Hasina early next month, besides exchange of border enclaves and trade concessions. Mamata is scheduled to accompany Singh on the trip.
...
India has also drawn up plans to take its railway network to Bhutan and Nepal. This follows China linking Tibet’s Lhasa with Beijing by train. It has also started work on a rail link to Khasa, on the Nepal-Tibet border. India, too, acknowledges the strategic and trade significance of networking its neighbours with its 64,000 km rail network. “Just like Europe, the time has come to integrate South Asia as one railway hub.

Also: Linky

Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma will accompany Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his visit to Bangladesh next month, officials said in Shillong on Thursday. The decision came after Mr. Sangma received the personal invitation letter from the Prime Minister on Wednesday, they said.

3) More on integration: Linky

Bangladesh yesterday pitched for a sub-regional cooperation in hydro power sector involving India, Bhutan and Nepal, and equitable share of Teesta River water.
...
Asked if Bangladesh hopes to get half the share of Teesta waters, Rizvi declined to mention the quantum but said, “We are for equitable sharing and the benefit of the people living in catchment areas of the river.” Since the larger portion of the catchment area of Teesta is in Bangladesh, Dhaka has argued its case on the water-sharing citing the needs of the people in the area. Indian Water Resources Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal is expected to come to Dhaka ahead of Manmohan Singh's visit next month, but the dates for Bansal's trip are yet to be finalised, said Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Tariq Ahmed Karim.
...
He said Bangladesh has suggested India more boarding and boarding-off points for the Maitree Express train running between Dhaka and Kolkata, so that it truly becomes an “India-Bangladesh friendship” train instead of just a link.

4) Will West Bengal go the Tamil Nadu way, a little belatedly?

The Left Front today discussed the government’s proposal to rename West Bengal and decided to request the administration at tomorrow’s all-party meeting to choose between Bangla and Paschimbanga. “Three names have been suggested by the government — Bangla, Paschimbanga and Bangabhumi. As far as the Left Front is concerned, we prefer either Paschimbanga or Bangla,’’ Forward Bloc leader Naren Chatterjee said. The all-party meeting will also consider the bifurcation of West Midnapore, Jalpaiguri, South and North 24-Parganas, Burdwan and Murshidabad, sources said.

5) HUJI-B's acting boss held: Linky

Banned militant outfit Harkatul Jihad al Islami (Huji) "acting chief" Hafez Moulana Yahiya, an accused in the August 21 grenade attack case, was arrested along with two accomplices in Kishoreganj yesterday. The Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) claims Yahiya, 46, was serving as the acting chief of Huji since its earlier chief Moulana Sheikh Farid was arrested on July 26. According to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), he is also charge-sheeted accused in the Ramna Batamul blast case and Kotalipara bomb planting case.
...
Sources say Yahiya was one of the masterminds of the August 21 grenade attack that killed 24 Awami League leaders and activists and injured over 300 including Sheikh Hasina. Describing the operation, Commander Sohail said the elite force had a tip-off that the trio were heading towards Kishoreganj on a bus that left Sylhet late Wednesday night. Accordingly, they intercepted several buses at Durjoy intersection in Bhairab and arrested them around 2:15am. Some training manuals of the banned outfit and books on jihad were also recovered. Earlier in December in 2005, police arrested Yahiya in Chittagong as a suspected leader of Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). He later disappeared after he came out of jail on bail.

Yahiya, who hailed from Chhalimpur village in Sitakunda upazila in Chittagong, had fought in Afghanistan and also in Myanmar for the Arakan Muslims. He studied at Kazi Bazar Kowmi Madrasa in Sylhet for seven years and for one year at Hathajari Madrasa. In 1986, he joined Lalkhan Bazar Madrasa as a teacher and took part in the Afghan war in 1988. After the Afghan war, he returned to Bangladesh in 1992.
...
Sohail said they have so far arrested 76 top-ranked leaders and activists of Huji including former Huji chiefs Mufti Abdul Hannan and Sheikh Farid and top Huji leader Moulana Sabbir. Replying to a query, Sohail added 20,000 to 25,000 leaders and activists of the Huji are active.

Nepal update (August 16, 2011)

1)

The Nepali Congress has settled its internal dispute for now with the two rival factions arriving at an understanding to nominate Sher Bahadur Deuba as the party's prime ministerial candidate "for consensus government". Party president Sushil Koirala, Deuba and parliamentary party leader Ram Chandra Poudel reached the agreement during a meeting held at Koirala's residence, Maharajgunj. Other senior leaders were also present at the meeting.

There were many claims that the internal feud in the Nepali Congress will ensure that Baburam Bhattarai will have a cakewalk in the "elections." It seems like not so now. Any day, I would prefer fresh elections over this rambunctious assemblage of villains and demi-villains. But yea, my opinion matters zilch.

This is what SAAG says: Linky

Within the Nepali Congress itself, Sher Bahadur Deuba is again seen to be nursing ambitions to become the Prime minister, though he has proved to be incompetent not once but thrice!

In any case, I am happy to see the Jhalnath Khanal government go. It has become the symbol of factional politics (not the AP type) of Nepal. It was always an opportunist front, cobbled together at the eleventh hour, by people who were gunning for each other's head till then, and the internal dichotomies only pulled it further away from the semblance of a sensible government. Openly held biases against India did not help in ensuring any support from across the border. Nor did acquiescing to propaganda on the Tibetan-origin minister on a foisted case of dual citizenship. And any day, a fractious Maoist front is better for India than a front united against a common evil. Hoping for the Prachanda faction to bat for Sher Bahadur Deuba. If Dr. Bhattarai emerges as the Maoist candidate, the Prachanda faction is on a sticky lose-lose wicket with the only person gleeful in this melee being Shri. Rakesh Sood, who is still parked outside Singha Darbar, despite many emotional and planted stories of pull-back.
2)

A high-level Chinese delegation led by Zhou Yongkang, a standing committee member of the Communist Party of China and special envoy of Chinese President, arrived in Kathmandu for a three-day visit Tuesday afternoon.

Wiki claims that Zhou is the ninth ranked leader in the CCP Most wanted list and claims that Wikileaks portrayed him as ordering the intrusions into Google network.

According to sources at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the Ministry of Finance, the proposed agreements to be signed between Nepal and China include Chinese assistance on strengthening Nepal’s security agencies, construction of a transmission line for the Upper Trishuli ‘A’ hydropower project and an increment in annual Chinese assistance to Nepal.
...
The first one worth Rs 100 million (10 million RMB) would be on strengthening the capacity of Nepali security agencies and civil officials. On July 27, Wang Chaun Qi, the head of International Cooperation, Ministry of Public Security Affairs of China, announced the aid during talks with his counterpart Sudhir Shah, the Joint Secretary at the Home Ministry. Of the Rs 100 million offer, Rs 40 million will be spent on training, workshop, language training (Chinese and Tibetan) for Nepali security and civil officials while the rest will be spent on upgrading the infrastructure of the security agencies.

Basically, China is providing money to Nepal to ensure that no pro-Tibetan protests are raised inside Nepal. So we will see more Tibetan arrests and deportations to China. In short, China is doing what the US was/is doing to counter narco-trade in Mexico, Colombia, Peru and elsewhere. The problem with this paying the bogeyman approach is that the initiative lies with the host country and game theoretically speaking, it is a losing strategy for the major power in the bargain. No wonder that India cannot football either Sri Lanka or Nepal or Bangladesh when push comes to shove. Nor can China football Nepal, but it can make it seem like it does. SAAG adds:

For the first time, the representative of the Dalai Lama who has had his office all the years undisturbed was abruptly arrested and detained for many hours. The reason was said to be that he had an “informal meet” with the press! This is what one can expect when the portfolios of both home and health are held by the Maoists and with a weak prime minister who has no control over them!

In the second proposal, the Chinese side will provide a soft loan of 175 million RMB through the EXIM Bank of China for construction of the a 48-km-long transmission line for the Upper Trishuli ‘A’ hydropower project. China has already given Rs 7 billion in soft loan for power generation. Another agreement will include a government-to-government soft loan and project agreement on the construction of a 48-km transmission line through the project site to Mathatirtha substation, according to officials. As agreed during the visit of former PM Madhav Kumar Nepal to China in December 2009, the fourth agreement will be an annual increment of Chinese aid to Nepal from 100 million RMB to 150 million RMB.

Elsewhere,

The government will formally request China for US $1.6 billion in loan to construct the much-hyped 750 MW West Seti Hydro Project Limited (WSHPL). The development follows Chinese assurances to provide assistance should the government formally request so, government sources said.

3) Nitish Kumar's whine: He has not been allowed to visit Nepal. Permission denied by GoI.
4) From somewhere:

There are two facets of the Maoists internal conflict, one is the disagreement over whether to go for peace/constitution or revolt. The other is the party’’s standpoint vis-à-vis India.

The Kiran Baidya faction believes there is no alternative to revolt, a fight for national independency against Indian hegemony. The Baburam Bhattarai faction favours peace and constitution and believes Nepal’’s unequal relations with India have to be sorted out diplomatically, instead of irritating India now. Pushpa Kamal Dahal’’s stance on the issue of peace and constitution is similar to that of Bhattarai but it varies on India, where his line is closer to Baidya’’s. The strategy of this faction is to bring together all anti-Indian political forces, and the Khanal-led coalition was conceived as preliminary model.

If it is to avoid a split, the Maoist party now has three alternatives:
First: compromise saying the party split will not benefit anyone
Second: collate opinion of their cadres on three separate political documents, which they adopted in 2004/05
Third: call a national convention

If none of the above work, the Maoists will split. This is nothing new in the Nepali communist movement, but the Maoists remained undivided despite differences over the years. If
the Maoists internal disputes are not resolved, this will not only affect the peace process but also have political impact on the national level.

Lets hope that the Maoists split.
5) Eighteen allegations made against UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal by the party Vice Chairman Mohan Baidhya:

1. Superficial in philosophy.
2. Centrist and opportunist, leaning towards right-wing revisionism. Although the party’s main struggle was aimed at the Indian expansionism, under his leadership, the party has done just the opposite.
3. Ignored the slogan of national sovereignty.
4. Collaborated with Indian expansionists and their lackeys.
5. Prioritised peace and constitution over people’s revolt as the main strategy.
6. Although agreement was on People’s Federal Republic, he is leaning towards Democratic Republic.
7. Abandoned the original idea of autonomous ethnic states in favour of a centralized and unitary governance system.
8. Limited the idea of proportional representation of women, marginalised ethnicities, Dalits and the Madhesis at all levels of the state, to paper.
9. Supported a judicial system unendorsed by people’s representatives.
10. Made it easy for the foreigners to obtain naturalised citizenship when encroachment from the open border is rising.
11. Scrapped the party’s transitional period provisions on the reappointment of the president, cabinet, officials of the constitutional bodies and the judges of the supreme court.
12. Emptied the cantonments in the name of regrouping and disarmed the PLA.
13. Promoted foreign investment, multinationals and lackeys of capitalists by bringing Electricity Act, Real Estate Act, and declaring Special Economic Zones instead of encouraging national agrobased and industrial economy.
14. Promoted Indian investment in Arun III and Upper Tamakoshi hydropower projects.
15. Curtailed the party’s relationship with international community and emphasized relationship with the class enemy and the Indian secret service agency.
16. Encouraged personality cult, suppressed dissent, and showed fascist tendency by physically attacking dissenters.
17. Involved in corruption and gross misuse of the party resources and failed to maintain financial transparency.

I could nt find the 18th allegation :).

Founding Members of Justice Party

P.Theogaraya Chetty

Dr. C. Natesa Mudaliar

Dr. T.M.Nair

It is not uncommon that suddenly someone drop the words 'Anti-Hindi Agitation' and 'Dravidian Movement' in a conversation. Especially, if the conversation is about Tamilians. I personally prefer the word 'Tamilians' than the word 'Tamil'; just like I prefer 'Burma' over 'Myanmar', 'Madras' over 'Chennai'.

It is fascinating to read about these movements, the moments that gave rise to the movements and the humans behind these movements. I decided to document what I read into a series of blog posts, following the footsteps of a 23rd century scholar who said the following about blogging:

..., the reward for running a blog is not readership as that cannot sustain. It should be something else. For me, it is my database.

I will try my best to collect the information and regurgitate it here; I am not a scholar and if you expect a scholarly objective unbiased coherent chronological observation , I urge you to stop reading and look else where. This is for casual reading, but by no means a dishonest effort to rewrite history. This is after all a blog. Please keep that in mind. You are not reading a History text book written by KAN Sastri.

If you are allergic or sensitive to jati, varna, caste, ethnicity, race, color, creed, gender, lingual differences, Christian Missionaries, Islam, Hindutva, British, Dravidian, Aryans, politically incorrect words, capitalism, socialism, communism etc, stop reading immediately. Go watch a feel good movie on Netflix (no I do not own Netflix shares, I wish I did)

Without using the words 'Brahmins' and 'Non-Brahmins', the subject matter can not be blogged. So you need to be uber insensitive to these sensitive words too.

With a such big unnecessary introduction, let us see the 'Founding Fathers' and key personnel of the Justice Party of India. Wikipedia lists 21 parties with the words "Justice Party" in them. India, Indonesia and UK each had two of them.

So why start with Justice Party? Because, if one has to understand the 'Anti-Hindi Agitation' or 'Dravidian Movements', one has to understand the Caste and Politics of South India - especially Tamil Nadu. One has to understand the origins of DMK and AIADMK. Before understanding DMK, one needs to read the Self-Respect Movement and Periyar. Before reading about Self-Respect Movement one has to read about the Justice Party, before understanding the Justice Party....well I got tired and stopped at the Justice Party.

Without more ado, the founding fathers of Justice Party (JP) were:

1. T.M Nair
2. Theagaroya Chetty
   
3. C. Natesa Mudaliar
   

The Presidents of the party were:

1. Theagaroya Chetty
2. Raja of Panagal
3. P.Munuswamy Naidu
4. Raja of Bobbili
5. E.V.Ramasam
   
6. P.T.Rajan

Wikipedia says, the movement arose as a result of conferences and meetings in the Madras Presidency, in the late 19th and early 20th century, due to caste prejudices and disproportionate representation of brahmins in government jobs. See I told you we will be using the 'b' word.

Let us briefly look at each of the key members:

Taravath Madhavan Nair:
TMN was a doctor, his brother was a lawyer and his sister was a scholar. Doctor, Lawyer, Scholar, rhyme no? TMN was known in his circles as a physician, journalist, social reformer and politician. After completing his studies in India, he went to England and obtained lots of degrees in the medical field. Being a well read man, and coming from an educated family, he was prominent in politics and various clubs and societies. His sister was a Sanskrit and Malayalam scholar. His father was a lawyer in Calicut and became a Munsif later on. TMN studied Sanskrit in England while pursing his M.D. He returned to India and went on to hold several public office positions.

In those days, everybody was associated with Indian National Congress; and it so happens several of them became disenchanted with INC. How about a small detour and look at the evolution of INC. It won't take long, just a picture.



Moving on, TMN a surgeon on S.S.Madras during WWI. He campaigned for equal treatment of Indian Officers. In 1916, he lost elections. He was running for a position in Madras Corporation, and was beaten by Dewan Bahadur T. Rangachariar. The elections were darn important for TMN. He went on to lose two more elections to tamil brahmins. He accused tamil brahmins in INC to have caused him the elections. So we have a guy who was now pissed off at INC and brahmins - especially Tamil Brahmins. Though accused of being an Anglophile, he loved his Malayalam. He came from Nair family from Palghat ending up in Madras.

Pitti Theogaraya Chetty:
PTC, as I will call him, belonged a Telugu Chetty family from Madras. He was a lawyer, industrialist and a political leader. He went on to serve as the President of Corporation of Madras. He was one of the founding members of 'South India Chamber of Commerce'. Once PTC fought on behalf of the newspaper 'Indian Patriot' and its editor Karunakara Menon against, yes, T.M. Nair. PTC was actively involved in the various non-brahmin movements that were seeing the light of the day in that era.



C. Natesa Mudaliar:
CNM, for short, came from a Tamil Vellalar family. After passing out from Madras Medical College he began his medicine practice. However, he became involved in politics and social reform. He had once started a hostel for non-brahmin students in Madras Presidency, because he felt non-brahmin students did not get hostel accommodations in Madras. CNM was prominent in some of the non-brahmin movments in Madras Presidency those days.



Madras Presidency had several anti-brahmin movements, and there were several key people and leaders. TMN and PTC were two of the stalwarts, however they were at loggerheads. CNM was instrumental in bringing them together and in the eventual creation of South Indian Liberal Federation - popularly known as the Justice Party. The credit of creating the Justice Party goes to CNM by all accounts. If not for him, the disunited non-brahmin movements would not have become one.

Now that we have briefly looked at the background of three prominent people who went on to create the Justice Party. We need to look at some of the other non-brahmin movements and leaders in that era. Like the 'Federalist Papers' and 'Anti-Federalists Papers', there arose in the early 20th century a book called the 'Non-Brahmin letters' - a set of 21 letters written by prominent non-brahmin leaders urging non-brahmins to rise and shine. I have not laid my hands on that book or those letters, yet. I don't think it is available on the internet.

In the next post.....we will look at some of these leaders. Oh EVR, Annadurai and Karunanidhi are still long ways to go. And the European Christian Missionaries continued to work their charm. So hang on.

India and its near-abroad

The Economists' take on India and what it should have done, not-done yada yada, yet for all its agenda and whatnot it does have some truth to it - of course you need to ensure you blood does not boil at the tone of the article.

NO ONE loves a huge neighbour. For all that, India’s relations with the countries that ring it are abysmal. Of the eight with which it shares a land or maritime boundary, only two can be said to be happy with India: tiny Maldives, where India has the only foreign embassy and dispenses much largesse, and Bhutan, which has a policy of being happy about everything. Among its other South Asian neighbours, the world’s biggest democracy is incredible mainly because of its amazing ability to generate wariness and resentment.

Until recently it operated a shoot-to-kill policy towards migrant workers and cattle rustlers along its long border with Bangladesh. Over the years it has meddled madly in Nepal’s internal affairs. In Myanmar India snuggles up to the country’s thuggish dictators, leaving the beleaguered opposition to wonder what happened to India’s championing of democracy. Relations with Sri Lanka are conflicted. It treats China with more respect, but feuds with it about its border

The following two paragraphs seems to be in indirect ode to MMS and SG.

With the notable exception of India’s prime minister, Manmohan Singh, who has heroically persisted in dialogue with Pakistan in the face of provocations and domestic resistance, India’s dealings with its neighbours are mostly driven by arrogance and neglect. It has shared shockingly little of its economic dynamism and new-found prosperity with those around it. Just 5% of South Asia’s trade is within the region.

Too little and too late, the neglect is starting to be replaced by engagement (see article). This week Sonia Gandhi, dynastic leader of India’s ruling Congress Party, visited Bangladesh—a first. And on July 27th India’s foreign minister hosted his Pakistani counterpart, the first such meeting in a year. He promised a “comprehensive, serious and sustained” dialogue.

One thing I do agree is the lack of vision. Maybe before the current economic prosperity India did not have the necessary muscle or economic power to create and nurture a vision. What use is a vision if one does not have the capability to implement it, right? With India's attention to South East Asia, hopefully it has now a better vision and clarity of purpose to take its agenda forward.

Second, dynamic India can hardly soar globally while mired in its own backyard. Promoting regional prosperity is surely the best way to persuade neighbours that its own rise is more of an opportunity than a threat. Yet India lacks any kind of vision. A region-wide energy market using northern neighbours’ hydropower would transform South Asian economies. Vision, too, could go a long way to restoring ties that history has cut asunder, such as those between Karachi and Mumbai, once sister commercial cities but now as good as on different planets; and Kolkata and its huge former hinterland in Bangladesh. Without development and deeper integration, other resentments will be hard to soothe. It falls on the huge unloved neighbour to make the running.

Oh well, Karachi and Mumbai becoming sisters again? It is a dream for the select few. For the realists, it is not going to happen unless Pakistan changes and becomes friendly towards India. Not going to happen anytime soon.