3 Years of UPA2 Government: Crucial Political, Economic Policies Remain in State of Drift

The Congress-led UPA2 (United Progressive Alliance) Government completed three inglorious years in office in May 2012. Given the fact that it has all but abandoned the governance of the country, constantly harangued by allies and put on the mat by the Opposition, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s regime must consider it a miracle that it is still in power. The past three years of the government have been marked by a complete paralysis in decision-making and an erosion of stature of the prime minister. Crucial political and economic policies have remained in a state of drift because there is no leadership at the top. As Prime Minister, Singh should have been directing the battle to revive the government, but he is found nowhere in the front. That is because he now leads the government only in name, and his Ministers and allies know it well.

The prime minister is in charge of neither the political agenda of the country nor its economic agenda. In other words, he is a lame-duck prime minister biding his time before he is ousted by the electorate or replaced by his party’s high command led by Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Meanwhile, everyone in the UPA Government and outside is having fun at his cost. But the headless government’s continuance is not a matter of amusement for the country, which is paying a heavy price for Singh’s pusillanimity and inaction.

Political Front

On the political front, allies are regularly issuing threats and arm-twisting the government because the Congress as a party and Singh as the prime minister have failed to reach out to their partners or allay their apprehensions on several contentious issues. The growing lack of trust between the Congress and its partners in the UPA Government — not to mention the widening divide between the government and the Opposition — has led to key decisions being either kept on hold or rolled back. Many of these decisions which have become victims of the government’s incompetence relate to the economic well-being of the people and their security. 

No amount of chest-thumping by the UPA and its acolytes over its imagined achievements is going to change the reality that the Congress-led government has failed in every way that a government possibly can. Most importantly, the government has lost the people’s trust, which is clearly evident in the results of the recently held election to five States. UPA2 is on life-support — alive but not living.

Unattended Issues

However, as Congressmen across the board will tell you, there is no real sustained debate — or at any rate, any formal putting of heads together in party fora — on how to achieve all this. The big issues, freedom of expression versus community sentiments, market versus control, etc are never thrashed out to evolve a party view.

A senior party functionary pointed out that even the A.K. Antony Report, which analyzed the Congress' performance in recent Assembly elections to five States, including U.P., will be seen only by the Core Group (whose members include Singh, Sonia Gandhi, Pranab Mukherjee, P. Chidambaram, and A.K. Antony, and Sonia Gandhi's Political Secretary, Ahmed Patel) that meets once a week.

As for the Congress Working Committee (CWC), a more representative body, it seldom meets. It is little wonder then that the Congress is now a party where senior functionaries and ministers themselves scramble for information, where intrigue replaced any world view as ideology a long time ago, and ginger groups are a thing of the hoary past.

Optimism and Reality 

It was an acknowledgment that Dr. Singh had played a stellar role in the party's spectacular victory, drawing in support not just from middle class metropolitan living rooms but rural India as well: across Uttar Pradesh, I recall voters — cutting across caste and religious lines — saying they hoped the UPA, under Singh, would return to power and steer the country through the global economic meltdown.

But three years later, as the UPA readies itself to celebrate its eighth anniversary in power, the government and its Prime Minister have lost their sheen, swamped by a slew of financial scandals, the ham-handed response to the Anna Hazare campaign and rising prices. Congressmen, not Opposition leaders, are beginning to ask whether the Sonia Gandhi-Manmohan Singh partnership has run out of steam, and whether this unique power-sharing arrangement has led to ambivalence on policy issues, crippling effective decision-making. Finally, they are even asking whether the government needs a new face to lead it to the general elections scheduled just two years away, in 2014.

Pranab Factor 

That face could have been Rahul Gandhi, the Congress yuvraj, but his own lack of enthusiasm for taking on the job at this stage, compounded by the party's disastrous showing in the recent Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh has ensured that he will not be taking over the reins, anytime soon. It could have been Sonia Gandhi, but she made it clear in 2004, when the position was hers, that she was not going to take it. It could also have been the party's troubleshooter, its one man brains trust, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. But most senior functionaries and ministers rule out that possibility even though a majority agrees that of those available and no Gandhi willing, he would be the popular choice in the party for Prime Minister.

Of course, the finance minister's name is currently in circulation for another job — that of the next President, and he is certainly emerging as the Opposition's popular choice for a consensus First Citizen.

NCERT Textbook Issue 

Neither is there any system in the party that can respond to the challenges of the times. The recent NCERT textbook controversy, a cabinet minister stresses, should have evoked a considered response from the party: “Textbooks,” he said, “play a key role in a democracy. The response to the objections to the Ambedkar cartoon should not have been left to the HRD ministry.” If there is no serious internal debate, the minister said, people in the party are unlikely to own decisions: the problem with allowing Foreign Direct Investment in retail, he said, is not the opposition of allies or other parties: “We ourselves haven't made up our minds, so we talk of evolving a consensus.”

Eliminating Terrorism

The Congress-led government should not demonstrate softness in approach toward terror attacks. Unfortunately, that is what the UPA has been showing all these years. Its leaders speak in different voices on the growing terrorism menace.

How long will the current state of affairs continue? After every major terrorist incident, the instinctive response of the government is to constitute a committee or form a new investigative body on top of the existing, inefficient anti-terror set-up. In the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, the government realized the need for a central investigating agency to combat terrorism. As a result, with the unanimous support of all political parties the National Investigation Agency (NIA) was created. However, this agency has proved ineffective in preventing terror attacks and tracking down terrorists in the country. The 2011 serial blasts in Mumbai followed by the Delhi High Court blasts and the German Bakery bombing in Pune the previous year could neither be prevented and nor were they properly investigated. The NIA was also accused of allegedly offering bribes to name RSS members in the Ajmer blasts case.

The UPA Government wants to create another anti-terror organization called the National Counter-Terrorism Centre. It is time the government realized that bad policing cannot be supplemented with more policing. The need of the hour is to improve coordination between investigative agencies and state governments, create a more comprehensive database of suspected terrorists and streamline the anti-terror operations, rather than encroach upon the powers of the States.

The current state of affairs makes it amply clear that these extremists have no concern for development and they intend to usurp power by first dominating the countryside and then moving toward the cities. And, hence, the soft approach being taken by the government makes India an even easier target. We cannot afford being the soft state that we are. Merely pumping funds into development is not the solution to the Maoist menace. Similarly, removing or diluting the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Jammu and Kashmir would severely hamper the capabilities and morale of the Army.

The country is in dire need of a more nuanced approach to dealing with issues of national security. Mere half-baked policies will not succeed. Our security will continue to be compromised so long as this UPA Government tries to politicize and pressure the stakeholders in the crucial decision-making process.

India Commissions First Indigenously-Built Stealth Warship

India has commissioned its first indigenously-built stealth warship with sophisticated features to hoodwink enemy radars and gained entry into a top club of developed countries having such capability। Inducting 'INS Shivalik', the first of the three-ship Project-17 frigates, at the Mumbai-based Mazagon Docks (MDL), Defense Minister A.K. Antony called it a red letter day for the armed forces. The 143-metre long vessel, with 6,100 ton displacement, has been designed and built in India. More than 60 per cent of its value was met within India.

Maintaining High-Level of Operational Readiness
Undoubtedly, the commissioning of the ship is a milestone in the country's warship-building capacity। He stressed the need for modernization of the country's dockyards to achieve international standards in construction. Although the Navy had come a long way since Independence, there was a lot to be done before it became a potent force. Given the multifarious challenges the country faced, the Navy had to maintain a high-level of operational readiness. The government sanctioned Rs. 1,000 crore for modernization of MDL, which on completion next year, would place it among the world's leading warship-building yards.

Shivalik class warships can deal with multiple threat environment and are fitted with weapon suite comprising both area and point defense systems। It has sensors for air, surface and subsurface surveillance, electronic support and counter equipment and decoys for 'soft kill measures'. Two more of the Shivalik class -- INS Sayahdri and INS Satpura -- would be ready for commissioning by November 2010 and mid of 2011, respectively.

Latest Stealth Features
INS Shivalik has the latest stealth features to outsmart the enemy with low radar cross section, be it of the hull, infra-red or sound signatures। It is a steep jump in the indigenous design effort of the Directorate of Naval Design that has since 1954 designed 17 warships of different classes with 80 units built out of them. Currently, there are four designs from which 11 warships are under construction. Although the Shivalik project took the Navy nearly 12 years from the drawing board stage to its commissioning, the new designs for warships the world over also had taken that much time. The total indigenous effort accounting for 60 per cent of the cost is estimated to be Rs. 2,300 crore per ship.

Shivalik class is equipped with a judicious mix of imported and indigenous weapon systems and sensors, including Barak surface-to-air missiles, 'Shtil' air defense system, rapid fire guns and basic anti-submarine warfare weapons।

The ship is powered by combined diesel and gas turbine propulsion system consisting one each of US-origin LM-2500 gas turbine engine and SEMT Pielstick diesel engine on each shaft driving a large diameter controllable pitch propeller।

Future Generation
With better modular habitation and galley facilities on the ship, including an electric 'chappati' (Indian bread) maker, the features in the warship would ensure that the crew was more comfortable while sailing। Shivalik would also be the first warship of the Indian Navy to provide for separate living rooms for women crew as and when the Defense Ministry decides to send them on board battleships.

Explaining the salient features of INS Shivalik, its Commanding Officer Captain M।D. Suresh said the warship was a generation ahead of the frigates that the country had. It operated on a leaner crew; its stealth features helped it generate less noise, reducing underwater detection, while the design deflected signatures.

The frigate is armed with missiles, has helicopter support, mounted guns and a combat management system that can effectively coordinate all weapons and sensors onboard, giving it the ability to deal with multiple threats. The warship can be on a voyage for three-four weeks without fuel replenishment.

Tense Situation in Kashmir Calls For Redeployment of Withdrawn Troops

As soon as the summer season sets in, snow starts melting in the Kashmir valley. And infiltration accelerates through the passes in the border region, mounting the threat of terrorist attacks. Recently, militants attacked the military and security forces, killing few soldiers and officers. In the retaliatory operation by the army and security forces, many militants were killed and huge cache of arms and ammunition were seized.

Dismantling Militant Infrastructure
Defense Minister A.K. Antony stated recently that even today 42 terrorist training camps are being run and Pakistan does not intend to dismantle the militant infrastructure. Pakistani rulers and anti-India elements are intolerant of peace that has of late returned to Kashmir. The moderate factions of the Hurriyat Conference are making efforts for the establishment of lasting peace in Jammu and Kashmir through talks due to which unrest is growing among the handlers of militants in Pakistan.

Syed Salahuddin, chairman of the United Jihad Council in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, holding out a threat to separatist Kashmiri leaders said, "They should modify their modus operandi and resolve their differences, failing which the command of the struggle being waged in Jammu and Kashmir will be taken over by militant organizations. If the militant organizations, especially the youth felt that because of the differences among separatists their sacrifices will go waste, then he would himself assume the command of the struggle."

Motive Behind Unrest
Ventilating his ire on the army and security forces deployed in Jammu and Kashmir, Salahuddin asked police personnel in Jammu and Kashmir not to take over the command of the anti-militancy front.

Salahuddin and his associates support leaders of Pakistan-based hardliner factions, Syed Ali Shah Gilani, and his supporters but by voicing his anger against the moderate faction leaders, he holds out warnings to them. The motive behind it is that these leaders should follow Gilani. These leaders killed the chief of the moderate faction Mirwaiz Omar Farooq's father, Maulvi Farooq, People's Conference leader Abdul Ghani Lone and Ghulam Muhammad Mustafa, and his colleagues.

Salahuddin is associated with the hard line organization Jamaat-e-Islami. He contested the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections in 1987 as a candidate of the Muslim Mutihada Mueaz, but lost. He accused the then Farooq Abdullah-led government of rigging because of which he was defeated.

Irked over it, he and his supporters went to the Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Taking advantage of this situation the then Pakistan dictator Ziaul Haq unleashed a proxy war against India by inciting militancy in Jammu and Kashmir through the "Operation Topac." Salahuddin is exploited from time to time by his handlers in Pakistan and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) for making him issue "anti-India" statements and for provoking the Kashmiri youth.

Resolving Kashmir Issue
In order to divert the attention of the Pakistani public from issues such as price-rise, terrorist violence and other problems, Pakistani leaders are bringing pressure for talks on India for the resolution of the Kashmir problem and issues relating to the distribution of river waters. The common Kashmiris are fed up with the frequent incidents of violence and bloodshed and, of late militants are not readily reuniting the youth from Kashmir to join their activities.

The threat held out by militant leaders such as Salahuddin to Police is also a matter of concern. The police have been entrusted the duty of providing security at certain places but they do not possess necessary arms and training to take on terrorists who are equipped with modern arms and explosives. Moreover, police are also assigned the duty of maintenance of law and order in the state and a majority of police personnel being locals tend to hesitate to take on terrorists for various factors.

It is, therefore, imperative that in view of the sensitive situation in Kashmir, the military deployed there should not be withdrawn and the military already withdrawn should be redeployed in Kashmir so that the security arrangements could be fortified, lest some fresh major incident of terrorism take place there.

India, Pakistan To Desist From Provocation in Troubled Time

It is either a misfortune or the uncontrollable emotions of think tanks in India and Pakistan, which have entangled them in a competition of uttering rhetorics. Tension between the two countries has thus increased. The happenings, which have knowingly or unwillingly occurred, are adding to it. Violation of ceasefire on the borders and failure to bid for Pakistan cricketers for the Indian Premier League (IPL) for cricket are among such incidents.
At a time when there is no sign of bitterness in bilateral relations being reduced, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani issued a highly irresponsible statement. He refused to guarantee that there would be no further Mumbai-type terrorist attacks in India. What is surprising is that he said this to the US Defense Secretary Roberts Gates. That the latter gave him a patient hearing is even more surprising. This implies that he did not go to Pakistan in order to bring it on the right track.

Rise in Terrorism
In the midst of this tense atmosphere in the two countries comes the bad news about the terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba conspiring a major attack on the Republic Day (26 January). This causes no sensation because ever since the Mumbai attack, reports about such conspiracies being hatched across the border have been pouring in. This is enough to prove that Pakistan is least interested in controlling the terrorist organizations which are flourishing on its soil and whose sole intention is to continue attaching India. In the midst of news that the Lashkar is planning another major attack on India, Defense Minister A.K. Antony issued a statement confirming that India was ready to face such attacks.
It is difficult to understand the implication of this speech. Why are such inciting statements being made to increase tension when it is quite clear that the Lashkar and other terrorist organizations are trying to push the two countries to a war through their anti India activities?

Creating Internal Security Challenges
The atmosphere caused by these statements is favorable to terrorists. India should at least refrain from issuing statements which will make Pakistan become frenzied. The same gesture can also be expected from Pakistan, but in the present circumstances its leaders are perhaps unwilling to think of their own good. If this had not been true, Pakistan would never have ignored the Lashkar threat looming large before it and described India the foremost enemy. Since Pakistan seems to be disinclined to undergo self-analysis, it has itself become a victim of terror. At the same time, it is creating internal security challenges for India.