Author
Inderjit Badhwar
Confused, Advani
is not. In fact, he is so un-confused that his clarity of thought and its
translation into action have served to un-confuse the BJP and propelled it into
a dimension that has run traditional secularists and patriots like the old-line
socialists, Congress Fabians, and communists running back to defensive
positions.
There are no
sparks of real passion. The Reagan-Gandhi honeymoon has produced an aftermath
of bilateral ennui. The two countries simply yawn politely at one another. The
Indo-US relationship just hasn't "developed".
During her
whirlwind 10-day tour of Washington, Benazir Bhutto worked a near-political
miracle. She succeeded in persuading the Senate Foreign Relations Committee -
which had adopted a resolution that could have ended all American aid to
Pakistan - to change its mind.
India Today has
been able to establish is that over the years Sikh extremists have forged ties
with far right-wing Senator Jesse Helms who has a close relationship with the
CIA, and with General Danny Graham, former chief of the Defense Intelligence
Agency who still wields considerable influence within the intelligence
agencies.
The recent arrest
of Ronald Rewald, a Honolulu-based businessman, has caused considerable interest
in India.
With the American
presidential election looming two months down the road, President Ronald
Reagan's political advisors are expressing what can only be described as joyous
trepidation. Or call it gleeful apprehension.
Study shows that
progressive corporations are increasingly stressing the "people
factor" - to keep their employees secure, emotionally as well as
financially.
International
experts, bankers continue to give India's economic performance high marks.
Cities of
Washington, New York, Los Angeles and Houston reverberated with cries of
"Bole so nihal" and "Raj karega khalsa" as thousands of
Sikhs took to the streets to protest against the Indian army's action at the
Golden Temple.
It is an open
secret among diplomats in Washington that Mrs Gandhi's retinue during the prime
minister's visit in August 1982 went on an apparently insatiable shopping
binge.
The month of
September will herald the anniversary of one of the most bizarre and gruesome
chapters in world aviation history - the destruction of Korean Airlines Flight
007 with 269 passengers on board over Soviet territory.
The US capital
was resounding with acrimonious debate over the Reagan Administration's much
ballyhooed, yet "secret" long-term nuclear pact with China.
There are several
reliable reports that high-level Pakistan official who wield considerable
influence in the government as well as Pakistan international airways are up to
their elbow in the profitable dope traffic and will resist any attempt to put a
damper on their lucrative industry.
Benazir's freedom
was precipitated by unrelenting pressure on the Reagan Administration and on
the Government of Pakistan by the Senate.
Reagan stuck by
his previous assurances to Chinese leaders that he would never infringe on
Chinese sovereignty or interfere in China's internal affairs or pursue a
two-China policy.
Israel's
Ambassador to the United Nations Benjamin Netanyahu at 35 is one of Israel's
youngest diplomats. He is also one of its most effective. Netanyahu is a
recognised expert on international terrorism.
The US Federal
Bureau of Investigation scored a telling blow for improved Indo-US ties by
busting a US-based Sikh extremist assassination ring that had targeted Prime
Minister Rajiv Gandhi as well as other leading Indian politicians.
Malcolm
Baldridge discussed his visit to India during an interview with
Washington Correspondent Inderjit Badhwar.
PM Rajiv Gandhi's
popular image trumpeted enthusiastically in American press.
The Indian press and members of Parliament have reacted
with typical alacrity to a scarcely-noted non-event in Washington on April 11.
This was a discussion on human rights in India that included, among other
topics, the plight of the Sikh community.
Government of India which is now actively seeking
Sharyar's release from the maximum security prison in El Reno, Oklahoma where
he has languished for nearly four years.
Washington's
reaction to the most recent evidence of Pakistan's continuing global clandestine
efforts to obtain essential components for making an atomic bomb is a
frightening illustration of the Reagan Administration's pathetic inability to
curb the nuclear ambitions of a renegade ally.
With the assembly
elections to 11 states and one Union territory scheduled for the first week of
March, Rajiv was back on the trail, back to his punishing schedule of a couple
of hours of sleep a night and up to a dozen scheduled public meetings hundreds
of kilometres apart each day.
The Bhopal
tragedy has highlighted the dangers of exporting hazardous chemical plants from
the industrialised nations to the Third World. In the US, documentation shows
increasing export of plants manufacturing products ranging from asbestos to
mercury.
"Bhopal is a
tragic lesson for the entire world, particularly the US," Edward J. Bergin
told India Today in a lengthy interview in Washington.
The Durbar around
Rajiv Gandhi has undergone some dramatic changes in the recent past with his
former close aides being side-lined and their place usurped suddenly by a new
and different set of advisers on crucial issues.
The Indian
Government pulled out all stops for last week's highly publicised visit by
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. The timing was significant. Events concerning
regional security in recent weeks have given India added impetus to reaffirm
its ties with the USSR.
Is there hope for
Punjab? As Sikh terrorism gained a decisive edge and the political crisis
within the ruling Akali Dal deepened, the question - and its answer - acquired
a dangerous new urgency. Hard options are required to pull Punjab back from the
brink.
The political
alliance between the Congress(I) and the National Conference has been praised
and damned. But the key question is whether it can survive. Attempts by
dissidents in both parties to sabotage it were foiled at the last minute. An
in-depth report.
Even after four
weeks of his resignation, mystery surrounds the circumstances under which Arun
Nehru was ousted from power. In his new life-style, the formidable former
minister displays an astonishingly upbeat demeanour. An analysis of his rise
and fall.
"In Kashmir,
if I want to run a government, I have to stay on the right side of the Centre.
That is a hard political reality I have come to accept," says Dr
Farooq Abdullah.
The political
uncertainty in Jammu & Kashmir is at a crucial stage. Negotiations between
Rajiv Gandhi and Farooq Abdullah still continue, and the power blocs are
getting restive. And Governor Jagmohan's popularity makes him a tough act to
follow.
Perhaps the most
controversial move undertaken under Governor's Rule in the state has been a
concerted and unflagging drive against corruption in high places and the
deeply-rooted spoils system permeating every level of government and politics.
"The
Government is determined to isolate those who don't want peace. And the fight
will continue till they surrender or reform." - Jagmohan governor, Jammu
and Kashmir
The functioning
of the All India Mahila Congress has been badly hit by demoralisation of
workers, lack of adequate funds, and political infighting between its
chairperson Begum Abida Ahmed, and its convenor, Minister of Youth Affairs,
Sports and Women's Welfare Margaret Alva.
The attempt to
assassinate the prime minister exposed the chinks in his security armour. More
than anything, it showed up the security establishment as being overstrained,
poorly motivated, badly organised and lacking in unified command.
Doordarshan's
media campaign for Diwali reflects for the first time the Government's response
to consumer groups demanding new regulations on the manufacture of fireworks.
S. Balachander,
60, is the unchallenged king of the veena on which he plays Carnatic music with
dazzling virtuosity.
Despite ONGC's
persistent claims of achieving self sufficiency in oil by the 21st Century,
India's oil bubble could burst within this decade.
"I'm
confident we will meet our needs by the year 2000," says Colonel S.P.
Wahi, who has been the helmsman of the Oil and Natural Gas Commission since
1981.
They are the
hidden persuaders, manipulating massive arms deals and commercial contracts
through carefully-cultivated contacts in government and bureaucracy. A report
on the growing tribe of lobbyists who prowl the parlours of power.
When retired
officers join big armaments manufacturers as their liaison men or consultants
in Delhi, their job is to lobby former peers and juniors for foreign equipment
manufacturers. This creates a dilemma for servicemen.
Faced with the
ecological havoc that has been wrought in the last decade by indiscriminate
deforestation, India is engaged in a desperate race against time. At stake is
the very survival of the country's agricultural livelihood.
Government
charges Sanjay Dalmia's GTC with operating through closely-knit wholesalers to
siphon money out of the company and then plough it back through fictitious book
entries so as to evade Rs.50 crore in excise duties.
Kamalapati
Tripathi, the octogenarian Congress(I) stalwart, convulsed the ruling party
with his letter to Rajiv Gandhi. What were the real reasons for Tripathi's
mini-revolt? What is his standing in the party now? An analysis of the man and
his methods.
Slowly but
surely, a resurgent and increasingly militant movement of Hindu revivalism is
sweeping across the country. The message in the new militancy is that the
minorities are being pampered while the majority has been restrained from
asserting Hindu nationalism.
The Indian
Government's assertion of Pakistan involvement in Sikh terrorism in Punjab is
based on solid evidence. INDIA TODAY has obtained details of interrogation
reports of numerous terrorists detailing the extent and nature of the Pakistan
hand in Punjab.
Barely 12 hours
after he had heard the news of his expulsion from the Congress(I), the
once-ranking minister in Mrs Gandhi's cabinet sat relaxed and unruffled in the
basement office of his south Delhi residence. Puffing away at his pipe between
sips of orange squash. Mukherjee, 51, spoke to Features Editor Inderjit Badhwar
about his precipitous dismissal.
Even when the
Justice Ranganath Mishra commission of inquiry was appointed a year ago,
independent observers had predicted that it would turn out to be a lame duck
investigation.
This is the story
of a soldier who refused to die or fade away. Condemned to an early grave a
decade ago, by his own failing health as well as the policies of the Indian
Army, he has battled not only the disease but also the army establishment.
Sitarist Ravi
Shankar features in the fist of a new series of periodic photo essays in the
magazine that will focus on the living legends of Indian music and art and
allow them to describe their innermost beliefs and motivations.
Former Finance
minister Pranab Mukherjee is a battle-scarred veteran, accustomed to the slings
and arrows of the political arena. But of late, Mukherjee and his family have
been plagued with a bizarre series of incidents that has caught the
pipe-smoking politician considerably off balance.
Varanasi's
Shamshaan Ghat, the fabled cremation ground where Hindus traditionany burn
their dead, is also the kingdom of the Dom Raja, the wealthy traditional owner
of the ghat and keeper of the holy flame.
Air-India's
corpulent symbol, the Maharaja, may acquire the reputation of a shabby
wheeler-dealer as a result of the manner in which the airline's top management
has negotiated two major contracts.
It's a classic
boom and slump story. But the boom is elsewhere, and the slump is in India. And
though the action is in something as insignificant as exports of fruits and
vegetables, this could be a cautionary tale.
Delhi's Inland
Container Depot, established two years ago as an extension of Bombay Port, has
fallen prey to gross mismanagement and abuse.
The harsh popular
reaction to the Government's petroleum price hike coming close on lost
by-elections and the bungled Punjab accord spelt the end of the Rajiv Gandhi
euphoria. A special report on the changed mood.
Rajiv Gandhi has
said that NOIDA should set an example for the rest of the country. Can the
rest of the country learn something from NOIDA's experience?
Krishnaswami
Sundarji is commonly described at a thinking man's general - a man with a
modern mind who is determined not to let the 21 st century catch the army
napping in a business-as-usual posture.
There are no
distinctions here. There is only faith. A deep, abiding, ageless, palpable
faith. Caste, riches, religions crumble to dust. Thousands journey here from distances
unknown, from places unheard of - the forlorn, the weary, the wicked, the
wretched, the incurably sick and insane, the rich, the landless. They
demand miracles - karishma.
India's 7.5-crore
strong Muslim community is in turmoil because of the controversy on the Supreme
Court judgement in the Shah Bano case. The religious row has strengthened
fundamentalism and caused a severe schism within the community.
There are
essentially five government departments - collectively known as economic
intelligence agencies - which spoke around business establishments, industrial
units, private residences, manufacturers's godowns, import docks, and can
despatch a swarm of raiders to make that early morning knock on the doors with
search and seizure warrants.
Hari Prasad
Chaurasia has come to straddle the world of Indian classical music like a
colossus. His rendering of Krishna's instrument is individualistic, rooted in
classicism, yet always venturing into the experimental. A tribute.
After he was
dropped from the Government, and following his expulsion from the Congress
party, most people had expected Arun Nehru to go into the political wilderness.
But he has made a comeback as a top strategist in the newly-formed V.P. Singh
camp.
The euphoria of
Rajiv Gandhi's early days in office has vapourised into despair and
disappointment. Already, it is apparent that the nation is being governed by a
man whose judgement, credibility and moral authority seem to have become
seriously afflicted.
The expulsion of
V.P. Singh and other dissidents from the Congress(I) has unleashed a chain of
events that threaten to snowball into a major political movement. The prospects
for Rajiv Gandhi's already shaky applecart are foreboding.
The verdict in
last week's assembly elections represents a major set-back to the Congress(I)
and Rajiv Gandhi. The electoral reverses will also weaken the prime minister's
hold over the party and government.
Fact that details
of the election results remained unannounced almost a week after the polling
had ended, gave credence to opposition charges that there was rigging and
electoral bungling.
Prakash Singh
Badal's release from prison last fortnight fuelled the speculation that the
Centre is willing to start the political process again in Punjab. Looking
rested but weak, Badal talked to Features Editor Inderjit Badhwar in
Chandigarh.
Counter-terrorist
measures lead to further alienation.
History came to
life in resplendent glory as bejewelled crowns bowed to bejewelled crowns in
Gwalior. And people turned out at the wedding of Chitrangada Raje Scindia and
Vikramaditya Singh with the traditional enthusiasm that binds subjects with
royalty. Pictures Editor Raghu Rai and Features Editor Inderjit Badhwar covered
the event.
The durbar move
botches the Congress(I)-NC alliance.
For millions of
children, education today resembles not a voyage of discovery but an endurance
test. Heaped with homework and impossible demands, they trudge through their
troubled world, their childhood sacrificed to the demands of the textbook.
As the left and
the right battle, Rajiv gains.
A weakening
challenge brings cheer to the ruling party.
The new ordinance
against the practice and glorification of sati, introduced by the Rajasthan
Government, has failed to cow down the state's Rajputs. It has instead
succeeded in galvanising them into bolder action than ever before.
Rajasthan Janata
Party leader Kalyan Singh Kalvi, the star of the Rajput demonstration, shot
into prominence after he defied a party directive and attended Roop Kanwar's
Chunari ceremony.
The Government
attempts to shackle press freedom.
Roop Kanwar's
turning sati was greeted with shock across the nation but for local villagers,
Deorala became a place of worship overnight. The scathing public criticism
finally forced a paralysed Rajasthan Government to act, even if belatedly.
Beneath his
mild-mannered exterior, lies a belly for fire. His speech is soft but it is
laden with barely controlled outrage. Against the system. Against political
leaders who lose their hearing. Yet, Arun Shourie is a man of immense faith.
At 84, press
baron Ramnath Goenka is a little slow. Not because he wants to slow down but
because a transient stroke some months ago slightly affected his memory. He
sometimes stops mid-sentence and gropes for thought and words. And he no longer
goes for his three-mile walks. Apart from that nothing's changed. He's in the
middle of another fight. And he loves it.
A senior mole is
unearthed.
The Indian
Express, the most powerful cutting edge of opposition to the Rajiv Gandhi
Government, stands accused of evading customs duties and violating FERA
regulations.
Indian
heads UN-sponsored International Conference on the Relationship between
Disarmament and Development.
The only living
doyen of the Kirana Gharana, Bhim Sen Joshi, 66, has given a new depth and
dimension to the very horizons of Indian classical music. Features Editor
Inderjit Badhwar met this classical vocalist in the continuing series on the
great masters of Indian art and music.
Following his
resignation from the Union Cabinet, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, former president of
the state '& Congress (I), returned to Kashmir last month to one of the
biggest welcomes ever accorded to a state leader in recent times.
Despite last
fortnight's rainfall, the devastation caused by the failure of this year's
monsoon is horrific and unprecedented. In 21 states, the drought has ruined the
kharif crop and affected the livelihood of millions of peasants struggling for
survival.
The trouble in
Kashmir is that they think everybody's a crook
Rising
unpopularity threatens Kashmir accord.
No matter what
the final outcome and the international fall-out of the Sri Lanka imbroglio
maybe, events over the last few months indicate that the credibility of Indian
foreign policy is taking a nosedive across the world.
The devastating
riots that swept through Meerut and its adjoining areas were frightening in
their intensity. The abnormal death toll is a warning that communal tensions
have been allowed to reach a dangerous level and other Meeruts can erupt
elsewhere.
For the first
time since published allegations about Satish Sharrna and his land deals and
opulent life-style began appearing, he agreed to an interview to tell his side
of the story.
Satish Sharma has
become a target of those in the party who would like to see Rajiv distance
himself from his friends.
For the first
time in the nation's independent history, more than three lakh Muslims from all
over the country had lined up on that stretch, shoulder to shoulder, to demand
justice and an end to organised discrimination against their community.
After several
marathon sessions of mediation, conciliation, reconciliation and head-counting,
the Congress(I) high command finally issued a list of 90 candidates who will
contest the Haryana Assembly poll against the formidable alliance of Devi Lal's
Lok Dal(B) and the BJP.
The Centre's
sudden move to dismiss the Surjit Singh Barnala government and bring Punjab
under President's rule is a political gamble fraught with myriad dangers. An
analysis of the Centre's gameplan and the implications.
The Assembly
election in Haryana, scheduled to be held next month, promises to decide the
fate of both Rajiv Gandhi and the Congress(I). With Devi Lal galvanising the
opposition parties into action, the battle lines are clearly drawn.
Last fortnight,
as hostile pressure mounted on the prime minister and his party, in Parliament
and across the country, the nation watched the drama unfold in the capital with
baited breath. The ferocity with which the defence scandals exploded in the
press and in Parliament - where opposition members, demanding to know the
truth, staged several walkouts - caused observers to wonder whether the crisis,
in the end, would bring down the Government.
At a recent
meeting between Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and President Zail Singh - one of
several fence-mending exercises initiated by Rajiv - the prime minister sought
to bring up the point that under the Constitution he had the right to advise
the President on what kind of government information should be made available
to Rashtrapati Bhawan. The President replied cryptically, that under the
Constitution he had the right not only to receive any information but also the
right to dismiss the prime minister.
Amitabh Bachchan
claims that his enemies have cast him in the role of a villain in the Fairfax
affair. In a long interview he answered some questions about his brother
Ajitabh's Swiss residency and the controversy over his own closeness to the
prime minister.
Author
Inderjit Badhwar
Last fortnight as
word about Vayudoot's engine troubles spread among the public, airline managers
hinted that they would ground the entire fleet of 10 planes until the
mechanical defects - which Vayudoot blames squarely on the manufacturers - were
sorted out and the airline compensated monetarily.
Supercassettes
has cornered 70 per cent of the music market for new films. Within five years
the total investment of this firm in plant and equipment has grown from around Rs.10 lakh to about Rs.20 crore.
The exercise of
union muscle has brought Bombay's blue-collar workers unprecedented wage hikes
that have transported them to almost middle-management earning levels. A report
on what this new-found affluence has meant.
The upcoming
elections have transformed the state of Jammu & Kashmir into a political
cauldron bubbling over with party dissidence, rabid religious fundamentalism,
secular blandishments, secessionist appeals.
The take-over of
the revered Vaishno Devi shrine by an independent board last August has now
erupted into a sizzling legal controversy of gargantuan political dimensions.
The previous day
he had campaigned in the suburban villages of Hazratbal and Budgam outside
Srinagar well into the night. Dr Farooq Abdullah was like a man possessed as he
jeeped through the knee-deep slush and slime that covers most of the valley in
springtime.
The mammoth Sikh
convention at Longowal village last fortnight showed that Sikhs in large
numbers are willing to condemn the politics of extremism. It was also a
significant personal triumph for embattled Chief Minister Barnala.
Nothing could
have illustrated the truth of that statement better than the course and content
of last fortnight's marathon talks between India and Pakistan in New Delhi to
defuse the border crisis.
Knowledgeable
experts say that the border tension developed out of Pakistan's suspicion over
"Brasstacks" and its desire to disrupt the exercise's final
phase-February to March - when manoeuvres would take place on a massive scale.
The old enemies
were about to go to war for a fourth time. Or so it appeared last fortnight as
Indian and Pakistani forces positioned themselves virtually eyeball to eyeball
along the Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab borders.
Indian coaches
have been unable to keep pace, either with technological developments in sports
or with the evolution of games, as they are affected by changes in rules.
For the first
time since he was officially elected prime minister of the country just over
two years ago, Rajiv Gandhi faced a new and dangerous threat - a crisis of
credibility.
"We might
flatter ourselves that we are doing something extremely valuable for the
country, but unless it is also perceived as such by our countrymen, they might
well conclude our contribution is not worthwhile".
Weather
forecasting apart, the supercomputer represents an exponential technological
leap over the other existing computers.
President's Rule
neither wins over the people nor deters the killers.
If there is one
issue that is igniting debate all over the country today it is the snap poll
question. Impressive arguments have been marshalled both for and against; and
for Rajiv Gandhi the decision is critical, his political survival perhaps
hinging on it.
The manners are
those of unscrupulous street fighters, the language that of guttersnipes. As
the luminaries of the Congress(I) and the Opposition muck-rake and trade filth
in preparation for the general elections, it is clear beyond all doubt that the
1989 poll will rank as the basest ever.
The breakdown of
law and order, the increasing stridency of fundamentalist demands and the
non-performance of the state Government, have combined to push J&K Chief
Minister Farooq Abdullah to a corner.
Reshuffle in
Nehru Centenary Celebrations committee raises eyebrows.
While opposition
parties have been hogging the headlines with their unity moves, the Congress(I)
has not exactly been slumbering. Quietly but steadily, the creaky organisation
is beginning to oil its springs and flex its muscles in preparation for the
electoral challenge that is already in the air. A report from Executive Editor
Inderjit Badhwar and Senior Editor Prabhu Chawla.
More than 21
months since the National Conference-Congress-I alliance came to power in
state, Kashmir seems ready to burst at the seams. Inefficiency, corruption,
religious fundamentalism, and escalating violence stalk the valley as Farooq
Abdullah appears increasingly helpless and isolated.
Since the early
1930s, Mallikarjun Mansur has enchanted lovers of classical music with his
unique singing of khayal which, after dhrupad, is the purest form of shastriya
sangeet.
Ample monsoon
this year has ended the country's worst drought in several decades and life is
gradually returning to normal in the rural areas. The rains have worked a
near-magical transformation of the countryside.
Rajiv has one
foot on a political banana peel. And his party has begun a dangerous slide. The
public is now willing to dump Rajiv. If elections are held now, and the
Opposition is as united as in 1977, the Congress(I) would get no more than 223
seats.
Whatever the
criticism against him, there is no denying that the man has charisma and style
and a depth of intellectual vision not witnessed before in the office of the
chief of army staff. It almost seems a national waste that General Sundarji
retired quietly to Wellington last week.
Author
Inderjit Badhwar
Flamboyant army
chief General Krishnaswami Sundarji stepped down from office last fortnight and
left behind a legacy that is the most fiercely disputed in the history of the
army. An account of the changes he introduced.
Rajiv Gandhi
hinted that some behind-the-scenes negotiations with Punjab extremists were afoot
when he publicly "welcomed" the peace efforts being made by Jain Muni
Sushil Kumar, 62, the spiritual head of Ahimsa Bhawan in Delhi.
India's bid for a
role in Afghanistan is bungled.
V.P. Singh
finally talks with unusual frankness about the controversies of 1987, the
defence deals, the Bachchan connection Snamprogetti, his conflicts with Rajiv
Gandhi when he was finance minister, and the dramatic days before his exit from
government.
The man with the
pious, pensive look, the thinly-chiselled moustache, the voice inflected with
flashes of the Poorabi dialect, the wounded protestations, has become an
irritating mystery even to his staunchest supporters.
Rajiv Gandhi's
political philosophy seems to revolve around the dictum that whenever in doubt,
play the Cabinet reshuffle card.
For nearly five
decades Alla Rakha has mesmerised audiences the world over with his consummate
mastery of rhythms and beats.
Terror stalks the
residents of the Sundarbans in West Bengal. So high are killings by man-eaters
that when fishermen set out every morning into the swamps, their families never
know whether they will see them again.
More than three
years after becoming prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi has changed: physically,
politically, attitudinally. A detailed look at the evolution of a young prime
minister, while an exclusive opinion poll gauges the mood of the nation.
Government has
also started raising emergency funds abroad to meet budgetary gaps caused by
extra spending to combat the 1987 drought.
Even as the
National Front was hurtling towards forming the new government, 48 hours of
dramatic developments were demonstrating how precariously the new government is
balanced.
The Congress(I)
is increasingly looking like a party without a leader and without a slogan.
Never has Rajiv Gandhi looked so alone, so lonely. He has lost his charismatic
touch. His very voice, as it were. In contrast, Janata Dal's V.P. Singh, has
proven to be a formidable campaigner. His earthy metaphors, laced with caustic
sarcasm, strike an intimate and emotional chord wherever he goes.
The Janata Dal
leader has been cutting a tireless electoral swathe through the Hindi heartland
to ensure Rajiv's defeat. The peoples' response has been electrifying.
Rajiv Gandhi's
campaign has a blistering pace, but a tired, mechanical air. In place of the
old fervour, there is the weariness of a tiresome task to be got over with. And
the crowds, sensing the change, no longer respond as before.
What the country
will witness during the next three weeks will be nothing short of a political
eruption unmatched anywhere on the globe as the people of the nation exercise
their birthright to hold to democratic accountability-to punish or reward-those
to whom they loaned their power for the last five years.
As November 9,
the date set for starting construction of the controversial temple at the
mandir-masjid site in Ayodhya, approaches, the atmosphere is getting tense.
Political parties are playing the religious card, and the communal situation is
being dangerously exploited for its electoral worth.
With The Hindu publishing fresh
evidence, the Bofors controversy has again taken centre-stage - and triggered
off a public rift between Editor G. Kasturi and Associate Editor N. Ram who
charged that Kasturi had stopped further exposes, fearing government action
against the family-owned newspaper.
Badaun died last
fortnight. Not that the western Uttar Pradesh town of 1 lakh residents, half
Muslim and half Hindu, had much going for it.
The Bofors
controversy takes a new twist with the former army chief General K. Sundarji
revealing in a startling interview that the Government did not heed his
recommendation to cancel the contract.
The fortnight
that was.
Janata Dal senior
statesman and parliamentary board member Chandra Shekhar has often been
described as one of the shrewdest, if not the slipperiest characters on the
Indian political stage.
Over the last
month, Janata Dal leaders, given to sniping against one another, have buried
their differences and accepted V.P. Singh as the only counter to Rajiv Gandhi.
The result is a picture of unity, not seen in the Janata Dal since its
inception, that's added a new vitality to the National Front campaign.
As elections draw
close, the ruling party is setting into motion its awesome organisational
machinery, replete with modern approaches, while the Janata Dal concentrates on
personalising the contest, colouring it as a Deshi-Videshi war.
Violence
escalated last week in the Kashmir valley, where militant separatist struggle
has been gathering strength for the last one year. Most grievances relate to
corruption, and an insensitive administration. But above all, the people feel
their democratic voice is being stifled by a manipulative Centre.
The history of
Kashmir is a tortuous web of intrigue, blackmail, reconciliation, deception and
revolt. Cut off from the rest of the country for six months a year by high
mountain ranges, the people of the valley have evolved distinct cultural
patterns and a way of life they call Kashmiriyat.
Author
Inderjit Badhwar
A manipulative
Centre and a weak-kneed Farooq Abdullah push Kashmir to the brink.
The discontent
brewing in Kashmir for two years again found expression in violence. What is
especially worrying about last fortnight's round of street-fighting between the
police and secessionist militants is the use of automatic weapons by the latter
and the support they are getting from the young.
Sarus cranes live
in ponds and lakes. Not in villages and houses. They eat shrubs, insects. Not
chapatis. They flee humans. Not snuggle up to them. But in Khajuraho lives a crane
that defies all crane-like behaviour. An exploration of his world.
While the Thakkar
report has cast scarce illumination on the conspiracy leading to Mrs Gandhi's
assassination, the brouhaha accompanying its release has shown how democratic
institutions are being undermined, and how the highest echelons of the
Government are riven by mistrust.
The success of
the Vaishno Devi reform measure and rapid transformation of the surrounding
region has stimulated other states to consider similar changes in the
management of other major shrines.
When the Vaishno
Devi shrine was taken over by a statutory board, promises were made of radical
reforms and reconstruction. Two years later the improvements have exceeded the
wildest expectations of the people.
With the belated
release of the Jodhpur detenus, and the withdrawal of several draconian laws, a
step in the right direction appears to have been taken in Punjab. But will this
initiative go the way of earlier ones.
Dhawan's comeback
signals Rajiv Gandhi's return to his mother's style of functioning. Along with
administrative changes it signifies a last-ditch effort by Rajiv Gandhi to
revamp his image and woo party loyalists.
The poll shows
that the prime minister's personal ratings have remained steady, even risen, while
that of his party has fallen.
Suspicious
government apathy.
The Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) leaders, conscious that all other national parties are
trying to push the BJP to the fringes of mainstream politics, have their backs
to the wall.
Most political
pundits had written off the BJP as a spent force following its isolation from
national opposition groupings. But instead of retreating into the wilderness,
the BJP seems to be bouncing back into the national political arena following
electoral successes in Uttar Pradesh's civic polls.
The slaying of
Safdar Hashmi highlighted the brutalization of politics.
What remain most indelibly etched in the mind's eye with
the passage of 1988 are the larger-than-life people who shaped or were pushed
centre-stage by the year's events. Rulers and friends-turned-challengers
clashed viciously in the nation's political theatre. Kisan leaders and
secessionist chieftains locked horns with state governments and the Centre.
Super cops battled terrorists.
The nation kept vigil as a cinematic giant - romantic
nonpareil - lay dying in the capital's All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
A Supreme Court lawyer baited the prime minister and the President. A
meddlesome god man gave the Bofors scandal a new twist. Two strong-willed women
fought over the political legacy of a charismatic regional leader. So, in the
final count, it was a year of personalities enwrapped in clash and
confrontation. Weak ones, powerful ones, melodramatic ones, charismatic ones.
All made news in the year gone by.
There was
something else that happened last year, something significant, something
maddeningly spiritual that spread like a beatific aura across the entire land,
momentarily lifting the people from the doldrums of conflict, confrontation and
contention.
It was comforting to know that the personable and
reasonable Advani condemned minority-baiting as did many others in the party.
Though the inaction of the non-Congress(I) coalitions gave
the party a golden opportunity, it has failed to translate it into clear
victory.
The party has
never seemed so divided, between its need to carve out a wider support base and
to retain its militant stronghold.
In the plethora
of law-and-order assessments on Kashmir by the Home Ministry and raw for the
new Government, there is scant analysis of possible scenarios for a political
breakthrough.
There is a strong
move to get back KPS Gill as advisor to the new governor in Punjab.
Though Sonia
Gandhi has shown no inclination to join politics, she continues to be a key
factor in Congress(I) politics. A report on the groups which are trying to
exploit her name in order to gain influence and power and where she stands
herself.
A month after
Rajiv's assassination, the Tamil Nadu Government has suspended a DIG and a
dozen low-level inspectors and sub-inspectors. But the men who call the VVIP
security shots from Delhi remain unscathed and untouched.
In an exclusive interview with India Today Prime
Minister PV Narasimha Rao exudes confidence and a bewitiching calmness.
Even with more
than 300 Lok Sabha seats still up for grabs in the last lap of polling, the
fire had gone out of the electioneering. Rajiv's assassination dampened not
only the spirit of the Congress(I) but also the enthusiasm of other parties in
the contest.
But in his own,
prosaic way Rajiv Gandhi always talked about that "second chance". He
lived in the belief that opportunity knocks twice.
Author
Inderjit Badhwar
Rajiv Gandhi's
death is the latest in this continuing series of shocks not only over the
tragedy of a young leader being cut down in the prime of his life but also -
and equally important - over the state of the nation.
Hypocrisy and
cowardice of Indian politics has numbed the country.
The mood in the
party is distinctly upbeat due to its do-or-die approach, Rajiv Gandhi's successful
tours and the number of defectors it has attracted.
Politicians are aware that voters are skeptical of
divisive appeals.
Emphasis was on
restoring the party's credibility with the people - that no amount of trickery
or grandiose posturing would work because the people are not in a mood to be
hornswoggled.
After many
patch-up efforts and weeks of debate, the die has been cast. Leaders of
various parties were proclaiming a brave resolve to face the electorate
again. But predictably none of the parties are overjoyed. They face a
disillusioned electorate, a paucity of funds, and for many MPs defeat is
certain.
Devi Lal is
looking for new pastures to graze.
Though his rule
produced no results, Chandra Shekhar made an unexpected impact.
At a very
youthful 54, Susim Mukul Datta could well have staked a claim to film stardom.
In a conversation in Bombay last month with Executive Editor Inderjit Badhwar
and Senior Correspondent Shiv Taneja, Datta talked on a wide range of issues.
President
Venkataraman has come in for flak as leaders across party lines have accused him
of playing handmaiden to the Congress(I)'s gameplan. Charged with dabbling in
partisan politics in the ouster of the Tamil Nadu and Bihar governors, the
office of the President is under a cloud.
With his bearded
jaw thrust out at the world, with that crazy, alluring, disarming guffaw of
his, here, at last, was India's very own Don Quixote defying the windmills of
Indian political tradition.
The survival of
the Chandra Shekhar Government is under increasing threat. The Congress(I), as
is clear from recent pronouncements, has begun to distance itself from the
Janata Dal(S). It is now exploring all possible ways of forming the Government,
and avoiding elections.
At their national
conventions the three non-Congress(I) parties took stock of the present
political situation and attempted to thrash out their strategies for the next
election.
Vishwanath Pratap
Singh jumped onto centrestage again last fortnight as the self-styled
lamp-lighter of social justice by demanding that a staggering 60 per cent of
party tickets be reserved for backward castes.
The village of
Basoma, a slush-laned settlement with its congeries of mud and brick huts
dustily silhouetted in the evening haze a half-kilometre towards the setting
sun from the meter gauge railroad track that winds its way from Agra to
Kathgodam in the heart of Uttar Pradesh's Badaun district, is a long, long way
from Ayodhya.
As Rajiv Gandhi
prepares for the second stretch of his political life his image makers claim
that the most dramatic change, in his attitude is a willingness to expose
himself to the criticism from which his infamous coterie was supposed to have
shielded him.
L.K. Advani has
single-handedly resurrected the Bharatiya Janata Party. What makes him tick?
Where does he want to take his party and the country? A close look at the man
and his mind.
The current
crisis in the state has its roots in the callous indifference exhibited by the
Congress government.
Jagmohan has over
the years developed the reputation of being a troubleshooter. True to form,
even at the very epicentre of the Jammu and Kashmir crisis, he remains composed
and confident. Executive Editor Inderjit Badhwar spoke to him in Srinagar.
With Governor
Jagmohan at the helm, a semblance of law and order has been restored to the
crisis-ridden state, but there is a long haul ahead.
They were at it
again, last week, at a rally in Delhi - V.P. Singh and his band of vote bank
wizards whipping up Mandalmania to a feverish pitch.
As communal fires
rage across the country there is a sense of bewilderment at the way the issue
is being dragged on.
Contrary to popular
wisdom, Chandra Shekhar has not come undone in the very first weeks of his
coming to power. In fact, with Machiavellian shrewdness he is holding his own,
exploiting the fears and weaknesses of both the Congress(I) and his own party
to run things his own way.
For the last
several months as political pundits and super-analysts speculated furiously
about whether Vishwanath Pratap Singh was losing his grip on his government,
they need have looked no farther than his cabinet secretary.
He inherited one
of the most difficult jobs in the world: running India with a minority
government hanging in an impossible balance between the Left and the BJP.
Author
Inderjit Badhwar
Rajiv Gandhi's
death is the latest in this continuing series of shocks not only over the
tragedy of a young leader being cut down in the prime of his life but also -
and equally important - over the state of the nation.
Hypocrisy and
cowardice of Indian politics has numbed the country.
The mood in the
party is distinctly upbeat due to its do-or-die approach, Rajiv Gandhi's
successful tours and the number of defectors it has attracted.
Politicians are aware that voters are skeptical of
divisive appeals.
Emphasis was on
restoring the party's credibility with the people - that no amount of trickery
or grandiose posturing would work because the people are not in a mood to be
hornswoggled.
After many
patch-up efforts and weeks of debate, the die has been cast. Leaders of
various parties were proclaiming a brave resolve to face the electorate
again. But predictably none of the parties are overjoyed. They face a
disillusioned electorate, a paucity of funds, and for many MPs defeat is
certain.
Devi Lal is
looking for new pastures to graze.
Though his rule
produced no results, Chandra Shekhar made an unexpected impact.
At a very
youthful 54, Susim Mukul Datta could well have staked a claim to film stardom.
In a conversation in Bombay last month with Executive Editor Inderjit Badhwar
and Senior Correspondent Shiv Taneja, Datta talked on a wide range of issues.
President
Venkataraman has come in for flak as leaders across party lines have accused
him of playing handmaiden to the Congress(I)'s gameplan. Charged with dabbling
in partisan politics in the ouster of the Tamil Nadu and Bihar governors, the
office of the President is under a cloud.
With his bearded
jaw thrust out at the world, with that crazy, alluring, disarming guffaw of
his, here, at last, was India's very own Don Quixote defying the windmills of
Indian political tradition.
The survival of
the Chandra Shekhar Government is under increasing threat. The Congress(I), as
is clear from recent pronouncements, has begun to distance itself from the
Janata Dal(S). It is now exploring all possible ways of forming the Government,
and avoiding elections.
At their national
conventions the three non-Congress(I) parties took stock of the present
political situation and attempted to thrash out their strategies for the next
election.
Vishwanath Pratap
Singh jumped onto centrestage again last fortnight as the self-styled
lamp-lighter of social justice by demanding that a staggering 60 per cent of
party tickets be reserved for backward castes.
The village of
Basoma, a slush-laned settlement with its congeries of mud and brick huts
dustily silhouetted in the evening haze a half-kilometre towards the setting
sun from the meter gauge railroad track that winds its way from Agra to
Kathgodam in the heart of Uttar Pradesh's Badaun district, is a long, long way
from Ayodhya.
As Rajiv Gandhi
prepares for the second stretch of his political life his image makers claim
that the most dramatic change, in his attitude is a willingness to expose
himself to the criticism from which his infamous coterie was supposed to have
shielded him.
L.K. Advani has
single-handedly resurrected the Bharatiya Janata Party. What makes him tick?
Where does he want to take his party and the country? A close look at the man
and his mind.
The current
crisis in the state has its roots in the callous indifference exhibited by the
Congress government.
Jagmohan has over
the years developed the reputation of being a troubleshooter. True to form,
even at the very epicentre of the Jammu and Kashmir crisis, he remains composed
and confident. Executive Editor Inderjit Badhwar spoke to him in Srinagar.
With Governor
Jagmohan at the helm, a semblance of law and order has been restored to the
crisis-ridden state, but there is a long haul ahead.
They were at it
again, last week, at a rally in Delhi - V.P. Singh and his band of vote bank
wizards whipping up Mandalmania to a feverish pitch.
As communal fires
rage across the country there is a sense of bewilderment at the way the issue
is being dragged on.
Contrary to
popular wisdom, Chandra Shekhar has not come undone in the very first weeks of
his coming to power. In fact, with Machiavellian shrewdness he is holding his
own, exploiting the fears and weaknesses of both the Congress(I) and his own
party to run things his own way.
For the last
several months as political pundits and super-analysts speculated furiously
about whether Vishwanath Pratap Singh was losing his grip on his government,
they need have looked no farther than his cabinet secretary.
He inherited one
of the most difficult jobs in the world: running India with a minority government
hanging in an impossible balance between the Left and the BJP.
Author
Inderjit Badhwar
There he was,
framed against the usual lopsided camera angle, doleful, his voice barely
rising above a whisper, the eyes and thick-rimmed glasses blurring, trying to
save the country. V.P. Singh's televised address to the nation on October 22
was supposed to be a tear-jerker.
V.P. Singh's main
survival tactic is to create caste divisions within his own and other parties.
An insecure prime
minister is known by the security he keeps.
The most
disturbing characteristic of this government is runaway populism: adoption of
progressive-sounding policies buttressed by half-truths, silver-tongued
oratory, and statistical jugglery in which the wrongs of history are being
righted.
The flames are threatening to rekindle the communal divide
and also to ignite a debilitating struggle between the BJP and the Janata Dal.
Prime Minister
V.P. Singh's honeymoon with the public was probably the shortest-lived of any
recent prime minister.
Just when you
think his guard is down and he's been cornered, Vishwanath Pratap Singh manages
to wriggle out and jump back to the centre of the ring and outfox his opponents
with feints of confusion and combinations of complex responses.
V.P. Singh's
decision to implement the Mandal Commission report may help carve out a vote
bank for his party but it also threatens to cause a ferocious caste war that
will tear the nation's fabric apart.
There is a virtual
industry of writers and analysts trying their damnedest to figure out who the
real Vishwanath Pratap Singh is. And he seems to delight in making their task
an impossible one.
A combination of
factors holds the party together at present, but V.P. Singh may be forced to
call for elections before his term is over.
Entire nation
watched in helpless horror and growing revulsion a sordid battle that had come
perilously close to destroying India's second experiment with a coalition
government. For the Janata Dal, and V.P. Singh, the recent crisis has been
a most damaging one. It exposed the contradictory pulls and pressures that
enfeeble the party. An analysis of the tensions that cleave the party, making
it dangerously vulnerable.
Indian diplomacy
always lapses into the spit-and-polish MEA syndrome. No go. You've got to bowl
them over. Uncle Sam has a visceral, obsessive hatred-and fear-of terrorists,
religious fundamentalists and drug pushers. This same three-in-one scourge
threatens India.
Those who gloat
over Jagmohan's sacking justify it on the ground that he was a ruthless toughie
who refused to agree to initiate a political settlement in Kashmir. Those
backing Nirmal Mukarji's ouster from Punjab propagate the view that he was a
namby-pamby softie unwilling to confront the terrorist onslaught with resolve.
As Vishwanath
Pratap Singh walks into the freshly white-washed sitting room at 7 Race Course
Road at 8.45 p.m. on the 175th day of his prime ministership, it's difficult to
tell that he's made what is perhaps the most controversial decision of his
tenure - the sacking of Kashmir Governor Jagmohan - barely minutes earlier.
It was just
wonderful, lap-up stuff for the lampoonists, that recent Congress(I) convention
on communalism, director, producer, star, Rajiv Gandhi.
Exactly six
months after coming to power, V.P. Singh has finally asserted himself by
forcing Om Prakash Chautala's resignation and Jagmohan's removal. An inside
view of how he's tackled the crises that have engulfed his government.
Many like Arif
Mohammed Khan are aggrieved by Kashmiri separatism.
The
militant-fundamentalist sway over the Kashmir valley is complete, and the
country's administrative control has been almost totally nullified. The
situation is critical, and the time for soft options over.
New York-based
author Dorothy Norman, 79, first met Mrs Gandhi when she visited the United
States with Jawaharlal Nehru in 1949. Norman had been an activist in the India
League. They were to become close friends in a relationship that spanned 35
years. Norman spoke about her friend Indira Gandhi in an interview with
Washington Correspondent Inderjit Badhwar.
The shots that
felled Mrs Gandhi ricocheted around the globe as world capitals reacted with
shock and consternation to the tragedy.
Like a million
twisting, spiralling, tornadoes, the forces let loose by the vandalism at
Ayodhya have begun not just to take a ghastly toll of human lives, but also to
reduce to rubble the edifice of our hopes and aspirations as a people and as a
nation.
Now, after the
demolition of mosque, BJP stripped naked and its real intentions revealed.
Rao proposed
coalition included Muslims who agreed on the issue of respect for the law of
the land
In medical
parlance it's called titration. That is, figuring out the right therapeutic
dose of medicine. Too little is ineffective. Too much can kill. Time was when
the BJP seemed to be on the verge of having calibrated an efficacious potion.
After a year of
consensus and deft political management, insecurity sets in.
Author
Inderjit Badhwar
As the
Congress(l) sets out a new agenda for the country, it throws the BJP, National
Front and Left Front into confusion and conflict.
The budget
session will be an acid test for the minority Narasimha Rao Government with the
Left-Jahata Dal combine and sections within the Congress(I) planning to oppose
the liberalisation moves. A report on the hard options left for the prime
minister.
The old man has
broken the jinx. Consider the chakra of Indian politics that
has sealed the fates of prime ministers and parties since the '70s. P.V.
Narasimha Rao seems to have broken the cyclical curse and is enjoying a
political rebirth in his mid-term.
Last month's
mini-general election had a strange, and you could say, even transcendent
quality to it. The polling virtually coincided with the anniversary of the
December 6 Babri Masjid demolition and the concomitant deluge of
violence.
Following the
failure of the religion bill, dissidents supporting Arjun Singh step up their
attack on Rao and the loyalists as party infighting escalates to new levels.
As the
Congress(I) fears a bleak future under Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, Arjun
Singh positions himself as the real alternative.
Loquacity and Arjun Singh are a contradiction in terms.
He is known more for dour-faced speechlessness and embarrassing long silences
punctuated by yawns, than for spirited elocution in the company of reporters.
If Rao survived, the BJP would be in an equally good
position - keeping Rao dangling as a prime minister tainted with corruption
with the disgrace trickling down to the party.
When Prime
Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao was riding high, he was the unchallenged
leader of the party - the shepherd leading his faithful flock.
No one even paid lip service to the ideal of party
democracy as Narasimha Rao and his loyalists bulldozed their way to victory
during an orgy of servility and sycophancy.
New power centres
have emerged in the Congress(I) to challenge Narasimha Rao as Arjun Singh
forces him and the party to confront the BJP.
So what else is
new? Your backyard is burning. Your enemy is rattling sabres under your very
nose. Your leader is shaken and under attack for indecisiveness and bad
judgement. Your traditional vote banks are spewing venom on him.
Unlike the recriminations, finger-pointing, breast-beating
and hand-wringing which have so far rendered the centrist parties, particularly
the Congress(I), impotent in meeting the political challenge of the Ayodhya
aftermath, the Sangh brotherhood - ban or no ban - is off to a breakneck head
start.
V.P. Singh won on
corruption - before resurrecting Mandal - and lost when caste became his magnificent
obsession.
Major political
parties scramble for partners as they aim for a ruling majority in what could
be a hopelessly hung parliament following the 1996 general elections.
T.N. Seshan has explanations
for all his actions. Recorded conversation with Executive Editor Inderjit
Badhwar and Senior Correspondent Charu Lata Joshi.
BJP President L.K. Advani, who had maintained a studied silence in public as
rapidly unfolding events threatened to topple the party's government in Gujrat,
took time off from the hectic negotiations that are still under way in New
Delhi to talk at length about the developments and his own role in the
compromise formula to Executive Editor Inderjit Badhwar and Special
Correspondent N.K. Singh.
Spurning of P.V.
Narasimha Rao's pre-election package is another example of a sham in which Rao
has lost face.
V.P. Singh's
example shows that the public rewards courage. He broke with Rajiv and went on
to humble the ruling party.
Chief Congress(I)
dissident Arjun Singh discussed platform and strategy of breakaway group during
lengthy interview with Executive Editor Inderjit Badhwar and Special
Correspondent N.K. Singh.
Shortly after
being elected president of breakaway Congress, Narain Dutt Tiwari took time off
to talk to Executive Editor Inderjit Badhwar and Special Correspondent Zafar
Agha.
By drumming out Arjun Singh, the prime minister faces no
immediate threat to his leadership but this could change if he leads the party
to defeat in the forthcoming state elections.
Politicians
proved innocent after the trial could still die a political death. But that's
the pendulum of democracy finding its balance.
Violence-wrecked
state-Kashmir began the process of healing themselves as they voted during the
first phase of the assembly elections.
Farooq Abdullah
spoke about his agenda with Executive Editor Inderjit Badhwar and Principal
Correspondent Ramesh Vinayak.
Author
Inderjit Badhwar
Each time the
Congress sneezes, the Deve Gowda Government will catch a cold. Each time the
Left clears its throat, the coalition Government will have to cough up a
solution. And each time a coalition member sulks, Prime Minister H.D. Deve
Gowda will have a frown on his brow.
A year without a
unifying weave. It wasn't the best of years; it wasn't the worst of years. Not
the kind of year of which a single or perhaps even two dramatic photographs
become the leitmotif, but in which several tell several different stories.
He opened up the
economy and brought peace to Punjab. But despite Narasimha Rao's several
accomplishments he will be remembered as a politically amoral and hidebound
survivor.
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