Power Politics - independent voice for public good

August 2009

WANTED:: OPERATION TAX HAVENS
This refers to your highly well-researched and thought provoking article, "Getting back Illegal Money," by Hari Jaisingh and S. P.Srivastava (Power Politics August 7, 2009). In order to overcome the serious meltdown, American President Barack Obama has launched a campaign to unearth the US black money stashed in the Swiss banks. The Obama administration is 'committed to taking aggressive action on offshore tax abuse' as well. If the US is unearthing .

the unauthorised stashed accounts in the Swiss banks, why can't India do the same? It is shocking indeed that in the Swiss banks some Indians have an illegal deposit worth $1500 billion, an amount 13 times larger than the country's foreign debt.

With this amount, brough back home, 45 crore poor people in India can get rupees one lakh each, our entire foreign debt can be repaid immediately, and even after paying the entire foreign debt, we will have surplus amount. If the surplus amount is judiciously invested in earning interest, the amount of interest itself will be more than the annual budget of the Central Government. Even if all taxes are abolished thereafter, the Central Government can maintain the country very comfortably.

I would like to add here that the BJP's crusade against money laundering has been relevant indeed. The BJP will be remembered in history as the first party to have galvanised the public opinion in the matter. BJP leader L.K. Advani's call for greater action against money stashed in Swiss banks and other tax havens is in tune with global attempts to combat the evil.

The idea that a nation's wealth can be hoarded at undisclosed places, unfettered by tax laws and used without accountability seems anathema to most nations. Yet tax havens such as Swiss banks have been around. India should become an active player in the global crusade against banking secrecy and tax havens. India must urge the German government to provide details of the Indian names from the LGT bank secret records. It must also appoint a special ambassador to work with the G-20 specifically to frame Indiafriendly rules to expose secret banking.

P. K. Vasudeva
Panchkula

BELLIING THE CAT

Your article on black money is an excellent investigative piece. It also gives practical suggestions. But the question arises, who will bell the cat, when the cat itself is the involved party? The solitary case of $ 8.4 billion of Hassan Ali Khan detected in 2006 is still hanging fire, though IT has issued a notice of Rs. 50000 crore as arrear. Even if a quarter of your suggestions are implemented, the country will be a great gainer.

Joginder Singh, (Former Director of CBI)
New Delhi

SHORTER VERSIION, PLEASE

Your article on the black money stashed away abroad and the strategy to recover it is informative and enlightening. A shorter version of the piece in our leading daily newspapers may be considered for its wider circulation across the national spectrum.

KS Subramanian

FANTASTIIC ISSUE

The August issue of your magazine is fantastic indeed. I have read its articles on education and money laundering with a lot of interest. Keep it up!

V M Trehan
New Delhi

OVERHAUL PAK POLICY

India's foreign policy towards Pakistan is not a wellthought- out one. It is based on a domestic Muslimappeasement policy and is often under pressure from US coercive diplomacy.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is an eminent economist but he has no bearing on foreign affairs. His gentle nature is an asset when dealing with a friendly country but he has to be careful while dealing with Pakistan. It would be wrong to say that both India and Pakistan are victims of terrorism. Can the LTTE killer Dhanu and Rajiv Gandhi be equated just because both died in the same bomb explosion? Pakistan is a terrorist country. India is a victim of terrorism. Islamabad continues to sponsor terrorism and uses terrorists to bleed India.

It is ironical that India, despite being very strong, acts like a weak nation. We should overhaul our Pakistan policy. We should form a committee consisting of our foreign minister and the present and former top diplomats to give shape to a concrete Pak policy and to oversee its implementation. Do not

believe Pakistan's words. Insist on actions. It is not a must for India to be friendly with Pakistan. As the old saying goes, if India wants peace with Pakistan, let us prepare for war. To be prepared for war is the best method to maintain peace.

S. Raghunatha Prabhu
Alappuzha

NO CHANGE OF HEART

It is good that in harmony with her tradition of peace, love and tolerance, India is still inclined to having constructive dialogue with Pakistan. But New Delhi would do well not to be oblivious of ground realities. There has been no change of heart in the Pak Army and Inter-Service Intelligence as far as their encouraging cross-border terrorism against India is concerned. Recently, Islamabad has launched proceedings against five men, including Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, LeT operations commander, and Zarar Shah, a LeT cadre described as a communications expert, for their involvement in the Mumbai attacks. But they should not confuse one as to its real intentions. Islamabad has invented several ways to evade action against the terrorists. .Sometimes, its public prosecutors would not be present in the courts. On other occasions they would not produce any concrete evidence against terrorists so that they go scot-free. It was this cunning approach as a result of which recently , the Lahore High Court (June 2) had to quash the detention of chief of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa Hafiz Saeed and his associate Colonel (retd) Nazeer Ahmed, blamed for the November 2008 Mumbai and other strikes against India. The same Pak approach came to their rescue also in the Supreme Court on August 3. Also, according to knowledgeable sources, over 4,000 militants have recently sneaked into the Kashmir valley. Another 3000 are being trained in camps at Muridke in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir with the aim of fighting security personnel in Jammu and Kashmir. Inside these Lashkar-e-Taiba camps today, teenage boys listen to lectures glorifying jehad .."to seize control of J&K." And on the top of everything else, Pak Prime Minister Gilani, like his predecessors, has openly extended moral, diplomatic and political support to the jehadis based in India’s Kashmir.

A Citizen

NDA NO GOOD

The NDA government at the Centre was no good. There were no investors in the share market. In the last moments, it had a trial for survival of share market by bringing Maruti issue and Rs.22,000 crore was infused by FII. The Gujarat riots and the IA plane hijack tell their own stories.

Shiv Shanker Almal
Kolkata

July 2009

A Weak Budget
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's first full-fledged budget after a gap of a quarter of a century is a politically pragmatic, economically moderate and financially weak budget that does not mind mounting fiscal deterioration with an estimated fiscal deficit of 6.8 %. Why should the Finance Minister continue to practise discrimination between men and women with regard to income-tax exemption limit?.In fact, it is men who deserve a higher income-tax exemption

limit. After all, most of the men have non-working house-wives as their spouses, whereas income-tax-paying women have earning husbands. The F.M. should have raised the exemption limit to Rs.200,000 across the board.

One cannot but blame the FM for failing to tax the agricultural sector. It is a big chunk of our economy. If the FM does not raise resources and instead takes recourse to higher borrowings, we will jeopardise our prospects for growth, reignite the flames of inflation, sow the seeds of another balance of payments crisis and place an unfair burden on the next generation.

Mounting fiscal deficit is a matter of great concern for the Nation's economy. Like individuals, no nation can ever live on borrowed money. There is no guarantee that higher government spending will result in higher growth. A large part of such expenditure is wasted and squandered.

The only possible method to reduce deficit is to cut down wasteful government expenditue. When the economy is slowing down and deficit mounting, how can anyone justify a 79-member jumbo ministry?

The F.M. could also reduced the allocation for M.Ps' fund. The Government should undertake some austerity measures for itself.

S. Raghunatha Prabhu
Punnapra, Alappuzha

BJP Incredible

The BJP lost the parliamentary elections this year not due to Hindutva but due to its non-adherence to Hindutva. It is Hindutva which catapulted the party from two MPs to power at the Centre. But the BJP in power and BJP in the opposition are different. Once in power, BJP would forget Hindutva and in order to retain power, it would start Muslim appeasement, of which it had accused the Congress earlier.No one believes BJP today when it says it would construct a Ram Temple in Ayodhya. To BJP, Ram Temple is only a means to power.

BJP has a long record of breaking promises. Many of the unpleasant economic policies that are creating problems today were implemented by the BJP. While the process of globalisation was started by Manmohan Singh, it was BJP's Yashwant Sinha who vigorously implemented it. When BJP was in the opposition, it used to demand that Income-Tax exemption limit be increased to Rs.1,00,000.During five years of its rule, BJP could increase the limit from Rs 50000 to just Rs.55000. Also, though the Congress spoke about downsizings, it was the BJP which implemented the VRS, the pet name for dismissal of employees from service.

On the basis of its pattern, one could well say the BJP would say just the opposite of what it says now if it comes to power again. It has lost its credibility and voter's trust.

Needless to mention, Sudheendra Kulkarni has contributed to L.K. Advani's present plight. It was Kulkarni who wrote Advani's infamous speech "Muhammed Ali Jinna was secular". No Indian bought this.

A citizen

Insignificant Lapse

Congratulations on your piece, "Serving Readers Better," in Media Watch in the July 2009 issue of your magazine. But please allow me to share one obervation. The caption, "Ignored by the press," in the story is misleading. The piece refers to simple news items after the death of Ram Nath Goenka and H.Y.Sharda Prasad. Neither of them was ignored by the press. The American media not taking note of Goenka's death was an insignificant lapse.

Om Gupta
New Delhi

Keep It Up!

I must appreciate the topics of relevance you choose for your magazine. They are all really highly informative and helpful in grasping better the contemporary national and global scenario.

Keep it up!

Priyanka Manjari
New Delhi

June 2009

Time To Deliver
The June issue of “Power Politics” gives us a very comprehensive picture of the Congress-led UPA's 2009 poll triumph. Dr Manmohan Singh is back in the saddle with his time-tested colleagues and new youthful faces. The people have high expectation from the Prime Minister's team. Will he be able to deliver the goods? His advantage is: full back-up of India's strong lady Sonia Gandhi

Arnuradha Datta
Mumbai

High Hopes

It is time to act to fulfill the promises made to the people. You have rightly caught the mood of the people with just one-liner:"Perform or Perish." Mr Prime Minister, the people are watching you closely. They will judge on the way you handle economic and financial issues and problems of corruption and governance. We can only wish you well. You have to show the desired results.

Anup Singh
Chandigarh

Congrats

Congratulations!
The 'June' issue of Power Politics is excellent!

Good luck!

V M Trehan
New Delhi

Combating Naxal Insurgency

This refers to your article, "Marxist Road, Flawed Ideology, Misplaced Zeal," Power Politics, June 09.

The naxal movement had spread all over West Bengal and the law and order situation had got out of control. In Oct 1969 Govind Narayan and Sam Manekshaw came to see me in Fort William. They told me that as the police could not control the situation, the Army would have to deal with it. I said that it was not our job and that the police should try h a r d e r . Narayan said that Prime M i n i s t e r Indira Gandhi had so directed and that I was to control the Army operations. I asked for more troops. Though we had 20 Inf Div North of the Ganga, not too far from Naxalbari, we did not have adequate forces south of the Ganga. Manekshaw asked me what additional forces I would require. I replied two more divisions. Manekshaw said 'done' and added that he would give me 50 Para brigade as well. I asked Manekshaw to give me his orders in writing. He replied, "nothing in writing, no records to be kept and no publicity whatsoever". Narayan concurred. Subsequently, 4 and 9 Infantry Divisions and 50 Para brigade were moved into West Bengal by the end of 1969. The troops were deployed in the moffusil and in the factories.

Intensive operations were conducted and the Naxals were driven out of West Bengal by mid 1971. During this period two elections were held and the Army was deployed down to polling booths.

Siddarth Shankar Ray used to say, "Jake and I, we broke the Naxals" In my view, as in West Bengal, the police in the various states and the Para military are unable to deal with the Naxals insurgency. The armed forces (Army and Air Force) will have to be given the task of crushing the Naxal insurgency.

Lt. General Jacob
New Delhi

A Gentleman

In June 2009 issue of "Power Politics" I have read with interest your article "Success story of Manmohan Singh." You have stated "it must be said to the credit of Sonia Gandhi that she zeroed in on him as Prime Minister and put this gentleman Sikh at the centrestage of Congress politics." This underlined word may imply as no other Sikh can be a gentleman. Kindly clarify?

Mahindar Singh
New Delhi

Panacea Worse

The UPA government, with cobbled-up majority, thinks that it has got a mandate to to go forward with mindless financial reforms, without learning any lesson from the world economic crisis and recent bank failures in the U.S. It is going ahead with the move to merge Public Sector Banks, especially SBI's associate banks, ignoring the protest of bank trade unions.

Bank mergers will create monopolistic structures. Mergers will lead to market concentration enabling banks to dictate terms to customers. Any further merger of public sector banks will create an uncompetitive and unmanageable banking structure. Even now, State Bank of India, with the largest number of branches, is working with not one head office, but with many local head offices, headed by chief general managers, equal in rank with managing directors of each associate bank.

Bank mergers would not lead to the strength of the merged entities beyond the levels of the added capital and the reserve base. Mergers would not make banks stronger or globally competitive. What makes bank merger unacceptable and undesirable is the difficulty of making human resources a homogenous entity.

International experience shows that four out of five mergers fail because of wrong assumptions, overstretched balance sheets, high costs of acquisitions and inadequate post-merger organizational integration. Many mergers have not fulfilled their objectives because of human resources-related issues.

One really does not see any need for consolidation in the banking industry. A figure of 27 public sector banks for a population of 111 crore is not a large number. It is wrong to assume that small banks cannot survive in competition with large banks and large foreign banks. Actual international experience shows that small and medium-sized banks even in advanced countries have been able to survive and remain profitable. These banks have survived along with large financial conglomerates.

In fact, small banks are more natural lenders to small businesses and small borrowers. They are better equipped for financial inclusion. The Bank merger is no panacea indeed for the ills of our banks. The medicine of consolidation is worse than the diseases afflicting the banks in India!

S. Raghunatha Prabhu
Alappuzha(Kerala)

May 2009

Indian Political League 2009
The May 2009 issue of Power Politics is indeed superb. It has succeeded in capturing the country's political mood. Your team of writers TNR Rao, Mahendra Ved, R C Rajamani, Ashish Bose, A Balu, O P Verma, V P Prabhakar, Gurmeet Kanwal, Vidushak, R C Ganjoo and Hari Jaisingh deserve kudos.

Mukesh Katyal
New Delhi

Sri Lankan Tamils

Now the LTTE chapter is set to close with the death of Prabhakaran all that India can do is to give humanitarian aid to Sri Lankan Tamil civilians. Nothing more. Otherwise, we will have a Pakistan in the south also.

SR Prabhu
Alappuzha

Black Money

Joginder Singh's article "Black Money: dare to think beyond" was informative. However, the moot point is: who will bell the cat?

R Vaidyanathan
Bangalore

High alert

RC Ganjoo deserves praise for giving a comprehensive interview with Pakistan's Taliban-centric power figure Maulana Sofi Mohammed. He has put our leaders on high alert by highlighting Mafulana Sofi's shocking observation that "Taliban target is Kashmir, for Islam and not for a piece of land." Will the Home Ministry and External Affairs Ministry take due notice of this historic interview and rework their policies and strategies towards Pakistan?

Radha Banerjee
Kolkata

Beware of Taliban!

Pakistani Taliban has vowed to eliminate President Asif Ali Sardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. And the Pak government has declared an all- out war against Talibs to wipe out them. When it becomes hot in Swat valley and NWFP, the Taliban may turn to India and march into Kashmir.

To the Talibs, India is a land of the Hindus, the infidels, where the true Muslims are persecuted. They say

their version of Islam is 200 % correct and other interpreters of Islam 400 % wrong.

Our intelligence agencies and security forces should worry about the fact that a large number of Talibs are quite familiar with the terrain of Kashmir, as they had fought in J&K as part of Harkat-ul-Ansar and Harkat-ul- Mujahideen in the 1990s when the insurgency was at its peak.

The Taliban movement represents a religious mindset which has scant regard for democracy, human rights and the status of women. Recently TNSM leader Sufi Muhammed declared that democracy is a sin.

Taliban is using Pak territory as a sanctuary and a launching pad for attacks on India. The Taliban threat to India is not from distant Peshawar but from Lahore, just about 25 miles from the Indian border. Post 9/11, a ferocious US came hunting Osama and bombed the Taliban out of power in Afghanistan Similar action in Pakistan is the need of the hour.

S. Raghunatha Prabhu
Alappuzha

Sport is more than cricket

In times when most of us, including the media, have deceived ourselves into believing that cricket is only game that the Indian masses are interested in, it gives me some satisfaction to find that your magazine cares to print articles on sports other than cricket. For example, the article on hockey by K.Datta in your May 2007 issue. For all the noise made about the IPL cricket matches now being outsourced to South Africa, it should not be forgotten that for many generations hockey has been India's national game

Indian hockey needs support from the public, corporate businesses, educational institutions, government and media at a time when, as Datta pithily put it, it is "clawing its way" back after being left out of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Thank you for devoting a couple of pages of your magazine to hockey. Like hockey, please do remember there are also some other games in which a large section of the Indian public is interested and they would like to read about.

Samarjit Singh
Gurgaon

Alliances

We should amend our Constitution, making a provision for recognising only pre-poll alliances for government formation. CPI(M) leaders should bear in mind that no election could be won with the votes of party members only. It is the non-committed, very often the intelligent, voters who decide the fate of a candidate. To them, corruption charges such as SNC Lavlin case, are very serious.

The CPI(M) lost the polls due to their arrogance, political violence, increasing corruption and scant respect for democratic values.

S R Prabhu

Ashish Bose's article

Power Politics wishes to correct certain inadvertent discrepancies that crept into the article by well known demographic expert Ashish Bose in its May 2009 issue. The errors are in Table 1A and Fig 1. We reproduce the relevant Tables to put the record straight,

April 2009

Maya pradhan mantri ki!
The editorial team of Power Politics deserves all praise for bringing out a very powerful April issue on the electoral state of India. The opinion piece on what the people want from their representatives is really hard hitting.

The country is at the crossroads. It has suffered enough because of the poor quality of our leaders. Today we need visionary leadership that puts the country and the people above any consideration of caste, class and religious fanaticism. At this critical juncture

of economic meltdown, terrorism and decline in the value system we deserve quality leadership to take the country forward.

Arvind Desai
New Delhi

Dark Horse

The April cover of Power Politics shows the possibilities of a Dark Horse emerging beyond the known prime ministerial aspirants. My wild guess is that it could be Sushil Kumar Shinde in case the Congress - led UPA leads the numbers tally short of the magic figure and has to seek the Left Front support. In the NDA setting, L K Advani is a clear choice. Still, if there is a last-minute problem from the BJP's allies, then we may see either of Arun Jaitley or Narendra Modi or Murli Manohar Joshi coming to the fore. Well, it is an open game.

Lalit Chaturvedi
Varanasi

Political Bazaar

Mahendra Ved, Kumaresh Chakravarthy, Ashish Bose, P K Ravindranath, O P Verma, A Balu, Virendra Mohan Trehan and Hari Jaisingh have all given a free and frank picture of the 2009 electoral scene. Jaisingh's concern that the past two decades of coalition politics has not yet helped to evolve a comprehensive culture of political dharma is quite valid. In the absence of political dharma Indian politics has become an open game for manipulators and operators.

R S Sandhu
Amritsar

Keep criminals out

OP Verma has given the right focus on the criminilisation of the polity. Well, we have to launch an all out war against the increasing hold of criminals in politics. The slogan for all political parties is 'keep criminals out'.

S Rajan
Bangalore

Election funds

PK Ravindranath has shown his journalistic skills by giving a detailed account of money flowing into the coffers of various political parties. Very well done! Keep it up

Sharad Gokhale
Pune

Elections and Democracy

Virendra Mohan Trehan has struck the right note with his fervent hope that the youth would be more objective in exercising their voting right. Youngsters must not be indifferent to the problems faced by the country. They must come forward and assert themselves for the good of the people and the nation.

Kartar Singh Ahluwalia
Chandigarh

Not by slogans alone

It is high time our politicians stopped playing with the sentiments of ordinary citizens by selling highsounding slogans which mean nothing. Take the case of "garibi hatao" slogan. Decades after the slogan began renting the air, the country still has a substantial population living below the poverty line.

Sohan Lal Yadav
Gurgaon

Star gazing

Who will be the next PM? It was interesting to read the electoral charts of seven astrologers. We shall await the winner among them.

Sadhana G
New Delhi

Pakistan Mess

Former Foreign Secretary Salman Haidar's write-up gives us a complete picture of the sorry state of affairs in Pakistan. The choice for Pakistan leaders is clear: They must eliminate the Taliban elements from Pakistani soil or else they themselves will be devoured by them. At stake is the survival of democratic Pakistan and its people. In this context, I would wish to tell them that they should stop playing games with India and learn to cooperate with Indian leaders to root out the Taliban hold from the region, including Afghanistan.

Mukhtar Ahmed
Kolkata

PoK man speaks

It was highly interesting to read R C Ganjoo's interview with Arif Shahid who has been struggling for freedom of PoK and Gilgit-Baltintan region under the banner of Jammu Kashmir National Liberation Front (JKNLF) as its secretary General. I am happy to note that the likes of Arif Shahid wish to become part of a secular, democratic entity of J & K and India.

Hamid Qureshi
Jammu

Good & bad Taliban

The US government's proposal to talk to ' good Taliban ' is fraught with danger, especially for India. First of all, there is no such thing as good Taliban, for the very basis of Taliban is fundamentalism, obscurantism and terrorism. All Taliban extremists abhor Hindus, Christians and Jews. Just imagine what would happen if any nuclear device falls into the hands of Taliban. The so-called good Taliban is, in fact, Pakistan Army-controlled Taliban which is more dangerous than Afghan-Taliban.

S Raghuatha Prabhu
Allapuhuza, Kerala

Politics Of Today

Hi politics, How are you ? I can't tell you, How much I die to be with you I have heard, with you along, There is an easy and guaranteed, Access to tons tons of money. The money which one can only dream of, I would love to earn money the politics way. Like all the politicians, Who, are really concerned, About their children and near dear ones. Why country should be their motive, It should rather be their target, It should be the target of ridicule. We as politicians should be good mothers and fathers, Concerned, greatly about our children. Children of country let country take care, They can live without food and shelter, But my child should study abroad, And get married the grandest and the greatest way. Professionalism demands fulfillment, Fulfillment of one's desires and dreams, I am a professional too ! I am a professional politician Country can run at its own, So has been happening for years and years altogether, More years can pass like that, Why bother?

Ashima
New Delhi

IPL show II

Kudos to K R Wadhwaney for his interesting article. By shifting the Indian Premier League (IPL) II venue to South Africa. Sharad Pawar and Lalit Modi have been unfair to millions of cricket fans in India. They should have waited and adjusted the dates keeping in view our election related security considerations.

Shailendra Patil
Mumbai

March 2009

Political Manthan
My heartiest congratulations to Prof Kumaresh Chakravarti on his superb analysis of the 2009 poll arithmetic. While political equations seem to be changing between Congress, BJP and their allies, the basics of his analysis are sound. How the partners in the Third Front will fare is difficult to say. One thing is, however, clear. The election results will throw up a number of surprises beyond the calculations of the poll pundits.

Pawan Srivastava
New Delhi

Wanted : honest MPs

Whither Honesty? While I very much appreciate the sentiments of Ashish Bose expressed in his forthright write-up "Wanted: 100 competent, honest and dedicated parliamentarians", I wonder how can we get such endangered species of MPs in today's business of politics? Unfortunately, in India today, only money and muscle power and gangsterism matter. Moreover, the elections themselves have become a big business? In the circumstances, how shall we be able to mobilize even 25 honest persons?

Lotika Agarwal
Kolkata

Shades of dishonesty

Three cheers to TNR Rao for his outstanding piece "Satyamisation of governance : united colours of corruption". His observations are simply eye-opener on the state of the nation. He rightly points out; “corruption in government is endemic and an age-old problem. How then, are governments to curb poor governance?"

The real challenge lies in the fact that an efficient state is essential for a prosperous economy. Effective institutions matter as much as sensible policies. The PM was in office, not in power! What a shame!

S K Dhingra
Noida

Sharia law

I was impressed by the March issue. It has done a remarkable job by explaining how the Taliban version of Islam has become outdated. Kudos to Qamar Agha.

Equally noteworthy was the interview of Abdul Hamid Khan, Ahairman of the Baluchistan National Front, by R C Ganjoo. Khan is right in stating honestly that Sharia law is Pakistan's ISI bomb to destabilize South Asia. The interview also enlightened the readers on some of the finer facets of Taliban operations.

Hari Jaising also desserves praise for discussing at length the darkening shadow of Taliban over Pakistan. Indeed, the Talibanisation of the Swat valley spells disaster for Pakistan. India should also have reasons to be gravely concerned about Pakistan developments.

Gumeet Jauhar
Chandigarh

Mr Speaker, I move that this House be…

Many thanks.Enjoyed the article. Balu has always been superb.Kindly convey my thanks and regards to him

V B Soni
Delhi

General Pervez Musharraf

Iwonder what prompted India Today to invite former Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf for the India Today Conclave, 2009, and why India gave him VISA to visit India. Is he an indispensable expert or authority to enlighten India and its people on any matter ? He only made some bombastic statements and self-glorifying remarks.

Musharraf is father of Kargil War which caused the death of thousands of Indian soldiers and maiming of many , leaving behind many bereaved families. Standing on Indian soil, he warned India of many more Kargils, if Kashmir problem is not solved. We should avoid associating with such people and should completely ignore them.

If the U.S. can deny VISA to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, ( for doing or saying nothing harmful to the USA or US citizens ), India can refuse visa to General Musharraf. Incidentally, we should remember that our former Army Chief General V.P.Malik had refused to shake hands with Musharaf when he visited India as Pak President because it was General Malik who fought with Gen. Musharraf in Kagil War.

S. Raghunatha Prabhu,
Thiruvampady

February 2009

Anniversary Special
Please accept my best wishes on the successful completion of one year of "Power Politics". The magazine has gained popularity particularly by attracting the readership of the youth. Sensitising the youth to the critical problems and issues facing the country will definitely be a positive contribution by creating more informed public opinion in the segment. This is all the more important in a democracy such as ours which has a very young demographic profile.

T K A Nair
Principal Secretary
PMO
New Delhi

Heartiest Congratulations to Power Politics for its path-breaking first anniversary issue. It is an outstanding publication - something different. Most of the articles are informative and stimulating. Keep it up.

Nishant Sodhi, Chandigarh

Change India

We are thankful to Power Politics for giving us a new insight into the country's problems. The publication gives a blueprint for building India into a 21st century power. Hari Jaisingh sets the pace with his call for turning India into a land of opportunity. The Planning Commission would do well to draw inspiration from this document. It reflects the hopes and aspirations of the common people for a better tomorrow.

Archana Srivastava
Arati Banerjee
Noida

Dharma of Nationalism

I am impressed by V M Trehan's article "Need to adhere to dharma of nationalism". He is right in stating that our foremost dharma should be the progress of the country. Three cheers to Trehan for frankly and honestly telling the government that it has to behave rationally.

Jagdish Kishore
Jalandhar

Indian Obama

Idon't think India has an Obama among the existing lot of leaders. We do not know what tomorrow holds for the country. We have to keep our hopes alive.

Navin Sharma
New Delhi

Malegaon blast

IIn the December 2008 issue of Power Politics, I liked the story on the Malegaon blast. What had been based on selective leaks suits the so-called self-styled secularists, Congress party and its coalition partners much at the cost of the morale of our jawans. It would have a deleterious effect on our defence forces.

You have to deal with those who supress truth and believe insted in violence differently. Even Mahatma Gandhi had to give a slogan “do or die” when his nonviolence and ahimsa failed to yeild results. Let’s have zero tolerance for terrorism.

Mohit
Delhi

Key is with Citizens

This refers to Jagdish N Singh's article, "Key is with Citizens," (Power Politics, February 2009). The power of the people is much stronger than all nuclear weapons combined. This can be especially true for India with more than 1 billion inhabitants. In East Germany, it was the people who formed a peaceful movement in the churches in Leipzig in the early 1980s that transformed into the peaceful revolution in1989. Too many have underestimated the power of the people... the Egyptians, the Nazis, the Communists among many others.

It is ironical indeed that to some in the media and nongovernmental organizations "the rights of jehadi terrorists are more sacrosanct than those of the innocent citizens". However, the challenge of Islamic terrorism should be met by not taking away the freedom of the people. If there is control, there is always a danger of abuse. With too much observation, governments and rulers may change in the future. Unbelievable things might happen. One of the things terrorists actually want to achieve is to transform our free societies into dictatorships. We can not allow this to happen. We should prefer freedom over everything else.

Pakistan’s Diabolical Plan

I was able to grab the January issue of the Power Politics from a book store in South Delhi. The title of your magazine is very catchy and would soon become a brand. I liked the story "PAKISTAN'S DIABOLICAL PLAN" written by Mr R C Ganjoo in that issue. Later, I discovered that the story was also picked up by many websites drawing the global attention. Pakistan's ISI was trying to create monstrous Talibans to be used against India, but now Islamabad is encircled by them.

Richa
Mayur Vihar,
Delhi

Saying no to space race

This has reference to your article "Moon's Mission, Nation's Pride "(Feb.09). India need not enter in space race , wasting huge sums of money in projects having nothing to do with welfare of people .The developing countries cannot have the luxury to materialise space dreams at the cost of problems plaguing the downtrodden .

Arvind K Pandey
Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh.

January 2009

ISI games
The country has suffered enough at the hands of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. The operation 26/11 in Mumbai should have made the Manmohan Singh government act tough instead of talking tough. High sounding words cannot help India to root out terrorism from our sacred soil.

Iqbal
Hyderabad

Secret maps expose Pak designs

Power Politics deserves all praise for its exclusive and explosive story by R C Ganjoo on Pakistan's secret plans to convert Mumbai into Muslimabad by 2012 and North India as an Islamic Republic of Pakistan. This is a highly disturbing piece of information. I hope the story would shock the Indian authorities and make them act fast before it is late. I consider this to be a big challenge to Democratic India.

Rakesh Kapoor, New Delhi

Crisis Management

TNR Rao's write-up 26/11 our "nonacting State players" was simply brilliant. Rao has tremendous insight into the working of the government. He has rightly raised some critical questions: what did the Crisis Management Group (CMG) under the Cabinet Secretary do in the 60 hours of terror in Mumbai? The Intelligence Czar who is supposed to smell trouble and the CMG, expected to douse fires, are both under the Prime Minister. But the buck is made to stop elsewhere. The moot point is: will the government ever learn from its blunders. Lalitha Sreedharan Bangalore.

Prabhjot Singh Ahluwalia, Chandigarh

Intelligence gaps

MN Buch has correctly pointed out that our intelligence apparatus is highly faulty. It lacks the right leadership and coordinated action and gives the impression of working at cross purposes. It must be said that nothing can succeed in tackling terrorism unless RAW and related intelligence agencies are thoroughly revamped and professionalized in their working. Can this be done?

Rajbir Agarwal, Gurgaon

J & K Results

ML Kak's article gives an objective assessment of the Jammu and Kashmir scene. The results are surely a setback to the separatists but we must not commit the mistake of underestimating their nuisance value. A lot will now depend on how Omar Abdullah handles the situation. He will have to be on his guard while handling the Mufti's PDP.

Dinesh Sharma, Jammu

Bollywood's take on terrorism

Agood piece by Suresh Kohli. It makes highly interesting reading backed up by pictures. Thanks a lot to Power Politics for giving us refreshingly good reading material.

Jayanti Sawant Pune

Media is devoid of values

This has reference to your article "26/11 & Misguided Media " (Jan.09).The media has failed to react in a responsible way during the Mumbai attacks. It sums up the limited agendas of present age media that seems to prefer commercial interests over humane interests. It fails to understand the fact that self-serving interventions, all in the name of exposing harsh realities, make mockery of the people hit by the negative developments. No body would like to be turned into a

caricature during the tragic incidents. I fail to understand why media is so interested in treating everything as saleable? It would indeed be a great loss if media comes to lose its respect via such atrocious behaviour in troubled times.

Arvind K Pandey
Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh.

December 2008

Rooting out terrorism
Whatever might be the assessment of poll pundits on the 2008 Assembly poll verdict, it would be wrong to suggest that the people are not all that agitated about terrorism and inflation. After the 26/11 nightmare in Mumbai, the entire nation is shaken up. The people want rulers to be tough with the militants from across the border as well as homegrown Islamists.

Power Politics deserves all kudos for the quality of articles on the subject by Hari Jaisingh, Joginder Singh, R C Rajamani and O P Verma.

S S Dhingra
Delhi

A matter of governance

As usual, M N Buch is brilliant in his analysis of lawlessness and the failure of the state to tackle it. He is right in stating that "the failure is on two fronts - administrative in that problems are not anticipated and dealt with and security, in that the police has been ineffective in dealing with lawlessness. Had the British adopted a similar attitude, we would still have been at the mercy of Pandaris and Thugs.

R N Yadav, Gurgaon

Power Politics

The December 2008 issue of Power Politics was simply superb. I am impressed by the range of coverage of contemporary national, regional and global issues. The analytical article on US President elect Barack Obama and India by foreign Secretary Salman Haider was highly impressive. Let us see how Obama responds to Indian sensitivities in relation to Pakistan

Jayanta Mukherjee, Kolkata

Wanted: an iron hand

Iagree with former CBI Director Joginder Singh that we do ot have tough laws in place to fight and tackle the problem of terrorism. The countrty's soft image can take us nowhere. Only tough laws and the requisite political will on the part of the ruling establishment can enable us to face this formidable challenge.

Lalitha Sreedharan, Bangalore

Intelligence failure

Who has failed the country in tackling dreaded terrorism? Intelligence outfits such as RAW and IB? Security forces? Or, the leaders at the helm of national affairs? Well, the failures are multi-dimensional. However the main culprits are our weak leaders who lack the political will to face a very difficult situation. Equally guilty are our unprofessional Intelligence Agencies who either play politics or work at cross purposes. As for the security forces, the situation is pathetic if we look at the ill-equipped police force which has to bear the first brunt of terror strikes.

RattanSingh, Chandigarh

The challenge

Praful Bakshi and O P Verma have put into focus some facets of Maharashtra's ATS role in Lt Col Purohit's affairs and the danger posed by certain elements who are causing tremendous embarrassment to the defence forces. We have to realize the gravity of the situation in mixing politics in the professional functioning of the army.

We apparently do not seem to realize the harm the authorities have done to the morale of our army officers and jawans. I am equally disturbed the way the army establishment has handled this matter. It should not have allowed the police to take charge of lt. Col Purohit. If there was any doubt about his credentials, the army authorities alone should have handled the entire matter of intelligence and counter intelligence involving their officers.

Subroto Chatterjee, Kolkata

November 2008

Assembly elections
MAHENDRA VED HAS GIVEN US A VERY comprehensive account of the Assembly elections which he rightly calls as the "dry run" for the Lok Sabha poll. Indeed, I must compliment Power Politics for objective assessment of the states facing the electorate backed up by well-presented graphics by KBK. Harmohan Chhibber, New Delhi

J & K Poll

AS USUAL, M L KAK HAS GIVEN A GRIPPING MATTER-OF-FACT ANALYSIS of the J & K elections. The headline of the write-up "Poll will not solve Kashmir problem, but can weaken separatists' grip" is indeed telling. The heavy turn-out in the first phase does expose the separatists' weakening hold on the Valley.

Satnam Kocchar, Pathankot

A Page from History

ABRILLIANT PIECE BY PROF V.N. Datta. The learned historian is right in saying that the "value of history does not lie in the study of facts, but in their inter-relations, their meaning, significance and impact on society". It is a pity that Indian politicians are poor learners of history. No wonder, history goes on repeating itself as our leaders repeat the mistakes more often than not.

Badal Sarkar, Kolkata

Missing Indian example

IWISH THE LEARNED PROFESSOR HAD given us historical examples. I fail to understand the reason for this gap. However, his examples from European history are highly educative. They do convey the right lessons which are equally relevant for the Indian setting

Bipon Chowdhry, Delhi

Market meltdown

POWER POLITICS (NOVEMBER 2008) deserves all praise for putting the global financial crisis in right perspective. I have relished reading the analyses of the various issues involved in the meltdown in India's context. As usual, Prof. Kumaresh Chakravarty was at his best while discussing how India is facing the crisis.

Equally brilliant was MSN Menon's write-up. He aptly recalls the words of Keynes who had predicted the emergence of a "casino economy"- an economy of global speculators. How true!

Jayant Roy, Kolkata

Adventure Tourism

AREALLY SUPERB PHOTO-FEATURE on the Kailash Mansarovar track by Murli Menon. The eye-catching photographs are simply of world standards. Thoroughly enjoyed. Keep it up.

Ranjana Srivastava, Chandigarh

Manisha Koirala

THIS HAS REFERENCE TO THE interview "Moving On With Manisha Koirala" (November 2008). Maniha Koirala has been one of the most talented actresses in the film industry. However, talent alone is not enough to survive in Bollywood that loves skinshow! The immature and wrong decisions of Manisha Koirala didn't allow her to retain her top position among the other leading actresses. However, she has delivered mesmeric performances in movies like Bombay, 1942 A Love Story and Khamoshi. Needless to state, that she has been the "agent of change" in Bollywood. It's really hard to forget her performances. As far her looks, her beauty is dipped in innocence!!

Arvind K.Pandey, Allahabad

Jamia episode

ALL COMPLIMENTS TO POWER Politics for publishing Vikram Rao's writeup "Jamia episode: a threat to pluralistic varsity". Very few people know the historic background to the setting up of the Jamia as a liberal, nationalistic, educational institution that relentlessly opposed the creation of Islamic Pakistan and championed Akhand Bharat (undivided India). Our leaders ought to read this learned article before playing politics.

Rajendra Bansal, New Delhi

SBI pensioners

THE UNDERSIGNED, IN HIS PERSONAL capacity as well as on behalf of 90,000 pensioners across the country, is grateful to you for bringing to public the injustice being heaped upon us for over two decades. Your timely support, we believe, would arouse the conscience of the concerned authorities to whom a copy of the magazine is being forwarded.

H R Magon
General Secretary
State Bank of India Pensioners
Association (Delhi circle), Delhi

October 2008

Open letter to PM
Hari Jaisingh's open letter to the Prime Minister puts the problems and issues facing the
nation in right perspective. The tone of the letter is not one of anger. All the same, it carries the pathos and agony of sensitive Indian minds who feel frustrated at some of the glaring failures at all levels of governance. The writer's special area of concern is terrorism. Everything would come to naught if we do not handle this menace ruthlessly and courageously. Terrorism is terrorism. The vote-bank politics of appeasement of Muslims comes in the way of handling this problem. Jaisingh rightly points out that

"terrorism must not be seen merely as a law and order problem". The ruling establishment seems to be lacking in ideas and freshness of approach to tackle this problem which is claiming the lives of innocent people. What a shame! Dr Manmohan Singh has had a historic opportunity to take the nation in a new direction. What is however regrettable is that he invariably gives the impression that he doesn't think and act on his own but waits for the signal from No 10 Janpath for every possible move. The country does not need a rubber stamp Prime Minister.
Rajat Deshpande, Mumbai

Nuke deal
Iwonder why Hari Jaisingh should be supporting the Nuclear deal with the US? It is definitely not in the interest of the country.
       Mohini Srivastava, Delhi

123 With Aam Aadmi

What was left unsaid by Hari Jaisingh in his open to PM Prof Ashish Bose has said specifically in terms of socioeconomic 123 with the common man. The learned writer has spelt out the details in the three-point agenda. One, affordable nutrition, safe drinking water and quality health care. Two, quality primary and secondary education. Three, employment generation for persons in the age group of 16 to 46 years with pension, insurance and retirement benefits.Congratulations Prof Ashish Bose for showing the pro-people path to our US nuke obsessed PM!
      Rekha Chaturvedi, Kolkata

Living with terror

India cannot afford to slacken its guard or show any signs of weakness in handling the menace of terrorism. Mahendra Ved has discussed the situation arising out of Delhi's serial blasts correctly and objectively.
      Nandini Manchanda, New Delhi

Kashmir issue
I have read with a great interest the articles "J & K on a dangerous course" and "What went wrong where & why" by Kashmir experts R.C. Ganjoo and M.L. Kak in your September 2008 issue. Both have well delineated the developments in the State from 1950, recalling the suggestions made by Sir Owen Dixon, a United Nations representative, about partition plus plebiscite, assigning Ladakh and Jammu to India with some adjustments in the Northern areas and Pakistan occupied Kashmir to Pakistan, splitting Jammu between the two, and envisaging a plebiscite in the Kashmir Valley. But all this was impracticable and Dixon himself remarked that there was no prospect of India and Pakistan resolving their differences.
       Mahindar Singh, New Delhi

Gandhi and Churchill

Prof V N Datta's review of author Herman's book "Gandhi and Churchill" provides us a new insight into the mind, thinking and working of these two historic personalities. Prof Datta has shown Churchill in his true colours. In sharp contrast to Churchill, Mahatma Gandhi stands out as the tallest leader of all in contemporary world.
Mukul Bhatt, Ahmedabad

Sports Netas

KR Wadhwaney has boldly exposed the machinations of our sports netas in his well argued article in your September issue. These netas sitting over key sports federations are causing Indian sports irreparable damage. The sooner the federations go out of their clutches the better.
          Mohan Srinivasan, Chennai

August 2008

Shameful indeed!
Mahendra Ved has given a correct picture of what happened in the Lok Sabha on July 22. As the veteran journalist rightly puts it, "we need to look inwards at the dynamics of our own polity". I also appreciate the write-up by Kumaresh Chakravarty entitled 'Eroding stability of political alliances'. Equally informative has been R C Rajamani's article "Confidence motion since Independence. Jagdish N Singh has provided a solution to the prevailing mess. He rightly says that the institution of Prime Minister can be liberated from its present evils if we amend our Constitution to elect Prime

Minister directly at the time of General election. How it will work in practice could be anybody's guess. What is, however, necessary in the prevailing situation is to explore various possibilities to find answers to number of distortions which have crept into our system.
Rupa Bhaduri, Guwahati

Note culture and new equations
We see the emergence of a new political Prime Minister in Dr Manmohan Singh. We saw a live show on TV of the note culture behind the endorsement of 123 nuclear deal by the august Lok Sabha. How horsetrading
was done, who helped who at what price and for what purpose are matters of details. However, for patriotic Indians I must say it was a shocking spectacle.
T. P. Thomas, Mumbai

Foreign Policy

Former Foreign Secretary of India Salman Haider has put the working of our relations with various countries in right perspective. He rightly says that Indo-US nuke deal has touched a nerve in the country and has become the focus of a sharp and divisive debate. The issue raised by the present crisis will continue to reverberate.
Rakesh Mohan, New Delhi

Media coverage

Former PIO S. Narendra is right in observing that even the government's own Doordarshan missed the chance to educate viewers about the nuclear deal.
Sudha Kukreja, Chandigarh

Energy security

Former Petroleum Secretary TNR Rao has written a brilliant piece entitled "Energy security for Shashikala and Kalawati".
S Vaidyanathan, Hyderabad

Abhinav Bindra

Reference to the February 2008 issue of the Power Politics magazine. I am delighted to read some of the write ups. Interestingly, your article on Abhinav Bindra came true on August 11. Wish you all the very best with the magazine.
Dinesh Bhatia, IFSKuwait

Well done
The latest issue of Power Politics was very good. Keep up the good work.
S K Pande, New Delhi

PMO's power

The article 'Constraints of working as P.M'. in the August issue of Power Politics, is a timely reminder for strengthening and evolving a new system for the Prime Minister's institution. Integrity and good conduct should be the foundation for any policy making body which is an impossibility in today's coalition politics. As rightly pointed out in the article, the PMO should be made the control centre for the Indian state, which will put forward policies based on strategic thinking and not influenced by regional, caste, money or power politics.
Ravindra K, New Delhi

Bitter Half

Iwish to point out that the opening quotation in my column 'Bitter Half' was omitted. The edited copy
has changed the meaning. It says, "But fatwa says they have every right to change her name and faith just to
get marry and have children." The actual was as follows: "We have a fatwa saying that conversion of a woman to Islam for the purpose of getting married with someone in the faith is illegal and against the Shariat law. The fatwa was reportedly issued in response to a question posed before the Darululoom Deoband asking whether the conversion of a non-Muslim woman for getting married into Islam was justified. The Deputy-in-Charge of the Organisation's fatwa Department Mufti Ahsan Kasmi said conversion to Islam must be in good faith and not for getting something. But they have every right to change her name and faith just to get marry and have children. As they say it, love changes all, they change their identity when they fall in love as they can't rise in love."
Syed Mubin Zehra, New Delhi

July 2008

123 Gamble

In the July issue Hari Jaisingh has been very forthright in his assessment of power games being played by Congress leaders on the nuclear deal with the US. T. N. R Rao's article "How not to skid on oil slick" was brilliant. It is obvious that the speculators are behind this crude oil price hike. Rao is right in saying that the UPA leadership is pandering to vested interests for electoral gains. Kumaresh Chakravarty is right in observing that the price rise will impact the electoral prospects of the Congress.
Rajeev Sood New Delhi

Well done, PM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has single-handedly retrieved the situation to everyone's delight. In 1991as finance minister he brought in liberalization. His handling of the nuclear deal situation has earned him a place in the country's Hall of Fame.
Mahinder Singh New Delhi

New Governor

The book review of Balmiki Prasad Singh and his interview by Mahendra Ved made an interesting reading. Singh's observation: "I am worried about IAS and IPS officers losing respect of the poor. They have tended to side with the political masters and the rich." How true! Let us see how the former Home Secretary conducts himself as Governor of Sikimm!
Indu Singh Lucknow

Men without women!

Prof Ashish Bose has focused on the imbalanced female-male ratio in Punjab, Haryana ,Gujarat . Will the central and state authorities and voluntary social organizations wake up to this grave problem and take corrective steps on a war footing? It is now or never.
Ravi Sanyal New Delhi

Ending quota raj

M. N. Buch in his column "Looking Beyond" has explained how the ruling class for electoral gains is propelling stirs for quota system. This has only widened the social divide and the state has failed to achieve the objective of social justice. Fellow citizens shout with me: "Down with politics of vote and down with the Frankenstein of reservation".
Janakiraman Bangalore

Media-led politics

S. Narendra has discussed the power of new media. He has rightly called it the fifth estate.
Subroto Gupta Kolkata

CBI and bribe-giving

Joginder Singh deserves all praise for highlighting the case of Assam Minister Ripon Vora who was arrested in Delhi for allegedly offering a sum of Rs 10 lakh to an officer of the CBI. Bribery is a major problem. We have to raise our voice against it. Theodore Roosevelt said, "Unless a man is honest, we have no right to keep him in public life: it matters not how brilliant is his capacity."
Kavita Sathe Mumbai

Impressive magazine

Iam impressed by your magazine, especially " Teacher speaks" in the May issue. I would like to subscribe for it.
N. Natarajan SMRV School, Nagercoil

RTI and Judges

Iwork with a reputed Govt. department and respect the norms laid by the Govt. I wish to take this opportunity for specially thanking you for writing a masterpiece in interview column "RTI surely covers judges as well". The article has really thrown lot of light on the various aspects like transparency & fairness in our judiciary. Prashant Bhushan, an outspoken crusader, he truly is.
Amar Datt Saini Delhi

June 2008

New Political Arithmetic

The June issue of Power Politics was quite an eyecatching. The write -ups on the meaning of the Karnataka Assembly poll verdict by Shantha Prasad and A Jayashri from Banglore and the analysis by S.Narendra "Kahala (Bugle) for Congress" were sharp, to the point and objective. Equally interesting to read was a small box item on "How Babaji got it right: where the exit polls end, the astrology begins." Three cheers to Laccham Das

Madan for the correct reading of stars on political trends in the most hitech progressive state of Southern India. I am impressed by the high standard the journal has been able to keep up. Three cheers.
Jayanti Menon Bangalore

Karnataka calculations

In Matters of policy of June issue, you have underlined the need for redoing the old poll arithmetic on the BJP win in Karnataka. The saffron party took the advantage of disunity in the secular camp. In terms of vote share, the Congress retains the edge with 34 per cent as against 35.3in 2004.The BJP has 33.9 per cent (28.49in 2004) the JD(S ) 19.1(20.59 per cent in 2004).Thus there has been a 0.7 percentage point swing away from the congress an, a 5.37 percentage point swing towards the BJP and a 1.48 percentage point swing away from the JD(S). In a triangular contest in the first-past -the post system, this edge gave the BJP a disproportionate number of seats — 31 more than last time. Although the BJP has gained ground in Karnataka in absolute terms since the last elections, the result by no means suggests a wave in favour of the saffron party. The results also show that the Congress and JD(S) are a large political force in the state. The Congress improved its seat share by 15 since the last election. It registered a notable presence in the southern Karnataka, where it grew at the expense of the JD(S),and but for the Bangalore region, kept the BJP more or less out of picture.
Mahinder Singh New Delhi

India's missile power

Praful Bakshi has put the question Indian ballistic strength vis-à-vis China in right perspective. His article was highly informative and analytical. He deserves all praise for raising the question of safety for citizens in the face of a nuclear onslaught from any quarters. In this context, his stress on civil defense at the national level is timely and it needs to be taken up seriously by the rulers at the helm. Your defense and security analyst has rightly said: "This step will strengthen the resolve, will and confidence of the people to face the hardships of the war."
Seema Walia Amritsar

Kashmir Ahead

M.L.Kak has once again brought into special focus the old question of self-rule and greater autonomy for Jammu and Kashmir. This and all other related matters are bound to hot up in view of the forthcoming state assembly elections. Let us not lose sight of the fact that J & K leaders and state politics are perpetually in a state of flux. Nothing will change unless the militants are eliminated and Pakistan stops playing games in the valley and beyond.
Dinesh Sharma Jammu

Bitter Half!

SMubin Zehra deserves compliments for raising her voice against the increasing trend of female infanticide. Let's join hands to provide a pride of place to the girl child.
Jayashree Sen Kolkata

Between the covers

I find the new section on books "Between the covers" quite educative and informative. The review of Murli Manohar Joshi's book" Science Sustainability and Indian National Resurgence" discusses at length the former union minister's path breaking ideas and concepts. What the country needs right now is new ideas to tackle old problems and rigid mindset.
Amrita Oberoi Chandigarh

Growth & Poverty

Kumaresh Chakravorty's article "How are India's Common People doing?" was brilliant with detailed data. It is indeed a pity that the poor have not been able to enjoy any advantages from the high GDP growth. What a shame! The learned writer rightly says, "We cannot overlook the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) and similar public projects for improving the purchasing power of the poor." But then, what about leakage and bungling? Is government listening?
Sudha Malhotra New Delhi

Water- borne diseases

Harsharan Bir Kaur Pandey has done well to highlight the problem of communicable diseases. Water-borne diseases pose a major threat to India's health program. Here the main issue is of availability of potable water in rural areas and semi-urban centers. She has done well to warn those who often eat out. She rightly says, "Our high life styles are not yet matched by high food safety standards. Congratulations, Harsharan.
Judge Sodhi Gurgaon

Oil Politics

Mahendra Ved has offered new insights in his write-up on the Iran-Pakistan-India gas line project. He has also done well to highlight Turkmenis tan-Afghani s t an- Pakistan-India gas pipeline project. It is time we thought on new lines to meet the grave problems of energy.
Sudhin Shinde Mumbai

I have a girl child !!

A great article indeed. I join you in your noble fight for giving women her true rights in the society as an equal partner to the men folk whom she carries in her womb and delivers alive , as there is no Male Foeticide, by her. We shall put a complete stop to female foeticide and other victimisations of women. I join you in this campaign, Of Women! For Women! By Women!
Jaya New Delhi

Power Politics

I am happy to see Hari Jaisingh's independent venture. The magazine has indeed taken up a good range of issues for presentation to reading public in an objective way and for future also it should keep clear of usual clichés. He has indeed been able to line up a number of good columnists; I specially like Ashish Dada's common profiles. As a reader, I wish the magazine a long-term place in the buffet of food for thought. Two small comments: 1. A price tag of Rs.20/- on stands to avoid use of coins would have been more appropriate. 2. I am sure a lot of thought has gone in this, but I would prefer the name "Power Publishers" instead of Publisher.
Bodhishwar Rai Mumbai

Simply superb

The June issue of Power Politics as seen on the website (www.powerpolitics.in) is simply superb. I enjoyed reading perceptive editorials. I.K.Gujral's book seems to be interesting. Maybe, you could carry a couple of excerpts from the book. The write-up on marriages was an eye-opener. The most absorbing was the cover story. P.P. should be doing fine. It should find a large readership. Why is Shiela Dixit spending so much money on publishing her own chuerbic picture everyday in all newspapers? You may consider curtain raisers on the coming elections in states such as Rajasthan, Delhi, M.P., other states. I would be happy to send something, if considered appropriate, from the U.S.A. meanwhile, wish you well. and, more power to P.P.'s elbow
M.R.Dua Boston (USA)

MAY 2008

Managing inflation Power Politics' has done a marathon job by highlighting the people's crushing problem regarding prices of essential commodities. The UPA leaders had started swearing by the 'aam admi', but where is the ACTION to ease the problems of the common people? Have they given any serious thought to the harsh fact of how common man can survive when one kilogram of dal or rice costs anything from Rs 40 to Rs 60? Those in power and their hangers-on and rich persons can live in luxuries, but not the struggling middle class.

What worries me is the lack of genuine concern for the poor and the have nots, though Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and others in the government shed crocodile tears or make false promises of bringing down the prices by September or so. I must say that our rulers have lost credibility in the public eye. NCP leader Sharad Pawar has his own theories on the situation.

The CPI (M) and the CPI leaders make a public show of their concern by staging street demonstrations. Even the BJP leaders seem to specialize in the art of making public noises. No political leader has come out with an alternative plan of action that could help in bringing down prices within a specified period. Well, it cannot just be seen as a global phenomenon. What is required is a serious look within relating to our own follies and benami character when it comes to cashing in on the people's miseries. My dear leaders, mend your ways. The elections are coming. Don't blame the media for speaking for common people.
Kailash Mishra New Delhi

Politics of inflation
Professor Kumaresh Chakravarty's article "the hassled voter is an angry voter" read with the "Matters of Policy" comments under the heading "Wages of half baked governance" gives a total picture of the current state of the nation on the economic and political front. I agree with the learned professor's assessment that "if rising prices have been creating more hunger, then the forthcoming assembly elections may bring more bad news for the Congress party because the hungry voter is often an angry voter". Well, Sonia Gandhi and her government have been warned. Act on the price front now before it is too late.
D N Rao Bangalore

Plight of Tibet
The Chinese leaders would do well to learn from the thoughts expressed in 'Matters of Policy' piece "Beyond the Olympic Torch". Indeed, the Tibetans' anger is genuine. It speaks of betrayal. Their protest is meant to stir the conscience of liberalminded persons everywhere. It is time the Chinese leaders came out of their arrogance and meet the Tibetans.
Dharam Pal Shimla

Prince Rahul
What Rahul Gandhi wants to project, Gandhigiri, as a messiah or a crusader? What is he doing for his own constituency area as an MP? Why not he is accepting any ministerial job? Something on the foot-steps of his father would not help. He should do something practical and more specific and not blame only the state government. If the state government is not doing anything for Bundelkhand, Congress party or Centre or Rahul Gandhi can do something. Rahul is there only for agitations and promises. I will also raise the issue of inflation. Regarding the rising inflation and food shortage (in India and in world), now it is clear that fertile land, agriculture and farmers should be taken on top priority. How to deal with bumper crops? When VP Singh time came, I found an unexpected low prices. Shopkeepers told us that there was bumper crop and the benefit was passed on to the consumers by companies. It was a temporary phase and the old (higher) prices will be back shortly. Once I thought to buy more at that low prices. Various brands of products also came in the market at a low price but it did not last.
Shiv Shanker Almal Kolkata

SIMI challenge
Mahendra Ved has done a good work by putting the SIMI problem in right perspective. It is in the interest of people belonging to every community, including Muslims, to identify mischievous elements and speak and act in a united voice of India. A terrorist is wedded to the gun culture. Islam does not approve of terrorism against innocent people. Let us declare a total war on terrorism. Ervelle Menezes Mumbai Pranic Healing Ajay Pal's write-up "Healing with Prana" make a highly interesting reading. The writing was an eye-opener. I never realized that Pranic healing is a way of life and that it teaches how a combination of diet, exercise, right emotions, correct thoughts, harmonious relationships, lifestyle, proper livelihood and karma could make all the difference between living and non-living.
Richa Sood Ludhiana