OPinionatED
or
VOX POPULI
by
Aam Admi
Issue: 171 Date: 10.10.2016
Contents:
1. Dealing With Pakistan
2. Indian Railways Needs To Change Tack &
Tracks
3. The US Presidential Elections
Dealing With Pakistan
The manner that we have been dealing with Pakistan post-Uri
attack and even earlier is somewhat odd and clearly illogical. In size terms by
population Pakistan is probably just about 15% of India, in geographical terms
it is just a sliver torn off India. Thus the attention that we pay to that
country across our media and also in terms of mindshare of our people, is
grossly disproportionate and much more than what Pakistan deserves.
Figuratively speaking Pakistan is just an ant on the Indian elephant's back and
should be treated as such. However one cannot comprehend why we make a big deal
of what Pakistan says or does. Recognised that we have a shared contentious
history going back some six decades or more about Kashmir which is a pusurating
sore. Strategically also the fact that Pakistan is in possession of nuclear
bombs and in fact may be leading India in terms of tactical nuclear weapons,
demands that we deal with them with caution. We also need to understand that
the country Pakistan was born out of the
trauma of Partition and this is the trauma that it has been fighting these last
six decades or more.
Thus if you look at Pakistan’s role in
international circles over this period it has to do with strife and discord.
Allying with the US in the Cold War years it was involved in Afghanistan so
that America could have an access into the old USSR. That is how it got
involved in a proxy war, for America, with the Russians who had moved into
Afghanistan a few years later. This cemented Pakistan’s presence in Afghanistan
overseeing, in a manner of speaking, the transition from first the monarchy to
a temporary government until the Taliban and the Al Qaeda took over the country
in 2010 and then it was up to Karzai put Pakistan’s ISI in their place upon
taking up the office of the President of Afghanistan. This involvement in low
intensity war served Pakistan two-fold. First an easy access to arms and
second, the experience to continue the same proxy war in Kashmir under the
pretext of supporting a ‘freedom’ struggle.
The other thing is that as a nation Pakistan
has no real reason for its existence. It is by creating problems for others
that it justifies its existence. Thus
with India its Kashmir and which Pakistan has been carefully nurturing for
close to six decades now. They did the same thing with successively the
Taliban, Al Qaeda and now ISIS supporting these terror groups in their infancy
which then spread terrorism around the world. Any major terrorist strike
anywhere in the world be it 9/11 or any other has had a Pakistani involved or
has its origins in Pakistan or with some link to Pakistan. And through all this
Pakistan claims that it is a victim of terrorism little realizing that if you
play with terror it is only a matter of time before it strikes back to you.
Actually this position for Pakistan is a ploy to see3k sympathy. The world has
realized this and now know that the Pakistan government and its agencies are
complicit with terror. This has been partly achieved with India’s diplomatic
efforts which have to a great extent cornered Pakistan as a safe haven for
terror and an active instigator when it comes to initiating terror in Kashmir
and India.
In these circumstances it is best that India
does not fall into the trap of reacting to what Pakistan says since it is again
a ruse to draw India out and have the focus of world opinion back on
itself. This is also with a hope that in
India’s reaction it may trip itself and give Pakistan an opportunity to say – I
told you so. In most statements or announcements that come from Pakistan we
need to take it with a large pinch of salt since it has been found more often
than not that they tend to be more liberal with the truth and rarely say what
they actually mean.
Thus the best method for India is to ignore
Pakistan’s utterances but continue the diplomatic initiatives in international
circles to try and get them named as a ‘terror haven’ which will leave them
hobbled in taking any further action. In the event that Pakistan or its
agencies initiates or participates in any attacks on Indian soil like Pathankot
or Uri, we should respond with the principle that if you give us a bloody nose,
we will give you a bloody face. The more India tends to respond to Pakistan in
the media, it elevates the position of Pakistan and implies that they are of an
equal status to India. The strategy therefore is to keep Pakistan in its place.
Indian Railways Needs To Change Tack &
Tracks
Just last month an elderly lady was thrown onto
the tracks near Dhanbad station when she was accosted by a man who had entered
the sleeper compartment in the early hours of the morning and was bent upon
snatching a bag that the lady had wound around her arm. In the attack which the
lady resisted she was pulled out of the train compartment even before her cries
for help woke up her co-passengers from sleep. Luckily the lady got
off with minor injuries. Then just a couple of weeks back we had armed dacoits
attacking three groups of passengers in succession at the outer signal of
Kanpur station. Then last week another lady complained that on the train her
handbag was gnawed through by rats. There have been many complaints about rats
infesting the compartments near the pantry cars of most trains and passengers
afraid to sleep for fear of their getting bit. There was a time with the Indian
Railways when the sleeper coaches were considered safe because they would be
locked down in the night. There would be an attendant or ticket inspector
to help people getting in or out of the train at wayside stations during the
night. Nothing like that happens now and the security of passengers is
neglected to the extent that it is considered unsafe to travel in sleeper
coaches. If you happen to travel by train you will notice it is standard
practice of passengers to carry their own chain and lock to secure their
baggage to any fixture in the coach. This was rarely done in the past. As for
hygiene and rat infestation, if you peep into any of the pantry cars on trains
you will never have any food on the train for the rest of your life. But
instead of attending to these basic issues of safety, security and hygiene, the
Indian Railways are concentrating on ultra-fast trains, TALGO coaches, flexible
pricing and introduction of new trains with more amenities in the interest of increasing
their revenue earnings from passenger traffic. The emphasis is clearly wrong
since unless the basic issues as above are not tackled it will not be long
before the new trains go the same way as the rest of the trains on the Indian
Railways now. The Railway Minister, Suresh Prabhu need to change the emphasis
and bring back the service orientation of the Indian Railways to serve the
common citizen rather than try to convert it to a high flying transportation
option competing with airlines. For this the aam admin would be forever
grateful.
The US Presidential Elections
It is well-known that the worst of America
comes out at the time of the US Presidential elections. In the final lap of the
2016 elections with Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton throwing mud at each other,
more by the former than the latter, the contest is running true to form. But if
one does an objective analysis of the candidates and the muck that they have
been throwing at each other during the election campaign, the conclusion that emerges
is that the present elections have possibly the most unsuitable candidates in
general of the last few US Presidential elections since Richard Nixon was
elected to the Oval Office. Hilary Clinton is coming out as the better of the
two worst candidates leaving the American people no choice so to speak. But is
she fit for the Presidency is the question that must be dogging many minds in
the US? Coming as the first serious woman candidate for the US Presidency she
arrives with the persuasive argument of the need to create more history on the
back of the first black US
President demitting office. This argument has become all the more compelling
now with Donald Trump's utterances and antics that clearly make him unfit to
become the President of the USA. On top of some of Donald Trump's
unusual opinions, he has exhibited a shockingly ignorant position on foreign
policy and international matters which has many doubting his sanity. The
shallowness of his public statements and his reactions to cast blame and accuse
others are some of the attributes that do no good for his seeking the credentials
to be the next President of the USA. Lately with even the GOP leaders
backing away from Trump’s candidature one must seriously doubt the
decision-making process of the Republican party for having endorsed Trump as
the party’s Presidential candidate after initial doubts and then just about
four weeks prior to the elections pulling back its support. As for Hilary
Clinton one must say she has been making the right noises and having used her
pedigree of having been First Lady in the White House and then the first woman
Secretary of State of the USA, she has come across as a relatively better
shining light fit to become the next US President. But even then serious doubts
remain on her credibility to be liberal with the truth in the matter of coming
out clearly on the private server and email issue, the inability of sometimes
to control her flaming temper which it is said that even Bill Clinton remains
in fear of and the last thing which just came up last month was her health
issue. For fear of being branded anti-feminist one must state that in both US
Presidential debates she did not seem to come off as President material. With
the two Presidential candidates likely to having serious performance issues,
more Trump than Clinton, the focus needs to shift to the Vice Presidential
candidates. The chances of Donald Trump winning are a long shot but even if he
does we need to consider an outside chance at possibly an impeachment process into
his second term when his VP will be expected to sit in the Oval office. One
must say that Mike Pence, though still very much an unknown factor, has
acquitted himself creditably in the VP debate and one can take comfort in his
level headedness in contrast to Trump’s uninhibited and uncontrolled flamboyance.
As for the chance of Hilary Clinton seeing health issues into her first term as
President if she wins it, which is what is most likely to happen, it will be
Tim Kaine who will take over. Kaine seems to fit in like a glove in the long
list of unassuming US Vice Presidents and can be expected to hold the fort. But
come December 2016 it is not only the USA but also the world which will be
seeing uncertain times what with the most powerful democracy in the world going
through a change of guard.
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