VOX POPULI
by
S Kamat
as
Aam Admi
Issue: 270 Date: 25.02.2019
Contents:
1. Heads Must Roll For The Pulwama Attack
2. West Indies Cricket Is Back In Rip Roaring Fashion
3. Shaktikanta Das' Actions In Line With His Master's Voice
Heads Must Roll For The Pulwama Attack
Heads must roll for the Pulwama terror attack. The head of the CRPF transit camp from which the buses started, the CRPF commander of the area and the DG, CRPF should be sacked. In addition the Army commanders of the area need be transferred out and sent to the most sensitive forward area or to Kargil as a punishment posting. Similar action should be taken against the police and security agency officials who were directly responsible for forwarding the terror advisories of the likelihood of an attack on the paramilitary on which they sat upon without sending it across to the concerned units. Accountability should be enforced and clear responsibility established otherwise time and time again we will continue to have these attacks taking advantage of the inefficiency and lacklustre approach of our agencies towards safety of its own people and that of the public at large. If Narendra Modi has claimed to be shocked by the Pulwama attack and stated that his blood is boiling then he should on moral grounds submit his resignation and also initiate action to ask for resignations from the political chain of command like that of the Home Minister, Rajnath Singh and that of the J&K Governor, Satya Pal Malik since the State is under President's rule. As for the retaliation against the perpetrators of the Pulwama attack, instead of sabre rattling and playing up the revenge scenarios in the media, what we need to do is to go quietly about our way in asking our army to launch counter attacks against the terrorist training camps. This should have been done after the 1st surgical strike which turned out to be political football with the BJP hot on bravado and the Opposition seeking to puncture that image. Nothing of all that was necessary since strikes against the enemy border should be standard drill so that we eliminate the threat to our forces and the people living in the border areas before t actually happens. Unfortunately the army also tended to take sides during the surgical strike football match while they should have with their lips sealed continued the counter-insurgency operations. We need to learn from the Israeli example who strike at the Palestinian targets within Palestine and the Hezbollah targets deep inside Syria and Lebanon whenever anything is likely to be targeted against Israel and its people. Israel does not wait like us for the bomb to be overhead before we shoot it down where in any case we would be hit but takes it out before it is launched. That is because they have clear and actionable intelligence while we are pussyfooting around with our maybe's on who, what and where the enemy is. It is important that the intelligence gathering capabilities of the country are boosted also so that we are better prepared to face the enemy. At least Pulwama to that extent should have opened our eyes wide open.
West Indies Cricket Is Back In Rip Roaring Fashion
The revival of West Indies cricket augured after beating England 2-1 in the Test series and then having a humdinger of an ODI in the first match with Chris Gayle back in the side promises great times for international cricket. For long West Indies cricket has been in the wilderness after their halcyon days in the past. This has been because of the paucity of good players, young players lacking experience at the international level and more importantly politics within the cricket bodies that manage West Indies cricket. These bodies seemed to have a penchant for getting into scrapes with established players who were desperately needed to put up a decent show for West Indies cricket. This was done even when the scraped up teams were doing well in the ODI & T20 formats and even bringing back trophies home. Good sense seems to have prevailed now with Chris Gayle back in the side for the ODI series against England. The prodigal Gayle celebrated his return with style as only he knows of a rip roaring century in the first match. Like this the other reputed players should find their way back into the West Indies team which will then become a mix of experience and young blood. This will do good for the revival of West Indies cricket. However West Indies cricket continues to get a raw deal from the ICC particularly with regard to the actions of match referees and the rules framed for penalties. Like in the recent series against England, Holder, the West Indies captain, was suspended for the last Test ostensibly for a slow over rate in the earlier 2 tests. There could be some other penalty like a fine rather than having a player sit out from a sport that he excels in. Holder had wrapped up the series by then with West Indies being 2-0 up in the 3 match Test series. Similarly Gabriel, the stand-in captain was fined in the last Test for his fracas with Root. And finally because England lost the series, the pitches played in the West Indies were claimed to be not at par except for the one where the last Test was played which England won! The ICC administration bias towards countries like West Indies, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India are very apparent and it is time that a level playing field is implemented. Postscript: By the time I am writing this West Indies have won the 2nd ODI to level the series after losing the 1st though they had scored a massive 360 which England chased down with competent centuries by Roy & Root (almost sounds like a lawyer's firm).
Shaktikanta Das' Actions In Line With His Master's Voice
Shaktikanta Das, the new RBI Governor is living up to paying his debts to his masters for the appointment by first reducing interest rates, though marginally, in the last review and then convening a meeting to push the banks to review their interest rates in the light of the RBI reduction. Not only that he has also cleared an interim dividend from the RBI to the government to make the ways and means position of the government easier. Though the dividend needs to be paid, it is being given way ahead of the completion of the current financial year of the RBI after which normally the dividend is declared and then disbursed. The advance receipt of the RBI dividend will help the government fund the goodies that were announced to the public in the last Budget earlier this month and any others that are likely before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. These unplanned expenditures are likely to blow away the targeted budget deficit of the current financial year. Das' action is reminiscent of being faithful and loyal to His Master's Voice, the logo and graphic made famous by the erstwhile music label, HMV.
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Note: The date for the last issue of Vox Populi Issue 269 should read as 18.02.2019. The error is regretted.
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