tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post119092636900545838..comments2024-03-18T16:01:13.871-07:00Comments on Haq's Musings: Are India and Pakistan Failed States?Riaz Haqhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comBlogger150125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-72145759748071916692022-08-20T20:56:10.666-07:002022-08-20T20:56:10.666-07:00Pakistan has shown remarkable resilience in the fa...Pakistan has shown remarkable resilience in the face of adversity – evidenced most tellingly by its recovery following the humiliating defeat in 1971. It has recovered significantly from the terror backlash, which followed Musharraf’s U-turn in the wake of 9/11. Fatalities in terror violence that mounted sharply from 2004 onwards, reaching the peak of 11,317 in 2009 (civilians, security forces personnel and terrorists), were down to 365 in 2019. Similarly, fatalities in suicide attacks, which reached the peak of 1,220 in 2010, were down to 76 in 2019. The secular decline in fatalities as a result of the violence perpetrated by the terror groups operating against the Pakistani state, seen since 2009, is however not visible in the case of the killings in sectarian violence. At the peak of the terror wave in 2010, such violence claimed 509 lives. The number has waxed and waned during the subsequent years and stood at 507 and 558 in 2012 and 2013, respectively. The number of Shias killed has also not shown a secular decline since 2009 and has waxed and waned.8 Clearly, Pakistan’s action against terror has been focused essentially on the terror groups attacking the Pakistani state and not the groups perpetrating terror outside Pakistan or indulging in sectarian violence.<br /><br />Sabharwal, Sharat. India’s Pakistan Conundrum (pp. 148-149). Taylor and Francis. Kindle Edition. <br /><br />----------<br /><br />In conclusion, it can be said that Pakistan is neither a failed state nor one about to fail in the foreseeable future. Further, so long as the army remains a largely professional and disciplined force, having at its disposal Pakistan’s rapidly growing arsenal of nuclear weapons, the probability of a change in Pakistan’s external boundaries would remain very low. Therefore, a policy premised on the failure or disintegration of the Pakistani state would hinge on unsound expectations. However, because of the various factors examined in the previous chapters, Pakistan will continue to be a highly dysfunctional state with widespread lawlessness.<br /><br />Sabharwal, Sharat. India’s Pakistan Conundrum (p. 149). Taylor and Francis. Kindle Edition. <br /><br />-----------------<br />Should India work to break up Pakistan? A body of opinion in India recommends that India should be proactive in causing the disintegration of Pakistan. For the reasons mentioned in Chapter 6, a policy premised on disintegration of the Pakistani state would hinge on unsound expectations. However, let us examine, for the sake of argument, the consequences of heightened turmoil in/break up of Pakistan for India. The unwise policies of Pakistan’s rulers have already resulted in considerable turbulence there. Though the Pakistani state uses terror against India, it is calibrated by its instrumentalities. Heightened chaos in Pakistan leading to collapse of the state authority will not leave India untouched. Let us not forget that Pakistan has continued to pay a heavy price for having caused instability in its neighbour – Afghanistan – something I repeatedly recalled to my Pakistani audiences. Collapse of the state will also present India with a humanitarian crisis of a gigantic proportion, with the terrain between the two countries offering an easy passage to India for those fleeing unrest in Pakistan. At the height of terrorism in the Pakistani Punjab in 2009–10, some of my interlocutors in Lahore were candid enough to say that in the event of a Taliban takeover, they would have no option but to run towards India. Break up of Pakistan could lead to a civil war amongst the successor states or worse still among various warring groups vying for influence, as was the case after collapse of the state authority in Afghanistan, entailing the undesirable consequences mentioned above and perilous uncertainty concerning the ownership of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal. Alternatively, India may be faced with a hostile Pakistani Punjab in possession of nuclear weapons. In either case, it will be bad news for India.<br /><br />Sabharwal, Sharat. India’s Pakistan Conundrum (pp. 290-291). Taylor and Francis. Kindle Edition. Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-47508442260678943202021-09-16T11:15:21.018-07:002021-09-16T11:15:21.018-07:00Is India a failed state? Certainly news magazine I...Is India a failed state? Certainly news magazine India Today thinks so. I would humbly disagree. We aren’t a failed state yet. For, if we were, the publication wouldn’t have said so on its cover, and I wouldn’t be writing this article.<br /><br />https://theprint.in/national-interest/modi-govt-is-in-denial-india-is-back-to-being-a-flailing-state/654465/<br /><br /><br />If India was a failed state already, we might not have known how badly we were failing. As long as a nation’s own media, civil society, even individual citizens are free to bring the bad news to all, hold the mirror to the most powerful ruler in at least four decades, we are not a failed state yet.<br /><br />What are we then? I might have a more apt description, a flailing state. Writhing in pain, tossing about in desperation, confused, chaotic, poorly-led, on the verge of a disaster. But still looking for answers.<br /><br />Flailing state, therefore, is a better characterisation for India today, and it’s such a pity I didn’t invent it. It was economist Lant Pritchett, currently Research Director at Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, in his much-quoted 2009 paper at Harvard’s Kennedy School, provocatively titled, ‘Is India a Flailing State: Detours on the four lane highway to modernisation’.<br /><br />Important point is, he said this of India in 2009, when the UPA was in its prime and the growth still red hot on top of a breathless decade. What hadn’t caught up was the state capacity to improve governance, the quality of life of the vast majority of our people, and the ability to leverage growth into wider prosperity and social security.<br /><br />Between 2009 and 2014, under a confused UPA-2, the quality of governance slid steeply. The government was paralysed with contradictions and indecision. As the state flailed even harder, Narendra Modi rose to seize the moment and promised to change it. Minimum government, maximum governance. People believed him.<br /><br />Enough of an uncertain, dithering state, he promised in his new India. Through seven years of economic stall, his voters kept their faith in him. Until this virus came back and exposed the reality. That after seven years under Modi, India is an unprecedentedly dysfunctional, worse flailing state.<br /><br /><br />-------------<br /><br />In their Freedom At Midnight, Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins document a remarkable event. As Partition riots went out of control and the fire burning Punjab reached Delhi, Nehru met Viceroy Mountbatten, and asked for help. He, along with a key lieutenant, told him, they were not yet trained in governance, but agitation, and had spent years in their jails instead. They requested Mountbatten to constitute an emergency council and head it. The viceroy in charge, in a newly independent country.<br /><br />This drew much protest from the Congress with demands to ban the book. But the authors noted this as an act of large-hearted statesmanship. We certainly do not suggest that Modi do any such thing. But, he needs to reach out to talent within his party and elsewhere, take the Opposition into confidence, build a joint federal front of the Centre and the states to douse this fire. All this will first need an acceptance of the enormity of the crisis, if not failure. It will need that one attribute we haven’t seen on display yet: Humility.<br /><br />It won’t bring a dramatic solution. Because the problem of a flailing state is deeper and structural. Terrible stuff can visit nations, especially poor and populous ones. It’s how you respond that distinguishes a politician from a leader.<br /><br />Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-73406821987530588542017-12-13T22:06:02.901-08:002017-12-13T22:06:02.901-08:00Meghnad Desai: A country of many nations, will #In...Meghnad Desai: A country of many nations, will #India break up? #Hindu #Hindi #Beef #Dalit #Muslim #Naga #Tamil Quartz<br /><br />https://qz.com/1156242/meghnad-desai-a-country-of-many-nations-will-india-break-up/<br /><br /><br />Excerpts of Baron Meghnad Deai's book "The Raisina Model"<br /><br />India has avoided equal treatment of unequal units. Representation in the Rajya Sabha is proportional to population size. If anything, it is the smaller states that may complain about being marginalised, though so far none has. The larger states thus dominate both Houses of Parliament. It would be difficult for small states to object, much less initiate reform. In future, small states could unite to present their case for better treatment. Except for Punjab and Nagaland, there has been no attempt to challenge the status quo.<br /><br />The issue, however, is that India has still not fashioned a narrative about its nationhood which can satisfy all. The two rival narratives—secular and Hindu nation—are both centred in the Hindi belt extending to Gujarat and Maharashtra at the most. This area comprises 51% of the total population and around 45% of the Muslims in India. It is obviously a large part of India and is contiguous. Of course, ideas of secularism and Hindu nationhood capture the imagination in other parts of India too, but even so, there is a lot of India outside this.<br /><br />In the agitation to establish Hindi as the sole national language in 1965, India came close to a rupture between the north and the south. It was the Chinese debacle which united the country. But the idea of the south seceding was openly discussed. The north-east is a region which has long felt alienated from what it calls the “mainland.” It has never been woven into the national narrative, just as the south has been ignored. Privileging the Hindu-Muslim divide has left the numerous other minorities and linguistic nations outside the idea of the Indian nation. The current agitation about beef eating and gau raksha is in the Hindi belt just an excuse for attacking Muslims blatantly. As most slaughterhouses in UP are Muslim-owned, owners and employees of these places are prime targets.<br /><br />But that apart, the idea that beef eating is anathema to Hindus across India is just wrong. Hindus, with the exception of Brahmins, have been known to eat meat, even beef. South Indian Hindus, for example, eat beef. The lower castes and Dalits openly do. Then we come to the tribal people. They have no reason to be deprived of their food sources because some upper caste Hindus in Awadh feel strongly about beef eating.<br /><br /><br />Across India, Hindus and non-Hindus eat beef. No one has the right to impose a uniform eating culture on others. Just because the BJP has won a large vote in UP, it does not license vigilante attacks on beef eaters. There will be other elections and Indian voters are known for expressing their displeasure through the ballot. The democratic process has bound the different regions and nations together because everyone has a hand in the election of governments. <br /><br />The idea that India has just two “nations,” Hindu and Muslim, is far too simple.<br /><br /><br /><br />There are many nations. Across the Dandakaranya are tribes whose names are unknown even to most Indians.<br /><br />The recent incident at a Delhi club where a woman wearing a north-eastern dress was denied entry as someone in the management decided she was “improperly dressed” tells all. This relative isolation of the peripheral, low-density areas of India is a worry. It has not taken an agitational form as yet. But the integration of the tribal people in India as bona fide citizens has yet to be achieved. The categories of Hindu or Muslim may not apply to them. They may have their own religion, some form of animism or worship of the land. They could be Christians. There are, after all, a number of Christian sects in India as Christianity has been practised in India since the first century ce, before Islam was even preached. The many tribal languages have yet to gain recognition.Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-62721827269814775372017-03-08T12:04:19.844-08:002017-03-08T12:04:19.844-08:00And yet India is seen as a rising economic star wh...And yet India is seen as a rising economic star while Pakistan is derided as a rogue nation subsisting on US dollars. India's soft power has an identity of its own while the image commonly associated with Pakistan is the breeding ground for terrorists. <br /><br />None so blind as those who will not see.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04424341020613244559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-639044390304173852016-06-10T21:46:14.260-07:002016-06-10T21:46:14.260-07:00Is India a Flailing State?: Detours on the Four La...Is India a Flailing State?: Detours on the Four Lane Highway to Modernization<br /><br /><br />https://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/4449106<br /><br /><br />India is an emerging global superpower as its rapid growth has transformed its economy and has maintained itself as the world’s largest democracy. But at the same time India lags in many dimensions—its malnutrition rate is one of the highest in the world, its immunization rates are lower than most African countries, and Bangladesh has a better infant mortality rate. I argue that this is in part because the India state is “flailing”—its very capable head is not longer reliably connected to the arms and legs of implementation. In the four-fold transition of economy, polity, administration, and society the administrative capability of the state is lagging. I use examples from services like health, education, and routine transactions like issuing driver’s licenses to show that the agents of the state routinely do not implement the tasks they are assigned—causing a massive divergence between de jure and de facto reality. The paper concludes with speculations about the causes of flailing and possible future trajectories.<br /><br /><br />Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-69257330291524331852016-04-19T22:39:11.333-07:002016-04-19T22:39:11.333-07:00Excerpt of a piece by Ashly Tellis on what India m...Excerpt of a piece by Ashly Tellis on what India must do to become a leading power: <br /><br />For starters, the Indian state does not penetrate its own society sufficiently: there are still vast swaths—territorial and functional—where state power is conspicuous by its absence. In fact, the Indian state is overly present in those areas where it ought not to be, producing private goods for example, but seriously deficient in other spaces where it has no substitute, such as in administering law, order, and justice; providing various public and merit goods; and managing national security. Furthermore, the Indian state performs abysmally with respect to resource extraction: whether measured by direct, indirect, or property taxes, India’s tax-to-GDP ratios are among the lowest of its G20 or BRIICSAM (Brazil, Russia, Indonesia, India, China, South Africa, and Mexico) peers, and the incidence of tax evasion is also high. These realities underscore how pervasive underdevelopment, regressive economic policies, and poor enforcement capabilities combine to produce unproductive state-society interactions that ultimately subvert both India’s developmental aims and its acquisition of great power capabilities.<br />Finally, except where national security issues are concerned, the Indian state does not enjoy sufficient autonomy from its own society and seems unable to regulate social relations in ways that would permit it to pursue important national interests without being constrained by veto-wielders domestically. This problem is more intense in democracies, but the difficulties that successive Indian governments have faced in regard to subsidy reduction, trade liberalization, and labor law reform, for example—all widely agreed in India to be vital for future success—bode ill for expectations of any speedy expansion of state autonomy. It is unfortunate that the nature of electoral competition in India has actually sharpened its social cleavages, with democracy thus making the state even more susceptible to societal pressures. Therein lies a tragic irony: the very crosscutting cleavages that prevent any internal threats from becoming existential dangers to the country also end up weakening the state, thereby raising the question of how a state that cannot shape its own society can expect to shape the outside world—the ultimate hallmark of a great power.<br /><br /><br />Read more at: http://carnegieendowment.org/2016/04/05/india-as-leading-power/iwf5Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-38441689421667222742015-05-11T09:22:07.297-07:002015-05-11T09:22:07.297-07:00#Maoist rebels, fighting for landless farmers, tri...#Maoist rebels, fighting for landless farmers, tribal people in #India, release 250 hostages. @AJENews http://aje.io/6hrb <br /><br />They have been called India's biggest internal security threat, operate in 20 of India's 28 states and have thousands of fighters, according to the Home Ministry.<br />Their fight has cost thousands of lives including through bombings and attacks on police and soldiers.<br />Critics believe attempts to end the revolt through security offensives are doomed to fail, saying the real solution is better governance and development.Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-26786861483508650152015-01-08T11:19:52.254-08:002015-01-08T11:19:52.254-08:00By dressing up “militants” as Muslims wearing skul...By dressing up “militants” as Muslims wearing skullcaps in a mock anti-terror drill, Indian police exposed not only communal mentality but low IQ and poor general knowledge negating Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of SMART — Strict and Sensitive, Modern and Mobile, Alert and Accountable, Reliable and Responsive, Techno savvy and Trained — law enforcers voiced at the recent conference of directors-general of police in Guwahati.<br />Footage of the drill showed commandos capturing “terrorists” in white-knitted skullcaps before bundling them into police jeeps. But do terrorists — even if they happen to be Muslims — don the Islamic skullcap to unleash murder and mayhem? I don’t think so. <br />----------<br />The latest Global Terrorism Index (released by international think tank Institute of Economics and Peace) reveals that while jihadists were responsible for 15 percent of terrorism-related killings in India, Maoists accounted for the lion’s share of casualties — a whopping 50 percent — in 2013. The remaining 35 percent of deaths were caused by guerrillas fighting for statehood or independence in states like Assam, Manipur and Nagaland. <br />Maoists have created a Red Corridor from the India-Nepal border to south India but the worst-hit states are Chattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa. Their goal is to overthrow the Indian government by force. The writ of the administration doesn’t run in large tracts of central India where there are no police stations, post offices, revenue collectors or even cellular network.<br />Similarly, the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), which gunned down 75 Adivasis or tribespeople, just before Christmas in its devilish pursuit of a separate homeland for ethnic Bodos in Assam, is one of the deadliest separatist outfits in business. New York survived 9/11. Mumbai is doing fine despite 26/11, thank you. I think that armed rebellions like the Maoist insurgency or secessionist uprisings in the northeast pose a far graver challenge to the Indian State. New Delhi should focus on neutralizing anti-national groups trying to seize power or dismember India instead of maligning Muslims who have never challenged the state till today.<br />http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/686581Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-59883277166163810902014-08-27T04:01:14.405-07:002014-08-27T04:01:14.405-07:00So much energy on India!! Would be better if it wa...So much energy on India!! Would be better if it was spent on figuring out how to make pakistan do even better in its stellar statistical performance. If India is a failing state, that's fine. Let it go its own way. Spend your energy on making Pakistan even better than it is now. Why are you so India focused?Sandeepnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-66797595727196060182014-02-17T08:47:12.217-08:002014-02-17T08:47:12.217-08:00A deadly trend has struck roots in India's Red...A deadly trend has struck roots in India's Red Corridor over the past three years. A soldier fighting Maoists deep inside the jungles of central and south-central India is far more likely to be killed than his uniformed brothers taking on militants in Jammu and Kashmir, or insurgents in the North-east.<br />Rebels in the Red zone are killing more soldiers than are dying in all insurgency-hit areas put together.<br />Official data from the Union home ministry shows that at least one security personnel loses his life to Maoists every three days. The chance of the enemy surprising security forces makes the job of their personnel highly risky.<br /><br />http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2560761/Maoists-kill-one-soldier-three-days-Naxal-corridor-three-times-deadlier-terror-hit-states.htmlRiaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-51450553517280662202013-09-21T13:19:58.347-07:002013-09-21T13:19:58.347-07:00Here's an Aljazeera report on Indian Maoist in...Here's an <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/aljazeeracorrespondent/2011/10/20111019124251679523.html" rel="nofollow">Aljazeera report</a> on Indian Maoist insurgency:<br /><br /><i><br />"You people say that India [has] got a republican, independent government, we say NO it is not so, and between these two there is a contradiction. You people say that India got independence on August 15, 1947, we say power-transfer happened. Semi-feudal, semi-colonial. Politicians, rich people and land owners are looting the country, and benefiting. You may know the current police law is from 1898, from Victorian times, so what has changed? What has changed is a few faces who sit in the parliament today. Like a new cap on an old bottle. The content of the bottle is still the same. So the common people are still deprived and they will rise," said their spokesman Gaur Chakravarty.<br />----------<br />A 40-year long civil war has been raging in the jungles of central and eastern India. It is one of the world's largest armed conflicts but it remains largely ignored outside of India. <br /><br />Caught in the crossfire of it are the Adivasis, who are believed to be India's earliest inhabitants. A loose collection of tribes, it is estimated that there are about 84 million of these indigenous people, which is about eight per cent of the country's population. <br /><br />For generations, they have lived off farming and the spoils of the jungle in eastern India, but their way of life is under threat. Their land contains mineral deposits estimated to be worth trillions of dollars. Forests have been cleared and the Indian government has evacuated hundreds of villages to make room for steel plants and mineral refineries.<br /><br />The risk of losing everything they have ever known has made many Adivasis fertile recruits for India's Maoist rebels or Naxalites, who also call these forests home.<br /><br />The Maoists' fight with the Indian government began 50 years ago, just after India became independent. A loose collection of anti-government communist groups - that initially fought for land reform - they are said to be India's biggest internal security threat. Over time, their focus has expanded to include more fundamental questions about how India is actually governed.<br /><br />In their zeal for undermining the Indian government, Maoist fighters have torched construction equipment, bombed government schools and de-railed passenger trains, killing hundreds. In the name of state security, several activists who have supported the Maoists have been jailed and tortured. Innocent people have also been implicated on false charges. These are often intimidation tactics used by the government to discourage people from having any contact with the Maoists.<br /><br />The uprising by Maoist fighters and its brutal suppression by the Indian government, has claimed more than 10,000 lives since 1980, and displaced 12 million people. Many of the victims are not even associated with either side. They are simply caught in the crossfire. And the violence is escalating as both sides mount offensive after counter-offensive.</i><br /><br />http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/aljazeeracorrespondent/2011/10/20111019124251679523.htmlRiaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-16858107131661958592013-09-08T10:12:48.815-07:002013-09-08T10:12:48.815-07:00Here's NY Times Nobel Laureate economist-colum...Here's NY Times Nobel Laureate economist-columnist on Ibn Khaldun's lessons for Microsoft and other established powers:<br /><br />The trouble for Microsoft came with the rise of new devices whose importance it famously failed to grasp. “There’s no chance,” declared Mr. Ballmer in 2007, “that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share.”<br /><br />How could Microsoft have been so blind? Here’s where Ibn Khaldun comes in. He was a 14th-century Islamic philosopher who basically invented what we would now call the social sciences. And one insight he had, based on the history of his native North Africa, was that there was a rhythm to the rise and fall of dynasties.<br /><br />Desert tribesmen, he argued, always have more courage and social cohesion than settled, civilized folk, so every once in a while they will sweep in and conquer lands whose rulers have become corrupt and complacent. They create a new dynasty — and, over time, become corrupt and complacent themselves, ready to be overrun by a new set of barbarians.<br /><br />I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to apply this story to Microsoft, a company that did so well with its operating-system monopoly that it lost focus, while Apple — still wandering in the wilderness after all those years — was alert to new opportunities. And so the barbarians swept in from the desert.<br /><br />Sometimes, by the way, barbarians are invited in by a domestic faction seeking a shake-up. This may be what’s happening at Yahoo: Marissa Mayer doesn’t look much like a fierce Bedouin chieftain, but she’s arguably filling the same functional role.<br /><br />Anyway, the funny thing is that Apple’s position in mobile devices now bears a strong resemblance to Microsoft’s former position in operating systems. True, Apple produces high-quality products. But they are, by most accounts, little if any better than those of rivals, while selling at premium prices.<br /><br />So why do people buy them? Network externalities: lots of other people use iWhatevers, there are more apps for iOS than for other systems, so Apple becomes the safe and easy choice. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.<br /><br />Is there a policy moral here? Let me make at least a negative case: Even though Microsoft did not, in fact, end up taking over the world, those antitrust concerns weren’t misplaced. Microsoft was a monopolist, it did extract a lot of monopoly rents, and it did inhibit innovation. Creative destruction means that monopolies aren’t forever, but it doesn’t mean that they’re harmless while they last. This was true for Microsoft yesterday; it may be true for Apple, or Google, or someone not yet on our radar, tomorrow.<br /><br />http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/26/opinion/krugman-the-decline-of-e-empires.html Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-80433372590348161502013-05-12T10:11:07.004-07:002013-05-12T10:11:07.004-07:00Here's a Wall Street Journal story on the stun...Here's a <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2013/05/12/report-indias-3000-child-soldiers/" rel="nofollow">Wall Street Journal</a> story on the stunting of human capital growth in India:<br /><br /><i>At least 3,000 children as young as six are being recruited by insurgent groups across India, according to a new report published by a human rights group. <br /><br />The New Delhi-based Asian Centre for Human Rights says the practice of using child soldiers is “rampant,” with the majority recruited in Maoist-affected states like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal. <br /><br />Maoist rebels, also known as Naxalites, have been described by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as India’s greatest internal security challenge. They assert control over vast areas of land in central and eastern India. The insurgency was launched in the late 1960s in West Bengal. The rebels say they are fighting for the rights of indigenous tribes and the rural poor, and their ultimate goal is to create a communist society.</i> <br /><br />http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2013/05/12/report-indias-3000-child-soldiers/<br />Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-89872598894906318152013-01-12T07:22:12.947-08:002013-01-12T07:22:12.947-08:00Ardhsatya: "The only truth is in statistics o...Ardhsatya: "The only truth is in statistics on defecation and Maoism in India."<br /><br />The real truth is that India is home to the world's largest population of poor, hungry and illiterate people most of whom still practice open defecation. <br /><br />There are more poor and hungry people in India than there are in all of sub-Saharan Africa. Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-9457048683838603952013-01-12T03:33:08.376-08:002013-01-12T03:33:08.376-08:00Why are Pakistanis such bad losers? Your country i...Why are Pakistanis such bad losers? Your country is getting bombed every single day by America. Your situation is so pathetic that you dare not even object, because you need American charity to stay afloat. <br /><br />Yes, yes, everything said about India's democratic greatness and economic development is a lie. Yes, Chandrayaan is a lie. So are Tata and Infosys and Reliance. The IITs are a big lie as well. Agni-V missile is a lie. India's $1.85 trillion economy, its $1.2 trillion BSE and $1.1 trillion NSE are all lies. India's G-20 membership is also a lie. India receiving American and Russian (also British and French) endorsement for UNSC permanent membership is also a lie. The BRICS summit meetings are also a lie. Everything is a lie as exposed by Zaid Hamid and you. <br /><br />The only truth is in statistics on defecation and Maoism in India.<br /><br />On the other hand, all the talk about terrorism in Pakistan is just a myth created by India. I guess the 100+ Shias in Quetta just vanished into thin air. Osama bin Laden was airlifted from New Delhi and planted in Abottabad 10 minutes before the so called American attack. <br /><br />The only truth in Pakistan is its $40 billion stock exchange which has grown some 30% last year.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Ardhsatyanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-60165222416340896022012-12-26T22:39:55.066-08:002012-12-26T22:39:55.066-08:00Here's a Times of India story on Maoists new p...Here's a <a href="http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-12-17/raipur/35869535_1_tribal-bastar-region-maoist-document-new-democratic-revolution" rel="nofollow">Times of India</a> story on Maoists new plans and strategy for "revolution": <br /><br /><i> RAIPUR: Outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) has formulated a comprehensive strategy for 'New Democratic Revolution' through a combination of military and political tactics to create base areas in the country side and gradual encirclement and capture of urban areas.<br /><br />The CPI (Maoist) vision for it's 'protracted people's war' against the Indian state is elucidated in its strategy paper titled 'Strategy and Tactics of the Indian Revolution'. This Maoist document contains a comprehensive plan of action to capture political power and usher in the 'New Democratic Revolution' in India.<br /><br /> According to a PIB press release, union minister of state for Home R P N Singh had informed the Rajya Sabha that the CPI (Maoist) was the largest left wing extremist organization operating in the country and it was also response for almost 80 % of Naxal violence reported during the current year.<br /><br />He said the objective involving creation of 'base areas', gradual encirclement and capture of the urban areas is sought to be achieved through armed warfare by the 'People's Liberation Guerilla Army' cadres of the CPI (Maoist).<br /><br />Political mobilization through its 'front organizations' and alliances with other insurgent outfit, which in CPI (Maoist) parlance is called the 'Strategic United Front'.<br /><br />Chhattisgarh has consistently remained the worst Naxal affected State with the rebels being active and have their presence in nearly half of the state's 27 districts. The Maoists are hyper active in tribal Bastar region, where they have established their liberated zone of 'Dandakaranya', spread over the forest regions of Bastar and parts of Andhra Pradesh. However, the state and security forces describe this region as "areas dominated by the Maoists". </i><br /><br />http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-12-17/raipur/35869535_1_tribal-bastar-region-maoist-document-new-democratic-revolutionRiaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-28726508453161048742012-08-14T18:22:45.070-07:002012-08-14T18:22:45.070-07:00The only thing I admire is your zeal and spirit of...The only thing I admire is your zeal and spirit of defending you blog with detailed responses to almost every critic. I salute you for your patriotism and nationalist approach.<br />However , I am afraid to say.. remainder of your case is colored bubbles and smoking mirrors. Our countries have been through, and are still going though some tough times but it'll take us all a lot of effort to get back on our feet. The purpose of your article fails to take shape or form. <br />As an Indian I believe the region will only get stability if all SE Asian countries prosper. <br />Figures / history / sabre-rattling will only get a few whistles and cat-calls - but not improve our bottomline.<br />Regards,<br />DesiLikeYouAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-34534046175131774572012-07-15T09:09:17.333-07:002012-07-15T09:09:17.333-07:00Here's an Op Ed by Khan Sufiyan titled "I...Here's an Op Ed by Khan Sufiyan titled "India's Democracy Soaked in Blood" as published by <a href="http://www.eurasiareview.com/12072012-india-democracy-soaked-in-blood-of-her-own-people-oped/" rel="nofollow">Eurasia Review</a>:<br /><br /><i> We arrived in Darzo (Mizoram, India) about ten in the morning. My orders were to get the villagers to collect whatever moveable property they could, and set their own village on fire at seven in the evening.<br /><br /> Night fell, I lit a torch myself and set fire to one of the houses. I knew I was carrying out orders, and would hate to do such a thing if I had my way. My soldiers also started torching other buildings, and the whole place was soon ablaze. Women were wailing and shouting and cursing. Children were frightened and cried. But the grown men were silent; not a whimper or a whisper from them. When it was time for the world to sleep, we marched out of Darzo .<br /><br /> We walked fifteen miles and the morning saw us in Hnahthial. I hated myself that night. I had done the job of an executioner. I called the Darzo Village Council President and his village elders and ordered them to sign a document saying that they had voluntarily asked to be resettled under the protection of the Security Forces as they were being harassed by the insurgents and that no force or coercion was used by the Security Forces.<br /> They refused to sign. So I called them in one man at a time. On my table was a loaded revolver, and in the corner stood two NCOs with loaded sten-guns. This frightened them, and one by one they signed the documents.<br /><br /> (Lalkhama 2006. A Mizo Civil Servant’s Random Reflections. Ghazaibad:<br /> Express Print House, pp.177-180)<br /><br />In September 2011, state assembly of Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) debated a report which uncovered presence of more than 2,000 unmarked mass graves not far from the Line of Control that divides Pakistan from IOK. The report, by Indian government appointed State Human Rights Commission, also issued its first official acknowledgment of the presence of these mass graves.<br /><br />Such incidents have not only been reported from IOK but many other parts of India. The atrocities committed to counter many ongoing insurgencies in the name of democratic Union of India are wide-spread, horrendous and shameful, yet only a handful of the perpetrators has ever been brought to justice.<br /><br />India has been able to bring some of these insurgencies under a measure of control. Yet the wanton atrocities committed by Indian security forces and the coercive manipulation of democratic process probably has been some of the major causes why India houses one of the largest number of freedom movements and secessionist groups, insurgencies and extremist groups and in any one country in the world. Currently, there are around 140 such known groups operating in 28 Indian States and 7 Union Territories.<br /><br />There are parts of India where diverse set of freedom movement groups run their own independent governments, collect taxes, maintain functional bureaucratic institutions, judiciary and maintain well organized regular and trained armies. On 30 June 2012, the Army of Government of People’s Republic of Nagaland held an openly announced passing out parade of a batch of officers at their military base Khehoi, merely 40 kilometers from Rangapahar, Dimapur. Rangapahar is the Headquarters of Indian Army 3 Corps and is a big cantonment also housing large Para-military force nearby. Yet the Indian Army and other security apparatus did not have the courage to establish the writ of Indian government....</i><br /><br />http://www.eurasiareview.com/12072012-india-democracy-soaked-in-blood-of-her-own-people-oped/Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-56803496358634055032012-05-23T19:23:51.341-07:002012-05-23T19:23:51.341-07:00Here's a Daily Times report on Indian parliame...Here's a <a rel="nofollow">Daily Times report</a> on Indian parliamentarian Mani Shankar Ayer's speech in Lahore:<br /><br /><i>Indian Rajya Sabha member Mani Shankar Aiyar has said that Pakistan is not a failed state and any strategy by India built on this assumption will be “dangerously misleading”.<br /><br />“Yes Pakistan has its difficulties. But so do we. So any strategy built on the assumption that Pakistan cannot hold is misconceived, misplaced and dangerously misleading,” Mani Shankar said during a lecture at a local hotel on Wednesday.<br /><br />The lecture was attended by noted scholars, media persons and peace activists.<br /><br />Shankar said, “Pakistan’s nationhood is firmly anchored in history, civilisation and spiritual belief. Pakistan has one of the largest populations in the world. It has a high degree of political and philosophical sophistication. Pakistan has a resilient economy, a strong bureaucracy and a strong military, and extremely lively and informed media. How can it possibly be a failing state?”<br /><br />He said Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline was an excellent idea, which should have completed. “The idea of IPI pipeline was not merely aimed at meeting energy needs of India and Pakistan, but was to build confidence and trust between the two states,” said Indian writer and former diplomat.<br /><br />He called for uninterrupted and uninterruptible dialogue between India and Pakistan. He admitted that the mindset of reconciliation was building faster in Pakistan than in India. He said that both countries could solve their issues through constructive engagement. “If there is no peace, there will be no prosperity,” he said.<br /><br />He said that India needed to recognise that terrorism is a global issue. “Pakistan is a frontline state, with horrific consequences for itself. No state in the world has suffered as much from terrorism as Pakistan itself,” he said. He stressed the need to formulate a joint strategy to fight terrorism.</i><br /><br />http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\05\24\story_24-5-2012_pg7_12Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-2357809146384840442012-03-13T10:35:31.569-07:002012-03-13T10:35:31.569-07:00Here's BBC's Soutik Biswas Op Ed on "...Here's <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-17350650" rel="nofollow">BBC's Soutik Biswas</a> Op Ed on "Why India will not become a superpower":<br /><br /><i>India will not become a superpower, says Ramachandra Guha, renowned historian and author of India after Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy.<br /><br />Taking the lead in a special report by the London School of Economics, Mr Guha outlines seven reasons to support his thesis.<br /><br />The challenges which will hold India back, he writes, are the Maoist insurgency, the "insidious presence" of the Hindu right wing, degradation of the "once liberal and upright" centre, the increasing gap between the rich and the poor, trivialisation of media, the sustainability of "present patterns of resource consumption" and the instability and policy incoherence caused by multi-party governments.<br /><br />More importantly, Mr Guha believes that India should not even attempt to become a superpower.<br /><br />"In my view, international relations cannot be made analogous to a competitive examination. The question is not who comes first or second or third, whether judged in terms of Gross National Product, number of billionaires in the Forbes or Fortune lists, number of Olympic gold medals won, size of largest aircraft carrier operated, or power of most deadly nuclear weapon owned," he writes.<br /><br />"We should judge ourselves not against the achievements, real or imagined, of other countries, but in the light of our own norms and ideals... We are a unique nation, unique for refusing to reduce Indian-ness to a single language, religion, or ideology, unique in affirming and celebrating the staggering diversity found within our borders (and beyond them)."<br /><br />In fact, as Mr Guha's teacher, the late historian Dharma Kumar, once said, Indians should applaud the lack of homogeneity.<br /><br />"Instead of regarding India as a failed or deformed nation-state we should see it as a new political form, perhaps even as a forerunner of the future. We are in some ways where Europe wants to be, but we have a tremendous job of reform, of repairing our damaged institutions, and of inventing new ones," Ms Kumar had once written.<br /><br />India, as the participants in the LSE study say, should strive to become a more inclusive and efficient society, rebuild its broken institutions and engage with the egregious problem of state corruption. Superpowerdom can wait.</i><br /><br />http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-17350650Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-54893915295144285562012-03-07T17:57:23.688-08:002012-03-07T17:57:23.688-08:00LSE study finds India can not become a superpower,...LSE study finds India can not become a superpower, reports <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article2969252.ece" rel="nofollow">The Hindu</a>:<br /><br /><i>Despite India’s "impressive" rise, its ambition to be a super power may remain just that—an ambition, according to an authoritative new study by the London School of Economics to which several Indian scholars have contributed.<br /><br />It pointedly dismisses what it calls the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s "unequivocal verdict" during her India visit in 2009 that "India is not just a regional power, but a global power’.<br /><br />The study, India: the Next Superpower? acknowledges India’s "formidable achievements" in fostering democracy, growth and cultural dynamism but concludes that these are nullified by its structural weaknesses, widespread corruption, poor leadership, extreme social divisions, religious extremism and internal security threats.<br /><br />India, it argues, still faces too many "developmental challenges" to qualify for "super power" status, or to be considered a serious "counterweight" to China, a role sought to be thrust on it by some in the West. Some of the report’s authors wonder whether India should even aspire to be a super power given its institutional weaknesses and social and economic divisions.<br /><br />Historian Ramachandra Guha, currently the Philippe Roman Chair in History and International Affairs at LSE, suggests that rather than being seduced by the bright lights of great power diplomacy, India should instead focus on reforming its institutions and repairing the social fabric that seems to be coming off its seams.<br /><br />“We need to repair, one by one, the institutions that have safeguarded our unity amidst diversity, and to forge the new institutions that can help us. It will be hard, patient, slow work,” he writes.<br /><br />The study, a summary of which was released on Wednesday, starts off by acknowledging that" India’s rise has certainly been impressive, and warrants the attention that it has commanded".<br /><br />"India has been one of the world’s best-performing economies for a quarter of a century, lifting millions out of poverty and becoming the world’s third-largest economy in PPP (Purchasing Power Parity) terms. India has tripled its defence expenditure over the last decade to become one of the top-ten military spenders. And in stark contrast to Asia’s other billion-person emerging power, India has simultaneously cultivated an attractive global image of social and cultural dynamism," it says. But then come the "ifs" and "buts".<br /><br />Plunging the knife into Indian ambitions, the report says:"Still, for all India’s success, its undoubted importance and despite its undisputed potential, there is cause for caution in assessing India’s claim to superpower status. India still faces major developmental challenges. The still-entrenched divisions of caste structure are being compounded by the emergence of new inequalities of wealth stemming from India’s economic success. India’s democracy may have thrived in a manner that few ever expected, but its institutions face profound challenges from embedded nepotism and corruption. India’s economic success continues to come with an environmental cost that is unsustainable."<br /><br />These problems are compounded by India’s "pressing security preoccupations" arising out of "insurgent violence" affecting large parts of the country and long-festering cross-border disputes.<br /><br />The best that India can hope for—the study offers as a consolation-- is "to continue to play a constructive international role in, among other things, the financial diplomacy of the G20".<br /><br />"Yet the hopes of those in the West who would build up India as a democratic counterweight to Chinese superpower are unlikely to be realised anytime soon," it concludes....</i><br /><br />http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article2969252.eceRiaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-16041759662605824902012-02-12T07:53:45.417-08:002012-02-12T07:53:45.417-08:00Here's a quote from Times of India poking fun ...Here's a quote from <a href="http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-01-15/india/30629637_1_anganwadi-workers-ghi-number-of-hungry-people" rel="nofollow">Times of India</a> poking fun at the superpower claim:<br /><br /><i>With 21% of its population undernourished, nearly 44% of under-5 children underweight and 7% of them dying before they reach five years, India is firmly established among the world's most hunger-ridden countries. The situation is better than only Congo, Chad, Ethiopia or Burundi, but it is worse than Sudan, North Korea, Pakistan or Nepal.<br /><br />Today India has 213 million hungry and malnourished people by GHI estimates although the UN agency Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) puts the figure at around 230 million. The difference is because FAO uses only the standard calorie intake formula for measuring sufficiency of food while the Hunger Index is based on broader criteria.</i><br /><br />http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-01-15/india/30629637_1_anganwadi-workers-ghi-number-of-hungry-peopleRiaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-80640238681743248072012-02-07T09:13:12.852-08:002012-02-07T09:13:12.852-08:00Economist and former US Ambassador to India John K...Economist and former US Ambassador to India John Kenneth Galbraith called India a "functional anarchy" some 30 years ago, reports the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-16926103" rel="nofollow">BBC</a>:<br /><br /><i>Now Ramachandra Guha, renowned historian and author of India After Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy, says instability is India's destiny.<br /><br />In a perceptive article in the latest issue of Prospect, Mr Guha explained why.<br />-------<br />Mr Guha argues that democracy and nationhood in India face six complex challenges. They are:<br /><br /> Large sections of the population in the restive north-eastern states and in Indian-administered Kashmir want to break away from India<br /> The festering Maoist insurgency threatens to further undermine territorial integrity in vast swathes of central and eastern India<br /> Religious fundamentalism is "receding but by no means vanquished." A "sullen peace rather than an even-tempered tranquillity" prevails in the country<br /> Public institutions are getting corroded. Political parties are increasingly resembling family firms; the police and bureaucracy are heavily politicised; corruption is rife and patronage triumphs over competence<br /> Massive environmental degradation is promoting scarcity of resources and leading to discord and inequality. The poor suffer most from land grabs, deforestation and soil and water pollution<br /> Growing economic inequities. One example: India's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, is worth more than $20bn, and his new home is a 27-storey high, 400,000 sq ft building in Mumbai, where 60% of the population live in grimy slums<br /><br />"These cleavages reflect the revolutions underway: the national, democratic, urban, industrial and social," writes Mr Guha....</i> <br /><br />http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-16926103Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-50856504595591750922012-02-01T08:49:47.649-08:002012-02-01T08:49:47.649-08:00Here's a shocking story by BBC's Soutik Bi...Here's a shocking story by <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-16828725" rel="nofollow">BBC's Soutik Biswas</a> about a battered Indian toddler girl:<br /><br /><i>For close to two weeks, the distressing story of a two-year-old toddler has grabbed India's attention.<br /><br />A teenage girl brought the battered toddler to a hospital in Delhi and left her there. Doctors found she had serious injuries - human bite marks all over her body, broken arms and a partially smashed head. They said they had not seen abuse of this level on such a small child. Nearly a fortnight after she was brought to the hospital, the toddler is on life support in the intensive care unit.<br /><br />It is still not clear who the mother of the toddler is, and who assaulted her and why. Sketchy details emerging in the media suggest she was passed around by a number of women before she landed in the hands of a 14-year-old girl. The girl has reportedly told the police that she got the toddler from a married man, who had befriended her and lived with her.<br /><br />The man, a taxi driver, apparently acquired the child from a woman and wanted to raise her. The story of the teenage girl, if reports are to be believed, is equally shocking. She has apparently told investigators that her parents beat her when she was a child and when she arrived in the city, a number of men raped her and she was forced into the sex trade.<br /><br />We still do not know who the toddler's parents are, why she was abandoned and why she suffered such brutality.<br /><br />The story is, sadly, not unusual and mirrors the neglect, abuse and social bias that girl children suffer in largely patriarchal India. India has one of the highest female infant mortality rates in the world. Unchecked illegal sex selection abortions have led to a skewed sex ratio - 112 boys are born for every 100 girls in India, against the natural sex ratio at birth of 105 boys for every 100 girls.<br /><br />India's record on protecting its children is shoddy. Thousands go missing every year and it doesn't appear to be a major concern for the authorities. A report by Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) found that 11 children go missing in India ever hour. The 2010 National Crime Records Bureau says 10,670 cases of kidnapping and abduction of children were reported during the year, up 19% over 2009. The majority of these children belong to poor, marginalised families living in slums and resettlement colonies.<br /><br />Most of us believe that a nation that cannot protect its children is a failure. The least the authorities can do is declare war on gangs who kidnap and traffic in children. Six years ago, federal investigators told the Delhi High Court that there were more than 815 gangs, comprising more than 4,000 people, involved in kidnapping children for the sex trade, for begging or for ransom in India. Was there ever a crackdown on them? We still don't know.</i><br /><br />http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-16828725Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-81046011958825890992011-12-10T19:04:04.531-08:002011-12-10T19:04:04.531-08:00Here's a report in The Hindu on India's di...Here's a report in <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2704704.ece" rel="nofollow">The Hindu</a> on India's dismal human rights record:<br /><br /><i>Six months before India's human rights gets reviewed at the United Nations, the Working Group on Human Rights (WGHR) in India released a report painting a dismal picture of its rights record.<br /><br />The U.N. Human Rights Council examines the rights record of its members on a rotational basis every four years through a peer review process, the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). Reports by the civil society, U.N. agencies and the country under review are relied upon during the UPR. India's review is due in May next year.<br /><br />“The report presents a very bleak scenario of the actual state of human rights across India. The government has shown positive signs in dealing with the U.N. human rights system in the past year. We hope that this change extends to the UPR review in 2012 and beyond. Nothing but a radical shift in economic, security and social policy is needed to meet India's national and international human rights commitments,” said the former U.N. Special Rapporteur and WGHR convener, Miloon Kothari.<br /><br />“The last four years have seen a marked increase in the deployment of security forces and draconian laws to deal with socio-economic uprisings and political dissent. Conflict is no longer confined to Kashmir and the northeast but also many parts of central India. In all these areas, human rights violations are overlooked and even condoned. The legal framework and practice have entrenched the culture of impunity. People are increasingly losing faith in systems of justice and governance,” cautioned noted human rights lawyer Vrinda Grover.<br /><br />She felt the military approach and the ongoing conflicts contradicted India's stated position in the U.N. that it did not face armed conflict and pointed out that militarisation was also being used to forward the state's ‘development' agenda.<br /><br />“Today, our institutions are in disrepair and failing our needs. Our police need urgent reform. Our bar bench and our myriad commissions need much more vigour, commitment and accountability. Every moment reforms are neglected, thousands of tragedies occur and we cannot build a nation on that,” according to Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative Executive Director Maja Daruwala.</i><br /><br />http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2704704.eceRiaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.com