Remembering Indira

A quarter century after her assassination, the legacy of Mrs Gandhi lives on in the nation's political arena

“She put Nixon in his place”

The man who served in the Prime Minister’s secretariat during Indira Gandhi’s early years at India's helm assesses her achievements and enduring legacy

I am committing the ultimate act of immodesty by quoting from one of my books: “So often Indira Gandhi is depicted as solemn and serious. Seldom is it mentioned that this graceful, sparkling, engaging human being was a caring humanist, a voracious reader, with wide-ranging non-political interest, that she was endowed with charm, elegance, good taste, that she enjoyed the company of artists, authors, poets, painters and the talented, that she had a sense of humour…” When she was assassinated on October 31, 1984, the spring went out of my life.

I had the great opportunity to work in her secretariat (not PMO at the time) from 1966 to 1971. I was the first member of the IFS to be personally chosen by her to be a member of her staff. At the time Prime Minister’s secretariat was a small, well-knit unit. Esprit de corps was much in evidence. One interacted with the Prime Minister almost on a daily basis. She was in many ways a liberating force. She approved of candour, humour, loyalty, discretion. She had no time for the pompous, the cautious, the calculating and the pretentious. The pompous were deflated by one severe look that reduced the man/woman to (metaphorically) asking for blood transfusion. The collapse was instant.

How do we assess her achievement after a quarter century? Her great father laid the foundations of a democratic, secular, pluralistic India. His daughter strengthened the foundations and carried his idea of India further. During the seventeen years of Nehru’s term in office only once the green lights turned red – 1962. For her, the angels stopped fluttering in 1975 – Emergency – and 1984 – Operation Bluestar.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Going, going. Gone?

The only party in Assam, that not only gave the Congress a run for its money but also defeated it in two Assembly elections, the Asom Gana Parishad, seems to be on its deathbed, Monalisa Gogoi writes

For the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), the issue is no longer about winning elections. The party, that defeated the mighty Congress in two Assembly elections, is suffering from bitter internecine conflict. The results of the vicious infighting are beginning to manifest. The AGP seems on its deathbed, having lost 10 straight elections at various levels, a party with which no one wants to stay anymore. The crutch of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), that, it had hoped will help it to stay on its feet lies broken, with the national party having reaped more benefits from the desperate marriage.

The latest to quit the party include former AGO general secretary and former general secretary of the powerful All Assam Students’ Union (Aasu) Prabin Boro and Phani Pathak, an AGP candidate in the last Assembly polls. The reasons for departure can be traced to the fact that the AGP has failed to deliver on just about every front, economic, political and regional. While it was in power, it did nothing to address the foreign nationals’ problem in the state, an issue that had got them elected in the first place.

“I was made the spokesperson of the party and yet not allowed to speak to anyone. Senior leaders questioned my abilities,” says Boro, who, unlike many of his Bodo community, chose to join the AGP, even when Bodo factions set up their own militant and political fronts thereby wiping out the AGP’s presence from such areas. The Bodo People’s Front (BPF) eventually became a part of the current ruling Congress coalition. “The AGP,” says Boro, who has now joined the BPF, “is now a club. They have no place for young leaders and that is the main cause of the decay. The AGP’s losing spree is the result of the decisions of its leaders.” The problem is endemic. “I now keep myself confined to Tezpur,“ says Brindaban Goswami, a former president of the party, and MLA from Tezpur, who at one stage had unseated Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, the former Aasu president who later headed two AGP governments. “No one looks for me anymore,” Goswami now says, having handed over the reins of the party to current president Chandramohan Patowary, who, too, has had a disastrous run, leading the party from one defeat to another. Scores of grassroot cadres in districts such as Sonitpur and North Lakhimpur have abandoned the AGP in search of greener pastures. Having lost the last Lok Sabha elections, Arun Sarma, a two-time parliamentarian, is now back as professor at the Veterinary College in Guwahati.

Attempts to improve the situation now verge on the desperate, if not ridiculous. The only change that has been visible in the AGP during its downslide is the direction of the main gate at its headquarters. When Mahanta was around, it faced the east. During Brindaban Goswami’s time, it was changed to the north. Now, with Patowary, it is back to the north after having been changed to the east once in between. In the absence of political acumen, it is now Vaastu that now rules the precincts of the AGP headquarters. Phani Bhushan Choudhury, a senior leader who, in October, 2008, fought tooth and nail to unite the various factions of the AGP — Mahanta’s AGP (Progressive) and senior rebel leader Atul Bora’s Trinamool Gana Parishad (TGP) — before the Lok Sabha elections responds by disconnecting the phone when asked about the AGP’s current Vaastu manifesto.


“Every leader has his choice,” explains Apurba Bhattacharjee, a party general secretary. An unnaturally thin gathering of party cadres at the head office on the AGP’s foundation day this month is just an indication of where the party stands with the people in the state. Having ruled the state through two terms, the party now has 24 seats in a Legislative Assembly of 126. Its regional base among indigenous communities such as the Karbis, Bodos, Misings, and the tea garden workers’ community is all but gone, with most communities having successfully formed their own political fronts. Repeated attempts to contact Patowary for an estimate of affairs in the party failed, the staple answer being, “I’m in a meeting.”

It’s tragic for a party that 856 students had died to set up. They laid down their lives in the six-year-long Assam Agitation under Aasu leadership in the 1970s and ‘80s. Just about nothing seems to be able to stem the decay that now eats into the very core of the AGP. First came the vertical split in the party and forming of the Natun Asom Gana Parishad (NAGP) in 1990-91 by Bhrigu Kumar Phukan, a close associate of Prafulla Kumar Mahanta. After the two factions came together in 1994, came the expulsion of Prafulla Mahanta who, then, formed the AGP (P) about five years ago while Atul Bora formed the TGP. It was only a year ago that the factions came together to fight under the AGP banner. The Purbanchaliya Lok Parishad (PLP), a respected political group too joined the AGP, thanks to the efforts of a few who wanted a united Opposition in the state. Yet the Lok Sabha elections proved disastrous, one that is widely blamed on the AGP’s lack of courage to go it alone. The right-wing BJP walked away with four seats while the AGP was left with one.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Blindsight: Yoga and Islam

Rajaque Rahman, a devout Muslim, is a former journalist now engaged in teaching yoga-based spiritual programmes, as part of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living Foundation. To him, both – Yoga and Islam – have common goals…

Recent fatwas forbidding Muslims from doing yoga have left many confused about what Islam really says about it. Malaysia’s National Fatwa Council and Indonesian Ulema Council’s edicts on the ground that yoga will erode their faith in the religion reflect a complete ignorance about the discipline of yoga.

As the Quran and Hadith have nothing specific that deign the practice of yoga haram, the ulemas based the ruling on their own concocted fear of supposedly ‘Hindu’ elements of yoga destroying the faith of a Muslim. The best way to allay their fear is to look at the Hindu philosophy on yoga and see how and where it contradicts the tenets of Islam.

Yoga simply means uniting with the self. Maharishi Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras starts by calling itself an enunciation in union. The asanas, the practice of which is the focal point of these fatwas, are just one way of attaining that union. Is striving for such a union with the self against Islam? It cannot be. For, Prophet Muhammad has said, “He who knows his own self knows his Lord.” So anything done in pursuit of knowing the Lord will count as a meritorious act of following the Prophet. So yoga as a spiritual pursuit is very much permissible in Islam.

The best explanation of why yoga is not just permissible, but also desirable for Muslims is to be found in the second sutra of the Yoga Sutras. Yogas Chitta Vritti Nirodhah. It means yoga is stopping all the modulations of the mind. Ceasing all the outward activities of the mind and reposing in Allah is the ultimate goal of Islam. Prophet Muhammad said, “I have a time with God to which even Gabriel, who is pure spirit, is not admitted.” Hence, the soul of prayer is a complete absorption, a state without room for any outward thoughts which is also the ultimate purpose of yoga. So doing yoga asanas as a means of attaining a thoughtless state will qualify as the highest form of ibadat (prayer).

This leaves only one ground for orthodox mullahs to frown at yoga: that yoga stems from polytheist beliefs of Hinduism. But when yoga means union, how can it be linked to polytheist beliefs? In fact, yoga takes one away from polytheism and leads to Advaita, which is in perfect agreement with the Islamic doctrine of tauhid (oneness of God).

It’s universally proven that yoga brings peace of mind, and on that count yoga is almost obligatory for Muslims. For the Quran says, “The only religion with Allah is Islam.” As Islam means peace, peace of mind is a prerequisite for one to be truly following Allah’s only religion.

Outweighing all these synergies of yoga is the discomfort among Muslims in chanting certain sounds, particularly Om which generally forms a part of yoga. This uneasiness is caused again by lack of knowledge about what Om signifies and why it’s chanted. Contrary to the general misconception, Om isn’t a name of a God or a prayer to a particular God. Om is a universal sound that is chanted for its effect in harmonising one’s being and creating peace within and without. The vibration the sound creates has the power to take one to that state of complete absorption which Prophet Muhammad mentioned as his time with God. That’s why Om and other similar sacred sounds such as Aameen and Amen are normally chanted at the time of supplicating before God. Hindus chant Om before praying for peace, Muslims and Christians chant Aameen and Amen respectively after seeking blessings from God. This proves that the accent is on the resulting state of harmony which helps one connect with God easily.

So doing yoga with the sole intention of attaining a thoughtless state so that one can connect with Allah wouldn’t make one a bad Muslim.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Frontline waziristan

After smoking out terrorists from Malakand, the army launches operations in Tehreek-i-Taliban stronghold

The audacious attack on the well-protected General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi in broad daylight on October 10 was symbolic in the sense that it sent a clear message that terrorists can strike anywhere in Pakistan with impunity. But it also prompted the Pakistan army to initiate the long-awaited operation against well-entrenched al-Qaeda and Taliban militants in South Waziristan, bordering Afghanistan.

Backed by jet fighters, as many as 28,000 Pakistani troops made a three-pronged attack on the stronghold of slain Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader Baitullah Mahsud in South Waziristan on October 17 and reportedly killed 78 militants within three days. The army claims to have captured important strategic heights in the mountains. But the Taliban, who claim not to have lost a single fighter, say they have killed more Pakistani soldiers than the nine reported by the army. Verification is not possible because neither foreign nor local media have been allowed to enter the war zone so far.

Strangely enough, the US-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) forces vacated more than half a dozen key security check posts on the Afghan side of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border just ahead of the Pakistan army’s operation code named Rahe Nijat against the militants, reported The News, Pakistan’s national English daily.

The move has led to speculation that it will facilitate Afghan Taliban in crossing over to Pakistan, strengthening the local Taliban and al-Qaeda. The army has set up five bases in the region near the Afghan border to try to seal off the Taliban’s main stronghold.

While on one hand, the US leadership is all praise for the operation launched by the Pakistan army; it is trying its best to save the skin of Nato forces even at the cost of creating trouble for Pakistan.

It also implies that since the US has provided more than $5.6 billion in military assistance to Pakistan since 9/11, it perceives that essentially it’s Pakistan that has to bear the brunt of “war on terror” in this part of the world.

“The success of Waziristan operation directly depends on the nature of security arrangements in Afghanistan. If the reports about removal of Nato forces from Afghan borders are true, the entire Waziristan operation will be affected and it will put a very big question mark against American interests towards its professed campaign against terrorism in the region,” Dr Syed Jaffar Ahmed, chairman, Pakistan Study Centre, University of Karachi, told TSI.

But Tauseef Ahmed Khan, professor of Mass Communications at the Federal Urdu University of Karachi and a leading political analyst, argued that the report regarding removal of Nato check posts from Pakistan-Afghanistan border might be planted by the establishment.

“The way hawks such as former ISI chief Gen. (retired) Hameed Gul are talking of removal of Nato check posts from Pakistan-Afghanistan borders points out that there is something fishy,” he said.

Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on October 19 made it clear to Commander, US Central Command, Gen.David Petraeus that as Pakistan was engaged in South Waziristan, infiltration from Afghanistan into Pakistan should be checked by the US and Nato forces.

The Pak PM said his country was fighting on two fronts — Malakand and now in South Waziristan. “While it has won in Malakand, Pakistan is poised to strike a decisive blow to terrorists in South Waziristan. But it has to do more for the socio-economic development in the affected areas to address the root causes of terrorism and economic deprivation of the people,” he has been reported to have told the US general, who called on him at the Prime Minister's House.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Is overkill killing cricket?

It is a game we swear by. but with a frenetic tournament or series unfolding every month, spectator interest is beginning to flag. the writing’s on the wall: excess doesn’t always spell success

The golden goose is bleeding

The often back-breaking and soul-destroying pyrotechnics of Twenty20, could turn out to be a game-changer that world cricket can do without, writes satish chapparike

As Team India takes on the world’s number one-ranked ODI outfit led by Ricky Ponting in a seven-match series at home, will all eyes be on Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s boys? Well, we can’t be sure. The appeal of an Australia-India clash in the one-day cricket arena is immense no doubt, but too much of a good thing can prove counter-productive. Cricket overkill is beginning to take a toll on spectator interest.

Both sides are somewhat depleted owing to injuries picked up by key players in the course of proliferating tournaments. The Indian team in particular has the looks of a recovery ward of a general hospital. Aggressive openers Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag and dashing all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, a crucial trio, are coming off injuries.

And what’s happening in Sachin Tendulkar’s body and mind? Only he himself has the answer. He is not getting any younger. Although he still pulls more than his weight in the side, he is far more injury-prone now than he has been ever before in his long, illustrious career.

Consider Dhoni's case. He is the busiest player in world cricket today. Since November last year, he has played five Test matches, 25 ODIs and eight T20 internationals, all of them as captain. In between, Dhoni played in the domestic Challengers and Corporate Trophy tournaments. That apart, his calendar is overflowing with non-cricketing commitments. He is at present the most sought after brand ambassador in India and the market loves him. Money is flowing into his bank account all right, but it is pushing him to the verge of snapping point..


Then we have younger players like Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma in the middle order. Though both are talented, neither has lived up to his billing yet.

Among the bowlers, pace spearhead Zaheer Khan is out of action. Munaf Patel is returning from a long lay-off. Irfan Pathan has gone into a limbo. And the temperamental Sreesanth has all but vanished from the scene. This has left the selectors with rather limited options: Ishant Sharma, R.P. Singh, Ashis Nehra and Praveen Kumar. The quartet looked all at sea during the recently concluded ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa.

“Too much of cricket is having a negative impact on players as there is no respite for international cricketers. Indian players are especially busy. Everybody is in a hurry to grab as much as possible as quickly as possible. They are paying a price for it,” says former India wicket-keeper Syed Kirmani.

It is not as if Australia is free from injury worries. Michael Clarke and Callum Ferguson, the backbone of the Aussie middle order during their ICC Champions Trophy triumph, are injured. Australian speedster Brett Lee has only recently recovered from injury.

An overdose of cricket is pushing the players over the edge and wrecking their technique. Young cricketers are picking up bad habits in the T20 arena – these are becoming increasingly difficult to shrug off. Players have little time to go back to the nets to iron out the chinks. Former selection committee chairman Dilip Vengsarkar, speaking exclusively with TSI, said: “Injuries are a part and parcel of a game. But players must know how to manage themselves.”

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Delhi/ NCR B- Schools get better
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