WHAT INSPIRED INDOCRACY?

I have been using expression Indocracy to describe a more advanced form of democratic political and governance framework that can help transform India from a semi-developed country with modest public infrastructure and military capacity to a fairly prosperous, egalitarian, socially harmonious and cohesive country with far stronger militarily and security capacity. Indocracy envisions further refinement of democracy by resurrecting some of the original and ancient values of the Indian subcontinent. Following write up is reproduced from my page named Indoocracy:

                                                                 (  I )

When Shri Narasimha Rao took the bold political-governance step in 1991 to liberate the Indian economy from shackles of licence-Raj, it was a big move towards unleashing locked up entrepreneurial and economic energy of India. Until then,  state had allowed only few mega industrialists and chosen cronies to retain their stranglehold over aspirations of nearly a billion people. Of course, among them were few conscientious corporate leaders but the club was too tightly closed. Someone like D B Ambani had try ingenious ways to break in, through means that were not considered all that honourable.    

At that time, for a duration of nearly one year until I joined civil service, I used to argue that India needed simultaneous reforms in civil service, political parties, private sector and criminal justice system to bolster its overall governance capacity. We needed to ensure that resultant opportunities for economic competition did not turn into conflict. 

I believed that the prevailing structures of Indian bureaucracy or even political parties and even criminal justice system were incapable of either regulating this competition or absorbing the shock. No one with a bit of sense, at least in my generation, had any doubts about the promise that such a move held for our future. The issue at stake was how to harness and optimise the dividends of economic liberation for the people and the country as a whole.  After three decades of experience, my views have become more entrenched in this direction.  

While competition is critical for excellence and optimal output in any sphere, it must be fair and well-regulated. An unregulated or deficiently regulation competition turns into conflict and retards excellence and output in any institution or society. 

Many intellectuals, media and even my friends in student politics were arguing that the role

of state in economic sphere would decline following this step. I used to argue that the role of state had become far more challenging and complex and there was an urgent need to refine it. Our country needed to follow up reforms in economy with reforms in other sectors. Of course, I was disdainfully dismissed by all concerned. 

Even in civil service examination of 1991, there was a question in political science paper on this issue. I took a similar line rather than writing the standard answer. I had gone to the extent of arguing that there would be faster development for a while, following few initial hiccups and knee jerk reactions following such change, as unleashing of so much of locked up energy was bound to have a positive impact on our all round productivity. But sooner there would be conflict, confusion, contradictions and decline in pace of development, leading to social disorder and multiple other malaise. 

In absence of simultaneous reforms in political, administrative and education sectors, powerful cartels, and enterprising elements with not so sound values, could benefit far more. Some of them could rise to take over major institutions and use the government authority against the interest of Indian state and Indian people. State shall fail to contain abnormal rise in corruption and even sophisticated criminality. These could undermine ability of state to administer rules and laws fairly. 

Existing mega elite could exploit their clout to rig the process of economic competition. Newer criminalised elements who were on the fringes of economy could capture centre-stage, as state would not be able to regulate competition. There could be much larger criminalisation of politics with steep increase in financial clout of such elements. 

Thankfully a visionary T N Sheshan and the same outdated but relatively honest elements in bureaucracy salvaged our electoral process and proved such assessment wrong to some extent but not entirely in my perception. 

I had argued that we needed more specialised, competitive and autonomous civil service to support and regulate competition - both in politics and economy- and not obstruct democracy and development. We also needed more honest and efficient businessmen, which too was a rarity  those days. People who aimed to prosper must contribute to society by providing services and generating jobs. All these would require newer norms, rules and and faster output of criminal-justice system to uphold these. Otherwise,  resultant conflict and chaos could choke the entire productivity and output of people. 

I had insisted that competition could lead to excellence only if competing people  had a higher semblance of equality. There could be no competition in a race between few well-fed well educated people riding helicopters and majority of ill-fed, weak and ill-nourished people running with bare feet on rough and thorny grounds. 

While complete equality  is neither possible nor desirable in any system, some semblance of equality and universal access to economic security are indispensable for competitive economy and politics.  These alone could optimise capacity and productivity of people in democracies. 

This was the first question I had answered and examiner virtually failed me in this paper. Probably I had created an impression that I was simply bluffing and had no clue about the issue as I had not read or memorised information to reproduce it, like other good students. 

Even now, most educated Indian elite of that generation dismiss my views in this direction, on the plea that system permitted lot of upward mobility and we were far better-off today, compared to earlier times. I do believe, we need to think bigger and think differently. 

I have  harnessed my wide exposure, compared to most academics, to real life events and processes in geopolitics, governance, national security, and other spheres,  to articulate a viable and pragmatic vision of transformation of democratic governance institutions and their processes in India and the developing world. These usher in far greater prosperity and security for people in the developing world. I have named it Indocracy. The discussion shall continue. 

(To be contd.....)

( II )

I remember words of one of my esteemed elders and mentor with whom I would have interacted extensively in Calcutta, Delhi and finally at Lucknow. He was Shri Vishnu Kant Shastri, initially a teacher of Hindi and then a politician. He is the one who taught me the concept of Dharma, admitting that he could not answer me more as he had limited knowledge of Sanskrit as he was essentially a teacher of Hindi who had read a little bit of Sanskrit.

Once at his government house in Delhi, probably at Vishambhar Das Marg, he told me: “Beta tum naukri me aa gaye ho, lekin tumhare vichar nahi badle. Aise vicharon ke saath tumhein baahar aana padega nahi to tum baahar Kar diye jaoge. Lekin apne vicharon par tumhein swayam prayas karna hoga.Tum ek naye samaj ki Srijan ki baat Kar rahe Ho. Is ke liye apni Ahuti deni padti hai. Atm-bali hi samaj Srijan ka adhaar hai”. 

(Son, you have joined civil service but your views have not changed. With these views, you will soon have to come out of civil service or you will be thrown out. You will have to pursue these views on your own. You are talking about a new social order and self-sacrifice is the foundation for any creative advancement of this kind)     

Though much later even at Lucknow, once he had presented me a copper-brass statute of Goddess Saraswati, acknowledging my penchant for innovative thinking, and had amusingly asked me "Eis sade hue vyavastha mein aise vicharon ke saath kaise rehte ho tum?" (How do you manage to survive with your views in this rotten system of government service). Fortunately, I was away from mainstream bureaucracy and I never discussed these.   

I continued in my profession and kept trying my level best to be innovative and push frontiers of individual and collective excellence and yet remain a role model for my juniors. My real accomplishments can never come in public domain but I am sure some of my earlier bosses, who have mentored and tutored me during early days of my service, and whom I also opposed on many occasions in a bid to go way beyond what they coached or taught me, would concede my insane levels of professional commitment and integrity. Some of my mentors have indeed been generous to tell me that they had not come across anyone who could make more accurate futuristic projections in matters of geopolitics on a consistent basis, often by taking bold risks.  

I may have committed lot of mistakes in dealing with issues and individuals. But there was never a malice. In my crusade against cronyism, corruption and subversion of institutions,  more harassment I faced - from both visible and invisible quarters- stronger and more determined I became. It is possible even now that I can meet with an accident or suspicious death, which has been tried by a few of my former colleagues and others who have felt threatened by my views and actions. They have already attempted criminality like forgery, manipulation of records, robbery of my personal papers, and conspiracy in collusion with enemies of Indian state among others.  

But this is not going to shake my conviction in Indocracy and dream for a stronger and fairer India and a similar world. I have not been a civil society activist who has only advocated social re-engineering. I have been a member of one of multiple institutions that directly or indirectly protect the country. Even Indian elite would have benefited from enterprise, innovation and insane levels of initiatives that any one attempts in any profession but it would be particularly so in the sphere of national security.

Of course, there have been very very large number of people far more superior to me in intellect and commitment who have made far more serious sacrifices for the country. With all humility, I acknowledge that it is their contribution which has inspired me.

Few days back, a friend told me that it was utterly stupid for any intelligent and innovative person to stay idealist and adhere to such levels of integrity. She went on to argue that this country and society didn’t deserve insane levels of integrity. I urged her to look around. It is unfortunate that elite and people in power, or even others, tend to think in this manner. 

This is the time when we are seeing huge examples of selfless supreme sacrifices by large sections of in far too many sectors in course of the ongoing war against Corona. This has not happened for the first time. It has been part of Indian DNA for ages. Members of our armed forces have always made supreme sacrifice to defend the country and our liberty. So has been the sacrifices of scores of freedom fighters of India. One can only feel humbled and more inspired to try harder if one has the capacity. 

Hence, the quest for Indocracy shall continue as a tribute to all the Indians who have sacrificed themselves for a better India. All Indians who are committed to the eternal idea of India and believe in a stronger India must join our initiative. We may not achieve an Indocratic political, social and economic order in entirety at any point of time. We may not make even substantial progress in this direction in our entire life time. But still we can pursue it as the self-ordained Dharma in pursuit of a real India and a better world. 

This is the best tribute that, probably, I am capable of paying to all the martyrs who have laid down their life through out the history of India to defend India and Indian values. Some of these may be in tatters today. But Indocracy is all about resurrecting those eternal Indian values which have been the strength of India as civilisation, state and society.

(III)

Indocracy is not an alternative to Democracy. It rather incorporates all scientific aspects of the contemporary representative democracy and amalgamates these with original subcontinental values of Kautilyan, Buddhist, and pre-Buddhist era to further streamline structures and processes to minimise conflict and optimise harmony and output of people.

Post-independence India has been the only exception in the entire world, where democracy has thrived and flourished even under most adverse circumstances. This was not entirely due to our association with the West. It was more due to inherent strengths of Indian values. Indocracy is about scientifically refining the idea of Democracy to the next higher stage to bolster governance and national security capacity of a diverse and large country like India.      

I would have developed the core concept of INDOCRACY during my University days in 1980s. Both at Presidency college Kolkata and JNU,  Marxism and Marxian Revisionism were predominant ideas that were being actively discussed by politically conscious students, teachers and activists. There was no confusion about obsolescence of some of the basic premises of Marxism. But the prevailing structures and processes  of representative democracy too appeared incapable of addressing legitimate aspirations or even basic governance expectations of people, at least in the Indian context. 

It was under these circumstances that I came out with what I can say the core idea of Indocracy- the three interdependent levels of harmony: a)  within an individual; b) between individual and society; and c) between man and nature. I had worked out a matrix to show : a) how it could be achieved; and b) how can it potentially push people, societies and states, on course of a continuous and comprehensive empowerment and progressive evolution. Later, I realised that what I was speaking may not be entirely new. Yet, I continued to develop and refine this idea, utilising my experiences and observations. 

When initial discussions on Indocracy started in late 1980s, I was not confident whether the idea was strong and appealing enough and  people would take interest. I gained from experience of writing pamphlets for nearly a year in JNU. I was the only person who was trying to articulate newer ideas on behalf of a centrist political organisation on the campus. I was pitted against a formidable group of Marxist-Leftist campus intellectuals, and their more established opponents- Free Thinkers. All of them were senior to me and luminaries in their own rights, at least within the boundaries of JNU. I had to come out with an original ideological framework that was essentially Indian and yet democratic, unlike the revolutionary Marxist model of the left or radical Maoism of the ultra-left or Trotskyism and the Western liberalism of the rest.  

My JNU days friend Sanjay Sinha and Braj Jha were often hapless victim who had to endure my monologues and yet encourage me. Though I left that centrist organisation within a year, out of disgust over activities of some of their members, but my quest for Indocracy remained. And my friends over three and half decades, Sanjay Sinha and, of late, Braj Jha continue to occasionally call me up and encourage me even now. I am not sure whether they do it out of commitment to me as a friend or they really find my ideas interesting. 

Over the years, I have built a comprehensive and detailed framework of governance and social order that I describe Indocracy. I had also worked out ways and means  to pursue and achieve these. Until recently, it was not in the form of a book. It was rather in the form of a proposal, which must be still available with some of the eminent citizens of India. 

In fact, at one point of time, in late 1980s I wanted to set up  experimental model villages, by adopting few existing villages, as labs to see whether the Indocratic governance model could succeed in transforming plight of people at micro-level. Some people offered to join me in return for some  political enterprise and contributions. Thankfully, I chose to join civil service which helped me build a more comprehensive perspective, incorporating vital elements of national security. I would not have been able to appreciate these, had I joined politics or civil society activism right in the beginning. 

Since those very days, I have consistently nurtured aspiration of giving a concrete shape to the idea of Indocracy. I remember discussing it with Hon’ble late Shri Chandrashekhar, former Prime Minister of India in early 1990s. By this time, he had stepped down as Prime Minister. I had appeared in civil service examination but not joined service as yet. He was too indulgent to me and used to listen to me with amusement during prolonged interaction on few Sundays at his Bharat Yatra Kendra, Buvaneshwari, Gurugram. In fact, the seriousness with which he once took my papers and tried to read, really gave me confidence that what I was talking did make a little bit of sense. 

Subsequently, Chandrashekhar Ji would have urged me on several occasions to quit service and step into public life to translate my vision of Indocracy in to reality. He used to advise that I would never succeed in any big mission if I delayed beyond the age of 30 or maximum 35. Once, while I was travelling with him in his car in 2001, just a day before Holi, he had said in Bhojpuri: “Jitender Ji, sarkar ke nokri mein kuchhu baa naa. Rauwa ke kab se kaha tani, chali aayeen, hamani ke mil ke kucch kail jao. Khali badhiya badhiya baat batiyawala se kuchchu hoi na”.  (Jitendra, there is nothing so attractive in government service. I have been urging you for too long to come out and join me. You are not going to achieve anything by just talking good ideas). He was on way from Gurugram to AIIMS, to see someone from Koirala family of Nepal who had been admitted. Soon after that I fell seriously ill and this discussion could not be followed up and he advised me to focus on my health. After that I did meet him on couple of pleasantry calls where Indocracy was not broached. Finally I met him at Apollo hospital, following my return from a long diplomatic assignment, in December 2006. He was too pleased to see me but was in immense pain. Soon after that he passed away. 

In late 1980s and early 1990s I had become a rolling stone, changing my objectives and associations too frequently. Hence,  in early 1990s, I was looking for some stability and consolidation, with some solid governance and leadership level experiences before I could take the plunge to carry forward the idea of Indocracy. I also remember discussing it with Shri Oscar  Fernandese during late 1980s and early 1990s. He too, like late Shri Vishnukant Shastri,  has been a mentor who has treated me with far more indulgence than his other associates and proteges. Like late Hon’ble Chandrashekhar Ji, he too has shared lot of personal experiences and observations to drive home the challenges of democratic realpolitik and hindrances it poses in building an efficient governance and national security apparatus.

I also exchanged my ideas with Shri Hemant Karkare in April 2000 with whom I had opportunity to interact extensively in informal settings, while undergoing a residential training programme along with him over few weeks. He was an avid reader of Somerset Maugham and often used to listen to me with rapt attention and citing few characters of Maugham in between. He too had told me, I would soon be out of government service if I had such vision and ideas. But the dynamics and fast paced challenges of service, my determination to excel in the same,  along with my health constraints, prevented me from taking the idea of Indocracy beyond thinking, occasional scribbling or academic discussion.  

In early 2012, when I made up my mind to quit service, I had prepared a comprehensive proposal to set up a think tank and handed it over to yet another statesman - Shri Pranab Mukherjee- whom I had first known while I was a student political activist and had the privilege of his indulgent interactions for too long. This was on July  26, 2012, just a day after he had taken oath as the President of India. He always believed that even during informal discussions, I could make highly accurate futuristic assessments in matters of geopolitics, even with limited media inputs. On a few occasions, it had proved useful. 

Since then Hon’ble Shri Mukherjee has been insistent that I meet him at regular intervals, whenever I was in Delhi or even while I was transiting through Delhi. Once his close relation, Shri Rabindranath Bhattacharya @ Mr Robin, a retired IPS officer, emphatically conveyed his appreciation when we ran into each other at Chandigarh in early 2014. 

I had told Hon’ble Shri Mukherjee in July 2012 that the Indian democracy had reached a dead- end and we needed to chart out our own course with a set of comprehensive reforms in political parties, civil service, judiciary and entire criminal justice system, corporate sector, media, healthcare, education system and research institutions. These were outlined in my paper. (It will soon be published on this blog or a new blogs named: www.indocracy.org/www.indocracy.com).  

(IV)

The proposal form of Indocracy was devised following my haunting exposures to certain dimensions of serious subversion of India's governance institutions. I was convinced that it was impossible for India to optimally secure its legitimate national security objectives and goals, given the prevailing state of subversion of democratic institutions by both internal and external forces. 

I was also convinced that if we were able to build some broad consensus on certain issues, India could reach an entirely different level and trajectory of all round advancement. My ideas, in all probability, were viable and yet too ambitious to be tolerated by vested interests who had got addicted to power. It was also not possible for me to carry out preliminary work on these as long as I was in service. 

Hon'ble Shri Mukherjee, as the President of India, had a hectic schedule over the preceding few days when I met him on July 26, 2102. He promised to have a look at my ideas leisurely. It was merely an aspirational  paper, which I intended to pursue only after exiting the government service. I had left Delhi next day and subsequently remained caught up in back breaking professional commitments. 

Soon I started facing  more concerted harassment from a section of clandestine elements in influential positions both in India and abroad. They were clearly afraid of my ideas in general and some were already angered over my diplomatic professional initiatives (and not intelligence as some media reports have attributed) that had exposed the vulgar underbelly of arms kickback, serious global crime, money laundering and their influence on Indian politics. I was convinced that Pakistan (and through them probably China) linked global crime syndicates had acquired considerable clout within the Indian establishments and sections of media and they were subverting and crippling us as a society and state. I had given it in writing to the concerned authorities and subsequently as well and some of these are part of court documents. 

I could not exit service and pursue Indocracy until something unusual happened in January 2018, which again appeared an attempt to prevent me from initiating a campaign for integrity and dynamism in governance institutions of India to bolster our national security capacity. Even after that I was negotiating with Chatham House, London to set up a research cum advisory institution on governance reforms in democracies. I had already carried out a few meetings with them. I was of course challenging the patriarchic mindset where wisdom was expected to descend only from the top and positions of authority. It was once again deliberately sabotaged by a section of Indian media who indulged in malicious reporting under some pressure or enticement. 

There is no way, any genuine or patriotic Indian could be nervous at the prospect of a persuasive campaign for well thought out governance reforms for a better and stronger India.

What my intellectual mentors, guides and associates in this journey, believed that it was not sufficient that India as the oldest civilisation of the world, just some how struggled to preserve a semblance of social harmony, amidst underlying fissures. It was more important that the idea of Western democracy was further evolved in to a strong futuristic vision and architecture of governance and stronger national security capacity. 

We also needed to transform social order and larger values to optimise our cohesion, output and composite strength as a society and state. We needed something more effective than the mechanism of peaceful transfer of political power. We needed instruments and avenues to optimise our capacity and output as a state and society. Peaceful transfer of political power or coexistence of contentious identities were far too modest aspirations in a competitive world. These were likely to make us more vulnerable. 

Hence, following my eventful retirement, as the principal architect of the idea of Indocracy,  I have been writing and arguing on various platforms that why the idea of democracy needed to advance to the next higher stage. There is a write up on this very blog, of October 2018 vintage, describing my interaction with Francis Fukuyama and my insistence at his lecture at British Library London that Democracy needed to advance to the next higher stage. 

In recent years, even some of the powerful established democracies of the West have witnessed severe governance deficiencies. These are manifest in steeper levels of inequality, decline in life expectancy, lack of universal access to healthcare and economic security, mass discontent and anxiety reflected in aggressive parochial nationalism. On the other hand, democracy as a political-governance framework appears to have lost direction in most of the developing countries, notwithstanding advances in the electoral processes. 

As an ideological construct, Indocracy envisages recalling some of the original ancient Indian wisdom, values and practice to fuse these with modern democratic institutions, with suitable modifications in structures and procedures. At the core lays the vision of three-fold interdependent levels of harmony, mentioned above. This is very different from Confucian harmony of conscience of the ruler and obedience of the masses. 

Indian idea of harmony, as derived from the earliest scriptures, envisions harmony as a driver of excellence and comprehensive empowerment of people. These would be possible only by observance of a Dharma driven governance apparatus, which is backed by both values and institutions with good procedures. Optimal harmony within individual, implies strong physical, psychological, social, spiritual, emotional, cognitive and technological capacity of individuals. 

This would be possible only in a comprehensively secure, trust-centric, collaborative social order where individuals and families enjoy optimal harmony between them as well as with the outer world. This includes communities, societies, state and nature. Political institutions need to be geared towards fostering, and not fracturing, this harmony while retaining the freedom and liberties offered by the Western democracy. 

Indocracy envisions a concentric circle of social and group entities where each empowers the other. It is possible by observance of eternal Indian value of Dharma, which will be explained separately. Dharma is not about religious belief and identity but a self - regulation, which is critical for an organised and harmonious social life. Such regulation is a precondition for stronger state and society. 

 The third level of harmony talks about mutually empowering equilibrium between man and nature. Humans must never surrender to vagaries of nature but at the same time, they must not destroy the fundamental ingredients of nature that sustain and nourish all life forms. Consistent expansion of  frontiers of knowledge as well as innovation in development objectives or regulation of day today life and behaviour patterns shall become critical for fostering this harmony. 

Indocracy envisions not merely formal political and legal institutions that could be advanced versions of democracy. It rather aspires to build a conducive ecosystem that can sustain Indocratic political-economic-social order more conveniently and naturally. Equipping individuals with attributes, awareness and capacity to observe Indocratic values and practices, as well as building right role models and social systems, shall be backed by effect and deterrent legal instruments. A scientific construct of institutions and their processes are available separately.  

Probably, ancient India has been observing the three interdependent levels of harmony, as mentioned above, for a long time, at least substantially.  These had driven India on the path of sustained prosperity, social stability and scientific advancement for a long time. The entire order decayed due to lack of regular re-invigoration of political and social values and consistent refinement of institutions. A scientific research of governance and security capacity of ancient India suggests that these had been substantially distorted and subverted much before Mamluk invasions of late 1st millennium AD or little later. We shall discuss broad contours of Indocracy in next section.  

( To be continued...)

INDOCRACY: INAUGURAL EDITION

This is first in the series of talks on Indocracy. Indocracy is not about going back to past but a futuristic vision of of a political governance system. There are  lot of details about the context as I am hardly known among people. None of my accomplishments are in public domain. Hence, some effort has been made to connect with people by explaining who I am and where from I come from to talk about Indocracy.

Historical perspective is very essential but I am also not an admirer of the ideology of 'Hindutva'. Detailed and specific analysis of each and every dimension of Indocracy shall follow in subsequent editions. The talk is in Hindi. Effort is to reach out to most of Indians. But in future, I propose to upload a video every week in both languages. Duration of each shall be around 7-10 minutes.   




https://youtu.be/KknHF8JF9Bc

BORDER STAND-OFF: HANDLE THE CRISES BUT BUILD A STRATEGIC CAPACITY

[Crises like the ongoing stand-off on the border must be handled with all our existing resources. But we would peril security of India as a state and civilisation, if we fail to learn lessons from the past. We need to bolster our national security capacity to handle uniquely formidable challenges imposed on us by  the sheer geopolitics of this region.]

ESCALATION OF TENSION ON BORDER

        Sino-Indian border has once again seen escalation of tension. Chinese troops have transgressed into Indian side of the 'Line of Actual Control'. Displaying quintessential Chinese duality, its media has been using a belligerent language despite words of sanity by the top political leadership. Indian government has approached the issue calmly.  Indian Army Chief has visited his troops on the ground and sent additional reinforcements. Indians have made it clear that such transgression shall be rebuffed and status quo shall be maintained.    

   Over the last few decades, Indian state has handled such conflicts deftly but has avoided strategic preparation to deal with recurrent aggression,  brinkmanship and sustained territorial expansion by China in the region. India's northern neighbour's internal governance accomplishments, especially its economic transformation as well as advances in scientific and technological innovation, are worthy of emulation. But its aspirations for unrestrained territorial expansion and global domination threatens not only India but also others in the region and even the entire world beyond a certain point.

    What is worrying for India is the manner in which the Nepali Prime Minister K P Oli has raked up a fictitious border dispute. He has jeopardised a relationship of mutual trust as well as a longstanding social, cultural, ethnic,  and linguistic  bond. Citing 1815 Sugauli treaty, Oli has suddenly claimed an area that was never shown as Nepali territory even in Nepal's own map. He has not only pushed a legislation through parliament changing the map of the country but also whipped up nationalist passion by several strident anti-India statements.    

      Intriguingly, Kalapani area, on the West side of Kali river, which Nepal has claimed, is located at a height of approximately 20,000  feet close to the tri-junction with the Chinese border. It carries huge strategic importance in eventuality of a conventional Sino-India conflict. Though the Chinese Foreign Ministry has distanced itself from strident anti-Indianism of Oli but the plot is crystal clear to any impartial observer. Other smaller South Asian states have so far remained committed to the India's concerns but the Indian Government has to be cognisant of the fact they are vulnerable to Chinese coercion and enticement.   

      China's has generated border dispute with virtually each of its neighbours as a part of a well-crafted Geo-strategic design, which appears continuation of the policy of territorial expansion of Imperial China.  It entrenches an oppressive regime internally and enhances clout of its incumbents globally. The brazenness with which China has captured the South China Sea and converted it into its own backyard is one of the multiple examples in this direction. As per most estimates, South China sea accounts for nearly 12 to 20 trillion dollar worth of marine resources besides being the second busiest sea lane, accounting for nearly  50% of the world's commodity transportation in terms of tonnage. Simultaneously, China's ambitious belt and road initiative is nothing but yet another aggressive assertion of its global aspirations.

BACKGROUND OF SINO-INDIAN BORDER

    Communist China has perennially criticized the West for imposing a series of unequal and humiliating treaties on them for 100 years  since 1842. But interestingly, it was Great Britain that was complicit to large-scale Chinese territorial expansion for nearly a century from the beginning of 1800s.  It was imperial British that facilitated Chinese entrenchment in both Tibet and Xinjiang or Eastern Turkistan, the two independent civilizations and states that were culturally closer to India than Han China. Tibetans used Dvenagri script and  Hindustani was a popular language even in Kashgar. The British were keen to keep the Russians at bay over their ongoing rivalry with them in Europe and West Asia.

   By 1840, the entire undivided state of Jammu and Kashmir, including areas held by China and Pakistan was already  part of Sikh empire under autonomous rule of Dogras. In 1841 Dogra troops led by Zorawar Singh had initially captured most of West Tibet up to Mayum pass, garrisoned local forts and set up its own administration. It were British who started complaining to Sikh emperor in Lahore against Zorawar Singh, accusing the legendary General of exacting taxes from British suzerains. There are unconfirmed inputs suggesting that some British officers were eyeing share of lucrative Pashmina trade between Tibet and Laddakh, which was disrupted by the new arrangement. Meanwhile, Tibetans marshalled fresh reinforcements and counter attacked Zorawar Singh's troops, taking them by surprise and killing the General, taking advantage of the inclement weather. They re-captured some of the areas and marched up to Leh only to be comprehensively beaten and chased back. It was under these circumstances that the two sides signed the Treaty of Chushul (1842), which acknowledged Dogra-Sikh sovereignty up to Xydullah and East of Mansarovar Lake, way beyond the undivided territory of Jammu and Kashmir shown in map of 1947.  

     In 1865, when surveyor William Johnson demarcated Kashmir-Tibet boundary, he ceded significant territory back to the Tibetans on map citing inaccessibility from Laddakh and hence difficulty to govern it effectively. Later this became Ardagh-Johnson line when British Chief Military Intelligence officer Maj Gen John Ardagh  proposed (1897) it as formal boundary between British India and Tibet. As per this line, entire Karaksh valley and eastern side of Chang Chenmo valley were part of Kashmir. What really transpired subsequently is still not known, as there was no protest either from Tibetans or from nominees of Qing ruler. But in 1899, a section of British officers cited Chinese reluctance to accept the proposed line  claiming that the Chinese had suddenly developed interest in Aksai Chin at the Russian instigation.  Others suggest that the British kept hedging their position on Sino-Indian border depending on their equations with the Russians in other theatres. Further, there was a change in status of Tibet in 1912, when it signed a treaty with Qings to inherit all its territories in Tibet and became an independent country once again.  

      Intriguingly, amidst Anglo-Russian rivalry, British objectives were dictated by its own larger strategic calculations outside the region. Interests and aspiration of indigenous people of Tibet and India were certainly not a priority. Hence, when they brokered a deal during the famous Shimla convention (1913-14), where McMahon line had emerged as the boundary between India and Tibet, they still acceded nominal suzerainty over inner areas of Tibet, only in deference to Anglo-Russian convention of 1907 which had demarcated the respective spheres of influences of the two sides in Iran, Afghanistan and Tibet. As per provisions of this agreement, the British were obliged to enter into any negotiation with Tibet only in consultation with China. Logically, this clause should have become defunct after independence of Tibet in 1912.  

    This was the time, when China was used both by the British and the Russians to offset each other. Hence, even after Tibet had renounced its 192 years of nominal suzerainty to the Chinese, and that too with the concurrence of Qing regime, the British still invited representatives of the Chinese government to Shimla convention in 1914, to demarcate boundaries among British India, Tibet and China only in deference to Anglo-Russian convention of 1907.  Shimla convention acknowledged complete freedom of Lhasa regime in outer Tibet, that shared a boundary with India, but nominal suzerainty to China in the inner Tibet. Even such suzerainty barred any interference by the Peking or Beijing government in day-to-day  affairs of the Tibetan Government in Lhasa. 

     Though Chinese Government is believed to have reneged on the agreement reached out in Shimla, largely at the instigation of Russians, it still had no locus-standi to talk about the border between Tibet and British India, over which it had lost even nominal sovereignty.  However, there was no confusion even on the Chinese side about the exact border dividing India and Tibet. A map published by Peking University in 1928 had acknowledged Aksai-Chin and large parts of other territories currently disputed by the China, as part of India.     

        It is interesting that in 1950s, even Maoist China did not change imperial outlook notwithstanding its proclamation of communism as state ideology. It not merely captured Tibet but also denounced Shimla convention on the plea that Tibet was not an independent country in 1913-14 and hence had no right to negotiate the boundary. Independent India's first generation of leaders being freedom fighters, lacking any strategic exposure, acquiesced to the Chinese position, in deference to neighbourly bonhomie,ignoring Tibet's longstanding social and cultural linkages with India as well as India's own strategic interests. 

     In 1950s, Chinese quietly built a road through Aksai Chin, nearly 100 kms inside the Indian territory because that was the only route through which an all-weather road could connect Tibet and Xinjiang.  China went to war in 1962 with an an unprepared India that failed to acknowledge the Guerrilla Commander in Mao, who had deftly secured his victories through an element of surprise and deception, catching the adversary unguarded. Chinese occupied nearly 39,000 sq km (approx) of territory and subsequently in 1963 Pakistan ceded another 15000 sqkm (approx). Diplomat magazine reported in 2019 that China had managed to acquire another 640 sq km of Indian territory by constantly pushing the line of actual control. None of the two sides have confirmed it though.

AN INSIGHT INTO CHINESE BRINKMANSHIP

It is well known that the China has been disputing the entire McMahon line, claiming large parts of Indian territory - where people speak Indian languages and follow Buddhist practices and have nothing common with Han China- as their own. Such an approach of China is not restricted to India alone. It has been expanding its territory and domain of influence in all directions. It is nearly impossible, in the prevailing context, for the Chinese political leadership to appreciate Indian perspective, or respect any other power or civilization. This is especially given their habit of enjoying unrestrained access to absolute power and belief in infallibility  of their own wisdom and innate superiority of Han race.

 Even the Confucian morality, or the Confucian concept of harmony, that has become the guiding principle of Chinese state philosophy envisages eternal superiority and authority of the more powerful entity and obedience of the rest to it. The superior power, which in this case being the Chinese state, is restrained only by the moral principles, whereas the rest are expected to obey or at least not defy. 

Communist China has consistently played up the gross historical wrongs inflicted by the Western powers on Han people. They also seem to perceive communist China's spectacular  success as vindication of such a belief. While, they have been dealing with the west but their distrust towards the West and the Western ways has been more than obvious. India's perceived proximity to the West or its adoption of the so-called Western democratic model of governance has remained a permanent cause of their annoyance with India. They have also been discomforted with efforts to put India and China in the same bracket and have made conscious efforts to equate India with other minor powers in the region.           

On the other hand, India has ignored the growing asymmetry of all round power with China for far too long. With five times economic strength and significant edge in technological excellence and innovation, Chinese state may find it more tempting to exert pressure on India in retaliation to growing world-wide pressure over their concealment of Covid-19 spread.

ROAD TO FUTURE

While  India should be able to ward off such brinkmanship for the time being but there is no confusion that the world’s biggest democracy requires serious restructuring of its governance institutions. India shall have to find an endurable solution to the irregular and diffused war with Pakistan.  Conventional military techniques and surgical strikes may provide limited and temporary deterrents but these have appeared inadequate towards finding a permanent solution or obtaining a comprehensive victory. 

Smart diplomacy and deft geopolitical manoeuvrings cannot substitute strong national security architecture with equally powerful strategies that need stronger comprehensive national power to sustain. We have to appreciate that only an economically powerful state, and not a large number of billionaires amidst an ocean of poverty, with high quality human resource, strong technological capacity, robust governance institutions and high level of social cohesion can sustain a powerful national security architecture. 

Ironically, over the past few decades, far too many self-seeking cartels have become so powerful in India that they would be the first to obstruct, or even crush, any idea or initiative towards optimising the collective strengths and capacities of the country. All key stakeholders of India shall have to realise that the unique geopolitics of South Asia has saddled us with formidable national security challenges. As a large state,  we have no liberty to comfortably ignore these to psychologically nestle under perceived protective ambit of some invisible or divine force.

 Exigencies like the ongoing stand-off on the border must be handled with all our existing resources. But we would once again peril security of India as a state and civilisation, if we fail to learn lessons from the past. A strong national security capacity needs a powerful and yet a dynamic vision with a clear road map and commensurate efforts to pursue these. National Security in today's world cannot be a stand alone and isolated proposition. Institution of governance and society need to be increasingly harmonised, and not oppressed, for optimising their output and level of excellence.    

  

औपनिवेशिक मानस से बाहर निकलने का समय

2018 अक्टूबर में, मैं नेशनल लिबरल क्लब, लंदन में ग्लोबल स्ट्रेटेजी फोरम की एक साप्ताहिक वार्ता में भाग ले रहा था। हाउस ऑफ लॉर्ड्स के ब्रिटिश सदस्य माइकल एंकरम वर्षों इसका आयोजन कर रहे हैं और नियमित रूप से मुझे आमंत्रित करते रहे हैं, इस तथ्य के बावजूद कि मैं ब्रिटेन में हूं या नहीं। उस सप्ताह इस वार्ता के मुख्य वक्ता पोलैंड के पूर्व रक्षा और  विदेश मंत्री श्री राडोसलाव सिकोरस्की थे। सर मालकॉम रिफ़किंड , जो खुद ब्रिटेन के पूर्व विदेश और गृह सचिव रह चुके थे, इस विशेष सत्र की अध्यक्षता कर रहे थे और मैं पिछले कुछ हफ्तों से उनके संपर्क में था। बात शुरू होने से पहले उन्होंने मुझे आने वाले स्पीकर से मिलवाया। हम तीनों ने कुछ शब्दों का आदान-प्रदान किया और भारत और दक्षिण एशिया पर एक अच्छा सा चैट किया।

सिकोरस्की ने अपनी बात में बताया कि एक बार एक बड़ी सभ्यता जब युद्ध में मात खा जाती है तो उसका पूरा राष्ट्रीय मानस बदल जाता है। वह यूरोपीय संघ के नियमों की अवहेलना  करने के लिए औसत ब्रिटिशर या यहां तक ​​कि बड़ी संख्या में ब्रिटिश अभिजात्य  वर्ग के संदर्भ में बोल रहे थे और बोनापार्ट के बाद वाले फ्रांस के शांतिवादी दृष्टिकोण पर कटाक्ष कर रहे थे जो कि पूरे यूरोपीय संघ को चलाने का दिखावा करता था, लेकिन वास्तव में अपने राष्ट्रीय मानस के चोट को छुपाने का प्रयास कर रहा था। 

घटना का उनका वर्णन बहुत दिलचस्प था जिसे मैं  आज तक सोचता हूँ । कभी कभी विचार आता है की  बाहरी और औपनिवेशिक शासकों के  लगभग एक  हजार वर्ष के लूट पात से  हमारे व्यवहार में क्या परिवर्तन आया होगा ।

मैं अक्सर अपने छोटे दक्षिण एशियाई राज्यों से मित्रों  से सुनता आया हूं कि भारत में हममें से ज्यादातर लोग या तो बहुत घमंडी हैं या अति भीरू हैँ।   यह इस पर निर्भर करता है जिन से हम बात करते हैं वह कितने प्रभावशाली है ।  उनकी धारणा में, हम या तो धमकाने  या डरने वाली भाषा का उपयोग करते  हैं और ईमानदारी के साथ स्पष्ट रूप से एक दुसरे का सम्मान करते हुए बातचीत करने से कतराते हैं। 

मुझे याद है कि कुछ साल पहले एक अनौपचारिक सामाजिक घटना में, एक भारतीय मूल के अरबपति ने सरकारी नीतियों की या ये कहें की भारतीय राजनेताओं की घोर निंदा कर रहे थे । सारे लोग आनंद ले रहे थे. यकायक एक वरिष्ठ केंद्रीय कैबिनेट मंत्री वहां पहुँच गए।  उद्योगपति महोदय ने  तुरंत अपने शब्दों को चीनी और शहद के रंग में ढाल कर ताना बाना बुना की माहौल बदल गया।  वे  उसी सरकार की प्रशंसा करते हुए बाकी लोगों के मनोरंजन के पात्र भी बन गए । लेकिन जबरदस्त खाल पहने हुए थे जिस पर ऐसी बातों का कोई असर  नहीं होना था. मैं अपने तथाकथित कॉरपोरेट नेताओं के ऐसे मानसकि सतहीपन पर न हंसने के लिए संघर्ष करता हूं।

ऐसी मानसिकता भारत तक ही सीमित नहीं है। उपनिवेशवाद की विरासत ने उपनिवेशवाद से ग्रसित  दुनिया के अधिकांश हिस्सों में लोगों की सोच को लचीला बना दिया है, ख़ास कर उन देशों में जहाँ न्याय और कानून व्यवस्था कमजोर  और नरम है। ऐसे देशों में शासन व्यवस्थाएं या प्रजातान्त्रिक शासक भी कुछ हद तक दमनकारी और निरंकुश हैं। सत्ता की पूजा समृद्धि का एक महत्वपूर्ण घटक रहा है जिसे अक्सर क्रोनी पूंजीवाद के रूप में वर्णित किया गया है।

अधिकांश औपनिवेशिक ताक़तों ने समाजों में शासन के प्राथमिक उपकरण के रूप में भय और धमकी का इस्तेमाल किया था। इसने स्थानीय राष्ट्र की लूट पाट  में मदद मिली।  कठोर शक्ति से 
समाजों से  किसी भी प्रतिरोध को शांत करा दिया जाता था ।

विडंबना यह है कि ज्यादातर पोस्ट औपनिवेशिक समाज ने औपनिवेशिक अधीनता की ऐसी विकृत और विकृत विरासत को खत्म करने के लिए पुरजोर संघर्ष  नहीं किया है। इसने पूरे समाज के व्यावहारिक मानदंडों को इस हद तक बदल दिया है कि सत्ता के शासक अपने आप को ईश्वरीय शक्तियों का अवतार या सुपर  ह्यूमन से कमतर नहीं समझते हैं।  बड़ी संख्या में उनके अनुयायी इस तरह की आत्म-धारणा को मजबूत करने के लिए उनके आसपास आ जाते हैं। इसी मानसिता की वजह से व्यवसाय और राजनीति दोनों में नेतृत्व की भूमिकाओं के लिए वंशवादी उत्तराधिकार की परंपरा बन गयी है। 

लेकिन क्या इस तरह का डर, डराना, चाटुकारिता या यहां तक ​​कि विरोधियों का अपमान हमें एक बेहतर समाज या व्यक्ति या राष्ट्र बना सकता है? क्या यह समाज या संस्थान या एक परिवार में भी समरसता को नष्ट नहीं करेगा? 

लोकतंत्र, विचारों के प्रबुद्ध और विनम्र आदान प्रदान से सशक्त होता है।  क्या हमारे पास कभी सही नेता, मार्ग दर्शक  और रोल मॉडल हो सकते हैं जो न केवल ऐसी बातें उपदेश में कहें बल्कि इसे अपने दिन-प्रतिदिन के जीवन में बनाए रखने की कोशिश कर के हमें प्रेरित करें? 

एक समाज, राज्य और सभ्यता की ताकत लोगों के परस्पर  विश्वास, सद्भाव और आपसी सहयोग और प्रतिस्पर्धा की एक बड़ी संस्कृति पर निर्भर करता है। संघर्ष कुछ हद तक अपरिहार्य है, लेकिन वही समाज और सभ्यताएं सशक्त होती हैं जो लोगों के बीच सहयोग और सद्भावना की उच्च गुणवत्ता को बढ़ावा देकर ऐसे संघर्षों को बेहतर तरीके से रोकती हैं।  भय, धोखा  और अपराधी तरीकों से  कुछ लोगों को चुप  कराया जा  सकता  है लेकिन मजबूत समाज या राज्य की नींव कभी नहीं डाला जा  सकता ।
उम्मीद करता हूँ की मानव शरीर में जो ईश्वरीय अवतार हमारे समाज में विचरण कर रहे हैं वो कुछ समय के लिए भारतीय की तरह सोचने का प्रयास करेंगे।  भारत जयकारा से नहीं बल्कि एक सुदृढ़ समाज और चुस्त प्रशासन और न्याय व्यवस्था से मजबूत होगा।  

TIME FOR DEMOCRATIC INDIA TO SHUN COLONIAL PSYCHE?

In 2018 October, I was attending a weekly talk of Global Strategy Forum at National Liberal Club, London. British member of House of Lords Michael Anchram has been organising it for years and has been kind enough to send invite to me regularly, irrespective of the fact whether I am in UK or not. Speaker at this talks was former Defence and Foreign Minister of Poland Mr. Radosław Sikorski. Sir Malcom Riffkind, who himself had been a former Foreign and Home Secretary of UK was chairing this particular session and I had been in touch with him over the previous few weeks. He introduced me to the visiting speaker before the talk commenced. We all three exchanged few words and had a nice little chat on India and South Asia.

Sikorski conveyed in his talk that once a major civilisation is humbled in war, its entire national psyche changes. He was speaking in the context of reluctance of average Britisher or even large number of British elite to submit to EU rules and overly pacifist approach of post Bonaparte France, that pretended to run the whole of EU, in what appeared an apologetic approach in substance, to cover up injury to its national psyche.

His narration of the phenomenon was far too interesting that has kept me thinking till date. I wonder how has sustained plunder and pillage of India by external aggressors and colonial rulers, over nearly a millennium, impacted behavioural pattern of our people. .

I have often been coming across observation from my friends from smaller South Asian states that most of us in India are either too arrogant or too subservient in our dealings with people. It depended on influence or clout of the latter. In their perception, we either bully or fear and refuse to have honest and forthright interaction with integrity. I remember a few years back at an informal social event, an Indian origin billionaire regaled others through most forthright condemnation of the government policies. But the moment a senior union cabinet minister walked into the gathering, he immediately changed course coating his words with sugar and honey and praising the same government to amusement of the rest. I struggle not to laugh at such superficiality of our so-called corporate leaders.

Such phenomenon is not confined to India. Legacy of colonialism has impacted psyche of people in most parts of the post-colonial world, where rule of law remains fragile. Authority structures have remained oppressive and somewhat despotic. Servility to power has been a critical ingredient to success and prosperity in a phenomenon that has often been described as crony capitalism.

Most colonial and occupying forces had used fear and intimidation as the primary tool of governance in these societies. It helped the agenda of plunder and pillage of local
Societies and silenced any resistance.

Ironically, most post colonial societies have struggled to eliminate such distorted and perverse legacy of colonial subjugation. It has altered behaviour pattern of entire society to such an extent that incumbents in authority struggle to consider themselves anything less than Super human or divine. A large number of followers rally around them to reinforce such narcissistic self perception. This is what explains the phenomenon of dynastic succession to leadership roles in both politics and business.

But can such fear, intimidation, sycophancy or even outright resistance and abuse of opponents bring the best out of individuals and societies? Will it not destroy harmony in society or institution or even in a family, leading to all round under-performance?

Democracy, Rule of law or a humane society require enlightened and courteous discourse based on mutual respect. Can we ever have right leaders and role models who not merely preach it but try to uphold it in their day to day life?

Strength of a society, state and civilisation depends upon the ability of people to build a larger culture of trust, harmony and mutual collaboration and competition. Some degree of conflict is inevitable but societies and civilisations that have done better than the rest are those who have prevented such conflicts better by fostering higher quality of collaboration among people. Fear, deception and criminality can silence and deter few but can never be the foundation for a strong society or state.

Ethical Dissidence Strengthens, and Not Threatens, National Security

I feel saddened as an Indian to read media reports about the questionable and controversial circumstances of transfer of Justice S Murlidhar from Delhi High Court. I have had a very little exposure to judiciary but what I have come to know over the last one year during my several visits to Delhi High Court, as well as interactions with a larger number of lawyers, that he stood out, at least in the public perception, as a beacon of  “Dharma” and “Justice”, as enshrined in the Kautilyan principles of governance, among his peers. 

 This is not the first case where an upright public functionary has been humiliated under this government for standing up to values of professional ethic and integrity. There are many who have bitten the dust and paid a price for their unfailing commitment to integrity and the country. Some of these actions may appear legally justifiable but these will eventually contribute to our downward spiral both as a nation and civilisation. This has already impaired our collective capacity in a competitive word but it could soon become irreversible if we do not act fast.  

A country of India’s size can never be governed by brilliance of a few, howsoever well intentioned or virtuous they may claim to be. Integrity and efficiency of institutions is critical if we are genuinely serious about channelling collective energies of our people towards our great power aspiration both as a state and civilisation. The follies of such self styled brilliants, have gone on unprotested for far too long. If it is allowed a free run, it is certain to doom Prime Minister’s grand vision of resurrecting the great civilisational state of India. 

All is certainly not well with most of our governance institutions. This is particularly so with our Judiciary, which has remained trapped in the colonial aura and arrogance while dealing with ordinary citizens. It must  probably be the most dysfunctional institution of its kind in the entire democratic world, fairing at times worse than even a few autocracies or authoritarian states. Abnormal delays and routine miscarriages of justice, notwithstanding brilliance of a few judges and quality of some of their verdicts, have crippled the credibility and capacity of our criminal justice system to contain conflict, leading to a larger under-performance of our society and state. 

The entire issue of deep-rooted malaise  in judiciary needs to be examined and redressed. It would be outright disaster to crush few dissenting voices of sanity on advice of a class of professional cronies, who  have  flourished in this country for far too long. They have been selling their services to every incumbent in power- from Moguls to Congress and may be even this government. Such flawed advises to top incumbents in power has been nothing but an attempt to camouflage their own individual or collective aspirations. These include perpetuation of their own indispensability in the larger power equilibrium by causing artificial affront to authority of their masters. 

Such phenomenon has always brought disaster for every society and state afflicted by it. I am confident that Honourable Prime Minister will take note of it, and make serious endeavour to not merely make amends in such obvious cases but also root out the entire culture of cronyism and middlemen, which has turned out to be the biggest bane of India over centuries and not decades. It is this culture that induced our decadence and degeneration from pinnacles of prosperity, scientific knowledge and cultural advancement, much before the dark ages of medieval era, when we were trampled upon by a few herds of barbaric savages, who had no exposure to anything called civility. 

 It was culture of cronies and “Charans”, besides debauchery and decadence of most contemporary rulers, that had decayed our civilisational strengths and its eternal values much before the barbarics and even some of their slaves could pretend to rule India by virtue of their capture of Delhi. Of course, significant exceptions like Rana Pratap and Shivaji to several others, avoided our complete annihilation as a civilisation, giving us this day when we can still dream and aspire to not merely revive our ancient glory but also contribute to a better world through strength of our ancient civilisational virtues. 

Strength and glory of ancient India stemmed not from some brute and savage force of destruction but from our larger values and principles of governance where political power remained subservient to sagacity, wisdom and ethic. Net result was advancement of science, knowledge, industry and culture under the protective cover of a robust framework of governance including security of state and society. Much before the West could discover and build on the idea of reasonable restraint on arbitrary authority of the ruler, Kautilyan principles of governance had envisaged complete absence of any discretionary or despotic power for the ruler. 

Kautilyan King had no authority to force his decision on the council of Ministers, who were always the wisest and the most ethical men of their time. King could merely express his opinion in the council of |Ministers, and often the Kings were elected by an electoral college of wise. Members of the council of Ministers were expected to have sufficient integrity to arrive at a mature consensus, and not a majority vote over minority, through deliberation of issues with an open mind - in spirit of "Vaad" and "Samvad"- rather than prejudiced "Vivad". 

Of course we cannot and must never go back to the past. Scientific innovations and advancements in people-centric governance ushered in by the West and practised by independent India  have become part of our larger political and cultural strengths. These need to be refined, and not reversed, by incorporating some of our civilisational values in our governance principles. It is strength of our ancient civilisational values that have differentiated us from our rogue neighbour that emerged on the basis of a perverted version of Islam that was exploited and abused by a modern day monster called Jinnah who did the bidding at the behest of a receding colonial power. In the process, a set of philosophical teaching that were certainly more humanist in their context, but had been distorted soon after the death of Holy prophet of Islam, were further defiled.

It will be pity if a secular Hindu India tries to ape medieval Mughal or Turkic Values, where justice, including life,liberty and dignity of citizens or even state functionaries, depended on individual mercy or whim of rulers and their chosen cronies. It was hoped that decimation of certain political formations, that had been reduced to a facade for underhand and illicit brokerage syndicates, would usher in original "Indocracy" based on our eternal principles of “Dharma” based governance. This could have liberated us  from the shopkeepers model of superficial Western democracy that has been built on the miseries of colonised people from Asia to Africa and even original Americas but were further distorted in most developing nations. Sadly, such dreams and hopes appear to be on the verge of being of shattered. 

We have a long and uphill task to cover if we are serious about resurrection of glorious civilisational state of India as an inspiring pillar and beacon of hope for a more stable, secure and civilised world. Ethical dissidence, aimed at larger public good and collective well-being, would not merely be desirable but should rather be respected in the key institutions. This could be the most critical tool of transformation towards enlightened and efficient governance. Ethical dissidents can never bring down a righteous government and induce instability. But they can certainly usher in some sanity and discipline in the malfunctioning institutions of the country. Incompetent cronies, indulging in dirty machinations, criminal conspiracies and unspeakable forgeries, on the pretext of pleasing political masters, can only bring all round disaster for both society and their own masters. This class has perennially profiteered out of bad governance and it shall always have a vested interest in perpetuating the same to the detriment of  agenda of nation building. 

It is indeed high time that the government embarks upon a drive for major and sustainable restructuring of all institutions in public domain. A greater integrity, higher efficiency and larger internal and external synergy among governance institutions would be the sole bedrock of a powerful state and society that can unleash collective energies of our people in pursuit of the vision of India that Prime Minister spelled out soon after 2019 poll results.

INDIA’S POOR NEED DIGNITY and NOT CHARITY

            (This post too was written on Facebook when my blog was inaccessible)

Competition among major political parties to promise regularisation of unauthorised colonies in Delhi may appear very laudable. Of course, all INDIAN citizens must have a decent roof on their head, along with access to nutrition, sanitation, healthcare, education and employment that guarantee both economic security and legitimate opportunities to better their plight.

These must not be treated as acts of charity or altruism but fundamental necessities for a stronger India. Only healthy and happy people can make a state, society and civilisation great. They can produce more wealth, generate powerful ideas and collaborate better among themselves.

We need a pool of physically healthy, mentally strong and intelligent, technically skilled and professionally honest citizens for making good soldiers, good industrial workers or corporate leaders or Journalists or civil servants or Politicians or even Farmers out of them. A good state and civilisation cannot leave its people on mercy of invisible forces. A welfare state with sturdy governance has been the foundation for a strong state and vibrant society through out human history. We need it all the more in the current world, which is far more complex.

A small section of genuine politicians across party line have contributed to some advancement in this direction in post-colonial India. But the colonial mindset of most post colonial rulers has always been visible.

Regularising unauthorised colonies is neither appropriate nor a sufficient solution to the problems. It amounts to mocking miseries of not merely few poor but that of the entire society. Our political class appears as a vulture thriving on insecurities, anxieties and vulnerabilities of people. They also seem determined to make dishonest people out of our citizenry in pursuit of their partisan ambitions.

Such moves have also been used in the past to grab some of the prime land in the heart of national capital by land sharks masquerading as Politicians. Help to poor has only been a pretext. Sadly, poor have been made partners in such crime.

People must get their rights through proper and transparent means. We need a suitable governance vision and mechanism to address these issues. These must not be matters of discretion or desire of political class.

Supreme Court must ban such poll promises and direct state to provide both suitable housing and job to every INDIAN, along with access to healthcare and education within the next 2-3 or 5 years like a fundamental right. Ironically, our governance structures and political system, in the current form, are incapable of addressing such governance needs.

But the current political, corporate and even bureaucratic class of leaders, like our colonial masters, seem to be so blinded by their own lust for their privileged position that they do not mind pulverising and decimating India as a civilisation and state. We must not invoke our ancient values for partisan political gains only.

Ironically, both Confucius and Kautilya had emphasised that the primary responsibility of a ruler is to build virtues (through observance of Svadharma as outlined by the latter) among citizenry. Such governance principles had provided a sturdier foundation for
material prosperity and scientific advancement of these two great civilisations. They were not perfect but certainly better than their contemporaries.

People in leadership roles in every sector need to be role models for the masses. Laws and courts can tackle a few deviants but these
Institutions too would be helpless if the onslaught on wider social values are so rampant.

Neither the hungry, unhealthy, insecure and anxious nor the greedy and arrogant can ever be virtuous. They can never form healthy and harmonious society. And the people centric governance has to address these twin challenges.

A little bit of land grabbing and evasion of real governance issues may appear innocuous to some. But it reflects a larger bankruptcy of the existing political system and outlook. Hope some sanity dawns and our so-called leaders seek to find a solution and not exploit problems for partisan gains.

DEFICIENT SOCIAL TRUST: PITFALL OF A CLOSED SYSTEM?

(This is yet another post written on Facebook on same day when Dr Wenliang died)

Chinese social media has been witnessing unprecedented levels of grief and anger over death of a young Chinese Doctor Li Wenliang early this morning. Wenliang had been arrested on charges of spreading rumour over his sincere efforts to warn about impending corona virus pandemic as early as on December 30th. He had apparently contacted the virus while attending an infected patient who was unaware of it. People believe that timely action on warnings of the deceased Doctor could have contained the corona outbreak much better. But he was humiliated and eventually paid with his life for his integrity and sincerity.

Many Chinese people have commented in various words that ‘liars and cronies were hailed as hero whereas an honest Good Samaritan was persecuted’. Does it happen only in totalitarian systems? Probably, declining and degenerating democracies could be similar or even worse.

The issue highlights how even a mighty state like China and its people are vulnerable in absence of a trust based society and transparent governance. One innocuous repression of intelligence and integrity can invite large scale disaster for all.

Of course, people need to be responsible in their utterances. But genuine mistakes in any sincere expression of opinion or facts must not invite retribution.

A democracy like India has been routinely witnessing repression of merit and verbal wars in the name of public discourses with lavish use of lies, deception and hateful propaganda. These are assault on Indian state, society and civilisation as these impede ability of people to excel and foster collaboration to optimise their collective strength. Democracy sounds hollow and hypocritical in absence of individual integrity and social harmony.

INDIAN society and civilisation had thrived in the past by its ability to create a trust based society where individual integrity fostered both excellence and stronger social bonds. It was decadence and decay, though not complete, that led to their ruination and pulverisation at the hands of barbaric savages during medieval era, which has been universally described as the dark age on the subcontinent. It had failed to promote science, knowledge and rationality as well as larger social harmony and dignity of individuals that India as a civilisation had boasted of, much before the rest of the world. When Europe witnessed Renaissance, we were plummeting to depths of perversion at the altar of debauchery, repression and eventually colonial plunder, with of course energised resistances from several quarters.

We need to learn lessons from the past but not get trapped into it. It can only take us down. It is not the identity but the values that matter. It is irrelevant whether overwhelming majority of people on the subcontinent converted to Islam out of fear or on volition. It is also a fact that invaders did not bring great civilisational virtues or stronger scientific values. It was purely failure of an inward looking, stratified and decaying India to civilise, and not convert, areas beyond the subcontinent that sent marauder and barbaric to plunder and pillage. We need to learn lessons in security and governance and not politically encash it.

None of the oppressive or even the so-called hardline protagonists of Islam on the subcontinent have adhered to the Humanist and egalitarian values that the Holy Prophet of Islam had tried to preach in his context. His values and ideals were decimated and hijacked soon after his death, which was manifest in killing and humiliation of his own descendants, including many women and children at Karbala. Islam became a pretext for loot, murder, plunder, pillage and rape, something that the Holy prophet of Islam had tried to resist and eliminate. And surprisingly in India, Islam discovered a humanist strand of Sufism and sought to discover and revive some of the real teachings of Holy prophet, which are more in sync with Upanishadic teachings that were reiterated by Lord Buddha.

Oppression, fear and hatred can never get the best out of any people and society, especially in a heterogeneous India. For the sake of rise of India, our democracy must avoid a return to medieval era mindset. Social harmony and social trust as manifest in some of the eternal values of pre-caste era of the ancient civilisation of the subcontinent are critical for a stronger India. These alone can contribute to a more harmonious world and not the “shop keepers model of representative government” founded on colonial plunder and pillage of the entire world, despite some brilliant innovations and practices perfected in recent centuries.

The entire integrated, interconnected and a somewhat leaderless world needs original INDIAN values more badly at this juncture. We cannot and must not go back in time. But fusion of modern Democracy with Kautilyan principles of governance, Buddhist notion of Dharma and Confucian principles of harmony can enrich and secure the world beyond all expectations and imaginations.

At the same time our alternative to extremism must not be corruption, perversion and yet another form of decadence or perversion symbolised by dynastic political syndicates. Sadly, they have been masquerading as political entities and thriving on subversion of governance, society and state. Probably Indians and the world need resurgence of civilisational values of original India and not the resurrection of decadent identity clashes of the medieval era.

Reform in Political Parties and Private Sector Would Be Critical for a Stronger India

     

 On January 19, I had the privilege of being part of discussion/talks at my alma mater JNU along with two very distinguished fellow alumni: Maj Gen (Rtd) GC Dwivedi, a 71 war veteran and now a highly accomplished academic, and an equally eminent and accomplished veteran journalist Shri Ajit Jha. Details were shared on Facebook by my friend Rajesh Kumar. 

   We discussed inherent strengths of civilisational values of India that have helped sustain democracy even amidst all forms of adversity and constraints. These values were revived by Mahatma Gandhi, who was probably the greatest mobilizer of people as well as an original humanist thinker after Lord Buddha on this subcontinent. We thoroughly discussed some of the key strengths and vulnerabilities of current Indian state and society. We also attempted to identify governance-security challenges and priorities of India in the contemporary era in presence of an enlightened audience. It was an extremely stimulating and vibrant session.

I had maintained that a country of India's size cannot afford to depend upon individual brilliance of a few.  We needed serious and sustained institutional reforms to not only synergise individual and institutional values, goals, orientation and interests in every sector but also among the institutions as well as between them and the larger society. The principles of fairer and healthy competition were critical for promoting individual initiative, industry and enterprise, which formed the core of democratic freedom at one hand and accelerated advancement of people on the other. 

I emphasized that we needed to overhaul entire criminal justice system, healthcare, education, R&D capacity along with civil service to make these competitive and professional, but the most critical area in which Indian democracy needed to take initiative were reform in political parties, corporate sector and media. These cannot afford to be controlled by self-seeking cliques. Political parties needed to be cohesive platforms  with appropriate structures for debate, discussion and avenues for entry and exit at different leadership roles. Political parties cannot afford to act as brokerage syndicates that had to subvert rule of law and integrity of governance for their sheer survival. 

Similarly, our corporate sector, notwithstanding all their virtues and some of the outstanding visionary leaders it had produced, needed come out of Sukhi Lala mode as portrayed in iconic Mother India movie of 1950s. They needed assert their credentials as legitimate stakeholders in governance rather being at the mercy of profit driven mercenaries lacking any sense of larger social commitment. There was certainly need to beyond emotions in pursuit of nationalism and national security.

Of course the other two speakers are very well known and they have been in public domain for too long and their views are very well known. 

 I am sharing some photographs for my friends.

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ALLUREMENT OF QUOTAS: A SMOKESCREEN TO DENY DIGNITY AND ECONOMIC SECURITY TO ALL?

(Following is a post that I had written on Facebook. I was struggling to access my own blog due to suspected malice of some powerful cyber criminals) 

            Supreme Court’s recent observation that quotas are not part of fundamental rights deserves commendation. But the court should have gone on to declare that the access to high quality education along with jobs that provide basic level of economic security and dignity must be made fundamental rights. These have been part of directive principles for too Long.

        Caste based employment reservations must have been a necessity as an interim measure when the country gained independence. But their continuation even after seven decades has only perpetuated divides and fractured our social cohesion.

      It is not about government jobs but the negative impact on governance capacity of our democracy. It has encouraged political elite to abdicate their responsibilities towards universal access to education, health-care and employment. These are most critical vehicles for securing collective empowerment of India.

      It suits our rogue elite if people remain vulnerable in absence of rule of law. A hostile and corrupt government system will push them to caste based cliques even for defence of their basic rights. On the other hand, mighty and powerful can exploit bad governance to escape the clutches of law. Emotional identity divide can be a smart tool to destroy governance and popular accountability.

      Such phenomenon has encouraged rogues and crook to hijack our democracy. They can plunder and pillage the country being fully assured that a divided people shall struggle to demand transparency and integrity in governance. Their mind can be numbed by emotive identity divide. They would lose capacity to think rationally or judge and evaluate their representatives on the basis of their performance.

     A divided society and a divided house are certain to decay and degenerate. These can vitiate the larger ecosystem, obstructing merit and talent from flourishing. Under such conditions, people can never excel collectively or live in harmony.

      Sadly, we refuse to take lesson from our under performance as a society and state. We are no longer shaken by the expanding all round asymmetry (five times and growing) with our northern neighbour China that was equal to us until four decades back. It has nothing to do with the so called inferiority of democracy. It is more an outcome of subversion of governance systems.

      It has been scientifically established that Caste in India was originally not a hereditary phenomenon. It were greedy and dishonest elite that made it hereditary, oppressive and discriminatory. Once a society decays, degenerates and gets enslaved, it’s elite further lose their moral compass. Many become self seeking compradores to any power or authority that can protect their privileges. They do so at the cost of their own society. They oppress their own people and especially the down trodden. It was irrationality of a decadent elite of a Subjugated India that made the caste system so oppressive and cruel.

But it is time to move forward and do away with the very phenomenon of the Caste. It has to be abolished forever and not exploited for political rent. Following are some of the pertinent questions that every Indian must pose to himself or herself: 

Why, and how long, should an independent India remain shackled in a subservient mindset? 

Shouldn’t we move towards universal and equitable access to security and dignity?

 Why should some of us be hoodwinked in the name of quota and made collaborators in denigration of India? 

How long can we afford to fall prey to divide and rule trick of rulers? 

Why should housing, Jobs, healthcare, education and employment not be made accessible to all? 

Why should a bunch of parasitic forces relish mass anxieties and insecurities to exploit and thrive on these? 

Why should we be divided as a people and our civilization destroyed at the altar of political opportunism?

Doesn’t patriotism warrant the country getting precedence over politics?

Without solidarity and larger harmony among people as well as larger integrity, how can we work collectively?