India- US Should Support Musharraf

Musharraf Best Bet Against Terror: India & US Should Support

By MOHAN SAHAY

For once Washington has wrongly assessed the situation in Pakistan. For, it is the radical Islamic organizations, terror outfits like Al Qaida, JeM and LeT who are hell bent upon to upstage the beleaguered President of Pakistan Gen. Parvez Musharraff.

All forces hostile to India have joined hands to throw Musharraf out of power. Little has been said or commented upon the role of the Pakistan Media in fueling the campaign against Musharraf. The media in Pakistan are anti- Indian and hostile to any peace negotiation and friendship with New Delhi.

Back in India, majority of the Indian Media in their myopic perception of the situation go all out to praise anything that comes from Pakistan even if that means harming out national interest.

One must give the devil his due. Musharraf though the usurper of power in Pakistan by coup has not resorted to crushing the opposition against him with an iron hand. On the contrary, he has allowed leaders like Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, both being former Prime Minister to meddle in the current turmoil. The leaders – Bhutto and Shariff carries little credibility if one goes through their tenure as Prime Minister of Pakistan. Both are corrupt politicians.

Although Musharraf did not do much to contain cross border terror against India, nonetheless, he never failed to continue and extend the process of dialogue with New Delhi on sending terrorists to Jammu & Kashmir and to other parts of India to strike violence.

Any change of guard in Islamabad would not necessarily bring peace to the valley or for that matter terrorists striking at will on the Indian soil. The new incumbent, in the event of Musharraf demitting office in Pakistan, would depend on the hardcore Islamic fundamentalists for consolidation of power – this would not augur well for India.

If Musharraf is suspect of giving shelter to Al Quaida head Bin Laden ( if he is alive ) then the US has every reason to desert the President and help either Benazir or Nawaz to head the new government. But it is naïve to expect the new ruler if that happens at all to take any firm action against the terror groups let alone confronting Al Quaida.

It was no easy decision for the Pakistani President to align with the forces against terror led by the US. He is paying the price for his attempts even if they were half hearted to contain terror in his own land.

Now that Musharraf himself faces threat of his life from the terror group, he must be realizing his mistake of not going whole hog against the terrorists and radical forces in Pakistan.

Should he continue to be at helms of Pakistan affairs, Musharraf in his new avatar would prove a real crusader against terrorists operating from Pakistan.
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Nandigram: Mamata follows Jyaoti Basu's Legacy of Violence

Nandigram: CPM's Waterloo

By MOHAN SAHAY

The Indian communists would never learn from the past. So it seems. After what happened in Nandigram, an obscure village of West Bengal is a crude instance of single track vision of the Communist Party of India - Marxists known better as CPM.

Budhadev Bhattarcharya, the chief minister of the state is a well intentioned man, but a gentleman politician that he is earns demerit for him in the present day Indian politics.

Bhattarya wanted to give impetus to the stagnating economy of the state that witnessed decades of misrule under Jyoti Basu, former chief minister and the aged leader of the CPM. The cirmson field of Nandigram carries the stamp of Basu who should be held responsible for demeaning the human dignity.

Bengal witnessed worse violence and bloodshed of innocent people during Basu’s tenure than what happened in Nangigram.

That politicians like Mamata Banerjee played with fire in Nandigram is another matter of grave concern. She is obsessed with the Communists and is ready to go to any extent to beat the ruling party in the state without caring for the consequences of her misguided fire.

What was wrong if the House of the Tatas agreed to put up a factory to manufacture small car in West Bengal where industrialists fear to tread. What was wrong in Budhadeb Bhattarcharya’s attempt to allay fears from entrepreneurs and industrialists to put money in the state so that there are more employment opportunities and generation of wealth? Nothing, I believe.

However, it was not acceptable to leaders like Mamata Banerjee who ignited the fire of protest knowing well the consequences. The sparks of protest turned into flames that burnt lives and property there.

People of Bengal like other states in the eastern part of India including Bihar, Orissa and Jharkhand need faster industrial growth.
Both Naveen Patnaik of Orissa and Nitish Kumar of Bihar who are heading the state governments in their respective states are trying their best to bring capital into their states and encourage industrialization. But story in West Bengal and the neighboring Jharkhand is different. Jharkhand is an apology of governance where Madhu Koda, the chief minister dances to the tune of the Indian Railway Minister Lalu Yadav charged with corruption cases.
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