PM caught between black magic and red manics
Some guys conducted havans to kill me, said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, recently. I remember an ardent BJP fan telling me in the Summer of 2004 that the UPA government would fall in a few months. When I asked for the reason, he said that it was in the stars. An astrologer who had "correctly predicted several events" had told him personally, he 'reasoned'. Strangely, newspapers reported in those days how the BJP was expecting the government to fall around the same time. Was it the same astrologer who reassured BJP?
Reacting to the havan statement, BJP's V K Malhotra said that havans are meant for only people's well being. But I am sure he has heard of Shatrusamahra Pooja. In fact, the same BJP fan had remarked once that Sonia Gandhi must have conducted a Shatrusamahra Pooja because all her prospective 'challengers,' like Rajesh Pilot, Madhavrao Scindia and Prasada had died. "So that means, she is very much a true Hindu, your party should have no more qualms about her foreign origin," I had then responded. These are havan guys. Manmohan Singh must be right!
Even as black magic has troubled him enough, comes the ultimatum from Red manics. These guys are really nuts. When India tested the bomb in 1998, CPM and other Left parties condemned it saying that it would create an arms race in the sub-continent. They did not want India to test. Now, when the Manmohan Singh government signs a nuclear deal with the United States, the same jokers are saying that the Hyde Act will ensure that we cannot test. If they were against testing then, why are they bothered about being denied an opportunity to test now?
But this is just a single sentence in the Polit Bureau statement. The rest of it reads just like any other rhetoric churned out at a Left party meeting. They are worried about India's independent foreign policy being affected and India being made a satellite state of the United States. It's sheer anti-Americansim that's in display, nothing else.
But for all those who are wondering what is wrong with the 123 Agreement, and left confused with Arun Shourie's obfuscation of facts (the only thing he knows) let me make one thing very clear: India is a nuclear power that voluntarily submitted to the 'no first strike' principle after the 1998 tests. We have developed a minimum credible detterrence (MCD) for a second strike. In other words, nobody will dare nuke us because we can retaliate even after we are struck by a nuclear bomb -- We have the capability to strike from land, water and sea. In this condition, we DON'T need to test anymore! This is the same reason why all the nuclear powers signed the NPT.
However, the security scenario can change with time. For example, let's say some hostile power builds an arsenal that can simultaneously destroy all our MCD. This is just a theory. If that occurs, we will need to counter such a threat and that MAY require us to test again. In the unlikely event of such a test, the 123 Agreement says, that the United States reserves the right to cancel the deal. BUT it will look into the circumstances that led India to test before deciding whether to cancel the deal, apart from giving India a year's notice period if it decides to cancel the deal. What this means is that a changed security environment could lead to the US agreeing that India had sufficient grounds to test and could allow the deal to continue.
In brief, we have the arsenal now, don't need to test, can enjoy nuclear status without signing NPT and get enriched uranium to meet our power needs. Uninterrupted, clean and cheap power for all our needs, is something that I look forward to. Even as I started writing this, there is a power failure. I am running my computer on my inverter. I already had a seven-hour power cut on this blessed day, though it's only 13 hours old, although I live 0 km from the National capital.
The government should put those opposing the deal, for narrow political reasons, in a top-floor flat in Ghaziabad in peak summer and then talk to them. I am sure they will all shut up and give the deal a thumbs-up.
Reacting to the havan statement, BJP's V K Malhotra said that havans are meant for only people's well being. But I am sure he has heard of Shatrusamahra Pooja. In fact, the same BJP fan had remarked once that Sonia Gandhi must have conducted a Shatrusamahra Pooja because all her prospective 'challengers,' like Rajesh Pilot, Madhavrao Scindia and Prasada had died. "So that means, she is very much a true Hindu, your party should have no more qualms about her foreign origin," I had then responded. These are havan guys. Manmohan Singh must be right!
Even as black magic has troubled him enough, comes the ultimatum from Red manics. These guys are really nuts. When India tested the bomb in 1998, CPM and other Left parties condemned it saying that it would create an arms race in the sub-continent. They did not want India to test. Now, when the Manmohan Singh government signs a nuclear deal with the United States, the same jokers are saying that the Hyde Act will ensure that we cannot test. If they were against testing then, why are they bothered about being denied an opportunity to test now?
But this is just a single sentence in the Polit Bureau statement. The rest of it reads just like any other rhetoric churned out at a Left party meeting. They are worried about India's independent foreign policy being affected and India being made a satellite state of the United States. It's sheer anti-Americansim that's in display, nothing else.
But for all those who are wondering what is wrong with the 123 Agreement, and left confused with Arun Shourie's obfuscation of facts (the only thing he knows) let me make one thing very clear: India is a nuclear power that voluntarily submitted to the 'no first strike' principle after the 1998 tests. We have developed a minimum credible detterrence (MCD) for a second strike. In other words, nobody will dare nuke us because we can retaliate even after we are struck by a nuclear bomb -- We have the capability to strike from land, water and sea. In this condition, we DON'T need to test anymore! This is the same reason why all the nuclear powers signed the NPT.
However, the security scenario can change with time. For example, let's say some hostile power builds an arsenal that can simultaneously destroy all our MCD. This is just a theory. If that occurs, we will need to counter such a threat and that MAY require us to test again. In the unlikely event of such a test, the 123 Agreement says, that the United States reserves the right to cancel the deal. BUT it will look into the circumstances that led India to test before deciding whether to cancel the deal, apart from giving India a year's notice period if it decides to cancel the deal. What this means is that a changed security environment could lead to the US agreeing that India had sufficient grounds to test and could allow the deal to continue.
In brief, we have the arsenal now, don't need to test, can enjoy nuclear status without signing NPT and get enriched uranium to meet our power needs. Uninterrupted, clean and cheap power for all our needs, is something that I look forward to. Even as I started writing this, there is a power failure. I am running my computer on my inverter. I already had a seven-hour power cut on this blessed day, though it's only 13 hours old, although I live 0 km from the National capital.
The government should put those opposing the deal, for narrow political reasons, in a top-floor flat in Ghaziabad in peak summer and then talk to them. I am sure they will all shut up and give the deal a thumbs-up.
posted by Unknown at Sunday, August 19, 2007
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