India tweaks tender to procure 12 VVIP Helicopters

‘India changed tech requirements to help Italian firm’
Manu Pubby : New Delhi, Thu Nov 01 2012, 02:22 hrs
India allegedly tweaked the technical requirements in the tender to procure 12 VVIP helicopters for the Air Force to help Italian manufacturer AgustaWestland enter the race, an associate of the suspected middleman in the deal has alleged in his confession to Italian prosecutors.
In his testimony, the associate of Guido Haschke said the AW 101 chopper did not qualify initially as the requirements were being drawn by India in 2006. They were allegedly tweaked after Haschke struck a deal with the Italian company.
Investigations have also found that the Indian businessman named by Italian prosecutors — Sanjeev Kumar (Julie) Tyagi — is closely related to former air chief marshal S P Tyagi, who was heading the force when the tender was floated in December 2006.
S P Tyagi is a first cousin of Julie, a Delhi-based businessman. He is one of three Indians being probed for suspected corruption in the Rs 3,546 crore deal.
The retired officer confirmed he was related to Julie but said they had no business links. Julie could not be reached for comment. Reached for its comment, the IAF did not respond until going to press.
In his May 14 confession, business consultant Carmelo Messina says he put Haschke and his partner Carlos Gerosa in touch with AgustaWestland in 2006 to facilitate the Indian contract. He says Haschke was keen to get in touch with AgustaWestland as he “claimed he had deep knowledge of the Indian market”.
“Haschke said he had good relations with a person from Indian defence. I think he met him during his studies in America,” the statement says. Messina said Haschke boasted about his connections and claimed to have insider information that could help the Italian firm.
Messina says AgustaWestland figured out its choppers would not qualify for the contract after it contacted Haschke. He says Haschke managed to get the requirements changed to accommodate AgustaWestland.
“He told me he managed to convince the Indians, or actually the defence ministry, to reconsider the features of the helicopters so that Italian helicopters too could take part in the tender,” Messina says. “After some evaluation, it was found Haschke was right and the... ministry had really modified the technical features of the helicopters it needed.”
Messina says he received “50,000-60,000 euros in cash” from Haschke as a “thank you sign” in 2009.
India changed tech requirements to help Italian firm
Who is Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi?

Air Chief Marshal Shashindra Pal Tyagi (born 14 March 1945), more commonly known as S P Tyagi, is the former Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force. Prior to becoming chief of Indian Air Force, he was commanding the Western Air Command of the Air Force. He was commissioned in the fighter stream of the IAF on December 31, 1963. He is said to have "actively participated" in the 1965 and 1971 wars.
Air Chief Marshal Shashindra Pal Tyagi took over as the 20th Chief of Air Staff of the Indian Air Force from 31 December 2004. Popularly known as "Bundle", Tyagi was born at Indore on March 14, 1945 . He is an alumnus of St Xavier School in Jaipur. He was commissioned in the IAF on 31 December 1963 in the fighter stream.
The initial years of his career in the air force, Tyagi flew Gnats with No.23 Squadron and later served with Hunters of No.27 Squadron. A veteran of both the 1965 and the 1971 Wars, he was one of the pioneer batch of eight pilots selected for conversion on the Jaguar Interdiction aircraft when it was inducted in 1980s. Whilst training at Lossiemouth, he was one of the two Indian pilots chosen for a Photo Recce Course at Coltishall with No.41 Squadron RAF.
Tyagi commanded No.14 Squadron "Bulls" later after coming back to India. A Graduate of the TACDE with a Fighter Combat Leader and Pilot Attack Instructor qualifications, he had also attended the Junior Commanders Course, the National Defence College and finally the Defence Services Staff College at Wellington. He received the Vayu Sena Medal (VM) for distinguished service in 1985.
In his mid career, Tyagi had several other appointments under his belt. He was an instructor at TACDE. As an Air Commodore, Tyagi commanded 33 Wing at Jamnagar. Later he was also posted as the Defence Attache at the Indian Consulate in Saudi Arabia. Air Commodore Tyagi was awarded the Ati Vishist Seva Medal (AVSM) in 1994.
He also held the appointments of Director Operations (Air Defence), ACAS (Intelligence), ACAS (Ops). He has had a stint as a senior fellow at the IDSA and was also a senior Instructor and Directing Staff at the DSSC Wellington.
In the rank of Air Marshal, Tyagi was appointed as the SASO of Central Air Command for some time. He took over as the AOC-in-C of Central Air Command not soon after. he is one of the few officers to have the distinction of commanding three Air Commands, Central, South Western and Western Air Command.
Air Marshal Tyagi was awarded the Param Vishist Seva Medal (PVSM) in 2003, and was appointed as one of the honorary ADCs of the President of India. He has the distinction of being the one and only Air Chief Marshal to have done skydiving after being appointed to a high post as Chief of the Air Staff of Indian Air Force.
He is married to Mrs. Vandana Tyagi and they have a son and a daughter.

India's Internal Security at Peril due to lack of Governance and Galloping Graft of Civil Administrators

India signals new anti-Maoist offensive By Rupam Jain Nair (AFP) – Oct 9, 2009
NEW DELHI — India looks set for a major offensive against Maoist rebels, whose growing influence and increasingly brazen attacks have been branded a national security failure, officials and sources said Friday.

"A new anti Maoist plan has been approved by the cabinet. States hit by this insurgency are instructed to follow the new plan and get their act together," senior home ministry official Kashmir Singh told AFP on Friday.

The cabinet met Thursday just hours before left-wing guerrillas gunned down 17 policemen in western India, the latest in a series of assaults in an increasingly lethal insurgency.

At least 150 Maoists attacked the policemen in a forest village in Maharashtra state, near the border with Chhattisgarh state where the rebels have their stronghold.

Security sources cited by the media said the new strategy was for a large-scale, coordinated offensive involving seven states worst affected by Maoist violence, with support from federal security services.
India signals new anti-Maoist offensive

Indian Express Sunday , Oct 11, 2009 at 1411 hrs
Refusing to bracket Naxals with terrorists, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday ruled out use of armed forces against them and said that the government is willing to hold talks with them if they abjured violence.

"They (Naxals) are banned organisations and are covered under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act," he said replying to a question if the government proposed to declare the ultra-left groups as terror outfits.

"We are not in favour of using the armed forces against the Naxalites. The para-military forces and police are adequate (for counter-Naxal operations)," he told a press meet here and underscored the need for looking at the causes of alienation of the people, particularly the tribals.

While terming Naxalism as the biggest internal security threat, the Prime Minister said dialogue with them was possible only if they shunned violence.
PM rules out use of armed forces against Naxals

Genesis of Maoist and Naxalite terror in India
'Naxalism'- The Retreat of Civil Governance by Ajai Sahni

Motor Vehicles Act to be amended to meet future needs: Kamal Nath

Illegal Parking
Ministry of Road Transport & Highways
Wednesday, September 23, 2009 19:27 IST
The Minister for Road Transport & Highways Shri Kamal Nath has said that a comprehensive review of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 would be done so as to meet the future requirements of the country. He said that a Committee has been constituted to review the Motor Vehicles Act and it will give its suggestions in three months time. Shri Nath said,” We need to not only learn lessons from the past but also stimulate what would happen in future.” Thus, the amendments in the Act would take care of the best practises abroad and would not only “serve the present but also future”. The Minister was speaking at the launch of the National Campaign for “Reduction of Road Fatalities”, a joint initiative of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and International Roads Federation (IRF), a Washington and Geneva based worldwide platform for Road Safety.

Speaking at the function in Delhi, Shri Nath said that we need to make not ony 20km of roads per day but also ensure that they are safe. The roads would be built with safety stndards and no over or under engineering will be done, he said.

As per the WHO's global status report on road safety, India tops the global list of deaths in road accidents with 125,000 fatalities and at least 2.2 million serious injuries each year. India accounts for 10 per cent of global road accident deaths. The national campaign has been launched with the target of reducing road accident deaths by 50 per cent by the year 2012.

Shri Brahm Dutt, Secretary, MoRTH and Shri Nirmaljit Singh, Director General & Special Secretary, MoRTHwere also present on the occasion. Gre5/
Motor Vehicles Act to be amended to meet future needs: Kamal Nath

Illegal Parking on carriageways, berms and footpaths
Greatest menace to road safety is illegal parking of vehicles on carriage ways, berms, footpaths, highways and streets especially by the commercial vehicles. This restricts the road space available for driving to less than 40% of road surfaces paved for smooth flow of vehicles. Strict laws should be brought in to curb menace of illegal parking in metro cities and on the National Highways. Safety norms are violated in connivance with traffic police who accept bribes from the traffic violators and law breakers.

This is the way it should be... Example for Politicians

THIS IS HOW IT SHOULD BE
You may recall that Truman was a mediocre and relatively unknown who became the President of the United States thru default.( owing to the the sudden passing away of President Roosevelt.) He matured and grew into one of the great Presidents not hesitating to take unpalatable and hard decisions like the sacking of Gen MacArthur and the dropping of the atom bomb. On His desk in the" White House" he had a plaque " The buck stops here "
THIS IS THE WAY IT SHOULD BE...

Harry Truman Harry Truman was a different kind of President. He probably made as many, or more important decisions regarding his nation's history as any of the other 42 Presidents preceding him. However, a measure of his greatness may rest on what he did after he left the White House.

The only asset he had when he died was the house he lived in, which was in Independence Missouri. His wife had inherited the house from her mother and father and other than their years in the White House, they lived their entire lives there.

When he retired from office in 1952, his income was a U.S. Army pension reported to have been $13,507.72 a year. Congress, noting that he was paying for his stamps and personally licking them, granted him an 'allowance' and, later, a retroactive pension of $25,000 per year. After President Eisenhower was inaugurated, Harry and Bess drove home to Missouri by themselves. There was no Secret Service following them.

When offered corporate positions at large salaries, he declined, stating, "You don't want me. You want the office of the President, and that doesn't belong to me. It belongs to the American people and it's not for sale."

Even later, on May 6, 1971, when Congress was preparing to award him the Medal of Honor on his 87th birthday, he refused to accept it, writing, "I don't consider that I have done anything which should be the reason for any award, Congressional or otherwise."

As president he paid for all of his own travel expenses and food.

Modern politicians have found a new level of success in cashing in on the Presidency, resulting in untold wealth. Today, many in Congress also have found a way to become quite wealthy while enjoying the fruits of their offices. Political offices are now for sale.

Good old Harry Truman was correct when he observed, "My choices in life were either to be a piano player in a whore house or a politician. And to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference!
Newly elected MP’s incur Rs 3.71 crore hotel expenses

Kargil War Hero Killed by Dacoits

Kargil war veteran Baldev Singh was shot dead and robbed by three men in Bhajanpura, North-east District of Delhi. He was carrying Rs 8.45 lakh. The incident occurred around 10 am barely 50 metres from a police picket — reportedly manned by two personnel...” This is an excerpt from a story that appeared in last Tuesday’s newspapers. The incident had occurred the previous day. At a very superficial level, this story tells us about the appalling law and order situation that prevails in the nation’s capital city where policemen are deployed to protect the precious lives of ‘Very Very Important Persons’ who, by virtue of their status as Ministers, MPs and bureaucrats, are entitled to security while commoners who toil so that they can keep the VVIPs, their spouses and their progeny in comfort, find themselves at the mercy of gangsters, murderers and rapists. Lutyens’ Delhi is the modern day Diwan-i-Khaas while the rest of the metropolis, in large patches squalid, overcrowded and bereft of civic facilities, is the Diwan-i-Aam. The glittering chrome-and-glass malls, the multiplexes and the fancy restaurants with unhygienic kitchens — my companion is still recovering from the ravages of typhoid that went undetected for almost a fortnight at an upmarket hospital — and the perpetually under-construction flyovers help cover the ugly underbelly of life in Delhi. Living in the national capital is bad; living in the National Capital Region is worse.

But let’s get back to where we began: The murder of an Army veteran, a man who fought in the last war we faced, in, as media is fond of describing, broad daylight, a short distance from a police picket where two worthies in khaki were reportedly on duty. The police claim to have ‘cracked’ the case; four men have been arrested; the story has been duly published; and, that is the last we shall ever hear of this murder. It could be argued that the killers were ignorant of Baldev Singh’s background, that he had helped regain territory we almost lost to Pakistan in the summer of 1999. But that’s unlikely as they were aware of his responsibility of collecting cash from the petrol pump where he worked and depositing it in a bank. They would have also been told of who Baldev Singh was by their informers. So, here we have a shocking incident of Indians killing an Army veteran who had risked his life for the country’s defence and the nation’s territorial integrity. We haven’t heard a pip-squeak from our so-called ‘civil society’ which is prompt in holding candle light vigils for dubious causes or 24x7 news channel celebrities whose hearts bleed for the cherubic faced ‘Butcher of Mumbai’ — one of them recently wrote a touching article in a national daily whose sum and substance was: Look at this poor lad who should be playing football and cricket in Faridkot and returning home to the comforting arms of his mummy every evening; does he deserve to swing at the end of a rope? Yes he does. As do the four men who killed Baldev Singh.

The point, really, is not merely about our society grown callous and indifferent, or the rapidly diminishing sense of national pride. It is also about the Government choosing not to remember wars fought by our soldiers and honouring our heroes — those who lived to tell tales of valour and those who fell on the battlefield. We have an annual ceremony to honour the unknown soldier at Amar Jawan Jyoti, the memorial at India Gate, and that’s about all. We do not celebrate our spectacular military victory in 1971 lest Pakistanis are offended and reminded of Mrs Indira Gandhi’s audacious decision to rend asunder Mohammed Ali Jinnah’s “moth-eaten Pakistan” and deliver Bangladeshis from the rapacious tyranny of West Pakistan. There’s a sneaking suspicion that December 16 is studiously ignored by our politicians (including, and it must be noted, those of the BJP) because the observance of Victory Day could ‘hurt’ Islamist sentiments at home.

So, it is not entirely surprising that the Government should also ignore Vijay Diwas — July 26 — the day a defeated, devastated and demoralised Pakistani Army turned tail and fled from the heights of Kargil, more precisely, the few remaining bunkers in its control, leaving its dead to rot in the rocky wilderness of Drass, Kaksar and Mashkoh Valley. Nor should it be surprising if Indians who have come of age in this past decade — those who were eight years old in 1999 — are ignorant of the tumultuous events whose tremors were felt around the world and shook the US into taking, for the first (and only) time in six decades, a firm stand against Pakistan. In fact, a pop quiz would reveal very few of us remember the details of the Kargil war, as also the other wars that have been forced on us. When Tiger Hill was taken back from the Pakistani intruders, there were celebrations across the country. But how many of us remember that outpouring of national pride? Or, that 533 of our finest and bravest men died during Operation Vijay?

One story that should be remembered by us, and told to our children again and again lest future generations forget, is that of Captain Saurabh Kalia and his team of five soldiers who were on duty at Bajrang Post in the Kaksar area on May 15. Suddenly there was heavy firing from across the Line of Control; Captain Kalia and his men responded in full measure; tragically, they ran out of ammunition. Before they could send out an SOS (there have been suggestions that their communications equipment failed to work), Captain Kalia and his men were surrounded by Pakistani soldiers. Later, Skardu Radio reported that they had been taken alive. On June 7, 1999, their bodies were handed over by the Pakistani Army. For the 20-odd days that Captain Kalia and his men were alive, they were brutally tortured in captivity — their mutilated bodies bore the evidence of chilling inhumanity: Ear drums pierced with hot iron rods, eyeballs carved out with knives, genitals chopped off, every bone broken and splintered. And, after all this, they were shot in the head. No apology was offered, none was sought!

On the first anniversary of our victory in Kargil, there were official celebrations and the martyrs’ supreme sacrifice was recalled. By 2001, the then BJP-led NDA Government’s fervour had begun to taper off. A year later, July 26 was knocked off the calendar of national events as it was seen to be an obstacle on the path to peace! Since then, the day has come and gone, year after year, without the Government taking note of it in the mistaken notion that by doing so, it would keep the Pakistanis in good humour.

But even if cynical politicians and a callous Government fail to honour the memory of Captain Kalia and 532 other men who died in the Kargil war, should we the people of India forget them too? Think about this between now and July 26. Reflect, resolve and react.
Cowards in a nation of braves by Kanchan Gupta

Attacking the aam aadmi's swabhiman

Sun, Mar 1 05:54 AM
Sudheendra Kulkarni
In a recent interaction with my party's young campaigners in the coming parliamentary elections, I asked them, "What is the first and foremost expectation of young people like you from the next government?" I was expecting them to say "employment", "better education" and so on. One of them, an alumnus of IIT Delhi who studied and worked abroad and has now taken to political activism, gave a one-word reply: "Swabhiman" (self-respect).

My instinctive interpretation of his answer was that he was referring to India's honour and self-respect. "No, I am not talking about desh ka swabhiman and desh ka gaurav. Every patriotic Indian, belonging to any party, wants India to be heard, honoured and respected more by the international community. What I am referring to is the self-respect of ordinary citizens. When the aam aadmi deals with the government in his own country, why is his self-respect routinely bruised? Why do government officers and employees behave with citizens as if they are our masters and we their subjects? Why do they make us feel that they are doing us a favour when the service or information we are seeking is our right as citizens? And, often, the 'favour' is done to us only after we have met their demand for bribes."

Why have we failed to make the system respect the citizens more? It's a complex problem, but some roots of it lie in the fact that the government has two parts-the democratically elected executive that is accountable to the people and has to seek their mandate; and the 'permanent government' of the bureaucracy that is largely unaccountable and remains unchanged even after Party A is voted out and Party B is voted in. It is high time the progressive section of our political class and leaders of civil society paid serious attention to reforming these "permanent rulers" to make them truly citizen-friendly. Good governance is being much talked about in the current election campaign. We can move towards this goal only by introducing radical citizen-centric reforms.

Write to: sudheenkulkarni@gmail.com
Read more:Attacking the aam aadmi's swabhiman

Counter Terrorism for the common man

Dear Friends,

I have been writing for the Garhwal Post, a local daily. This is my third on the subject of Counter Terrorism for the Common Man. This was published last Sunday, 08 Feb 2009. You may like to glance through it. Kindly click here

Thought I will share it with you.

With regards.
Lt Gen KK Khanna
Former Commandant IMA and Former MGGS and COS Northern Command

End the VIP status symbols, ensure security for all

New Delhi
One of the reasons for huge public anger erupting like a volcano almost every week is the manner in which many politicians throw their weight to gain importance and impress upon the people. Almost every day we read reports of some politician delaying flights or trains. Why? The common man wants to know how worthy the worthies are or have they become leeches on India's society.

Having had the privilege of covering as a newsman New Delhi's political scenario from the days of first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, the author is a witness to the decline in values and the kind of arrogance that the so called leaders of today display.

India''s first Prime Minister mixed freely with the common people. Every year the Holi festival in the front lawns of Teen Murti House was great fun for one and all.

There used to be adequate security for Jawaharlal Nehru. Let's not forget that India's first Prime Minister was as much under threat, after having annoyed the world's leading powers like the US and the USSR by refusing to take sides during the Cold War era.

There were elements hostile to Pandit Nehru at home as well. Yet, the police then were trained to be discreet and manage the situation without causing any inconvenience to the public.

In today's India, even at the official receptions held at the President's House the dignitaries sit under a shamiana expecting the guests to come there in a queue and greet them. Gone are days when Pandit Nehru, with guests like Marshal Tito and Gamal Abdel Nasser would mix with the vast crowd of invitees at the Presidents House. Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi always loved to walk around the gardens admiring flowers and meeting people.

Gone also are the days when President Eisenhower was cheered by the surging crowds in Connaught Place in New Delhi. The convoy of Bulganin and Khruschev passed through milling crowd from Palam to President's house and was almost held up by the enthusiastic crowds in Calcutta. The police managed the security concerns well, worried like hell as they were at that moment.

Those events seem a distant dream! However in another country -- the United Kingdom - even today the Queen travels around without a huge cavalcade, causing inconvenience to the public. So does the Prime Minister of that country. I have not seen any British politician making himself a nuisance to ordinary citizens during my stay in London for a while. And please don't forget that Britain faces as much of a jehadi threat today as it earlier faced insurgents from Northern Ireland.

Indian police and security agencies managed VIP security in a discreet manner for many years after Independence. If they are not able to do so, it is not because of their inefficiency. The reason is the rise of the new class of politicians - the 'fixers' who want to make a show of their power, by displaying gun toting security personnel around them. Some of these worthies are never tired of shouting "Don't you know who I am?"

The story does not end merely with the misuse of police and commandos, but the public nuisance that most of the so-called VIPs create today. To seek their special right of the way, no one can tell you for sure as to how many cars today have red light globes atop their roofs.

They are such a nuisance that the man in the street makes derisive remarks by saying that those displaying red lights belong to the red light district!

Rahul Gandhi has described this as ‘laal batti’ (red beacon light) culture. Time and moment has come when this must end. You can be sure that policemen who are put on such security duties with the ‘paper-tiger’ politicos hate their job.

Imagine a constable cooling his heels outside a school waiting for the child of the so-called VIP or the poor constable who is forced to carry bags of vegetables and groceries of the VIP ‘memsahib’ as part of his duty to protect the 'who is who'.

If India is to survive as a democracy, it is time that these new feudal lords are brought under check. No one is going to grudge security provided to those holding constitutional positions. But even that must not cause undue inconvenience to the people.

Everyone must stand in a queue with other passengers while boarding a flight and go through normal security drills. Why have special lounges for VIPs at the airports.

The only way to end this ‘laal batti’ culture is to order its removal altogether from all the cars including that of real VIPs.

The leaders of earlier days were known for their simplicity and accessibility. We can revert to those days and learn from their simplicity.

The present security cover smacks of a show of power. These agencies can have a close look at the manner at the way the problem is handled in the United Kingdom and some other countries.

In the final analysis it is the duty of the government to ensure the security of all citizens. If each and every citizen is secure, you can be sure of the safety of politicians too.
End the VIP status symbols, ensure security for all
Political Ploy: Private Vehicles with Party Flags and Red Lights tout and Violate all traffic rules. Even criminals baltantly scout and use the Party flags and symbol in private vehicles to ward of any Police scrutiny or checks! A mobile Nation of Political terrorists let loose on the streets!

Mumbai Mayhem: The Insecurity of Security

I have been seeing with amusement, the after effects of the 26/11 tragedy. Heads of politicians have rolled. I am still to see accountability of the bureaucrats who are responsible for their lapses. The intelligence gathering of information was correct, but the collation and inference failed. So the elected representatives have been made accountable, who in any case have to go back to the masses every five years for re election. Is the bureaucrat to be suffered for 30 years once he passes the central services exam? No situation is permanent and no man indispensable. But because he is supposedly an expert in that field, he definitely is more accountable then most.

I have heard that in a particular condominium on the outskirts of Delhi, a DIG was stopped at the gate as a routine security check. His accompanying security guards beat up the Guards of the complex. So the custodians of our security felt insulted when an employee was only carrying out his job . We also see a look of disdain when we are made to stand in a queue for our turn, be it be at the airport or at a security check. The aam aadmi is equally to blame for our arrogance and self importance. Our style icons, be they politicians/actors/ sports personalities can so easily make discipline a habit, for others to emulate. We read recently about a cricketer who felt insulted just because one of his friends was frisked as part of security, at the hotel access. He in fact should be the style icon for encouraging the security man in doing his job, rather then be selling a popular aerated water or face cream. How many times we ourselves are guilty of jumping lines for something as trivial as buying cinema tickets. We all need to introspect for our own indiscipline, within.

I also saw with much disdain on a popular TV show, an actor who made a statement that we see Pakistani flags fluttering on houses/ shanties in Mumbai, and not much is being done about that. She was pounced upon by somebody in the audience. Why don’t we have the courage of convictions to accept the truth. They flutter, with impunity, because these are vote banks and unfortunately not brought to justice. Truth hurts. I am also amused that the people of Mumbai want to buy Bullet-proof jackets for their police men. Well, that is not their job nor expertise. You have a trained Police force, who must be given adequate funds to meet their requirements, and a system in place to ensure accountability. If you think the Police is incompetent to do that, then in any case he does not even deserve the salary that he gets. Let the Public not get over zealous and take on everyone’s job in society. The visible bane is that we have a diarrhoea of ideas abut constipation in action.

Today we heard that all beach parties in Goa have been cancelled for the next fortnight due to security fears. So I presume, that next time there is a security alert that an aircraft may be hijacked, all travel will be stopped and aircraft grounded. That would be the escapist route. We must have adequate security measures and regular security audits to ensure that all loopholes are plugged. The “show must go on.” ........security is about fire prevention and not about fire fighting.
Anne Wilson Schaef said,”Security is an attempt to try to make the universe static so that we feel safe”......that however is not the answer. We must have measures in place to correspondingly increase security and search levels once there is an an intelligence warning. We cannot just cancel events and let the terrorists overtake our lives just because we cannot take on the increased work load. That actually is their aim, to throw our lives in turmoil. We as a nation must understand, that they do not control our lives. We have the will and means to prevent, strike and negate all these forces. We must set up standard operating procedures and have periodic security audit checks.

We have been seeing that the Government has been making a lot of effort to make our neighbouring country accountable for what took place in Mumbai. As usual, we take the high horse and they the slippery road of denial. Well, we all know that they already have huge problems on their Western front, in an area which is called “Gair Ilaqa”, which is controlled by feudal war lords/ Taliban. It would be in the interest of the Taliban for the forces to be diverted to the Eastern borders to take on India. With the American forces pushing from the West/Afghanistan,perhaps the time has come to squeeze the middle, and look for a permanent solution. Pin point/ strategic strikes may not work. The US forces have had enough experience without adequate results in that kind of warfare in that terrain.

In the meanwhile, while our Government looks for options to root out the fundamentals flaws, be they within or across our Borders, it is the duty of every proud Indian to invoke a sense of discipline in thought and action. We must encourage the security man to do his job with diligence. The VVIP syndrome that most of us have, must give way to an essence for a secure surrounding. Each one of us must be an icon towards that goal. The problems of the insecurity of security will automatically fall in the scheme of things, for a safe tomorrow. We owe that to our children.

Jai Hind
Maj Moshe Kohli (Retd)
James F Bymes: "Too many people are thinking of security instead of opportunity. They seem to be more afraid of life than death."