The World during Cold War & now. (from Indian perspective)

I was born in 1979 at a time when the cold war was at its worst. The world was divided into 2 power blocs and it seemed that a third world war is imminent. It was during this time that Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and US President Ronald Reagan & British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher took an aggressive stance against Soviet Union’s agenda of expansion. The deadly arms race assured the destruction of the globe multiple times. After observing the current happenings around the world  I have tried to contemplate how much has the world changed after the cold war. My broad observations are as follows:

During Cold War.	Now. (Post cold war)
Osama bin Laden was a friend of USA who helped USA in fighting proxy war against Soviets in Afghanistan.	Osama bin Laden turned out to be biggest enemy of USA after 9/11 and was killed by US forces in Pakistan.
Pakistan was friend of USA.	USA is accusing Pakistan of backstabbing and supporting terror groups against USA. Very soon the relationship between the two is likely to loose the label of “friendship”
USA threatened India on behalf of Pakistan and even moved its seventh fleet to scare India in 1971 war.	USA is advising Pakistan to make peace with India and Pakistan should not treat India as its mortal enemy.
Pakistan was seen as close to USA and India was seen as close to Soviet Union (Although, being part of Non Aligned Movement)	USA-Pakistan bilateral relations are diminishing and USA-India relations are getting stronger.
USA was the greatest well wisher of Pakistan.	China is becoming the greatest well wisher of Pakistan.
Japanese electronic goods dominated the world market. They were seen as cheap and unreliable.	Chinese electronic and other consumer goods dominate the world market. Now they are seen as cheap and unreliable.
USA was the biggest economic power.	Countries like China are challenging USA’s dominance in the economic sphere and are potent to defeat USA in near future.
Spread of Communism was the biggest worry for USA.	Spread of terrorism is the biggest worry for USA.
USA was keeping a close eye on every move of Soviet Union & vice versa.	USA is keeping a close watch on every move of China & vice versa.

जेल गैंगवार: डॉन अबू सलेम और मुस्तफा डोसा में सुलह

जिस शख्स ने अंडरवर्ल्ड डॉन अबू सलेम की ये हालत मुंबई के आर्थर रोड जेल में हुए गैंग वार के दौरान की थी उससे अब सलेम ने हाथ मिला लिया है ।वो शख्स था डॉन दाऊद इब्राहिम का गुर्गा मुस्तफा डोसा ।डोसा पर आरोप है कि उसने एक चम्मच में धार करके सलेम के चेहरे और गले पर हमला किया और उसकी जान लेने की कोशिश की ।उस गैंग वार के साल भर बाद टाडा अदालत में सलेम और डोसा ने एक दूसरे से हाथ मिला कर सबकों चौंका दिया ।

अबू सलेम और मुस्तफा डोसा दोनो की बुधवार को मुंबई की इसी टाडा अदालत में एक साथ पेशी थी ।अपने वकीलों और जज के सामने दोनो एक साथ कटघरे में आए ,एक दूसरे के गले मिले औऱ हाथ मिलाकर फिर से कभी न लड़ने का वादा किया।

अबू सलेम और मुस्तफआ डोसा दोनो 12 मार्च1993 के मुंबई बम धमाके के मामले में टाडा कानून के तहत आरोपी हैं ।1997 तक अबू सलेम दाऊद के लिए काम करता था लेकिन उसके बाद सलेम ने दाऊद गिरोह छोड़कर अपना अलग गिरोह बना लिया ।उसी वक्त से दाऊद और सलेम के गिरोहों के बीच दुश्मनी चल रही थी जो जेल में भी जारी रही ।दाऊद के गुर्गे मुस्तफा डोसा को शक था कि सलेम उसकी हरकतों की जानकारी जेल प्रशासन को दे देता है।इसी बात से खफा होकर उसने 24 जुलाई 2010 को सलेम पर हमला कर दिया ।

कहते है कि राजनीति में हमेशा के लिए कोई किसी का दोस्त या दुश्मन नहीं होता ।दोस्ती और दुश्मनी जैसे रिश्ते जरुरतों के मुताबिक बनते और बिगड़ते रहते हैं ।यही बात अंडरवर्ल्ड पर भी लागू होती है ।आर्थर रोड जेल में हुए गैंग वार के बाद अबू सलेम और मुस्तफा डोसा दोनो को मुंबई के बाहर अलग-अलग जेलों में भेज दिया गया था ।ये बात दोनो को नागवार गुजरी और इसीलिए दोनो ने एक बार फिर हाथ मिला लिया है ।

अबू सलेम नवी मुंबई की तलोजा जेल में है और मुस्तफा डोसा थाणे जेल में है ।दोनो के लिए मुंबई से बाहर रहना काफी तकलीफदेह साबित हो रहा है।रिश्तेदारों और वकीलों से मुलाकात करने में दिक्कतें तो आ ही रही हैं लेकिन इसके साथ साथ दोनो को आर्थर रोड जेल में अपने बने बनाए नेटवर्क की कमी भी खल रही है ।इसीलिए दोनों को आपस में सुलह कर लेने में ही समझदारी नजर आयी ।अब दोनो अदालत से फरियाद करेंगे कि चूंकि उनकी दुश्मनी खत्म हो चुकी है इसलिए फिर से उन्हे मुंबई की आर्थर रोड जेल में भेज दिया जाए।

Interview with US Asst.Secretary of States Mr.Robert Blake.

(Recently, I chanced upon to meet Mr.Robert (Bob).O.Blake, Assistant Secretary for Department of States & in-charge of south & central Asian affairs.He was in India along with Secretary Hillary Clinton for diplomatic talks with her Indian counterpart S.M.Krishna. Mr.Blake has also served as a diplomat in India & Sri Lanka.Few years back he survived an attack by LTTE in Sri Lanka. Here are excerpts from the on camera interview with Secretary Blake.)

1)  Mr.Secretary, Pakistan has been harbouring some of the most wanted terrorists of India & United States on its soil. In the case of United States you have carried out an operation & killed your deadliest enemy Osama bin Laden, but for India some of its most wanted terrorist like Dawood Ibrahim, Maulana Masood Azhar, Zakir ur Rehman & others have still got safe haven in Pakistan. You say that India is your partner in the war against terror, then will US do something concrete so that these terrorists are handed over to India?

Answer: Secretary was very clear in her venture in New Delhi that Pakistan has an obligation to prevent terrorism on its soil to prevent attacks on  friendly countries like India and U.S, but she is also very clear that we need to work closely with Pakistan. We need to engage Pakistan because it’s a country that faces many challenges now, economic challenges, energy challenges, security challenges and so we have an important effort under way to help them meet those many challenges simply through increased civilian assistance through the Carrey Berman Legislation…so we are pursuing these tracks.

2)    Mr Blake, what do you feel India’s stand should be after getting evidences of numerous terrorist attacks which were planned on Pakistani soil & executed in India? How do you think India should react every time?

Answer: Well again I think India has responded very appropriately by taking a very firm line on the need  of greater progress by Pakistan not only on the trial of those who are responsible for terror attacks but also to dismantle some of the camps that exist and more broadly just to stop terrorism that eliminates from its soil. At the same time India as I said has undertaken this very important engagement process. I understand that the two foreign ministers will be meeting later this mont. This is a progress that we need and  the pace, scope and character of that dialogue of course is up to India & Pakistan friends… but it’s something to applaud.

3)  Mr.Secretary, what is your take on the reports that post Abottabad operation by Navy Seals, US-Pakistan relations have destabilized & distrust is seen taking place?

Answer: Well again the secretary has always been very clear that our relations with Pakistan are complicated. There has been some progress since the Abbottabad raid but truly much more is needed and our leaders have been very clear about that and are again working very closely with Pakistan to try and achieve that progress.

       4)Today itself a news report has come that Gulam Nabi Fai a person who was working for I.S.I has been arrested by F.B.I in United States. He was campaigning against India and also networking with politician in U.S. So, in such a case where you find a person who is conspiring against a friendly country on your soil what kind of action or what kind of a response will be of U.S ?

Answer: In United States it’s illegal for foreign individual to provide funds to people who are running for federal office of some sort for example Congress. It’s also illegal for people to be acting on behalf of a foreign government without registering under our appropriate laws. So in the case of the individual Gulab Nabi  Fai, he had neither disclosed his association with Pakistan nor had been cleared that he himself was representing  a foreign government in making campaign contribution. So he was arrested and will be prosecuted.

5 legal loopholes in J.Dey murder case.

After assessing the information provided by Mumbai Police in J Dey’s case, I find that it is legally very weak. Police will face a tough time in the court. Following are the points which could jeopardize prosecution’s case during the trial.

1)    No Motive : Police has not come on record with a concrete motive on why Chota Rajan killed J Dey? It has to substantiate before the court that Rajan became an enemy of Dey & got him killed. So far there is no motive. Nothing could be fetched from the interrogation of Satish Kaliya as Rajan never revealed the identity of the target, nor he told Kaliya why he wanted to kill J Dey. It was a simple contract killing. Rajan asked Kaliya to kill a man for money, which he did.

2)    Link between Chota Rajan & Satish Kaliya: Police have nothing except Satish Kaliya’s extra judicial confession that he got a call from Chota Rajan to do the job. The question is how the police are going to prove in the court that the call Kaliya received was from Chota Rajan. There is no recording of such conversation. Moreover, Rajan calls from virtual numbers using internet phones, which make it almost impossible to trace the caller.

3)    No eye witnesses: There are not reliable eye witnesses who saw Kaliya shooting at J Dey. Police have got couple of so called “eye witnesses”, but it is questionable that they will survive the cross examination by defence lawyers in the court provided that it was raining at the time of shootout & most of the accused had covered their body & face with wind cheaters. Visibility was very bad. Even the sketch which police had released relying on these “eye witnesses” doesn’t match with the face of Satish Kaliya. CCTV footage has been of not much help & it could not be strong evidence in the court.

4)    Who paid the money? Satish Kaliya took Rs 5 lacs in 2 installments to execute the shootout. Firstly he got money from an unidentified man in Chembur & second time in Nalasopara. However, police have not been able to track the persons who paid this amount to Satish. If these persons are not arrested police will not be able to substantiate that Chota Rajan paid the money for the killing.

5)    No previous complaint from J Dey: Dey never made a formal complaint to the cops regarding any kind of threat to him. He never asked for security, nor applied for a weapons licence. None of his family members, friends, office colleagues & police officers he knew stated the police that J Dey had fear of an attack from Chota Rajan or any other gang. This fact could go against the prosecution in the court.

छोटा राजन और जे.डे का रिश्ता: देशप्रेम, दोस्ती और दुश्मनी

मुंबई के जिन पत्रकारों से अंडरवर्लड डॉन छोटा राजन अक्सर संपर्क में रहता था उनमें से एक थे मिड डे अखबार के जे.डे। जहां तक मेरी जानकारी है डे और छोटा राजन करीब पिछले 12 सालों से एक दूसरे से बातचीत करते थे। अक्सर जब डे अपने साथियों के साथ रहते और छोटा राजन का फोन आता तो वे अपने साथियों से भी उसकी बात करा देते। साथी खुश हो जाते कि डे ने इतने बडे डॉन से बात करवा दी। राजन भी डे के साथियों को कहता- “कुछ काम हो तो बोलना।“ डे और छोटा राजन के बीच बड़ा ही दोस्ताना रिश्ता था और अगर ये रिश्ता पत्रकार और अपराधी के बीच जानकारी हासिल करने के लिये जो रिश्ता होता है उसकी सीमा लांघ चुका हो तो मुझे कोई आश्चर्य नहीं होगा। जे.डे. छोटा राजन से प्रभावित थे। वे इस बात को मानते थे कि राजन वाकई में देशभक्त डॉन है। छोटा राजन ने 1994 में दाऊद गिरोह से अलग होते वक्त कहा था कि 1993 में मुंबई बम धमाके करने वाला दाऊद इब्राहिम देशद्रोही है और इसलिये वो उसके गिरोह को छोड रहा है। राजन ने ऐलान किया कि वो देशभक्त है और दाऊद गिरोह का खात्मा ही उसकी जिंदगी का मिशन बन चुका है। अपने आप को देशभक्त दिखाने के लिये राजन जब भी किसी को फोन करता तो उसका अभिवादन होता- “जयहिंद”।

एक बार फोन पर बात करते हुए मेरी और जे.डे की बहस हो गई। मैने जे.डे से कहा कि दाऊद इब्राहिम तो देश का गद्दार है ही लेकिन छोटा राजन भी ढोंगी है। देशप्रेम का ढोंग करके वो अपने ही देश के लोगों से वसूली करता है, तरह तरह के अपराध करता है और अपना गिरोह चलाता है। देशप्रेमी होने का तो सिर्फ उसने मुखौटा पहन रखा है। जे.डे को ये बात बुरी लगी। डे ने छोटा राजन का बचाव किया और कहा –“भले ही राजन बहुत बडा अपराधी हो लेकिन वाकई में वो देश से प्यार करता है। उसके कई शूटरों से मैं बात कर चुका हूं। देश भकित उनकी रग रग में भरी है। वो लोग लगातार दाऊद तक पहुंचने की कोशिश कर रहे हैं और उन्हें यकीन है कि वो दाऊद का काम तमाम करके ही रहेंगे। राजन ने एक बार मुझे कहा था कि दुबई में मेरी भी इज्जत थी। बंगला था,शॉफर के साथ आलीशान कार थी..लेकिन मैने 1993 के बाद वो सब अपने देश के लिये छोड दिया। चाहता तो मैं भी ऐश से रहता”। जे.डे से उनकी हत्या के पहले मेरी जो आखिरी बातचीत हुई थी उसमें भी उन्होने राजन का जिक्र किया था। डे ने मुझे बताया कि पाकमोडिया स्ट्रीट में हुए शूटआउट के बाद छोटा राजन का उन्हें फोन आया। डे ने बताया कि इस शूटआउट से राजन काफी खुश था। डे के मुताबिक उनसे बातचीत में राजन ने एक फिल्मी स्टाईल का डायलॉग भी मारा- “बॉस अब तो दुख में ही सुख मना रहा हूं”।

आज जब मुंबई पुलिस ये कह रही है कि जे.डे को छोटा राजन ने मरवाया तो ये बात मेरे लिये बहुत ही चौंकाने वाली है। क्या ये वही छोटा राजन है जिसकी जे.डे तारीफ किया करते थे, क्या ये वही राजन है जो आये दिन किसी दोस्त की तरह जे.डे से घंटो फोन करके बतियाता था, क्या ये वही राजन है जो जे.डे की नजरों में एक देशभक्त डॉन था? अगर ये वही डॉन है तो फिर सवाल उठता है कि अचानक ऐसा क्या हो गया जो डे का जिंदा रहना राजन को भारी लगने लगा? डे का जीना राजन के लिये क्यों खतरा बन गया? डे ने राजन का क्या बिगाडा था या बिगाडने वाला था जो उसकी हत्या करवानी पडी? उम्मीद है सच देर सबेर जरूर बाहर आयेगा... हो सकता है वो कडवा भी हो...

God & Pursuit of Positivity. (इस हफ्ते की जिंदगी)

Last Saturday I went to trek at Anjaneri, a place near Tryambakeshwar, Nasik. The place is popular among locals as the birth place of Lord Hanuman (although, there are other 2 places also in India, where people claim the same.) There is a magnificent Hanuman idol just adjoining Nasik-Trayambak road. From this idol people have to trek through the forest & reach the apex of Anjangad mountain where a small temple of Anjanimata is located. Since last 2 years I have been visiting this place again & again for 2 reasons. Firstly, the place is a good weekend getaway destination from Mumbai & you get an opportunity to enjoy & appreciate the natural splendor of the area. The 7 kilometers long trekking on Anjangad mountain & back also makes your adrenaline pump. My second interest to visit this place is religious one & this write up focuses on my notion of religion.

In today’s world it is not the religion you are born in or it is not also about following your parents on which God to worship, but it is your individual choice which makes you to worship a particular God or remain an atheist. For me religion is pursuit of positivity. In my belief, God in whichever form or faith you believe is personification of positivity. I choose to personify my God as Hanuman. As enunciated few months back in this blog, the image of Hanuman signifies positivity, mental & physical courage, intellect, the ability to take risks & good communication skills. I believe that these are the qualities which all journalists require. By way of worshipping Hanuman, thinking about him, we pursue positivity. I don’t expect miracles by pursuing my God, but I do expect to gain inner strength & optimism for the success of my endeavors. I may fail sometimes, but that doesn’t weakens my faith in God, because once you submit yourself to him, you have to accept that whatever happens is only for your very best. The things which on the face might seem to be gone wrong may turn out to be a blessing in the long run.

Religion is one of the most amazing concepts since the advent of human civilization. It is a great & useful concept, except when it is used to make people fight, segregate, discriminate & to make commercial gains. Religion’s beauty lies in keeping it simple & free from rituals & superstitions. 

Encounter Specialists: Double edged swords to combat underworld.

("इस हफ्ते की जिंदगी" का साप्ताहिक लेख इस बार अंग्रेजी में)

Those who have seen the decade of 90s in Mumbai might be experiencing a déjà vu. That was the time when shootouts were rampant, gangster called to extort money & killed those who didn’t pay up. It seemed that mafia was ruling the city & law & order machinery went haywire. What is the scenario today? It seems to be returning back to those old dreaded days. 4 people are kidnapped & killed within hours, a senior journalist is shot dead in broad daylight, gangsters have again started calling up for extortion & fire on people who don’t respond & the figures of kidnappings are rising. The situation calls for a tough retort from the law enforcement authorities before the situation escalates.

Before discussing the ways to deal with the current alarming situation, we should briefly have a glimpse on the strategy which was adopted in 90s to silent the mafias. To control the underworld, government came up with a stringent law Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). Under this law it is not easy to acquire bail for an accused & he or she has to languish behind the bars for a longer period of time. MCOCA also armed the cops with extra ordinary powers. More than 3000 accused were booked under this law in a single decade. However, this law alone didn’t seem enough to terrify & deter the mobsters from the daily bloodbath. Hence, the police then decided to go the extra judicial way. Based on the thought- “Poison neutralizes the effect of poison.” Mumbai Police came up with the unofficial policy of “encounters.” Hundreds of suspected gang members were picked up & killed. Every time such a killing of suspect took place, the cops claimed that they were attacked first & the suspect died when cops fired in retaliation. Almost in every “encounter” this story was used to justify the killings.

During the tenure of D.Sivanandhan (the then Chief of Crime branch of Mumbai Police) alone 238 suspected gangsters from various gangs were eliminated. Later on the cops reduced the intensity of its operation & came up with “one shootout, one encounter policy.” This policy meant that whenever a gang killed some citizen, the cops will pick up & kill any member from that gang which was suspected behind the shootout. Human rights activist might not concur with me, but the bitter reality is that this unofficial policy of “encounters” worked for the cops & was successful in controlling the terror of underworld to a great extent. At least in the first decade of 21^st century the activities of underworld gangs were relatively very low.

Now, let us look at the dark side of this policy. The policy of “encounters” led to the rise of a special breed of police officers known as “encounter specialist.” These were the officers with strong network of informants in the underworld & had the tacit authority to conduct extra judicial killings of the suspected gangsters. They enjoyed extra ordinary powers & shared good rapport with senior officials. Infact, most of the superior officials relied on them to update themselves on the latest situation in the underworld. By killing suspected gangsters they became public heroes & received wide media attention including the international media. Every encounter specialist officer proudly boasted the number of gangsters he had killed. However, their days of glory lasted only for few years. It is alleged that most of such officers took undue advantage of their position in the police force & rapport with their bosses. They became corrupt, got affiliated with one gang or the other, started killing people for money, extorted money from builders & businessmen etc. This led to tremendous negative publicity & judicial intervention. Public heroes were now seen as villains. Almost all the encounter specialists were arrested & send behind the bars on charges of corruption, murder, extortion, custodial deaths & so on. Today there are no encounter specialist officers. Such officers were over confident that their superiors would come to their rescue & they could get away, but now they claim that they were “used & thrown.”

As Mumbai once again heads back to those horrifying days, the question is what policy our law enforcing agencies will adopt to nail the underworld? As enunciated earlier the policy of encounters has yielded results, but then it is a double edged sword. Secondly, even if the government unofficially allows such extra judicial policy, the question is which officer will approve to become an encounter specialist considering the fate of earlier encounter specialist cops. After senior journalist J Dey’s assassination one police officer friend told me that once again there is a need for encounter specialist officers. When I asked him whether he would volunteer to become one, he said- “No way. I have wife & children at home. My parents are old & sick. I have to earn daily bread for them & I don’t want to go to the jail.”