MERGING OF THIS BLOGSITE

I thank all the readers of this blogsite who have been a source of strength for me to write.
However, for reasons of better administration I am merging this blog with my other blog HARIHARAN'S INTELLIGENCE BLOG available at www.colhariharan.org

I seek your continued support and critical comments on issues I raise in my blogs which will now be available only in HARIHARAN'S INTELLIGENCE BLOG.

Col R Hariharan (Retd.)

Sri Lanka Perspectives - June 2012

By Col R Hariharan

Highlights

•         Indian National Security Advisor Shiv Shankara Menon’s one-day visit triggered media speculation as it came after President Mahinda Rajapaksa met with Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on the sidelines at the Rio+20 summit in Brazil in the third week of the month.

• Political confrontation between ruling coalition and opposition was triggered after ten goons armed with T-56 rifles, riding motorcycles carried out brazen daylight attack on a JVP meeting in Southern Sri Lanka killing two persons.

• Provincial councils of Eastern, North Central and Sabaragamuwa provinces have been dissolved preparatory to the elections to be held for them in September 2012. The election commission has called for filing of nominations from July 12 to 19; the elections will be held on a Saturday falling on 1st, 8th or 15th September 2012. Opposition parties have castigated the government for not announcing the Northern Provincial Council elections, which are long overdue.  

Migration of this website

This website is being merged with the my intelligence blog at www.colhariharan.org.
All visitors are requested to view my writings in www.colhariharan.org now onwards. I thank the members who had patronised this site; they may like to join the other website www.colhariharan.org

Col R Hariharan

The legacy of Gen VK Singh

The just completed tenure of General VK Singh as Chief of Army Staff will be remembered as an epoch making one. It was marked by a series of controversies as single handedly he tried to clean up an entrenched corrupt system. I am reproducing an interesting analysis of the legacy General VK Singh leaves behind by Lt General Harwant Singh, former Deputy Chief of Army Staff, that had appeared in the Hindustan Times (Chandigarh edition) for your reading.                                               

Gen VK Singh's legacy

By  Lt-Gen Harwant Singh ( Retd )
                     
Much has been written in the press and much more discussed on TV channels as to Gen VK Singh’s legacy. Equally there have been controversies and allegations on his conduct, relations with the MoD and with senior officers within the army. It is time to examine the issues in their correct perspective and close this chapter of accusations and counter charges. 

Sri Lanka: Why military matters in the North?

By Col. R. Hariharan 

President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Victory Day speech this year on May 19 was largely a defensive discourse justifying the continued presence large army formations in the North. The sense of triumphalism that had become hallmark of Victory Day speeches was missing this year. 

This is understandable as the President’s speeches from last year onwards have become increasingly reactive as international focus on Sri Lanka in recent times had been presenting it in bad light.  Many of Sri Lanka’s problems are based on age-old prejudices and three decades of bad blood between the ethnic communities.  

Fonseka's second war

By Col R Hariharan

The presidential pardon to General Sarath Fonseka (officially it is ‘ex-General’ as he has been stripped of his hard earned rank) after he completed only two years of a three-year jail sentence should come as no surprise.

As things happen in the Island nation, the idea touched off speculations on when and how he will be released. Of course, there was a lot of build up before it really happened with the perennial political go-between Tiran Alles MP took up the General’s case for pardon with his one time pal - the President. And the former Army Chief comes up once again in national focus with the speculation on what is he going to do?   

Myanmar: Testing political acumen

[This article was written on April 21, 2011; since then, Aung San Suu Kyi and NLD members have been sworn in as members of parliament. The article is reproduced here courtesy South Asia Magazine, May 2012 issue which carries it]

Testing Political Acumen

Emerging victorious, Aung San Suu Kyi has created quite an impression in Myanmar and beyond. But how much political refinement will she need before she is ready to face the real battle for democracy?

By Col R Hariharan (retd)

Nobel laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi who had been leading the struggle for democracy led the National League for Democracy (NLD) to a resounding victory in the recent parliamentary by-elections in Myanmar. The re-entry of Suu Kyi and the NLD in Myanmar politics opens a new chapter in the troubled history of this nation.Undoubtedly, Suu Kyi’s charismatic leadership and tremendous popularity bagged 44 of the 45 seats for the NLD.

Sri Lanka: Flogging the Tamil Eelam issue

By Col. R. Hariharan 

May Day celebrations in Sri Lanka this year saw an unusual sight. R Sampanthan, the septuagenarian leader fighting for Sri Lanka Tamil rights and president of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), standing shoulder to shoulder with the United National Party (UNP) leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, waved a Sri Lanka flag to the cheers of a massive crowd in Jaffna celebrating the May Day. 

Chennai Centre for China Studies - An appeal

The Chennai Centre for China Studies (CCCS), a premier think tank based in Chennai, India, exclusively devoted to covering developments in China, invites voluntary donations from all Indian nationals including the NRIs, in order to help its further progress and consolidation.

 The CCCS researchers include eminent analysts in India and its managing committee comprises former top civil servants, academicians and  military specialists  who remained involved in China-related work for a long time. Access to Chinese language material for research is a specialty of the CCCS. Its website www.c3sindia.org is popular and being viewed throughout the world.

So far, the CCCS has been managing its working, out of self-generated funds and limited contributions from well-wishers. To enhance its capabilities further, it now needs additional financial support and wishes to appeal for donations from the interested Indian nationals, both at home and abroad.

 Following are details which may be required in connection with remitting money to the CCCS:

Account name: Chennai Centre for China Studies
Account No.: 0475 0100 0030 228
Bank: Indian Overseas Bank
Branch Address: Tower Branch, AC-56,5th Avenue,Anna Nagar(West), Chennai- 600 040
Branch Code:  0475
IFS Code:  IOBA0000475
Swift Code: IOBAINBB001

2. The prospective donors may choose any suitable banking money transfer channel for remittance to the above mentioned bank in Chennai, India. Alternately, they may wish to send a crossed cheque direct to the CCCS by courier/air post to the office address given below.

3. The CCCS is yet to be granted exemption under 80G of Indian Income Tax act; as such, the donors may not be eligible for any tax benefit. 

The CCCS will be happy to respond if there is need for further information. 
 

Our Contact Address:

Director, Chennai Centre for China Studies (CCCS),
 2 Apoorva Apartments,
7 Maharani Chinnamma Road, Venus colony,
Alwarpet, Chennai- 600 018
Tel: 044-42113140
fax : 044-42113150

Sri Lanka: Reading between the lines on Indian delegation to Colombo

By Col. R. Hariharan

There are both positives and negatives in the reports on the Indian parliamentary delegation’s six-day visit to Colombo. The reports include a statement of Mrs Sushma Swaraj, the multi-party delegation leader issued at the end of the visit, as well as inputs on the press conference she addressed in Colombo.

Indian Parliamentary delegation to Colombo- Some Observations

By Col. R. Hariharan 

(Here is my response to specific questions raised by media on the Indian parliamentary delegation’s visit to Colombo on April 16, 2016.) 

1.     Is this parliamentary delegation on a goodwill visit or fact finding mission to Colombo? 

The visit is a reciprocal visit from our parliament after a parliamentary delegation from Sri Lanka visited India. Such delegations are regularly exchanged between many countries; in fact a Sri Lanka parliamentary delegation visited Pakistan in February 2011. So the overall objective of this delegation is also presumably to increase the goodwill between Indian and Sri Lankan parliamentarians. 

PM’s Conference on Internal Security – Questions & Answers

By Col R. Hariharan


1.      Prime Minister has said Left Wing extremism remains a major challenge to the internal security of the country? What are your views? 

The Prime Minister had highlighted Left Wing extremism (LWE) as the major threat facing the country in earlier conferences on internal security also. LWE had been there for a long time because it feeds upon existing short comings of governance and works to wreck the effectiveness of the system. So it continues to thrive in states vulnerable to such weaknesses. 

Downside of Media 'scoop' on National Security

By Col. R. Hariharan 

The controversy surrounding the outgoing Army Chief General V. K. Singh’s revelations in the last two months provided an excellent opportunity for the Indian Express Editor’s cleverly constructed “scoop” hinting at the panic created in New Delhi when two military units – a mechanized column and a parachute battalion - moved towards the capital on January 16. Its innuendoes at the establishment’s suspicion about the loyalty of the army drew nation-wide attention. It is significant that a factual news story on lessons army learnt from the same military movement published a month earlier in a news website failed to get the same attention. 

What is the state of readiness of our troops - 5

TV and to a lesser extent print media are increasingly becoming arbiters of many issues of national interest in the real time. As the vie with each other to increase their TRP ratings, truth and objectivity in reporting and analysing events have been pushed back. Their conduct in covering the recent events relating following the Army Chief General VK Singh "episode" has been remarkably murky. Writing about General VK Singh's conduct had been full of innuendoes and sneering contempt.

The worst was the Indian Express front page news story full of snide comments, hinting at the "curious'" (bashfully not uttering the C word) purpose in two army units moving "towards" New Delhi on the day the Army Chief's case in Supreme Court came up for judgment. This had shocked even the worst critics of army and the Army Chief. Many media men have taken the newspaper to task for such unabashed sensationalism. I am reproducing below an hard hitting article by Nitin Gokhale, veteran defence analyst and news editor of NDTV, on the media's conduct in the whole affair for your reading.

The Soldier, the State and the Media

Nitin Gokhale, April 6, 2012

In my three decades of reporting on the Indian military, I have never felt more uneasy about the military-media interface as I have in the past three months.

What is the state of readiness of our troops -4

Continuing the series of articles on the subject, are agents of arms dealers the real culprits for the glitches in our defence procurement? Contrary to many analysts, I hold the view the legitimate agents provide a valuable interface to understand the needs of the user and identify the right sources for procurement. They should be paid a legitimate commission like any other agents in the commercial world. As they are legitimate, transaction will be above board and accountable. They will be paying income and service taxes and their accounts will be open for inspection at any time. This will bring transparency in the transaction.

In 1986, Government of India removed agents as the middle men and decided to directly deal with arms manufacturers. The species of honest middlemen was kept out and under the table wheeler-dealers tookover. And immediately thereafter the Bofors scam hit the national headlines. There seem to be no stopping of scams.

I am reproducing an article, courtesy DNA India, "Confessions of a former arms dealer" written by a former naval officer in support of my argument. The article shows how a legitimate agent can provide valuable service to the armed forces. When we reform the system (WHEN?  is the 64 dollar question), this aspect should also be paid attention.

Confessions of a former arms dealer

Benoy Bhushan, April 4, 2012

What is the state of readiness of our troops - 3

As muckraking continues in the media with the Army Chief General VK Singh as the centre piece, one thing is clear. All is not well the way manage our defence services and run the defence ministry; and it is affecting national security preparedness.

What is the way out? I am reproducing here a pithy article from TR Ramaswami, a retired bureaucrat, who has come out with a workable solution, courtesy Economic Times 

But who is blocking the change? Sheela Bhatt writing in www.rediff.com contends it is the bureaucracy which wants to preserve their hold and are loath to allow any change. If you are interested read her article "Babus now oppose General Singh's vision for MoD" available at URL:

http://www.rediff.com/news/special/babus-now-oppose-general-singhs-vision-for-mod/20120405.htm

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Defence sector needs to be streamlined and reformed to stay relevant in a changing India

T R Ramaswami, Apr 5, 2012

The leaky-weaky-snafu-cum-imbroglio in the defence sector has provoked very interesting reactions and suggestions. Historically, armies have been around millenniums before the words 'democracy', 'parliament' and 'civil service' came about.

What is the state of readiness of our troops - 2

The unseemly controversy surrounding the Army Chief General VK Singh does not seem to be dying out. It got further complicated when a front page scoop in the Indian Express by the editor-in-chief, hinted at New Delhi's panic reaction when two army units moved towards New Delhi the day General VK Singh's case came up for judgement in the Supreme Court. Although, the sensational story was of dubious construction, and vehemently denied by the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister, the damage has been done to the reputation of the Army Chief and the Army - the innuendoes questioning their patriotism was obvious.

In this context, I am reproducing another article by General VP Malik, former Chief of Army Staff, that appeared in the Tehelka today, courtesy Tehelka Magazine for your reading.   

Army should not look like it's losing its values

VP Malik, Former Chief Of Army Staff

As A former Chief of Army Staff, I have no hesitation in admitting that the unprecedented events of the last few days have deeply damaged the reputation of a very precious institution. One is tempted to say in despair, what is left?

What is the status of readiness of our troops?

Recently, when the Army Chief General VK Singh’s letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh drawing his attention to weakening of military capability of army due to gross deficiencies in its armament and weaponry was leaked to the media by vested interests the immediate reaction was astounding. 

Some of the retired senior army officers, media pundits and politicians focused on peripheral issues like the threat to national security by the leak, “impropriety” of the Chief writing to the Prime Minister, or suspecting the veracity of the Chief's damaging assessment rather than dealing with the damaging contents of the letter. Some even wanted to ‘sack’ the Chief! A former National Security Adviser in his geriatric wisdom Called the Army Chief worst ever and wanted him to be shut up!

What is the truth? What is the actual status of readiness of our forces to face threats to national security.  This question is answered by the no-holds-barred article by Bharat Verma.

Subterranean threats to India-Sri Lanka relations

By Col. R. Hariharan 

According to a news item in the Colombo daily “The Island,” Sri Lanka intelligence services have received information that around 150 terrorists who returned to Sri Lanka from India were now hiding in the North and the East. They are reported to have undergone “a special arms training at three secret camps in Tamil Nadu” to carry out a de-stablisation campaign.

Three alleged LTTE cadres arrested after a member of the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) was hacked to death gave out the information when they were interrogated.  

Quoting police sources the news item said the suspects claimed they had fled to India after the LTTE’s defeat and underwent “refresher military courses” in secret locations in Tamil Nadu before returning to Sri Lanka disguised as fishermen. As the LTTE links of the three suspects were established, they had been handed over to the Terrorist Investigation Department, police sources added, according to the report.  

Storm Signals on National Security

by Col.  R. Hariharan 

“Army chief’s letter bomb” screamed TV anchors when leaked contents of a letter from the Army Chief of Army Staff General VK Singh addressed to the Prime Minister reached the media. In his letter he had made ten points to show that the army’s fighting capability. The Army Chief listed ten points which have rendered the army ineffective to face threats to national security. All of them related the lack of timely procurements of armaments and ammunition to the troops. 

The reaction to this national security fiasco in parliament was typical. Many members including the Right and Left, spent more time on the danger posed to national security by the leak, than its damaging contents. Some members like the Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lallu Prasad Yadav, who was no paragon of probity, wanted the Army Chief to be sacked summarily for leaking the letter, without even bothering to find out who did it. His cohorts from UP and Bihar of the Samajwadi Party and Janata Dal (U) echoed the same sentiments.

Impact of UNHRC Resolution on India-Sri Lanka r

Col R Hariharan

India was among the 24 countries that voted for the U.S. draft resolution on Sri Lanka’s accountability in respect of human rights violations which was passed at the 19^th meeting of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) at Geneva. Fifteen member countries opposed it while eight abstained. The text of the resolution is at Annexure. 

By voting for the resolution, India has shown it concurs with two core issues contained in the resolution: 

1.      Sri Lanka has not adequately taken up follow up action on the LLRC’s recommendations on a host of issues. It needs “to credibly investigate widespread allegations of extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances, demilitarize the north of Sri Lanka, implement impartial land dispute resolution mechanisms, re-evaluate detention policies, strengthen formerly independent civil institutions, reach a political settlement on the devolution of power to the provinces, promote and protect the right of freedom of expression for all and enact rule of law reforms.”

Should India vote for war crime motion on Sri Lanka?

[This article was written for and published by www.rediff.com before the voting at UNHRC on March 22.]

This is a question that is being debated not only in the UN Human Rights Council meeting at Geneva or Sri Lanka, but in India as well. This came about, typically the way Parliament responds to issues these days, after members from Tamil Nadu stalled the crucial pre-budget parliamentary session, says Colonel R Hariharan.

Clearly Indian government is trying to find its famous "middle path" to make up its mind. And 'middle path' as per its standard operative procedure is to buy time. So we see the hapless minister, facing the flak from the media and other political parties, indulging in word play rather than answering question squarely.

President Rajapaksa’s Moment of Truth

Col R Hariharan

President Mahinda Rajapaksa confronted his moment of truth at Geneva on February 27 when the 19^th meeting of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) started discussing Sri Lanka. It was third time Sri Lanka’s accountability issue had figured at the 47-member body. This time it is going to be difficult for Sri Lanka to ward off discussion as the U.S. has circulated a draft resolution that questions Sri Lanka’s accountability during the last days of Eelam War in May 2009.  

Sri Lanka Perspectives: February 2012

Col R Hariharan

Highlights

The 19^th meeting of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that started at Geneva on February 27 dominated the national attention during month. The U.S drafted resolution asking Sri Lanka to implement the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) relating to human rights was to come up at the meeting.

Sri Lanka Perspectives: January 2012

Col  R Hariharan

Highlights

President Mahinda Rajapaksa faced the uncomfortable consequences of his reported promise to the visiting India’s External Affairs Minister (EAM) SM Krishna to enforce the 13^th Amendment Plus on empowering provincial councils. In his subsequent interactions Rajapaksa denied it and said he would take action only after the issue is discussed by all political parties.  As the opposition Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) said it was clear the President was trying to buy time rather than decisive action on this issue. If he really awaited opposition parties’ participation in the parliamentary select committee (PSC) constituted for this purpose the issue may never be resolved in the near future.  

The burden of heading 1.3 million-strong Army

Col R Hariharan

The Defence Minister took four months to reject the statutory complaint from his own Army chief.

Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju has aptly summed up the government’s largely self-created mess, after Army chief Gen V K Singh petitioned the Supreme Court to get his date of birth in the government records corrected: “It is an unfortunate development and it is not a healthy precedent either for the ministry or the armed forces…It is an unhealthy precedent. It does not augur well either for the ministry or the forces,” he said.