W’end Reading: Mossad, Rahul Gandhi, Sama Veda and Congress’ double-speak

Start this weekend with the story of Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh’s assasination in Dubai.

Next, pl dwell on some insightful observations by Prof. Dipankar Gupta on Young Parliamentarians.

Move on to some thought-provoking mantras from the Sama Veda…

then to a remarkable initiative on the environmental front by some traders in a small town in Madhya Pradesh.

Finally, read Coomi Kapoor on Congress’ double-speak.

Excerpts below, as always.

*** Excerpts from The spies strike again, this time in Dubai by Gordon Thomas ***

…(Mossad)’s ruthless assassinations were made famous by the film Munich, which detailed Mossad’s attacks on the terrorists who killed Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics. Long ago, the agency had established that silence is the most effective way to spread terror among its Arab enemies.

In the past year, al-Mabhouh had moved to the top of Mossad’s list of targets, each of which must be legally approved under guidelines laid down over half a century ago by Meir Amit, the most innovative and ruthless director-general of the service. Born in Tiberius, King Herod’s favourite city, Amit had established the rules for assassination.

“There will be no killing of political leaders, however extreme they are. They must be dealt with politically. There will be no killing of a terrorist’s family unless they are also directly implicated in terrorism. Each execution must be sanctioned by the incumbent prime minister. Any execution is therefore state-sponsored, the ultimate judicial sanction of the law. The executioner is no different from the state-appointed hangman or any other lawfully-appointed executioner.”

…The killing in Dubai is a classic example of how Mossad goes about its work. Al-Mabhouh’s 11 assassins had been chosen from the 48 current kidon, six of whom are women.

It has yet to be established how al-Mabhouh was killed, but kidon’s preference is strangling with wire, a well-placed car bomb, an electric shock or one of the poisons created by Mossad scientists at their headquarters in a Tel Aviv suburb.

…The list of kidon assassinations is long and stretches far beyond the Arab world. In their base deep in the Negev Desert — the sand broken only by a distant view of Israel’s nuclear facility at Dimona — the kidon practise with a variety of handguns, learn how to conceal bombs, administer a lethal injection in a crowd and make a killing look accidental.

…Mossad is one of the world’s smallest intelligence services. But it has a back-up system no other outfit can match. The system is known as sayanim, a derivative of the Hebrew word lesayeah, meaning to help.

There are tens of thousands of these ‘helpers’. Each has been carefully recruited, sometimes by katsas, Mossad’s field agents. Others have been asked to become helpers by other members of the secret group.

Read the story in full here.

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*** Excerpts from An Interview with Prof Dipankar Gupta by Sheela Bhatt ***

In the coming five years do you think India will see many changes under the Congress leadership?

I don’t see many changes coming. I see them as trying here, trying there. But to have many changes there has to be a political will. I don’t think they have it.

Why?

That takes too much work and energy. To be able to change the school system, the health system, the transport system these are most important… It needs too much energy.

I suppose Rahul Gandhi must have that energy.

Even if one man has enormous energy, he won’t be able to do it. It is a big task to clear the entire system. Nandan Nilekani is good, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Of course, there are ways one can do it, but I don’t see any sign so far.

A few months back it was said that Rahul Gandhi is a bachcha (child). But, now, it seems he is no longer looked upon as that. He has arrived.

That is true.

Do you see him becoming prime minister?

Oh, yeah! Of course, I do. I don’t think that will happen within this term. This is Dr Manmohan Singh’s term because he is healthy enough. If for some reason he falls sick, then Rahul Gandhi may come.

But I think Sonia Gandhi will hold him back for four or five years.

How do you see the lot of young parliamentarians?

People say there are lots of young parliamentarians today. This is strictly not true. Look at the statistics. There are more or the less from the same age group that was there earlier. But what is negative about these new parliamentarians about whom we talk so much about is that they are not young at all — they are two-four generations old!

The idea of putting young people in the party or as ministers is a bad thing because those who are the real party workers do not get a chance. The actual party workers are normally not noticed till they are 40, 45 because they are working up their career.

Here, people in their 20s and 30s are getting tickets and posts. I think this gives a bad impression. In the long term it is not a good thing.

If the Congress wants to recharge its batteries it has to now think of going beyond the symbolic young people image because in India there is no such thing as the ‘demand of the youth.’

In majority parts of the country, the young and old have the same problems. They all want jobs, they all want to leave their village. The idea of putting ‘young’ as an image is very squeaky thing.

You and I get very impressed with this, we think, Buddhe buddhe chale gaye (the old have gone), the young have arrived.’ But they are not young at all.

They are not people with ideas and imagination. They have inherited the mantle from their father or grandfather. If you admire only your father or grandfather, you are no good. You are not going to bring about change.

When you keep saying — my father was so and so and my grandfather did this and that — it means that you are not challenging or inquiring old ideas. When you are young your parent should be your first victim!

…

Talking about India’s growth and future, how do you look at India’s advantages and disadvantages?

India would like to consolidate its advantages, but India doesn’t know where its advantages lie objectively. Subjectively, they think it lies in the IT sector, finance and such fields.

In the developing world, India’s main advantage since the last 30 years was its intellectual advantage. It is losing there.

Look, at the listing for the universities. We don’t even figure in the first 100. Can you imagine that?

China’s Fudan University is at number 70. Have you heard of it? I had never heard of it. Look at the citation index. Our people are never quoted. Gradually, other people are taking over.

R&D funding is going down in real terms. If you talk about enhancing human capital India is not working in a planned manner.

We are making money only because we sell cheap white collar or cheap blue collar labour. (Former Nasscom president) Kiran Karnik said that Indian IT companies charge around 40 per cent less, so people come to us.

India should think how to raise its brain power and how to increase skilled labour. The skill of the working class has not gone up since years. The organised industries’s workers are still around 22 million only. The private sector is around another 8 million.

Ninety-three per cent of India’s work force is in the unorganised sector. The real point is this: you have to make the poor of India as net consumers.

That will only happen when you make them full citizens and they are able to access public goods at quality levels in the health and education sector.

I am telling you India will change then.

Read the rest of the interview here

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*** Excerpts from the Sama Veda, courtesy an email from Sh Ashok-ji ***

Understanding is, verily, greater than meditation.

Understanding makes one understand the Rig-Veda, the Yajur-Veda, the Sama-Veda, the Atharva-Veda as the fourth, the epics and the ancient lore as the fifth, the Veda of the Vedas, the rules of sacrifices by which the Manes are gratified, the science of numbers, the science of portents, the science of time, logic, ethics, etymology, Brahma-vidya, the science of elemental spirits, the science of weapons, astronomy, the science of serpents and the fine arts; heaven, earth, air, water, fire, gods, men, cattle, birds, herbs, trees; animals, together with worms, flies and ants; and also righteousness and unrighteousness, the true and the false, the good and the bad, the pleasant and the unpleasant, food and taste, this world and yonder world.

Meditate on understanding.

Sama Veda, Chandogya Upanishad VII, VII – Understanding as Brahman, 1

Strength is, verily, greater than understanding.

One strong man causes a hundred men of understanding to tremble. When a man is strong he can rise. If he rises he can attend on the teachers. If he attends on them he can become their intimate companion as a pupil. If he is their intimate companion he can watch their conduct, listen to their instruction, reflect on what he hears, become convinced of what he reflects on, act and enjoy the result of action. By strength the earth stands firm, by strength the mid-region, by strength heaven, by strength the mountains, by strength the gods and men, by strength cattle and birds, herbs and trees and animals, together with worms, flies and ants, by strength the world stands firm.

Meditate upon strength.

Sama Veda, Chandogya Upanishad VII, VIII – Strength as Brahman, 1

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*** Excerpts from Change Makers by Ambreesh Mishra…

Even as world leaders gathered at Copenhagen last year to find ways to cut carbon emissions, Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh was already doing its bit to save the planet. The traders’ guild, Vidisha Vyapaar Mahasangh (VVM), held a camp recently to sell power-saving CFL lamps at a 35 per cent discount, instead of the usual power-guzzling filament incandescent lamps. Almost 4,500 CFL lamps worth Rs 4 lakh were sold during the two-day camp. Buoyed by the response, the VVM then held another camp in collaboration with the Vyapaar Mahasangh of the adjacent Ganj Basoda town. “This means fewer old filament bulbs and lower electricity use,” says local MLA Vir Singh Raghuvanshi.

The traders’ guilds are encouraging CFL makers and dealers to set up shop at these camps and offer discounts. The traders set up the camps, arrange publicity for CFLs and complement the discount offered by CFL makers and dealers from their own funds. The movement is the brainchild of VVM president Rajesh Jain, who hit upon the idea of promoting VVM lamps after the monthly power dues of his own grocery store more than halved from Rs 1,200 to Rs 500 per month when he replaced his old
tube-lights and filament bulbs. “Earlier, traders used to donate to temples and build dharamshalas but we think tackling contemporary problems is a better way to contribute to society,” he says.

…this is not all. The VVM now plans to promote the use of solar water heaters and cheaper air-cooling. Small town India, it seems, is fast becoming a vital part of the battle against global warming.

Read in full here

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*** Excerpts from The Congress’s doublespeak by Coomi Kapoor ***

The Congress party has a history of doublespeak.

…the ruling party’s recent mixed messages on sensitive and emotive issues like the Batla House encounter, welcoming back Kashmiri militants, resuming the dialogue with Pakistan and the formation of Telangana is simply duplicitous, divisive, damaging to the national fabric and irresponsible.

A government flip flop, which has left most of us bewildered, is the sudden decision to hold secretary-level talks with Pakistan this month. Just a week before the announcement of talks, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao had given an extremely hawkish interview, which is still on the MEA website.

In London a fortnight back, our Foreign Minister S M Krishna expressed pessimism over the prospects of talks since the Pakistan government has taken no meaningful action against the Pakistan-based perpetrators of the 26/11 attack. In fact, the Pakistan government recently permitted leaders of jihadi groups to stage massive rallies in Muzaffarabad and Lahore where participants vowed that the jihad against India would continue until it hands over Kashmir. To top it all, there was a fresh terror attack in Pune on Saturday.

Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh’s recent trip to Azamgarh also exemplifies the opportunistic tactic of playing both sides. Singh went to Azamgarh merely to give a sympathetic hearing to those questioning the veracity of the Batla House encounter and demanding a fresh probe, even after the National Human Rights Commission gave a clean chit to the police.

By encouraging suspicions about a genuine crackdown on terrorists, Singh has succeeded in demoralizing the police just days after they had made a fresh arrest in Azamgarh which provided more corroborative evidence in the case. Singh clearly believes that the key to the Muslim vote in the forthcoming UP assembly polls is to pander to false suspicions.

In the process he has succeeded in strengthening misgivings and the sense of alienation within the minority community.

The Home Ministry backing the Jammu and Kashmir government’s proposal to welcome back terrorists settled in PoK, provided they give up militancy, is another example of the ruling party speaking from both sides of its mouth.

…The truth is that the party finds it convenient at times to speak in different voices while addressing different constituencies. It plays the game of good cop and bad cop, with the Gandhis keeping an enigmatic silence and their options open.

Read  the article in full.

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Have a safe, restful weekend.