AN EYE OPENING INTERVIEW         

OF 

ONE OF THE CREATORS OF 7th CPC

Samuel's Take :

The bias of Mr Vivek Rae, a retired IAS officer and a member of the 7th CPC, is evident from his following dissent note :

Vivek Rae, used the dissent note to state : 
"It is clear, that the matter regarding the edge of the IAS over the other All India and Group 'A' Services, has been deliberated at length by the Central Pay Commissions over the last six decades and also by the Honourable Supreme Court. There have been repeated endorsements about the IAS being the premier civil service in the Country, flowing from its unique role and responsibilities. There cannot be an iota of doubt in this matter.

No new factors have emerged for the 7th CPC to conclude that the edge enjoyed by the IAS should be removed and the IPS and the IFS (Forest) brought on par with the IAS. The objective reality in fact, points in the opposite direction. It may be noted that the financial edge enjoyed by the IAS over the OPS and IFS (Forest), is essentially at the State and field levels. State CMs are key stakeholders who need to be consulted for taking a well considered view in the matter. No such consultation has been held by the 7th CPC with the political leadership at the State level".

The interview is reproduced as received. I cannot vouchsafe for the correctness of the contents. Even if untrue, the fact that it is doing the rounds in Defence circuits, shows the prevailing sentiments in the Defence Forces.

Extracts of an interview of Mr Vivek Rae, IAS, (member 7th pay) commission to economic times.(an eye opener for armed forces).

Q.       There has been a growing expectation from 

            armed forces as regards the pay commission?

Ans.   No, you see the govts may promise anything; 

            but its the bureaucracy who play with the 

            numbers. We know how to manage the 

            statistics and we would continue to do so.

Q.       Dont you think that  armed forces have  been 

            growing far more vocal for their privileges ?

Ans.   No you see, in a democracy; the order of 

            priority  will always be judiciary followed by 

            bureaucracy and then these security guys. If 

            you see,  a brigadier of army can not even 

            order to open a fire unless cleared by a 

            district magistrate of 8 years of service. So 

            where does the question of parity exist.

Q.       So are you also looking at cutting down some 

           of their colonial privileges ?

Ans.  Ya not even that. I am preparing a report 

           where I am suggesting that 20% houses of 

           army in prime cantonments such as delhi , 

           pune etc should be allotted to civil officers. We 

           have already cut down  on their rations, 

           electricity. In fact we want to recommend that 

           all army facilities like sports infrastructure 

           pools, clubs, golf courses and messes are not 

           exclusive property of army and should be 

           shared by all civil officers also. 

Q.      But there has been a growing sentiment for                    army from all quarters?

Ans.  But country doesn't run on sentiments. It runs 

           on ground realities. And the reality is, that 

           today, a SI of police in Agra or Patna has more 

           influence and power than a Major General of  

           the Army. So we have to see who  are the 

           deliverables on ground and compensate them  

           accordingly. 

Unmasking Modi: 

The Violence, Insecurity 

And 

Rage Behind The Man 

Who Has Replaced Gandhi 

As the Face of India
SIDDHARTHA DEB

GOVERNMENT OF THE PARIVAR

2nd YEAR REPORT CARD

"KHODA PAHAD, NIKLI CHUIYAH"

http://www.msn.com/en-in/money/topstories/narendra-modi-governments-second-year-report-card/ar-BBt4PRY?li=AAggbRN&ocid=iehp

AN OPEN LETTER

TO THE KNOWLEDGEABLE RAKSHA MANTRI

Samuel’s Take :

I am surprised that the RM’s reference to the retired  Chief of the Air Staff, ACM SP Tyagi, VM. AVSM, PVSM, ADC, as ‘Chote Log’ within the hallowed precincts of the Parliament, went uncontested till now, both within and outside it. 

This was another example of this Govt’s determined effort to belittle every institution, except themselves, be it the opposition, the state govts or even the Military and the highest Judiciary.

Do we have to invite the Gens from across to give pep-talks to these characters, for them to learn what the true status of a Defence Chief is ?

I will keep on repeating my warning ad nauseam, “This Country will have to pay a heavy price for the five years of misrule of the Parivar”.

The Article, as earlier published, has been edited slightly.

===========

         Minister Parrikar, A Defence Chief  

Is Not "Chote Log", 

He Is Known By His Rank

GROUP CAPTAIN T.P.SRIVASTAVA

Dear Mr Parrikar, 

I listened to your entire speech in the Indian Parliament on 4th May, 2016 with regard to Agusta Westland acquisition fiasco. I was expecting that you will bring out/highlight some substantive issues.

Ironically your statement lacked substance, commitment to bring to book and mention the names of the political and bureaucrat culprits (who were responsible for directing/ ensuring/influencing that parameters such as maximum operational ceiling and cabin height were changed to suit only Agusta Westland knocking out S-92 out of contention), and most importantly make/submit explicit measures that you have instituted/propose to implement that will eliminate/minimize the scourge of kickbacks in defence deals. 

Your political statements were all in the future tense viz “---- Hum kisi ko bhi nahi chorenge chahe who kitna bhi bara ho---( we will not spare anyone however powerful the person may be) or words to that effect. The entire nation knows that such utterances by politicians mean nothing. 

It is, however, the latter part of your statement, as elaborated below, which has forced me to write to you.

                   "---- Gautam Khaitan aur Tyagi to chote log hain—etc

                            etc)." 

As an Indian citizen and a proud soldier, in  that order, I am ashamed that our Defence Minister does not know how to address a Service Chief, retired or serving. 

I fully understand your total lack of experience or even a theoretical knowledge of defence related issues, keeping in view your background, but I fail to comprehend why after having spent over a year as Defence Minister, you have apparently deliberately failed to learn the basic protocol or even etiquette so very essential while addressing a Military officer, granted permanent commission in Defence Forces of the Nation by no less than the Commander-in-Chief, the President of India. 

It was morally incumbent on you to either mention/state all the names or take no names. You have mentioned Khaitan and Tyagi because they cannot retaliate politically, while the others can and would. 

On the altar of political expediency you chose to bring into disrepute the name of a Service Chief. By the way, was there no bureaucrat involved in the Agusta Westland negotiations? Were you trying to tell the Nation a blatant lie, albeit in an indirect manner, that it is the Service Chiefs, who decide what equipment to buy, when to buy, from where to buy and most importantly at what cost. Your statement conveyed just that to a common man on the street. In doing so, you have willfully sullied the image of Defence Forces. 

Mr Minister, historically, traditionally as well as legally, a Military officer is to be addressed by prefixing his/her rank whenever his/her mention is made in public domain/official communication. You have either failed to learn this fundamental rule or deliberately chose to address a former Service Chief in this wanton manner forgetting law of the land, historical practice and even basic courtesy, so very essential in public life. 

Incidentally, Mr Minister, you were referring to a former Chief of Air Staff and not a sepoy. Please know that a Service Chief is not an individual, he is an institution. Institutions should not and must not be denigrated in the manner you have done, seemingly, deliberately. 

Mr Minister there are only three persons in our Nation, who can either win or lose a war against an aggressor. They are the three Service Chiefs.

You probably know that a politician Raksha Mantri and his minions do not fight war on the battle field. Even today, 54 years after the 1962 debacle, an ordinary citizen perceives that the Indian Military, (Not the then Defence Minister or Defence Secretary), lost the war. A look at the Henderson Brooks-Bhagat report on the 1962 fiasco which will tell you a lot. You may instruct your minions to put up a copy of that report for your perusal.

Addressing a Service Chief in the manner you did in the Parliaments, you have willfully denigrated the institution of the Service Chiefs. You owe an apology to the Nation and to the over 2 million soldiers, including reservists. 

Listening to the Agusta Westland debate for the past three weeks, was like having one’s mind raped every hour day after day. Your speech was no better. You failed to bring out any facts and repeated untruth doing rounds in the public domain. Indeed you succeeded in projecting your jaundiced vision, harming the greatest Institution of all ‘Our Bharat’.

What was even more appalling was the fact that your speech failed to make any distinction between the men/women involved in the scam and the machine in question. That is where national security issues come in. Individuals are culpable in giving/taking bribes. But, just as it happened in the case of the Bofors guns, you have made the Nation believe that the ‘helicopter’ itself was guilty of act of bribery. 

The Bofors Artillery Gun is an unmatched piece of equipment, which saved the day for us in the Kargil War with its pin-point accuracy. Further acquisition of this gun has not been barred because we put national security on the back burner and instead have constantly been keeping the pot political expediency boiling. 

We are doing exactly the same in the present Agusta Westland case.

Let me risk making a forecast. Mr Minister, you or your successor and the government of the day will deliberately fail to acquire clinching evidence that will bring any political figure to book and be jailed entirely due to political compulsions. The Enforcement Directorate and CBI, who still remain ‘caged pigeons/parrots’, will simply not ‘find’ any  clinching evidence. Courts will have no option but to acquit the accused, if any, barring the ‘Chote log’, who have already been identified by you. 

My response and rebuttal to your profligate behaviour on the floor of Lok Sabha is not (r) not to Defend Air Chief Marshal SP Tyagi. It is against your willful dishonor, shown to a Service Chief, by deliberately failing to inform the house and the Nation about the process of acquisition of Defence equipment and the extremely limited role/authority of a Service Chief. Service Chiefs merely ‘ratify' the proposal in as far as qualitative requirements, (QRs), are concerned. The ‘cash’ part is handled by bureaucrats and politicians. 

You and your predecessor have failed to let the nation know as to why Defence procurement process was followed for acquisition of helicopters, which were meant exclusively for civilian use, although operated by IAF personnel. After your reckless statement calling Air Chief Marshal SP Tyagi ‘chote log’ or words to that effect, quite a few media channels and self-proclaimed experts on Defence matters have addressed him in the same derogatory manner as yourself during the past week. That is why I decided to bring to your notice your appalling conduct in the floor of Parliament.

Let me shift focus to more substantive issues. Entire process of Defence Equipment Acquisition is controlled and overseen by the Defence Secretary because it is he/she, who heads the Defence Procurement Board and not the Service Chiefs. The Defence Acquisition Council headed by Defence Minister is not the executive body. It is the DPB, the executive decision making body that is responsible and accountable for all decisions taken and is headed by the Defence Secretary.

The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) merely stamps the decision taken by the Defence Secretary. Service Chiefs even as on this date cannot buy a ‘pin’ worth five rupees without the express approval of the MoD. It is the Defence Secretary, who must be held responsible/accountable for delays in acquisition (root cause of middlemen making merry) and possible financial impropriety in close connivance with the political bosses of the time in all Defence deals.
Mr Minister why have you not considered it fit to call all the Defence Secretaries involved in the process of the Agusta Westland acquisition? Even the ‘caged pigeons/parrots’ have only called the the Deputy Chiefs of Air Staffs as informed by the media. Service Chiefs have little or no say during the Price Negotiation Process. Why have these simple and elementary facts not been stated even by so-called defence experts baffles me. A common man has been made to believe tha the service chiefs can buy whatever they want without any checks and balances due to prolonged lopsided debate in media, mentioning false and/or incomplete facts. The image of the Services has taken a beating.

You must educate yourself by reading Chanakya’s works on statecraft. One of the fundamentals of statecraft is the art of assigning authority, responsibility and accountability. Service Chiefs (Not the Defence secretary or Defence Minister) are accountable to the nation at large in ensuring territorial integrity of the nation but have little or no authority in decision making with regard to Defence procurement. Inordinate delays in procurement not only results in national security being marginalized but also results in huge cost escalation. Acquisition of AJTs for IAF and Aircraft Carrier for the Navy are merely a few examples. The appalling state of Defence PSUs is yet another inheritance the nation has suffered and continues to suffer entirely due to myopic and jaundiced vision of your predecessors and yourself. National security imperatives be damned. 

As a nation, the largest democracy in the world, we have achieved a unique status. We have become a nation of SCAMS, virtually in all areas, where public funds are involved. Chronology of scams since independence deserves to be printed as a set of volumes, because one book will be too voluminous to record all the scams. Perhaps most of the scams would be a wonderful study in acquainting the future generations on the total lack of governance or bad-governance. 

While every scam hurts the national interests but scams involving procurement of defence equipment from foreign vendors effects the national security directly. The stark reality as on date is that in foreseeable future (till around 2050 A.D.), we are unlikely to produce ‘Big Ticket’ Military hardware viz Aircraft Carrier, Submarines, Tanks, Heavy Artillery Guns, Aero-planes, Drones, Electronic Warfare Systems/Suites, which will match the best in the world. Hence the military will remain dependent on acquisitions from foreign vendors. We must make clear distinction between indigenous hardware and licensed products. To emphasize the point, just one example would be adequate. We still have not been able to manufacture an aero-engine, which can equip our fighter, transport and/or helicopters that we might produce in next few decades. We have not been able to develop steel with required tensile strength, which can be used to manufacture turbine blades. 

It is ironic that the Defence Ministers have excelled in finding a scapegoat extremely conveniently by dismissing/ forcing to resign the Service Chiefs leaving the bureaucrat, the real culprit, as happened in cases of few former Chiefs. Even the professional conduct of nearly all defence secretaries has been less pathetic. Strict adherence to flawed acquisition procedures took primacy over national security. To quote an outstanding example of total lack of understanding on part of Defence Secretary is the instance of rejection of Marcel-Dassault offer of Mirage-20009(DASH-5) and Rafale in the final months of previous NDA government in 2004. Chuck Eddleston the Marcel-Dassault official made this offer personally during his meeting with the then MoS Defence, Mr Rao Inderjit Singh. 

The offer was rejected on a flawed and insane logic of the then Defence Secretary that we in India conclude the deals only after multi-vendor contract has been processed. Rest is history. For his act of ‘conspicuous stupidity’, the individual was rewarded with either the Governorship or an extended tenure in a plum post after his retirement.

Service HQs cannot be absolved of such terrible state of affairs. I would like to hear from past and present Service Chiefs as to why none of them have ever raised the issue with the government that Defence Procurement Board should be headed by them and not Defence Secretary. Indeed if they have and the government declined, they must tell the Nation why.

Yet another aspect that Service HQs must address is the process of finalizing qualitative requirements prior to the commencement of the acquisition process.

I have absolutely no hesitation in submitting that we ask for the moon, which simply is not the requirement. Then starts the process of dilution of QRs, which allows the tongues to wag as is already happening in the media by questioning the PILATUS deal. Can we be a little more realistic in our demands/expectations from the machines that we wish to acquire?

Mr Minister, the malaise of kickbacks in defence deals can be minimized, if not eliminated, if you decide to adopt the following simple measures :-

Firstly, every Defence deal must be concluded in less than three years. This, however, is not possible due to current organizational limitations. You need to introduce following simple reforms:- 

·      Abolish the post of Defence Secretary and Secretary (acquisition). Instead appoint a separate Secretary for each Service, who will report to Service Chief. It will enable each Service Secretary to devote more time to understand, examine and make sensible recommendations in shorter time frame. 

·         Service Chiefs must be appointed as the heads of Defence Procurement Boards. 

·            Process of obtaining NOC from DRDO should be done away with. 

·  Whatever be the equipment, all trials must be done in India. Environmental conditions prevailing in India cannot be replicated in Europe or USA. 

·          Direct the Service HQs to formulate only realistic QRs and then FREEZE them. 

·          In order to make tendering process absolutely transparent, the vendors, (Not the MoD), must be directed to place the details of the offer clearly and unambiguously specifying that the offer is valid for the the entire duration of trials and negotiations or 5 yrs, whichever is earlier, along with the timeline for which the financials of the offer would be valid without any upward revision of the cost and escalation formula thereafter. This must be placed in the public domain well before price negotiations commence. 

Secondly, every Defence equipment procurement proposal must be placed in public domain with its PMR, so that the process of acquisition commences with as much details as possible about the costs involved.

National Security can only be ensured by equipping the Armed Forces with the best affordable equipment. Witch hunting will get us nowhere, especially where Service Chiefs are involved/may be involved. Perhaps the Shloka from Yajur Veda says it all :- 

                                                “Satyam Bruyat Priyam Bruyat 

Na Bruyat Satyam Apriyam” 

Translated into English it means “ Speak the truth but do not speak unpalatable truth”. Chanakya has also elaborated on the same issue. Unpalatable truth causes more harm than good. Welfare of the Nation must be placed before everything else.

From what I hear about your tenure as Goa, Chief Minister, you are an able, honest and competent administrator. Perhaps the South Block ‘climate’ does not suit you. Next reshuffle after current elections just might be what you are  looking for. For your remaining time in office as the Raksha Mantri, please concentrate on national security issues. 

Samuel's Take :

Born in Indore and educated in  Jaipur, ACM SP Tyagi, had no godfathers or godmothers any where in the Indian horizon. Whatever he achieved in his 44 years of uniformed service, he achieved by the dint of his own merit.

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 1965.

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.

AGUSTA WESTLAND AFFAIR

PERFIDY OF THE PARIVAR

AgustaWestland: Who Made the Fix?

MOHAN GURUSWAMY

AgustaWestland: Who Made the Fix?

Mohan Guruswamy

Friday, May 13,2016

NEW DELHI: Anybody who sells any system, product or service to any organization that                                               purportedly has an “open and transparent” method of making a choice knows that the first                                       thing to fix to get the business is to get specifications set to suit them exclusively. 

The Agusta Westland deal, like all other deals whether for paper clips or nuclear power                                                   plants, almost certainly involved fixes. But before we get to that some background will                                                 serve you well. It began with the peripatetic George Fernandes, the NDA-1 defence                                               minister, making frequent and highly publicized visits to meet the jawans manning the                                           Saltoro ridgeline in the Siachen sector. This involved precarious flights on aging IAF                                           Cheetah helicopters. 

The Cheetahs were license built Aerospatiale Alouette II SA 315B Lama helicopters of                                                   mid 1950’s vintage. A Cheetah can carry up to five persons in a tight squeeze and has a                                        range of about 300 nautical miles and a maximum speed of 103 knots. It is powered by a                                       single Turbomeca TM 333-2M2 engine, which has just about in it to make it to the Saltoro,                                     passes. It still flies, but since their induction in 1968, 191 Chetaks and Cheetahs have                                         crashed killing 294 personnel. In 1963 an imported Cheetah crash took the lives of four                                         senior military officers including Lt.Gen. Daulet Singh, GOC-in-C, Western Command,                                                 Lt.Gen. Bikram Singh GOC 15th Corps, Maj.Gen. KND Nanavati GOC 25 Infantry Division                                             and AVM EW Pinto, AOC, Western Command. 

Some years ago I flew in a Cheetah from Leh to the Partapur headquarters of the Siachen                                         brigade. I distinctly recall that a string fastened the Plexiglas door and the chopper                                                     struggled to make it past Khardungla. We had to get back before afternoon thermals                                               thinned the air. Clearly it was inadequate and only pilot skills and the doughty grit of IAF                                            and Army engineers have kept them going. 

The Mi-8's (Hip) first flew in 1958 and has for long have been obsolete and have taken the                                             ir share of the toll. Among those killed in a Mi-8 crash was a GOC-in-C of the Eastern                                           Command, Lt. Gen. Jameel Mahmood, who was slated to become COAS. Those of us                                             who have been ferried ina Mi-8 know it to be a bone chilling experience. No wonder                                             Christian Michel, purportedly advising Agusta Westland, could confidently tell his                                               principals that Mrs. Sonia Gandhi "will no longer fly in the Mi-8." 

With Fernandes making frequent trips, the IAF with its keen instinct for acquisition saw an                                         opportunity to augment its high altitude capable fleet of helicopters. What more sacred                                                 cows can there be than our aging ministers? So a request was made to the government                                           (remember the services are not part of government) for a squadron of new VIP helicopters                                           to make the Cheetah and the equally aging Russian Mi-8 helicopters redundant. 

The IAF then preferred the Eurocopter EC225 Super Puma as the replacement. This is                                               twin-engined a long-range passenger transport helicopter that can carry up to 24                                             passengers along with three crew. It had a service height ceiling of 6000 meters. It was                                                   the only helicopter of its kind with this ceiling, others being limited to 4500 meters. 

This was when and where the fix was made. According to the MoD, "On November 19,                                               2003 a meeting was taken by then Principal Secretary to PM (Brajesh Mishra, also NSA)                                               on this subject. In the meeting, Principal Secretary observed that his main concern was                                               that the framing of the mandatory requirements has led us effectively into a single vendor                                         situation. It was also noted that the PM and President have rarely made visits to places                                             involving flying at an altitude beyond 4,500 meters. In the meeting it was decided to make                                          the mandatory requirement for operational altitude 4,500 meters. The higher flying ceiling                                               of 6,000 meters, and a cabinet height of 1.8 meters could be made desirable operational                           requirements. It was observed that with these revisions, several helicopters which                                                   otherwise met all requirements but had been rejected due to the altitude restriction, would                                             now come into the reckoning." 

The all-powerful Brajesh Mishra followed up this meeting with a letter on December 22,                                           2003 to the IAF Chief (Air Chief Marshal S Krishnaswamy) wherein he chastised, “that it                                           was unfortunate that neither PMO nor SPG was consulted while framing these mandatory                               requirements.” He then ordered that the Air Chief and Defence Secretary “to jointly review                                               the matter to draw up realistic mandatory requirements satisfying operational, security and                                       convenience requirements of VIPs and also set in motion a fast track process for selection                                           and acquisition of the replacement helicopters." This was done. 

Now let’s meet the three Tyagi brothers, Sanjeev (Julie), Sandeep and Rajiv (Docsa), who                                         also happen to be the cousins of Air Chief Marshal SP Tyagi, who became Chief of Air                                              staff in 2005 and retired in 2007. It is important to remember SP Tyagi, a distinguished                                                 fighter pilot (call sign Bundle), was Air Chief neither when the specifications were changed                                           in 2003 nor when the order was placed in 2009. 

The Tyagi brothers became representatives of AgustaWestland, owned by the Italian                                     government’s Finmeccanica (now renamed Leonardo group) in 1996. They were                                               reasonably well known in certain Delhi circles where high value things are made to                                             happen. The youngest, Docsa (doctor sahib) was a medical doctor who found another                                           practice more suited to him. He was at one time Amitabh Bachchan’s political aide. We all                                               know Bachchan had a penchant for sharp business deals and Docsa obviously learnt well                                               He was a standard fixture at the Taj Mahal Hotel on Mansingh Road. 

After Bachchan quit politics, Docsa got into Atal Behari Vajpayee’s circle. Soon he was                                             running errands for him in the Lucknow Lok Sabha constituency where he was reported to                                           be the main liaison with the local Muslim community. Vajpayee’s “foster” son-in-law                                                 Ranjan Bhattacharya was the man who managed the affairs pertaining to Lucknow and                                                   quite clearly Docsa and he were closely associated. Bhattacharya’s power and influence                                              in the Vajpayee era is well known and widely recorded. 

Thanks to these connections the IAF’s preferred Eurocopter EC225 was no longer to be                                               the sole option. A miffed Eurocopter opted out. This is how the Agusta Westland EH-101                                           and Sikorsky S- 92 came into the reckoning. But it was a no contest between them. For a                                               start the Agusta has three engines, one of which was an auxiliary to kick in more power in                                               a drift down situation. It also had a cabin height of 1.83 meters, something that the SPG                                               insisted, as the guards could be standing upright with drawn weapons in the cabin during                                               landing and take-off. 

Now as far as the corruption goes. The usual narrative is that nothing happens in India                                             without below the table payments. But what is less known, is that this is often the pretext                                             for managements of foreign companies to make some big money for themselves. I have                                       always held that Indian politicians and bureaucrats are the bottom feeders in the crooking                                       pool. Service officers are satisfied with even less. Recall the infamous Tehelka video of a                                           general asking for a Johnny Walker Blue Label whisky bottle? 

The Hinduja’s, Nanda's and Chowdhrie's usually make much more money for themselves                                         and their foreign associates and fob off their Indian connections with small change. At the                                         time of writing investigations have begun in the UK of a Panama company owned by a                                              well known arms agent making payments to a top executive of a British aircraft company.        

Their efforts fetched the three Tyagi brothers about Rs.11 crores, while a bigger payment track                                     of over Rs.300 crores led to the Italian and Indian owners of two dummy companies in                                           Tunisia and India, and to a flim-flam man called Christian Michel, the son of Wolfgang                                             Michel who figured in the Mirage and Bofors deals, incidentally both during the Rajiv                                             Gandhi tenure. Does this lead to another son-in-law? Wait and see. 

Much is being made off by the BJP about the Milan Court of Appeals judgment convicting                                     Giuseppe Orsi and Bruno Spagnolini, the CEO’s of Finmeccanica and AgustaWestland                                                 respectively for “false accounting and corruption” in which the judges referred to an                                           unsigned note purportedly by Christian Michel. This refers to Sonia Gandhi and the then                                            PM among others. But an unsigned note has no evidentiary value. This was the basis for                                       dismissing the charges against LK Advani and others in the Jain Hawala Case. The BJP                                               is now conveniently forgetting this. This is politics. Selective memories and far-fetched                                           conjectures.

ARISE ! RECOGNISE THE THREAT

TO OUR BHARAT 

AND YES, 

#PO MONE CHAPPAN CHAATI

Not just from 'God's own country', but  from the polity of the land of our forefathers, fondly called, 'Bharat'. His slip is showing in full view of the Nation!!! 

This call, (Arise!), is addressed to all my dear friends who, in the run-up to the Parliamentary elections of 2014, told me to shut up and also to crores of our citizens who fell backwards to sing paeans for Chappan Chaati, giving him an unprecedented majority in the Lok Sabha. 

I told then, have said a number of times since then, and will say it again, ad nauseam : this man and his Parivar are a danger to the idea of Bharat that has been built over thousands of years and now enshrined in the Constitution of our Country by the founding fathers of independent India.

The deceit that they practise will win hands down, if there was a contest.

They sided with the British and now pose as the champions of democracy.

They murdered the Father of the Nation and now try to capitalise on his name. 

They fought the idea of secular Bharat with its first Home Minister, who ultimately banned them and now glorify the same man for electoral gains.

While ostentatiously swearing by the secular core of our constitution, every day they do everything in their power to destroy it, with the blessings of the very top, the Parivar.

A diabolic arrangement has been worked out by the wolves in sheep's garb. Chappan Chaati will keep tweeting, "Strength of India is in its diversity", but his loudmouthed and vicious minions will, aggressively and unabashedly, pursue the agenda of a Hindu Rashtra, be it the education system or depriving the poor of their staple food, while branding all dissenters as anti-national, asking them to go to Pakistan. Follow us or else .... 

It made no difference whether the dissenters were renowned scientists, (Including a Bharat Ratna), academicians, artists, historians or thinkers. Command from the top : branded them all as anti-nationals. That has, of late, become the 'Brahmashtra' of the Parivar.

Bash up and/or kill men in broad daylight in full view of a whole lot of people, on trumped up hysteria, just for the fear effect. Their communities did not matter. Even the parent of a serving soldier was not spared and murdered brutally in his own house, in full view of the entire village. No one has yet been punished.

A man who tweets at the drop of a hat, keeps mum when his goons go sinister and wild and later fetes and rewards them, a few with ministries!

Boasts, boasts and more boasts; nothing but empty boasts; and rhetoric :

To the soldiers : "Within 100 days of my coming to power, I will give you everything that the UPA deprived you of."

To the entire Nation : "Within 90 days of coming to power, I will bring back all the black money stashed abroad by the corrupt enemies within, whom I will put behind bars", while he lets his own, including three CMs and senior members of his own Ministry, make merry. 

The latest icing in the cake, is today's voluminously documented expose about the murky deal by one of his CMs, (Already accused of robbing the pdf rice of the bpl families), for the same Augusta Westland helicopters that they are busy, day and night accusing the Congress big-wig of. The poor Mr Sharma, the under secretary, had to become a fugitive to help the expose! And what lies the Govt spread about him!!!

To the Nation : "Within 5 years, I will give you Congress mukt Bharat." 

They murdered democracy in Arunachal and tried the same trick in Uttarakhand, only to be thwarted by the highest judiciary of the Nation.

What is most surprising is that the figure head C-in-C, who, even though he was a respected leading Congressman, had refused to sign two key proclamations sent to him by the earlier UPA Govt, signed on the dotted line, like a puppet, each and every proclamation that was sent to him by this Govt. What transpired each time, between the President and the senior Ministers who took the proclamations to him?

What else can you expect from a man who demonically and ruthlessly sidelined the very elder who led him up the political rung literally by his little finger, the man who stood like the 'Rock of Gibraltar' between a disgraced CM and his downfall. 

What else can you expect from a man who deceitfully won the votes of the simple soldiers, the sentinels at our borders, defending the democracy of our Nation and then instructed his minions to tell them, "It was your fault that you believed election jumla". No one has thought of filing a case of cheating and fraud against him!!!

And now, through the 7th CPC, he is in the process of making the soldier crawl limbless, behind all the Central civil and uniformed services.

Yes crawl. That is right. The Chief of the Army Staff, who commands nearly 2.1 million troops, (Including reservists; not to speak of over 0.35 million pensioners), was made to sit out and then told by the RM to leave without an audience. Reason? He had come without an appointment!!!

There was a time when even the Maoists in Bengal were scared to death of the presence of the Army. I remember the incident in the heart of Calcutta, when a Maoist tried to throw a grenade at an Army IS column on vehicles, but was shot dead before he was halfway through his throwing action. The Maoists never again tried to attack an Army Column. 

During the same 1969 - '70 IS duties, called up after the civil authority had completely failed in almost all of the State, our engineer unit was camped in a grove at Durgapur, which was the erstwhile den of the Maoists. Never did the Maoists ever dare attack us.

Compare that to today's scenario when an Army column has to carry placards to tell the arsonists, "Please don't attack us, we are the Army"!!! 

With policemen masquerading  as soldiers and so termed with impunity by all and sundry, with the blessings of the Central Govt, the word 'soldier' has lost its sanctity and dignity. The uniform has become a cursed item for the real soldier.

The Defence Forces are categorised as an unorganised sector; we cannot form unions or associations; we cannot protest; we cannot strike work; and thanks to the present RM, a military commander now cannot even maintain discipline in his Unit and ensure the integrity of his command of around 1000 men/women, so essential to a force where a soldier has often to charge to his certain death in the battle fields, on the verbal orders of his commander. Why? Because the esteemed ignorant RM has forbidden any disciplinary action against any soldier, who breaks the chain of command in sending his grievance to the RM. Damned be the Army Act, the Army Rule and the Defense Service Regulations, which contain well defined procedures of redressing grievances. 

In all democracies around the world, except India, the word, 'veteran' brings awe in the countenance of the general populace, led by its discerning leaders. In India, however, the word is synonymous with a neglected, dishonoured 'has been'. What is there for a soldier when he pawns his life for the safety of his Nation? A little honour and well being of the family he leaves behind? Is it too much?

While the self serving generals stoically remain meek and mute spectators of this degradation of the Defence Forces,  demoralisation and disaffection are fast brewing among the all ranks below. 

I can see on the horizon a distinct possibility of catastrophic events, which may destroy our Country and set-in the dawn of irreversible changes in the polity of India.

They tried their dirty tricks in Delhi and got a mighty slap from even its poor but knowledgeable sections of electorate. 

They upgraded their bag of dirty tricks in Bihar, but received a humiliating kick  from the proud people of the land of the Gupta and the Mauryan Empires. 

The fanatics of the Parivar are so obsessed that they do not learn lessons easily. They have continued to follow the same formula of defaming, deharmonising, disaffecting and upending their bags of dirty tricks in each and every state elections since Bihar. In their desperation to achieve majority in the Upper House of the Nation, the welfare of the Nation and its peaceful ethos were fair game for the chicanery of these monsters

In the most advanced state of the Country, which truly is a melting pot of communal harmony, and which, not for nothing we call 'God's own country', the poison of communalism were injected for electoral gains and when that did not work, publicly compared the State to Somalia. There is no doubt that the electorate of the State, will give a befitting reply to this insult hurled at the proud people of one of the most prosperous states of our Country. They have already started the process with their #PoMon twitters!

In Tamil Nadu, one of the best administered states of the Country, he calls the administration inept and inefficient!!!  And of course, the Congress is always corrupt, while his own corrupt are knights in shining white armour!!! No doubt my proud Tamil brothers and sisters too will soon give an appropriate reply through the AVMs. 

Lies, lies and more lies, in the manner of the German Goebbels, the Nazi propaganda  minister. More the merrier. Repeated oftener, makes it believable. 

Every claim is a lie. Every figure quoted is fake and untrue. Doctored and fake videos are manufactured in their production factories, manned by the motivated members of their Parivar. With the help of a national media, most under duress, are helping the spread of these lies.

While the Govt and the media croons the falling commodity prices, such of us who are born and brought up in the North and for whom Dal is staple, are buying Arhar for Rs 260/- a kg.  Weekly grocery bills have mounted from Rs 500/- to Rs 2,500/-.

As warned by me three years ago, this man and his Parivar are set to obliterate the very idea of Bharatiata, our age old heritage.

Arise my sisters, brothers and friends of Bharat and save our Nation from this ruthless maniac and his Parivar, who managed to even subvert the loyalty of a serving Army officer, sworn to defend a secular Nation and make him a co-conspirator in terror cases along with terrorists, who are also members of the Parivar.