Bad defence
Referring to Indias serial imports in military hardware,an article in the CPM weekly Peoples Democracy asks that the government issue a white paper on the current status and self-reliant capability of defence PSUs and other defence research and manufacturing entities,focusing not on the financial health of these entities,but on analysing the capabilities for autonomous development. It says that the gap in defence capability underlined by the previous army chiefs letter to the prime minister has provided an additional fillip to the foreign acquisition spree and has spurred a campaign to undermine defence PSUs.
On the recent orders placed for 75 Swiss-made Pilatus P-7 propeller-driven basic trainers for over Rs 3,000 crore,which it calls most shocking,the article states: In all the roughly four decades since the development of the HPT-32,used not only by the Air Force but by flying clubs and other civilian establishments for training rookie pilots,could not the HAL and the department of defence production,or any other aeronautical establishment,conceive and execute a plan to develop the next generation of basic trainers,one of the simplest of aircraft? If HAL or ADE or DRDO were not delivering the goods,what was the department of defence production,with a separate minister of state,doing? And what was the defence minister doing,presiding over this vast empire? Or the scientific advisor to the defence minister? Or,indeed,the cabinet as a whole?
Contemplating how far behind India now lags in autonomous technological capability,the article states that the current state of affairs marks a colossal failure not only of the defence industry,but also of the political leadership and the civilian bureaucracy.
UNDER Attack
Editorials in the CPM and CPI journals Peoples Democracy and New Age,respectively target Home Minister P. Chidambaram for his purported ice-cream remarks,notwithstanding his denial and subsequent correction by news organisations. In its editorial,New Age criticises the UPA government on the issues of price rise and the tackling of the Naxal problem. (The) UPA 2 government that earlier tried to justify price rise as a worldwide phenomenon now treats it as index of development, states the editorial. While the home minister has been under attack from the Opposition for actively pursuing cases involving Sangh Parivar activists in bomb blasts at Malegaon,Mecca Masjid,Samjhauta Express and the Ajmer Dargah,the editorial alleges that these cases are being diluted. All sorts of stories,involving even military intelligence,are being planted to create confusion and provide (an) alibi to the Hindutva brigade to come out of embarrassment [sic, it alleges,while demanding the home ministers removal.
Targeting Nitish
Recalling the Bathani Tola massacre on its 16th anniversary,CPI(ML) weekly ML Update targets the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar. Contrary to the claims of the Nitish government and its apologists,feudal and casteist violence are in no way a thing of the past in Bihar. This is underlined by the way supporters of Barmeshwar Singh vented their fury on the day of his killing by arson and attacks on Dalit hostels in Ara,with the collusion and inaction of the police and administration, it says. Citing data released by the National Crime Records Bureau,the article claims that crimes against Dalits have risen under the Nitish Kumar regime. Not only are atrocities against Dalits on the rise in Bihar,Bihars rate of chargesheeting cases and conviction are also the worst in the country. Bihars rate of chargesheeting cases under the atrocities act stands at 82.2 per cent,below the national average of 90.7 per cent.
