This Spy Should Have Stayed in the Cold....

It all began with the kidnapping of terror suspect known as Abu Omar, a Egyptian radical mullah who was lifted off the streets of Milan (Italy) on 17 February 2003, in what was termed as an ‘extraordinary rendition’ and transported by special aircraft to Egypt, where the local ‘mukhabarat’ (secret police) tortured him for almost 7 months for information.

Abu Omar was suspected to have been a recruiter of jihadists for Abu Musab al- Zarqawi (the father of the ISIS / Islamic State) who was then operating in Northern Iraq.

The operation included 18 U.S ‘contractors’ on-the-ground who believed that the Italian Secret Service (SISMI) had approved of their operation and would not interfere. 

But, either out of arrogance or sheer incompetence, they had not consulted with the police or the courts in Italy.  Not only they carried out the operation in full view of witnesses, but when Abu Omar got out of jail in Egypt and called his wife (who was still in Italy, and whose phone was being monitored by SISMI) the details of the operation were revealed by the victim himself, and these could not be ignored since the wiretap details were being submitted to the local Courts as evidence against potential terror activities.

To add to the evidence; the kidnappers had left a trail of phone calls, hotel reservations, and vehicles rented on official credit cards; allowing the Italian investigators to put together a highly detailed picture of the activities of the CIA before, during and after the operation.  The persons who were identified through this investigation were the military pilots who handled the flight out of Italy to Germany and on-wards to Egypt, the then CIA Station Chief Jeffrey Castelli, senior CIA agent Robert Seldon and of course the accused spy Sabrina De Sousa (the focus of this story).

Born in Mumbai (Bombay – India) of Goan heritage, Sabrina married a serving U.S. diplomat and became a naturalized American citizen. Due to her fluency in multiple European languages and her connection to the diplomatic community, she ended up working for the CIA and at the time of this fiasco was posted to the U.S. Embassy in Rome. She holds dual nationality of Portugal and USA and has relatives in Portugal as well as in India. The Italian courts have determined from evidence available to them that De Sousa was the planner of the kidnap operation and that she actively monitored the kidnap from planning to delivery of the victim to Egyptian authorities.  

De Sousa, as can be expected, denies the criminal charges against her.

So, where did she screw up? 

Firstly, De Sousa (assuming that she was actually the CIA case officer for this operation) came to Italy on a diplomatic passport and was attached as a Consular officer. This would have brought her straight under the EU / Italian surveillance microscope, where her activities in public would have been monitored routinely.

Secondly, she put together a team that was shoddy in their operational procedures and left behind a trail that the prosecutors could easily follow.

Thirdly, she wrongly assumed that diplomatic cover for an operative at the consulate, even those carrying diplomatic passports; is not a guarantee of diplomatic immunity from prosecution.

Had she gone to Italy as an ‘dark operator’, isolated herself from the U.S. Gov and its various services and most importantly; used third-party contractors paid in cash to catch her ‘fish’ and have it transported to Egypt using a tramp cargo vessel ; she would have achieved her objective without anybody being the wiser and with full deniability.

De Sousa claims that she was following orders which were issued at the highest level of the U.S. Government (which basically means the President). But, executing these orders on-the-ground is the responsibility of the operatives and here she and her team (as also her bosses in Europe) failed miserably.

Today, De Sousa is legally detained in Portugal under a EU arrest warrant in her name and would be produced in an Italian court-room in the next few days. While she has been convicted in absentia by the Italian Courts earlier (and given a four year prison sentence); it’s possible that she can demand and get a re-trial. 

A re-trial would be nightmare coming alive to the CIA and the Italian intelligence agency, since many old operational records would have to be made public as evidence, both by the prosecution and the defense legal teams; and this might lead to further and potentially damaging information of parallel spy operations of those days.

Currently, Sabrina De Sousa is the only person who is poised to go to jail for the kidnap. Her old bosses Castelli and Seldon were pardoned by Italy’s President Matarella in 2015; and gave a tactic understanding to the CIA that Italy would not push for the extradition of any of the U.S operatives who were involved in the kidnap.

De Sousa tempted fate by travelling to Portugal, while being fully aware of the EU arrest warrant against her and has approached U.S President Trump to intervene in her case. The world over, spies are waiting to observe the fate of De Sousa; which would definitely impact operational procedures drastically.

Author: ‘Sardar’ Sanjay Matkar

25 February 2017

Twitter: @sanjaymatkar

www.matkar.net

Information for this article sourced from public sources.

UPDATE: LISBON, March 9 (Reuters) - 

A former U.S. spy, newly pardoned by Italy in connection with the CIA kidnap of a terrorism suspect in Milan, has credited President Donald Trump's administration with saving her from an Italian jail. https://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/03/09/ex-cia-spy-credits-trump-for-saving-her-from-italian-jail/21877653/

This article was originally published in www.newnviews.online I thank them for the opportunity.

Operation “Vanquish Pakistan” ……

“Vande Mataram”.

Operation “Vanquish Pakistan” ……

 

 

The State of Pakistan has long been accused of being both; a terrorist sponsor as well as a terrorist State.

Based on the suspicion that the then Maharajah of Kashmir (Hari Singh) was planning to accede to the Republic of India, it was on 25 August 1947 that the Muslim Conference wrote to the Pakistani Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan warning him that "if, God forbid, the Pakistan Government or the Muslim League do not act, Kashmir might be lost to them" - 

This set the first ball rolling and Pakistan initiated an economic blockade of Kashmir, which at that time was an independent kingdom. At the same time, Sardar Ibrahim, leader of the Muslim Conference in Poonch, established the first known militant base in Muree (now in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir). He was joined in his efforts by Major General Mohammed Akbar Khan who later became the in-charge of the Pakistani Army Forces during the first India-Pakistan war of 1947. His principal role was in arranging guns and devising strategies for war and revolt by Sardar Ibrahim's branch of the Muslim Conference against Hari Singh with the help of the Pakistan Army. This was one front organized by Pakistan against the Kashmir government of Hari Singh. The second front was the transportation by Pakistan forces of the Lashkar Tribals (Pathans and Mashuds) in an attempt to capture Srinagar.

This action in 1947 can be considered as the first act of sponsored terrorism by the State of Pakistan. It rapidly made progress in this unique industry and in 1993 the United States included it in its list of countries that ‘repeatedly provides support for acts of International Terrorism”. Of course the same USA would become the bosom buddy of Pakistan when the then Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. Pakistan became the launch-pad and support structure provider to the U.S. in their bid to aid, arm and train the Islamic Mujahidin to fight against USSR. When the “War against Terror” was announced in 2001 by the then USA President George W. Bush; Pakistan got a higher ‘status’ in their relationship with the USA; from bosom buddy to bed-partner.

Throughout its miserable existence since 1947, successive governments of Pakistan have indulged in acts of terrorism against its own people (Baluchistan and NEFA), against India (repeated terror attacks), against the world (remember Pakistan was the first country to recognize the terrorist Taliban) and against itself. (Inter-services-Agency [ISI] sponsored terrorists went out of their control and have been consistently attacking military and civilian targets inside Pakistan). Successive Pakistani regimes have committed and in many instances surpassed almost every crime that was committed by the Nazis in Europe during the World War II period (for which the USA / UK had conducted their infamous Nuremberg trials); and yet the same USA and UK remain particularly blind in the present about Pakistan’s activities; because of whatever political considerations they deem important.

Today, Pakistan is still being supported in its terror industry by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, China and USA. 

India, while being the major and first victim of Pakistan’s terror activities, still chooses to play a passive and docile role in accepting the slaughter of our own Brave-hearts of the Army and Para-military forces. The current BJP Govt. keeps talking of the retaliatory cross-border raids that our heroes successfully undertook (and are still undertaking as needed) to damage the Pakistani assets; but overlooks a very important fact of conflict.

Pakistan is at War with India with a specific goal to capture and conquer Kashmir; while the Indian Govt. officials (including our 56” chest sized Prime Minister) is reacting with pin-pricks of random raids that are not in any way diminishing the attack capability of Pakistan.

Add to this the psychological issue; that since our Armed Forces personnel are not given a long-term, clear-cut goal or objective to achieve, they are fighting with one arm tied-behind their back. (Defense of our mother-land is a generic viewpoint and not a mission goal or objective).

It is upon us, the people of Hindustan to secure our Nation, our culture and our happy way-of-life. Submitting to terrorist Islam or any of its variations was never an acceptable choice, and now it’s a danger that has to be destroyed from its roots. Pakistan and Saudi sponsored terrorist Islam has already taken root in India; with Kashmir, West Bengal, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh being affected, leading to a complete lack of law-and-order, where radical Islamists are committing crimes with impunity and have announced a clear agenda that they are working to conquer and subjugate India. 

The Govt. of Shri. Narendra Modi listens quietly, and does nothing. It does not even try to enforce simple law and order per Constitutional Law, just keeps silent.

When our Brave-hearts sacrifice their lives for our country, to keep us safe; the Government reacts with statements of “heartfelt regret” and offers monetary compensation to the heroes families. (As if the Heroes fought for money. No, they fought for our country). While sundry ministers make a bee-line to bow before the coffins of our dead, the Home Minister makes his regular and repetitive speech, whereby he will make a “vituperative” statement against the latest attack. Interestingly, he now has upgraded the contents his statements against terrorist attacks from being only vituperative to being extra-vituperative. (निंदा से घोर निंदा तक).

We have to take action to defend ourselves. 

The first part is to force the Govt. of India to take a strong, fighting stance against Pakistan. It should be the declared policy of the Indian Govt., that within a specified period of time, Hindustan will take away POK from Pakistan and bring the entire State of Kashmir under the laws of the “Constitution of India”. Effectively, the Govt. has to announce an expiry date for Article 370 with respect to Kashmir as well as a battle schedule to remove all Pakistani government assets and their control from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK), and surrounding areas.

The second part is for the majority of Indians to isolate Pakistan and Saudi Arabia on other fronts. No sports interactions, no peace dialogues, no commerce or trade and no cultural interactions. The People must protest against such activities if undertaken by the Govt. and prevent them from taking place. If every self-respecting Hindustani takes this one crucial decision, the Govt. will have no choice, but to accept the people’s verdict.

What about the actual invasion of Pakistan? The details are best left to our country’s military planners; but the social and political foresight and vision has to be clear. Indian armed forces will put boots-on-the-ground; initially to liberate and repossess the territory of POK and surrounding areas, destroy all Pakistani military assets and sponsored terrorist camps in the area and capture enemy troops if they are wearing the official military uniforms of Pakistani forces (as per the Geneva convention). The rules of this convention will not apply to non-state enemy and they will be considered as ‘terrorists with deadly intentions’, unless proven otherwise. 

Essentially, the Hindustani armed forces will have clear instructions and official mandate to use deadly force against non-uniformed persons bearing military arms and munitions; and they can be killed without prior warning or any emotions of mercy. This procedure has already been adopted by USA using Drone warfare in Afghanistan and Iraq / Syria on a daily and regular basis to attack and kill terrorists. Russia has also adopted this strategy in Syria to target those whom are considered terrorists. Once POK is liberated from Pakistani control, the Hindustani forces will work towards the breakup of the current territory that comprises the nation of Pakistan and divide it into independent Nations like Baluchistan, Sindh, NEFA / Pakhtun, et al. While this process of break-up will lead to violence, de-stability and localized violent conflict, it will keep the Islamic forces fighting among themselves while the rest of the world can rest back and watch. The Govt. of Indian will definitely have to be proactive and work at high speed to secure all the nuclear assets of Pakistan and ensure its safe custody at the first instance.

If, and this is a very big IF; the Shri. Narendra Modi Govt. actually does find the courage to take this step; Hindustan would be in the fore-front to not only stop terrorism in an effective and comprehensive manner; but would actually enhance its image as a country committed to global peace and world harmony. We must remember that before Lord Shriram started his Rajya (reign) that brought happiness and prosperity to his citizens; he had to fight a bloody and ruthless war against Lanka’s King Ravan and defeat him. Of course, it’s incorrect to compare Pakistan with Ravan since the former is a State built on deceit and a fanatic, cruel ideology; while the latter was a scholar who preached the secrets of effective public governance to Shri Laxman (brother of Lord Shriram) as he lay dying on the battlefield.

In a nutshell, we – the Country of Hindustan, has to take military action to defeat those who are currently in control of Pakistan and are using a regressive, negative and inhuman ideology in their attempt towards the regional conquest of the Indian continent; and to ensure the full and complete defeat of the Islamic forces of evil – in order to ensure the survival of our Indic values, our glorious culture that spans back thousands of years and our spiritual and emotional values of humanity towards all.

Jai Hind.

Author: ‘Sardar’ Sanjay Matkar

Dated: 18 February 2017

Twitter: @sanjaymatkar

www.matkar.net

Resources used in this article via Google.

This article was first published in www.newsnviews.online. I thank them for the opportunity.

Challenges and Obstacles to Innovative Startups – An Overview..

‘Make–In–India’, is a revolutionary idea that has been initiated by the Government of Mr. Narendra Modi, the Hon. Prime Minister. Launched in September 2014 as part of an overall plan of nation building, it is devised to transform India into a global design, innovation, startups and manufacturing hub.

Two and half years later, while the Government is working hard to ensure ‘ease of doing business’ by restructuring labor laws and other disadvantages that have constricted business in the past, the ground reality is still a long way from the dream that is envisaged under this initiative.

Huge portions of the required  infrastructure are still under development, with major and industrial roads not being up-to the required international standards. The choke points of highway toll-booths, Octroi toll-booths and other sundry policing points by various government departments prevent the smooth flow of traffic of raw materials and manufactured goods, adding to the cost of raw materials as well as sale pricing. Add to this the still defunct logistics facilities, lack of adequate warehousing of global standards and the use of a trucking fleet made-up of old and inefficient cargo carriers; and the obstacles are of huge proportions.

While the campaign has attracted over Indian Rupees 2000 crore worth of investment proposals from foreign countries, only a fraction of this has been translated into real money-in-the-bank commitment by the investors. Labor reforms and policy reforms have still not trickled down to the grass root levels. The bureaucracy is still sluggish and uninspiring, and prefers to do its work as it is used to under previous governments.

While software technology development companies have started up operations on India using the immediate benefits of this campaign, they still prefer their hardware to be manufactured in China and Taiwan.

The biggest pothole in the road to Make–In–India is the complete lack of discipline among the citizens of our country. The notion or idea of Pride, National interest, Quality of production is unknown and uninteresting to the majority of our populace. As a society, we do not believe in social obligations or civic discipline. This mostly leads to an uninspired and non-motivated gray-collar to white-collar work force that is unaware of global standards and also untrained the same due to lack of knowledge on this issue.

Laws are broken with impunity because law–enforcement is weak and prosecution is a horribly long drawn process. 

A Nation is defined by its character. Character is not hard to define. 

“Character is doing what’s right, when nobody is looking.” Pride, Duty, Honor and Tradition! These are the four pillars that make up a strong character.

Pride – is the manner in which we live our life, with full commitment to our abilities and capabilities. Pride in our work leads to dignity in our personality and strength towards our society.

Duty – is much more than an obligation. It is a responsibility, combined with our right to live a happy and contented life. Not for ourselves alone are we born, said the philosopher Cicero.

Honor – when we do our duty with honesty and pride, it leads to honor. Honor is the respect that we gain from others in our society as an appreciation of our accomplishments.

Tradition – is the act of honoring our ancestral and cultural roots. It is a guide path that leads us to do our duty with pride and gain honor. Old traditions are replaced by new ones and change with time, since traditions are always a guide and never a jailer.

Add to this the singular most important element called Discipline.

Discipline is the key factor for any success and that is the one factor that we are completely ignoring in our quest to be the best of Nations. Discipline ensures that the work that needs to be done; is done at the time it needs to be done, when most people really don’t want to do it. The one factor that transforms an idea into accomplishment is – Discipline.

Unless entrepreneurs at every level, from start-up to those who are already established enforce the concepts of civil discipline and social responsibilities and ensure the voluntary spirit of Discipline, Duty, Pride and Honor are practiced among all the share-holders of the effort towards long-term entrepreneur(s) success, majority of the startups will remain dreams on paper or crash to an early demise.

Author:

‘Sardar’ Sanjay Matkar

Mumbai – 20 December 2016

This article was published earlier in www.newsnviews.online. My thanks to them for the opportunity. 

To War……To War……To War with Pakistan…….

Uri – 18^th September 2016 – Pakistan sponsored terrorists attack on the Indian Army Brigade HQ killed 18 soldiers. The four terrorists of Jaish-e-Mohammed were exterminated at site.

This specific attack can be considered as the ‘straw that breaks the camel’s back’. The time has now come to attack Pakistan and destroy it as it stands today.

But, hold on. What does this exactly mean?

In the conventional warfare of olden times, this would have meant a cross-border attack using our tanks and infantry regiments while the air-force pounded strategic targets to rubble and the Navy attacked the Pakistani ports of Karachi and Gwadar.

But, we live in modern times. War is no longer a lateral activity where winners are decided by the amount of land that can be captured from the loser or the extent of damage that can be caused to the enemy’s infrastructure. It is no longer, even; the issue of capturing your enemy’s treasury or saleable assets. America has tried this in Iraq since 2003 and 13 years later is still failing miserably to control their ‘captured’ territory.

War between India and Pakistan today will cause ripples across surrounding nations and countries and impact the economics of almost every nation, near and far.

Does that mean that India should keep quiet, remain spineless and suffer the continuous humiliation from Pakistan? The answer is no; specifically an emphatic NO!

Remember our ancestor Chanakya? In war he used the quadruple tactics of ‘Saam, Daam, Danda, Bhed” (Saam = Strategy, Daam = Money power / Bribe, Danda = Force and Bhed = Cunning / Duplicity). And that has to be the basis of India’s next war against Pakistan.

The objective should be to over-run that country and remove its Islamic politics from the roots, while totally destroying its Armed Forces Command Structure (Not the rank-and-file, just the Generals) and to bring in a non-religious, non-sectarian democratic system of administration. Basically once Indian forces, accompanied by our Civil Administration enters and captures Pakistani territory we have to be prepared to stay there for at least 70 – 100 years, i.e. Three to five generations of citizens, to teach them democracy and imbibe in them the spirit of freedom and respect for other people and their opinions. 

Why? Because the population of Pakistan that will be brought under Indian administration will not happily submit to being ruled by those who they will consider as foreigners and invaders, and will consistently revolt and fight back with armed guerrilla tactics.  Just like in Iraq, Indian soldiers and support staff inside Pakistan will constantly be in danger and will suffer casualties.

So, how do we achieve all this?

Indian will have to use the 4D doctrine of “Defend, Deny, Diminish and Defeat”.

1st:   Defend our assets: The Indian Government will have to go into a war-mode and strictly enforce the laws of Indian all over the Nation, but emphatically and strictly in the Border States; to reduce anti-national activities, stop the activities of traitors within India and ensure that there is a rise in public confidence and awareness towards India’s defense strategy. Since law-enforcement will happen in the public domain, there is no issue of leakage of secret plans or strategies.

2nd:   Deny – Pakistan any lee-way to get funding or financial assistance from foreign countries. Pakistan’s financial well-being is dependent on the billions of dollars that it receives as Aid from America, Saudi-Arabia, and Qatar and the financial and military aid that it receives from China. Saudi and Qatar can be brought to heel by a simple commitment by India to their respective governments, that when war starts and India invades Pakistan; any assistance to Pakistan prior to the conflict or during conflict will be considered as assistance to the enemy and Indian nuclear missiles will most definitely reach Riyadh, Doha and other assets of these two States. Since USA has its largest air-force base outside of continental USA in Doha, any attack on Doha will definitely be an attack on USA; and thus USA will become part of the war, unless they mediate and force these two Arab countries to stop financial aid to Pakistan.

With USA and Canada, along-with NATO countries; there will have to be a broad and intensive diplomatic effort to convey the message of a forth-coming holocaust if Pakistan is not invaded, captured, and subdued. These diplomatic efforts would be focused on the populations of these countries using the support of the Indian Diaspora already settled there. Since Pakistan trained terrorist have already carried out attacks in Western countries and the population there is already suffering from these attacks; convincing the people of these countries to pressurize their representatives in the Senate(s) or Parliament(s) would not be an impossible task. We can and should ask the assistance of Israel in this war against Pakistan since Israel has always been grimly concerned about Pakistan’s Islamic Nuclear arsenal and would love the opportunity to neutralize this threat once-and-for-all. India should also ensure the cooperation and diplomatic support of Russia to keep USA and NATO in check and prevent them from undertaking any adventurous initiatives. 

 

China can be controlled by imposing a total ban on the import and distribution of Chinese manufactured goods inside India. Yes, many Indians will smuggle Chinese material to make a quick profit; but this can be controlled by harsh legal punishment and government enforced destruction of Chinese made goods and products. The denial of a huge market will ensure that China thinks twice about supporting Pakistan any further in its war against India.

3rd:   Diminish – the emotional value of Pakistan sponsored terrorist operations by using Psych-Ops (Psychological warfare) against the Jihadis. The terrorists are afraid of two issues after they are killed committing Jihad. One is the fear of their dead bodies being cremated and the other is the fear of their dead bodies being buried with pigs. While a non-jihadi person may consider these two issues as mundane and not worth the thought; for the Jihadi, it is crucial that his physical body after death remains pure and in one-piece. This is not usually the case after they have been shot dead or they commit suicide with explosives; but they are brain-washed to such an extent by the mullahs that they refuse to accept realistic logic in their blinkered minds. Psych-Ops, if used diligently and surgically will diminish the availability of future jihadis into the ranks of the terrorist organizations that are funded and guided by Pakistan.

Further to this, India must take a bold stand and issue financial bounty(s) on the heads of terrorist organizations and those mullahs in Pakistan who preach Jihad. While Pakistani mafia and other criminals who are capable of such extra-judicial executions don’t trust America or its allies; India still holds enough credibility to be trusted by these elements. This will lead to an internal crime war in Pakistan, further eroding the hold that the Pakistani Generals have on the population there.

4th:   Defeat – the multiple enemies that we will face in any war against Pakistan. These enemies are the Generals of the Pakistani Armed Forces, the various terrorist and Jihadi organizations, the mullahs who preach Jihad, the Separatist in Kashmir, their supporters amongst the Indians (CPI, CPIM, Presstitutes, self-declared intelligentsia, and others of their breed). The government and the people of India both know, who these people are and they need to be legally and socially pressurized to ensure their loyalty towards our Nation. Some of our enemies can be subdued using legal tactics and social pressure, but the terrorists will have to be exterminated and the Generals of Pakistan will have to stand trial in a court-of-law for their activities against humanity and for extreme violation of human rights. From Baluchistan to Kashmir to India, there is plenty of evidence over many years that can be used to literally hang the guilty on the hangman’s noose.

Two other issues that seem to be on everyone’s mind are; (a) Use of Nuclear Weapons by Pakistan against India, (b) the so-called China – Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

On the first issue, the chances of use of Nuclear weapons by the Pakistani Generals or the Political establishment are slim to none. This is because the Generals and the Politicians have pocketed humongous amounts of money that they have been receiving over the last few decades and have built up assets in various countries like UAE, Saudi Arabia, UK, Canada, USA, Australia and Europe. They are not going to allow their lifestyle of expensive Scotch, multiple-mistresses and global business enterprises be reduced to ashes. More than the Generals, it’s their legal and bastard off-springs who will prevent any such holocaust from taking place. The other pressure on the Generals to desist on the use of nuclear weapons will come from the Gulf countries and USA, because the mere thought of nuclear missiles hitting their oil-fields and natural-gas reservoirs and turning Arabic countries into large burning infernos and ruining the oil- based economies of USA and Europe will put the fear of the life and death into their rulers and leaders. Everybody is well aware of one reality – a nuclear war is a Zero sum game where everybody loses and nobody wins.

On the second issue of CPEC, articles have been sprouting over the internet that China will attack India over their estimated 50 billion dollar investment in the CPEC project and how it will try to defend its influence in the Indian-Asian part of our continent and Africa. These reports are pure bull-crap and seem to the fantasies of communist supporters. China has never gone to war over an economic issue since the end of the Second World War and the Chinese; who are masters of creating and controlling economic structures globally, will definitely not attack India on this small issue of CPEC. All that India has to do is sign an internationally ratified treaty with China that once India captures and controls Pakistani assets, they will allow China the full economic benefits of CPEC; which India will also use to its own benefits.

To put this all in a nutshell, war with Pakistan is inevitable. It will happen; when circumstances are created to ensure that we will win this war comprehensively and effectively; adding their territory to our own country. The specifics of the battle are best left to our military leadership who are amongst the best in the world. But it will be the politics and statesmanship before, during and after the war that will decide whether it will be a turning point towards our place in history and global society or just another debacle that will cost lives, and economic upheavals.

In conclusion; this war will not be without consequences to us as a community. There will be flight of capital out of the country and foreign investments will cease. We can expect Pakistani missiles to strike at least a few targets in India; which means that normal life as we know it will be affected. Railways will be used on priority by the Armed forces, thus civilian travel will be restricted. Day-to-day laborers and daily-wage earners will suffer, as will the salaried class. Recession will become a part of our economy for at least a couple of years. We will have disrupted power (electric) supply, fresh water will be hard to obtain, and prices of food items with rocket up as demand outstrips supply. Apart from this, we will lose many of our brave-hearts in battle. We, as a community; will have to ensure the rehabilitation of their families, the education for their children, the good health of their elderly and the spiritual and emotional well-being of their near and dear ones. Are we ready and willing to make the sacrifices that war will demand of our civilian population?

Jai Hind. Bharatmata Ki Jai.

Article by: ‘Sardar’ Sanjay Matkar

Twitter: @sanjaymatkar

Note: This article was earlier published in www.newsnviews.online   

I thank them for their support. 

Retired Generals need to “Stay Retired”.

Recently, I have been astounded by the activities on social media by retired senior officials of the Armed Forces, especially former Generals of the Army.

The two issues that seem to have ruffled their feathers are the implementation methodology of OROP (one rank one pension) and Rank Parity of military officers in comparison to the civilian bureaucrats in the Ministry of Defense.

OROP by itself has been implemented by Shri. Narendra Modi’s government. Its implementation may not appeal to all the officers across the spectrum of military thought; but that does not justify the campaign to vilify the serving Prime Minister of the Republic of India.

On the issue of rank parity of military officers, many retired officers of Flag-rank have taken to the social media to express themselves. While it is their right to freely express their opinions on any medium and on any topic; they seem to have lost sight of quite a few values in their enthusiasm to express themselves. 

The fact that these officers are upset about the rank parity issues does not in any way allow them the lee-way to insult the serving Defense Minister of our country. They forget that he is a graduate Engineer from IIT, a respected former Chief Minister of a State and known to be a technocrat. In a nutshell, he is nobody’s fool and can be depended upon to resolve issues in a permanent fashion.

The Prime Minister of India has gained the respect of the Nation as well as the respect of people from other nations. And he has done so under extremely trying circumstances, something that these officers can identify with after having enjoyed career postings in some of the harshest terrain of the world.

As a civilian who has no connection to the armed forces but respect them from heart and soul, I have a few choice words for these retired Generals:

1)    You have reached Flag-rank positions in your career because you have the intelligence and capabilities to be better than thousands of other officers who retired as time-scale Lieutenant Colonels. Retirement from service should not mean that you have retired your sense of propriety or good manners.

2)    When you were in service; you guided, trained and mentored your then juniors in almost every aspect of military service and its interaction with the civilian bureaucracy. Have confidence that you have instilled in them the correct values and acknowledge that these officers, who are now occupying your former positions in service, will do what is necessary and correct, to ensure that the civilian bureaucracy adheres to the laws of our Nation and the policies thereof.

3)    If you have an opinion or advice to the Prime Minister and / or the Defense Minister, do contact them directly and express your opinion to them as “Officers and Gentlemen”. 

I am sure that despite your publicly unwanted and rather bad-mannered rebukes through social media; both of them will receive you with full respect to your rank. I dare say that while they may not be officers in the armed forces, they will act like the gentlemen that they are. (Something that you may want to think about).

4)    Lastly, you have been appointed to flag-rank in your careers by representatives of a democratic government that represents the People of our Great Country. While you may not be required to personally like the serving ministers; both the military code of conduct and basic good manners require you to respect the office, if not the person holding the office.

Remember gentlemen. The people of India respect you for your service to the Nation as well as for your abilities and capabilities to rise to the ranks of leadership in the armed forces. Your inglorious behavior on social media or on any other public forum not only demeans you personally in our view; but also demeans the rank and office that you once distinguished.

One important point: Not all retired army officers indulge in irresponsible behavior on the social media. Many express themselves with wit and intellect. Their articles and expressed views give reason for serious thought on various topics and are considered carefully by those in positions of administrative power. But then, none of these responsible officers who are thorough gentlemen, have a daughter whose political career needs to be kick-started again and again after umpteen failures; or have a group of retired officers supporting this activity due to friendship or sheer loyalty.

And, to all those who served distinguished careers as Short Service Commission officers - You deserve our respect and our loyalty, because you went forth on an adventure for a few years that many of us civilians wish for, but never achieved.

Jai Hind.

Author: ‘Sardar’ Sanjay Matkar

Twitter: @sanjaymatkar

Email: sanjaymatkar@gmail.com

www.matkar.net

Maruti Car - From Extortion to Production......

Extortion, blackmail and abuse of power - 

The story of “Maruti Udyog Limited”

On 16 November 1970, a private limited company named Maruti Technical Services Private Limited (MTSPL) was launched by Sanjay Gandhi, the second son of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He nominated himself as Managing Director of MTSPL with the second Director being Sonia Gandhi, the daughter-in-law of Indira Gandhi. The stated purpose of this company was to provide technology for manufacturing a “fully indigenous motor car”; (basically a car that was supposed to be 100% Indian in every way).

Sanjay Gandhi was known to be obsessed with cars and aircraft. Maintaining his family’s legacy, he failed to get a college degree, but Rolls–Royce (RR) of England must have seen some hidden talent in him, since he joined them as an intern in their manufacturing unit in the UK. The fact that he failed to complete his internship successfully is glossed over in history. Apparently, after only three years at RR he claimed that he had learnt all that was to be learnt about manufacturing cars, and this Gandhi returned to India with a dream, or so it is said.  

Using every resource at his command, including the office of the Prime Minister, Gandhi started his initial production of Maruti cars in the ramshackle truck-stop area of Delhi called Gulabi Bagh; with a chassis that he manufactured himself and parts that were scrounged from the back- alleys of Jama Masjid area. A refurbished Triumph motor-cycle engine was initially used to propel this contraption. On the business front, the Gandhi family used their political power to raise funds from industrialists and traders to fund this project. Those who refused felt the brunt of the dreaded MISA (Maintenance of Internal Security Act) and COFEPOSA (Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Act). Thus, through threats and blackmail investments flowed quickly into the project and Maruti Limited was registered under the Companies Act in June 1971, within six months of the initial company being formed. 

Three decades later Robert Vadra, son-in-law of the other Director, Sonia Gandhi of MTSPL / Maruti Limited would recreate this amazing feat of creating a fortune out of nothing.

In September 1971, with the full backing of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s cabinet, MTSPL was awarded a Letter-of-Intent to manufacture 50,000 cars annually. The Directorate General of Technical Development was arm-twisted by the then Minister of Industrial Development, 

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (who was later hand-picked by Indira Gandhi to become the President of India), to issue this LOI against all norms. While the LOI was being processed, Gandhi found a benefactor in the then 

Haryana Chief Minister Bansi Lal; who influenced the Central Industries Ministry by recommending Gandhi’s case and assuring land, water, electricity and finance to the project. The reason for this benevolence was that Bansi Lal was under attack at that time by his own party’s MLAs, who had submitted a memorandum of multiple allegations of corruption against him; to the President of India. Bansi Lal who was a shrewd and cunning politician, realized at the outset that the insurance of his political well-being was the younger son and political heir of Indira Gandhi.

And so it came to pass that fertile land near village Dundahera on Delhi-Gurgaon road was allocated to Maruti Limited at a throw-away price, despite the fact that the potential site for Maruti factory was within 1,000 yards of a military ammunition dump. Another Gandhi family factotum V.C. Shukla who was then the Minister of State for Defense Production, ensured that this military facility was shifted elsewhere so that there would be no hindrance to the dreams of the heir-to-the-throne. Low interest loans without collateral were extended to the project by the Industrial Finance Corporation of India, Central Bank of India and Punjab National Bank.

Laws were broken, institutions were corrupted and morality was thrown to the winds to ensure that the ‘People’s Car’ dream was realized. When the then Law Minister H.R. Gokhale tried to advise Sanjay Gandhi on the legalities of this project, he was shocked by the rude response from the scion of the Gandhi family. “Mr. Gokhale, your laws do not apply to me”, scoffed the man who thought that he knew it all. With this attitude of its founding Managing Director, Maruti Limited was in deep financial trouble towards the end of 1973.

As details of these irregularities leaked out, it proved to be a constant embarrassment to the government. Opposition leaders Atal Behari Vajpayee, George Fernandes, Madhu Limaye and others accused Indira of practicing the worst kind of nepotism. But this had no effect on Sanjay Gandhi. He merrily went on from one controversy to the next. Somewhere along the line, he managed to get his prototype tested at VRDE Hyderabad. It failed every test and was not declared road worthy. He tried upgrading his fully indigenous prototype, and fitted it with a German manufactured engine with the help of the engine manufacturer. This idea also failed. Design flaws in Gandhi’s Maruti car ranged from vibrations to steering problems to brake failure. Despite this, the Minister for Heavy Industries T.A.Pai granted an industrial license to Maruti on 22^nd July 1974 for producing 50,000 cars. 

Pai was arm-twisted to do this by one R.K. Dhawan who started his career as a government typist but within a few years was the Personal Secretary to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, as well as her confidante who used his position to control flow of information and access to the PM. Interestingly, he would be a suspect in the investigation of the assassination of Indira Gandhi, with the investigating commission stating that ‘the needle of suspicion significantly points to his complicity or involvement’ (in the assassination). Dhawan weathered this storm and is currently a senior politician of the Congress (I) party.

As financial losses mounted, the wizard of ‘People’s Car’ started another company Maruti Technical Services (MTS), which was heavily funded by the failing Maruti Ltd. MTS then floated a third company, Maruti Heavy Vehicles which acquired scrapped road-rollers, refurbished them with a paint job and sold them as new. States ruled by the Congress party were forced to buy these at atrocious prices.

Politics interfered in this stuttering saga of Sanjay Gandhi’s dream project. His mother’s party was booted out of power in the 1977 general elections. The newly empowered Janata Government initiated an Inquiry Commission headed by Justice A.P.Gupta, and based on his reports; on March 06, 1978, the High Court of Punjab and Haryana ordered the winding up of Maruti Motors. The dream was dead via court order.

The Congress party came back into power in 1980, but before the Maruti experiment could be resurrected, Sanjay Gandhi in his unique style that ignored good advice; decided to perform aerobatic loops in a two-seater aircraft over Delhi’s Safdarjung area, lost control and crashed to his death.

Post his demise, Indira Gandhi decided to revive the project. Maruti Udyog Ltd was incorporated through the efforts of Dr V. Krishnamurthy, and was established in February 1981; though actual vehicle production commenced only in 1983, in Joint Venture with Suzuki Motors Japan.

It must be specified here that Suzuki Motors of Japan had absolutely nothing to do with the political, economic or legal malfeasances of Sanjay Gandhi, his mother or the Congress Party.

After the death of Sanjay Gandhi and on the request of his mother, it was Dr. V.Krishnamurthy; a highly respected bureaucrat who was Secretary in the Ministry of Industry till 1980, who did the spade work to evaluate various global car manufacturers to find the right partner for the People’s Car of India. Suzuki Japan was the ultimate choice. 

Dr Krishnamurty was appointed as the Chairman and CEO of the new entity Maruti Udyog Limited in 1981, and the rest as they say, is history.

The actual production started in 1983 with the introduction of the Maruti 800 car (depicted here sporting its original Sky Blue color)

 

which was based on the Suzuki Alto Kei/SS80, (depicted here in red) which was at that time the most modern car in Asia. 

In 1984, the Maruti Van with the same 3-cylinder engine as the 800 was launched.

In 1985; the Suzuki SJ410, 4WD off-road vehicle with a 970cc petrol engine was launched. This was renamed the ‘Gypsy’ in India 

and was designed with a longer tail-end than the original SJ410. 

                                                                                    

Suzuki also tried to introduce the Maruti Pick-up mini-truck in India, but that turned out to be a market flop.  

                                                               

The irony of the whole sordid saga is that the 100% Indian designed and manufactured ‘People’s Car’, started its journey in India as a 100% Japanese imported car, since the first few hundred vehicles of the car and van were fully assembled imports. Initially, 74% of the company was owned by the Government of India and 26% by Suzuki Japan. As of May 2007, the Government sold its complete share holding and no longer has any stake in Maruti Udyog. 

And there we have it, the saga of total failure to popular success; as witnessed by history.

Note: This post was originally published in www.newnviews.online
I thank them for the opportunity.