To Our Dear Prime Minister - From Air Marshal SY Savur (Retd)

Dear Prime Minister,

I admire you hugely for all that you have done for the Indian economy and for many things that you have done for India since becoming the PM. Today, I watch is despair the terrorist attack inspired frenzy of promises and assurances of action. I plead for sanity, clear thought and an action plan that is not only effective but also long-term.

I plead with you; do not be tempted to take knee-jerk, short term decisions without considering their long term implications just because you want to be seen as a man of action. In the nearly 5 years you headed the Govt, you took time to even think that there is need for counter-terror mechanisms, so a few days more will not be of substantial loss unless you have the General Elections 2009 in your sights.

I plead with you not to disperse the Special Action Group (SAG), the counter-terror arm of the NSG to the four metros. Have you heard about the Special Air Service (SAS), counter-terror fighting unit of the UK being dispersed even though it fights all over the world?

If you heed some opinion and disperse the SAG please consider the following: -

Centralised training ensures that standards are the highest and the same for every man in the SAG. Dispersal would mean that training standards and maintenance of equipment would be diluted because different people train differently in different circumstances. And there will be temptation to provide one unit more/better equipment because some one will tell you that the perception of terrorist threat there is more than elsewhere.

If at all you want to place the SAG in a place where it can reach any corner of India then please consider Nagpur. It is equidistant in terms of flying duration from the 4 metros as well as the large cities of Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Nagpur’s Sonegaon airport is not the busiest of airports and the IAF base there has an IL-76 squadron which can make available its aircraft. It is better to utilise the large open spaces for setting up a training facility than making an air cargo hub that nobody will use.

While on this topic of aircraft, please ensure that more than six IL-76 are serviceable at any time by providing them the spares that they badly need. You know that one of the reasons that the SAG was delayed was because the IL-76 became unserviceable and the SAG had to be flown in by An-32 (not because the IL-76 is slower than the B-737 or the Airbus). Come to think of it, why wasn’t an Air India Airbus used?

Please make the MoS-cum-National Security Adviser (NSA) just a MoS. Let the MoS handle the political requirements, which Prabhu Chawla said was herding MPs to support the Govt in July 2008.

The NSA should head the National Security Agency (not the National Security Council which is top heavy and hence unable to take quick decisions or react to any crisis). The NSA should be a serving officer selected from amongst the (in alphabetical order so that I don’t step on some corns) Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Intelligence), Director of the IB and the Secretary, R & AW. The post should be held on a rotational basis for a fixed tenure of 3 years.

Please make the Director IB, Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Intelligence) and Secretary R & AW answerable to the NSA for collection, collation, analysis and dissemination of intelligence.

Please make every State’s ADGP (Intelligence) responsible to the NSA for ensuring action and feedback on the intelligence inputs supplied to the States.

Please place an embargo on any intelligence or police authority talking to the Press or leaking information when an operation is in progress; better still till prosecution of the apprehended terrorist or completion of investigation in case of deceased terrorists is over. It will help by not providing the terrorist set up or leaders so that the SAG can complete its job.

Please tell the media that by giving breathless descriptions and broadcasting TV pictures they are actually helping the terrorists and their outfits know where the counter-terror SAG persons are and what they are doing. I shudder to think whether the terrorists were watching TV channels (and surfing them too) to know what was going on to help them play “hide and shoot” with the SAG.

The leadership of the LeT, JeM even the ISI must have been glad that, (in alphabetical order), Aaj Tak, CNN-IBN, Headlines Today, NDTV, Times Now et al were giving them a free ringside seat.

Sir, in your extensive travels and study you would have found that the British media showed restraint in broadcasting pictures of the bombing in the Underground, the Police and the Intelligence agencies did not resort to the blame game nor passed the buck. Why does our IB, R &AW always tell us that they told the State Police and the police did nothing? After all the same IB and R &AW is staffed by IPS officers!

Sir, why should the DG NSG have to tell the media what they already know? Have you ever heard of, let alone seen a photo, of the commander of the SAS? Why shouldn’t our SAG/NSG also do their job and disappear? Is it because DG NSG wants exposure so that he is rewarded in the next Republic Day honours list? Even that could be done but quietly.

Sir, I cannot but appreciate your firmness in telling India that you will not cut the price of petrol, diesel etc because the oil companies had suffered losses. How about the same firmness in handling the IB, R &AW etc?

Finally, Sir, the Federal Investigative Agency – laudable but will go the way the CBI unless you give it the autonomy of the Election Commission, Comptroller & Auditor General even the Chief Vigilance Commissioner.

Thank you, Prime Minister for your patience.
Jai Hind

Air Marshal SY Savur (Retd)

Rajiv Gandhi

1984 Sikh Riots (jab bada pedh girtha hai tho dharti hilti hai), even Bigger bully syndrome Sri lanka Mess - IPKF (what for), that stage managed hit on the head by Sri lankan Guard of Honour Solider, Nepal mess (at one time he blocked all Land supply routes to Nepal – creating the worst possible mess in India – Nepal relations), Pakistan mess (ISI launched OP Topac – policy of 1000 cuts against India – we had no answer to the same, sorry we had an answer “Mein unki nani yaad dila dunga”), Giani Zail Singh Years, Ram Janam Bhoomi mess, Satish Sharma (Mr. 10%) – achraya sushil muni (Holy mess) - , Press defamation Bill, Bofors, India in a mess and on a standstill – Bharat Bandhs every second day, Huge rallies at Boat Club, Strikes by different sections of workers (banks, railways, airports etc). What a period it was.

To be fair to him, when he was appointed P.M (nominated – as this was another hoax on the people and Indian democracy, rajiv was called to head the government even when he was not the leader of the house or deputy leader or the president of the congress party nor was any resolution passed nominating him as the P.M by the congress party), he came with a whiff of hope but he was swallowed into the cess pool called congress. I am always been astonished by a certain group coteries who have been around since 1966 and they have been the ones who made Indira Gandhi promulgate emergency, who got rajiv to do the Ram Janam Bhoomi Mess, who got rajiv to get the Press defamation bill, who got rajiv into bofors? I will not name anyone but just look at a picture of Sonia Gandhi’s Aides and just look at the aides of indira Gandhi and rajiv Gandhi also. These are the very people who have got these leaders into trouble. These are self serving bunch of people who have no love for the party or its leader but they are just serving their own purpose. I can challenge it in any court of law the wealth of these people would have risen sharply when all of Gandhi’s were in power but dipped when they were out of it. It does not mean that Gandhi’s were partners in crime but show the self serving interest of these people. I am saving this with conviction that these people would use Sonia Gandhi till they feel she can deliver and then start creating a next generation of gandhi’s to hang on to. These people have only one thing against them and that is their age. They are now in their 70-80’s but ask any of them to go and become a governor or leave politics, they will starting doing push ups to prove that they have still a lot of energy left in them.

If I have one piece of advise for the Gandhi clan, you know who these people are - just move out of their shadows. Look at a P.M like rajiv, clean family man and with what a majority he came into the parliament and what happened to him in just 5 years. He was a typical case of hero to zero. Why did it happen? Does any one think rajiv was corrupt – ask any one in the bureaucracy or the intelligence agencies who worked under him, they can vouch for his honesty even after the bofors scam but ask them about his family and friends and they all seem to have different opinions then? Mr Satish Sharma, Mr Q, Acharya Sushil Muni – all of them were handling assignments that gave them access to top businessmen, slush funds, state secrets. Who were they and why were they hanging around in the P.M.O? Why did they try their hands in different issues like trying to solve Punjab issue, fertiliser contracts, Airbus contract, HBJ pipeline contracts, etc? Why it was that most of the mega contracts went to Italian companies only during that period and then these companies got none when the gandhi’s were out of office? Was satish sharma, his wife and Mr Q involved? Can the list of maruti dealerships doled out in 1983/84/85 be checked again to find out how many of these were given to congress leadership (friends of the Gandhi’s)?

Pt. J L Nehru

Pt. J L Nehru – NAM, BANDUK CONFERENCE, 1962 WAR, NORTHEAST PROBLEM, 3 STEEL PLANTS WITH SOVIET UNION HELP (THE TECHNOLOGY WAS REDUNDANT EVEN WHEN WE SET UP THOSE PLANTS), 2 BIG DAMS, AIRPORTS – AIRLINES (???????) AND YES ROADS – WELL LETS LEAVE THAT OTHERWISE A LOT OF CRAP WILL COME OUT, PLANNING COMMISSION (WHAT DOES IT DO AND ITS ACHIEVEMENT?), 1959 FIRST DULY ELECTED GOVERNMENT WAS DISMISSED UNDER ARTICLE 356 FOR REASONS KNOWN ONLY TO HIM AND HIS KITCHEN CABINET HANDLED BY HIS DAUGHTER? KASHMIR AND P.O.K – THE UNITED NATIONS RESOLUTIONS / THE LOSS OF OUR NATION’s LAND EVEN AFTER PAKISTAN WAS CREATED OUT OF OUR SOIL? BUREAUCRACY AND MORE BUREAUCRACY? NEPOTISM, DYNASTY – FAMILY BEFORE NATION? CORRUPTION? NO STRATEGIC THOUGHT IN OUR FOREIGN OR EVEN ANY STATE POLICY – THIS IS WHEN ONE OF THE GREATEST THINKERS AND STRATEGIST WAS AN INDIAN – CHANAKYA WHO WROTE ARTHASHASTRA? DID WE TRUST ON THE FAMED INDIAN ENTREPRENURAL SKILLS THAT THEY COULD MANAGE INDUSTRIES AND INDUSTRIALISATION (EVEN THOUGHT INDIANS DID VERY WELL IN OTHER PARTS OF THE GLOBE)! BADLY MANAGED ARMED FORCES! NO POLICE REFORMS AFTER THE BRITISH LEFT! AND EDWINA………WELL THAT NEEDS TO BE NOT COMMENTED UPON……IN SHORT HE LEFT A CONFUSED NATION.

THESE WERE BIG ISSUES, LET ME COMMENT ON SMALLER ISSUES LIKE OUR TOWNS – WERE THEY PLANNED FOR GROWTH, OUR VILLAGES – DID THEY OFFER ANYTHING TO ITS RESIDENTS, FOR FARMERS WHO TILLED THE LAND (LANDLESS LOT) WERE THEIR ANY IMPROVEMENT IN THEIR LIVES, HUMAN MANUAL SCAVANGERS, DRAINS IN CITIES AND VILLAGES, PUBLIC TRANSPORT, ELECTRICITY, WATER,ETC.

Sorry I forgot to write about Kamala Nehru. She has one quarter of Delhi named after her for reasons only known to the Gandhi/Nehru family. She must have definitely contributed to our independence from the Hospital in Switzerland that she was placed in to cure her from T.B (apart from being the mother of Indira Gandhi). Her letters details how PanditJi ill treated her are not to be mentioned. We have only learnt from our history books that chacha was in love not only with Edwina but also with Kids so 14^th November is children’s day every year. What did he do for the kids except a few DAVP showing him with rajiv and sanjay in his lap?.......Did he give kids free education from primary to post graduate…did the schools that he opened mass produce quality trained manpower comparable to the kids being educated in other comparable developing countries of that period like Korea, brazil, Argentina, Indonesia …look at their social indices today and look at our (we are near sub Sahara Africa)……did he open schools in each village…..are we proud of the kind of schools that were established after independence in out villages? Does a common Indian who has studies in a village school not tell that how bad his school was and the quality of studies were even worse? Had it not been for the sheer hard work and emphasis of education in common Indian families that we have created some bright students through this bad and outdated education scenario (which the politicians claim credit for)?

I am slightly harsher on Pt JL NEHRU for the reason that he had to leave a solid foundation for this nation after his tenure. He was our first P.M and people had a lot of energy and hopes pinned on him. If he had laid a proper state with proper procedures and functioning to the future generations, we would not have had to face this day today. Our centre state relations are in a mess, our cities, town and villages are in a bad state, our cities rank at the lowest ranked cities not even fit for animals to live in. We have no potable water for 95 % of our people when we are the guardian of the Himalaya, 2 mighty rivers, numerous glaciers – let us forget the entire nation – people who stay on the banks of ganga or bhramaputra are not even supplied portable water even once a day.

Politicians who run our cities and states have big egos that even a slight change in improving peoples conditions like paying money directly through central government resources to improving schools in the villages is not allowed by states who say that it is a violation of the federal structure of the nation. No where in this world is such an argument given. All around the globe, aid is generally given from state fund to the counties but when in times of crisis and emergencies like flood, terror, crime etc money is given directly by the centre.

He was loved no doubt was it not partly due to the fact that there was certain romanticism after independence and chacha was riding the same wave. Was it not also due to the fact that there was no credible opposition and lone voice like that of Feroze Gandhi were the only opposition to him? Was it not the fact that only AIR and government media projected him as a saviour and free press was limited to printed newspapers and magazines? This virtually meant that in real terms only 15% of our nations people who could read or write could access any information contrary to what the government media said about chacha? Was chacha no paralysed after 1962 and the government was virtually run by Indira Gandhi and her cronies? Why was Indira Gandhi impeding all moves of Lal Bahadur Shastri and creating a power centre within the cabinet?

I think the year 1965-1966 was a turning point in our nation’s history and what the nation suffered for the next 30 years till 1996 was mainly due to these years. Had Shastri been the P.M for longer tenure, maybe the nation would have moved in a different and a better direction? What started after 1966 was a brazen display of power centric politics and virtual dictatorship? Do we ever ask ourselves why don’t central and state governments in India now generally win election after their term in office? It is the same Gandhi family which is heading the congress, so what difference has taken place. Well the difference is media and education. Both have now moved into the hinterland and people are more aware of their rights. They are not willing to take the crap of dynasty, secularism, communalism or any other isms. They just need a government which listens and implements what it says. They do not care whether your forefathers were chacha Nehru or Mahatma Gandhi.

In short he was responsible for the mess that we are in today.