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RNI NO. 28587/75 REGISTERED NO. DL(ND)-11/6068/2018-20; U(C)-88/2018-20; FARIDABAD/05/2017-19 LICENSED TO POST WITHOUT PREPAYMENT
www.indiatoday.in
THE NEW CHIEF OF DEFENCE STAFF IS KEY
HOW MUCH POWER THE MODI GOVERNMENT GIVES
SEPTEMBER 2, 2019 `60
OC
DIGITAL EDITION
OC
KASHMIR: DEALING WITH FEAR AND ANGER
www.indiatoday.in SEPTEMBER 2, 2019 `60
REGISTERED NO. DL(ND)-11/6068/2018-20; U(C)-88/2018-20; FARIDABAD/05/2017-19 LICENSED TO POST WITHOUT PREPAYMENT
RNI NO. 28587/75
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HOW MUCH POWER THE MODI GOVERNMENT GIVES
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COVER STORY WHERE DOES THE CDS STAND?
NATION THE POLITICS OF DEFECTION
THE BIG STORY THE STATE OF THE TERRITORY
INTERVIEW THE CHALLENGE IS TO QUICKLY TAKE THE
BENEFITS OF OUR MOVE TO THE PEOPLE
INTERVIEW REBUILDING KERALA TO WITHSTAND
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www.indiatoday.in EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
CHAIRMAN AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Aroon Purie
A
VICE CHAIRPERSON: Kalli Purie
mong India’s most magnificent that this process not end with a single an-
GROUP EDITORIAL DIRECTOR: Raj Chengappa
GROUP CREATIVE EDITOR: Nilanjan Das; GROUP PHOTO EDITOR: Bandeep Singh
state symbols are the four lions nouncement. The government should now
MANAGING EDITORS: Kai Jabir Friese, Rajesh Jha of the Ashokan pillar. Majestic walk the talk on several other reforms such
CONSULTING EDITOR: Ajit Kumar Jha (Research)
EXECUTIVE EDITORS: S. Sahaya Ranjit, Sandeep Unnithan
beasts sitting back-to-back, jaws as integrating the civilian and military
Mumbai: M.G. Arun open and ever vigilant for approaching wings of the mammoth defence ministry.
DEPUTY EDITORS: Prachi Bhuchar, Uday Mahurkar, Manisha Saroop
Hyderabad: Amarnath K. Menon
enemies. These lions could also symbolise The post of CDS and all the streamlin-
SENIOR EDITORS: Shweta Punj, Sasi Nair our armed forces, individually excellent, ing and military reform associated with
Jaipur: Rohit Parihar
SENIOR ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Kaushik Deka, Ashish Mukherjee
but, like the symbolic lions, not seeing it were lessons learnt in blood. They were
Mumbai: Suhani Singh, Kiran Dinkar Tare; patna: Amitabh Srivastava eye-to-eye or working well as a team. the outcome of a Group of Ministers’ com-
ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Shougat Dasgupta, Chinki Sinha
Kolkata: Romita Sengupta; Bhopal: Rahul Noronha; There is more dysfunction when one looks mittee constituted after the Kargil War
Thiruvananthapuram: Jeemon Jacob
ASSISTANT EDITOR: Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri
at the defence ministry—the labyrinthine in 1999, where more than 400 Indian
pune: Aditi S. Pai bureaucratic structure that is meant to soldiers lost their lives.
PHOTO DEPARTMENT: Vikram Sharma (Deputy Photo Editor),
Rajwant Singh Rawat, Yasir Iqbal (Principal Photographers),
give the lions their claws and their teeth. It is unconscionable that India, the
Chandra Deep Kumar (Senior Photographer); Mumbai: Mandar Suresh Weapons and equipment world’s fourth-largest
Deodhar (Chief Photographer), Danesh Adil Jassawala (Photographer);
Kolkata: Subir Halder (Principal Photographer); purchases worth thousands military spender worldwide,
Chennai: N.G. Jaison (Senior Photographer)
PHOTO RESEARCHERS: Prabhakar Tiwari (Chief Photo Researcher),
of crores—from fighter jets cannot get more bang for
Saloni Vaid (Principal Photo Researcher), for the air force to sub- the buck. The classic case
Shubhrojit Brahma (Senior Photo Researcher)
CHIEF OF GRAPHICS: Tanmoy Chakraborty marines for the navy—are was in the brief air battle
ART DEPARTMENT: Sanjay Piplani (Senior Art Director); stuck in endless delays. The over Nowshera, Jammu and
Angshuman De (Art Director); Devajit Bora (Deputy Art Director);
Vikas Verma (Associate Art Director); plan to turn India from the Kashmir, this February,
Bhoomesh Dutt Sharma (Senior Designer)
Siddhant Jumde (Senior Illustrator)
world’s second-largest buy- when an Indian pilot flying
PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT: Harish Agarwal (Chief of Production), ers of weapons to a country a vintage MiG-21 was shot
Naveen Gupta (Chief Coordinator),
Vijay Kumar Sharma (Senior Coordinator) that makes them locally down because his radio set
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER: Manoj Sharma and exports them has not was jammed by the Pakistan
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER: Anil Fernandes (Impact) quite taken off. There is no Our Jan 21, 2019 cover Air Force. The IAF was yet
IMPACT TEAM
Senior General Manager: Jitendra Lad (West)
roadmap either. But then, as to instal something as simple
General Manager: Mayur Rastogi (North), the saying goes, what use is as encrypted frequency
Upendra Singh (Bangalore),
Kaushiky Gangulie (East) a map when you don’t know hopping radio sets into its
GROUP CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER: Vivek Malhotra
Head of Marketing: Preetha Athrey
where to go? fighter aircraft. Will things
SALES AND OPERATIONS: D.V.S. Rama Rao, Chief General Manager Writing about Army change now?
Deepak Bhatt, General Manager (National Sales)
Vipin Bagga, Deputy General Manager (Operations)
Chief General Bipin Rawat’s Our cover story, ‘Can the
Rajeev Gandhi, Regional Sales Manager (North) plan to restructure the In- Superchief Call the Shots?’,
dian Army earlier this year, I by Executive Editor Sandeep
had mentioned how the lack Unnithan, asks this question
of focus from the political and wonders what this new
executive had only encour- post means for reforms in
Our May 14, 2018 cover
Volume XLIV Number 35; For the week aged the three forces to fight the military.
August 27-Sep 2, 2019, published on every Friday
their own wars, separately The CDS is the first step
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a single-point military advisor to the gov-
All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of ernment, will also spur jointmanship and
competent courts and forums in Delhi/New Delhi only
synergise the three armed forces. It is vital (Aroon Purie)
SE P T E M BE R 2 , 2 019 INDIA TODAY 1
UPFRONT LEISURE
NO ONE KILLED THE MOUNTAIN
PEHLU KHAN? COMES TO STEPHEN
PG 4 PG 51
TACKLING PAKISTAN Q&A WITH
ON KASHMIR P.V. SINDHU
PG 11 PG 62
C OV E R S T O RY
18
The long-pending appointment of a
Chief of Defence Staff promises to
transform the armed forces into a
far more agile and effective fighting
unit. Provided the government
really empowers him
Cover Photograph by BANDEEP SINGH
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2 INDIA TODAY SE P T E M BE R 2 , 2 019
Presenting India Today Insight
For sharp analysis on topical issues by the editors of india today,
log on to www.indiatoday.in/india-today-magazine-insight
WHY MUKESH
AMBANI IS
BJP DILUTING
STAKE IN HIS
38
The ruling party’s open-
door policy on political BUSINESSES
CROSSOVER defectors stirs up a by M.G. Arun
CACOPHONY debate within the RSS
RIL’s 20 per cent
stake sell-off in its
oil and petrochemi-
cals business to
I N T E RV I E W
Saudi Aramco—the
42
latest in a series of
global deals in 2019—
is aimed at battling a
debt pile-up
‘DISASTER- http://bit.ly/2NiCizq
PROOFING
KERALA IS MY
PRIORITY’ Kashmir: Now for the legal battle
CM Pinarayi Vijayan by Kaushik Deka
speaks about his The legality of the Centre’s decision to ‘dilute’
government’s action Article 370 and make Jammu and Kashmir a Union
plan in the aftermath of territory will be decided by the Supreme Court
the second year of
floods in the state http://bit.ly/30lgqXE
“We can’t erase our
hijra culture”
by Chinki Sinha
K ASHMIR
An uneasy peace rules in The Transgender
28
J&K as Kashmiris seethe Persons (Protection
THE over their downgraded of Rights) Bill does not
LOUD status; the Centre recognise the non-blood
SILENCE maintains all is well family structures of
PLUS the community
Q+A with Ram Madhav http://bit.ly/2HcfNrW
Goodbye to Kashmiriyat by A.S. Dulat
Fear and Anger Runs Deep by Jean Drèze
How a little-known Gujarati movie won the
best feature film award by Suhani Singh
Hellaro, the directorial debut of Dhollywood filmmaker
Abhishek Shah, throws light on the quality cinema
being produced in Gujarat
http://bit.ly/2ZeyHsA
Why RBI’s repo rate
cuts have not yielded
cheaper loans yet
by M.G. Arun
Commercial banks need to
cut lending rates and pass
on the benefit to customers
http://bit.ly/33nD5Vc
UPFRONT
INDEX: INDIA A NEW TACK
PREFERS CASH ON PAKISTAN
PG 7 PG 11
IN WAITING
Pehlu Khan’s family at a sit-in
PTI protest in New Delhi in the
days following his lynching
R AJASTH A N
NO ONE KILLED PEHLU KHAN?
By Rohit Parihar
I
n the August 14 acquittal of six men and correct lapses. Khan’s son Irshad Khan was stopped on the Jaipur-
charged with the 2017 lynching of said his family was in shock but deter- Delhi highway near Behror in Rajas-
Pehlu Khan, a dairy farmer from mined to see the process through to a than on April 1, 2017, and beaten by a
Haryana, Alwar additional district higher court. The Gehlot government mob that, he said, consisted of as many
and sessions judge Sarita Swami has also indicated its intention to ap- as 200 people. He was returning to
condemned the police probe as shoddy. peal against the judgment. his hometown with cattle he claimed
While the judge found that a forensic For anyone who has been following to have legitimately bought at a fair.
report had upheld the genuineness of the investigation, though, the court’s Among the men allegedly captured
the video of the attack on Khan, she said withering review of the police efforts on camera participating in the brutal
one of the investigating officers claimed was not a surprise. From the start, the beating was Vipin Yadav, a 19-year-old
the video had never been sent for such police investigation has been subject ‘student leader’. Yadav was not named
a test. Rajasthan chief minister Ashok to the intense scrutiny of political in the original first information report
Gehlot, whose Congress government lobbies, pressure groups and activists. (FIR) in which Khan, lying bloodied
took over from the BJP in December Simultaneous investigations had been and beaten in hospital, named six of
2018, has said a special investigation launched into Khan’s lynching and the the mob. All of those six were cleared
team (SIT) will be formed to examine possible smuggling of cattle by him. by the police in September 2017
UPFRONT
because cellphone data apparently local gau rakshaks thought to be close footage was too grainy to prove ab-
showed they were not at the scene. to the BJP and the RSS. There was also solutely that the men charged by the
Police investigators told the media speculation that a police officer added police were those who beat up Khan.
it was a surprise Khan had named six the six names to a blank paper signed The judge also refused to admit into
people given that he was unfamiliar by Khan. The court said the police evidence an undercover video by a
with the area and the mob. The court re- appeared to have made little effort to TV journalist in which Yadav alleg-
fused to frame charges against these six find out how those names appeared in edly boasts about his involvement in
men, whom Khan’s sons and other wit- the FIR. In October 2017, nine people, the lynching. The mobile phone that
nesses did not name in their statements including Yadav and two minors, were supposedly recorded the video was
a day after the mob attack. Police filed named in the final chargesheet. They not produced before the court and its
charges against Khan himself because were identified through cellphone foot- alleged owner was declared a hostile
they could find no evidence that he had age of the incident. witness. The court was sceptical about
purchased the cattle found in his truck, The Alwar court judge said the the prosecution’s procedure, given that
THE CURIOUS CASE OF PEHLU KHAN
1 Apr 2017 A mob attacks 2 Apr 2017 An FIR is reg- 3 Apr 2017 Khan dies 3 July 2017
Pehlu Khan near Behror in istered against six persons, at Behror’s Kailash The case is
Alwar district of Rajasthan, accused by Khan of assault- Hospital, run by Ma- handed over
accusing him of smuggling ing him. An FIR is also filed hesh Sharma, then a to the CID
cattle for slaughter to against Khan and others for minister of state in the
Nuh in Haryana smuggling cattle Modi government
16 Aug 2019 14 Aug 2019 Apr 2019 Sep 2018 Oct 2017 Sep 2017
Rajasthan Alwar court judge The district and Khan’s son Irshad A new Chargesheet
CM Ashok gives six accused sessions court and others allege chargesheet absolves six
Gehlot sets “benefit of doubt” transfers the they were shot at accuses nine suspects
up an SIT to and acquits case from while going to court persons, named in
reinvestigate them. One of the Behror to Alwar to bear witness. including two the FIR
Khan’s accused is still Police say they minors
lynching absconding are lying
though Khan’s sons claim the papers the new accused were not put through
validating the purchase and transport
had been destroyed by the vigilantes.
WHY THE an identity parade and that Irshad was
unable to identify the men in court.
Two days after the beating, Khan, ACQUITTALS Two years on, Irshad told the court
still in hospital, asked doctors if he it had become difficult to pick out
The six accused were not
could go home. They declined. Hours specific faces. The court rejected the
put through an identity parade,
later, he died. The doctors say he’d had as is customary when explanation. Also, police said there was
a heart attack and also that he visited suspects not named in the no evidence that he and others had been
a heart specialist in Jaipur on April original FIR are arrested fired at last September while on their
1, 2017. The autopsy report, though, way to court. Some observers argue
pinned the cause of death on internal Khan’s son Irshad failed Khan’s case was not helped by activists
bleeding from broken ribs; his lungs to identify the six accused who appeared more concerned with
and chest muscles too were ruptured. before the court ideological grandstanding than finding
Khan’s death became a national evidence. But most of the blame appears
Crucial mobile phone evidence
scandal and the police were under containing footage of the to lie with the investigative authorities
pressure to find the guilty. A police lynching did not pass judicial and the prosecutors’ inability to present
officer involved in the early investiga- scrutiny because proper the court with a persuasive case. Now,
tions even suggested that “left-wing procedures were not followed Khan’s family must rely on the SIT for
activists” had “tutored” Khan to name some semblance of justice. n
6 INDIA TODAY SE P T E M BE R 2 , 2 019
INDEX
India Prefers Cash
On Independence Day, from the ramparts of the Red Fort, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi once again declared his devotion to the digital economy.
Shops, he thundered, should put up signs: ‘Digital payment ko haan, nakad
ko na!’ Except Indian consumers, while exponentially increasing their
use of payment apps, continue to do most business in cash. According to a
Credit Suisse report, almost three-quarters of transactions in India are still
cash-based. Some critics of Modi’s drive towards digitised payments argue
that there are infrastructure and safety concerns and that the government’s
major motivation is to expand its control over citizens. Compared to China,
we lag behind in our adoption of cashless payments, but the variety of
options available to us is dizzying. There are over 80 payment apps vying for
our custom, including foreign giants such as Google, Amazon and, soon, the
Facebook-owned WhatsApp. The market for digital payments is growing
faster than anywhere else in the world, but most Indians, particularly in
rural areas, still prefer to deal in cash.
87 22.4 513.8 MILLION
payment apps digital transactions Indians made digital
hosted by the per person in payments in 2019,
Unified Payments FY 2018-19, up says German statistics
Interface, created from 2.38 in 2014; website Statista—9.1%
3 years ago China: 96.7 cashless year-on-year growth;
to link India’s payments per China: 835 million
banks and make capita in 2017, (+4.6% yoy), USA:
digital payments Indonesia: 34 (2017), 270.1 million (+4.3%
convenient Singapore: 782 (2017) yoy)
$64.8 $135.2
BILLION BILLION
Value of digital Estimated value of digital
transactions in India transactions in India in
in 2019, +26.8% yoy. 2023, says Assocham-
$14.8 (about Rs 1,060) PwC study—20.2%
average transaction compounded annual
value per user; growth, world’s fastest;
China ($1.57 trillion), 2023: China ($3.1 trillion),
US ($961 billion) USA ($1.34 trillion)
72 %
transactions in
`21.6
LAKH CRORE
Value of notes in
11.6%
Ratio of currency
in circulation to
GDP estimated
India still cash- circulation on July 19
for March 2020—
based, says report this year, says RBI,
up from 11.4%
by Credit Suisse up from Rs 19.1 lakh
in March 2019,
crore on July 20, 2018
down only 0.3%
and Rs 17.74 lakh crore
from 11.9% pre-
on November 4, 2016,
demonetisation
pre-demonetisation
Illustration by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY
VERNON YUEN/AFP
TIDAL WAVE
OF ANGER
People gather in Hong
Kong to protest the
Extradition Bill
H O N G KO N G supported by the central again become a symbol of
government in Beijing, but defiance.
CHINA’S
the people of Hong Kong China is at a loss right
will not settle for anything now. The first step of the
TINDERBOX
less than a complete with- propaganda battle has been
drawal. Apart from this, the lost. According to reports
protesters are also calling yet to be confirmed, over
for a withdrawal of the 700 protesters have been
By Geeta Mohan in Hong Kong “riot” characterisation of the arrested or detained so far,
June 12 protests, uncondi- but the administration has
I
n the past weeks, China port city three decades too tional release of all arrested not been able to identify any
has tried to claim the early, but Hong Kong is put- protesters, an independent leader of this resistance.
moral high ground on ting up a tough fight. commission of inquiry into While the world watches
Kashmir, expressing grave On August 10, the words police behaviour and univer- this global hotspot keenly,
concerns at the United Na- of a famous song from the sal suffrage. China has many challenges
tions Security Council with musical Les Misérables In 2014, Hong Kong ahead. The People’s Libera-
no apparent sense of irony. resonated in the streets of was the site of similar tion Army is on standby at
Even as it tried to make Hong Kong. “Do you hear scenes, if on a much smaller the border of, but has not
common cause with Paki- the people sing? Singing the scale, as it staged the entered, Hong Kong. Beijing
stan over Kashmir, it was song of angry men?” sang ‘Umbrella Movement’ when is aware of the optics of
violating an international close to two million people electoral reforms impacted sending its forces into Hong
agreement in Hong Kong, as they protested, unde- the long-standing demand Kong ahead of Chinese
trying to force the region terred by rain, against the for universal suffrage. The president Xi Jinping’s visit
into subjugation through the administration’s proposal movement was quashed and to New York for the United
Extradition Bill. for an Extradition Bill that the decision could not be Nations General Assem-
The Sino-British joint will allow people wanted altered. Ironically, this year, bly in September. It will
declaration of 1984 was an in Mainland China to be because of the monsoon be counter-productive to
international accord signed extradited. Many fear the season, umbrellas have China’s efforts to project
between China and the UK. bill will put Hong Kong itself as a pillar of interna-
It handed over sovereignty under Chinese jurisdiction, tional cooperation before
back to Beijing with effect undermining its autonomy AS CHINA TRIES the global community with
from 1997, but with caveats and citizens’ rights. They TO EXERCISE its Belt and Road Initiative.
that the principle of “one also demanded that Carrie COMPLETE Besides, the 70th anni-
country, two systems” and Lam, the Chief Executive of CONTROL OVER versary of the founding of
Hong Kong’s capitalist sys- Hong Kong, step down. HONG KONG People’s Republic of China
tem remain unchanged for On June 15, following 30 YEARS TOO falls on October 1 and there
50 years, or till 2047. Now, massive protests, Lam an- EARLY, THE CITY is little chance of any action
China is trying to exercise nounced that the bill had IS FIGHTING BACK till then, lest it dampen the
complete control over this been suspended, a decision spirit of celebrations. n
18 INDIA TODAY SE P T E M BE R 2 , 2 019UPFRONT
GL ASSHOUSE
Policing the Police
OFFENSIVE
DEFENCE M adhya Pradesh is one of the
few large states without a
police commissionerate system.
D
efence minister One reason is the state’s IAS
Rajnath Singh lobby, which has argued against
has come out
giving the police more powers.
State chief minister Kamal Nath
swinging against
was considering the issue recently
Pakistan in recent
after IPS officers pushed for it as
days. Known for being
the solution to rising crime. The
a moderate, Singh hit air was thick with speculation
the headlines with two of an August 15 announcement.
strong statements just It didn’t happen. The deadlock
two days apart. On continues. It’s advantage IAS.
August 11, he was at
Pokhran in Rajasthan
hinting at a possible
change in India’s two- NIZAM
decade-old ‘No First
Use’ policy on not
SHAHI
using nuclear weapons
unless attacked. Two H ome Minister Amit
Shah is to hoist the
national flag in Hyderabad on
days later, he was at a
public rally in Haryana September 17—the anniversary
saying if talks were of the erstwhile princely
held with Pakistan,
state’s accession to the Indian
Union. Since 2014, the state
they would only be on
government has forced the
Pakistan-occupied
BJP to hold the flag-hoisting
Kashmir (PoK). Sounds
inside its party headquarters,
like tough talk. evidently to avoid polarisation
in the sensitive state capital.
The state government is in
Illustration by SIDDHANT JUMDE
a dilemma. How to say no
to Shah?
VOTE’S THE MATTER Party Animal
B JP MP from Bareilly and Union
minister for labour and employment
Santosh Kumar Gangwar has joined the
F ormer Maharashtra
chief minister
Narayan Rane has
Opposition’s chorus on faulty EVMs and been in three of the
filed a complaint with the Bareilly district state’s four major political
magistrate on how he could have polled parties. In his recently
just five votes from Kali Bari, a BJP released Marathi autobiography
stronghold. This could be inspired by Zanjhaawat (tornado), Rane, now in the
his opponent, state BJP, attributed his 12-year stint in the
SHAILESH RAVAL
finance minister Rajesh Congress (from 2005 onwards) to fate.
Agarwal, who lives in He drew lots and chose the Congress
the locality. But his over the NCP. No one’s convinced,
complaint is bizarre though. NCP’s Gurunath Kulkarni had
considering he eventually vehemently opposed Rane’s entry.
won the election by Plus, Rane wanted the CM’s post,
167,282 votes. which was held by the Congress.
—Sandeep Unnithan with Ashish Misra, Amarnath K. Menon, Kiran D. Tare and Rahul NoronhaUPFRONT
BOOKS
The First Casualty
By Prasanto K. Roy
T
he alleys of Manila’s slums and Everything Is Possible, Pomer-
filled up with corpses. Bikers antsev, today a visiting fellow at the
would shoot people and ride London School of Economics, said that
off. No one really knows how the capacity to bend public perception
many died in the Philippines’ brutal war was a key part of Putin’s rule in Russia.
on drugs since its vigilante president, This 2019 sequel shows the post-truth THIS IS NOT PROPAGANDA
Rodrigo Duterte, was elected in June era at our doorstep: in democracies Adventures in the War
2016. Rights organisations estimate worldwide. Against Reality
by Peter Pomerantsev
12,000; some politicians say 20,000. Mexican blogger Alberto Escorcia ` 314 (Kindle edition)
One politician who pushed back finds words that will get people talking
against the extra-judicial killings found to each other online; he can ‘sum-
herself on trial, with online mobs mon up’ protests. In Belgrade, digital
baying for her blood. An archbishop resistance guru Srdja Popovic can find
condemned the killings, and the online common factors to unite supporters. WhatsApp about Muslims killing cows,
mobs turned on him too. Next it was Far-right movements find and use eating beef. Fanatics would then de-
the media’s turn: the ‘presstitutes’ who words such as Islamification, immi- scend on the Muslims and lynch them.
dared to accuse the president of murder. grants, Muslim fertility. Pomerantsev explores the wreckage
Freedom of speech versus censor- of liberalism, searching for sparks of
ship was a clearer conflict in the 20th sense in ‘the dank corners of the internet
century, the former often triumphing. What if the where trolls torture their victims’. He
But what if those in power today were to
use information overflow to drown dis- powerful were to takes us from Soviet to modern Russia,
from the Balkans to Latin America and
senters, let fake news build online mobs drown dissenters the EU, where we learn of the new meth-
in a sea of
and crush dissent, while always leaving ods used to break resistance movements.
enough anonymity for deniability? The stories go back and forth, from
That is what this superbly re-
searched book is about. More infor-
information, let digital to real life and death. Take La
Felina, who shared drug-violence bul-
mation was supposed to mean more fake news drive letins on her Twitter handle, so citizens
freedom to stand up to the powerful,
but it has also given those in power
online mobs and could be safe. Then a narco gang in
Reynosa, Mexico, was in a shootout
new ways to silence dissent, often via crush dissent? and one of their men was hit. To treat
proxy mobs and trolls. There is so much him, they kidnapped María del Rosario,
information, fake news and forwarded a doctor. They checked her phone,
videos, that you don’t know what’s true Obsessively, the author keeps turn- and found La Felina’s account. Dr del
any more. ing back to Russia. Yet his insights span Rosario’s last two Twitter messages had
The Soviet-born author, Peter the 2019 world. ‘I see people I have a photo of her looking into the camera,
Pomerantsev, frequently dips into fam- known my whole life slipping away from and then, lying on the floor with her
ily memoirs for contrast. His father was me on social media, reposting conspira- face blown off. They had live-tweeted
interrogated repeatedly by the KGB, cies from sources I have never heard of. her execution.
often simply for owning books. Then, Internet undercurrents pull families The worldwide war on reality is
the Soviet regime censored and stifled apart…the algorithms seem to know starkly outlined in this deeply disturb-
information. Today, the Kremlin has more about us than we do.’ ing book. Pomerantsev’s solutions are
adapted to the internet age. Troll farms India appears only once: In 2018, far less clear, though. That, perhaps, is
in Russia wield inordinate power over at a conference in Rome, Indian fact- another sequel. n
people near and far, including over US checkers told the author about efforts to
voters (as the 2016 election showed). stop murder sprees by vigilantes. Hindu Prasanto K. Roy is a policy consultant
In his 2014 book, Nothing Is True nationalists were spreading rumours on and technology writer
10 INDIA TODAY SE P T E M BE R 2 , 2 019POINT OF V IEW
TIME FOR are the limited wars of manoeuvre that it has
MAGNANIMITY
fought in the past and is prepared to fight in
the future for which contingency India doesn’t
need more than a single composite armoured-
By Bharat Karnad
mechanised corps plus a few independent
armoured brigades. But here’s the nub! The
W
ith the long overdue overturning of Indian armoured and mechanised forces
Article 370, the status of Jammu & constitute a bureaucratically powerful combat
Kashmir is now regularised within arm that will brook no restructuring even if the
the Indian Union. In its wake, the Bharatiya freed manpower and materiel are converted
Janata Party government seems inclined to light tanks and airborne cavalry to equip
to gloat over diplomatically wrongfooting three desperately needed offensive mountain
Pakistan and the United States and to corps able to take the fight to China on the
consolidate its control over that province. It Tibetan plateau. Modi, however, can impose
has entrenched Pakistan’s enmity which, in the new force planning predicates on the military
larger strategic perspective, is not a good thing as he has done the Chief of Defence Staff
to happen. The Imran Khan government will system, especially because a meaningful Indian
now move closer to China, firm up the Sino- mountain offensive capability will strengthen
Pakistani military nexus and, notwithstanding his hand in dealing with Beijing.
the possibility of running afoul of the Financial The other decision Modi should take is to
Action Task Force, persist with terrorism to withdraw the forward deployed nuclear-tipped
keep the Kashmir issue alive. Prithvi short-range ballistic missiles from the
India can do something to pre-empt western border, which other than shortening
such a denouement, but it will require Prime the nuclear fuse and turning every small crisis
Minister Narendra Modi to go against his into a hair-trigger situation, serve no useful
own ideological grain and court political purpose. Should GHQR be rash enough to
risk in order to achieve the ambitious multi- initiate nuclear action for any reason under any
pronged goal of calming and stabilising a circumstances, the hinterland-based Agni long-
fraught situation, distancing Pakistan from range missiles can cover all target sets within
China and drawing it as well as other adjoining Pakistan, so it is an entirely safe move to make.
countries into a loose South Asian security Consider the consequences of these
and economic arrangement, and of otherwise decisions. They will hollow out Pakistan’s view
obtaining a pacified neighbourhood—the of a spiteful and malevolent India bent on
first necessary step to India attaining great destroying it, devalue China’s importance, erode
power status. This may be considered a tall the credibility of its nuclear arsenal and, in
order, but it is eminently realisable. It will time, not only weaken the army’s primacy in the
mean Modi unilaterally implementing two Pakistani state and society but also its rationale
telling but military-wise safe and significant for cornering a big chunk of national resources.
The ripple security-related measures to address Pakistan’s Further, it will lay the foundations for easygoing
effect of perceptions of India as an existential threat and India-Pakistan relations that Mohammad Ali
demilitarising to reshape its attitude.
What the Pakistan Army most fears are
Jinnah had envisaged wherein, to use foreign
minister S. Jaishankar’s words vis-a-vis China,
the border India’s three Strike Corps which, considering “differences don’t become disputes”. The ripple
will induce the opposition, is way in excess of need effects of demilitarising the border, moreover,
Pakistan to and, depending on how the costing is done, will be to induce Pakistan to formalise the
formalise consume almost a quarter of the defence ceasefire line in Kashmir as an international
the ceasefire budget. The fear of being overwhelmed and boundary and smaller neighbouring states to
line in compelled to use its tactical nuclear weapons see India as a benign power. n
Kashmir as an is for General Headquarters, Rawalpindi
international (GHQR) the worst nightmare because it would Bharat Karnad is a professor at the Centre for
result in getting coiled in a war of annihilation Policy Research and an author, most recently of
boundary it cannot control and whose end—Pakistan’s Staggering Forward: Narendra Modi
extinction—it cannot avoid. In contrast to this and India’s Global Ambition
Illustration by TANMOY CHAKRABORTYSTATES
SIKKIM: BJP TAMIL NADU: THE
STEALS THE SHOW DISTRICTS WEDGE
PG 1 4 PG 1 7
K BHASKAR
SPEND IT LIKE...
CM Jagan at his
swearing-in ceremony
in Vijayawada, May 30
A N DH R A PR A DE SH
GRASSROOTS G
overnance is taking the newly-appointed volun-
a unique bottom-up teers while inaugurating the
approach in Andhra system on Independence Day.
Pradesh. Chief Minis- “I saw the issues people faced
GOVERNANCE
ter Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy is during my 3,648 km-long
making good on his inaugu- padayatra. That was when I
ral day (May 30) promise to announced the volunteer and
improve last-mile delivery of village secretariat system for
welfare schemes and services effective delivery of govern-
Jagan plans an army of village
by hiring 266,000 village ment schemes.” The Andhra
volunteers to improve service volunteers by August 15. chief minister said he will
delivery of his welfare schemes “Everyone, including those utilise the services of the
who did not vote for us, should volunteers to fulfil four of the
By Amarnath K. Menon be served equally to an extent five pre-poll promises in the
that they change their opinion. first year. The volunteers will
My voice and assurances sho- first identify the beneficiaries,
uld reach every person in the assess their problems and then
VIJAYAWADA state through you,” Jagan told recommend the appropriateBHOPAL
government scheme they can avail of. Each volunteer will M A D H YA P R A D E S H
take charge of 50 families and be paid Rs 5,000 a month.
The Heat Is on
Jagan’s plan to recruit volunteers is in keeping with his
decision to take governance to the grassroots. Criticism
about picking party supporters as volunteers apart, Jagan
hopes that they will in due course develop into community An e-tendering scam, an ex-minister from
leaders. To keep a check, a toll free telephone number, 1902, the BJP, intrigue follows investigation
is attached to a call centre in the Chief Minister’s Office for
people to air their grievances. By Rahul Noronha
Come October 2, and a village secretary will also be
appointed to each grama sachivalayam or village secre-
T
tariat, creating another 141,576 jobs. Being the mandated he arrest of two staffers of ex-water resources
nodal point to deliver governance to people in 72 hours, minister and current BJP MLA Narottam
each village secretariat will employ 10 people from the vil- Mishra in the multi-crore e-tendering scam
lage. Together, the village volunteer system and village sec- investigation has kept the state on the boil.
retariats are expected to be a fine example in decentralised While the ruling Congress government claims
governance that also provides an enduring people connect. it’s only following up on its poll promise to launch a
The posts of village secretary will be coveted ones as crusade against corruption, the BJP insists that it is a
they come with a salary of Rs 15,000 a month, the security pressure ploy to keep the opposition in check.
of a government job, not to mention local clout. Some 216.9 On July 27, the state’s Economic Offences Wing
million job-seekers are in the race (EOW) arrested Nirmal Awasthi, formerly a telephone
for the posts—an average of 21 for operator at the minister’s residence, and Virendra Pan-
2.3
each post. There are also 4,909 can- dey, an OSD to the ex-minister. The two were charged
didates from other states. “Salary ` with conspiring to fix e-tenders of the water resources
and security are a strong attraction. department, working in connivance with department
Though Intermediate or Plus 2 are engineers and a private company that managed the
part of the eligibility norm, a large portal that provided the online service.
LAKH CRORE
number of engineering graduates Awasthi and Pandey are now in judicial remand.
welfare-oriented
are also taking the test given the EOW sources say the duo, part of Mishra’s personal
budget presented
lack of opportunities in the tight job staff, were middlemen in the operation to fix tenders.
in July; state’s debt
market,” says an official tracking the was Rs 2.59 lakh cr Manish Khare, another middleman arrested in May,
mega recruitment drive. in 2018-19 had apparently named them in this connection. The
Online entrance tests will be case against Khare and the staffers involves granting of
held in phases from September 1. a Rs 116 crore tender to a Gujarat-based firm.
Promising complete transparency in Ex-minister Mishra, however, alleges that pressure
the tests, the state has cautioned aspirants not to fall prey to is being put on the accused to name him in the scam.
any brokers promising jobs through other means. “The awarding of e-tenders involved senior officers…
This will be the first major government recruitment the process could not have been manipulated by Class
drive since the reorganisation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014. III and IV employees such as these staffers,” he says.
The state will set a record of sorts by creating over 400,000
jobs within three months of a government assuming office.
The government will also launch the YSR Rythu Bharosa NEW SHERIFF CM Kamal Nath
(free electricity to farmers and annual investment support
of Rs 12,500 for four years) on October 15, the Amma Vodi
scheme (annual grant of Rs 15,000 to indigent mothers to
educate their children) by January 26. By Ugadi, or Telugu
New Year day, Jagan has promised “there will be no poor
family without a house in the state”.
But does the state have the money to fulfil Jagan’s lofty
padayatra promises? The state’s debt, which stood at Rs
PANKAJ TIWARI
1.3 lakh crore in 2014-15, reached a whopping Rs 2.6 lakh
crore in 2018-19. Yet, the state presented a Rs 2.3 lakh crore
welfare-oriented budget this July. Where the money will
come from is anybody’s guess. nSTATES
The wives of Awasthi and
Pandey have also filed a peti-
tion in the high court saying
the same, that their husbands
were booked to implicate
Mishra. In their plea, the wives
allege that after the Congress-
JD(S) government fell in
EX-MINISTER Karnataka, the ruling party
was worried its government in
MISHRA IS A MP too may fall and hence was
harassing opposition leaders to
PAST MASTER pressure them.
AT THE It is true the pace of
investigations into the alleged
DEFECTIONS scams of the previous regime
GAME, SAY has picked up after the Lok
Sabha election (the run-up to
SOURCES which had seen IT raids on
the premises of Chief Minister
Kamal Nath’s aides and rela-
ANI
tives). But political circles in Bhopal also show little surprise
that Mishra is in the thick of things. A past master in the
politics of defections, he is widely believed to have got Con- SIKKIM
gress MLAs Chaudhry Rakesh Singh and Sanjay Pathak
Saffron Stealer
to switch to the BJP when they were in power. Mishra
has been very vocal about wanting to dislodge the Nath
government by weaning away some Congress MLAs. He is
also believed to be close to BJP president and Union home
minister Amit Shah. Mishra has even been given a security
upgrade by the Union ministry—he has now got Y category
After poaching 10 MLAs from the
status, unusual for a common MLA.
Awasthi earlier worked with Mishra in a private capac- SDF, the BJP now postures as a
ity but secured a job as a peon in the law department about ‘responsible opposition’
a year ago. Law was one of the portfolios Mishra held as
By Romita Datta
minister. Pandey, on the other hand, has been with Mishra
for many years and is a Class III employee of the water
resources department.
The EOW still have custody of Awasthi and Pandey. If the
duo sing, it could mean trouble for Mishra. The agency is also G ANGTOK
looking into an earlier case from 2008 in which the income
S
tax department had found a connection between Mishra ikkim’s political waters are set for churn. The
and shadowy businessman Mukesh Sharma. Mishra was ruling Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM),
then urban administration minister and documents found which so far wore the BJP ‘friendship’ band
at Sharma’s house apparently pointed to Mishra being a ben- on its sleeve, with its lone MP supporting the
eficiary of payments from a Hyderabad-based company. The NDA government at the Centre, is likely to face chal-
ex-minister claims he was exonerated by the I-T department lenges from the party at the state level (it won 17 of the
in the case. The EOW, of course, is a different agency. state’s 32 seats in the assembly election in May).
Meanwhile, state sources say a relook is likely into the The BJP drew a blank then, but has now become
Vyapam scam and a pension scam in Indore, in which BJP the main opposition party following the defection of
general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya is alleged to have 10 MLAs of the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF). BJP
had a role. Vijayvargiya doesn’t spend much time in MP (he national general secretary Ram Madhav has asked the
is in charge of West Bengal), but every now and then he too state unit to play the ‘constructive’ opposition role.
goes on about the Kamal Nath government. n The SDF, which won 15 assembly seats, is now
14 INDIA TODAY SE P T E M BE R 2 , 2 019COME ON IN
The 10 SDF MLAs
who jumped ship
with BJP leaders
left with a lone MLA (former chief met Union home minister Amit
minister Pawan Kumar Chamling) Shah and Madhav in Delhi and
after two more legislators defected reportedly got assurances that there
to the ruling SKM. Now three seats is no threat to his government.
are headed for bypolls as three MLAs Jacob Khaling, political advisor to
(2 of the defectors from the SDF and Tamang, says opposition at the local
1 SKM) had contested and won two level will not affect the SKM’s cordial
seats each. The ruling SKM appears relations with the Centre. “Our MP,
to have an edge in the bypolls: in Indra H. Subba, is supporting the
the Martam Rumtek seat, the SKM NDA at the Centre. Our MLAs are
candidate had lost by just 72 votes committed members,” he says. “We
in May. In the other two, SDF local gave ministerial berths to members
functionaries have joined the SKM who have been with the party for the
after the elected MLAs crossed over past 10 years.” That said, equations
to the BJP. The BJP’s machinations with the BJP can change fast—
could also provoke a backlash. Chamling and the SDF were also
The BJP claims it is not interest- NDA allies when he was in power.
ed in poaching more legislators from While Khaling vouches for the
the SKM. “We want to loyalty of SKM MLAs, he
1
play the role of a respon- is critical of D.T. Lepcha,
sible opposition,” says who defected with nine
state BJP president Debe MLAs from the SDF to the
Chauhan. With the saf- BJP. “Lepcha crossed over
fron wind blowing strong MLA to the SDF in 1999 after his
in the Northeast, Chief is what the SDF is Sikkim Sangram Parishad
Minister Prem Singh left with after 12 party lost and could not
Tamang is also hoping to of its new MLAs form the government. I
maintain the friendship defected (2 of will not be surprised if he
with the BJP, irrespective them had won will do more somersaults
of the changing political two seats each) to upset the BJP’s plans,”
equations. Tamang has he cautions. nSTATES
BHUBANESWAR
ODISH A
THE WAY WE ARE
The transgender bill is a boost for the community, but concerns remain
By Mahesh Sharma
M
eera Parida, the current Thaawarchand Gehlot to give their sug- CRITICS OF THE BILL
mahamandaleshwar of the gestions on the bill.
Kinnar Akhara, has come a The bill, apart from defining the SAY IT IS MORE A BJP
long way from the shy child
she was while growing up in Begunia in
phrase ‘transgender person’ and prohib-
iting discrimination, also gives trans-
PUBLICITY STUNT
Khorda district of Odisha. She is now a genders the right to a ‘self-perceived’ THAN AN ATTEMPT
transgender leader, social activist and, gender identity. A National Council for
as of April this year, the vice-president Transgender (NCT) persons will be for- TO EMPOWER THE
of the women’s wing of the ruling Biju med to exercise the provisions of the bill. TRANSGENDERS
Janata Dal (BJD). “Politics can be a “With this bill, the government has
major platform for social service,” says given a neglected community a better
Parida. “Through it, we can now better chance at life. It takes us one step closer
serve the community as well as other to an egalitarian society,” says Jagadan- to appear inclusive rather than actu-
people. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik anda, founder of the NGO, Centre for ally empower the community. They
is my idol. He gave me membership and Youth and Social Development (CYSD), point out that of the 22 members who
a position in the party, he has opened in Bhubaneswar. He feels Odisha has discussed the bill, 15 were from the BJP
the way to progress.” done well in furthering the community’s or its allies. The remaining seven, who
The passing of the Transgender cause. “The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) suggested amendments, were largely
Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, even had a eunuch, Kajal Kinnar Nayak, ignored. The bill is now pending in the
2019 by the Lok Sabha on August 5 was as its candidate in the Korei assembly Rajya Sabha, where the BJP does not
cause for celebration for Parida and constituency. All this indicates that have a majority.
her community. As soon as the bill was society has started accepting them.” Community life has always been
approved, they convened a meeting in But the bill has its share of critics important for transgenders, which
Bhubaneswar to discuss its provisions. too. A section of transgender activists is why some are protesting a provi-
Parida was also part of the delegation says it is more of a publicity stunt by the sion in the bill that says while every
that met Union social justice minister ruling BJP at the Centre, an attempt transgender has the right to reside in
the household of a parent/ immediate
family member and not be discrimina-
TWO CHEERS Transgender activists from Odisha with Meera
ted against, in case such guardians are
Parida (seated, third from right) after the LS passed the bill
unavailable, “the competent court shall
direct such person to be placed in a re-
habilitation centre”. This sounds more
like a threat, it’s like saying they will be
sent to jail, they say.
Most of the eunuchs in Bhubane-
swar migrated here from rural areas
to find community and escape harass-
ment. The bill also criminalises the act
of begging, showcasing the government’s
ignorance about cultural practices like
MANOJ KUMAR SWAIN
badhai and mangti within the com-
munity. This is especially unfair since
transpeople still face discrimination as
far as employment and education opp-
ortunities are considered. nSTATES
TA M I L N A D U Successive governments, invoking the
better governance argument, have now
Split Wide Open
raised the number to 37. Today, the state
has the fourth highest district count in
the country. With the latest decision, the
average size of a district in Tamil Nadu is
Eyeing the assembly election, Chief Minister down from 4,000 sq. km (before Janu-
Palaniswami carves out five new districts ary) to 3,500 sq. km now.
The timing of the trifurcation has
CHENNAI
By Amarnath K. Menon raised more than a few eyebrows. “Vel-
lore is among the larger districts, but to
go about it hastily soon after the defeat of
the AIADMK-BJP candidate (by a nar-
JAISON G
row margin) in the parliamentary polls,
suggests some intrigue, going by the
voting patterns in the district,” says Prof.
Ramu Manivannan, head, department
of political science and public adminis-
tration, University of Madras. He says
the decision is strategic to nix the influ-
ence of minority Muslim votes in deter-
mining outcomes. “This is also a message
to the DMK’s traditional Muslim vote
bank in Vellore.” The AIADMK’s decline
after the passing away of Jayalalithaa
has made it imperative that incentives be
handed down to district-level leaders to
keep the flock happy. This is crucial now
after the DMK’s sweep of the parliamen-
tary polls earlier this year and given that
T.T.V. Dhinakaran’s breakaway AMMK
is still a force to reckon with.
DIVVY UP CM Palaniswami (centre) at an AIADMK executive council meeting
The district reorganisation is a bid to
consolidate the assembly constituencies
as well as promote power bases at the
O
n August 15, after unfurling downed shutters for three days in July, ground level around the new admin-
the tricolour at Fort St George demanding a new district be carved out istrative centres. Slogans like better
in Chennai, Chief Minister of Nagapattinam. Others demand new governance are just a cover. The state
Edappadi K. Palaniswami districts for Pollachi (in Coimbatore) administration is still highly centralised,
announced the trifurcation of and Sankarankovil (second largest so much so that local body polls haven’t
Vellore district, creating two new ones, municipality in Tirunelveli). been held since 2011. “Pro-active local
Ranipet and Tirupattur. “The decision Before the state was renamed Tam- bodies can be a game-changer. A shift in
was made following representations il Nadu in 1969, it had just 13 districts. the way districts are run—shifting the
from ministers, MLAs and the public,” focus from revenue collection to develop-
said the chief minister. Earlier, on July ment—is possible only with vibrant local
18, Palaniswami had announced Ten- bodies,” says G. Palanithurai, former pro-
kasi and Chengalpattu districts, carved THE REGIME IS fessor, political science and development
out of Tirunelveli and Kancheepuram STILL HIGHLY administration, Gandhigram Rural Uni-
districts, respectively. In January, versity, Dindigul. That neither the area
Kallakurichi was similarly hollowed CENTRALISED, spread nor population has determined
out from Viluppuram district. This
makes it a total of five new districts in
LOCAL BODY POLLS the redrawing of district boundaries is
evident here. The AIADMK’s rush is only
2019, a record for any chief minister. HAVE NOT BEEN with an eye on consolidating the party’s
Meanwhile, there are more division position in the run-up to the 2021 ass-
demands: traders in Mayiladuthurai HELD SINCE 2011 embly election. nC O V E R S T O R Y ENTER THE S The armed forces will finally have a superboss—the Chief of Defence Staff. Whether the new incumbent can transform India’s defence apparatus and make the services a more effectively coordinated fighting unit will depend on how categorical his writ is By Sandeep Unnithan
SUPERCHIEF TOP GUNS
(From left), The
three service chiefs,
Gen. Bipin Rawat,
Adm. Karambir
Singh and Air Chief
Marshal B.S. DhanoaC O V E R S T O R Y WHERE DOES THE
CDS STAND?
The CDS is meant to transform the three single-service
organisations into a seamlessly integrated fighting unit
CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF CHIEF OF AIR STAFF
Gen. Bipin Rawat Air Chief Marshal
B.S. Dhanoa
THE RED TAPHOR for
India’s military might and a backdrop for change. The
crenellated seat of two empires, Mughal and British, it
was from this fort’s ramparts that India announced to
the world that it had made the transition into an inde-
pendent republic. It was also from where Prime Minister
Narendra Modi announced India’s most significant
defence reform in 72 years. Speaking at the Red Fort on
the 72nd Independence Day, Modi announced the insti-
tution of the post of a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). The
CDS would be the government’s single-point military
advisor, and “sharpen coordination between the forces”
making them “even more effective”, he said. Even for a
government that has made stealth, secrecy and surprise
its hallmarks, the announcement came as a bolt from
the blue. Few within the mammoth ministry of defence,
which has functioned almost without change since the
days of the British Raj, saw it coming.
Even the armed forces were taken by surprise. Early
last year, in a first across-the-board consensus, the three
services agreed to appoint a permanent chairman of the
Chiefs of Staff Committee (CoSC). The proposal sent to
the PMO for approval was for a fourth four-star officer
who would head the CoSC consisting of the three service
chiefs (it is currently held by the seniormost service chief
in rotation). The CDS, which Modi opted to announce took him nearly four years to make the announcement.
instead, is a massive step-up from a permanent chair- The decision to appoint a superchief of the armed forces
man. “The decision was like Article 370,” says one senior comes at an inflection point in India’s national security
military official. “Everyone expected minor tinkering… imperatives. The real shift has been in the way the political
the government instead went for radical change.” leadership looks at the military—as a coercive tool of hard
The post of CDS, one of the prime learnings from power against nuclear-armed Pakistan. The governments of
the Kargil War of 1999, was an unfinished agenda of the Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh were deterred by Pakistan’s
Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. This was something nuclear arsenal into not retaliating for the 2001 attack on Par-
Modi hinted at as he addressed the combined command- liament and the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks in 2008. Modi
ers’ conference in December 2015, when he spoke of how has signalled space for military conflict even under a nuclear
“jointness at the top is a need that is long overdue”. It umbrella. Terror attacks like at Uri and Pulwama were met
20 INDIA TODAY SE P T E M BE R 2 , 2 019You can also read
