What makes them tick - III?

 

The alternate universe, the belief system and the resultant roadmaps fill one with concern. 

Any supporter of HWMNBN (He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named) is innocent till proven guilty, e.g., Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh; anyone even slightly critical of him or any of his policies is guilty till proven innocent, e.g., Sonam Wangchuk. Anyone taking up cudgels for the poor or against crony capitalism is a Naxal. Any of these staying in the city is an Urban Naxal. Any international newspaper criticising HWMNBN or even Adani is funded by Soros to destabilise India. The same newspaper saying anything positive about them is India’s friend and well-wisher. 

HWMNBN is so dedicated to the cause of the nation that he tries to devote every single moment of his life to uplifting it and restoring it to past glory. So much so that he doesn’t even get time to freshen up for days on end. He just goes around performing masterstroke after masterstroke which is sometimes not easily apparent or comprehensible to flesh-and-blood folks. Demonetisation was reportedly done without the knowledge of even the Finance Minister. While people were surmising its goals as curbing black money, decimating terrorist infrastructure, improving digitisation, etc., it turned out to be actually for reducing global warming. 

Without anyone’s noticing it, the dictionary and the language of discourse has changed. Liberal, Leftist, Congressi, Woke are dirty words; Librandu is a beautiful word. Urdu is anti-Indian and anti-national even though it originated in the Indian barracks. Fabindia had to withdraw its advertisement for the "Jashn-e-Riwaaz" collection after a backlash over its use of an Urdu phrase for a Diwali promotion. The believers accused the brand of attempting to remove Hindu traditions from Diwali. Fabindia had to change the name to "Jhilmil Diwali" collection. 

Apparently, firecrackers need to be burst (the louder, the better) to honour the Hindu deities and Hindu culture (they call it “Sanskar”).  Even if there were no firecrackers during Lord Ram’s return to Ayodhya, times and Hinduism have moved on. We can’t go back to stone tablets in the era of emails, can we, even if we pay obeisance to the era of stone tablets? The Tanishq Diwali ad was removed after users took offense to its suggestion of not lighting firecrackers. The ad included the line, "I'm hoping to meet my mom after really long. Definitely no firecrackers. I don't think anyone should light any firecrackers."  Following is a meme I saw on the internet:

HWMNBN asked the people of India to ring bells, blow conch shells, clap, bang utensils and light candles on 22.3.2020 at 5 PM for five minutes to thank the frontline workers associated with COVID-19 management. While ordinary folks thought of it as a mere thank-you gesture, as per the believers, there was deep thinking and strategy behind this. March 22 that year was a New Moon day (Amavas). All virus, bacteria and evil forces have maximum potential and power during Amavas. Ringing of bells, blowing of conch shells, clapping, banging utensils, etc. by crores of people would create such a lot of positive vibrations that the virus would lose all its potency. The time of 5 PM was also chosen very carefully. At that time, moon would be passing to a new nakshatra called Revati and the vibrations would increase the blood circulation in the body. Unfortunately, despite the virus losing all potency, millions died in India due to COVID-19. Well, as per the believers, HWMNBN’s duty was to perform the masterstroke. It was the duty of the Indians not to die in such large numbers. 

On 3.4.2020, HWMNBN again appeared on TV at 9 PM to announce a “diya jalao” by everyone flashing mobile torch, lighting diya, candle, etc. at 9 PM for 9 minutes on 5.4.2020. This initiative was just like Gandhi’s Salt March in 1930. Gandhi wanted to eradicate a virus called British rule. HWMNBN was fighting a different virus this time. This time, it was very “scientific” and extremely carefully calibrated to a T. For example, HWMNBN started his announcement precisely at 9 PM. His address lasted exactly 9 minutes. The date, 5^th April added up to 9 (5+4). It was also the turning time of cosmic waves created through a special and unique arrangement of planets. ‘9’ is the number for planet Mars associated with Light and Fire. By aligning everything to 9, essentially, HWMNBN was activating energy of the planet and pleasing the nine planets to save the earth and life in it. Additionally, the nakshatra that day would be Swati (nobody knows how because the Hindu calendar said the nakshatra was ‘Magha’ that day) and lighting diyas would augur auspiciousness. 

Another masterstroke was the farm laws. This would’ve taken the Indian agriculture and farmers’ incomes to unimaginable levels and saved the farmers. So what if the silos of Adani had come up for storing the grains just before the farm laws were passed without even being put to an actual count of votes and just hurried through with a dubious voice vote. So what if minimum price couldn’t be guaranteed – the income would’ve been much more than the minimum price. Because, HWMNBN said so, and, he cannot be wrong. This was followed by another masterstroke – that of repealing the same farm laws. That was again to save our farmers.

There is deep thinking behind the statues. Shivaji statue in Mumbai was fitted with laser cameras in its eyes to detect movement of terrorists from the sea so that 26/11 could not be repeated. The statue has now collapsed so India is very insecure. The Statue of Unity has laser cameras fitted in the eyes to keep a watch on nefarious anti-India activities in Pakistan. It is another matter that the eyes face Indian territory. 

Anyone supporting Palestine is anti-India. Saying anything against Israel amounts to high treason against our own country. Israelis are now adopted into the caste system:

What makes them tick - II?

 

The entire alternate universe of the believers centres around what they think is believed or supported  by a person who must not be named. 

For them, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named (HWMNBN) is God, just performing master-stroke after master-stroke. Even if his party might make the occasional mistake and its ministers may make the occasional bigger mistake, HWMNBN can do no wrong. He is divinely ordained to take India out of darkness towards light. He is also non-biological and has just taken a human form for the time being. Once a year, Lord Jagannath takes to the road to visit his aunt and in the process gives “darshan” to aam janta of all castes and creed. As per the believers, HWMNBN occasionally visits the temple to give “darshan” to Lord Jagannath. HWMNBN is Hindu Hriday Samrat as well as Vishwaguru. As Hindu Hriday Samrat, he decimates the biggest threat to Hindus by exterminating the Muslims but as a Vishwaguru of Vasudaiva Kutumbakam, he goes and embraces the Sheikhs in the Middle East. Only he could have found such perfect balance. 

Our past was truly glorious until Nehru came and destroyed it all. Pehle sab kuchh tha – Internet, Satellite communication, spacecraft, plastic surgery, person-specific nuclear weapons … bas latrines nahi the jo HWMNBN ab bana rahe hain. As per the believers, Nehru only thought about the rich and famous but HWMNBN is trying to uplift the subaltern. So, anything he says or does can never be catcalling or anything like that, he might just be giving the subaltern their long-suppressed voice. 

As per the believers, the whole world is now lining up felicitate India and HWMNBN. As per New York Times, HWMNBN “is the last best hope of earth.” Philip Kotler, the ultimate marketing guru has said, “In my career, I have taught people various marketing theories, but I can’t teach marketing skills to HWMNBN, he knows everything.” Professor Louise Richardson, Vice-Chancellor at Oxford University said, “if there’s anybody who can teach you better management skills than us, it’s HWMNBN; you should listen to his speeches often.” “I am all praise for HWMNBN, the steps he has taken, will bolster the economy and growth rate.” – these are the words ascribed to Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank. Microsoft founder Bill Gates has said, “I have seen many leaders fail to perform under pressure, but HWMNBN is perhaps the only leader I’ve come across who’s unaffected under pressure.” UNESCO has declared Indian national anthem as the best in the world even though UNESCO doesn’t rank or certify national anthems. It is another matter that these quotations are not found anywhere in any credible publication. Even the purported New York Times quote hasn’t been found in New York Times. Any international, or for that matter Indian, media criticising India or HWMNBN is anti-Indian and funded by Soros. Anybody who criticises HWMNBN has to be an acolyte of Rahul Gandhi. Why one cannot be equidistant from both or distant from all politicians does not even merit an answer. 

HWMNBN has made India a name to contend with internationally. There’s nothing an HWMNBN-hug can’t resolve. Even though in some of their cultures, physical contact is very intrusive and some of them have been seen to try to avoid it and also use sanitisers immediately after, all international leaders look forward to being hugged by HWMNBN. He stopped the war in Ukraine just to evacuate the Indians stranded there. Trump is content to be guided by him in everything. Meloni is in love with him. Putin and Xi are his bum-chums. He nearly solved all the Indo-Pak problems over a plate of Biryani but the rogue Pak army played spoil-sport. It’s another matter that all our neighbours Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and China hold India with extreme suspicion and hatred. 

How exactly shall we manage without HWMNBN? Who can lead the country? In a country of 140 crores some of whom can lead Google, Microsoft, IBM, YouTube or can be Nobel laureates or can head populous states, we cannot find a single person to replace HWMNBN. No Sir. 

If there is any small error, whatever HWMNBN is doing will die with him so we should give him a fair run. However, it is not known how long will this run continue to be called a fair run. Also, what is the guarantee that the permanent damages, if any or many, will not live after him? 

Prime Ministers are supposed to take questions from the press. However, these rules don’t apply to HWMNBN, he being non-biological and divinely ordained. You can’t put God in the dock, can you? If there’re any questions about governance, just ask the opposition leaders – they are not responsible but they are answerable. 

Prince Siddharth left home and wife in the middle of the night and became Buddha, the Enlightened One. If another person also similarly left, why should there be any criticism of that? It’s another matter that the latter has positioned himself as the saviour of womankind ...

[To be concluded]

What makes them tick?

I have been on a quitting-WhatsApp-groups spree. The reason: Almost every group being dominated by a number of people who, though well-educated and well-stationed in life have completely bought into such an alternate universe that it’s impossible to interact from my own humdrum reality. They tend to be quite vocal and sometimes aggressive, to the point of relinquishing all reason. What makes them tick? What are the components of their belief system? Here’s what I gathered from some of the posts. As per their alternate reality: 

India became independent only in 2014. Before that, it was on a 99-year lease. When the real history of India will be written, it’ll be divided into two parts: Before 2014 and After 2014. Before 2014, it was a dark hole and after 2014, it became bright sunshine. Before 2014, India was a land of bullock-carts, snake-charmers and rope-tricks where people used to curse their luck for having been born in this hell-hole. After 2014, we smartly lived in smart cities, went at the speed of bullet by Bullet Trains for breakfast, came back via a Biryani lunch in Pakistan, had havan and dinner in honour of Trump, could look the world in the eye, almost annexed Shanghai through banning TikTok and Chinese apps, gave Pakistan a bloody nose through annihilation of our Rafale jets, were richer by Rs. 20 lacs per head thanks to return of black money – everything was joy, jollity and song. 

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was the first PM of India. I think this refers to Netaji declaring an Azad Hind (Free India) on 21.10.1943. It doesn’t matter that Netaji did it while in Singapore. He also declared himself as the Prime Minister. It goes to the believer’s credit that he can believe two irreconcilable things at the same time: (a) that India became independent in 1943 and (b) that India became independent in 2014. For him, another, bigger independence, i.e., economic independence occurred at the stroke of midnight on 30.6.2017 when Goods and Services Tax (GST) was rolled out. Then there was further independence from the same oppressive GST by rolling out of “GST bachat” on 22.9.2025. 

All that Nehru, the so-called first Prime Minister of India did was mis-spending his life womanising, boozing, smoking and selling the country to the USA and the Muslims. Nehru was himself a Muslim, an illegitimate son of Motilal Nehru born to a Muslim woman. Sonia Gandhi was a bar dancer. All problems of the past were caused by Nehru – partition, Kashmir issue, language issue, scrapping currency notes featuring Subhas Chandra Bose, even Gandhi’s assassination. All problems of today have been caused by Nehru. All future problems would also have been caused by Nehru. If there’re no problems tomorrow, Nehru will manufacture problems. How one man can wreak such havoc for all times to come beggars belief. The real heroes of India were Sardar Patel and Godse. 

Creating institutions has no meaning. Anyone could create IITs, IIMs, AIIMS, ISRO, etc.. Pakistan space research agency is eight years older than India’s. All these were just bricks and mortar until 2014 when they started achieving things like soft landing on the moon, Sun mission, renaming of ISM, Dhanbad as IIT, renaming of NITIE as IIM, and so on. 

About 100 crore Hindus in India are in danger because of the 20 crore Muslim population. Had it not been for the cataclysmic events of 2014, these 20 crore Muslims would’ve overrun the Hindus several times over. They run population jihad, love jihad, land jihad, halal jihad, business jihad, UPSC jihad, vote jihad, Corona jihad, spit jihad, urine jihad, rail jihad (causing train accidents), gaming jihad, and so on. It’s only after 2014 that Hindus have found a voice and a place to dance (outside mosques) during Hindu festivals. 

Mughals were just a figment of the imagination of Leftist historians, Urban Naxals and Wokes. They never conquered India but were repulsed by our kings who were from a superior race, had advanced technology and had divine powers. Taj Mahal was possibly built by a PWD engineer. Rana Pratap won the Battle of Haldighati against Akbar in 1576. How there was a fight between Akbar and Rana Pratap when there were no Mughals in India need not be bothered about. Muslims are evil, intruders and termites even if any of them has been here for several generations. 

Most so-called western "wisdom" pales into insignificance before our superior ancient knowledge. Darwin is nonsense. There was no evolution because “nobody saw a monkey turn into a man.” Hindus were specially created to be superior in everything – knowledge, wisdom, abilities, traditions, etc., until Nehru came and destroyed it all. Cow is holy. Cow dung is as valuable as Kohinoor diamond. Cow urine is the best cure for Cancer –  there’s no need for other Western, expensive treatment. The first urine of the cow is the best for all-round health. If you have blood pressure, just stroke a cow and high blood pressure will vanish. The Hindu calendar is way better than the Gregorian calendar because it gives information about 12 different things, not just date and day.

 

[To be continued]

No my Lord, it doesn't add up. Again!

 

The previous blog dwelt on the interview of ex-CJI Mr. Chandrachud by Sreenivasan Jain. Actually, the interview could’ve been much worse. Sreenivasan didn’t ask a number of questions, possibly because of lack of time or because he was gobsmacked by the assertion of original desecration of a temple to build Babri Masjid when there was no evidence of it. 

Following questions would’ve tied up Mr. Chandrachud in knots further. 

What was the point of all those lengthy deliberations, wastage of everybody’s time including the Court’s when the action component was missing? He declared the action of the Speaker of Maharashtra Assembly illegal but didn’t do anything about the result of the action which led to formation of the Shinde government. He declared the Electoral Bonds unconstitutional but didn’t bother about recovery of the loot made by the parties from the electoral bonds. Plus, even though the “actual” donor information was available with SBI, he didn’t ask for it so the two A’s possibly got away because they might’ve donated through proxies or trusts. Even after taking Suo Moto cognisance of Manipur problems, there was no effective action or direction. If ever there was a case for urgent Governor’s rule, it was in Manipur which is still burning. 

Then there were cases where the government blatantly violated the Supreme Court order. The Supreme Court itself had held that the independence of the Election Commission is fundamental to democracy. On 2.3.2023, It had ordered a three-member Committee consisting of the PM, LoP and CJI to determine the appointment of the Election Commissioners. The government enacted a bill (28.12.2023) and replaced the CJI with a Cabinet Minister, nullifying the ECI independence. All that “fundamental to democracy” bit was blown to smithereens. The conduct of the CECs and the Election Commissioners thereafter has been there for the whole world to see. Since this one thing strikes at the heart of democracy, the minimum expectation from the Court was either a stay or a day-to-day hearing to settle the issue urgently. 

In one case, he facilitated dilution of his own order through inaction – Delhi Services Case. The Central government had completely stymied the functioning of Delhi Chief Minister by putting the bureaucracy in an adversarial position to the elected government. On 11.5.2023, CJI’s own bench held that no elected government can function without the bureaucracy being accountable to it and so, apart from public order, police and land matters, the elected government of Delhi would have full powers and would have transfer and posting control over the concerned bureaucrats. However, a few days after the order, on 26.7.2023, the Central government circumvented it by issuing an ordinance giving the Lieutenant Governor all powers to overrule the National Capital Civil Service Authority headed by the Chief Minister. What then is the point of an elected government in Delhi? As the Supreme Court had gone into constitutionality and passed the order, prima facie, the ordinance was unconstitutional and required immediate and strong intervention by the Court. That didn’t happen. 

Justice Chandrachud’s administrative actions too have dealt body blows to the polity. The government appears to be trying to completely control the judiciary through delay and cherry-picking of appointment and transfer of judges despite collegium recommendations. On 5.12.2023, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul’s bench was due to hear the case pertaining to it. Strangely, it was mysteriously “deleted” from the list without any reason. Justice Kaul wryly remarked, “I will just say one thing. I have not deleted the matter. I am sure the Chief Justice knows about it…some things are best left unsaid, sometimes.” Mr. Chandrachud was CJI from 9.9.2022 to 10.11.2024. There were also scores of complaints regarding assigning of politically sensitive cases to a particular judge or benches comprising the same judge. 

His personal conduct has been open to opprobrium. It appears that even though he retired on 10.11.2024, he was staying in the government bungalow till August 2025, a full nine months after and vacated it only after the Supreme Court requested the authorities to evict him. Even more reprehensible were his justifications. First, he tried to justify it on grounds of accessibility concerns for his children with disabilities. Hello, if that be a ground, so many government servants would just occupy their government quarters in perpetuity. Then he asked why the controversy when he was paying market rent. The rules required that he should have vacated it within three months (media reports suggest that he could stay in a lower, type VII quarters for six months while 5, Krishna Menon Marg is type VIII quarters) and since it was a designated bungalow for the CJI, propriety demanded that he should have vacated it on the day of his retirement so that his successor could’ve moved in – even Prime Ministers vacate their designated quarters within a day. Why he has been allotted different government quarters now is not understood. Why he accepted the same is of graver concern. Media not questioning it enough speaks of a circle of silence. 

Post retirement, he has purchased a Mercedes-Benz-E-Class E200 (cost approx. Rs. 92 lacs) and the matter came to light when the registrar of the Supreme Court wrote to Delhi Transport Commissioner requesting a specific registration number for it. Both the cost and that request of the registrar regarding a private vehicle of a private citizen raise eyebrows. It’s also a matter of concern that while annual declaration of assets is mandatory for all government servants, the Supreme Court judges are exempt from it – I feel, they should be leading by example. 

Given the above and the previous blog, I feel, the title of his book, “Why Constitution Matters” is a bit rich. Constitution does matter, but this is not the way to make it so.

 

No my Lord, it doesn't add up

I took that limited-time subscription of Rs. 99 just to watch the full interview of ex-CJI D.Y. Chandrachud to Newslaundry. At the end of it, I was left wondering what was he thinking when he organised or agreed to the interview – there had earlier been a devastating takedown of former CJI Gogoi by the same interviewer. I think, his Lordship was very keen to be interviewed – the possible twin purposes may have been promoting his upcoming book (Why the Constitution Matters) and managing a governmental position or a QUANGO (Quasi-Autonomous Non-Governmental Organization) or some such. 

The ex-CJI was visibly rattled from the get-go by the first question when Sreenivasan retailed the google results for his legacy – Consequential, Confounding, Controversial, Contradictory. When Sreenivasan got to specifics, it kept getting worse. 

The first one was the Ayodhya judgement. Right from Day One, everyone and his uncle knew that Justice Chandrachud was the author. At one point while still in office, he decided to go public with ownership of the authorship but it backfired badly because he attributed it to divine guidance, etc.. Now, in interview after interview he is trying to get out of the authorship saying “I’m a disciplined soldier of the system and will not reveal"; "all five judges have authorship"; "unanimous agreement", etc.. However, once the genie is out, it can’t be put back. While defending the judgement during the interview, he tied himself up in knots and finally blatantly misled saying there was evidence of a Hindu temple having been desecrated for building a mosque. This was in direct contradiction to the judgement as per which there was no evidence that an underlying structure was “actually demolished” to build a mosque. He then tried to justify not dividing the land for both parties quoting law and order apprehensions. Hello, my Lordship, that was not your remit; your remit was pronouncing on the evidence and the law; it’s the Executive which is supposed to look after law and order. 

Where was the law and order consideration when he allowed the survey of the Gyanvapi mosque to determine the religious character of the place when changing the same is not permissible under the Act? In the interview he tried to justify it by talking about determining whether it was a place of archaeological importance (an exception allowed) whereas that was not a part of any of the pleadings. It was just somehow artificially finding a justification after a decision. He also claimed that there has always been undisputed Hindu worship in the cellar (this was fact-checked as wrong assertion). Plus, the structure is a mosque so if any Hindu worship has ever been allowed in any part of any mosque premises, the structure would be erased? That one action allowing the survey opened such a Pandora’s box that many parts of the country were simmering, many suits were filed all over the country and there were several deaths until one of his successors finally put a lid on it through a stay. While questioned on the law and order implications and outcomes, suddenly he switched to “truth” even at the cost of unpopularity. 

He ducked the question of abrogation of Article 370 saying the judgement has spoken. Then why was he answering all those other questions? Restoration of statehood for J & K/ Kashmir was a related question raised. His bench didn’t go into it apparently because the government assured that it wants to restore statehood. On the question of not fixing or asking for a timeline, his defence: one has to trust the government. OMG, if Supreme Court trusts the government, then where is the need for its existence? Every time there is a question, government will just say, “Trust us, it’s all good.” 

There was the extraordinary matter of Ganesh Puja celebration at his residence with the PM attending. [It is not understood why these things happen with uncanny regularity. Whenever there’s any important matter being handled by the Supreme Court and is likely to be grossly inconvenient to the ruling party, the PM decides to visit the Supreme court premises or the President invites the CJI or the PM participates in a Puja at the CJI’s residence or the CJI’s mother is invited as Chief Guest at an RSS function.] While justification regarding the Ganesh Puja matter was advanced in terms of the invitation being in a personal capacity and it being a private matter, there was no information as to why the cameras and the photographs then. 

At the end of the interview, I wondered what happens now to the governmental position or the non-governmental QUANGO which could be a possible motive for the interview. Well, it takes two to quango but Sreenivasan was not playing ball.

[To be concluded]

Customs, Police and a cautionary tale

 Recently, a logistics company, Wintrack tweeted: 

From October 1, 2025, our company will cease import/ export activities in India. For the past 45 days, Chennai Customs officials have relentlessly harassed us. After exposing their bribery practices twice this year, they retaliated, effectively crippling our operations and destroying our business in India. We deeply thank everyone who has supported us during these difficult times. 

Customs dismissed the allegations as “serious and false.” Wintrack named three officials, shared screenshots, mentioned bribe amount/s and also “discount” on the bribes. The episode led to such a flood of others pouring out their tales of harassment by and bribery of Customs officials on the internet that the Union Finance Ministry has now ordered an enquiry and also issued a statement. 

Well, I too have a Customs story. 

This was when I was S.P., Calcutta Airport. I learnt that the airport gate leading to the Customs enclosure had become almost a free zone with anyone entering and exiting it freely. This had serious implications for the airport security. The airport is only as secure as all its access points and any breach anywhere compromises the whole system. As per the rules, there were only two ways to enter an airport, either through a legitimate ticket for travel or an Airport Entry Permit (AEP). 

I directed the Police personnel to strictly implement the above rule without any exception, regardless of the gate. I was astounded by the backlash from Customs. Their Assistant Commissioners threatened my officers and even their Additional Commissioner wrote a D.O. letter asking me to “stop such practices which was impacting their rules of business.” When I pointed out that I shall not be able to allow anyone in without one of those two documents because that was violative of my “rule of business,” she chose to approach my seniors. 

Additional Commissioner of Customs was very senior to me in rank and rated audience by the high and mighty in the Police. I received a call from a DGP asking how come Calcutta airport had collapsed under my watch. I politely told him that I was as of that moment sitting in the airport and all about me things were bustling along and I definitely would’ve noticed if it had indeed collapsed. He was not convinced and ordered an IGP to look into the matter. I was accordingly summoned by the IGP to explain. 

What had happened was this. Those days, smuggling from Bangkok used to be big. There were these operators from Fancy Market in Kidderpore, the smuggling hub of Calcutta who used to regularly fly to Bangkok and come back with smuggled goods to the full extent of their purchasing power. After arriving at Calcutta airport, they would have no money for paying the Customs duties or the “alternative demands” so they would be allowed to go out of that gate and auction the goods out at the airport itself (the gate would be crowded with touts in sync with the arrival of those flights) and come back with the money to pay. The procedure is that if the legitimate Customs duties were to be paid, the goods needed to be “officially seized,” valued, and later released from the Customs warehouse against payment of the duty amount. This apparently was anathema to the Customs officials because that would obviate any “negotiations” or other dealings. I also offered to accept a third document, i.e., written authorisation by the Customs officials for any re-entry but that too was not acceptable because it would create a paper trail, hence no possible “negotiations.” 

So I went to that Nuremberg trial chaired by the IGP. I had prepared a two-page note detailing the full picture and submitted it for “his kind perusal.” The IGP was flanked by two DIGs and I was seated facing the three of them and shrinking by the minute. While the IGP was reading the note, the two DIGs took turns to berate and abuse me left, right and centre for “not being practical,” for creating friction with other agencies, for making things unnecessarily difficult for all concerned and so on. This went on for a good 10-15 minutes. Then the IGP finished reading the note, looked up and asked, “Agar smugglers ko tight kar raha hai to aap logon ko kya dikkat hai?” Immediately, the two DIGs changed their tune and complimented me for doing such a stellar job. I breathed again. 

Armed with that validation, I went back and hand-picked four officers with unimpeachable integrity to supervise that particular gate (in the four shifts). The Customs officials and the touts threatened to get them eliminated. I deployed visible and substantial police escorts for them to and from their residences. I also found that after the last international flight at around 9.30 PM every day, there used to be a party in the Customs enclosure to distribute the booty and the “negotiated amounts” collected during the day over sumptuous food and booze supplied from a nearby (famous) hotel and the officials used to be in an expansive mood then, expansive enough to throw Rs. 10,000 or so as tips for each of the hotel staff doing the catering. These hotel guys were also entering without any permit. I personally stopped them and again the Customs officials contacted a lot of my seniors on the plea that I was making them starve. However, this time, it didn’t cut any ice with anyone. 

After the airport assignment, I was posted to Calcutta Police which was a leg up. I was happy. But the happiest was the Customs set up at the airport. I believe, when the news of my new assignment filtered in, they burst into a proper Bhangra in celebration. The Airports Authority organised a big farewell for me – it was an eventful tenure, Purulia arms-drop, two almost-hijacks, a grenade incident and so on. All the agencies operating at the airport, with one exception, participated with gusto. Customs officials were conspicuous by their absence.

Leave the kids alone, please!

 

One of the youngest of my batchmates in the IPS was widely expected to head the force in his cadre one day, age at entry being very important. He was doing well in the career too. Until he realised that his son had some potential in Cricket. After that, he forgot everything else and focused single-minded on getting his son into the Indian team. He chose postings (sometimes fairly unimportant ones) whereby he could devote maximum time towards that objective and his son would get the best chance. He also stopped his son’s studies so that the latter could devote himself full-time to the sport. There must’ve been a whole lot of unimaginable hard choices – diet, commute, personal coach/ trainer, on and on. It requires such single-minded obsession and sacrifices to make it. Because, in India, almost every boy plays Cricket, growing up and the vacancies in any of the Indian playing teams are exactly eleven at any point of time. 

With all this and despite being from a fairly privileged background and even despite serious talent (remarkable knocks in the IPL), the boy hasn't been able to make it to the Indian team. One can only imagine what a kid or his family from a not-so-privileged background or from the hinterland must be going through when that all-elusive India cap beckons as a goal. Yashaswi Jaiswal selling Panipuris to sustain himself in Mumbai; Dhoni juggling between checking train tickets and playing; Hardik Pandya surviving on 5-rupee Maggi for breakfast and lunch, 365 days a year; Natarajan’s father a daily-wage labourer in Chinapampatti village, Tamil Nadu; Md. Siraj’s father an auto-rickshaw driver. 

Cut to what has happened in the just-concluded Asia cup. Starting with the Captain, Surya Kumar Yadav (SKY) who refused to shake hands with the Pak captain at the toss in their first match. The Indian team walked off the field without the customary handshakes with their opponents in the same match. In the post-match presentation, SKY made it a point to mention the Pahalgam attack victims. Pakistani player Haris Rauf made a 6-0 gesture to the crowd. Sahibzada Farhan indulged in ‘Gun’ celebration after making a half century. SKY pooh-poohed any talk of ‘rivalry’ between the two teams, quoting the head-to-head record in T20Is. Arshdeep Singh made an obscene gesture. Bumrah signalled jet crash after taking Haris Rauf’s wicket. Indian players refused to collect the trophy and medals from the Asian Cricket Council President (Mohsin Naqvi) as he was “also one of the main political leaders of Pakistan.” The latter chose to take away the trophy and the medals. Finally, the tweet calling India’s victory “OperationSindoor on the games field.”  

What exactly was the point of it all? It seems that as far as the international community and the global defence community are concerned, Pakistan won the war – witness Trump’s hosting of General/ Field Marshal Munir and the Pakistan PM, surge in stock prices of Chengdu jet company, etc.. Even our CDS admitted in public to our having made a tactical blunder which took two days to recover from in a four-day war. All these shenanigans on the cricket field will not change that. Domestically, for the discerning public, the twin spins, viz., A. we were winning and B. we didn’t cave in to American pressure, don’t add up because why then did we stop the war? 

How does mentioning Pahalgam in the presentation ceremony help? If Pahalgam was still a big issue after the war, why play Pakistan at all?  The conduct of the Indian team looked like the losers’ conduct, not confident winners’. It was also extremely graceless. The reprehensible conduct of the Pakistani team and officials does not justify anything because India started it all. Everyone who represents a country on the cricket field comes up through enormous struggles and heartbreaks. On their day, any team can win. In fact, Pakistan nearly won the finals. Given that, SKY’s utterances (Pakistan no rivals, etc.) speaks of unconscionable lack of respect for opponents. Well before the tournament, it was known that Mohsin Naqvi is the current president of Asian Cricket Council. If India participated in the tournament of the same Asian Cricket Council despite that, then why can’t he present the trophy? That tweet equating the match to Operation Sindoor. The final was extremely close and it was anyone’s game. So, going by the tweet, if India had lost the match, would it have meant that we were defeated in the war? 

Just think of the kind of risks we as a nation were taking by using the players as pawns in the larger political game. After all the drama of no handshakes, mention of Pahalgam, derisive dismissal of rivalry talk and all the other in-your-face gestures, if we had lost the finals, it would have been such a body blow to the nation’s psyche. That last ball six of Miandad in peace times took us decades to recover from. This one would’ve taken ages. 

During the most successful war of modern times (1971) which India won comprehensively in just 13 days taking 90,000 Pakistanis as prisoners, a young Pakistan Captain (Asan Malik) defended a position called Hilly so well that the Indian forces did not succeed in capturing it in several attempts. Even though we captured the post finally, our Chief of Army Staff, later to be Field Marshal, Sam Manekshaw, impressed by the Captain’s valour, sent a personal letter of appreciation and even recommended a gallantry award for him to his superiors. During his subsequent visit to Pakistan, he reiterated his request to his counterparts there. He also ensured that the 90,000 prisoners were treated well and with dignity in India. This is called respect for the opponent. And, graciousness in winning, even when the win is such an enormous one. 

These cricketers are young kids who have obsessively devoted most of their years to Cricket. MoM in the final match, Tilak Verma is just 22 years old. Cricket is what they are best at and all that they know and all that they should be doing. Let the cricketers play their Cricket (when the circumstances permit) and let the battles be left to the battlefield. Please!

Troll nation

 

Recently I quit a WhatsApp group. I have been reflecting upon the conduct of the group and its members. 

The group was called “democratic.” 

One single person, late in the night, DECIDED that since there’s an option in WhatsApp called ‘timer,’ it should be tried. And, he did. Because, he could, as he was one of the admin members. He didn’t bother to consult the other admin members. He didn’t bother to find out whether that was what the other members wanted. He just did it. Because, it was his version of democracy. And, he had DECIDED. 

Some of the other admin members pushed back. Ultimately, one of the (very) lowly members (viz., me) pushed back. But, in the name of democracy, this one person held firm and stuck to his stand. Because, he had the power – he was admin, no less! When push came to shove, he did what every bureaucrat in the annals of history had done. He organised a poll. Not “before,” but “after,” having blocked all the other members from saving their individual preferences. He also suddenly remembered democracy again. There was one type of democracy before he peremptorily blocked everyone else from individual ‘saves.’ Under this second type of democracy, members had to now vote before his “democratic” action could be revoked. Even though the concerned admin vigorously rang up other members to support the timer, more members voted ‘against’ the timer than ‘for.’ So, there had to be a third type of ‘democracy.’ Poll extended for a week, extendable for a fortnight, a month, a year, or so on, ad infinitum (the time period decided by him), until enough times the coin dropped ‘heads.’ Meanwhile, that “democratic” decision to block the saves continued. 

Such is the basis upon which “democracy” is built. Amen! 

There was another member whose world began and ended with one particular dispensation (OPD) and its policies. So, whatever OPD decreed or promoted had to be defended at all costs. So, if OPD committed the country’s Air Force to battle under some “cloud theory” of escaping radar detection, that was a masterstroke! Obviously, there was plastic surgery which made Lord Ganesha’s elephant head possible. The 2,000 rupee notes had chips embedded (wonder what happened to the chips since the notes are now gone). Shivaji statue had laser eyes to detect terrorist movements in the sea – the statue has now collapsed so we all are quite vulnerable. 

There was another guy for whom everything reminded of caste. If someone even posted a nice painting or said the sky was blue, he would rave and rant and splutter about how Brahmins have been so evil. And, heavens forbid, if anyone even mentioned reservations … I tried telling him everything reminded me of sex but at least I didn’t put it in ALL my WhatsApp posts but the irony passed him by. 

One guy thought that he was “the chosen one” to spread the outpourings of the toxic IT cell and try and fashion the group in its image. It was not even acceptable to him if nobody responded to his rants. He would cast serious aspersions on the intellectual abilities of his batchmates if others remained silent. 

Two guys once got into a heated argument and then the admin (used to be a lone person then, the creator of the group) was asked to intervene. The admin did so but it was apparently not acceptable that the admin had not taken a stronger stand. The then lone admin quit the group – for more than a decade, he had worked assiduously to keep the group together, … and civil. 

The problem is not with WhatsApp as a platform. The problem is not even with most of the WhatsApp group members. The problem is with the systematic injecting of the venom that has made us into such a hateful nation of trolls that “hatred” is our default option. The bigger problem is that the “injecting” has been SO successful that highly educated people (IIMs are the pinnacle of educational excellence in India) and people who have seen the ins-and-outs of government and politicians and their seamier sides at play (civil servants) have been mesmerised into idolatry. I quit my IIM batch group in the past. I’ve now quit a civil services group. I’ve also quit a retired people’s group. I guess, I self-enforced my social media ban. Other governments en-forced social media bans from the outside, with disastrous results. With time, they’ll probably pivot to the Indian model (of immersing social media with so much venom from the inside and creating so many trolls that no ban would be necessary). Just a hope – India will learn from these incidents. It’s a small, dwindling, now-barely-flickering hope. We live in dark times.

Why do they hate us so much?

 

Nepal has been up in flames recently. Although international media has given the news short shrift, things appear to have been really bad there. News about Nepal made me cast my mind back to my United Nations deployment in Sierra Leone. The guns had fallen silent. Peace-keeping was practically over. A very small group of us were engaged in what was called “capacity building” – the deaf leading the blind? Since it was a small group, we interacted with each other continuously and extensively. One Nepalese officer used to spend much of his time in my office room. One day, while discussing someone else, he just burst out saying, “Who toh Indians se bhi gandaa hai!” [“He is even dirtier than Indians!”] before realising that he was actually talking to an Indian. I was furious and threatened to report him for a racist comment like that and he panicked and apologised profusely. I let it go; however, it made me think how hated we are amongst our neighbours. 

The next time I came face to face with the hatred was nearly a full-blown diplomatic crisis with me at the centre of it. I was working with Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), the security regulator for all things aviation in India. The previous hijacking of an Indian aeroplane (IC 814) had been orchestrated after the plane took off from Kathmandu and we were concerned about the security arrangements at Kathmandu airport. I was leading a team of officials from different organisations and ministries for an audit of Kathmandu airport as far as it pertained to our operations there. 

Actually, this is a routine matter and within international obligations under the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) mandate. Any ICAO signatory country is obliged to allow inspection of their aviation security arrangements by officials of any other signatory country having aviation operation to and from the former. We were inspecting airports in many countries and officials of other countries used to inspect our arrangements too. I never expected how big a problem my visit was going to be. 

Just a day or two before our trip, the Indian High Commission’s office informed me that there was a glitch and that the Nepal government was not willing to permit us. I told them we were coming anyway because we could always travel to Nepal under the existing agreements and if they permitted the audit, fine; else, we’d come back. Later I heard from my IPS colleague at the High Commission that the High Commissioner was not-a-little amused, aghast, and, somewhat admiring – he chuckled, “I like these guys’ attitude!” He worked hard to facilitate the trip and the audit. 

When we landed, I was shocked by some of the headlines in the Nepalese newspapers. “India is sending people to destroy our sovereignty.” “Now Indian arms will land in Nepal.” “We are an independent nation.” And, so on. I was also told that the matter of issuing Airport Entry Permits for us was raging in their legislative body (I think, it was called a legislature then) because a Minister had raised strong objections to our proposed audit. 

Something funny happened though. A very senior police officer of Nepal (different from the previous mentioned) who had served in the team headed by me in Sierra Leone heard that I was in town, visited me in his personal capacity and took me around the airport and its facilities and discussed a lot of the details, apart from discussing the (good?) old days. The next day, partly because the particular minister realised that I was able to access things without the permit and partly due to the efforts of the Indian High Commission, we were “formally” granted the permits and rest of the audit went smoothly. 

I was appalled by the incident. However, I was even more appalled by the attitude of some of the officials in my delegation. The moment we “officially” entered the airport, the guys in my delegation started “directing” the Nepalese officials and “dictating” what they should or shouldn’t do. I called a time-out, gathered them in and told them to strictly follow protocol; their job was not to “oversee” but to observe and ask questions after asking for permission; any observations would be communicated between the governments on govt-to-govt basis through proper channels and any “directions” to the Indian aviation agencies would be communicated during a closed-door de-brief meeting. Believe me, my delegation officials were sputtering and straining at the leash so I had to be even harsher than the previous words suggest. 

Even though this was a small incident, it does mirror how we, as a country, have managed to gather so many enemies and so much hatred in our backyard. We are big and that is our privilege but that is also our burden. We need not be overbearing. Also, we could be a little more gracious, and sensitive. Sensitive, above all.

Ode to an alma mater

It is inevitable that human civilisation will self-destruct at some point in time. Then the cycle will start all over again. Hunting-gathering, rudimentary tools, stone age, bronze age, iron age, nuclear age and so on. At a future date, when they excavate, they might find a beautiful structure at present-day Bannerghatta in Bengaluru. There would be inexplicable stone structures spanning an area of present-day 54,000 sqm. It might look like this:

They will find stone structures like this on the following pattern over 54,000 sqm area:

They will use carbon dating or whatever methods and date the constructions to present day 1973-1983. Gradually, with the help of other artifacts and some imagination, they’ll recreate some of the structures to have looked like:

 

They will be surprised at some of the similarities of the structures to two other structures found quite far away. They wouldn’t know that these latter were called Fatehpur Sikri and Madurai temple today. They will be amazed at the structures’ spatial synthesis and energy efficiency with passive cooling strategies. The facilitation of natural light and ventilation will take their breath away. Every so often, the lines of the architecture will baffle them because they will see sudden changes of scale and occasional breakings of corridors; however, the structure would make sense when taken as a whole. 

What they wouldn’t know is that the whole complex was designed to foster an environment of learning and interaction. If they reconstruct the buildings with lush surroundings they will find the whole complex leaning on a sequence of spatial experiences. The overall sequence of movement – from the lush, open campus to the semi-open corridors and eventually to the more enclosed and protected spaces would generate multiple threshold conditions. These unique locations in the plan would allow the functional spaces to interact and assimilate more freely with the overall theme, creating fluid and easy connections between the spaces for movement and the spaces for work. 

They wouldn’t know the genius of the architect, Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi for whom, “Architecture was an extension of the body, and it was where the mind dwelt.” Like all Doshi’s creation, this structure, with its harmonious blend of traditional Indian and modern architectural elements would be seen but the underlying philosophy would escape those in the future. They may not know that the design ethos was to create a space that transcended the physical boundaries of buildings, encouraging openness and fluidity, seamlessly integrating indoor and outdoor spaces, facilitating a dialogue between nature and built form. The structure would be representative of architectural norms at a time when the country was on the cusp of embracing modernity. 

They may well surmise a few things, e.g., that it was a place of learning, but they wouldn’t know how, by creating an atmosphere where one didn’t see divides and doors, it promoted a sense of community among the students and faculty. How the courtyards, corridors, and fenestrations were meticulously designed to facilitate natural light and ventilation, creating a conducive atmosphere for education and contemplation. How the inclusive spaces encouraged creativity and interaction. How the campus blended historical inspirations and modern functionality, making it a unique example of how architecture could bridge the past and the present. Or how over a career spanning six decades, Doshi created such a profound impact on the architectural fraternity and society at large that he was awarded the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize (frequently referred to as the Nobel prize of architecture) in 2018, becoming the first Indian to receive this honour. 

Above all, they wouldn’t know how the campus and the buildings housed a beacon of academic excellence called IIMB which nourished such a large number of world leaders and how enormously the architecture contributed to that process. They also wouldn’t know that although the institute was already 10 years old then, the author’s batch was the first one in that campus.

[The pathway to excellence]

Being Delulu

My two younger children (twins, a girl and a boy) were born in 1999. I used to call them dot.com kids because that was the period of the dot.com bubble. Being digital natives, they started handling computer keyboards before touching a pen. Now kids of that vintage are called the Generation Z. I had to rejig a lot of my ideas and acceptances to be in line with the changing mores of that generation. So, sleepovers were all too frequent; being glued to mobile phones was normal; best gifts one could give them ranged from game consoles to ipods, and so on. 

Much of the time, our house has been full of their friends, other gen Z kids. Slowly, I realised that they speak in tongues. It’s English but nothing like what we know as the English language. When I first heard my son’s friend say, “I’m bouncing,” I was aghast. Talking of weird behaviour of some anatomical parts? Or about some game? Or was it acrobatics on the trampoline? Later I learnt that he meant he was leaving. Then there were the one-letter words, acronyms and shortened phrases. That’s a big W meant that’s a big win. L meant Loss. IRL meant In Real Life. Delulu meant Delusional or ungrounded in reality. 

I thought I knew the term ‘drip.’ For us, it meant a weak, ineffectual person. Now, it’s almost the reverse – it actually means stylish look. For us, ‘thirsty’ meant grabbing a glass of water. Now it describes a person desperate for attention or validation. ‘Ate’ meant filled one’s belly, now it means doing something with style or impressively. 

Mercifully, some words haven’t changed much. ‘Vibe’ still means overall mood or atmosphere. ‘Low-key’ means understated. We also used ‘slay’ to mean perform exceedingly well. Something ‘hit different,’ when it had a unique and powerful impact. ‘Cringe’ was something embarrassing or awkward. It remains so. 

From time to time, I’m dropping some of the new lingo on my kids’ unsuspecting friends, to the acute ‘cringe’ of my kids. I no longer dress Low-key; I’ve graduated to High-key, with floral prints dominating my wardrobe. My socks are lurid shades of red, electric blue, bottle green and so on. Ditto, my T-shirts; I hardly wear shirts any more, even when I’m teaching a class because quite a few of my students are Gen Z. I wonder if I ‘slay’ them with my ‘drip’ look. Probably I’m being perpetually ‘thirsty,’ (requiring validation all the time). 

Sometime back, I wanted to simp glow-up but IRL, that kinda thing becomes a big L if you can’t vibe with your age. It can look sus to fam. So, while you think you’re lit or slaying with your drip, no fam member thinks you’re snatched. They think you’re being cheugy and delulu. Positively cray. Periodt. 

The above passage, roughly translated to our (old) generation lingo: 

Sometime back, I wanted simply (simp) a positive transformation (glow-up) but in real life (IRL), that kind of thing becomes a big loss (L) if you can’t be in sync with the overall mood (vibe) of your age. It can look suspicious (sus) to family (fam). So, while you think you’re exciting or amazing (lit) or doing exceptionally well (slaying) with your stylish clothes and fashion accessories (drip), no family member thinks  you’re looking amazing (snatched). They think you’re being outdated and uncool (cheugy) and delusional (delulu). Positively crazy (cray). Period, emphasis added (Periodt)! 

No cap (to tell the truth), it’ll feel salty (bitter). 

There is an upside to it also. Heaven forbid, if I ever go to a night club and make a jackass of myself, the bouncer won’t have to do anything. I’ll myself bounce. Fast. Because I know the lingo. 🕺🏻🕺🏻

Aur janab kya chal raha hai?

 

Uff, so much spin by India, Pakistan, US, Prez Trump, PM Modi, PM Sharif, Defence Ministers Rajnath Singh and Khawaza Asif, international media, national media (both Godi and less-Godi – there’s no non-Godi media left!), Defence community and so on, the head is positively spinning now. But, through the fog, some things are evident. 

We thought, with our far superior air power, we’d just be all over Pakistan and they’d roll over and die. That didn’t happen. Both the sides had war-gamed long and hard. However, there were two deficits in the Indian war-gaming. We didn’t realise how long and how well Pakistan had been preparing for it. When the Pahalgam massacre happened, I thought Munir was being foolish – he should’ve known better after the Balakot strike. However, it seems, Pahalgam was not just trigger happiness on his part. He initiated it after working out the subsequent stages. 

What was expected to be a surgical airstrike without crossing our airspace turned into a large-scale dogfight with a huge number of aircrafts involved. It is not possible to hide this because the moment an aircraft is airborne, it can be tracked by the radars and satellite and the real-time data is preserved for a while. I do believe the estimate by various sources of around 125 aircrafts of both sides involved in the stand-off. Scrambling so many aircrafts so quickly does indicate serious advance preparation by Pakistan. 

Where the script went wrong for India is that we probably didn’t have enough or full information about the technological advancements Pakistan had managed in terms of acquiring Chinese 4.5 generation jets (J-10C) and PL-15 air-to-air missiles. The world had underestimated the effectiveness of these platforms and weapons.

While India gave clear-cut denials for all the other claims by Pakistan, on the question of downing of Rafale/s, it said, “There’s no evidence …” Hello, the Indian government doesn’t need evidence to know whether any of its own aircrafts was downed. It would’ve been inconvenient to admit, hence this answer. Plus, in the immediate aftermath, the Chengdu Corp (manufacturers of J-10C) stocks soared by 60 % while Dassault (manufacturer of Rafale) stocks climbed down by 7 % [both have market-corrected now]. It’s safe to assume that India lost aircrafts including Rafale/s. There’ve been no specific claims regarding Pakistan having lost any aircraft. In the air skirmish, it’s about honours even, with a slight tilt in favour of Pakistan. 

What worked better for India was the Air Defence system. While our S-400 withstood most of Pakistan’s sallies, India could breach the Pakistan defence system HQ-9/P and hit the nine intended targets on the first day and several airbases/ airports subsequently. Pakistan also managed to get through our system and hit a few things in the later stages of the conflict, but far less compared to India’s strikes. 

Looks like, while Pakistan was intimidated by the perceived appetite of India to prolong the tit-for-tat, India was also surprised by the scale and perseverance of the Pakistan retaliation. In the end, both sides were desperate for an out. 

This is just background. What I’m trying to get at is that India’s target/s were not achieved. The target was not hitting nine known ivy-league terror universities. The target was to overwhelm Pakistan and intimidate so that it considers terrorism as an expensive no-win proposition. That hasn’t happened. If anything, Munir, chasing institutional credibility and support has managed it and is pumped up. He must also be feeling how easy it is to organise a mini-war and benefit quickly before USA and others call time in short order. It’s his cost-benefit calculus that alone counts in Pakistan's policy so he’ll organise another terror attack whenever it’s convenient or desirable for him. 

Regardless of the spin, the people at the helm know exactly what the situation is. The two sides haven’t reached a Nash Equilibrium point where any (mis)adventure will assure mutual self-destruction. Further terrorist incidents are round the corner. So what should we do? 

First and foremost, we must go all out to build a fool-proof air defence system, an impenetrable "iron dome." It should be so robust like Israel’s that not a single missile should be able to barge through. 

Next, and simultaneously, we must shop around for 5^th generation aircrafts which will be the best in the world and have them in bulk. Whatever enhancements are required for the existing Rafales must be undertaken urgently. 

Simultaneously, this defensive shield and offensive capabilities must extend to the intelligence domain too. We should have such a robust system that terrorists can’t sneak through or operate. In case a terrorist attack does materialise, we should be able to detect and destroy the perpetrators within no time. Obviously, we’ve miles to go in this. Not only that Pahalgam could not be prevented, there were glaring lapses in the security arrangements and till date, we haven’t been able to find out who, what and why. There has not been a single arrest. 

We must develop the Covert Action Capability (CAC) of intelligence, manpower and equipment such that we could match how USA took out Osama Bin Laden without the faintest idea of his harbourers or the Israeli intelligence killing/ injuring thousands of Hezbollah operatives in Syria and Lebanon through simultaneously exploding pagers and walkie-talkies (Operation Grim Beeper, 2024). If we could’ve eliminated Dawood Ibrahim and LeT Chief or organised simultaneous explosions affecting a few Pakistani top generals immediately after Pahalgam, that would’ve been a decisive victory. Plus, we could’ve basked in the deniability like that of Pakistan on Pahalgam. All this is difficult but possible, if the priorities are right. After all, we’ve the money – we are an economic powerhouse; we should make it count. 

In my estimate, we have about a year before the next terrorist attack. We should prepare so well that the response to that one should be decisive. 

Meanwhile, aur janab kya chal raha hai? 

Hindustan aur Pakistan, dono jagah fog (of war) chal raha hai.