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There is growing perception in the armed forces that the Sikhs officers have usurped meritocracy within armed forces and with the access to the highest political level, indulged in nepotism and clan-kin favouritism, which has created faultlines within armed forces.

CRONY GOVERNANCE OF
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he Indian Express published an intended scoop on 4th April claiming that the two troops of Army based in Hissar and Agra marched towards Delhi on 16th January night, a day when General V.K.Singh filed writ in the Supreme court on age issue. The target was General V.K.Singh. There was obvious attempt to discredit honest Army chief by suggesting that he intended coup, and thus to pave way for his sacking. Only a week ago, a secret letter that the Army chief had written to the PM on the preparedness of armed forces was leaked and hue and cry was made by a particular lobby in media to sack the Army chief for the leakage. The government ordered an IB enquiry into the alleged leakage and it is being reported that the Army Chief has been given clean chit. But, questions have been raised against the IB Chief, Nehchal Sandhu by The Sunday Guardian. The newspaper claims that Sandhu is very close to former army chief, JJ Singh, the incoming army chief Bikram Singh and the retired Lt.General Tejinder Singh against whom General V.K.Singh has forwarded complaint to the CBI for attempt to offer him bribe in the year 2010. The obvious reason is the regional and communal lobbying. It is merely the kinship, since all of them are turbaned gentlemen including the source of the story to the Indian Express. The role of Sandhu is under scanner in escalating the controversy to discredit General V.K. Singh. There is growing perception in the armed forces that the Sikhs officers have usurped meritocracy within armed forces and with the access to the highest political level, indulged in nepotism and clan-kin favouritism, which has created faultlines within armed forces. All this started with the UPA-I coming into power when Sardar Manmohan Singh Kohli was anointed the Prime Minister. There was push to appoint a Sikh General. In the preceding months, as Gen. NC Vij's term was coming to an end, there was speculation that JJ Singh might be superseded by Lt.-Gen. Shammi Mehta, an Armoured Corps officer. Name of lt. General Hari Prasad and Shantanu Chaudhary too were making rounds. The Shiromani Gurdwara Prabanthak Committee issued a strongly worded statement favouring JJ Singh. Finally, Gen. JJ Singh of Maratha Light Infantry took over as Chief of the Army Staff on 1 February, 2005. He was the first ever Sikh to become the Chief of the Army. The communalization of Indian Army began from this very incidence. General JJ Singh cried before the camera in his very first press conference on 23rd November, 2004 upon receiving news of his elevation as Army Chief in Chandigarh. That was such a sensational image. General Singh's tenure saw the rise of corrupt Generals

Sometime in 2005, General JJ Singh initiated the 'look down policy' to determine the 'line of succession' to the top position in the Army. He was not looking for immediate succession as he was to be succeeded by kinsman, general Deepak Kapoor. But, he was looking to the year 2012 and found one Sikh kinsman, Brigadier Bikram Singh. JJ Singh realized that events and dates relating to the then Major General VK Singh, who was sure shot to become Army Chief in 2010, needed to be manipulated if Bikram Singh was to succeed him in 2012! An operation was started to work out a plan to retire V.K.Singh only in May, 2012 so that Bikram Singh could take over. It had to operate at two levels. All the competitors of the brigadier were to be sidelined and General V K Singh's term was to be reduced. Those to be neutralised included Brigadiers Padam Budhwar and MM Chaudhary, MajorGenerals Shujan Chatterjee, AK Singh and Ravi Arora, a gold medalist from the same batch as Bikram Singh. General V.K.Singh was born in the army's own hospital in Poona on 10 May, 1951, and this fact was duly recorded in the service record of his father who was then a Major of the Indian Army. The same date was recorded in his matriculation certificate which is considered the critical document to ascertain the age issue by various pronouncements of the Court. Even a confidential communication dated 1 July, 2011, from Lt-Gen. GM Nair, Military Secretary, to the Defence Secretary, and seen by Defence Minister A.K.Antony, categorically states that 10 May, 1951, was taken as the DOB by various Selection Boards for promotion of VK Singh to Brigadier in September 1996, to Major-General in October 2001 and Lt.General in 2005. All the honours that General V.K.Singh has been conferred has the citation bearing 1951 as the birth year. But, once the Operation to install another Sikh as future General started, someone in the MS Branch 'discovered' VK Singh's UPSC application form mentioning 1950 as his year of birth, which was filled not in General Singh's handwriting, but by his teacher at school. On 3 May, 2006, the Military Secretary branch was asked to rake up VK Singh's date of birth issue based on this error .General JJ Singh and his succeeding kinsman, Deepak Kapoor forced VK Singh to accept this anomaly as his date of birth, before elevated as Corp. Commander without which he could not have become the Chief of the Army. By ensuring the reduction of VK Singh's tenure by 10 months and eliminating other competent Generals, the two kinsman paved way for elevation of Bikram Singh as Army Chief in May, 2012. A memorandum signed by thousands of ex-servicemen, including high ranking officers of the three services, was submitted to the President in her capacity as the Supreme Commander of the armed forces, to do justice with VK
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Singh, but the same has not disposed off. The MoD issued an order on 30 December, 2011, and changed the DOB of the Army Chief arbitrarily, this was the handiwork of another Punjabi kinsman, a Joint Secretary in the Ministry. The General rightly moved the supreme Court and had to withdraw application once the government submitted to the Court that the order dated 30 December, 2011 has been withdrawn. But, then an uproar was made seeking General Singh to quit his post. Once it was not done, various lobby that included corrupt retired generals, arms dealers and kinsman of the succeeding General planted news that the Army was tapping the phones of Defence minister in South Block using mobile interceptors in Raisina Hills. Army HQ issued a press release on March 5 and charged Lt. General Tejinder Singh with planting such rumours to create rift between political and military authority. It is against this press release that Tejinder Sigh moved the Delhi Court to initiate defamation proceedings against the Army HQ. The institution of army is facing the ripples in whole controversy which is meant only to see that Bikram Singh succeeds as the Army chief. MG Devasahayam, former IAS officer and chairman of an NGO Citizens Alliance for Sustainable Living in Chennai and activist working for transparency in governance, has claimed in various writings that TKA Nair, is reported to have told his confidants that VK Singh had to go in May, 2012 because the 'Prime Minister had assured his wife that General Bikram Singh would be the next COAS'. So, here is the clue to the controversy. Crony governance and the nepotism is happening at the very top. PM Manmohan Singh met General JJ SINgh and Lt. General Bikram Singh at his sister's house in Kolkata. While on official trip to West Bengal on 21-22 August, 2011, Manmohan Singh had dinner at his sister Govind Kaur's house in South Kolkata along with his nephew Ravinder Pal Singh and his wife Kuki Sahni. The surprise attendee were General JJ Singh, Governor of Arunacahal Pradesh and architect of age prolongation of General V.K. Singh and Lt. Gen Bikram Singh, who is incumbent Chief of Army now. Things were finally settled in this very meeting to destroy fabric of Armed forces just to make a kinsman as the next Chief. The sutradhar of kinship-based governance is none else that MMS Kohli. Now, the government has announced that after General V.K. Singh, another Sikh Bikram Singh will succeed. He will be succeeded by another Sikh gentleman, Dilbagh Singh Suhag. It is not that Marathas and Bengalis and Telugus, Biharis, Tamils are less capable general. The fact is that it was a Bihari Major General J.N. Chaudhary who got the obstinate Nizam of Hyderabad to accede to India. It is Thimmaiya, a Manek Shaw, a General Jacobs who led India

to momentous victories. While Bangladesh war was won by the brilliant acts of General Jacobs, the then Corp Commander of Eastern Command, the whole credit was taken by General Jagjit Sigh Arora, a Sikh gentleman. But, what message is being given that out of five successive Generals of Armed Forces, four has to be Sikhs and many of them purely corrupt who got the virus of corruption into the most puerile institution of Armed Forces. This itself is going to cause major dissent whenever the next gentleman succeeds. The signs are already visible. General V.K.Singh has forwarded complaint from a Trinamool M.P. Ambika Banerjee against Lt. general Dilbagh Singh Suhag to the CBI. But, inspite of this fact, the MoD chose to appoint him as the next Corp commander of the eastern Command in place of Bikram Singh. A group of retired officers and bureaucrats moved the Supreme Court challenging the appointment of Lt Gen Bikram Singh as the next Army chief on the ground that he was allegedly involved in a fake encounter in Jammu and Kashmir in 2001. Challenging the appointment, the petitioners, including former Navy Chief Admiral Ramdas, veteran journalist Sam Rajapa of the Statesman and former IAS, MG Devasahayam, and former Chief election Commissioner N Gopalaswamy, alleged in their PIL that Lt General Singh was involved in the fake encounter and the case is pending in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court. The petitioners also alleged that Lt Gen Singh failed to take action against officers who were involved in sexual harassment and rape when they were posted to Congo in 2008 as part of the UN peace-keeping mission. Bikram Singh's daughter-in-law is a Pakistani. Her father is a Pakistani and mother is a Central Asian. When various MPs complained to the government, an IB clean chit was provided. It is interesting to learn that if a government servant communicates with a foreigner particularly from enemy nations, he is liable for prosecution. One has seen the case of a junior diplomat, Madhuri Gupta who is lying in jail for having a relationship with a Pakistani gentleman while posted in Islamabad. But, here a senior Army Officer who will be the hub of nation's security would have a Pak Bikram Singh's national within his own courtyard. When the matters daughter-i in-l law came to the light, to scuttle any is a Pakistani. controversy, the government When various had on March 3 announced the MPs complained appointment of Lt Gen Bikram Singh as the next Army chief. to the The communalization and politicization of Indian Armed government, an Forces started from the very IB clean chit top. Manmohan Singh may was provided. feign ignorance about all the

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dirt, corruption, crony governance, but the patrimony in both civil services and armed services started in a brazen form from the very top. Many analysts are aghast at the way 'Turban" became the most important agenda for governance after Singh became the PM. No one has raised the issue of the worst communal Prime minister any country in world ever can have. He is not a shadow PM to Sonia Gandhi as many believe. The way he gets Padama Vibhushana to Montek Singh Ahluwalia in a year when his own Cabinet Minister, Kamal Nath charges Ahluwalia and he has been caught off the guard lobbying for murderer of innocent lives in Bhopal Gas tragedy, Warren Anderson. Singh gets PadamShree to Sant Singh Chatwal inspite of two charge sheets against him on account of forgery and cheating pending against him. And when the CBI was asked for information by the CIC on an application by journalist Krishnananda Triphathi , the CBI itself was exempted from RTI Act in a single night so that the truth may not prevail and the role of the PMO does not come under the public view. One can see the way one sycophant, corrupt babu B.S.

Lalli, the CEO of Prasar Bharati was not acted against in spite of Court order because he was a sikh. Only when political leaders across party lines attacked the government, Lalli was suspended on December 21, 2010. One can also read how T.S. Darbari and M.S. Gill were being saved in CWG scam. In the gruesome Nithari case, the way Moninder Singh Pandher was given clean chit by the CBI in all chargesheets had raised eyebrows across the nation. The finger of suspicion was raised against the PMO as Pandher was a co-religionist. In Nalanda University the way Prime Minister got one Gopa Sabharwal as VC against the whole Ministry's noting is not surprising, since she happens to be co-religionist and the friend of his daughter, Upinder Singh who too has seen meteoric rise after Manmohan Singh became the Prime Minister. He got dozens of corrupt babus and leaders elevated as the Governors only due to the fact that they are his kinsman. One can count the name like S.S. Sidhu, Iqbal Singh, Buta Singh. when Buta Singh was The way he gets Even removed from the post of Padama governor after Supreme court verdict in President Rule in Vibhushana to Bihar in 2005, he was given MS Ahluwalia in another constitutional post as the chairman of the Scheduled a year when his caste Commission. While his own Cabinet son was arrested by the CBI taking bribe and UPA Minister, Kamal Chairperson was not happy Nath charges with Buta Singh due to his act Ahluwalia of defiance against official congress candidate, Manmohan Singh continued to protect him till end. And don't forget how he has made the "issue of turbans of Sikhs" as the only foreign policy challenge for India. One can see the differential treatment meted by the government of India on two religious-cultural issues in the same month. When Jay Leno was joking about American Republican Party Presidential election contender, Mitt Romney's wealth by pointing to a picture of the Golden temple and describing the Golden Temple as Mitt Romney's summer home, the whole Indian establishment went into a tizzy. Indian government lodged a formal protest with the US government mentioning that it has offended Sikhs sentiments. MEA, Overseas Indian Affair Ministry, Indian Ambassador in the US all went into a huddle as if it was a national emergency. But, in the case of erasure of HinduBuddhist past in the National Museum of Maldives on 11th February this year by Islamic radicals, what to say about the condemnation, the whole establishment is busy burying the incident under the Indian Ocean itself. One can also contrast the way the Rajya Sabha condemned the humiliation of
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Sikhs who were being forced to remove their turbans in the name of security at international airports, especially in Italy on 8th December, 2011. Italian Ambassador Giacomo Sanfelice di Monteforte was summoned in Delhi and protests lodged twice with the Italian government. Indian Foreign Minister called dishonour to Sikhs as "national insult". One can also see the urgency on this very issue when Indian Prime Minister takes up the matter of Sikh turbans at important meeting of G-20 with the French President. It appears as if the whole establishment is so much engrossed in the issue of Sikh turbans that it is apt to call the administrative machinery as undergoing "turbanization". But, when all Hindu and Buddhist statues were destroyed in Maldives museum after the recent power change, not a word of condemnation came from the government. There is an increasing perception that the Prime Minister may project himself as 'honest", but the secular and rational fabric of the country's institutions have been dismantled with the overt practice of kinship-politics and patrimony. This has roots in his own past Popularly known as "Mohana", he was a simple boy born in Gah in present Pakistan on 26th September, 1932 to Sardar Gurumukh Singh, a salesman of dry fruits. It is another matter that he has been appointed to Rajya Sabha from the state of Assam four times in September, 1991, June, 1995, June, 2001 and June, 2007. Under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, a person has to be an elector in a parliamentary constituency in the state from where he seeks election to Rajya Sabha. This requirement has been done away by the Representation of the People(Amendment) Act, 2003, which amended section 3. But, before this amendment, it was necessary to be a resident of the state from which one contest elections of the Rajya Sabha. Manmohan Singh fudged his permanent address/home state as state of Assam. The fudged address is as follows: House No. 3989, Nandan Nagar, ward No. 51, Sarumataria, Dispur, Guwahati, Kamrup, Assam-781006. And his name registered at Serial No.720 in Voter's list of polling station No.155 in Dispur Assembly Constituency. Thus, he is not as "honest" and simple as the lobbyists advertise about him. Somnath Chatterjee, charged the present PM when he

was the Finance Minister during debate on the collapse of notorious mafia bank, BCCI on 14.9.1991 as "Chor ka dadhi mein Tinaka". Some myths have to be busted to unravel the man who has led India to the erosion of democracy and institutional consensus. Singh is known as a Congress man from the start. This is another myth. He has been wearing all caps. What he always craved for is some power and post, not to serve the nation but always to indulge in The country's nepotism, favouritism and institutions have non-action against the wrong-doers. He was been dismantled appointed as an Economic with the overt Adviser from 1971-72. The practice of kinship- elections were held and with Indira's victory and PN politics. This has Haskar's rising influence, he roots in his own stepped up as Chief Economic Adviser in past. Ministry of Finance. Haskar left Indira after showdown with Sanjay Gandhi in 1974, but Singh gained one more opportunity to rivet new authorities. He became full-fledged Secretary in the Ministry of Finance in November, 1976 during the peak days of emergency. When the new Janta Party government came to power, but magically in spite of all purges, he remained seated in his position as Secretary, M/o Finance till April, 1980. So, he was with the Congress Party, then became close to Janta Party and back to Congress Party. The shift is always with those who held political power. He was also the adviser to firebrand socialist leader, George Fernandes in the Industries Ministry, but in later year became a mouthpiece of Washington consensus. Similarly, he became the Adviser to the Prime Minister of India on Economic Affairs in December 1990. Chandrashekhar, a staunch socialist was the PM. When Chandrashekhar was resigning from the post after the Congress Party withdrew support, Singh sought some other post from the outgoing PM in a bizarre behavior and later appointed as the UGC Chairman, a post which he was holding before getting appointed as the Finance Minister in June, 1991. He became finance Minister courtesy P.V. Narasimha Rao, the then Prime Minister only after I.G. Patel is believed to have

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SINGH IS NOT KING

Team Anna has clubbed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh along with 14 other Cabinet Ministers, as corrupt and has threatened to launch an indefinite fast from July 25, if an SIT is not constituted to investigate these corrupt ministers. Anna Hazare has referred to draft CAG report on Allocation of Coal Blocks and Augmentation of Coal Production by CIL(2011-12) to make charges against Singh when Coal Ministry was with him. The government deferred the tabling of the CAG Report on Coal scam in the Budget Session even though the same was submitted by the CAG on 11th May, fearing the political implications of Manmohan Singh getting embroiled in the charges of corruption. CAG had earlier estimated in draft Report that Rs 10.6 lakh crore loss has been incurred to the exchequer on account of allotment of coal blocks

during 2004 to 2009 without auction. Of the 155 coal blocks given to the private sector, no work has begun in 124 of them. In the final Report , a loss of over Rs 1,80,000 crore to the exchequer in the allotment of coal blocks to private companies has been pointed. Manmohan Singh always pits the blame over others in every loot and national crime. In 2G scam, the CAG estimated the presumptive loss to the exchequer is of the order of ` 1.76 lakh crore. Though, the PM has been privy to every decision in 2G spectrum allocation, the blame has been shifted to a junior Minister. It is the hallmark of Dr. Singh . The recent controversy on the Army Chief's letter leak is sought to be put under the carpet when the inquiry points to his own office, though a huge media storming was done to sack the General on the allegation. In Nalanda University scam, the direct hand of the PM in appointing his daughter's friend as Vice

Chancellor at a fat salary has been reported in media. When the BCCI bank collapse issue was embroiling him personally in 1991, he sought to deflect attention by claiming systemic failure. Similarly, in 1992, when Harshad Mehta scam came to limelight, Manmohan Singh, then a Finance Minister said he would not lose sleep over what happened in the markets After the Joint Parliamentary Committee concluded that it was the handiwork of dubious activities of certain share brokers, Manmohan Singh's claimed it as mere "a systemic failure". The size of the Harshad Mehta scam estimated by the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) was Rs4,024 crore that would be Rs 23,000 crore today. Along with growth in economy, the size of scams have overgrown under his tutelage. Will a future SIT investigation bring out the truth about the man who has dressed himself under the cloak of "honesty" for too long?

refused the post. Rao supported him throughout his tenure and safeguarding him from the allegations in BCCI collapse, Harshad Mehta stock market scam. But, Singh dumped Rao and changed his loyalty to Nehru-Gandhi dynasty in 1996. There have been allegations that he indulged in backbiting to get Sitaram Kesari dumped out from the seat of Congress President. As a prime Minister for last 7 years, he didn't even bother to say a single word in praise of the statesmanship of Rao nor named symbolically even a single street in his name. One should not forget how he dumped Amar Singh after 2008 Cash for Vote scam that shamed India's parliamentary system to let his way on Indo-US Nuclear deal. The same pattern can be seen in 2G case where the responsibility was fixed over a junior colleague and the way he feigned ignorance though being complicit in the sordid saga. With the coal mining scam now hanging over his own head, he is trying to obfuscate the issue by attacking the institution of the CAG. But, the charges of wrong doings are not new. The worst attack came against him for association with the BCCI in the

Parliament in the year 1991. In the month of September, 1982, he was appointed as the RBI Governor, though his specialization was in international trade and not in currency. It was during his tenure that the BCCI (Bank of Credit and Commerce International), the infamous Pakistani Bank which was being used by the ISI-CIA to funnel arms and money for Afghan mujahideens and in Iran's contra Affairs, was allowed to open a branch in Bombay against the incriminating evidence and advise of India's intelligence agencies. In this year, the branches of Bank was being closed in Latin America but being the RBI Governor, he overruled the objections. When the BCCI collapsed in the year 1991 with $16 billion, the Parliamentarians attacked the Government. With lot of pressure, the Government agreed for a debate on a motion moved by Jaswant Singh, but before that the Congress Paryty forced a commitment from Jaswant Singh to withdraw the motion after the discussion and this caused shock among the opposition leaders. MMS, as Finance Minister blamed that the permission to open the representative office (not a functional Branch) was given by
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the then Finance Ministry of the Janta Party government in 1979 earlier, but hid the fact that he himself was the Finance Secretary. He promised the Parliament that the RBI would conduct an enquiry into the collapse of BCCI, which was never done, even though the US Senate Subcommittee on BCCI Affairs led by Senator, John Kerry concluded that BCCI activities were dubious and its relationship with the Hinduja family remain to be explored further. While replying to motion on Collapse of BCCI on 14.9.1991, a notorious ISI-CIA orchestrated Bank of Pakistan, this is what pleaded and admitted at the Floor of the parliament: "An explicit refrence has been made to me that I have been attempting to cover up the BCCI because my daughter got a scholarship from a particular agency which in turn given some monetary help by the BCCI. I want to come clean on this count, because I do not want to hid anything from this House and I think I would not be worthy of being the Finance Minister of this country if there is a No one imputed slightest suspicion about my conduct in this matter which MMS as a CIA's allegedly involves the security of tool in the our country." Then, he narrated about his connections with Parliament. Why BCCI and the circumstances in should one which his eldest daughter, overreach to Upinder Singh got a scholarship for a degree abrod in Canada, "I score a selfhave a daughter who has a very goal? brilliant career. She has throughout been a first-class student. She graduated with First Class Hons. From Delhi University. I had left the Government of India to take up my position as a Secretary General of a South Commission. In the meanwhile she graduated from the Delhi University. In this country we have an Oxford and Cambridge Society, which is a society of the alumni of those two universities. Those people made contribution to a firm and for several years the Oxford and Cambridge Society has been giving scholarship of about Rs.50,000 to intending students who want to peruse their studies in Oxford or Cambridge. It is also true that in 1988, the BCCI made donations to the Oxford and Cambridge society in accordance with the approved Reserve Bank rules for donating money by the bank to various institutions. And it is certainly true that when my daughter applied, she was selected for the award of scholarship of Rs.50,000. I was not in this country at that time. I did not know also whether she had applied. I am absolutely faithfully stating to this House that I can never impress anybody for the scholarship and I am quite willing to be judged by the honourable Leaders of the Opposition with regard to my conduct, insinuation and the charge that

has been made in the Indian Express today that because my daughter got a scholarship of Rs.50,000 from the Oxford and Cambridge society and because it partly came from donation which was made by the BCCI, therefore I am trying to cover up the BCCI ." Does this explanation prove his innocence. Look, he claimed that because he was not in India, he was not even aware about the application by his daughter. He claimed that he couldn't impress anyone. This is the hallmark of the MMS. Indulge in all kinds of wrongdoing and pretend ignorance. Let us reflect upon what he added about his further association with the BCCI: "I can also mention the Third world foundation which was financed by the BCCI. When I became the Secretary General of the South Commission, the theirs World Foundation had promised to give to the South Commission 4 lakh dollars. because South Commission was supported by the THIRD WORLD foundation and therefore the Chairman of the SOUTH Commission thereby became a toll of the CIA or of drug laundering and all these things." Now, read at the slip of tongue. No one imputed MMS as a CIA's tool in the Parliament. Why should one overreach to score a self-goal? The fact is that he admitted that BCCI was a tool of the CIA and indulged in drug laundering and other bad things. The BCCI opened a representative office in 1977. Who was the Finance Secretary? It was MMS. In 1979, the Finance Ministry at the level of minister of State decided that the RBI should be asked to give BCCI branch in India, as per admission of MMS, which is half-baked fact, as he was the then Finance Secretary and with his "intellectual prowess" must be overwhelming the then finance Minister, Chaudhary Charan Singh, a humble peasant leader or his MoS. In 1983, as the RBI Governor, he gave permission to the BCCI to open branch in Bombay. Not only that, it was seen that the nationalized Banks like SBI parked their surplus in the BCCI bank, which the FM, MMS defended on the floor of the House. If he facilitated the entry of the ISI-CIA operated BCCI bank into India, what was wrong if the BCCI gave donation to an organization at that very moment when the organization was extending scholarship to his daughter! One must remember that his daughter did not go to OxfordCambridge in Britain as per the custom of the scholarship extended by the Oxford-Cambridge Society but to McGill University (1988-1991) in Canada . Is it mere coincidence that he became Secretary General of an organization heavily funded by the same BCCI network? The pretentious mask of the man was off when by sheer goondaism, the Motion was forced to be withdrawn on the last day of the First Session in 1991 new Lok Sabha just as has been done with the Lokpal Bill in the Rajya Sabha at midnight. MMS promised to get an enquiry conducted by the RBI and the

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security agencies, but everything was put under the a carpet. The demand for JPC was refused. The Opposition was silenced and the murky affairs of the BCCI remain hidden from Indian public even after 20 years, though the inquiries in the US revealed that BCCI frequently bribed leaders and officials in India and were involved in the drug trade, terror funding, arms trade and even nuclear black marketing that helped Pakistan to build N-bomb. By committing a fraud against the Parliament to get the motion withdrawn amidst walkout by the opposition and scuttling the

Similar pattern can be seen in the recent episode of leakage of letter of General V.K. Singh written to the PM. When MMS became the PM, he got appointed an IAS officer of Assam cadre as Director in the PMO on 16th August 2004. In 1999, the Chief Secretary of Assam, V.S. Jafa reported to the then CVC, N. Vitthal about serious illegal association of this particular official with ULFA. The CVC alerted the Home Ministry about the ULFA man in the Assam government being protected by the Home Ministry officers. This particular officer, as per CVC report, was facilitating An official was ULFA with the government vehicles for extortion. When an FIR posted in the PMO was registered, the driver of the said of the MMS and the vehicle was found dead. Again, the case took curious turn with the other officer who death of this witness's death. The protected ULFA's Chief Secretary of Assam sought Z+ protection for himself to survive IAS man was against threat from a DC in Assam. elevated as Home Finally, he met with serious accident Secretary. while traveling in Haryana in February, 1999. A truck rammed into his car, he survived. The CVC and the Assam government alerted the Centre Government against this officer, but nothing was done. The Home Ministry sat on file. Later, this official was posted in the PMO of the MMS and the other officer who protected ULFA's IAS man was elevated as Home Secretary by the MMS. Mid-day reported about this mole of ULFA in the Central Government on 4th January, 2008 in a big scoop. But, the same officer got elevated as Joint Secretary and posted to the Finance Ministry while the intelligence agencies were certain about his role in the terror funding network through the stock market. Why was this particular officer given so much of liberty? Because he managed the fake certificates for permanent residence of MMS from the state of Assam in the district of Kamrup. investigation, MMS put the activities of BCCI in India off He has also allowed a myth created that he is a brilliant the public radar for ever. economist who helped India to stem the crisis in 1991. The When Jaswant Singh in his book "A Call to Honor" myth is created to build a personality of honest Statesman of claimed, that there was a mole in Narasimha Rao cabinet the country, who understands India better than the who gave prior information about nuclear test to be parliamentarians who are less qualified and mere the conducted in 1995, the PMO went on overdrive to counter representatives of the rural or half-educated masses. But, no attack and suggesting different names like V.S. Arunachalam, one knows what contribution Singh made in the field of who was not a Cabinet Minister, but Scientific Adviser. The economics or governance or philosophy or literature. He did nation has seen how the votes were bought at the floor of his D.Phil from Nuffield College, University of Oxford. The the House during the No-Confidence Motion in 2008 to topic was, "India's Export Trends and Prospects for selfsave the government only to shield the Indo-US Civil Sustained Growth" (1951-60). This work was later published Nuclear Deal which borders on surrendering India's by a publisher in Oxford in 1964. The book runs into 369 sovereignty over a strategic element of national interest. pages and argues for the role of State Trading Corporations
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(STC). He was gung-ho for the socialist model of economy. This was a nave and short study of mere 10 years of trade balance sheet of a new nation when neither trade was varied nor there were many international players with trade linkages as the trade relationship during colonial times gets skewed and over-dependent on the core-nation viz. Britain. Apart from this work which is mere reproduction of Doctorate thesis without any fresh idea or any insight, there is no original or any other work done by Singh in the field of knowledge. He started his career after a brief stint as lecturer in Punjab, in the UNCTAD as Economics Affairs officer from 1966-69. In 1971, he became a Professor at JNU courtesy, P.N.Haskar, a close aide to the then Prime Minister. One of his colleagues at Nuffield and a senior Congress leader in South India, V. Isvarmurti, who is the Chairman of the Vadamalai media group that publishes Agriculture and Industry Survey mentions about his insight into economics: "He joined the Indira Gandhi establishment under P.N. His understanding Haskar and he, sorry to say, imbibed the authoritarian of economics has culture and from that time also come under onwards he was in every political establishment. So, we firing have to be a bit more honest line.Exchange rate and also objective enough to see value of rupee that Dr. Singh had never articulated his basic economic has plummeted beliefs in any of the major areas. below 56 rupee He just sticks to the standard jargon of percentage of per dollar. economic growth, budget deficit and inflation." His understanding of economics has also come under firing line.Exchange rate value of rupee has plummeted below 56 rupee per dollar. Dr. Singh appears to be the brain behind weakening of rupee which in turns make imports dearer and to compensate the same, oil prices are being hiked. The calculations suggest that weakening of rupee by amount of 1 rupee entails increase in oil import cost of Rs. 4000 crores. When a policy of devaluation of rupee was launched under the New Economic Policy in 1991, the pretext was to improve India's trade balance. The government browbeated the critics and shouted from all available platforms that it will make exports cheaper and import costlier, thereby making Indian products competitive and import would be discouraged. But, the value of Rupee has declined from 18 rupee a dollar in July 1991 to now 56 rupees a dollar, still the balance of trade has deteriorated massively from mere 2.7 billion dollar to now projected 200 billion dollar. Thus, nation owes an apology from Singh for misguiding and in the process

compromising with India's wealth accumulation by intentionally launching a deleterious devaluation policy of Rupee. When during the 2008 economic crisis in the US, there was a fear of a run against dollar; the RBI pursued a policy of actively intervening in Forex market to checkmate the natural rise of rupee against dollar and help support a strong dollar policy which American policy makers were drum beating. Dr. Singh addressed press on 23rd November, 2009 en route to New York and defended strong dollar policy. This was surprising since he was coming from BRIC summit where it was decided to reduce dollar role in world economy after the American economy was on verge of bankruptcy. Devaluation of weak currencies make exchange highly unfavorable for the exporting countries. The US realizes the advantage of strong currency. This is the reason for postponement of 'dollar devaluation.' Instead, US is pressurizing China to revalue Yuan. The rich nations have created currency areas with their own strong currency at the centre to reap the benefits of distorted exchange rate system. CFA Franc Zone in Africa, an expanding Euro Zone towards Southern Mediterranean area and emergent process of dollarization reflects the urge by strong nations to earn undue advantages at the cost of poor nations. But, here is a PM who has guided rupee destiny from Rs.18 to now Rs. 56 per dollar and still claiming that the market should determine its value while not raising heckles against dollar whose strength is created artificially to maintain America's global hegemony. His rise to the seat of the Prime minister itself is neither based on merit nor on popular support. He can go to any extent to practice patrimony since his own rise is rooted through this way. Niether did he face any competitive examination to reach to the top in the bureaucracy nor did he even win even a municipal election to reach to the top of the political leadership. Thus, it is not a surprise that he has allowed crony governance based on nepotism, corruption, fraud to penetrate each sector of India. It will not be a surprise that some day the PM will appear with a Sikh Army chief, a Sikh deputy Chairman of planning Commission, a Sikh IB Chief, a Sikh Foreign Secretary and a Sikh Cabinet Secretary(either of two Khullars or Dhingra), dozen of Sikh governors, Sikh VCs of India's two International university, South Asian University & Nalanda. Meritocracy will soon succumb to patrimony practiced by India's worst communal political CEO. But to infect the armed forces with the virus of crony selection is to dismantle the spine of national unity. General V.K. Singh is retired but the armed forces will continue to suffer due to the misdeeds of those who practice corruption and kinship-based progression.

16 DIALOGUEINDIA " June, 2012