the week that was
September 1-7-2009
Page 2
Hakeemullah Mehsud:
New Chief of Pak Taliban
Recently, Tehreek-e-Taliban
Pakistan (TTP) announced the
appointment of Hakeemullah
Mehsud as their new chief
after the death of Baitullah
Mehsud.
Various sources con-
firm that the TTP is in disarray
and facing the succession
struggle. This was further con-
firmed when Maulvi Omar was
captured. After Baitullah’s
death in a drone attack, there
was a struggle for power
among Faqir Mohammad,
Wali-ur-Rehman and
Hakeemullah Mehsud.
Hakeemullah and Wali were
reportedly dead in a shootout
during a meeting to decide this
contentious issue. But both of
Japan polls:
Call for a change
The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ)
won a landslide victory, under the
leadership of Yukio Hatoyama over
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
Japan went to polls amidst the
growing dissatisfaction with the
governing LDP which ruled the
country for fifty three years except
for eleven months. The popularity
of Prime Minister Taro Aso has gone
down significantly over the years.
Now, Hatoyama has various chal-
lenges before him like unemploy-
ment and a fast-ageing society after
voters gave his party a sweeping
mandate for change.
All the opinion polls and
surveys showed that winds of
change are blowing. This was also
supported by the fact that in late
June, the Tokyo Prefecture elections
brought the LDP a huge defeat. It
lost the Prefecture for the first time
in 40 years. There has been growing
concern over the issues of recession
and unemployment among the peo-
ple. Recent figures show that unem-
ployment rate last month was at a
record high of 5.7 per cent and
economy grew by 0.9per cent
them apparently called up TV
channels and denied that there
was a shootout or they were
dead.
Stop Press
Hakeemullah Dead
According to the Pakistani security
forces, the newly appointed Chief of
Tehreeke-e-Taliban Hakeemullah
Mehsud has already been killed and the
one who gave interview to the BBC is,
his look alike brother. Security forces
said Taliban had declared Hakimullah as
their chief only to misguide the military
and give a wrong impression that its
leadership was still alive.
Even if they are not
dead, there is enough evidence
to suggest that the TTP is on
backfoot and Mullah Omar and
between April and June.
The DPJ in its poll cam-
paign said that if it came to power, it
would abolish the practice of seshu
whereby political candidatures
were handed down within families.
It had also promised to devolve the
highly centralized Constitution
which could enable the citizens to
participate much more meaningful-
ly at local levels.
The economic policy of
the DPJ is not clear and Mr.
Hatoyama’s political skills will be in
for a stern test during recessionary
times. Many people believe that
this economic slump is worst since
the World War II and recovery is still
weak. Apart from the domestic
issues the DPJ advocates “close” but
“equitable” ties with the United
States. They have also vowed to
improve ties with Asian neighbours,
often frayed by bitter wartime
memories. Despite the Democratic
Party's landslide win, many voters
and analysts said the victory was
driven more by frustration with the
LDP than broad support for the
decade-old opposition. M a m t a
international
N Korea lifts curb on
border with S Korea
Lifting the strict curb on cross-border
Al Qaeda were, and are, trying traffic, the government of North Korea
stepped forward to renew the relation-
to patch up the differences to
retain the TTP’s unity and ship with South Korea as a goodwill ges-
make it operationally viable ture. On September 1, the North Korean
again. Though it had to suffer side allowed 12 northbound crossings
and 11 return trips a day, the unification
defeat in Swat, Buner, Lower
Dir and Bajaur and its cadre is ministry said.
demoralized, it’s not extinct. It is to be noted that North Korea
Intelligence agencies grew increasingly hostile after the South
have busted many cells of TTP Korean new government linked major
which were being used for ter- aid given to North Korea with progress
ror strikes. This has come as a in denuclearisation.
breather for the government On Tuesday, the two sides were expect-
which was reeling under pres- ed to take further step towards restart-
sure from the people. It is the ing a reunion programme.
biggest challenge before the As a part of the development, the
government to prevent the North Korea government will release
Taliban from reorganizing. detained South Koreans. the two sides
However, political instability will come out with a list of names seek-
could act as a spoiler. ing relatives from the North or the
South from whom they have been sepa-
Mamta rated since the 1950-53 war. M e h n a z
Tibet not seeking
independence from
China: Dalai Lama
The Tibetan spiritual leader, about Tibet, everybody
the Dalai Lama, has asserted knows, I am not seeking
that Tibet under his leader- independence. The Chinese
ship is not seeking inde- government also knows my
pendence from China. sort of real thinking,"Lama
The Dalai Lama, asserted.
who is currently in Taiwan to About the Chinese
comfort victims of a recent allegation that he is a politi-
typhoon that killed more cal troublemaker and even a
than 500 people, told that separatist,Lama clarifies,
his position on Tibet is clear "But they accuse -- accusa-
and transparent. He said he tions as to just more, for
will not meet with Taiwan's them, suitable for their
president so as not to politi- basic policy,"
cize the trip. "Sometimes I really
The president of feel, as I think many of my
Taiwan said that he would friends know, I always am
allow the Dalai Lama to visit described as a simple
the island next week, a Buddhist monk. I always tell
move that China opposes other people, my friends, we
and one that threatens to should be honest, truthful,
jeopardize rapidly improving transparent. So while I am
relations between Taipei telling other people, I myself
and Beijing. must implement these
"Most of the world things," he added.
who notices about Tibet,
Garima
who pay more attention
national
Judges welcome
proposed Bill on
asset declaration
Supreme Court Judges bowing to all round
pressure decided to declare their assets
shedding their decades old reluctance to
open themselves to public scrutiny .The
decision applies to all the 24 judges of the
Supreme Court .And it is expected that this
will even inspire 593 High court judges.
The wealth details of judges are
likely to be posted on the Supreme Court
website. The credit for such a type of deci-
sion goes to three High court judges who
spoke out about their willingness to allow
public scrutiny of their assets. However
there will be some delay in the process and
as such no cut off date has been fixed for
declaration of their assets.
The decision came after months
of public debate over making public the
details of higher judiciary, especially of the
assets of apex court judges and their fami-
lies, ever since the Right to Information Act
triggered a clamour on the issue. The resist-
ance from within against the higher judicia-
ry’s firm stand that judges cannot be com-
pared with others on issues like assets dec-
laration finally cracked the issue.
The issue had first come into
public domain in 1997 when the Supreme
Court in its full court meeting attended by
22 Judges passed a resolution moved by the
then CJI Verma to make it mandatory for
the Supreme Court and High court judges
to declare their assets to their respective
Chief Justices. But there was no movement
for nearly a decade on the issue.
The decision of the Supreme
Court judges to put their asset declarations
on the Supreme Court website is a welcome
first step towards transparency and
accountability of judges in this country. In
democracy, the people who are the real
sovereign are entitled to know whether the
public servants are paying their taxes and
whether they have acquired assets which
are disproportionate to their legal income.
Proper accountability for such a
powerful and vital organ like the Indian judi-
ciary is absolutely vital for the survival of
rule of law and democracy in this country.
The asset disclosure controversy has proved
that an organised public campaign and gal-
vanised public opinion can bring about fun-
damental institutional changes in a society.
Ruchi Dua
Commonwealth Games:
Delayed or derailed
With 398 days to go and
major games projects and
infrastructure being either
derailed or delayed, Delhi
could miss its appointment
with history. In what could
be a serious embarrassment
to India, there is a grave
threat that the 2010
Commonwealth Games could
be shifted out of Delhi in the
wake of the current unpre-
paredness of the Capital.
This is a mammoth
opportunity to project a cer-
tain national image on the
global arena. However, with
the current state of affairs
that image could soon turn
out to be a dampener for
Delhi. Therefore, instead of
denying the realistic picture
of apathy and lack of fore-
sight in planning, Delhi gov-
ernment
amends.
should make
Delhi won the bid
to host the Commonwealth
Games by defeating the
Canadian city of Hamilton by
46 to 22 votes at the
Commonwealth Games
Federation (CGF) General
Assembly held in November
2003. With 71 nations and
international teams geared
to participate in the Games,
any flaw in the execution of
the event will be a humilia-
tion for the country.
The 2010 Commonwealth
Games right from the outset
have been mired in contro-
versy and apprehensions;
unfortunately, the contro-
versies only seem to be
growing and the apprehen-
sions turning into reality.
According to sever-
al surveys organized by the
media and other agencies,
several key games venues,
infrastructure and other
facilities are well beyond
their schedules. The evalua-
the week that was
tion report by the
Comptroller and Auditor
General (CAG) has highlight-
ed that at least 13 of the 19
sporting venues are disas-
trously behind schedule. In
fact, the work shortfall is
between 25 to 50 per cent.
This means that
either these projects will not
see the light of the day; miss
their deadline or worse still,
compromise on the quality
and safety measures in their
haste to complete the proj-
ects. Meanwhile, the all too
familiar blame-game and the
squabbling are on.
This abysmal state
of affairs has raised several
poignant questions. In the
light of the civic apathy, mis-
management, lackadaisical
attitude, lack of foresight
and corruption to name a
few problems. Is India com-
petent to host an event of
such a magnitude? Do we as
a nation honour our
sportspersons? Has any
other Indian sport except for
the cricket and barring a few
other stray incidents, made
its mark leave alone the
international, but at least at
the national radar? Are the
sportspersons the real bene-
ficiaries of these upgrada-
tions or they still toil while
the others siphon off the
profits?
A recent visit to a
training camp of the
wrestlers, some of whom
will be part of the national
wrestling contingent
exposed the anomaly
between the ground reality
and the projected image.
Due to the delay at numer-
ous levels, the wrestlers
could not practice at the
official venue of the games;
since the venue is still
incomplete.
September 1-7-2009
Page 3
The wrestlers sweat
out facing grim conditions in
various temporary camps.
Despite the lack of facilities
and optimum conditions for
practice, the wrestlers slug it
out with the hope of winning
medals for their nation. This
is the fate of several other
teams and national athletes.
The organizing
committee is agog with sev-
eral preparations and
aspires to transform Delhi
into a ‘world class’ city but
another paradox has sur-
faced.
In the recent few
months, Delhi has literally
been under the siege of var-
ious constructions and infra-
structure projects by the
CPWD, Metro and other
agencies. The need for all
this infrastructure upgrada-
tion has been felt in the light
of the Commonwealth
Games.
In other words, had
the Commonwealth Games
not been hosted by Delhi,
the government would have
continued with its compla-
cency! The Delhiites get a
chance to witness all this
infrastructural development
owing to the two weeks of
the Commonwealth Games!
The time is running
out. As per international
guidelines, all CWG projects
were to be completed by
May 2009 and the last year
should have been kept for
trial runs.
With the pace of
the affairs, hope the tall
claims of the organizers will
not bite the dust. The gov-
ernment and the organizing
committees need to act soon
to silent their critics and
ensure that India does not
lose face at the global arena.
Dipika