India is a land of the Baniyas!

Everything in India is measured with money, how much do you earn, how much do you save etc. etc. It is the Baniya mentality that has kept the rate of savings so high in India. But then it is also the Baniya attitude that has left our infrastructure starved of investment. This ‘Baniyagiri’ could one day jeopardize our national security! Baniyas are basically traders, they buy cheap and they sell at a margin. Profit is all that they understand. National security is not the business of profit and loss; it is a matter of our survival. Six weeks have passed since the seize on Bombay ended on November 28, 2008, no investment has been made in any equipment or the infrastructure. Bombay is as vulnerable as it was before 26/11. Just THINK about it!

Mahatma Gandhi was not only a pacifist, he was also a Baniya. He often appalled the other leadership in India with his compromising statements. Do you THINK we have changed since? We talk and talk and talk till we drive the whole population crazy, but we do not act! Pakistan understands that and for that reason Pervez Musharraf (the rat) came out of his hole and scolded India. We should have the capacity to pick him up from his hide-out, bring him to India and lock him up in the bathroom till he promises to behave himself! My brother did that to me as a kid and see how I turned out? Seriously, we need to grow up and conduct our foreign policy such  that the world would believe us. The current gang of four does not inspire much confidence!

Baniyas also claim that they were the ones who taught the Jews how to do business, it is time we learn something else from the Jews of Jerusalem. The Jews in Israel have been pounded with bombs and bombers for the past 60 plus years, but they have learnt how to deal with unreasonable neighbors. India has a lot to learn from Israel and the Jews. We should stop being coy about our affinity with Israel and seek their expertise in dealing with our hostile neighborhood. Palaniappan Chidambaram, the current Union Minister of Home Affairs, could have allocated $1 billion towards the purchase of one million AK-47s and the state of the art bullet-proof jackets for our police force all over India within 7 days of taking over. Instead, he talked to Shekhar Gupta (Noted journalist and Indian Express Editor-in-Chief) about intelligence, coordination and management. Substance or lot more of Baniya talk?

Walk The Talk: P Chidambaram with Shekhar Gupta

Palaniappan Chidambaram new Home Minister admits security lapses

IMF needs to extend a helping hand to Pakistan

Pakistan could be at a very critical juncture at this point. Forget about the stigma, International Monetary Fund (IMF) is the right agency to step in and bail-out Pakistan. Borrowing from Saudi Arabia or China was a bad idea to begin with. These countries do not have the welfare of Pakistan at heart. It is time Pakistan stop playing footsie with these two and focus on its own development. America under President Barack Obama would be far less helpful compared to President John McCain. George W Bush has been the closest friend of Pakistan since Ronald Reagan.

The Economist reports that, “Pakistan’s economy is close to freefall. Inflation is running at about 30%. The rupee has devalued by about 25% in just three months. The fiscal deficit is a whopping 10% of GDP. Foreign-exchange reserves cover just six weeks of imports.” These are dire statistics and not just Pakistan but even India should be deeply concerned. The civilian government in Pakistan must assert itself and keep the military forces confined to the barracks. This is probably the last chance for all political parties to make democracy work or else parish forever!

“Reluctantly, Pakistan has had to turn to the IMF again. Former Prime Ministers Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto, as well as Pervez Musharraf, who ruled from 1999 until this year, all had to clutch IMF lifelines when they took office. IMF support is expected to come with austere strings attached. Defence and development expenditure may be among the casualties. Neither the army nor the general public will be happy.” – The Economist. Pakistan must rethink about its existence and its survival as a viable country. The United States is unlikely to need Pakistan again as a front-line state as they do not plan to leave Afghanistan in the near future. The US and NATO forces are planning to stay in the region for a very long time, if not permanently.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was established on December 27, 1945, when 29 countries signed its Articles of Agreement at a conference held at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, USA. The IMF began financial operations on March 1, 1947. The Bretton Woods Conference was held between July 1 to July 22, 1944. The key promoters of the idea were the British and the US delegations representing, respectively, liberal and conservative visions of global economic institutions. The British team was led by Maynard Keynes, who had a more Utopian view towards international financing. He wanted the IMF to lend a helping hand to member states to maintain healthy economic activity. The US delegation viewed IMF more like a bank, making sure that borrowing states could repay their debt on time. The US prevailed!

General Musharraf, are you completely insane?

Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf is hell-bent on undermining the civilian government. Since he lost the political power in Pakistan, Musharraf appears to be manipulating the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) or the military, or both. The civilian government of Pakistan is not in a position to confirm or deny any allegations of it’s involvement in Afghanistan or anywhere else. It was sad to see the Prime Minister of Pakistan being humiliated in the United States of America during his recent visit to this country. Kim Ghattas of BBC News said, “Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani came to Washington hoping to get President Bush to see in him a reliable and durable alternative to Pervez Musharraf”. That did not happen. America and the rest of the world believes that there are three power centers in Pakistan today. One is of course the all powerful military, the second is the intelligence agency, ISI and now the third power center is the Parliament of Pakistan.