Edits

Editorials

India Today, December 28, 1998
Dec 28, 1998

Tom and Jerry in Punjab

If unchecked, the Badal-Tohra bickering could re-create the political vacuum in the '80s.

Edits Political analysts in Punjab often make the carping observation that Akalis simply can't cope with power. When in opposition they appear united. When in government they begin bickering immediately after they're sworn in, earlier if possible. Given such a track record, there is a sense of deja vu to the current factionalism in the Akali Dal. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and religio-political leader Gurcharan Singh Tohra have renewed their Tom and Jerry show less than two years after the Akali-bjp combine swept the assembly elections. While some things may never change, public patience is certainly becoming thinner by the day. An augury of what could be in store for a quarrelsome Akali-led regime came in the recent Adampur byelection: the Congress defied predictions by winning there. The Akali-bjp coalition came to power claiming to be not just an electoral friendship but a larger social coalition between Hindus and Sikhs. In the aftermath of Punjab's blood-splattered decade, this was seen as the formula for peace and the antidote to insurrection. If the Badal Government now commits political harakiri it will be betraying not just its voters but the nationalist mandate.

Overstated as such concerns may seem, they are borne out by the history of Akali skulduggery. When the terrorist menace first surfaced, "moderate" Akalis surpassed each other in ingratiating themselves with the "boys". Tohra and Badal fled the political scene -- sometimes literally. Having learnt no lessons, Tohra is again resorting to extreme rhetoric, calculated to rekindle old fires. Not that Badal is doing much better by encouraging a war of words which could go out of control. In sum, Tohra is the perfect Raj Narain to Badal's Morarji Desai. Together they may well destroy the Government in as ignominious a manner as the Janata regime fell in 1979. The problem is they may also re-create the political space for militants.

Taint on the Uniform

Only a streamlined Defence Ministry can tackle the military appointments mess.

Laboured Point Civil supremacy over the military is the cornerstone of any democratic political system, even though communist entities like China and the Soviet Union, when it existed, have applied this principle equally vigorously. But all militaries, by their very nature, function within an authoritarian structure which is inherently undemocratic. For this reason, managing the armed forces requires considerable skill and perspicacity. Sadly, these seem to be lacking in the conflict that has emerged between the Ministry of Defence and Naval Headquarters. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) may not have applied its mind adequately in appointing to the position of deputy chief of naval staff (operations) an officer who lacks the trust of the service chief. Indeed, the two have even traded insults through the avoidable media of writ petitions.

Even though he cites statutes to back his claim, the naval chief's rejection of the ACC's recommendation has caused a standoff which can only be detrimental to the larger interests of the nation. A spate of cases in the courts, including an unprecedented judgment quashing the appointment of the general officer commanding-in-chief of the Eastern Command and his replacement with another officer, point to a deeper malaise. The solution requires a broader reform in the way the Ministry of Defence is run. The principle of civilian control, as the armed forces have been pointing out in recent years, should not and cannot be taken to mean bureaucratic supremacy. Rather, it means the supremacy of the civil government of which the prime minister is the head. Defence Minister George Fernandes says he is examining proposals for restructuring the ministry. But for the present, the prime minister and his senior colleagues must knock a few heads and retrieve the situation.

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