Sri Lanka: U.S. ‘Procedural’ resolution at UNHRC

By R. Hariharan

A U.S. draft resolution on Sri Lanka’s accountability for alleged war crimes being brought before the 24^th meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) now in circulation (received from an Indian TV news channel) is at Annexure. While it is not an official version, in this article I have analysed its contents in the belief it is probably the real one.

There is a feeling of déjà vu about the US draft. So far the reaction of the important players both for the U.S. move to bring a “procedural” resolution as a follow up to the UNHRC in March 2012 is almost the same as before. However, the protests were less shrill in Colombo (or is it too early for protests?) perhaps due to the realisation of the inevitability of karma catching up with inaction; or as we say in army “if it is inevitable better to grin and bear it.”

Quick take: Hyderabad blasts

Col R Hariharan

[This background paper was used for a TV discussion by Col Hariharan on February 22, 2013. It was based on open source information]

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Two improvised explosive devices (IED) kept in tiffin boxes strapped to bicycles had exploded minutes apart, in Dilsukh Nagar, a congested Hyderabad suburb, around 7 pm on February 22. So far 17 people are reported to have died. Over 100 people were injured – some of them seriously – in the explosions. The area, which was also the scene of an earlier terrorist strike, has two cinema theatres. The explosions occurred 200 yards from a popular Sai Baba temple which is located in the area where devotees throng on Thursdays.

Scams and system paralysis

Col R Hariharan

The latest scandal in the purchase of a dozen August Westland helicopters, dubbed by TV talk show honchos as Bofors-2 the vexing question why there are so many scams in our defence purchases? The biggest reason is globally there is a lot of money in it. According to a 2009 estimate, the world spent annually $1.6 trillion - 2.6 percent of world GDP – on things military including arms, equipment and services. A third of this amount was probably spent on buying arms and munitions. And India is the biggest buyer of them all; according to SIPRI statistics for the years 2007-11, India with a ten percent share tops world’s top 20 importers. But that is no consolation to the tax payer who is expected to pay 40 percent of this year’s budgeted Rs 193,000 crores defence expenditure on imports.

Media bytes: India and Sri Lanka war crimes issue

Col R Hariharan

[This is a summary of the comments made by Col Hariharan in TV discussions and to print media on February 20 to 22, 2013.]

On photographs showing Prabhakaran’s son’s death

On the eve of the release of a full length film on Sri Lanka’s alleged war crimes, the British daily the Independent carried an article along with two photographs showing Prabhakaran’s son eating a snack before his Sri Lankan captors allegedly shot him dead in cold blood. This serious allegation pertaining to a war India supported. It is about a brutal and heinous act by a state with very friendly to India. So apart from humanitarian concerns, India in its own interest, needs to get the allegations investigated impartially. If proved true it will undoubtedly be considered a war crime committed by Sri Lanka.

Terrorist threat to India after Afzal Guru’s hanging

Col R Hariharan

[This is an updated summary of comments made by Col Hariharan on some of the questions raised in a TV discussion on February 11, 2013.]

Question: After the hanging of Afzal Guru, curfew has been imposed in Jammu and Kashmir and the situation is volatile. Will there be retaliatory strikes from the terrorist groups in J and K?

In J and K, the main terrorist threat is from Lashkar e Taiba (LeT) and its clone Jamaat ud Dawa (JuD) and the Jaish e Mohammed (JeM) who have camps on the Pakistani side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). These two powerful non Kashmiri terror groups had a hand in the parliamentary attack carried out on Indian parliament in December 2001.  

Sri Lanka: India losing patience with Rajapaksa

By Col R Hariharan 

President Mahinda Rajapaksa is well known for wrongly timing his foreign visits. In the past his India visits were more successful than his European sojourns because they were diplomatically ‘tenderized’ in advance to avoid any embarrassment to the President. His two-day ‘pilgrimage’ trip, with an entourage of 70, to Tirupati and Gaya after a stopover at Chennai that ended on February 8, 2013, ‘pilgrimate’ visit was also probably tenderized in advance. But this time, it completely failed for two reasons.

Quick take: Corruption in Westland helicopter deal

By Col R Hariharan
  
Some disturbing questions are raised as Westland helicopter deal hits the headlines once again.

The arrest of Giuseppe Orsi, the chief executive of Italy’s largest aerospace group Finmeccanica in Italy as part of an investigation into alleged corruption in international defence deals has once again put the focus back on yet another case of corruption in India’s defence procurement.  

According to media reports the arrested CEO is alleged to have paid $670 million crores) in bribes for the sale of 12 Augusta Westland helicopters to India. However, both the company and the arrested CEO have denied paying any bribes. Earlier reports had indicated the possible involvement of a Swiss-based consultant in this murky deal.

Gandhian values in participatory management

Col.  R. Hariharan retd.

[This article formed the basis of my speech on “Gandhian values in participatory management” at the Gandhi Peace Foundation (Chennai Chapter) on January 29, 2012.]

A retired army veteran from the Military Intelligence who participated in wars and dealt with traffickers, forgers, criminals etc for nearly three decades speaking about Gandhian values may sound like an oxymoron.  

I make no claim to be an expert either on Gandhi or on Gandhian values in participatory management the subject of my speech today. But I come from a family whose values were conditioned by Gandhian thoughts from 1930 to 1947 when my father actively participated in Gandhiji’s freedom struggle. These family values imbibed in childhood have guided me most of the times in my personal and professional life. I used these values to successfully cruise through some of the acid tests I had to face in the army - the biggest practitioner of participatory management.

Sri Lanka Perspectives - January 2013

By Col R Hariharan

Highlights

• Impeachment of Chief Justice: President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s action in replacing the Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake, after Sri Lanka parliament passed the controversial impeachment motion against with a two-thirds majority has come under severe national and international criticism. 
• Cabinet reshuffle: President Rajapaksa carries out cabinet reshuffle adding two new ministers to increase its strength to 67.
• India: The joint statement at the end of the 8^th India-Sri Lanka joint commission meeting in New Delhi avoids reference to controversial issues like the devolution of powers to Tamils and increasingly discriminative trade practices against India. 
• The U.S.: Sri Lanka is likely to face renewed flak at the forthcoming UN Human Rights Commission meeting commencing next month in Geneva. This was indicated by three senior U.S. officials visiting Colombo; they said the U.S. was not fully satisfied with Sri Lanka’s implementation of the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliantion Commission (LLRC).