Aftermath of Arab Spring

Libya has come a long way since Muammar Gaddafi’s death in October 2011, when Tripoli seemed ahead of Tunis and Cairo in its democratic transition. That early promise is a distant memory now. Tuesday’s attack on the Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli by suspected Islamic State (IS) militants occurred against the backdrop of a country that appears to be falling apart — a spate of bombings and kidnappings in its west; the state split between two rival governments based in Tripoli and Tobruk, each with its own militia; the country fighting not one but two civil wars, against Islamists in the east and a complex multipartite battle in the west.

Two things appear to have gone wrong in Libya. First, each of its warring groups — Islamists, rebels who ousted Gaddafi and the old-guard — preferred to win first and then have democracy. Libyans have had no experience with democracy, and the absence of institutions saw five governments come and go since October 2011. Second, Western powers who midwived Gaddafi’s fall were too quick to abandon Libya. The September 2012 attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, in which its ambassador was assassinated, sealed Libya’s predicament. Given the ground complexities that preclude any neat distinction between the “good” and “bad” guys, a military intervention is difficult. The just-concluded peace talks in Geneva are the only sign of progress in a long time, with the two main warring factions declaring a ceasefire, although a third party didn’t turn up.

In January 2015, Tunisia alone can boast a post-Arab Spring success. Cairo is back in the hands of a strongman, albeit elected, after the divisive rule of a democratically chosen president. Syria’s civil war has transmogrified into the larger battle against the IS. Shiite militiamen in Yemen, home to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, ousted the president before Tuesday’s deal to form a “salvation” government. For now, making peace seems as difficult as going to war in the failing post-Arab Spring states.

THE HISTORY OF PARANTHE WALI GALI

A decade-and-a-half had passed since the Mutiny. Chandni Chowk had started settling under the new governance of the British. Year 1872 - Pt. Gaya Prasad, a yong man in early twenties, left his home in Tehsil Bah in Agra and came to Delhi in search of greener pasture. He put up a shop in a lane entering the Kinari Bazaar in Chandni Chowk and started making hot and sizzling paranthas. Soon the popularity of his paranthas grew so much that he had to call his brothers and cousins to help him in the business. Gradually, there came up almost a score shops - all belonging to the extended families of Gaya Prasad. Little they would have realised and imagined that the lane itself would become popular and famous after their paranthas as Paranthe Wali Gali (Lane of Paranthas) !
Thirty five varieties of Paranthas are served in the four shops that are now left in this lane. The fillings range from the usual, aaloo (mashed potatoes), gobhi (grated cauliflower), gaajar (carrots), mooli (radish) and paneer (cottage cheese); to the adventurous, methi (fenugreek), pudina (mint), karela (bittergourd), bhindi (okra); to the exotic, kela (banana), khurcha (thick layer of cream) and dry fruits. The usual fillings are rolled into a ball of dough and flattened with a rolling pin on a wooden or marble base. In the exotic parathas, the filling is spread on a flattened layer of dough and covered with another layer. The layers are then neatly tied and are ready to fry.Unlike the usual way of frying the parathas on a 'tawa' (flat griddle), the parathas in the Parathe Wali Gali are fried in a 'kadahi' (iron wok).

The parathas, fried in the 'desi ghee' (clarified butter) are then served in a 'thali' accompanied by 'kaddu (pumpkin) ki sabzi', 'aaloo mattar' (potatoes and green peas), 'aaloo mattar paneer' (potatoes, green peas and cottage cheese in gravy) 'kele ki saunth' (slices of bananas in thick jaggery and dried ginger chutney) and pudina (mint) chutney.The choice of vegetables and chutneys, served as accompaniments, have remained unchanged all these years.

The owners mention - with a gleaming pride - about the celebrities who have savoured the sumptuous parathas at their joints. Among these are Kabir Bedi, Salma Agha, Akshay Kumar, Gauri (wife of Shahruk Khan) and Amithab Bachhan. The shop of Pt. Gaya Prasad Shiv Charan (claimed as the first shop among the lot) has proudlydisplayed a unique picture of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru along with Vijaylaksmi Pandit (Nehru's sister) Indira Gandhi and Babu Jagjivan Ram dining at Parathe Wali Gali eating the paratnthas served in 'pattal' (plates made of leaves) and 'kullhad' (bowls made of clay) Paranthe Wali Gali has seen more than a century and a quarter go by. And all through, it has been a major destination for the locals as well as the tourists who throng the place to satiate their gastronomical pleasures. All but four shops are now left in the lane. Many, from the original count of nearly a score, have diversified into other business. But those who have chosen to remain in the traditional business speak high of Mr. Sreedharan, the doyen of Delhi Metro.

 Anjali, the sixth generation female owner of the shop Pt. Baburam Devidayal, feels indebted to Delhi Metro for bringing in more and more customers from the far flung areas of Delhi. The Chandni Chowk station of the Delhi Metro opens right in front of the Paranthe Wali Gali.

Ukraine moving towards NATO

The new Ukrainian Parliament’s overwhelming vote last week in favour of the country opting for membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is a contentious signal from a pro-western government to further cement Kiev’s strategic ties with the West. The decision reverses the country’s policy of non-alignment with any political and military grouping, codified under former President Viktor F. Yanukovych in 2010. Instead, it paves the way for Ukraine’s strong military and strategic engagement with European powers and the United States. Eventual entry into the military alliance may still take years. But the current context of the continuing separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine lends the legislative step a provocative edge, from a Russian standpoint. Moscow has characterised Ukraine’s move as confrontationist; one that is consistent with its decade-long and stout opposition to the eastward extension of the military alliance. The Russian stance is also in sync with influential thinking in the aftermath of the disintegration of the Soviet Union that grew sceptical of the relevance of NATO in a post-Cold War scenario. Whereas the disbanding of the Warsaw Pact followed the emergence of the new democracies in the former Eastern Europe, NATO has continued to expand in the more than two decades since.

Clearly, Kiev’s latest move cannot be viewed in isolation. Earlier in December, both Houses of the Congress adopted the Ukraine Freedom Support Act with the avowed objective of countering threats from Moscow to the territorial integrity of the Slavic nation. The Russian response has been the establishment of the Eurasian Economic Union with Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan to promote regional trade. The Kremlin came under criticism for the annexation of Crimea following a referendum earlier this year. Its alleged role in aiding Ukrainian separatist groups with military equipment has since remained in the spotlight. Meanwhile, the United Nations said last month that nearly a thousand people have been killed since September 2014 when the ceasefire between the Ukrainian forces and separatist rebels came into force. Besides, the months-long conflict has claimed a few thousand lives. Moreover, the number of people who have registered as displaced by the conflict has risen by over 50 per cent to 460,000 in the same period. In the absence of swift and concerted diplomatic initiatives to address the scale of the humanitarian tragedy, the region runs the risk of prolonged instability. That is in the interest of neither Russia nor the western powers. Kiev’s overtures at this juncture to join NATO would merely raise the rhetoric and deepen mutual suspicion.

NOW THAT THE GENIE IS OUT OF THE BOTTLE

Yes folks, the electorate has won and brought to power an outsider in New Delhi with such a scintillating majority. Mr Narendra Modi, touted as the messiah and the Mr fix-it has been hailed as the winner of the 16^th Lok Sabha elections. After three decades, has a non-Congress party come to power with absolute majority. The prime reason for this victory of BJP is Mr Narendra Modi’s success story in the form of Gujarat development model; and also the anti incumbency of the Congress. The BJP has committed itself to good governance and development through it’s manifesto. So here in this piece, let’s analyse the things being expected from NaMo and his government.

India Inc. has hailed Modi’s victory and the markets have been bullish about his win as shown by the record-breaking rallies. Modi is expected to bring into action the innovative ideas he talked about in his campaign and the ones he showcased in Gujarat. Shoring up growth rates in the Indian economy is the biggest task ahead of him. And for that, building the investor confidence is of the essence. This would translate into the need for a consistent policy; i.e. the mistakes of the previous government like the retributive tax laws as seen in the Vodafone case and the drastic changes in the tax incentives given to the SEZs needs to be avoided in all circumstances.  In order to bring more investment in the economy, the previous investments already done in the economy need to lift off, i.e. the gestation periods need to reduce. This can be done only by enhancing single window clearance mechanisms, cutting the red-tape, and finally, bringing more transparency and accountability. Everybody craves to see the India in which we know where a certain file is going and where it has been stalled. In that way, we won’t anymore have certain Environment ministers sitting on hundreds of files, stymieing the development of the country.  Creating a uniform market all over the country is also a step ahead in unleashing the potential of all regions and harnessing growth in all sectors. Passing reforms like goods and services tax in the parliament can do so. And I say so because now there is so much majority in the LS that reforms won’t be as tough to come by. And I say that this should be done in the honeymoon period of the first 10 months itself. Let’s look forward to the upcoming budgets for it.

We need to also see more of Made in India tags around the world and for that, the manufacturing sector should to be given a boost like never before. The small and medium sector enterprises need to be given a conducive environment to unbridle their potential and spread their wings so that the hub and spoke model of development can play out as the ancillary industries also get the required boost. Not just this, labor laws need reformation too, and that too, ASAP! For the Index for Industrial Production (IIP) to show the rise, the core sectors need to be paid special attention so that there is more of growth and employment generation.

Not enough can be said about the need to develop infrastructure for faster growth of the country. Certainly, we do need all-weather roads, freight corridors, rapid railways, power supply, banking services et cetra. While the manifesto talks about most of these issues, the proof of the pudding shall be in the eating. So, let’s wait and watch how things happen this time around. And while I’m talking of infrastructure still, I shouldn’t leave the human capital. Skill devt is the key factor in reaping our demographic dividend, i.e. to make sure that the citizens actively contribute in India’s devt and stand to gain from it. Let me just lay down the simple cycle of all the good things that may happen- when the people are skilled and the business climate is favourable, more money is pumped into various sectors of the economy which creates jobs and people get salaries. This increases consumption and the purchasing power of the people, which in turn further creates more incentives for the companies to produce and make more investment.

One issue, which specifically bothers me, is the stature of India in the world. We have seen the times when Mr. Bush was fighting the world to get India the nuclear deal and when Mr. Obama was saying aggressively everywhere that India deserves the seat in the UNSC but suddenly India is not talked about so much now. I see the main reason for this as the downturn in the growth trajectory of India. We are no more at or even in the vicinity of the 9% growth rate and we are just a 2 trillion dollar economy, which is literally nothing in front of the $9tn China and $16tn America. So, while some years ago there was the notion of Chindia and BRICS, the idea is dead now. To arrive back on the platform, economic revival is of utmost importance. Also important is building regional cooperation with our neighbouring countries. Till the time they are not made co-partners in our growth, the rise of India seems rather bleak. Thus, the foreign policy amendments to be taken by the govt need to be seen with eagle eyes.

A catchy thing in the manifesto was the growth of 100 smart cities. While the schemes like MGNREGS are meant to keep people in the rural areas and to keep them from coming in the cities, the hard fact is that development happens not by ruralization, but by urbanisation. We urgently and desperately need these cities for the cycle of events I mentioned in the previous paras. But this doesn’t mean that I don’t look forward to Rurbanization, that is also another key point of the manifesto i.e. to provide the urban amenities in the rural areas so as to develop them too. All these promises done by NaMo fill me with optimism and I shall track them closely.

NaMo would be the first Prime Minister who has been the Chief Minister with a successful tenure of 12 years. He has had no parallel yet. This gives me a ray of hope that Centre- State friction would reduce because he has been on the other side of the table. His understanding of such issues would be first-hand and would come handy. Whether it be the resounding question of having or not having the National Counter Terrorism Centre; or putting the onus of Central Schemes partly on the states; his proposed idea of PM-CM association would be of real benefit to our maturing federalism.

As I write today, he has already given his 67 point agenda to tackle inflation by addressing the supply side bottlenecks. But despite of all the positives, I would like to stay cautiously optimistic because it still remains for us to see what stand he takes on subsidies, reservations, fiscal situation etc. But let us give them enough time to show sustainable results and not expect our messiah to mend every pot hole on the road and electrify every rural village in a jiffy. Nevertheless, I’m elated to say that after so many years of dynastic rule in our country, the Indian Spring is finally here.

Mainstreaming shame

We’ve all grown up hearing about the stratospheric ideals of ‘unity in diversity’ and ‘Incredible India’ but hardly few of us actually embrace it in its true spirit. We have been calling South Indians as Madrassis and North Easterners as Cheeni for a long while now. We consider ourselves as living in that imaginary cocoon wherein only North India is the heartland and the rest is a foreign land. This mental construct of ours is deplorable. On the contrary, on a dinner table, we are also deeply unsettled with the word that sounds like RACISM. We take it rather personally when an Australian beats up an Indian or when David Cameroon visits Amritsar and doesn’t apologize for the Jalianwala bagh massacre. What does one call that in plain English? Hypocrisy. We Indians are hypocrites.

Recently, the death of a young Arunachal guy named Nido Tania and rape of a Manipuri girl in the capital have spurred the double standard issues that we have. Why are the north easterners not given their due? Why are they treated like foreigners in their own country? Why are boorish comments on their hair style and dressing sense so common? The problem is much deeper than it seems on the surface. Right from the elementary level, the school curriculum doesn’t include much about the north east. It is only at the exam time when mothers make their kids mug up the capitals and dance forms of these seven states. Children are not given even the slightest of knowledge about anthropology which could make them cognizant of the fact that it is just the face of a mongoloid race which makes them that way but in spirit, they are still the same as any other Indian. There is also no interaction among the students of the north east and the rest of India that can possibly reduce the strangeness between them which could aggravate into aloofness in the future.

A lot has been said about ‘mainstreaming’ the north east so that they can be active participants in the growth process of India but what has actually been done? The students of the north east are driven by the lack of opportunities for higher education and jobs to the mainland of India where they have no option but to face the feeling of being an ‘outsider’. Delhi is in fact a mini India and thus rightly a melting pot. But what infuriates me is the fact that Delhiites are not receptive and welcoming enough to people from other states. There are some folks who are just six feet from the edge and they vent it out on other people who are already feeling like ‘outsiders’. Yes, the north easterners dress differently and they talk differently but aren’t we supposed to respect that? They own Delhi as much as we do.

Those seven sisters have a border with the foreign countries, some of whom are aggressive too. People there face competition from the infiltrators from Bangladesh and others just because the Indian government hasn’t been able to stop infiltration in all these decades since independence. Trafficking of drugs is a normal issue there. Connectivity still remains a humongous problem as these seven states are connected to the mainland only through the chicken corridor which if closed, would cut the northeast from India. If this was already not enough, the Kokrajhar incidents happen too. After all this, the question remains, have we after all, given the north east as much attention as we should have? Answer to this question also lies in the difference of reaction of the Indian government to the fast that Irom Sharmila is sitting on since 14 years to repeal the Armed Forces Special Protection Act(AFSPA) and Anna Hazare’s fast for anti corruption bill. I can bet if Irom Sharmila was doing this fast in Delhi, even the media would cover it well. What to talk of a fast if cognizance is not taken of the different time zone that our North Eastern region is in. There is a difference of about 2 hours between IST and the time standard that NE should have. This deprives them of the daylight hours which could be used productively and also distances them further from the happenings in the mainland of India. Just imagine about the prime time at 9 news which comes here at 9 pm in the night would actually come at 11pm in  Arunachal. Enough sensitivity has not been shown to their plights and we talk of ‘mainstreaming’ them. Such a sham!

And if it were not for Digboi, Naharkatia and the gas pipeline from the north east, can we think of our energy demands being fulfilled? Or can we think of India without the Brahmaputra or the Manas wildlife sanctuary? The point is that north east is way too important for us to ignore and its people are our brethren. I say, exemplary punishment must be given to the people who mistreat them and immediate actions should be taken. Simultaneously, the mindset of the people needs to be changed and the children should be made more sensitive about the diversity that India possesses. It's time that India  showcases how ‘incredible’ it actually is.

Breathing in a little bit of DELHI of 14th century

Delhi is the place which inspires me to read about history, not only because I’ve grown up here but also because, it is a 5000 year old city, still thriving and expanding. The flyovers, metros, MNCs and the buzzing markets pretty much define the modern Delhi. You would be amazed to know that having been mentioned for the first time ever only in the ancient text of Mahabharata, the city of ‘dhili’ has been expanded by the slave dynasty, khiljis, tughlaqs, lodis, mughals and of course the Brits. It’s rather fascinating how we move around the roads of delhi without ever giving a thought to the extensive history of the place.

I took out time to visit the abandoned Tughlaqabad fort and the tomb of Ghias ud-din Tughlaq today. Ghias ud-din Tughlaq himself wouldn’t be able to identify his empire today as in the modern India, it is adorned with a metro station on its name, all weather roads, flyovers, swanky cars and traffic lights. He would be shocked to see the ruins of his fort and not to forget, his spirit would probably haunt the ASI(Archaeological Survey of India) too.

The ruins of the Tughlaqabad fort

Legend has it that Ghias ud-din was so obsessed with his dream fort that he ordered all the labourers in Delhi to work only on his fort. His contemporary Saint Nizamuddin Auliya, a Sufi saint, got pissed with him as the work on his baoli (well) was stopped due to these orders. The workers started working for Tughlaq during the day and for the saint during the night. Ghias ud-din didn’t like this either and he cut off the oil supply to Nizamuddin so that his workers are not able to light the ‘mashaals’ to work at night. This in turn further infuriated the sufi and to rebut, he blessed the water of his baoli to turn it into oil. Listening to this bit of history, I wondered, what if Saint Nizamuddin Auliya existed today! His spell would solve all our problems and usher us into a world of serene Syria, peaceful Middle East and resource abundant countries all over the world. I bet he would be preached like a God and Obama-like people would bow in front of him. Wishful thinking, I guess. Anyway, I was all the more amazed by what I heard further, the saint uttered a curse which was to resonate throughout history right until today: Ya rahey hissar, ya basey gujjar (may the fort remain unoccupied/infertile, or else the herdsmen may live here). The effect of the curse is evident as the fort was not inhabited for long by the Tughlaqs and everything around that fort area thrived and became an urban settlement, leaving behind only the cursed portion, now known as the Tughlaqabad village.

Another of the saint's curses was Hunuz Dilli dur ast (Dilli abhi dur hai or Delhi is still far away) because of which the Emperor, after winning a war in Bengal, while returning to Delhi, died just outside the contours of the city and couldn’t see his fort one last time.

one of the many baolis in the fort

The fort has high fortified walls which are thick and made of quartzite stones which were dug from the quarry inside the fort itself. The quarry was deep and was filled with water, giving the palace a beautiful look. The fortification was in place to protect the fort from the attacks by intruders, especially the Mongols.

Along the fortified wall is an uphill area where one can find deep granaries which were used to store grains for emergencies. They look like normal pits and can be easily ignored if one doesn’t know of their existence. But, they are a peculiar feature of the fort and are a worth watch. Infact, I think the concern of the emperor for the food security of his subjects is creditable and a few lessons can be learnt by the modern administration itself.

You know the most fascinating fact I got to know is that a fort always has entry from the north and as we proceed south, the entry gets restricted. So, you always find the diwan-e-khas after the diwan-e-aam. Today, in the Tughlaqabad fort, the entry is from the south just because it is well connected with the flyovers. But what is amusing is that right where the private area of the emperor must have existed, we now find a cricket match happening where the cricketers from the village nearby congregate to utilize the vast barren land. In the manicured lawns where the queen must have sipped her evening tea, the endemic thorny plants mar the landscape and test my imagination power.

One can also spot the royal hamaam (or Jacuzzi) right in the middle of the ruins of a vast chamber.

The underground rooms remain a mystery as nobody knows what they might have been used for. They could be the summer shelters as they remain cool all the time, or even prisons as they have no ventilation or even bazaars(the market places). It gives you a chance to run the horses of your imagination and analyse the conditions and needs of the people back then and conjecture based on that!

The underground chambers

There is probably just one remnant in the complex with a roof on the top and it was probably their mosque just because it faces west!  

The most intriguing feature of all is the secret passage way in the fort which was used during emergencies to evacuate. It is dingy and creepy and must not be traversed by the faint hearted. I could imagine the bygone times when it must have been lighted up by the soldiers and used to escape from the enemies.

The tomb of Ghias ud-din Tughlaq is connected to the fort by an elevated causeway but is intersected by the modern mehrauli badarpur road which led me to realize how our history coexists beautifully with our busy lives. But alas, millions cross that road daily for their offices but few reflect upon the history or think about the royal city that existed in the 14^th century at this very place..the wars that must have been fought, the arrows and the dynamites that must have been used or the royal festivals that must have been celebrated there.

The tomb of Ghias ud-din Tughlaq

Unlike the fort, the tomb is well preserved. It is made of red sandstone and white marble. It reflects the Indo Islamic architecture as the Persians came with their culture to our Hindustan and this led to exchange of thoughts and cultures, as well as, architecture. Where the dome is a part of the Persian form of architecture, the usage of kalash on top of it as a bad conductor to save the building from lightening is adopted from the hindu culture. The beautiful flowers carved on the marble are another feature of the hindu architecture which the Persians adopted. The mausoleum is a beautiful manifestation of the fusion of the two cultures and is a reminder of an India which belongs to both, hindus and muslims. 

The fascinating Indo-Islamic architecture

All this proves that India is not just an emerging economy, but a re-emerging nation because it has such a rich history and has been the center of power since long and for long. People of this modern state should respect the forts, the heritage and the land which is a melting pot of races. Next time around when you visit the Tughlaqabad area, just take a minute to replace the cars with elephants and horses, vertically rising buildings with a citadel, bricks with sandstone and quartzite, and allow yourself to slowly fade into the charm of the 14^th century Delhi and revel in it.