How We Ended mid-2007

The mid-year signals do not seem to be very encouraging. The ETA in Spain has reversed its decision and is back on the rebel-path again. Similarly, the Hamas and Fatah in Palestine are again in loggerheads. The Afghan President narrowly escaped an assassination bid. Iraq continues to be in virtual ‘civil war’ side by side with its quota of other terrorist activities. Evidence of execution dens of Al Qaeda was unearthed in Iraq. Kenya (Nairobi) and Davos (Philippines) figured in the list of terror-affected countries. Pakistan continued to remain uneasy.

Within India, the left extremists/Maoists continued to make steady progress so to say. While their attacks against law-enforcing agencies continued, Maoist leaders are envisaging a “Third Freedom Struggle Movement”, the first two having been 1857 and 1947. The Naxals, another nomenclature for the Maoists, resurfaced on the streets of Kolkata after many many years when they attempted torching Kolkata tramways. They enforced ‘economic blockade’ quite effectively in Jharkhand area. The ULFA and other secessionist groups in the north-eastern state of Assam continued their drive and attack against “outsiders”, and in New Delhi, the police unearthed sleeper cells of the LeT.

The UN General Assembly has announced October 2 (the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi) as the International Non-violence day. Rig Veda has been included in the cultural heritage list of the UN. For the first time in history, Vedic hymns were chanted in the UN Senate.

Readers will feel happy that chances of talking on cell-phone while in flight have become very bright. Unarmed cars can now negotiate street crossings. Swedish scientists have invented “talking” paper and now you can ‘expect’ bombs, rather explosives, in sweets also. And, did you know Sir Issac Newton had predicted the end of the world in 2060? Let us hold on and have hearts to look forward to the second half of 2007.

May also like to glance through the reproduction from the Newsweek (June 11, 2007).

Burma - A New Rogue From the East

A new nuclear state may be rising in Asia. Russia and China – who were key to hammering out the Six-Party deal on North Korea and the U.N. sanctions on Iran – are quietly undermining the battle against proliferation by helping arm another dangerous outlier on the sly: Burma. According to recent reports, Moscow has just sold the tiny state a nuclear reactor, and China is helping it modernize six naval bases. All this has pundits worrying that the “Axis of Evil” could soon get a new member. Unlike Iran or North Korea, the shadowy ruling junta has no known links to terrorists or terrorist acts. But the state is a rogue: the generals rule with an iron fist, blithely disregard human rights and act down-right weird at times. If this hermit kingdom is building its military potential, thanks to Moscow and Beijing, it could become an unpredictable threat. Burma’s dictators have coveted nukes for years. But the Russian deal only came through now because Burma is suddenly flush with cash, due to rising prices for its natural resources, oil in particular. What’s most frightening is the regime’s utter incapacity. Experts doubt it can properly run a research reactor, let alone a WMD program. This creates an “unacceptably high risk” of a serious accident or sabotage, says the State spokesperson. So, the world may have a new type of rogue on its hands: one that manages to threaten or cause serious damage to itself and its neighbors, not intentionally, but through sheer incompetence. How does one guard against that?

Newsweek – June 11, 2007.

D. C. Nath, IPS (Retd.)
Former Special Director, IB (MHA), Govt. of India,
Executive President & CEO,
International Institute of Security and Safety Management,
New Delhi, India.