Paying for her Honesty : IAS Durga Shakti's Suspension as SDM of Greater Noida

Background: IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, who was in the news last week for clamping down on illegal sand mafia in Greater Noida, was suspended from her duties as Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Gautam Budh Nagar on July 28, 2013.

At a time when the Indian nation as well as the society is going spirally downwards in integrity, honesty & justice, there still appear people who rise to challenge the corruptly rotten system armed with their self-confidence & zeal which helps them to stand firm & refuse to budge down in front of the seemingly omnipresent & omnipotent corrupt system. These "rebels" or "impractical" folks, as their own loved ones label them, face monumental hurdles, reckless mental tortures, continuous threat to life & everything that a person would prefer to avoid. Although these brave hearts have to face all sided assaults with great patience but still we can clearly witness that these are the people who are satisfied with what they do & in whatever situation they are because the intoxication of truth & justice is far greater than that of power & money.   

This present  case of IAS officer Durga Shakti points to certain conclusions which I would like to brief out (I have omitted some points which may be included in future analysis, inshallah).

1. Samajwadi Party's UP Government has proven yet again that it is not a government of Yadavs or Muslims or any other group(s) but rather it is a petty pawn in the hands of Criminals, Mafias & corporate.

2. Any officer doing his work honestly will either be suspended (like Durga Shakti), transferred (as like Ashok Khemka) or may even be killed (Like IPS Narendra Kumar Alig).

3. Illegal Mining corresponds to massive resource loot for which there is still not a national level consciousness.

4. Political leadership has ultimate level of interference in the working of the bureaucrats.

5. Even if she is reinstalled, she will most probably be transferred to such a place where she will not prove to be a further "nuisance" for the system.

6. Media is yet again busy with its TRP obsessed sensational cries disguised as journalism.

7. Congress, BJP & BSP leaders are attacking the SP government as if they all are saints.  

Open Wounds and a Manufactured Stalemate in Syria

In more than three years of conflict, around 100,000 people have been killed in Syria, according to UN estimates. Since August 2012, an average of 170 Syrians are killed everyday. As cynical statistics and incredulous figures become a daily reality, the truth is lost amid confusion and the competing narratives of Superpower games.

Bashar al-Assad is without any doubt a dictator and a tyrant with a proven family history of using extreme and cruel violence against any form of dissent. Those opposed to him in the region, primarily the big brother of Gulf monarchies Saudi Arabia, and to a lesser extent Qatar, are not much different. Its international opponents, led by the Unites States, have a proven efficiency in manipulating revolutions and dictating democracies. Its backers Russia and China habitually use 'sovereignty' as an excuse to protect their interests in the region via model of a scaringly efficient and ruthless state-capitalism. In the backdrop looms large the bitterness of Saudi Arabia at an increasingly powerful Iran, Assad's closest and most pro-active ally.

As Syria descends further into chaos and anarchy, this is a good time to sit down and look at some hard facts, informed by the geopolitics of past history and present turmoil in the Middle East region.

In January of 2011, Syria saw the beginning of peaceful protest calling for democratic reforms. These protests turned into a civil uprising against the government of Bashar al-Assad. By May of 2011, news began pouring in of the Assad regime using military force against the peaceful protestors. In July, a group of defectors from the Syrian military formed the Free Syrian Army to support the uprising against the Syrian government, with the stated aim of overthrowing the Assad regime.

During this period, the West was preoccupied with an increasingly messy situation in Libya, and for months the atrocities of Assad were tactically ignored while the once-peaceful uprising in Syria turned to other options.

What has followed may cynically be called an elaborate farce, but it is a glaring testament to the failure of world institutions meant to maintain peace. It proves once again that platforms like the UN are little more than instruments of power games among the world's elite.

There have been countless meetings, “Friends of Syria” conferences, councils and coalitions in an endless diplomatic exercise that has yielded precisely no results on the ground. The Syrian National Council, which was formed with much fanfare to lead the revolutionaries, has been reduced to a platform for tussles among allies promoting their personal interests. Its first president Moaz al-Khatib, a popular and simple man who was Imam of the famous Umayyad mosque, resigned within five months. He alleged interferences by foreign powers and their indifference to Syrian sufferings as the reason for his inability to continue.

With international pressure building and the Americans openly speaking of arming the opposition, it seems that President Assad's departure is truly a matter of time. Even his backers China and Russia have spoken of exploring options 'beyond Assad'. President Obama may even employ his effective strategy of non-visible warfare (using covert forces and unmanned drones) to finally tilt the balance. But only at the right time.

As of now, the West is playing for time with pointless meetings and discussions which are little more than photo-ops. At the same time, backroom negotiations are in progress among the various “allies” of both sides to this conflict, figuring out ways to share the spoils of this war and the stake of each in the configuration of a post-Assad Syria. A sure pointer to this is the way in which both US and Russia are pushing for the 'Geneva Conference' with both Assad and the rebels at the same table. It gives credence to the opinion that slowly but surely we are seeing an aligning of powerful interests.

Syria has unwittingly become the laboratory case for evolving new paradigms of conflict-resolution (read interest-management) in a new, multipolar world.

Meanwhile, fanatics and extremists have been armed to fight against and for the Assad regime, while sectarian tensions are being built up and ruthlessly manipulated in the run up to the formation of a new Syrian state, where the tried and tested formula of divide-and-rule will again be used by the new colonial forces to promote their interests.

A few days back, UN Secretary General called for both sides to respect the holy month of Ramadan and call a humanitarian ceasefire. If indeed a deal has been struck, the offer will be accepted. If not, the carefully manufactured stalemate will continue as long as an agreement is reached, and in the meantime Syrians will pay for it with their blood day after day after day....

Egyptian Military Coup

Mohamed Morsi, the first democratically elected President of Egypt was ousted by a military coup on 3rd of July, 2013 painted as a reaction of the Army after witnessing that there was a second Tahrir "spring" involving protesters against Morsi's rule on various grounds and demanding his resignation. 

I will not analyze the whole pre & post coup events in detail but would like to share some points which will hopefully make my viewpoint somewhat clear.

1. On 30 June 2013, mass protests erupted across Egypt calling for the President's resignation, following severe fuel shortages and electricity outages that evidence shows were orchestrated by Mubarak-era Egyptian elites with the intention of causing a coup. (Mubarak Era people wanted ouster of Morsi)

2. The anti-Morsi demonstrators on the streets welcomed Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's decision overthrowing Morsi with celebrations and lifting posters for the General el-Sisi and chanting "The Army and the People are one hand", supporting General el-Sisi didn't stop at that but also reached the social networks as thousands of Egyptians changed their profile pictures to the picture of el-Sisi while others started campaigns requesting Al-Sisi to be given the field marshal military rank while others hoped him to nominate in the next presidential elections. (El-Sisi has very good relations with USA & Israel & its interesting that protestors were supporting the same army that they wanted to oust earlier).

3. From January 2013 the Al-Nour party (MB party's ally) gradually distanced itself from Mohammad Morsi's Brotherhood government, and came to join the opposition in the July 2013 coup which ousted Morsi. (Al-Nour has strong ties with Saudi Arabia which in turn has good relations with USA).

4. On 24 July, during a speech at a military parade, General el-Sisi called for mass demonstrations to grant his forces a “mandate” to crack down on “terrorism”. This was seen as contradicting the military’s pledges to hand over power to civilians after removing Mr. Morsi and as an indication for an imminent crackdown against Islamists. (Muslim Brotherhood will face repressions in future).

5. Pro-Morsi demonstrators (non-violent till now) are killed & the new government says that these protestors will be cleared "legally". (why dual standards for Pro & Anti Morsi camps).

References 

1. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/11/world/middleeast/improvements-in-egypt-suggest-a-campaign-that-undermined-morsi.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1

2. http://counterjihadreport.com/2013/07/15/egypts-morsi-gone-military-brings-hope-not-coup/

3. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/07/egypt-salafist-al-nour-party

4. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/25/world/middleeast/egypt.html

5. http://www.ibtimes.com/egypt-pro-morsi-demonstrators-stand-firm-despite-deadly-raids-1361923

Further Reading

On Muslim brotherhood http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_Brotherhood & their website www.ikhwanweb.com

Tariq Ramadan's analysis of these events http://www.tariqramadan.com/spip.php?article12927&lang=en

Coup or No Coup ? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/25/obama-egypt_n_3653775.html

& http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57595668/egypt-coup-or-not-a-coup/

- Ameen Ahmad, BE Electrical Engineerng