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[-
IKRAM SEHGAL -] |
 Handling
Balochistan |
No death in the world is a cause
for celebration. Given the present geo-political and
domestic circumstances, Nawab Akbar Bugti’s
reported demise is a moment of extreme concern for
the nation. Riding a camel he left Dera Bugti holding
aloft a rifle as symbolic of his revolt, it was pure
showmanship and he well knew how to exploit the media.
He exchanged the camel for a “4 by 4”
jeep a mile or so down the metalled road. Akbar Bugti’s
followers were certainly targetted, he was scrupulously
left alone to avoid his being killed, this has now
come to pass more by accident than by any design.
The location of the caves he was residing in was well
known to the authorities, Frontier Corps (FC) Balochistan
could have got him anytime during the past year or
so. In the emotive circumstances availing, announcement
of such deaths at the hands of security forces have
to be carefully crafted. Indeed what was the need
to do so without recovering his body? Mohammad Ali
Durrani can grandstand for his two bosses, what he
says as Federal Minister for Information cannot be
delivered like a speech in Nishtar Park. The national
forum is not a “Pasban” pulpit, Durrani’s
display of his “more loyal than the king”
posture can adversely affect the destiny of the nation......more
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The
Shock of Stalemate |
For the first time in its entire
history since 1948, Israel walked away from the battlefield
without scoring an outright and convincing victory,
in effect a stalemate. Israel has never fought a war
with numerical superiority, this time the Israeli
Defence Forces (IDF) was fought to a standstill by
a force far less in numbers. Totally dominant in weapons
and munitions on the ground, Israel’s Airforce
ruled the skies unhindered, over 10000 sorties delivering
tons of ordnance in the form of precision-guided bombs,
and smart missiles alongwith heavy stuff like “daisy-cutters”,
etc. 155 mm self-propelled guns constantly pounded
Hezbollah positions, with direct tank fire on Hezbollah
strong points from Merkawa tanks (MKs 1 & 2 with
the regular 105 mm gun and MK 3 with the smooth barrel
120 mm gun). This tremendous concentrated firepower
was followed by waves of mechanized infantry, they
could not dislodge dedicated Hezbollah fighters. That
failure shattered a myth built up carefully over the
years, that the Arabs could not stand upto Israel’s
military might. The IDF did achieve, through a UN
Resolution a bufferzone of sorts, UNIFIL and the Lebanese
Army moving in between Israel’s border and the
Litani River in South Lebanon to enforce the ceasefire.
One doubts the Hezbollah will allow themselves to
be disarmed......more
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Exploiting
and Ignoring Merit |
The major difference between the
public and the private sector is that the private
entrepreneurs recognize merit as the touchstone for
success, but in the public sector (as in bureaucracy)
merit can often be a disqualifier.
The public sector can be roughly equated to a hereditary
monarchy, with heritage, nepotism and favouritism
being the prime ingredients for career advancement.
While the private sector is not completely free from
the use of connections and influence for being upwardly
mobile, merit commands far more weightage in rewarding
performance.
The major reason for privatization and denationalization
is to provide better management, inculcating a corporate
culture dedicated to cost-effectiveness devoted to
a positive balance sheet, in effect more (profit)
for less (overheads). .......more
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