Tough road ahead
Arun Nehru

US President Barack Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize even though his country is waging a war in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Nobel Committee’s choice for the award this year has no doubt been a surprise. Mahatma Gandhi, the ‘Man of the Century’, was passed over for the award and so was Nelson Mandela when he was in jail. Clearly, the Nobel Committee’s assessment of global situations is very different from ours. Mr Obama is a superb orator. He achieved a remarkable electoral victory last year and has changed the image of the US in the global community. We wish him well as he struggles to stabilise the US economy and free the American financial system from vested interests that took that country to the brink of a complete meltdown. We have had excellent relations with the US under former American President George W Bush and this continues on the basis of mutual interests that go beyond trade and commerce.

Mr Obama’s China visit and his remarks with regard to India and Pakistan did create a great deal of political confusion. But this was skillfully handled by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his visit to the US. We sincerely hope that Mr Obama will succeed in his efforts in Iraq where the situation is marred by daily suicide attacks. The war in Afghanistan is as grim as ever where an additional force of 30,000 American troops is to be deployed. Progress on the West Asia talks has been marginal while the rhetoric from Iran is getting shriller by the day. Something is not quite right with the situation there.

I have read the speech delivered by Mr Obama at the Nobel Prize presentation ceremony and while it is skillfully drafted and has little for everyone, it justifies the use of force and war. The same argument could have been made by Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela as they fought a brutal colonial regime. Many at the time advocated use of violence and armed struggle, and the opportunity was ripe as the British Empire was weakening. But in a world dominated by the imperial feudal order and where exploitation was based on the power of superior weapons, the Mahatma roused the conscience of the nation and led a non-violent freedom movement to liberate India from the tyranny of the British. We cannot and should not wrestle with events of the past. But attitudes have hardly changed. I wonder if Iraq would have been attacked if it really possessed weapons of mass destruction.

The theory propounded by the Bush regime and former Prime Minister of Britain Tony Blair that Iraq posed a security threat to the world has now been found to be false. War was waged on the basis of fraudulent intelligence reports. However, there is total global agreement on the just war being waged against Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. But the tactics deployed by Mr Obama so far have yielded little. Nonetheless, the effort must continue with a more balanced approach.

I have little faith in political miracles and I would like to believe that we are heading for peace in Iraq and Afghanistan and a peaceful resolution vis-à-vis Iran. We would like to believe that we will see a stable, democratic Pakistan in the future ahead. But till this can happen we would like to see the UPA Government and the Opposition do everything in their power to strengthen the country’s defence capabilities on both external and internal fronts. Our national interests must take precedence over other issues.

We are witnessing a major shift in political and economic power from the West to the East and this is little more than a ‘correction’. Decision making in future will be more balanced. From a single superpower we have already moved into a situation where a collection of superpowers will determine the global agenda.

The political crisis in Andhra Pradesh continues to escalate and after the midnight announcement by the Union Home Minister declaring the Centre’s stand on Statehood for Telangana, we are heading for another political battle in Andhra Pradesh. Much will depend on the action taken with respect to the political interests of Mr Jaganmohan Reddy and his supporters who are clearly in majority in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly and their financial power and business interests override all other considerations. The Congress high command cannot delay the process of decision making beyond a point and President’s rule is not a viable option.

The agitation on inflation and price rise which is in excess of 15 per cent has assumed serious proportions. But many in governance with declared assets going into millions and billions of rupees are not likely to be affected by the rising price of cereals, sugar, dal or vegetables. In a political system where election costs run into lakhs and crores, the aam admi is clear in minority in terms of participation and representation. Sadly, the UPA, lacking an effective Opposition, is letting the situation slide. This can be an expensive mistake for the future.