Filtering out NDA

The Task Force on National Security, headed by Naresh Chandra, recently submitted its report to the Prime Minister. However, members of the committee were in for a surprise. The PMO wanted references to the achievements of the Vajpayee government removed from the document. The final draft had consequently to be re-worked and portions relating to the Kargil Review Committee instituted by then Prime Minister Vajpayee, were omitted. The recommendations of the Group of Ministers constituted in 2000 to act on the Kargil Committee Report's findings were also deleted. The PMO instructed the Task Force report focus simply on how the UPA views national security. In spite of censoring the major portion concerning the NDA government, in some chapters, references to the Kargil Review Committee and the GoM's recommendations still crop up.

Diplomatic illness

Writing a blog and skipping the rally at the end of the BJP's national executive meeting in Mumbai were not the only indications of L K Advani's unhappiness over the manoeuvrings that ensured Nitin Gadkari's second term as president. When the resolution seeking to amend the party constitution so that office bearers could have two consecutive terms came up for discussion at the national executive in Mumbai, Advani was missing. He said he had to visit an ailing relative. Earlier at the office bearers meet in Delhi where the issue was first raised, Advani stayed away, saying he was not well. He had hoped to install Ananth Kumar as party president. Kumar has been especially close to the BJP veteran since Advani's 2011 rath yatra, for which Kumar was the chief coordinator.

Missing owner

During the IPL final in Chennai, the camera was focused on owner of the Kolkata Knight Riders, Shah Rukh Khan, but did not offer any shots of rival Chennai Super Kings owner N Srinivasan. For good reason though. Srinivasan was not in the MA Chidamabaram stadium because he believes when he watches the match in person, his team loses. He sat in a hotel room, not even seeing the action on TV and instead relied on friends to update him on the match through SMSes. As he is also president of the BCCI, he had per force to be present at the start of the ceremony when veteran cricketers were being felicitated, but after that he left the ground. He returned once more for the presentation ceremony.

Wrong handshake

Weekly news magazine Tehelka recently carried an article claiming that the Pakistan establishment is pushing for trade ties with India. To illustrate the point, it included a photograph of General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, head of the Pakistani Army, shaking hands with Commerce Minister Anand Sharma. The Pakistan High Commission is upset since no such handshake took place. Apparently, the photo was morphed and the General's image had been superimposed on a photograph of Sharma shaking hands with Pakistan's commerce minister. The magazine subsequently printed a letter explaining the morphing. The Pakistanis are contemplating approaching the Press Council of India. Press Council Chief Markandey Katju may be unpopular with the Indian press, but he is respected in Pakistan since he personally petitioned for the release of Pakistani scientist Mohammed Khalil Chishti who was undergoing imprisonment in Ajmer jail for murder.

Difficult to locate

After receiving the Andhra High Court judgment scrapping the 4.5 per cent sub-quota for minorities within the OBC reservation in jobs and education institutions, the Law Ministry tried desperately to get in touch with Attorney General Goolam Vahanvati for his opinion but had a tough time locating him. Vahanvati had gone to Geneva as head of a delegation to the UN Human Rights Council, but had left the city by the time the judgment was announced. The ministry finally located the attorney general on a ship cruising the Mediterranean.

Avoiding a meeting

At the recently concluded Home Secretary level talks in lslamabad, once again no agreement was reached on the contentious issue of liberalising visa rules, even though the matter has been pending for long. According to sources, Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik is holding out clearing the new visa rules until he first has a full-fledged interaction with Home Minister P Chidambaram. He believes Chidambaram has been deliberately avoiding meeting him for the last two years. Whether it was the cricket test match at Mohali or the PM's lunch for Asif Zardari, the Indian Home Minister has been making polite excuses. This could be because Chidambaram believes that little purpose will be served by a meeting unless Malik first makes good on the promises he made on follow-up action in the wake of the Mumbai terror act.

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