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A National Intelligence Agency! the need of the hour?
The writer of this article is an officer of the security forces who identifies himself as ‘PG".The role played by certain foreign intelligence agencies, in the early stages of Sri Lanka’s separatist war is no longer a secret. However it is unfortunate to find that most Sri Lankans share the notion that such foreign interferences have come to an end with the departure of Indian Peace Keeping Force in 1989. Nothing could be further from the truth. All indications suggest that in fact the activities of foreign intelligence agencies in Sri Lanka have further intensified in the recent past.
The assassinations of president Premadasa and Messrs. Lalith Athulathmudali and Gamini Dissanayake, created a lot of turmoil, and completely destabilised the country. Although they are accepted as the acts of LTTE, many questions remain unanswered (regarding the motives and the nature of support received by the killers). A similar aura of mystery shrouds the death of General Denzil Kobbekaduwa, which was a major set back for the government in the conduct of the war. Despite the wild allegations levelled by different individuals and groups against each other, much remains to be explained, and the only obvious fact is that all the killings claimed the lives of valuable experienced leaders who could have done great service to the country.
Probably no other fighting force engaged in war, anywhere in the world, has seen so many and so wide fluctuations in fortune as the parties to Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict. Whenever the Sri Lanka Army was making serious gains on ground, LTTE managed to receive an arms shipment which helped them to hold on to the status quo (though barely), and the war continues to go on. Despite the genuine efforts being made by the government to safeguard the human rights, and despite the fact that there are many other countries with much poorer human rights standards, Sri Lanka continues to be denounced by different international organisations and some sections of international mass media.
An analysis of the peculiar dilemmas faced by this nation in relation to the modus operandi of foreign intelligence agencies, would elucidate a serious threat to our national security that we have so far failed to address. Even more disturbing is the fact that our own national intelligence apparatus is grossly insufficient in size, organization and resources, to deal with the threat. This letter is written with the intention of bringing to the notice of the nation’s policymakers, the need for a proper National Intelligence Organization (NIO), and through an analysis of the structure and activities of worlds existing intelligence organizations, to explain how we could go about establishing one.
The first systematic study of intelligence as a part of the art of war, appears in the Chinese epic "Ping - Fa" written by Sun - tzu about 400 B.C. A more comprehensive analysis of the practical aspects of intelligence, appears in the great Indian classic "Arthasastra" written by Kautilya (also known as Chanakya - which literally means ‘cunning’), 2300 years ago, as a guide to his ruler. This voluminous document consisting 150 chapters discusses at length the methods of, destroying law and order of a hostile state through deceit and rumour mongering, spreading diseases to weaken an enemy and deception as a part of every military operation. Kautilya goes on to state that "in the game of espionage, like in love and in war, nothing is unfair".
The role and scope of national intelligence, has widened in the modern era, and in addition to its contribution to national security it has acquired a pivotal role in the economic development of the country. As illustrated by the U.S presidential executive order No. 12333 dated 4th December 1981, the task of national intelligence is to "provide the national policymakers with necessary information on which to base decisions concerning foreign, defence and economic policy. The questions asked from an intelligence analyst can vary from "What is the numerical strength of Venezuela’s special forces?", to "What is the percentage decline in rice production in Thailand this year?" To perform this role effectively, the NIOs are profusely funded and provided with a wide variety of resources. In neighbouring India, for an example, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) permanently employs over 10000 personnel full time and has an annual budget exceeding 1200 million rupees (exact figures remain secret and could be much higher). Its headquarters is a 13 storey complex on Lodhi Road in New Delhi.
Intelligence Establishment
Sri Lanka’s existing national intelligence apparatus consists of the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) which is a police dominated outfit, the Army intelligence regiment and the small intelligence cells operated by the Navy and the Air Force. They appear to be seriously short of funds and resources, and their role, as all existing indications suggest, remains limited to monitoring the activities of LTTE and other anti government organisations.The NIOs in more advanced countries, are organized into five main branches or five separate mini organizations operating in co-ordination with each other. They are, the Surveillance branch, Research and Analysis branch, Operations branch, Counter-intelligence and Technical intelligence branch.
Surveillance branch
Simply stated, the task of this branch is to gather information. To achieve this task, it is manned by " surveillance agents " supported and controlled by a central administrative body. Although the public perceives the surveillance agent as a cloak and dagger secret operative, he in fact is merely a keen observer and an efficient organizer. Most of the information he collects, comes from public sources like television, radio, the Internet, newspapers, published research papers etc. It is stated that over 75% of the information collected by CIA comes from public sources. Modern day surveillance agents do not sneak into enemy headquarters and steal secret files. Instead they make contact with individuals having access to sensitive information and carefully use or abuse them to achieve their goals. They are trained to make use of human weaknesses such as frustration, jealousy, fear, greed for money or illicit sex, hunger for power or recognition, sympathy, or even extreme loyalty. They also obtain the support of friends having privileged status like journalists, intellectuals, politicians and diplomats. Sometimes individuals having access to sensitive information, themselves are appointed as agents.Successful surveillance begins with a clear definition of the type of information sought. The operative should also be briefed about all the possible public sources, and about people having access to such information. He should then be given the opportunity to make his plan, and should be provided with necessary resources.
Embassy officials, and representatives in international organisations, of most countries, are trained surveillance agents. They are supplemented by others working under the cover of businessmen, professionals, researchers and even the likes of artists and sports personalities.
Research and Analysis branch
This undoubtedly is the most important among the five branches. If its functions are not accomplished, all the efforts made to obtain information will be wasted. It has there main functions: deciding the type of information to be sought and guiding the surveillance branch to obtain such information, maintaining an information bank to store all the information gathered, in a user friendly manner, and conducting research into various matters and forwarding reports, as and when demanded by the government. This branch is manned by specialists in a variety of fields such as economics, engineering, and military sciences. The essential qualifications are a natural talent for research and previous research experience.The information sought by an NIO would vary widely depending on the country and its politico -economic situation. But in general any country would like to have information about individuals and organisations identified as hostile as well as friendly, so that the strengths of the friends and the weaknesses of the enemies could be fully exploited. Information sought about organisations would be, membership, military capabilities (if armed), internal unity or dissent, outside contacts, activities, national/international recognition etc. Regarding individuals, information like, appointments, contacts, level of recognition and influence, family life, personal strengths and weaknesses, will be sought. Information of value about foreign armed forces would include, numerical strengths in personnel and equipment, level of discipline, training and morale, strengths and weaknesses of equipment, standard operating procedures, deployment, and the quality of leadership.
Information once gained should be classified according to reliability, itemised and stored in an easy to access manner. One of the most important pieces of information kept stored is a list of friendly persons in influential positions in different parts of the world, who’s support is readily accessible.
National policymakers who utilise the services of the NIO should be clear and specific in their demands. The NIO should not he given vague directives like, an order to forward fortnightly situation reports. Instead, an order to forward a report on the nature of the security threat to army establishments in a particular area, would yield better results. Once a specific demand is placed, is the duty of the researchers to bring together all the little bits and pieces of relevant information coming from different sources in defiant parts of the world to build a clear, logical picture. This task requires a great deal of patience and is often equalled to solving, a jigsaw puzzle.
Operations branch
At times it may be necessary to carryout covert military/non military (not necessarily illegal) actions to gain advantage of the information obtained. This responsibility lay with the Operations branch (which in the case of CIA is commonly called the "dirty tricks department"). One commonly used action is, spreading false propaganda through international mass media, NGOs, or intellectual bodies, to defame a hostile country. Some of these NGOs and intellectual bodies are organised and funded by intelligence organisations exclusively for this purpose. Some of the journalists engaged in these smear campaigns would never have reached the prestigious positions they occupy, if not for the support of the intelligence organisations that sponsor them. At times these organisations through various means induce respected persons to make "comments" to their benefit.Use of violence by NIOs is not uncommon. In 1954 a plan by Israeli intelligence to blow up British and American information offices in Egypt, in order to arouse western public opinion against Egyptians, was revealed and led to the resignation of prime minister David Ben Gurion. Funding, training and arming the rebels and anti-government organisations is another common action. NIOs have on many occasions, directly or indirectly been involved in assassinations, bomb blasts, aircraft hijackings, and many other terrorist acts.
Foreign NIOs play a very active role in the democratic elections in most countries. Providing support to friendly politicians and sabotaging the campaigns of hostile ones.
Intelligence operations are planned and executed in the same manner as military operations, based on same principles, and employing a multifaceted, flexible approach. They are approved by the country’s highest leadership.
Operations branch is permanently manned by only a handful of personnel who are engaged in planning and organising the operations. The execution is by agents who are usually for one time use only, as it is extremely difficult to keep their identity secret after the operation.
Counterintelligence
The role of counterintelligence is not limited to the popularly surmised task of identifying and "bouncing off" enemy spies. Its primary role is to prevent the surveillance and operations activities of hostile intelligence services.Main function of counterintelligence is educational. It identifies and continuously educates individuals with access to sensitive information, about possible attempts by the enemy to obtain them. Additionally the counterintelligence maintains surveillance of individuals and organisations that have a potential for utilisation by enemy intelligence, to damage national interests. In this context, the modus operandi of Counterintelligence agents is almost similar to their colleagues in the surveillance branch. However they are also responsible for the recording and analysis of the information they receive. This is mainly due to their additional role of maintaining surveillance about the operatives of the own NIO.
Technical intelligence branch
Some advanced NIOs maintain a separate branch to co-ordinate the use of various high tech methods like satellite remote sensing and electronic intelligence in gathering information. At least for the time being this technology remains beyond the reach of countries like Sri Lanka.Common fallacies and pitfalls
Being overly cost-conscious can seriously degrade the effectiveness of an NIO. Intelligence has always involved a great deal of gambling. At times large expenditures will bring in nothing: at times great information windfalls will be won for very little cost. An NIO cannot be expected to perform well, right from the word go. It will need time to establish its surveillance network and to build up a good information bank. Its assessments will become reliable only with time. Another great pitfall could be the reliance on foreign assistance to build ones own NIO. Knowledge is power and secret knowledge is secret power. Nobody would gift it to you; you will have to build it yourself. One big disadvantage in obtaining foreign assistance in building an NIO is losing its secrecy at least to one party at the very beginning.However reliable an NIO may be, it will be of no use if the national policymakers do not understand its true potential and make proper use of it in decision making. This confidence and reliance would automatically come when a government gains experience in handling the NIO.
Conclusion
Charles Protcus, a German born Jewish scientist who played an important role in the creation of ‘Mossad’, stated 50 year ago, "coming will be an age of small and independent nations, whose first line of defence will be knowledge. " Sri Lanka is at a crossroads in her history. If this nation is to achieve peace and prosper in the next century, we need to learn the game played by successful nations, and play it to win. A complete reorganization and re- energising of our intelligence resources, appear to be the need of the hour.
Point of View
Master plan to liquidate Buddhism or monumenntal stupidity?
By L. jayasooriyaIt could be either or it could even be a combination. It takes the cunning of a Master Think Tank or Monumental Stupidity for the present state of teaching Buddhism in schools. If it is a combination or if the Master Think Tank has made use of Monumental Stupidity it would be hilarious if it were not so tragic, namely the liquidation of Buddhism in Sri-Lanka wittingly or unwittingly.
The start of my investigations began when I met young people with distinctions in Buddhism at "O" level examination without knowing a word about the Dhamma. I have also met parents who have boasted to me that their sons and daughters know their Buddhism because they have obtained distinctions at the "O" level examination.
Badly presented
Upon questioning these young people they told me that they dropped the Dhamma section completely, because it was badly presented and difficult and besides one could obtain a distinction by answering the other questions which are 80% of the total and are very much easier. On top of the 80% total content there is a choice of 5 questions out of 8 in the written paper. Questioning further I discovered that Buddhism means nothing to them. To them it is another subject that they studied for the examination that they do not have to study again. Asked specifically whether they have any attachment to Buddhism, the answer was lukewarm and in some cases a positive ‘NO’. The reader, by talking to young people, can verify all this for himself as being the result of the methods adopted in teaching Buddhism at school.Before I reveal my findings it is necessary to explain the difference between Buddhism and the Dhamma that the students have dropped. What we have is Buddha Dhamma abbreviated to Dham-ma. Buddhism is a term that the British coined to categorize Buddha Dhamma as a religion for their identification purposes. The Buddha Dhamma is not a religion and it has nothing in common with any religion.
Let us now see what Dhamma means. The Pali-English dictionary by Buddhadatta takes one whole page. The large size (8" x 11") Pali-English Di-tionary in small print by Rhys Davids, the English scholar, devotes nearly four pages to define it. The Buddhist Dic-tionary by Nyana-thiloka, the German scholar monk, takes half a page. Dhamma simply means nature or truth which are very vast terms by themselves. Used in the sense "AII Dhammas are without self", Dhammas mean everything. Another meaning is ‘knowledge of the conditions’ meaning the conditions under which all phenomena arise. All these definitions carry little or no meaning to anybody who does not know the Dhamma, but a better idea of its significance without actually understanding it could be had when one considers the sheer volume of material in the Higher Dhamma called Abhidhamma which consists of seven books titled –
(1) Enumeration of Phenomena
(2) Book of Analysis
(3) Discourse on Elements
(4) Concepts of Individuals
(5) Points of Controversy
(6) Book of Pairs
(7) Book of Conditional Relations.
This last book goes into 2,500 pages in five volumes in the Myanmar (Burmese) script. Throughout the entire vast Abhidamma the only parameters used are the four ultimate realities of Conscious-ness, Mental Factors, Material Phenomena and Nibbana. Personal terms like 1, myself, he, himself etc. are totally absent because there is no self or soul in the Dhamma. They are totally absent, but in the Dhamma at the level of the Dis-courses delivered by the Buddha these terms are used only as terms for communication but the Buddha has emphasized the absence of the self in almost every discourse he has made.
Incorporated
Over and above the Dhamma a whole lot of material connected with the Buddha and the Dhamma has been incorporated in the 11 books used to teach ‘Buddhism’ at school. This material can be called by any name or names but it is most certainly not the Dhamma by definition. It is from this material that 80% of the questions are set for the "O" level examination. That material does not provide the Buddhists with either a knowledge of the Dhamma or the immunity they need to protect themselves and Buddhism in the face of the massive organized onslaught now directed against Buddhism by foreign agents together with their local counterparts to proselytize the poorest of the poor for money and other financial inducements. The local counterparts are ironically the descendants of the victims themselves.When a person who believes that the 80% is Buddhism sees an unethical conversion taking place he has no reaction because he does not know how to compare himself with the proselytizer. All he knows is that he has ethical conduct based on the 80%, Buddhist history and a knowledge about the life of the Buddha while the proselytizer has no ethical conduct, is empty and without substance and buys his victims for money. Because this so called Buddhist does not know the Dhamma he has no feeling for Buddhism and also for his country and he therefore turns away.
A Buddhist who has a knowledge of the Dhamma knows how infinitely superior he is to the proselytizer making unethical conversions and will react and intervene instantly with patriotism for his country and contempt for the proselytizer. Any Buddhist with a knowledge of the Dhamma who does not intervene does so because he does not want his inner peace of mind to be disturbed and does not care what happens to the rest of his own society, his country and society at large. Also he has other more important things to do. Survival of his culture and the country that gave him his birth does not mean anything to him. If such a Buddhist does not intervene then he does so knowingly which amounts to being of assistance to the enemy that has descended on us like locusts to destroy what we treasure most in our lives. (The infinite superiority referred to is over the class of undesirables mentioned and not over others. If anyone gets upset about it he is not worth a reply).
Dhamma
Only ‘Buddhism’ has the Dhamma, the universal truth about all existence. It is the Dhamma that distinguishes Buddhism from all the rest with no comparison to others whatsoever. Any person who has understood the Dhamma will have an unbreakable bond to the Dhamma through which he finds inner peace in the understanding of things as they really are within the limits of his ability. If any Buddhist is to be converted the first task would be to ensure that this bond will not take place.The only way to do that would be to withhold from him a true understanding of the Dhamma. The method chosen has been in the first instance to downgrade the Dhamma content to a mere 20% of the course so that 80% of the questions could be set outside the Dhamma to enable a student to secure a distinction without knowing a word about the Dhamma at the "O" level examination and in the second to ensure that the students will not bother even to know the 20% by making its presentation meaningless and purposeless and also not so easy to understand, wilfully creating a very strong dislike to Buddhism the proof of which can be verified by speaking to young people who have sat for the "O" level Buddhism.
Examination of the 11 books will reveal that no basic foundation has been laid to teach Buddhism. The writing of these books fall into one pattern of apparent Bud-dhism everywhere but no substance anywhere. Items have been brought in at random with no view to teaching Buddhism, the iron clad proof of which is that the students have dropped the entire Buddha Dhamma en bloc as can be verified by speaking to them.
It is sad that our very few learned monks who are not politically connected have not read these books through which Buddhism is taught to the nation and looked at the question papers set at "O" level. To those monks I plead, please Venerable Sirs, please read these books and the question papers set at "O" level and give us your opinion. There will be many monks who will say that these books have been written to teach Buddhism which will be banner head lines in the government press if you remain silent and do not express your views fearlessly.
Basic foundation
Buddhism is a subject like mathematics where one has to build up on what has already been learnt. The basic foundation necessary to build up the Dhamma can be laid all the way from book 1 till book 9 or 10 upgrading the concepts learnt in the earlier books as we proceed. As an example in book 1 itself we can teach that it is with the eyes that we see and with the ears we hear. At least 10 of the 12 bases can be taught at a very early age. In the early grades one can ask any child what kind of feeling he gets when he sees a chocolate. There will be a response. This can be built up as we proceed that these feelings come only when he sees one, or thinks of one or smells of one etc. That will be his understanding of contact (phassa) at his level which will be upgraded further as we proceed. All these can be taught as fun with no names attached to them.The way we can provide iron clad guarantees for the survival of Buddhism will be to teach the Buddha Dhamma from book 1 itself, test at school and terminate the 80% material two years before the "O" level examination and restructure the course to 90% Buddha Dhamma written to make Bud-dhism extremely easy and interesting and 10% to what was inspired by Bud-dhism, namely the civilization and the vast irrigation works of the Sinhalese which are a wonder to modern engineers the world over. For those Buddhists who are not Sinhalese, the 10% will not be objectionable but for the Sinhalese it would give them that added superiority that they need to prevent unethical conversions taking place. This I say is the only way we can protect Buddhism from extinction. If these steps are adopted, all proselytizing activities will cease.
Tolerate
No self respecting nation will tolerate their culture being destroyed. These proselytizers will dare not go to Africa because they will never return to headquarters to report the results. In Saudi Arabia they will be beheaded for what they do here with impunity. Even in the Maldive Islands they will face long term jail. These cowards go only to Buddhist countries because of their tolerance. It is time that all Buddhist countries if they want to survive, took a hard look at Buddhist tolerance to such undesirables and specially their local accomplices without whose collaboration it will be very difficult to subvert the nation..The think tank behind all this, by initially downgrading the Dhamma to 20% has thus in the end succeeded in removing the Dhamma altogether and he did it by getting the students themselves to do it for him. With the Dhamma gone Buddhism is reduced to a religion. This is what is meant by making all religions equal about which we have heard and which is being relentlessly pursued to ensure that Buddhism has no special place in Sri Lanka. Those who believe that the 80% represent Buddhism simply do not have the capacity to understand this. They do not even understand the other methods that were tried to achieve this same end but have been temporarily shelved. Such people cannot possibly be aware of what those other methods are that caused so much concern and anxiety in the recent past to those who understood the reasons behind. The think tank behind this idea knew that the population at large did not know the Dhamma, including the upper class Buddhist professionals and he knew the majority considered the 80% to be Buddhism. It is the tragedy of all tragedies that nobody seems to be aware that 100% of the Dhamma has already been effectively removed from the nation to enable conversions to take place unhindered and with ease. The parents who do not have an indepth knowledge of Buddhism, which form the vast majority believe with justification that their children know Buddhism not only because they have obtained distinctions but also because they have the security that the books were written under the patronage of a long array of distinguished monks.
Before I close this letter, there is just one more thing to be looked into. Every year the government allocates a massive sum for the printing of school books. Are there any NGOs or foreign governments contributing funds to our government towards that cost?
At the rate proseletyzation is now taking place Buddhists will be in the minority in Sri Lanka fairly soon in the same way that they were made the minority in South Korea just a few years ago. When that day comes those ultimately responsible for the destruction of Buddhism in Sri Lanka will be the pious Buddhists who have maintained that the questions set at the "O" level examination in Buddhism covers the Dhamma adequately and could not understand the significance of the 100% removal of the Buddha Dhamma from schools even after being told about it.
The Nehru — Gandhi encounter
By S. JeyaratnamThough three and a half decades have passed away since Nehru died, time has not diminished his historic role as maker of modern India and a central player in the international stage. Nehru’s birthday falls on November 14 and this essay attempts to portray the Gandhi-Nehru encounter and the repercussions before and after the Indian independence.
The backgrounds and life-styles of this two men are are poles apart. However they shared common core values and aspirations and influenced one another to a great degree.
Gandhi had deep roots in the Indian ethos and a typical product of conservative rural background. Though his father was a Dewan of a small and obscure Court of Rajkot, in the Kathiawar Peninsula, the family was of limited means. The family had no pretensions of aristocracy nor had a history of academic learning. Gandhi making no progress at College, was packed off to England to read for the Bar. In crossing the seas, this Gujarati Bania defied social sanction. In retrospect this was revoluntionary aspect of young Gandhi. Though in his early days he was a bull in a China Shop in London, he settled down to serious study. While reading for the Bar, he read Thoreau, Emerson, Ruskin and Count Tolstoy. In subsequent years he communicated with Tolstoy. He also poured deeply into Gita. These were the raw materials which moulded the young Gandhi. His triumphs and vicissitudes in South Africa as a social and political activist ‘steeled’ him to embark on his voyage as the emancipator of India from the mighty British Raj.
Nehru was endowed with good looks, every inch a patrician, while Gandhi was a nondescript person with large ears, that he was caricatured as ‘’Micky-Mouse’’ by Sarojini Naidu.
Nehru, a Kashmir Brahmin of the Pandit gotre, grew up in the lap of luxury at the palatial mansion, Ananda Bawan in Allahabad. His father was a well known and a wealthy lawyer. The family lived in the European section of the city and much of western influence was in the home. Privately tutored at home by an Englishman, he went to an exclusive public school, Harrow. He read natural science at Cambridge and was called to the Bar, before he returned home.
After a brief stint at the Bar, Nehru plunged into the freedom movement early. Thus he became a breaker of the law rather than a practitioner of the law. In his ‘’Discovery of India’’ he writes about the advent of Gandhi into the Indian political arena thus... .’’ He was a powerful current of fresh air... a beam of light that pierced the darkness, a whirlwind that upset many things, most of all the workings of the peoples mind’’. The Congress that was elitist English educated upper-crust organisation ‘’where morning coats and well pressed trousers were in vogue’’ was transformed into a peoples movement, the bandwagon for Swaraj.
Young Nehru fell under the spell of Gandhi, though their backgrounds were different as cheece is from chalk. However their vision for India, core values and aspirations were congruent and confluent. They had an intimate partnership for three decades, influencing each other.
Gandhi’s legacy to the world at large was that the means were as important as the ends. He adopted ethical standards to large-scale public activity. He had no hatred for his opponents rather love and compassion. He hated the sin not the sinner. There was no gap between precept and practice. Gandhi wrought the weapon of Satyagraha, non-violence, peaceful resistance while in South Africa. This was the weapon the countless masses in India used to win Swaraj. Nehru, the humanist, knew the appeal to violence was self-distructory. The stress on the right means and non-violence of Gandhi was not merely moral but very pragmatic as well. This does not mean he was a mere pacifist, in fact he once said he preferred violence if the need be to cowardice.
Both Nehru and Gandhi in the great fight for Swaraj approached the problems that arose with tolerance and gentleness, characterised by dedication and civilised behaviour. Their breath of outlook and vision was such they showed understanding and tolerance for counter points of views in their camp. When once in the twenties the campaign for civil disobedience showed signs of violence, Gandhi, called off the campaign and in retribution fasted.
Gandhi was a Vaishanite Hindu strongly influenced by Jainism, which perhaps gave his concept of non-violence. His spiritual outlook was not narrow, though a Hindu, he had roots in Jainism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity. Infact some saw the ‘’eastern face of Christ’’ in Gandhi. Though Gandhi kept the windows of his mind open to let all breezes blow, he was not swept from his ancestral faith. For Nehru, religion was not one of dogmas and ritual but to do with the higher things of life. Though brought in a Hindu home and environment, he was for all purposes an agnostic or had a streak of it? He was a great admirer of Buddha and Sankara and Vivekananda. However in the true sense of the word, both these men were spiritual and humanistic.
Both Gandhi and Nehru placed emphasis on secularism, respect for all religions and faiths. In fact some of the close activists of Gandhi in his early days in South Africa and later were Christians and Mohamedians. To name a few C. F. Andrews, Polok, Khan Abul Gaffar, Khan the Frontier Gandhi’’, Abdul Kalam Azad, Ariyanayagam Williams, from Sri Lanka. When partition came, Pakistan became an Islamic state, while true to the ideals of Gandhi and Nehru, became of secular state.
Both Gandhi and Nehru believed in the democractic way of life both in governance and social and economic matters. Nehru was an avowed socialist. Gandhi on the other hand the emphasis was on Swadesi and the upliftment of the countless villages and the villager. Gandhi was conscious that foreign rule had sapped the arts and crafts of the villages, and in his ‘’Hindi Swaraj" he stressed to need for indigenous production in the villages.
(Continued tomorrow)
