The Satyam Fallout – Is The India Inc’s Image At Stake?

While the Satyam incident is certainly an extremely unfortunate and disgraceful event for the India Inc in general (and the Indian IT industry in particular), is it really an image tarnisher for the former?

This question struck into my mind after coming across the plethora of reports/views/comments, etc that the Satyam incident will rob the India Inc as a whole (and not precisely the Indian IT industry) of the faith and confidence of the foreign investors.

First, I fail to understand why the India Inc as a whole should be judged in the light of the financial irregularities practiced by a single IT company.

Secondly, I also fail to understand that why even precisely the Indian IT industry is likely to suffer an overall image backlash for this Satyam fiasco. The Indian IT industry has been holding a prestigious position in the global business scenario for quite some time now, with a host of Indian IT companies like Infosys and Wipro having successfully curved a niche for themselves across the world. A number of global players across business domains and industries are well familiar with not only the quality of service provided by the Indian IT players, but also with the high level of corporate ethics practiced by them. How can these existing and prospective stakebearers lose all their confidence and faith overnight for what has been done by one Satyam, no matter how much shocking the Satyam incident may have been?

In case the Indian Inc’s international credibility at all has suffered any setback, then I feel all the concerned parties and other influencers (the top Indian companies, government, the media, etc.) should launch a well crafted Public Relations campaign, aimed at ensuring it that the world does not get a wrong message about the India Inc as a whole for what they have seen in Satyam’s case. Did the world lose confidence on the US Inc as a whole when Enron happened? No. Then why should the world misunderstand the entire India Inc because of one Satyam?

A Very Happy And Prosperous 2009 For The Entire World

Through this blog I express my love and hearty wishes for all the cultured and peace loving people of this world, who value a civilized human society and are always ready to do their level best to achieve and preserve the same.

The world population is a motley crowd of people of diverse nature, ranging from genuinely innocent and harmless people to the ones who can stoop to any level for their murky interests. And it is just taken for granted that while the people of shady characters will keep trying to pollute this world (as such a world is most suitable for them), the rational people will relentlessly try to counter those evil forces, thereby protecting the sanctity of this world as much as is possible.

Let all of us – the rational people across the world – join hands to make this world a much more beautiful place to live, putting a final end to all the evil forces. Let us achieve a human society where the driving forces are ethics, love, empathy and camaraderie. Let us turn this world into the heaven that we hope to visit after death.

I LOVE THIS WORLD. I LOVE THE HUMAN SOCIETY. I LOVE EACH AND EVERY RATIONAL SOUL OF THIS WORLD, IRRESPECTIVE OF COUNTRY/ETHNICITY/RELIGION.

An Appeal To Pakistan’s Civil Society

My dear friends, brothers and sisters of Pakistan, I am an ordinary citizen of India. I just wanted to share some of my perceptions and feelings with you, and will consider myself to be genuinely honoured if I get your feedback.

Please tell me, with an open mind and honesty, do you people really believe that your government is behaving with due responsibility? Don’t you people feel that the government is constantly displaying flip flops that are making it so difficult for the Indian government to have any faith on its Pakistani counterpart?

Let us start from the very beginning. The Pakistani government readily accepted India’s request for sending the honourable chief of ISI to India to facilitate the Mumbai terror investigation. Ironically, within days it went back on its words, claiming that it never made any such promise in the first place.

Then came the infamous statement about putting Masood Azhar under house arrest. One day the Pakistani government informed the media about the house arrest put on the Indian fugitive. Within days the Pakistani foreign minister came up with a completely different statement saying that Masood Azhar is not under house arrest, rather, the Pakistani government is not even aware of his whereabouts. And again the Pakistani government denied this fact that it had previously claimed to have put Masood Azhar under house arrest.

The worst example of Pakistan government’s amateurish (and somewhat childish) behaviour is the denying of this fact that Ajmal Kasav is a Pakistani citizen. While two most respectable organizations (DAWN and GEO TV) of Pakistan’s own media have provided irrefutable evidence of Kasav’s Pakistani nationality, it is extremely disheartening to see how the Pakistani government is desperately trying to deny this established fact. In fact, it is actually creating suspicion about Pakistan government’s role in the Mumbai terror attack.

If the Pakistani government was innocent, it could have easily said “Yes, he belongs to our country. But how does that prove that our government itself is associated with the Mumbai terror?” After all, we all understand that the government of a country cannot necessarily be linked with a heinous act done by one of its citizens abroad. In that case it needs to be categorically proved that the person concerned was acting under instructions from his country’s government.


However, that the Pakistani government is constantly denying Kasav’s Pakistani nationality has generated suspicion. Because now this question is sure to strike our mind is that why the Pakistani government is even denying this fact. Does that mean that it has actually something to hide?

My dear Pakistani friends, tell us, is it now really possible for us to have faith on your government even after all these? Can you now really blame us if we show lack of confidence and faith on the Pakistani government?

Actually, you know something, friends? We understand that the Pakistani government itself is innocent. President Zardari and Prime Minister Raja Gillani are, for all their drawbacks, not war mongers. In fact they actually want to cooperate with our government. This explains Zardari’s initial acceptance of the Indian offer to send the ISI chief, and some other statements that he has made in the context of the Mumbai terror (like accepting responsibility for the acts conducted by even the non state actors).

Actually, it is the Pakistani army (and the ISI) which is the main culprit. It is simply unable to tolerate any environment of peace and harmony between these two great countries. Because an environment of peace means irrelevance of the Army. And that is completely unacceptable for those uniformed rogues, who have had the pleasure of enjoying ruling powers for so many years.

This explains the Pakistani Army’s effort to derail the peace process, eventually replacing the same with a war like situation, ultimately creating a war psychosis among the common Pakistanis. It knows that such a situation will bring it back to prominence, thus paving the way for its revival to power.

It is the Pakistani army officials (or at least some of them) who have orchestrated the Mumbai terror, and not the civilian government of Pakistan. And now it is they who are preventing the civilian government from trying to mend the damage by cooperating with the Indian government to bring the culprits to book. The flip flops of the Pakistani government clearly prove that it actually wants to help India, but is constantly going back on its words due to some pressure. And everybody knows who are there behind the pressure.

My dear friends, now it is you, the civil society of Pakistan, who is our only refuge. Please help your civilian government to come out of the influence of the Army, so that it can work independently. The Army is purposely spreading war hysteria among you people, so that the popular mood forces the Pakistan government to maintain a belligerent demeanor. And who is the ultimate gainer? Yes, it is the Pakistani Army.

So please do not let the Army take you for a ride. You people are really lucky to have a popularly elected government after a long time, which is the product of a long fight put up so bravely by the stalwarts of the Pakistani civil society. Please do not let these two nice gentlemen – Mr Zardari and Mr Raja Gillani – being dictated by some cunning officers of the Army, for whom their personal interest matters more than the national interest of Pakistan. This is certainly not the Pakistan that Quaid-e-Azam dreamt for.

We, the common people of India and Pakistan today share a wonderful relation. Let us not bring back the old days of acute hostility, hatred and mistrust.

N.B. - I welcome the feedback of any Pakistani friend who comes across this blog posting. There is just one condition. First he (or she) must accept my love, wishes and regards.

The Terrible Irresponsibility Of Mr A.R. Antulay

Displaying a not so unusual act of irresponsibility that some of our politicians are known for, the Union Minorities Affairs Minister Mr A R Antulay expressed doubt about the actual cause behind the death of the slain ATS chief Hemant Karkare. In an attempt clearly aimed at pampering the emotions of the minorities, Antulay said he was not sure whether Karkare was really a victim of the terrorists’ bullets, or was it something else that caused his death. Antulay highlighted Karkare’s association with the Malegaon blast probe – which had made the deceased draw fierce criticisms and anger from the various right wing Hindu groups – and hinted at the possibility of a larger conspiracy (read the hand of Hindu groups) behind the death of the brave officer.

Mr Antulay is the latest example of how low our politicians can stoop to show “loyalty” to their vote banks. While trying to appease his minorities vote bank, Mr Antulay clearly forgot what a serious damage his remark can inflict on India’s current diplomatic offensive against Pakistan. The Pakistani media is sure to give a huge coverage to this remark (highlighting it as a remark made by a senior minister), thereby giving the Pakistani government an effective tool to counter India’s charges and allegations at least to some extent. The Pakistani government is very much likely to use this remark to distort the facts behind the Mumbai terror attacks, even trying to give a completely false colouring to the entire issue.

What the irresponsible minister deserves is an immediate expulsion from the Ministry, so that it can send a strong message to the other members of the Ministry. However, in case he is expelled (which is least likely to happen), the Pakistani media will try to highlight it as the distress of a Muslim minister of India, who has been made to suffer for telling the “truth”. Therefore, Mr Antulay’s expulsion is not a good option. However, the government is well advised to ensure no other minister embarrasses the nation by making similar remarks.

A Bagful of Congratulations To You, Mr. Zardari

Dear Mr Asif Ali Zardari, you are not perceived as an ideal occupant of the Pakistan President’s position. There have been negative remarks about the way you carry yourself in public, sometimes showing very clear signs of lack of dignity and poise, something unbecoming of the Head of the State/Government of a country. In fact, very honestly speaking, some people have already started comparing you with the outgoing US President, for reasons not very pleasant for a national leader.

However, I am deeply touched by a recent remark made by you. You have said if some so called “non state actors” are carrying out any destructive activity against any other country from the soil of Pakistan, then Pakistan cannot wash its hands off merely by saying that those elements are non-state actors. Rather you have appreciated this fact that any destructive activity conducted against any country from the Pakistani soil should come under the purview of Pakistan government’s responsibility, no matter whether those activities have been conducted by “non state actors” or elements patronized by the Pakistan government (or a section of it).

Mr. President, it is really nice of you. Though I have never been a great fan of yours, I cannot help being highly impressed with your candor. You may have made this remark under some pressure, but that does not mean that we Indians should refrain from appreciating it.

It was, after all, a welcome change after constantly watching your foreign minister desperately denying even this basic fact that the actors of Mumbai carnage were from Pakistan, an unpleasant fact that has been established by the media of your own country (Dawn and Geo TV).

You know, for all your draw backs, you seemingly have at least one quality that is very rare among the politicians. You are not that shrewd and cunning.

Mumbai Terror Attack – The positive and negative awakenings

The devastating terror attack in Mumbai resulted in both positive and negative awakenings.


First, the positive awakenings –

This attack gave us an opportunity to know about the excellence and skills of our security personnel, especially the marine commandos and the commandos of the famed NSG (National Security Guards). The adeptness with which they have handled the situation has boosted our confidence and faith on them to no extent. We now know for sure that our commandos are among the best in the world.

This terror attack also gave us a chance to know that our country still has brave and courageous people like Hemant Karkare, Ashok Kamte, Vijay Salaskar, Major Unnikrishnan and Gajendra Singh, who can unhesitatingly lay down their lives for the sake of their motherland. Not that we ever had any doubt about the existence of such people in India. We have witnessed the selfless supreme sacrifices made by a host of young soldiers at the time of Kargil war. And even now, almost every other day we get the news of brave Indian soldiers laying down their lives in the border areas while fighting terrorist elements. However, the martyrdom of the security personnel handling Mumbai terror attack has inspired the Indian youth in a significant manner, encouraging them to play whatever roles they can play for the service of their great motherland.

Now, the negative awakenings –

The incident has highlighted serious lapses in the Indian intelligence network, apart from bringing into light flaws in the functioning of the Indian Coast Guard.

Hopefully the concerned agencies will undertake a thorough assessment of their infrastructure and functioning style, identify the loopholes and rooms for improvements, and address the same. Good luck to them.

The incident has also highlighted, for the umpteenth time, the extreme inefficiency of our honourable Home Minister, Mr Shivraj Patil. That nation is really cursed where the responsibility of internal security is in the hands of incompetent persons like Shivraj Patil and Prakash Jaiswal, who so perfectly exemplify the phrase “Good For Nothing”.

Photo Courtesy - media.ft.com

Congrats Team India

Hello Team India! Loads of hearty congratulations for convincingly winning the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Winning just a single test against a robust and spirited team like Australia is a notable achievement, and beating them 2-0 is a success that can leave one just at a loss for words. We are all so proud of you pals.

This match was the last test match of Ganguly, a cricketing titan of India. And I am so happy that his last test match turned out to be a match of such a glory for our country.

Keep up the good work. All our wishes are with you.

I am now eagerly awaiting the excuses that the Aussie media will come up with, to dilute the achievement of our boys.