April 19, 1999

Resuming the Agni tests is the inevitable corollary to the Pokhran doctrine

Reports that the launch of the new Agni series of missiles is imminent are most welcome. Ever since P.V. Narasimha Rao's government abandoned it in 1994, Agni has become a bit of a political orphan. Successive governments have capitulated to international -- largely American -- pressure and crippled the indigenous missile endeavour. First tested in May 1989, Agni's fire has been doused by Congress and United Front governments -- despite seven countries in the region, Pakistan and China to Saudi Arabia and Israel, possessing such missiles. It has thus been at once tiresome and frustrating to find the BJP Government procrastinating in just the manner of its predecessors. In the past year India has followed a strange strategic doctrine. It has not made any progress since Pokhran II and is no closer to a nuclear deterrent. There have been no follow-up measures to the nuclear tests, ones that will lead to a delivery system and, finally, deployment. It is high time Atal Bihari Vajpayee's regime grasped the nettle.

The re-commencement of the Agni tests is by no means the end of the road; India would have reached only the second milestone. To use boffin jargon, Agni has now moved from the experimental stage to the developmental stage. Even so, it can travel only 3,000 km. To reach deployable levels -- and be an effective counter to Chinese missiles -- Agni has to be able to travel at least 5,000 km. Conventional missile programmes have accomplished this in a decade; the challenge for India's missile magicians is to do it quickly. In this regard, the politically-ordained divorce between India's civilian and defence rocket programmes is self-defeating. There is a natural synergy here that is not being tapped. It has been argued that the PSLV's propellant technologies could easily serve a military purpose. Economics and national interest -- rather than a bizarre sense of morality -- must decide Agni's future path.

Buck Up or Pack Up

For all the adulation they get Azhar's boys seem unbothered in defeat. It hurts.

Sport is not just about talent, it is about heart and commitment and passion. It is a lesson that appears to have escaped the Indian cricket team. Sure there are men in this present team who can wield a bat with amazing dexterity, who bowl with impressive skill, but it is not enough if they do not have the requisite courage to go with it. This team has lost to Pakistan eight times in succession, in the past three matches against them they have failed to cross 200. On subcontinental pitches, made for batsmen. It is not the losing that hurts, but the manner of it. It is tragic to see men retreating from a challenge, as if they have decided in advance that this battle is not winnable. Bowlers lack fire, batsmen seem mesmerised, fielders seem more concerned with their dry-cleaning bills. All this nation asks for is effort; they do not get it.

It is not good enough. Cricketers in this country are gods. The public genuflects when they arrive at stadiums, corporate houses douse them in affluence and children follow every ball. They care deeply, but it must be asked of this team if it cares as much. They do not seem to hurt after they lose, uncaring, for they know the adulation will remain, and that is a terrible shame. It is strange that such men sneer when sports psychologists are mentioned, for we are the ones who see every day their drooping shoulders.

It is time for accountability. Players complain that they are insecure, unsure of still being there in the team the next match and that affects their performance; they should ask themselves, instead, if they deserve a place in the team at all. It is absurd too that these men, win or lose, go home with a cheque of Rs 1 lakh after each match. A clause should be inserted. If they win pay them Rs 1.5 lakh but if they lose it should be just Rs 50,000. There must be something to play for; pride it seems is not enough.

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