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EDITORIAL

TUESDAY, JUNE 4, 2013

10 T HE HI N D U T U E S DA Y, JU N E 4, 20 1 3NOIDA/DELHI

Those hoping Indian cricket would find a wayto redeem itself in the wake of the spot-fixingand betting scandal can be forgiven for feelinglet down by the uninspiring outcome of Sun-

days meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket inIndia. Everything from the secretive deliberations andbackroom dealings to the cryptic announcement at theend assigning temporary charge of the Boards workinggroup to Jagmohan Dalmiya is proof that the sicknessin the games administration goes well beyond themoral infirmities of one individual. By bringing backMr. Dalmiya and, more significantly, by providing aface-saving way for N. Srinivasan to try and weatherthe present storm, the Board has sent out all the wrongsignals. The emergency meeting, summoned to discussthe fate of Mr. Srinivasan whose son-in-law, Guru-nath Meiyappan, has been arrested by the Mumbaipolice for allegedly betting in the Indian PremierLeague provided a rare opportunity for the BCCI toclean up its mess. Instead, it turned out to be a farcical

exercise. None of the shocking events of the past 10days made the slightest impact on a set of officials including politicians who unfailingly stood by eachother to protect themselves. Lack of transparency andaccountability had always been an integral part of theBoards functioning but its credibility has been dentedeven more following Sundays meeting. Instead of be-ing put through a cleansing operation, Indian cricketruns the risk of being shoved deeper in a muddle.

But even now, it may not be too late. If Mr. Dalmiyacan use his short tenure at the helm of affairs to findredemption at many levels he was dumped by theBCCI in 2006 for alleged financial irregularities thencricket administration in India can still regain its lostground. For that to happen, Mr. Dalmiya has to makepublic all the dealings of the Board, including the man-ner in which the three-member committee set up toprobe the betting and spot-fixing allegations was con-stituted. If the two retired judges were handpicked byMr. Srinivasan, fairness requires that the probe beentrusted to someone else. The public outrage over themafia-like secrecy of the BCCI can only be addressedmeaningfully when the old boys club style of manage-

ment is abandoned and transparency introduced.Apart from the faces presented by the IPL teams, no-body knows anything about where the money has comefrom or even, where it goes. Neither the IPL fran-chise agreement with the Board, nor for that matter theBCCI constitution, is in the public domain. A body thathas been given the right to field an India team shouldnot be allowed to get away with such a scandalous lackof transparency and accountability.

Too little,

too late

Secretary John Kerry has demon-strated courage and wisdom in aban-doning his predecessors insistenceon President Bashar al-Assads de-

parture as a precondition to talks for a politi-cal solution to the Syrian crisis, therebybringing the American position closer to thatof Russia and many others, including India.He has to go a step further and drop ob-

jection to Irans participation in the GenevaII conference. Iran has more than convinc-ingly established its potential to prolong theconflict; it should be given an opportunity toplay a constructive role.

When the Arab Spring sprouted someshoots in Syria in the spring of 2011, it wasimmediately seized upon by Israel, the Unit-ed States and Syrias Sunni neighbours to getrid of the Assad regime the first set ofcountries to break the Tehran-Damascus ax-is and the neighbours to replace a Shia dis-pensation in Damascus by a Sunni one,however fundamentalist. There was thuscongruence a term much in use thesedays of interests among regional and ex-tra-regional players.

Israel & Iran

For Israel, the ouster of the regime inDamascus would be of immense benefit. Itwould greatly weaken Irans clout in the re-gion. Anything that debilitates Iran is ofenormous importance to Israel, given theportrayal of Iran as posing an existentialthreat to the Jewish state. Hizbullah, with its

massive arsenal of missiles and rocketswhich can reach Tel Aviv, will have its life-line disrupted, if not irreparably breached;one of the main reasons for Israels restraintin dealing with Irans nuclear threat is thecapability of Hizbullah to inflict consider-able damage to Israel in the event of anIsraeli attack on Iran.

For Syrias neighbours, it was an opportu-nity, not to be missed, to tilt the regionalsectarian balance decisively against theShias. The loss of the Alawite regime wouldbe a huge psychological blow to Shias and anequal boost to Sunnis everywhere. For thatvery reason, the two Shia regimes in theregion, Iran and Iraq, were always expectedto do their utmost to send succour to theAssad regime. The Hizbullah, which has ev-erything to lose in the event of Mr. Assadsfall has, unsurprisingly, decided to jump intothe fray. The Shia-Sunni sectarian divide,ever present but significantly reignited sincethe American invasion of Iraq in March2003, has attained a level of intensity which

will be extremely difficult to contain in theyears ahead. All of Syrias neighbours, in-cluding Israel, have become involved, andnot necessarily against their wishes.

These developments, including the veryreal possibility of hard line Islamist groups

gaining power in Damascus in the post-As-sad scenario, were easily anticipatable, andwere anticipated by this writer and manyothers. But the temptation to get rid of Mr.Assad was so great that any price was worthit, including the contingency of having to livewith an Islamist government in Damascus.No doubt, the West likewise knew howevents would unfold, though now it wouldlike us to believe that things have not turnedout as per its calculations. The most inexcus-able mistake the western countries madewas to assume that the Assad regime wouldfall within weeks of the beginning of theprotests. Was this wishful thinking? Or, werethey victims of their own propaganda?

The Russian decision to send missiles andother military equipment to Syria should nothave surprised anyone. Several Sunni stateshave been openly arming the rebels sincealmost the beginning, with the approval ofthe international community; why shouldthe Russian action to help the other side inthe civil war be treated differently? Civil

wars have always attracted external playersto back opposing sides; why should Syria be

an exception?It did not call for great analytical skill to

recognise that making diplomatic initiativesconditional on the prior departure of Mr.Assad was never going to work. The rebelscould be excused for sticking to this line,since their strategy was to get the West moreactively engaged on their side, such as byenforcing a no-fly zone, sending materialand even men to the war zones, etc. (Thiswas exactly the strategy of the Bosnian Mus-lims during the Bosnian civil war.)

Syrias Sunni neighbours also were notprepared to countenance the idea of talkswith the Damascus regime for sectarian rea-sons. But if the concern of other externalplayers with the huge loss of lives in Syriawas genuine, they had every reason not toinsist on the precondition for Mr. Assadsdeparture, as well as to persuade the rebelsand their regional supporters not to insist onit.

Use of nerve gas

Carla del Ponte, member of the U.N. com-mission of inquiry on Syria, said a few weeks

ago that there was strong, concrete suspicionthat the rebels had used nerve gas sarin. Thewestern countries were understandably dis-appointed by the statement of Ms del Ponteand largely ignored it; had she said the sameabout the Assad regime, the uproar, andclamour for strong action against the regimeby the U.S., whose President had repeatedlysaid that the use of this weapon would be agame changer, can easily be imagined. This ismerely to point out the obvious and not tocriticise anyone of practising double stan-dards, since every country is guilty of itsometime or the other.

There is a civil war within civil war inSyria. The Grand Coalition, cobbled togetherat the command of the former Secretary ofState, was never going to present a unifiedand effective leadership. Various militiagroups are fighting among themselves. Mr.Assad, who is enjoying relative military ad-vantage at present, is making belligerentstatements. He should know that great pow-ers do not blink for a moment before decid-

ing to reverse their positions; they really donot have permanent friends.

The Lavrov-Kerry call for Geneva II offersthe only realistic chance to work for a politi-cal settlement, since it leaves open the possi-bility for both principal Syrian parties toparticipate. The difficulty is more on therebel side, since there are nearly 150 rebelgroups involved in the civil war, the mosteffective and disciplined of which are die-hard islamists and al Qaeda-affiliated. The

Syrian national coalition is a house divided,with different factions unable to reach a con-sensus on whether and who should partici-pate in Geneva. The hardliners are insistingon prior departure of Mr. Assad, which eventhe U.S. has wisely decided not to insist on.Secretary Kerry is making strenuous effortto persuade the coalition to attend Geneva.The Damascus regime has already indicatedits willingness to do so. Refusal by the rebelswill give an enormous political advantage tothe regime as well as to Russia and Iran.

The bitter pill

The rebels are hesitating because as ofpresent, the regime has gained an upperhand in the fighting; no one wants to nego-tiate from a position of weakness. On bal-ance, the coalition can be expected toswallow the bitter pill and decide to go toGeneva for one simple reason. If it does not,it will forfeit the possibility of getting en-hanced military assistance. If it can demon-strate in Geneva the skill to put the blame forthe likely failure of the talks on the regime, itwill have a far better prospect of benefiting

from the European decision to lift the armsembargo and Americans willing to supplylethal equipment.

Zvi Barel, an Israeli expert on such mat-ters, wrote recently: the Syrian civil war islikely to continue for years and lead to vio-lent spillovers to neighbouring countries the initiative to determine when and if to setoff the regional powder keg has fallen intoAssads hands. This is the reason, Barel sug-gests, the U.S. has agreed to leave Mr. Assadin power as long as negotiations will be con-ducted with the rebels.

If Geneva II happens, India should ask tobe invited. Our participation would be in linewith our official line that the solution shouldbe political and Syrian owned. We will be ingood company and we would be seen to beactive in a region where we have vitalinterests.

(Chinmaya R. Gharekhan, former IndianAmbassador to the United Nations, was untilrecently Prime Minister Manmohan SinghsSpecial Envoy for West Asia)

One big step towards peaceChinmaya R. Gharekhan Geneva II, in which both principal parties

to the Syrian conflict can participate,offers the only realistic opportunity towork for a political settlement

Anti-climaxThe reluctance of N. Srinivasan toresign as the BCCI president andthat of the members of the workingcommittee to seek as well as ensurehis resignation in the wake of theIPL betting controversy is mostunfortunate. The developmentsonly prove that too many peoplehave been benefiting from the crasscommercialisation of cricket inIndia.

One does not expect the interimarrangement of making JagmohanDalmiya in charge of the BCCIsworking group, with N. Srinivasanstepping aside, will help restore theBCCIs reputation. Any probe canonly be an eyewash to buy time tillthe next round of bidding andbetting begins. A few morallycorrupt cricketers and a rapaciouscricket administration havereduced the game to anything but agentlemans game. Nothing moretragic could happen to cricket.

P. Prasand Thampy,Thiruvalla

It is very clear that Mr. Srinivasanbelieves that he is above everythingand everyone. Keeping himcompany are some of ourpoliticians. As an ardent fan ofcricket, I feel let down and sad thatnothing can be done to demolishthe fortress of those governing theworlds biggest cricketing body.

Vinod Kumar,Thiruvananthapuram

The emergency meeting of theBCCI came as an anti-climax forthose who expected Mr. Srinivasanto resign. He remains ensconcedwhile Mr. Dalmiya, expelled oncefor alleged financial irregularities,has staged a comeback. It is illusoryto expect BCCI officials to act. The

hue and cry raised by cricket loversis bound to remain a cry in thewilderness. Unless spectatorsorganise themselves and keep awayfrom the grounds, redemption willremain elusive.

Manohar Alembath,Kannur

Judicial appointmentsUnion Law Minister Kapil Sibalsproposal that the governmentmust have a say in the appointmentof judges should be opposed. Thepresent system of selecting judgesshould continue if the judiciary isnot to become another CBI. Hisobservation that the collegiumsystem has not worked to ourexpectations shows that thegovernment is keen on having animportant role in appointingjudges to the higher judi ciary.

The judiciary is the only hope forpeople. It is hoped the media willplay an effective role in educating

people on the dangers of lettingpoliticians interfere with thejudiciary, instead of wasting its

energy and time on BCCI affairs.V.S. Ganeshan,

Bangalore

Mr. Sibals emphasis that thegovernment should have a say injudicial appointments is reflectiveof the political classs mindset to

influence the judicial system. TheConstitution has entrusted the jobof verifying executive actions to thejudiciary. Interference in theprocess of appointment of judges,therefore, cannot be the right ofthe executive. Since both theexecutive and the judiciary areaccountable to the people of India,Parliament can participate, alongwith the present collegium, infinalising the appointments. Onehopes the people of this countrywill not lose their only hope ofjustice.

P.S. Basu,Secunderabad

The collegium as a method ofselection has failed. While theSupreme Court has set highstandards for executiveappointments, it has not done sowith respect to judicialappointments. The exclusivity ofthe collegium has led to

unaccountability. We need aJudicial AppointmentsCommission to select judges and

persons to man high-powertribunals.

N.G.R. Prasad,Chennai

Even under the present system, theexecutive enjoys a large stake inthe appointment of judges. The

increasing number of governmentlawyers on the bench illustratesthis. The real reform that is neededis to put all the deliberations of theexecutive and the judiciaryconnected with appointments inthe public domain so that thepeople and the media areconvinced of the transparency andefficiency of the process, ratherthan appointing an executive-dominated JAC.

D. Jeevan,Thiruvananthapuram

Given the UPAs attempts tosubvert institutions like the CVC,the CAG and the CBI, one isjustifiably worried that thegovernment is now targeting theSupreme Court, which has beenvery active of late to the utterdiscomfort of the government.When the Chief Justice defendsthe existing method, thegovernments proposal appears

suspect.K.S. Ramakrishnan,

Chennai

Murthy 2.0This refers to the editorialNarayana Murthy 2.0 (June 3).Infosys was the IT industry leaderin both corporate governance andcorporate social responsibility formany decades because of the able

stewardship of N.R. NarayanaMurthy. But the IT major failed tosee the innovations in the field anddid not infuse new blood in itsgoverning body. .

Infosys should shed its old-fashioned strategies and update itsskills. Let us hope that with there-entry of Mr. Murthy asExecutive Chairman, Infosys willregain its position in the IT.

S. Nallasivan,Tirunelveli

Mr. Murthy has accepted thedistress call from Infosys, thecompany he founded, nurtured andtransformed into a software giant.A retired chairman called in to takecontrol of the same companybecause of its slipping fortunes isunprecedented. It is to be seen howMr. Murthy reclaims the lostground in the changedcircumstances at the national andinternational levels since he

retired two years ago.M.C. Joshi,

Lucknow

Infosys relentless focus onmargins in a difficult environmentwhen clients were keenlymonitoring every penny spent onIT has led to this sorry state ofaffairs. While the competitors werecashing in on the low-margin high-volume business, Infosys chose to

keep itself out of this businesssegment. While there may besound business reason to opt forsuch a strategy, it significantlyaffected the companysperformance.

M. Hariharan,Hyderabad

Although Mr. Murthy s leadersh ipat this juncture would help steerthe Infosys ship in the rightdirection, I find it hard to believethat the company struggled toattract outside talent beforesettling for him.

For a globally traded publiccompany, Infosys reminds me of atightly knit family run Indianbusiness. The return of Mr.Murthy, along with the inductionof his well educated son as hisexecutive assistant, reinforces itsIndian roots and sends a clearsignal that the next generation ofleaders is being groomed from the

dynasty.Varad Seshadri,

Sunnyvale

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Letters emailed to letters@thehindu.co.inmust carry the full

postal address and the full name or the name with initials.

The May 27 agreement between the Colombiangovernment and the Revolutionary ArmedForces of Colombia (Farc) concludes a six-month peace process which started in Oslo

and moved to Havana, and could end a conflict that

started in 1964. The main issues, predictably, have todo with land rights and the exploitation of peasants in acountry where one per cent of landowners hold 52 percent of farms, only 22 per cent of potentially arableland is cultivated, and 6.5 million hectares havechanged hands, been vacated, or stolen as a result of the

violence. The deal is not, however, comprehensive;talks are to resume on June 11, and must address stillunsolved problems, such as implementation. The gov-ernment of President Juan Manuel Santos rejectsFarcs demand that some nine million hectares bedeclared autonomous zones, but is apparently pre-pared to target rural development programmes at therelevant areas. A more difficult issue involves Farcstransformation into a political movement in the cur-rent system. Farc is rightly cautious about this; it at-tempted a similar move in the 1980s by forming thePatriotic Union party, but over 3,000 of its members,including two presidential candidates, were murdered.

Crucially, both sides now seem to accept that a mil-itary solution is impossible. Mr. Santos has divergedfrom some of his predecessors by acknowledging that

Colombia is in a state of civil war; from 1999 to 2008Farc and the National Liberation Army of Colombiacontrolled 35 per cent of the countrys territory, andFarc still holds the south-eastern forest and the plainsat the foot of the Andes. Secondly, the recent agree-ment, although it has been criticised for not requiringenough concessions from Bogot, enables Colombia tostart healing some of its wounds; for example, about 30per cent of Farcs recruits are minors. As for Farcsdrug-based funding, the organisation has maintainedtighter control over cocaine production than, for exam-ple, the Bush administration in Washington wouldaccept, despite CIA reports that Farc was not a majorsource of drugs for the United States market. Farc hascollaborated with the United Nations in replacing cocafarming with sustainable food production, and can nowstart to draw world attention to the damage subsidisedU.S. agricultural exports do to farmers in Latin Amer-ica. In addition, Mr. Santos must continue to use helpfrom regional states such as Venezuela, which hasplayed a role openly acknowledged by the Colombiangovernments chief negotiator, Humberto de la Calle,

in making the talks a success; failure to use such assist-ance and good offices could result in a tragic waste ofColombias best opportunity for peace in decades.

Colombiaschance at last

CARTOONSCAPE