THE ODYSSEY OF TWO ITALIAN MARINES:
BRINGING INTO FOCUS THE POLITICAL CLAN FROM KERALA THAT WE ALLEGE TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR STAGING THE KIDNAPPING, MANIPULATING INDIAN DEMOCRACY, DESTROYING THE COUNTRY'S INTERNATIONAL REPUTATION AND HUMILIATING ITALY.
PART 3 of 3
Written on September 3, 2013
by Stefano Tronconi
Part 3 of 3
So, in the difficult political and diplomatic saga that unfolds on the issue of the two Italian marines, Antony never takes center stage to personally give cover to the criminal actions undertaken by Chandy, but in truth he appears to have assumed the position of the play-maker deploying, each time in accordance with the needs of the moment, less brilliant and more controversial colleagues.
Initially, and throughout the first few months, Antony sheltered Chandy's actions by deploying in the first line of battle the octogenarian and dull foreign minister S.M. Krishna, the same minister who became the laughing-stock of the entire world when at a U.N. Assembly meeting he started to read the speech of his Portuguese colleague instead of his own, persisting for several minutes without realizing what he was doing.
After a government reshuffle, and the appointment as foreign minister in place of the hapless Krishna of the better qualified and more cautious Salman Kurshid (who, in the context of Indian politics, is anyway marked by the personal inherent political 'weakness' of belonging to the Muslim minority), it was presumably always Antony who, in order to protect Chandy and derail Kurshid's diplomatic action aimed at finding a solution to the imbroglio that is damaging India's reputation not only with Italy, but also with the E.U. and many other India's allies, spread out his ammunition by calling into action:
first, the former Law minister Ashwani Kumar who raised an unbelievable controversy on the mostly theoretical issue of the possibility of the death penalty for the two marines in case of a guilty verdict, possibility ruled out by Kurshid in a letter of guarantee given to the Italian government and based on several legal opinions (Kumar has been replaced as Law minister shortly after-wards as a result of one of the many scandals that have plagued the current Indian government);
later on, the Home minister Sushilkumar Shinde (also embroiled in repeated controversies for a number of blunders, clumsy statements and involvement in several scams) who has managed to add another provocation by entrusting the anti-terrorism police with a new investigation of the case pretending to ignore how ludicrous it looks the association between terrorism and the alleged incident. With the assignment of the case to the NIA (the anti-terrorism police) rather than to the CBI Shinde has managed to:
- extend again the duration of the farcical investigation;
- embarrass his colleague Kurshid who, in order to convince Italy (whose position and huge blunders are not the subject of this article and will therefore only receive a quick mention in the next paragraph) to send back the marines in view of maintaining good bilateral relations between India and Italy, had guaranteed a fast and fair conclusion of the case;
- perform a new humiliating act of hostility towards Italy.
Incidentally, it's hard to imagine how it is possible that a plethora of Italian politicians, special envoys, senior and junior diplomats, military top brass, bureaucrats of the foreign affair and defense departments, journalists, lawyers (Italian and Indian), all generously and excessively paid, have managed to understand nothing of the Indian internal political dynamics that have generated and continue to affect the farcical and tragical case of the two Italian marines.
With regard to the huge mistakes and miserable failures emerged throughout the events of the last eighteen months we could write a new treatise on the meaning and effects of incompetence in politics and public institutions. As this is, however, beyond the scope of the present article we would only like to express the wish that, after the return to Italy of the two marines, the Italian magistrates will finally take action and start to seriously investigate the various accusations, in some cases already lodged, against politicians such as Giorgio Napolitano, Mario Monti and many others. Serious accusations which include, but are not limited to, the violation of the constitutional rights of Salvatore Girone and Massimiliano Latorre.
Of course, we also express the wish that the Italian people would find the courage and dignity to force all those not responsible of specific crimes, but simply of sheer incompetence to leave their posts in order to dedicate themselves to something more productive for society.
In fact, if for the Indian people it should be totally unacceptable that a small political clan headed by two powerful figures could succeed in manipulating the elections and the overall democratic process in an important State like Kerala, and in hijacking the country's foreign policy with consequences on India's international reputation that will be long-lasting, for the Italian people it should be equally unacceptable that an entire political class and all the main institutions of the country, including the armed forces, are exposed to be so inadequate and incompetent as to be unable to understand and confront the challenges posed by the same small political Indian clan.
In conclusion, now that we have better focused the role allegedly played by a small group of dishonest, unscrupulous and manipulative Indian politicians in the odyssey of Salvatore Girone e Massimiliano Latorre, a resumption of political initiative from the Italian side, after months of lethargy, is urgently needed. Also because the same Indian judiciary system has already badly burnt itself and its reputation in dealing with the case (a more in-depth analysis of the inconclusive and biased legal proceedings that have accompanied the case may become the subject of a future paper) and the same judiciary system is therefore certainly not in the condition now to offer any guarantees of fairness. This urgent resumption of political initiative from the Italian side must at last include, in the absence of a quick return to Italy of the two marines, also the possibility of embracing a position of strong condemnation of India's illegal actions and abuses at the international level (http://veraitalia.blogspot.it/2013/08/un-appello-al-nostro-governo.html?spref=fb).
BRINGING INTO FOCUS THE POLITICAL CLAN FROM KERALA THAT WE ALLEGE TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR STAGING THE KIDNAPPING, MANIPULATING INDIAN DEMOCRACY, DESTROYING THE COUNTRY'S INTERNATIONAL REPUTATION AND HUMILIATING ITALY.
PART 3 of 3
Written on September 3, 2013
by Stefano Tronconi
Part 3 of 3
So, in the difficult political and diplomatic saga that unfolds on the issue of the two Italian marines, Antony never takes center stage to personally give cover to the criminal actions undertaken by Chandy, but in truth he appears to have assumed the position of the play-maker deploying, each time in accordance with the needs of the moment, less brilliant and more controversial colleagues.
Initially, and throughout the first few months, Antony sheltered Chandy's actions by deploying in the first line of battle the octogenarian and dull foreign minister S.M. Krishna, the same minister who became the laughing-stock of the entire world when at a U.N. Assembly meeting he started to read the speech of his Portuguese colleague instead of his own, persisting for several minutes without realizing what he was doing.
After a government reshuffle, and the appointment as foreign minister in place of the hapless Krishna of the better qualified and more cautious Salman Kurshid (who, in the context of Indian politics, is anyway marked by the personal inherent political 'weakness' of belonging to the Muslim minority), it was presumably always Antony who, in order to protect Chandy and derail Kurshid's diplomatic action aimed at finding a solution to the imbroglio that is damaging India's reputation not only with Italy, but also with the E.U. and many other India's allies, spread out his ammunition by calling into action:
first, the former Law minister Ashwani Kumar who raised an unbelievable controversy on the mostly theoretical issue of the possibility of the death penalty for the two marines in case of a guilty verdict, possibility ruled out by Kurshid in a letter of guarantee given to the Italian government and based on several legal opinions (Kumar has been replaced as Law minister shortly after-wards as a result of one of the many scandals that have plagued the current Indian government);
later on, the Home minister Sushilkumar Shinde (also embroiled in repeated controversies for a number of blunders, clumsy statements and involvement in several scams) who has managed to add another provocation by entrusting the anti-terrorism police with a new investigation of the case pretending to ignore how ludicrous it looks the association between terrorism and the alleged incident. With the assignment of the case to the NIA (the anti-terrorism police) rather than to the CBI Shinde has managed to:
- extend again the duration of the farcical investigation;
- embarrass his colleague Kurshid who, in order to convince Italy (whose position and huge blunders are not the subject of this article and will therefore only receive a quick mention in the next paragraph) to send back the marines in view of maintaining good bilateral relations between India and Italy, had guaranteed a fast and fair conclusion of the case;
- perform a new humiliating act of hostility towards Italy.
Incidentally, it's hard to imagine how it is possible that a plethora of Italian politicians, special envoys, senior and junior diplomats, military top brass, bureaucrats of the foreign affair and defense departments, journalists, lawyers (Italian and Indian), all generously and excessively paid, have managed to understand nothing of the Indian internal political dynamics that have generated and continue to affect the farcical and tragical case of the two Italian marines.
With regard to the huge mistakes and miserable failures emerged throughout the events of the last eighteen months we could write a new treatise on the meaning and effects of incompetence in politics and public institutions. As this is, however, beyond the scope of the present article we would only like to express the wish that, after the return to Italy of the two marines, the Italian magistrates will finally take action and start to seriously investigate the various accusations, in some cases already lodged, against politicians such as Giorgio Napolitano, Mario Monti and many others. Serious accusations which include, but are not limited to, the violation of the constitutional rights of Salvatore Girone and Massimiliano Latorre.
Of course, we also express the wish that the Italian people would find the courage and dignity to force all those not responsible of specific crimes, but simply of sheer incompetence to leave their posts in order to dedicate themselves to something more productive for society.
In fact, if for the Indian people it should be totally unacceptable that a small political clan headed by two powerful figures could succeed in manipulating the elections and the overall democratic process in an important State like Kerala, and in hijacking the country's foreign policy with consequences on India's international reputation that will be long-lasting, for the Italian people it should be equally unacceptable that an entire political class and all the main institutions of the country, including the armed forces, are exposed to be so inadequate and incompetent as to be unable to understand and confront the challenges posed by the same small political Indian clan.
In conclusion, now that we have better focused the role allegedly played by a small group of dishonest, unscrupulous and manipulative Indian politicians in the odyssey of Salvatore Girone e Massimiliano Latorre, a resumption of political initiative from the Italian side, after months of lethargy, is urgently needed. Also because the same Indian judiciary system has already badly burnt itself and its reputation in dealing with the case (a more in-depth analysis of the inconclusive and biased legal proceedings that have accompanied the case may become the subject of a future paper) and the same judiciary system is therefore certainly not in the condition now to offer any guarantees of fairness. This urgent resumption of political initiative from the Italian side must at last include, in the absence of a quick return to Italy of the two marines, also the possibility of embracing a position of strong condemnation of India's illegal actions and abuses at the international level (http://veraitalia.blogspot.it/2013/08/un-appello-al-nostro-governo.html?spref=fb).