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I moved to my house in Kalimpong. Kalimpong is an incredibly lovely town. The garden was in full bloom, the azalea and hibiscus hedges a riot of colour. The avocado trees were fruiting as were the peach and pear. I lay on the grass beneath a bright blue sky watching the clouds pass by. It was heaven. I returned to Calcutta, a city I love, a city in which I grew up and where the people are warm, friendly, and cultured. In the spring of 1979, I took over as chairman of a company dealing in commodity trading. There were problems amongst the staff at our Delhi office so I moved there to sort matters out, and then stayed on there.
Delhi is quite different from Calcutta; a bureaucratic city where I had served earlier, both in the city proper and the cantonment, and was well-acquainted with it. I was not very happy in the world of business and did not derive any job satisfaction. Soon after arriving in Delhi I received a phone call from the foreign secretary, Jagat Mehta from Calcutta inviting me to come to Calcutta to meet the King of Bhutan.
I knew the king, as also his late father, and used to visit Bhutan frequently. I was given the freedom to fish wherever I wished. In a mountain stream at some 11,000 feet, I caught a nine pound trout, a record. The king asked to see it, so I sent it to him.
The late king, his father, used to ask me to spend an hour or two with the young prince on my visits to brief him on matters of international relations, governance, and other related matters. I made many friends in Bhutan. After a pleasant meeting with the king, Jagat Mehta told me that I was to be appointed ambassador to Bhutan. I told Jagat that much as I liked Bhutan, I did not wish to accept the appointment. He told me that it was my duty to go there. I told him that he was no one to tell me where my duty lay. I bade the king goodbye and left for Delhi. Three months later I was again approached by Jagdish Hiremath of the Ministry of External Affairs to go to Bhutan as ambassador and again expressed my regrets.
I found doing business very difficult, involving many pressures with which I was not comfortable. I decided to leave in 1989, handing over my portfolio to the staff for a very nominal price.
In 1991, I was approached by Professor Manohar Sondhi to join the BJP. I considered the offer for some time, and after some three months agreed to join to advise in the fields of defence and foreign affairs.
At that time the BJP was just beginning to develop its personality as a party, claiming to be a 'party with a difference'. That difference, I feel, with the passage of time began eroding.
I was impressed by the president, Khushabhau Thakre, a simple and upright man. When he was dying of cancer in a tiny cubicle in the outhouse quarters of 11 Ashoka Road, I visited him regularly. He died after a long battle with cancer. The possessions he left behind were four sets of kurta-pyjamas and two pairs of slippers. He was a man I admired and will never forget.
Atal Behari Vajpayee kept much to himself, relying largely on Brajesh Misra for whom he developed a great fondness when he was foreign minister. Brajesh, then in the United Nations, looked after him during his visits there. Vajpayee was well versed in politics, a wonderful orator, and a popular prime minister.
Vajpayee, unlike Thakre, liked the good things and comforts of life: good food, fine drinks and music. He had a successful spell as prime minister. Unfortunately he relied a great deal on Pramod Mahajan, who he affectionately called 'Munda', whose business dealings were alleged to be questionable.
L.K. Advani is a likeable person, cultured and soft spoken. He was projected by the party as a 'Man of iron'. I got on well with him and his family. He was not a very good judge of people and relied on some with dubious records. He was a capable home minister, and could have produced better results had he not become over-burdened with excessive responsibilities. His staff was not well versed in matters of national security and were unable to make a positive impact on the law and order situation in the country in general, or the Naxalites and insurgencies in Jammu & Kashmir and the North East. There is a compelling need to meet the challenges of terrorism and the insurgencies sponsored by Pakistan's ISI and others by revamping the security agencies drawing upon the experience gained by the Department of Homeland Security in the US.
Advani's visit to Pakistan in 2008 was to have serious consequences. His praise of Mohammed Ali Jinnah did not go down well in India. There were large-scale protests all over the country. On returning to India he resigned as party president. I spoke to him over the phone advising him not to withdraw his resignation. I reminded him of the pressure exerted by Nehru on Gen. Thimayya to withdraw his resignation and after he agreed to withdraw it, Nehru went on to tell parliament that 'The army chief is impetuous; one day he resigns and the next day he takes back his resignation'. I then quoted Marcus Aurelius: 'To do what you feel is right instead of humbly saying Amen to what the world tells you is right, is to have kept your soul alive.' Advani withdrew his resignation, expressed his regrets, and withdrew his Karachi statement.
Dr Murli Manohar Joshi is a man of integrity and principle but unfortunately he does not wield much influence in the party. I found him to be most reasonable and pragmatic. When, as administrator of Chandigarh, I requested him to make up the deficiency of 550 teachers in the Union Territory, he did so, overruling the opposition from the IAS 'babus' in his ministry.
Pramod Mahajan, who as I said was very close to Vajpayee, raised funds for the party. Though he came from a modest background he maintained a lavish lifestyle and established close links with several business houses. When I was governor of Goa he phoned me asking me to do something not 'kosher'. I told him to get lost and not phone me to do what was improper, and thereafter whenever we subsequently met he did not conceal his dislike for me. People have told me the he did all he could to scuttle the proposal of the VHP to have me elected president! Mahajan's promising political career was cut short when he was shot dead by his brother.
Arun Jaitley is one of the younger potential leaders of the BJP. He is highly intelligent, a good debater and speaker, and is a brilliant and successful lawyer. He does not however like to work in harness.
Experiences in Goa
I was appointed governor of Goa on 19 April 1998. Goa is a beautiful state with lovely beaches and the verdant forests of the western ghats. From childhood I grew to love the forests, running water, mountains and the fauna and flora of the western ghats which were redolent with memories of the great Himalaya. Unfortunately, the hills were being ripped apart by open cast mining, the deep scars they left in the hills an environmental catastrophe.
I moved into Raj Bhawan. The building, once a convent, was over 350 years old and nestled atop a promontory. Once however there was a plague in Panjim, and the Portuguese governor had the convent moved out, and then subsequently moved into the convent buildings. There is a lovely old church in the complex. When I arrived, the promontory was collapsing into the sea. We had to drill into the hillside to stabilize the hill, and also placed tetra-pods on the waterline to dissipate the force of the waves. The roof of the building also leaked and major repairs to the structure had to be undertaken.
The drive into the Raj Bhawan was a kilometre long. We had pepper vines and breadfruit trees planted all along the tree-lined drive. It was Capt. Bligh's act of giving scarce supplies of water to the breadfruit saplings in preference to the crew of HMS Bounty that was the principal cause of the mutiny on the Bounty. The Portuguese brought into Goa the breadfruit tree and the chilli, and it was from there that the Mexican chilli from Mexico spread throughout the subcontinent.
Goa has forty elected MLAs, all with ambitions to become ministers, many vying to become chief minister. Politics in Goa is thus much akin to musical chairs. MLAs frequently cross the floor, allegedly for financial benefits or a ministerial berth. Pratap Singh Rane had been appointed chief minister on 16 December 1994 when Dr Wilfred D'Souza, together with ten MLAs, broke away from the Rane government. On 29 July 1998, I summoned Rane and told him that as he had lost his majority he should resign. Rane retorted that the Speaker had not recognized the group that had defected. I told him that if he did not resign I would have no option but to dismiss him. He then requested me not to do so and that he would resign on his own the following morning. I had my doubts but my staff said that he would keep his word. Next morning, when he did not do so, I phoned him and he told me that he would not resign.
The house was in session and the financial appropriations bill had to be passed. I had to act quickly. I issued instructions to the Speaker that the financial appropriations bill should first be considered and after that there should be a vote of confidence in the house. The finance bill was duly passed, but when the proceedings for the vote of confidence were held there was bedlam in the house with blows being exchanged. I received an intimation from the chief minister that he had won by a voice vote. This was followed by a letter from the Speaker that there was a division and that the Rane government had secured a majority, the votes of the 10 MLAs of the D'Souza group not having been entertained by him. I had two versions of the proceedings, Rane's and the Speaker's.
It was apparent that Rane had lost his majority. I sent him a letter under Article 174 of the Constitution dismissing him and asked D'Souza to form a government, giving him seven days to prove his majority, which he did. Parliament was in session and there was an uproar from the Congress. No Congress government had been dismissed for over twenty years. I was accused of malafide and raping the Constitution, and was on my own with the BJP benches remaining silent. Rane went to court and a bench of the Bombay High Court was convened. Rane had employed a very brilliant and powerful battery of lawyers, Parsaram, Kapil Sibal, and Fali Nariman. I had one lawyer, Sanghi. I did not wish to appear in court, so I got my secretary to present an affidavit on my behalf, assisting my lawyer to prepare the case.
The Bench set aside Rane's 'Malafide' plea and passed the severest strictures on the conduct of the Speaker. Rane then approached the Supreme Court and the proceedings there fizzled out. Wilfred D'Souza, towards the end of November 1998, decided to go to London with his wife. Whilst he was there defections were engineered and he lost his majority. He returned and tried to regain control but failed. At 1 a.m. on 26 November, I was woken up and told that D'Souza was waiting to hand in his resignation, which I accepted. I then asked Luizinho Falerio, who claimed to have a majority, to form a ministry. By early February, Falerio had lost his majority and no party was able to form a government. I then held discussions with all party leaders who agreed to give me in writing, attested by all their MLAs, a request for imposition of President's Rule.
The government did not have a majority in the upper house and without the request of all the MLAs, it would have been difficult to impose President's Rule. President's Rule was imposed without debate on 9 February 1999 and revoked on 9 June 1999. In the elections that took place towards the end of President's Rule, the Goa Peoples Party headed by Francisco Sardinia, a breakaway group of the INC supported by the BJP, claimed a majority and were able to form a government. I swore in Sardinia on 24 November 1999 and left for Punjab the same day, my transfer orders to Punjab having arrived earlier.
Two advisors were sent to me in Goa, Coutto and Buch. On the first day of President's Rule, I went to the secretariat at 9 a.m. and found none of the staff at their desks. After 11 am some of them trickled in. I read out the 'Riot Act', and thereafter the staff began attending to their duties on time. I visited offices and institutions throughout the state, ranging from hospitals, bus services, panchayats, to schools and colleges. Corruption in Goa was rampant; so I attempted to curb it. Previously ministers appointed drivers, forest guards, and others. It was alleged that there was a fixed number for each type of appointment. I appointed a retired IAS officer as chairman of the State Public Services Commission and a retired rear admiral as his deputy and gave the commission full powers to make all appointments. The day after President's Rule expired, the government passed orders for appointments to be made in the way that had been done prior to the imposition of President's Rule, and both the chairman of the Public Services Commission and his deputy retired shortly afterwards.
The finances of the state were deeply in the red and loans were taken out at high interest rates. I managed to secure a grant from the Centre and through a series of cost-cutting measures we were able to pay back these high interest loans. When President's Rule expired there was a substantial credit balance in the treasury. It, however, took just a month for the next elected government to get once more into the 'red'!
I was appalled by the vast environmental damage caused by irresponsible open cast mining. Deep scars were visible in the western ghats and the rivers ran red, some of the smaller streams disappearing altogether. From childhood I loved the hills, the forests, fauna and flora. The mining companies who had obtained leases from the erstwhile Portuguese government had promised to fill in the scars and replant trees. They did neither.
There were two large private forests at Mhadel and Netravali (some 208.59 sq km and 211.59 sq km respectively). During President's Rule, I decided to notify these as Protected Forests so that the forests of the western ghats would be protected from end to end, and also the animals, particularly bison. The fauna and flora of Goa is unique as also the lepidoptera. I was helped in this project by the conservator of forests, Richard D'Souza, together with the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS). We attempted to exclude all the villages, and in the end only one small village remained in the area to be notified and measures were taken to protect the interests of its villagers. There was much opposition from the mining companies, who also influenced some of the officers on my staff. The ordinance to be issued was finally ready to for signature by me a few days before the expiry of President's Rule. The chief secretary kept delaying proceedings, and in the end I was with difficulty able to wrest the file from him and sign it a few hours before the expiry of President's Rule. It was indeed a 'very close run thing'.
The politicians and the mining companies were up in arms. They approached the Supreme Court to have it rescinded but with no success. Some years later, the BJP chief minister Manohar Parrikar, who was earlier happy that the ordinance was notified, later tried to get it revoked. He approached the Supreme Court but with no success. Hopefully the forests, fauna, flora, and lepidoptora will remain protected for all time to come. The promulgation of the ordinance is perhaps among the most valuable contributions I have made in my life. Tigers have now crossed into these forests.
During this period in May 1999, there were some incursions on the bare Kargil ridges in northern J&K. The Pakistanis had employed over five battalions of their lightly equipped Northern Light Infantry. We were taken by surprise. The army chief, on tour in Europe, when briefed decided to extend his tour. As a soldier I remember one of Napoleon's maxims to his marshals, 'When in doubt march to the sound of the guns'. There were some four incursions, two some 15 kilometres by 5 and two lesser ones, spread over a limited front of some 140 kilometres or so.
I was asked by the government to go to Kargil and report back to them. I spent two days there and was briefed at the helipad as were other visiting VIPs. I went to the gun position and other front line positions. In one area the guns were engaging targets and I asked to fire the 155 mm Bofors gun and the 130 mm artillery piece. The gunners wanted to engage Skardu, but this was beyond the range of the Bofors gun. Kargil was a classic gunner's war, and it was the Bofors gun that played a pivotal role and dominated the battlefield. We deployed 250 guns and some 250,000 rounds were fired! Ninety per cent of the casualties on both sides were caused by artillery fire. The officers told me that they were running out of 155mm artillery ammunition. The adjacent area was being shelled and two Gurkhas were wounded. I took them in the helicopter to the military hospital for treatment. The JCO, severely wounded, held my hand throughout the trip, saying 'Sahib, please don't leave my hand'. He survived after a series of operations lasting over three days. We deployed some 30,000 regular and paramilitary forces, and these were supported by our air force.
I went to see Vajpayee to brief him, and he called George Fernandes to listen. I told him that the army wanted to shell Skardu, the principal Pakistani base which was out of range. The weapon system that could meet our requirements was the Russian 'Smerch', which had a range of 90 kilometres. They agreed and action was initiated to induct the Smerch. It took five years to do so because the babus in the government found all manner of reasons to delay its induction: single vendor, etc. Fortunately the Smerch, despite the delay, is in service today. I mentioned that the guns were running out of 155mm ammunition. Fernandes took immediate action and the ammunition was flown in by Israel. I took the opportunity to press for, as I had been doing for years, to improve the route to Ladakh from Himachal Pradesh via Manali, Rohtang, and Leh. This I had suggested to Advani earlier, and he told me that he had discussed the matter with Farooq Abdulla, the chief minister who had told him that 'The road was not necessary'. Did he expect any other answer? Vajpayee said the he would issue orders to have work initiated on the Rohtang tunnel.
I told Vajpayee and Fernandes that the operations in Kargil had not been well executed. There was a failure of intelligence, the patrolling and surveillance by the army had left much to be desired notwithstanding the availability of sufficient helicopters for surveillance. There was no reason why the air force should not have been used more aggressively. It was fortunate that American President Bill Clinton exerted pressure on the Pakistanis to withdraw. The BJP claimed that it was a major war that they had won. It was hardly a war: just four minor incursions over a stretch of some 140 kilometres of barren hillsides by five battalions of Pakistani paramilitary could by no means be classified as a 'great victory'.
I earlier mentioned that I installed a new government in Goa and left on 24 November 1999 to take over as governor of Punjab. A tempestuous tenure had come to an end. Interestingly, just before I left Goa, people took out processions requesting that there should not be any elections and there should be indefinite President's Rule. The BJP national executive was meeting in Goa and petitioned the prime minister, home minister, and election commissioner that they did not want elections but that President's Rule should not be revoked. Advani jokingly used to say, 'Gen Jacob is not good for democracy; people don't want elections but Jacob's rule'. (App.: Editorial Goa.)
The Punjab Tenure
I have had long pleasant association with Punjab. I had served with and commanded a Punjabi Mussalman battery for five years during the Second World War and served with the Sikh Patiala Mountain Battery. I raised 3 Field Regiment, an all-Sikh unit. When on leave I used to visit the villages of the soldiers and spend time with their families.
Raj Bhawan was located in a bungalow designed by Jennaret, one of Corbusier's assistants. The Raj Bhawan projected to be built is yet to be built, and with due respects to Corbusier would have been far too pretentious. I was fortunate in having a competent secretary, Subodh Agarwal. The staff at Raj Bhawan was loyal and efficient. The responsibilities of a governor towards a state are largely ceremonial. He may advise the chief minister as and when he deems it to be necessary.
The chief minister, when I assumed governership, was Prakash Singh Badal of the Akali Dal. We got on well. His nephew, Manpreet Singh Badal, was an intellectual and we had many long discussions. I visited towns, villages, colleges, and schools throughout the state and made suggestions to the chief minister.
Punjab's economy is agriculture-based yet the infrastructure, particularly relating to storage, is less than satisfactory. There are inadequate storage facilities and grain lies rotting under tarpaulins. There is an acute want of cold storage facilities and insufficient food processing units and marketing arrangements.
There are serious power shortages in the state and inadequate water for irrigation. The sub-soil water levels are at dangerously low levels. Earlier, the principal crop was wheat, but now both rice and wheat are sown. Rice cultivation is water intensive so there is an urgent need to diversify into other crops. There are a number of small-scale industries largely centred around Ludhiana.
There was wide-scale corruption. Appointments made by the public services were said to be sold. The chairman of the commission was later prosecuted. Badal was followed as chief minister by Capt. Amarinder Singh of the Congress Party. We got on well. Amarinder was competent and popular. However, his close advisors did little to assist him.
The Governor of Punjab is also the administrator of the Union Territory of Chandigarh, a full time assignment. My predecessors undertook their responsibilities as administrator from Raj Bhawan. I went to the administrator's office in the secretariat and found it in a decrepit state, awash with cobwebs and dust-laden furniture! I operated out of my office there.
As in Goa, I had a blitz on the attendance of the staff and undertook surprise checks by day and night on police stations, fire brigades, schools and colleges. The fire brigades were in an appalling state with less than 50 per cent of the fire tenders in a serviceable condition.
I was fortunate in having to work with Renuka Muttoo of the Intelligence Bureau and Bhim Bassi, inspector general (IG) of police, both outstanding officers. We revamped the hotels owned by the Chandigarh Administrations CITCO, and reinducted the surplus staff into new restaurants. CITCO now runs at a considerable profit.
We were short of 550 teachers. Fortunately, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, minister of human resource development, sanctioned 550 teachers and we ensured that they were appointed only after written examinations and follow-up interviews. We had the engineering college upgraded to deemed university and built another engineering college.
In order to give slum children, who perforce had to work by day, an education, we began night classes for these children in all the government schools. Some of them were awarded scholarships and went on to pursue higher studies. Mr Atul Khanna runs four of these schools.
Slums were a burgeoning problem. The daily influx of people from Rajasthan, UP, Bihar, as also from the south was considerable. We tried to alleviate the appalling conditions that obtained there by providing clean drinking water, building latrines, and setting up dispensaries. Tuberculosis (TB) was rampant so we set up a new TB hospital to treat the growing numbers of patients. We expanded the facilities of the hospitals, particularly the newly built Government Medical College. In the space of three years we were able to build some 2000 apartments for slum dwellers and these were allotted just after I left.
We also started a hospice, the only one in northern India, and constructed a proper botanical garden with a large variety of trees from India and abroad, which included a section on medicinal plants. We had hoped to set up laboratories in conjunction with the private sector, and linked up the 180-acre garden by a causeway with 350 acres natural forest on the outskirts of Chandigarh. The entire complex consists of some 530 acres.
I remember when I was posted to Punjab, people used to make wisecracks about Chandigarh: that it was a place where 'People went for marriages or funerals'; it was a city where very little happened. When I arrived, restaurants and bars were shut down at 10 p.m. This we extended to 1 am. Later I met the commissioner of police who before I arrived, was responsible for this. I was informed that the reason was to prevent the young taking to drugs. I retorted that what this implied was that the young people would not take drugs during the day but only during the hours between 10 p.m. and 1 p.m. The individual was not amused and walked off in a huff.
There were very few avenues for employment, particularly for the young graduates from the many schools and colleges in the city and very little land available for development. There were 118 acres of land on the outskirts that were earmarked for a polluting power station. I decided to allot this land for an IT Park. IT companies were reluctant to come to Chandigarh, so I made two trips to Bangalore, Chennai, and Hyderabad to try to persuade them to do so. I met executives from Infosys, Satyam, and Wipro, and managed to persuade Narayan Murthy of Infosys to set up a complex at Chandigarh; Wipro and Satyam declining. A memo of understanding was signed by H.R. Binod of Infosys and Karan Avtar Singh, finance secretary of the Chandigarh administration, on 15 November 2002. The agreement was entirely due to the pragmatism of Murthy who, notwithstanding the reluctance of some of his subordinates to set up shop in Chandigarh, told them 'I have given my word to Gen. Jacob and we will keep it'. Today, Infosys is flourishing in Chandigarh. With the coming of Infosys, other IT companies soon followed, making it an IT hub. Real-estate prices have soared and employment avenues have opened up for young graduates from the colleges and schools.
In my travels around the world, in the US, the UK, Russia, and the Philippines, I have seen how these countries honour their dead. I was most impressed by the memorial at Leningrad (Saint Petersburg).
At the end of the 1971 war, Manekshaw wanted to immediately set up a memorial. I suggested the First World War memorial at India Gate, gave him a sketch, and sent a rifle, bayonet, and helmet that belonged to an unknown soldier who had laid down his life in the battle for Jessore.
I wanted a memorial for those in the erstwhile Punjab, Haryana, Himachal, and Chandigarh. I was not being able to raise the money when an old friend and editor of the Indian Express offered to do so. I approached the students of the Architectural College, Chandigarh, to design the monument.
Some twelve teams were formed. I gave them a brief to work on. The designs of the proposed memorial were submitted to veterans for selection and the one finally selected was by a group of girls. The memorial was inaugurated by President Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on 17 August 2006. While I was addressing the audience on the sacrifices made by our soldiers, the governor began engaging the president in chatter and the president responded. This was a solemn occasion in honour of our war dead I could take it no longer. I turned from the dais and looked at the president and said, 'Mr President'. He took the hint and focused on what I had to say. The incident was widely reported by the media. I had the motto of the memorial of 26 Indian Division in the Arakan 'Shandaar Yadgaar, two words which have much resonance, adopted for this memorial. One day I hope some government will come to power which will construct a national memorial for all those who laid down their lives for India. I am reminded of the oldest epitaph commemorating Leonidas and his Spartans at Thermopylae in 480 BC: 'Go tell the Spartans, O stranger passing by, that here obedient to their laws we lie' (Simonizes of Ceos, poet, 556 to 468 BC).
When I was appointed governor of Goa, I resigned from the BJP, because a governor must be apolitical. Most governors don't resign. Unfortunately, the local political leaders felt that I had an obligation to go out of my way to help them in their various activities. One local BJP leader came to see me and had the audacity to tell me that before announcing any policy or initiative I should call him three days prior to pronouncing it and to brief him. I did little to conceal my ire and he soon beat a hasty retreat. He then wrote to the prime minister, home minister, and others that I was not helping the party but rather favouring a rival one. This gentleman brings to mind the old adage, 'Politics is the last refuge of a scoundrel'.
I felt for the poor, the underprivileged, the slum dwellers, pavement dwellers, and cycle-rickshaw pullers. I would venture out at night and distribute blankets, especially on New Year's Eve, when the elite were partying at clubs, hotels, restaurants, and homes. I have had blankets and food snatched from my hands. On these visits I had medical teams, doctors, and ambulances follow me. The number of TB cases diagnosed, treated, and sent for further treatment was alarming. Rather than supporting these forays, one editor of a newspaper wrote that Lt Gen. Jacob was breaking the law by giving blankets to 'illegal pavement dwellers'.
I look back to my tenure in Chandigarh with a sense of achievement. Perhaps the finest tribute I have ever received was one reported by some newspapers, some six months after I demitted office, there was, scrawled on the walls of hospitals and elsewhere, this slogan: 'Now that Jacob has gone, who will look after the poor?'! What better endorsement could one ask for?
Visit to the US
In 2007, the Indian American community requested me to lecture in America to push for the 123 Agreement. I lectured in nine American cities, and these lectures were well attended. The Indian American community were keen to hear about the operations for the liberation of Bangladesh.
In order to lobby for the 123 Agreement, I arranged on my own to meet the various heads of the powerful Congressional committees involved. I had an hour-long meeting with the late Congressman Tom Lantos, who had earlier been lukewarm about the treaty but after the meeting, promised his support. Howard Berman was more difficult but also agreed to lend his support. I had two separate meetings with Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the second at her request, in the course of which she too promised her support. I also met Congressman Ackerman who also promised his support, as did Senator Joe Lieberman. Apart from Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who is a republican, the rest are democrats. I received no support from the Indian embassy, and am told that they were not very enthusiastic about my meetings. The people I met readily gave me time but interestingly they were not easily accessible to members of our mission or visiting politicians.
I met with the top brass of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) in four cities to enlist their support. The AJC has enormous clout with the American administration and promised their support.
I lectured on Capitol Hill to select members of the US military and state departments. The subject was 'Terrorism and Insurgency' and the lecture was broadcast live. The general of the marine corps asked for a copy of my lecture and requested that he be permitted to include parts of it in their manual on terrorism and insurgent conflicts that was under preparation. I naturally agreed.
Later, when I met the prime minister, I was a little surprised that he was unaware of my efforts; presumably they had not been reported by our embassy, who were not amused.