While
interviewing Donald Trump, Fox news host Bill O’Reilly referred to Vladimir
Putin as a killer.
Wed. 8
February:
Russia’s loud opposition activist Alexey
Navalny was found guilty and given a five year sentence.
Fri. 10
February:
US
investigators corroborated some aspects of the 35-page
Trump-Russia Dossier published in January. It was purportedly
prepared by a British spy - an MI6 agent, Christopher Steele. The document
claimed, among other things, that Kremlin had secretly videotaped Trump engaged
in pervert acts in a Moscow hotel room. That Kompromat will enable Putin
to blackmail and control the US president. That’s one possible reason for Trump
praising Putin, and talking about removing sanctions.
2016:
US intelligence agencies confirmed Putin
personally directed the influence campaign to assist Trump. Apparently, Russian
intelligence groups Fancy Bear and Cozy Bear conducted hacking
and other cyber attacks at Putin’s behest.
As a
result of the US presidential election, Vladimir Putin and Russia are suddenly part
of global headlines every week.
*****
In April 2015, N.K., my Russian teacher from
Pushkin University had invited me for lunch to her Moscow house. She holds a
linguistic doctorate, is widely travelled, rational, elegant, articulate, a
Moscow intellectual, has worked as an expat teacher for several years in Delhi
and Germany, and is a well read person. N.K. was my teacher in 1986-87. Since
then we have remained in contact despite ups and downs in our personal and
national lives.
When we
sat down to lunch I thought it was inevitable we would talk politics. The Russia-Ukraine
conflict was red hot, Crimea had just been annexed, opposition leader Boris
Nemtsov was murdered outside the Kremlin walls, a Malaysian passenger plane was
shot down by Russians in Ukraine; oil prices, the Russian economy and sentiment
were depressed, Putin was still in power and the next presidential elections
were three years away.
“Thank
God we have Vladimir Vladimirovich” N.K. started, “may God give him a hundred
years. He is the savior of Russia. Putin is the real muzhik, the only
man capable of running the largest country on the planet.”
N.K. went
on to say how Americans were out to destroy Russia. (They always have been, she
added, and the end of the cold war hasn’t stopped them). Without Putin, they
would have succeeded. Ukraine was definitely to blame for what happened. Crimea
was anyway Russia’s, and we’ve got back what was ours. Hopefully, we’ll be able
to capture more territory from Ukraine where Russians are in majority. And
Nemtsov? No wonder he was killed. Did you read who he was with? A Ukrainian
model in her twenties. What moral turpitude. And a national disgrace. Imagine a
man in his fifties going around with a Ukrainian girl just out of school.
*****
In
December 2016, during my latest trip to Moscow, I was walking with G., my
Russian friend who is part of the Moscow Hare Krishna community. The Hare
Krishnas in Russia were persecuted and prosecuted during Yuri Andropov’s
regime. Many landed in Siberian penal colonies, and some in psychiatric
hospitals. I’ve written extensively on this subject in the past. (Brest
Border: open diaries weeks 1/2/3/4: 2008).
G, this
Hare Krishna friend of mine, is a strict vegetarian, non-drinker, non-smoker,
practices yoga on a daily basis, and passionately studies Indian philosophy. He
is a music composer and teaches music at a British school. He is another
intellectual (like most of my friends), broad minded, appreciative of market
economy and capitalism, is strongly opposed to communism, KGB and most things
Soviet. Last year we celebrated 30 years of our friendship.
“G., who
did you vote for in the last presidential elections?’ We usually discuss
literature, music, philosophy, anything but politics. I had never earlier thought
of asking a Krishna devotee a political question.
‘Who?
Of course, Putin.’ G. said.
‘G., you
voted for Putin?’
‘Yes,
he’s the only one able to run Russia competently.’
I
thought this must be the influence of Russian television which is Kremlin-controlled.
When listening to N.K., she sounded like a Russian TV anchor. And now G... Since
we are close friends, I asked him if Russian television had managed to wash his
brains.
‘No, I
never watch TV.’ G. said.
‘But
you don’t have democracy any longer- like the one you had under Yeltsin.’
‘Under
Yeltsin, we had chaos. Chaos and crises. One after another. Yeltsin razbazaril
(frittered away) Russia. In Yeltsin’s time, we were ashamed to say we were
Russians. Now we can proudly say it. Putin has brought stability and order.
Pensioners get their pensions on time.’
*****
I can
go on and on. I tend to trust my friends and people I personally talk to more
than media.
I feel
most issues have two views: an insider’s view and an outsider’s view. An
insider lives and feels the issues, an outsider merely hears about them as
distorted by whichever media he is exposed to.
If a majority
of my Russian friends are willing to vote for Putin, if my teacher calls him a
savior, and my pious friend trusts him, I’m willing to accept Putin’s
popularity numbers are what Russian media claims they are. If the Russians are
happy with their leader, it’s surely their own business, and not anybody
else’s.
*****
Rulers
for life: Since the Russian revolution that happened 100
years ago, the Soviet rulers were expected to be rulers for life. Lenin,
Stalin, Brezhnev and others ceased to rule Russia only because they died.
Gorbachev didn’t die in office, only because his office, along with the country
he governed, died before he could. Unlike in the West, a ruler’s longevity is not
a source of discomfort in Russia. Ruler for life has been the norm during
Russia’s entire history. Assuming all rulers are devils, an established devil
is more acceptable than a fresh one.
*****
Putin,
the KGB chief: A universal misconception is that Putin’s KGB
background led to his becoming Russia’s president. In fact, Putin’s resigning
from the KGB brought him into politics. True, in the 9th grade at
school, he had explored ways to join the KGB. However, in his career, he was a relatively
small, insignificant cog in the KGB machinery. During his posting in Dresden,
Germany (1985-1990) he was the Head of the local House of Friendship. His work as
a Russian-German translator was possibly more useful than his intelligence
activities. At the earliest possible opportunity, on 20 August 1991, the day
the coup failed, Putin was among the first ones to resign from the KGB.
After
the fall of the Berlin wall, Putin worked as a deputy mayor of St Petersburg,
under the mayor Anatoly Sobchak, his mentor (1990-1996). In 1996, Sobchak lost
the re-election, and Putin was sent to Moscow. As a hard working, competent
administrator, he gained Yeltsin’s trust.
In July
1998, Yeltsin appointed him the head of FSB (KGB’s successor) for a year. This
loyal man was the only person Yeltsin could wholeheartedly trust. Putin’s
appointment as the head of FSB was simply a transit step to carry out any
necessary cleaning for enforcing the deal (Putin becomes president and in
exchange Yeltsin and his family gets immunity from corruption charges).
Yuri
Andropov was the KGB chief for 15 years before becoming the head of USSR. What
drove Putin’s political success were his other qualities, not his KGB
background.
*****
A
sophisticated dictator: One biographer describes Putin’s devotion
to the State, pride in his country, fierce sense of personal honour and
loyalty, ferocious work ethic and profound fear of disorder as his hallmarks.
He is a competent, efficient, rational, assertive, and straightforward guy. I
have watched his annual marathon Q&A sessions, a direct line with the
Russian people. Without a piece of paper, he answers questions with a degree of
depth. I’ve not seen him hesitate or evade a question. His ruthlessness comes
from his Judo and Sambo skills as much as his KGB background. At
the same time, he possesses a wry sense of humour, and a level of sincerity one
doesn’t expect in strongmen.
Putin
appears to believe in market economy and the benefits and ills associated with
it. His dictatorship is not the all-encompassing Soviet type. Under Putin,
Russians can become rich, can go abroad, can practice religion, and can speak
freely as long as they don’t threaten his political power. Castro, Saddam,
Mugabe, Khamenei, Mao Zedong, Stalin, Kim II Sung, Franco, Tito…. Putin doesn’t
fit into that list. He is more intelligent, modern and civilized than most of
them. His leadership as a CEO stabilized Russia for a decade (2000-2010). During
this time, he was comparable to Lee Kuan Yew, the (almost) benign dictator of
Singapore.
Russia’s
fortunes swing in line with oil prices. With low oil prices and without nuclear
weapons, Russia would be irrelevant. Putin makes sure Russia remains relevant
in global politics.
*****
Self-censorship: Putin’s
political power and aura are such that media, legislative bodies, police or
judiciary routinely practice self-censorship.
In
2010, I was in Khanti-Mansiysk, Siberia, supporting the team of Karpov and
Kasparov for the Global chess federation election. Not a single media person
interviewed Kasparov. I asked my friend Y.V., a top sports journalist, as to
why he refused to talk to Kasparov. He had interviewed Kasparov for years as a
chess player.
‘Why
interview him?’ Y.V. asked me. ‘He is a destructive personality.’
‘Has
your newspaper got an order not to interview him?’
‘No,
not at all. If I wished to interview him, I easily could.’
None of
the media people I knew talked to Kasparov. I am convinced nobody had
officially blacklisted him, nor had Putin given any written or oral order. But
since Kasparov is passionately anti-Putin, journalists have decided to
self-censor Kasparov out.
*****
Putin
and Microsoft: Putin is a law graduate. As much as possible,
he tries to follow the framework of constitution and existing laws.
After
the defeat of Russia in the cold war, Russians tried to copy what is considered
good in the American constitution. They agreed that a Russian president, like
the US president, should enjoy a maximum of two terms, each lasting four years.
Living in Moscow at that time, I had witnessed those debates on television. In
the final version, in a typical Russian fashion, a single word was anonymously inserted
– a maximum of two consecutive terms. Putin used that legal loophole in
2008 to swap places with Medvedev.
In
Russia, a Prime Ministerial post is largely ceremonial. It’s the President who
has real power. For four years (2008-2012) Putin became the Prime Minister and
Medvedev, his proxy or puppet, became the president. The Russian voters happily
joined in this legal farce. Putin could have suspended the constitution, he
didn’t. He followed the letter of the law, not the spirit, and was free to
become president again for two terms in 2012.
He then
played out another legal charade. In December 2008, President Medvedev and the
parliament agreed that the president’s term (from 2012 onwards) should be 6
years rather than 4 years (nobody asked why). Medvedev did it, Putin didn’t.
This ensured that Putin, on his comeback could be the president for 12 years,
until 2024.
***
Do you
remember the Microsoft case? Or Intel?
The USA
has fairly strict anti-monopoly laws. Intel (inside), the chip maker, has
always allowed its competitor AMD to gain around 25% of market share
(not more) to make sure Intel is not charged as a monopolist.
In United
States v. Microsoft Corporation, Microsoft was accused and tried for
abusing its monopoly. (Each of us has experienced it). Microsoft had, for years,
engaged in anti-competitive practices. Bill Gates was fairly evasive at the
trial, and earnestly considered Microsoft’s monopoly to be the result of its
superior products.
As
Microsoft is to Gates, Russian political power is for Putin. He sincerely believes
he is the most capable man entitled to monopolize it, and tries to stop
possible competition. In 2003, a year before the election, Mikhail
Khodorkovsky, Russia’s richest man then, anti-Putin and politically
influential, was charged with fraud, stripped of his fortune, jailed for the
next ten years. Later, he was pardoned and sent on exile to Switzerland a year
after the 2012 election.
Alexei
Navalny, a Russian blogger and activist, was allowed to stand for the
election of the Moscow mayor in 2013. He got 27%, which is fairly healthy. This
week, in a bogus trial, he was given a five year suspended sentence. More
importantly, as a result, he is barred from contesting the election next year.
Not certain if Russian voters would have preferred Navalny over Putin, but
Putin doesn’t like to leave anything to chance.
By the
way, Russia does have separation of executive, legislative and judiciary powers
just as in the USA, UK or India. Prima facie, Navalny was convicted by the
independent judiciary, and not by Putin. In playing out all these farces, Putin
is quite child-like. His conscience dictates him to engage in ludicrous games.
In
Soviet days, every election had a single candidate. (You had to say yes
or no, and 99.96% said yes). Like Intel allows AMD, Putin in each election has
non-threatening opposition candidates lined up who collectively gather 30-40%.
That way the sanctity of the constitution and multi-party elections remains
intact.
People
struggle to name Microsoft’s competition. And we know we can’t live without
Microsoft, a top class product. Putin also believes himself to be a top class
product, the best for Russia, and Russians can’t imagine who can compete with
him. By barring Navalny this week, Putin has ensured he remains Russia’s
president until 2024 – a single man in charge for 25 consecutive years.
Ravi
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