Order of battle

The other day, as I was having breakfast, I was startled at the vehement comments against the so-called Order of Battle, the Army's list of guys and dolls supposed to be members of the NPA and other subversive organizations. Apparently, Julius. Mariveles, the present news director of Akyson Radio, DYEZ, is one who decorates the Order of Battle. The description, Order of Battle, alone inspires fear and terror. What are the army operatives going to do to you? Shoot you on first sight and claim you're trying to pull out a gun? Because of this you can't really blame Julius and Aksyon Radio for raising hell about his inclusion. According to Julius no way is he a member of a subversive organization. But the problem is, meanwhile, any trigger-happy operative can do you in.

And we come to the crux of the problem --- you can't revise the protocol of the military in its fight against the subversives. And intelligence is a crucial element in the efforts to fight the subversives. Yet, the question remains --- how good is your intelligence system? Are there no incompetents in the table of organization? And so on and so forth.

That is why this column appeals to our armed forces, especially the intelligence section. Please review your list of subversive people. Please review your report that purports to state that Julius Miraveles is a member of a subversive organization. Why, you may ask. Simple. Miraveles is a member of media. He has achieved some distinction in the profession. Before you include his name in the Order of Battle, please be careful because you don't want to sow fear in the ranks of broadcasters, writers, new editors, and journalists. The whole bit. We are against Communists because they're suppose to suppress freedom. We don't want our system to do likewise. The right to know is one of the most precious and valuable rights of citizens. Media caters to that right. The military, which swears to protect the constitution, has to keep this in mind.

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INDIA DIARY: A thing of beauty, even of fascination must eventually cloy. So we have to say good-bye to Taj Mahal and continue with our itinerary.

Another architectural marvel in Agra is the so-called Agra fort where Mogul emperors ran amuck with their building mania. One is in awe of the wave after wave of Mogul structures. India may have areas where poverty rears its head, but here, within the walls of Agra Fort, the Moguls have vanished every trace of fleeting structures and realize their vision in stones.

For me, the most touching moment was standing in the room with a wide balcony where Shahjahan, the builder of Taj Majal, was kept prisoner for seven years by his son, Aurangzeb, who was afraid that his father was plunging the kingdom in bankruptcy So he had him under "house arrest".

So for seven long years, Shahjahan looked towards Taj Majal and the Yamuna River. It's easy to imagine what went thru Shahjahan's brain. Shahjahan was attended by a daughter who was loyal to the very end.

Taj Majal is located in Agra, a city in need of street cleaners but this is India, remember. Scattered all over down-town Agra are souvenir shops of all kinds, shops specializing in marble artifacts. I usually resist buying especially marble ones, feeling the items are over-priced. However, I was seduced into buying a Hindu deity called Ganish. Ganish has the head of an elephant which is not surprising in the Hindu religion in which gods of multiple arms, legs, heads, whatever, proliferate.

We left Agra on our way to Jaipur.*

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