By Sudip Talukdar
21 Sep , 2016
Chanakya, one of the sharpest minds in statecraft, observed more than two millenniums ago that poison is the best antidote to venom. There could not have been a sounder advice for our politicians and policy makers, bound by a Nehruvian worldview. Insisting on dialogues, negotiation or good neighbourliness is an exercise in futility, given an atmosphere of extreme hostility and ill will. So much so that when the question of imposing costs arises, the selfsame set and their backers argue for de-escalation of tensions.
Language is being increasingly used as a tool to obfuscate reality and trash the idea of Bharat (India), its pluralism and a long history of peaceful co-existence. In this vicious game of deception and spin doctoring, the practice of employing innuendos, half-truths and even outright fabrications has become more brazen and commonplace.
…these human rights activists even prevailed upon the Supreme Court to consider their plea against Yaqub Memon’s execution, the sinister brains behind the Mumbai blasts.
“The most savage battles,” noted Arthur Koestler, “have always been fought for ideas.” The trenchant observation made by one of the most influential thinkers and authors is becoming increasingly true of our political landscape. Has the Lutyens media, the foreign sponsored NGOs and the academia, ever uttered a word about our DNA of tolerance, which has stood the test of time? Facts are twisted to create something seemingly plausible but enough to cause lasting damage.
It is all too easy to overlook how the majority community, which is being demonized today, welcomed the persecuted Jews, Zorastrians (Parsis), Christians and Muslims with open arms, over the ages. All these communities expanded and flourished as never before, which would have been unthinkable in an atmosphere of intolerance or hatred. It is doubtful whether the US or Europe has this kind of a sterling record, but love to point fingers at India, every so often.
One wonders how and why the selfsame group blithely overlooks the grisly mass murders committed by the Islamic State, which would have shamed Hitler with its depravity and excesses on little children and women. This is the kind of mindset which acquiesces in unprecedented acts of barbarity; one completely at odds with civilized values and allows it to go unchallenged, just because of identity politics.
It also manifests as unqualified support to the separatists and stone-pelters in Kashmir, whose activities are being orchestrated from across the border. For the left leaning brigade, promoting terrorists like Burhan Wani becomes a matter of conviction, a perversion of human rights and a negation of trust and faith, which discourages the state from inflicting costs on their mentors.
Despite loud declarations of friendship amid Modi-Obama bonhomie and a greater strategic partnership, it is extremely doubtful whether the US has taken any concrete steps to clip the wings of Pakistan by imposing sanctions?
Last year, in an unprecedented midnight drama, these human rights activists even prevailed upon the Supreme Court to consider their plea against Yaqub Memon’s execution, the sinister brains behind the Mumbai blasts. Why have these self-righteous zealots not uttered a word against the horrific atrocities on the people of Balochistan, which is technically still a part of India?
Some of the so-called ‘Bollywood icons,’ academics and political parties over-dramatized the rising tide of alleged intolerance. For them the hounding of Taslima Nasreen for challenging archaic beliefs hardly matters! They kept quiet when fanatics in Kerala chopped off the hands of a professor. Or when rampaging mobs pulled down the Martyrs Memorial in Mumbai and forced an exodus of innocent Northeastern people from there and other places, after Buddhist monks thrashed Rohingyas in Myanmar, for misbehaving with their womenfolk.
The mainstream English media too, despite its assertion of being a public watchdog, seems to lend far greater credibility and support to Pakistan, overlooking its systematic butchery of three million people in the then East Bengal. Its deafening silence on gross human rights violation and mayhem in Balochistan and ISI’s sponsorship of thousands of terror attacks on our soil, speaks volumes about their mindset. By overlooking the sovereign will of the people of India, which elected the current government, are they not acting as extra constitutional authorities themselves?
One of the veteran editors, a regular at the questionable dos earlier organized by a Washington based NGO, run by Ghulam Nabi Fai, sounded quite unapologetic about it in his blogs, even when reports alleging that it fronted for the ISI had surfaced. The same individual wrote sympathetically about Pakistan, as if Capt Saurabh Kalia’s martyrdom were of no consequence. Until a reader hit back, insisting that he would not have been so inclined had his own son been in the army and suffered a similar fate, shaming the individual!
The latest fidayeen attack on army camp in Uri, as usual, has provoked a pathetic Tsunami of ‘disappointment,’ ‘displeasure,’ ‘condemnation,’ with none any wiser what a country that aspires to be a global power would do.
Despite loud declarations of friendship amid Modi-Obama bonhomie and a greater strategic partnership, it is extremely doubtful whether the US has taken any concrete steps to clip the wings of Pakistan by imposing sanctions? The latitude has only emboldened our western neighbour into exporting terror squads to target the army and civilians on our soil. The latest is the dastardly attack on a transit camp in Uri, killing 17 army personnel on September 18.
Notwithstanding expressions of ‘solidarity’ after every terror act on our soil, Washington’s contradictory stance on preventing resolute action on New Delhi’s part suggests it might be acting in cahoots with Islamabad. The pattern remains unchanged over the past 30 years. In the latest snub to India, the State Department has categorically rejected the idea of an independent Balochistan, never mind the horrific images of innocents being thrashed mercilessly or dragged away from their homes and shot dead by soldiers in cold blood. How many thousands more must perish in the Pak staged genocide, before the US finally acts?
The US habitually harps on human rights violations and religious intolerance in India, like a needle stuck in a groove, but is extremely disinclined to set its own house in order. One has lost count of the number of blacks killed by trigger happy policemen there. It destroyed Iraq and killed tens of thousands of innocent men, women and children in barbaric bombing, all in the misplaced search of weapons of mass destruction, without finding any. It got rid of Saddam Hussein, who would have acted as a bulwark against the rising tide of Islamic terror.
The latest fidayeen attack on army camp in Uri, as usual, has provoked a pathetic Tsunami of ‘disappointment,’ ‘displeasure,’ ‘condemnation,’ with none any wiser what a country that aspires to be a global power would do. These tired and empty old words cannot be a substitute for real action and has never done the country any good, thanks to the lack of political will.
An anchor of a popular English news channel never tires of reiterating his patriotic credentials, but allows Pakistani panelists to vilify and demonize India.
Chanakya, one of the sharpest minds in statecraft, observed more than two millenniums ago that poison is the best antidote to venom. There could not have been a sounder advice for our politicians and policy makers, bound by a Nehruvian worldview. Insisting on dialogues, negotiation or good neighbourliness is an exercise in futility, given an atmosphere of extreme hostility and ill will. So much so that when the question of imposing costs arises, the selfsame set and their backers argue for de-escalation of tensions.
The Americans moved heaven and earth to dislodge Russia from Afghanistan by rearing an army of Mujahids with Gen Zia’s blessings but with catastrophic consequences. This rag tag force mutated into progressively sinister versions such as the Taliban, the Al Qaida and now the Islamic State, which threatens globe peace and stability. Both the Indian and American media ignored the Pakistani army’s reign of brutality and genocide in Balochistan, until Modi raised his voice.
An anchor of a popular English news channel never tires of reiterating his patriotic credentials, but allows Pakistani panelists to vilify and demonize India. What is the point of those debates when the people fielded by the opposite side could have been tutored by the ISI to demonize India for every act of terror on Pakistani soil. It degenerates into a sordid spectacle, when they don’t allow the Indian side to speak at all.
© Copyright 2016 Indian Defence Review
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