Isolation of India-baiters within
Shobori Ganguli
The Pioneer
June 19, 1999
Title: Isolation of India-baiters within
Author: Shobori Ganguli
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: June 19, 1999
Discordant notes were struck with abandon within the country when the
Indian Army and the Indian Air Force first dared the difficult terrain
at the Line of Control (LoC) to launch a pitched battle against the
blatant aggression into Indian territory of the Pakistani army
regulars and mercenaries. Among other things, India's military
operations at the LoC were seen by some as yet another "defence"
mechanism of a weak Government which was prone to whipping up
nationalistic fervour, be it through a Sonia Gandhi or a Kargil, in
order to grip the voter's heart. Little or no analyses were attempted
to try and understand the magnitude and implications of what
Pakistan's intrusions actually amounted to. For instance, opposition
parties could see and feel nothing beyond the failure of the military
and civil intelligence. No questions whatsoever were raised about the
cause of the crisis-Pakistan's brazen intrusion into Indian territory.
After all, bilateral as the conflict may be, it does span wider
international implications which those engaged in serious political
deliberation needed to be conscious of. The gunshots at Kargil were
indeed too far away for many then, for them to rue the far-reaching
implications of Pakistan's devious and aggressive moves.
Almost a month-long military operation, an update of which is provided
by the Government to the media on a daily basis, has however managed
to correct some of the perceptions of many a faux pas-prone public
figure. Today Kargil has been able to make every right-thinking Indian
question not the failure of the India's civil and military
intelligence agencies but the audacity of the Pakistani establishment
to shamelessly suggest that we talk even as Pakistani guns and
ammunition target the territorial integrity of this nation, and their
butchery dismembers patriotic and courageous Indian soldiers. Even the
international community, essentially the White House, ever so ready to
indict India on the Kashmir issue, has realised that this time
Pakistan can be supported only at the cost of handing over the reigns
of the globe to Islamic fundamentalist forces which will stop short at
virtually nothing to establish their hegemony in a world to which they
are fundamentally, scripturally, and ideologically opposed. Should one
need confirmation of such essentially anti-civilisational intentions,
one need look no further than the mutilated and tortured bodies of six
Indian soldiers whose treatment will figure in the annals of the most
barbaric of war crimes. It is for all to see that most Islamic
countries have maintained a studied silence on the Kargil conflict,
even though Saudi Arabia has expressed support for Pakistan. After
all, most countries, at least the right thinking ones, have certain
basic values as their governing principles. Which is why
internationally, there has been a near-unanimous rejection of the
extreme position adopted by Pakistan and the fanatics sponsored by the
ISI.
The truth is that Kargil has proved that Islamic fundamentalism is not
a spectre "conjured by the jingoistic brigade" of this country. It is
a disturbing reality that has made the world sit up and take notice,
Islamic countries included, and if one may say so, Pakistan included.
In the last case, however, the genie is out of the bag, and whether
Pakistan will remain the republic it pretends to be, will be tested in
the (very near) future. It is now being increasingly recognised that
Islamic fundamentalism is rearing its dangerous head in the
subcontinent in the guise of Kargil, a fact that has made even the
United States worry about its hitherto unquestioning support to the
Pakistani establishment, military and otherwise, most of which was
engendered by the Afghanistan stand-off, but is out of place in the
new world order the US itself envisions.
A significant pointer in this regard is the shift in the voice of the
political class in India. Ever so eager to fault the Government of the
day, the Opposition initially indulged in the kind of rhetoric on
Kargil that typifies the language of the political class of this
country on sundry issues of far less consequence to the nation's
interests; Kargil, at least initially, was seen as nothing more than
that. In the past three weeks, however, this political class has
expressed unequivocal solidarity with the soldiers fighting at the
front.
A cynical view of this support might suggest that with elections round
the corner, the sentiment of the voter who is passionately involved in
the fight the Indian soldiers are putting up at the moment can be
ignored only at the vote-seeker's peril. Yet, an optimistic view of
this support suggests the emergence of a genuine commitment to the
integrity of this land-a commitment which took a tragedy like Kargil
to help surface. What else explains women's organisations across
ideological divides marching to India Gate in New Delhi to express
solidarity with the soldiers fighting at Kargil.
In a similar gesture, Imams staged a demonstration to put across the
point that Pakistan's actions were un-Islamic. They also wished to
convey to Pakistan that India was not afraid of war with Pakistan if
that is what is required to rid the Indian territory of Pakistani
intruders: "Let Pakistan make no mistake. There are still thousands of
Haneefuddins (an officer martyred in the recent conflict) in this
country who will sacrifice their lives for their motherland," said
Maulana Syed Salauddin, who came to Delhi to participate in a protest
march all the way from Andhra Pradesh.
The optimistic view needs to be examined a little deeper. The heaps of
letters to editors in support, and vehement (from across communities)
support, for India show how the people of this country feel. Again,
the views of the average Indian-urban, rural, butcher, singer,
incarcerated, free, beggar, industrialist-is one; get tough and get
rid of the intruders.
These people make their living out of this land. It is their
Karmabhoomi. They want it safe and inviolate. They feel and do so with
sincerity. They are artless in their views. Most importantly, they are
Indians. That this basic line of thinking is not jingoistic has dawned
on the rarefied. A good thing that is, if this minor reformation
continues beyond Kargil to give India more substantial political
issues to address, rather than the puerile divides that have been
heaped on the polity to propitiate sectarian sentiments.
In this regard, the media, always the culprit in extending views
instead of news, has performed the task of presenting facts as they
are. Seldom has the print and audio visual media spoken in such a
unanimous tone.
Kargil has made Indians speak in one voice. The story of our soldiers
laying down their lives must be told-they are not fighting to protect
India's territorial integrity alone. They are fighting to revive a
national consciousness back home as well. Because Kargil has made
Indians ponder issues which for long trivialised Kashmir, Islamic
fundamentalism, Pakistan's nefarious designs on Kashmir and beyond.
Kargil has ensured that the all-important issue of national security
and territorial integrity is not divided along lines generated by
Pokhran. Kargil has taught us that notional issues of national concern
must take a back-seat when the real question arises.
Today, those who insist on viewing Kargil in terms of jingoistic
rhetoric constitute a pathetic minority that is bound to learn the
lessons of isolation in due course of time. Dissent is easy,
commitment not quite, if you belong to the rarefied classes. It is
time to shed that easy life.
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