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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