Even Rip Van Winkle would have felt embarrassed by India’s oddity
It is said that if something looks like a duck, flies and quacks like a duck, then it has to be a duck. But India is an exception. So, when 18 brave heart policemen were killed in Mumbai during 26/11, the whole nation galvanised into one and there was an evident cry of a battle to take revenge. Yet the issue was somehow marginalised to how the police and CRPF intelligence was to be blamed, if not Chidambaram. While that may be true, what has to be realised is that in all our confabulations, we should not forget that those are the Maoists primarily who are responsible for the killings. This may sound simplistic and naive; Home Ministry reports clearly state that in the last few years more uniformed personnel have been killed by the Maoists than by any terror group in J&K or Northeast. It is known that the Maoists have far greater firepower than any other banned terror organisation in India. They have mastered the use of IEDs and pressure bombs to the extent that the Indian security forces are still clueless about how to deal with them even as the mine protection vehicles are proving to be redundant. It is also known that Maoists are far more ruthless than any other subversive organisation and consider killing their adversaries with the worst kind of ferocity and ruthlessness to set examples for the rest. Their objective is not to develop the underdeveloped regions of India but keep them out of bound from prosperous India. Had their intention been to improve the state of people, they would have ideally given books instead of AK-47s in the hands of teenagers and not use them as fodder even while the progeny of the elite Maoist leaders continue to live in opulence. It’s no secret that their real objective is to replace India’s democracy with a ruthless communist regime. It is also known that in the Maoist strongholds, nothing can move without paying extortion money, the extent of which is around Rs.1500 crore a year. Yet when these reports come out, Indian intelligentsia easily scoff them off as government's propaganda and that Maoists are nothing better than poor peasants in destitute.
So what happens to India? Well the fight against Maoists is a litmus test of the very idea of India and would help in drawing the boundaries of liberty and laissez fairer that our democracy has been reduced to. Would someone ask the intellectuals as to who, whether the Maoists or the CRPF would come to India’s rescue if there’s another 26/11 type attack in India? Unfortunately, for Indian intellectuals, whose bravery is never put to test in front of a barrage of AK-47 bullets, its romantic reverie of an ideal revolution will not be broken unless the Maoist attacks, like the Jihadi attacks, would hit the heart of urban India hard. Then helicopters would be used with impunity as was used in 26/11. But till that time babus and netas sitting in Delhi would pretend that there’s no war going on and so Army’s involvement is not needed. Till that time, India would continue to have half a war in which it would fight and yet not fight to finish while the Army would continue to buy weapons for a conventional war, which perhaps would never happen in reality. If the Maoists are so right in their attitude that even the government is confused, then let’s not have any war at all and let them have their leeway if it helps India. But why reduce it to CRPF’s and Chidambaram’s war instead of the nation’s war? Yet, can you expect something better than half a war from half a nation? Not really because for a nation which behaves more often than not like 28 independent states, one can only expect half a war. And the poor CRPF jawan without any idea as to why his government has left him alone to die, would continue to pay with his half or full life while numerous talk shows on television would have burning issues to discuss and ponder for months to come. We call this democracy.
It is said that if something looks like a duck, flies and quacks like a duck, then it has to be a duck. But India is an exception. So, when 18 brave heart policemen were killed in Mumbai during 26/11, the whole nation galvanised into one and there was an evident cry of a battle to take revenge. Yet the issue was somehow marginalised to how the police and CRPF intelligence was to be blamed, if not Chidambaram. While that may be true, what has to be realised is that in all our confabulations, we should not forget that those are the Maoists primarily who are responsible for the killings. This may sound simplistic and naive; Home Ministry reports clearly state that in the last few years more uniformed personnel have been killed by the Maoists than by any terror group in J&K or Northeast. It is known that the Maoists have far greater firepower than any other banned terror organisation in India. They have mastered the use of IEDs and pressure bombs to the extent that the Indian security forces are still clueless about how to deal with them even as the mine protection vehicles are proving to be redundant. It is also known that Maoists are far more ruthless than any other subversive organisation and consider killing their adversaries with the worst kind of ferocity and ruthlessness to set examples for the rest. Their objective is not to develop the underdeveloped regions of India but keep them out of bound from prosperous India. Had their intention been to improve the state of people, they would have ideally given books instead of AK-47s in the hands of teenagers and not use them as fodder even while the progeny of the elite Maoist leaders continue to live in opulence. It’s no secret that their real objective is to replace India’s democracy with a ruthless communist regime. It is also known that in the Maoist strongholds, nothing can move without paying extortion money, the extent of which is around Rs.1500 crore a year. Yet when these reports come out, Indian intelligentsia easily scoff them off as government's propaganda and that Maoists are nothing better than poor peasants in destitute.
So what happens to India? Well the fight against Maoists is a litmus test of the very idea of India and would help in drawing the boundaries of liberty and laissez fairer that our democracy has been reduced to. Would someone ask the intellectuals as to who, whether the Maoists or the CRPF would come to India’s rescue if there’s another 26/11 type attack in India? Unfortunately, for Indian intellectuals, whose bravery is never put to test in front of a barrage of AK-47 bullets, its romantic reverie of an ideal revolution will not be broken unless the Maoist attacks, like the Jihadi attacks, would hit the heart of urban India hard. Then helicopters would be used with impunity as was used in 26/11. But till that time babus and netas sitting in Delhi would pretend that there’s no war going on and so Army’s involvement is not needed. Till that time, India would continue to have half a war in which it would fight and yet not fight to finish while the Army would continue to buy weapons for a conventional war, which perhaps would never happen in reality. If the Maoists are so right in their attitude that even the government is confused, then let’s not have any war at all and let them have their leeway if it helps India. But why reduce it to CRPF’s and Chidambaram’s war instead of the nation’s war? Yet, can you expect something better than half a war from half a nation? Not really because for a nation which behaves more often than not like 28 independent states, one can only expect half a war. And the poor CRPF jawan without any idea as to why his government has left him alone to die, would continue to pay with his half or full life while numerous talk shows on television would have burning issues to discuss and ponder for months to come. We call this democracy.
Read these article :-
No comments:
Post a Comment