A nation of wimps playing to the gallery

After the 7/11 Mumbai train blasts, the national mood was simmering. People were enraged and wanted decisive action by the Government… perhaps strikes inside Pakistan to bomb the terrorist camps proliferating there. Sensing the national mood, the Government of India decided to put the peace talks with Pakistan on hold. The reasoning offered was that unless Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf abides by his promises to end cross-border terrorism, talks were futile.

“India will ask Pakistan to fully adhere to President Pervez Musharraf’s announcement in 2004 that his country would extend all support to end cross-border terrorism as the terror strikes in Mumbai not only shook the country but invited sharp reactions from the world community,” Ahamed said.

And yet, less than 20 days later, India opted to resume the dialogue with Pakistan. One wonders what change in Pakistani attitude in the intervening fornight prompted the resumption of dialogue! On the contrary, Pakistan only strindently denied any involvement in the 7/11 blast and also brazenly asked for proofs of the existence of terrorist camps within Pakistan. The reason for resumtion of peace talks was the same old worn-out line that the MEA is so fond of!

”We are engaged in a peace process which is important to both countries and it is very important that in order to allow this process to move forward there must be a commitment to abandon cross-border terrorism in whatever form it occurs,” he said.

So why did the Indian government choose to resume the dialogue?! Armchair peaceniks will claim that sane heads within the government prevailed. Congress will put forth the argument that the Congress party is committed to peace. But of course, those are silly reasons. There are no more saner heads in this government than the preceeding one! And if at all, the Congress party is committed (and addicted) to power, not peace.

Surely the NDA government gave a marvellous example of a tough response when it ordered Operation Parakram after Vajpayee’s ‘aar paar ki ladai‘ claims in the aftermath of the Pakistan-sponsored Parliament attack in 2001. After all, Operation Parakram was the biggest and longest deployment of Indian military might on the border.

Hardly!

Jaswant Singh’s A Call to Honour, provides an insight into the reasons behind Operation Parakram. And the reasons are anything but honourable.

‘Early during Operation Parakrama — the name given to the mobilisation of India troops following 13 December 2001’s attack on Parliament — Raghavan had asked me about our own aims… I had written on a scrap of paper: ‘to defeat cross border infiltration/terrorism without conflict, to contain the national mood of “teach Pakistan a lesson”, and in the event of war, to destroy and degrade Pakistan’s war fighting capabilities’. In this I faced two, really three challenges. The internal was the most taxing for it involved carrying conviction with colleagues. This sapped my internal resolve and resources. An adjunct to this was to carry the three service chiefs, also convincingly, with me… the chiefs so wanted a chance, ‘to have a crack’ as the military would put it — I had not only to persuade but also to convince them otherwise…. the third challenge was to carry the country’s mood, to contain its belligerence, its desire for revenge and retaliation, but to give it a sense of achievement, of having diplomatically defeated the enemy.‘

[Emphasis mine. Source: Rediff.com]

The emphasized point is mind-boggling! This was a minister from a nationalist party which is supposed to be hawkish when it comes to dealing with Pakistan. This was a minister from the government headed by a Prime Minister who emotionally exhorted the Indian army to be prepared for ‘balidaan‘ in the impending ‘aar paar ki ladai‘. And yet, the reason for initiating Operation Parakram, a Rs. 6,500 crore exercise in futility, was merely to satisfy the public demand to ‘teach Pakistan a lesson‘. So, in addition to being the biggest and longest troop deployment in a non-war situation, Operation Parakram was also the most expensive act of playing to the gallery!!… keeping the people happy with their own (tax) money while doing absolutely nothing about Pakistan-sponsored Islamic terrorism.
So if a party like the ‘hawkish‘ nationalist BJP could pull this off, is there any wonder if the legendary spineless Congress party plays to the gallery for a few days by making noises and then carries on as if nothing had happened!?
As they say, the more things change, the more they stay the same!