Daily Times

The other day while reading irrepressible Arunadhati Roy’s very substantive compilation The Hanging of Afzal Guruand the Strange Case of the Attack on the Indian Parliament(December 2001), I came across Shudhabrata Sengupta’s masterpiece called Media trials and Courtroom Tribulations; a Battle of Images,Words and Shadowswhich reflects directly but unfavourably upon the controversial special court trial of accused Afzal Guru in New Delhi, 2002. There I found a unique phrase which one thought was an apt description of the present India and its leadership’s delusional mindset. I chose that description to be the title of this write up. One is tempted to borrow more from Sengupta as he exposes the criminality of the complicit role played by various elements in shaping public opinion in India, ‘a networked reality where cinema,television,newspaper reportage and even public service messages enter into elaborate intertwining feedback loops that reinforce and sustain each other,either through narrative ‘enhancements’ that create a situation where each message enhances its claim to credibility by relying on the credentials of the other. ” and “ where media, the television and film industry and intelligence community dance an elegant tango in which sometimes it becomes difficult to discern who leads whom on the dance floor.”

Ten years later I would venture to add the Indian Army and national security apparatus to the whirling shadows on the dance floor where the opera house is managed by the political leadership. This is a horrifying mix which has become extremely dangerous for the very health of that country and the regional peace. More worrisomely Indian people have started to unquestioningly believe their combined falsifications thereby setting up a dreadful resonance which can only lead to destruction all around including that of delicately poised Indian society and the state. This is a telling period of time in India where illusions are vehemently remembered but commitments to the world, region and more importantly to her own people are systematically being forgotten. Soon everything might change forever and then spin out of control.

States are to be run, ordinarily, by statesmen who have a certain breadth of vision,a forward looking, cooperative view of relations with nations and a capacity not only to undertake major repair works if sluice gates begin to shudder under pressure but also constantly plug leaks occurring in the diplomatic dam and its command area. This is the minimum which is required of a national leader. The trouble begins when one or some of these attributes are either ignored or erode which result in reactions that normally have cascading effects and go to shape national policies in many different ways. Of which some last longer and go on to become part of the pillars of state policy. Drivers of state power must remember that states represent their people and are living, pulsating and interactive entities capable of initiatives and responses in unexpected ways reflectingnational will and sentiments.

National leaders aretherefore bound to speak with carefully selected words, a measured tone and responsibly. President George Bush’s infamous but unfortunate indiscretion of calling US campaign against terrorism a ‘crusade’ had let out dogs of war and destruction on both sides of the divide who have devoured millions of lives ever since. PM Nawaz Sharif’s brave but reflexive declaration at Muzaffarabad to support Kashmir’s ‘freedom’ movement was politically an incorrect statement. The UN has accepted and endorsed Kashmiris’ right to plebiscite, hence, it is upto them for what they opt for, freedom or accession. India cannot deny them their right to plebiscite and Pakistan cannot put words in the Kashmiri mouths.

However, PM Modi leads whereoutbursts and insinuations are concerned as he has acompulsion to prove himself and must walk his talk every time he addresses an audience. His lust for applause invariablydrowns good sense and demands of statesmanship. In his driving desire for one-up-man-ship hecan compromisehis surrogates, at home and abroad, quite remorselessly. Nawaz was invited over to his oath taking ceremony and against the sense of the moment and demands of coutresy slapped age old accusations against Pakistan. To add insult to injury,he unleashed his voracious Foreign Secretary whochewed into paste Nawaz’s docile response immediately afterwards. Pakistani delegation returned home red faced to a popular disapproval. That arrogance was replayed at Ufa and then very curiously he turns up as a kind of self-invited guest at the Pakistani PM’s granddaughter’s wedding in Lahore on his way back from Kabul after delivering a scathing speech condemning Pakistan. Then in quick succession, he delivers embarrassing diplomatic strokes, allows an FIR to be registered against Nawaz in India, completelyrubbishes him after his UN General Assembly speech and delivers an under the belt hit by scuttling SAARC summit in Islamabad and trying to corner his government atthe Heart of Asia’s Amritsar moot. And now the incessant Line of Control (LoC) shelling and senseless war posturing. What an enigma. Is there a method to it, perhaps there is.

Such a seemingly inexplicablevacillation can only be the result of a thirst for temporary diplomatic gains abroad and political mileage at home. India has failed to realise the kind of indefensible and unenviable position it has pushed Pakistan into. The net result is a tongue tied and speech blurred PM. His continued silence on Kalbhushan Yadav’s terror network, RAW interventions in Pakistan and unusuallyprolonged but mysterious treatmentat a critical juncture, in London remains to be explained. He and his Defense Minister are still to visit FATA right upto the Afghan border over the army’s victories as it might appear to endorse victory against RAW supported terror networks. However, he did find time to visit Bannu to score a point against political opponents and then to Azerbaijan. There is a lurking feeling of a grave inadequacy, it appears.

Pakistan should have understood the bumpy way things will unfold between India and Pakistan in future after Delhi oath taking disaster. Modi’s diplomatic indiscretions in tandem with his unfortunate arrogance have gone on to compound the conflict of views. Each step that he took seems to have added to the friction which now looks quite explosive. His infatuation with Afghanistan beats practical sense and history. It does make a twisted political sense in line with Chanakya’s famous dictums but it utterly fails to promote good neighborliness and peace.

A turbulent neighborhood works against India’s future trajectory. Thoughtlessly ramming sizzling hatred into the minds of smaller countries around is unwise and can bring down this cyclops in unexpected ways. Any fundamentalism is fatal but the dark hues of Hindutva being currently followed by BJP leadership is not only deaf and dumb but blinded by hatred towards other religions. This vengeful denial of space to other faiths will undo India’s tentative communal equilibriumand unleash precisely those forces against which saffron nationalism is being fortified. Yogi Adityanath’s monkey vault in India’s political heartland, UP, is a case in point. Rot begins at the head first with sickness at the heart.

The writer is a retired brigadier of the Pakistan Army and can be reached at clay.potter@hotmail.com