Is an Independent India Doomed to be
a Divided India?
Major General Mrinal Suman
India is flooded with political leaders who are
ready to tear the country apart to retain their relevance. To remain in the
news, they revel in resorting to grossly anti-national acts. Siddaramaiah
adopts a separate flag for Karnataka and tries to drive a wedge between the
North and the South by claiming that the South subsidizes the North. He creates
a rift in the Hindu religion by ruling Lingayats to be a separate religious
entity. Working President of DMK promises his
support if the southern states demand the formation of a separate country
‘Dravida Nadu’ and said that he would welcome any situation in which the
southern states demand to break away from India.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) led by
Simranjit Singh Mann, has been demanding the creation of a state of 'Khalistan' to act as a
buffer state between India, China and Pakistan. It has recently passed a resolution seeking a separate state of
‘Jat-land’ by increasing the size of Punjab. Farooq
Abdullah declares nonchalantly that PoK belongs to Pakistan. Non-Maharashtrians
are not welcome in Maharashtra. Chandrababu Naidu talks only of Telugu pride. Where
does India as a nation figure in their scheme of things?
Mamata
Banerjee’s charge against the military marked a new low in the sordid saga of
political chicanery, falsehood and misrepresentation of facts. She termed
soldiers’ presence at the toll plazas to be akin to a military coup. One does not
have to be a visionary to predict the danger of abetting illegal migration from
Bangladesh for garnering votes. If political leaders can imperil national
security for the sake of power, they can go to any extent.
Hamid Ansari’s last interview as the
Vice-President of India was certainly malevolent in content and anti-Indian in intent.
After having enjoyed all the perks and privileges of office for the last ten
years (three years under the present government), his conscience troubled him
only on the last day in office. His assertion that India’s Muslims are living with a ‘feeling of unease’
and ‘a sense of insecurity is creeping in among them’ was deliberately meant to
damage India’s secular standing.
To curry favour with the party
leadership, two Home Ministers shamelessly provided anti-India propaganda
material to Pakistan and thus brought disrepute to the country. Some of our
leaders of suspect loyalties have been demanding that Jammu and Kashmir be allowed
to separate from India if it wishes to do so. Seditious acts and utterances by
marginalized and ousted leaders are a common occurrence. They feel that narrow
and parochial grand-standing is the easiest way to re-acquire political
relevance. In the process, they do immense damage to India as a nation.
History is
replete with examples of Indian kings seeking help from foreign invaders to
settle petty scores with their neighboring kingdoms. In due course, having
secured a foothold, the foreigners vanquished all local sovereigns to establish
their own rule and enslaved the whole country. That, undoubtedly, is the
darkest aspect of Indian history. Even now we have leaders who believe in such despicable
scheming. Mani Shankar Aiyer told a Pak TV, “Bring us (the Congress) back to
power and remove them (Modi)”. Here was a leader of a national party
seeking Pak help to dethrone Modi, the duly elected leader of the country. How
low can one stoop and yet have the temerity to claim to be an Indian!
The above
examples are purely indicative in nature. The list is endless. Our leaders are doing
their best to ensure that we remain embroiled in petty bickering and internal
dissentions. They have a knack and penchant for generating innovative issues to
divide the countrymen. Fading political leaders resort to perfidious acts for
selfish gains. By constantly reminding their followers of their region,
religion, caste and sub-caste, the wicked leaders make them behave parochially;
they start flaunting their narrow identity and give it precedence over the
country.
We are our
biggest enemy. It is wrong to accuse the British of following ‘divide and rule’
policy to gain control over India. They did not need to do so. We have always
been and continue to be a divided lot. Our approach, attitude and practices
have always been directed towards remaining disunited. Unfortunately, we have
learnt nothing from history. We keep spawning throngs of leaders who can stoop
down to despicable levels to fragment the society for their petty interests. At
times, one wonders if God is anti-India. Why does India get cursed with such loathsome
leadership? Don’t we deserve better?
Our
politicians are the fountainhead of all fissiparous forces. Sadly, they cannot
be expected to change as they believe in the ends and not the means employed.
To them, vote bank politics preclude letting the countrymen stay united. That
is the reason politics have come to be identified with everything immoral and
decadent. Indian political narrative stinks of treachery and disloyalty, born
out of selfishness and vendetta.
“Governance
was much better during the British days. The country was united and the lives
were safer. The British controlled the whole of Indian peninsula with a maximum
of 60,000 troops. Today every state has a police force of more than that
strength and yet divisive forces are rampant. Indian leaders have torn the
country apart”, an elderly citizen
rued.
However, the
most damning comment was, “Our leaders have let us down. We should outsource
governance to a competent foreign entity on contractual basis. I am not
suggesting foreign rule; but only foreign yoke can keep us united. That is India’s
misfortune. Cry, my
countrymen.”
It was
certainly an extraordinary proposition. Even if made in disgust, it reflects
the degree of disenchantment of the common people. Will the current political
leadership introspect as to how the integrity of the country is getting
endangered due to their selfish machinations? Or, does it want history to
reiterate the fact that India can remain united only when subjugated by a
foreign power; and an independent India is doomed to be a divided India.*****
