Mahatma Gandhi once said “I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is
only temporary; the evil it does is permanent." Today, those who like
to don the Gandhi cap and chant his mantras, but have otherwise butchered his
ideology, have forgotten this. Fortunately, the Government of the day didn’t. If
it had, we would have been starting a war with China. Or at least looking at a
long drawn energy sapping conflict which would have distrated us from our goals.
Fortunately, wiser counsel prevailed.
In the BJP’s worldview, it’s infinitely more glamorous to
been seen as “doing something” or taking “some action”, rather than just “talking”
to the enemy. It would show that India’s foreign policy is “strong”. Talking is
what the weak do. If nothing, even just punching fists in the air will do.
Action denotes intent after all, even if that action may achieve nothing, or
worse, may actually cause bodily harm. The other option is to argue noisily and
hope that the cacophony scares away the opponent. At least that’s what our TV
anchors seem to think. Of course, we must appreciate that all of them – especially
the one who runs Scam TV (the channel which has built its entire positioning on
imagined scams) – are experts in foreign policy. No, actually they are experts
in everything. It’s India’s loss that
these dynamic and dashing sons and daughters work in TV studios rather than in
Government. Had it been otherwise, India would have been growing at double the
clip, and by now, would have reclaimed PoK and Aksai Chin. Arguing endlessly
and noisily over TV is seen as brave and courageous, and counts as “doing
something”. If only the usual dramatis personae of TV remembered that only “Empty vessels make noise”, they would
understand exactly what we viewers think of them. It’s not the Chinese who ran
away from the cacophony on TV; it’s the viewers. Maybe our opposition leaders
and TV anchors should remember Abraham Lincoln instead: “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and
remove all doubt.”
The right phrase of course is different. Deep waters run still. Soft influence is
way better than aggro hardtalk. Hardline is over-rated. But then why blame
those who never understood Gandhi. Why, didn’t they even say that Gandhi
deserved to die because he was too soft on the Muslims? “The accumulating provocation of thirty-two years, culminating in his
last pro-Muslim fast, at last goaded me to the conclusion that the existence of
Gandhi should be brought to an end immediately.” is what Nathuram Godse
said in his justification of killing Gandhi. Which party did he belong to? The
RSS. What should one expect from such people and their descendents? To apologize
and promise to learn Gandhi’s ideals? Or to continue demanding an eye for an
eye even if in the process, we lose both our eyes, and maybe get a bloody nose
as well? A party’s fundamental character cannot be corrected by one great
figure – even if he is the Father of our Nation.
India pushed the Chinese back. Through “soft” Gandhian diplomacy.
While never allowing jingoism to get the better of it. The Government stood its
course. There were five flag meetings held. There was also a little smart local
maneuver conducted – with India occupying some Chinese territory in a retaliatory,
tactical ploy. You didn’t know about that? I didn’t either. Because publicizing
that would upset the picture that had been so assiduously created: That India’s
government was a coward. India’s government was anything but. It was savvy. It
applied the right amount of pressure, and at the right points, and it never
gave up dialoguing. One saw that soft pressure when the PM decided to stay back
a day longer in Japan. That soft gesture rattled the Chinese. That made them
realize that India wasn’t alone. That they could take on one Japan backed by a
faraway US but not two close-by dadas? See….soft diplomacy worked better than
the angry growl of a mongrel would have. What a masterstroke.
Will any lessons be learnt from this? Or will the obdurate BJP
and even worse TV anchors simply move on to the next babbling brook? If one looks
at the stuff that they have put out over the last two years, one realizes how
much of a babbling brook they have been. Just froth, no substance. They
intentionally misrepresented the 2G facts, calling a Government subsidy of
spectrum a case of corruption. They intentionally misled the nation by calling
the man who thought of, designed and executed coal auctions as to be the one
who was corrupt. They shamed India just when it was getting ready to tell the
world it had arrived by staging the CWG games….by making small cases of
corruption look like a zillion-dollar mother. But then why should they care? All
this may win them political power. That’s all that matters. Why, they cant even
wait for their turn. They want to stop this government in its tracks. Paralyse
it. Disallow it its legislative agenda. So what if the country watches aghast, wanting
growth more than imaginary corruption numbers. It has no choice. It has to
tolerate its deviant sons.
They may not remember Gandhi. Maybe Churchill is better? “If the human race wishes to have a prolonged
and indefinite period of material prosperity, they have only got to behave in a
peaceful and helpful way toward one another." But then, prosperity is
something they don’t understand. During their six years of rule, GDP growth
dipped from some 6.5% in the previous six to 5.5% under them. As soon as they
left, irrepressible growth sprung back to 8.5%. And yet, they accuse this
government of not delivering on growth? Yet, their PM aspirant who simply
cannot wait for his turn, pretends as if he is the only one who understands growth?
It would help if he first got a little education in economics, but then that’s
another thing that empty vessels aren’t exactly know for.
The real truth is that like always India’s soft power
won the day. Salman Khursheed was right. It was nothing but acne after all. The
PM was right too. It was just a localized skirmish – the bosses in Beijing
prefer hosting Khursheed and sending their new Premier Li Keqiang on his first
international trip to India instead. Too bad for the BJP, and for our TV anchors.
The story has to end. But then, there’s always another one to move on to. After
all, we cannot expect a dog’s tail to ever become straight….
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