Author: Colonel Anil Athale (retd)
Publication: Rediff on Net
Date: May 24, 2004
URL: http://www.rediff.com/news/2004/may/24guest.htm
In this season of being 'politically
correct' post the recent election, one wishes to raise some questions.
The 'right' tone was, of course,
set by The New York Times, that doyen of American wisdom, when it editorially
castrated Indians opposing Sonia Gandhi as prime minister for being xenophobic
nationalists, conveniently forgetting that US law prohibits a foreign-born
citizen from becoming president.
Italy, the country of Sonia Gandhi's
origin, bans even transit visas to Indians. We are lumped with countries
like Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran who are on a terrorism watch list.
Some reciprocity indeed.
Sonia Gandhi has acquired Indian
citizenship under section 5 of the Citizenship Act that decrees that the
rights of such citizens will be strictly on a 'reciprocal' basis. Does
Italy have the same laws as ours?
The recent election campaign saw
constant reiteration of the Ahmedabad riots, with documentaries being screened
in Bengal to revive memories of the horror. Secular activists went on an
all India tour staging street corner plays on the Best Bakery episode to
drive home their point.
If in retaliation the opponents
also showed footage of Godhra, Akshardham, Ghatkopar and the Gateway of
India bomb blasts, would it have been acceptable?
No wonder there were no VIPs to
pay their respects when the commando who was in coma after the Akshardham
attack died a few days ago.
Now that a secular government is
in place in Delhi, would some of the anti-national and pro- Pakistani members
of the Muslim community (mark the caveat: not all, but some Muslims) stop
aiding and supporting agents and terrorists?
Will we ever get people to testify
against the arrested terrorists? Or did the bomb blasts in Mumbai, the
attack on Akshardham and Parliament never happen?
The Left and DMK have demanded scrapping
of POTA. Has the terrorist threat to India ended so we do not need a stringent
law like POTA? Is that the assessment of the intelligence agencies?
The Left is also demanding an end
to the special relationship with Israel. It is through this relationship
that we are to get the Phalcon airborne systems (denied to China) that
is necessary to deal with the Pakistani doctrine of nuclear 'first strike.'
Whose interests would be served by this measure? We have received up to
date surveillance devices and anti terrorist gear from Israel, which has
had a salutary effect on infiltration across the Line of Control in Kashmir.
Does the new government want to help the infiltrators?
Also read: Relations with Israel
may be affected
India has been catching up with
China on the economic front and emerging as its competitor. China receives
ten times more foreign investment than India. Yet the Marxists want India
to shut the door on foreign capital and drive it away to China. In 1962
when China attacked India, these very Communists supported it and blamed
Nehru and India. Do the Marxists want to play the same game again, now
on the economic front? Is the Congress aware of the Marxists' past and
their loyalties to China?
St Thomas the Apostle arrived in
India in the first century AD and gathered adherents in the south, when
the Romans in Italy (yes Italy) were feeding followers of Christ to hungry
lions. The Syrian Christian Church in India is older than the Vatican's
Roman Catholic Church. Muslim historians from al Barauni to Ibn Batuta
have mentioned the existence of Arab Muslim colonies existing peacefully
on the West coast and Kerala, much before Mohammed Bin Qasim's invasion
of Sindh and much before the subjugation of north India in 13th century.
Do the secularists believe that
tolerance and pluralism in India began on August 15, 1947?
There is a law in some states where
using casteist abuse against Dalits is a criminal offence, but similar
abuse against the so-called forward castes is not. Repeated rhetoric against
the so-called forward castes is permitted by the law and extolled as 'progressive.'
Is this not absurd?
Spreading hatred or disaffection
on the basis of religion is wrong and is also punishable. But the Marxists
continue to spread hatred on the basis of economic class. Is this progressive?
How is one hatred less damaging than another?
These are some questions that come
to mind in the light of recent events. Will the India/Hindu (not RSS) bashing
'intellectuals' respond?
