Read on Twitter
. @ShekharGupta veers back to the Dr Manmohan Singh line: Woo Pakistan & keep the dragon at bay by balancing it with the US. This was always the sensible approach. What SG doesn’t examine is why Modi ji junked it.
https://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/shekhar-gupta-modi-s-strategic-moment-120062000032_1.html
1/2
https://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/shekhar-gupta-modi-s-strategic-moment-120062000032_1.html
1/2
“Terrorism became the pre-eminent strategic threat in our nationalist imagination. Pakistan-terror-Islam became the three prongs of the BJP’s electoral proposition”
@ShekharGupta rightly catches the electoral strategy & how it has got entangled with national security & strategy.
@ShekharGupta rightly catches the electoral strategy & how it has got entangled with national security & strategy.
Pakistan-terror-Islam is the RSS/BJP opiate. It is encoded in its DNA. Even as the British ruled India, RSS’ enemy was Muslims, not the British. Which is why it took no part in the struggle 4 independence. They were more focussed on fighting the Muslims.
That hasn’t changed.
That hasn’t changed.
What’s is encoded in the RSS DNA finds deep resonance among our upper & middle class. And pay rich electoral divided. Neither Modi ji nor RSS/BJP can kick the habit.
The #WooHan #ScrewPakistan strategy was never reasoned; it was emotional & instinctive. It won’t change.
The #WooHan #ScrewPakistan strategy was never reasoned; it was emotional & instinctive. It won’t change.
Furthermore @ShekharGupta misses its external implications. RSS’ Hindutva has enraged & alarmed the neighbourhood isolating India. The neighbourhood identities had geographical contiguity. So they emerged as distinct nations first. & remained so.
But India has multiple identities within it borders that have all the attributes of a potential nation - distinct identity, shared history, common culture & language & the numbers. Remember the how the movement for Pakistan arose. The latent nationalism need to be managed.
It is fact that both China & Pakistan share the conviction that India can be pressured in a variety of ways to break it up. The topic is taboo but the belief is there. It is not without basis.
RSS’ Pakistan-terror-Islam obsession creates the opportunity for China & Pakistan.
RSS’ Pakistan-terror-Islam obsession creates the opportunity for China & Pakistan.
RSS’ Hindutva ideology cannot unite India & make it more cohesive nation. On the contrary it can not only disrupt what has painstakingly built but also cause further rupture. The angst in the neighbourhood is a pointer to the consciousness building up within our polity.
Modi ji’s foreign policy choices so far - #WooHan and #ScrewPakistan have not been congruent with our internal dynamics. They have been merely a logical extension of RSS’ ideology & narrow nationalism.
The world, not just China has noted the fact.
The world, not just China has noted the fact.
We assume the US is waiting 4 us with open arms. It is not. We can be useful for the US against China just as Pakistan is useful for China against us. No more. We would be foolish to assume otherwise. And like the US-Pakistan relationship, ours will be transactional as well.
The reason again is RSS’s flawed ideology & its fixation Adolf Hitler’s Nazi model of nation building. The US is not interested in creating another China for itself. One blunder was enough. It will not be repeated. We will be rewarded strictly by how useful we make ourselves.
The second factor is shared culture. The US did not hesitate to rebuild Europe after WW II because there was shared identities & culture. If RSS defines India what are we?
A bunch crazy Nazi nationalist driven by hatred of Muslims. And racists to the core.
A bunch crazy Nazi nationalist driven by hatred of Muslims. And racists to the core.
Even if we choose to make ourselves useful to the US, the US will continue to treat the world as driven by G2. China will remain both its partner & competitor. We will be the a Knight held in reserve to unleash against China if things get tricky. No more.
The short point is that the internal dynamics, ruling party electoral strategy, foreign policy, trade & economic growth strategy have to be congruent & in our case they are not.
As Lt Gen @rwac48 pointed out, we need a national security strategy for congruency, and coherence.
As Lt Gen @rwac48 pointed out, we need a national security strategy for congruency, and coherence.
This crisis is an opportunity to consult widely & put together a national security strategy that addresses all aspects of national power. And it is also an opportunity to end the rancour over RSS. If India has to find its place in the world RSS cannot continue independently.
RSS must be brought into the national mainstream. Its agenda must be open and subject to debate & examination by the public. Its accounts must be open & Govt must demonstrate it has adequate supervision over its activities that can be examined by Parliament.
We cannot pretend RSS is a fringe organisation. Nor can we have a state within in state that has the capacity to set an autonomous agenda independently of the Parliament.
The world will not judge us by what Govt says but by what RSS does.
The world will not judge us by what Govt says but by what RSS does.
So read this because @ShekharGupta has the knack of reading his strategic tea leaves accurately although I often disagree with him b/c he pulls his punches where RSS is concerned. It is superb thought provoking piece. https://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/shekhar-gupta-modi-s-strategic-moment-120062000032_1.html
