The Root Cause
of these blunders was the denying of Prime Ministership to Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel!!
History is most
unforgiving. As historical mistakes cannot be undone, they have complex
cascading effect on a nation's future. Here are seven historical blunders that
have changed the course of independent India's history and cast a dark shadow
over its future. These costly mistakes will continue to haunt India for
generations. They have been recounted here in a chronological order with a view
to highlight the inadequacies of India's decision-making apparatus and the
leadership's incompetence to act with vision.]
1. Kashmir Mess......
There can be no
better example of shooting one's own foot than India's clumsy handling of the
Kashmir issue. It is a saga of naivety, blinkered vision and inept leadership.
Hari Singh was
the reigning monarch of the state of Jammu and Kashmir in 1947. He was
vacillating when tribal marauders invaded Kashmir in October 1947, duly backed
by the Pakistan army. Unable to counter them, Hari Singh appealed to India for
assistance and agreed to accede to India. Indian forces blunted the invasion
and re-conquered vast areas.
First, India
erred by not insisting on unequivocal accession of the state to the Dominion of
India and granted special status to it through Article 380 of the Constitution.
Secondly, when on the verge of evicting all invaders and recapturing the
complete state, India halted operations on 1 January 1949 and appealed to the
Security Council. It is the only case in known history wherein a country, when
on the threshold of complete victory, has voluntarily forsaken it in the
misplaced hope of winning admiration of the world community. Thirdly and most
shockingly, the Indian leadership made a highly unconstitutional offer of
plebiscite in the UN.
Forty percent
area of the state continues to be under Pakistan's control, providing it a
strategic land route to China through the Karakoram ranges. As a fall out of
the unresolved dispute, India and Pakistan have fought numerous wars and
skirmishes with no solution in sight. Worse, the local politicians are holding
India to ransom by playing the Pak card. Kashmir issue is a self-created
cancerous furuncle that defies all medications and continues to bleed the
country.
No 2: Ignoring
Chinese Threats and Neglecting the Military............
Memories of the
year 1962 will always trouble the Indian psyche. A nation of India's size had
lulled itself into believing that its protestations and platitudes of peaceful
co-existence would be reciprocated by the world. It was often stated that a
peace-loving nation like India did not need military at all. The armed forces
were neglected. The political leadership took pride in denigrating the military
leadership and meddled in internal affairs of the services to promote
sycophancy. Foreign policy was in shambles. The intelligence apparatus was
rusty.
Even though
signs of China's aggressive intentions were clearly discernible for years in
advance, the Indian leadership decided to keep its eyes shut in the fond hope
that the problem would resolve itself. When China struck, the country was
caught totally unprepared. Troops were rushed to snowbound areas with summer
clothing and outdated rifles. Despite numerous sagas of gallantry, the country
suffered terrible embarrassment. India was on its knees. With the national
morale and pride in tatters, India was forced to appeal to all nations for
military aid. Inept and incompetent leadership had forced a proud nation to
find solace in Lata Mangeshkar's Ae Mere Watan Ke Logo.
No 3: The
Tashkent Agreement and Return of Haji Pir Pass.............
Following the cease-fire
after the Indo-Pak War of 1965, a Russian-sponsored agreement was signed between
India and Pakistan in Tashkent on 10 January 1966. Under the agreement, India
agreed to return the strategic Haji Pir pass to Pakistan which it had captured
in August 1965 against heavy odds and at a huge human cost. The pass connects
Poonch and Uri sectors in Jammu and Kashmir and reduces the distance between
the two sectors to 15 km whereas the alternate route entails a travel of over
200 km.
India got
nothing in return except an undertaking by Pakistan to abjure war, an
undertaking which meant little as Pakistan never had any intention of honouring
it. Return of the vital Haji Pir pass was a mistake of monumental proportions
for which India is suffering to date. In addition to denying a direct link
between Poonch and Uri sectors, the pass is being effectively used by Pakistan
to sponsor infiltration of terrorists into India. Inability to resist Russian
pressure was a manifestation of the spineless Indian foreign policy and
shortsighted leadership.
No 4: The Simla
Agreement.............
With the fall
of Dhaka on 16 December 1971, India had scored a decisive victory over
Pakistan. Over 96,000 Pak soldiers were taken Prisoners of War (PoWs). Later,
an agreement was signed between the two countries on 2 July 1972 at Shimla.
Both countries agreed to exchange all PoWs, respect the line of control (LOC)
in Jammu and Kashmir and refrain from the use of threat or force. Additionally,
Bhutto gave a solemn verbal undertaking to accept LOC as the de facto border.
India released
all Pak PoWs in good faith. Pakistan, on the other hand, released only 617
Indian PoWs while holding back 54 PoWs who are still languishing in Pakistani
jails. The Indian Government has admitted this fact a number of times but has
failed to secure their release. India failed to use the leverage of 96,000 Pak
PoWs to discipline Pakistan. A rare opportunity was thus wasted. Forget
establishing permanent peace in the sub-continent, India failed to ensure
release of all Indian PoWs - a criminal omission by all accounts.
The naivety of
the Indian delegation can be seen from the fact that it allowed Pakistan to
bluff its way through at Shimla. The Indian leadership was fooled into
believing Pakistan's sincerity. Unquestionably, Pakistan never intended to
abide by its promises, both written and verbal. Fruits of a hard-fought victory
in the battlefield were frittered away on the negotiating table by the bungling
leadership.
No. 5: The
Nuclear Muddle.............
Subsequent to
the Chinese Nuclear Test at Lop Nor in 1964, India showed rare courage in
carrying out its first nuclear test on 18 May 1974 at Pokharan. Outside the
five permanent members of the UN Security Council, India was the only nation to
prove its nuclear capability. The whole country was ecstatic and every Indian
felt proud of its scientific prowess. But Indians had not contended with their
Government's penchant for converting opportunity into adversity and squandering
hard-earned gains.
Instead of
asserting India's newly acquired status of a nuclear power and demanding recognition,
India turned apologetic and tried to convince the world that it had no nuclear
ambitions. Strangely, it termed the Pokharan test as a 'peaceful nuclear
explosion' - a term unheard of till then. The Defence Minister went to the
extent of claiming that the Indian nuclear experiment was 'only for mining, oil
and gas prospecting, for finding underground sources of water, for diverting
rivers, for scientific and technological knowledge.' It was a self-deprecating
stance. Displaying acute inferiority complex, India did not want to be counted
as a member of the exclusive nuclear club.
Criticism and
sanctions were expected and must have been factored in before opting for the
nuclear test. Whereas a few more assertive follow-on tests would have forced
the world to accept India as a member of the nuclear club, India went into an
overdrive to placate the world through a self-imposed moratorium on further
testing. It lost out on all the advantages provided to it by its scientists. It
suffered sanctions and yet failed to gain recognition as a nuclear power. The
country missed golden opportunities due to the timidity and spinelessness of
its leaders.
No 6: The
Kandahar hijacking.............
The hijacking
of an Indian Airlines aircraft to Kandahar by Pakistani terrorists in December
1999 will continue to rile India's self-respect for long. According to the
Hindustan Times, India lost face and got reduced to begging for co-operation
from the very regimes that were actively undermining its internal security. The
hijacking revealed how ill-prepared India was to face up to the challenges of
international terrorism.
The eight-day
long ordeal ended only after India's National Security Adviser brazenly
announced that an agreement had been reached for the release of all the
hostages in exchange for three Kashmiri militants including Maulana Masood
Azhar. Sadly, the Prime Minister claimed credit for forcing the hijackers to
climb down on their demands. The worst was yet to follow. India's Foreign
Minister decided to accompany the released militants to Kandahar, as if seeing
off honoured guests.
The
government's poor crisis-management skills and extreme complacency in security
matters allowed the hijackers to take off from Amritsar airport after 39
minutes halt for refueling, thereby letting the problem get out of control.
India's much-vaunted decision-making apparatus collapsed and was completely
paralysed by the audacity of a bunch of motivated fanatics. It was a
comprehensive failure of monumental proportions. India's slack and amateurish
functioning made the country earn the tag of a soft nation which it will find
very difficult to shed.
No 7: Illegal
Immigration and Passage of IMDT Act............
It is a
standard practice all over the world that the burden of proving one's status as
a bonafide citizen of a country falls on the accused. It is so for India as
well under Foreigners Act, 1946. Political expediency forced the Government to
make an exception for Assam. In one of the most short-sighted and anti-national
moves, India passed the Illegal Migrants - Determination by Tribunals (IMDT)
Act of 1984 for Assam. It shifted the onus of proving the illegal status of a
suspected immigrant on to the accuser, which was a tall and virtually
impossible order. Detection and deportation of illegal immigrants became
impossible.
Whenever
demands were raised for repealing the Act, the Congress, the Left Front and the
United Minorities Front resisted strongly. Illegal immigrants had become the
most loyal vote bank of the Congress. Worse, every protest against the Act was
dubbed as 'anti-minority' , thereby imparting communal colour to an issue of
national security. The government's 'pardon' of all Bangladeshis who had come
in before 1985 was another unconstitutional act that aggravated the problem.
The Act was
struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court on July 13, 2005, more
than 20 years after its enactment. The Apex Court was of the view that the
influx of Bangladeshi nationals into Assam posed a threat to the integrity and
security of northeastern region. Unfortunately, immense damage had already been
done to the demography of Assam and the local people of Assam had been reduced
to minority status in certain districts. Illegal immigrants have come to have a
stranglehold over electioneering to the extent that no party can hope to come
to power without their support. Nearly 30 Islamic groups are thriving in the
area to further their Islamist and Pan-Bangladesh agenda.
To top it all -
In 1955,
Jawaharlal Nehru rejected an offer to India for a permanent UN Security Council
seat in favour of CHINA!!!
It is
incomprehensible that a nation's leadership can stoop so low and endanger even
national security for garnering votes.
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