Save India

A nation rooted in corruption, inefficiency and injustice, institutionalised by its predominantly decadent Hindu upper caste political rulers, through a cynical, divisive political system of living off vote-banks, in return for appeasing crumbs thrown to cruel leaders thriving on the ignorance, poverty, powerlessness and marginalisation of the masses. A colonial system of power continuing unchanged, with a centralised, authoritarian state apparatus, breeding a parasitical self-serving politico-administrative class, living off the fat of the land and the blood of the people.

Upto half of the country struggling for survival, and most others grimly trying to hold on to whatever little they have, in a 'globalising' environment that has taken economy, society and culture for a giant wheel spin. The benefits of fifty years of the republic having been appropriated in full measure by a tiny layer of elites, living in utter comfort, privilege and power, at the expense of everybody and everything else. The prevailing ethos, 'each one for himself, by hook or by crook, and the devil take the hindmost'. The nation, for the elites, if it has any meaning at all, is limited to the very limited social, cultural, linguistic, symbolic and human universe that they inhabit, and the colonial status they occupy in free India. This is a rootless world, buoyed up the blood money extracted from India by the world economic system through the middleman-ship of her own rapacious folk.

The land, forests, rivers, water resources, hills and mountains severely ravaged in environmental terms. Institutions run to the dogs. Mediocrity and incompetence rules. Social consciousness, integration and service a rare species. Power commanded by money and brute force. Citizens ignorant, apathetic, listless, cynical. Compromised. Animal passions, ancient hatreds, prejudice, contempt, violence on the ascendant. A society riven with discontent, among its minorities, backward and formerly untouchable castes, indigenous groups and less-developed, far-flung regions. Attacks on minorities. Separatist violence and anti-insurgency operations in distant boundaries, and crime at the grassroot. A legacy of the 'communal question' of colonial times, the continuing tragic saga of Hindu-Muslim antipathy in the subcontinent, itself an outcome of the more fundamental historically unaddressed question of the structures of governance, nationhood and identity in the context of social, cultural and ethnic pluralism in South Asia, in this day and age. Communal riots and disruptions from time to time stoked by small and big players - politicians, hoodlums, real estate promoters, feeding upon and in turn feeding communal divisions. The legacy of colonial rule and partition continuing to haunt Kashmir, a state claimed by both India and Pakistan. Separatist militancy, terrorism, mujahideen fighters, ethnic cleansing, army operations, a war-like situation, human rights violations. Kashmir, a perpetual imbroglio, bleeding the country and keeping alive the fire of Hindu-Muslim communalism.

A nation steeped in inefficiency, injustice, indecency, indignity, indiscipline. Elections, coalition government formation and functioning fuelled by the ever-growing desire, of ever-growing numbers of the most cynically corrupt politicians, to make it to the centre to share the loot of office, using money, or violent force, or communal fires to come to office. Political parties deeply compromised in corruption and incapability during office, synonymous with opportunism, distortion of the legal machinery, divisive vote-bank politics and its ping-pong repercussions, alienated from substantive engagement with different sections of the common people, ideologically bankrupt and consisting almost entirely of professional politicians lacking in any merit whatsoever, except a manic ego, a lust for power and the loaves of office to be fulfilled by any means whatsoever. The basest motives and purposes drive political activity. A political party brought to legislative significance through willfully stoking upper-caste Hindu chauvinism, and aimed against minorities, backward castes and indigenous peoples. Villages and slums remain in darkness. Unlettered women live out the grueling ordeal of life. Children die for lack of clean drinking water.

An utterly inept, ramshackle, coalition government, headed by a Hindu chauvinist party, answerable to the rabidly fundamentalist forces with whose help it has come to power, willing to join hands with the most corrupt politicians. Its very first desperate action, to seek to manufacture popular legitimisation through making India nuclear. In turn eliciting the supportive fervour of the parasitic elite class, itself now struggling for complete domination over a system submerging in poverty and disorder.

Government voted out of confidence in a game of parliamentary musical chairs, and reduced to caretaker status. Elections imminent.

Then Kargil happens.

And now the intensive Indian military operations are over. But events have unfolded so rapidly and people have been so enveloped, absorbed and affected by what they have received through the mass media and from the government - as if a spell had been cast on them - that they have lost all sense of perspective.

A monumental intelligence, official and political lapse, leading to the occupation of a small bit of territory along the 1948 cease-fire line.

Yes, very similar to the other, permanent, monumental lapses, with monumental consequences, affecting very large numbers of people and huge amounts of national resources. Such lapses occur everyday, in vast parts of the country. Bhopal was such a lapse. The plague outbreak in Surat was such a lapse. Wanton discharge of huge quantities of highly toxic wastes by industries in densely polluted areas. Collapse of illegal buildings in crowded slums killing hundreds of people. Squandering and misappropriation of public funds by panchayats, local bodies, state and central governments, so that basic amenities, like drinking water, are inaccessible to millions of people in India's villages and towns. Only these are not even discerned as lapses, since such things have come to be accepted as part of life, about which nothing can be done. And all arising basically from the total collapse of institutions, machinery of governance, the preponderance of incompetence, inefficiency, mediocrity, apathy and corruption, continuously legitimised and reinforced through political activity and electoral politics.

But this lapse in intelligence and national security matters showed just how far this rot has spread, through its implied treacherous corruption. It has also shown how grave the consequences can be for the nation's security. This had also been exposed through the seizing of arms consignments from across the border during the riots following the destruction of the Babri Masjid in 1992. Or the Purulia arms-dropping episode. Ultimately, someone was bought. Someone did not care. Someone bungled. Someone was incompetent.

Kargil happens, and as if that were not enough we see immediate confusion, lack of coordination and diplomatic immaturity.

Then the spin began.

And now we have a very volatile situation in the subcontinent. Hate-filled talk is flowing freely, of all-out war, treachery by Pakistan, revenge, teaching the enemy a lesson, national honour, nuclear attacks even. People are talking of Vajpayee's being elected to office, riding a nationalist wave, to rattle the sabre, put Pakistan in its place and thus restore the pride of every Indian.

What a spin, and what a nation of befuddled fools.

As an Indian citizen, for me the story stops with the evidence of the monumental lapse, leading to the occupation of territory in Kargil. And let us bypass the brilliant political trickery of PM Vajpayee and his orchestra of India's elite propagandists. A masterly conjurer's act, matching the fabled powers of Shakuni, leaving the Indian audience befooled, gaping, mesmerised, and asking for more.

At almost every level of life and governance one can see the merciless, ugly corruption. The Kargil occupation only confirmed that people could even go to the extent of selling their mothers. This means that the country is no longer secure. The armed forces, and especially the army, who guard the borders, is utterly undermined by the political and bureaucratic apparatus. The army and the entire armed forces in India, have been and remain servants of the government in power. They are completely segregated from civil life and governance. So who, who that matters, is therefore to guard the national interest, as a matter of principle? Only the armed forces. The executive, the legislature and the judiciary have become utterly corrupted, to the extent that national security itself is now threatened. Money changes hands in suitcases, in parliament, legislatures, courtrooms and government offices and on the streets. In civil India, which the armed forces are upholding with their lives, and at the expense of their own families, children are dying for lack of clean drinking water, while some people are lolling in their ill-gotten wealth, stuffed in their mattresses and bathroom closets. The reason is simply indiscipline and corruption, gross insubordination on a national scale, which cannot be controlled by anyone; nobody has the political capability, deeply compromised as they all are in themselves feeding off this system. Nor does anyone have the moral authority or the just social capability to intervene.

So the armed forces have to realise that their very existence is undone by the current state of affairs. Large numbers of soldiers shall die in further rounds of action. All, thanks to the rigmarole of the civilian performers.

In 1975, Jayaprakash Narayan made a call to the armed forces, on the grounds of patriotism, love for the democratic fabric of the nation, morality and conscience, to refuse to take orders from an authoritarian Prime Minister who had been found guilty of electoral malpractice by a court of law. This lead PM Indira Gandhi to declare a state of emergency, suspend parliament and arrest opposition leaders, including the elderly and very infirm Narayan.

In 1999, after Kargil, it is again time to make a call to the armed forces of India, to step in to save India in its present moment of crisis - which has been brewed over decades - and to help India to become a healthy, hard-working, prosperous, harmonious, humane, democratic nation.

If a thorough intelligence operation were undertaken at the level of every department of the central and state governments alone, very damning evidence will be found, showing the complicity of politicians (from all political parties), civil officials and criminals across most states in the country. These are conspicuous, overt acts of treason - such as involvement in trans-border arms smuggling, for arms to be used and sold by the politically patronised criminals who help the parties in enforcing their feudal rule from the grassroot-level upwards.

There would be enough evidence to put away - hopefully for ever - hundreds upon hundreds of politicians, civil servants, judges and criminal dons. Whatever may be done, howsoever sincerely, heroically even, wherever, it is patently clear that unless there is a mass uprising against the rot in the system and for system change, and this unholy nexus of politics, public money and criminals that is perpetrating crimes against the nation and its people is broken, no positive change is conceivable. This monster has taken a vice-like grip over the country, which is now entirely driven by this disease. Unflinching striking down this monster, before the people at large, will only have a salutary effect on the nation's morale, and its spine. People will learn to stand erect, walk straight, and help the country to move forward. But no such uprising is in sight, and until the sleeping mass awakens, there may not be anything left of the country. The armed forces in India are the only one therefore capable of doing what needs to be done.

The armed forces in India have been a guardian of the fabric of democracy and pluralism, themselves a magnificient expression of this heritage. They have now to fulfil this very role, but now through an unusual action, but which is called for only in the highly unusual situation we are now in.

A martial law administration has to take over the country. Even as the internal clean-up operation, Operation Safaai, is undertaken with as much vigour as was Operation Vijay, the military together with sections of Indian civil society would engage in substantive and conclusive talks with Pakistan. This would include a final resolution of the Kashmir issue in the best interest of all the people of Jammu and Kashmir, a long-term no-war agreement, a no first use agreement regarding nuclear weapons, rapid de-militarisation along the entire border, and extensive trade, commercial, educational and cultural exchange agreements.

The reference to Jayaprakash Narayan is also pertinent in the context of the Kashmir tangle. In 1964, Narayan took up the cause of an honourable and peaceful settlement of the dispute. He had seen how problematic India's position was, from a purely moral and civilised standpoint and emphasised that India needed to take a principled and moral stand on the issue - and not a hardened, legalistic one. He wrote: "In human affairs, law no doubt has an important role to play, but it has its limits. Morality and human values transcend the limits of law and take precedence over it. Nor is it a question of 'anyone's personal views of what is moral.' Tragically, that historic opportunity was lost.

This was the man whom independent India knew as the last upholder of the Gandhian mantle, of moral power, of truth and non-violence. Events also made clear that his call to the armed forces in 1975 was justified. It is that moral basis of power that has to be re-legitimised in India today. We need to have people of that stature and dignity to build our nation. And India has thousands of such people, across its villages and towns, in the limelight, as well as humbly invisible, working relentlessly to usher in a better tomorrow. In every part of the country, cutting across all sections and communities, the common man says: 'despite all the rot, there is surely a lot of good around and a lot of good people working very hard, otherwise how would we even be alive, let alone get on with life'. But all these builders can emerge and play an active part in national affairs only when the dirt has been cleared.

The politicians-bureaucrats-contractors have bled the nation dry. We are now in a terminal state. A life-saving operation is needed. But instead the very organs of the stricken patient are now being removed and sold off.

The army has already paid a very heavy price, just now in Kargil, and over the last decade in Kashmir. They cannot any longer remain blind to matters and continue to be sacrificial lambs at the altar of expediency of their political masters.

Satyameva jayate, truth is ever victorious, is our national motto. Only the armed forces can give this a chance to be realised. They must act, for the nation, for truth, for honesty, for justice, for peace, for decency, for dignity, for hope. In Kargil, they have shown that they are the finest mother's son's of this land. They have done their people proud and won the hearts of their countrymen. But now they need to display even greater valour. Kargil has shown that they can.

Parliament and state assemblies should be suspended. All political parties will be barred from any political activities. A national government should be set up under the supervision of the martial law administration, comprising of respected and capable civic leaders and people of practical experience, and a similar arrangement made at the state levels. The national and state governments would be helped by the martial law administration to work in the national interest, and they would be engaged first and foremost in working to effect a thorough change in the system of governance and elections. At an appropriate juncture, with the system reform in place, the armed forces can retreat from its direct engagement in civilian matters.

I say this as an Indian, as someone who deeply loves this country and all that it symbolises and represents, as someone who cherishes peace, justice, democracy, human dignity, and who would like India to become a truly free nation in the 21st century.

I say to the armed forces: you defended the country. You remained at the borders. You toiled, fought and soldiered, died, became crippled, while your masters engorged themselves. And yet you stayed on, at the borders, and defended on. You allowed yourself to be given a bad name by following you masters' dictates. You saw your lofty grandeur being sullied. Now there is nothing left to defend. The enemy is inside and it is your very master. And he rules supreme. The house must be put in order. It has to be re-built. So far you defended valiantly, now you must help re-build the house. You are the only ones left with any real capability for the challenge this entails. All else have fallen, to the enemy within.

But why? Because India is to be supported blindly, simply because its one's country through the accident of birth? No. Satyameva jayate. The truth is ever victorious. Truth cannot be dependent upon the accident of birth. The reason is simply that despite all that was said about this country in the very first paragraph of this piece, India is. Notwithstanding all the suffering and ugliness, in these fifty years, nay, over more than a century now, much of stupendous value has also been conserved, been born anew, nurtured, and begun to bloom in this great but now sad, sullied land. It is for the sake of this blooming that the armed forces - you too among this awesome crop - have to act.

India is home, host and ground to things that have happened, and are happening that can only be celebrated by human society. Excellence, courage, vision, goodness are only some of the qualities that immediately come to mind, which Indians have shown aplenty, in a manner that is uniquely Indian, helping to define, personally, for Indians, what this unique identity means, signifies and impells. All this is something achieved by awakened India (which goes back long before 1947). This is something that is not achieved at anybody else's expense, or to mock anybody, or by cheating anybody. The world can celebrate us and every Indian would be proud to share his immense wealth with the world. We would be happy to have Sachin in any all-time World Cricket XI. Just as we would like to name our own heroes from other playing countries. We would like Dadaji Pandurang Shastri Athavale to heal the whole world with his gentle movement of devotion, love, labour and dignity. Or be inspired by the quiet heroism of the poor peasant who toils and goes to sleep, with an empty stomach but a full heart and a clean conscience.

Any Indian, who knows himself as an Indian, knows what that name connotes: truth, wisdom, spiritual values, religion, genius, brilliance, beauty, aesthetics, art, refinement. India is a pluralist soil enabling a multi-hued bloom made up of a vast array of individually strong, healthy and thriving sprouts, on her way to becoming the most splendid and stupendous forest on earth. Only someone who has personally been exalted by the unique and magnificient geographical, cultural, religious and spiritual richness of India knows the wonder that India is, and India shall be: the world's nursery of the higher life. This is not an empty, chauvinistic, 'patriotic' statement. This is truth that is as ancient as the land itself.

Without doubt, many Pakistanis feel the same way about their nation, seeing their roots in the land, its people, history and culture, discovering in themselves this rich heritage, and being impelled to work for renewal of this heritage. Abdus Salam brought honour to Pakistan, and Indians saw him as one of their own, as they did Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Such Indians and Pakistanis have now to be enabled to play the revitalising role that both countries need so badly. Rivalry between the two nations should be fought out in the playing fields, in hockey, cricket, kabaddi, wrestling. And in fiercely fought mock military operations, that will keep our soldiers fighting fit and on their toes, the finest professional fighting force in the world, whose major role would be in peace-keeping operations around the world.

The positive side of Kargil has been that notwithstanding some base, jingoistic chords, the episode has been a means of national awakening. Patriotism, for too long, meant rooting maniacally for the Indian cricket team, drinking Pepsi, but lacking in any gamesmanship whatsoever. In this context, Kargil has been something unifying. Millions of people, from all walks of life, and especially the young and also children, have personally felt a stirring, a pulling, for their country - something not to be found in the normal course of events. This is not the same phenomenon as the beating of drums and bursting of crackers following the nuclear tests. A simple, innocent vein of goodness has been touched by the soldiers. For too long people have been merely degraded by the happenings around them, seeing their own basest selves mirrored by events and personalities, left with nothing to exalt with a pure love. With Kargil, people have felt uplifted, have found something to embrace, unequivocally, without doubts, vacillating loyalties or ambivalence. Television brought the reality of the war inside their homes, and people wept for the dying soldiers. This has been a cleansing emotional catharsis for them. Howsoever temporary, ephemeral and limited the expression, it has shown that there is something in the hearts of the people that is Indian, that believes in India, thinks of India, and wants to do for India.

That is indeed a blessing in disguise. "Lead me from darkness to light …" says the ancient Upanishadic prayer. We are witnessing the emergence of light in the midst of the present darkness. The same patriotic spirit that must so delight government propagandists does in fact sound the death knell of the rotten order, that shall not spare anybody. Truth shall prevail.

Anuvab Chattopadhyay from Calcutta, not yet ten, writes : Peace is the only way to solve problems. All human beings have one right - the right to live. So we should keep in mind the words of Lord Jesus who said 'Love thy enemy'. I request the concerned higher authorities to please stop the war and ensure peace.

Another nine year old, Amir Suhail from Maithon, writes: please convey my respect to our beloved jawans who are fighting for the security of our motherland. Intruders should not be misguided by the word 'jehad'. Jehad stands for the Islamic war for peace, but not war forever, because Islam itself is the message of peace. I stands for I, S stands for Shall, L stands for Love, A stands for All, M stands for Mankind. Hence Islam stands for I shall love all mankind.

And the mother of Lt Col Vishwanathan, who was killed in Kargil : Those who should be loving each other are slaying each other. Can we still love each other?

That is India. These are the voices of India, that only other like-minded Indians understand. It was the same spirit that was witnessed in Bombay after the terrible bomb blasts in early 1993. Despite the ferocity of the bomb attacks, life in the city was back on rails in a few days. That is why India is and shall be. Indians can, foolishly, make a place in their hearts for another one, irrespective of his name or birth. Without doubt the same can be said for the common people of Pakistan. Let us not raise another generation of children teaching them to hate the enemy. Let our capacity for simple love now be channelised to peace and cooperation in reconstruction, and not be twisted into hatred.

My appeal to the armed forces is this: Save India. This is not a pipe-dream, of a magic solution to all the ills that plague us. This is a practical first step to begin the immense but not yet impossible task of rebuilding the nation. The nation turns its lonely yearning eyes to you.

And do you have a choice? How would you respond to a call for intervention by an irate mob of citizens, holding hostage a panchayat or municipal chairman, or a government official, or a minister for their misdemeanours, which they have had just enough of? How would you respond when people say we just want to get on with our lives but even for the most basic, legitimate needs we are thrown to the wolves? And so where does one turn to for justice?

Or will you be ready to quell uprisings of the people, your own people, perhaps including your own friends and relatives, who have had enough of the appalling rot? The people would never contemplate fighting you, they only want your help in setting things right. For too long have you been hated without reason, now people wish to express their respect.

Or are you prepared to find that those on the payroll of the enemy within are in the front-line, helping to bring in the enemy intruder and ensure rout in subsequent military operations?