An India that is possible

Indian sources tell us that when the 2004 tsunami struck Asia, a number of former US presidents, as well as the incumbent one, visited the Indian embassy to learn about the extent of the damage, their minds were blown away by India’s strategic reach in the ocean.

What more likely happened was that they were taken aback by the ambassador’s insistence on Indian geographic prowess when the purpose of their visit was to express solidarity and offer help in the face of suffering humanity. Pick another moment to brag dear ambassador, they must have thought.

There is something shambolic about the Indian strategic thought. A country that is endowed with remarkable gifts of history, geography, demography and culture ostensibly refuses to give a chance to lateral thinking.

Watch Indian discussions on their channels and you get a pounding headache. Pundits on Indian news channels have a depressingly limited set of talking points. India shines, causes jealousies; Indian neighbours, particularly China and Pakistan are enemies of civilisation; Islam equals terrorism; how can India become a superpower, etcetera etcetera.

It is a warped mindset borne out of a reductionist, power hungry, cruel mindset. But seeks to mould India after its former oppressors and take revenge from history. But a better way forward is possible.

Granted that from Kautilya to JN Dixit you see an unbroken stream of craving for realpolitik. If you ask me India is a victim of its victimhood. It is basically uber revenge politics. Why hate Muslims? Because Muslim marauders came, conquered and ruled India for centuries.

Why try to be a superpower, because in its collective consciousness one such oddity enslaved it for centuries. So, it is the easiest way to get back, isn’t it? But what is the use of history if the only lesson you learn is revenge? India is not asking the right questions. First, why was it so easily conquered by foreigners time and again while its neighbours escaped such fate.

Second, why did its former tormentors decline and disappear. Herein lies the best course of action for the future. But Indian policy circles seem in no mood to exercise their prefrontal cortex. But let us look at the possible answers to see if they lead us to a better future course of action.

India was repeatedly colonised because it is deeply divided. This division should not be confused with diversity. Too many cultures make diversity, too many castes and classes are division. Since Indian society treats lowest cast members with extreme cruelty, it can take the concept of untouchability and isolation to almost an inhuman level and locks India in a state of inequality for perpetuity.

Of course, inequality exists in every society, but in India if you are born in a Shudra or Dalit household, you cannot be treated as an equal even if you acquire a lot of wealth or knowledge. People of other faiths are also treated as unequals.

This perpetually frozen inequality creates resentment and a rebellious streak that was repeatedly exploited by marauders. Corollary to this is the mindset which often dehumanises the fellow human beings. If you want to learn more you need Dr Ambedkar’s books. India cannot realise its true potential till it doesn’t cure itself of this disease.

And why did India’s former oppressors weaken and fade away? Because this is how politics works. One day you are cock of the walk, the next day a feather duster. Power does not stay in one place for long. So what if India becomes a regional or global hegemon for a few decades or a century.

It is an untenable position, open to decay and degeneracy. Then what? Pursuit of power is such an insipid quest quite unbecoming of people who have long been oppressed. And India’s timing is off. When it was the era of mercantilism and imperialism India remained a mark, a sitting duck, a giver.

And now when new great threats subconsciously convince all mortals that the future of the human race is in collective security, India gives in to the imperialist impulses. A better way is possible here. Gandhi’s way.

While India’s realpolitik is hell bent on making a mockery its pacifist heritage (they name their first nuclear detonation the ‘Smiling Buddha’ after all), this pacifist and wise stream of thought exists quite independently on its own. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was not an office-bearer of the Indian National Congress but his influence on the party and the country it created will never dissipate.

Gandhi spent his last days fighting for Pakistan’s rights. It should tell you something about the wise streak in Indian politics and history. Today no other Indian is better recognised around the world than Gandhi.

It is this wise streak that made a wise man from Sikh minority the prime minister of India. India would have even accepted a foreign-born Sonia Gandhi as its Prime Minister if her party had continued to insist.

The world economy has transformed so dramatically that you do not need politics to be rick. So India doesn’t need a colonial mindset. The world politics is changing so swiftly that the idea of polarity will soon become totally redundant. Bigger challenges are coming. India can play a far more central role in fighting them.

And let us look at India’s neighbourhood which was shaped primarily by India’s own reductionist worldview mired in the realpolitik of the Cold War. India’s neighbours are just as fatigued of this toxic environment as India must be.

All elements of power in Pakistan have recently made it abundantly clear that they would be happy to treat India as a partner instead of an enemy and anti-India atmospherics will soon be folded up. But nothing is possible until India shuns archaic pretense of pursuing a moral victory.

It is a common knowledge that what it pursues in essence is a narrow minded political win at the cost of legitimate moral leadership. Stop hating your neighbours, treating them as Dalits and relying overly on politics and you may easily achieve economic integration.

Regions rise together. And a true regional integration is possible when border disputes are resolved. Why conspire to colonise any country when you can win the hearts and minds of the people everywhere? Why make a spectacle of yourself in trying to outsmart others, when you can lead through true wisdom.

India already has a wellspring of ancient wisdom. Sadly the current lot is trying to contaminate it with hate. The incumbents have already manifested that tackling Indian economy and stature is beyond their capacity. But perhaps a better lot can emerge in the next election. If it does it may find the world a much more better place.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 2^nd, 2019.

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