To feed its delusions of grandeur, India will fight

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Some of the few people I knew as a college student who had read some books outside of the textbooks used to say that the army of Pakistan is deliberately causing the continued enmity with India in order to justify their defence budget. Seemed plausible at the time because for one, it was the first time I had heard of an argument outside of the boring textbooks and two, it just felt good to be rebellious in an intellectual way.

Things, however, are not as simple. Quite honestly, I would love to see the Pakistan Army act recklessly with India because that is the language this Hindutva society understands. And I use the word society because I do not buy into that nonsense where people make the case that it is rather their Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, and his RSS-driven party that subscribe to and practise the extremist ideology. The fact that an overwhelming majority of the Indian people voted for this known terrorist speaks volumes about the mindset of the entire society.

Some analysts are making the case that the days ahead are more dangerous than May 9 and May 10. And I agree with that because when Modi's pilot Abhinandan was captured and given that fantastic tea, Modi went berserk and abrogated article 370, which had granted a special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

This time around, Modi's India has gotten a bloody nose from Pakistan, its ego bruised, its status as a global hegemon thrashed, its image as a reliable and responsible player in the region completely destroyed. India is now acting like a mad dog that has been beaten badly and is now licking its wounds. Modi has every incentive to start a reckless war with Pakistan again in order to regain his lost respect among the general masses.

The Rafale and the S-400, of which India was so proud, were both literally burnt to the ground within a matter of hours, if not minutes. The most interesting thing is that just like Israel was recruited back in the late 60s as the reliable American cop on the beat in the local region, India had been enlisted for the same purpose only with a specific target: China.

It just reminded me of a funny story we liked to tell in childhood. There was a neighbour who had a big and mean dog. The owner fed him with paratha and keema and all kinds of other healthy diet in order to keep the dog mean and strong so that the day when the thieves would come with the intention of robbing the owner in his house, the dog would not only alert him to the presence of hostile company but also fight back.

Eventually, that day did come and the robbers faced off with the mean and large dog. The robbers kicked the dog just once and the dog started running and crying for help from its owner, whom the dog was supposed to buffer from the very robbers. The raison d'etre of the dog and his high maintenance lifestyle was to prevent the thieves from gaining entry into the house where they would finally challenge the owner.

The United States, Europe and Quad member states are in no different position today than the one the owner of the dog found himself in. India was fed and supported so as to groom it to face off with China and help contain that silent superpower, so that China may never be able to rise up to challenge America. Far from challenging China, India got slapped in the face very badly by China's local cop on the beat: Pakistan. In a blink of an eye, India managed to insult not only itself but also the manufacturers of Rafale and S-400.

In just one night, Modi managed to disappoint not only his hypocritical global backers but also his own fellow citizens who were lied to day and night about how they had already defeated Pakistan.