Of Matters Military: Nationalism and the Enemy Within

By Mrinal Suman

The issue of nationalism and anti-nationalism has always been the subject of intense debate. To deride their own country and culture has become the hallmark of India’s intelligentsia. Why does India breed so many traitors? Is treachery a part of our DNA? An attempt has also been made to analyse reasons for our disunity, caste-ridden elections and degradation of the national institutions.
Pakistan was born on anti-India plank and shedding of anti-India posture would amount to questioning the very logic of its creation. After tracing its saga of treachery, the book recommends that balkanization is the only cure for cancer-afflicted Pakistan. Advocates of cultural and cricketing ties with Pakistan are belittling the sacrifices of those battling militancy. It asserts that the demilitarisation of Siachen is a seditious proposition.
The book exposes the true agenda of unscrupulous pseudo-intelligentsia that resorts to highly slanderous campaigns to spawn dissensions and tarnish the image of the country. Finally, the book exposes the Non-Functional Upgradation to be a bureaucratic scam of gargantuan proportions.

• Language: English
• Publisher: VIJ Books (India) Pty Ltd
• Release date: Feb 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9789390439416

Mrinal Suman

Major General Mrinal Suman, AVSM, VSM, PhD, is a highly qualified and experienced officer. He commanded an Engineer Regiment in the most hostile battlefield in the world, Siachen Glacier. He was the Task Force Commander at Pokharan and was responsible for designing and sinking the shaft for the nuclear tests. For that, he was decorated by the President of India. He is India’s foremost expert on myriad aspects of India’s defence procurement regime and offsets. He is regularly invited to address various Indian chambers, associations and foreign industrial delegations. He is a prolific writer and has published more than 550 papers in different journals and newspapers; many have been translated into foreign languages. His views command immense respect. This is General Suman’s fifth book. His earlier books deal with issues confronting the Indian armed forces; reasons for the tardy procurement process; controversies afflicting major defence contracts concluded in the recent past; and reasons for growing anti-nationalism and dissensions in India.

Book preview

Part - 1

The Challenges

Of Nationalism & Anti-nationalism

If India has been ruled by foreign powers for centuries, our penchant for according primacy to personal interests over national concerns has been a key contributory factor. India has been adept at spawning throngs of people who can stoop down to despicable levels of anti-nationalism for their petty gains. They encourage disruptive forces and revel in India’s discomfiture at every juncture. Even today, fading political leaders, pseudo-intellectuals and presstitutes get rewarded handsomely for their perfidious acts by the forces inimical to Indian interests.

The issue of nationalism and anti-nationalism has been the subject of intense debate for a number of years. In fact, every occurrence, act, statement and viewpoint is subjected to similar typecasting (national or anti-national), thereby generating questions about the very concept of nationalism. A significant section of Indian media and intelligentsia considers Indian nationhood to be a nebulous proposition. For them, freedom of speech/ action is of far more import and criticality. Therefore, they give precedence to perceived individual freedom over the national interests.

The question arises as to what is nationalism and how does an act/activity qualify to be termed anti-national. Notwithstanding multiple definitions given by politico-social scientists, nationalism in its simplest form means – ‘an unflinching belief that the interests of one’s nation-state are supreme and take precedence over everything else’. Conversely, anti-nationalism denotes attitudes and acts associated with an opposition to nationalism. Anti-nationalism flows from an attitude of repugnance for the concept of nation states, thereby assigning overriding primacy to individual rights over all other considerations.

Coming to anti-nationalism, its gamut is vast. On one end, there are overt acts of violence to include social unrest, agitations, terrorism, insurrection and insurgency. Covert activities occupy the other end of the spectrum and include far more seditious subterfuges that cause social disharmony, generate dissensions amongst the people, make citizens lose confidence in the governing regime and defame the country internationally. Being dreadfully lethal, they have the potential of causing severe damage to the soul and body of a nation-state.

Anti-nationalism has two key imperatives. One, it does not exist in innocence but contains malicious intent and ulterior motives, albeit camouflaged under high sounding ideological phrases. Two, anti-national acts are carried out by the perpetrators in full knowledge of the ensuing detrimental impact on national interests.

Judging against the above two criteria, Hamid Ansari’s last interview as the Vice-President of India certainly qualifies for the tag of anti-nationalism. After having enjoyed all the perks and privileges of office for ten years (including three years under the Modi government), his conscience troubled him only on the last day in office. His assertion that India’s Muslims were living with a ‘feeling of unease’ and ‘a sense of insecurity is creeping in among them’ was certainly malevolent in intent and designed to damage India’s secular image.

Undoubtedly, facilitation of illegal immigrants from Bangla Desh has been the gravest anti-national mischief in Independent India. To create a loyal vote bank, the then ruling party passed ‘Illegal Migrants – Determination by Tribunals (IMDT) Act of 1984 for Assam’. It shifted the onus of proving illegal status of a suspected immigrant to the accuser, which was virtually impossible. As a result, immense damage has been done to the demography of Assam. Nearly 30 Islamic groups are thriving in the area to further their Islamist and Pan-Bangladesh agenda.

Perhaps, India is the only country that has an ignominious track record of producing Home Ministers who readily shamed the country to please their master. One concocted the theory of saffron terrorism while the second one declared a terrorist to be innocent in an affidavit to the court to ensnare the opposition leaders in a false case. Linking of the Samjhauta Express blasts to a Hindu group was an act of gross perfidy. For, most initial reports had suggested involvement of the Islamic groups Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed. In the process, they provided anti-India ammunition to the hostile foreign media. Similarly, terming of Batla House encounter that led to the death of two terrorists and one police officer to be stage-managed made Pak media ecstatic. It keeps mocking India to date.

Some of our leaders of suspect loyalties, predisposed intelligentsia and presstitutes display compassion for the stone pelters who abet terrorism but never shed a tear for the hapless soldiers and policemen braving them. Use of young boys and women as human shield to thwart anti-terrorist operations is acceptable to them but not the ingenuity of an officer to ensure safe passage through hostile mobs. A section of the intelligentsia has been demanding that Jammu and Kashmir be allowed to separate from India if it wishes to do so.

The self-proclaimed secular intelligentsia has done maximum damage to India’s prestige and standing. Some of them appear to be fifth-columnists anti-nationals masquerading as progressive intellectuals. It can be said with certainty that the well-orchestrated campaign of intolerance was totally malicious in intent. The sole objective was to stall all progressive reforms by tarnishing the image of the government.

Seditious acts and utterances that bring disgrace and disrepute to the country are always anti-national in intent. When a political leader declares ‘it’s safer to be a cow than to be a Muslim in India today’, he puts the whole country to shame. The world media flashes such headlines with sinister pleasure. Many social-media activists indulge in spreading negativity in the environment. Their sole pursuit is to search out and propagate any news or article that is critical of the regime, howsoever innocuous or ill-informed it may be. For them, India is a cheerless country with no hope. They see darkness all around and spread pessimism.

As stated above, the concept of nationalism is based on the premise that national interests are supreme and allegiance to them is absolute. Opposition to the government policies, criticism of its performance and differences with the majority view cannot be termed as anti-national activities. In fact, they are essential for the survival of democracy in India. Freedom of speech falls under the same convention. The concept of ‘good faith’ being the sole measure.

Finally, if India has to survive and flourish as a nation; anti-nationalism has to be dealt with ruthlessly. Anyone promoting hatred between communities or undertaking divisive actions should be punished for anti-national activities (or even treason/sedition), as internal dissensions are the start point of all civil strife. Similarly, any act or statement that harms national interests should be viewed as anti-nationalism and censured accordingly. Human rights and personal freedom cannot be allowed to be misused to pose a threat to the national wellbeing.

Why Blame the British for our Disunity?

While studying Indian history in school days, one was repeatedly told that the British resorted to ‘divide and rule’ policy to gain control over India. The tone and tenor of such a description painted the British as unscrupulous schemers who exploited the simple, trusting and gullible Indians. As a young student one accepted the above statement at its face value without any questions and grew up in the belief that we Indians are a highly united lot and our subjugation was due to devious tricks and policies of the British.

At a later stage, one started wondering why Indians let themselves be divided by outsiders and why they could not foresee the result of their disunity. Sadly, the truth is that our approach, attitude and practices have always been directed towards remaining disunited. Caste system divided the society in distinct segments. Presence of multiple religions, sects and sub-sects in the sub-continent prevented social cohesion. The much touted Swayamwar (selection of spouse by a princess in an open forum) is indicative of this deficiency and our total disregard for forging unity. Whereas matrimony amongst the royals in Europe has always been an instrument of forging strategic alliances, Swayamwar invariably created more enemies than friends. All rejected princes and kings felt insulted, nursed a grudge and waited for an opportunity to take revenge to redeem their self-esteem. History bears testimony to the fact that every Swayamwar was followed by acrimony and internecine wars.

Reverting back to the role of the British, they never divided us to rule. They did not need to do so. We have always been and continue to be a divided lot. Formation of states on linguistic basis was never attempted by the British. Mandal Commission was not constituted or implemented by them. The agitation in Maharashtra against Bihari population was not initiated by the East India Company. Caste based reservations and quota system, the prime splitter of the Indian body politic, were not invented by the erstwhile rulers. Nor are the British preventing us from enacting a uniform civil code. The list is endless. We have a knack and penchant for generating innovative issues to divide ourselves. We are doing our best to ensure that we remain embroiled in petty bickering and internal dissensions. To us, our region, religion, caste and sub-caste are more important. Worse, we flaunt this narrow identity and give it precedence over nationalism. If after seven decades of independence, Kashmir and the North East are still not emotionally integrated with the country, the failure is ours.

Undoubtedly, the politicians are the fountainhead of all fissiparous tendencies. One does not have to be a visionary to predict the danger of abetting illegal migration from Bangladesh for garnering votes. North Indians in Mumbai are not welcome but illegal Bangladeshis can stay. If political leaders can imperil national security for the sake of power, they can stoop to any level. Sadly, they cannot be expected to change as they believe in the ends and not the means employed. To them, vote bank politics preclude letting their countrymen stay united. Additionally, spineless and politicized bureaucracy simply does their bidding.

Immense damage is also being inflicted on the unity of the country by the media through its irresponsible and thoughtless reporting. For the sake of cheap sensational news, petty vandals are given the coverage befitting a mass leader. Every news item is reported with a religious, caste or creed slant – ‘a dalit girl molested in a Delhi bus’ (as if other women are not molested in Delhi buses) or ‘church guard killed’ (in reality an argument between two security guards had turned violent) or ‘muslim driver runs over a boy’ (his being a muslim is of no relevance). It is obnoxious to see articles spelling out proportions of different castes in a constituency and predicting victory of the candidate from the majority caste, thus promoting caste based politics; under the impressive taxonomy of ‘social engineering’.

The Way Ahead

If India continues to exist as a nation, credit is due to three institutions – the armed forces, the higher judiciary and the Election Commission. They are also the only hope.

As regards the armed forces, the nation owes its security, both external and internal, to its apolitical nature and nationalism. It is a symbol of national integration and a repository of the best human values. It is an island of discipline and orderly behaviour in a sea of chaos and anarchy. A foreign observer wondered whether India deserved such a fine organisation. Unfortunately, concerted efforts are being made to demean and demoralize this shield between cohesion and disintegration.

Any excuse is considered good enough to tarnish the image of the armed forces. Sukhna land case has been in the news for all unwarranted reasons.

It has been termed a ‘scam’ despite the fact that neither the land belongs to the army nor any transfer has taken place nor has any money changed hands. The land belongs to a tea estate. In the first place, Sukhna is a military station and no permission was needed from the army for building a school in its neighbourhood. The builder sought army’s concurrence as a matter of abundant caution and in good faith. Yet, a deliberate media campaign was orchestrated to taint hapless senior army Generals as scheming land mafia. But then we are Indians. We do not need external enemies to pull us down. We do that task regularly and with sadistic pleasure.

If an Indian citizen still respects law and believes in its fairness, the credit is entirely due to the independence and pro-activity displayed by the higher judiciary. Having been let down by the Parliament and the executive, people look at the judiciary as their sole hope. Therefore, it must step forward to shoulder additional responsibility, opinion of conservative constitutional experts notwithstanding. First, anyone promoting hatred between communities or undertaking divisive actions should be punished for anti-national activities or even treason/sedition, as internal dissentions are the start point of all unrests. Secondly, cost of all damages caused to public and private property must be recovered from the leaders of the vandalizing mobs with deterrent imprisonments. In case of fatalities, they should be charged with murder. Thirdly, any government found abetting disorder, both through overt support or tacit inaction, should not be allowed to stay in power. Fourthly, a blanket ban should be put on all religious processions and use of loudspeakers in religious places. In a secular country where religion is a highly emotive issue, it is best to shift all religious activities from public domain to private domain.

The Election Commission can play an extremely important role with its constitutional powers. Any party that does not swear by the integrity of the country and equality of all citizens should be banned. Similarly, any party that promotes hatred amongst various segments of Indian society on any grounds whatsoever must be proscribed. Even religion-based parties which disallow followers of other religions as its members should have no place in a secular country. It is the duty of the Election Commission to ensure that political parties are not allowed to play vote bank politics at the cost of national cohesion. All defaulting parties and their leaders must be handed out exemplary punishment, debarred from standing in elections and their political careers sealed.

The British controlled the whole of Indian peninsula with a maximum of 60,000 troops. Today every state has a police force of more than that strength and yet divisive forces are rampant. If India has to survive and prosper as a united nation, it is time corrective action is taken. Let us not force the next generation to rewrite the history books to say that India can remain united only when subjugated by a foreign power or that an independent India is always a divided India.

Inept Leadership let Independent India Down

History is most unforgiving. As historical mistakes cannot be undone, they have complex cascading effect on a nation’s future. Here is a saga of 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 inadequacies of India’s decision-making apparatus and leadership’s incompetence to act with vision.

1.The Kashmir Mess

There can be no better example of shooting in 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.

To start with, 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.

Troops Patrolling in Siachen Glacier Area (Jammu and Kashmir)

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.

2.Ignoring Chinese Threats and Neglect of 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. 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 rusted.

Even though signs of China’s aggressive intentions were clearly discernible for years in advance, 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 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’.

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 boneless Indian foreign policy and shortsighted leadership.

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.

Signing of Simla Agreement

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