What a turnaround. The first visit by Narendra Modi after becoming Indian Prime Minister was an event especially when we consider that he was listed as a persona non grata after his mayhem as Chief Minister Gujrat. There were some indications that India can be considered a US ally in the region but all that changed in 2021. The views of Biden and Harris about Kashmir are well documented & in the last few years events after scrapping article 370, India’s face got increasingly exposed internationally.
Add to that the constant hammering by the well-versed communicator Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan has eroded Modi’s credibility seriously. The constant refrain of RSS terrorism and Hitler Modi has taken its toll. Modis USA visit was a chastening experience with a decidedly cold reception. But this was a “fait accompli” that was inevitable; this was destined to happen.
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History has a nasty way of repeating itself
Remember an article written by my father in an Islamabad weekly with the title ” sow the wind and reap the whirlwind”. It was written the week after the Indian army entered The Golden Temple at Amritsar. My father had opined that Indira Gandhi had sown the wind by ordering the Indian army to enter Golden Temple and she and her government would reap the whirlwind. It was a matter of time before Indira Gandhi paid the ultimate price of her life. It was written in the stars.
It happened on the 5th of August 2019. India revoked the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir under article 370. It nullified all that previous statement that was given by the Indian leaders such as Nehru and others. It has rejected all policies that India had recognized earlier and contradicted all stances that India had taken before. A complete reversal process was a slap on the face of the United Nations. It made a mockery out of the civilized norms which dictate relations between Nations.
This is as much sowing of the wind as was the attack on the Golden Temple represented. Dishonoring the temple of a proud and brave Nation like the Sikhs sealed the fate of Indira Gandhi and exactly in the same coin the unilateral foolhardy decision to revoke the special status to Kashmir has sealed the fate of India. They have sown the wind and are now waiting to reap the whirlwind.
This is not an abrupt thing, this was a whimsical decision
This has gradually built up to a situation where Pakistan and India have completely reversed roles. In the 80s and 90s, the common perception was that Pakistan has an intolerant society, Pakistan has extremist thoughts Pakistan has the jihadist, Pakistan has the maulvis who preach violence while on the other hand, India has the democratic norms, India has tolerant society India has the secular outlook, India has Gandhi India has Mother Teresa, India never had martial law.
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There was a long list of so many things that were so positive about India and not so positive about Pakistan. The world was waiting with bated breath for Pakistan to elect extremists to power. When MMA came to power in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa then called northwest Frontier Province the world did a collective Ahhhhh and said here we go the beginning of the end. The downward spiraling went on and on and on with the parabola getting bigger and bigger and then inexplicably defying every law of physics everything changed.
The change over with a different incident came in the same year. 2014 election in India was won by Narender Modi. A person who was a declared terrorist in the United State of America, A RSS activist, a person known as Butcher of Gujrat, a person known for instigating the killings of Muslims in Gujrat, a hawk, a warmonger, in short, an extremist or who now we can call a Hindu Taliban. India with its democratic norm and history, India with its claim of secular society, India the largest democracy in the world, India the country of Mahatama Gandhi elected an extremist terrorist as its Prime Minister. Pakistan was supposed to do it but they did not. India did. India changed at that moment.
In Pakistan at the end of 2014 Pakistani Taliban, not popular in the masses but with pockets of support committed a monstrous blunder. The Pakistani Taliban with Indian RAW sponsored backing attacked Army Public School Peshawar. TTP gunmen hunted down and martyred in the cold more than 150 school students. It was a monstrous epic tragedy. It stunned the nation into a tragic stupor & somehow the moment of truth dawned on them. It also clarified the actual face of the Pakistani Taliban being foreign-sponsored hired guns. Pakistan changed at that moment.
Pakistan changed its course of history. The armed forces rooted out terrorism from Pakistan. Took back all the territories conceded to them. The Pakistani Taliban lost whatever sympathy or support they had, even the moderate religious parties like Jamaat e Islami lost their traditional voters. Pakistan has never voted for religious parties but they had a small support base but clearly, they lost it. Pakistan had clearly rejected extremism.
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India changed its course of history
Society slowly began to deteriorate. Intolerance took over. Modi with his fear-mongering, Modi with his anti-Pakistan rhetoric, Modi with his Hitler-like tendency & attitude, Modi with his ideology, Modi with his anti-Muslim thoughts, Modi with his extremist outlook, Modi with his imperialistic agenda created a new society in India. An intolerant India and India where Muslims are lynched, an India which is no longer even on the surface secular.
In India where no minority population is safe. An India whose territorial ambition can be seen by everyone. The revoking of special status for Kashmir has clearly drawn the lines. It has unmasked Adolf Hitler Modi at his ugliest. It has made the agenda crystal clear for everyone. Further mistakes and blunders since then have exposed Modi further. The attempt to throw Muslim settlers out of states verified the extremism of Modis thought.
Narender Modi is the Gorbachev of India. He has sown the seeds of the breaking of India. This is no longer about Kashmir only. It’s about Khalistan, it’s about Nagaland, it’s about Laddakh, It’s about Assam, it’s about Tamil Nadu it’s about all the states of India which have made the disparate states forming India.
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The world must understand & recall how they spent years trying to appease Adolf Hitler. Hitler could not be appeased and neither can be Modi. The debuted Modi & RSS ideologies of BJP are there for everyone to see. Most heartening is that the world can see them now that’s what the recent events indicate.
The author has worked for Unilever for 25 years. He is a professional translator/interpreter of five languages and is also a certified computer trainer. He is currently living in Virginia, USA. The views expressed in the article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Global Village Space.