The evolution of India’s foreign policy – Part V

The return of Indira Gandhi in many ways was a curse on India. She did learn a lot during her less than three years in wilderness but mostly the wrong things. She introduced convicted criminals into the Indian politics and India is still paying a heavy price for that. She nurtured and financed LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam), the militant group in Sri Lanka that eventually killed her own son Rajiv Gandhi. LTTE has destroyed the economy and the quality of life of the people of Sri Lanka, thanks to Mrs Gandhi. She created a devil in the name of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale to destroy the Akali Dal in Punjab, instead, she wrote her own death warrant. Unlike her father, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, she was a very violent person. As long as she remained on the scene, India suffered internationally and remained an irrelevant third world country. That is why her legacy has become a shameful chapter in India’s story!

Indira Gandhi was assassinated on October 31, 1984 by her own Sikh bodyguards at the Prime Minister’s residence. Her son and heir apparent, Rajiv Gandhi took over as the next Prime Minister of India. When Indira Gandhi returned to power in 1980, President Jimmy Carter was on his way out and Ronald Reagan was coming in as the new President of the United States. Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in December 1979 but Indira Gandhi refused to condemn the brutal invasion. Despite such posturing she went out of her way to improve relations with the Reagan administration. This desire was not grounded in some national interest but a cheap stunt to send a message to the Soviet Union. When Indira Gandhi was out of power during the Janata Party rule, she was snubbed by her long-term allies the Soviet Union. This outreach to America was partly driven by that slight. Mrs Gandhi rarely forgot an insult! Reagan administration was initially cold to the whole idea.

Rajiv Gandhi appeared on the Indian political scene with a lot of sympathy and anticipation. He was young, handsome and was perceived as a clean and reluctant politician. Rajiv Gandhi led the Congress Party to the biggest electoral victory in India’s parliamentary history. The Congress party won 411 seats out of 542. He had the mandate to change the Constitution of India if he wanted. He wasted the rare mandate on trivial matters. Rajiv Gandhi was received with great enthusiasm around the world but actually achieved nothing of consequence during his troubled tenure. By and large he continued with the foreign policy he inherited from his mother but the world was changing around him. Rajiv Gandhi tried very hard to improve relations with the US, he maintained the old alliance with the Soviet Union, he tried everything to improve relations with Pakistan but with little success and most importantly he visited China as the second Prime minister to do so after his grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru.

In mid-1987, the Bofors scandal broke Rajiv’s honest, corruption-free image and resulted in a major defeat for his party in the 1989 elections. Vishwanath Pratap Singh, his former finance minister and later defense minister led the charge against Rajiv Gandhi and managed to defeat him in the general elections. Rajiv Gandhi left behind a foreign policy legacy not much different from his mother’s as he also kept the external affairs portfolio with himself. Four times he changed his foreign minister in a span of just 5 years. His did manage to make some changes in India’s relationship with China as he was much tougher than his predecessors. As far as America was concerned he could do very little despite a good chemistry with President Ronald Reagan. The reason for this strained Indo-US relationship is the presence of a large number of Pakistan sympathizers in the United States Department of Defense as well as in the US Department of State. Similarly Indian ministries are full of bureaucrats who are in the erstwhile Soviet Union camp.

Indian Muslims are also Hindus…

Before we get into this provocative debate, we need to define a Hindu and Hinduism. When some one in America asked me if I was a Hindu, my answer was “Since I am definitely not a Muslim or a Christian, I must be a Hindu”. This was a question asked by a black girl in my class in 1982. She was in the process of converting to Islam. My detailed answer to her question made her rethink her decision but I did not pursue the topic and Ann Vivian converted to Islam within a few months. Akbar defined Hinduism as a nationality whereas Gandhi described it as a philosophy. It was Pandit Nehru who inadvertently divided the Indian Civilization into Hindu-Muslim-Sikh and Christian religions. Nobody since has challenged his misguided interpretation!

What is Hinduism? Is it a nationality, a philosophy or a religion? If Hinduism is a religion then what exactly is their faith? Who do they pray to, what is acceptable and what is prohibited in Hinduism? Who sets the rule for Hindus? Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh are considered to be the ‘Trimurti’ of Hinduism but do people in South identify with them the way people in North do? Arya Samajis do not pray to any deity instead they perform ‘Havans’. Does it mean they are not Hindus? People in West Bengal worship Durga and Kali and many other deities, are they not the real Hindus? Guru Nanak was a Hindu Khatri, do his followers stop being Hindus? Sindhis pray to ‘Jhulelal’, are they not Hindu enough? Marathis pray to Ganapati and Shiva is the god for people in Kashmir, Himachal and Uttarakhand. Who is a genuine Hindu and why?

Sixty percent of the population in India does not really pray regularly. Muslims by and large do perform Namaz every day but celebrate all Hindu festivals with equal aplomb. They are gainfully employed during the so called Hindu ceremonies. Christians do not attend church every day but again celebrate all Indian celebrations, Diwali as well as Christmas. Sikhs are even less distinguishable. It is only the die-hard zealots who are eager to separate each other and make hateful and hurtful comments. What Varun Gandhi said was deplorable so were the comments from Syed Ali Geelani or Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Anybody making any excuses for anyone of these bigots is neither a Hindu nor an Indian. We the people need to purge all of them now!