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Indians are running scared

The hijacking is over and done with, bar the shouting. All that is left is for the pieces to be picked up. That is, the security forces must now begin all over again to capture the dreaded terrorists who were freed. Then there will be another hijack, more brave statements followed by capitulation, and these enemies of the state will be freed. And the security forces can begin once more. If it were not actually so tragic, this entire story might sound like some sort of a farce, a practical joke.

Yet, is that not what India has been reduced to? A country that must undo the work of its brave jawans and officers who day in and day out risk their lives. So that the words "the unity and integrity of India" actually carry some meaning, rather than just be the hollow rhetoric of our even hollower politicians.

Forgive me if I sound cynical. Many might say that since I did not have a loved one on board the hijacked flight, I am being brave. After all, bravery from an armchair is easy. No one denies that. No one even denies that what the passengers and crew and their relatives outside have gone through is a most harrowing experience and one can only hope it does not happen again. And yes, if I had a loved one on that flight, I too would have wanted the terrorists released so that the passengers are unharmed.

But this is precisely the point. That because the near and dear ones are too affected to actually make a dispassionate judgement of the situation. That is why in any court case, relatives NEVER sit in judgement, the reason why those who make decisions and pass judgement must be uninvolved so that the BEST judgement can be made.

In the latest circumstance, it is anyone's guess that the best judgement was not made. For reasons still unclear, the government caved in when the desperate need of the hour was bravery and to call the hijackers' bluff to kill the passengers, despite the Taleban's warning that it will storm the plane. Either the Taleban or the hijackers are lying, or the Government of India. It is not a case of just three men released in return for 156 passengers and crew but the fact that India has shown itself vulnerable to terrorism. And this in the final analysis is what matters. That the Indians are running scared.

A couple of days after the hijacking occurred, relatives stormed the venue where External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh was holding a press conference. They made two demands: one, why did the government not accede to the then demand of releasing just one terrorist (the demand was later raised); and second, why was the government keeping the relatives in the dark?

On the latter, the relatives were justified. In typical Indian babu style, our bungling bureaucrats and mindless ministers thought silence was golden and the passengers's relatives unimportant. Why should the relatives want to know what's happening? With their callousness associated with our rulers, they did not care for the need of sobbing mothers and wives, until forced to. When will those in Delhi learn that sometimes, a few words are all that is needed to assuage pain and anguish? And why must the rulers always react after being forced to? Why can't they take the initiative?

However, on the second aspect, the relatives were wrong. The example that for Rubaiya Sayeed, five terrorists were released in return for one hostage is a point made, but it is flawed. The Rubaiya kidnapping was the first and experience showed that the repercussions were disastrous. Kashmir went up in flames after the terrorists were released with the militants feeling on top of world. It took 10 years for the flames in Kashmir to become less intense, and till today it simmers and flickers.

If anything, the Rubaiya case was a lesson that we should never forget. Alas, we already have. When the need was to play tough, we caved in. And for all we now know, this could well start another wave of terrorist activity. If V P Singh committed a blunder by succumbing to Rubaiya's kidnapping, the BJP committed a bigger mistake. Because they know what is likely to follow. And yet they gave in.

The fault is not with the government alone but with India's cowardly middle class. The simple fact is that on the hijacked flight were India's middle and upper middle class people -- businessmen, professionals, those who earn and live well. A vast majority were returning from Kathmandu after completing their honeymoon or holidays. Now a holiday or honeymoon in Nepal is affordable by a very small segment of Indians, but unfortunately for India, a rather powerful segment. A section that can put immense pressure on the government, that has access to the media where it openly airs its views, a segment that has the ability to influence policy both overtly and covertly. This middle class got its way, and in the bargain showed that it lacks the guts to fight, to wage a war against the terrorists.

The war against terrorism is not a war that only the Indian armed forces or police forces have to fight. It is a war that involves us all, at different levels. Why should our brave jawans die fighting terrorists if the very same can be freed after some damn hijack. Yesterday it was an Indian Airlines flight, tomorrow it will be a school bus carrying 100 children. Will any of us have the guts then not to accept the demands when the lives of small children is threatened? And if every arrested terrorist or killer is convinced that freedom is just a hijack or kidnapping away, then we are undermining the very strength of our security forces. Why the hell should they die in Kashmir, in Kargil, in Siachen, in the northeast if their blood and sweat is undone by a middle class that does not have the stomach for a fight.

A question worth answering is that of all those on board the ill-fated plane, how many of them actually have their near and dear ones in the armed forces? I did not hear of even one, but maybe someone can correct me. And of course, young armed forces officers were not present on the flight, because on their salaries, they can't afford a vacation or honeymoon in Kathmandu. That the rich can, those people who don't want to die but are more than willing to let others die.

Strangely, these very middle class people were gung ho when India went nuclear, who cheered and clapped and spoke of becoming a superpower. Frankly, if they are scared of 150 deaths, can they tolerate the deaths of 150,000 if an enemy were to drop a nuclear bomb? Forget superpower, can we even remain the regional power? Like typical bullies, these middle class people are happy to cheer the jawans who died in Kargil (after all, these jawans were NOT their relatives) but as far as they are concerned, even one (unfortunate) death amidst them is one too many.

Some have commented that 156 deaths was too high a price to pay, and that anyway the terrorists can be captured again. Strange, but over 10,000 men, women and children (unofficial figure is 25,000) died in the Orissa cyclone, yet our politicians and bureaucrats were busy fighting each other. And the middle class (barring the Oriyas) made their symbolic gestures by donating Rs 100, Rs 500, Rs 1,000, even Rs 5,000. Then the matter is forgotten. We can tolerate 10,000 deaths (more deaths occurred AFTER the cyclone than during) of the very poor and destitute, but run petrified at the thought of 156 plane passengers getting killed (cent per cent, all would not have been killed!).

How can this country survive when its ruling elite and most influential class cares not for the thousands of poor who die in cyclones and through destitution or for the hundreds of jawans who sacrifice their lives, yet cannot face a dozen deaths among their segments? Let us ponder this question. And start worrying.

Historians have often commented that one of the reasons for the Mughal empire's downfall was that in the war against the Marathas, the Mughal army's mansabdars (officers, often nobles and feudal lords) were too scared to take on Marathas. Thus, these nobles usually stayed in their camps at exorbitant costs rather than fight the Maratha army in the hills, giving the latter a free run. Their cowardice and unwillingness to face death, despite having much larger armies, saw the mighty Mughal empire crumble.

Beware, the cowardice of Indians might bring about an encore.

Amberish K Diwanji