Gurdaspur attack proves Modi can't go soft on Pakistan

The Gurdaspur terror attack has been adequately answered, albeit with the sacrifice of seven Indians, four of them security personnel. The way Punjab Police led from the front and killed the three suspected Pakistani terrorists shouting "All O Akbar" is a matter of pride.

Both the Punjab government and the Modi government at the Centre might pat themselves on the back for having overcome the situation with their heads held high. But can they deny that a major terrorist incident in Punjab after nearly two decades is as much a measure of destructive designs of Pakistan as a warning to the Akalis of all hues, particularly their clergy, that hobnobbing with Separatists in the name of religion has dangerous consequences for both Sikh community and India’s unity and integrity.

The incident comes within weeks two important developments - feeble attempts of the Centre and the moderate Akalis to stop the Ultra-Akalis from eulogising the Sikh Separatists of the 1970s and '80s and the Modi government’s unwarranted cosying up to Pakistan when that nation continues to virtually mock at India on the issues of Dawood Ibrahim and Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi just as it did during the rule of the Congress-led regime at the Centre.

The attack virtually reminds the Akalis of the warning given by revolutionary and Hindutva icon Veer Savarkar in his epic work Hindutva, in 1923. While praising the Sikh Gurus and their contribution he tells the Sikhs that cutting themselves off from the Hindu pantheon would virtually mean cutting the umbilical chord that binds them to the racial life and strength of the land of their origin.

But a bigger message is for Narendra Modi. The attack virtually challenges PM’s Chanakya Niti, a quality that he amply demonstrated on the Northeastern border last month when Indian Army took revenge for the killing of Indian jawans by entering Myanmar border and slaying the militants responsible for it but has lacked in adequately demonstrating while dealing with Pakistan.

Clearly, the Wahabi element that rules Pakistan at the point of gun, despite its inferior numbers, is virtually tearing through the soft Chanakya Niti of the Modi government. Ever since Modi shook hands with Nawaz Sharif on July 12 at Ufa in Russia the provocations from Pakistan have only increased. The situation in Kashmir is worsening since then under a comparatively bigger shadow of terror. In fact this was evident from the very second day after a modest Modi met Sharif and agreed to resume talks.

The nature of these Wahabi element is close to that of the demons described in our Puranas. Once it knows that Modi doesn’t have the kind of toughness and diplomatic skills that was expected of him based on his rule in Gujarat and his rhetorical speeches during the course of his journey to power in Delhi than it has the capacity to make the Modi government look as feeble as Vajpayee government appeared during the attack on Indian Parliament or during the Kandahar hijack – a subject of ridicule.

If one leaves aside a section of the small Left-oriented crowd based in Delhi and few other pockets almost entire country wants Modi to teach Pakistan a lesson for its roguery, so what it is a nuclear power. An average Indian knows the nuances of Chanakya Niti well. And so If Modi’s advisers say that there is no other way to tackle nuclear blackmail except by making cautious, kneejerk responses and downplaying the common countrymen’s demands to get Lakhvi and Dawood back and punishing them for their crimes than it is reading them a wrong lesson in security responses. Chanakya Niti has place for tactical response but none for feeble strategy.

Every time an American drone kills a key militant in Iraq or Afghanian and make him pay for shedding American blood, patriotic Indians lament as to why India can’t come up with such or a similar response to Pakistan’s open war against India through its proxies even after the arrival of a strong nationalist government. How to seek revenge for the blood of your countrymen and restore dignity of your nation is embedded in Indian minds since the US showed the way by killing Osama Bin Laden in 2011. The soon-to-be released Phantom is woven around the same theme – revenge against the attackers of 26/11 Mumbai Taj Hotel attack. The film’s best dialogue is like a poser to Modi himself: "If America can get justice by killing Osama Bin Laden by carrying out a secret operation in Pakistan, why can't India do the same by killing the masterminds of 26/11..."

Clearly, Modi, who has done a very good job of overall governance and cleaning Delhi’s top bureaucracy, has some self-introspection to do on the issue of response to Pakistan? Has he got overawed by the air of Delhi which has time again knocked the toughness out of many a strong leader? Or is it that he stands overawed by the Nehruvian set up still dominant in the foreign ministry? Is his step in disconnecting himself from his old loyalists, who were strong on issues of national interest including security but demanding, proving costly. Does he need to reconnect with them?

Curiously, Modi remains cut off from most of the people who worked closely with him between 2012 Gujarat state Assembly polls and the 2014 Lok Sabha polls under the mistaken impression that he doesn’t have any need for them after coming to Delhi. Many of these are experts on a variety of national issues including internal and external security. But at the same time their are demanding in nationalist sense and prone to calling a spade and spade.

It is said Modi doesn't like questioning people around him, only those who give inputs and execute orders. He has another weakness. He doesn't change his input providers, which allows them to develop their own likes and dislikes over a period of time. This weakness has deprived him of a lot of talent and forced him to make wrong estimates of the right people. He had this shortcoming in his Gujarat tenure too but it remained under the carpet. Now it is getting exposed in Delhi's spotlight.

Didn’t Chanakya say that a good king should have at least some experienced and knowledgeable blunt talkers around him to get the real picture?