Be Indian, or oppose deal

[Guest guest]

Be Indian, or oppose deal

Swapan Dasgupta

The Pioneer

March 5, 2006

 

In 1949, when Sardar Vallabbhai Patel was asked by someone to react

to the

turmoil in Indonesia, he is reported to have retorted: "Ah, Indonesia. Yes,

Indonesia. Just ask Jawaharlal." The story may well be apocryphal but it

does

suggest that hard-nosed, pragmatic politicians are only too aware that

barring

times of war, foreign policy rarely intrudes into the domestic discourse of

democracies. As some of the BJP's more obtuse strategists discovered

in May

2004, people don't change their voting preferences because Atal Bihari

Vajpayee

hugged General Pervez Musharraf.

 

History may provide some comfort to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

who, having

successfully negotiated a very fair nuclear deal with the visiting US

President, suddenly finds himself buffeted by the visceral anti-

Americanism of

many of his colleagues in the Congress and, of course, the

Communists. That the

Communists would oppose any initiative that runs counter to China's

hegemonic

designs on Asia is well known. In 1999, Indian Communists, after 22

years,

realigned with the Congress. China's hysterical response to the Pokhran-

II

blasts served as the catalyst of rapprochement.

 

Yet, it is not the Communist opposition that worries the Government in

the

context of the Bush visit. That opposition is a Pavlovian response and

lacks

both credibility and the numbers. It was, for example, patently

disingenuous of

the CPI and CPI(M) to suddenly be concerned about the US

emasculating India's

nuclear arsenal. Many of us remember that in 1998, the Communist

parties were

protesting the NDA Government's nuclear policy. Their fellow travellers

were

teaming up with cash-rich American non-proliferation bodies to

denounce India's

nukes in international circles. These intellectual mercenaries were very

much in

evidence over the past week.

 

What has alarmed the Government and the Congress is the evidence of

massive

Muslim mobilisation against the Bush visit. Whether in the metros or the

district towns, the opposition to Bush and Indo-US strategic initiatives

was

almost entirely Islamist. The mobilisation was effected through the

network of

theological seminaries. Those who carried placards comparing Bush to

various

four-legged animals and proclaiming their willingness to become suicide

bombers

for the faith even replicated the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban in dress.

 

It is important to note that the concerns of demonstrators were pan-

Islamic and

centred totally on happenings in West Asia. Indian Muslims were

instigated to

view India's foreign policy through the prism of their faith. More

ominously,

the Government was threatened with political retribution if the Islamist

hatred

for America was disregarded.

 

The whole country must unite against this communal blackmail. The

defence and

foreign policy of India has to be based on national interest, not sectarian

considerations. Indians may not like what is being done to Iraq but which

should get priority - India or pan-Islamism? In 1919, Mahatma Gandhi

courted

the pan-Islamic Khilafat Movement for short-term gains. India was the

long-term

loser.

 

All Indian nationalists, whether they happen to be supporters of the

Congress or

the BJP, must compliment the Prime Minister for so far disregarding

these

friends of terrorists and doing what is in national interest. The opposition

has a right to carp about the political management of nuclear talks but it

should have no reason to complain about the outcome of the

negotiations.

Indeed, with the Indo-US agreement, the UPA and NDA have

successfully

established the continuity of India's nuclear policy.

 

Today, there is a broad nationalist consensus on the terms of Indo-US

strategic

engagement. Regardless of their other differences, all nationalist parties

must

now act in tandem to ensure that the necessary modifications in

American law are

speedily effected so that India gets international recognition as a nuclear

power. This necessitates a mobilisation of the Indian diaspora and the

active

involvement of political parties, corporates and religious and community

groups. On this issue, there is no scope for partisan politics. You are

either

with India or with the unholy alliance of Green and Reds.