It is this Gandhian ahimsa that has influenced state policy in India ever since it gained independence from British rule. When the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir had still not acceeded to either India or Pakistan, Jinnah tried to annex it militarily. Pakistani army regulars dressed as tribesmen raided Kashmir and were knocking on the doors of Srinagar after having captured one-third of the state. When Hari Singh, the king of Jammu and Kashmir, signed the Instrument of Accession with India and merged his state with the Indian Union, Nehru sent the Indian army into Kashmir. But, what the army did was prevent Pakistan from capturing all of Jammu and Kashmir. It did not retrieve from Pakistan what that country had already gained control over by stealth and brute force.
The Indian army was ready to take back Pakistan occupied Kashmir there and then, but Nehru refused them permission. He wanted to flaunt his democratic credentials before the watching world. He did not have the stomach for war. His thinking was clouded by his guru's ahimsa. Nehru's daughter, the Iron Lady of India, the one who was conferred with the Bharat Ratna after the Bangladesh war was not much different, tactically. During the Bangladesh war, when East Pakistan became a separate, sovereign nation, Bangladesh, the Indian army had captured large portions of West Pakistani territory.
After the war ended and India had inflicted a humiliating defeat on Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto flew down to Simla to meet Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He came as the vanquished leader of an enemy country. He had no bargaining chip up his sleeve. Yet, he proved a better negotiator than Mrs. Gandhi. When she asked him to choose between the thousands of Pakistani prisoners of war that India had captured on the one hand and Pakistani territory under Indian control on the other, he chose territory. He knew India would treat the prisoners of war well. Ultimately, it would become a human rights issue. International human rights watchdog agencies would pressurise India into releasing the POWs. And, that is exactly what happened, eventually.
Indira Gandhi could have demanded Pakistan occupied Kashmir as a quid pro quo for Pakistani territory captured by India. She didn't. The wily Bhutto convinced her that anything remotely close to such a prospect would amount to a sellout to India, and he would not have been able to justify it to his own people back home. Our own "iron lady" appeared nervous during the negotiations and relented. She opted for the easy way out. What was at work here? You guessed it. It was good old ahimsa of our beloved Bapu. Is it any surprise that the Pakistanis think of us as "banyaon ka mulk" and defiantly ask, "woh hamara kya ukhad lenge"? I would be surprised, if you are surprised!
*** to be continued
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Hey Cliff.... I am not surprised at all.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the depth at which u have treated this topic. The pages of history which u have ventured into need to be dealt with a fresh approach. One that is different from the view that we are taught in school n college days. You have done exactly that. U have focused on the other perspective of the historical extravaganza that took place during the Partition. I was much relieved to see that I am not the only one who loaths the doctrine of Ahimsa when there is a need of self-defense n the need to prove our might to the world. If our so called great leaders and advocates of ahimsa, had taken some stern steps at that time, today, things wud have been different from what they are. But the fact remains that Pakistanis still think of us as "Baniyas". We will have to somehow prove to them ki "Waqt aane par hum log bahut kuch ukhad sakte hai".....
Thank you, Bips, for your kind and encouraging words. I really appreciate them. I understand how you feel. Our history books tell us everything good about our political leaders. They don't focus much on their faults and follies. That way, we end up making gods out of human beings who have also made mistakes during their lifetime.
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