The emasculating effect of ahimsa (Part 6)

Our very own "Iron Lady", whom even her political rival, Atal Behari Vajpayee, famously referred to as, "Durga Ma", after the Bangladesh war, had another chance during her 17-year (overall) stint as the prime minister of India. It was rumoured in the corridors of power then in New Delhi that Israel had once sent a secret emissary to India with an irresistible proposal. This was at the height of the Cold War. Israel proposed to launch a joint air strike with India on the nuclear installations of Pakistan. Yes, that's right.

During the Cold War, Pakistan was an ally of the United States, and India enjoyed the unstinted support of the erstwhile USSR. However, Israel was the most important ally of the US and meant much more to the Americans than Pakistan did. Pakistan had its own strategic significance to the US as the bulwark against the spread of Communism and Soviet imperial expansionism. And, when the Soviets took control of Afghanistan and installed their own puppet, President Najibullah, in that high office, Pakistan became a very important ally. In fact, that was when the US started pumping in sophisticated military hardware and millions of dollars into Pakistan.

They claimed it was meant to wage war against Communism for them. It is another matter that all the military and economic aid Pakistan received from the US was invariably used against India. If Mrs. Gandhi really cared about the strategic long-term interests of India, Israel's secret offer would have been more than welcome to her. If India would have undertaken a joint air strike along with Israel on the nuclear installations of Pakistan, the US would have remained neutral since Israel was involved, and the USSR was on India's side any way. Just imagine the opportunity we lost.

It would have pegged back Pakistan's nuclear programme by decades. That country would not have been able to build its nuclear arsenal to present-day levels, totally nullifying India's edge over it in conventional weapons. However, Indira Gandhi turned down the offer without even considering it. She had been blowing the trumpet of India's non-violence before the world all along. She had been strutting across the global stage to reinforce a carefully-crafted image of herself as a responsible world leader. There was no way she was going to undo all that. Good old values of Gandhian ahimsa were at play yet again. India was packaged and presented to the big wide world as the country of Bapu that had won its freedom by non-violent methods.

It was almost as if the onus was on India, then as it is now, to remain non-violent at all times, even in the face of serious provocation. After all, the reputation of the "father of our nation" seemed to be at stake. How could we bring a bad name to Gandhiji who taught us ahimsa? Is it any wonder that the Pakistanis think of us as "banyaon ka mulk"? Is it any wonder that they have the temerity to ask, "woh hamara kya ukhad lenge"?

*** to be continued