“Who is a Soldier?” – Guest post by Amitabh Soni
*** “Who is a Soldier?” by Amitabh Soni ***
In memory of our soldiers, the Late Maj Unnikrishnan (NSG Commando – martyred during Mumbai attacks) and Late Maj Mohit Sharma & his troops (Para Commando – martyred earlier this week in J&K) and hundreds of others. I believe, it is more than a coincidence that I have written this piece today – 23 March 2009 – on the 78th anniversary of the Martyrdom of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru.
“….gave the supreme sacrifice of his life and……” TV commentary on 26th Jan (Republic Day Parade), when the widow of my father’s course mate received a medal on his behalf. I was about 8 years old and I asked my father (then a Major) what it meant ? My father explained to me something, I don’t remember perhaps I never understood what he explained. Though, I understand it now…I understand it bloody well at age 35. To understand it truly we need to understand who is a soldier ?
A soldier is one who is so ready to lay down his life and more than that lay down the happiness, comfort of his family and the future of his children. Upon his death his family, ( in most cases )is pushed into the most miserable conditions, despite all the army welfare/rehab schemes. Specially families of jawans whose wives are not educated enough have no ray of hope which reaches them or their children from any part of the Universe.
Mathematically, a soldier is the difference between the miseries aimed at us and our secure comfortable present + bright assured futures. A soldier is the last strand of hope before disaster befalls us. Imagine our plight if India’s enemies had succeeded militarily (post independence wars – Pakistan Army following Walt Disney’s philosophy (If you can dream it you can achieve it) wanted to dine at Delhi). Being aware of their inability to challenge India, militarily, all our enemies (known and unknown) resort to subversive activities and support every terrorist/separatist movement in India. Even,the most powerful armies in the world are less likely to challenge our defense forces with a full frontal attack. They know that our armies fight to the last bullet, last tank and surely to the last man. (Our soldiers don’t needs air-conditioners in deserts to keep their body temperature down and their morale high….we know that some of the “most powerful” armies do need them ) Our armies act with no hesitation and that sends shivers down our enemies spine and makes them think a hundred times before they act. However, our complacent attitude and ambivalent political “will” does encourage our enemies to enrich their imagination and test it more often. Mumbai attacks are a good example of our ill equipped “will” that dwells in well equipped homes and offices and knows what everybody else besides ourselves needs to do when problems escalate. Whereas the well equipped “will” of our soldiers that operates with ill equipped equipment only best knows, what it can do and does it. When its time to act, we keep going back and forth in our living rooms and at best shoot emails all over the world. However, rarely muster the courage to step out on the street to fight our part of the battle. We all know what we need to do…like Bhagat Singh and his friends in their earlier twenties “knew”. We disguise our fears as reason (always rationalize our inaction ) and courage as madness. We remain confused because we choose to. Feeling frustrated and helpless keep blaming the politicians, bureaucrats etc etc……
Remember if our soldiers were confused and had hesitated during the Mumbai attacks or any other attacks on us, how many more lives would have been lost. Hesitations can last from a fraction of a second to years and centuries. We don’t allow/expect soldiers to hesitate for a second and give ourselves years, perhaps lifetimes to do something about a country that is being torn apart by separatist and terrorist movements.
Usually,a soldier dies because all the battles that different people at different levels need to fight are either not fought properly or worse, not fought at all. In the first place, the need for a soldier to fight arises, when diplomacy fails. Soldiers fight and die more often, when leaders hesitate and turn potential hot pursuits into internal insurgencies (Kashmir, North East and other naxal belts). A soldier is forced to fight longer in internal insurgencies than during a full fledge cross border war. Soldiers die more often when fundamentalist philosophies are not exposed and on the contrary sold and protected in the name of secularism for electoral and political gains. (The UPA govt has been hiding figures of mass immigration in Assam from Bangladesh..How do they afford to do that ? Who allows them to do that ? )
Why does not the soldier involve himself in the act of self preservation like everybody else ? – the politicians,the bureaucrats and the common people, who get away by saying that “we tried our best”. Nobody knows what that means, when we are upwardly mobile and every day India’s enemies seem to be growing stronger. As India bleeds, we plan our next career move, plan a new holiday, new car etc etc. What is our plan for India ? Reading/ watching news, exchanging, forwarding emails, burning candles and screaming politicians are bad ? All this can not be termed as “trying our best”. Why does not a soldier safely fire from his bunker and say I tried my best?
All I intend to say is that we have limited time and resources, we need to divert them towards India. There will never be an ideal balance that we keep striving for. Lip service or cyber activism alone will not help. The western nations that stand tall today are not defended by their soldiers. Infact they don’t even fight their wars on their own soil. Iraq, Afghanisthan are their battle grounds. They take the war to the enemy’s territory. It is common knowledge that, it is the war zone that loses. The US military presence is in more than 100 countries for one or the other reason. They don’t hesitate in launching preemptive strikes either. On the other hand, our army is busy in containing internal insurgencies and now flushing terrorists out of 5 star hotels.
Why cant we fight like soldiers? Fight injustice, crime, corrupt policies and practices with the motivation of a soldier ? Why can’t we forget about our wife/husband and children like a soldier does ? Let us all spread and share the pain and sacrifice. This is that “something” that can drastically bring the change that we all have been waiting for.
We need to be declared traitors if:
- We are young and dont have time, energy or skills to offer unless we have secured jobs ( job security is a perception)
- We are middle aged and can’t offer our expertise or time or money unless we become Chairpersons, Presidents or Secretaries of some big or small organisation.
- We are elderly and can not leave anything (house, money etc ) in our will for any pro-India movement.
( The above does not include people from the underprivileged sections of our society.)
Brothers and Sisters, we are soldiers but we never realized that. It is just that the ones with guns and uniform realized and remembered. Lets us think, act and behave like soldiers. The more we sweat the less will our friends in uniform would bleed. Everything around us needs to change. It needs a herculean effort. Things are going to get worse before they can get better. For the past 10 thousand years we have been faced by the most challenging situations and we have stood firmly against them because we always had a soldiers “will”. Let us bring it back from within ourselves…it exists deep within us….we could not have survivved for 10 thousand years beacuse we were non-violent or “peace” was our weapon. The fact is, we struggled and braved all attempts to relinquish our honour. Feel the surge of energy that is rising within all of us …I can see it…can you not feel it…. ?
*** End ***
Amitabh Soni is the Jt. Gen. Secretary of the “Overseas Friends of BJP†in UK. He is 35 and came to UK about five years back, under a planned strategy to study different British institutions. He intends to go back to India when his objectives have been achieved. He can be reached at amitabhsoni AT gmail.com
Related Posts:
A tribute to Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma
Antony’s absence at Manekshaw’s funeral fits a pattern
An Open Letter to Mr. Unnikrishnan
â€Let’s salute a real “Heroâ€
Of Stars and Martyrs, Munnabhai vs. Manish Pitambare
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Amazing post.
Who is a soldier ?
One who fights for upholding righteousness.
Who knows what is righteousness?
One who knows Brahma
Who supplies the means ?
One who generates wealth
Who produces the means ?
One who perseveres in the field and in the shop floor.
As individuals and collectively as a nation we need to realise and nurture within us each of the qualities of the varna system of our own ancient culture in order to realize our potential as individual human beings and as a nation state.
Thank you
More about the conclusion of comment no 1 is posted at this page at comment no 21 and 22-
https://satyameva-jayate.org/2009/03/24/caste-system-discrimination-2/#comment-26910
Thanks Incognito! for your comments and the link… very informative indeed.
Amitabh, thanks for this post. I will be back with some points.
Dear Amitabh,
Thanks for your post, and for your call for action and sacrifice like a good soldier. I agree – we all need to do what we can, and perhaps much more than what we are doing at the moment.
Different scenarios and situations require different strategic solutions. Sometimes peaceful non-violent resistance can be more effective, but may require greater courage than laying one’s life. Sometimes it may not be as effective or feasible.
I join you in saluting the true soldiers, who courageously work for a better life for all humanity !
well i am really proud of my cousin major mohit sharma for what he has done for the country…
and i salute him and all those brave martyrs who have given such ultimate sacrifice for the country..
*** COMMENT EDITED ***
My salutations to our brave Indian soldiers who are sacrificing their precious lives by fighting the Islamic terrorists.
*** NOTE by MODERATOR ***
Pl. stick to the topic at hand.
Dipinder
Thanks for your comments. My humble submission is whatever path or strategy we choose we need to re consider our definition & parameters of “doing our best”.
Also that, when I state , “we could not have survivved for 10 thousand years beacuse we were non-violent or “peace†was our weapon.” ; I am trying to imply that let us not forget the Jat, Sikh & Maratha resistance against the barbaric invaders. It was a strategy & resistance equally effective as Gandhi ji’s. I have high regards for Gandhi and his ideals but not for the hard selling & overdose that was given to me in my school / college syllabus to drill down “peace & non violence” as the “only answer ” to all socio-political problems (national & international). There were clear attempts to hard code these ideals into our psyche . To a great extent they were successful with most of the pupil . Though not successful in the true sense but modifying their natural responses to distorted behaviours. I have endevoured to explain this in detail below ( The content below is not directed towards you as I know you personally & your motivations are higher & purer than the people & culture that has evolved since our political independence. However, the questions you have raised are FAQs, & I take this is an opportunity to answer them )
Perhaps, Nelson Mandella & Martin Luther King were smarter than most Indians. They were truly inspired to organise a proactive , peaceful resistance. However, we over the past couple of generations misconstrued non violence as ” non action “. The word “non” in the first place is negative. Sends the wrong signal to the unconscious mind. (Those who have studied linguistics would understand well) Many of my friends despised my association with the RSS because they (my friends) chose the path of non violence, which essentially meant being a bystander. They never initiated anything except for organising night out parties and their social activism was limited to bad mouthiing the system. They were and are still bystanders. Yes, a bystander is non violent. Thats how most Indians rationalize their treachery. It is convenient, helps you attain a moral high ground & keeps you guilt free to indulge in all kinds of selfish pursuits. Hence, you are allowed to be selfish as long as you are not murdering someone. Why would anybody do that anyway but people select certain frames of reference to feel “holier than though”. Eg: ” I evade taxes but I am not killing anyone ” … ” 1 lac farmers have committed suicide over the last ten years, I feel bad but I did not cause it . I dont cause any deaths, I am vegetarian. I am so great & I am doing my bit i.e. being responsible towards my family “. The ideal of non violence & socialism have eaten into the vitals of our society. Non violence translated into non action (socio- political) . Socialism further justified non action by sending a message that the government would take care of everything, you keep doing your bit. To peoples subconscious mind, as a result of their direct action, any physical or emotional pain inflicted upon (1) enemies/opponents, (2) own family (3) the self , is violence. I believe, any violent or non violent activism is bound to result in at least either of the three. People also know that, hence don’t move a finger & don’t cause anybody any harm.
Where are the non violent Gandhians today ? where is the struggle ? where is the non violent chain that is supposed to stand on our borders & allow the illegal Bangladeshi immigrants to walk & trample over their heads ? Where are the Gandhians who should have volunteered to walk into Taj & Trident hotels to negotiate peace with the terrorists. No other life except for their own would have been at stake. It would have been worth a try. Where are the Gandhians who should be operating schools & hospitals our rural & tribal areas ? Where are they when when natural disasters strike. I only see the army & RSS working shoulder to shoulder. Why has not the education system which actually does everything to drill down Gandhian ideals into young impressionable minds not succeeded ? On the contrary it has created an apathy, an aversion in young impressionable minds towards participating in any kind of socio-political movements. It has made opportunists, bystanders, drifters & victims out of them.
Again, I am not preaching violence. However, I want all of us to send a clear message to India’s enemies that they should be ready to face a series of ruthless crackdowns -both diplomatic & military, which ever is appropriate. We as civilians would not resort to violence but at the same time do not expect our ordinance factories to produce butter & jam (hint hint ). Neither do we want our armies to become missionaries of charity & peace as during Ashok’s period. How many wars have we fought and are still fighting since Ashoka’s period ? Ashoka’s experiment failed terribly & miserably and we are paying the price right till this day. We do not want any more experiments with truth or anything else. Thank you very much. We want a firm leadership with clear policies to ensure a strong powerful resurgent India. Believe me that leadership will emerge amongst us (the process has started)
I do like the ” idea of non violence ” and I agree that it serves as a better solution in different situations but my argument is, non violence has become our spinal reflex and habit. ( Remember PM Monmohan Singh’s uninspiring & robotic speech following Mumbai attacks ?) We as individuals, groups and as nations have habits. Let us not allow non violence to remain a habit or a sub culture. We need to get rid of the unhealthy & unnatural bumps & grooves that have been created in our individual & collective minds over the past few decades (in some sense centuries)
However, I will not mince my words – Do not send a message to the world that India is the land of Gandhi – peace & non violence. (Father of the nation ) It is a shame that, today the entire world identifies India with just one great soul i.e. Gandhi. (I am sure Gandhi ji did not want that). In our history we have a long chain of saints, reformers,kings & warriors to whom we all owe our identity & existence. We can not be selective about historical facts & it is not a good idea to publicly & internationally project one great leader over & above the rest. Also that, unfortunately,behind our ideals of peace & non violence, the world today also sees & perceives us as timid, shy and meek. “Non -Violence” as a philosophy may be great but as an approach is a disclosure of our strategy. It creates a perception that ( though may not be the reality), we (including our military ) would never resort to violence or violence would be our very last resort. ” You are Gandhi’s people, how can you be so assertive ?” China does not send that message. It comes across as unpredictable & tough . Anything that is predictable can be managed. “Softness” & “China” can not be perceived or equated together. Once former Foreign Secretary AP Venkatsewaran had remarked that it is the element of “fear” that plays a desicisive role in international politics. These are the harsh realities that we can not undermine .
It is we, who decide how the outside world treats us. It is we (not our defence forces) who allowed the recent series of bomb attacks on India. We allowed minorities to be raped & kicked out of Kashmir, we allowed all the separatist movements in North East and naxal movements to dwell & swell in different parts of the country. The scale & degree of the problems is huge & mammoth. Very very complex as well. Part time, half baked activism or ” will ” or an ad-hoc strategy is not going to achieve anything. Anybody into all this is surely much better than most people who want to do nothing about anything but at the end of the day an ad hoc “will” or strategy is to satisfy ourselves.It gives us a “sense of doing” not “done” . Changing / reforming a nation India’s size & history demands a very high price. It is a battle of “wills”. We shall triumph if our will is superior. Therefore, I say we need a soldier’s will.
Remember, the meaning of our communication is the response we get……Since independence, about 60 thousand people have been killed in internal insurgencies alone. Change the communication, change the response.
*** COMMENT EDITED ***
“Sometimes peaceful non-violent resistance can be more effective”
Not really as its been tried again and again and has failed.The peace icons from Gandhi to Martin Luther King themselves died in violent deaths so what did that prove.If America dominates the world today its because of have the most powerful military on the planet and not because of being mr nice guys helping to cross a few grannies across the road. You can only keep peace from a position of strength and not what is perceived as weakness.
…
The Indian soldiers and other securities forces are probably the bravest of the bravest but don’t get the respect they deserve by the Indian political establishment which think that the Indian soldier is there to lay down his life for failed Indian policies in security of the nation. A drastic change is needed and the Indian pseudo secular state needs to be reformed into a more powerful state that respects its ancient heritage which will make the Indian psyche more stronger for a start instead of Bollywood humping around trees mentality that has made the average Indian into a peace loving soppy and helpless individual in face of adversity ..
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Hello Amitabh,
It is very inspirational post. I would also like to add that schools can play very important role by instilling sense of pride, sacrifice, patriotism and feeling of oneness from childhood. There are no such events so far I have seen in schools in India where army personnels visits and tells them stories of war, border security and how they survive the harsh conditions. I am taking this clues from the country and school where my kid attends. My kid knows so much about his country through such activities carried out on ‘Memorial Day’ and ‘ Rememberence Day’ in his school every year withou fail. They even write a letters since class 1 to members of the defense and retired cadet who took part in war, leting them know how important their role is and thanking them for their sacrifices. It will boost the courage of both side.
Adult and Young mind is like ripe fruit very hard to get in to it. So lets grab the child mind so each turn in to soldier in any field they choose.
Just to cut short. Smoking was a big issue among adults in the country where I reside. System has left the adults on their fate but takes every precaution that child who is going to be the future of the country must know the illeffect of smoking. From class 2 very often they choose the topic where teachers shows them videos how smoking can change the color of your lungs and causes cancer. Because its not worth asking cigarette companies to stop manufacturing. Its an attitude; lets turn each child a soldier against a cigarette company.
In India schools are not performing their duty in shaping the future of tomorrow and when they grow they fall on their religion, crap culture and adults who are no more than junk pieces. These are my few observations.
One more thing Gandhiji’s non-violence will not work for our neighbour countries, who believes excatly opposite of what we believe. Only because britishers were good enough and understood the importance of justice(In simple word they were kind enough to understand the other side perspectives) it worked.
Following Gandhiji-We will surrender what ever is left also.
Jai Hind!
Fantastic post Amitabh, Soldiers are the unsung hero’s and upholders of our Dharma and Bharat
@ Amitabh,
A very well articulated article.
I think these words are really powerful-
“Brothers and Sisters, we are soldiers but we never realized that…. Let us think, act and behave like soldiers. The more we sweat the less will our friends in uniform would bleed. Everything around us needs to change. It needs a herculean effort. Things are going to get worse before they can get better. For the past 10 thousand years we have been faced by the most challenging situations and we have stood firmly against them because we always had a soldiers “willâ€. Let us bring it back from within ourselves…it exists deep within us….we could not have survived for 10 thousand years beacuse we were non-violent or “peace†was our weapon. …Feel the surge of energy that is rising within all of us …I can see it…can you not feel it…. ?
Reminds of Swami Vivekananda.
The comment no 8 that elaborates on “we could not have survived for 10 thousand years beacuse we were non-violent or “peace†was our weapon” is very potent.
In fact, whether non-violence and peace are effective as weapons at all is debatable.
The message that is spread is that those techniques obtained freedom for us.
But is it really so ?
Two things that give rise to doubts are –
1. In the immediate aftermath of WWII most countries that were under imperialist rule got freedom, not just India.
2. Non-violence and peace was practised by indian freedom fighters for long, but India got independence only after the WWII alongwith other countries.
This poses the question why, if the techniques of non-violence and peace was what gave us freedom, it did not occur earlier. And why other countries that did not adopt such techniques also got freedom.
It gives rise to the thought that perhaps it was the WWII that was fought between the imperialist powers themselves that weakened them and made it impossible for them to further subjugate their colonial subjects.
That would explain why almost all european colonial powers that were involved in WWII gave up their colonies in the aftermath of war.
From that perspective it would be worthwhile to appreciate WWII in a new light. As the primary cause that brought the end of imperialism across the world by weakening the imperialist powers themselves.
WWII was perhaps a turning point in more ways than one. Few that comes to mind are-
1. It destroyed the Nazis and Fascists who caused untold miseries to millions of people particularly Jews and Gypsies.
2. It simultaneously weakened the imperialist powers so much that they could not subjugate their colonial subjects any longer and thus brought about freedom across the world to countries that were deprived of it for 300 years and more.
3. It brought awareness about the untold sufferings of war, particularly the Hiroshima-Nagasaki bombing, that caused countries to exercise restraint and look at other ways than war as an option to settle issues.
4. It was also instrumental in causing enormous scientific and technological progress in the fields of metallurgy, atomic power, medicine and transportation-on land, sea and air.
The effectiveness of non-violence and peace as useful techniques needs more research. What is seen in the context of India’s freedom struggle leaves the issue inconclusive.
Even elsewhere its effectiveness is demonstrably suspect. A contemporary example is the ineffectiveness of Dalai Lama for the past 50 years in not making any progress with the Chinese who are occupying Tibet, so much so that at the grass roots Tibeteans are adopting violent methods in frustration.
India’s declared stance of always giving peace the first, and lately, the only, chance vis-a-vis its revolting neighbours has so far proven to be conclusively ineffective.
It is another matter that unlike Gandhi, who within him felt the need to stand up for what he considered right, the Indian leadership of late apparently do not believe even in considering what is right and what is wrong, let alone standing up for right.
“However, we over the past couple of generations misconstrued non violence as non action. The word “non” in the first place is negative. Sends the wrong signal to the unconscious mind.”
Very well said.
“The ideal of non violence & socialism have eaten into the vitals of our society. Non violence translated into non action (socio- political) . Socialism further justified non action by sending a message that the government would take care of everything, you keep doing your bit”
The enormous significance of an individual’s responsibility towards himself, his family, his community, his country and the entire world has got diluted.
The purpose of life has got obscured and many are involved in almost robotic activities of earning money, spending it on material enjoyments and bringing up their kids in the same fashion- without direction towards a higher purpose than that of being a little above animals.
The realisation of impracticality of non-violence and socialism as it is practiced today has caused a void in the minds of many, who have been brought up to consider these as pillars of Indian value system, who are now trying to fill that void by material enjoyments and venerating western culture. The gradual spread of page three to all the pages is symbolic of that.
“To peoples subconscious mind, as a result of their direct action, any physical or emotional pain inflicted upon (1) enemies/opponents, (2) own family (3) the self , is violence.”
The intellectual torpidity that accrues as a result of internalising what is currently parroted as non-violence and peace makes people oppose any proactive action of taking the fight to the enemy, blind as they are to the enormous amount of death and suffering of our civilians and soldiers from continued terrorist attacks. Instead they consider candle lighting as effective action to convey to terrorists their resolve to fight terror.
Some people fishing in such troubled waters do make use of such mental torpidity by pushing their own dubious agendas in the guise of liberalism, activism, intellectual and artistic freedom, etc.
“On the contrary it has created an apathy, an aversion in young impressionable minds towards participating in any kind of socio-political movements. It has made opportunists, bystanders, drifters & victims out of them.”
The void that forms in the minds of people at the evident limitations of non-violence, peace and socialism which are supposed pillars of Indian value system deprives them of any feeling of pride and self esteem and instead creates apathy and aversion from which they try to distract themselves through cricket, movies, partying, making money and aping the west.
“Ashoka’s experiment failed terribly & miserably and we are paying the price right till this day.”
It is interesting to note that it was Indians that stopped and turned back the winning army of Alexander.
But that was before Ashoka’s time.
After Ashoka’s converted to Buddhism and spread that religion at the cost of ancient indian culture and philosophy, lesser armies were able to conquer India bit by bit.
There are few more things that differentiates Ashoka from other ancient indian kings.
One that he indulged in conquering other kingdoms.
Ancient Indian culture gave more stress to pratice of Dharma by kings and righteous administration of their state .
Ashoka’s extensive involvement in conquest of other countries but not in developing strong administrative fundamentals there, as revealed by the rapid disintegration of his kingdom after his time, indicate a tendancy towards ego-gratification which is contrary to the ethos of ancient indian culture. Ancient indian kings rarely if ever fell into ego-gratifications and building monuments to their conquests.
Second, that ancient india demonstrated unity in cultural ethos and philosophy but had large no of political states which was suitable for administrative reasons.
This prevalent philosophy of unity in cultural spirit and diversity in political administration was violated by Ashoka on his rampage.
It is thus apparent that Ashoka did not follow the ancient indian philosophy.
More than that, the principles of ancient indian philosophy was actually against his methods and practices.
His supposed conversion to Buddhism may have been therefore more of the case of appropriating Buddhism as a means to displace the ancient indian culture and philosophy which was proving to be a hindrance to him.
A similar tactic was adopted by Romans in appropriating Christianity in their quest to destroy Jewish and pagan culture states.
The ancient saying that country suffers when its ruler does not support Dharma is borne out in the decline that set in after Ashoka’s reign.
The westerners from their limited viewpoint of looking at materialistic and political achievments alone as noteworthy considered Ashoka as great because he conquered more land, similar to Alexander and later Akbar, all of whom are treated as great purely on that basis.
Though, Akbar did more in the administrative sphere and laid the groundwork for consolidating his kingdom unlike the other two that endured until is great grandson Aurangazeb destroyed all his efforts and ended up effectively destroyed Mughal empire.
It is also interesting to note that Mughal empire was started by a staunch muslim, Babar but it gained strength in the time of Akbar who was the least muslim of the mughals. In fact, he started his own religion Deen-Ilahi which would essentially make him a non-muslim. And the empire was effectively destroyed by the most fundamentalist muslim of all mughals, Aurangazeb.
“Do not send a message to the world that India is the land of Gandhi – peace & non violence.”
In fact that message has been internalised by many in our country and is being actively exploited by interested parties- not interested in growth of the country, that is.
All: I am glad to see this post attracting so many responses and generating this debate/discussion…
Need to rush now but will comment in detail later.
Thanks to everyone who wrote in – and of course special thanks to Amitabh for sharing this post with us.
Dipinder, Arjun ji, Indian, Mr Sharma, Delhi Watch & Incognito thanks for your comments, views & encouragement.
Incognito your observations and views are remarkable & profound. Have given me much food for thought.
Indian, I think you have hit the nail on the head. We need to work more on our future generations.
Arjun ji you are so right – Strength respects strength.
I received a copy of Arun Shourie’s book, yesterday. ( Confession : This is his very first book I have started reading & have started losing my sleep already )
The title of the book is ” Will the iron fence (our armed forces) save a tree (India) hollowed by termites ? Defence imperatives beyond the military”
Referring to peace, he writes (Chapter: Jaanaami Dharmam p. 401), ” …we are so wedded to peace, that we are so “international” in our thinking that we will always place the interests of humanity above our national interests; and of course, the opposite reality -that we are actually weak- are open invitations to the adversary: Luttwak puts this precisely: “One sided pursuit of peace and disarmament is a powerful incentive to the adversary to intensify its own pursuit of war.”
Edward N. Luttwak, Strategy, The Logic of war & peace, Harvard, 2001, p. 22
An inspiring post and a tribute to the soldiers of India.
An army solves a military problem, the police and the executive solve the administrative problems. Though India has administrative and military problems, the biggest problem is ideological.
Our armies are capable to fight stronger armies than that of Pakistan. Our administration is capable to handle riots and attacks. Its just our politics which becomes an obstruction.
But the politicians cannot go completely against the will of the people. The political condition of India is partly the fault of Indians. Hindus are not aware of the internal dangers India faces from Islamic terrorism, Christian evangelism and the Leftist terrorism. The leftist lobby works hand in hand with the Islamists and the Missionaries and keeps the Hindu masses unaware of the real dangers they face.
To defeat these subversive ideologies its necessary to spread the truth about Islam, Christianity and Communism among the Hindu masses. This war has first to be fought at the ideological level.
Arun Shourie’s book’s title, ‘Will an Iron Fence save a country hollowed by termites’, sums it up all. It doesn’t matter how well trained our armies are, if we don’t tackle the internal enemies then we will be defeated.
On the level of activity, I believe we can both enjoy our life and do our duty too. When we really love what we do, life becomes picnic. Scholars specially love their jobs.
At last, I also pay my tribute to the soldiers who stake their lives for the nation. We should work to make the nation more aware of the internal dangers.
Namaste Amitabhji
aapka ye article parra aur ispar vichaar karne ke baad hume laga ki deshbhakti ki baatein jaise aajkal ke navyuvako ke liye ek mazaak hi bass rah gayii hai…
vo log inn vicharo ko “impractical” maante hai – shayad!
lekin agar sabhi ‘lakshmi mittal’ bann gaye to lanat hai aisi kamayii par…
we all ought to stand up with people like you before (like many more acts) patriotism too becomes a relative term / feeling… there can be no relative factor to patriotism… its crystal clear and what on earth are the younsters afraid of ? :*loosing on their parties? *loosing on a relationship, that perhaps was fake anyways? *loosing on their modernised identity (well then, they better look into their real selves before its too late)? AKHIR KIS BAAT KA DARR HAI HUMEIN APNE VICHARO KO KAHNE SE???
Don’t we know – “The Winner Has To Stand Alone”?
Or have we given up striving towards victory???
Who r v fighting with? Who r v fighting for? Where will all this lead us ultimately?
Wake up all you young boys and girls!!! Just cause u’ve been most priviledged , wud u forget the less priviledged??? And donn u ever forget – those less priviledged are the ones who you owe ur priviledges to… needs u to comtemplate and contribute ur best share…
THIS IS THE DAY THE FINAL DAY
JAI BHARAT
Hi Amitabh,
I am very impressed with your views. Today in this modern era we need good soldiers like you who take the bold step to make the difference not only in yourself but in the community at large. Our support, good wishes and prayers are always with you. We wish you great success in your endeavours.
Jai Hind
Sailesh
Major Mohit Sharma from 1 Para (Special Forces), killed in a battle with terrorists in the Hafruda forest in Jammu and Kashmir this March, has been honoured with Ashok Chakra, the country’s highest peace time gallantry award on the occasion of Independence Day.
Source
Major Suresh Suri gave up his life y’day during a 24-hour encounter with terrorists in Bandipora, Jammu & Kashmir.
Married since last year, the Major’s wife S Pallavi had arrived at the 13 Rashtriya Rifles regimental centre in Manasbal just a few days ago to be with him on his 30th birthday (5th Oct).
Pl. read a tribute from someone who knew him personally: “My mentor, my friend”