July 19, 2006

"India is the next super power." This is the sentiment echoed not just by jubilant Indians who see their nation making rapid strides economically, but also by a growing crowd of foreigners who believe India has finally found its place under the sun.

What's a superpower, anyway? What are the parameters that define it? Is it wealth or is it muscle or is it the sheer size? India meets all the three criteria then: We are the twelfth wealthiest nation, ahead of even Russia; we have the fourth largest army in the world, 1.2 million to be precise; and we have a population of more than a billion. All the ingredients, in fact.

Yet nobody in their right mind would call India a superpower after our government's response to the blasts that killed about two hundred Mumbai commuters and injured plenty more.

India is still not a superpower because, to be a superpower you need the political will, and the guts to do the thing you believe is right.

When 200 of your people are blown away to smithereens in a blast stage managed by terrorists across the border with adequate help from a local student organization, and all your Prime minister has to offer is "strong condemnation" against such tactics, something is terribly wrong.

After all, who's India trying to please? The international community? When Israel went hammer and tongs on Beirut because the terrorist organization based there, Hezbollah, kidnapped two of their soldiers, the international community nodded their heads in silent approval. Mr. Bush even said, "Israel has every right to protect its borders and its citizens." Even the Arab countries have been guarded in their reaction.

Okay, so are we trying to appease our Muslim brethren? But why would they be happy when they know very well that they might be the victims too directly, and they might be accused by non-Muslims of involvement in these crimes, indirectly? When riots happen, as mobs decide to dole out justice on their own, we know how inefficient our government has been in protecting the innocent.

Are the people in power safe at least? Terrorism kills without discrimination, and as the attack on parliament in 2002 proved, it tries to kill without any regard to position or power also. Even the most corrupt of the politicians should realize that to be corrupt, he/she has to be alive first. (I am not condoning corruption here, but saying how it doesn't make sense even for an evil person to let the threat of terrorism grow amidst us.)

So, why is it that we are twiddling our thumbs and waiting? This problem is not going to go away, if we hide our heads in the sand like an ostrich and pretend things are not as bad as they seem to be. This needs firm resolve and persistence to stay the course till the very end.

India from the ancient times always chose butter over guns. That is, economic prosperity over security. But without guns, the butter is bound to be taken away from forcibly by the marauders who always consider indecisiveness as a sign of weakness and fear.

Hope the current government wakes up before it finds the earth being pulled away from under its feet.

Jai Hind.

-Murali Chari
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Other articles by Murari Chari:
Chiranjeevi - seeing is believing
Open letter to Pawan Kalyan