November 2008: Ten men from Pakistan attacked Mumbai in a three-day rampage, killing 165 people and setting the city’s iconic Taj Palace hotel ablaze. The Commercial Capital of India was ripped wide open by Jihadist elements from across the border. There were security lapses from our end especially on the naval front, the NSG commandos took more than 10 hours to reach the attack sites.
The lone surviving attacker was caught alive only because of superhuman valour of Mumbai Police Constable Late Shri Tukaram Omble. This was 2008; Social Media was beginning to bloom. There were live tweets about the ghastly attacks. World watched with bated breath as Mumbai burned.
And what was the UPA Government’s reaction? Words of condemnation, some resignations and then a lull! Islamabad remained unmoved by dossiers of evidence presented by India claiming to show involvement by Pakistanis in the attack. Lashkar-e-Toiba was under Pakistan’s protection.
Only after the US and other global powers intervened, Pakistan owned Kasab as its citizen but ensured no further cooperation. Manmohan Singh accused “elements” within the Pakistani establishment for the Mumbai massacre and kept asserting that it was “keeping all options open”.
Diplomatic actions failed. Military actions were never initiated. And regardless of what the juicy blogs on the Internet say, Mumbai 2008 was never avenged.
As I was researching about the Mumbai 2008 attacks for this piece, I stumbled upon this article in the Asia Times that states:
“Reluctance for battle by an ill-prepared army could have resulted in India not launching an attack on Pakistan in the aftermath of the Pakistan-linked terror attack in the Indian city of Mumbai on November 26 in which nearly 200 people died.
High-level government sources have told Asia Times Online that army commanders impressed on the political leadership in New Delhi that an inadequate and obsolete arsenal at their disposal mitigated against an all-out war.”
India couldn’t take on Pakistan then because its armed forces had INADEQUATE AND OBSOLETE ARSENAL AT THEIR DISPOSAL. How motivated can the armed forces stay if the government doesn’t arm them suitably, upgrade their weaponries and arsenal?
It was the same government which hallucinated about a possible military coup. The “poor as a church mouse” Defence Minister AK Antony, whose tenure saw countless shady defence deals and purchases, did everything in his capacity to demotivate the army.
Let us now discuss the Uri Episode and try understanding it in the context of Mumbai attacks. Uri Attack was a slap on India’s face. The aura of the 56 Inch Chest waalah PM Modi was beginning to evaporate. Cowardice concealers like strategic restraint, talks, diplomatic pressure were beginning to percolate inside the Indian Establishment.
Needless to say, supporters of Modi like me were utterly disappointed. But the most important fact about the Uri Attack was that the world was watching it with careful eyes. India needed to respond. And India did. It attacked and destroyed terror launch pads deep inside Pakistan Occupied Kashmir in a daring surgical strike. And not only did India attack Pakistan right at its terror epicentre, it shared the details of the operation with Pakistan and rest of the world.
It was a clear message to the world. Behold! We have arrived and we won’t be bullied anymore.
And the atmosphere was electric. The nation celebrated like never before. From extoling the Indian army to praising PM Modi, Social Media buzzed with posts and pictures and memes of all kinds.
And now, Modi supporters are facing a lot of flak for hero-worship of Modi for the surgical strike. According to them, it was the Indian Army that executed the surgical strike and not Modi and hence it is the Indian Army that deserves all the accolades and not Modi.
The naysayers unsurprisingly are from the leftist camp. This is the same camp that denigrates Indian army for the alleged atrocities in Kashmir. Since times like these require the country to speak in the same common language as well as in unison, they have no option but to support the Indian Army.
But why waste a good opportunity to vilify Modi?
Let me tell you why Modi deserves as much praise as the Indian Army.
A country is as strong, as motivated and as inspired as its Prime Minister is. Prime Minister represents the hope, ambition and the strength of his country.
PM Modi doesn’t represent the BJP or the NDA or his cabinet Ministers or the 16th Lok Sabha. PM represents India.
National Security Advisor can chalk out strategies, Intelligence agencies can prepare reports but at the end of the day, it is the prime minister who gives the final nod. And there have been very few PMs in India who have the determination and spine to give a nod at such critical junctures.
The daring surgical strike by the Indian Army proved that PM Modi is certainly one of them.
There was tremendous pressure on India to refrain from a military retaliation. John Kerry was in India to make sure there was no retaliation. But unlike Previous governments, PM Modi didn’t budge under pressure. Instead he gave a clear go ahead.
A PM is not a competitor of the army of his own country, unless the country is Pakistan or some rogue anarchic state. So if you are observing a “strategic restraint” in your celebrations after the Surgical Strike, feel free to celebrate like the citizen of a strong country should.
In PM Modi, we have a saviour and let no leftist confuse you on that. They’ll call you bhakt but guess what they’ll call you bhakt anyway. Bhakt of a Deshbhakt is not a bad thing after all.