2016 turned out to be an eventful year for India as far as the political and national interests of the Nation are concerned. While the Government of the day seems to have settled down really well taking bold decisions such as the demonetization scheme or the surgical strikes across the Line of Control followed by a spat of retaliatory measures taken by the Armed Forces backed by newfound political will to hit the enemy where it hurts the most; the Opposition seemed to be adamant on bringing the Indian political standards to new lows.
Even as 2016 is about to end we analyse a new and inherently dangerous narrative being pushed through by particular sections of the political, media and academicia in our country, i.e. bashing those who promote Nationalism and labelling anyone who exposes or criticizes those working against the interests of the Nations as fascists.
With this broad framework in mind, the ideology of demolishing the philosophy of Indian Nationalism has taken several forms in 2016. What was initially manifested in the screams of dividing the Nation into several parts by a set of hooligans took a more systematized form by the end of this year with several mainstream political leaders and media outfits promoting anti Nationalism and emboldening anti Nationals in the instances mentioned hereunder wholly for reviving their plummeting political relevance. This dangerous narrative can be crystallized into the following tactics being put in place by those working against the Nation who have vested in themselves the right of going against the Nation without being labelled anti Nationals.
2016 – Anti National agenda of Maligning the Armed Forces:
India’s Defence Forces have been by far the most disciplined institutions of India which have always held the democratic structure of India in high esteem and have never as an institution exceeded their limitations. It is no surprise that the Nation as a whole has a great respect for such brave hearts who ensure the safety of the Nation and the sovereignty of the State in an unimaginably selfless manner.
The year was filled with instances where several self-acclaimed intellectuals did not leave a stone unturned to malign and defame the armed forces. This started soon after the JNU event which laid the foundation of the whole anti National narrative itself when the good for nothing JNU leader Kanhaiya Kumar called the Army veterans ‘agent’ of the RSS working on instructions from the Nagpur Headquarters and was followed by subsequent attempts to induce ungratefulness in the society towards the Defence forces by propagating that the National service including martyrdom by a soldier is a matter of duty and that no one should actually feel indebted towards them.
The JNU leader along with his tribe then went on to make several unsubstantiated charges against the most obedient servants of the Nation including the charge of the institution (which actually has stringent screening and selection processes) being a group of officers and soldiers who were unqualified for any other job.
The glory of Indian Army reached its zenith when the Army showed its calibre of going across the border and demolishing terror launch pads. The Government also received due credit because it was for the first time that a Government had shown the intent of taking India away from the era of dossier politics to the era of retribution. This agitated the anti Nationals who took it upon themselves to commit one of the worst political sins, politicizing the Armed Forces of their own Nation. Unfortunately, some of the politicians of our Nation and their media agents instead of standing against a neighbouring terror state chose to reiterate the claims of fake surgical strikes with Pakistan. They actually joined the chorus asking for the evidence of the surgical strikes declared by the Army to have been carried out in a failed attempt to embarrass their own Nation and Defence establishment.
2016 – Terror sympathy:
This is an ideology which has witnessed sluggish development over a long period of times but found greater force in 2016 in an atmosphere of rife anti Indian propaganda being pushed through in an ever desperate political scenario. This again had its roots in the screams of ‘Afzal hum sharminda hain, tere qatil zinda hain’ in a Central University Campus which surprisingly received strong support in powerful political corridors.
This incident which should have been all but over after requisite Police action but it gave rise to a trend idolizing the enemies of humanity. The unprecedented media attention given to the funeral of Burhan Wani followed by projection of the deadly terrorist as a Kashmiri youth fighting for freedom stand testimony to this fact.
This was followed by the description of a successful encounter of fled terrorists as fake in another naïve attempt to malign the current dispensation for a virtue which its predecessors did not possess, i.e. zero tolerance towards terrorism. This has also been sparked in part by the resurgence of the tussle between the Luytens’ politicians and the related intelligentsia which believes in going soft on terror and a stubborn Prime Minister who has a track record of curbing terror activities.
2016 – Pro Pakistan sentiment:
It is acceptable in fact desirable in today’s world of global integration to promote economic or political cooperation with neighbouring States, it is also acceptable to pursue or persuade the dispensation to do away any friction arising out of jurisdictional issues or border disputes. But when political leaders go ahead promoting the interest of a neighbouring terror State or speaking in its voice to the detriment of their own Nation, it is without a doubt an act of treason. Unfortunately, this is the case with many political outfits and those related to such outfits in our country.
Even as the 70-year-old enemy continued to manufacture ‘death merchants’ for us, there were sections of society persuading the Government not to retaliate or secure India’s peace but continue the futile process of one sided peace negotiations with Pakistan. Politicians like Mani Shankar Aiyar went on to the extent of acting as spokesperson of Pakistan and pleading the hotbed of terrorism to help the INC in fulfilling its object of destabilizing the Government of India. Digvijay Singh’s statement describing the Indian side of Kashmir as occupied is also an indicator of this manufactured sentiment.
The most transparent manifestation of this ideology was the unprecedented support towards Pakistani artists by sections of the Indian society post during the period of increasing hostility between the two Nations post the Uri Attacks. While some self-acclaimed peacemakers were vying to safeguard the interests of the Pakistani artists, the Pakistani artists were not grateful enough to condemn what a terrorist state did to the protectors of the Nation which made them what they are. In the time of crisis, these artists who had become a subject of nationwide debate in India quietly chose to side by their Nation unlike the likes of Mahesh Bhatt and Om Puri who were more worried about their ‘commercial interests’ than the sentiments of their Nation.
2016 Wrap Up:
The Article is an attempt to sum up how the internal enemies India’s wellbeing are conspiring to brainwash the masses. Since, this is an artificial narrative being pushed through in accordance with fast changing political atmosphere its contents cannot be jotted down precisely. But what every Nationalist Indian needs to remember is that there are forces within the Nation who are trying to challenge the very foundation of India. They are that much more dangerous because they disguise themselves as liberals and proponents of democracy. Their only weapon is to label you a fascist or a brainwashed supporter of the current Government in case you try to disclose their true identity.