In a panel discussion after former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh released a new book “Choices: Inside the Making of India’s Foreign Policy” by former National Security Advisor and Foreign Secretary, Shivshankar Menon, P Chidambaram said that as Home Minister, he realized that retaliation against Pakistan after the 26-11 Mumbai Terror attacks “was not an option, it was not feasible”. He also remarked, “India gained enormously in esteem in the world for not retaliating after the attacks.”
One should take care to remember, History does hold in high regard an individual who surrenders a nation for fragile ideals such as esteem. It is one thing to admit that options for retaliation were limited but completely another to assert that India stood to gain of a deal it was forced into by circumstances not in its favor. And P Chidambaram would do well to remember, attempts to portray weakness as noble, helplessness as virtue and lionize the craven in the process does not do justice to the Valor, Courage and Honor that our nation has demonstrated time and again when it has been under siege.
After the attacks at Uri and Pathankot, the Surgical Strike by the Army has effectively demonstrated that India was always capable of pursuing military options against Pakistan. And numerous ex-Army men have gone on record to state that the previous government lacked the will necessary to act decisively against the sponsors of terror we have as a neighbor. Under circumstances, when the Army has blown the cover off the excuse that retaliation isn’t an option, Chidambaram’s statement comes as a horrible excuse for the incompetence of the UPA government.
The remarks made by P Chidambaram reek of a justification for one’s own lack of action after one of the most devastating 26-11 terrorist attacks on Indian soil.
If India was not in a position to hit back against Pakistan effectively in 2008, one is forced to ask who is responsible for it? And as the Augusta Westland scam has revealed, the Congress Party not only destroyed India’s economy with levels of corruption absolutely unheard of previously in India, it also heavily compromised India’s defense interests. And one should also take care to remember, another reason the Congress was reluctant to retaliate against Pakistan was probably because at least some of its members believed 26-11 to be an RSS conspiracy.
We should ask P Chidambaram, what concrete esteem did India gain by not retaliating against Pakistan after the 26-11 attacks? And what precise advantage has the gain translated into for India? Pakistan continued to fund Separatism in the Valley, USA continued its doublespeak while dealing with Indo-Pak relations and China has always pursued aggressive policies against us. It is really interesting there is absolutely no visible signs of the gain that he speaks of. After absolutely losing credibility in the eyes of the citizens, the Congress is desperate and clutching at straws.
The Congress’ policy regarding terrorism and Pakistan has always been dubious. During its reign, it went on a witch hunt to prove the existence of the mythical phenomenon known as Saffron terror. If that was not enough, attempts were made to portray Ishrat Jahan, a terrorist, as a martyr. And if even that falls short, it meddled with investigation agencies to destroy the political career of Narendra Modi. And more recently, after its reign was over, Mani Shankar Iyer went to Pakistan and begged their support to overthrow the democratically elected Prime Minister of India! We could perhaps agree that retaliation was not an option but it was probably more so because of self-imposed restraints by the Congress Party and for wholly unethical intentions.