A Fuhrer reincarnated

A rogue state is defined as one that breaks international law and threatens other nations' security. It is also one that is repressive within, aggressive towards its neighbours, sponsors terrorism, has WMDS and is a threat to world peace. Indis ticks all the boxes.

The aggregate of hegemony and terrorism, India portrays itself as a democratic and serene entity under constant threat from Pakistan. This is the same Pakistan that it feigns to dismiss voraciously as a non-entity, yet evokes compulsively as a rallying call in elections, national discourse and its security paradigm. It also guarantees a TRP boon for what is referred to in India as the Godi-media.

Playing the victim card perpetually, India has wrought atrocities in Occupied Kashmir and terrorist activities in Pakistan as the world spectates mutely. This carte blanche has seen India morphing into a Hindutva state that advocates hegemony and military action against Pakistan. It has also declared to use water as a weapon against Pakistan. What could better describe a rogue state?

In a 2016 article titled ‘Jhanda or Danda?’, The Times of India noted: “It is becoming difficult to tell the difference between the national jhanda and the nationalist danda”. This rabid contagion, not even sparing arts, sports and academia, has taken over India.

This sort of nationalism was central to Hitler’s genocidal vision. It propelled him from being the National Socialist party’s drummer boy to becoming the Fuhrer of Nazi Germany. Modi, the Fuhrer of Hindutva India, is his clone.

Pakistan and China are strategic partners; their cooperation extends to the nuclear sphere. Decades of mutual cooperation in missile delivery systems, logistic supply chains, and spares, as well as new-age technologies such as cyber and drone warfare, have resulted in a cohesive alliance. Both have achieved military interoperability, which is the capability of their armies to execute joint missions against a common adversary.

In contrast, India has not even been able to integrate its three services. As author and former Indian army officer Pravin Sawhney points out in his book ‘The Dragon on our doorsteps’: “India has primarily focused on developing its military arsenal whereas Pakistan and China have been developing war-waging capabilities, which is a synthesis of many strengths other than just military force”.

India’s vaunted military superiority is merely an accounting subterfuge. In a March 2018 report to the Parliamentary Committee on Defense, General BC Khanduri exposed the fallacy of India’s military might. It spoke of “huge deficiencies in the Indian Army with a 68 per cent obsolete inventory”.

The Air Force is considered a country’s offence and defence lifeline. Defence analysts assess the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) Pak-China centric requirement to be at least 60 squadrons. In July 2017, India’s comptroller and auditor general presented a report to the Indian parliament raising serious concerns over India’s defence abilities.

It stated that the IAF was currently operating 31 squadrons consisting of nearing retirement MiG-21, Su-7, Jaguars and C-130 aircraft. Dubbed “flying coffins”, more than 400 Mig-21 jets have crashed so far, killing more than 200 pilots.

The LCA Tejas, a jet fighter developed by India, is replacing MiG21s but faces several drawbacks. These include structural problems, software issues, limited payload and a high mission turnaround time. With the kneejerk acquisition of Rafales, aviation experts see the IAF burdened by one of the most complex air fleets in modern history.

A logistical nightmare, it shall entail a supply chain of spare parts across three continents. This, mirrored in India’s military and navy procurements, is synonymous with how poorly India manages its defense acquisitions. Bizarrely, it brandishes this motley collage to fight, what the late Gen Bipin Rawat declared as, India’s two and a half wars against Pakistan, China and Occupied Kashmir.

India’s jingoism after the Pahalgam incident morphed into aggression against Pakistan. Missile strikes caused the death of 31 innocent civilians including women and children. Israeli-made Harop drones, loitering over civilian areas in our major cities, were neutralised. Three innocent civilians lost their lives in yet another Modi’s signature sneaky foray.

India got a far bloodier nose this time around than its last misadventure in Pakistan. The downing of five IAF jets, including three of its vaunted Rafales, the destruction of the 12th Infantry Brigade HQ and great losses on the LOC mauled the vanity of a vainglorious Modi. It also laid bare India’s claim of military superiority.

The modus operandi of false-flag operations as a pretext to attack Pakistan is as despicable as it is inherently dangerous. Hindutva zealots, retired military officers and Godi-media jingoes beat up a war frenzy from the comfort of their homes and air-conditioned studios to better their ratings. With the Indian PM and a serving Indian army chief threatening Pakistan with the mother of nuclear bombs, India goes beyond the pale of even a rogue state.

The doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) gives the cold comfort of avoiding a nuclear war at all costs. It is also an oft-repeated dictum that the symbiosis of a MAD-seeking and leading rogue state is absolutely untenable. If so, can the world afford a Fuhrer reincarnated, this time around in Hindutva India? Certainly not.

The writer is a freelance contributor. He can be reached at:

miradnanaziz@gmail.com