ARE WE HAPPY BEING THE GOLDEN SPARROW ?
WHY CANT WE ATTACK AND FINISH PAKISTAN?
Author : Jupinderjit Singh
Like all Indians I was angry at the barbaric killing of two of our soldiers by Pakistani Army. I am anguished but not surprised at the response of Indian government. Our government toed its beaten line. It stated it was a strong provocation but at the same time it did nothing other than protesting to Pak. It whined like a kid before the international community. The issue will rest till it is repeated.
With passage of few days, my anger subsided. Instead I felt disgusted and ashamed at being an Indian. I forced my memory to tell me if there was even one act against and enemy country by the Indian Government that made me proud. No, I can’t think of that. We have won wars only to return the occupied land. Pakistan stabs us with stories of 54 Prisoners of War till date. B
ut, we- the great Indians- released 90,000 POWs of 1971 war. This was the biggest number of POWs in the history of the world. Yet, the country let it go. We could have traded Pakistan Occupied Kashmir with those.
Even no film maker of our country has thought of this historical victory and blunder as a potential movie. But then that is not the issue. The issue is that why we don’t retaliate to Pakistan or China or other enemies of the state? Why do we prefer responding to aggression or intrusion instead of being an aggressor ourselves? Why don’t we be the conqurers?
I tried to go further back, Only time, Indians went out of their territory to conquer some one was when Hari Singh Nalwa, a General in the army of Maharaj Ranjit Singh captured Afghanistan. Gen Zorawar Singh went upto Tibet. I am not sure if Ashoka had captured Afghanistan or not. May be during the time of Tenth Sikh Guru also, Kabul was under us.
Nevertheless, the point is that since time immemorial India, despite being a divided country, has never tried to conquer other territories. Kings have been raiding India in their pursuit of conquering the world or to loot the land of plenty. But we have never been the world conquerors.
We were always happy within our land. We accepted friends from other countries with open arms. They became a part of us. We fought plunderers or gave way fighting. We were destroyed many times. We bounced back again and again. But we never chose to be the conquerors. Even though most of the so-called Gods were born several times in India.
Has that nature crept in our blood? The nature that we will not attack anyone, that we will not make the first strike but we will defend ourselves with full might? Is that why the world called as the ‘Land of the Golden Sparrow’ and not ‘Golden Lion’ or something that suggested a powerful country. We were always the sparrow, eating less and saving itself from dogs, cats, snakes, hawks or other carnivorous beings.
We were never treated as a powerful country and people. Our ideals of ahimsa and belief in universal brotherhood have been appreciated. The world sings praise of those but at the same time attacks us, snubs us and stabs us. We smile in return saying we won’t be provoked. That is what Indian culture is. Prithvi Raj Chauhan paid with his life following this culture. He spared Mohd Gauri 17 times only to lose the next times. Gauri was not foolish to leave his enemy alive.
That is the same mistake we have done with Pakistan. We pardoned it time and again. It returned stronger than before. We could only be mute spectators of its growing power and friendship with USA earlier and now China. I fear the day when this modern day Gauri will defeat us- the Prithvi Raj Chauhans. And if some of us are alive, we can remind our leaders of our misplaced culture.
A country and its leaders are as good as its people. We should stop considering ourselves as the Golden Sparrow anymore. We have to be the lions. Such lions, that even if they are of Iron or brass, they are better than the riches of a golden sparrow. We have to be such lions, which are feared not sparrows that scamper for cover and help. Unless, we correct this historic wrong and erase it from our DNA, Kasabs will comes, Kargil will happen and our soldiers will be beheaded. We need to be the conquerors now. We need to be the aggressors.
It is better to die once in battle than die of shame daily.
Hope the Lions will rise.
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