Editorial

The Enemy Within

As the tricolor fluttered atop the historic Red Fort and all over the nation the heart of every citizen was filled with joy and pride that India entered 56th year of its independence. Amidst an expanding ocean of non-democratic and theocratic states, India stands out as a formidable bastion of democracy upholding the values cherished by every civilized society in the world. As all of us saluted the tricolor, our jawans were guarding the difficult and sensitive borders against the aggressors and saboteurs across the frontiers braving scorching heat and chilling winds. Thanks to their bravery, patriotism and sacrifice, India has remained secure geographically as a nation-state despite determined machinations of countries, regimes and forces that sought to balkanise this ancient land of wisdom. But the vigil on the borders is merely not enough to protect, preserve and promote the dream of the nation and the destinies of its people. For, threat comes in various forms, varied ways and in a variety of themes. External enemy is a visible, physical and verifiable phenomenon which can be identified and tackled, fought and defeated. What is often not fully recognized and understood is the internal enemy who comes, acts and destroys the gains of decades of hard work in innumerable insidious ways.

When Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru cautioned "freedom is in peril, defend it with all your might", he obviously was not referring to only an external aggression. He was acutely conscious of internal attack on values, beliefs and commitment of majority of the people. A small determined fraction of people obsessed with an obscure ideology that negates all that is fair and democratic can poison the whole society, sow seeds of mistrust, fan deadly passions based entirely on religion to unleash nomadic confrontations. The carnage that was perpetrated in Gujarat during the last six months causing the death of hundreds of innocent citizens will remain etched on the minds of Indians as the most shameful chapter of our independent history. The question nobody will ever be able to answer is : what was the fault of these helpless victims? What was worse was that as those who survived the onslaught of religious hoodlums after losing a limb or leg and living in make-shift shelters in sheer fear, the BJP regime of Gujarat wanted to hold elections.

The mercilessness and insensibility of the Modi Government has no parallel in contemporary times. The nation owes an eternal debt to the Election Commission for boldly and rightly checking the hand of the BJP in Gujarat. But, it would be naive to believe that the BJP would have learnt a lesson or would mend its ways. The numerous scams which are hitting newspaper headlines day after day involving half a dozen senior BJP-NDA coalition ministers at the Centre has not produced even a shade of repentence on the face of the BJP. On the other hand, unmindful of the shock after shock they have administered to the nation, the BJP leadership is defending the suspect-ministers! As Smt. Sonia Gandhi said "this is the most tainted government". Starting with UTI, the BJP-NDA coalition has produced, in a short period of three years in power at the Centre, an amazing number of scandals anyone of which would have put a self-respecting government to shame and quit. Such democratic niceties are abhored by the BJP.

They proved this conclusively by reinducting George Fernandes as defence minister even before the investigation into his Tehelka involvement is completed. Soon he scored yet another scam on Kargil coffins as if to assure his place in scam annals. As the Independence Day approached, the nation was stunned to numbness by the enormity of the scams in the sanction of petrol and gas agencies, prime land in Delhi. The scam torrent was capped off by the disclosure of alleged involvement of Promod Mahajan in the murder of journalist Shivani. Even Lal Krishan Advani had some questions to answer. The nation is in a multi-dimensional crisis. The internal enemy-communalism having gained strength in the last few years, now threatens to undo the democratic traditions that sustained the nation in the last 55 years. When the Congress Party demanded the resignation of the ministers involved in the scams, it was only trying to save these traditions that bind our diverse society and determine our collective destiny. Every Indian has a responsibility to safeguard this precious legacy. The Congress workers must take initiative and lead the struggle.