Isn’t it rather unusual to find that both optics and politics appear to be riding the same wave-length after a long, long time in India? All political parties are now vying with each other to congratulate the army and the government for the surgical strike on terrorists’ camps across the LoC in PoK. And those, in the masses and media, who had otherwise been busy dissecting the dividing line between what a man called Narendra Modi says and does have fallen silent. Speechless. Even Arvind Kejriwal has joined the chorus singing “Bharat Mata Ki Jai; Poora Desh Bharatiya Sena Ke Saath Hai”.
The last time we had witnessed such a convergence of opposing political forces from ultra-left to extreme right in this country had happened way back 1971 when the country’s armed forces were about to enter East Pakistan to ‘liberate’ Bangladeshis from the oppressive clutches of their masters in West Pakistan. Bangladesh is now geo-political reality that’s here on to stay on the world map. Like it or not.
The lady who had guided India’s tryst with destiny in 1971 was Indira Gandhi. And the man who is spearheading the nation’s awakening now is Narendra Modi. Indeed, he is walking the talk. Marching ahead gustily.
There are too many similarities between the two leaders. While Indira was bold enough to ask her men in uniform to cross over to East Pakistan to ‘do the needful’ despite the presence of the threatening “Seventh Fleet” of America on the Indian Ocean, Modi asked army commandos to dismantle terrorist launch pads in a surgical strike in PoK, undeterred by the fact that Pakistan has atom bombs in its armoury. Both the leaders succeeded in achieving their targets operation wise. Spectacularly.
There are at least two more striking similarities between the two leaders: First, both Indira and Modi mastered the art of diplomacy painstakingly before launching themselves into action. Second, both the leaders had an inborn gift for growing against adversity.
Remember, prior to the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971, Madam Gandhi had a tough time convincing the whole world that India was placed in a precarious position because of the influx of millions of refugees from across the eastern borders. She held a series of meetings with top world leaders. She sent special envoys abroad. She unleashed all powers under her command to ‘awaken’ all international institutions including the UN that were ‘unaware’ of the new realities in the Indian subcontinent. And she did have the last laugh.
