Is Jingoism alone enough to save India???

First let me explain what the term jingoism means. It is "extreme patriotism in the form of aggressive foreign policy". After this Mumbai terror attacks wat do you think has been done or changed???
I am not an expert on national security, not part of the media and not a politician either. I am just one among the billion that call this wonderful land homeland. The following are my personal views and nothing more.

Days after the terror attack on mumbai, having killed nine out of the ten terrorists and capturing the other. Indian security are trying to get out maximum information so that they can figure out the bigger plot involved in this attack. Though there are a million unanswered questions in my mind about this, the most important and the hardest is, 'what the intention of these barbaric attacks??'. Our prime minister Dr.Manmohan Singh said something similar with a speech that was intended to calm citizens down but all that this did was just fuel the anger in the minds of a lot of people. The words voiced out from a lot of Indians are "Dont we need to send a strong message across the border? Don't we have the leaders with courage that drove the British back anymore? Stop being diplomatic Mr.Prime minister!!!".


The central and state Home Ministers has resigned. Maharashtra Chief Minister was forced to put down his papers. With international support, the Indian government is trying to get tougher on Pakistan. Mumbai is slowly getting normal. Too much of bombastic talks on the TV have started to show clear signs of dullness. Debates are turning ugly. The whole nation is utterly disturbed and bemused. People came out on the streets in large numbers and demonstrating their rage against the political leadership. In due course the disaster dusts will settle and the real questions will start coming out.

The physiological impact of the Mumbai attack will be far-fetched. The attack has stimulated an initial fear psychosis and helplessness among the public which has now been transformed into widespread anger. Though at present the politicians are the main targets, it will not be difficult for them to recover their positions soon. Without much effort or time, demagogic elements in the society can divert this anger towards familiar targets of class, caste and creed. The talk on the TV screens about a robust response could easily get misdirected towards a chauvinistic movement.

This can already be seen from the interview of a well known politician who said "Patience is the companion of wisdom.I understand this but how long can we remain patient? India has a shot at redemption both economically and socially if we squander it now then I am afraid we may not get another shot at it for a very long time".

Many celebrity civilian and media experts are referring to the ‘American response to 9/11’ as a solution. Some of them have even turned into warmongers with bombastic proposals like ‘attack Pakistan’, ‘carpet bomb the Lashkar-e-Taiba camps’ and ‘gun down the jihadi leaders’. Either intentionally or foolishly, these experts tend to forget the fact that in vengeance to the horrific events of 9/11, America had invaded countries situated about ten thousand kilometers away from their international border. Due to the huge distance between the countries, the impact of these attacks has never brought any direct effect on American soil. If India attacks neighboring Pakistan, will the impact be similar? Will India really be able to teach Pakistan a fitting lesson without receiving an equivalent lesson in response? Will there not be any civilian casualties? What will India really achieve by raiding Pakistan? Will the country get completely immunized from terrorism? These are some questions that might not have happy answers.

Therefore, in response to today’s circumstances a sensible approach is expected from the Indian government, the Indian media and the people. As several military experts have explained, military action will be the last option for the Indian government in dealing with Pakistan. The first option of the Indian government is to undertake a tough diplomatic position in cohesion with the global community and force the Pakistan to act in co-operation. Today Pakistan is also suffering from similar terrorism threats. Pushing themselves in the verge of a full fledged war will therefore not be a pragmatic and desirable option for either side. So the present jingoistic attitude of the Indian goverment is not going to bring any positive result to the present intriguing situation which our nation faces now. Lets just hope the Indian politicians clear their muddled thoughts soon and start acting sensibly and give this nation a new peaceful future, in which the word terror can be removed from the minds of every Indian citizen. Hoping for the best!!

JAI HIND!!!