A strong tactical response to a terrorist attack is critical but insufficient for deterring terrorism. Nevertheless, it is important for protection of morale of the nation. But in absence of strong strategic approach and capacity, no major power in history has ever succeeded in achieving a sustainable security. Hence, we must concurrently invest serious efforts to build strong institutional capacities to: a) effectively prevent, preempt and deter terrorism, as well as all shades of conventional and covert threats, at minimal human and material costs, in routine course of functioning of the Indian state; b) continuously optimize our national power, where economic, technological, military, intellectual, cultural, social and all other shades of strength continuously augment each other.
This will require our innovators and practitioners in the sphere of national security to stretch their wisdom, brilliance and integrity. Our political, corporate, bureaucratic, social and intellectual leaders may have to set much higher benchmarks of statesman-like character and wisdom.
TERRORIST ATTACK IN KASMIR VALLEY
I was planning to continue with my previous piece on how Waqf controversy was fracturing our social and national cohesion. There were indicators that changes in Waqf Act in the past appeared driven by a larger agenda to induce a social conflict in India as an ancillary to ongoing terrorist attacks. This appeared particularly dangerous in the context of our sluggish, inefficient and inconsistent criminal justice system.
Meanwhile, the gruesome terrorist attack in Pahalgam has numbed the psyche of the nation by sheer wickedness of its methods and objectives. Terrorists donning, military fatigues and weapons slaughtered non-Muslim Indians over their identity. Pak Military alone has the motive and capacity to perpetrate such an attack.
Even in history of terrorism, this attack symbolizes the despicable depths of brutality, perversity and inhumanity to which the perennial perpetrators of terror against India have descended. It is a wake-up call for all peaceniks in India as well as all those sheltering Pakistani terror merchants in the West or backing them elsewhere. They must appreciate that they are nurturing a monster with unusually poisonous psyche of genocidal hate against not only Hindus but all shades of non-Muslims and liberal Muslims. It is bound to devour any society that shelters, protects and nurtures it or which offers space for their activities.
It shall be no exaggeration to state that the very idea of Pakistan or sustenance of Pakistan, with its current power structure, is a threat to India and humanity. Similarly, any institutional constraint, or weakness, of Indian state to eradicate the hydra-headed monster of radicalism, terrorism and organised crime shall threaten people across geographical, cultural and social divides.
It is beauty of India's social fabric and civilisational ethos that Pakistani efforts to create a wedge between Hindus and Muslims have landed up uniting the two communities throughout the length and breadth of this country. This is notwithstanding perverse politicking and discordant notes by a few.
I had written on this very blog on April 13 that decline in number of terror attacks was no indicators of eradication of terrorism.
We must remember that terror infrastructure in this region is so well-entrenched that despite spending trillions of dollars on war on terror, the most powerful state of the world was compelled to back out, leaving the war inconclusive. This only demonstrates that the might in conventional warfare and economic-technological prowess are insufficient to win such wars.
World needs far more innovation in devising an effective strategy against the most diffused all-out war in name of identity that it has ever seen. This war has spread like an epidemic, instigating right wing sentiments, as counter-reaction, all over the world, dividing societies and nullifying many of the advances in human endeavours.
INDIA HAS WEATHERED FAR TOO MUCH OF EXTERNALLY SPONSORED TERRORISM IN NAME OF ISLAM
Barring the catastrophic 9/11/ attacks that the United States faced, no other non-Muslim state has endured as sustained onslaught of Islamist terror as India. The obvious reason is that it is located in the immediate vicinity of the epicenter of terror whose main target has been multi-cultural India where largest number of Muslims have been peacefully living with non-Muslims.
From 1990s onwards, we have been facing terrorist attacks not only in Kashmir valley but also elsewhere as part of organised attack on our society. The most coveted target for terror perpetrators has been commercial capital of India.
Global Terror Index (GTI), which started documenting data on terrorism since beginning of this century, placed India in top five states most impacted by terrorism for a long time.
Nevertheless, terrorist attacks had started dwindling in India after 2009. It is assessed that outside media glare, Pakistani global terror infrastructure suffered significant setbacks. Scores of nameless and faceless Indians and security personnel all over the world must have played a big role in this. Pakistani deep state was definitely under enormous all-round pressure once Financial Action Task Force (FATF) placed it in grey list (though it should have been black-listed long back).
But the threat of organised terrorism, in name of Islam, was never eliminated. World-wide covert infrastructure of organised crime, which is immensely lucrative for its beneficiaries, has survived, notwithstanding financial crisis faced by people of Pakistan.
GENESIS OF ISLAMIST TERRPORISM AGAINST INDIA
Some right wingers trace the genesis of genocidal deceptive war against unarmed civilian in name of Islam on the subcontinent to attack by Mohd Bin Qasim or raids by Ghazanavi or attack by Ghori or advent of Babur and intermittent violence continuing till genocidal partition of the subcontinent. A deceptive war against civilians has been alien to indigenous values and ethos of pre-Islamic subcontinent. They claim that original values of sub-continent envisaged ethics even in warfare. Civilians, elderly, children and women were always spared.
On the other hand, genocidal attacks against civilians, including women and children, and their forcible enslavement, has been cultural phenomenon of not only West Asia and Mongol or Hittite races but also Greece, Rome and Carthage or most of even Norh Africa and even East Europe. Most of these societies and cultures have evolved. But neo-converts to Islam from the sub-continent, who claim to be so different from Hindus, have taken the idea of genocidal hate against Non-Muslims to an entirely different level. This provides the raison d'etre for not only terrorism but lucrative world-wide empire of trillions of dollars worth organised crime. In a globalised world, this is probably the biggest threat to civilians and unsuspecting societies.
The threats and challenges on the Indian subcontinent are particularly complex. Pakistan's military elite, backed by supplicant mullahs, have manufactured an Arab, Mongol, Mamluk and Turkic ancestry for themselves. They have been peddling a narrative of complete Islamisation of the whole of the Indian subcontinent, through all-out, genocidal war through every possible means, including treachery, deceit, false propaganda, subversion and organised crime and even genocide of Hindus.
Official spokespersons of Pak military and state have been more measured in their words to state that they are only different from Hindus. But their proxies and supplicants have been preaching and practicing genocidal hate against Hindus in both Pakistan and now Bangladesh as well as parts of India. While they oppress and intimidate sane and liberal Muslims at home and pretend to be liberal in the West as part of larger strategy, but their entire activities may be having a cancerous impact on cohesion of societies and security of unarmed and unsuspecting civilians well beyond this subcontinent.
I have always maintained that most Western academics and scholars, driven by their own stereotypes, have failed to see through the real picture. This is despite the fact that some of the Western societies are at huge risk. Instead of detecting and addressing this threat, many among them are preaching counter-hate.
It is possible that some of the local support systems, or propaganda machines, for Pakistani Islamist networks even in the West may be funded by clandestine organised crime. It is also suspected that real master minds of terror industry may be involved big money laundering who may have captured even some legitimate businesses in the developed Western world.
Hence, terrorist attacks on our soil are not stray incidents that happen on their own. There is a massive and complex world-wide invisible network who use radicalized youth as foot soldiers or fodder fuel. They need to intermittently carry out such attacks to keep their invisible empire intact. I have stated in many of my observations in media that the very dynamics of terror-crime industry is such that there may be many passive approvers and clandestine active collaborators in terrorism across all divides. They may be doing so without realising larger implications of their actions. Certain developments in the region indicate that many powerful forces may be backing Islamist radicalism in this region over their respective geopolitical agenda. It suits their geopolitical agenda to keep this region in perpetual turmoil. It is most convenient way of obstructing rise of India by ensuring our dependence on them for a wide range of products and contain competition for their economic enterprises.
Amidst larger constraints of our institutions, many of which are retarding our own optimal rise, the entire scenario is quite worrying. This calls for much deeper examination and evaluation of issues spell out a framework for determined action to defend our security and geopolitical interests as well as our developmental aspirations and social cohesion.
PROPER EVALUATION OF THE ISSUE AND EFFFECTIVE STRATEGY
But no entity can ever be invincible. They have their own share of weaknesses with multiple fissures and fault-lines. What is needed is clarity on where to hit hard with minimal effort and yet generate high impact. Its visible and invisible support structures must simultaneously be destroyed as part of larger objective to promote rule of law at a much wider scale. As part of psychological dimension of this warfare, Indian state must appear, benefactor and protector of all peace-loving people all over the world, including Pakistan itself who are suffering at the hands of perverse dispensation.
I have cautioned in one of my papers that an over-reliance on conventional military means and strategies, which do have critical but relatively smaller role, in irregular warfare, shall have consequences that, in long run, may leave an impact akin to a failure. In this context, the adversary is relying upon interoperability of its conventional and irregular war strategies. Hegemonic agenda of another power and apathy and disinterest of another is a formidable challenge that India has to factor in.
Another paper on this very blog mentions that irregular warfare like insurgency, terrorism and subversion have no space for grand stratagem like conventional warfare. This shall drain out massive energies and resources for even minor successes. In long run, it can cripple all-round potential and capacities of any state and society.
Indian security forces and Indian people have shown exemplary resilience to fight this complex civilisational identity-driven war. They have made huge sacrifices. But there seems a clear gap in our institutional capacities and enormity or complexity of challenges. This is further exacerbated by our geography and a host of other factors.
In today's interdependent world, governance and security cannot be divorced from each other. Similarly, internal and external security too share symbiotic relationship. We must remember that a reactive strategy that responds to a problem is bound to be deficient and expensive.
While there are no perfect prescription of success in irregular diffused wars, a good strategy must get better as it evolves. It must aspire to address issues in totality through focused, sharp and simple moves. It has to be economically, technologically and socially sustainable and capable of ensuring victory within a reasonable time.
But a good leader and a good strategy in statecraft can evolve only through rigorous practice and investment of high-quality ideas.
A good practitioner of statecraft must have psyche and exposure of a soldier- with or without uniform- as well as a scholar in a wide variety of disciplines.
These include not merely science of warfare, strategy, geopolitics,
governance and politics, but also a history of major powers, behavioural psychology
and evolutionary psychology, human anthropology and a little bit of neuroanatomy and
mathematics.
This may sound ridiculous. But in today's world, enormous advancement of knowledge has made it possible to build a comprehensive and yet compact approach to governance and security.
In an integrated and interdependent world, amidst prevailing pace of technological and intellectual innovation, the destiny of entire world shall depend upon the quality of statecraft that some of the major powers are able to practice. This will require appropriate harnessing of advancements in knowledge, including wisdom of governance and security gleaned from experiences of practitioners, into concrete policies, strategies and actions.
Statecraft involves a more realistic evaluation of strengths and weaknesses of one's own state and its people. It is possible only if we can measure and compare the same more accurately with that of our adversaries, allies and even relevant neutral powers. This will also help a more realistic understanding of the overall context, including the larger geopolitical and security equilibrium. It will become easier to assess and anticipate the degree and direction of likely shifts in the competing, conflicting and collaborating priorities and capacities of relevant stakeholders.
A great state attempts to build right institutional architecture, where each component supplements or empowers the other through a process of continuous modifications, improvements and innovations.
DERIVE INSPIRATION FROM THE PAST BUT BUILD A CONTEMPORARY SCIENCE OF STATECRAFT
Every major power has its own unique strategic psyche. But probably none have the kind of humanist ethos inbuilt in their wider societal psyche as India. This is what explains our ability to sustain an open and competitive political system despite multiple constraints and pressures. However, the pace of de-Indianisation that India appears to be undergoing over the past few decades may erode this strength of ours without enabling us acquire any corresponding gain in return.
Nationalists in India harp a bit too much on our glorious past as a civilization. This feels more like a consolation in the context of our inability to build smarter principles and practices of governance, compared to our northern neighbour.
While we must derive inspiration from the past but it is more important to explore a contemporary science of statecraft to address our current and futuristic goals, needs, challenges and priorities as per our own unique context. We must remember that science of statecraft may take decades, generations and even centuries to build a momentum of rise and fall. It goes well beyond laws, history and academic knowledge to build visible and invisible principles of wisdom in governance and security.
India definitely boasted of probably the most robust culture of statecraft with utmost humanist orientations and goals at one point of time. That explains our cultural footprint in whole of Asia. But its decay and degeneration is corroborated by our sustained external occupation.
Today, our intelligentsia must scientifically deliberate upon possible factors that could have propelled our extra-ordinary rise as a state and civilisation. But it must also critically examine the possible factors that brought about our downfall from such zenith of material prosperity and intellectual advancement. A critical examination of strengths and deficiencies of the principles and practices of governance and statecraft - as we understand and interpret- in the given context may help us in devising more scientific postulates for future. But this is not possible for historians of previous era who could not go beyond a simple account of events.
Hence the principles and practices of statecraft that we envision for ourselves must dispassionately take into account our own unique identity, with our own distinct strengths and constraints, alongside our larger context, priorities, challenges and realistic goals.
We must specifically remember that prosperity of ancient India or social-cultural and intellectual advancement of that era stemmed not from religious rituals or social customs or even extra-ordinary wealth of Hindu rulers. Rather the material wealth and wisdom of that era must have resulted from the wisest principles, practices and traditions of statecraft, encompassing all dimensions of governance of society and state, including geopolitics, security and warfare.
If we attempt to interpret and analyse record of events with multiple prisms of a wide variety of disciplines to ascertain a realistic picture, it shall convince us that the opulence and wealth of medieval era rulers and elite, probably represented a decadent phase of ancient India. Yet the momentum of all round innovations and advancements that had resulted from solid principles of statecraft, that were re-created during pre-Christ Mauryan/Kautilyan/Chola era, was so strong that it took a long time for our military-strategic decline as a civilisation. What led to our annihilation and sustained humiliation, from the height of material and moral pinnacle, could be degeneration of those exceptional practices of statecraft.
Post-independence India offered an excellent opportunity to resurrect a set of contemporary principles of statecraft be deriving inspirations from the past. But we have substantially failed to exploit this opportunity.
CHINA'S ASSERTION OF ITS CIVILISATIONAL SUPERIORITY
Today, many Chinese scholars consider China to be the most superior civilizational state by virtue of: a) its sustained continuity, without any serious subjugation to any external force, over several millennia; b) its continuous territorial and cultural expansion; and c) its ability to enrich and empower itself in a very short time, especially compared to India, and without recourse to direct and brazen colonisation like the West.
This is considered attributable only to the strength of the unique principles of Chinese statecraft which are supposed to be integral to their civilisational values. Despite intermittent phases of stagnation and degeneration, they appear to have the highest degree of continuity in this unique science of their own version. By scientifically modernizing their civil service, which is oldest such continuing institution anywhere in the world, they are in much stronger position to translate their principles of statecraft into practice.
Its intellectuals and scholars, and even leaders, run down the West over the latter's shorter history and inbuilt flaws in their principles and practices of governance. They express optimism about their capacity to overtake the West and dominate the world on the basis of inherent strength of their so-called civilisational values or principles of state-craft. They seem to concede the intermittent degeneration in their stellar principles of statecraft in the history of whose the lowest point was the so-called century of humiliation from mid-19th century. Their current principles of statecraft appear to have arisen from an amalgamation or fusion of ideas varying from their own ancient thinkers and strategists to those from the other prominent ones from the West and Japan with clear imprint of Kautilya.
Nevertheless, China has its own unique persona as a state and society where deception, stealth and ruthlessness of the sovereign have been acceptable instruments of state policy both at home and abroad. Western states and Arab world as well as Russia and South East Asia have with own respective model of state-craft, with significant fault lines in case of the first two. India in this context appears to have a reasonable structure with certain exceptional strengths but clear absence of a robust continuous principles of statecraft.
INDIA'S ENORMOUS POTENTIAL ALONGSIDE FORMIDABLE CONSTRAINTS
India's sustenance as a distinct civilisation and state despite centuries of external occupation, demonstrates its enormous potentials and strengths alongside formidable distortions and constraints.
What happens in future, no one can predict with absolute certainty or accuracy. Yet genuine statesmen and high-quality practitioners can still influence the course of further evolutionary journey of our own state as well as the global order.
We all know that a reactive or tactical approach to challenges, threats and opportunities can never lead to optimal results. Such an approach is rather reflective of deficient wisdom and poor resolve.
While no wisdom in statecraft can ever be perfect but an attempt to devise a dynamic and resilient institutional architecture of proactive governance can multiply capacities and output of any state. Today, there is greater unanimity that military and economic power are interdependent upon each other. Technology, innovation and intellectual prowess remains the key driver in both the spheres. Geopolitics and internal security appear more closely linked today than at any other point of time.
Peace and security- short of complacency, sloth and laze - are precondition for economic enterprise and progress. Smart law enforcement and efficient judiciary depend upon each other. Both can build a dynamic and effective criminal justice system only amidst a wider culture of integrity, social trust or social amiability where there is no space for identity-based divide and discord. Access to nutrition, sanitation, healthcare, awareness, education, economic and social security are all critical for building a high-quality citizenry, who constitute the most fundamental building block of a strong nation. Challenges of a society are formidable if it has faced colonial plunder and foreign occupation or even poor or oppressive governance for centuries. These subject substantial sections of citizens to sustained deprivation of nutrition and dignity for generations. These genetically erode the quality of population, including their cognitive capacities and even integrity behavioural patterns,
Only happy and cohesive families can raise healthy children that shall be less inclined towards criminality or less vulnerable to genetic disorders inducing anti-social behaviour.
No amount of court, lawyers, police and agencies can curb criminality and corruption if entire societal ecosystem is rigged to normalise corruption and deception as way of life. There are tons of data to establish each of the above hypotheses.
Hence, smart tactics is an indispensable necessity in national security. But in absence of a concurrent attempt to explore a larger all-encompassing and all-inclusive framework of governance, where each component empowers the other, the national security strategy of a major power is bound to fail. In my papers on national security and terrorism (National Security Outlook For India and India: Need for An Indigeous Strategy on Terrorism) as well as various other write ups, I have explained the finer dynamics of the complexity of threats faced by India.
If India can produce a highly talented diaspora, there is no valid reason to doubt its capacity to devise the finest principles, practices and strategies of governance and security if its leadership is not too compromised or psychologically deranged.
Hence, this is time to explore a newer version of Indian statecraft by harnessing all our strength and accumulated wisdom. This has been my pet theme over past few decades even though my works have been repeatedly hacked and destroyed.
I have used the phrase Indocracy, because it envisions a unique fusion of ancient Indian values and principles with some of the contemporary Western ideals and practices with significant modifications and adaptations. These have the potential to accelerate the pace of both economic progress and social stability of India and others in the post-colonial world and yet offer an alternative model to stagnating and saturating model of the West.
WHAT IS STATECRAFT?
Statecraft is and integrated science of governance and security that have evolved through practice rather than in libraries and classrooms. Its finer nuances are difficult to comprehend unless one has been a genuine practitioner and not a pretender or even simply a researcher and academic. All dimensions of governance and security cannot be documented and yet without solid academic and intellectual training none can be professional in any sphere.
The proof of strength of principles of statecraft lays in their ability to optimise economic and military prowess of a state on a sustained basis, where both the dimensions of power continuously supplement each other. It synthesizes strategy and tactics. It is able to build a sustainable synergy between state and society, where both empower each other to the optimal extent that is possible in a context. It is able to maintain an optimal synergy between external geopolitics and internal stability.
It is not about application of most brilliant ideas and strategies. It is more about devising and applying the ideas that could be most effective in a context. Clerical wisdom, moral intent and legal propriety have no space in this. Yet it must not appear to defy these for sake of wider credibility. From practical wisdom of statecraft must flow rules, regulations and laws. These must not restrain or restrict statecraft.
Robust principles and practices of statecraft take generations to evolve. It is derived from accumulated wisdom over generations in a wide variety of disciplines.
Its practitioners need a unique neural circuitry and deep psychological conditioning to absorb and practice this wisdom. It is a science that needs continuous refinement and progressive evolution. Its practitioners must evolve within their life time and over generations. They need absolute personal integrity to continuously acquire and refine much deeper wisdom than what books and academics in this sphere can offer.
A sound institutional capacity of statecraft helps in more accurate understanding or assessment of internal dynamics of state and society as well as the external dynamics of the world. This helps in outlining or identifying wider priorities of governance and national security as well as acquiring capacities to pursue these optimally.
Sadly, our academic regime or societal ecosystem are not geared to produce a large enough pool of potential practitioners of this science. An inbuilt institutional capacity to prevent, preempt and win wars, or resolve conflict, without eroding our overall strength, is indicator of the highest possible quality of statecraft.
A sound principle of statecraft aims at not only building such governance apparatuses but also generating such social and cultural habits that can sustain an efficient governance apparatus.
WAR-WINNING CAPACITY: AN INTEGRAL COMPOENT OF STATECRAFT
Military defeats and external occupation substantially change course of events. These destroy not only a state but also the society and alter wider psyche of state and society by influencing behavioural pattern people. Though we do not have adequate scientific data, but it would be clear that the phenomenon of, what psychologists describe, neuroplasticity must be inducing long-term anatomical changes over generations. This must be profoundly altering both strategic and societal psyche of states, civilisations and societies. This proposition is profoundly perceptible if we analyse course of history of major civilisations.
But a poorly fought war, where victories are secured at exorbitant and unsustainable costs, may also lead to consequences that may not be too different from defeat. Hence, science of statecraft has to focus on building the finest possible strategies and capacities of warfare. Wars and conflicts can never be avoided. But it is ability to anticipate all dimensions of warfare and deal with the same has to be a key focus of statecraft. But can this capacity be acquired by simply academic reading?
While there is no justification for war, a great state has to keep fighting low-cost and high-impact smaller wars - for greater good of larger number of people. This is the biggest laboratory for practical experiment of powerful ideas and strategies. These, in the context of states and societies, require continuity over generations. An impregnable defence for the core of the state and its key institutions is critical for the same. Similarly, far more effort, integrity and commitment is required to protect and refine this science. Is this the reason that China has been expanding? Where newly annexed territories can continuously expand the ring of security for itself? Is this the reason, it is intermittently involved in low-cost conflicts? Does this phenomenon explain what appears a strong elitist culture, alongside focus on integrity for incumbents at the highest echelons of CCP?
We cannot say that with certainty. But the manner in which it has fused its economic, technological, military and geopolitical capacities and goals point towards a very clear design. Details and examples are being deliberately avoided.
Simultaneously, specific detailed recommendations are being held back by the author.
Warfare has multiple dimensions. Besides, raw military prowess and capabilities to overwhelm adversaries, a state also needs to deploy a wide variety of direct and indirect means, to maintain military edge over adversaries. This may involve not merely optimising its own strength but also crippling strengths and capacities of its real and potential adversaries. A robust institutional apparatus also creates bigger space for smarter tactics and battle strategies. This includes deft management of psyche of friends, allies, adversaries and even neutral forces.
Thats why the smartest principles and practices of warfare lead to victories with minimum resistance or at minimal material and human costs.
NO SPACE FOR PAROCHIALISM IN INDIAN STATECRAFT
Indian statecraft cannot have any space for any form parochialism, including Hindu parochialism, as response to Islamic radicalism that has been threatening it.
Simultaneously, radicalism or identity driven hate in name of Islam is probably the biggest threat that the Indian statecraft has to address. This is for the sake of security of not only Indians but entire one fourth of human race inhabiting Indian subcontinent as well as people in whole of Asia and beyond.
Xenophobic radicalism has potential to generate such hysterical frenzy that may destroy its adherents and opponents both without any discrimination.
Xenophobic values and practices may have become part of neural circuitry of people in certain parts of the world, depending upon evolutionary course of certain people in certain geographical regions. Certain societal or cultural practices may have evolved in response to threats to bolster internal cohesion of the communities that may have reinforced this xenophobia over generations.
Unusual cohesion among male only gangs alongside a high degree of misogyny appears logical in these cultures. Such behavioral patterns are not restricted homo Sapien alone. Many other hominids are known for practices akin to genocidal hate and misogyny. Even though people and cultures have evolved but some of these patterns get so hardwired in neural circuitry over generations that these may get triggered even after centuries. As faiths and cultures originate in such regions and spread, these values and practices also spread.
There are a large number of studies that suggest that some of the Islamic rituals, which people across geographies have been following are nothing but a cocktail of pre-medieval Arabic, Mongol and Hittite practices. Observance of some of these practices have the potential to trigger violent parochialism. Simultaneously, over long run these can induce such genetic alterations that may make people more vulnerable to xenophobia, genocidal parochialism and misogyny. This is a much deeper and complex issue and I shall be writing separately on the same.
But at the same time, what is heartening that higher number of progressive Islamic statesmen are slowly renouncing parochialism and pushing their societies out of it.
Today, when an effort is being made to denounce Muslims by the so-called Hindu scholars, who ritualistically quote distorted version of some of our scriptures, they appear to be building a counter-narrative to Islamic radicalism by aping xenophobic parochialism identified with Islam. Since 99% human DNA or genome is common, people may adopt some of these values over years but any attempt to Arabise Hindus, or even most Muslims of India or the subcontinent, is neither viable nor desirable.
My independent research, outside public glare, convinces me beyond all reasonable confusions that that it was decay and disruption of the ancient Indian principles of statecraft that saw descent of Islamist aggressors, incorporating West Asian xenophobic values and practices, not only on the frontiers of Indian subcontinent or deep inside in it.
A prosperous and advanced India should have worked harder with higher integrity to practice and promote its eternally wise and sagacious science of statecraft with an eternally humanistic orientation. This would have enabled them to venture into Arab and West Asian lands in the same way as they did in the orient. Somewhere our traditions, culture, ethos and values of statecraft lost their virility and resilience. These succumbed to human frailties. It may have been collective failure of many to restraint power and authority by higher injunctions of Dharma. Or it could be a cyclical phase of decline from which we have not been able to emerge.
NUTURING OF ISLAMIC RADICALISM SINCE EARLY 20TH CENTURY FOR GEOPOLITICAL GOALS OF THE WEST
There are many indicators that suggest that Islamic radicalism could have been raised and nurtured by the Western imperialist forces from early 20th century as larger weapon of security and geopolitics. Genocidal partition of the subcontinent to overthrow of Mosaddegh in Iran or later raising of Taliban through Pakistan or sustained patronization of a Wahabi Saudi Arabia, that exported radical Islam, until Bin Laden phenomenon, are only a few examples in this direction.
The objective could have been subjugating liberals in Muslim societies who aspired to assert their national and cultural interests independent of the West. It is known fact that military dispensations and fanatic autocrats were dependable supplicants in larger geopolitical game. Simultaneously, it could have been the most effective weapon for crippling the biggest post-colonial state and the largest democracy of the world that was refusing to throw destiny of its people larger agenda of any particular super power. The course of events have been probably far too complex as position of various actors have also been constantly shifting to various degrees.
Probably, it requires prism of eternal Indian statecraft to evaluate it objectively from a humanist and empathetic perspective. Failure of Asian and Indian statecraft to align their objectives has crippled optimal potential of this region and beyond.
Geopolitics over the last several millennia has mostly been a zero-sum game for all major powers. These have only intensified in recent centuries. Major powers always sought to exploit gaps and fissures within the systems and societies of each other to cripple, weaken and dent and eventually subjugate each other until the second world-war when only two major powers were left on the global horizon. Lots have changed since then proving the cliche that there are no permanent friends in the international arena.
Certain strands of ancient Indian statecraft must have had the singular distinction of treating the entire planet as one common entity until degeneration of this science and wider debilitation of political authority structures. This is again an ocean where cannot get sucked into.
What is more important that India, given it identity and context, has to destroy any form of radicalism and parochialism. Any tactless or reckless attempt to politically profiteer from the issue or a legal-clerical approach shall boomerang in medium term and inflict severe damages in long run to both India and rest of the humanity.
Stakeholders of India need to be very clear in their mind that India cannot be, or must never be, equated with or brought to the same level as Pakistani elite. The latter are a bunch of irresponsible or cancerous elements acting as geopolitical tool of larger external global powers. To demonstrate their utility to others, their elite keep ranting about their separate ancestry and racial identity. They have radicalised and subverted their own society to demonstrate their utility to further the agenda of major external forces. They have demonstrated total lack any commitment to their own people and society or any vision of long-term governance, peace and security in this region. Their activities and outlook, if left unchecked, threaten the entire human race, including their patrons at one or the other point of time. 9/11 attacks in US and current social turmoil in Europe is a testimony to the same.
Fortunately, few sagacious rulers within the Muslim world have seen through the entire game. They are taking measures to liberalise and humanise their socities. Yet they realise that they cannot overturn social practices and cultural values overnight. Their task as well as that of the right-thinking people across all divides is going to be very tough.
ROAD TO FUTURE
As a state and civilisation, India continues to demonstrate not only strategic myopia but also inability to resurrect those ethos, values and wisdom of statecraft for which we still seem to have immense potential. Instead of preaching or expecting the world to change or act sympathetically towards us, India needs concrete capacity to eradicate xenophobic radicalism in name of Islam. Any attempt to foster counter-parochialism or tolerate obscurantist practices or divisive rituals in name of Hinduism shall be counter-productive or shall retard our overall capacities.
We remain a moot spectator to weaknesses within our systems and psyche in absnece of smarter principles of statecraft. It requires courage, innovation and integrity to refine systems and shape not only our own wider societal psyche but even that of people around us.
Military prowess, alone can never be in a position to shape internal and external ambience of a sate. Soft-power in itself is inadequate for pursuit of larger goals unless backed by all shades of hard power and economic, technological and intellectual prowess to sustain the same. Hence, what India as to attempt developing a combination of soft and hard powers on sustained basis with all-round capacities to sustain the same. There are no easy solutions in this direction. And I am not inclined to share any concrete details on the same in an open paper.
However, there can never be fixed and simple formulas and clear strategies in this direction. No academic training can ever build a robust science of statecraft anywhere. But no individual can also be sole repository of wisdom in this sphere. This is why great states ought to build a secret science of statecraft and ensure its continuity by building a large pool of practitioners, who alone can turn into innovators.
Any attempt by the Western powers to resurrect Islamic radicalism to deepen social divide on any pretext is dangerous not only for India but the entire world. Human race may have succeeded in containing terrorism in name of Islam to a much higher degree had they handled the entire issue going beyond tactical military, legal and bureaucratic framework. A deficient handling of the issue has ensured that radicalism remains alive and kicking in many parts of the world. It is still potent threat in India and beyond.
The counter-reaction in the form of Hindu parochialism up to a certain degree may have helped in exerting a degree of pressure on Islamist radicals. But beyond a certain point it helps provide fuel to them for propaganda. Newton’s third law comes into play in any case.
India's stakeholders must appreciate that the biggest partners in our fight against Islamic radicalism have to be sane Muslims. This is both within India and abroad. Radical frenzy shall eventually fail to differentiate between friends and foes and hence statesmen and leaders would be committing the biggest harakiri on behalf of their states if they succumb to this monster on whatever considerations.
But unlike scientists who experiment ideas and bring about innovations in controlled laboratories, practitioners and innovators in the science of statecraft have a tough challenge. World itself is a laboratory for them. Their day today actions and strategies alone are their experiments. Controlling the state is not sufficient. It is the fire to bring about the change shall give momentum to their experiments.
Ironically, there is no individual credit for innovators in science of statecraft. History remembers leaders and rulers. Real innovators in this science remain nameless, faceless and unknown. I still have faith in eternal values of India, which have not entirely been wiped out, despite all oppression and coercion by external forces and their compromised proxies hiding within our systems.
Resurrection of the wisdom of the noblest principles of ancient Indian statecraft, going beyond all rituals, nostalgia or narcissism, is probably the biggest promise of hope for people of South Asia and beyond. It appears quit dim, but not dead, at this point of time.
