Tricolour at Lal Chowk a must
Sometimes, being wise may not be appropriate. One glaring example of that is J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s decision to not hoist the Tricolour at Lal Chowk in Srinagar on R-Day, and the Central Government’s silent agreement to this move.
True, the young Chief Minister of this sensitive State was guided by fears of spoiling the peace and apparently said that such symbolic gestures like an R-day flag hoisting can be given a go-by in the larger interest of non-violence.
Our Republic has been carrying on this “symbolic” gesture for decades though there might have been a thousand reasons to curtail this annual pride parade that marches into the Capital with a spring in the step. It is a show of Indian might and sprite, of tradition, of history, of culture, of patriotism and all else associated with a free and able nation. It’s not as if the terrorists have not been looking for a grandiose disruption at Rajpath, an eventuality the Indian Government has kept at bay, without thinking of abandoning it for the good of the nation!
Lal Chowk, one needs to remind Abdullah, is part of this glorious Union and shouldn’t have been allowed to become a casualty of “possible” terror trouble. A hit at Lal Chowk on January 26 would be as routine a diary entry in terror outfits’ files as a spa is for a stressed diva on her day off. Does that mean, a Chief Minister should give undue importance to it, even if Lal Chowk had become more sensitive than ever in the last few days, what with a terror attack in the area which took some days to end?
The main priority of any Chief Minister is to maintain law and order and that would be Abdullah’s defence in deciding to relocate the Lal Chowk R-day event. But to do so, should he have cowed down to threats by disruptive elements, especially when they are aimed at bringing down a national tradition? Or should he have taken the trouble all administrators of J&K have taken all these 19 years and thrown up enough force to guard the ceremony which would have finished in less than an hour?
As CM, if it is beyond him to guard law and order at national functions, he should step down. Scrapping of gestures, howsoever symbolic, goes a long way in showing the absence of a backbone, and if one is candid, amounts to disrespecting the nation.
In all our living memory, the State of J&K has been a troubled area, drawing Indian blood on almost a daily basis. More than one opinion has gone over to the drastic zone to suggest that it would be more prudent to give it away to the Pakistanis than to lose so many Indian nationals, money and jawans in keeping it within our frontiers. On the face of it, this could be called a pragmatic approach. It would end the evil design of our neighbour to bleed India. It would save lives; it would bring peace and it would let India heave a sigh of relief. Or so they believe.
But in an era where nationality and territory is as closely guarded as your most precious heirloom, this kind of pragmatism is fraught with pits. And even if India and its citizens would generate the power of sporting this yogic mindset, what’s the guarantee that the terror brigade from across the border would ditto our aman ki asha gesture?
Even if Omar Abdullah scraps a R-Day function in a bid to draw the terrorists into a passive zone, what’s the guarantee of them not wanting to scrap a hundred other things? Wouldn’t they want more and more? Like leave Siachen, shift to August 14 as India’s Independence Day, observe August 15 as “Black Day” officially and, finally, don’t hold an R-Day parade even at Rajpath!
If Abdullah does not realise it, he needs to be told that terrorism is an enemy which cannot be brought around by conciliation. The only way to end it is to well, end it, not urge it to self-destruct by measures like scrapping an R-day parade and thereby hitting at the very pride of the nation, in again a very symbolic gesture!
True, the young Chief Minister of this sensitive State was guided by fears of spoiling the peace and apparently said that such symbolic gestures like an R-day flag hoisting can be given a go-by in the larger interest of non-violence.
Our Republic has been carrying on this “symbolic” gesture for decades though there might have been a thousand reasons to curtail this annual pride parade that marches into the Capital with a spring in the step. It is a show of Indian might and sprite, of tradition, of history, of culture, of patriotism and all else associated with a free and able nation. It’s not as if the terrorists have not been looking for a grandiose disruption at Rajpath, an eventuality the Indian Government has kept at bay, without thinking of abandoning it for the good of the nation!
Lal Chowk, one needs to remind Abdullah, is part of this glorious Union and shouldn’t have been allowed to become a casualty of “possible” terror trouble. A hit at Lal Chowk on January 26 would be as routine a diary entry in terror outfits’ files as a spa is for a stressed diva on her day off. Does that mean, a Chief Minister should give undue importance to it, even if Lal Chowk had become more sensitive than ever in the last few days, what with a terror attack in the area which took some days to end?
The main priority of any Chief Minister is to maintain law and order and that would be Abdullah’s defence in deciding to relocate the Lal Chowk R-day event. But to do so, should he have cowed down to threats by disruptive elements, especially when they are aimed at bringing down a national tradition? Or should he have taken the trouble all administrators of J&K have taken all these 19 years and thrown up enough force to guard the ceremony which would have finished in less than an hour?
As CM, if it is beyond him to guard law and order at national functions, he should step down. Scrapping of gestures, howsoever symbolic, goes a long way in showing the absence of a backbone, and if one is candid, amounts to disrespecting the nation.
In all our living memory, the State of J&K has been a troubled area, drawing Indian blood on almost a daily basis. More than one opinion has gone over to the drastic zone to suggest that it would be more prudent to give it away to the Pakistanis than to lose so many Indian nationals, money and jawans in keeping it within our frontiers. On the face of it, this could be called a pragmatic approach. It would end the evil design of our neighbour to bleed India. It would save lives; it would bring peace and it would let India heave a sigh of relief. Or so they believe.
But in an era where nationality and territory is as closely guarded as your most precious heirloom, this kind of pragmatism is fraught with pits. And even if India and its citizens would generate the power of sporting this yogic mindset, what’s the guarantee that the terror brigade from across the border would ditto our aman ki asha gesture?
Even if Omar Abdullah scraps a R-Day function in a bid to draw the terrorists into a passive zone, what’s the guarantee of them not wanting to scrap a hundred other things? Wouldn’t they want more and more? Like leave Siachen, shift to August 14 as India’s Independence Day, observe August 15 as “Black Day” officially and, finally, don’t hold an R-Day parade even at Rajpath!
If Abdullah does not realise it, he needs to be told that terrorism is an enemy which cannot be brought around by conciliation. The only way to end it is to well, end it, not urge it to self-destruct by measures like scrapping an R-day parade and thereby hitting at the very pride of the nation, in again a very symbolic gesture!
Published January 31, 2010, Sunday Pioneer, http://www.dailypioneer.com/232667/Tricolour-at-Lal-Chowk-a-must.html
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