Cost

There are two kinds of costs to be discussed here

• The cost of attacking India
• The cost of bravado filled celebration.

Cost of attacking India

The cost of attacking India is fairly cheap. The cost which India pays for each terrorist attack or war enforced on it by Pakistan or anyone else is staggering. India has can be and has been bled horribly with the minimum investment by its enemies since more than a millenium. While its true that we overcome the challenges, the damages that are done leave a permanent mark.

What did the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts cost Pakistan? A few hundred kilos of RDX and a few people recruited to plant it and of course, money needed to bribe the corrupt life enforcement. India paid with  crores of rupees worth of damages, 257 lives and hundreds more injured and scarred for life. Add to it the millions spent in trying the accused in the next two decades. The 2006 local train bombings were even more cheaper to execute, required only a few pressure cooker bombs and over 209 lives were lost and 700 injuries.

What did the 26 Nov 2008 Mumbai attacks cost Pakistan? Ten jihadis and their arms and ammunition. Cost to India was 167 civilians, 20 odd policemen and two NSG personnel, thousands of crores of property damage, and India’s financial capital brought to a standstill for 48 hours.

The dozens of terrorist attacks in India throughout the 1990s and 2000s, whether by the way of recruiting various jihadis in Kashmir (or sending mercenary mujahideen or even Pak security personnel disguised as ones) or via bombings in various cities across India have been nothing in terms of cost, effort,  investment for Pakistan in comparison to the destruction that they have caused. Even the Kargil war of 1999, was more damaging to the resources of India. Pakistan got three or four batallions in the beginning on the peaks which allowed them to virtually cut off NH1 from the rest of the country. India lost a great deal of soldiers and resources in reconquering lost territory during the sixty day war.

What does it cost to smuggle in Bangladeshis as vote banks? Nothing, compared to the price which India pays in return , via the demographic disaster which has befell eastern India where the carving out of a third Islamic republic is no longer an exaggerated possibility.

Our enemies are so lucky, most of the times, all they need to send is weapons here, either to separatists in Nagaland or Manipur or Assam or to Naxalites who plague more than 100 plus districts in the country. And funding here, to the numerous NGOs, media outlets, ‘’activists’’, politicians, officials, institutions or any other entity, to do their bidding and hollow out the country from within.

Pakistan or any other enemies have to be made to pay the price for attacking India. Until they bleed more for their attack on India than India itself, India will know no peace. Until the cost of attacking India is unaffordable in men and material for our enemies (both internal and external ones) , there will be more attacks on India, its that simple.

The cost of bravado filled celebration

Our celebratory self congratulating mood makes it certain that any good done by our forces is lost in mud slinging by vested interests or any further such activities are made exceedingly difficult.

On the recent 29^th September cross border surgical strikes, the whole country went beserk. Media fueled this hysteria, by having hyperactive anchors screaming the limited details available to them. Add to that some politicians (who need to have their parentage and DNA verified) denying this strike, asking for proof of it. Is this some reality show going on?

The way some people in the ruling party celebrated this was pathetic. The only thing more pathetic than it was the former ruling party citing execution of Ajmal Kasab as some kind of war victory. 

“Everything is Bollywood tamasha for us”

“Yes we need one more surgical operation. Of such people’s brain”.

And if this was not enough, look at this gem:-

The stupidity of this country is baffling and infuriating.

Is anything like SAS/ Sayaret Matkal/Delta Force even possible in India? These are three examples of limited personnel special forces which indulge in covert ops, leave no traces behind, their activities denied by even their country’s defence forces. And these are the precise reasons why they are so effective. Whacking your enemy bad and then acting like you never did it, gives you more opportunity to repeat the same over and over again. 

The armed forces are under no obligation to publicise anything they do. We have already seen what harm can be done by a particular breed of journalists who covered the Kargil war and 26/11 attacks. Its time that such coverage is put to an end.

Another ridiculous idea the media promotes is the common man fighting terrorism. The only way the common man can fight terrorism is by getting shot or getting blown up and becoming the latest statistics of terror. How can the common man, who cant even allowed by law to carry a 10 cm knife to protect himself or stand up to someone harassing his family , fight terrorism? Its ridiculous and insulting at the same time. 

Sorry temporary patriots, but even fifty surgical strikes are not going to stop Pakistan and its various benefactors from attacking us. They do not have any dearth of funds or cheap human resources nor traitors in our midst to achieve their targets. We of course as a society have the dearth of understanding the challenges we are facing. While its true that India today is much stronger to combat them, there is a very long way to go, both militarily and diplomatically. Knee jerk reactions aren’t a long lasting solution.

So instead of chest thumping and spreading stupid memes on web, try to do the following:-  

Destroy the elite who promote terrorism, either by boycott or by ballot. Vote out the leaders who promote nonsense in the name of secularism. Look beyond freebies and hollow promises. Cast your vote for betterment, don’t vote your caste for entitlement.Boycott the media that undermine national image, boycott the actors who try to underplay Pakistan’s role in spreading terror in India. Trash films that glorify subversive elements. Trust me, Bollywood is crap. There is much better cinema available , you just need to look for it.

Don’t trust or spread rumours. If the people incharge of keeping the country safe were as naïve as you claim in your social media posts, you would have ceased to exist a long time ago.

Remember the soldier in peacetime as well. He’s a person just like you, but exceeds you because duty and honour aren’t just punchlines for him, nor is patriotism mere chest thumping.

Try  learn about the world around you, try to read more about different cultures, especially that of your enemy.  Don’t be too self absorbed in yourself. Understand where your country and you stand in the world. If you have a chance to go abroad, learn that country’s history, culture and its relationship with your country in brief. Don’t lose any opportunity to explain your country’s stand on various issues if you are a part of a significant social circle abroad.

And last but not the least, stop asking for instant  results. Societal changes are seen over a lifetime, not in a government’s tenure. You are the change, not the government.