Responding to the article “Amit Shah attacks Mamata Banerjee over culture of political violence in West Bengal“, published June 9, 2020, in The Times of India.
I would like to encourage Amit ji and the innumerable partisan figures from all genuinely patriotic political parties to end the incessant bickering immediately, while there is still time. I’m aware that Amit ji “wants to expand [BJP] influence in the TMC-ruled state” and “its goal is to rid West Bengal of [the opposition]”.
But please understand, Amit ji, Mamata ji, and all of the other honorable and respected jis, that if you continue like this much longer, there will be only one party controlling West Bengal, and it won’t be an Indian party.
You see, India has stood strong against neighboring states and will continue to do so. However, right now, in mid-2020, China has mostly contained COVID19 within their borders, a task which, assuming that we in India are serious about the welfare of our people, will require tremendous resources in the coming years, perhaps even decades.
Meanwhile, China has zero political party bickering, because they have only one political party. And China has a history of waiting patiently for the opportunity to carve up otherwise independent nations, following which they insist firmly that the acquired or desired territories are part of China. And when China insists, they tend not to waver nearly as much as us democracy lovers.
India’s unending, physiologically and financially taxing, political and religious bickering, combined with our need to commit massive resources to COVID prevention and socio-economic recovery (so as to prevent the suffering and death of many many Indians in the months and years to come) will soon give China the opportunity to start carving away pieces of our lovely subcontinent. This was virtually impossible in previous decades, largely because of a delicate global balance of power.
The balance of global influence has recently tipped heavily in China’s favor, largely owing to America’s Trump predicament. Trump will likely win the coming US presidential election, or else he will create chaos in the US by contesting the election results in every which way he can. Either way, don’t expect the US to regain it’s dominant global position anytime soon.
China has mostly a game of wits to play with Trump — he wants them to attack America in some significant way, so that he will have a commonly acknowledged reason to “fight back”. And as every American school child learns, “wartime presidents” tend to get what the want from the legislature, and they rarely lose elections.
By contrast, the “game” being played out between India and China across the LOC is quite real and serious. We will be able to negotiate acceptable terms of peace for only as long as the Chinese feel that their socioeconomic and military positions, as well as the global balance of global power, require them to pursue a peaceful outcome to any given border skirmish.
Once ravaged by COVID, nations like Bangladesh and Pakistan may welcome some mutually acceptable arrangements that gain them China’s full medical and economic support, in exchange for their giving up some foreign policy autonomy and raising a Chinese flag beside their own.
Amit ji, are you ready to make such arrangements with China? No, of course not! And neither are Modi ji, Mamata ji, Kejriwal ji, Rahul ji, or any of our other perpetually combating influential Indian political figures. At least, they have not been, up until this point. India is never controlled by any outside power and must always remain fully autonomous.
To ensure this, India must focus decisively on strengthening ALL Indians, and uniting all Indians, so that other world powers will not so much as consider taking jabs or stabs at us. India has much more important things to do now than play off political and religious factions against one another. Surely you must agree with this logic. Right?
We all love India, we cherish her independence and continuing development. That’s why we all tend so naturally to utter phrases like “Jai Hind”. We mean these words, seriously. We would do anything to protect India, and I for one believe that India will soon stand as a beacon of light (figuratively) guiding humanity into an intimidating but potentially wonderful new world.
Now, please stop the bickering, please, we need you to cooperate with one another completely now.
Jai Hind!
(ok, you may deport me now)