Our Kumbhakarna’s Phantasmagoria

In a recent debate on NDTV (Left,Right and Center) he came to life with some fantastic carryovers from his soporofic state. Mani Shankar Aiyar said on national television that Pakistan is the country that is suffering from terrorism. This is not a new line from Mani or from his friends cross the border. Indeed, one senior journalist from there even said that 26/11 is wearing thin. But ofcourse, Pakistan wants Bharat to forget. And so, it would seem does Mani Shankar Aiyar.

He embellished what is obvious to anyone that the three Taliban formations, one that is poised to attack India , the second that is currently attacking Pakistan and the third attacking Afghanistan, have coalesced into one . Indeed, a great discovery !

Hence the craven attempt by the Pakistani elite ( who nurtured the Frankenstein) to find easy passage to Western capitals and to Bharat( as the present writer pointed out previously). Hence, the
much hyped Aman ki Asha. The self same Pakistani elite whose wealth was obtained off the backs of the rural poor. The self same Pakistani elite of whom only 2% pay taxes.Can Bharat whose own resources are stretched thin take in these people ?

The answer must be a firm no !

The problem with Mani is twofold. Firstly, he is dazzled by the wining and dining and red carpet treatment his friends across the border treat him with. He is their ideal target and he returns to Bharat filled with the ideas that they have spread like some enticing net. He himself admitted on national television that he had been 4 times to
Pakistan in April alone ! Presumably in a private capacity. And he has lamented the fact that he could not entertain his sartorial friend Mohammed Qureshi at dinner after 26/11.

The second problem is something that his friends across the border have shrewdly sized up. He is in love with his own image in the mirror: the wise statesman who advocates peace not war. And ofcourse, that uninterrupted uninterruptible dialogue with Pakistan. While he dreams in colour his ‘friends’ across the border know perfectly
well what his role is in their larger agenda. They certainly are good at that !

Unfortunately for Mani, as he himself stated, there are no takers for his plan. In his phantasmagoria he is the prophet who is not honoured in his own country ! A mild megalomania appears to be driving him.

At the debate two panelists put forward some concrete, sensible ideas.Dr. Chandan Mitra member of the Rajya Sabha suggested that not talking is a
diplomatic option. The other panelist argued that nuclear sabre rattling from Pakistan must stop and the sensible option for Bharat is to maintain a strong military presence on Pakistan’s eastern front, so that Pakistan does not embark on any adventurism.

But our Kumbhakarna snored on,droned on. There are elements, he says, in the army, the Government in Pakistan and the ISI who want a favourable dialogue with Bharat.

Which elements Mr. Aiyar ?

It is indeed a testimony to the robustness of Bharat’s people that they do not buy into his phantasmagoria. It must, however, be said that he does not need elocution lessons unlike his sartorial friend from across the border. And he is way above his Congress colleague who speaks loudly and in stentorian tones. (Perhaps Mani should tell him that it is mythology, not maithology !).

There is yet hope for our Kumbhakarna, even though at this stage he is still throwing around phrases like Nazi Germany, in some vain attempt to show the Congress party that he is more Roman than the Romans ! There are rumours that 10 Janpath may reward him for his loyalties.

(The writer is a Political Scientist who taught at a Canadian university)