NEW DELHI – According to the Times of India dated February 7, 2018, whileaddressing an annual budget session in the Parliament on 7 Feb 2018, PrimeMinister, Modi severely criticized Congress party by accusing it ofaccepting partitioning of India in 1947, and also remarked that India wouldhave had gained control over entire Kashmir if instead of Mr Jawahar LalNehru, Sardar Vallabhai Patel was the PM at the time of partition.
In the above context, Modi’s strong leaning towards Sardar Vallabhai Patel,a Congressman, is linked to the RSS perception, that Patel was perhaps proRSS and pro Hindu domination in India. According to some Indian writers theSangh Parivar has claimed ideological linkage with Patel since long. In1966, MS Golwalkar, supremo of the Rashtriya Swayamseval Sangh wrote in hisbook, Bunch of Thoughts, “We were fortunate that we had in Sardar Patel aperson with an iron will to prove up to Hindus expectations.
Hence, Modi, who considers Gowalkar a “guru worthy of worship”, naturally,has a similar positive view about Sardar Patel, although liberals in India,have tended to discredit the Sangh Parivar’s attempts to align with Patel.Ramchandra Guha, for example, thinks it is ironic that Patel is beingclaimed by the BJP when he “was himself a life long Congressman”. TheCongressmen think that Golwalker and RSS were misled about Patel, becauseof his apparently pro RSS ideas. Patel had viewed the RSS, as a loyalorganization, but with a diverted ideology, which could be won over by theCongress with love and not a stick.
Although after Gandhi’s murder in July 1948, Sardar Patel, as the InteriorMinister had stated, “There is no doubt in my mind that the extreme sectionof the Hindu Mahasbha was involved in this conspiracy. The activities ofthe RSS constituted a clear threat to the existence of the Government andthe State.” Patel also banned the RSS, although he unbanned it after a yearwith a condition that it should not take part in politics. Yet, later theRSS leaders broke their promise, and created the Jan Sangh as its politicalarm, which subsequently metamorphosed into the modern-day BJP.
Whatever facts may be about Patel, Modi’s above mentioned criticism of theCongress Party and Nehru is meant to vent out his Hindu extremistsentiments against the creation of Pakistan by partitioning India and theJammu and Kashmir dispute since his parent Hindu organization, RSS neverwanted that India should be divided and Pakistan should be created. That isperhaps the reason that a Hindu extremist had shot and killed Ghandi inJuly 1948 as he objected on Ghandi’s supposed tolerance for the Muslims.Modi’s criticism of Congress and Nehru on partition and Jammu and Kashmiralso reflects that he is still reluctant to see Pakistan as an independentcountry and he also claims that even Azad Jammu and Kashmir is part ofIndia. His criticism is as well aimed at consolidating his Hindu vote bankto sustain his rule by winning the following elections to promote Hindutwaphilosophy in India and advance his Pakistan and Kashmir related agenda.
Although from Pakistan’s point of view even the Congress had accepted thepartition reluctantly and it had also struggled hard to grab the wholestate of Jammu and Kashmir, Modi’s above mentioned criticism of theCongress and Nehru indicates that he is obsessed with three main ideas.Firstly, he wants to establish extremist Hindus’ domination in the Indiansociety because of which the Muslims of India are likely to continue tosuffer. Secondly, since Modi still criticizes the partition of India, he isadamant to reconcile with the existence of Pakistan.
Hence, it is difficult to imagine that he can build good relations withPakistan. Thirdly, since Modi is in favour of taking hold of the wholeprovince of Jammu and Kashmir, he will go on to claim AJ&K as part of Indiaand will use the full military power and diplomatic way to crush theKashmiris’ freedom struggle linking it with terrorism. In view of the abovediscussion following conclusions can be drawn. Pakistan should not expectany rational behaviour from India in Modi’s time. Modi is likely to goalong with his current policy of struggling to destabilizing and encirclingPakistan using Afghan soil. Modi will also continue to work for isolatingPakistan in the region and at world level by alleging it for supportingterrorism, with the support of the US.
He will use all means at his disposal to crush the Kashmiris’ freedomstruggle. In this context, while Pakistan will need to be vigilant on itsEastern borders, it should also tailor down its domestic and foreignpolicies to counter India’s evil designs. Along with this strategy,Pakistan should mainly concentrate on facilitating peacemaking inAfghanistan and its CPEC related economic development.
By: Col R Muhammad Hanif