Confidence, anxiety and search for answers

By K. K. Katyal

NEW DELHI, JAN. 28. Perceptible confidence, a bit of anxiety and search for answers to some questions, considered pertinent - this was what the mood was about on the 50th anniversary of the republic. The sense of confidence emanated from the pride over many an achievement, be it the role of the armed forces in throwing out the intruding Pakistani troops from Kargil, technical and managerial skills, the exciting progress in information technology, the performance of farmers and entrepreneurial abilities. All this was reflected in the themes of the tableaux at the main function in New Delhi on Wendesday, as also in the speeches of leaders and functionaries of the Government. That the industrial and agricultural sectors have, by and large, picked up, despite occasional setbacks, did not go unnoticed either. Particularly comforting was the thought that the armed forces, on the one hand, remained apolitical (and the civilian authority remained supreme) and, on the other, continued to work for higher standards of excellence. This was seen as an effective antidote to dismay on other counts in a mixed fare.

The satisfaction, however, was tinged with anxieties, caused in part by current developments, in part by structural imbalances and increasing disparities among not only different regions but also different sections of the population. To take the present day and recent happenings first, Kandahar remained a source of unease, reflecting as it did the inability of the state to meet the challenges hurled by terrorists. The disquiet was all the greater because of the events in the immediate aftermath - the rise in militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, especially the daring attacks on the para-military and police personnel. However, the subsequent army action in the Akhnoor area in Jammu region, repulsing the aggressive move from across the border, provided a much-needed reassurance. The people would take some more time to get rid of the memory of their External Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, taking in the plane to Kandahar the three terrorists who were released in exchange for the hostages of the hijacked Indian Airlines plane. As against that, Mr. Jaswant Singh's action in getting counter-terrorism inscribed on the agenda of his dialogue with the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, Mr. Strobe Talbott, (on issues arising out of India's nuclear tests) produced some comfort.

Then there were deeper anxieties, to which attention was drawn by the highest in the land, the President, Mr. K. R. Narayanan, in his address to the nation. ``Fifty years into our life in the Republic we find that justice - social, economic and political - remains an unrealised dream for millions of our fellow citizens. The benefits of our economic growth are yet to reach them. We have one of the world's largest reservoirs of technical personnel, but also the world's largest number of illiterates; the world's largest middle class but also the largest number of people below the poverty line. Our giant factories rise from out of squalor; our satellites shoot up from the midst of the hovels of the poor,'' he said - with a brutal candour - adding that many a social upheaval could be traced to the neglect of the lowest tier of society.

The 50th anniversary became - thanks to the convergence of various factors - an occasion for some searching queries in political and diplomatic quarters. Where are the relations between India and Pakistan heading to? What is the meaning of the doctrine of a limited war, propounded by the Defence Minister, Mr. George Fernandes, and its timing? The search for answers was not entirely futile. It was for Pakistan which had conducted a proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir to determine the state of relationship with India - was one explanation. Views differed on the propriety of the Defence Minister's doctrine. According to one section, it would help Pakistan to project Kashmir as a nuclear flashpoint in South Asia and to make renewed efforts for third-party intervention. Others, however, considered it a fitting reply to the Pakistan military ruler's talk of teaching Indians a lesson. The Defence Minister's remarks, it was generally felt, was to be seen as a reminder that there was a plenty of space between a proxy war and a nuclear clash or even a conventional war - not as a declaration of intent to embark on hostilities.

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