By Sushil Kutty
There are things we want to talk about but cannot talk about. That does not apply to Mani Shankar Aiyar and Mehbooba Mufti, the two Valentines of Pakistan. Both have been talking way out of the boundaries of India. In Aiyar’s case, literally. Aiyar and Mufti belong to a group of people who have been dancing with the devil. The music will have to stop someday, but when?
When will these people, who are behind the curtain, be unmasked? In Aiyar’s case, he has done the favour himself, proclaiming his “love” for Pakistan. Mehbooba will not pass the polygraph. Aiyar’s comments about India, the ones he made in Pakistan are not subtle. Not even like a Priya Prakash Varrier wink – wink, wink, wink…you know. He says he has “received more hatred in India than he has received love in Pakistan”.
The unmasking of Aiyar will not be a big story. It is out there in the open. You don’t have to build a bridge overnight to connect Aiyar to Pakistan. The man is the quintessential traitor, the Jaichand! He goes to the enemy camp to undermine India. It is straight out of Shakespeare. Congress leader Salman Khurshid attributes it to Aiyar’s cache of words. “He knows too many words – otherwise he is a good guy!”
The question is why is it okay for some to demean India, and where do you draw the line? Constantly insulting India and then to say they are talking for the good of India! The whole thing around them is crumbling but they throw the debris at India. With Aiyar it is not even a limited-time offer. He is always at it – on a wavelength with Pakistan.
Aiyar has told everybody he was born in Lahore. Well, why did his mother not leave him there? She would have done a favour to him and to India. He certainly keeps Pakistan’s interests at heart. No wonder there are people for whom it is farfetched to think of him as a mole, turned around when he was a diplomat posted in Islamabad – a perfect catch for the rogue state, considering his alleged proximity to the Nehru-Gandhi family. With his cache of words, he will not be short of infidelities to enliven the prose if he writes a bestseller. Khurshid can write the foreword and the book can be dedicated to ‘Pakistan’.
It is difficult to unmask Mehbooba Mufti. One, she is a duly elected chief minister of an Indian state. Two, she couches her statements by conflating her ultimatums with “people of Jammu & Kashmir are suffering”. With Mufti, it is always the best offer – talk with Pakistan or live with the bloodshed.
Mehbooba Mufti doesn’t see war as an option. That is a view she should not impose on India. History is proof war is always an option. If she had said war was never an option for ‘Hindustan’, she would have found ‘Hindu’ buyers. Hindustan has never attacked. It was always invaded. But Mufti’s solution to end “bloodshed” sucks. It sounds like an ultimatum: Talk with Pakistan, or else!
Never mind the cross border terrorism. It is like Alexander telling Porus, surrender or perish, Macedonians don’t take prisoners of war! Mufti appears to be creating a platform for Pakistan on purpose, as if doing a chore given to her. It doesn’t matter if she’s branded an anti-national! If Aiyar has declared himself completely in Pakistan’s pocket, showcased his Pakistani-stripes, Mehbooba Mufti betrays a de facto separatist-streak. Mufti is not Rani Padmini. She doesn’t want to fight for honour. She wants to be bridesmaid. Hand over the bride to the cruel defiler.
Mufti doesn’t want war. But if more family members of Indian army soldiers had been killed in the Sunjawan attack, war would have been an option, the only option. It is another matter that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not talking war even if Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says Pakistan will pay for the “misadventure”, which Mufti calls “bloodshed”. Some are calling Nirmala’s bluff “courageous” and “brave”. The question she should ask is, “How bad should it get before the Modi government starts acting?” That is because it can only get worse.
The Nirmala sort of conversation should stop at some point in time. We cannot wait for everybody in the ISI to die in their sleep or commit mass suicide by jumping off cliff-tops. India faces a challenge but it is not a Rubic’s cube that is hard to solve. The enemy has been at our doorstep for 30 years. The smile-campaign has failed and we should not be allowed to be misled by the Muftis and Aiyars.
The Congress doesn’t seem care about it as much as they care about coming back to power. Where is the Congress concern for India’s unity and integrity? India should be priority No.1 for Rahul Gandhi’s Congress. But all that the Congress can do is go temple-hopping and be condescending towards ‘bigoted underclass pakodanomic bhakts’.
Aiyar’s idea of chivalry is putting up a billboard praising Pakistan. Mufti’s idea of a solution to the Kashmir bloodshed is to kowtow to the enemy, surrender. The national discussion on Kashmir should not be defined by the likes of Mehbooba Mufti and Mani Shankar Aiyar, who take it that the Indian Army is the tool of the weak to be mocked and dismissed. Who are Aiyar and Mufti speaking to? It can’t be to Allah. The Quran is the word of Allah and the Quran says war is an option. In fact, the Religion of Peace is all about war. (IPA Service)
