Book Review - Himalayan Blunder

Authored by Brigadier John Dalvi, Himalayan Blunder is an important book in understanding the Indian humiliation in Sino-Indian war of 1962 – the men who were responsible for it, the deeply flawed policies, and the back ground environment in which the possibility of war was slowly brewing. It’s a curtain raiser to the Sino-Indian war; it’s the angry truth about India’s most crushing military disaster – as proclaimed rightly in the cover page. 

To put it in simple terms, the defeat of India in the hands of Chinese was the outcome of deeply flawed national policy; a policy that was guided from none other than ‘pandit’ Nehru. That’s the genesis from where all other problem emanates. It’s a refusal to acknowledge that there is a crises and that’s needed to be responded to instead indulging in Ostrich-like behavior.

Annexation of Tibet and aftermath –

Any nation which has concerns for its national security cannot remain a mute spectator to the events in its neighboring country. That’s what India chose to do when China annexed Tibet in 1950. Tibet was like a buffer zone for India against its enemies, vital to its strategic defense. India was always considered secure in the North because of the mighty Himalayas which was considered impregnable. But this impregnability was greatly compromised with the annexation of Tibet. Sardar Patel wrote a prophetic letter to Nehru about the Chinese problem in 1950, just one month before his death. Brig. Dalvi says that letter deserves a place in any analysis of Sino-Indian war.

India under Nehru was delusional about the imminent Chinese threat. It continued to make believe that China was a good friend of India and there can never be any was with China even though there might be minor differences. Instead of assessing the problems in strategic and military viewpoint, India decided to rest on hope – for which it had to pay dearly in 1962.

Lack of direction, lack of leadership

As mentioned earlier, India never acknowledged the imminent threat China posed let alone develop a strategic response to it. When this is the case, we can’t expect any serious preparation in the military ranks and files. Every decision was taken on an ad-hoc basis; there was no serious long term strategic plan whatsoever. Even though many military officers could see the cardinal disregard for the military principle they were unable to do so owing to political pressures.

But on the other side, China was thoroughly prepared for any kinds of escalations – in terms of manpower, transport, food supply etc. When the Chinese were feverishly preparing for a possible invasion and combat, India was dilly-dallying and hoping that nothing would happen. It was only when the Chinese moved into the Indian Territory and occupied a portion of Ladakh, India was alerted. Then, the military reactions begin – which was actually done to pacify agitated public opinion, nothing more. India was giving bombastic statements externally, but internally hoping everything would end peacefully. This kind of dual aims or confused aims never give any proper directions to the war.

With lack of preparedness in all fronts, lacking any cohesive national policy, lacking political leadership, having to confront a mighty enemy, Indian army – which was once hailed as one of the best in the world was humiliated at the hands of Chinese in October 1962 and had to concede thousands of square miles which is not recovered till date. This was no fault of the army which actually fought in the toughest of the terrains and with the mightiest of the enemies and with bare minimum resources. Many (including the author) were taken as Prisoners of War.

Brig. Dalvi lists all the guilty men who were responsible for this debacle. It all starts from Nehru, defense minister Menon, the ministry of defense et al. When the confrontation happened, the two important people of the country – the PM, and the defense ministers were not in the country tells tales how serious these men were about the happenings in the country. Instead, Nehru was concerned about the world problems and assumed the leadership position in NAM and neglected the domestic and defense issues. After the death of Sardar Patel, Nehru and his policies were virtually unchallenged and uncontested. This proved to be detrimental.

The war of 1962 was a rude awakening for India. It was a call to formulate a realistic foreign policy. Brig. Dalvi sums it up as “1962 was a national failure of which every Indian is guilty. It was a failure in higher direction of war, a failure of the opposition, a failure of the general staff (myself included): it was a failure of responsible public opinion and the press. For the government of India, it was a Himalayan Blunder at all levels”

Book Review - How India's Intellectuals Spread Lies

The introduction of the book says:

This book takes a rare, hard look at India's leading public intellectuals whose greatness is taken for granted but whose sophistry is overlooked. Ravi Shanker Kapoor exposes them as cowardly thinkers incapable of challenging conventional wisdom.

Importantly, it's not the personal follies and foibles of these worthies that the author finds troubling but their unquestioning acceptance of failed Leftist theories, and slavish adherence to politically 'correct' ideas. Smug in their acceptance by an adoring Left-liberal media they are blind to empirical evidence which flies in the face of their positions, oblivious both to opportunities thrown up by changed times and to the clear and present dangers of the status quo, whether it be the scourge of socialism or the malevolence of Islamic terror. Thus the spreading of lies, a betrayal of both their own vacation and of the Indian people

The author uses his pen as a butcher wields his knife. In Kapoor's abattoir, no cow is holy enough to be spared - and no reputation hallowed enough to be revered. Combining journalistic experience with solid scholarship, Kapoor relishes in taking on some of the biggest icons in India's public discourse. His is an original voice.

True to its introduction, the book takes a rare hard look at the leading intellectuals of India in a never before manner and breaks the shallow theories they preach and exposes the sophistry they indulge in.

Public discourse in India is increasingly dominated by the people who are leftists or the people who are left-leaning. This book takes a hard look at the people who muddy already muddied discourse of India – how they insinuate and reduce the public discourse to the level of sloganeering and clichés.

Synopsis:

When the communist utopia was in the making in the erstwhile USSR, many human rights atrocities were a daily happening. Many intellectuals and journalists visited the USSR, but they failed to report things as they were due to their allegiance to an ideology. Lenin coined a term for such people – “Useful idiots”. These are the people who blindly and unquestioningly accept leftist lies. The author, Ravishanker Kapoor likens them to the Sheep in George Orwell’s Animal Farm and also to Gandhari of Mahabharata – who is not born blind but chooses to be blind. India has its own set of useful idiots. In his own words the author has exposed the intellectuals as the sheep in the animal farm, as descendants of Gandhari.

The liberals – that’s what most left leaning intellectuals call themselves as, have perverted the values for which liberalism truly stands for. For instance, liberals traditionally sought to limit the scope of the state action and to prefer non-governmental initiatives wherever possible. But the contemporary liberals would ask for just the opposite – favor an increased scope of state action in areas such as education, health care and social welfare.

In a country where sloganeering is confused with etiquette and platitude with wisdom, it’s hardly surprising shouting passes off as the cry of long-suffering, silent majority – If you ever happen to counter the leftist lies you will be shouted down, as the tyranny of decibels rule the roost. You will be abused - in fact abuse is used as the argument, and the name calling – the anti-poor, a Hindu fundamentalist, a lackey of MNCs. These are the time-tested techniques of the left. One more reason for the left’s success in having a great influence in public discourse is that, it has hijacked the pro-poor agenda. The reading habits of Indians and the intellectual bankruptcy of the so-called Indian right aggravates the matter. So, the leftists are free to spread their canards.

Then, the author takes the intellectuals to task – Arundhati Roy,Jawaharlal Nehru, Khushwant Singh, Kuldip Nayar, Mani Shankar Aiyar, P Chidambaram. And puchures their claims, some by empirical proofs and some by effective counter-arguments.

After this, the author explains how the intellectuals spread red propaganda – in most of the cases the liberals act as the B-team of commies. They have an inordinate influence in organizations like NCERT and likes and spread their propaganda and lies through the government prescribed text books and influence the kids at a very early age. The media – is full of liberals and commies - is used as a machinery to spread their canards. Some are born blind, some get afflicted with blindness, and some blindfold themselves. Communists belong to the first category ; liberals and intellectuals belong to the other two categories.

In the concluding chapters, the author explains how communists use guilt as the weapon of mass deception. The leftists saw the society as machinery which can be designed according to some dogmas – dialectical materialism, scientific socialism et al. - rather than as an organism. Communists and left wing intellectuals are the generals of mendacity. Human civilization is the target ; they are softening the target by using the technique of guilt-mongering. The bombardment of lies and white lies continues unabated. More often than not, liberals end up as accomplices of the Left in this war against civilization. They become useful for the commies. That is why Lenin called them “Useful idiots”.

In the final chapter, the author proposes a way out – A theory of Indian conservatism. First he clears off the myths surrounding conservatism. The three strands of conservatism are – open society, free economy and limited government. The origins of conservatism and the three strands are explained at some length. The author says there is a need to develop conservatism as an ideology in India and argues Indian conservatism is inherent and unspoken. In fact, Indian conservatism – based on individual liberty and focusing on open society, free market, and limited government – be in tune with will not only be in tune with the traditions, conventions, and intellectual history of the country but also allow them to grow in a healthy manner. And the final warning – The nation is doomed unless a sizable part of its Illuminati embrace conservatism wholeheartedly.

Conclusion – All in all, I found this book as one of the best reads in the recent times. This book should be read to understand the muddied waters of political discourse. The writing style of the author – holding no cows holy, calling spade a spade – endears him to the readers. This book sets the tone for the much needed alternative discourse in India.

Vote Congress - Get back to Socialist Dystopia of the 70s

Talk to anyone who grew up in the 70s. Chances are more that they talk about the dismal economic conditions they were living in than they talk about the affluent or at least middle class lifestyle. That was the condition in which most of the Indians languished till the economic reforms gave them some kind of respite and hope.

Agreed, India of the 70s was just over two decades since was free from the colonial clutches. But many countries which were erstwhile colonial colonies, once got freedom in the 40s and 50s were marching ahead in the economic growth while majority of the Indians were paralyzed by penury. If you go to the main causes of it, it’s not hard to find the reason – the flirtation with socialism to usher in the dreams of a utopia.

I had said in one of my earlier posts – most of the problems that are plaguing the contemporary India can be traced back to congress. In the same way, many of the mindless economic policies that caused unnecessary delay of economic progress of India can be traced back to one man – Jawaharlal Nehru and of course, his progenies.

Those were the times when the world was swayed by the spells of socialism. Nehru, who was a Fabian socialist was immensely influenced by the success of the then USSR, wanted to replicate the same in India. So, all these centralized planning, the five-year plan, control of the state on key industries are the results of the socialist principles. But, thank heavens he did not choose the way of Lenin, Stalin or Mao.

If you by any chance remember studying the kind of economy India is, you might remember studying it as a mixed economy – that is the one which has both the traits of socialism and capitalism. But before the reforms of the 90s, India can be rightly called as a quasi-socialist economy. There is a well known joke in the Former Eastern Bloc – Capitalism makes social mistakes, socialism makes capital mistakes.

The legacy of Nehru continued unabated – first through his daughter and then through the dynasty. In my assessment of the man I can ascribe naiveté for him but not malignancy. The same can’t be said about his daughter Indira. She was dictatorial, having little respect for the democratic principles. For these kinds of leaders naturally socialism becomes dearest. So, during her reign, socialistic policies went unchecked. To understand how diabolical the policies were of the Indira’s rule, just sample this –  India’s personal income tax had eleven tax brackets with highest marginal income tax rate of 97.5 per cent! Now, with that level of taxation, who would want to be an entrepreneur? It was just discouraging for anyone who wanted to be an entrepreneur.

That’s just the repetition of the same old story of Robin Hood we knew about: Rob from the rich and give it to the poor. But usually the latter never happened. No country can ever be in the path of progress without entrepreneurial spirit. But with the existing principles, the spirit of entrepreneurship was nipped in the bud.

Now cut to present day, current UPA government – we hear the same sloganeering, the same social engineering, the same high decibel projects (NREGA, and other such loathsome likes) – in short, all vestiges of the bygone dark socialistic era. They have brought down India from a level in which it was hailed as the next economic power to a crippling economy where food inflation runs close to 13%.

It was a rude shocker for the BJP and NDA when the Congress and its allies got the mandate to form the government in 2004. It was too much to give it a second chance in 2009. It continued doing what it did in the first term – to bring India down by several notches. Now we stand at the doorstep of a much needed change. If we make a mistake of re-electing the UPA again, the mistake would be too costly to correct. So, the mistake would be at our own peril and might create the socialist dystopia yet again.