I have said so in the past and I repeat now that spilling innocent blood does not solve any problem nor does it achieve any objective. I am saddened by the futile killings in Punjab irrespective of the identity of the victims, whether they be Hindus or Sikhs or followers of any other faith, But having said that, when [look at the situation in Punjab, in India and in South Asia as a whole and place it in the context of super power rivalry, T cannot help the conclusion that the USSR is making very clever moves in India and, for very good policy reasons, provoking continuously violence in Punjab.
India is a leading member of the non-Aligned Movement. It uses that platform not only for political but also for economic gains. Naturally, India does not want to leave the NAM and equally does not want to be thrown out of it. At the same time, India realizes that the Soviet Union, unlike the other superpower United States, is the Big Brother NEXT DOOR. It must placate the Soviet Union as far as possible.
Mr. Rajiv Gandhi won a landslide victory at the last elections in India partly because of the sympathy vote for the late Mrs. Indira Gandhi and partly because ‘resolution of the Punjab crisis’ was his promise to the electorate: He pledged his personal prestige and the Weight of the office of the Prime Minister of India behind the Barnala Government in Punjab which, today, survives only because of the support the Congress Iegislators are directed to give. If that support were to be withdrawn, the Barnala government will die an inglorious death and with it will die the notion of a Punjab Accord Shaky as already. The position of Mr. Gandhi is, he would be pushed into a comer. Punjab is his PANIPAT; Punjab is his WATERLOO,
Comarade Gorbachey was given an unprecedented welcome in India on his recent visit. He signed a billion roubles and more worth of trade pacts with India. He wooed India with promises of more aid. As the world’s largest ‘democracy” functional or otherwise India lends a humanistic facade to Soviet tyranny. As a leader of the NAM India provides a platform to the Soviet Union in the Developing World . As a country situated in one of the most important strategic positions, India offers the Soviet Union a potential for controlling the Indian Ocean region. The United States arrangements in the Philippines, Diego Garcia and Kenya among other countries of the region, have sown up the area pretty tight’ The Soviet Union does not have the fleet that is required to balance the US presence without having a foo the Indian Ocean itself, India offers that possibility and at present India’s open support for establishing a Soviet presence in the Indian Ocean is of the greatest advantage to the Soviet Union; even more than its voice in the NAM. The of mooted Collective Security Plan for South Asia has that singular purpose, But India cannot effort to sever its ties with NAM which it would certainly have to do if it signed a defence treaty with the USSR. While the Soviet leader ship understands the: position ‘of Mr, Gandhi, they are also aware of his vulnerability. If Mr. Gandhi were to cease to be the Prime Minister of India, he would no longer be entitled to the kind of protection which he feels is necessary to keep him alive.
A few trained Soviet ‘infiltrators’ stage a massacre in Punjab on the very day when Tohra defeated the Barnala Government sponsored candidate for the Chair of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) thereby showing by democratic process just how discredited the Chief Minister has become. The Sikhs, who have been building up their case internationally with some success, are discredited all over again and Delhi gets a reason to put Tohra (and along with him Badal) behind bars. Delhi also received a clear signal, If the Soviet will is thwarted no matter what it costs India to fulfill it Mr. Gandhi’s shaky chair could collapse. The drowning man catches at a leaf, Comarade Gorbachev has learnt his lessons well from his friend, Ronny Reagan He makes sure that he negotiates from a position of power
If the Western Allies were to remain confused in the maze of appearances and false perceptions and false perceptions . If they were not able to rise above the security leaks surrounding them at the moment, if they were not to act with some concern for the tomorrow that must surely dawn, India ‘would be lost to them irrevocably, If that happened, and there is every likelihood of it happening, Trincomalee in Sri Lanka would not be very far from Moscow. Such a development would not be in the interest of stability in South Asia would be disastrous for any dis armament talks and would certainly place world peace at risk. My friends and colleagues all over the world can only point out the fact that there are alternative arenas for nuclear conflict. Arenas other than Europe And the In Ocean area is one of them.
At the same time, I would like to say to Mr. Gandhi that by taking more and more power in his hands he cannot silence the people who are seeking their right to justice and dignity. I am sure he remembers only too well the history of 1940s as well as the events during the Emergency Rule imposed by his late Mother. I am also sure that he knows only too well that not even the purges of Stalin could silence the people even inside the Soviet Union, by imposing increasingly draconian laws, Mr. Gandhi can only deny civil liberties to a whole spectrum of peoples without exception. And that denial, as history shows, would push the moderates into the extremist and the extremists into the terrorist camps benefitting neither his administration nor the Sikhs whatever their colour of conviction . I urge Mr. Gandhi to learn something from history so that he does not have to repeat it senselessly.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 26, 1986
