Bharatiya response to asuras the Gita way
Vivek Sharma
What could be a greater example of response (प्रतिशोध) than the one exemplified by the Indian Air Force by bombing out headquarters of terrorists training centre in Pakistan territory in the wee hours of February 26.
Now we can say the terrorists had literally launched a suicidal mission in Pulwama wherein they got killed along with 30 of Indian Jawans. The terror masterminds had never expected that just after 12 days the flames of the bomb in Kashmir would engulf their top-line commanders, trainers along with 300 others in Pakistan. The response was delivered by the Indian Air Force with laser-sharp precision.
Why took 17 mins?
The job was to be over in 15 minutes, but it took the Indian Air Force 17 minutes in which the fighters focused only on the terror camps along with their headquarters, taking caution not to cause civil casualties. This is called response and not reaction (प्रतिक्रिया). A response is focused, target-oriented unlike a pratikriya, which only delivers jealousy, frustration and anger.
Do you know why the Indian Mirages took two minutes more in finishing the job? It was because one of the fighter pilots informed the back-up team that he was re-visiting the burnt down target to make sure nothing is left of it. He sees nothing in the smoke and drops another 1000 kg bomb on it to make sure the damage was 100%, including the surrounding areas, where some could hide to save themselves. This took him extra 2 minutes!
The plan was fool-proof and the Pakistan air force could hardly gauge which side the attack was being mounted from. Their radars were jammed, their air- surveillance was rendered dead. They were actually electronically blindfolded and before they could take any measure, the Indian fighter planes had done the job. This exposed Pakistan’s claims of being equipped with the latest air surveillance gadgets. Once again Krishna’s words come true—the intellect is the highest thing. Maybe you have the best of machines, but you have incompetent man (feeble intellect) behind them then they are as good as dead.
Krishna’s Strategy
Duryodhan is lying in a pit with his body paralysed below the waist after Bheem’s blows. He plays the trick again and addresses Yudhishthir that he should be given a fair chance to save himself, as he lay surrounded by the Pandavas there, with Bheem standing tall like his death.
Yudhishthir, dharma raj, as he was called, found a justified appeal in Duryodhan’s plea. He had nearly agreed to Duryodhan’s plea —only one of the Pandavas will fight with Duryodhan and if the latter won, the Pandavas would have to give up the victory. But, Krishna scolded Yudhishthir for his misplaced idea of dharma. Krishna conveyed to him the message the essence of which was that ‘dharma is an intelligent attitude and not a foolish one.’ “Once you took a wrong decision (due to misplaced idea of dharma) and you deprived the Pandavas of their honour and kingdom. They had to run for life at least for 18 years and now your decision to give Duryodhan a fair chance may again put the Pandavas in another stretch of hardships.” He told Yudhishthir that even an injured Duryodhan was a mighty warrior and shouldn’t be underestimated. Krishna literally asked Yudhishthir to stay out of it and commanded Bheem to finish Duryodhan and so it happened.
All the so-called intellectuals, talking about peace and talks with Pakistan to sort out Kashmir, are like Yudhishthir, with misplaced or crooked sense of dharma. Prime Minister Modi followed Krishna’s example and directed the Indian Air Force to deliver a deadly response to the terrorists who masterminded Pulwama in coordination with Pakistan. Earlier also a surgical strike was delivered as a response to Pakistan. But, this one was intense, as it sends a clear message across the world that India believes in dynamic peace—if you want peace, we want peace. But if you violate the peace code, we warn you thrice before demolishing you fully, is now India’s response. This response is fully in line with Article 51 of the United Nations’ charter, Indian Constitution and Bharatiya way of life as detailed in the Bhagwad Gita. Prime Minister Narendra Modi continued to attend functions through out the day proving Krishna’s words युधस्व विगतज्वरः—battle without the fever and anger against the enemy. He even quoted a shloka from the Bhagwad Gita while opening the biggest holy book at ISKCON centre in Delhi later in the day. He recited, परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम् … talking about teaching perpetrators a lesson to save the humanity. He even called terrorists dushtaamaand asura. Everybody knows how asuras and dushtama are dealt with in Bharatiya shastras. This made amply clear what Bharatiya policy towards terror and terror-mongers is going to be—a well-calibrated and focused response with zero tolerance, whatever be the repercussions.
Repercussions
The response in itself is a message to Pakistan, terror masterminds and misplaced Yudhisthirs in India and abroad that any misadventure from any side on the issue will only escalate the intensity of the response. Even separatist leaders in Kashmir should have understood it by now—their security has been removed and their installations were raided yesterday. There is no option now for them. Kashmir was handed over to India by the then king. These few motivated Abdullas, Zilanis and Muftis thought they would continue to bargain deals with India by propagating their pro-Pak agenda. They have no idea what they are facing now—they would have no option but to go underground, literally and figuratively so!