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7 Blunders in indian history

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7 blunders that will always hauntIndia


History is most unforgiving. Ashistorical mistakes cannot be
undone, they have complex cascading effect on a nation's future. Here
are seven historical blunders that have changed the course of
independent India's history and cast a dark shadow over its future.
These costly mistakes will continue to haunt India for generations.
They have been recounted here in a chronological order with a view to
highlight the inadequacies of India's decision-making apparatus and
the leadership's incompetence to act with vision.]


Kashmir Mess


There can be no better example of shooting one's own foot than India's
clumsy handling of the Kashmir issue. It is a saga of naivety,
blinkered vision and inept leadership.



Hari Singh was the reigning monarch of the state of Jammu and Kashmir
in 1947. He was vacillating when tribal marauders invaded Kashmir in
October 1947, duly backed by the Pakistan army. Unable to counter
them, Hari Singh appealed to India for assistance and agreed to accede
to India. Indian forces blunted the invasion and re-conquered vast
areas.


First, India erred by not insisting on unequivocal accession of the
state to the Dominion of India and granted special status to it
through Article 380 of the Constitution. Secondly, when on the verge
of evicting all invaders and recapturing the complete state, India
halted operations on 1 January 1949 and appealed to the Security
Council. It is the only case in known history wherein a country, when
on the threshold of complete victory, has voluntarily forsaken it in
the misplaced hope of winning admiration of the world community.
Thirdly and most shockingly, the Indian leadership made a highly
unconstitutional offer of plebiscite in the UN.


Forty percent area of the state continues to be under Pakistan's
control, providing it a strategic land route to China through the
Karakoram ranges. As a fall out of the unresolved dispute, India and
Pakistan have fought numerous wars and skirmishes with no solution in
sight.Worse, the local politicians are holding India to ransom by
playing the Pak card. Kashmir issue is a self-created cancerous
furuncle that defies all medications and continues to bleed the
country.

No 2: Ignoring Chinese Threats andNeglecting the Military


Memories of the year 1962 will always trouble the Indian psyche. A
nation of India's size had lulled itself into believing that its
protestations and platitudes of peaceful co-existence would be
reciprocated by the world. It was often stated that a peace-loving
nation like India did not need military at all. The armed forces were
neglected. The political leadership took pride in denigrating the
military leadership and meddled in internal affairs of the services to
promote sycophancy. Foreign policy was in shambles. The intelligence
apparatus was rusty.


Even though signs of China's aggressive intentions were clearly
discernible for years in advance, the Indian leadership decided to
keep its eyes shut in the fond hope that the problem would resolve
itself. When China struck, the country was caught totally unprepared.
Troops were rushed to snowbound areas with summer clothing and
outdated rifles. Despite numerous sagas of gallantry, the country
suffered terrible embarrassment. India was on its knees. With the
national morale and pride in tatters, India was forced to appeal to
all nations for military aid.Inept and incompetent leadership had
forced a proud nation to find solace in Lata Mangeshkar's Ae Mere
Watan Ke Logo.


No 3: The Tashkent Agreement andReturn of Haji Pir Pass



Following the cease-fire after the Indo-Pak War of 1965, a
Russian-sponsored agreement was signed between India and Pakistan in
Tashkent on 10 January 1966. Under the agreement, India agreed to
return the strategic Haji Pir pass to Pakistan which it had captured
in August 1965 against heavy odds and at a huge human cost. The pass
connects Poonch and Uri sectors in Jammu and Kashmir and reduces the
distance between the two sectors to 15 km whereas the alternate route
entails a travel of over 200 km. India got nothing in return except an
undertaking by Pakistan to abjure war, an undertaking which meant
little as Pakistan never had any intention of honouring it.


Return of the vital Haji Pir pass was a mistake of monumental
proportions for which India is suffering to date. In addition to
denying a direct link between Poonch and Uri sectors, the pass is
being effectively used by Pakistan to sponsor infiltration of
terrorists into India. Inability to resist Russian pressure was a
manifestation of thespineless Indian foreign policy and shortsighted
leadership.


No 4: The Simla Agreement



With the fall of Dhaka on 16 December 1971, India had scored a
decisive victory over Pakistan. Over 96,000 Pak soldiers were taken
Prisoners of War (PoWs). Later, an agreement was signed between the
two countries on 2 July 1972 at Shimla. Both countries agreed to
exchange all PoWs, respect the line of control (LOC) in Jammu and
Kashmir and refrain from the use of threat or force. Additionally,
Bhutto gave a solemn verbal undertaking to accept LOC as the de facto
border.


India released all Pak PoWs in good faith. Pakistan, on the other
hand, released only 617 Indian PoWs while holding back 54 PoWs who are
still languishing in Pakistani jails. The Indian Government has
admitted this fact a number of times but has failed to secure their
release. India failed to use the leverage of 96,000 Pak PoWs to
discipline Pakistan. A rare opportunity was thus wasted. Forget
establishing permanent peace in the sub-continent, India failed to
ensure release of all Indian PoWs - a criminal omission by all
accounts.


The naivety of the Indian delegation can be seen from the fact that it
allowed Pakistan to bluff its way through at Shimla. The Indian
leadership was fooled into believing Pakistan's
sincerity.Unquestionably, Pakistan never intended to abide by its
promises, both written and verbal. Fruits of a hard-fought victory in
the battlefield were frittered away on the negotiating table by the
bungling leadership.


No. 5: The Nuclear Muddle


Subsequent to the Chinese Nuclear Test at Lop Nor in 1964, India
showed rare courage in carrying out its first nuclear test on 18 May
1974 at Pokharan. Outside the five permanent members of the UN
Security Council, India was the only nation to prove its nuclear
capability. The whole country was ecstatic and every Indian felt proud
of its scientific prowess.But Indians had not contended with their
Government's penchant for converting opportunity into adversity and
squandering hard-earned gains.


Instead of asserting India's newly acquired status of a nuclear power
and demanding recognition, India turned apologetic and tried to
convince the world that it had no nuclear ambitions. Strangely, it
termed the Pokharan test as a 'peaceful nuclear explosion' - a term
unheard of till then. The Defence Minister went to the extent of
claiming that the Indian nuclear experiment was 'only for mining, oil
and gas prospecting, for finding underground sources of water, for
diverting rivers, for scientific and technological knowledge.' It was
a self-deprecating stance. Displaying acute inferiority complex, India
did not want to be counted as a member of the exclusive nuclear club.


Criticism and sanctions were expected and must have been factored in
before opting for the nuclear test. Whereas a few more assertive
follow-on tests would have forced the world to accept India as a
member of the nuclear club, India went into an overdrive to placate
the world through a self-imposed moratorium on further testing. It
lost out on all the advantages provided to it by its scientists. It
suffered sanctions and yet failed to gain recognition as a nuclear
power.The country missed golden opportunities due to the timidity and
spinelessness of its leaders.


No 6: The Kandahar hijacking



The hijacking of an Indian Airlines aircraft to Kandahar by Pakistani
terrorists in December 1999 will continue to rile India's self-respect
for long. According to the Hindustan Times, India lost face and got
reduced to begging for co-operation from the very regimes that were
actively undermining its internal security. The hijacking revealed how
ill-prepared India was to face up to the challenges of international
terrorism.


The eight-day long ordeal ended only after India's National Security
Adviser brazenly announced that an agreement had been reached for the
release of all the hostages in exchange for three Kashmiri militants
including Maulana Masood Azhar. Sadly, the Prime Minister claimed
credit for forcing the hijackers to climb down on their demands. The
worst was yet to follow. India's Foreign Minister decided to accompany
the released militants to Kandahar, as if seeing off honoured guests.


The government's poor crisis-management skills and extreme complacency insecurity matters allowed the hijackers to take >off from Amritsar
airport after 39 minutes halt for refueling, thereby letting the
problem get out of control. India's much-vaunted decision-making
apparatus collapsed and was completely paralysed by the audacity of a
bunch of motivated fanatics. It was a comprehensive failure of
monumental proportions. India's slack and amateurish functioning made
the country earn the tag of a soft nation which it will find very

difficult to shed.


No 7: Illegal Immigration and Passageof IMDT Act



It is a standard practice all over the world that the burden of
proving one's status as a bonafide citizen of a country falls on the
accused. It is so for India as well under Foreigners Act,
1946.Political expediency forced the Government to make an exception
for Assam. In one of the most short-sighted and anti-national moves,
India passed the Illegal Migrants - Determination by Tribunals (IMDT)
Act of 1984 for Assam. It shifted the onus of proving the illegal
status of a suspected immigrant on to the accuser, which was a tall
and virtually impossible order. Detection and deportation of illegal
immigrants became impossible.


Whenever demands were raised for repealing the Act, the Congress, the
Left Front and the United Minorities Front resisted strongly. Illegal
immigrants had become the most loyal vote bank of the Congress. Worse,
every protest against the Act was dubbed as 'anti-minority' , thereby
imparting communal colour to an issue of national security. The
government's 'pardon' of all Bangladeshis who had come in before 1985
was another unconstitutional act that aggravated the problem.


The Act was struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court on
July 13, 2005, more than 20 years after its enactment. The Apex Court
was of the view that the influx of Bangladeshi nationals into Assam
posed a threat to the integrity and security of northeastern region.
Unfortunately, immense damage had already been done to the demography of Assamand the local people of Assam had been >reduced to minority status in certaindistricts. Illegal mmigrants have come to have a
stranglehold over electioneering to the extent that no party can hope
to come to power without their support. Nearly 30 Islamic groups are
thriving in the area to further their Islamist and Pan-Bangladesh
agenda. It is incomprehensible that a nation's leadership can stoop so
low and endanger even national security for garnering votes.


Regards




 
If you see the history, of present day politics is guided by Nayaks, Vijayanagara rule and religion played a major role in Politics. The Nayaks and Mohamad Ali of Arcot showed the way how the nation can be swindled for the welfare of a single ruler and his family. On those days wars were held and to hire Goondas/ army they needed money which the ruler hidden in caves and under ground room, robbed his own people and favoured foreign merchants and pledged his town, ports etc., which is now copied by our present day politicians. So nothing new!
 
kalyanaraman,

atleast have the courtesy to quote the source of this article. do not try plagiarize and try to take accolades for copying something verbatim from the net.

you have done it before and have been pointed out. this is not only courtesy, but illegal, as it could put praveen into copyright issues.

how many more times do you need to be reminded.

7 blunders... from sify news

also, since, all of us can refer to the urls, all you need is to give your personal view of the same, and not try to pass of someone else's views as your own. it is simply not correct. and maybe not legal either.

personally, i think, the biggest blunder, ever, was for jaychandra to invite mohamed ghori to defeat prithviraj chauhan :)
 
ramacc,

if i am not mistaken, the concept of kingdom, is absolute rule by the king. meaning, the king owns everything.

which is why, the subject always had to keep the king in good spirits. lands and properties, could be seized from one and handed over to another.

in a war, the victor took everything, including the women of the defeated.

compared to the previous centuries, even though we might gripe about lawlessness, today's india is a haven of safety and decency.
 
One can go on Counting blunders of History related to any country,religion,kings etc
even in a cricket Match.The History takes its own course.We are now analysing after so many years.If we were in that situation may be we would have taken the same decision.Time/kala takes its control.
Alwan
 
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