By: Moorthy Muthuswamy PhD
moorthy@charter.net
January 21, 2004

Prithviraj Chauhan syndrome: Getting the Big Picture Right 

Since India is about to embark on a crucial set of talks with Pakistan on accommodation and peace it is time to ask ourselves what should be the real goal of India vis-?vis Pakistan -- is it peace? After all, peace is usually viewed in short time scales. Pakistan may opt for peace for tactical reasons for now, -- only to change its mind later.  

Any attempt at peace with Pakistan must be viewed in the context of a thousand-year history, starting with the defeat of Prithviraj Chauhan. It led to slavery for many hundred years and immense destruction continuing to this day (http://www.saveindia.com/gautier.htm). 

India?s goal must be to come out of the Prithviraj syndrome by working to permanently neutralize the civilizational enemy. This is the secret to India finally overcoming the bullying by Islamists to achieve eventual peace. Why do I use the term civilizational enemy? Because in every Muslim majority area of South Asia, non-Muslims and their civilizations have been permanently decimated, -- from a substantial presence (http://www.saag.org/papers7/paper610.html). 

Prithviraj Syndrome 

In the modern context, the defeat of Prithviraj Chauhan in the hands of Muhammed Ghori is one of being outwitted by an opponent. This eventual defeat was preceded by Prithviraj?s inability to understand the enemy and letting the enemy live to fight the other day on numerous occasions. 

We seem to be battling the same war with Pakistan over and over again. We do not appear to understand the intent and motivation of the enemy and have shown little interest in overpowering the enemy. In short, we still exhibit deficiencies Prithviraj had shown. 

New India 

The good news is, not all of India suffers from this. The buzzword these days is about Indians? ability to compete successfully, -- not be cowed by the opposition. We first saw this ability in providing software services around the world. These projects didn?t show up in the Indian lap. They were earned by outwitting and outperforming the opposition. 

How can we use the attributes of the new and emerging India to compete successfully, -- i.e. to bury the Prithviraj syndrome for good? 

Confidence Building Measures with Pakistan 

At the moment most travelers from India to Pakistan are Indian Muslims, -- a community already under the grip of extremism (http://www.indiacause.com/ol/OL_040118.htm ). This is unlikely to change given the fear Pakistan induces in the minds of most non-Muslims, and its track record of sponsoring jihad on them. In the past many of these visiting Indian Muslims have been recruited to come back from Pakistan to conduct jihad in India. Also, they have been used as a conduit to smuggle drugs, weapons, jihad and fake Indian currency. Bottom line: there is little that is good that can come out of these travels, mostly evil and death to more Indians. 

If the relations between Islamic Pakistan and India normalize, the demographic invasion should start, just like from the neighboring Islamic Bangladesh, that is in the process of demographic flooding of the North East Indian states. India will gradually start seeing its Western border states too flooded with Pakistani illegal, if it not prepared to repulse a Pakistani demographic invasion. 

Bangladesh has so many of its young students enrolled in colleges across West Bengal. That still has not stopped it from sponsoring terror groups active in the North East. Nor has it stopped Bangladesh from sliding further into Islamic fundamentalism. 

The potential impact of soft-borders and the associated dynamics are discussed at a greater detail in my earlier publication: http://www.indiacause.com/ol/OL_040101.htm. 

Conclusion: If India doesn?t quarantine itself with respect to Pakistan, Pakistan will flood India with people and terrorists and still win jihad. Peace with Pakistan could in reality be no peace! 

Indian Muslims? often indifferent and somewhat hostile attitude toward the majority community, their continued slippage in every measure of progress and the lack of presence of no reformed version of Islam even in a multiethnic, democratic and secular India (http://www.indiacause.com/ol/OL_040101.htm) are notable. Under these circumstances of ideologically entrenched hostility, it would be a bad idea for India to train Pakistani students. A weakened enemy is easier to handle than a more capable enemy.  

America started to help the former Soviet Union in a big way only when democracy was voted to power and the Soviet communism, the ideology responsible for the cold war was no longer in power. All the available evidence indicates that most Pakistanis are still married to extremism ? recently over 70% voted to support the Taliban. Generations of Pakistanis have been brainwashed into irrational hostility through Pakistani textbooks and further reinforced by most Muslim clerics? preaching across its mosques and madarasas. The Muslim clerics are still the real power brokers in Pakistan either directly or indirectly, -- with an ability influence and mobilize masses across the spectrum of the Pakistani society. This is true whether Pakistan is under democracy or military leadership. Realization by a few Pakistanis, including possibly Musharraf, doesn?t alter this dynamics. The concept of modern risk minimization backed up by a thousand-year history calls for a permanent victory (like America?s over Soviet Communist ideology), -- not Prithviraj-type magnanimity. 

Conclusion: Without Pakistan being significantly weakened, and most of its population weaned away from extremist Islamic ideology, India trying to shore up to make Pakistan capable from information technology to other assorted industries makes little sense ? this is Prithviraj all over again! 

The assorted variety of leftists, ?peaceniks? and some journalists who want India to open borders with Pakistan or those who articulate the view that there can be no peace without a prosperous Pakistan have no experience in nation-building or securing a country?s citizens. These people have played virtually no part in wealth creation in the emerging India and have mostly worked to undermine India?s security. They should not be listened to and should be marginalized. 

Concept of Gradual Squeeze 

To reverse the Prithviraj syndrome requires far more than keeping ?vigil?. It requires a vision to roll back the religious fascism that continues to assault India from within and without. Not just in Kashmir, elsewhere in rest of India we must put a squeeze on the power structure of Islam that continues to promote some form of jihad or the other and prevents Indian Muslims from progressing. This must be done with a plan, gradually and for many years to come. 

Pakistan?s and other Islamists? dealings with India has thus far been one of deceit and deception. Accords with India were followed only as long as it suited them. This is a classic behavior of an enemy intend on exterminating the opponent, but not on accommodation. India must respond in an unpredictable manner, and essentially pay them back in a similar manner to defeat them civilizationally and permanently in South Asia.  

Conclusion: Current trends, for a foreseeable future, indicate a strengthening India and a weakening Pakistan. Nothing should be done to change that. 

If a major crackdown or military response is required, India should move forward decisively to execute it. China?s economy took off after the Tinnamen Square crack down which ensured stability. The world, while initially voicing reservations, came back to invest much more in China in the aftermath. 

Composite Talks with Pakistan 

The key to dealing with a brutal bully like Pakistan is to be aggressive and put it on the defensive. Clearly, India has more issues to talk to Pakistan besides Kashmir. One being that of displaced persons from West and East Pakistans and Pakistan occupied Kashmir.  

The non-Muslim ethnic cleansing conducted by Pakistan in South Asia since 1947 has created a land imbalance in its favor and to the detriment of India, with India having to accommodate 85% of the population in 75% of the land. When it was becoming obvious that West Pakistan was going to expel most of its non-Muslim citizens to India, Sardar Patel, the then Deputy Prime Minister of India wanted to annex some portions of West Pakistan as compensation for creating this land imbalance. But Pandit Nehru, the then Indian Prime Minister, prevented him from doing so. This act of Pakistan was against the understanding reached at the time partition, -- a few months earlier. Pakistan has managed to drive out 30% of its population of non-Muslims to India, from West and East Pakistan (in 1971). Hence, India has the right to demand at least 30% of Pakistan?s landmass (without subjects), as a compensation for creating this land imbalance (http://www.saag.org/papers7/paper610.html). 

By making this demand, India exposes Pakistan? genocidal acts of Islamization in South Asia and takes the moral high ground. It buys India strategic space and time, while releasing pressure on the Kashmir issue. I would consider it as a strategic blunder on the part of Indian leadership if it doesn?t raise this issue in the upcoming talks with Pakistan. We all should realize that it is Pakistan that owes us land, and hence the issue of handing over territory to Pakistan, be it in the form of parts of Kashmir, should never come under consideration. 

Let me remind the readers that the Pakistani army systematically butchered about a million Hindus in the then East Pakistan in 1971, and was never held accountable! I urge the readers to demand/create petitions/pass resolutions that India brings up the issue of non-Muslim ethnic cleansing by Pakistan and demand land from Pakistan as compensation.  

India at the Crossroads 

The current Indian leadership has a great opportunity at hand to finally move beyond the Prithviraj syndrome. This legacy is far more prestigious than a thousand Nobel peace prizes ? this is about finally reversing the thousand-year defeatist and reckless mindset! Only this will ensure a thriving civilization in South Asia and the defeat religious barbarism. 

For all its progress, as I have pointed out India does have growing cancer within (http://www.indiacause.com/ol/OL_040118.htm ). India needs to take decisive steps to dismantle roots of Islamic fundamentalism in order to free up resources for economic development. 

I urge the readers of this article to write/lobby Mr. Vajpayee and other Indian leaders to strive to be the one who finally acted to reverse the Prithviraj?s blunder and achieve the path to true peace and prosperity in South Asia. 

(The views expressed here are author?s own. The writer is a nuclear physicist based in America. He is also a director of Indian American Intellectuals Forum, a New York-based non-profit organization. His contact address: moorthy@charter.net)

Moorthy Muthuswamy PhD