Introduction 

In my previous paper titled “The Art of War on Terror”, I had outlined strategies America, the world’s pre-eminent power, could use to win the war on terror efficiently. In this paper after discussing the nature of militant Islam in India and its surroundings, I delve into systemic deficiencies that have underlined India’s losing war thus far with militant Islam and point out specific steps needed to reverse this trend.  

India’s parallel with Nepal is striking. Nepal has seen a massive and extensive insurgency by naxal groups. The country and the society of Nepal are disintegrating in front of our very eyes – without being able to reverse or provide an alternative to naxal-based ideologies. Similar naxal-based insurgencies are also seen in several Indian states. With India already reeling under a full-blown Muslim insurgency in Kashmir and other insurgencies in North-East, a legitimate question arises whether India too will go in Nepal way. 

Unlike Nepal, India has a higher growth economy overall, and many of its citizens are well educated and are able to create wealth for themselves and the nation. Nevertheless, long-term trends – discussed here -- indicate that India too will be torn to shreds by Islamic and naxal forces – a nightmare scenario for most Indians or non-resident Indians.  

Naxal conflict in India is a byproduct of war imposed by militant Islam 

During the last fifty years Nepal has seen consistently high population growth-rates. The resulting large population has been mostly illiterate and getting poorer by the day. Other than tourism and agriculture, the state hasn’t been able to put together a viable economy and create career opportunities for its growing population. Globalization and TV penetration has left its population dissatisfied with their status and made it possible for communist-based ideologies to provide an alternate vision. It must be pointed out that these ideologies promise little in the way of wealth creation but only sharing of wealth – when there is little that can be shared! 

Parts of India not benefited by the recent wealth creation too have developed Nepal-like insurgencies. Increased wealth created by Indian software and other industries have not really reached most of the masses – expenses related fighting Islamic terrorism and subsidizing Muslim populations, including the ones in Kashmir have gobbled them. India is racking up huge budget deficits to defend against militant Islam without making any effort to defeat it. The Indian politicians have become good at holding “vigil” against terrorism while civilians and military people continue to be killed by militant Islam and property destroyed. Conclusion: India’s war with militant Islam is the indirect cause of the emerging naxal-based insurgencies. Hence, India’s foremost priority must be to vanquish militant Islam, once for all, to avoid sliding into a Nepal-like disaster. 

War by all means 

I have published extensively on the nature of militant Islamic threat India faces (When are India and Pakistan ready for peace?). For the purpose of completeness, I will point out some characteristics of this war imposed on India. 

The enemy, militant Islam, has almost completed the process of Islamization of Muslim majority areas of former British India – Pakistan, Bangladesh or even India’s own Muslim majority Kashmir valley successfully. In the former Muslim majority areas of British India, under militant Islam’s control, constitution and laws were formulated favorably to Muslims and Islam, and blatant force was used to drive out indigenous Hindus and Sikhs to India. This is genocide and extermination of the worst kind.  

Even in Hindu majority India, various other forms of jihad are under way – due to Muslims’ minority status. Non-Muslims, and in particular Hindus are being marginalized – by implementing reservation quota for Indian Muslims and by increasing subsidy for Indian Muslim populations (Congress-led coalition: a stooge of Islamists?). Through the network of mosques and madarassas and through Middle East funding, militant Islam has been able to indoctrinate most Indian Muslims by preaching hatred against the majority community for alleged “grievances” against Muslims, often resulting in “Friday afternoon riots” by Muslims. Militant Indian Islam continues to voice support for Taliban and other extremist regimes/groups around the world, while condemning countries such as Israel that help defend India against a terrorist Islamic Pakistan – while still demanding by-the-book implementation of “secularism” within India. There has been a planned transfer of Muslims from Bangladesh to India toward changing the demographics and “fatwas” are issued to Muslim families to bear more children, at the expense of education and increased poverty -- thereby keeping Muslims from joining mainstream. Due to this jihad Muslim population percentage within India has now increased by about 50% since 1947, while non-Muslim population in neighboring Pakistan and Bangladesh has decimated significantly. The Muslim majority Kashmir is now set as a staging post to destroy the “infidel” India from within. This total war -- also called jihad -- is being imposed on India – the last big land of infidels in South Asia. The enemy obeys no rules and uses every option at its disposal to destroy India. Current trends indicate that India is losing this war (India’s Future: Trend should be a Friend) with militant Islam that is no less than Nazi-like in its approach.    

Indian military understands militant Islam, unlike most politicians or journalists 

It appears that the left-dominated Indian media and newspaper editorial boards are hardly aware of the process of Islamization and decimation of non-Muslim populations in Muslim majority regions of British India and its implications for India. Furthermore, Indian media has not understood that not having Muslim majority status in India, militant Islam has to play by different rules to destroy the nation. Indian editorial boards have consistently worked to paint a benign picture of militant Islam or downplay Islam’s deficiencies under the banner of secularism and tolerance while at the same time putting the majority community’s action in defending against militant Islam under an overly critical microscope. This has resulted in the majority community being poorly prepared to win the war waged on them by militant Islam. Similar lack of awareness exists among Indian politicians. Hence it is no surprise that politicians in power in New Delhi and across the nation have not only exhibited a lack of grasp of the big picture associated with Islamic expansion in entire South Asia, but have not taken a single step to defeat militant Islam. Instead, they are increasingly caving into militant Islam by increasing subsidies and reservations for Indian Muslims and are unable to deport the Muslim Bangladeshis who flood into India for a demographic take over and destabilization. 

Unlike Indian public, most of the Indian army units go through a rotation in Kashmir. With Kashmir being a Muslim majority region – where Muslims control power, militant Islam is the de-facto power there. Indian military hierarchy, unlike the politicians in New Delhi or most Indian news media editorial boards has been exposed to the real face of militant Islam and the attitude/outlook of Muslims under its grip.   

Conclusion: It has therefore become absolutely clear that for India to survive as a nation and defeat militant Islam, Indian military must play an important role at the decision making levels. 

Indian democracy: a colossal failure 

Where does India stand after becoming independent and for being world’s largest democracy? Thanks to Hindu majority’s tolerance it has a large and growing Muslim population and the Hindus’ embrace of modern education has led to creation of a niche for itself in software industry. However, the accomplishment of software industry has been due to private individuals and corporations. Even then growth has slowed down in these areas with Indian governments unable to significantly improve infrastructure, institute labor reforms and provide stability. Hence, Indian democracy can take virtually no credit for India’s resurgence. 

Let me list here monumental failures under Indian democracy: 

q       Indian democracy simply stood by and did nothing when militant Islam forced out to India, most non-Muslims from all Muslim majority areas of former British India. With most Muslim residents staying back in India this has made partitioning of British India in the name of Islam farce and unjust (New Ideas for a New War). 

q       Successive “democratic” governments have had no plan for solving the Kashmir jihadi terrorism, with Kashmir turning out to be a major financial and security wound on the Indian state. The Indian state is unable to revoke Article 370, the root cause of jihadi terrorism. Thanks to heavy subsidies, terrorism sponsoring Kashmir valley has among the lowest poverty levels in the country and has reserved itself lion-share of the opportunities at the expense of poor non-Muslims, in Kashmir as well as in the rest of India. The rule of law is hardly enforceable in this militant Islam dominated region (The woes of Jammu and Ladakh, India, the Kashmiri colony).  

q       Similar situation exists with regard to illegal Bangladeshi Muslims -- not only the Indian state is unable to stop the continued flow, it has no executable plan to return over 10 million illegal. The democratic system has neither been able to bring any meaningful legislation to solve this problem, nor is capable of enforcing the rule of law. Now a Kashmir-like situation has already developed in certain districts of Assam -- in Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakand, where Bangladeshis have almost completely ethnically cleansed Indians out.  

q       Not only in Kashmir, even Muslim majority districts in Kerala have taken a lion-share of scarce resources, from computers to education, leaving the local government little to spend on non-Muslims in the rest of the state. 

q       Pakistan continues to terrorize India, killing its citizens at will. Once again the Indian democratic system, regardless of the party in power has proven that it has no clue what to do. This Indian democratic system is continuing to escalate defense expenditures without making the security situation any better – with the end product of little money left for economic development or poverty reduction, in addition to running up huge budget deficits. India under democracy has never strategically raised the issue of non-Muslim ethnic cleansing conducted by Pakistanis. Not only that, India has been meaninglessly lost in the rhetoric of secularism while the reality has been that India is the only land non-Muslims can leave free, safe and prosper -- with all Muslim majority regions of South Asia almost becoming non-Muslim free.  

q       Under Indian democracy, the media and the courts have taken an overly critical view of the retaliatory incidents in Gujarat after Godhra incidents, while doing little about over 300,000 non-Muslims displaced and many thousands raped and killed in Kashmir. 

q       The Indian media under “free” Indian democracy, in the name of secularism, continues to turn blind eye to many Islamic institutions in India preaching hateful messages and keeping Muslims deprived and backward, but discredits the majority community’s efforts to highlight or correct this as “communal”. 

q       North-East insurgencies continue to be sustained under Indian democracy without being solved. In some places it is getting worse. They are also exacerbated by the war with militant Islam and the terrorism sponsorship received from Islamic Bangladesh. 

q      A recent poll revealed (published in Mid-day) that just under 90 per cent of Mumbai’s Muslims, presumably the most progressive in the country, rejected a secular civil code preferring instead Shariah law, favoring polygamy, triple talaq and Islam’s unequal inheritance laws which allow women half as much property as they allow men. The views of most younger and educated Muslims and of women were also the same, in almost the same proportion. This is the overwhelming proof that Indian Muslims are under the grip of militant Islam, regardless of education.

q      A 2001 census report on religion shows that the Muslim population in the country grew at the rate of 36% between 1991 and 2001. The Hindu rate of growth was 20.3% in the same period. This data in the overall context implies a bleak future for India.

q       Not only the Indian democratic system has proven incapable of installing visionary and decisive leaders, but it is also populating legislatures with people of similar quality that have not produced a single legislation to roll back militant Islam. Thus, the Indian Parliament upkeep costs several hundred crores per year to the taxpayers in worthless expenditures. Now it appears that an effort is underway to rescind POTA, perhaps the only effective legislative tool in defending against militant Islam. In fact, over the years, the Indian parliament has implemented legislation after another to appease or promote militant Islam. For all practical purposes, it appears that Indian democracy has become an unwitting friend of militant Islam. No wonder India is losing the war with militant Islam! 

Conclusion: There is a systemic deficiency with India’s losing war with militant Islam and its inability to help create prosperity for most Indians, it is Indian democracy. 

The near-uniform anti-incumbent voting by the Indian public in many recent elections is the overwhelming proof that the Indian public is simply tired of non-performance of the Indian democratic system that has failed on security and economic fronts and has put the safety of its citizens in gave danger. Conclusion: Indian public has spoken; it is simply down right idiotic to continue with Indian democratic system in its current form. 

Why has Indian democracy failed? 

There has been a realization by many experts that democracy is not the way to achieve the status of a developed country while starting out as a developing country. This is what I had observed: “During the last fifty years the countries that have achieved prosperity and eventually democracy have done so on the basis of wealth creation and stability achieved through non-democratic mode of governing” (Beyond Fatal Democracy, A New Paradigm: Civilization through Wealth Creation). Also, recently Fareed Zakaria of Newsweek has published a book “The future of freedom: Illiberal democracy at home and abroad” in which he too has voiced similar views. In a review of Zakaria’s book, Samuel Huntington (who foresaw the clash with Islam in his seminal work, “The clash of civilizations”) observes: “unregulated democracy undermines liberty and the rule of law”. Even Zakaria wrote recently in Newsweek, while commenting on India’s economic development that “India is trying to achieve through democracy what was not achieved before”. As we have seen India is turning out to be a dysfunctional and a disintegrating democracy that couldn’t provide rule of law or create conditions for its people to prosper. What has happened in a “developing” India is that, Indian people, by and large, have not – unlike people in developed countries -- learnt to regulate themselves. This has lead to chaos. 

What can be accomplished under martial law? 

q       Martial law puts the Indian constitution in suspension and hence makes it possible to revoke Article 370 on Kashmir -- the core of militant Islam’s assault on India. Under martial law the Indian can state can also launch a massive military assault on institutions in Kashmir that sponsor militant Islam, and even liberate its followers permanently. 

q       It also makes it possible to act to get rid of illegal Muslim Bangladeshis here in India. This is particularly relevant in the context of 1947 partition in the name of Islam and the subsequent non-Muslim ethnic cleansing from all Muslim majority areas into India (What are India’s national security interests?). 

q       Under martial law the Indian state can act decisively against institutions of militant Islam in the rest of India and solve this problem permanently by liberating its flock. The militant Islamic institutions have ensured that India has no reformed versions of Islam (Islamic institutions in India - protracted movement for separate Muslim identity?). 

q       The left-dominated Indian media can be stopped under martial law from playing a subversive and destructive role -- it has mostly played, perhaps unwittingly, until now. This makes it possible to mobilize the Indian nation. 

q       A mobilized Indian nation can take on Pakistan and Bangladesh and end their threat as well. Defeating militant Islam within India is the necessary first step towards rolling it back in the vicinity. Therein lies the vision to the safety and prosperity of the entire world terrorized by militant Islam emanating from South Asia.  

q       All of the above and stopping subsidies to appease militant Islam should free up resources leading to a great deal of wealth transfer to most Indians. The Indian state can also invest much more resources into improving infrastructure and create conditions of stability, that even a “China” like growth can be achieved.  

q       It needs to be articulated that China saw a major boost in investment and manufacturing technology transfer after Tinnamen Square crackdown. This crack down, considered “undemocratic” by some, ensured a stable China focused on economic growth. The smart money knew that and it went to China. What India needs at this point is a martial government that can ensure stability by permanently breaking the back of militant Islam. Once it is done, India’s should become a very desirable place to invest, and money & technology will flow into India from outside. 

Hence martial law under an able leadership is not only a must for India, it is a win-win situation all the way. As a proven problem-solver who has articulated both a security vision to neutralize militant Islam (Islam’s Weakness) and an economic vision, I am willing to play a leadership role under martial law. 

How viable is martial law? 

The emerging software industry has also taught section of Indians for the first time how to work together for mutual benefit to create wealth and prosperity. It has also given them hints of what role a government should play to create prosperity – by providing a strong infrastructure, security, stability, labor reforms and the rule of law – something the Indian democracy has so far failed to deliver. 

The Hindus in India constitute about 80% of the population, further divided along caste, language and regional lines. However, as I have pointed out before (When are India and Pakistan ready for Peace?), poll after poll has shown that two most important issues bind the majority: 1) fear of militant Islam and 2) creating prosperity and opportunities for themselves and their families. An able leadership under martial law that can articulate this inter-linked security and economic vision will be welcomed by most – already tired of failed Indian democratic system. 

Conclusions 

q       Indian democratic system has proven itself to be a colossal failure. In retrospect as many experts are now beginning to realize, this is no surprise at all.  

q       Around the world, in the recent times, only visionary authoritarian form of governments have uplifted countries from developing to developed status -- bringing economic prosperity and security to their people. 

q       Given the two points noted above, the Indian military must now play a leading role in helping to put together a visionary leadership under martial law. Only then can India defeat militant Islam – to provide stability and free-up resources to focus on economic development. Without this alternative, India, as current trends indicate, will irreversibly plunge into a Nepal-like situation and be destroyed by Islamic forces.  

By Moorthy Muthuswamy PhD

(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: MoorthyM@comcast.net)