Message Of The Terrorist Attack On Hindu Pilgrims

An important but underrated achievement of 10 years of Narendra Modi government was the near-elimination of Islamist terrorism throughout India.

During the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime, between 2004 and 2014, the terrorists had developed the wherewithal to strike at will. With the unofficial project of fabricating 'saffron terror', the intelligence agencies were considerably weakened and demoralised.

When Indian citizens were perishing to Pakistani bullets during 26/11, contemporary reports reveal that Rahul Gandhi was in party-mode.

A former external affairs minister revealed that Sonia Gandhi 'cried bitterly' when she saw images of slain terror suspects in Batla House encounters.

All of these sent signals to the state machinery to handle terrorists with kid gloves.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government reversed that. National agencies worked relentlessly. Even as Islamist, ISIS-like, terror attacks happened throughout the world, India (outside of Jammu and Kashmir) was free from terror attacks.

Between 2014 and 2019, the NDA had successfully saved the nation from the kind of terror that bled India under the UPA regime. The terrorist attacks happened mostly in Kashmir and even for that India extracted heavy price from those who supported terrorism from across the border.

After the abrogation of article 370, while the terror incidents did not completely stop, they were reduced in number. Most of the attacks were at individuals to prevent or delay the return of the Hindus to the state. Even here, the Modi government was slowly and steadily gaining control.

However, last night we had an ugly attack in Jammu.

Murderous attacks on the pilgrims have always been an important terrorist ploy. Stopping or reducing the pilgrimage of the 'non-believer' is part of the holy war. Even earlier, the terrorists used to take a special interest in attacking the pilgrims.

The return of the attacks on Hindu pilgrims coincides with the numerically weaker mandate for the NDA. Note that it occurred around the same time as the cabinet's swearing-in ceremony.

Hindus should realise that the elections in India are not just about the secular concerns like unemployment and price rise or development and infrastructure building. They also involve the preservation or decline of the Hindu civilisation and its people. This should remind the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of its responsibilities.

An average Hindu voter is not yet a civilisational voter. Ideally, a voter should not have to carry the burden of civilisational survival with him or her every election. Ideally, secular concerns should be paramount in a society. But unfortunately India has been made a theo-civilisational battle field.

So, it is for the BJP to realise its civilisational duty and make sure that the average Hindu voter feels satisfied and proud of its performance.

As things stand today, a fragmented, disharmonious, and troubled Hindu society is more likely to increase the parliamentary numbers of the Indian National Congress and its allies. It is the opposite for the BJP.

Thus the BJP has to be hyper-sensitive to delivering socio-economic welfare, social harmony, corruption-free government and inclusive growth, not to mention constant vigilance and proactive protection against the enemies of Bharat. both internal and external.

A weakening of the BJP then is an invitation to terrorists. So a failing BJP politician fails the nation and Hindu civilisation. He or she has no choice but to win.

The onus is not yet on the Hindu voter who, as already said, is not yet a civilisational voter. It is on the BJP to make sure that they secure a positive electoral victory in every election, from municipal to the parliamentary, because as yesterday's attack shows, a weakening of the BJP is inversely related to the strength of those who threaten our security.