Sunday Snippets: Rahul’s sleeping beauty
By Venkatesh Raghavan
At the Irani Café, Amir was wondering about the Congress Party Scion Rahul Gandhi’s assertion that the government is sleeping while there have been Chinese incursions in the Tawang sector of the northeastern state, Arunachal Pradesh. Our conversation went somewhat along these lines.
Amir: Rahul has made a serious allegation. He has gone on record stating that our government is sleeping while the Chinese incursions are indicative of their plans to launch a full-fledged war.
Me: Actually Amir, Rahul is breaking good news to our countrymen. Only thing is, people are not able to realize it. It will take time for it to sink into their heads.
Amir: What on earth are you hinting at? You seem to be an anti-national in the true spirit of the word.
Me: No Amir, you first try and understand. Attack on our borders does not require anything from our government be it staying asleep or otherwise. It only requires our armed forces to be alert and awake. Always remember Amir, only with default settings where no government or political intervention is brooked, things work out well for our country.
Amir: What on earth are you saying? Do you want the entire state to be callous about foreign aggression on our borders?
Me: You miss the point, Amir. Take for instance the IT revolution that benefited our country greatly. It happened on default settings as our governments did not even understand or realize what was cooking. Similarly, on default settings, our Army will be able to cope with incursions efficiently as the people assembled in New Delhi are getting round-the-clock sound sleep.
Amir: Your comparison is preposterous. At least our Defence Ministry should be aware of the threat to our borders and equipped with a plan to execute effective counter-offensive measures.
Me: On the contrary Amir, if our ministry permits full sleeping hours, our jawans will get enough time to organize themselves and strategize soundly without having to wait for calls from New Delhi. I will give you an example Amir. Let’s say our former national carrier, Air India had to requisition two aircraft for catering to excess load factor in a trunk sector, it will take a good six months before the decision is taken by the Board. For it to get acted upon by the purchase or lease department of the carrier, it will take two more months. By that time, the requisition for extra aircraft will turn redundant as there is no longer any excess load to cater for.
Amir: Your argument is something that goes in favour of a private airline management that can purchase or lease aircraft at short notice. Are you suggesting that we privatize our armed forces? You are sounding crazy.
Me: Nothing of that kind Amir. We have an autonomous judiciary. We have an autonomous fourth estate at least on record. Similarly, I am pitching for autonomous armed forces to conduct counter-offensives on our borders as and when required.
Amir: (Chuckles)
