Let it be known clearly that Bharat will respond, and we will do so in a fair, legitimate, and honourable way, not just for ourselves but for the cause of enduring civilisation
22 April 2025 once again reminded that Democratic and open societies are threatened more on their core values. On our Western border is a rogue sinister state that uses terror and religious exclusivism as instruments of foreign policy. They are cowards who hit soft targets, tourists. How is it that such terrorists are unable to operate through the other two Indian States with whom Pakistan has borders, namely Rajasthan and Gujarat. With our vast cultural and civilizational history, Indians and Indians can boast of a prideful legacy and inclusive credentials. We are the descendants of one of the world’s first great civilizations, with a legacy that stretches back to millennials. We were among the first to build political institutions and achieve scientific advancements that took other parts of the world centuries, even millennia, to realize. Yet, for some reason, somewhere along this journey, we find ourselves grappling with a disturbing question: do our inclusive ideals make us more vulnerable to attacks, be it from invaders historically or terrorists in contemporary times? This gives rise to a troubling inquiry: are we a soft state?
The answer is not as straightforward as it may seem. After all, a civilization that has produced courageous men and women who have performed spectacular acts of heroism across generations can hardly be called soft. But such a line of questioning does not mean to cast doubts on our bravery. Instead, it raises concerns over our leniency. As a civilizational state that has consistently championed diversity and inclusivity, are we now paying the price of being too forgiving and understanding? Is our threshold for tolerating violence dangerously high? Have our historical approaches, which were marked by diplomacy over decisive force, now become a liability? The recent terror attack in Pahalgam in Kashmir forces us to revisit such questions. Why is India, time and again, a sitting duck for such attacks? Why don’t we seem to learn? Why are we not always ready? Kindness and inclusivity are virtues, yes, but when they come at the cost of innocent Indian lives, we must draw the line. Barbarians at our borders and beyond view this restraint not as a virtue but rather as a weakness. They mistake our civility for cowardice and exploit our democratic values and patience as a pretext for a tactical advantage over us.
Pakistan, our nuclear-armed neighbour, has never functioned as a normal nation-state, let alone a good neighbour. All its resources, be its people, its military, and its intelligence agencies, have been cynically marshalled by an incompetent and malevolent deep state with the singular goal of destabilizing India. And when we call this out, it is India that is painted as the aggressor. Such is the perverse logic of global discourse that the victim must prove its restraint. At the same time, the aggressor plays the provocateur without consequence whatsoever.
Terrorists in Pahalgam asked victims about their religion, just as Hamas did during its atrocities on October 7. Yet, even before any counter-response is considered, the world lectures us about proportionality and peace. We are told to be rational. Each time, restraint was our answer. But has this forbearance yielded tangible results? The answer is quite evident: it has emboldened our adversaries. A counter-offensive is not just desirable in such situation, it is logical. Deterrence must be established not through moral appeals but through force.
In addition to these concerns, we find our borders are under constant pressure from illegal immigration, especially in the East. Many of those who push their way in carry ideologies fundamentally opposed to Indian values. These elements despise diversity, democracy, dissent, all things the Indian Constitution enshrines and Babasaheb Ambedkar envisioned. They are fundamentally hostile to modernity and civilization itself. Still, a disturbing pattern persists. Why are intellectuals and legal leeway extended to such groups and people while others are perpetually scrutinized? The evidence is crystal clear on that.
No matter how we look at our historical, moral, or strategic record, the record is clear: India is not a soft state. What we have been, perhaps, is an overly lenient one. That perception, unfortunately, has been cemented by decades of post-independence political mismanagement. A politics of non-aversion to risk, nurtured by a class more concerned with image than security, has fostered this dangerous illusion. Our enemies mistook our strategic patience for incapacity. They were wrong. Even today, when the Modi government announced diplomatic punishments against Pakistan, some quarters saw it as an overreaction. Such a miserable situation for the intelligentsia. We have more internal critics who just oppose and support the enemies within and without.
In all of this, the global hypocrisy, as usual, is stunning. When the US was attacked, it declared a global war on terror, undertaking controversial operations across the world, many of which were clear violations of human rights. But all that was brushed under the rug in the name of national security. Yet, when India cracks down on terror in Kashmir or corrects historic blunders like Article 370, we are tinted as aggressors. When we demand regulated and lawful immigration, we are labelled as intolerant. When Western countries do it, it is accepted as a sovereign right to defend themselves.
On the Western border one has a rogue state that has an irrational insecurity dilemma and on the East we have our borders areas being taken over these illegal immigrants, who are against the very state and society that the vision of Babasaheb B.R.Ambedkar set up. Both these forces narco terror on our Western side and illegal drugs and immigration on our Eastern borders are the greatest threats to our Dharmic way of life that celebrates diversity, difference and dissent is being challenged by these obscurantic, forces of exclusivism, fanaticism and uniformity that threaten the very fabric of this great Dharmic civilization,
Our history is filled with valour and spirit. But our leniency should never be misinterpreted. Nor should we ever be made to feel guilty or ashamed for defending ourselves. We are not just a state like many others but a civilizational force. And while our values must remain intact, we must never allow them to be twisted and turned against us, either by Islamist radicals or by the left-liberal/woke elites that see every assertion of Indian strength as a threat. There is no cause for guilt when we respond to the Pahalgam attack with resolve. Like any other nation, we have a right to defend ourselves and to establish deterrence. The age of apologetic self-restraint must end. Let it be known clearly that Bharat will respond, and we will do so in a fair, legitimate, and honourable way, not just for ourselves but for the cause of enduring civilization.