The details that
filtered out said there was a note verbale sent by the Italian Embassy to the
Ministry of the External Affairs on late evening of March 11. Some reports put
the time around 9:30 PM. Now that is not so late a time in the evening that no
one would be there to inform the top brass of the government about it given the
sensitivity of the issue as it is directly related to the question of the
Indian pride and country’s status in the global geopolitical set-up.
But the
way the Indian government and the political class reacted tells they are not at
all concerned about the question of the Indian pride.
First
in the series of bloopers is from our comfortably-numb-economist prime
minister, Manmohan Singh. According to a PTI report (1) quoting a CPI(M) MP,
the prime minister said he came to know about the issue from the newspapers.
The
report said: CPI(M) MP
M B Rajesh said, "We met the Prime Minister and took up the issue of
Italian marines. The Prime Minister told us that he came to know about this
from newspapers. He assured us that he will ask the External Affairs Minister
to look into this issue to intervene in this issue."
See the
travesty. Manmohan’s junior colleague and one of the senior UPA ministers
didn’t inform the PM and he came to know it through the newspaper reports.
Questionable! Objectionable!
But
when we see the response of Mr. Salman Khurshid, the UK educated elite politician and a senior
minister in the government handling the foreign affairs, the charade becomes
even more farcical. Mr. Khurshid’s response was a usual verbal manipulation
lacking in substance. According to an India Today (2) report, he said: “It is a matter of our countries
collectivism. We will read the papers first. Let's see what they have to say
and what the reasoning is. Only after that I can say anything”.
The
report further said: “Khurshid
said that he was yet to read the note sent by the Italian government. He said
he would "definitely give a response" after reading it.”
Now
this response, like Manmohan’s, came many hours after the Italian note verbale
landed in the Ministry of External Affairs, but Mr. Khurshid was yet to read
it. Also, Mr. Khurshid, what reasoning can justify a backstabbing? Yes, Italy’s stand is a sinister breach
of trust and yet you need time to read and respond to a short note verbale.
Questionable! Objectionable!
See,
what yet another UPA minister, from the coalition partner NCP, Tariq Anwar, the
Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing, had to say about the
issue. According to a DNA report (3): “The
Indian External Affairs Ministry is examining the issue. I think the MEA has
taken view of this decision and they have chosen to review the situation and
talk to their Italian counterparts, after talks some solution will come out”.
What
sort of solution can come out? Could India bring Ottavio Quattrocchi and many
others on the Indian soil for, once they, somehow managed to flee or leave the
country, for their roles in scams? No!
There
wasn’t a single assuring word promising a concrete action to be taken on the
Italian betrayal!
Instead,
it was just playing with words like the Indian politicians have been doing
delaying the issues for long, so long, that they become obsolete in public’s
memory!
But why
only the government, the political opposition, too, was not pro to react in a
way that would put the symbolism of ‘nation first’. See what the BJP’s
Shahnawaj Hussain had to say (4): “It
is a completely a diplomatic failure. Government should take this issue very
seriously. If the Italian marines were sent then did the Indian government take
guarantee of their return? The Congress has to give an answer. Is there a
conspiracy between the Italian marines and the UPA government? BJP wants an
answer.”
This
statement doesn’t reflect the concern of putting the ‘nation first’. It is more
about the Indian brand of the politics being practiced across the parties – a
politics that is more concerned with strengthening the political class than the
democracy – a politics that has become the breeding ground of corruption and anti-democratic
measures – a politics that has become politically incorrect.
See
what the Wikipedia quotes about politics (5): Politics is the art or science of
influencing people on a civic, or individual level, when there are more than 2
people involved. Modern political discourse focuses on democracy and the
relationship between people and politics. It is thought of as the way we
"choose government officials and make decisions about public policy"
Is the
predominant political practice in India politically correct? No!
How can
the country expect a tough and befitting reply from such a spineless political
class that thinks of political interests first and prioritize them over the
national interests?
While Italy, a nation that has no real
standing before India in the global geopolitical and
economic affairs, acts like it is the senior and the dominant one saying India violated the law, India’s first reactions were more like
that of a junior fellow, as if the country had no global standing!
See,
this is what the Indian politicians have done with the global perception of India!
It is
no more about being a soft nation! It is now about being a spineless
nation.
©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/
(1) Italy's decision not to send back
marines 'unacceptable': Prime Minister
(2) Will respond only after
reading letter sent by Italy
on marines: Khurshid
(3) India
to respond after going through Italy's
response on marines: Salman Khurshid
(4) Italian government's decision
on marines is unacceptable, says irked Manmohan Singh