Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to understand that it bears a very close resemblance to the first." (Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States)
What Reagan said is what you will accept it you read the Artha Shastra of Kautilya or later, the Prince of Machiavelli. In the Mahabharata there is something equally terrible in the shape of advice to Duryodhana.
In the middle ages of monarchies and feudalism issues were settled with swords and bloody wars mostly and bloodshed through intercenince wars. Now, in democracies you have the peace time intrigues of politicians which are national and international.
It is more important to remember it now with the Congress party facing a danger from UNPA or Third Front being forged by the communists and Chinese menace rearing its head against India mainly, one suspects, as a result of Indo-US nuclear deal.
Uncle Sam has such a powerful sinister unipolar presence in our world. Friendship with USA is menacing and enmity more menacing. Russia and China have kept alive or revived the memories of the cold war days which, it appears now in retrospect, never was really dead. Putin has revived it openly and China kept preparing for it quietly waiting to strike when it is forced to.
In the meantime, in the wake of Indo US nuclear deal, China has started troubling India through the communists inside the country and externally on its borders once again reminding us of the incidents between 1954 and 1962.
Powerful nuclear weapons and missiles with China makes it more menacing this time which Pakistan welcomes gleefully.
In the Indian Independence horoscope, one can see Venus-Ketu period coming which will be dangerous with a war or war like situation troubling the nation. That will be a period of very difficult international situation for India is a warning an astrologer can give in advance. India’s Defence Minister is warning about it.
China cannot tolerate the rise of a powerful nuclear India rivalling and challenging its own role as the most powerful Asian and now, world power. The rise of yellow skinned races is an old warning of the Srimad Bhagvatam.
China’s immediate interest is to conduct successfully the 2008 Olympics without losing its international image which can lead to boycott of this world event by many nations.
China will show its poisonous fangs more aggressively and unabashedly from 2010. It will also be demolishing its present monolithic communist super structure then. Till then its duplicitious game will be aimed at India through series of intrigues and border violations. It has started that already aggressively.
This reminds me of a morbid joke during the posted in Assam, the state which was affected by the war. Then we had come the pussilanimous speech of Jawaharlal Nehru,the prime minister, telling the nation, “my heart goes to the people of Assam” as though telling us that we could become slaves of China with India never offering any protection. No one has or could excuse Nehru after that speech.
During those days there was a Congress leader Mahavir Tyagi who covered his neat and shining bald head with a Gandhi cap. In a parliamentary debate when Nehru could not justify his negligence and ignorance of the problems of Sino-Indian border, he said “not a blade of grass grew” on the border lands which the Chinese had captured. Mahvir Tyagi got up, removed his Gandhi cap and baring his bald head asked Nehru if he would allow the Chinese to occupy that also.
A morbid joke was that of an employee working in our office. “Sir,” he said, “ I have a solution to the Indo-Chinese problem“ , he told some of us. “We have Acharya Vinoba Bhave who persuades people to donate their lands in his Bhoodan movement. We can marry off Indira Gandhi to some Chinese and give as dowry all the disputed land on the Indo-Chinese border. Later , we can send Vinobha Bhave to get back our land from the Chinese and leave Indira Gandhi undisturbed as that would be no national loss.” Those of us who have memories of those
hellish days in Assam did not know whether to laugh or not.
Yes, I am failing to search some humour in the tense political atmosphere in Delhi
because I am astrologer who is consulted by some of those affected by this tension.
If there was some humour to relieve these people, it would have helped them. Instead you have abuses, distorted and prejudiced views of jounalists, which are very shallow and the views of those leftist historians favouring China but enriching themselves with dollars.
And soon we will have Karva Chauth on 29 October when married Hindu women will keep fast whole day and offer some prayers and money at temples after the sight of the Moon. Some years ago, a clever businessman who had a huge stock of unsold lipstick had a rumour circulated through pandits and women that unless lipstick was offered to God, married women would find their husbands in disastrous situations. Lipstick was offered in temples by many Hindu women.
(25 October 2007)