Why India is a country of COWARDS !!!

Mahatma Gandhi was a wise man. His ideals have been a guiding light for this nation, at least in theory, for decades now. He preached brotherhood, non-violence, and truthfulness — simple and honourable goals for the individual as well as the society.



But I am writing this to point out how the father of the nation has become something of a security blanket. His philosophies, instead of fuelling our passion for the ideals he dreamed of, have become mere phrases we hide behind when cornered. Forgive me therefore, if i appear a little blunt.



One of my favourite quotes by Bapu is: “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” It is easy to see how this noble sentiment can be misread and used to justify cowardice.



When a big boy beats up a small boy and the small boy runs away and hides, he can tell himself that he didn’t hit back because he is non-violent. But it would be a lie. He ran away because he is weak and because he is a coward.

And this doesn’t even have to be a boys’ argument. Time and again, Indian intellectuals have written and spoken about the fake resilience that many of us take pride in. That Indians are angry about the continued bomb blasts all over the country by Pakistan-based terror outfits is obvious. The reason we don’t hit back is not because we are non-violent and forgiving. It’s because we lack the will to hit back. In fact, I would say we do not dare hit back.



Then we start what the protagonist of A Wednesday calls ‘adjusting to the situation’. Our news channels show us that we are back to work with our ever-famous resilience and our chests swell with pride as we tell everyone how peace-loving we are.



The unpleasant truth is that we are not peace-loving. We are full of anger. Indeed, if the recent retaliatory brand of “Hindu terror” (whatever happened to terrorism has no religion?) is anything to go by, our anger is spilling over into our own streets. Not only is our government unable to protect us from attacks in our own country, it also seems unable to do anything about the attacks AFTER they happen.



We have to stop pretending that we are unaffected by the violence aimed at us. That will be a good first step in making sure something is done about it. We have to stop blaming Pakistan for being what it is. We have to start blaming ourselves for being who we are — COWARDS.



It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of nonviolence to cover impotence.