The Assertive Indian

with apologies to Amartya Sen and his book The Argumentative Indian

Today is the 60th anniversary of India's independence and I thought that I would share some thoughts about leaders for independence.

Many of our friends think that Gandhi was a saint; in fact, one person opined that if he had lived in Jesus's time and stories about him had accumulated over the years, as with Jesus, that he would be regarded with the same reverence as Jesus. However, Gandhi, and those who promote his legacy, especially in the West, have created the unfortunate impression that India and Indians must be docile. Whenever Indians act assertively, it's met with shock and then condemnation.

As for Nehru, he created a travesty of major proportions when he threw the fate of Kashmir to the UN. The Maharaja of Kashmir was offered the same terms of accession as given to rulers of other princely states. He dithered, until marauding Pathans from Pakistan compelled him to throw his lot with India. And for that, many Pakistanis refer to him as a "Hindu despot"! An acquaintance from India mentioned that he had a friend in the Indian army who, along with his fellow soldiers, were stunned when Nehru commanded the army to stand down, rather than fight in Kashmir. A former army officer told us that India could take Kashmir in 7 days if there were the political will.

Most of our non-Indian friends know about Gandhi and Nehru, but have never heard of assertive Indians like Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Sardar Patel. Could Netaji's volunteer army marching from Burma have had more to do with Indian independence than Gandhi's satyagraha? A war-weary Britain was unwilling to fight in one of its possessions following WWII. As for Sardar Patel, he did more for integration of India than anyone.

It's time to make Netaji and Sardar Patel better known in the West - it will change perception of India and Indians.