Mujib, Prabhakaran and The Great Game
Right to speak in one's own language is a birth-right. More fundamental than perhaps the freedom itself !
So when Generals writing Pakistan's constitution imposed Urdu as national language on millions of Begalis in East Pakistan felt disowned. Begalis thought, a newly born nation, as it was in '50s and '60s had more pressing issues to tackle and gave Pak generals a benefit of doubt. And Pak took it as sign of submission. General Yahya Khan went a too far with Mujib-ur-Rahman and perhaps called him a traitor when he reached Islamabad to form Awami league led government. "Lets get rid of Mujib and these Awamis" Yahya might have said to his Lieutenants. And over-some pegs of liqueur, they chalk up a plan to murder a language from Pakistan's territory along with 2 million Awami League Supporters. And they succeed in eliminating Bengali language and Awami League from Pakistani territory only after loosing Bengali speaking land to a newly born country "Bangladesh".
Mrs. Gandhi thought to counter bullets Richard Nixon had given Yahya to kill Bengalis with those she got from Kremlin. Indian intelligence took the task of protecting Mujib and Awami League. "Lets teach Pakistan a lesson of the life time" Mrs G said to Sam Manekshaw. And sure enuff, Sam Bahadur scored one of India's finest victories in centuries. Mujib became father of a newly born republic and was hailed as one of the greatest leaders of South Asia. And one episode in this south asian great game ended only open some more bloody chapters.
----
Mrs. G had turned into a democratically elected dictator in 1979 when won a landmark victory against Janata party. Angry over Lankan support to Pakistan, she thought "Ravan stays in Lanka. Let me destroy the Lanka of his sins". One fine day, she finds her Bibhishan in the form of Prabhakaran. IBs of the country train what they thought, a brigade of Bibhishans and turn an essentially political movement into an armed uprising for the Tamil Elam. Prabhakaran, they thought would become Mujib of Sri Lanka.
But it was no Ramayan, there were no Ravans and Mrs G was neither Lord Ram nor Hanuman.
----
Mrs. G lost her elder son to an accident, which many say was cover up for a political murder of a son by his mother. We do not know the truth though. Ironically, years after her death, this Bibhishan had turned into a Bhasmaasur, a mythological monster which destroys its own creator. What was created by Mrs G, resulted into the death of her younger son, years after her own death!
----
This creation of Mrs G mastered the art of terror. It was a proud inventor of suicide bombing. ( It was LTTE who invented suicide bombing, not Al -Qaida or LeT ! ) It killed 2 presidents and 1 Prime Minister besides killing some 40,000 odd citizens.
The tide in the great game over …
Everybody dissociated from one of the dreadliest terror groups on earth. Lankans seized the opportunity and finished Prabhakaran and LTTE once and for all..
----
There aren't many things which are common between Mujib and Prabhakaran except for the language struggle and Mrs Indira Gandhi. Mujib rose to become one of the finest leaders of this sub-continent while Prabhakaran became the dreadliest terrorist.... All thanks to Mrs G and this great game of language....
So when Generals writing Pakistan's constitution imposed Urdu as national language on millions of Begalis in East Pakistan felt disowned. Begalis thought, a newly born nation, as it was in '50s and '60s had more pressing issues to tackle and gave Pak generals a benefit of doubt. And Pak took it as sign of submission. General Yahya Khan went a too far with Mujib-ur-Rahman and perhaps called him a traitor when he reached Islamabad to form Awami league led government. "Lets get rid of Mujib and these Awamis" Yahya might have said to his Lieutenants. And over-some pegs of liqueur, they chalk up a plan to murder a language from Pakistan's territory along with 2 million Awami League Supporters. And they succeed in eliminating Bengali language and Awami League from Pakistani territory only after loosing Bengali speaking land to a newly born country "Bangladesh".
Mrs. Gandhi thought to counter bullets Richard Nixon had given Yahya to kill Bengalis with those she got from Kremlin. Indian intelligence took the task of protecting Mujib and Awami League. "Lets teach Pakistan a lesson of the life time" Mrs G said to Sam Manekshaw. And sure enuff, Sam Bahadur scored one of India's finest victories in centuries. Mujib became father of a newly born republic and was hailed as one of the greatest leaders of South Asia. And one episode in this south asian great game ended only open some more bloody chapters.
----
Mrs. G had turned into a democratically elected dictator in 1979 when won a landmark victory against Janata party. Angry over Lankan support to Pakistan, she thought "Ravan stays in Lanka. Let me destroy the Lanka of his sins". One fine day, she finds her Bibhishan in the form of Prabhakaran. IBs of the country train what they thought, a brigade of Bibhishans and turn an essentially political movement into an armed uprising for the Tamil Elam. Prabhakaran, they thought would become Mujib of Sri Lanka.
But it was no Ramayan, there were no Ravans and Mrs G was neither Lord Ram nor Hanuman.
----
Mrs. G lost her elder son to an accident, which many say was cover up for a political murder of a son by his mother. We do not know the truth though. Ironically, years after her death, this Bibhishan had turned into a Bhasmaasur, a mythological monster which destroys its own creator. What was created by Mrs G, resulted into the death of her younger son, years after her own death!
----
This creation of Mrs G mastered the art of terror. It was a proud inventor of suicide bombing. ( It was LTTE who invented suicide bombing, not Al -Qaida or LeT ! ) It killed 2 presidents and 1 Prime Minister besides killing some 40,000 odd citizens.
The tide in the great game over …
Everybody dissociated from one of the dreadliest terror groups on earth. Lankans seized the opportunity and finished Prabhakaran and LTTE once and for all..
----
There aren't many things which are common between Mujib and Prabhakaran except for the language struggle and Mrs Indira Gandhi. Mujib rose to become one of the finest leaders of this sub-continent while Prabhakaran became the dreadliest terrorist.... All thanks to Mrs G and this great game of language....
Labels: great game, south asia
posted by Abhishek at 11:06 AM
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