Bite in self defence

It is said 'Necessity is the mother of inventions'

We, as a nation, has been attacked. We are at war. A war of different kind. A war, we were not prepared for. A war threat, we ignored for a long time. We were as stated in the proverb - "Kannadachu iruttakkuka" (A loose translation will be 'create darkness by closing the eyes)

In other words, we, as a nation, were in a state of denial. We refused to believe that Pakistan is an enemy. People preached about how relevant it is for India and Pakistan to live in harmony. But what if one country is hell bent on seeing the destruction of the other?

There are people who are worried about Pakistan's response if we enter their territory and take out the terrorist camps, or send our crack commando team to arrest (kidnap) Dawood Ibrahim. They say Pakistan is a nuclear weapon state. So what? What is the use of having one of the biggest armies in the world, if we cant put it to use?

A story comes to mind.

A poisnous serpent was sad that everyone was afraid of it and people did not dare to make friends with it. It met a Sage and asked him the reason for peoples fear. The Sage told him the obvious. People are scared because the serpent is poisnous and causes death through biting. Avoid this and people will be friendly. The serpent went off happily.

A week later, the sage was passing by the same spot. He heard the sound of some one in death bed. Bending down, he saw the sepent, in its last stages. A closer inspection showed that it was beaten black and blue. It was bleeding to death, the whole body swollen. On seeing the sage, the serpent whined,

"Oh sage! I followed your advice. But when people saw that I was not prepared to bite, they lost their fear and started beating me. Even small children threw stones at me"

The wise sage soothingly said, " Son. I told you not to bite. But I NEVER TOLD YOU NOT TO RAISE YOUR HOOD, HISS AND ADOPT A THREATENING POSTURE WHEN ATTACKED. Also my advice was for you not to bite on your own, but never did I tell you not to bite in self defence"

India is like the serpent who misunderstood the advice. We are in a state of coma. We have the ability to bark and bite. Let us bite in self defence.

Let us systemmatically target terror camps in POK. Then even I shall vote for UPA