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From Patel to Rathore: Need for an New Iron Man

With changing global socio-politico structure, the impact

will be felt within Indian borders. To tackle such sensitive

internal security issues, including Kashmir, India’s Home

Minister has a plan.

By Malini Basu

A nation with over a billion people, especially when it is

the largest democracy in this world, has a lot to worry

about , poverty, corruption, inflation , and more

importantly the burning issue of its internal security .

India is currently finding itself in tricky waters.

Relations with Nepal are becoming hostile, owing to the

unrest in with the Chinese communist party close

alliance with the Nepalese Communist party. The island

country of Maldives too, is reeling under the pressures

of its internal insurgency movements and the recent

change of guard with an anti-Indian president taking

oath. India and Sri Lanka ties have always been

strained on account of the alleged atrocities and war

crimes committed on the Tamil population in the latter.

The troubled country of Bangladesh too is a major

source of concern owing to the unrest in the Indo-

Bangladesh border and the growing and worrisome

instances of illegal and dangerous immigrations

happening from there. China, the current Asian

superpower, has always been a shaky neighbor for India

and with the reports of regular cross fires and heavy

buildups of armies on its borders; the tensions are only

at an all-time high. But, none of these tensions could

compare to the ongoing soreness in relations between

India and Pakistan, the country which was once it’s part

and now is allegedly responsible for almost all of the

terror attacks that have happened here. With borders

flaring up, it was not long before internal disturbances

were created. And this brings the Indian Home Ministry

into action.

The Minister of Home Affairs, or the Home Minister, as

he is popularly called, holds the responsibility of

maintaining India’s internal

security. The position is second

in seniority only to the

country’s Prime Minister. Since

India’s independence in 1947,

the position has been held by

many illustrious men like

Sardar Vallabbhai Patel , one

of the foremost figures in

India’s struggle for

independence and the man

single handedly responsible for

guiding the integration of a

largely fragmented country into

one united and independent nation. He was one of the

strong reasons in the political integration of India, by

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convincing various Princely states (over 560), by

negotiation or pressure to join the Indian union. He also

had an apocalyptic vision about China’s threat to India,

which was expressed in one of his last letter to the

Prime Minister then. Regarded as the most successful

Home Minister till date, not all his followers have

followed his example.

A Home Minister, who had to resign after a huge uproar

that followed the tragic terrorist attack in Mumbai, is

severely criticized for his poor management of the

ministry, his tenure seeing a slew of terror attacks all

over the country, a total failure of intelligence agencies

in terms of gathering leads and proactively preventing

these attacks, a series of incidents involving communal

violence and his general tendency to make extremely

inappropriate comparisons.

In wake of India’s current situation with all its

neighboring countries, the Home Minister’s position

becomes all the more critical. Clearly, India needs a

person who can stand up to this uncommon challenge ,

a person who can look past all the obvious dangers and

issues and discover the intricacies of them , a person

who can , to put it in very simplistic words , “save

India”. Is Agastya Rathore then, that person?

A descendant from one of India’s ancient royal clans,

Rathore is all of 45 , the “youngest” home minister the

country has ever seen . Blue eyed and with his thick jet

black hair, combed back to reveal his large forehead ,

Rathore studied in Cambridge with the current Prime

Minister. Dressed in a traditional grey kurta and jeans ,

he has a smile so cheerful , one could almost be fooled

to doubt his capability to hold such an important

responsibility ; but the smile , one soon realizes is an

extension to his confidence.

“Kashmir has always been a part of India and will

always be and Kashmiri youth are no different from the

youth in Delhi or Mumbai or Hyderabad.”, he says with

confidence when asked about the increasing alienation

of the state’s youth. But probe him into the more

murkier details of the situation of the state - once called,

“heaven on earth”, but now ravaged by the long standing

conflict – and his face draws itself into a mask of

calculation.

“The terrorist groups are a major concern no doubt.”, he

responds after a brief pause .”But they are still human

beings, not invincible by any means. We are in process

of expanding our intelligence networks to monitor more

finer details of their workings. And these finer details are

nonviolence measure, something we have not tried

before” He refuses to divulge more information on the

“finer details”. But since the groundwork is already in

place, the conversation soon veers towards the more

obvious issue, the possibility of a conflict with Pakistan,

following multiple ceasefire violations in the recent past

and reports of infiltration. The current situation in

Kashmir is touted to be the calm before a storm. Nine

ceasefire violations have been reported in just two

weeks’ time and reports of a military buildup in multiple

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areas have been making rounds daily. These might just

be the signs of a fifth Indo-Pak war.

“Ceasefire violations have been reported, but what you

fail to mention is that the last one was almost 3 days

back. Our talks with Pakistan’s Home ministry are on in

full swing. We are working on ensuring that the

ceasefire agreements are honored. War is never a

solution and Pakistan government understands it too.

And if they don’t understand , then I can assure you ,

our armed forces are well equipped and well alert to

fight against any forces that will try to destabilize the

country’s security and peace” , he responds , slightly

smiling and yet the steeliness in his eyes unmistakable .

Does that mean, that a war could be on the cards after

all? “Like a said before, war is never a solution. Our

focus is on reaching an understanding to diffuse all the

tensions. We are in the midst of the process and are

already making considerable progress. “, he responds,

no longer smiling, his eyes unblinking for most part, the

steeliness in them every bit as persistent as it was

before.

When asked about China’s “String of pearls” strategy

and all the threats it poses to India though alongside

China’s opinion that India has no complete power over

the Indian Ocean, some of the steeliness seems to

dissolve, as his face takes on a pensive look.

“String of pearls, the name is unnaturally funny for

something so serious, don’t you think so?”, he says

almost abruptly and smiles , but only for a few seconds.

“China’s influence in the Indian Ocean is worrying on

some grounds. There have been reports that the bases

may be equipped with military capabilities, even as

China has consistently denied the same. Keeping this in

mind , we need to be fully aware of the proceedings and

need to be equipped and flexible to meet any

emergencies. The Indian Navy is already moving in this

direction. In addition, we are also looking forward to

beginning to open a channel of communication with the

U.S. government on this issue.”

Sea Threat:

Pakistan: Gwadar port

Sri Lanka: Hambantota and Colombo

Bangladesh: container shipping facility in Chittagong

Burma: Deepwater port in Sittwe and Kyaukpyu, and new supply facilities

Vietnam: Airstrip on one of the islands in Paracel archipelago

Land Threat:

PoK: Chinese army bases in Kashmir

More troop presence across border in Ladakh and north eastern India

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And what does he have to say about the all the other

issues plaguing the country – Naxalite movements,

frequent terrorist attacks , illegal immigrations leading

to drugs and arms trafficking – almost every single one

of them already claiming hundreds of lives every years.

How does he plan on handling this menace which is

already creating fear in the minds of the Indian citizens,

who are increasingly beginning to get disillusioned by

the ruling government. “Naxalism is an issue, but I

think media and international media in particular needs

to understand how and why it came into existence. I

think we need to completely transform our approach in

dealing with these issues. A plan of action is being laid

out to take the Naxal leaders into confidence and

understand their demands. I know this sounds like a

very farfetched idea and many will seriously doubt the

usefulness of such talks, but, let me assure you that the

government understands and is aware of the roots of

these movements. Naxalism is an output of oppression

and it is this root cause that we want to rectify. And as

far as the terrorist attacks are concerned, I have already

told you how we plan on counteracting and preventing

them from happening again.”

Rathore may just be the man who can get India out of

the worrisome situation she finds herself in. From his

clear understanding of the issues, to the mature and

well-rounded insight he possesses on them and their

causes, he clearly knows the gravity of everything that

he is expected to do. And there are no doubts that he is

well prepared to do just that. At a time when Indian

citizens need not just a capable Home Minister, but a

role model of sorts, someone they can look up to,

Rathore may just prove to be the man who can be that

role model.