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The BJP led NDA government is sadistic. Tremendously loud rhetorics, threats and voices. All air! India is bled and wounded by Pakistani terrorists, all the while and the high bosses on New Delhi’s chair party.

14th May 3 militants hijack a bus, and kill 9 passengers indiscriminately. Then they enter the army campus at Kaluchak and open fire in all directions with their AK-47’s and shoulder held grenade launchers. In a matter of few minutes 21 lives are lost. Soldiers, their small kids, wives and mothers wailed in agony as bullets hit their bodies and blood started spilling everywhere. The Army security come back to its senses and engage the terrorists. After 3 hours of intense gunbattle, the terrorists are killed.

In all just 4 hours, which took the lives of 31 Indians and left 47 seriously injured. Martyrs on our borders, their families, innocent civilians. Bullet marks remain as memories of the incident for the rest of the camp.

Meanwhile, the sun is rising over Delhi. News of Kaluchak attack screens on television, and the entire nation is in furore. “ WAR! WE WANT WAR! NUKE PAKISTAN!!”, is their immediate and unanimous cry. Protest meetings, public speeches, condemnations are held in every city, every nook and corner of the country. The nation is wild.

Delhi bosses smell the burning fire. They harp in on the sentiments, and decide to play with their toys ---the Defence Forces!!

A million forces are deployed on the LoC, and the International Border. All leaves are cancelled and the soldiers are ordered to head to the border. The Gujarat chapter of the Army is closed and the troops are moved to Kashmir. The chilling, icy winds of the Siachen witness a massive buildup of the Indian heroes at the LoC. Heavy T90 and Vijayanta tanks are moved to the Siachen region to combat the T80 UD tanks of the Pakistanis. The Army gets into an eyeball to eyeball confrontation with the Pakistani soldiers. They have alongwith them huge Bofors guns, heavy supply of ammunition, rocket launchers, Howitzers, army wagons etc.

The Army engineers move in, as per Delhi’s directions to repair the highways destroyed by Pakistani shelling. They bring heavy machines to repair roads in the most treacherous terrain in the world.

The Air Force receives orders from the Defence Ministry to be on a state of Red Alert. All stations ready themselves for war. Aircrafts are polished and checked and repaired. The Sukhois, the MIGs , the Mirages are readied for flight.

The Navy is also alerted. All major battleships from the Bay of Bengal are brought to the Arabian Sea. Submarines are tested for their combative power. Alarms and Warning Bells are checked. Aircraft carriers are positioned in the Gulf of Khambat. The Bombay High is covered by Battleships.

The BSF is brought under the Army’s purview and the Coast Guard under Navy’s. “ India does not have infinite patience “, says George Fernandes. The Pakistani High Commissioner is sent back. The Prime Minister refuses to meet Musharraf at Dushanbe and says, “ We’ll talk only after we see results on the ground”. Musharraf snubs India and India retaliates “ verbally”. Says it’ll give Pakistan two weeks time to change the situation.

Meanwhile on the homefront, the NDA has scored high goals. People are quite pleased to hear the rhetoric and the war of words. They are impressed by the buildup at the border. Chances are tilted in the NDA’s favour. So, the NDA decides to revert back to normalcy….

High level diplomats like Rumsfeld & Straw & Armitage arrive in Delhi and meet the playmasters, and take handshake photographs. They hold peace meetings, and the ministers here say that, “ We Too Want Peace!!”

The game now reaches the last stage. The Navy calls back its battleships to peacetime positions. The 2-week deadline is forgotten. The Indian airspace is thrown open to Pakistani airlines, as a “goodwill gesture”. The playmasters contemplate on sending the Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan.

The threat of a nuclear war is averted. The media is all praise for Vajpayee and Jaswant. The people are pleased by Pakistan’s submissive posturing and the high rhetoric of the players of the game. The Government is happy as a major international crisis was averted. Everyone’s happy…All’s well that ends well…

But…. What about our jawans! The jawans who drove the T-90’s all the way to Siachen, who are bearing the frosty winds just for the sake of the motherland! The same jawans whose lives are as unpredictable as the direction of the lightening. The million forces on the LOC who don’t know whether a bullet is approaching their heads or not. What about them??

They were just the pawns in the whole process. It was THEIR integrity, THEIR esteem that was shattered on May 14th . THEIR pride, THEIR feelings hurt. But who cares ???

Everyone’s happy……..!!!!!

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