Modi’s ambitions for India, and perhaps for himself, have already been scaled down from ‘Vishwaguru’ (World Leader) to ‘Vishwa Bandhu’ (Friend of the World) in his party’s election manifesto. It is being made clear to him and subsequent Indian governments that follow, that no one expects a friend to enter their homes and commit a criminal offence and still be accepted as a buddy.

Bharat Bhushan

Embarrassing though it may be, the report in The Washington Post on the involvement of Indian officials in a failed assassination plot against a United States citizen on US soil is not going to impact the ongoing elections in India. The readership of the investigative report will most likely be limited to circles whose vote does not matter to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It will, however, stop Prime Minister Narendra Modi from boasting about how in ‘new India’, enemies of the nation are killed on their home turf. “Ghar mein ghus kar marna” (to kill by entering someone’s home) was the phrase used for political messaging to the electorate.

Although Modi ended the large boast by narrowing it down to the surgical operation in Uri, the message could be interpreted by his supporters to give credit to him for the recent assassinations that India officially disowns — in Pakistan and Canada, and the failed attempt against Khalistani leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in the US. While India has flatly denied the Canadian allegations, it has made the incredulous excuse that the conspiracy was the work of  ‘rogue operatives’.

However, the US has provided enough evidence of the involvement of Indian agents to put the Modi government on the defensive. Naming the agent involved and how he has gone unpunished, The Washington Post report disproves the rogue agent theory. The report suggests that the named agent was operating under the instructions of his superior officers. One only has to read the publicly available indictment (charge-sheet) against Nikhil Gupta, a facilitator in the alleged conspiracy, to conclude that this is not the end of the Pannun saga….

Read more at: https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/why-the-rambo-script-wont-work-in-india-3006159

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