It is indeed amazing that at a crucial juncture in the history of the nation, when soldiers are dying at the borders for the sake of a united India, small and sometimes dangerous men busy themselves with their ugly sectarian projects. The utterly meaningless campaign to ``expose'' Dilip Kumar as an unpatriotic Indian just because he happened to be the recipient of Pakistan's highest civilian honour, the Nishan-e-Pakistan, falls into this category of activity.The thespian who has strode like a colossus on the Indian film scene and who has contributed 50 years and more of his working life to this nation, does not need anyone's certificate to prove his allegiance to this country. Having been awarded the Nishan-e-Pakistan does not make him any less of an Indian. The misconceived slogans of politically motivated groups like the Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena do not make him any less of an Indian, nor the attempts of political parties across the board to clamber on to this divisive bandwagon. Dilip Kumar is Indianjust by virtue of being Dilip Kumar.Humiliated by this ugly campaign, Kumar has now decided to let the Prime Minister decide on whether or not he should return the Nishan-e-Pakistan. It is now for the Prime Minister to tell Kumar and his persecutors that this country, with its liberal values and multicultural traditions, cannot be held ransom to the insanities of a few.Pakistani designs will not be defeated by the returning of a Nishan-e-Pakistan. In fact, it will be quite to the contrary. That one move would symbolise not only a fractured polity, but a nervous nation lacking in basic self-confidence. This could be tantamount to snatching defeat from the jaws of victory because Pakistani designs can ultimately be defeated only by the image of a nation united in meeting the challenge at its borders. If further proof of this is needed, just look at the Indian armed forces. Regardless of the faith they subscribe to, the region they come from, the language they speak, they constitute one entity, livingtogether, fighting together and dying together. The names of the dead are the roll call of the nation. The names may be Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist - but they are also names of men who were Indians first and last.The games politicians play go against the very spirit of their great sacrifice. Take BJP president Kushabhau Thakre's statement on Thursday, claiming the ``victory in Kargil'' as the achievement of the Vajpayee government. We have forced them to flee, he says, in a premature bid to raise his party's electoral flag in the heart of the nation, even though the BJP-led government has gone on record to say that it does not want the Kargil conflict to be politicised. Who, finally, is this ``we'' he is talking about? Surely by ``we'' he does not mean the office-bearers of his party? If that ``we'' has to ring true, then it cannot be circumscribed by narrow electoral considerations. ``We'' are the nation, comprising numerous communities but speaking with one mind and in onevoice.
