Is India’s national unity slowly weakening?

Within three years India faced another tough test. In 1965, US President Lyndon B. Johnson delayed our wheat supply. In response, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri appealed to his countrymen to forgo meals once a week to save grain. I was in primary school. I remember that on Tuesday evenings flatbread and a simple vegetable would be cooked for us children. My parents and grandfather would observe a fast.

Today, when the entire world is suffering due to the crisis in West Asia, I am once again reminded of the 1973 imbroglio in the region. Relations deteriorated between the Gulf countries and the US. It led to an energy supply breakdown. For India, those were tough times. Indira Gandhi had to raise the price of petrol from ₹1.60 per litre to ₹2.75 per litre. The Centre’s budget that year was termed the ‘Black Budget’. The country suffered an unprecedented loss of ₹550 crore. The war with Pakistan, the influx of refugees from Bangladesh, the 1972–73 drought and a surge in defence spending strained both the government and its citizens.

What a strange coincidence that the meteorological department has predicted a below-normal monsoon this year and the Gulf crisis has set oil prices on the boil.

There’s a world of difference between the situations of 1973 and today. Then, there were just 650,000 motor vehicles in India. Today, the number stands at 400 million. At that time, only 4,055km railway was electrified and 80% of the trains ran on coal or diesel. Today, electrification of railways is near 100% and diesel engines are maintained just for strategic use. Despite these gains, the needs of 1.4 billion people have surged. Energy demand today is many times higher than in 1973.

As a result, the petrochemical industry’s daily loss has crossed ₹1,000 crore. Yet, the government kept petrol and diesel prices in check, raising them only marginally on Friday. India is the only nation providing free rations to 800 million. This comes at a time when the rupee is hitting record lows against the dollar and euro amid weakening global trade. Energy prices may rise further in the near future. It is difficult to understand the criticism when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is urging restraint in energy use, advising a pause on gold purchases and discouraging unnecessary foreign travel at a time like this.

I don’t want to waste my time on politicians and their politics. Their tone changes according to the tide of time. In 1962, our country faced extreme challenges due to Chinese aggression. At the time, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was sharply criticising Nehru’s policies in Parliament. Later, he reflected on his stance and, during the 1971 Bangladesh War, praised Indira Gandhi as “Durga.” The same Vajpayee later became prime minister. Even today, he’s considered a beacon of Indian politics. But other leaders didn’t learn any lessons from him. During 1962, ’65 and ’71, those who attacked the Congress are now in power and the Congress is in the opposition. Now, their leaders are attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The way politics has panned out leaves everyone sad. How can our politicians change their stance with such consummate ease?

It’s unfortunate that their conduct is leading to dismay. In 1999, when the forces were moving during the Kargil conflict, there was no one at railway stations offering them packed food chanting “Bharat mata ki jai”. Between 1962 and 1971, the same society would chant patriotic slogans when trains with soldiers would pass. The partisan narratives seen during Operation Sindoor felt like a warning of what may lie ahead.

Are we drifting towards declining patriotism and a weakened collective conscience? If yes, can the trend be reversed?

Shashi Shekhar is editor-in-chief, Hindustan. Views are personal.