Learning the hard way, the Indian politician has now realized that wars and terror attacks cannot be used as an opposition stick to beat the incumbent. Congress used it in Kargil and lost the 1999 elections to NDA and the BJP lost Delhi Assembly elections by using 26/11 to bludgeon the UPA.

Both the main stream parties have now realized that Indians have an uncanny habit of uniting in wake of an internal security crisis and equate legitimate criticism to sleeping with the enemy. Hence, a suitably chastened politician on both sides has made national security an issue without frontly attacking each other on the two major upheavals in the past. Little wonder the LS 2009 political campaign has fallen back on bread and butter issues such as economy and governance.

Much as we Indians like to don Bollywood style patriotism, mounting internal security threat to the country cannot be swept under the carpet purely on the grounds that it does not make a political issue.

The huge gap between Indian capacity and its response as illustrated during Kargil and 26/11 makes the citizens all the more vulnerable. But have we learnt a lesson from these historical blunders? The answer is a flat no.

Exactly a decade ago, on May 3, 1999, a patrol of III Punjab battalion of the Indian Army for the first time sighted 3-4 Pakistani intruders dressed in black in Yaldor area of the Kargil sector. On May 9, 1999, the Intelligence Bureau, according to Army records, identified them as the Taliban and two days later Operation Vijay was launched.

... contd.