7 mistakes in the past that India had to repent for

New Delhi: History helps to know about our past, correct our drawbacks and improve the future. Some mistakes in the past are unforgiving and can not be undone. These mistakes have caused serious ramifications to India's future. Here are 7 mistakes in the past that India had to repent as it overshadowed the future of the country. 1. Kashmir problem Hari Singh was the king of the state of Jammu and Kashmir in 1947. He was unable to take a decision when tribal raiders backed by Pak army invaded Kashmir in October 1947.Unable to counter them, Hari Singh appealed to India for help.India then granted special status to it through Article 370 of the Constitution. Secondly, when on the verge of evicting all invaders and recapturing the complete state, India halted operations on 1 January 1949 and appealed to the Security Council. Indian leadership made a highly unconstitutional offer of plebiscite in the UN. Forty percent area of the state continues to be under Pakistan's control, providing it a strategic land route to China through the Karakoram ranges. As a fall out of the unresolved dispute, India and Pakistan have fought numerous wars with no solution in sight. Worse, the local politicians are holding India to ransom by playing the Pak card. Kashmir issue is a self-created cancerous furuncle that defies all medications and continues to bleed the country. 2. Chinese incursions and India's negilgence India-China War of 1962 will always remain in the memories of Indians. Even though signs of China's aggressive intentions were clearly vsible for years in advance, the Indian leadership decided to keep its eyes shut in the fond hope that the problem would resolve itself. When China struck, the country was caught totally unprepared. Troops were rushed to snowbound areas with summer clothing and outdated rifles. Despite numerous sagas of gallantry, the country suffered terrible embarrassment. India was on its knees. With the national morale and pride in tatters, India was forced to appeal to all nations for military aid. Inept and incompetent leadership had forced a proud nation to find solace in Lata Mangeshkar's Ae Mere Watan Ke Logo. 3. The Tashkent Agreement and Return of Haji Pir Pass After the 1965 Indo-Pak war ended, a Russian-sponsored agreement was signed between India and Pakistan in Tashkent on 10 January 1966. Under the agreement, India agreed to return Haji Pir pass to Pakistan which it had captured in August 1965 against heavy odds and losing lives of many soldiers. The pass connects Poonch and Uri sectors in Jammu and Kashmir and reduces the distance between the two sectors to 15 km whereas the alternate route entails a travel of over 200 km. India got nothing in return except an undertaking by Pakistan to stop war, an undertaking which meant little as Pakistan never had any intention of honouring it.Return of the vital Haji Pir pass was a mistake of monumental proportions for which India is suffering to date. In addition to denying a direct link between Poonch and Uri sectors, the pass is being effectively used by Pakistan to sponsor infiltration of terrorists into India. 4. The Simla Agreement After winning the Indo Pak war of 1971, India had taken 96000 Pak soldiers as Prisoners of War. An agreement was signed between the two countries on 2 July 1972 at Shimla. Both countries agreed to exchange all Prisoners of War, respect the line of control (LOC) in Jammu and Kashmir and refrain from the use of threat or force. The then PM of Pakistan, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto gave a solemn verbal undertaking to accept LOC as the de facto border. India released all Pak PoWs in good faith. Pakistan, on the other hand, released only 617 Indian PoWs while holding back 54 PoWs who are still languishing in Pakistani jails. India failed to use the leverage of 96,000 Pakistan PoWs to discipline Pakistan. A rare opportunity was thus wasted. 5. Confusion over nuclear power ambitions India showed rare courage in carrying out its first nuclear test on 18 May 1974 at Pokharan. Outside the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, India was the only nation to prove its nuclear capability. The whole country was ecstatic and every Indian felt proud of its scientific prowess. Instead of asserting India's newly acquired status of a nuclear power and demanding recognition, India turned apologetic and tried to convince the world that it had no nuclear ambitions. Strangely, it termed the Pokharan test as a 'peaceful nuclear explosion' - a term unheard of till then. The Defence Minister went to the extent of claiming that the Indian nuclear experiment was 'only for mining, oil and gas prospecting, for finding underground sources of water, for diverting rivers, for scientific and technological knowledge.' It was a self-deprecating stance. Displaying acute inferiority complex, India did not want to be counted as a member of the exclusive nuclear club. 6. Kandahar hijacking The government was unsuccessful in handling the hijacking of an Indian Airlines aircraft to Kandahar by Pakistani terrorists in December 1999. The eight-day long ordeal ended only after India's National Security Adviser announced thatan agreement had been reached for the release of all the hostages in exchange for three Kashmiri militants including Maulana Masood Azhar. Sadly, the Prime Minister claimed credit for forcing the hijackers to climb down on their demands. The worst was yet to follow. India's Foreign Minister decided to accompany the released militants to Kandahar, as if seeing off honoured guests.The government's poor crisis-management skills and extreme complacency in security matters allowed the hijackers to take off from Amritsar airport after 39 minutes halt for refueling, thereby letting the problem get out of control. 7. Illegal Immigration and Passage of IMDT Act India passed the Illegal Migrants - Determination by Tribunals (IMDT) Act of 1984 for Assam. It shifted the onus of proving the illegal status of a suspected immigrant on to the accuser, which was a tall and virtually impossible order. Detection and deportation of illegal immigrants became impossible.Whenever demands were raised for repealing the Act, the Congress, the Left Front and the United Minorities Front resisted strongly. Illegal immigrants had become the most loyal vote bank of the Congress. Worse, every protest against the Act was dubbed as 'anti-minority', thereby imparting communal colour to an issue of national security. The government's 'pardon' of all Bangladeshis who had come in before 1985 was another unconstitutional act that aggravated the problem.The Act was struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court on July 13, 2005, more than 20 years after its enactment. The Apex Court was of the view that the influx of Bangladeshi nationals into Assam posed a threat to the integrity and security of northeastern region. Unfortunately, immense damage had already been done to the demography of Assam and the local people of Assam had been reduced to minority status in certain districts. Illegal immigrants have come to have a stranglehold over electioneering to the extent that no party can hope to come to power without their support.