Internal Betrayal: The Real Threat to Bharat’s Sovereignty
By Manisha Singh
“Plans are hatched in Pakistan, but aided and abetted in India. It’s a snakes and ladders game — they provide the snakes, we provide the ladders.”
— Dr. Anand Ranganathan
When we speak of national security, our gaze reflexively turns westward — toward Pakistan, toward terror camps, toward cross-border infiltration. And yet, as Dr. Anand Ranganathan aptly summarized during a recent television debate, the real threat to Bharat isn’t the hyena prowling outside. It’s the elephant that sits comfortably within.
Terror attacks, sleeper cells, radical funding — yes, Pakistan plays its part. But its success hinges entirely on one thing: the willing collaborators within India. The enablers. The internal ecosystem that doesn’t just excuse anti-national activity — it nurtures, whitewashes, and mainstreams it.
From Shaheen Bagh-style protests dressed up as civil disobedience to university campuses becoming breeding grounds for ideological extremism, the lines between dissent and sedition have been purposefully blurred. Media houses question the army before questioning terrorists. Political parties race to visit rioters’ homes but ignore the burnt shops of innocents. Courts delay justice in the name of balance, yet exhibit selective urgency when it suits narrative players.
We saw this post-Pulwama. Rather than unite as a nation, a vocal section of India’s intelligentsia peddled “false flag” theories, questioned the armed forces, and echoed narratives indistinguishable from Pakistan’s state-sponsored media.
Is this patriotism? Or performative treason wrapped in academic language?
It is time to call this out.
This isn’t about ideology — it’s about national integrity. The enemy across the border wears a uniform; the enemy within wears a press badge, a lawyer’s gown, or sometimes, the garb of an elected leader.
They chant about human rights — but not for the victims of terrorism.
They quote the Constitution — but selectively.
They call for unity — but only to divide from within.
And when Article 370 was rightfully abrogated — correcting a decades-old mistake — they didn’t cheer India’s unity. They mourned the loss of separatism. They wept not for Kashmir’s peace, but for their ideological defeat.
Bharat’s enemies have evolved. They no longer wear camouflage or carry AK-47s. They hold microphones. They tweet. They litigate. They legislate.
The hyena outside our gates is weak without the elephant inside the room. Until we address the internal sabotage, no surgical strike, no intelligence reform, no border fencing can secure Bharat.
It’s time for every citizen to ask:
Are we protecting our nation — or protecting those weakening it from within?
