The North Korean connection to India
Disclaimer: This is not a researched article. This article might not make sense. This is just a result of some weird thought that arose in the middle of the night.
What is the connection between Kim Jong-il and Indira Gandhi? Well, no connection actually. But I thought there is some starking similarity between the two or perhaps between the two nations. Might not really make sense, but let me try and make some sense here.
1. The Father connection- Lets start with the father connection. Both had father’s who were responsible for the formation of the country. Well not exactly, but something like that. Nehru was partly/ wholly/ somewhat responsible for the division of India and creation of Pakistan. Fortunately for him he ended up ruling India. Going by similar analogy, Kim Jong-il’s father Kim-il Sung was the first ruler (leader) of the newly formed North Korea. Understandably the history of both nations and their respective formations are different. India was never a subject matter of the Cold War, while Korea was. But still this small similarity.
2. Dynastic succession – Well the second connection is the dynastic succession. Indira Gandhi, Nehru’s daughter succeeded Nehru (though not immediately) and Kim Jong-il succeeded his father. The circumstances differred however the principle of Dynastic Sucession remains. Both Indira Gandhi and Kim Jong-il ruled their respective countries with iron hand.
3. Handing over power into immature hands – Another similarity here is that of the next level of succession. Rajiv Gandhi aspired to be a commercial pilot. He was destined to take over from his mother. Power naturally came into his immature hands at the tender age of 40 (sic). How he handled this and established himself independently is altogether a different story. Kim Jong-il in the meanwhile is succeeded by his 28-something son Kim Jong-un. Power has landed into immature inexperienced hands (atleast the western media think so). How he handles this only time will tell.
4. Autocracy/ Dictatorship – The Korean leadership right from Kim-il Sung to his son Kim Jong-il have been outright autocratic. While in India it’s a altogether different case. It is a case of autocracy carefully blended into democracy. Sonia is the autocrat here. Her health is a well guarded secret, just the way Kim Jong-il’s health was. The family secret is well guarded. She has her trusted inner circle. And dont expect anyone in the ruling congress to speak out against this lady. Too many similarities here. Let me just cut this out before Kapil Sibal or Digvijaya Singh or Manish Tiwari find out.
