The Hypocrisy of Hindsight: Why Today’s Armchair Patriots Are Full of It

The Hypocrisy of Hindsight: Why Today’s Armchair Patriots Are Full of It

There’s a growing chorus of self-righteous critics who love to tear into Gandhi and Nehru as if they were there, as if they would’ve done better, and as if founding a free nation was as easy as tweeting about it. They act like Sardar Patel was robbed of the Prime Minister’s seat, pretending they understand the complexity of that moment or Patel’s own silence.

These people romanticize pre-independence India like it was a superpower waiting to blossom, held back only by a few bad calls. Here’s a reality check: India was a colonized nation. The British ran the economy, the administration, and dictated every outcome. Indian leaders were negotiating with a boot on their necks. Take the Bengal Famine nearly five million Indians starved to death while Churchill shipped our grain to British troops. That wasn’t a mishap. It was calculated cruelty.

And yet, somehow, today’s "patriots" think Gandhi and Nehru should’ve fixed everything instantly. It’s like a parent whose child fails an exam, but instead of reflecting on their own neglect or mistakes in raising the child, they blame the grandfather who’s no longer alive, and who never went to school because there were no schools at the time. That’s the level of historical illiteracy and intellectual laziness we’re dealing with.

What’s worse is many of these critics are educated. They know how hard it is to get even a small project approved without compromise. But when it comes to post-independence India, they expect perfection zero mistakes, flawless governance, absolute foresight. Nehru made mistakes, no doubt. But they were policy decisions, not self-serving scams. There’s a difference between being wrong and being corrupt.

Gandhi and Nehru gave up comfort, wealth, and safety for the country. Patel was no less a giant. But he didn’t challenge Nehru for leadership because he believed Nehru was the right man for the time. The only other challenger? Jinnah. And we know how that ended.

Fast forward to now: these same critics parrot the line that “Congress can’t survive with Rahul Gandhi.” They say similar things about AAP, TMC, JDU, and every party that threatens the BJP’s grip. But those parties are gaining strength where it counts within their regions. Congress, in particular, is resurging in South India, where it holds its strongest footprint. And AAP is steadily growing across the country, expanding its reach beyond Delhi and Punjab. Why? Because people are waking up.

They’re learning to tell the difference between failed policy and a hijacked democracy. BJP didn’t win 2024 they rigged it. If not, Congress would’ve likely won over 170 seats, and the INDIA alliance might be in charge. But the rich and privileged backed BJP not because it delivered results, but because it preserved their power. As long as the poor stay poor, they pose no threat.

Let’s be real: the rich don’t build nations. If they did, kings would’ve ended poverty centuries ago. The rich build walls, not bridges. They hoard. They suppress. And today, they’ve found in the BJP a government that crushes dissent, weaponizes laws, and wraps it all in the flag.

India’s future isn’t being threatened by Nehru’s ghost. It’s being threatened by those who fear accountability, hate transparency, and will do anything to stay in power even if it means burning the very idea of India to the ground.