India, Sept. 29 -- A couple of videos from Leh, Uttarakhand, and Assam that went viral during the last few days got me thinking. All these videos were of angry young people going berserk on the streets. A few months ago, similar videos had surfaced from Manipur where a tense calm prevails now. Is it a coincidence that discontent against the government is brewing in four border states? Before dwelling on this question, let me take you back to 1972. After winning the war and breaking Pakistan into two nations, Indira Gandhi was riding a wave of popularity and the country was awash with nationalist fervour. Slighted by US President Richard Nixon, she had cosied up to the erstwhile Soviet Union and signed a friendship treaty with Moscow. The strategic treaty helped to maintain peace on our borders. Those were the heydays of the Green Revolution and Indira Gandhi missed no opportunity to push the vision of India as a rising industrial powerhouse. She was at the helm with a brute majority of 352 seats. The Congress was in power in 15 states. Kerala had a CPI-led coalition that included the Congress in office. Due to India's friendship with the Soviet Union, the CPI had allied with the Congress. However, what was the outcome of this bonhomie? The first signs of discontent emerged in Gujarat in 1973 where the Chimanbhai Patel government fell due to a mass movement against unemployment. Within no time, the movement spread to Bihar and other parts of India. Growing youth anger inspired Jayaprakash Narayan in 1974 to call for sampurn kranti (total revolution). Sensing power slipping from her grasp, Indira Gandhi imposed the Emergency on June 25, 1975. Likened to Durga in an outpouring of admiration in 1971, she was now the biggest villain. We know what followed. How the Janata Party gained and lost power. How Charan Singh became prime minister (PM) and was out-manoeuvred by the Congress Party. Indira Gandhi returned to power in 1980 with 353 seats but was greeted by foreign-sponsored insurgencies in Punjab, Assam, and in the Northeastern states. Four years later, she laid down her life fighting the menace. At that time, she and her associates would openly blame foreign powers, especially the US's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), for fomenting trouble and terror in India by supporting Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). They weren't wrong. Just look around today and you'll realise the reality. Isn't India being subjected to the same formula that was implemented in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal? During Indira's time, it was Nixon, now we have Donald Trump. Nixon disliked Indira Gandhi and saw India as a Soviet ally. Trump calls PM Narendra Modi "friend", but accuses India of supporting Russia in the Ukraine-Russia conflict. He has unleashed tariff terror on India with blatant disregard to global diplomatic and trade norms. His latest salvo is to impose a 100% tariff on pharma, which will hurt India too. His regular meetings with Pakistan's army chief Asim Munir and PM Shehbaz Sharif are also surprising. Is the US back to employing its old toolkit? We know that PM Modi is India's most popular leader at present. He's not ready to compromise on our national interest. India's stand is clear: Buying oil from Russia is in our national interest and we can't ignore it. Modi has made it clear that what the US is asking for in trade talks is against the interests of our farmers, workers, and vulnerable sections of society and, as such, it's non-negotiable. He has hinted he may have to pay a personal price for it. We should ask why is it that apart from border states, even a relatively rich state such as Karnataka is witnessing so many disruptions? Who are those people putting up posters that create communal discord in the economically emerging state of Uttar Pradesh? We should remember that inflation in 1974 was 25.2%; today, it stands at 2.07%. Unemployment rates are almost the same. In most states, women, youth and elderly are getting monthly allowances. Farmers get Rs.6,000 yearly from the Union government. Other welfare schemes are benefitting a large number of people. It's clear that there's a world of difference between today and 50 years ago. Then, why is the situation deteriorating? Today, the big difference is social media. It has made the job of governments extremely precarious. Earlier, adverse impacts of a news or an event took time to travel. Now, with just a hashtag it can become viral - not only within the country but worldwide. It was visible in its most effective and deadly form during the so-called Arab Spring, destabilising many West Asian nations within no time 15 years ago. The social media platforms are the sole preserve of two nations - the US and China. They can make or mar societies, places, or ideas based on their algorithms. It is true that there is unemployment in India. It needs to be addressed. However, the experience between 1972-1974 suggests that it can't be done by mere sloganeering. For example, for the last three decades, Bihar has been ruled by those who are the products of the 1974 JP Movement. Despite their best efforts, they failed to provide full employment. Unfortunately, neither India nor the world has any fool-proof policy to eradicate unemployment. We need to offer our youth a new direction and nip any foreign conspiracy in the bud. However, today, even the menace of a national threat fails to bring our public representatives together. The events in Nepal are instructive: Violent mobs didn't discriminate between the ruling dispensation and the Opposition. The inferno of anarchy incinerates everyone....