The responses of Rahul Gandhi, Sanjay Nirupam and others are in sharp contrast to the unity displayed by politicians during the previous conflicts with Pakistan. One has not seen anything as degenerate as this
The last week has seen Indian politics sink to its lowest depths with some individuals like Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and his party colleague, Sanjay Nirupam making some of the most loathesome statements about the surgical strikes undertaken by the Indian Army to destroy terrorist camps across the line of Control (loC) in Kashmir.
The most despicable comment came from Rahul Gandhi. He accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of merchandising the blood of our soldiers and of exploiting their sacrifices (Jo hamare jawan hain jinhone apna khoon diya hai ………Unki aap dalali kar rahe ho). Rahul Gandhi’s “khoon ki dalali” comment could well turn out to be self goal, just as his mother, Sonia Gandhi’s vicious attack on Modi in 2007, did. In that fateful speech that virtually clinched the election for Chief Minister Modi, she accused him of being a “maut ka saudagar” (Merchant of Death). Yet another barb that Sonia Gandhi flung at Modi in the run-up to the 2014 lok Sabha poll had similar disturbing imagery and electoral consequence. At a public rally, she accused him of sowing seeds of poison (zeher ki kheti) and spoiling the secular environment in the country.
Strangely, Rahul Gandhi had hailed the Prime Minister’s actions just a few days ago on twitter. He had said: “Jab pradhan mantra ji, ek pradhan mantra ke laayak kaam karthe hain, main bhi unka samarthan kartha hoon (When the Prime Minister acts in a manner worthy of a Prime Minister, I too will support him!)”. And here is another: “Unhone Dai Saal main pehla action liya hain, jo pradhan mantra ke laayak action ho…..(for the first time in two and a half years he has acted in a manner worthy of a Prime Minister)”.
What arrogance! And just look at the patronising tone! Remarkable indeed for someone who has never held public office other than that of an MP. But, this goes perfectly well with one who is unschooled in the basics of democracy! Rahul Gandhi presumes that he is ordained to issue certificates to others (because of his surname), including Modi who entered this office after a dozen years as Chief Minister of a major State in the country.
As regards Nirupam, what can one sayIJ He has publicly declared the daring operation carried out by our soldiers as “fake” and demanded “proof” from the Indian Army.
Never before have we seen politicians display such suspicion and cynicism about an Army operation and taken the debate to the level that they become celebrities in the enemy camp! The Pakistani media pooh-poohed the Indian Army’s strikes into Pakistan-held territory and offered the bytes of Rahul Gandhi, Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal, Nirupam et al as proof that the story of the surgical strikes was just balderdash. These individuals were the toast of the Pakistani media this week and #PakStandsWithKejriwal was trending ahead of everything else in Pakistan!
These politicians do not seem to realise that in their bid to indulge in crass politics, they have hurt the sentiments of every soldier, because what they are doubting and questioning is the statement made by lt Gen Ranbir Singh, the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) of the Indian Army on September 29, after the successful completion of the surgical operations the previous night. In his statement, the DGMO said that it was a matter of serious concern that there had been continuing and increasing infiltration by terrorists across loC in Jammu & Kashmir. This was reflected, amongst others, in the terrorist attacks on September 11 and September 18 in Poonch and Uri respectively. Almost 20 infiltration attempts had also been foiled by the Army at or close to the loC during this year. The operative part of his statement said, “On receiving specific and credible inputs that some terrorist teams had positioned themselves at launch pads along the loC to carry out infiltration and conduct terrorist strikes inside Jammu & Kashmir and in various metros in other States, the Indian Army conducted surgical strikes at several of these launch pads to pre-empt infiltration by terrorists. The operations were focused on ensuring that these terrorists do not succeed in their design to cause destruction and endanger the lives of our citizens. During these counter terrorist operations significant casualties were caused to terrorists and those providing support to them”.
The DGMO also declared that he had been in touch with the Pakistan Army DGMO and informed him of the Army’s actions. He said, “It is India’s intention to maintain peace and tranquillity in the region. But we cannot allow the terrorists to operate across the loC with impunity and attack citizens of our country at will. In line with Pakistan’s commitment in January 2004 not to allow its soil or territory under its control to be used for attacks against India, we expect the Pakistani Army to cooperate with us to erase the menace of terrorism from the region”.
The response of Rahul Gandhi, Nirupam and others is quite in contrast to the unity displayed by politicians of all hues during the previous conflicts with Pakistan in 1965 and 1971 when the Congress was in power. In fact, Parliament debates during and after those wars show the united spirit of Indians of all hues with the opposition parties demanding that India impose stiffer penalties on Pakistan for spreading terror and provoking conflict.
Eminent parliamentarians like Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Nath Pai and a host of others gave the Congress Government in those days the fullest backing in Parliament and hailed the bravery of our soldiers. After the 1971 conflict ended with the surrender of 93,000 Pakistani soldiers to the Indian Army, most newspapers carried a front page ‘box’ when Vajpayee hailed Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s leadership and even compared her to Durga. But the Congress behaves in a strange manner when it occupies the Opposition benches and specially when it is led by a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family. One has seen this even when Vajpayee was the Prime Minister for six years, but one has never seen something so crass.
The party is now viewing the Indian Army’s statements with suspicion. The Doubting Thomases now want “proof” from the DGMO of the Indian Army! One has not seen anything as degenerate as this. Is this still the Indian “National” CongressIJ
(The writer is Chairman, Prasar Bharati. Views expressed here are personal)