Viju Cherian
A short while back, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a major defence and scientific achievement. In an address to the nation, the PM said that Mission Shakti, where an indigenously developed ASAT or an anti-satellite weapon targeted a live satellite orbiting in the Low Space Orbit, was a success. The mission took all of three minutes and with its success India became the fourth country, after the United States, Russia and China, to achieve this feat.
Not many details are out in public about the said mission/test. In the meantime, there are many questions that need to be answered: What will be the effects of this weaponisation of space? What are the likely international political fallouts and defence reactions to this mission in the region? Is India on the right path, where do we go from here, will this make us safer, etc? In the days ahead a clearer picture of the mission and its multiple facets will be known. For now, however, the focus will shift more from the achievement to the announcement — because, it’s election season in India.
Now did the PM violate the election commission’s Model Code of Conduct by making such an announcement? Most likely no, because it is unlikely that the address would have happened on Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR) without the EC giving the go-ahead.
Has Modi, by virtue of being Prime Minister, used a national platform to grab the attention of the nation at a time when every political leader and party is fighting to air time? Yes. Has this announcement given him an unfair advantage and failed to maintain a level playing field? Maybe. Is he in the wrong for doing so? That depends on which side of the divide you stand.
Many feel that given the achievement was so unique and advanced, it is befitting that the PM address the nation. After all, it is an issue of ‘national security’. Others feel that in the garb of ‘national security’, which is also a keenly fought election issue, Modi has misused the office.
Couldn’t the ISRO chief or the DRDO head have made this announcement, like it was done when India’s mission to the moon Chandrayaan-1 was announced? Did the latter part of Modi’s announcement, where he stressed on the future of India, appear more like a campaign speech? Honestly, there isn’t a black and white answer to this — it depends on a subjective assessment of the situation. Perhaps, it falls in a grey area.
A lot will be debated about the political signals such an announcement sends. While BJP leaders have praised Modi’s vision for the achievement, the Congress has thanked the DRDO and the ISRO for it. The Samajwadi Party has said that Modi has managed to divert attention from the “issues on ground”.
The announcement was in parts vague — not much is known now about the details of the live satellite shot down. For instance, was this over Indian airspace or not? Of course, given that there is a national security angle to the mission, there would be limits to the information shared with the public. However, incomplete information, especially when it comes to defence and security, has the potential to be misused and even turned into fake news. How the limited information on the Balakot strikes led to different claims on its success is a recent example.
That said, the interesting aspect of Modi’s address to the nation is that it yet again shows how innovative a communicator the PM is; how he keeps up with the changing times, how he invents avenues (such as his Mann Ki Baat and overseas interactions with NRIs) and uses the little legroom to push conventional boundaries, such as his address to the nation today. Indeed, a great part of politics and electioneering is communication.
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