Viju Cherian
The second half of February was an action-packed one for India. The Pulwama terror attack took place on February 14 in which more than 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed. Following this, on February 26, the Indian Air Force (IAF) pre-emptively struck terror camps at Balakot in Pakistan. The following day, Pakistan retaliated and in the process an IAF pilot was captured in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). To much jubilation in India, on March 1, Pakistan returned the pilot.
India’s military deserves kudos for doing what it does best — protecting the nation, come what may! Through various avenues the people of India have expressed their love and pride for the forces. Sadly, the reaction of the political establishment — especially that of the government and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — has been disappointing. The Opposition has also not covered itself in glory either, but, being the party in power, there is an added level of maturity and responsibility that is expected from the BJP.
The Opposition has accused the BJP of milking the military’s achievements and taking undue credit. After the Balakot strike, media reports quoted sources in the ruling party as pegging the number of terrorists killed between 200 and 350. On March 3, BJP President Amit Shah said that “more than 250 terrorists” were killed in Balakot. On Tuesday, March 5, defence minister Nirmala Sitaraman said that the government’s stand on this has been conveyed by the foreign secretary who did not quote a figure in his statement.
While the ruling party is giving conflicting statements about the outcome of the airstrike, international media has been more or less unanimous — that the figures quoted by the BJP could be exaggerated. What adds weight to the Opposition’s case is that the government has not quoted a figure.
Now, credit should be given to the government where it is due. This might cause heartburn for the Opposition, especially for the Congress, but the fact is that Prime Minister Narendra Modi deserves praise for decisive action against Pakistan-back terror attacks on India. The first instance was on September 28, 2016, when the Indian Army carried “surgical strikes” along the Line of Control (LoC). This was a paradigm shift in India’s approach to terrorist groups operating from PoK. The second, on February 26, moved the pieces further showing New Delhi’s intent to tackle terror camps targeting India operating within Pakistan. The political backing (and risks it carried) given by central government to the armed forces to conduct these strikes cannot be wished away. It is also a fact that no previous government can claim such actions to its credit.
It is natural for the ruling party to take credit for the achievements of the government it is running. This becomes all the more true if that party has an absolute majority in Parliament — like the Shah-led BJP.
The problem arises when the ruling party, the BJP, uses the false binary to say that ‘criticising the party is equal to criticising the armed forces’. The narrative that anyone who questions the government’s claims on the February 26 airstrike is doubting the ability and sincerity of the armed forces is a dangerous parallel to draw. There are times when the government could be synonymous with the ruling party; however, under no circumstance in a democracy can the armed forces be a plural for the government.
That bring us to the question: Then why did the BJP give a random number of the terrorists killed in Balakot? If the number was to instil fear, it has not been effective. The Pakistan army and ISI’s raison d'etre is its enmity towards India and with hundreds of terror camps and many more recruits being trained to ‘bleed India with a thousand cuts’, the loss of 200 or even 300 recruits is a drop in the ocean. If the number was to boost the ruling party’s image — in the light of no evidence, this seems to have backfired.
The larger point is the message the airstrike has sent. By sending in air troops, the Modi government made a clear statement that Pakistan must be ready to bear the cost for wanton acts of terror. It is the bluntness of that message which makes the number of the terrorist killed irrelevant.
At a time when the nation is overwhelmed by the response India has given Pakistan, — and by that extension, the message Modi has sent — the BJP should have avoided fixing a number to it. India’s message to Pakistan, irrespective of the number of terrorist killed, is clear — be ready for quick action. There was little need to politicise this action.
By putting a number to the achievement, the BJP has inserted a false negative to what is otherwise a decisive action by the Modi-led government.
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