It is one thing to bring to light the audacious actions of the country’s armed forces and their capabilities, and quite something else entirely to use them as props for political ends. Using the achievements of the armed forces, which often come at the cost of several precious lives, as a springboard for electoral gains is distasteful. It is just as bad as denigrating the armed forces and giving the people of this country an image that their hard earned money, which is being set aside in the name of a defense budget, cannot assure them the safety it is intended to. It all appears to be wasteful expenditure that comes to no good end. The trouble with either of these approaches is that they can cause harm to the armed forces morale and also affect the country’s safety interests.
As the general election approaches and campaigns of political parties have hit top gear, the BJP — Prime Minister Narendra Modi in particular — is going overboard, tom-tomming the achievements of the armed forces in a bid to swing the mandate in his party’s favour. The security lapses that appear to have led to Pulwama have not been spoken about at all. What were the lapses for which the CRPF lost more than 40 well trained soldiers and who all were responsible for those careless decisions seem to have become issues of no consequence whatsoever. Glossing over past mistakes has been a regular Indian governmental characteristic. In this manner, no lessons are learnt and the chances of falling into repetitions of same or similar follies hangs over the head of the armed forces of this country. Recent reports also suggested that the Indian forces may have downed one of their own helicopters in the scramble when Pakistan sent its fighter jets in apparent retaliation for the Balakot air strike. Although the claim that Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman shot down an F-16 fighter jet of Pakistan has not been substantiated yet, it is a fact that the country lost the MiG21 Bison that the wing commander flew besides the two other aircraft that crashed the same day. Interestingly, when Abhinandan queered the political pitch, and saving him became the major issue, the Indian government, through some very ‘friendly’ media have tried to paint the downed pilot as a ‘glory hunter’ who disobeyed orders from ground control to Turn Cold. In layman’s terminology that means turn tail and run back. Reality will never be known but this much is understood that one single captured pilot, the effort to not acknowledge his existence and the ensuing issues saved both India and Pakistan from a pointless war.
Recent military actions should have demonstrated, if anyone was bothered to watch and note, where the strengths and weaknesses of the Indian and Pakistani sides lie. The action has benefited the both countries by giving insights into each other’s weaknesses and the holes that need to be plugged. But performance of the military should not become the rallying cry for votes. It must not be forgotten that an army marches on its stomach, as the idiom goes. While it is true that the men and women spilling their blood on the frontiers of the country to keep it safe deserve respect and support, those millions that toil this earth to produce what keeps the entire country running should not be forgotten. Unless development covers the vital segments of the country, there can be no army the country can be proud of. An army at the frontier would be of no use when bad policies can lead to internal strife. Jingoism cannot solve the bread and butter issues of people. The purchase of armaments from other nations to fill gaps in military strength is merely putting off the inevitable. It is important that the country’s leadership, both civil and military, realizes this reality quickly and take urgent remedial steps. Any party that speaks of nationalism should ensure that the country works swiftly towards self reliance and does not depend on borrowed strength. Claiming the actions of the military to be that of any single individual will demoralize not only the armed forces but the public at large. Elections come and go. People are not observing qualitative change when politicians and parties are changing. Hopefully all politicians must realize that they should never harm the country by wrong, near-sighted policies and utterances.