So, what’s wrong with beating our chests The Statesman 18 Dec 18
So, what’s wrong with beating our chests? 18 Dec 18
At the recently concluded Chandigarh Military Literature Festival, the former army commander who oversaw the surgical strikes, Lt Gen Hooda stated, ‘I do think there was too much hype over it. The military operation was important, and we had to do it. Now how much should it have been politicised, whether it is right or wrong, is something that should be asked to politicians.’ These surgical strikes were launched post an attack on the Uri Garrison on 18 Sep 16, in which 19 soldiers were killed. They were successful and resulted in the army’s special forces destroying multiple terrorist camps across the border in POK.
Commenting on remarks by General Hooda, the present army commander of the Northern Command, General Ranbir Singh stated, ‘Surgical strike is one of the options available to the army. It had a positive effect on the country. We’ve been able to curb terrorism to a great extent’. He avoided getting into any controversy.
The army chief, General Bipin Rawat, when asked to comment on General Hooda’s statement said, ‘These are individual perceptions. So, let’s not comment on them.’ He added that General Hooda was ‘one of the main persons involved in the conduct of the operations. So, I respect his words very much’. The remarks by General Hooda were aimed at the government’s recent action of celebrating the second anniversary of the strike across the country and of the ruling party raising the same in multiple political rallies.
There is no doubt that these strikes were an unqualified success. It was a high-risk operation which was cleared from the very top. In the event of a failure, while the army may have been left red-faced, it would have been the government which would have borne the brunt of criticism from the opposition and possibly even political oblivion.
Therefore logically, the government does have the right to boast of the strike or at least of its accepting responsibility, which others had shunned. By clearing the strike, it displayed it’s trust on the army. The impact of the BJPs comments has been such that the opposition is forced to state that it too had reacted to Pak’s misadventures in a similar manner earlier, but never announced it, a rather belated response.
The celebration this year have had political overtones, since elections in five states were yet to be conducted, however, was also a means of conveying to Pak that India would retaliate in case of any misadventures from their side. Such celebrations alongside release of videos embarrass the Pak army, which has continued to insist it never happened.
This was further expounded by General Rawat, when he gave a series of television interviews, a common theme being that India could act aggressively if any incident happened in the interior of the country. The army chief also stated that surgical strikes were only one of multiple options. This followed reports that Pak terrorists had been spotted near the capital and the increased presence of ISI supported modules in Punjab.
On the other hand, the Indian army has always operated in a professional manner and away from the limelight. The interviews on multiple news channels by those who participated in the strike was done for the first time. The same would only have been possible with sanction of command and service HQs.
General Hooda had stated in one of his earlier interviews that the Pak army rejecting Indian claims of the strike was an indicator that it would not attempt any retaliation. However, increased ceasefire violations and attempted infiltration was resorted to by Pak, possibly to rebuild the confidence of their troops, which had been shaken by the surgical strike. The political battle of the exploitation of the strike led to the anti-government lobby claiming the strikes failed to achieve their aim as neither ceasefire violations nor infiltration attempts reduced.
Exploiting of the strikes has been done by every authority in the chain of command. The army exploiting the strikes includes permitting its special forces personnel to come on television news channels in interviews wearing their uniforms with faces hidden and sharing details of the conduct of the strike as also their experiences during the same. It has also officially given inputs to select journalists, who have published a book on it. These inputs have been used in the making of a film. The same was neither done on the strike in Myanmar or any cross-border operation earlier. These strikes have also been used to firmly convey a warning to Pak that any misadventure would be responded to.
The government, which took the risk of political backlash in case of its failure has been expounding it in every forum, seeking to project its positive approach, while conveying its intentions across the border on a strong response to misadventures. It sought to celebrate the anniversary of the strike to gain political advantage, as after all it took the decision and the risk of political oblivion. The Congress claiming that it had also launched similar strikes during its tenure indicates national support to the conduct of the strikes.
Is there any difference between exploiting the strikes on media, sharing its conduct with journalists, using it to project a warning or politicizing it? In every case, the incident has been touted as being amongst Indian military’s finest hours and hence should not be suppressed on any pretext.
All involved in the strike, from the planning phase to execution would cherish their association with it. Irrespective of the government which runs the country, such fine examples of successful military operations should neither be ignored nor brushed under the carpet and forgotten once government’s change hands, as those who participated in it, risked everything when it was being conducted and gave the country a perfect example of striking behind enemy lines. Its regular announcement also conveys a message to Pak. Hence, if boasting about a successful operation implies politicizing, then so be it.
About the Author
Maj Gen Harsha Kakkar
Retired Major General Indian Army