Nationalism subjugated to narrow political ends The Statesman 10 Jun 2025
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Nationalism subjugated to narrow political ends The Statesman 10 Jun 2025
A tweet of Salman Khurshid, while being part of the national delegation of MPs to SE Asia, described the Indian pollical environment perfectly. He tweeted, ‘When on a mission against terrorism, to carry India’s message to the world, it’s distressing that people at home are calculating political allegiances. Is it so difficult to be patriotic?’ His questioning patriotism of his party colleagues was not well accepted.
While he did elaborate on it later, it cut little ice. Some political parties expected their members to continue toeing the party line even when representing a unified India. Manish Tiwari followed Khurshid when he mentioned, ‘When it comes to India’s self-respect, we all rise above party politics.’
When questioned on what message he has for politicians in India, while leading his team to different countries, Shashi Tharoor mentioned, ‘Anybody who considers that working in the national interest is a sort of anti-party activity needs to question themselves rather than us.’ He added, ‘We are not here on a party-political mission. We are here as representatives of a united India.’ Congress spokesperson Udit Raj responded, ‘I could prevail upon PM Modi to declare you as super spokesperson of BJP.’
In India everything is politics. The truth gets brushed aside, efforts of the armed forces in securing the most incredible victory in four days, against a nuclear power, backed by China and Turkey, are sidelined, solely because the major battle is that of votes in forthcoming elections. While the ruling BJP will take credit for what happened, after all they are in power and took decisions as also faced possible risk of failure, which many previous governments failed to do, the opposition will seek excuses to deride the government and. As is the norm, the armed forces will remain silent but hurt with constant mudslinging.
The drama started with opposition political parties demanding announcement of aircraft losses, solely because Pakistan raised this bogey as part of its narrative, with no proof except on ‘social media.’ This was a coordinated effort of Pak and China mainly because Operation Sindoor broke the myth of Chinese defence products, largely its air defence, missiles, drones and aircraft.
India’s counter-narrative was weak. Questioning the armed forces and government by political parties within India was exploited by Pak media adding heft to their narrative.
The statement by senior armed forces officers that losses don’t count but what is important is the mission and achievement of goals was ignored. The CDS’s interview in Singapore when he mentioned, ‘there were losses, but numbers don’t count,’ was questioned by the Congress with its spokesperson Jairam Ramesh mentioning, ‘Whatever General Chauhan has said this information should have been shared with opposition leaders.’
Has any nation even in ongoing conflicts ever declared material losses? None including Ukraine, Russia or even Israel. Has Pakistan admitted its losses. Material losses are never announced, while human are. Pakistan has neither admitted to material, human or even infrastructure damages. Rather than heaping praise on the forces for having achieved national aims, they are being questioned.
The next debate was that of the ceasefire. The announcement by the Indian DGMO that the same was requested by his Pakistan counterpart after heavy strikes devastated their strategic assets, was discarded. Trump’s words that he brokered the ceasefire was taken as the gospel truth by opposition politicians in India. While some may consider it as political games but the same was exploited by Pakistan to discredit the Indian claim of their DGMO requesting for a ceasefire.
In desperation to gain few votes, opposition politicians also played into the hands of Pak PM Shehbaz Sharief and Bilawal Bhutto, who have repeatedly thanked Trump for his intervention and sought his help in pushing through future talks. The Pak narrative gained ground globally, while the Indian one was dumped because our own ‘so-called nationalist political leaders,’ questioned their armed forces statements on the subject.
It is not that political leaders, cutting across party lines, were unaware of the Indian end state, determined jointly by service chiefs and the government. Hopefully they are intelligent enough to comprehend statements on the subject. They knew that India had no intent of enlarging the conflict as its the main adversary is China, not Pakistan.
They were also aware that India had no plans of invading Pak to capture territory as formations earmarked for offensive operations were never fully mobilized. However, in their desperation to garner votes, they ignored the same.
Politicians were also aware that the Indian response was ‘calibrated and non-escalatory,’ targeting Pakistan’s terrorist camps, aptly explained by senior officers briefing on the conflict. It was only after Pakistan responded with drones and missiles that Indian strikes were launched at his strategic assets and bases to force him to come to terms at the earliest.
The reason for this battle for votes resulting in opposition political parties playing into the hands of Pakistan, is not solely their doing. The government ignored them, as soon as the ceasefire happened, despite them standing beside it after Pahalgam, supporting the government in its decision to militarily target Pakistan, barely questioning what lapses led to Pahalgam. Such apathy by the ruling dispensation displaying scant regard for the opposition added to distaste and distrust within the Indian political system.
What should have been questioned and hopefully, will be in the monsoon session of parliament, is responsibility for Pahalgam. Lack of security, permitting tourists to visit an unsecured location as also intelligence failures are subjects which entail a detailed probe, not Operation Sindoor. Another aspect which needs to be discussed is the role of China and its support to Pakistan. This will have ramifications in the long term. Finally, the government should be forced to explain what was achieved by sending delegations of MPs across the world.
The problem in India is that elections are always ongoing in some state or the other. For short term gains major political parties seek to deride others, ignoring the fact that sometimes such actions are damaging for the nation. At the end of the day, the nation’s global standing suffers while providing fodder to narratives created by adversaries. India needs mature politicians who can see beyond their noses and votes, but alas they do not produce them anymore.
About the Author
Maj Gen Harsha Kakkar
Retired Major General Indian Army
Onehand does not clap but some hear voice of one hand only as second hand may bless them