By D.N. Singh
Politics in India for a while has taken the back seat in the blaze of post Pulwama and the subsequent happenings in the country. So it does in many parts of India as Indo-Pak conflict takes the centerstage in a majority of political narratives. So, no state can remain isolated and when one watches the television debates, the usual feature witnessed in the tone and tenor is about Pakistan which could trigger such a massacre through proxy .
Panelists, mainly the party spokesmen, show more daredevilry than our brave soldiers who require no certificates for their proven soldierly ability from the part-time nationalists who try to define love for the country, bound by certain principles or moratorium to vouch patriotism.
It was interesting to watch moments of anger, emotion and an overdrive through a very belligerent social media, as if, out with a gun and the television anchors, it was like the bullet is almost out of the barrel like situation. For over 24 hours after Abhinandan’s missing news there were hardly any tone from the ruling dispensation to quell the tempestuous mood of anger all over. It was an air of revenge or retribution everywhere and anyone daring to utter a single word of caution or dare question the ability of the power-that-be at the center, was dubbed as anti-national.
If one’s memory serves right then, never in the past the nation had witnessed such theatrics used as ingredients to hype nationalism, riding piggy back on the name of armed forces, which the latter does not require from ‘netas’ of the day with their often proved courage and capability in dealing with the enemies many times in the past.
No regime can prescribe the traits of nationalism and if the mood is allowed to go berserk then the infighting seen in television debates become entertaining for the enemies within and outside. To expect that Pakistan has swallowed its pride and on the track to change, is wrong.
Under immense pressure or fear of further aggressive stance by India, on Thursday Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan had announced the release of the captive IAF pilot Wing Cdr Abhinandan which has come as a huge respite for people of India, now should not be allowed to be consumed by any such hyper nationalists or derive a feel of triumphalism by the Pakistani PM’s gesture over Abhinandan. Else it all may sound shrill at the moment when the defence establishment must be allowed to do some course correction over incidents like Pulwama. The air strike by the IAF was never a stuff for politicians to get over-driven and claim credits. It was a notable victory of our diplomacy and our armed forces.
