चंद शब्दों में

On September 18, 2016, four heavily armed terrorists attacked Indian Army camp near Uri in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir. In what was termed as the deadliest terrorist strike of past two decades, 17 soldiers were killed and 20 were injured. According to the news reports, a large number of soldiers, from the Dogra Regiment, had been stationed at the camp in tents and other temporary structures. Some of these tents caught fire during the attack, and the fire spread to other parts of the barracks, causing more damage. Lashkar-e-Taiba has claimed responsibility for the attack.

This came after seven military personnel and a civilian were killed earlier in the year in an attack on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot by a heavily armed terrorist group. The Indian government was heavily criticized for this attack, following as it did close on the heels of Indian prime minister’s friendship handshake with Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif. Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia had said, “"By going to Pakistan for a cup of tea, the Prime Minister has wasted six years of efforts of the UPA government to isolate Pakistan.”


Image: Hindustan Times

Eleven days after Uri attack (on September 18), Indian Army claimed to have conducted ‘surgical strikes’ against suspected militants across the Line of Control. Pakistan rejected the claim of the pre-emptive strikes, stating that India rather cross-border fired upon Pakistani soldiers, killing two Pakistani soldiers and wounding nine.

Following these incidents, tension between the two countries has escalated and several decisions have been announced by both the countries including proposition of sealing the border by the Indian government and a ban on Indian television channels and cinema by Pakistan. The Border Security Force (BSF) did not exchange customary Diwali greetings and sweets at the Wagah border, according to the news reports, which has also happened periodically in recent years.
 

On October 18, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’s director Karan Johar issued a video statement, in which he appealed to let the film be released citing teamwork of several Indian artists-technicians, and pledged not to work with Pakistani actors in the future.

He said, “When I shot my film Ae Dil Hai Mushkil - in September to December last year - the climate was completely different, the circumstances were completely different. There were efforts made by our country for peaceful relationships with the neighbouring countries and I respect those efforts then, those endeavors then, and I respect the sentiment today. I understand the sentiment because I feel the same. Going forward I would like to say of course I will not engage talent from neighbouring country given the circumstance.”



Despite the apology, MNS didn’t budge. Further Khopkar threatened, “If any multiplex operator dares to screen the film, they (operators) should remember that multiplexes are decorated with expensive glass sheets.”

It was only after home minister Rajnath Singh promised police protection and assured its release to the film producers, the government’s stand got clear.
 

According to an Indian Express report, Army Welfare Fund Battle Casualties was started on the initiative of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who said a large number of organisations and individuals had approached him with the desire to aid families of soldiers who had died in battle. In a statement, the Defence Ministry had said that it had received a surge of such requests after the Siachen avalanche in February, which had led to the death of 10 soldiers.

The Army Welfare Fund Battle Casualties was started as a centralised fund, to accept donations and contributions from organisations and individuals, and to be managed by the adjutant general branch of the Army.The assistance from the fund is meant to be in addition to the existing schemes for relatives of soldiers who die in battle. An SOP in this regard was approved by the Defence Ministry last month.



The ministry’s statement had said contribution to the fund must be voluntary in nature, to be used exclusively for “Next of Kin of Battle Casualties”. The ministry is considering a proposal to make contributions to the fund eligible for tax exemption.
 

Several activists, politicians, thinkers came down heavily upon the government for its role in the attempt to politicise military. Bollywood actor and activist Farhan Akhtar called it a “terrible precedent” and criticised the CM for negotiating with someone, who is “not even government”. Some of the actors alleged that filmmakers have become “easy targets” for politicians.

Shiv Sena – BJP’s partner in power at the state level too criticised the deal, and party president Uddhav Thackeray reportedly said, “The Indian Army has its self-respect. So, it does not need any money eked out of extortion.”

Deccan Herald said in its editorial piece, “When a government enters into a deal with a law-breaker and forces a citizen to meet his wrong and illegal demands, the rule of law breaks down and the law of the jungle takes over.”

It further wrote, “The MNS’ threat to disrupt the showing of the film was a challenge to the rule of law which the government is duty-bound to uphold. That duty is part of the state’s contract with the people from which governments derive their power, authority and legitimacy. This contract was not only violated but the citizen was made to pay a price for exercising his freedom guaranteed under the Constitution, and a legally elected government facilitated and underwrote the deal.”

Senior journalist Manu Joseph wrote in Hindustan Times, “The BJP government, by appearing to negotiate with Thackeray, greatly diminished itself. When the Indian middle-class wished for a strongman to lead the nation, what they meant was that they wanted the government to assert its legitimacy and create order. It is amusing that the issue of nationalism should make the BJP, which rules both the Centre and Maharashtra, choose the path of timid placation instead of giving Thackeray the AAP treatment, which is the act of shoving an adversary into prison. It is possible that the BJP is not as scared of Thackeray as it is of the AAP.”



While on the other hand, some experts are seeing it as a strategic move by BJP to strengthen MNS to be used against the common rival Shiv Sena in the upcoming BMC elections.

However, for the public, in a sense, the ruling party in Maharashtra has come out of this controversy as subservient to goons/bullies and Raj Thackeray emerged as the self-pronounced victor. Ironically while, the two may appear to be on opposing sides today, the MNS is only aggressively following what the Shiv Sena had begun in the mid-1980s—the infamous incidents of ‘digging up the cricket pitches’ to prevent Indo-Pak matches and prevention of singer Ghulam Ali’s concerts in Mumbai, as some examples of this street bullying and jingoism.
 

A more brazen example of the pernicious bid to ‘instill a Hindu consciousness’ in  the army jawan was reported by The Hindustan Times on August 20: VHP gift- wraps Ram with free ACs. ‘Some of the jawans who were injured in Kargil can now recuperate in air-conditioned comfort and read Tulsidas’ Ramcharitmanas at leisure thanks to the VHP.

A VHP brigade led by its president Vishnu Hari Dalmia, working president Ashok Singhal and senior vice-president Giriraj Kishore , visited the Army Base Hospital here (New Delhi) this evening for the installation of 18 air-conditioners the organisation had gifted. They also very thoughtfully used the opportunity to distribute copies of Tulsidas’ epic to the convalescing soldiers. The copies were distributed irrespective of the recipients’ religious persuasion’.



The Congress and the CPM had rightly attacked the attempt of different segments of the sangh parivar to politicise the Indian army and to destroy its secular character.
 

Despite very critical editorials by national newspapers, leaders of the Sangh Parivar continued to give a communal twist to the Kargil issue. This despite the fact that the jawans fighting Pakistani intruders came from all religious communities and groups of Muslims held public demonstrations in different parts of the country attacking Pakistan for their betrayal of India’s trust.

1. In the first week of July, the Bajrang Dal chief demanded a ban on the Quran claiming that Muslims cannot live in peace with others so long as they followed the teachings of the Quran.
2. At a press conference on July 1, 1999, the then VHP working president Acharya Giriraj Kishore mentioned a Lucknow-datelined report which said noted Islamic scholar and rector of the Nadwat-ul-Ulema Maulana Abul Hasan Ali Nadvi, also known as Ali Mian, had urged Muslims not to offer prayers for Indian troops fighting in Kargil. The report, was subsequently proved to be entirely baseless.
3. And Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray decided to target Dilip Kumar demanding that he should return the Nishan-e-Imtiaz that he had got from Pakistan. Many newspaper editorials condemned this hounding of Dilip Kumar.

Leading Pakistani journalist and assistant editor of newspaper Dawn Cyril Almeida in an exclusive report on October 6, 2016 (days after India’s claim of surgical attacks) had said that some in the civilian government complained at a top-secret meeting that they were being asked to do more to crack down on armed groups - yet whenever law-enforcement agencies took action "the security establishment ... worked behind the scenes to set the arrested free".
 
Insisting that the law should apply equally to all, the civilian government's representatives at the meeting gave warning that Pakistan risked international isolation if the security establishment did not take the recommended course of action, according to the report.


 
The report came against the backdrop of heightened tension between the two countries, sparked an uproar and the government called the report false, holding an inquiry against the journalist. Almeida, who was leaving for abroad the next day, was barred from leaving to help in a probe into how "inaccurate" details of a crucial security meeting were leaked to the media. The journalist’s name was put on Exit Control List (ECL). However, owing to the flak of several including Amnesty International, the travel ban on the journalist was lifted, according to the news reports.