Recently whole of India was abuzz with the news that the Indian Army had conducted surgical strikes in the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK). While Indians were very proud of the action taken by the Indian Army soon the politicians started doing what they do the best. : start politicizing. While the opposition took Pakistan's denial on face value which they failed to recognize that any sovereign country would deny any action by a enemy country on territory under their control and while our defense minister resorted to some chest thumping that this was a morale booster for the army and now they have discovered their capabilities (Just a Coincidence both the person questioning the action and chest thumping are IIT alumni) . But we should take a moment and bask in the fact that we did take some action which may not be the first one but nevertheless path breaking because we dared to claim up the credit for the same without the fear of repurcussion.
Once the political leaders bought the whole action into question the media swung into action of declaring patriots and anti-nationals and TV debate revolved just around these 2 narratives. ON the one hand we had the jingoistic Arnab Goswami and on the other hand we had the liberal brigade led by Barkha Dutt, Rajdeep Sardesai and their elk. The liberals cleverly put the shroud of opposition politicians led by the AAP to take potshots at the army while the Govt and their supporters led to a social media campaign where Barkha Dutt wass targeted relentlessly by stating things like Barkha Dutt gave away Indian positions during Kargil war which benefited the enemy troops. I found the accusations against Barkha Dutt to be funny because Army wouldn't allow anyone near the operational area no matter what which the bhakts missed out. Barkha Dutt anyways got her name tarnished when she figured in the Radia tapes which despite her claiming to be innocent doesn't do much for her image. If she and her ilk continue to question Narendra Modi about the Gujarat riots despite nothing being proved in court just like her case. So this hypocrisy in media should stop .Anyways I digress from my point.
So one narrative started as if we question the govt of the day we are anti-national. This narrative is so much flawed because criticism is the only thing which keeps the democracy in check and prevents dictators to take hold. There is a very thin line separating being decisive and being a dictator. Even during the Sino-India war in 1962 parliament was convened and the opposition led by Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee tore into the Nehru Govt. and despite severe criticism in the midst of the war the govt. never censured the media or parry around the term anti-national like it is being done nowadays. But again the criticism has also been about the govt of the day claiming credit which is frankly not wrong. The Armed Forces of India is firmly under the control of the civilian Govt. and without an explicit go ahead from the Govt in power they wouldn't carry out any strikes. So the govt. has to be applauded for being decisive and calling the nuclear bluff of Pakistan. Even Indira Gandhi was termed as Durga after the 1971 Indo-Pak war which resulted in liberation of Bangladesh.
Also another way of claiming patriotism is making the Pakistani artists in India to condemn the URI attacks and make statement against their own Govt. Also there was a call for boycott of Indian Artistes. I have a problem with this narrative and demand on two levels. Firstly when we ask the Pakistani artists to condemn the URI attack, we are asking them to make statement against their own country and Govt. Someone might ask yes what's wrong in that but we forget despite eartheir living in India they have their families back in Pakistan . Would the Indian Govt bring them all over to India and resettle them or guarantee their security? The Pakistani Govt can condemn attacks perpertrated by ISIS or Taliban because that doesn't threaten their families in any way as the Pakistani Govt is also against them but when they condemn URI attack which has a significant Pakistani hand ,they would be opening up their families to risks which might not be worth the criticism. Also if the the Pakistani artistes need to be banned it should be done by the Govt of India and not by directors or producers because as a businessmen they would recruit artists who would give maximum returns and expecting them to be patriotic and fire all Pakistani artistes is wrong. They are being patriotic in their own way by generating revenues for the Indian economy and just not filling their own pockets.
And now to both Bhakts and liberals of our country ,I put up a question? Did any of you ever question why does the army chief is paid less than the civil servants like the cabinet secretary? Did you ever ask the question why do our soldiers in border areas and the terrorist areas are paid less hazard pay than an IAS officer in a Naxal or dacoit infested area? Does anybody care what the One Rank One Pension Scheme which the armed Forces veterans were fighting for was really about? Did the so-called patriots and the anti-nationals who can protest against the jessica lal murder case or building a 1800 cr flyover in bangalore decided to show solidarity with the issues of armed forces personnel? Its very easy for a Arnab Goswami to sit in the studio and call for war because now he has govt security too but the soldier will take the bullets and not him. The soldiers who dies in URI or Pampore is not only due to terrorism but also due to the apathy of our public and politicians. The media which talks about nationalism also forgets to cover the North-east where a athlete has to return a expensive car received as a prize due to bad roads. The media fails to chronicle the problems and lack of development in the Northeast. The same media gives prime time to Sheena bora murder case which I presume what the Patriotic Indian cares for. The same media also forgets to note while the olympic medallists are getting prizes and felicitated while the Paralympic medallists are simply ignored and have hardly got any prizes. This is my new India and the definition of Nationalism. Be loud, be heard and nothing else matters.
Adios
Once the political leaders bought the whole action into question the media swung into action of declaring patriots and anti-nationals and TV debate revolved just around these 2 narratives. ON the one hand we had the jingoistic Arnab Goswami and on the other hand we had the liberal brigade led by Barkha Dutt, Rajdeep Sardesai and their elk. The liberals cleverly put the shroud of opposition politicians led by the AAP to take potshots at the army while the Govt and their supporters led to a social media campaign where Barkha Dutt wass targeted relentlessly by stating things like Barkha Dutt gave away Indian positions during Kargil war which benefited the enemy troops. I found the accusations against Barkha Dutt to be funny because Army wouldn't allow anyone near the operational area no matter what which the bhakts missed out. Barkha Dutt anyways got her name tarnished when she figured in the Radia tapes which despite her claiming to be innocent doesn't do much for her image. If she and her ilk continue to question Narendra Modi about the Gujarat riots despite nothing being proved in court just like her case. So this hypocrisy in media should stop .Anyways I digress from my point.
So one narrative started as if we question the govt of the day we are anti-national. This narrative is so much flawed because criticism is the only thing which keeps the democracy in check and prevents dictators to take hold. There is a very thin line separating being decisive and being a dictator. Even during the Sino-India war in 1962 parliament was convened and the opposition led by Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee tore into the Nehru Govt. and despite severe criticism in the midst of the war the govt. never censured the media or parry around the term anti-national like it is being done nowadays. But again the criticism has also been about the govt of the day claiming credit which is frankly not wrong. The Armed Forces of India is firmly under the control of the civilian Govt. and without an explicit go ahead from the Govt in power they wouldn't carry out any strikes. So the govt. has to be applauded for being decisive and calling the nuclear bluff of Pakistan. Even Indira Gandhi was termed as Durga after the 1971 Indo-Pak war which resulted in liberation of Bangladesh.
Also another way of claiming patriotism is making the Pakistani artists in India to condemn the URI attacks and make statement against their own Govt. Also there was a call for boycott of Indian Artistes. I have a problem with this narrative and demand on two levels. Firstly when we ask the Pakistani artists to condemn the URI attack, we are asking them to make statement against their own country and Govt. Someone might ask yes what's wrong in that but we forget despite eartheir living in India they have their families back in Pakistan . Would the Indian Govt bring them all over to India and resettle them or guarantee their security? The Pakistani Govt can condemn attacks perpertrated by ISIS or Taliban because that doesn't threaten their families in any way as the Pakistani Govt is also against them but when they condemn URI attack which has a significant Pakistani hand ,they would be opening up their families to risks which might not be worth the criticism. Also if the the Pakistani artistes need to be banned it should be done by the Govt of India and not by directors or producers because as a businessmen they would recruit artists who would give maximum returns and expecting them to be patriotic and fire all Pakistani artistes is wrong. They are being patriotic in their own way by generating revenues for the Indian economy and just not filling their own pockets.
And now to both Bhakts and liberals of our country ,I put up a question? Did any of you ever question why does the army chief is paid less than the civil servants like the cabinet secretary? Did you ever ask the question why do our soldiers in border areas and the terrorist areas are paid less hazard pay than an IAS officer in a Naxal or dacoit infested area? Does anybody care what the One Rank One Pension Scheme which the armed Forces veterans were fighting for was really about? Did the so-called patriots and the anti-nationals who can protest against the jessica lal murder case or building a 1800 cr flyover in bangalore decided to show solidarity with the issues of armed forces personnel? Its very easy for a Arnab Goswami to sit in the studio and call for war because now he has govt security too but the soldier will take the bullets and not him. The soldiers who dies in URI or Pampore is not only due to terrorism but also due to the apathy of our public and politicians. The media which talks about nationalism also forgets to cover the North-east where a athlete has to return a expensive car received as a prize due to bad roads. The media fails to chronicle the problems and lack of development in the Northeast. The same media gives prime time to Sheena bora murder case which I presume what the Patriotic Indian cares for. The same media also forgets to note while the olympic medallists are getting prizes and felicitated while the Paralympic medallists are simply ignored and have hardly got any prizes. This is my new India and the definition of Nationalism. Be loud, be heard and nothing else matters.
Adios
