archive: Keep Politics Out
Keep Politics Out
Tavleen Singh
India Today
July 5, 1999
Title: Keep Politics Out
Author: Tavleen Singh
Publication: India Today
Date: July 5, 1999
Introduction: Taking advantage of Kargil is to mock our heroes'
sacrifices.
As the battle of Kargil painfully lingers on, the valour of our
soldiers makes a sad contrast with the continuing stupidity of our
political leaders. You would imagine that the daily tragedy of those
coffins coming down from Srinagar would have a sobering effect on even
the most irresponsible of our politicians but, alas, this is not to
be. They continue with their tawdry attempts to score political
points. So we have that well-known expert on defence matters, Dr J.
Jayalalitha, churning out six-page statements demanding the
resignation of the defence minister and a special session of the Rajya
Sabha to discuss the Kargil issue.
The Congress, always ahead when it comes to making political hay even
when the sun doesn't shine, appears to believe that what is happening
in Kargil is the same sort of thing as the Dalit massacre in Belchi.
That was when the original Mrs Gandhi saw her chance to make a
comeback during the Janata Party days and visited the village on an
elephant because it was the only form of transport available. Our new
Mrs G, mercifully, spared us the elephant but trotted off,
nevertheless, to visit wounded soldiers in hospitals in Kashmir to
whom, in proper Lady Bountiful mode, she distributed blankets and
food. Did she think there was a shortage of these things in military
hospitals? Did she feel that her very presence would inspire our
soldiers to return to their desolate battlefield in the Himalayas? If
not, what possible reason could have motivated this expedition other
than a desperation to make political capital?
For that matter, was there any need for the Congress to send a
delegation up to Kargil to provide despatches from the frontline?
Surely the MPs who went up cannot be considered more competent to do
this than the Government or the armed forces? Afterwards, apparently
after pondering the fresh insights the delegation brought, the
Congress Working Committee (CWC) pronounced that it was its considered
view that the Government was taking too long in solving the problem
and what were needed were "quick results".
How? Does the CWC believe that our soldiers are not fighting hard
enough? What more should they be doing? According to defence analysts,
they are doing as good a job and as quickly as possible in one of the
most brutal battlefields in the world but clearly this is not good
enough for the Congress which, as always, believes that only it can
rule India.
That our opposition leaders have not cornered the market in stupidity
can be seen from the statements that emanate daily from the BJP's
various spokesmen. So we have that renowned foreign policy specialist,
K.N. Govindacharya, telling us that "India had launched a two-pronged
strategy. One is firm action on the ground to clear the intruders and
two, to tell the world about Pakistan's attempt to cover up its
involvement." Well done, Mr Govindacharya, what perception. Has it
occurred to you, though, that any child in India could have told you
this if asked to comment on Kargil in a school essay.
Amidst this cacophony of inane voices, it comes as a great relief that
at least the prime minister and the minister of external affairs have
spoken, and behaved, like true leaders rather than goofs. The prime
minister, after his initial hesitation to lead from the front, has
spoken almost always with wisdom and firmness. Whether it was to
soldiers in Kashmir or to the daily crowd of visitors at the prime
minister's house he has stuck to the main point, which is that our
soldiers are fighting for the country and need all the support they
can get. He has repeatedly made references to the fact that India
extended to Pakistan the hand of friendship in Lahore last February
and the gesture has not only not been reciprocated but has been
answered with gunfire. There will be no further talks, no friendship
until Pakistan withdraws from our territory.
Jaswant Singh added that he told Pakistan's foreign minister that if
he wanted "de-escalation" then it was in his hands to alter the
situation that caused the escalation in the first place. Nothing more
needs to be said and, frankly, it needs to be said only by senior
ministers and officials in the Government. If opposition parties and
sundry party spokesmen want to add their two bits then they should do
it by following the example of ordinary Indians who have gone out of
their way, across the country, to show their solidarity with our
soldiers. They have donated blood, raised money, written letters of
support and offered help to those who have lost sons, brothers and
husbands in this ugly war.
It is almost the first time that the country has been so united in a
cause and this should come as a warning to Pakistan's generals and
policy-makers who continue to believe that severing Kashmir from India
will result in the eventual collapse of the rest of the country. It is
on this old-fashioned, delusive view of India that Pakistan bases much
of its Kashmir policy.
In fact, if there is one thing that we have truly achieved in the past
50 years it is the creation of a national identity. No longer does
Lata Mangeshkar need to remind us, as she did memorably after the war
with China in 1962, that the "Sikhs, Jats, Marathas, Gorkhas and
Madrasis" who die on our borders are all Indian. We know that. If only
there was some way of making our political leaders too understand the
need for unity, maturity and restraint in difficult times. Perhaps
someone needs to remind them that every time they appear to be taking
political advantage of the crisis in Kargil they mock the sacrifices
of our soldiers.
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