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Admiral’s caution

This is completely unacceptable since it has the potential to destroy the very foundations and value system of our armed forces, drawn from the vision, the spirit and intent of the Indian Constitution”.

Admiral’s caution

While the External Affairs ministry and Air Force have not given out any figures of the damage inflicted, and to be fair nor have the Opposition, the leaders of the BJP insist that 250-400 JeM militants were eliminated. (Image: Twitter/@Ptr6Vb)

It calls for considerable moral courage to swim against a populist tide: former Navy Chief Admiral Laxmi Ramdas has proved he is abundantly blessed with that quality. He has written to the Election Commission asking it to prevent the military from being dragged into the campaigning, and consequently controversy, for the upcoming elections to the Lok Sabha. Though the Admiral contends, and probably rightly so, that several other veterans share his view he refrained from asking them to cosign his letter to avert the armed forces being further dragged into the quagmire of contemporary politicking. Alas, far too many “ex-generals” have been trying to burnish their stars by indulging in the politically-flavoured jingoism that has been unleashed, particularly in TV studios, in the last few weeks. Those sentiments, even if expressed for professional reasons, are fuelling a campaign machinery that is attempting to push nationalism to the forefront of its appeal to a polarised polity. No doubt that Ramdas’ flirtation with the Aam Aadmi Party will be cited as evidence of bias by political critics, but across-the-board veterans will hail him for re-stressing the hallowed apolitical and secular ethos of the defence forces. And there would no dearth of serving personnel who would share his view, but are prevented from publicly expressing them because that would be a breach of military discipline. All the more reason to salute the Admiral for not launching a signature campaign ~ a military that appears divided would be a disaster when the clouds of war hover over the subcontinent. Alas, that is what the excessively gung-ho politicking has inflicted upon the nation: anyone who questions the claims of the defence establishment is being slammed as anti-national or pro-Pakistan even as ruling party politicians make a range of claims about the air strike at Balakot. While the External Affairs ministry and Air Force have not given out any figures of the damage inflicted, and to be fair nor have the Opposition, the leaders of the BJP insist that 250-400 JeM militants were eliminated.

At the core of Admiral Ramdas’ plea to the EC was a call to crack down on politicking that undermines the defence effort by giving it as political connotation. He has regretted the “instances of using the Armed Forces for political gains, especially in the aftermath of both Pulwama and the strikes in Balakot and the shooting down, capture and repatriation of an Indian Air Force pilot”. Some parties, he noted, “were “brazenly pushing their agenda using images, uniforms and other examples, showing pictures of the armed forces with political figures, in public spaces, in media, election rallies and so on. This is completely unacceptable since it has the potential to destroy the very foundations and value system of our armed forces, drawn from the vision, the spirit and intent of the Indian Constitution”. Do such basics still count?

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