There was a time when Indian army chiefs would avoid politicising their posts and would stick to their jobs. Despite heading an opposing army, it created a high degree of respect for those occupying the position. But no longer. Previous army chief, General Bipin Rawat, set the tone with regular incendiary comments meant to support the ruling BJP’s talking points. Still, at least he took a few months to start with his grandiloquence. His successor, Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane, has decided to hit the ground running with balderdash. Barely two weeks on the job, he has already threatened Pakistan with “preemptive strikes” and now with invading Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
But Gen Naravane appears to have let the media attention get to his head. While recklessly threatening Pakistan is routine for Indian leaders, they are usually more cautious when China comes up. But the new chief appeared even to be threatening China, which is more than ironic considering last week also marked the anniversary of Sino-India diplomatic ties. Within hours though, Pakistan’s chief military spokesperson responded, accusing India of attempting to stage a false-flag operation. He referred to Indian reports of a decorated Indian police officer being arrested for helping “Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists” in Srinagar.
All this begs the question: why is India upping the rhetoric? Pakistan has not directed any threats at India in recent times, and India has not brought up any genuine concerns regarding cross border-terrorism threats being higher. But what India has seen in recent days is a series of strikes against the decision-making of the central government. The strikes have only grown as the government used the police and goons from the RSS to attack protesters. Recent reports on India’s economy have also been gloomy, which is terrible for the self-proclaimed economic mastermind that occupies 7, Lok Kalyan Marg.
Could this simply be an attempt to change the news cycle? If so, it is a dangerous game being played. In recent days, we have seen President Donald Trump try to deflect from domestic failures by starting a war with Iran. Look where that got us.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 14th, 2020.
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