Measured response

Belligerent comments from the new Indian Army Chief, General Manoj Mukund Naravane, were at the top of the agenda during the Corps Commanders’ Conference on Tuesday. The generals had their plates full as the US-Iran tensions and the Mideast and Afghanistan situations also had to be reviewed and debated. The ISPR referred to Indian Army Chief’s statement as “irresponsible rhetoric with implications on regional peace and stability”. Director General ISPR Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor also quoted Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa as saying, “We shall continue to play our responsible and positive role for regional peace without compromising on national security and defend our motherland at whatever cost.”

The statement was clearly measured. In the context of direct comments coming from the ISPR and Maj Gen Ghafoor, which included references to India’s “Balakot misadventure”, the Pakistan Army Chief did not make a direct reference to past conflicts or their results, nor did he directly call out his opposite number across the border. Instead, the emphasis was on peacemaking, while reminding of the army’s capability to protect and defend Pakistan.

To paraphrase from former US president Teddy Roosevelt, Gen Qamar appears to be choosing to speak softly and carry a big lathi. And that is about as close to the perfect policy for India’s increasingly aggressive rhetoric. Last year, many people had concluded that after failing on most of his 2014 economic promises, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi forced his military into an unnecessary conflict to increase his popularity ahead of an election. The conflict didn’t go as expected — India lost two fighter jets, had one pilot captured, and only “killed” a few Pakistani trees. But the Indian media willingly spouted pro-Modi propaganda without question to convince the electorate that they had won.

Now, with a series of domestic crises on hand, including the unprecedented protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and continuing economic underperformance, Modi is going the same route. But we must ask why the Indian Army is echoing his rhetoric. Is it because the top brass of the ostensibly secular force has also bought into the Hindutva agenda?

Published in The Express Tribune, January 16^th, 2020.

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