Nation First

After a laudable show of unity by the Indian government and the Opposition on the terrorist attack in Pahalgam on 22 April and the subsequent Operation Sindoor to take on cross-border terrorism and Pakistan’s collusion in it, the two sides of India’s political establishment appear to be squandering the good will earned and are now showcasing their disunity and  enmity towards each other. Even a national crisis of monumental proportions for which precious lives have been snuffed out, fails to prompt them to rise above their familiar partisan politics. The spectacle of a fight between the government at the Centre and the Congress over the nomination of leaders to visit countries in an outreach programme to present India’s case in the conflict lowers the country’s image before the international community. In another development, a minister belonging to the ruling BJP from Madhya Pradesh has disgraced the nation with his purported derogatory remarks on a woman army officer, who became a prominent face of Operation Sindoor. The court is seized of the matter and has directed the police to lodge an FIR against the minister. On the other hand, a professor of a reputed university has been arrested in BJP-ruled Haryana for airing remarks that he believes did not breach any laws of the land as alleged by the police and the Haryana State Commission for Women (HSCW). The Supreme Court agreed on 19 May to urgently hear the matter.

Surprisingly, the BJP leadership at the central or state level is yet to condemn the minister’s remarks that would surely have attracted provisions of the draconian Sedition Laws, had they been made by anyone not belonging to the ruling party. The same party has wasted no time in arresting the professor who claimed his patriotism is beyond question and his criticism was very much within the Constitutional provisions of free speech.

The Narendra Modi government announced the names of seven delegations who would explain the country’s position on the handling of the latest terrorist attack and confrontation with Pakistan. The initiative is praiseworthy for bringing together representatives from the ruling party and the Opposition, diplomats and strategic experts since it demonstrates, before the world, that India is speaking with one voice on the heinous killings perpetrated by terrorists. That India is an example of the concept of unity in diversity needs to be loudly and forcefully spelt out globally, even though that image has suffered a massive jolt during the past few years when pluralism has far too often become a casualty. In the past the Narasimha Rao government showed the same sagacity by choosing then Opposition leader AB Vajpayee to represent the country in the UN. Both rose above narrow political considerations and enhanced the image of unity in the country in a remarkable manner.

But in the present case, both the ruling party and the Congress have unseemly let their petty politics get the better of national interests. The Congress sent a list of its leaders to be included in the outreach committees, which was mostly rejected by the government. Instead, the latter selected Congress leaders of its choice. The list of Congress nominees, which excludes some prominent and most articulate voices on international affairs, lays bare its own narrow, internal squabbles. On the other hand, the government should have shown broadness by not foisting its choice on the Congress and accepting its nominees. If it had prepared its own list beforehand, there was no need for asking the Congress to depute its members.

The arrest of the professor at this very crucial juncture is a disturbing and unwarranted development. This is more so when one considers the minister in the BJP government in MP called Colonel Sofiya Qureshi the “sister” of terrorists and he is still not censured by his party, not to speak of sacking him from the state cabinet. This is no time for exacerbating communal tension or stifling independent voices critical of the government. To note that the Congress has objected to the unilateral fashion of choosing its MPs by the government has already dented the image of the parliamentary groups that are to go to various countries to project India’s unified stand. Added to this is the withdrawal of the TMC from this initiative. The government should have consulted with Opposition parties’ leaders and that would have given a much better image to the country. Sadly, here also the desire to demonstrate one-upmanship is proving negative for India.

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