Is it a case of partisanship gone amuck? We do not know. But what we do know is that it sounds most unedifying on ears that the Opposition and other critics of the government should continue to question, nay, ridicule the official claim about surgical strikes carried out by the armed forces against targets well inside the territory held by Pakistan. Why extend the political partisanship to such an extent that it negates the bravery of our soldiers? And why do so in spite of the authorities reiterating the claim on record? Those with their own personal peeves against the government call it ~farzical~ strikes, thus, exposing their frustration and dejection for unrequited ambitions for ministerial positions.
At least, the top army generals would not make bold to make the public claim about these strikes without actually having conducted them. Though the government has belatedly released video clips of the strikes carried out against the launch pads of terrorists in the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir in September 2016, it is unlikely to convince those who are bent on questioning their veracity for extraneous reasons. In a way, the jihadi elements in Kashmir and their patrons in Pakistan seem to be on the same page when it comes to debunking the claim of surgical strikes. For when you privilege your own personal ambitions and agendas ahead of the national good, their suspicion and distrust should not surprise anyone. On Thursday, when the government felt obliged to release the visual evidence of the strikes back in 2016, the critics changed tack.
Instead of apologising for questioning the valour of the soldiers, now they argued that there was nothing unique about them, these were undertaken by the previous governments as well. If these indeed were undertaken by the Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh governments, they did not certainly deem it fit to share the fact with the people. But if the Modi Government has, how justifiable is the constant sniping and nitpicking over the armed forces successfully inflicting punishment on the enemy forces and their installations in the PoK? Further, the critics also go on to add that so what if the surgical strikes were launched, these did not end the jihadi terror in the Valley? Showing scant respect for truth and bent on poking fun at the government, these critics forget that no one act can end the menace of terror in Kashmir. Three wars with Pakistan failed to end it.
But surgical strikes raised the costs for Pakistan and warned it that if pushed to the corner, India will not hesitate to punish it deep inside the territory under its control. But even if Pakistan has officially refrained from questioning the veracity of the surgical strikes, unwittingly its job is done by the critics on this side of the border who have the temerity to, in effect, ridicule the operation undertaken at great personal risk by our soldiers. This should cease. Do not take opposition to the Modi Sarkar this far that it undermines the morale of our armed forces.
