It would look somewhat embarrassing that Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chouhan keeps shooting his mouth off while there’s a stony silence at the apex, vis-a-vis the Operation Sindoor ordered by the political leadership and executed by the Indian Armed Forces. All of Chouhan’s verbal acrobatics so far yielded no clear information about some of the principal concerns in the context of the nation’s brief military engagement with Pakistan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi still owed an explanation on India’s losses, ‘tactical errors’ and on the abrupt stoppage of the offensive. The Opposition is obviously restive but cautious as it seemingly does not want to cause an embarrassment to the government at this stage. At an event in Pune, Chouhan followed up on his comments from Singapore and asserted that three elements are important in every war – namely violence, the politics behind the violence — and communication that he said was happening “continuously”. Yet, the wait for answers to vital questions continues. He courageously dismisses losses, saying these are not important but the outcomes are. Talking in riddles is an art practised by those who do not want to give a straight answer; or those who have things to hide. Nor should there be a need for Chouhan or India to keep warning Pakistan by the hour that its patronage to terrorism would not be tolerated by India. After India gave a deadly hit, it is best to take for granted that the Pakistani politicians and generals have indeed learnt a bitter lesson.
Hopefully, vital questions that beseech answers might be addressed and answered in Parliament, provided that the Opposition gets its act together. In matters of national interest, the Prime Minister cannot afford to act as a Tower of Silence. Discussions in the public sphere are meanwhile taking matters to sensational levels. A retired colonel with a large viewership on the small screen has raised some pertinent issues and said that the attempt by India to target the terrorist epicentres in Pakistan without first neutralizing the airpower of Pakistan was a wrong step. He also asserted that the ‘tactical error’ was not on the part of the armed forces. The advance “info” provided by India to Pakistan that an action against the terror networks could happen soon has also been cited as a deadly flaw. Clearly, the “pro-Kashmiri” terror networks were offshoots of the Pakistani military, as was reinforced in the funeral of some top terrorists — where top army personnel in uniform led the rites from the front. Treating the Pakistani army and the militant outfits there as separate entities was by itself a grave, fundamental error. Having got the information in advance, it was but natural that the Pakistani military establishment gleefully retaliated in full force. It is for the government to now clear the air on all such fears that grip the citizenry, who were fooled by the pliant media loudmouths that wore patriotism on their sleeves.
