Letters: Will the PM step in?

Ajai Shukla provides an objective assessment of the fallout of the movement of two units of the army to the National Capital Region on January 16. It is the real, as against the stated, intentions of the army chief and the defence ministry that are still in the realm of speculation. Since the interpretation of intentions behind actions is influenced by the degree of trust between the affected parties, the incident highlighted the trust deficit between the two most important organs of the state. In a climate of mutual faith such a move of the army, even if it was not “pre-notified”, would have, at most, caused minor annoyance. Catapulting it to the height of a threat or a coup was the result of a complete malfunctioning of the two defence establishments.

It is this malaise that needs to be removed by assertive intervention by the prime minister himself. Will he act or delegate the task to a group of ministers?

Y G Chouksey, Pune

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