Surgical strike or border fight? Politics keeps the pot boiling

Black ink thrown on Arvind Kejriwal for asking for proof of surgical strike

The Indian Army conducted a surgical strike on terrorist camps backed by Pakistani forces, in the dead of the night of September 28. It was widely appreciated as a befitting reply to the dastardly attack on the army convoy in Uri on September 18 that left 19 soldiers dead. 

But as days have passed by, the politics over the surgical strike has overshadowed everything else. 

Mixed reactions poured in the moment Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lt Gen Ranbir Singh informed the press about the strike in a briefing. But given the strategic nature of the decision taken and implemented, the government chose to leave several probing questions unanswered. 

Pakistan outrightly denied that any such strike by Indian forces across the LoC had taken place. Pakistani authorities accused the Indian government of planting a fake news. Later, Pakistani officials told the media in Pakistan that they had killed eight Indian soldiers in their skirmish with India at the border and also captured one solider. India trashed the report saying none of the Indian soldiers had died and the soldier who was in Pakistani custody had accidently strayed to the other side and should be returned back to India safely. 

But unwilling to give up easily, Pakistan invited several journalists across the globe, at least 40, and took them to one of the border areas. It is reported that the Pakistani authorities showed them the area, which they referred to as the place where India claims to have conducted the surgical strike. They said that things were fine there and no strike had taken place.

Again, India denied the claim.

But with Pakistan refusing to accept and BJP claiming it as their government's victory, other political parties could not have been left behind. While Rahul Gandhi came out openly in support of the government and praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it was clear that the praises from the opposition is likely to be  short lived. 

Several political leaders started demanding proof of the surgical strike. 

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal asked the government for proof and this got picked up by Pakistani media. His remarks were carried in various Pakistani newspapers, which hailed him as a hero who was willing to expose his own government. 

Arvind Kejriwal was heavily criticised. He later posted a video message(Pls link it). The message said that he saluted the valour of the soldiers and hailed the decisiveness of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He accused the Pakistani government for denying the strike and trivialising the issue and once again asked the PM to release the footage of the strike. 

On Tuesday, black ink was thrown on Arvind Kejriwal in Bikaner, Rajasthan for his remarks.

It was then the turn of Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam to make fresh accusations, calling the surgical strike 'fake'. He said that while everyone wanted to see a surgical strike by the army, it should not be faked up. He tweeted, “Every Indian wants #SurgicalStrikesAgainstPak but not a fake one to extract just political benefit by #BJP. Politics over national interest”. 

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra lashed out at him immediately by saying, “Please don’t do this to your own country. Politicians don’t carry out strikes. You are questioning the martyrdom of our jawans. Are you questioning the DGMO India? Because, he came out with all the details. No party has ever questioned the Indian Army. This is the first time ever any party has questioned the credibility of the Indian Army”. 

Congress was quick to distance itself from the controversy, with leader RS Surjewala saying that Congress does not share the views that Sanjay Nirupam has and the party has taken a note of it.

It is not yet clear if the government is ready to bite the bullet and release the videos and pictures they claim to have in their possession. The government is said to be wary of releasing the footage as they do not want Pakistan to escalate the situation as any release of credible evidence will blunt their denial of the surgical strikes having taken place. Under pressure from hardliners in Pakistan who have been placated for now, the Indian government wants the tensions to cool off before taking a decision on the matter. 

Meanwhile, the Indian Express on Wednesday reports that eyewitnesses living across the Line of Control (LoC) have provided their reporters with graphic accounts of last week’s Indian Army special forces strikes on jihadists’ staging posts, describing how bodies of those killed in clashes before dawn on September 29 were loaded onto trucks for secret burials.  But the paper also reports that  fatalities in the raids may have been lower than the 38-50 killed attributed to Indian officials in reports, and may have caused little damage to jihadist logistics and infrastructure.