An officer and a gentleman

Sending a General on a diplomatic assignment may be a good subject for a comic film but in real life it can have damaging repercussions for a country. The risks get aggravated if the General is someone like VK Singh, a man with an uncomplicated worldview who actually says what he actually feels. A General cannot perhaps, like a diplomat, lie for the country. With an Army background and training to view Pakistan as an enemy, the General must have found it tough to join Pakistan’s National Day celebrations and not only greet the High Commissioner but also rub shoulders with Kashmiri separatists. 

The entire experience, he tweeted later, was “disgusting” and that it was his duty to do “a job or a service allocated”. He refused to eat or drink anything at the party and walked away after a few minutes. How could a straight man like him pretend that he shared the hostile neighbour's joy when inwardly he was fretting and fuming, also angry at his senior, Sushma Swaraj, and Prime Minister Modi for forcing him to do the unpleasant job? Many in the BJP, including the General, believe their leaders' anti-Pakistan rhetoric. During campaigning Modi targeted the Manmohan Singh government for being soft towards the ever-troubling country. Gen VK Singh thinks and talks straight. If Pakistan is an enemy, then it is. Consider his plight. TV channels screamed at him for partying with Pakistanis in the middle of terror attacks. After he expressed “disgust”, others pounced on him for not being a true diplomat and not keeping his emotions in check.

The General is not the only one who finds it hard to understand Modi’s Pakistan policy, if any. First, after jingoistic noises, he invites Nawaz Sharif to his swearing-in. When the peace process proceeds, he cancels the Foreign Secretary-level talks after the Pakistan High Commissioner meets Hurriyat leaders, a normal practice. Then he sends the Foreign Secretary to a “SAARC yatra”, which results in the resumption of dialogue with Pakistan. Such flip-flops can fox anyone, even a General.