Back to bickering

It was expected that political peace reached at the national level over the September 29 anti-terror strikes would not last long but given the high-stakes elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, it has ended disappointingly a bit too soon. All sides share the blame. The BJP is trying to market the army’s achievement as Narendra Modi’s in Uttar Pradesh. It has put up posters portraying Modi as Lord Rama and Nawaz Sharif as Ravana while Arvind Kejriwal has been shown as Meghanad. The Modi glorification and the public felicitation of Defence Minister Parrikar in UP have provoked an opposition backlash. Congress leaders assert that the UPA too had carried out similar strikes minus the bragging. On Thursday Rahul Gandhi reacted with his khoon ki dalali comment that invited retaliatory fire from Amit Shah, which, in turn, led Kapil Sibal to launch a counter-attack. There is a noticeable deterioration in political dialogue. 

Opposition leaders rallied behind Narendra Modi initially because he had kept politics aside. It was one of those rare moments in India’s political culture. Despite his habit of putting himself in centre stage the PM had commendably distanced himself from the army strikes. The political restraint on all sides, however, did not last. B-grade leaders’ display of triumphalism and attacks on anyone doubting the strikes created and widened the fissures. By the time Modi intervened to stop chest-thumping, the damage had been done. The posters in UP hail the BJP government’s befitting reply to Pakistan after Uri. Like Rahul Gandhi, Omar Abdullah too has objected to the use of the army in political posters. 

At their press briefing, the army and MEA spokespersons had emphasised that the surgical strikes were against terror, and not against Pakistan or its army. Yet this fine distinction between terror and Pakistan has got blurred. Hotheads on both sides of the divide, supported by TV channels, engage in hate talk. War rhetoric may not be always harmless or manageable. The political discourse, whether between the two nations or political parties, should not slip below a certain level of decency and civility.