Read between the lines

Balakot has been an emotive issue, entrenched in a collective sense of nationhood, even as it divided the country in a politically super-surcharged atmosphere. In the hands of the politician, it became a flexi-tool to whip up a frenzy to shovel in votes, blurring the line between nationalism and partisan propaganda. It may have appealed to the ‘patriotism’ of some sections and translated into votes, but on May 19, the day of the last phase of polling, the men in uniform in the border district of Ferozepur sent out a silent, yet powerful message:  no, it’s not an individual’s sena; and dragging military operations into the political battleground is not permissible. Can it be a coincidence that not one jawan turned up in the four polling booths established inside the cantonment for Army personnel? In the remaining 12 booths set up for them and their families, the turnout was a negligible 1.22 per cent. 

The numbers may be small — Ferozepur (Urban) Assembly segment has 4,895 registered voters, most of them Army personnel and their kin — but again, not too small to matter. The defence forces serve the country and its people, not any party. Their loyalty is to the Constitution, and while they may take direct orders from the representative of a political party at the helm, their institutional character is essentially apolitical. And that is how it should remain. Military operations are not gambling chips to be encashed for political expediency. Toying with the fundamentals will weaken the very foundations of the edifice on which is stationed the security of the nation.   

The 2019 elections saw the Balakot card exploited to the hilt. It was kicked around like a football, with all its gravitas lost. It reverberated in rally after rally to the campaign drumbeats. This cannot be the new normal. It was not the personal victory of any party nor was it a personal fight; it never is. The armed forces are the last frontier of secularism and ‘true’ nationalism. Once that falls, it will not take long for the structure to crumble. Understand the silence, there is wisdom in it.