Gogoi & fire assaults

THE Army Chief’s commendation certificate to Major Gogoi of the jeep human shield fame, his press conference and a fire assault on, presumably, the Pakistan army’s observation posts leave little to imagination about the Modi government’s approach to the unrest in Kashmir. The primary tools to counter social strife and cross-border forays will be blanket domination of the news cycle and the heavy hand of the state. But for near-total control of news space, the approach has been spectacularly unsuccessful in the government’s three years in office. The surgical strikes, the PM’s Balochistan caper and the high toll in post-Uri ambushes are smudged milestones that had then generated terabytes of animated commentary but have left the ground situation, sadly, unchanged.

The supposedly pusillanimous Congress governments had also tried that approach. The security forces then had a carte blanche that included running a notorious torture centre Papa II. India still lost its soldiers, the exchequer bled to sustain the security grid and the Kashmiris remained sullen and tormented. The Vajpayee government’s olive branch to Pakistan silenced the guns on the border for the first time since 1989. His “insaniyat, jumhuriyat, Kashimiriyat” approach saw a steady uptick in the polling numbers to near-decent proportions. The successor government ran security operations while politically managing the situation. Even the Mumbai 2008 setback was turned around to put Pakistan on the back foot.

The Modi government has allowed Pakistan to play the victim with the Jadhav affair; it has also cocked a snook at the Constitution. Major Gogoi’s error of judgement has now been consecrated by his superiors with a commendation certificate. The news cycle dominated; the mission accomplished. Tuesday’s fire assault, whose capture of mind space has been accentuated with an immediate video release, may put the Gogoi commendation bungle in the shade. But as Lt-Gen HS Panag points out, “The Army’s ethos, rules and regulations have been swept away by the mood of the nation.” The damage to the peace prospects in Kashmir and to the Army as an institution will last longer than the temporary wins registered in TV studios.