The Undivided India’s True Spirit in Maj Gen Ashok Mehta (Retd) Condemned Hyper-Nationalism
Highlights by: Balbir Singh Sooch-Sikh Vichar Manch
1. Indians should always remember the words spoken and the advice given by, “The wife of Squadron Leader (Sqdn Ldr), Ninad Anil Mandavgane, who was killed probably by friendly fire in a helicopter crash in J&K during the Balakot strikes”: Submission by Balbir Singh Sooch; Formerly Sergeant (Sgt) of Indian Air Force (IAF).
(i) “The wife of Squadron Leader (Sqdn Ldr) Ninad Mandavgane (who was killed probably by friendly fire in a helicopter crash in J&K during the Balakot strikes) had this to say in a TV programme:
(ii) Slogan-shouting and screaming zindabad and murdabad will not make any difference.
(iii) If you really want to do something, join the armed forces.
(iv) If that is not possible, keep your surroundings clean, don’t litter-‘debris; scattered rubbish; pieces of rubbish that have been carelessly left on the ground, especially in a public place or outdoors’, rubbish, disorder don’t urinate in the open;
(v) And don’t harass women.
(vi) Stop spreading communal hatred. Small gestures- ‘an action intended to communicate feelings or intentions’ go a long way.” Courtesy by Maj Gen Ashok Mehta (Retd.
2. Should emotion, outrage and incitement influence a cool and calculated response to avenge Pakistani acts of terrorism or aggression?
 Certainlynot. Previous wars including the victorious one of 1971 did not resolve the political dispute with Pakistan”. Maj Gen Ashok Mehta (Retd) expressed. Last updated: Apr 17, 2019, 6:39 AM (IST)”: When warmongers take centre stage; The Tribune, Chandigarh: https://www.tribuneindia.com/…/when-warmongers-…/759320.html
3. “The climate of zabardasti must end: Hyper-nationalism of 2017 is not the nationalism of 1947: No leader of the freedom movement ever promised that any caste, class, province or group would dominate the nation, or that any group would be marginalised. ET CONTRIBUTORS August 15, 2017, 07.21 AM IST”: Hyper: ‘Anything hyper means excessive, too much or above and beyond’: The climate of zabardasti must end. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/…/article…/60037835.cms
4. When warmongers take centre stage: Balakot: India has shed its self-deterrence, but that does not mean it will end cross-border terrorism. “Maj Gen Ashok Mehta (Retd); Ashok K. Mehta is a former Major general of the Indian Army, and a radio and television commentator, and a columnist on defence and security issues. He was founder-member of the Defence Planning Staff in the Ministry of Defence, India. He is also the elder brother of the renowned journalist and editor, Vinod Mehta”. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
5. EVERY time there is a terrorist attack with double-digit casualties in Kashmir or elsewhere in India, there is a sense of déjà vu: anger, outrage, emotion, political hard talk, burning of effigies of Pakistani leaders and flags and tempestuous debates in TV studios-turned-war rooms.
6. Truth becomes the first casualty, thanks to ‘unnamed sources’. This has become the ‘Standard Operating Procedure’ with the intensity of angst-fear increasing exponentially-‘rapidly growing; • an exponential increase in sales; rapidly becoming greater in size’ with the proliferation-explosion of social media.
7. Retired Army Generals and armchair-easy chair experts help fuel passions, craving for a conquest of Pakistan.
8. Before the Balakot airstrikes, Prime Minister Modi had invoked Trump’s famous ‘fire and fury’ phrase, saying his heart was burning like the hearts of fellow countrymen. On every TV channel, the cry for revenge had multiplied in decibels-noise, echoing at India Gate’s Amar Jawan Jyoti.
9. TV studios were packed with young Indians carrying the Tricolour emotionally charged and chanting Vande Mataram and Bharat Mata ki jai.
10. What was previously a TRP-driven competitive nationalism/patriotism appeared to have hit the ceiling-maxium. Should emotion, outrage and incitement influence a cool and calculated response to avenge Pakistani acts of terrorism or aggression? Certainly not.
11. Still, this was precisely the ambience-atmophere during war-gaming of the Pulwama responses. Enter the anchor, echoing words of PM Modi and exhorting his/her youthful audience to applaud each time military veterans — varying-unreliable from five to six Generals and many armed with volatile-expolisive, danrgerous material — spoke.
12. In the few programmes one participated in, I appeared to be the dove among the hawks, the latter with immense lung power, long index fingers and a burning ambition to destroy/sever Pakistan.
13. One of them had even poetic advice for PM Imran Khan and Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa. They attracted huge applause from the audience while seeking jaw for tooth, vanquishing-defeat the Pakistan army, finishing insurgency in J&K in two months and other romanticized, appearing glamotous ideas of ending the scourge-curse of proxy war.
14. Such marathon-lenthy debates would sustain for three hours without any slack-‘dull; not showing enough care or quietness’ so vociferously-loudly convincing were the hawks-aggressive competitors.
15. My military colleagues were well-meaning and respectful while disagreeing with me as I was the only one to have fought all wars after 1947 (though at least one had joined the Army when the 1971 war was in its closing stages).
16. My warning that war was not an option, especially for a rising India, was rejected by all though I did advocate retribution-payback for the Pulwama attack. I reminded the youthful audience that despite the fervor-great heat and ferocity-cuelty of intent, the armed forces were unprepared for war, quoting the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence in two reports of glaring deficiencies in ammunition, equipment and combat capabilities, which in Army parlance meant unfit for war.
17. The defence budget, though it has crossed the Rs 3 lakh crore mark but is only 1.5 per cent of the GDP, sets aside virtually zero to negative funds for modernisation after inflation and committed liabilities.
18. My comment drew the riposte- counter reply from a colleague that armies fight with what they have, recalling what Army chief Gen Ved Malik had said when surprised by the Kargil skirmish that ‘we will fight with what we have’ (which sent us with a begging bowl to South Africa and Israel).
19. Interestingly, Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa said the same after the Balakot incident when asked what an antiquated MiG-21 Bison was doing during the dogfight with an F-16. Previous wars, including the victorious one of 1971, did not resolve the political dispute with Pakistan.
20. Now that we know more facts about the Indian air raid and Pakistan’s response, it is fortuitous-unexpected that further escalation-increase was contained by the release of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman.
21. Neither side wanted anything more than the retributive-punishment Indian airstrikes and the inevitable-expected Pakistani air response between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
22. This was the first time after World War II that two adversarial/enemy air forces had engaged in limited air actions in a less-than-war situation. India shed its self-deterrence, but that does not mean it will end cross-border terrorism.
23. Far removed from the front line, anchors in TV studios marched to the tunes of their own glory. After the Balakot bombing, they were ahead of the government and the military, quoting ‘unnamed sources’. The mighty Generals would not be cowed down. In Pakistan, the Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, Director General, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), and others were having a field day, mostly peddling lies, while Indian leaders (except TV anchors) were on ‘radio silence’.
24. The wife of Sqdn Ldr Ninad Mandavgane (who was killed probably by friendly fire in a helicopter crash in J&K during the Balakot strikes) had this to say in a TV programme:
25. “Slogan-shouting and screaming zindabad and murdabad will not make any difference. If you really want to do something, join the armed forces. If that is not possible, keep your surroundings clean, don’t litter, don’t urinate in the open and don’t harass women. Stop spreading communal hatred. Small gestures go a long way.”
26. It may still be possible for some TV anchors to see the ground reality as Indian-American Ashley Tellis of Carnegie Endowment, who has analysed the Balakot airstrikes, suggests. Tellis says the Pulwama attack presented a golden opportunity to Modi to resuscitate his government’s eclipsed image through punitive air strikes. He was lucky that both sides responded responsibly to avoid escalation. Tellis raises three questions that should bother the government, the IAF leadership and ‘loyal’ TV anchors: one, operational ineffectiveness of the IAF interdiction mission on February 26 and its evasiveness on the bombing damage; two, awful Indian public diplomacy about unsubstantiated claims after air battles; three, the quality of the national debate during crises, especially on TV channels, that doesn’t enhance India’s image.
27. The government regulator and TV channels should introspect and alter their policy of aggression to shield the government and armed forces from awkward questions in the guise of hyper-nationalism. Meanwhile, gentle advice to the war-mongering Generals: discretion is the better part of valour.
Highlights Forwarded By: Balbir Singh Sooch-Sikh Vichar Manch
First Posted On: April 17, 2019, 3:30 PM (IST)
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