The news this week that no one would have possibly missed and debated is the one that appeared in a leading national daily. The headline shouted, “Narendra Modi lands in Uttarakhand, flies out with 15,000 Gujaratis”. Clearly, Mr Modi's propaganda machinery was at work again and NaMo bhakts on social media were lapping it up—he was the biggest superhero this country, nay this planet, nay this universe had ever seen. But neither Mr Modi nor his bhakts realised the true implication of what they were boasting about. It took only a tweet and Facebook update from the official account of the Indian Army's Public Information wing to drive home the truth. It informed the country that the brave soldiers of our Army, after putting their lives at grave risk and deploying many helicopters and other resources, had rescued only 18,930 persons till then. When someone who has pretensions of being a national leader behaves in a manner which demoralises and belittles our brave soldiers, it is unforgivable.
Moreover, what does it say of a man whose so-called “Mission 15,000” is restricted only to Gujaratis? Isn't the very thought behind such a blatant discrimination polarising itself? What happened to all the rhetoric of ‘India First' and ‘Bharat Mata ka karz'?
The moment the truth about the Rambo-NaMbo act came to light, his supporters came up with another excuse—it was only a newspaper report. This was also repeated by his party President. This is a classic example of something called ‘plausible deniability'—a political term that says a leader can do something which will be easily denied or blamed on others. Rather ironically, for someone so quick to come up with a media statement on things absolutely unconnected to Gujarat, Mr Modi couldn't come up with a statement refuting the fanciful tale. That itself proves who was behind the spin which belittled the valiant efforts of our soldiers.
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This is, however, not the first time Mr Modi has belittled the Army. When the UPA Government with its deft diplomacy forced the Chinese to lift their tents and move out of Depsang in Ladakh, Mr Modi claimed that the Indian Army had withdrawn from its posts to secure the Chinese withdrawal. Last week, one of the Indian Army's seniormost officers, the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command, Lt General KT Parnaik's media interaction showed that Mr Modi was lying about the Army: “Ultimately, the whole issue was resolved with the Chinese reverting to the pre-April 15 situation. In doing so, no compromise was made. We didn't give in to any of their unusual demands. No structures were destroyed.” We all know whom the country will believe here: a vainglorious megalomaniac or one of our most respected Generals.
With a title like Feku already to his credit, it is one thing to blatantly lie about your party's seniormost leader blessing your anointment to the party's campaign committee chairmanship, when that leader resigns the very next day. It is one thing to lie about $ 450 billion worth of foreign investment coming to Gujarat when the real figure is 0.5 per cent of it. Or lie about being invited by the Government of Qatar, forcing the Qatar Government to issue a public notice that the visit is to a private multinational company. Or lie about being pro-reforms while opposing every reformist move of the government, from FDI in retail to reduction of fuel subsidy. All that is still fine. But lying about the Indian Army is not. The country's most respected and cherished institution, nourished by the glorious sacrifices and unparalleled valour of our soldiers, doesn't need to be belittled at the altar of naked political ambition.
Major General S.G. Vombatkere retired as the Additional Director General, Discipline & Vigilance in Army HQ, New Delhi. The President of India awarded him the Visishta Seva Medal in 1993 for distinguished service rendered over 5 years in Ladakh. He holds a PhD degree in Structural Dynamics from IIT, Madras. He is Adjunct Associate Professor of the University of Iowa, USA, and is a member of NAPM and PUCL. He writes on strategic and development-related issues.