Why air strike could be ordered?
Today, Indian Airforce carried
airstrikes across LoC and Border, over Terrorist camps in Pakistan and PoK.
This is an unprecedented retaliatory action by Indian forces. More than 40 of
our brave paramilitary soldiers were charred to death in a terrorist bomb
attack in Pulwama.
What factors went behind this
unprecedented strike ? How could India act in a way it has almost never done
before ? This article is an attempt to suggest some possibilities. The reasons
of what apparently seems a political or military action, may actually be rooted
in the changing social landscape.
Some of these possibilities
which created conditions for an attack were -
1) Expansion
of 24 X 7 News Channel and Media. TRP
hungry media creates Hype and Hopes.
TV News
Channel and Media have become part of our study rooms, kitchens and bedrooms.
2) Social
Media – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube,
a. Everyone
has a smartphone, and internet connections, See Live feeds
b. Virtual
communities, people see images and videos of the widows and children of those
killed.
Thus public
is stirred emotionally at a faster pace than it earlier could be. It has higher
levels of anger. Secondly, faster means
of network and communication, enables transferring of pressure on the
government.
3) General
Elections just a few weeks from now.
All above
factors create immense pressure on the government to react, and demonstrate
that it has a desire, will and ability to reacted punitively..
There is a
big difference between war, IPL and cinema. We expect our Politicians to react
the way we expect batsman to hit sixers and centuries in a T20 – cricket match.
In this age of hyperreality, we have got confused between real and virtual
world.
So called reality shows on TV like
BigBoss, Roadies are deemed to be real, and some thing as real as death, their life,
their blood, a war , the anti-terror operations are supposed to be executed like script of a movie.
The way we consume Cinema, and TV
shows, the same we want to be fed with news related to military strikes.
In a virtual game like PubG, when
you get killed , there is some fellow player to revive you, or you get another
chance to play, but when a soldier dies in combat, he doesn’t get a second
life, his family doesn’t get a new son.
It’s not just about being
concerned with the safety of the nation, because it were only about safety of
nation, then we should have given breathing space to our forces and our
leadership, so that they can attack as per the time and place of their
convenience. Instead as a society we started nagging and forcing our forces to
react when he enemy was at his most alertness.
We sit in cozy comfort of our safe
bedrooms, kitchens and dining rooms, and yell for war and revenge, because it’s
not us who has to pay a price for it, atleast through blood and life.
I am not against todays military strikes. But I believe that the leadership of our country
must decide when, where and how to retaliate or engage in an armed confrontation
with an enemy, on the basis of military prudence and not on the basis of public
demand and popular Euphoria.
Well today, there seems to be
convergence between what public wanted, and what the armed forces suggested.
But what if there is divergence tomorrow? What if there is a time in future
when military warcraft suggests for restrain, while the war mongering public
yells for action? What if leadership of that day decides to go by public mood while
ignoring strategic wisdom ?
4) Presence
of Single Majority Party with Absolute Majority having strong Centralised
leadership
History will give many examples to illustrate
that strong leaders are more trigger friendly, partly because they the ability
to lead in a war as they don’t have to worry about petty coalition issues. And
partly because it helps them cast themselves as strong leaders.
Strong
leaders make wars, and wars make strong leaders
Oher congenial conditions.
5) Strengthened
and more robust international relations today, as work of last 4 years in
particular, and two decades in general.
6) Changing
Geo-Political scenario
During its
Afgan war, Pakistan was seen as an ally by USA. around the same time when
India’s parliament was attacked, US tried very hard to compel India to not go
for any offensive strikes against Pakistan, so that Pakistan doesn’t have to
dilute its forced on its Afgan Border. US didn’t want India. But todays time are different. America under
Trump has exhibited its harsh take on Pakistan.
7) Crumbling
economy of Pakistan, and a robust and growing economy of India.
This created
a vantage point for India, where it knows it would be difficult for Pakistan to
escalate the conflict.
8) Critical
School
This is not
my take. But for academic reasons only I am listing here. Thinkers belonging to
Critical School in Political Sociology believe that the political leadership in
a country, when fails to satisfy the needs of its people, sgoes for military action to divert the attention
of its people.
Implications of the air
strikes.
Besides having s significant
reduction in capacity build of terrorist organisations, Todays strikes are
expected to -
I)
Create stronger national identity. Caste and
parochial identities would recede , at least temporarily.
II)
Get more
international support. First, India has
demonstrated itself as a decisive power which doesn’t gives empty rhetorical
warnings, but also follows them with real firepower. Secondly, it shows that
terrorism is not a minor problem for India.
III)
Invoking Weberian thoughts . Conversion of legal
rational authority to charismatic authority. The Prime Minister will be projected
as a hero, as a saviour and as person with extra ordinary capability.
