Indian Security Forces: Holier than Thou?

Its the 10th anniversary of the Kargil conflict and the Congress and the BJP are back to doing what they know best : squabbling over the spoils of the war.

On TV, Barkha Dutt decides to revisit the warzone to shoot a commemorative show on Kargil. Considering the fact that it was that war which catapulted Ms Dutt to journalistic superstardom, with some christening her as "India's Christiane Amanpour", one wonders if this exercise was not so much a tribute to the heroes of 1999, as much as a brand-rebuilding ploy in the aftermath of the flak she received for her reportage of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. "The war changed me in more profound ways than I ever thought it would," is how she puts it in this show. Yeah, it sure did. From a mere reporter, Ms Dutt is today the Group Editor of NDTV. Hell, the change sure has been profound.

No, this entry is not an indictment of Ms Dutt or her intentions. I thought the show was touching and gave an insight into the lives and valour of the three people it featured - faujis Vikram Batra, Vishal Thapa and Y.K.Joshi .

In fact, this piece has nothing to do with the Kargil conflict per se. Rather, watching the show got me thinking about how war can catch the collective imagination of an entire nation. I sometimes forget how nationalistic we in India are, and it is not surprising that the armed forces are often the rallying point for a country that is as diverse as India. It is well know that the so-called "free and fair" media can be incredibly propagandist and jingoistic on national security issues. Whether it was the reportage of the Kargil conflict or that instance when the "Buddha smiled again" in 1998, the Indian media spared no effort in deriding Pakistan and proclaiming India's superpower status. I was all of 11 years when I read a lead essay in Competition Success Review titled, "India becomes global power with nuclear tests". An hour letter, I was off to the local Khadi shop on my bicycle to buy an Indian tricolour which continues to occupy a pride of place in my room, 11 years on. Millions of other gullible Indians danced on the streets and distributed sweets as if the acquisition of these weapons would resolve all problems of poverty, unemployment and crime. But surely, the job of journalists isn't to inflame already inflammed national passions. Can we ever rise above our territorial concerns and connect with the people on a human level? Can we be Indians and yet be global citizens? Do they always have to be mutually exclusive of the other? That is the first question I'd like to pose and I am not doing so as a hopeless romantic.

Now my thought turns to the military-civilian schism brought about by what I call the condescending "Main fauj, tu saala civilian" syndrome purpotedly referring to what I deem to be the superiority complex of the men in uniform vis-a-vis the civilians. Speak to a fauji, and the way he speaks you'd think all the civilians coupled with the political establishment should be sent to the concentration camps at Aushwitz and Dachau. Blasphemous as these lines may be, I put forth these views in that "argumentative spirit" which Dr Amartya Sen speaks of in "The Argumentative Indian" without any sense of malice or disrespect to individuals serving in the armed forces. Yes, an entire nation prays for your well-being and your safety while you go about defending the frontiers of this country. You are after all, one of our own...fellow brethren belonging to the human race. Without demeaning the military profession, I ask the government of India and the rest of the nation this question - Soldiers die in the call of duty, and we commemorate them as we should indeed be doing. But men, women and children also die in the call of duty, whether as labourers working for DMRC, as mine workers in iron-ore mines, as foreign service officials in the Indian embassy in Kabul, as child-workers at Shivakasi. Do we bestow awards, build memorials, and have commemorative shows for them too? Forgive me for this outrageous comparison, but I do so to bring your attention to two related questions - i) Are some professions inherently nationalistic and more exalted than others? ii) Why is that the concept of 'dignity of labour' does not exisit in India?

On the face of it, the comparison is valid for the reason that while soldiers protect the nation, others are involved in building it. My point, thus, is that death is not only a professional hazard in the armed forces. I have nothing against military exceptionalism but to castigate and deride civilians demeans human life - after all whether, its civilian or military, its human life which is at stake, and my whole premise, faulty as it may be, was centred on this.

Lastly, some institutions in the country have acquired an aura of divinity around them so much so that they are above reproach and criticism by the "common man". Criticising these holy cows, that is, the security forces, would result in serious questions being raised about your patriotism - like noted jurist Prashant Bhushan and Booker-prize winner Arundhati Roy learnt the hard way in the aftermath of the 26/11 attacks. Both had expressed concerns over human rights violations arising out of last year's Batla House encounter in Delhi and of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, and they came under virtriolic fire from the editor-in-chief of Times Now, Mr Arnab Goswami who on the 2nd day of the attacks had this to say, " Prashant Bhushan and Arundhati Roy, if you are watching this show, we think you are disgusting." What I'd like to know is, since when has taking up human rights issues become an abominable act? Does the human rights of some take precedence over those of others? Are some exempt from following laws and institutional mechanisms which a majority are subjected to? Can somebody please explain to me how asking for justice for victims of rape, torture, illegal detention, fake encounters be construed as anti-national? If Vishal Batra grieves for his beloved brother ten years after Vikram became a martyr, surely there are hundreds of Vishal Batras in Manipur, Kashmir, Nagaland seeking their due. Will this nation ever stand up and even acknowledge it? Nobody is above the law, not even the army nor the police. They are part of the very system in which we exist and have to play by the same rules that govern us. While it may be fashionable for us youngsters to slam the politicians for taking the country "to the dogs", doing away with them cannot be a solution to our problems.

I know this is a controversial issue to write on, but it was important to play the devil's advocate and question some core assumptions that people have on nationalism, war, human rights and the dignity of labour . Trust me, I was as elated as most others to know that India's launched its first nuclear-weapons submarine, the INS Arihant today, I have immense respect for the Indian Armed Forces for their sheer grit and courage despite the government's apathy. But, this piece was intended to step out of the roles we've defined for ourselves - Indian, Civilian, Fauji amongst others and embrace the human side of us for once.