Retired armed forces personnel are outraged—in public and in private—about the advertised appearance of Colonel Sophia Qureshi, Commander Prerna Deosthalee, and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh on a forthcoming episode of Kaun Banega Crorepati.
Col Sushant Singh (Retd), Lt Gen HS Panag (Retd), Lt Col Sushil Singh Sheoran (Retd), Major Adiyagya Singh (Retd), and many others have expressed criticism.
Sushant Singh has pointed out a legal problem also.
The Fallout of the KBC Appearance
The criticism is on multiple counts. The appearance of armed forces personnel on an entertainment channel in uniform being a disgrace to the uniform, the inevitable consequences of politicisation of the Indian Army (take a look at Pakistan), patriotism as spectacle, and so on.
But let’s be honest. None of this matters. These fancy elite people issues—grace, Constitution, ethics, laws—to hell with them. All that matters is what the dear leader wants, and what millions of bots and trolls on social media are willing to defend. To those asking “What is next, Big Boss?” Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporters ask, why not?
Why not indeed.
So, I won’t waste your time. What I do want to excavate is: why is this being done? What is the objective here? Is it because these officers wanted to meet Amitabh Bachchan or appear on KBC? No. Is it to raise the morale, educate people on what happened?
There are a million far more dignified ways in which that could have been achieved.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi could have had a conversation with them and released it on YouTube, maybe even invite a Bollywood star to it. So even this explanation makes no sense. To answer this question, one must begin with: who benefits? Sony and the show’s producers, of course. TRP will shoot up.
As Lok Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi pointed out, this is the same channel which holds the rights to the Asia Cup cricket tournament, which will see India and Pakistan play cricket with each other soon, even as Pakistani Field Marshal Asim Munir threatens, from American soil, to destroy the dams India is building. So, all round lottery for the producers. Armed forces personnel on KBC, cricket with Pakistan in Asia Cup.
What else? To look at the other chief beneficiary, you will have to zoom out a little. US President Donald Trump has slammed 50 percent tariff on India, he goes on TV every day, and boasts of having bullied India and Pakistan into ceasefire.
Pakistan remains belligerent as ever.
The Debacle Post Operation Sindoor
Post Operation Sindoor diplomacy, regardless of Shashi Tharoor’s claims, turned out to be a complete dud. India is friendless, the economy is in trouble, and after a decade of being told that India is being “respected” because of Modi like it has never been respected before, we are being bullied by America and supported by no one. Meanwhile, Pakistan and America are best friends. Who is saying this?
Not just this writer, but many senior experts like TN Ninan and Indrani Bagchi, who have, more often than not, praised this government in the past. The mood is glum.
Meanwhile, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) supremo Mohan Bhagwat says that healthcare and basic needs are now completely beyond the reach of the common man. Et tu? Manufacturing as percent of GDP is as low, as it was in 1967, three years after the man at fault for everything died.
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has exposed massive irregularities in the Election Commission’s voting rolls. Duplication, non-existent voters, 80 voters in a tiny house in Bangalore, and now similar stories coming from across India.
It’s not about the armed forces. The BJP Madhya Pradesh minister who said the most vile things about Colonel Qureshi is still a minister, and still a free man.
Yati Narsinghanand, who said those who believe in the Indian Army will die a dog’s death, is a free man. Kargil hero in Pune is being bullied by Hindutva mobs demanding proof of his citizenship. Imagine. To risk your life for the country and live to see this day.
We got the Pakistanis. We attacked Pakistan so that they understand there is a cost. Pakistan is still attacking us and threatening us.
A look at the trailer offers some clues. One of the officers speaks of “New India”. New as opposed to? Old India of which year? 1947? 1857? 1971? Indira, Atal testing nuclear power? India after 26/11?
When, in the aftermath of the terror attack, UN Security Council Resolution 1267 banned three Pakistani organisations—Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), Al-Rashid Trust, and Al-Akhtar Trust—and four JuD leaders were added to sanctions list (asset freeze, travel ban, arms embargo).
2009? When Obama said the cancer of terrorism is in Pakistan? 2010?
Ex CIA Bruce Riedel wrote, “In a firm tone Obama then delivered his core message: "The US is not interested in Pakistan being vulnerable. It cannot, however, accept that your strategic concerns should include support for murderous groups. If Pakistan could build trust around this issue, it would make my job easier in relation to helping Pakistan."
So let no one fool you into thinking that this is about the armed forces. This is not even about the BJP or Prime Minister Modi. This is about their assessment of we, the people.
Tanking economy, foreign policy crisis, mass voting fraud? A man presses a button on a remote. You pick up the TV remote. You watch KBC and clap. You continue to believe the remote is in your hands and you are controlling the TV. You never pause to ask if it could be the other way round. You continue to abuse people who try to persuade you to think.
Thinking is dangerous. Don’t think. Clap for the powerful, abuse the powerless, get cricket and KBC in exchange. Great deal, isn’t it?
(The author is a lawyer and research consultant based in Mumbai. This is an opinion piece, and the views expressed are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)