On 14 February, over 40 Indian security forces were killed in a suicide bombing attack by the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad terror outfit, in south Kashmir. India responded with air strikes in Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, following which, Pakistan downed one Indian military aircraft and held an IAF pilot in custody.
The situation is risky, and the possibility of war high. While both countries could get locked in a military confrontation soon, a different kind of battle is being waged within India, where the public debate on this issue has turned into a glorified circus.
Ideological Warriors Making Everything About Themselves
Any conflict with India and Pakistan has always presented an opportune time to examine India’s internal dialogue on the subject. As I have observed over the years, discussions on how to proceed, when India is faced with rising terrorist attacks, takes a rather predictable form. It goes something like this. Indian civilians or security forces are attacked by militant groups. They die in large numbers. And instead of managing the problem, India’s ideological warriors emerge with their own weapons to make the problem all about themselves.
When it comes to Pakistan and Kashmir, this schism between the left and the right becomes even more severe. The centrists are not entirely blameless, either. Proponents of war and anti-war advocates begin shaping public debate around their respective interests while ignoring the actual problem and larger realities at stake.
In the short-term, these ideological attacks demonstrate unclear thinking, while in the long-term, it does absolutely nothing to serve the country’s overall security. In fact, as these warriors of all stripes, orientations, and arguments prioritise the defence of their ideological positions over and above the country’s defence, the debate on how and what a state must do – when its external and internal security is challenged – disappears from the equation.
Easy to Be Branded As a War-Monger
These actors appear in many forms. From hyper-nationalists to screaming analysts, to hyperventilating news anchors to radical activists, almost everyone has a position on Indian defence and security, except those with actual knowledge and expertise. A pernicious environment that sows and breeds ideological divisions at the expense of national interest, achieves little in advancing solutions or moving toward peace.
A public debate averse to any form of logic and blind to facts, prevents any reasonable and healthy debate on the subject.
Leaving aside our own ideological positions, for those of us working on defence, the task becomes especially challenging, because reasonable discussion on matters of national interest and security – even with intelligent people – is next to impossible.
Even presenting a coherent argument in favour of self-defence against terrorist groups or their sponsors, quickly gets you thrown into the “war monger” category.
Second, Indian security forces pay the price not just for fighting the country’s external enemies, but are used as scapegoats by the left, right, and center, in their ideological wars. Those on the right, who have never fought a war, but wear their patriotism proudly on their sleeves, use any and every moment to send soldiers into war, hoping that a mere “Jai Hind” slogan will get the job done.
Can the “Cooler Heads” Prevail Over Terror Groups?
The anti-war advocates, peacenicks, and “let cooler heads prevail” crowd use the same soldiers to call for empathy and peace, but are nowhere to be seen when men and women in uniform or civilians are killed in terrorist attacks. The righteous condemnation they hold for the right is oddly absent in these situations.
It would be quite an achievement if the proponents of peace with Pakistan could get terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, and Hizbul Mujahideen to give up their arms first. Then maybe there would no war.
A fractured and confused public debate then makes it especially challenging for policy-makers to come up with clear proposals or defend their positions. Extreme positions often distort the information presented. Ideological battles are exacerbated when anonymous individuals, with free access to social media platforms, relentlessly spread misinformation, while making fake news real.
This vituperative climate unleashes a cycle of disinformation that hurts the interests of the country while benefiting its enemies. Disinformation campaigns from the left and right, obscure logic and facts. That leaves us with the question: in the end, whose war is India fighting?
(For live updates on the India-Pakistan situation, click here)
(Dr Ayesha Ray is an associate professor of political science at King’s College, and a Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. She tweets at @DrAyeshaRay. This is an opinion piece. The views expressed are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)