My Opinion

Whenever Defence Minister Mohan Parrikar speaks on surgical strikes, the Congress party becomes worried. Congress leaders fear Prime Minister Narendra Modi may gain politically from the army action. On Wednesday, when Parrikar said earlier army actions during UPA rule were not surgical strikes, the Congress spokesman Randeep Surjewala used caustic language (chullu bhar paani) for the Defence Minister, whereas such language is normally not used in discourse on national security. One is reminded of Rahul Gandhi, who made the “khoon ki dalaali” remark against Modi, and the party had to face embarrassment. Some Congress leaders tried to defend him saying, the word ‘dalaali’ might have slipped out of Rahul’s tongue, whereas he wanted to use some other word. Kapil Sibal tried hard to explain at a press meet by saying, ‘do not go by words, understand his feelings’, but what Surjewala said on Wednesday clearly shows what the Congress is worried about. This was clear from none other than another party leader Manishankar Aiyar, who said the army’s surgical strike may politically benefit the BJP in elections. Maybe the Congress did not like the Defence Minister being felicitated in Uttar Pradesh, but it would be better if the Congress counters it politically. The language that the party leaders are using may harm the party in the long run. Manishankar Aiyar had once remarked that if Modi lost the Lok Sabha elections, he would be selling tea at AICC meetings, and the rest is history.

Supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expected him to speak at the Dussehra rally, a few words on surgical strikes carried out by the army in Pak Occupied Kashmir. Modi’s critics were also lying in wait. The Prime Minister spoke on terrorism and Pakistan, but nothing on surgical strikes. In a way, he disappointed his critics by avoiding mention of surgical strikes. On the other hand, it was after a long, long time that a senior BJP leader of Modi’s stature chanted full-throated slogans of Jai Shree Ram at the rally. The party supporters were naturally elated, the venue being Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh that is going to the polls. Modi provided invigorating tonic to his party workers through this slogan, but since it was a Dussehra event, the day Lord Rama killed Ravana, nobody could raise a finger at Modi for chanting this slogan.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s ‘khoon ki dalali’ remark has grabbed headlines on Pakistani media. Earlier, Pakistani TV channels had made Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal their hero when he questioned the veracity about Indian army’s surgical strikes. This should be a lesson for Indian leaders. Whenever such irresponsible remarks are made, Pakistan tries to take undue advantage. Maybe Rahul Gandhi will learn this time. Though his remark has embarrassed the Congress and made people remember about Sonia Gandhi’s ‘maut ke saudagar’ remark about Narendra Modi, the most unsavoury fallout has been to bring Army into political debate. So far the Indian Army had always been kept out of political discourse, but Rahul Gandhi’s “khoon ki dalali” remark has opened the floodgates. There is still time for all parties to keep the army away from political debates.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s ‘khoon ki dalali’ remark about Prime Minister Narendra Modi has had three effects: one, this has embarrassed his party because normally senior Congress leaders never use such language on issues pertaining to national interest; two, Rahul Gandhi has given Pakistan a good handle to embarrass India because Pakistani channels will show what the senior Congress leader has said about the surgical strikes and Indian army; and, three, he has indirectly reminded people of how his mother Sonia Gandhi had made the ‘maut ke saudagar’ remark for Narendra Modi several years ago. On the other hand, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has replied to all doubts raised by the leaders of Pakistan, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal and some Congress leaders on surgical strikes. Parrikar said he could show video proof of surgical strikes, but where is the guarantee that such Doubting Thomases would question the veracity of that video itself? I think, this controversy shoud now end here, our leader should stop giving a handle to Pakistan, and the nation should accept the Defence Minister’s assurance that if Pakistan indulged in more nefarious activities, our army can go in for a surgical strike again.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif did not tell his National Assembly why his country has become a hub for exporting terrorism, why his country runs factories that churn out terrorists, why terror masterminds like Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar openly move around and then plan and threaten fidayeen strikes against India. The question now is: whether there is now any chance of friendship between India and Pakistan under these circumstances. It seems author Tarek Fatah was right when he said Nawaz Sharif is afraid of his Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif. Tarek Fatah had also said that Hafiz Saeed is the real Prime Minister and Syed Salahuddin is the real Defence Minister of Pakistan. It appears that Nawaz Sharif has spurned the hand of friendship offered by Prime Minister Narendra Modi because of this reason. Modi never imagined Nawaz Sharif would change to such an extent, and probably Nawaz Sharif, too, never imagined Modi would respond to the Uri attack in this manner. No country in the world now believes Pakistan. The present situation has been created by Pakistan itself over the years. It used to take money from the US to fight terror, even while its army was hiding Osama bin Laden, it projected itself as a friend of Afghanistan, but it was simultaneously sheltering and supporting the Taliban, it speaks of friendship with India, but has stabbed its neighbour several times in the back. The entire international community now understands the real face of Pakistan.

Two Srinagar youths interviewed by India TV have exposed the hollow claims being made by separatist leaders in Kashmir.

Five points emerge from the interviews of these two young men – one, Hurriyat leaders are playing with the fate of young Kashmiris for their own petty interests, two – Hurriyat leaders do not want peace in the valley and want young men to be killed by security forces, three – terrorists are attacking security forces in Kashmir by using young protesters as human shields, four – the common Kashmiri youths has no interest in waving the Pakistani flag but Hurriyat activists are coercing youngsters to do so, and five- people in the Valley are suffering financially as their earnings have completely dried up in the last three months because of the continued general strike and protests.

And yet the Hurriyat leaders continue to give calls for bandhs because it suits the interests of their political masters. Both the youths have given a valuable suggestion – if the government provides them jobs and guaranteed work, the separatist leaders will soon have to shut shop.

With both the National Security Advisers of India and Pakistan contacting each other, Pakistan’s reported offer for talks is an exercise in deception. Pakistan is offering talks under pressure from the US, while on the ground level, it’s the Jamaat ud Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed who is calling the shots. Post-surgical strikes by India, the Pakistan army now appears to be desperate. It has violated the LoC ceasefire at least four times in the last 48 hours, and has tried to send infiltrators twice. But each time, Pakistan army’s efforts were foiled by our valiant jawans. Our armed forces are on high alert and ready to defend our territory. On the other hand, the Pakistan army is trying to stage manage shows on its side of LoC by conducting guided tour for the media. The versions of Pakistani army officers on surgical strikes are in conflict with the versions of local villagers. Even the international media is skeptical about Pakistan’s claims. It was not for nothing that Tarek Fatah told me in Aap Ki Adalat show that the Pakistan army generals are liars and their nuclear missiles contain nothing but ‘faluda’.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi first isolated Pakistan on the world and regional stage through diplomatic means, and then delivered a stinging reply by ordering the army to cross the Line of Control and destroy terrorist launching pads.

The people of India were expecting such a drastic step from Modi. If you carefully go through the details of the surgical strikes, one can understand that the task was not easy. Today is the day to salute our brave army jawans.

Today is also the day to appreciate Prime Minister Modi’s determination, will power and courage. The surgical strikes that were carried out across the LoC were the first since the 1971 War.

By carrying out surgical strikes, India has given a clear message to Pakistan that enough is enough. India will no more tolerate terror attacks.

For years, we have been discussing the need for surgical strikes. The locations of terror camps in Pak Occupied Kashmir were in the public domain.

Our army had commandos to execute these strikes earlier too, but it is because of Narendra Modi’s will power that a final decision was taken and the surgical strikes were successfully carried out.

So the slogan now is: Abki Baar, Sarhad Paar.

With Bangladesh and Afghanistan joining India’s move not to attend the SAARC summit in Islamabad, Pakistan’s isolation in the South Asia region is almost complete. All our neighbouring countries do know that terror training camps are being run in Pakistan. This is the first time Pakistan has been isolated in South Asia on the issue of terrorism. If Pakistan does not learn a lesson and stop “exporting” terrorism, the day is not far off when Pakistan will be completely isolated on the world arena. On the other hand, the Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has openly spoken of war and nuclear attack in his interviews to local TV news channels. Asif clearly said his army would try to “annihilate” India. The same minister also admitted that he had an “anti-India mindset”. If somebody does have such a mindset, then nobody can help.

Post-Uri attack, the political leadership in Pakistan had presumed, wrongly, that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would call for an all-out war or a surgical strike, but Modi did not oblige them. Instead, our Prime Minister sought to create a gulf between the people and political leaders of Pakistan, by calling for a war on poverty. Recent remarks from political leaders in Pakistan indicate that they now appear to be jittery, and are trying to boost the morale of their people through jingoistic statements. The Pakistani leadership is worried after India clearly indicated it would reduce the flow of water from Indus river and review bilateral trade relations. The leadership is now at a loss as to how to respond. That is why its political leaders and army officials are now speaking of war and hostilities. We also hear jingoistic voices on Pakistan’s TV news channels. After External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told the UN General Assembly that Pakistan has become the Ivy League of terrorism and was exporting terrorists, the Defence Minister of Pakistan spoke about his country getting ready for a war. The Pakistani minister apparently forgot that war strategies are not disclosed sitting inside TV studios. They are resorting to jingoism only to boost the flagging morale of their people. They seem to have forgot that war is fought on the field. Time has now come to declare Pakistan a terrorist state. India needs this. I have myself signed an online petition to the White House. As per rules, a petition requires one lakh signatures for the White House to reply within 60 days, but a petition from India should carry not one lakh, but one crore signatures! I, therefore, appeal to all of you to sign the petition. Just log in to http://petitions.whitehouse.gov/ go to We The People Petitions, and sign before October 21.

Voices had been raised in the past against Pakistani actors and singers performing in India, but now that there is widespread anger against Pakistan post-Uri attack, demands to boycott Pakistani artistes have been raised again. It is true that some of the Pakistani actors and singers are indeed popular in India, they have earned fame and money in India, but Indian artistes who are popular in Pakistan are either not allowed to visit or perform there. Therefore the anger against Pakistani artistes in India is justified. But we have to realize that these Pakistani artistes have come here after getting visas and proper permission. The security of these artistes in India is also our responsibility.