Often a moment of trial and adversity will bring a people together and the ghastly Pahalgam terror attack was one such moment for India.
Sadly, that unity of purpose and spirit is being tested to breaking point less than a month since the murderous slaughter of innocents – politics, after all, is a serious and never-ending business in this country.
The attack on April 22 saw every political party across the spectrum come together and back the BJP-led government in its response. There was an early hiccup, with the Prime Minister skipping an all-party meeting immediately after the atrocity to go campaigning in Bihar, but even such egregious behaviour by the nation’s leader was only criticised, not condemned, by the opposition, such was the feeling that Nation had to be prioritised over political point-scoring.
All that, now, is a thing of the past.
Indians – especially the families of those who were killed – deserve an answer to whether there were intelligence failings that opened the way for the four terrorists to murder with impunity. We deserve to know (as far as security considerations will let us) what losses our military experienced and why the four terrorists who carried out the attack have yet to be found. Unfortunately it does not look likely that we will get answers any time soon, with the Indian government neatly (for itself) stating that Operation Sindoor is ongoing even though hostilities have stopped, supposedly thanks to American intervention (which poses yet another question as to whether India succumbed to pressure to halt the attacks on Pakistan).
The Congress Party has already kicked up a storm by going after the External Affairs Minister over whether he had warned the Pakistanis ahead of Operation Sindoor. It seems like a ridiculous suggestion but India’s strikes on Pakistan appear to have been overly restrained and less than the knockout blow that they are being projected by the compliant national media.
Here in the North East, on the other hand, we have been treated to some of the most vile commentary by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of the BJP, who has lashed out at Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi for allegedly working with the enemy. Sarma has stooped to a terrible low by even levelling claims against Gogoi’s wife, who happens to be a British national. He purports to have proof of his lurid claims but says he will only share them in September, many months from now.
This should be beneath India’s dignity but it is, sadly, the norm for our politicians. Our country was brought together through tragedy and is now being divided once again.
