Political leaders should mind their language, suggestions on national security

Long-awaited Ass-embly elections in Jammu and Kashmir are around the corner if what the Chief Election Commission-er Rajiv Kumar said in Jammu is to be taken the final word on the proposed democratic exercise. As an institution, the Election Commission of India has both responsibilities for what it says or does. As the ECI is entrusted with the responsibility of conducting elections in the world’s largest democracy, it did perform this task during the Lok Sabha elections early this year, its words have meanings which cannot be disputed. The elections in India are not all about electing the representatives to the democratic institutions from Parliament to Panchayats, these reflect nation’s temperament on the crucial issues. In the first spot, however, comes the role and language and the issues that political parties and their leaders raise. It is an important issue for the whole country. It is extremely delicate one in Jammu and Kashmir, which, in the geopolitics is a confluence of so many issues from internal to external security. Its narrative is broadcast all over the world. This is a fact that cannot be hidden, its status matters very little. It was a majestic state until August 2019, and at present it is a Union Territory, one of its part for decades, has been carved out as a separate UT- Ladakh.
It is a fact that political parties up their ante to appeal to their bloc of voters. This sort of thing does happen at the time of the elections elsewhere in the world too. The US presidential elections have raised lot of fury between Kamala Harris and her rival Donald Trump; they are raising so many issues and attacking them left, right and middle, but after the elections the Americans are in habit of seeing things in right perspective. All the political parties should bear in mind that these are highly sensitive times. Pakistan has upped its terrorism in J&K, and it wants to cast its shadow over the coming elections. That is what it tries to do all the time. This time, too, it is not an exception. Pakistan has raised the tensions on borders by infiltrating terrorists of a different make. This has made things hot on the LoC, where Indian soldiers battle life and death each and every minute. The infiltration has become a major issue, because without infiltration terrorism cannot sustain itself in J&K. Former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah’s remarks that “sab miley hue hai,” (everyone is mixed up” at the border is a tragic commentary on his political thinking. He has made suggestions that the guardians of the borders and the infiltrating terrorists have some understanding is unbecoming of a leader who has been chief minister, union minister and whose political career is well over 40 years. At this point in time, his comments are unwarranted. It may help him and his party politically or not cannot be predicted at this point in time, but what is certain is that the statement would have long-term security implications. The issues concerning national security should be avoided in the pre-election narratives. Other leaders may pick up this kind of narration to bolster their political fortunes during the elections. That would be unfortunate. The political leaders who had been pitching for elections with the clam that only the elected legislators can form a connect with the people, particularly in a hyper-sensitive place like Jammu and Kashmir, but they should know that elections have their own sanctity and that must be maintained through time honoured protocol. All the national security issues should be addressed with extreme care, any wrong word or usage of it, can bring serious problems in its wake. Pakistan can exploit, and as is its wont, it will do so, washing its hands off running terror factories and sending its products to this side of the border. Farooq Abdullah should have thought about all this before making the unfortunate remarks.