I/II. http://scroll.in/article/817160/the-daily-fix-modis-impractical-election-time-war-rhetoric-on-pakistan-returns-to-haunt-him-now
Modi’s impractical election-time war rhetoric on Pakistan returns to haunt him now 4 hours ago Updated 4 hours ago Shoaib Daniyal Huff and puff To understand Narendra Modi’s original stance on Pakistan, one needs to watch an interview he gave to TV journalist Rajat Sharma in 2011. In it, Modi raged about our neighbour, calling it an “enemy country” and a nation of “expert liars”. He ridiculed the United Progressive Alliance government’s policy of trying to talk peace with Pakistan and hinted that if it were up to him, he would use force to respond to the 26/11 attack on Mumbai and other terror operations emanating from Pakistan. “A neighbour hits you and in response you go to America!” he said. “Why don’t you go to Pakistan instead? It needs to be replied back in its own coin. Stop writing love letters to Pakistan.” This was not new for Modi. In 2008, while the attacks on Mumbai were on, he had held a press conference criticising the government for inaction. Modi won a historic mandate in May 2104 and was elected prime minister for precisely such rhetoric. And then, of course the fact that rhetoric is not governance hit home. Since Modi has come to power, militants, allegedly backed by the Pakistan establishment, have targeted India again and again. On Sunday, a group of militants attacked an army base in Uri. Earlier, in January, militants launched an assault on an Indian Air Force base in Pathankot. In July 2015, even a police station in Gurdaspur was attacked. The fact that Pakistan-backed militant can so easily hit at hard targets such as army bases is an abysmal failure of the government. Meanwhile, for all practical purposes, the Modi government has fallen back on the Manmohan Singh government’s policy of strategic restrain. On Wednesday, India asked Pakistan to act against terror and offered to share information on the Uri attack. Of course, this policy of the Modi government is practical and level-headed. War in nuclear South Asia is a terrifying prospect. However, the other option of simply sitting by as Pakistan’s deep state hits India at will also does not exist. Uri, for example, points to glaring lapses in security: militants simply walked the 150 metres from the Line of Control unchallenged. Why were there weaknesses not foreseen? Instead of grandstanding on Pakistan, the BJP-led government should concentrate on the real work of protecting India, her borders and the lives of her peoples. It is unglamorous work and it is far easier to simply talk war. But given how impractical war actually is, constantly making threats that India can’t keep ends up making the country look weak. II. https://sabrangindia.in/article/yes-you-heard-it-right-arnab-goswami-%E2%80%98blames%E2%80%99-manmohan-singh-uri-attacks Yes you heard it right, Arnab Goswami ‘blames’ Manmohan Singh for Uri attacks Written by Rifat Jawaid | Published on: September 20, 2016 On Monday Sepoy K Vikas Janardhan, became the 18th solider to fall victim to the terror attack in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir. Two other critically injured soldiers have also been airlifted to the military hospital in Delhi. 17 soldiers were killed in the attack on Sunday, while about 23 others injured. The terror attack in Uri has left Indians shocked and enraged with many demanding firm action against Pakistan. Others on social media have been quick to remind Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighting the perceived hypocrisy in his hawkish approach against the neighbouring country that he adopted during the Lok Sabha elections of 2014. MUMBAI, INDIA ? APRIL 03: Arnab Goswami, Indian Journalist, Editor in Chief and News anchor of the news channel Times Now at his office in Mumbai.(Photo by Bhaskar Paul/India Today Group/Getty Images) But the questions seeking to expose Modi’s stand, adopted to win elections, largely remained confined to social media users as none in the mainstream media could muster the courage to put the Centre’s BJP-led government in the dock on what was the worst terror attack for over a decade. ‘Patriots’ amongst us desperately looked at the ‘nationalist’ news channel Times Now to represent general public’s anger on its high-profile debate show Newshour, presented by the nation’s conscience-keeper, Arnab Goswami. Goswami remained true to himself and did host a special debate show despite it being a Sunday. His guests included the usual suspects, Lt Gen (Retd) Jaiswal, Times Now’s resident expert Maroof Raza, former army general and now the RSS’ posterboy, Maj General GD Bakshi and former India diplomat G Parthasarathy. The dominating theme of the debate was that India must attack Pakistan without caring much about the nuclear reactions from the neighbouring country! Another highlight of the debate was a unanimous praise for Narendra Modi government for using the ‘strongest’ condemnation of the terror strike yet. In Raza’s words, ‘I don’t think that there’s been such clarity of intent (by the central government.)’ But, the killer blow came from Goswami, who blamed the former prime minister, Manmohan Singh, for Uri attack. Yes, you heard it right. According to the nation’s most patriotic journalist, the Uri attack was a fallout of the ‘biggest blunder’ by the former prime minister. This is what India’s ‘second most popular hero’ after Modi had to say. “My personal greatest frustration has been with the long-rope theory. And I don’t know why the people, when you say stop engaging with Pakistan, say ‘you are a hawk.’ But Parthasarathy will remember that the greatest mistake Manmohan Singh made was that he went and met Nawaz Sharif for one hour in a New York hotel on 29 September 2013, just days after the twin attacks in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua and Samba.” Fantastic observation indeed! Many would argue why the Times Now’s editor-in-chief, who had recently received social media roasting for his ‘fixed’ interview with Modi, stopped at Singh. He ought to have blamed all non-BJP prime ministers going as far back as Nehru era for the alarming increase in terror attacks under Modi government. I mean blame everyone except Modi for the present mess. Goswami also appeared to have forgotten that Pakistan-backed militants had mounted an audacious attack on India’s Air Force base in Pathankot earlier this year. This was barely a week after Modi had chosen to stop over in Lahore to enjoy the birthday bash organised by his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif. For Goswami, this too may have been a diplomatic masterstroke. Of course, Goswami did not find fault in Modi’s foreign policy when he invited the Pakistani delegation consisting of ISI officers to visit the Pathankot air base. Instead of reminding Modi and BJP President, Amit Shah, for their tall claims made against Pakistan during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Goswami made several desperate attempts to exonerate the current prime minister on the Uri attacks on Sunday. If one ever needed an example of an utterly biased piece of journalism by Goswami on his ‘nation’s favourite channel’, they need not look beyond Sunday’s Newshour debate on the Uri attacks. You can watch the ‘historic’ Times Now debate below (Goswami’s gem appears 18 minutes onwards) [Video] -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
