“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting” – Sun Tzu

26^th February 2019, 3.30 AM will be a red letter day in the history of India, for on this day a paradigm shift occurred in the way Pakistan was used to be dealt with for its support to terrorists.  Indian Air Force conducted pre-emptive air raids on Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist camps situated in Balakot, crossing the Line of Control deep across the border.  This was in response to the deadly suicide bombing by a JeM terrorist which martyred 44 CRPF soldiers. A new benchmark was set by the Government of India led by the Hon. Prime Minister of India Sri Narendra Modi through its armed forces.

Far away from the battle field and in the virtual world, the cyberspace, India was badly let down by its own citizens, who were well within and inside the Indian borders.  If the action which unfolded on Twitter (other platforms too could have been used) was anything to go by, then Sun Tzu’s words were proved a zillion times.

Verified Twitter handles of people¹ who can be considered as capable of expressing opinion which may sway and influence the actions of the general Indian public to the detriment of the Nation, started spewing venom against the pre-emptive action of the Government, post the Balakot air strikes and is continuing till this day. The list of people included analysts, politicians, journalists, celebrities, media houses etc.  Their opinions expressed through their tweets were openly in support of India’s enemy state of Pakistan. All these were leftists and left supporting people.  To use Sri Vivek Agnihotri’s phrase, Urban Naxals.

Balakot air strikes redefined the response mechanism and strategy against terror strikes and terror safe havens.  It was a text book surgical air strike by India which was not resorted to, even post the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks which has been the deadliest India has faced so far.  The pre-emptive air strike of Feb 26, 2019 was a strategic victory which also called Pakistan’s nuclear bluff.  The fear of mushroom clouds didn’t deter us from striking Pakistan’s heart of terror, the JeM camp atop a mountain in Balakot. 

It is extremely important to note here the unstinted support the opposition lent to the then Government of India during the 1971 war. “The prime minister must now lead the country to total victory over enemy. If government wanted to secure any more powers to handle the situation, this party would not hesitate to accord its fullest cooperation” Atal Bihari Vajpayee had said, as the president of the Jan Sangh, the leading opposition party that later evolved into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ² .When it was time to support the Government for its daring bombing of Balakot, here were a bunch of people who through their tweets were:

1. Siding with the enemy
2. Ignoring the Government and instead congratulating only the armed forces knowing well that in our democracy, armed forces are accountable to civilian authority unlike the structure in the enemy state that they were supporting. It should be mentioned here that the courage of our armed forces is unmatched and there is no disrespect intended by mentioning before going fact.
3. Enabling the disinformation campaign unleashed by Pakistan.
4. Belittling the efforts of the armed forces by questioning the strikes and asking for evidence of damages and enemy casualties.

People familiar with ancient Indian history can draw similarities between the present day situation and the one during the reign of King Prithviraj Chauhan. Yes. They can draw their own conclusions as to who are the Jaichands.

Pakistan was quick to latch on to the let down by these people which boosted their disinformation campaign with the Inter Services Public Relations of Pakistan unleashing fake news blitzkrieg through their online accounts. There was a concerted attempt to downplay a successful military initiative having far-reaching consequences.  This was an act of subversion which deserves condemnation of the highest magnitude.  The treacherous opinions were resonating hatred against a democratically elected Prime Minister and his party.  The hatred assumed priority over the National cause. 

Here goes the big list:

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Pertinent questions to be asked:

1. What to make of these statements?
2. In case of a two front war, to what extent do these people can go?
3. Does expressing hatred against an individual and letting down one’s own nation at war time gets pushed under the carpet in the guise of freedom of expression?
4. By letting these people unaccountable are we unknowingly redefining freedom of speech and expression?
5. What prevents me from calling one from call these bunch of people traitors?

Victory in the modern warfare is all about winning in the mind. Psychological warfare and cyber warfare determines the course of the war. Well it definitely is worth the salt to ponder at what Sun Tzu had professed. Were we subdued by our own citizens?

Being election time, do we deserve this bunch of leftist politicians and their herd? We don’t and India doesn’t too.

Continuing with the story of King Prithviraj Chauhan, Jaichand allied with the invader Mohammed Ghori to defeat the all-powerful King Prithviraj.  But Jaichand too was killed by the same army of Mohammed Ghori some years after the death of King Prithviraj.

Source:

1. Twitter feed
2. https://www.livemint.com/news/india/how-indira-gandhi-and-atal-bihari-vajpayee-led-india-during-1971-bangladesh-war-1551643929931.html