It is the first time that serving defence officers have been sent to the office of a political party for briefing its apparatchiks. Coming as this move does in the wake of controversy over the clean chit the minister gave the Pakistani intelligence agency, the ISI, and Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for the intrusions in the Kargil sector, it was perhaps an attempt on his part to do some damage control.

There is per se nothing wrong with briefing the nation on the developments that led to what Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee calls a "war-like situation". In fact, in a democratic set up, it is in the national interestto take the people into confidence on all issues of this kind. It was precisely for this reason that the government's decision to call an all-party meeting, where briefing at the highest-level was given, evoked a good response.

Since that briefing was presumably comprehensive, another one in less than two days should, in any case, have been avoided. It was, therefore, curious that the BJP asked for another briefing for its national executive members.

Of course, Fernandes would have been within his rights to accede to this request. But he should have, given his acquaintance with the issues at hand, done it himself. Where he erred was in taking along the defence personnel for the meeting at the BJP office over which party chief Kushabhau Thakre presided. As was only to be expected, other political parties have objected to this unwarranted briefing because they believe it would only set a wrong precedent.

Indian defence forces are one of the most apolitical in the world and that is how they should remain.They must be insulated from political and partisan influences. It is for this reason that even when a single, monolithic party was in power, it never had the benefit of such a briefing even at the height of the 1962, 1965 and 1971 wars. The argument made by the ruling party that other parties too are free to seek such briefings is no solution. The armed forces have better things to do than spend their time briefing all and sundry.

In India, political parties have a say in the running of the government only through their representatives in the legislature and through them the government. Otherwise, they have no other connection with the government.

That was why when RSS chief Rajendra Singh addressed a meeting of government officials in Uttar Pradesh some time ago, it resulted in widespread criticism both within and without the state. There is no reason why the time-tested system of keeping political parties aloof from the running of the government except through MLAs and MPs should be tamperedwith.

More so in the era of coalitions when a plethora of parties run a government. Rather than defend the briefing, it is better that the government treat it as an aberration and desist from such moves in the future. And the matter should end at that. Trying to make political capital out of the issue is as unwarranted as the briefing was.