National interest,not politics,should come first,say

Amid controversy over the attack on Lt Gen K S Brar,the Akali Dal controlled SGPC on Tuesday honoured Jinda and Sukha,who killed Gen Vaidya on August 10,1986 in Pune.

“This is a mischief of the highest order. We have been through this journey in the ’80s. Bhindranwale was a product of politics and red flags were raised even when the movement was building up- for instance the killing of DIG. It would not be inappropriate to say that it was the people of Punjab who defeated the separatists with the help of the police and the Army. We cannot allow the situation to worsen again. Integrity of the nation comes first and hard decisions,if required,need to be taken by the decision makers. We have travelled this road before and the responsibility of not repeating the mistake rests upon us,” said Brigadier (Retd) Ravi Palsokar of 2 Guards (1 Grenadiers) – a veteran military analyst.

Repercussions of Operation Blue Star were witnessed in some of the Army units in mass resignations/revolts. Maj Gen (Retd) Soli Pavri,who was a Major in 1984 and was involved in Operation Blue Star,feels the Indian Army today is much more resolute than what it was post Operation Blue Star and that internally,it is unlikely to repeat the after effects of the 1984 operation. “Incidents/announcements such as this are in no way detrimental to the image of the Army and I personally feel that the Army as such has put the incident behind. While I will not comment on a section of people calling Jinda and Sukha martyrs,since it is a democratic society,what one needs to understand is that Army officers – be it Gen Vaidya,Gen Brar,Gen Sunderji,right till the sepoy in the Army,were merely obeying orders. The Army is an instrument of the Government. Yes,it can hurt the morale of the Army,but then it is for the government to ensure that Army is kept out of it.”

Brigadier (Retd) Hemant Mahajan,a Maratha Light Infantry officer who has served in Punjab on various occasions condemned the act of honouring Jinda and Sukha and said,”This is an anti-national act. The political parties have played with fire earlier for votebank politics. The Shiromani Akali Dal is playing politics at the cost of national security. Unfortunately,the current government at the Centre is defensive because of non or rather bad governance. Ideally,the Home Minister should be on his feet taking appropriate action against the party which wants to call Jinda and Sukha martyrs. Surprisingly,the Opposition is also quiet.”