By no means should a nation that boasts of one of the world’s finest, most disciplined armed forces ever tolerate attempts to malign or divide it along lines of caste, religion, or gender. Yet, that is precisely what we are witnessing—statements from both the Left-liberal academic elite and certain right-wing political actors that shamefully drag our soldiers’ identities into the public square, eroding the very idea of an apolitical, united military.
Recently, Ashoka University’s Professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad, already in the news for controversial views on India’s democratic institutions, was reported to have made derogatory remarks about Indian Army officers based on their religious identity. Around the same time, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) minister, from Madhya Pradesh, Kunwar Vijay Shah, too, reportedly made an unacceptable remark against a senior female officer, questioning her integrity and intent, again reducing her to her religious background.
Whether these words come from an elite campus or a state minister’s podium, the result is the same: an attempt to communalize and delegitimize our forces. This is not just intellectually lazy; it is dangerous.
The Indian armed forces have a time-honoured tradition of staying above politics. They are bound by discipline, sacrifice, and loyalty to the Constitution, not to caste or religion. Over 1.4 million strong, the Indian military draws its strength from its diversity and unity of purpose. To pit soldiers against each other or to measure their actions through a communal lens is to undermine national security itself.
To compare this with the motives of terrorists might seem stark, but not inaccurate. The terrorists who struck at Pahalgam recently—killing 26 innocent Hindu pilgrims on their holiday—did so explicitly because of their victims’ religion. When we start identifying and targeting our soldiers based on religious markers, are we not flirting with the same poisonous logic?
Concerned authorities did take swift action against the Ashoka University professor. But what about the BJP’s own minister in Madhya Pradesh? Why the double standard? Should nationalism only be reserved for political convenience?
Thankfully, the Madhya Pradesh High Court took Suo motu cognizance of the minister’s comment and demanded action. When the minister sought relief from the Supreme Court, the bench refused to offer him any protection and reprimanded him instead. Justice, at least in this instance, rose above partisanship.
Contrast this with the recent Operation Sindoor, where the Indian armed forces reportedly carried out a retaliatory strike on terror camps inside Pakistan-occupied territory. In a four-day operation, Indian forces are said to have destroyed several key terror assets that had long been used to train and shelter jihadis. The mission sent a clear message: India will not tolerate cross-border terror.
Yet, while the military does its job with courage and professionalism, elements within India—be it pro-ISI YouTubers (Jyoti Malhotra from Chandigarh, or Priyanka Senapati, an Odisha-based vlogger), political opportunists, or social media influencers—continue to sow division. Central agencies have acted in some cases, arresting individuals involved in espionage and in spreading anti-national narratives online. Some of these accounts had links to Pakistani handlers and were used to stoke communal unrest, incite violence, and peddle disinformation about India’s security operations.
But again, the question arises: is the government willing to act against its own when they cross the line?
Nationalism must not be selective. If the BJP is serious about defending India’s honour, then ministers who defame Indian soldiers—particularly women officers, must face the consequences, just like any other citizen. No amount of chest-thumping at election rallies can make up for hypocrisy on the ground.
Our soldiers do not ask what God you pray to before they save you. They don’t check your caste before giving their life in Siachen, Pulwama, or Kargil. They carry the tricolour, not a saffron, green, or blue flag. Anyone who seeks to communalize or politicize the Indian armed forces must be condemned without reservation.
It is time political parties, across the spectrum, understood that the uniform is above ideology. You cannot claim to defend the nation while insulting the people who defend it every day.
Let us stop pretending. You either support the Indian armed forces or you don’t. And if you don’t, it doesn’t matter whether you wear a khaki scarf or an academic gown. You’ve crossed a line. And the nation is watching.
