P. Nagarjuna Rao
UK’s Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, who knew a thing or two about real war, once said: ‘Any man who goes to battle without fear is a fool.’
He didn’t have Rahul Gandhi in mind, of course. But it is a quote that fits the Wayanad warrior like a bespoke Italian kurta. The 54-year-old Congress youth icon, never one to let facts interfere with feelings, has once again emerged from the safety of his echo chamber to accuse the Indian government and military of ‘surrendering’ to Pakistan.
This time, it is in the wake of the tragic Pahalgam terror attack – a moment of national mourning, reflection, and serious resolve. But trust the Gandhi scion to charge in, armed with nothing more than a frown and a font of fury, demanding to know why no bombs have been dropped yet. I wonder if he expects the Indian Army to livestream its strategic briefings on Instagram.
Unless there is breaking news on TV within 24 hours, the government is spineless. Any semblance of planning, preparation, or geopolitical chess is cowardice. India is answerable not to its national security doctrine, but to the stopwatch ticking inside RaGa’s head.
We must ask what exactly the Congress high command prefers. An impulsive, chest-thumping war to scratch their soundbite itch? Should the government dispatch the Air Force based on Rahul Baba’s gut feelings and Twitter polls?
War is not Bollywood
The Congress gasbag’s understanding of warfare appears to be modelled entirely on Bollywood – all slo-mo salutes, melodramatic background scores, and a climax before the interval. In the real world, though, the men and women in uniform plan, calculate, and then strike. Not to appease TV anchors or political opportunists, but to ensure results.
But facts and national interest have always been inconvenient speed bumps on the Congress party’s fast lane to rhetorical glory. Take, for instance, their now-infamous cartoon that showed Donald Trump barking ‘Narender surrender’ while Modi replies with a meek ‘Ji huzoor’. A schoolboy sketch scribbled in cheap crayon, tragically out of step with reality. The same Trump had to clarify, unequivocally, that he played no role in the India-Pakistan ceasefire understanding. Not that this made any difference to the Congress narrative machine. Once a slogan finds its way onto a placard or a punchline, no fact matters.
Cartoon wars escalate
Unsurprisingly, a counter-cartoon soon surfaced, featuring an army general (presumably Asif Munir) commanding, ‘Go tell India surrendered’, while a figure (presumably our shehzada in a khadi kurta and pyjama) replies ‘Ji huzoor’, boot-licking and drooling at the order. If cartoons and memes are considered the gospel, it can lead to an unending slugfest. One side can’t even catch its breath before the other shoves a new caricature in its face.
This is from the same party that once outsourced its foreign policy to visiting heads of state. Remember the days when Hillary Clinton’s visits got more attention than the foreign ministry’s notes? Or when dossiers were India’s only counterstrike after 26/11?
A tip for real leadership
Here is a free tip for Rahul Baba: Real courage doesn’t always strut. Sometimes, it prepares. Real patriotism doesn’t shout. Sometimes, it waits. And real leaders don’t play toy generals on primetime – they let the actual ones do their job.
So the next time he feels the urge to lead from the rear with half-baked outrage, perhaps he should recall what the UK’s First World War veteran ‘Monty’ meant: fear is not weakness. But a fool who knows no fear is just an unarmed man charging into a battlefield with a selfie stick. And history is rarely kind to those who mistake noise for nation-building.
