Already arguments are being cited that to promote the Hindutva agenda of the RSS and BJP, the Prime Minister and his ministerial colleagues have been projecting the operation on a larger canvas. It is argued that not less than three surgical strikes were carried during Dr Manmohan Singh regime, but he didn’t employ Twitter army for credit. On the contrary, the people with right-wing ideology moved in with lightening speed to hurl I-told-you-so jibes at their ‘liberal’ enemies. While they heaped praises on Narendra Modi, the pro saffron media took upon their unfinished task to project a national hero out of Modi. Intriguingly a TV channel in its report projected Modi as the super warrior; as if Modi had single-handedly conceived, planned and executed the entire operation.

Undeniably the BJP has been using the operation to refurbish its patrotic image and instill a new sense of nationalism in the people of India. While the saffron leadership and ministerial colleagues of Modi have been taking extra pain to reach out with this message to the people, Dr Singh throughout his rule preferred to maintain silence. He even did not allow his party or ministerial colleagues to talk the operation in public place.

Modi whose political initiatives and actions during two years of his stay as the prime minister have come under public scrutiny after the latest operation has been resurrected as the new face of the Indian nationalism and the only leader who can take India to the new heights. He has ignited the imagination of the Indians. People have come to compare his governance with the last 15 years rule of the Congress and secular parties.

What was most shocking was the media conveniently tried to ignore and forget its own report of how the Army during the UPA regime had carried out the surgical operations across LoC. Obviously the question arises why the media has launched a misinformation campaign? Is it a partner to some kind of deep design to malign Dr Singh and his rule?

Hours after Modi and his colleagues started patting their backs for carrying out the “first” surgical operation, the former Army chief, Gen Bikram Singh came on record to say that such strikes by Indian soldiers have taken place, including in the wake of the decapitation of two Indian soldiers in January 2013 when Manmohan Singh's UPA was in power. The difference, this time, is that Modi made a political call to own the cross-LoC strikes. In 2013, no one knew that such a strike had even taken place.

It is most unfortunate that the excellent and glorious task of our armed forces is being used by BJP and the media, to show the UPA government and the Congress in extremely poor light and project Dr Singh as a weak and timid leader. What is most cynical and harmful to the interest and moral of the Army is, the supporters of Modi, the media and saffron leaders have been playing the nasty game of negating the gains of the Army under General Bikarm Singh during the UPA rule. Dr Singh owes an explanation to the people of the country and he must come out. It is time to speak up and tell them what always happens and what happened under the UPA. No more official secret is violated.

The then Indian army chief Gen Bikram Singh admitted killing of 10 Pakistani soldiers in a surgical strike. Gen Singh warned Pakistan that India would respond in equal measure if Pakistan violated any rules. He rejected the perception that the Indian military had not retaliated against the beheading of its soldiers by Pakistani troops. He had said, “Let me assure you that action has been taken…If I can invite the attention to the Geo TV report on December 23 which talked of their one officer and nine soldiers being killed with 12-13 being wounded. This has happened due to firing of your soldiers on ground.”

A nation needs wisdom of patriotism and nationalism is the natural corollary to this. After coming to power the BJP has been consistently harping on patriotism whether it is banning beef or implicating the JNU students in sedition case. The BJP along with the Sangh has been creating a psychological pressure on the people, especially on the dalit and minorities to submerge their individual identities in a presumed national identity. The RSS tried to preach of one ethnicity, one race, one culture and one system of values that binds the people of India. Based on this ideological orientation the Sangh leaders tried to lay down rules on what one should eat or wear or read or view; they in fact conspired to define the Indian life through their narrow prism of Hindutrva.

The BJP’s attempt to define a nationalist as one who will say ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ was a gross distortion of history. After some protest the Sangh Parivar retreated. But this continued to be on the agenda of the BJP and Sangh. The sad episode of Uri provided the Sangh Parivar the opportunity to exploit the sentiment of the common India and reach out to them with their repackaged mission.

The manner in which the Congress and other secular forces have been marginalized and underlined that the element of ultra-nationalism, has percolated deep down in the psychology of the people, particularly the urban middle class, which witnessed the Congress being pulped. The secular ethos has been basically centrist in character. It is not a sort of ideology under which the cadres play the decisive role. The regional satraps of the Congress have their own perceptions which imbibe the regional feelings and aspirations. The fact has to be conceded that the Congress and secular forces have provided the ultra-nationalism with the righty type of breeding ground.

The BJP coming to power after long years marked blossoming of a dangerous ultra-nationalism. For decades the aggressive nationalist forces have been lurking in the shadows. Now they are out in the open and trying to push their agenda with tremendous velocity. No doubt the rise of the extreme right polity is a reality in India today, but once in power they have been treading cautiously. While they have been assiduously pursuing their programme and ideology they never give the impression that they are in hurry. Significantly this task is being performed by Modi with adroitness and with utmost excellence. Modi took upon himself the task to launch an ethnic cleansing of the nation.

The strategic importance of Modi for the Sangh Parivar could be gauged from the simple fact that his jibes and indictments were not taken seriously by the RSS. It helped create the feeling that Modi is a changed person and he was committed to protect the ethical chord and traditions of the country notwithstanding his bitter and harsh criticism of Nehru and his legacy. In the present situation, Modi is being projected as the man who can redeem India from the curse of terrorism. (IPA Service)