DNA Edit: Judging Major Gogoi is easy, stepping into his shoes isn’t

It was an accepted tenet in Rome that the events that unfold on the battlefield are not for the Senate to judge.

That, sadly, is not the case now. Since April 9, Major Leetul Gogoi has been at the receiving end of thoughtless and opinionated criticism for trussing up a stone-pelter to the bonnet of a jeep as a foil to prevent a 1,200-strong crowd from decimating a poll station in Budgam. Former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has been taking potshots at the Indian Army and at the Major — from the convenience and comfort of his palatial home and his twitter account — demanding justice for the inhumane treatment that was meted out to the stone-pelter.

This issue has already turned out to be a politically divisive one as former coalition partners, Congress and the NC, via Punjab CM Amarinder Singh and Abdullah have been slugging it out in the public domain. Meanwhile, no state authority has opened an investigation into the exact role of Farooq Ahmed Dar in a tensed situation so fraught with the possibility of rioting and destruction of public property. Allegations against Dar were earlier raised by the Army as well, but they have fallen on deaf ears forcing the Major to air his allegations before the media.

Even now, there has been little mention of the fact that by tying up the stone-pelter, the Major averted a situation that could have led to the loss of life of the officers in the polling booth, not to mention, the loss of life of his own soldiers and even the lives of the stone-pelters, given that the soldiers could have started firing as they were outmatched and surrounded by protesters armed with petrol bombs. In retrospect, wisdom comes easy as it seems to be dawning on Amnesty International, which has decried India’s disdain for human rights. But it is to the credit of Major Gogoi that he devised such a masterly stroke by arresting a prime instigator.

Without his presence of mind, the crisis would have assumed morbid and violent proportions. But they did not. No one was hurt and not a shot was fired. The situation was skilfully defused. This is not to say that we should tacitly support the action. It was a grave violation of the rights of the individual and a token, punitive action is necessary if only to appease the armchair activists and tear-jerking liberals.

Statecraft requires that the real facade of war — ugly, demeaning, yet necessary — should be kept hidden from civilians. It is only belief in a just and fair Indian State that can encourage other Kashmiri youths to exploit the myriad possibilities that India’s thriving and vibrant democracy has to offer.