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The Wire
23-05-2025
- Politics
- The Wire
Political Rent-seeking of Armed Forces is Detrimental to Democracy
Menu हिंदी తెలుగు اردو Home Politics Economy World Security Law Science Society Culture Editor's Pick Opinion Support independent journalism. Donate Now Politics Political Rent-seeking of Armed Forces is Detrimental to Democracy M.G. Devasahayam 6 minutes ago In politics, rent-seeking activities aim to create false narratives to manipulate people's minds. BJP supporters take part in a Tiranga Yatra to celebrate the success of Operation Sindoor and to express solidarity with the armed forces, in Nagpur, Monday, May 19, 2025. Photo: PTI Real journalism holds power accountable Since 2015, The Wire has done just that. But we can continue only with your support. Contribute now Rent-seeking is a concept in economics that states that an individual or an entity seeks to increase their own wealth without creating any benefits or wealth to the society. Rent-seeking activities aim to obtain financial gains and benefits through the manipulation of the distribution of economic resources. Economists view such activities as detrimental to the economy and society. The practice reduces economic efficiency through the inefficient allocation of resources. Also, it commonly leads to other damaging consequences, including a rise in income inequality, lost government revenues, and a decrease in competition.' Applied to politics, rent-seeking means political leaders seeking to enhance their power and influence without any benefit to the people. In politics, rent-seeking activities aim to create false narratives to manipulate people's minds for covering up corruption, incompetencies and inefficiencies while gaining electoral advantages. This is done through exaggerated claims put forth by 'self-appointed experts' and mass media indulging in 'fake nationalism' and 'cult promotion'. This kind of rent-seeking lowers nation's honour and could result in damaging consequences to its democratic fabric. More of symbolism than facts This is precisely what is happening to the Armed Forces in the case of 'Operation Sindoor'. The first major rent-seeking is the name 'Operation Sindoor' itself. The Wire puts it succinctly by drawing comparison to the 'Operation Trident' which was India's deadly strike at the Karachi airport which broke the back of the Pakistan Navy in the 1971 war: 'Fifty-five years later, on the morning of May 7 (2025) Indians across the country woke up to another Indian operation in Pakistan, code-named 'Operation Sindoor.' This Indian operation that struck at nine strategic locations within Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) to hit terrorist dens across the border, is not comparable to 'Operation Trident' – not in terms of its effect, certainly not in terms of its aim. That's because unlike Operation Trident, Operation Sindoor is also expected to deliver dividends in domestic politics to the government of the day, or rather the Prime Minister.' The second rent-seeking is making two young female military officers (one Army colonel from corps of signals and one Air Force wing commander who is a helicopter pilot) as the mascots to brief about 'Operation Sindoor' along with the foreign secretary, Vikram Misri. This looked bizarre because once military operations break out, it is the job of the Director General Military Operations (a Lt General rank officer) to do the briefing along with his counterparts in the Air Force and Navy. This time around it was more of symbolism than facts to show-case the government as launching a 'military operation' to safeguard Sindoor, a vermillion worn by many Indian women to indicate their married status! Even the communal angle was also ruthlessly exploited when the Madhya Pradesh Minister Vijay Shah made a public statement referring to Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, one of the officers who made the briefing saying that ' those [terrorists] who wiped out the vermilion of our sisters [in the Pahalgam attack]… we avenged these people by sending their sister to destroy them.' Third is the whipping up of war frenzy through the vitriolic media which was nauseating. The hate-induced warmongering which pervaded the news broadcasts from these media actually amounts to an abetment of waging of war against another country punishable under Section 153 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Giving all the credit to the ruling politicians War is the worst curse for humanity, especially for a country where a meagre income of Rs. 2.9 lakhs per annum puts you in the top 10% bracket! Besides, death and destruction, wars could lead to collapse of the economy and sharp fall in GDP resulting in accelerated poverty and unemployment. In this context, the famous words of the most celebrated soldier of the modern era General Dwight D Eisenhower, who went on to become the President of the United States of America bears testimony: 'Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in a final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are cold and are not clothed. The world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its labourers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. … Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on an iron cross… I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.' Then comes the exaggerated hypes of victory and giving all the credit to the ruling politicians in general and the Prime Minister in particular. Look at what the deputy chief minister of Madhya Pradesh Jagdish Devda said: 'Pradhanmantri ji ko bhi dhanyawad dena chahenge, aur pura desh, desh ki wo sena, wo sainik, unke charno mein natmastak hain. Unke charno mein pura desh natmastak hai. Unhone jo jawab diya hai (We would also like to thank the Prime Minister; the entire country, the country's Army, its soldiers are bowing at his feet. The entire country is bowing at his feet. For the response he gave).' In 2019 too, Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of UP made a similar derogatory statement against the defence forces by calling it 'Modiji ki sena'. This mentality has even infested the Dravidian fortress of Tamil Nadu when a former minister of the AIADMK government, Sellur Raju made this rant while criticising a rally led by Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin in support of Operation Sindoor and the Indian Defence forces: 'Did the Army men go and fight? It was the central government which brought all this technology. The Prime Minister bought and gave [it] when Defence Minister Rajnath Singh asked for them. So first you need to appreciate the Prime Minister, but instead DMK is doing it for Army men. What kind of drama is this?' Also Read: Modi Says 'Not Blood, Hot Sindoor' Flows In His Veins In First Public Address Since Op Sindoor Rantings of the chief minister and the ministers only showed their outright ignorance or disrespect for the letter and spirit of Article 53 of the Constitution of India, which defines executive power of the Union as follows: '(1) The executive power of the Union shall be vested in the President and shall be exercised by him either directly or through officers subordinate to him in accordance with this Constitution. (2) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provision, the supreme command of the Defence Forces of the Union shall be vested in the President and the exercise thereof shall be regulated by law.' A reading of the Preamble of the Constitution of India shows that it was promulgated, with the intention of having India as a sovereign country, which would ensure all the citizens the unity and integrity of the nation. Indian Armed Forces exist to uphold the said ideals of the Constitution. Accordingly, the Army Doctrine-2004 clearly lays down its primary role as preservation of national interests and safeguarding the sovereignty, territorial integrity and unity of India against any external threat by deterrence or by waging war. This is applicable to Air Force and Navy also. Armed Forces therefore have a constitutional duty to protect the country form any external aggression and internal turmoil. While undertaking any military operation it is this constitutional role that the Armed Forces play and therefore are not subservient to or beholden to any politician or political party in power. Doing so, will seriously endanger India's democratic fabric. As it is, due to the extreme asymmetry in state, money and media power there is no 'level playing field' among political parties while contesting elections. BJP's Tiranga Yatra is meant to further amplify this rent-seeking Now, India's Election System (IES) itself is being weaponised. EVM-centered IES has three technical components. Microcontroller, to record the votes cast by the voter, voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPATs) to audit and verify that the votes are recorded as cast and counted as recorded and Symbol Loading Units (SLUs), the 'device' that feeds EVM candidate information. Integrity of the microcontroller is suspect because their design and source of procurement are kept a closely guarded secret. According to technical experts, EVM contains multiple labile memories that records each vote as it is cast. It also has the key to candidate mapping in labile memory (through SLUs) since this varies in each constituency and is needed to print the contents of each VVPAT slip. The presence of labile memory through SLUs implies that those values can be manipulated. What is worse, SLUs are not subject to any security protocol! Also Read: Row Over Operation Sindoor Message on Train Tickets: Opposition Says Govt 'Using War as Opportunity' Through bluff and bluster Election Commission has reduced the VVPATs into meaningless 'bioscopes! According to experts, this deliberate denial of verifiability and auditability has facilitated spurious injection of votes in various constituencies by hiking of vote percentages in all phases of polling. Registration manipulation, which is the padding of the electoral roll facilitates this. With the election system so weaponised, all that is needed is a media-driven 'nationalist narrative' to manipulate and steal people's mandate to capture power. That is why a military operation which should be 'secret and stealthy' is being given wide and wild publicity endangering the lives of defence personnel! The 'Tiranga Yatra' BJP is hosting to 'honour Indian army' is meant to amplify this rent-seeking further! The objective seems to be to win the forthcoming Bihar assembly elections like the party did post-Pulwama in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. This is detrimental to India's democracy. Major M.G. Devasahayam IAS (Retd), had fought in the Indo-Pak War, 1965 and also took part in counter-insurgency operations in Nagaland. Make a contribution to Independent Journalism Related News For Arms Dealers, Operation Sindoor Was Not a Crisis Conflict But a Business Opportunity 'Losses Are Part of Combat', IAF Says But Declines to Share Details of What Platforms India Lost Row Over Operation Sindoor Message on Train Tickets: Opposition Says Govt 'Using War as Opportunity' 'Terrorist Infrastructure' in Pakistan, PoK Targeted, Says Indian Army; Pak Says It 'Downed' Indian Aircraft On Operation Sindoor Delegations, TMC Cries Foul Over Govt 'Unilateral' Call on Delegates The Many Failures of Operation Sindoor Row Over Army Statement That India's Air Defence System Shielded Golden Temple From Pakistan's Strikes After Rijiju Dials Mamata, TMC Picks Abhishek Banerjee to Join Op Sindoor All-Party Delegations 'Entire Nation Ashamed of You': SC Rejects BJP Minister's Apology For Remarks on Col Sofiya Qureshi About Us Contact Us Support Us © Copyright. All Rights Reserved.
First Post
15-05-2025
- General
- First Post
Indian Navy's INS Vikrant, 35 Warships Were Preparing to Hit Karachi
Indian Navy's INS Vikrant, 35 Warships Were Preparing to Hit Karachi | Vantage with Palki Sharma Indian Navy's INS Vikrant, 35 Warships Were Preparing to Hit Karachi | Vantage with Palki Sharma Details continue to emerge from Operation Sindoor. The Indian Navy was deployed extensively in the Northern Arabian Sea. INS Vikrant Aircraft carrier and its carrier battle group were deployed and active. Several submarines were also deployed by the Indian Navy. The 36-warship Armada was tasked to hit select targets, including Karachi and the Karachi port. The Indian Navy has a history with the Karachi Port. During Operation Trident, the navy hit the Karachi Port during the 1971 war. Why is the Karachi Port the lifeline for Pakistan? Palki Sharma tells you more. See More
New Indian Express
14-05-2025
- General
- New Indian Express
When Indian missile boats struck Karachi in 1971 Indo-Pak war
KOCHI: The Arabian Sea was silent, still as death, as three missile boats moved stealthily under the cover of darkness from Okha in Gujarat towards Karachi in Pakistan. It was a suicidal mission, almost! The sailors, however, had only one thought on their minds — strike the targets successfully. These events of the night of December 4, 1971, replayed in retired Indian Navy officer Commodore A D Rao's mind as reports poured in of the escalation of the confrontation between India and Pakistan after the Pahalgam attack. The mission carried out as part of Operation Trident proved a resounding success, that too at a time when technology was not as advanced as today. 'Everything was top secret,' Commodore Rao, who was 27 at the time and belonged to the 25th Missile Squadron, tells TNIE. 'Even the transportation of the boats, made by the Russians, was done in a very clandestine manner. India had bought eight boats of the OSA class fitted with the Styx missiles. Operation Trident was also the first time that India used the Indian Navy's missile boats and anti-ship missiles in war.' Living in Kochi for more than 30 years, Rao recalls how he found himself in the middle of a fierce war four years after getting commissioned into the Navy as an officer. 'It seemed as if the four years of training and related activities were a sort of preparation for the war,' he says. Elaborating on the mission and the strategies adopted, Rao says, 'The plan was to launch a quick attack on Karachi and then run. We were told to write letters to our families before leaving for the mission in the dead of the night from Mumbai on December 3. Of the eight missile boats, the three that were sent for the mission were INS Nipat, INS Nirghat and INS Veer. I was on INS Veer, which was commanded by Lieutenant Commander Om Prakash Mehta, as the third officer.'
NDTV
13-05-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
When Karachi Port Burned For Days In 1971
The Indian Air Force struck the Malir Cantonment located 35 km from Karachi during its 100-hour-long military action - Operation Sindoor. The Director General of Air Operations, Air Marshal AK Bharti, said India's response to the Pakistani drone and missile attack was "measured and calibrated". Indian Navy's carrier battle group, which involves an aircraft carrier, destroyers, frigates, corvettes, submarines, and air assets, Vice Admiral AN Pramod said, had been deployed outside the harbour in Karachi to pin down Pakistani maritime forces. Advertisement - Scroll to continue The strikes on Malir Cantonment near Karachi and the Navy's forward-deployment in the Arabian Sea brought memories of the 1971 war, when the Indian Navy went on the offensive and decimated the Karachi port. Navy Ready For The Offensive In the inevitability of the 1971 war between India and Pakistan, then Chief of Army Staff General Sam Manekshaw gave Prime Minister Indira Gandhi a paper on which he wrote December 4 - the date on which India would go to war with Pakistan. On December 3, Pakistan bombed nine Indian airfields, and the war broke out. The Indian Navy, under the command of Admiral SM Nanda, emerged as a pivotal force in the liberation of East Pakistan. India's maritime force operated in two theatres - Eastern and Western - and ensured a naval blockade to break the link between East and West Pakistan. Admiral Nanda ensured the Navy adopted an aggressive posture. He was aware of the effect the Indian Navy would have on the outcome of the war. After air, the only connectivity between East and West Pakistan was through the sea. Bombing Karachi meant breaking the link and rendering Pakistani troops in the east defenceless. In the east, INS Vikrant was ready to take on the Pakistan Navy in the Bay of Bengal. Admiral Nanda ensured a full naval blockade in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. Photo Credit: Operation Trident The armed forces had been preparing for the war for months. After the air raids by Pakistan, orders were dispatched to the Western Naval Command (WNC) for 'Operation Trident'. Vice Admiral SN Kohli (Later Admiral) was the Flag Officer C-in-C of the WNC, and orders were given to dispatch the Naval fleet in Mumbai and Okha. The plan was to bomb the Karachi port. The 'Karachi Strike Group' from the 25th Missile Boat Squadron, also known as the 'Killer Squadron', consisted of two Petya-class ships - Katchal and Kiltan - and three missile boats - INS Nirghat, Nipat, and Veer. One missile boat was stationed at the Dwarka port to provide cover. The missile boats were armed with four Russian Styx Surface-to-Surface missiles each. Commander Babru Bhan Yadav, the Killer Squadron's commanding officer, was ordered to dispatch for an offensive on Karachi port. The plan was to attack Karachi port on December 3, but the air raids by Pakistan occurred in the evening, making it difficult to launch an operation on the same day; therefore, D-day was changed to December 4. Styx - an anti-ship missile developed by the Soviet Union - was fired during Operation Trident. The Petyas were tasked to accompany the missile boats with their suitable radar, provide better targets, and tow a boat in case of an emergency. Before the war, the Pakistan Navy created a 75-mile (120 km) demarcation line for all merchant ships bound for Karachi and ordered them not to operate in that zone between sunset and dawn, and any boat picked up on radar would be a Pakistani boat on patrol. When the 'Killer Squadron' strike group reached 112 km south of Karachi, a target was identified northwest at a range of 70 km, and another target was spotted by the radar almost 68 km northeast. The strike group identified them as warships and Styx missiles, with a range of 75 km, that were prepared for launch. INS Nirghat engaged the target in the northwest and fired two Styx missiles. The Styx destroyed PNS Khaibar. INS Nipat fired two missiles and sank a merchant ship, MV Venus Challenger, which was reportedly loaded with arms for the Pakistani army. INS Veer destroyed PNS Muhafiz, a coastal minesweeper. In his book Transition to Triumph, Vice Admiral GM Hiranandani gives an analyzed account of the operation. When the strike group started closing in towards Karachi, INS Nirghat's radar mistook anti-aircraft tracer shells fired as aircraft, which created confusion and fear of a Pakistani air raid. A Times of India story on the Indian Navy's Operation Trident Photo Credit: Karachi Port On Fire Commander BB Yadav onboard INS Nipat fired his remaining Styx missiles at the Kemari oil refinery and set it on fire. The attack was successful, and no loss was reported. It was the finest hour in the history of the Indian Navy. Four days later, Operation Python was the last nail in the coffin. INS Vinash, Talwar, and Trishul sank PNS Dacca, damaged MV Harmattan and MV Gulf, and the Kemari oil refinery burned for days. Pakistan Navy's presence on the western front was in ashes, and India had complete maritime dominance. Commander Babru Bhan was the commanding officer of the 25th Missile Boat Squadron For the first time, anti-ship missiles were used in the region. Commander Babru Bhan Yadav was awarded the Maha Vir Chakra for his gallant action, and the Navy celebrates December 4 as 'Navy Day' to honour the battle. His citation read: Commander Babru Bahan Yadav was the Squadron Commander of a division of ships which formed part of the Task Group of the Western Fleet, ordered to carry out an offensive sweep on the enemy coast of Karachi on the night of 4th/5th December, 1971. Notwithstanding the threat of enemy air, surface and submarine attack, the officer led his division of ships deep into the enemy waters and encountered two groups of large enemy warships. Despite the heavy gunfire from the enemy destroyers and at great risk to his ships and personnel, Commander Yadav led his Squadron towards the enemy in a swift and determined attack. As a result, two enemy destroyers and one Mine sweeper were sunk. In this operation, Commander Babru Bahan Yadav displayed conspicuous gallantry and leadership of a high order in the best traditions of the Indian Navy. The bombing of Karachi port and the oil refinery resulted in the loss of around $3 billion to Pakistan and a massive shortage of oil for Pakistani aircraft. It also cut the Sea Lines of Communication (SLOC) between East and West Pakistan and blocked any supply of US weapons to Pakistan via Karachi. The destruction of Karachi port and India's complete air superiority in the Bay of Bengal meant complete isolation of Dacca (now Dhaka). The Pakistan Navy was not able to deliver supplies to its men in the east, and a no-fly zone for Pakistani jets over India meant enemy troops in the east were left to fend for themselves. Share
The Hindu
10-05-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Can India repeat Operation Trident of 1971?
During the India-Pakistan war in December 1971, the Indian Navy had unleashed its fury and firepower on the neighbouring country's harbour in Karachi. The operations conducted in two phases were titled Operation Trident (December 4 to 5) and Operation Python (December 8 to 9). The Indian Navy had deployed its Vidyut-class missile boats such as INS Nirghat and INS Veer from the Okha port, and completely destroyed at least four Pakistan Naval ships, one merchant ship carrying ammunition, and the fuel and ammunition depot in Karachi. That was a decisive moment, as India had Pakistan by its jugular vein, which pushed its economy into a shambles. Now, with Pakistan resorting to attacks after India launched Operation Sindoor post the Pahalgam terror attack, will India be able to repeat the 1971 heroics. Senior defence experts say that it is the ultimate, and it appears to be in the offing. Comparing the 1971 operations with the present situation, a senior defence analyst says, 'Then we had the technology, thought it was vintage, on our side. We had P-15 Termit cruise missiles, also known as Styx missiles. On the other hand, Pakistan did not have any missile and it was a new warfare for it. Though the missiles were vintage and were products of World War II, they wrecked havoc.' The Indian Navy is a blue water force today with two aircraft carriers (INS Vikrant and INS Vikramaditya) and nuclear submarines that can launch nuclear tipped cruise and conventional missiles, silently and unnoticed from the depths of the ocean, complementing and completing the nuclear triad. Also read | Defence Ministry signs contracts worth ₹2,500 crore for anti-tank missile systems, light vehicles 'Numerically, India is way ahead with its assets that includes at least two operational nuclear submarines and two aircraft carriers,' the experts say. Both the countries today have ship-based missiles and are equipped with state-of-the-art radars. 'But what can be the decisive punch is that India possesses a few well-stocked hi-tech weapons like the ship-based anti-ship missiles (Brahmos, Exocet and Harpoon), ship-based ballistic missiles such as Dhanush and Lora, and submarine-based Sagarika and K-4 and K-5 series, and a host of surface-to-air missiles such as Barak and air-to-air strike weapons such as Astra-MK series and Rampage,' the experts observe. 'We need to attack and choke Pakistan in Karachi, economically and logistically. We have the aircraft carriers for gaining Sea Control and the submarines for Sea Denial,' they say.
