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India Today
9 hours ago
- Politics
- India Today
Operation Sindoor: United abroad, divided at home
It has taken a horrific terror attack and an 87-hour-long military operation against Pakistan for India's right-wing army to confer a certificate of 'nationalism' to the Hyderabad MP and AIMIM MP, Asaduddin years, Owaisi's strident politics was demonised by the BJP as representing 'anti-national' sentiment. Wearing his distinct religious identity on his sherwani made him an 'enemy' figure for those whose politics revolves around 'othering' the Indian the same Asaduddin Owaisi is being feted as a 'patriot' for aggressively espousing India's case on Pak-based terrorism in global fora. The articulate Hyderabad MP's politics haven't changed: he has on several previous occasions also taken on Pakistan and the two-nation theory. Only his oversized image as a staunch Indian Muslim opponent of the BJP meant that he is easily typecast as an advocate of narrow Muslim interests and little else. This is no image makeover, only a reflection of a post-Pahalgam political environment which remains divisive and hyper-partisan at home but united and consensual abroad. Take also Home Minister Amit Shah's recent remarks in West Bengal where he accused the Mamata Banerjee government of 'vote bank politics' over Operation Sindoor. The TMC, like most opposition parties, has been mostly supportive of the Modi government on the 'war' with Pakistan. While Shah was addressing BJP workers in Kolkata, TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee was spewing fire against Pakistan's army state as part of an all-party delegation in East yet, with elections in Bengal less than a year away, the home minister's rabble-rousing speech was designed to sound the election bugle. A 24x7 politician, Shah is less home minister and more BJP karyakarta when on the campaign look at the chaotic state of the Congress party, India's principal opposition. Soon after Pahalgam, the party announced that it would 'fully support' any action taken by the Modi government to protect the country's 'national interest'. And yet, when the party's four-time Thiruvananthapuram MP, Shashi Tharoor endorses Operation Sindoor, he is instantly branded by local Congress leaders as having become the 'super-spokesperson' of the an eloquent Tharoor in Washington DC, leading another all-party delegation, refutes the charge that US President Donald Trump pushed India to agree to a ceasefire, Rahul Gandhi at a party rally in Bhopal accuses the prime minister of having 'surrendered' to the White House occupant. The confusion within its ranks is only glaringly apparent in the conflicting now to the BJP, India's dominant party of power. When Operation Sindoor was launched, the party's official social media handle released a video lampooning the Congress while accusing Dr Manmohan Singh of being a 'weak' prime minister who they claimed failed the country after 26/11. Strangely, its voluble MP Nishikant Dubey is part of an all-party team abroad, but that hasn't stopped him from putting out a series of acerbic tweets accusing Congress prime ministers dating back to Jawaharlal Nehru of 'selling' India's interests. From calling Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge a 'gaddar' (traitor) to dubbing Rahul Gandhi a 'Pakistani agent', the BJP's media machine has repeatedly targeted the Congress does one then make sense of a political milieu which is stoutly batting for India on foreign soil but throws bouncers at each other at home with no cohesion or decorum? Firstly, the blame must lie with the principal stakeholders, in this instance, the prime minister and the leader of the opposition. Forget about mutual respect, Prime Minister Modi and Rahul Gandhi seem to have utter contempt for each other. The prime minister has spared no opportunity in denigrating the Gandhi family, often in the most coarse language. The Congress leader, in turn, has been equally scornful of Mr Modi, almost as if the latter has no right to occupy the prime ministerial chair. When leaders respond to each other in such crude terms, how does one expect the followers to be any different?advertisementSecondly, there is an institutional atrophying that makes it increasingly difficult to ensure a measure of democratic accountability. Take, for example, the institution of Parliament, which in the past decade has been reduced to a notice-board by the ruling party. There has been little or no attempt made by government lawmakers to engage in a meaningful dialogue with the Opposition on key issues. Bills are rammed through, discussions are cut short, contentious issues are disallowed. When a debate is sought on Chinese intrusions, it is instantly refused. When an all-party meeting is called to discuss Operation Sindoor, the prime minister doesn't even attend it. Now, when a special session is demanded on the post-Pahalgam situation, the government ignores the plea. When debate is strangulated, democracy is there is the partisan role being played by a large section of the media which must be placed under the scanner. When the media becomes a loudspeaker of the government and shuts out or relentlessly interrogates the Opposition, then there is scarcely a level playing field in the national Operation Sindoor too, there has been little or no attempt by the media to raise inconvenient questions of the government even while routinely amplifying state propaganda. Is it any surprise, then, that the Chief of Defence Staff ended up admitting to Indian jet losses to a foreign media network in Singapore and not to a home audience? When domestic media credibility is strained, it creates an information vacuum that works against the public interest: the public has a right to know, not be kept in a dark tunnel of one key reason for the divisive nature of domestic politics is the pernicious influence of social media. This is the first Indo-Pak conflict in the age of social media, a noxious chamber of lies and abuse with no rules or filters to ensure even a semblance of due diligence or decency in public discourse. In this free-for-all whirl, there is ample space for extreme voices to get traction while expressions of moderation and nuance are increasingly marginalised. Soundbites are craftily edited, reels go viral, Twitter wars and loud name-calling debates are par for the course: who wants sense when sensation takes over? Domestic politics has become almost performative, playing to this media gallery where noise matters more than news in a post-truth surprise then that any hope for dialogue (samvaad) in our politics has gradually receded. Operation Sindoor may have united our leaders in salubrious foreign climes, but on home turf we remain as bruisingly divided as One Opposition MP who was part of the all-party delegation confided that he found his fellow BJP MP 'a rather nice person': 'She looks at me with hostility in Parliament, but on the flight, she was rather pleasant to talk to.' Maybe, a few more all-party visits might help break the ice further!(Rajdeep Sardesai is a senior journalist and author. His latest book is 2024: The Election That Surprised India)(Views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author)Tune InMust Watch IN THIS STORY#Operation Sindoor#Shashi Tharoor
India Today
10 hours ago
- Politics
- India Today
NIA raids 32 locations linked to terror in Kashmir, arms and ammunition seized
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday conducted a series of searches across various locations in the Kashmir valley as part of its ongoing investigation against terror conspiracy by Pakistan-backed terrorist organisations and their offshoots.A total of thirty-two locations were raided as part of the crackdown. The locations included residences of terrorists and overground workers associated with Pakistan-based terror outfits such as The Resistance Front (TRF), United Liberation Front, Jammu & Kashmir (ULFJ&K), Mujahideen Gazwat-ul-Hind (MGH), Jammu & Kashmir Freedom Fighters (JKFF), Kashmir Tigers, PAAF and others, which are affiliated to proscribed terrorist organisations such as Laskar-e-Toiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Al- Badr and cadres and workers whose premises were searched are under the NIA's scanner for their involvement in supporting terrorist activities, such as facilitating terrorists, the collection and distribution of sticky bombs/magnetic bombs, IEDs, funds, narcotic substances and arms/ammunitions. According to the NIA, the above-mentioned organisations, supported by their leaders in Pakistan, have been conspiring terror activities and violence in the valley by radicalising local youth and mobilising overground workers, to disturb peace and communal harmony in Jammu and have also revealed that Pak-based operatives were using social media and online apps to facilitate and promote terror. Drones were being used by them to deliver arms and ammunition, explosives, narcotics and other logistics to their operatives and cadres in the Kashmir live cartridges, a fired bullet head and a bayonet have been recovered during the apart, several digital devices containing large volumes of incriminating data and documents have been recovered by NIA during these searches. The recovered items will be scrutinised properly by the investigating agency to unravel the details of the terrorist investigations are still underway in this InMust Watch
Hindustan Times
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
NIA raids 32 locations in Kashmir in terror conspiracy case
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday conducted raids at 32 places in the Valley as part of its continuing investigations against terror conspiracy by Pakistan-backed proscribed terrorist organisations and their offshoots to destabilise Jammu and Kashmir. The NIA said that these raided locations were residential premises of hybrid terrorists and overground workers associated with these Pakistan-based offshoots of The Resistance Front (TRF), United Liberation Front Jammu & Kashmir (ULFJ&K), Mujahideen Gazwat-ul-Hind (MGH), Jammu & Kashmir Freedom Fighters (JKFF), Kashmir Tigers, PAAF and others, which are affiliated to proscribed terrorist organisations such as Laskar-e-Toiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Al- Badr etc. 'The cadres and workers whose premises were searched are under the NIA's scanner for their involvement in supporting terrorist activities such as facilitating terrorists, collection and distribution of sticky bombs/magnetic bombs, IEDs, funds, narcotic substances, and arms/ammunitions,' the NIA statement said, adding that according to the NIA investigations, the above-mentioned organisations supported by their leaders in Pakistan have been conspiring to commit acts of terror and violence by radicalising local youth and mobilizing overground workers, to disturb peace and communal harmony in J&K. 'Investigations have revealed that Pak-based operatives were using social media / online apps to facilitate and promote terror. Drones were being used by them to deliver arms/ammunition, explosives, narcotics etc. to their operatives and cadres in the Kashmir valley,' it said. The NIA said that two live cartridges, one fired bullet head and one bayonet have been recovered during the searches. 'Several digital devices containing large volumes of incriminating data & documents have been recovered by the NIA in these searches. These will be subjected to a thorough scrutiny by the agency to unravel the details of the terrorist conspiracy. NIA is continuing its investigation in the case,' the statement said.
India Gazette
16 hours ago
- Politics
- India Gazette
NIA conducts searches at 32 locations in J-K against terror ecosystem
New Delhi [India], June 5 (ANI): The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday conducted a series of searches across Kashmir as part of its continuing investigations against terror conspiracy by Pakistan-backed proscribed terrorist organisations and their offshoots to destabilise Jammu and Kashmir. According to an official release, 32 locations in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir were searched as part of today's crackdown. The locations were residential premises of hybrid terrorists and overground workers associated with these Pakistan-based offshoots such as The Resistance Front (TRF), United Liberation Front Jammu & Kashmir (ULFJ&K), Mujahideen Gazwat-ul-Hind (MGH), Jammu & Kashmir Freedom Fighters (JKFF), Kashmir Tigers, PAAF and others, which are affiliated to proscribed terrorist organisations such as Laskar-e-Toiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Al- Badr. As per the release, the cadres and workers whose premises were searched are under the NIA's scanner for their involvement in supporting terrorist activities such as facilitating terrorists, collection and distribution of sticky bombs/magnetic bombs, IEDs, funds, narcotic substances, and arms/ammunitions. According to the NIA investigations, the above-mentioned organisations supported by their leaders in Pakistan have been conspiring to commit acts of terror and violence by radicalising local youth and mobilising overground workers, to disturb peace and communal harmony in J&K. Investigations have revealed that Pak-based operatives were using social media / online apps to facilitate and promote terror. Drones were being used by them to deliver arms/ammunition, explosives, narcotics, etc., to their operatives and cadres in the Kashmir valley, the release stated. Two Live cartridges, one fired bullet head, and one bayonet have been recovered during the searches. Apart from this, several digital devices containing large volumes of incriminating data and documents have been recovered by NIA in these searches. These will be subjected to a thorough scrutiny by the agency to unravel the details of the terrorist conspiracy. NIA is continuing its investigation into the case. (ANI)
United News of India
a day ago
- Politics
- United News of India
NIA conducts searches at 32 locations in terror conspiracy case
Srinagar, June 5( UNI) The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday raided 32 locations across Kashmir in a terror conspiracy case, officials said. The raids targeted hybrid militants and overground workers (OGWs) affiliated with various proscribed terrorist organisations. The NIA conducted a series of searches on Thursday across Kashmir as part of its continuing investigations against terror conspiracy by Pakistan-backed proscribed terrorist organizations and their offshoots to destabilise Jammu and Kashmir. A NIA statement said that 32 locations in the UT of Jammu & Kashmir were searched as part of today's crackdown. The locations searched were residential premises of hybrid terrorists and overground workers associated with these Pakistan-based offshoots such as The Resistance Front (TRF), United Liberation Front Jammu & Kashmir (ULFJ&K), Mujahideen Gazwat-ul-Hind (MGH), Jammu & Kashmir Freedom Fighters (JKFF), Kashmir Tigers, PAAF, and others, which are affiliated with proscribed terrorist organisations such as Laskar-e-Toiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Al-Badr etc. "The cadres and workers whose premises were searched are under the NIA's scanner for their involvement in supporting terrorist activities such as facilitating terrorists, collection and distribution of sticky bombs/magnetic bombs, IEDs, funds, narcotic substances, and arms/ammunitions, " the statement said. According to the NIA investigations, the above-mentioned organisations supported by their leaders in Pakistan have been conspiring to commit acts of terror and violence by radicalising local youth and mobilizing overground workers, to disturb peace and communal harmony in J& Investigations have revealed that Pak-based operatives were using social media, online apps to facilitate and promote terror. Drones were being used by them to deliver arms/ammunition, explosives, narcotics, etc., to their operatives and cadres in the Kashmir valley, the NIA said. Two Live cartridges, a fired bullet head, and a bayonet have been recovered during the searches. Apart from this, several digital devices containing large volumes of incriminating data & documents have been recovered by NIA in these searches. " These will be subjected to a thorough scrutiny by the agency to unravel the details of the terrorist conspiracy, " the NIA said. NIA is continuing its investigation into the case. UNI MJR BD
