Traitor Talk

Operation Sindoor is not over. It has merely paused as the Indian government and the nation awaits perfidious Pakistan’s next move with bated breath. Yet, even in this hour of national crisis, India finds herself yet again fighting twin wars - one on the frontlines, the other in the pitiful trenches of domestic politics. It seems a section of Indian opposition leaders seem determined to undermine the national cause. Instead of rallying behind the tricolour and joining forces with the Modi government, Rahul Gandhi, Sanjay Raut and their ilk have chosen to parrot the narrative of the enemy. This is political opportunism of the vilest kind - juvenile, cynical and disgraceful.

True to his penchant for self-destruction, Rahul Gandhi is back to doing what he does best: peddling half-truths with the confidence of an ignoramus. By misquoting External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and suggesting that India informed Pakistan before Operation Sindoor began, he crossed the line from mere foolishness to active sabotage. Whether he realizes or not, Rahul Gandhi’s remarks seem to be choreographed in tandem with Pakistan’s propaganda mill.

For a man who has never held ministerial office, Gandhi has shown extraordinary arrogance in questioning one of India’s most seasoned diplomats, Dr. Jaishankar. He does not need lessons in diplomacy from a politician who cannot differentiate between foreign policy and family drama.

Meanwhile, the Congress ally in Maharashtra, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) is up to a similar game. The party’s megaphone Sanjay Raut, never one to miss a chance to scream into a void, has urged the INDIA bloc to boycott all-party delegations being sent abroad. Why? Because they allegedly conceal the Centre’s “sins and crimes.” Raut’s remarks, dripping with melodrama and devoid of logic, are a masterclass in how not to conduct oneself in a time of national crisis. One wonders whether he has forgotten the difference between opposition politics and national betrayal. Fortunately, Sharad Pawar, the elder statesman of Indian politics, has not. His reminder that global matters must rise above “local-level politics” ought to have shamed Raut into silence.

But shame, clearly, is in short supply. The Trinamool Congress’s hissy fit over not being consulted about which MP to nominate for the international delegations is another sorry chapter. Their decision to withdraw Yusuf Pathan, citing “lack of consultation,” reeks of wounded ego masquerading as principle.

Did the BJP consult every party on every name? No. The inclusion of Congressmen Shashi Tharoor and Manish Tewari exposes the hollowness of that charge. If anything, it proves that the Modi government is committed to sending credible voices, not just loyalists.

The real tragedy here is not that Rahul Gandhi, Sanjay Raut or Abhishek Banerjee oppose the Modi government. That is their democratic right. The tragedy is that they oppose India’s foreign policy objectives even when the nation is reeling from a terror attack.

In normal times, such behaviour is unpatriotic. In a time of war, it is unconscionable.