News Desk |
A former chief of Indian Navy Admiral L Ramdas has written a scathing letter to the Election Commission of India (ECI) expressing deep ‘concern’ and ‘dismay’ on the very recent instances of political parties misusing armed forces to “influence the electorate”.
The Admiral referred to the broken use of Indian Air Force (IAF) and Indian Army to target Pakistan to fuel the anti-Pakistan rhetoric which wins votes in India. The IAF, Indian Army and recently Indian Navy suffered embarrassing failures in their poorly strategized attempts to target Pakistan and now Indian intelligentsia are holding the government to question.
Indian Air Chief recently did a press conference admitting that they had no way of conducting a headcount as a result of an airstrike, putting the BJP government’s claims to a shadow.
Lambasting the use of armed forces for votes, the ex-Admiral said that the “recent instances of using the armed forces for political gains, especially in the aftermath of both Pulwama and the strikes in Balakot” is against the ethos of the armed forces.
“There should not be any misuse of these recent events by any political party to send triumphalist or jingoistic messages which can influence the electorate,” the former Indian Navy chief urged.
“And it is in this context that as a responsible citizen and a veteran of the Indian Armed Forces, I share our collective sense of dismay and deep concern at how some political parties are brazenly pushing their agenda using images, uniforms and other examples, showing pictures of the armed forces with political figures, in public spaces, in media, election rallies and so on,” the letter added.
Read more: Pakistan Navy foils Indian submarine’s intrusion
The former Indian Navy chief said it was entirely unacceptable since it has the potential to destroy the very foundations and value system of the armed forces. Indian Air Chief recently did a press conference admitting that they had no way of conducting a headcount as a result of an airstrike, putting the BJP government’s claims to a shadow. The armed forces were further humiliated when an Indian Navy submarine was apprehended entering Pakistani waters and let go of with a warning.