The silver lining

Opposition,especially BJP,has shown remarkable restraint through the army chief controversy

Opposition,especially BJP,has shown remarkable restraint through the army chief controversy

Once it is all over,looking for silver linings in the confrontation between the government and the army chief will prove to be a daunting task. Even the most obstinate optimist might find herself unequal to the challenge of identifying redeeming features in the shadow-boxing between the two sides that spilled into the public sphere all this week,presenting a tableau unprecedented in this country. Yet,look back again at the days gone by,and the restraint exercised by a third player,or set of players,stands out. Parties of the opposition have,by and large,refrained from diving in the troubled waters on this sensitive issue. Admittedly,there have been tell-tale signs of the governments discomfiture being relished by its political opponents. By the end of the week,the BJP even demanded the resignation of defence minister A.K. Antony in Rajya Sabha,while the SP,RJD and JD(U) had asked for the sacking of General V.K. Singh earlier. But those demands have been conspicuously lacking in fire and spectacle. On the whole,the opposition has held back from political fireworks. In the process,it has given the government some crucial room for manoeuvre.

Be it the BJP or the Left,parties have pointed to the absence of statecraft and administrative finesse in the governments approach to the controversy. They have gestured to the unseemliness of an issue that ought to have been settled behind closed doors turning into a public wrangle. They have expressed concern at the evident disconnect and lack of communication between the government and the army and its possible national security implications. And urged the government to sort out the tangles in its defence procurement policy and ensure the countrys defence modernisation and preparedness do not suffer. But even as they flagged these serious themes,their interventions were marked by sobriety as was evident in Jaswant Singhs persuasive piece in this newspaper this week.

This restraint is not entirely unexpected. Traditionally,equations between the army brass and civilian leadership have not and should not become the subject of public controversy or political point-scoring. Also,in the present instance,even those parties that openly sympathised with the general when he confronted the government on his date of birth issue,felt he had taken a step too far by inaugurating a second round of hostilities. Whatever be the explanation,there is reason to be grateful for the fact that the opposition decided that discretion is the better part of valour. It has shown more sagacity than the government has.