Mainstream WeeklyPost-Pahalgam attack on 22 April 2025, BJP led NDA government has racheted up a war hysteria. A majority of the Parliamentary opposition has aquised by offering unconditional support to any steps that the government initiates to take to task the culprits and their ’patrons’. Thereby, the BJP led NDA has been given a carte blanche, at least in the domain of foreign policy viz., the liberty to decide upon the contuors of Indo-Pak relationship that could forefront a military option over diplomacy.
That the largest opposition party, the INC believes that foreign policy is the decisive arena to address the challenges posed by the killing of tourists at the hands of seven armed militants of The Resistance Front, some of whom were speaking in Pashto, appears to be a strategic choice. Indeed, the leadership of the INC seems to be vigilant in ensuring that any statement issued by party leaders, that are raising policy and administrative failures of the central government, need to be refrained with as they distract from the party line of extending unconditional support to the government to tackle the issue of militancy in Kashmir.
The letter to all PCC chiefs, CLP leaders, party general secretaries and in-charges, MPs, MLAs/MLCs and heads of various departments and frontal organisations, by AICC General Secretary Mr. K C Venugopal is instructive. "At this critical juncture, when our collective resolve is being tested, the Indian National Congress must exemplify unity, maturity, and responsibility- virtues that have defined our conduct through decades of national service, in government and in opposition alike...It is, therefore, hereby directed that all comments, statements, and representations- whether by party leaders, spokespersons, media panellists, or official handles of the Congress Social Media Department- must strictly adhere to the CWC resolution...Any deviation, misrepresentation, or off-the-cuff remark that diverges from the official line shall be deemed a serious breach of party discipline." It may be pertinent to point out here that a member of the highest echelon of the Congress party tagged Mr. Venugopal’s post on the X handle.
Yet, it will be sobering to remember that BJP’s response to the Pahalgam killings is not limited to the domain of foreign policy alone. Indeed, it is tagged with the agenda of communal polarization. On the foreign policy front BJP has been racheting up a muscular military approach towards Pakistan. In a political meeting in Bihar, PM Modi said India will pursue terrorists to the ends of the earth and give them