January 22, 2025

The latest poster boy of the Left liberal establishment in India, Kanhaiya Kumar, is of the opinion that the Army indulges in raping innocent Kashmiri women. It is an oft repeated charge of this brigade and hence there is nothing new in this. But in his new found celebrity status, Kanhaiya needs to keep saying controversial things to remain in the limelight. This, despite the conditional bail he has got from the court where he was asked to reform himself.

Is this a ploy by the Leftists to get him arrested once again to keep the controversy alive? They will make him do and say things which will force the court to take cognizance and ask the police to put him behind bars again. That will suit the Left purpose perfectly. Kanhaiya Kumar behind bars is better for carrying out their insidious war against the government and the country. That will give them more opportunities to eulogize enemies of the nation and raise the cry of azaadi. After all, an azaad Kanhaiya Kumar negates what they are saying about having no freedom.

As for Army jawans raping Kashmiri women, without for a moment condoning such acts by the jawans, it needs to be said that when one talks about such things, generalizations should not be made. Of course there have been incidents of rapes by jawans. Such acts have been detected and widely reported by an azaad national media. An azaad police force has registered FIR’s. An azaad Army has taken action, not only in rape cases but also in cases of false encounters. The perpetrators have been punished whenever found guilty. The law of the land has taken its course. There have been no cases of burying such cases. That is azaadi for the informed, even if it is not for the Leftists.

What Kanhaiya is trying to do is generalizing the matter. He means to say that the Army jawans have nothing better to do than go around raping Kashmiri women as a rule rather than as an exception by some misguided recruits. Mistakes have been committed by Army jawans and they have been handed out exemplary punishment for the same. Incidence of rape in Kashmir by jawans has gone down tremendously. Few new cases have been reported in the recent past. What is Kanhaiya trying to prove by raking up a stale issue?

To any impartial observer, this will look like a clear misuse of azaadi. These people have lost respect for the country and its citizens to such an extent that they take perverse pleasure in needling authority. It is good to stand up for marginalized people but it is not good to tar the image of a professional organization like the national Army with a broad brush for the purpose. A sense of propriety needs to accompany any protest. The Army did exemplary work when the state of Jammu & Kashmir was flooded. It provided food and other supplies to the people cut off from the rest of the country. It rescued the distressed. Only the Left liberal thinking can call the whole unit rapist for the mistakes of a misguided few – who get punished in any case.

Expect more such fireworks from Kanhaiya Kumar. For, the way he has been lionized by the entire opposition and a section of the media, there is no stopping him, unless the courts step in. For Kanhaiya, abhi toh party shuru hui hai.