EC Urged to Stop Parties From Politicising Armed Forces

New Delhi:  Several armed forces veterans are upset with the ongoing hypernationalist propaganda being unleashed by political parties piggy-backing on the armed forces after the Pulwama attack and have written to the Election Commission, seeking its immediate intervention.

With election dates set to be announced soon, former chief of naval staff, Admiral (Retd) L Ramadass, on behalf of several veterans, has written to the Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora expressing deep concern over political parties using the Armed Forces for political gains in  the aftermath of the Pulwama attack and the Balakot incident.

“I am sure that you are well aware that the Armed Forces have always prided themselves on belonging to a structure, an ethos and environment which has been both a-political and secular. With elections due a few weeks from now, it is particularly important that 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,” says the letter, written on March 6.

Expressing a “collective sense of dismay” at how some political parties were “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 cautioned the EC that this had the

“potential to destroy the very foundations and value system of our armed forces, drawn from the vision, the spirit and intent of the Indian Constitution.”

Attaching various links of such incidents, Admiral Ramdass urged the EC

to immediately intervene and send a strong message to the political parties that there should be no misuse of the photographs as indeed any other material/reports or other information pertaining to the armed forces for electioneering.