It is lunchtime at the Allahabad High Court. In one of the many lawyers’ chambers, a group has congregated. The conversation is desultory till someone mentions the situation on the Pakistan border where 18 soldiers of the Indian army were killed a week ago. The decibel level immediately rises and the lawyers are split on what the government should do: rush in and smash Pakistan, or think things through.
One particularly agitated lawyer shouts above the din: “Just watch: Narendra Modi will take very strong action and then nothing can stop the BJP from winning the elections in Uttar Pradesh next year.”
Topic of debateIndeed, as this reporter travelled across central and eastern U.P. last week, the turmoil in the Kashmir valley and the killing of the Indian soldiers is a subject that is being hotly debated, not just in lawyers’ chambers, universities and middle class drawing rooms in the cities, but in remote villages, too.
In Khalilabad district’s Bhujari village, it is not quite nine in the morning. “The public wants a fight to the finish with Pakistan. Earlier, people felt that the Congress government was weak, so Hindus voted for the BJP. But people are disappointed: they are saying this is a Hindu government and it is doing nothing,” says Tej Prakash Tewari.
An avowed BJP supporter, he stresses, “In our district, there are torch lit demonstrations every day; people are coming out onto the streets demanding action. One of the martyrs, Ganesh Shankar Yadav, is from the Medhawal assembly segment in our district.”
Diplomatic measures and tough speeches in the U.N. won’t help Pakistan reform, he says, adding, “Modiji should show us that he really has a 56 inch chest. If the U.S. can enter into other countries’ territories and shoot down terrorists, why can’t we? Otherwise, he is taking a risk in these elections.”
I catch that same note of disappointment in Varanasi’s Assi Ghat among locals who gather there every evening to watch the Ganga flow by and discuss politics. Yogendra Singh and Saumitra Shastri, both pensioners, are sitting with their friends.
Supporters disappointedWhen I ask about the killing of the soldiers, there is an uncomfortable silence and Yogendra Singh’s voice drops: “There was some slippage (he uses the English word); yes, that was definitely a failure on the past of this government, even though Modiji had extended a hand in friendship to Pakistan. That was a mistake.”
Among the chaat stalls in Varanasi’s Lanka, an animated conversation is underway. “Under Manmohan Singh, Kashmir was largely peaceful. The BJP has set fire to Kashmir. It looks as though we have lost the State. The Congress would have managed the situation better,” says one of them and the others nod. It is an all Hindu group.
At Azamgarh’s Hotel Garuda, its owner Bijendra Singh says, “People here are saying, this is no longer the time for tweets, but for tit for tat. People want instant action but, of course, a war requires preparation. And now there is the danger of a nuclear war. We, too, could get destroyed. But the sentiment on the ground is very strong.”
Staunch BJP supporters offer a range of explanations on why it is not possible to act without weeks, if not months of preparation. Asked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi taunting his predecessor in office, Dr Manmohan Singh, in the run-up to the 2014 elections, saying that if ever came to power he would ensure that for every two soldiers who were killed, ten Pakistani soldiers would meet a similar fate, they look embarrassed.
But BJP supporters and critics alike all believe that the government’s action could influence the party’s performance in next year’s Assembly polls.
