SURGICAL STRIKE OR RAID?

Officers at the session also expressed concern over political interference in the army. Former army chief Gen VP Malik (retd) bristled: “Even before any action gets over, your act is being questioned by politicians because of polarisation that has taken place in the political world... We had to justify the army during the surgical strikes.” Col RD Singh (retd) said soldiers were always advised to never talk about money, women and politics in the mess. “Today, we are discussing raids in the open and politicians are milking it.” There was much opposition to the term “surgical strike”. An officer demanded the army headquarters call it a “raid”. The term ‘surgical strike’, said Col Bachittar Singh (retd), was misplaced.