The so-called media intellectuals ganged up against General VK Singh and used all tricks and methods to put him on back foot. But, they forgot that they are now dealing with a Retired Army General, who gave 42 years of his life to national service, never bowed before anyone and took heads on when things go against his principles.
It started way back in April 2012 when the Indian Express published a story that General VK Singh had the movement of two units of the Indian Army towards Delhi in January 2012, leaving then UPA Government shell-shocked. The IE claimed that central intelligence agencies reported an unexpected and non-notified movement by a mechanised infantry unit from Hisar and a paratroopers detachment from Agra in the direction of the capital.
General VK Singh responded sharply to the Indian Express report with a tweet on February 21, 2014: “Saw report by presstitutes of IE, hilarious front page justification of Coupta. Confirms who cooked up routine move to denigrate army”. There was a huge uproar over his remarks. The regular viewers of TimesNow will recall that Arnab did mistook the word ‘Presstitutes’ as something else during the Newshour debate at that time, but was corrected by another panelist. He may not admit that today, but a review of the debate during that period, will confirm it.
A lot of water has flown since then. General VK Singh joined the BJP and won from Ghaziabad Lok Sabha seat by a huge margin. He also became the MoS, External Affairs. The General, known for his straight talks, never shared a cordial relations with a majority of of Lutyen’s Media. the major controversy erupted on March 23, when General VK Singh was sent to attend the Pakistan Day celebrations as part of the government’s representatives.
Then came ‘Operation Rahat’ in Yemen. We never saw any Union Minister going to the war zone of a foreign country and monitoring the rescue operations by motivating the IAF and Indian Navy. General VK Singh did that. He camped there for weeks, did his best and brought accolade to India. Not only 5,600 Indians were rescued in Yemen, but also over 600 foreign nationals were evacuated by the Indian Navy and IAF. India’s prowess on the global arena, was proved beyond doubt when 26 countries, including USA, Germany, France, Netherlands and Egypt sought our help to evacuate their stranded citizens.
When Gen VK Singh returned home, he still did not get the attention he deserved. But, the media ran after Rahul Gandhi, who ended his two-month-long mysterious disappearance and returned home to take charge of Congress Party. Still, the General clarified his stand and said that his comment was directed at a section of media, not at all. “90% of media people are doing their job right, while 10% are not. My comment was for those 10%”, he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi reminded the media of its duty and responsibilities and saluted Gen Singh for his commendable efforts. The salute offered by the PM, says it all and must serve as an eye-opener for everyone, including media sans party politics.
© Sagar Satapathy @ ONI