The General who beat a Retreat

For those of you totally oblivious to what is happening in the world around you, allow me to tell you how a former General of the Indian Armed Forces and present Union Minister finally completed his formal induction into the frat house that is Indian politics.

I meant only 10%, you imbecile civilian!
Image Courtesy: Google Images.

He managed to piss off every journalist in the country because of a slight and misinterpretation by one of them. And then, like a very conscious leader of international importance, tried to explain his way out with an excuse even North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un wouldn’t believe and Kim believed snake wine would help him have better sex, so that’s saying something.

The minister called the Indian media ‘presstitutes’ and this term went viral over twitter and very other social media site in no time. It is true, the man did an absolutely wonderful job of handling the evacuation of Indians as well as foreign citizens from war-torn Yemen, even personally going there to oversee operations and the nation takes pride in this achievement, I do too. But then some media houses known for ridiculousness went and did what they do best. And the General did something he was probably taught not to do… ever; he lost his head.

He lashed out at the entire Fourth Estate for plotting against him, hand in hand with the arms lobby because in his words, “They don’t forget.” Although that’s a cool quote and sounds like, “A Lannister always pays his debts,” it seems like the minister has been watching too much HBO for his own good.

The point here is that even if he was misunderstood and that he meant to point towards only a section of the media, he (a four-star General and a Union Minister) should have know that it would cause outrage among those who follow him and hold him in high esteem. Of course, one would say, he knew what he was saying. In that case, didn’t he realize the repercussions of his actions?

A person in his position needs to know what to say and what not to say and tweet or post because as an opinion leader in the nation and abroad, his words can have implications far and wide. His words may even lead to backlash and come back to him as they did in this case. It is the classic case of almost defeating the enemy, then chasing after them only to find the main army marching in to finish the job. He went too far, a strategic failure he should have been aware of.