Ghazala Wahab

First, the ground situation as it exists today. The world is in the grip of one of the worst global pandemics in recent times. While over six million people have been affected worldwide, nearly 3,72,000 have died. In India, more than 200,000 people have been infected by the Covid-causing Corona virus, and over 6,000 have died.

Doctors and experts insist that this is just the tip of the iceberg. The seemingly modest figures in India are the consequence of low-testing. Once the testing facilities are ramped up, the numbers will rise too.

Lives apart, the major and long-lasting impact of the pandemic has been on the livelihoods of people. According to conservative estimates, nearly 50 million people (both in the organised and unorganised sector) may have lost their jobs. This figure is likely to increase once economic activity commences and companies realise that they are not able to sustain even their reduced workforce. In fact, never before has the government job (in any class) appeared more lucrative and powerful than today simply for its security and clout.

Economists anticipate the worst recession since Independence with growth slipping to negative. Despite the economic rehabilitation package announced by the government, the overall sentiment is one of despair. The package, more than anything else, revealed government of India’s complete lack of ideas and control over the economy. At a time when people need instant support, it has promised long-term reforms. Curiously, one of promised reforms to help the economy get back on its feet is raising the foreign direct investment (FDI) ceiling in the defence sector to 74 per cent from the earlier 49 per cent. Ironically, while the government insist on saying no to foreign goods (in the name of self-reliance), it wants foreign money to come in, and that too in a critical sector like defence! Clearly, the government is overwhelmed by the crisis.

As if our plate wasn’t already full, on May 5, the soldiers from People’s Liberation Army (PLA) sauntered across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Pangong Tso area of eastern Ladakh. A few days later they also transgressed into north Sikkim and finally into the Galwan Valley north of Pangong Tso (see the cover story). Since then, they have been busy building their defences, including ammunition yard, even as the government of India struggles to project both a sense of control and domination over the situation. Neither is easy to project given the ease with which surveillance technology being accessed by non-government analysts is frequently putting satellite imagery in public domain. Yet, we persevere.

Meanwhile, in a possible realisation of Indian military’s worst nightmare, all is not quiet on the western front either. In a recent interview to Press Trust of India, General Officer Commanding of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps, Lt Gen. Baggavalli Somashekar Raju said that both the terrorist training camps and their launch-pads in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) are ‘full’. “These terrorist cadres are desperate to infiltrate with the help of Pakistani Army”, he said. This clearly will lead to a hot and busy summer in the Valley. In other words, expect more pain in Kashmir—both for the civilians and the security forces, across the colour of the uniform.

Given the tension on both military lines and enormous human distress within, one would have expected that the government would do its best to keep the lid on domestic fissures, especially those that compromise the discipline and efficiency of the forces responsible for internal peace and