Kashmiri youth look at their “disabled”mobile phones in Srinagar. AFP

THE nation is caught in a no-holds-barred war on television and social media across an undefined LoC. It is here that the Twitter Warriors get their daily high of Vitamin-N or Nationalism. With no real expertise and commitment, we have an entire generation wasting their creativity on issues best left to experts. In the process, many reputations are being tarnished and we seem to be losing our capacity of accepting dissent and light-hearted repartee.While it will be difficult to legislate a template for a medium that abhors discipline yet it may be worthwhile to initiate a debate for voluntary self regulation. The basic questions that beg answers are; when to comment, where or which medium and what to comment on. Since it is laissez faire on social media, who and why are obviously irrelevant questions. The intention is channelisation of debate and certainly not stifling it. It is important that social media warriors resist the urge for “fastest finger first” and exercise some restraint specially with regard to operational situations. A twitter or TV war on an ongoing action, besides compromising security puts pressure on Commanders in the field. This is made worse with visuals, graphics and even satellite imagery in some cases duly annotated by so-called armchair experts.We have had instances where media questioned operational commanders on the duration of the operation, thereby jeopardising risk mitigation to minimise casualties.  There is an urgent need on the part of the Army to refine our systems for dissemination of information by setting up efficient and interactive Incident Command Posts with media interfaces to share information at periodicity,  conforming to media deadlines. It will be a good idea if the real experts with mini battalion of followers on Twitter defer their opinion as they can virtually unleash an uncontrolled chain reaction. This apart, direct message/ communication facility needs to be utilised by all parties on sensitive issues with a view to get the complete story before shooting the tweet. The official Twitter handlers of security agencies should set up links with known opinion makers and media to dynamically share their version and answer queries.  The growing tendency to analyse tactical issues needs to be curbed as it is difficult even for Veterans to keep pace with the dynamics of terrain, force levels and, above all, constraints of myriad challenges of local commanders. Hybrid war is a dirty one and  the adversary uses dangerous, deceptive and disruptive tactics. This can often be countered with some innovative jugaad only, which may appear crude. Pre-mature comments are likely to    breed  risk-averse junior leadership driven by zero-error syndrome. A fix-the-commander attitude, even without an inquiry, displays total lack of faith in the Army’s time- tested self-correction techniques and rather high levels of accountability. It is not as if all culprits get punished in the armed forces but the chances of their escaping are remote and often the punishment is strict, which in most cases is either set aside or toned down by courts. A culture of brutal accountability in the armed forces is in stark contrast to its almost total absence amongst politicians and bureaucrats causing frustration in the forces. The new iconoclastic tendency where respect for elders is diminishing, coupled with a competitive urge to project an ultra- nationalist image is deplorable and needs to be curbed. In recent instances, an ex Chief was insulted and many a General have received less-than-fair treatment in the studios. It is difficult not to  love institution like Army yet it can’t be beyond scrutiny. While healthy and informed criticism is welcome, wisdom demands discretion and tolerance. The bottom line is have faith in the Army and allow it to do its job. On social media and in TV studios, it is high time for introspection and cooling off, for nations build their future based on real toil and certainly not through endles arguments, even if we are known as Argumentative Indians.

Net loss

Authorities in the Kashmir Valley ordered internet service providers to block 15 social media services for at least one month, saying they were being misused by “anti-national and anti-social elements”. The move followed an upsurge in violence in the region. The writer is currently Maharaja Ranjit Singh Chair at Panjab University, Chandigarh.