No forced donations, please

The Indian Army’s greatness is that it has remained an apolitical organisation all through. Whatever be the internal politics of a behemoth tasked with safeguarding India’s territorial integrity, the Army has never been known to act in any way detrimental to the larger national interest. No wonder it wasn’t comfortable at being dragged into the politics over the release of a film, and the move by a producer to offer Rs 5 crores to the Army Welfare Fund as a salve to his conscience as his film release got embroiled in a debate over nationalism in the wake of terror attacks by Pakistani non-state actors on Indian soil. The pros and cons over allowing Pakistani artistes to act in Bollywood films should have nothing to do with the Army, a professional fighting machine.

The welfare coffers may have tripled with the Rs 5 crore “fine” imposed by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, which spearheaded the campaign against Pakistani artistes starring in Indian films, but it would leave a bad taste. The fund, in its infancy, aims to provide compensation to the families of soldiers who lay down their lives keeping vigil on our borders. To spoil it through forced donations was unseemly and uncalled for. This should be a pristine effort by civil society to recognise the Army’s sacrifices in safeguarding us from the evil designs of prickly neighbours. In fact, this effort to compensate martyrs should be widened to include paramilitary organisations like the BSF and ITBP, which too undertake crucial duties on the nation’s borders.