…to these innumerable stories on Lieutenant Colonel Purohit and Malegaon blasts in the media.

Truth is the best propaganda and lies are the worst. To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; to be credible we must be truthful. It is as simple as that. ~Edward R. Murrow

The Malegaon blasts, Lieutenant Colonel Purohit and ATS continue to hog the limelight in the Indian media, both print and television. A Google News search would reveal 1000 to 1500 stories in the media depending on the keywords used. Most of these stories are sensationalist in nature — unverified, attributed to unnamed sources and typically virulent. While this is not to disabuse the ATS findings or the widely held notion that Lieutenant Colonel Purohit is the prime culprit in the Malegaon blasts, the question that really boggles the mind is — Why hasn’t the Army responded publicly to these stories and clarified its position on the matter so far?

More than any civil organisation, the armed forces have historically known the value of communication, propaganda and counter-propaganda. Public diplomacy is a fanciful term used very often nowadays by the military to denote truthful propaganda and the Indian armed forces used it to great effect against Pakistan during the Kargil conflict. The Purohit-Malegaon case has continued to be the lead story for nearly two weeks now and the Indian Army, the one institution that has suffered the maximum damage from this story, has not officially reacted so far.

The two public responses, one by the Deputy Chief on the occasion of a Gorkha battalion moving to Congo, and the other by the Army Chief on a security visit to J&K, have been perfunctory at best. The ideal public diplomacy response should involve a detailed press briefing by a senior army officer, accompanied by a senior representative of the ATS (if feasible). This should give all out all the unclassified service details pertaining to Lieutenant Colonel Purohit, clarifications on the allegations raised in the media, and answer the charges purportedly framed by the ATS. Such a briefing is likely to be featured prominently in the Indian media and will dispel the many questions being raised against the army.

However, if the army is perceived to be shying away from a scrutiny by the media, then these questions against the army get strengthened and lend further credence to the innuendos, rumours, lies and half-truths floating around on the airwaves. It also depicts the army as being unsure of the truth and of its official position on the subject. The army does not deserve to be seen as apologetic and defensive by avoiding issuance of a clear, precise and truthful statement on the subject.

This shirking from public diplomacy has another damaging fallout for the army, other than destroying the already tenuous public image of this hoary institution. The vacuum left by the absence of an institutional response is filled in by military veterans of all hues, who have no locus standi on the matter.

This abdication of responsibility and authority on public diplomacy to the veterans may have been a deliberate ploy on the pay commission issue. The heavy politicisation of this Malegaon-Purohit issue, however, makes it totally unsuitable for the veterans to act as spokespersons for the army. Many veterans have political affiliations and a large number of them have been dissociated from the mainstream army for a significant number of years now, when the culture of the army has undergone a change during that period. These veterans also do not have access to any official records and thus their public defence of the army, based on anecdotes and emotional rants, is unable to effectively counter the mixed bag of lies, half-truths and truths dished out by the mainstream media.

The way ahead is simple. A twentieth-century organisation should learn not to survive, but to thrive in the realities of twenty-first century India. The army should publicly respond as an institution — effectively, honestly and credibly — before any further damage is inflicted on its public image by this media circus surrounding Lieutenant Colonel Purohit and Malegaon blasts. Time is of essence here. Any further delay in crafting a credible public message will only make this damage indelible.

Related posts — The Malegaon Major, More than Malegaon & It is up to the senior military officers