It's about time Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore grows out of his sophomoric bravado

By Bikram Vohra Why do politicians walk into hot water? Can’t they see the steam rising from the pot? The need to be dramatic and beat the drum is so overwhelming that they cannot help themselves. Give them a microphone and out goes common sense. Union Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore can tweet all he likes to distance himself from the schoolboy bravado he displayed on AajTak’s show Seedhi Baat . He shot his mouth off over catching India’s enemies, including the option of a covert operations on what would ostensibly be foreign soil. [caption id=“attachment_2423696” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore. PTI[/caption] Why not just take an ad out in the papers so that all the enemies of the state can be alerted that the hunt for them is on? The intelligence agencies must cringe when politicians muck around without any knowledge of what they are talking about. Remember the Myanmar operation when India conducted a retributive operation against Naga insurgents? This Minister made similar tom-tomming comments then. They even released a picture of the commandos as if it was a cricket match victory. You never show the picture of those who took part. That is plain common sense because that makes them a target for revenge. You never let the enemy know that you have something in the pipeline. You might get a few brownie points and some publicity but it will come back and bite you in the butt. Think about it. Did Osama Bin Laden know the Americans were closing in? Did President Barack Obama’s team give timely cautions and offer ‘wait and see’ sophomoric heroics? All the minister had to say was India’s sworn enemies should not sleep well at night for we will pursue them relentlessly, now make of that what you will. If there any sympathetic takers for that Indian inclination to be impressed by the ‘arre yaar, kya dat ke bola’ fashion, don’t be. Obviously, something was said that was so out of line that Rathore received a dressing down from High Command on Monday morning, and is now tweeting away for all his worth. Here’s a sample:

To keep it fair, all AajTak has to do is play the tape. It’s his tweet versus AajTak’s tape. So much for ‘seedhi’ baat. The problem is that TV is a heady wine and a poison. Put folks in front of a camera and off they go with no concept of what they should say, finally covering their faces with egg. Who on earth gives away top secret hints to the enemy? Now, thanks to this needless waffle, every one of these wanted guys knows its time to hunker down and disappear. Even talking about it obliquely when you are in government is to give them a helpful warning. By the way, Mr Minister, what’s your portfolio?