West Bengal: For Anti-War Stance, Wife Of Soldier Martyred In Pulwama Attack Trolled On Social Media

Less than a fortnight ago, a deadly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama claimed the lives of 40 CRPF jawans. Besides all the grief, wife of one of the martyred soldiers is dealing with trolls on the internet, who could not accept the fact that she said war cannot solve every problem.

As though life was not already difficult for martyred CRPF jawan Babloo Santra’s wife Mita Santra, abuse on social media has now become a huge part of her life. Trolls across various social media platforms have accused her of being “cowardly and self-centred”.

But offensive posts have not been able to make Mita buckle under pressure, and several Kolkatans, including housewives, university students, academicians and prominent intellectuals have appreciated the English teacher from Howrah for her anti-war stance.

Mita’s anti-war stance

Mita says that war results in the death of numerous soldiers’, whose families are then left devastated. War can never bring about a permanent solution, she says, but only results in a wife losing her husband, a mother losing her son and a daughter losing her father.

She has heard harrowing tales of death, devastation and losses, but as she says, it is not only the individual that suffers, but an entire country does. The economy is damaged and social development comes to a standstill.

She further clarified that all those who considered her anti-war statement as cowardice have basically misinterpreted her. She supports the courage of the Navy, Army, Air Force and paramilitary forces, and lauds how the IAF managed to eliminate terrorists without killing civilians. “What I only oppose is a full-scale war. Terrorists are the enemy of our country and the society. My husband is a victim of brute terrorism,” Mita said.

Regarding the Pulwama attack in which her husband was martyred, she had to say that precautionary measures were not in place, and the attack could have been prevented had there been jammers in the convoy. She believes there were failures and internal communications gap.

But apart from all the trolls, several Kolkatans stood with her during her ordeal. “It is universal truth that peace is more permanent than war. Let us at least patiently listen to her,” wrote Kabita Banerjee, a housewife.

While trolls like one Utpal P attacked her stating that she was “after a job and making politically correct statements with an agenda”, writer Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay and writer Buddhadeb Dasgupta supported her, stressing on the fact that loss and suffering made her realize how futile war is.

“This reminds me of Satyajit Ray’s landmark film where the song goes: “Tora juddha kore korbi ki ta bol (what will you gain by waging war?)”. It is futile to fight wars because it does no good to anyone. But sometimes situations go out of control and you are left with no choice,” Buddhadeb Dasgupta said, The Times Of India reported.

The Logical Indian take

In a situation which is extremely hostile now, Indians and Pakistanis have taken to social media to urge people to #SayNoToWar.

As the wife of a martyr, no one feels the pain as much as Mita does herself. While people who are not even directly related to the martyrs are taking to social media to demand war and revenge, it would have been quite natural for her to have lost her calm and seek vengeance. But she chose not to do so, because losing a loved one to a terror attack has made her realise the futility of war.

Her calmness, composure and rationality teach a great lesson to people from both the nations alike: waging war would lead to the death of innocent civilians, but will that really wipe out terrorism? It will only lead to more destruction, devastation, loss, death, tears and sufferance. If we do not have a permanent solution at hand, why not try to look for one instead of seeking revenge? While people’s rage and anger in the wake of the Pulwama attack in understandable, their irrationality is not.

If we end up killing common people the way terrorists do, we would only end up proving that we are no different from them. If the wife of a man who died in the hands of terrorists can think this way, so can we. The Logical Indian salutes Mita Santra for her rationality even in her worst times.

Also Read: #SayNoToWar Trends As Indians And Pakistanis Call For Peace Amidst The Hostile Situation