It has been a long time since the Army has been involved
in a protracted operation to apprehend / neutralise infiltrators, trying to get
into Indian territory. I understand that winter is near and the snows on the mountains
will not make it easier for people to infiltrate. In 2013 the level of
infiltrations and ceasefire violations have taken a quantum leap. Skirmishes
have occurred quite frequently. But this operation in the Keran sector has
lasted fifteen days. Despite what the denials might be, I am quite sure that
the infiltrators were quite heavily entrenched, and equipped with arms,
ammunition, food, medicines and other supplies. In the first few days we heard
about infiltrators being eliminated but no bodies were recovered. This gave
rise to the story that they had occupied a village along the border and that
the operation was not only to neutralise or apprehend the terrorists, but also
to liberate the village. This operation happened, as is so often the case, when
one unit was handing over the area of operations to another. And this time one
of the units that found themselves in the line of fire almost the day they
landed in the sector was the 3rd Regiment of the Third Gorkha
Rifles (3/3 GR), which I am proud to say is the Regiment that my father was commissioned
into on Dec 4, 1954.
Anyway. After 15 days the operation came to a halt but
the battle continues. A large cache of arms have been recovered – sniper rifles,
automatic weapons, pistol, and such like. Almost ten of the supposed 35-40
terrorists have been killed. And in the coming weeks that are left before the
snow comes down blanketing the countryside, the Army expects more such attempts
to push in terrorists and militants (and soldiers?) into Jammu & Kashmir.
The current operation is over, but the battle, like I said, continues.
There are a lot of people who are questioning the fact of
these infiltrations. How can there be so many infiltrations in an area that is
supposedly the most tightly guarded in the whole world? People are trying to
fault the Army. Little do they realise the difficulties that the Army finds itself
in. The terrain is hilly and mountainous. There are innumerable places to
hunker down and evade detection. The terrorists have been known to dig tunnels
under the fence. They cut the fence wire and sneak in under covering and
distractionary fire from the Pakistan army. Yes, people will come in, the task
is to catch them before they can get into more populated areas.
But the Army in under another kind of pressure, this time
from their own Government unfortunately. They are not allowed “hot pursuit”. They
are not allowed to cross the Line of Control. They are not allowed to use
indiscriminate use of firepower. They also do not have the communication
facilities required to combat such activities. Guerrilla warfare is very
different from conventional warfare. And Pakistan and its cohorts excel in it.
On the other hand, the powers that be, sitting in South Block, go back to the
glory days of war, when armies faced each other, eyeball to eyeball, on the
battlefield, went to war, and may the best team win. Guerrilla warfare is about
tactics and deception, it has to be tackled to guile and strategy. Dealing with
such infiltrators needs to be unconventional. It has to be demonstrably
preventive. The soldiers need to send the message to the other side borrowing
from the film Sholay – “Tum ek marogey to hum char marengey (If you kill one,
we will kill four).”
Whenever people talk of sending a strong message to
Pakistan, the almost automatic and robotic response is, “So do you think we
should go to war?” The time probably has come for a military solution to the
problem. Even so, short of war there are a lot of solutions to put pressure on
the rogue elements in Pakistan, to squeeze them, to ensure that they start
hurting at the upper levels. Currently, some infiltrators die and that is the
amount of discomfort to the establishment training and equipping them. The
discomfort needs to be palpable and it should come home to roost.
Why can’t the Indian Government be more assertive in
their public statements?
Why can’t the Indian Government impress upon the global
community about what is happening?
Why can’t the Indian Government insist on diplomatic
sanctions against Pakistan?
Why can’t the Indian Government try and get sanctions
imposed by the world against Pakistan?
Why can’t the Indian Government reinstate India as a
no-fly zone for Pakistani aircraft?
Why can’t the Indian Government impose a blockade of ships
going into Pakistan?
OK, the Pakistani Government could be the babe in the
woods, without knowing what their military and intelligence services are up to.
Let us give them the benefit of doubt. But with the above initiatives, the
people of Pakistan will start putting pressure on the Pakistan Government to
act against the rogue elements in the Pakistan military and ISI.
The possible outcome of such activity inside Pakistan
could be another coup d’état. So be it. At least India and the rest of the world
will know who is the person sitting across the table and whether that person
has the power to take decisions. I am sure that the Prime Minister of Pakistan
or his Government has no clue. They cannot have breakfast without the approval
of the military/ISI nexus. And Nawaz Sharief will be extra cautious about
displeasing the military given his history at having been ignobly ousted from
office during his last term. So the less we expect from the civilian
dispensation from within Pakistan, the better. It has to be external pressure
applied to make things change.
In the meanwhile India should go ahead and destroy all
known terrorist camps within Pakistan ... WITH THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE PAKISTAN
GOVERNMENT. After all these terrorists are “non State actors” and Pakistan has
nothing to do with them. So they should not have any trouble if India “assists”
them in removing this menace from within Pakistani territory. Maybe terrorism
within Pakistan will also go down with these camps destroyed and manpower
eliminated.
India could try these solutions for a few months to see
if there is visible improvement in the situation. Meanwhile the threat of war
should be a clear and distinct possibility ... visibly and out in the open. And
this hogwash about both countries being nuclear powers is pure bollocks.
Pakistan may not have a no-first-use policy, but they will be foolish to embark
on a nuclear misadventure. They know they will become global pariahs overnight
and with the state the country is in, they can ill afford that. Pakistan will
never use their nuclear arsenal. Let India call the bluff and let us see who blinks
first.
And after the war, let the armies decide on the post-war
treaty. Left to the politicians, they will once again hand over strategic
assets gained after the loss of soldiers. And the problem will continue. In
1965 we captured the Haji Pir Pass and then gave it away. The Haji Pir sector
is from where much of the infiltration takes place today. If we land up in
Lahore and are found having a drink at the Club waiting for the rest of the
formations to catch up, we should hold on to it. And recapture and keep as much
territory as possible from what Pakistan took away in 1947-48. Give the Army a
free hand in case of war and see the Kashmir problem disappearing into the
mists of history.
Meanwhile, along the Line of Control, we will continue to
see the soldiers’ blood flowing needlessly.
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