The army has admitted its mistake that resulted in the tragic killing of two persons and injuring of another two in an operation in Budgam in Central Kashmir. There were demonstrations in some parts of the Valley in protest of these killings and the army instituted inquiry into the incident the next day. It hopes that in next ten days the inquiry will be completed and the facts of tragedy will be known. In the meanwhile, the Ministry of Defence has announced ten lakh rupees each as compensation to the kin of the deceased two persons and five lakh for the two wounded besides full medical aid for them in 92 Base Hospital.
The Army Commander has expressed deep regrets for the incident and offered his condolence to the bereaved families. He has made it clear that the army wants to have utmost regard of the security of the lives of civilian population. The fact of the matter is that in J&K, the army is fighting a proxy war which is totally different from open and face to face fighting. Disguise is the basic tactics of those who fight a proxy war. Although, the army men are well trained in these matters of identification, yet there is the human error. It will be reminded that there have been some cases in which army itself has by mistake fired on its own men and got them killed because of error in identification. These are human errors and it is no exception to army operating in Kashmir. But the redeeming factor is that the Army Commander has come out with a clear statement of owning the responsibility and assuring the people that he would take steps to ensure that such tragic mistakes are not repeated. He has promised disciplinary as well as legal action against the defaulting personnel. Already the battalion to which the assailants belonged has been replaced. This is not something that is desirable in a region where the army is supposed to fight the proxies. We hope the statement of the Army Commander and the action he has already taken and intends to take in future also should satisfy the people and especially the kith and kin of the victims that the army does not have any ill intentions against anybody.
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