Jaibans Singh
The brutal killing, mutilation and decapitation of two brave soldiers of the Indian Army while on duty at the line of control in Mendhar, Jammu and Kashmir has sent shock waves through the country with ripples across the world. Once again, the burgeoning spirit of nationalism in India was in the forefront with civil society and the media expressing agony and anger at the dastardly act. The feelings of the Indian Army, seething from the incident, were expressed in the strongest possible terms by the Chief of Army Staff, General Bikram Singh, at his annual press conference on the eve of army day. The army chief stated that the Indian soldiers would be aggressive and offensive in their response to provocation by the adversary along the line of control and would retaliate at a time and place of their choosing. The very upset army chief added that the act was against ethics of soldiering and that the Indian army was angered and hurt by the same. The Bhartiya Janata Party called upon the Government to take firm action while giving an assurance of its support; the opposition leaders also made some strong demands of retaliation at the military level. Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, when accosted by the media during the army day reception at the residence of the army chief on January, 15 said, “it cannot be business as usual with Pakistan,” thus giving a clear indication that the Government is not ready to take the whole sordid episode lying down. The comment by the Prime Minister translated into action by the scaling down of grant of visas to visiting Pakistani nationals under the recently liberalised visa regime and the ouster of the Pakistan hockey players.
It is very heartening to see the national response to the terrible loss that the army has suffered; this is a pointer of our national strength derived from unity of purpose. Pakistan, however, has remained in denial mode as usual; the Pakistani leadership has not accepted complicity of its soldiers either in the diplomatic parleys or during the flag meeting held at the line of control. Since there is no acceptance, there can be no inquiry. The whole chapter, therefore, has been closed by Pakistan quite arbitrarily. This response is on expected lines being in tune with the traditional methods used by Pakistan to fob off pressure created due to its many intransigence’s against India. In any case, decapitation of a soldier that has caused so much anguish across India is commonplace in Pakistan where the Taliban and other militant organisations indulge in such practices against captured Pakistani soldiers quite regularly. The country is so barbaric that it considers such things to be normal.
One critical aspect that strikes out is the alacrity with which the media campaign to give out the Pakistani response was put in place. Statements by government functionaries were well coordinated and analysts well briefed for television talk shows; they went overboard in emphasising the nuclear capability of the country to give an ominous warning against precipitate military action by India. This gives an impression that the entire set up in Pakistan, from the Government to the army to the Jihadi elements, were at cahoots with each other and had gone in for the act after due deliberation and coordination. In other words, the entire incident was a result of careful planning and coordination at all levels of the hierarchy in Pakistan. A realisation of this nature makes it even more difficult to digest what has happened.
While this devious drama is being enacted by Pakistani authorities, the Government of Pakistan stands paralysed due to the mass movement by the cleric, Tahir-ul Qadri, demanding installation of a care taker Government as a prelude to the elections; at the same time the Supreme Court of Pakistan has ordered the arrest of Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf in a bribery case. That these two major political upheavals happened simultaneously indicates some modicum of coordination. There is a possibility that Qadri is working in concert with the Pakistan army and judiciary against the Government. Thus, the very stability of Pakistan is in jeopardy at the moment
Under the circumstance, it is quite clear that at the diplomatic and political level there is nobody in Pakistan that India can talk to; though horrified by the act, India would not like to escalate the issue to the extent of an open military confrontation. These factors severely limit the options of a credible response or the possibility of any corrective action by Pakistan. Given the problems being faced at all levels in Pakistan, sabre rattling by India is of least significance at this point in time.
With political, diplomatic and military postures of both countries in place the question that arises is – where do we go from here? There is no harm in pressurising the government of Pakistan, however weak and ineffectual it may be, but to expect that something would come out of this engagement would be quite impractical. At the Government level it may be prudent to sensitise the international community, not only about the brutality that Pakistan is capable of but also about the weakness in the social and political fabric of the nation which now poses a more potent threat to the global community than ever before.
With the Government at the centre severely constrained for options, Jammu and Kashmir without doubt will remain in the eye of the storm. Therefore, the onus, once more, shifts to the forces deployed for internal and external security of Jammu and Kashmir, along the line of control and in the hinterland. On their shoulder lies the onerous responsibility of keeping a check on a belligerent and very dangerous rogue nation. The forces should be given a free hand in the conduct of operations along the line of control and against any attempts by the adversary to escalate terror activity in Kashmir.
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