Shiban Khaibri
John Milton has aptly said, “Peace hath her victories; no less renowned than war.” The whole nation is anguished over the ghastly killing of two of our soldiers, Hemraj Singh and Sudhakar Singh recently near LOC in Poonch sector when a moving patrol party they were part of, discovered Pakistani troops having intruded nearly half a kilometer inside Indian territory. The dead bodies of both these brave hearts were badly mutilated and one of them was decapitated. Their service weapons carried by them too have been taken away by the Pakistani troops. What is surprising is not the usual intrusions or the unprovoked firing from the other side to which we are more or less accustomed, or even not the supreme sacrifice of these two soldiers given while defending the country but how the Pakistani troops mutilated their bodies. The condemnable act is in blatant violation not only of the elementary human values and civilization but completely repugnant to the Geneva conventions which establish the standards of international law for the humanitarian treatment of war rules that apply in times of armed conflict. Severing of head of a soldier by a soldier from the opposite side is a conduct unworthy of the inhabitants of the civilized world. Neither the Sheesh of L /N Sudhakar Singh nor the snatched weapons have been traced so far.
In the words of the External Affairs Minister Salman Khursheed, “not the way civilized people deal with each other.” He further said that “we cannot and must not allow for an escalation of a very unwholesome event that has taken place. These killings were designed to sabotage an already fragile peace process.” Defence Minister A. K . Antony has termed the act as inhuman . He said that “Pakistan army’s action is highly provocative, the way they treated the dead bodies of the soldiers, Indian soldiers is inhuman.” Hina Rabbani Khar foreign Minister of Pakistan has proposed a third party probe preferably by a UN team and would not believe that Pakistani soldiers did it as she said the “allegations are unfounded and baseless.” She goes on to say that her country was “a bit appalled at some of the statements from the Indian side.” She, however, talks about the “investment of four years to build an environment of trust with India in order to move towards regional peace and internal stability.” Pakistan’s high commissioner was summoned to meet with the foreign secretary to register a strong protest over the death of the two Indian soldiers, their mutilation with one body beheaded. The spokesperson of the Ministry said, “The bodies of these soldiers have been subjected to barbaric and inhuman mutilation in contravention of all norms of international conduct.”
Martyr Captain Saurab Kalia’s case as also the other five martyred soldiers is fresh in our memory. In the same fashion, the patrolling party led by Captain Saurab in Kargil sector in 1999, was captured alive and kept in captivity by the Pakistani soldiers for as long as 22 days where they were tortured and their bodies badly mutilated . The findings of the post mortem conducted on their mutilated bodies, handed over by Pakistani soldiers, were shocking and are not fit to be reproduced here in deference to the human dignity and human civilization. They are not heart rending but heart piercing as well. A repeat has been brazenly made this time. The question is who is behind these acts and whether these are established norms allowed to be adopted by those elements in the Pakistani army who indulge in such barbaric actions. Is there a deep nexus and cooperation between the Pakistan army and terrorists operating from that country? Have such elements been recruited in their army? Why should the official response from the Pakistani side be that of a probe by UN agencies and not the one conducted by the Pakistani Government itself and fix responsibility and punish the guilty? To internationalize the issue between the two neighbouring countries has been the state policy of Pakistan but we in India are committed to no third party intervention in bilateral matters.
Only Pakistan has not “invested ” in building up of an environment of trust but India has more stakes in the investment in terms of the quantum of years as well as the magnitude and diversity of the investment, the risk factor in respect of the earning of dividends not withstanding. India has always been taking initiatives and Indian Prime Minister himself boarding a bus to Lahore in 1999 with intent to bring in a tangible thaw in relations is an example rarely heard of and the response equally is unheard of to that bold initiative in the shape of Kargil war thrust on us. This incident has put a spoke in the process of narrowing down of the trust deficit between the two countries. The relations otherwise had started moving towards progressively warming up even when issues relating to 26 / 11 Mumbai attack have remained unresolved by Pakistan till date despite the fact that all relevant information has been sent to that government by India at regular intervals.
The peace process is surely going to be affected and this most hostile act is having the potential to bring the entire process on the brink of rupture and to deal a serious blow to the efforts of our country to ease tension in South Asia. Track two or three diplomacy whatsoever or CBMs etc; are going to prove just wasteful exercises if such acts are not stopped once for all. We have seen tough notes and dossiers being treated non – seriously by the government of Pakistan which has now to define the red line and go a long way to establish its credentials. Why is the border stretch of nearly 750 km long with Pakistan not allowed to remain peaceful by Pakistan as there were 51, 63 and 72 cease fire violations, unprovoked firing etc; by the Pakistani troops in 2010, 2011 and 2012 respectively? The government at the centre has to abandon the institution of “matured diplomacy” which is the other name of the weak kneed policy. While dealing with Pakistan, special treatment is required as there are more than one power centers in that country, the army calling the shots always. The commitments from that country must have the approval of the army which unfortunately is influenced by the radical groups there. We are used to get negative and unwarranted responses to our offer of friendship rather brotherhood in the spirits of the culture and the civilization of this country. Our civilization and culture says , “respect the dead, even if your enemy.” Chopping and lynching are no cultures, they are ruthless acts of barbarism rather cannibalism. Has the gory incident to do something with the general elections scheduled somewhere in early this year in Pakistan as elements inimical to friendly relations between the two countries have a strong foothold in that country as against in India where the ruling as well as all the opposition parties want better relations with that country?
The outrage and the indignation in this country is unlikely to subside unless the Pakistan government identifies the culprits and punishes them. Pain of punishment must not only be inflicted on the culprits but seen to be inflicted too. The fact remains that there is no alternative to peace and dialogue. It is likely that in the atmosphere of peace, all problems and misunderstandings can be resolved. We , however, have to put pressure on Pakistan and forget Cricket diplomacy, visa easing, trading and track diplomacies unless they all are done in real friendliness on a permanent basis. Pakistan has to realize that provocations, tensions, conflicts, hate mongering, denial modes etc; are ultimately self defeating and counter productive. Pakistan on the one hand feels that,” Militants at home as the biggest threat to security, this threat does not come from the borders”. On the other hand, they push infiltrators into our territory providing covers to them to create problems here. We do not want truce but peace. Let us still keep trying for peace while keeping the powder dry.
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