Army has nothing to fear, truth will come out
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Jan 31: In a bold statement, Northern Army Command chief Lt Gen Devraj Anbu today said a “generic” FIR should’ve been registered by police in the incident involving firing on unruly mob in which two stone pelters were killed at Shopian on January 27 and asserted that troops had fired in self-defence and protection of Government property. He maintained that truth will come out in the investigations and Army has nothing to fear or worry.
“That is an unfortunate thing. In such a case, a generic FIR should have been filed. I think they have prematurely put the name of an individual (a reference to Major Aditya who has been named in the FIR though he was over 200 meters away from the site of incident). I am sure when they investigate, truth will come out,” Lt Gen Anbu told reporters in Pune this morning.
The GOC-in-C Northern Command, headquartered at Udhampur, which has area of operations in entire Kashmir Valley, however, described registration of FIR as an “initial step”.
“Everything will come out in investigation. Notwithstanding what State Government did, we had our own inquiry and are clear that we responded when we were provoked to the ultimate,” he said.
Asserting that firing was carried out in “self-defence” and “protection of Government property”, Lt Gen Anbu said: “investigation will probe for itself”.
“We have conducted our own investigations. I don’t find anything to fear. We have nothing to worry. Investigations will prove truth,” he added.
Responding to a question as to whether the lodging of FIR will have impact on morale of troops, the Northern Command chief said: “we are very clear. We are a professional Army. We go out and do our duty. Our conviction is very correct. We have nothing to worry about. There will be no impact on the morale of Ground Commanders”.
At the same time, Lt Gen Devraj Anbu favoured political initiative and other things to get the Kashmiri youths engaged.
“It’s very important, we address youth in large measure,” he said.
In response to a question on ceasefire violations by Pakistan Army on Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district, Lt Gen Anbu said the troops are very strong on LoC and are responding to ceasefire violations in very professional manner.
“When we see movement of terrorists being pushed by Pakistani posts from across, we effectively engage them. Our aim is very clear…don’t allow terrorists to infiltrate and foil any kind of Pakistani misadventure,” the top Army Commander said.
On situation in the Kashmir Valley, Lt Gen Anbu said the terrorism has stabilized to large extent.
“Whether it is stopping infiltration from Pakistan or those present in the Valley, we deal with them in very firm manner. Backbone of their (the militants’) leadership has been broken. The militant leadership had come from across to motivate people to take it forward. We have brought in some normalcy,” he asserted and said 213 militants have been killed in the Kashmir valley last year.
To a question of camps and launching pads in Pakistan, the Army Commander said: “Pakistan has camps well in depth where they train the militants. This has been happening. About 500-odd terrorists are waiting for infiltration. We are focusing on them. Our task is to eliminate them at borders. Measures are also in place to block those, who get-in”.
He said Pakistan has camps and forward launch bases from where they push the militants towards the LoC.
According to him, there were about 200 to 250 militants waiting for infiltration into Jammu and Kashmir in South of Pir Panjal and almost an equal number in North of Pir Panjal. He said large measures are in place to eliminate them (the infiltrators) right on the borders.
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