Defence
Notes
New
Delhi, 14 January 2013
Pak’s Barbaric Act
ASSERT BUT ALSO INTROSPECT
By Col (Dr) PK Vasudeva (Retd)
Notwithstanding the flag meeting
between army commanders of India
and Pakistan
to de-escalate the tension along the Line of Control (LoC), attempts to improve
relations between the neighbours have taken a severe beating. The barbaric
beheading of an Indian soldier and mutilation of another’s body by the
Pakistani Army should be viewed as a clear attempt by the establishment in Islamabad to destabilise
the decade-old ceasefire and dislodge the peace process. More so, at a time when
the ties were beginning to improve after the enormous damage done by 26/11
attacks.
While vested interests in Pakistan are doing their utmost to derail the
dialogue, New Delhi
too needs to get its act together and send strong signals that its patience is running
out. Not only is the dastardly act by the Pakistani Army most shocking but a
clear violation of the Geneva Conventions. Other than its neighbour, New Delhi must raise it at appropriate international fora to
expose Pakistan
for its inhuman activities against soldiers.
However, it must tread cautiously on
Pakistan's offer to let the
UN probe the brutal killings in Mendhar in Jammu and Kashmir. It is a clever diplomatic
ploy—a part of Islamabad’s deep-rooted strategy
to internationalise the Kashmir issue. Beginning
this year, Pakistan
assumed rotational presidency of the UN Security Council. It has been planning
special sessions on peacekeeping and counter-terrorism, and its offer for a UN
probe should be seen as leveraging its position as the Council chair, where the
LoC incident can be used to its advantage. Islamabad
could press for a discussion on the issue to embarrass India, and the
incident could be a good trigger.
This apart, with elections due in Pakistan, it
suits the political leadership to play up the K issue. Diplomatic sources
indicate that for many years India has resisted Islamabad’s attempts to use the
world forum to raise the Kashmir issue, and by letting a UN probe in the case
it would eventually give sanctity to its role in the whole process.
While Islamabad
has stated that it was prepared to hold investigations through the UN Military
Observer Group in India and
Pakistan (UNMOGIP), which has a presence on both sides of the LoC, India is firm there
is no UN role, and even the UNMOGIP, has only a symbolic presence. Importantly,
New Delhi does
not consider their reports or assessments.
Undeniably, Pakistan army’s
depravity has sunk to a new low, with the latest incident of beheading and
mutilation. Soldiers kill and get killed but what makes these killings
particularly disturbing and deplorable is the beastly manner in which they were
carried out by the Pakistani army. This is not the way a professional army
conducts itself, certainly not one that is a party to a ceasefire
agreement. Recall, that an Indian soldier Capt Saurabh Kalia was brutally tortured
and killed while in captivity during the Kargil conflict. It was believed then
that ‘irregulars’ mutilated his body, although subsequent reports pointed to
the complicity of the Pakistan
military.
While the depravity of the Pakistani
army is of concern to New Delhi,
this should worry more the Pakistani government and its people. However, their
silence is eerie. So far Islamabad
has been in a denial mode, while the media and civil society have avoided
asking questions. Unfortunately, this will only embolden the military.
Further, there are close links between the military, the Taliban and other
extremist outfits that indulge in beheading, as also the growing radicalisation
of army officers and lower ranks. It does seem now that elements in the Pakistan
military have become ‘Talibanised,’ infected not just by the medieval ideology
of the Taliban but by its barbaric methods as well.
New Delhi must
not only robustly raise its concerns to the Pakistani government but must stress
that such conduct of its Army will have its costs. It must assert that there
are red lines, which if breached by Islamabad, would
force India
to act. It would need to adopt a carefully calibrated approach to Pakistan’s
barbarism. Short of military action, there are several options available, if it
wants to pressurise Islamabad and New Delhi must explore
these. Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne’s comment that the country might have to
look at “some other options for compliance” is well taken.
At the same
time, Delhi
should utilise the reactions that are coming in. For one, the US State
Department has expressed concern and stated: “We urge both sides to take steps
to end exchanges of fire and to resume normal trade and travel across the line
of control.” It must also pay heed to J&K
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s tweet:... Clearly someone up the chain of command wants
to do everything to derail any dialogue between the two countries....That
having been said ceasefire must hold else infiltration will shoot up manifold
under cover provided by firing.”
This apart, it is
essential that India
looks within its system. It must introspect as to why Indian soldiers get
killed when it has the latest man packed radars, which can detect the enemy in
bad foggy weather from a distance of over 500 meters. Additionally, it must
accept the fact that the main cause of our failure at the LoC is that we do not
have junior leaders – Lieutenants, Captains and Majors to lead the troops.
Regrettably,
the Indian Army is facing a peculiar problem – not enough youngsters are
attracted to join the 1.1-million strong force as officers. Expressing concern
at the situation, Army Chief General Bikram Singh, has stated that about 10,500
officers are needed. The shortage, he admitted, was impacting the officer-jawan
relationship. According to official figures, the shortage is around 10,500 in
the Army, 1,400 in the Navy and 1,100 in the Air Force.
Therefore,
our political leadership must wake up and make the Armed Forces’ service
conditions more attractive so that the youth join the forces as their first
priority. Otherwise we shall have many more such debacles in the face of the
enemy and suffer humiliation. How can the soldier fight wars without the junior
leadership, which is the backbone of all success? It is well-known that wars
are won by the soldiers and not by Generals.
Worse,
there does not seem to be any dialogue between the top Army brass and the
political leadership on strategic issues. One is surprised to learn that Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh was briefed about the gruesome LoC incident by National
Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon and Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma and
not by the Chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee. How are bureaucrats better
versed with security issues than the Services chiefs, who are responsible for
the national security and integrity of the country?
Earlier, the Service chiefs had
always been invited at the meetings of the Cabinet Committee on Security for
advice and strategic planning. The chiefs preferably (Chief of the Defence
Staff as and when appointed) must be involved at the decision-making level on
national security issues. Sadly, there is a clear disconnect between the
political and military leadership. Let us not waste any more time to make
necessary amends. ---INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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