Indian Defence Review

India lost one Major and three soldiers in Pakistan’s cross border action in Keri Sector of Rajouri District of J&K on December 24. Pakistani troops reportedly targeted the Army patrol at Brat Galla in Keri sector at around 1215 hours. An army spokesperson said, “We suffered three fatal casualties including one officer in the incident.

Major Moharkar Prafulla Ambadas, Lance Naik Gurmail Singh and Sepoy Pargat Singh were grievously injured during the ceasefire violation and succumbed to their injuries. Two other personnel also sustained injuries and are undergoing treatment.” According to SSP Rajouri, one of the two injured personnel died later. The Army, in a statement, said that Indian troops retaliated “strongly and effectively” to the “unprovoked” firing. This cross-border violation took place simultaneous to Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti camping in Rajouri district headquarters to address people’s grievances. Some newspapers also inked that after the targeting the patrol, a Pakistani border action team (BAT) came across and mutilated the dead, however, this may be to make the news more sensational.

With reference to the above incident, J&K Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh stated, “Pakistan is indulging in such cowardly actions and is being given a befitting response, but it does not desist from such cowardly acts. … Pakistan is a terrorist state and it will not be too long before the country is declared a terrorist state by the world. It does not only support terrorism but also provide state sponsorship.  This one has heard umpteen times but the fact remains that India itself has not declared Pakistan a terrorist state, not even withdrawn the most favoured nation (MFN) status given to Pakistan years back without any reciprocation.

In fact, a motion introduced by an Independent Rajya Sabha MP to declare Pakistan a terrorist state saw only few 50 MPs turning up in Parliament.  But when we have 4120 MLA’s and 462 MLCs totaling 4582, and 12 Special Courts are being set up for 1,581 lawmakers (including 228 MPs) facing serious criminal charges, it implies one-third of the so called political cream of India comprises scoundrels. So where is the time for issues concerning national security?

In fact, many may be maintaining dubious cross-border links including for hawala transactions, narcotics and the like. Even if the US does declare Pakistan a terrorist state, of which the chances are extremely remote, the world will not because China will veto any such move.

The recent statement by Qamar Javed Bajwa, Pakistani army chief that his government should try to improve relations with India, should have been indication  enough that he is up to some mischief. Bajwa is of the same lineage as his predecessors like Zia ul-Haq, Musharraf and Raheel Shareef whose distinction can best be described as terrorist breeders. Raheel Sharif even went ahead to introduce terrorist support in Indian educational institutions, repeated anti-India slogans calling for breakup of India raised at the  Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi and at Jadavpur University in Kolkata being some examples.

In addition to targeting the public morale in such fashion, terror attacks, cross-border firings, infiltration, narcotics, hawala transactions, you name it are continuing. With reference to the abovementioned incidence of December 24, ‘Pakistan Defence’ wrote a putrid tweed saying, “Indian Army sticks to its tradition of using its Sikh soldiers as cannon fodder with high caste Hindus get comfy appointments”. This is obviously meant for public consumption in Pakistan because Pakistan Defence deliberately doesn’t mention who was the Major leading that patrol.

Besides, Indian public is fully aware that the Indian Military is perhaps the most secular in the world, unlike the Pakistani military hierarchy in bed with rabid mullahs sodomizing young boys in seminaries. Pakistan Defence would also find it difficult to explain to the Pakistani public why over 99% of officers in the Baloch Regiment are Punjabis, not Baluchis. So Qamar Javed Bajwa can’t be expected to be any different from Musharraf especially when so cozily nestled in the lap of Beijing.

The battalion that suffered the casualties would no doubt extract revenge but our political hierarchy must acknowledge following ground realities:

•  One, the Pakistani military’s control over their country is increasing by the day – there have been Parliament meetings at Rawalpindi in the GHQ of army;

•  Two, Pakistani military ‘will’ continue to sponsor terror against India and Afghanistan in order to remain in power and make billions;

•  Three, the namesake democracy and judiciary of Pakistan will remain subservient to the military;

•  Four, the recent agreement between the Pakistan government and the protesting Islamists on behest of the army and a uniformed major general videotaped openly distributing money to protestors is latest proof of the army-radical nexus;

•  Five, the release of global terrorist Hafiz Saeed and he and his party being propped up to fight elections proves Pakistani army’s has openly hardening its anti-India stance;

•  Six, Pakistani military has bartered the country’s sovereignty by permitting PLA garrison in Gilgit Baltistan and keeping the details of the CPEC deal under wraps;

•  Seven, we may be happy killing 200 terrorists in J&K during 2017 (bulk foreigners) but Pakistan is producing a million radicals annually from its 32,000 seminaries;

•  Eight, with the fastest population growth rate in the world, Pakistan finds exporting terrorists good avenue for employment;

•  Nine,  with Pakistan providing China strategic highway to the Indian Ocean and whitewashing China’s genocide against Uyghurs in Xinjiang, China will continue to willfully partner Pakistan in terrorism, even nuclear terrorism (you scratch mine, I scratch yours);

•  Ten, China gifted helicopters being used by Pakistan against Baluchis indicates Chinese support to Pakistani genocide in Baluchistan;

•  Eleven, US aid to Pakistan is still continuing albeit with stipulations, and;

•  Twelve, Russia has recently asked Kabul to have ‘constructive’ talks with armed groups (read Taliban), which Afghanistan as well as the Afghanistan-US-Pakistan-China Quadrilateral Coordination Group have been attempting past several years, but there is no Russian advice to Pakistan to stop its proxy war.

The bottom line is that we continue to lose precious lives while Pakistan keeps sending rats across from its labyrinth of radical gutters. We have politicized and gloated over the ‘surgical strikes’ endlessly for political brownies, even going to extent of describing how it was done;  idiotically even parading the executers of the raid on national TV, which should never be the case in Special Forces operations. But even if we repeat the same, it should be quiet clear that it will no way stop Pakistan exercising its ongoing low-cost option, given that China too is pumping in money to fuel terrorism in J&K.

The mere fact that China backed Pakistan is again demanding more evidence in the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks clearly indicates that there can be no improvement from the Pakistani side irrespective of the false solace we are drawing that Pakistan stands isolated and no one can blame India for not trying for peace – the blame is entirely on Pakistan. But does this change the ground situation in any way? Is Pakistan really “isolated” with China completely supporting her protégé, PLA inducted into POK-Pakistan with three PLA Divisions eventually to be deployed?

Pakistan has co-located her terrorist training facilities with army establishments saying any strike on these would be considered an act of war. But then today’s war is at sub-conventional level and while conventional strikes remain an option, best will be getting hold of the numerous fault-lines of our opponents and exploiting them as deterrent. This must be done through covert politico-military missions at the strategic level controlled by the highest political authority – the Prime Minister.

In the absence of this, gloating over Pakistani allegations that R&AW is promoting terrorism in Pakistan through Afghanistan is not going to suffice, and neither does propaganda or fan clubs of those responsible to execute such project. The sub-conventional war has to e squarely transported from our territory into the territories of our adversaries. The political hierarchy needs to focus on this very seriously despite the unending circle of elections from year to year.