Col J P Singh
There is hardly a day when the media is not vocal about terror attacks in India. If Parliament is not secure, we aren’t, whether in Jammu or Poonch-Rajouri. There perhaps would hardly be a society in the world which is more traumatised in the modern era than minorities living in Rajouri-Poonch. There would hardly be any troops across J&K today, other than Pir Panjal, who are paying a heavy price in terror attacks. Similarly no army in the world is more militancy indulged than Indian Army which is fighting militancy for 40 years, yet not able to crush it. India, a nation on the move continues paying a heavy price in terms of precious lives. Nation knows that after abrogation of Article 370, China and Pakistan connived to extend their blood thirsty hands to J&K throat. Although Indian Army cut the Chinese hand a little far away at Galwan but the Pakistani hand is still strangling the J&K throat and now extending its dirty fingers towards the eyes. Before those blood thirsty fingers blind our eyes, they must be sliced.
India is a target for Pak terrorists as well as regional and global terrorist organisations. They are interlinked and united in targeting India. Pakistan is more focused on J&K whereas Khalistani terrorists are focused on Punjab. Sophisticated weapons and military hardware left by the US in Afghanistan are being used by terrorists. Adding to the woes, police officers have been found involved in militancy. DSP Davinder Singh of J&K Police was caught transiting two Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists in his car. There have been similar cases of other security personnel involved in militancy leave aside civilian sympathisers and OGW. India has become a lucrative target for terrorist organisations, especially since we continue to be as oft state with lack of political will despite a decisive prime minister.
Propensity of the LoC is terror inclined. Govt fails to acknowledge this. How long will J&K live with vulnerabilities of LoC. Mistakes of the past continue to haunt the nation. Counting the number of terrorists killed, tourist increased and development process speeded up has little meaning when Pakistan is perpetrating an infinite terrorism. It is outright Pakistan which is responsible for spreading terror in this region by infiltrating terrorists to traumatise the minorities with an objective of compelling them to migrate like hapless Pandit Community from Kashmir and ethnically cleanse Pir Panjal area. This area is very close to the LoC. Despite being fenced, topography allows infiltration. When the SFs are contesting Pak nefarious plan vigorously, they are paying the price. I, more or less a layman after 21 years of retirement with 6 years on the LoC, 3 each in Poonch and Rajouri, stick my neck out unaware of the fact that what I think is right or wrong. Since I have done extensive patrolling in these areas, read many previous patrol reports, I think I know these areas well. It is hilly, rocky and stony Pine Forest area with dense thorny undergrowth which is not easily negotiable even by the livestock. There are caves, at places deep and wide. Water springs are plenty in the slopes. Rain fed Nallahs cris-cross. Villages are smaller with scattered hamlets. Hill tops have Tohks which are vacated in winters. On the contrary such places provide suitable hide outs and observation posts. Small scale tactical operations in these areas are suicidal. To sanitise and dominate such areas large force and local support is required. After thinning out the effectively dominated area in the aftermath of Chinese ingress in Ladakh, what is happening now does not surprise any. Till the area is fully re-saturated with SFs, dominance of militants will continue. To early and effectively do it, only unconventional guerilla type operations look to be an alternative to start with.
December 21, 2023 terrorist attack near Dera Ki Gali (DKG) is 4th such large and more alarming terror attack this year. Each time 5 highly trained soldiers have been martyred taking the toll to 20, besides wounded, is a cause of concern. As per media reports, these martyrs were a detachment going to reinforce a column already engaged in the encounter. It needs no superhuman to understanding that any reinforcement under the circumstances was vulnerable to ambush. Gory pictures on the ambush site are pitiable. Their weapons and ammunition taken away as in each case before. It is demoralising to the forces. Going in army vehicles was a folly. It wasn’t expected of RR. When in IPKF in Srilanka, under such conditions, we used civil vehicle/resources for movement and the Srilankan Army used Helicopters. Tempo Traveller, plenty in that area, could have been used to reach the encounter site or taken a lift in routine civil buses. Have we forgotten what Maj Lettul Gogoi did in the valley by tying a civilian on his jeep to save his men from mob lynching. Raja Gualb Singh troops had feigned as Mian Dido men to trap rebellious Mian. Shouldn’t we have adopted similar ingenuity as a tactical doctrine to fight militancy. If we continue to fight unconventional terror by battle school taught battle craft while the Army Chief is telling passing out officers from the academies to use ingenuity and imagination in the modern battle scenario, we will suffer.I see no imagination used in encounters. What meets the eye is that after every dreadful encounter, churning, ie man than is done at the formation level like the political parties do after losing an election to lose yet again and procced to another manthan. Whether liberal initiative or ingenuity is considered and granted to the soldiers in such churning is not known. Raja Gulab Singh and Maj Gogoi type initiative is the need of the hour.
Pakistan’s proxy war in J&K will continue for years and years till Pakistan exists. Hence we must plan for never ending security threat and everlasting militancy rather than taking shelter of abrogated Article 370 or tall claims of increasing tourism. We should be innovative, deceptive and aggressive with wider choices. Few options are. (i) Enrol local youth as scouts and guides including from nomadic community to supplement our strength and foot fall on the ground. They can act as eyes and earsof the RR and force multiplier segment. They will know the rugged topography and terrain which is a soldiers night mare in thick growth.(ii) Full freedom be granted on using initiative, ingenuity and imagination. (iii) Punish the perpetrator ie Pakistan imaginatively. (iv) Consider type guerrilla tactics to deal with sources and facilitators of terror. (v) VDCs, said to have been revived must be empowered to operate independently and tasked to restore confidents in the public.(vi) Local police must be energised to come out of Thana comforts syndrome.
Briefly recounting the spate of terrorist acts in Rajouri-Poonch, if one looks back,the worst of all and most alarming was the terrorist attack on Dangri village near Kalakote on 1st Jan 2023 killing seven innocent civilians of minority community including two minor kids. Panic had spread. Media flared it up so much so that migration looked the only option for survival. No successful operation followed that incident to my mind to restore faith and confidence in public. Instead we lost highly trained Para Commandos including two junior officers in village Bajimaal, 10 Kms from Kalakote. Revival of Village Defence Committees (VDC) and issue of banned gun licences was announced after Dangri killings. That was the way out. But their fate is not known. If not done, we will remain status quoist and continue paying the price. Till VDCs are empowered and their performance highlighted, public will not be assured of safety and security.
Afghan terrorists are free and one up after Taliban takeover. They are being sent to India. They are more dangerous since they are said to be using new types of explosives experimenting with radioactive material to increase their destructive power. Hence the need to involve civilians in the security paradigm as force. Our counter-terrorism strategies will need to take the above into account.
The NSA made a public statement in Rishikesh, saying,” India will take the battle to where the threat originates.” Mere rhetoric will not work. Unless we develop holistic deterrence against Pakistan’s proxy war and demonstrate, we will remain at the receiving end. There is no reason why we should not respond to every terrorist act immediately but that requires a political will and military thrust.
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