In times when hypocrisy is the buzzword and politically correct statements are the prevailing norms, Indian Army Chief’s statement of calling the ‘situation’ – a ‘Dirty War’ is really a much-needed relief. I don’t call it a bold statement, for much of the bedroom magazines that go in the name of newspapers have already degraded the word ‘bold’, when they equated it to ‘vulgar’. So, I call it a courageous statement.
General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Army Staff India has given the right name for the situation his soldiers deal with, on a daily basis. We often read how the acts of the government may worsen the already worse situation in the valley. First, they admit the situation was already worse. And, it did not happen overnight. It was in the same situation, ever since I heard of a particular state of Jammu & Kashmir that is considered crown of India. Even in the most peaceful days the state has seen, the party that ruled India at that point of time, played dirty politics and ensured secessionism was established firmly. Truly sticking to the ‘religion in vogue’ they remained hypocrites and now have the courage to question the current practices of Army.
Well, in agrarian societies people get up in the morning and go to the fields. In industrial townships, they go factories at the wail of the siren. In Silicon Valleys, they sit before dimly lit screens round the clock.
In Kashmir, people get up only to protest and pelt stones on the security personnel. If this is not a ‘Dirty War’, what else? After all, at last here is one person who has the guts to call a spade – A Spade. One must commend General Bipin Rawat for this.
Tackling contingencies on routine basis would force anyone to find alternative means. That was what major Gogoi did. Is alternative thinking only the prerogative or birth right of industrialists and ‘civil society’ leaders? Everyone can and must think for alternative solutions. And this alternative solution must remain ‘innovative’, as the general put, till it becomes the norm. Let us see, the innovative solution devised by Major Gogoi to handle stone pelters will remain ‘innovative’ or becomes a ‘practicing norm’. Of course, it would totally depend on the stone pelters.
Everyone was talking about the ‘human rights’ of the guy (I forgot his name. Some Dar it is. Anyway, it is incidental), who was tied to the jeep. True. If he was an innocent citizen, his rights were violated; but Major Gogoi already clarified that Dar was indeed leading a gang of stone throwers. And, if he was a genuine person, who was not supporting the stone throwers, he would have understood the predicament of the Major and helped him willingly. Yet, he chose to play otherwise, exhibiting to the world, where his loyalties are.
General Bipin Rawat merely explained what is more important. Whether it was the rights of an individual or many individuals. The law of nature says, lives of many overrules the life of one. Well. The matter rests there. After all, even soldiers are humans, who are simply doing their duty beyond the call and have a better claim at their own ‘human rights’.
Violence breeds Violence. This is what all those sympathizers of terrorists say. Then they should tell the stone throwers to stop first. As long as they are living in a democratic country, they have all the rights to exercise and get elected and change the nation the way they think is better. Throwing stones will lead to counter operations. Period.
Leading editorials have negatively remarked on General Rawat when he said, ‘I would like them to fire on us. Then, I would do what I want to do’. Perhaps, the editors sitting in air conditioned offices have lost touch with the reality. The soldier’s job is – to kill the enemy. Many individuals, who are living far from their families for most part of their adult lives are conditioned to follow orders and are trained to combat.
It is fundamentally wrong to engage the Army in any place other than borders for a long term. Consider for a moment, Modi, BJP and Rawat are bad. What solution did their predecessors offer? Nothing. In fact, Chidambaram was perhaps the most ruthless home minister India had seen and I appreciate him for this. The way he contained naxal violence was remarkable. Only, the media chose to look other way then, but Modi in saddle means any incident is a juicy news for the rating savvy media.
While the media was condemning the Army Chief, majority of Kashmiris were writing ‘written test’ to get selected into Indian Army, defying the shutdown calls by the separatists protesting the killing of that Sabzar guy. So much for the Azadi calls, simply running a cross border funding racket. In the name of terror, Pakistan gets money from Americans and Arabs. In the name of Azadi, the separatists get money from the Pakis. It was them, who live in comfort, generations after generations, while poor youth are used as scapegoats.
I know, this is not a war that any Army would like to engage in. It is bad to fight one’s own people. Having said that, do they still feel the oneness? If so, it is time for the army to get out of Kashmir. Unfortunately, it is not so.
I only have one request to General Bipin Rawat. Let the action be short and swift. Even after these decades, the youth from Kashmir want to join Indian Army, defying separatists. Let the peace return to Kashmir. Get glory like Gill. Yes, you will be condemned by some. That is part of job. If you really mean the words you spoke yesterday, empower your men to win the Dirty War.