Indian army 'sitting ducks' while war at LOC worsens
- 17 soldiers killed, 20 injured in a single attack on the Uri Army base
- Terrorist have been threatening to turn Kashmir into a graveyard
- Clear that Pakistan has already launched a fresh offensive
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17 Indian army infantry soldiers killed, 20 injured in a single attack on the Uri camp in Kashmir’s Baramula district on the Line of Control (LoC). Unusual for terrorists to carry so much explosives and Molotov cocktails along with other weapons and it is the fire from the cocktails that burnt many soldiers to death and injured several others.
The army is squarely responsible for this particular attack and accountability must be fixed. With the heat around in the valley, how could they present such an easy target? The protest on the streets has nothing to do with this attack because the human intensive LoC protection is very much in place. So how did they get in? Not just through the fence but into the what should have been a heavily guarded military installation.
The LoC is manned in a three-tier mechanism with very high grade of equipment, thermal imagery, highly trained soldiers, effective communication lines so the difficult terrain and harsh weather excuse may not work in this case.
They launched the attack at 5.15a.m. Early morning is always a vulnerable time. This is not the first time Army camps have been attacked in the early hours. In Samba too they launched early morning attack. No lessons learnt at all. This was not a soft target and there can be no reasons whatsoever for this leakage.
In the last few weeks, terrorist leaders like Hafiz Sayeed based out of Pakistan have been threatening to turn Kashmir into a graveyard for the Indian security forces. Did the Army require intelligence inputs to decipher this statement? Besides, there was specific intel on 15 September 2016 of a suicide attack. The government had presented data in the Parliament stating that this year there were 90 infiltration attempts till 30 June 2016 in comparison to 29 attempts in the corresponding period last year. Just a week ago a, three-day-long operation was carried out in Poonch but the terrorists couldn’t strike hard. Then they attacked in Pulwama and again in Khawaja Bagh killing 8. Three attacks since Independence Day. Before that was Kupwara and Pampore . On the ground, soldiers tell me that the war is already on and it will only get worse in the coming weeks.
Doesn’t the military have an offensive plan for this kind of an attack? There is an institutionalised mechanism minute by minute to plan counterattacks. But the Army cannot launch that without the government’s consent. What is the Defence Minister going to do visiting Uri on the day of the attack? He should be in Delhi consulting and taking sensible decisions. Pakistan may be “hell” for him but these statements can go to hell for now! The most predictable Indian response will be to say “befitting reply will be given to Pakistan”. The Prime Minister took to Twitter saying, “We strongly condemn the cowardly terror attack in Uri. I assure the nation that those behind this despicable attack will not go unpunished.” This means absolutely nothing to raise the morale of the Army and does nothing to counter the strategy of terror groups. The former Army Commander Lt Gen Ata Hasnain thought it was a very strong message. I thought it was a teleprompter statement.
This is a new batch of fidayeen attackers using different tactics and the situation in Kashmir provides them adequate ammunition to fuel the terror campaign.
It is clear that Pakistan has already launched a fresh offensive through political rhetoric and by increasing support to the terrorist units based there, patronised by the ISI and Pakistan Army. Nawaz Sharif has stepped up the ante in the run-up to his address to UN General Assembly where he threatens to internationalise the Kashmir situation.
How will India react? Nobody wants a war and that doesn’t and never has resolved the problem on the Line of Control or in the Valley. But the Army feels the tipping point has come and they must be allowed to act. Maybe they should begin by reinforcing their installations and marinating vigil along the infiltration routes. This is not just an attack; it is a failure of sorts. That must be admitted before giving in to warmongering.
Kishalay Bhattacharjee is a senior journalist and author. His most recent book is Blood on my Hands: Confessions of Staged Encounters (Harper Collins 2015). The views expressed here are his own.
