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| Army officers unhappy, say ceasefire 'disadvantage Army' | | Ceasefire | | Early Times Report
Jammu, May 18: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh surprised the nation on May 16 when he announced ceasefire during the month of Ramzan. His announcement surprised the nation because announcement came at a time when it had suffered 23 deaths in May itself in Kashmir, including the murder of Thirumani, 22, of Chennai on May 7.
Home Minister announced ceasefire on the recommendation of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti ignoring the opposition of his own party BJP, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Army Chief General Bipin Rawat, who on May 9 had declared that the Army would establish the authority of the state and take care of those who attacked the symbols of the Indian state in Jammu & Kashmir. It was on May 9 that the Chief Minister told press persons in Srinagar that all-party meeting in Kashmir had pitched for a unilateral ceasefire during the month of Ramzan - a claim that was rejected by the BJP, the NC and the CPI-M.
The announcement of ceasefire by Rajnath Singh has not gone down well with the Army officers - both serving and retired. Some of them have described the announcement as "advantage terrorists" and "disadvantage Army".
"A ceasefire inspires an environment that has hope for both sides. But when that is skewed against the army on ground…such periods are exploited by militants to end up in a situation (that can be described as) 'Disadvantage Army'", said former army vice chief Lieutenant General AS Lamba (retd). "A temporary halt in operations only helps militants," he added.
Reports from New Delhi have said that the Army has agreed to the government's decision to suspend counter-insurgency operations in J&K during Ramzan with some reluctance because of misgivings that similar initiatives have flopped in the past, with terror outfits using the interregnums to regroup, re-arm and unleash further violence".
"Initially opposed to any 'unilateral' suspension of operations in the absence of any reciprocal signal from Pakistan-controlled terror outfits or 'at least tacit understanding' with others like the Hurriyat, the Army came on board after two of its main operational concerns were addressed in what was 'essentially a political' decision", a report said.
"One, Army will have the right to retaliate if any convoy, camp or patrol is attacked by militants. And two, Army will be allowed to conduct specific intelligence-based operations, like the one in which Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Sameer Ahmed Bhatalias Sameer Tiger was killed at Drabgam village (Pulwama district) on April 30," the report quoting Army officers said.
According to the said report, "The Army believes that the non-initiation of combat operations (NICO) undertaken in 2000-2001 by the then Atal Bihari Vajpayee government 'failed to achieve any concrete results' and instead led to a surge in violence levels". "The terror outfits also regrouped and planned future strikes like the ones on the J&K legislative assembly on October 1 and Parliament on December 13, 2001," further said the report.
It is important to note that the surge in cross-border hostilities after the "surgical strikes" in September 2016 saw as many as 860 ceasefire violations (CFVs) along the LoC and another 120 along the IB in 2017. Around 800 CFVs have already been recorded along the LoC in 2018, which is set to break all records in the last 15 years. |
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