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| India’s security needs to be swift, sure and steadfast | | |
Anil Bhat
First came the attacks in Lahore in March: on Sri Lankan cricketers by terrorists resembling "Pashtuns", — the ethnic group that hails from close to the Afghan border, the stronghold of Al Qaeda, the Taliban and their brothers in arms, the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT); and the attack by Pakistani Taliban on Pakistani police (incidentally, whose 600 trained commandoes of the newly-established elite police force have refused to be posted in the turbulent Swat Valley). These were followed up in April by attacks in Islamabad and Chakwal. All these are a serious liability for India.
A major indication from the killing of 30 Pakistani terrorists and the arrest of one, during the 25-day Army operation in an area with a very difficult terrain — from Shamsabari Range’s Harfruda forest to Lolab Valley’s Maidanpora village — in Jammu and Kashmir’s (J&K) Kupwara district, is that the infiltration season has begun. Snow in that region melting earlier, owing to global warming, has been a boon for the Pakistan Army which has this time inducted well-trained terrorists of a younger age-group, handed them sophisticated equipment, including GPS for ease in navigation, and arms, ammunition and dry fruits in plenty, in its desperate aim to resume terror attacks in J&K where a reasonable level of peace has returned after the unprecedented high voter turnout in state Assembly elections as well as to up the ante during the forthcoming national elections.
Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor’s warning about the LeT trying to induct as many as 300 terrorists trained in camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), probably caused enough concern for Union defence minister A.K. Antony and that’s why he, according to a governmental press release, held meetings with all the three service chiefs and the defence secretary followed by another meeting with the naval chief, director-general Coast Guard and other senior officials related with maritime security. The release also stated that Mr Antony "directed the Army to deal with the situation arising out the recent terrorist activities in J&K with ‘utmost firmness’".
While the Army has been fighting terrorists very firmly, despite certain constant constraints, will the defence minister’s concern translate into quick acquisition of high-tech gizmos to ensure wider and sharper surveillance for our land and maritime forces — more helicopters, sea patrol crafts and many long-pending requirements of weaponry and equipment? If Pakistani Taliban have reached Lahore, and maybe even J&K, several other terror groups have long since been using plains-based routes for infiltration as did those who attacked the families of Army personnel at Kalu Chak. They came with ease from Gujranwala to Jammu.
So, in light of the galloping rate of developments in Pakistan there is inescapable requirement for the entire Line of Control (LoC) and the international boundary with Pakistan to be under more effective surveillance which is achievable by more and modern gadgets.
While the tally of terrorists killed is 30, Major Mohit Sharma and eight soldiers lost their lives in this operation. One wonders as to how many more terrorists might have managed to enter India, where are they are and how much of a difference it would have made to locate them with better and wider surveillance (some Israeli systems were installed a few years ago), and aggressive measures like precision bombardment of their hideouts.
"Utmost firmness" must, in fact, mean being far more lethal than the Indian Army has been allowed to be or equipped to be while fighting Pakistani terrorists for over two decades.
What hurts time and again whenever Pakistani terror attacks succeed, particularly after 26/11, is how their directors mock at the Indian establishment’s weakness and its procedures and boast that there is no better country to target than India where, even if their terrorists get caught, they may well get away with some imprisonment, or worse, get traded after a hijacking or, as in few cases, escape from jails.
"Utmost firmness", as expressed by Mr Antony, should have been shown by the government within the 48-hour window of immediate response after the attacks on Parliament and Mumbai. This was discussed during a widely-attended seminar, "Firepower India 2009", organised by the Centre for Land Warfare Studies and India Strategic, and the consensus arrived at was that India should have responded assertively and immediately by at least pounding all visible bunkers and other defences on the LoC and the international border in J&K, from where they mostly infiltrate, assisted by Pakistan’s Army and Rangers.
The Pakistani Army has assiduously continued, without any break, to retain the terror option against India by supporting terrorist groups raised by its Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
As far as the terror commanders and directors of terrorist operations like 26/11 are concerned, nothing has been done by Pakistan to nab them, which it should for its own good.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh befittingly conveyed during the Group of 20 (G-20) summit that there will be no further dialogue with Pakistan without Pakistan taking any meaningful steps. Interestingly, going by Israel’s record of avenging every terror attack on Israelis, like the one on its athletes in Munich in 1972 and the Entebbe raid, Tel Aviv it seems is already busy planning revenge for the Israelis massacred Mumbai’s Nariman House.
With whatever is happening in Pakistan and Afghanistan, US President Barack Obama should take heed of General David Patraeus’ warning and ensure that F-16s, P3C Orion aircraft and heavy weapon systems, which are not required for dealing with terrorists and will only be used against India, are not given to Pakistan.
The Kupwara operation should remind J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah that there is yet again a concerted attempt to shatter the hard-won peace in J&K, which came because of the presence and performance of the Indian Army, and that he should not play to the gallery by advocating to reduce or replace the Army. Instead, he should concentrate on development, employment, electricity, water and education.
And above all, there should be no doubts or deficiencies in India’s operational preparedness.
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