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| Strengthen the hands of Army or withdraw it from Kashmir | | | Early Times Report
jammu, Sept 6: The Army's Northern Command chief Lieutenant General BS Jaswal did some plain-speaking on Sunday at Leh as far as the role of the Army in Kashmir and the need for retaining the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) are concerned. He, among other things, said: "For special circumstances you require special laws. There are special circumstances in Jammu and Kashmir and that require special laws to deal with it…My troops are the finest in the world and whatever they do, they do it with good intentions. And if that good intention is questioned time and again, that will make their function difficult. It is very very important that they have AFSPA…Some people call these provisions of AFSPA as draconian. I would respond by saying that if you want to feel the heat, be in it. When you function in these special circumstances, you will realise that these laws become imperative for carrying out smooth operation…When you act in special circumstances, certain amount of immunity is imperative. That is when AFSPA comes into play. It empowers the Army to act firmly in certain circumstances that exist in this case...The Government has cleared the AFSPA and any provision extended by the Government would remain at the realm of the Government to pursue it further or to remove it…However, purely from the Army's point of view, as also stated by the Chief of Army Staff, it is very important for continuation of this provision keeping in view the special situation in the State...If Army has to get in to carry out searches, etc, you have been seeing the ways they are taking on, in fact the Army for that matter. In case we don't have this tool for immunity, then who will act? …So far there have been 1,535 odd cases registered against Army personnel and only 35 cases have proved right. So just that a case has been flagged doesn't mean that something has happened."
Lt Gen Jaswal is one brave soldier who never minces words. He has always been candid and to the point. Why not? He is the soldier on the spot. He knows where the shoe pinches. He knows his soldiers are working against heavy odds. He also knows that it is extremely difficult to function and operate in the militant-infested Kashmir, where everything has been politicized and communalized and where the political leadership, which otherwise makes fullest possible use of the Army and paramilitaries, has always acted in a most irresponsible manner. Lt Gen Jaswal knows more than anyone in New Delhi, barring the Army chief VK Singh, knows. And, whatever he says, he means that.
Hence, his Leh's comments on the role of the Army and the need for retaining the AFSPA need to be commended by one and all, leave alone the Kashmiri leaders of all shades of opinion. What he said on Sunday should be viewed in the light of the prevailing situation in Kashmir. It should be construed as a scathing attack on those who are vitiating the atmosphere in Kashmir and elsewhere in the country by demanding revocation of the AFSPA or its "phased withdrawal", terming the same as "draconian." It should also be construed as a major snub for those in the government who have been denouncing the Army and the AFSPA for arousing popular passions overlooking the fact that the Army is only discharging its responsibility by defending the borders against the Pakistani intruders and jihadis and fighting out the enemy within strictly as per the national requirement. You cannot fight the enemy with your hands ties and with political leaders interfering in their noble task by making unwarranted and provocative statement taking into consideration their narrow interests, including the petty vote-bank politics.
Remember, the ongoing over 20-year-long low-intensity but highly deadly proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir has consumed more soldiers than the loss the nation suffered during the four conventional wars between India and Pakistan in 1947-48, 1965, 1971 and 1999. Thousands and thousands of our brave, committed and dedicated soldiers have laid down their invaluable lives during all these years of the secessionist/communal violence in the state. We have been seeing almost every day with our wet eyes the body bags of the soldiers being airlifted from the war zones in the state to Jammu and elsewhere. We have been witnessing heart-rending funeral processions of our martyred soldiers whose contribution to the national has been splendid, spectacular and ever inspiring. They have not laid down their invaluable lives to see the Indian political class negating their supreme sacrifices by sharing the perverted and militant-friendly views of certain political leaders in the Parliament and the Assemblies.
It is time leaders like Omar Abdullah stopped playing politics and allowed the Army to discharge its obligations towards the nation in the manner it deems fit. They just cannot abuse the Army. The Army is a constitutional instrument of the Indian State. No one in the government has the right to denounce this constitutional institution. As for New Delhi, it must tell the likes of Omar Abdullah to behave and not utter a single word against the Army and the AFSPA. Or, it should withdraw wholesale from Kashmir the Army. It cannot station its troops in Kashmir to defend Kashmir and, at the same time, allow its own political instrument in the state (state government) to abuse, humiliate and weaken the Army by making outrageous statements against it and demand revocation of the AFSPA. We salute Lt Gen Jaswal for his plain-speaking. |
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