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| Defence Ministry controlled damage caused by Lt General | | Qamarwari Terrorist-Police clash | | NEHA
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Dec 3: The General Officer Commanding in-Chief (GOC-in-C), Northern Command, Lt General BS Jaswal, shocked the nation yesterday by dissociating the Army from the November 30 Public Relation Officer Lt Col Pradeep Kochhar's statement regarding the Qamarwari terrorist-police clash which led to the death of three terrorists and one policeman. He should not have done so. Instead, he should have defended Kochhar to the hilt in the larger interest of the Army - an institution the Indian nation respects from the core of their heart, notwithstanding the involvement of certain top-ranking Army officers in the infamous Adrash Society scam.
Lt General Jaswal has undoubtedly lowered the morale of the Army by taking an extreme step and tendering apology to those who have unleashed a motivated campaign against the Army and the anti-terror laws. On the other hand, the Lt General's apology will only embolden those who have been consistently opposing the Army presence in Kashmir as well as such anti-terror laws as Armed Forces Special Powers Act. What the Lt General did has shocked the nation all the more because he had only recently boldly and publicly said "AFSPA is a Bible for the Army" and held his ground despite bitter opposition to his view.
What, after all, Kochhar had said? Expressing his opinion on the November 29 Qamarwari terrorist-related incident, he had only said: "Qamarwari incident took place only because of cutting down of the number of troops in Srinagar. By carrying out second attack in short duration, militants have shown to the world that militancy is still alive in Kashmir…After these attacks which followed the curtailment in the number of troops and removal of bunkers, the state government must rethink its decision. The decision has been apparently made after thorough discussion but the attack in Qamarwari has put a question mark over it…The decision to cut-down the number of troops and removal of bunkers may have impressed militants and their supportive Pakistan agencies but what happen to the common man of Kashmir?" What crime did he commit by expressing this opinion? He committed no crime. He only spoke the truth.
It is heartening to note that the same day Minister of State for Defence MM Pallam Raju defended the forces. He said: The "Army ha the right to voice its opinion…as a force on the ground dealing with the situation first-hand, the Army is discussing the concerns regarding the visibility of armed forces in the region, which should be addressed in a practical and pragmatic manner." To be more precise, he said: "I think as a force on the ground, which has to deal first-hand with the situation, the Army has the right to voice its opinion once in a while and it will also be taken note of." He said so when asked if the Army was right in airing its objection.
The Minister of State for Defence has acted very timely as well as wisely. His stand has, of course, controlled the damage but only to an extent. It is for Lt General Jaswal to rise to the occasion and do something concrete so that a right message goes and those opposing the Army and the anti-terror laws are put in their place. |
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