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| Leadership needs to take a holistic view on security | | | Karan Bandesha | 1/28/2012 12:01:07 AM |
| “One of the travesties of our justice system is that 12 years down the line we have not been able to deliver justice,” said Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in reference to the ongoing hearings of the Pathribal encounter in the Supreme Court. One is reminded of a similar situation with respect to the inordinate delay in hanging of Afsal Guru and Ajmal Kasab. Both are established enemies of the Indian Nation and undeserving of clemency, yet, the cases are lingering on. Neither Omar nor his party – National Conference have expressed anguish over this travesty – if one may call it so. There is yet another significant trav esty of justice that Omar and his government need to address on priority. The State gover nment has yet to probe the Chittisingh pora mass acre of March, 20, 2000 which was a prelude to the Pathribal encounter. The poor victims of this terrible tragedy are running from pillar to post to seek justice which is eluding them due to an insensitive approach of the J&K government.
The matter does not end here. National Confer ence President and former Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah, during whose tenure the incidents took place, has emphatically stated that the Pathribal incident was a “fake encounter”.”Yes, it was a fake encounter... All those who are responsible for having killed innocent people must be charge sheeted whether they are in the Army or they are civilians. You can’t kill innocent people and say that I have got a certificate of safety,” Dr Abdullah told reporters in Delhi. This statement has opened its own can of worms.
If one would read JK Police instead of “civilian’ in Farooq’s statement then it would be closer to reality. It was the ineptitude of the Farooq government which led to the initial fudging of the DNA samples of those killed in the Pathribal encounter. Not much is known about the report of the second sample that was taken after a protracted public outcry. The Army had no means of influencing the fudging of DNA samples, therefore, it can be logically deduced that the attempt was made by such local lobbies who wanted to hide certain facts. Since the JK Police was a party to the Pathribal operation, it’s possible role in the fudging episode calls for closer scrutiny. The J&K government has not initiated any enquiry on the JK Police personnel, in fact, the officer who led the Police party in the encounter, Farooq Khan, is not only scot free but has also gained a number of promotions to become an Inspector General of Police.
Meanwhile, the Army is being prejudged and implicated in the case in a manner that defies logic and understanding. There exists irrefutable evidence about the joint nature of the said operation with the JK Police playing a dominant role. The operation was launched on the basis of specific information provided by the JK Police whose personnel pointed out to the Army the house in which terrorists were said to be hiding. The Army then launched the attack and in the process the alleged terrorists were killed. Post the encounter, the JK Police was quite forthcoming in taking the credit till such time that reports of civilians having been abducted and killed came up. It then hastily staged the proverbial disap pearing act, leaving the Army to face the flak. Presently, the apex Court of the country is seized with the issue and yet it is being flogged to further the agenda against the AFSPA.
Even as this controversy continues to rage, the security forces in J&K are fighting a grim battle against a determined and inimical foreign force. In the year gone by (2011), 71 brave soldiers have laid down their lives while preserving the sovereignty and integrity of our great country; many have received gallantry awards from a grateful nation for placing service before self. A majority of those who have attained martyrdom and those who have been honoured for gallantry were serving in the State of Jammu and Kashmir and were defending this sensitive frontier state of the Nation. The highest award, Ashok Chakra, has been posthumously conferred to a young soldier, Lieutenant Navdeep Singh, who laid down his life while courageously foiling an infiltration bid from across the border, once again on the line of control in J&K. Not only operations, vagaries of nature have also taken their toll on the country’s sentinels in J&K. Six Army Jawans and a Border Security Force officer have been buried under an avalanche caused by freak weather near the line of control in Keran Sector of District Kupwara on January, 24. The hapless soldiers were out in the open because the Army does not discount infiltration attempts even during the worst of weather conditions. The statement of the Chief Minister can be construed to be yet another attempt by him to further his pet agenda of pushing for partial revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. “This again calls into question the entire debate of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and the way in which it is implemented or the way it is used,” he said. He however failed to elaborate as to how a single incident can be a catalyst for a debate on a subject as sensitive as the status of AFSPA; nor has he logically clarified as to who will stop this relentless assault from across the border in case the Army soldiers are rendered toothless by taking away from them their legal protection. While looking for a change in security paradigm, he needs to realize that one Chittisinghpora type of incident can bring back the accrued gains to zero. Pathribal is a single unfortunate incident while security is a wide encom passing, sensitive matter for J&K; on such issues the leadership needs to take a holistic view. |
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