Now go get Occupied Kashmir

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Now go get Occupied Kashmir >Mon, 20 May 2002 09:01:57 -0700 > >Title:

Now go get Occupied Kashmir >Author: Sandhya Jain >Publication: The Pioneer

>May 21, 2002 > >It is difficult to remember when an Indian Prime

Minister last visited even the Jammu region of troubled >Kashmir. Mr. Atal

Bihari Vajpayee’s decision to visit the state is therefore a welcome assertion

of >personal confidence and national sovereignty. As the visit will owe its

success to the already >overworked and emotionally overstretched police,

para-military and security forces, it is hoped that >Mr. Vajpayee will not let

them down by failing to avenge the grim outrage at Kaluchak. > > >No nation can

be great that humiliates its own heroes and makes them weep. When women and

infants >are shot in cold blood in the presumed safety of their own homes, an

entire nation stands debased. This >feeling of disgrace is fuelling intense

anger across the country; a government that fails to lead this quest >for

national vengeance will stand forever indicted at the bar of public opinion and

also history. > >The Indian people want an immediate end to the policy of

inhibiting security forces from appropriate >retaliatory action against

militants. The BJP government’s early rhetoric of hot pursuit of terrorist

>camps, followed by complete non-action, has been galling. Kaluchak has touched

a very raw nerve, >and taken the war into every home and heart. Tamil Nadu Chief

Minister Jayalalithaa articulated these >sentiments perfectly with her demand

that India sever diplomatic ties with Islamabad and launch a >full-scale war.

She rightly hinted that the reaction to the assaults on Parliament and the J &;

K Assembly >last year was timid and uninspiring. > >There is now a national

consensus that the time for firm action has come; vacillation will demean us in

>our own eyes. Already the morale of the armed forces is sapping, not for lack

of valour, but because of >lack of political will to give a fitting rejoinder

to the depraved killing machine of a terrorist state. This is >truly sad

because the Indian army is one of the best, most experienced, and professional

armies in the >post-Second World War era. That is why, despite what analysts

say about the risks of open conflict, >Indians have blind faith in the ability

of the armed forces to make mincemeat of both uniformed and >madrasa-trained

jehadis across the border. > >Unfortunately, the government seems plagued by ad

hocism. Till date, we do not know what prompted >the unilateral ceasefire

against terrorism in the valley, which enabled the scattered terrorist outfits

to >recuperate to the detriment of the security forces and the people, and

ended in the extravagant fiasco at >Agra. Right now, troops have been mobilized

along the border for full five months, from December >when temperatures were

sub-zero in the Himalayas to May when the desert is simply scorching, and

>there is no clue of what will happen next. > > >Some commentators believe that

the government cannot take decisive action because it is unclear >about the war

goals. It is amazing that a political party branded as hyper-nationalist by its

critics should, >when in power, suffer any confusion in this regard. The goals

are self-evident ­ the decimation of >terrorist camps across the border, and

the recovery of Occupied Kashmir. After the unanimous >parliamentary resolution

of 1995, there cannot be any compromise on this issue, nor any excuse for

>failure. > > >Reports indicate that intelligence agencies are aware of at

least seventy camps across the border, most >of which are makeshift, and can be

quickly dismantled and re-located elsewhere. This need not be a >disadvantage as

surgical air strikes against the camps will have to be followed by mopping up

>operations on the ground. Once the army enters the area, it can deal with the

jehadis (both in mufti and >uniform), re-occupy legitimate Indian territory,

and sit tight. This would be a golden opportunity for the >army to vindicate

its honour and wipe out the humiliation Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru inflicted upon the

>nation over five decades ago. In this context, the BJP government would do well

to recognize that it >cannot have the luxury of condemning Nehru and the

Congress party for fifty years and then sit and >twiddle its thumbs when the

occasion arises. > > >I am aware that some will ridicule this argument as

simplistic. It will be claimed that war would be >messy because the government

has talked for so long without doing anything, hence ground realities are >far

worse than they seem from a writer’s cabin. It will also be said that the

threat of a nuclear strike is >very real. > > >My defence is multi-layered.

Firstly, there can never be a better time to take back Occupied Kashmir.

>American troops are in virtual occupation of Pakistan’s principal air and

military bases on account of >the action in Afghanistan, and they are unlikely

to leave that country in the foreseeable future. This is >particularly true

after US realization that Osama bin Laden is alive and perhaps in Pakistan, or

even in >PoK! Hence America will ensure that Pakistan’s nuclear button remains

firmly sheathed. Washington >will also try to ensure that the theatre of action

is limited to PoK and does not extend across the entire >eighteen hundred

kilometre-long border between the two countries. While India has the capacity

to >deploy forces and fight along the entire border, it is doubtful if Pakistan

can do so. > > >What is more, corruption and politicization have eaten deeply

into the vitals of the Pakistani army; one >has only to recall the swift

capitulation of Gen. Niazi in Dacca to realize that Islamabad does not have

>the stomach for open conflict. Even in Kargil, when it surreptitiously grabbed

the heights, it was not >prepared for the Indian army’s stupendous display of

valour. It should be kept in mind that Gen. Zia-ul >Haq’s post-1971

Islamization of the armed forces and his strategy of sponsoring militancy in

India has >given Pakistani leaders a false sense of power because New Delhi’s

responses have been tardy and >because she did not enjoy international support

for retaliatory strikes. But nations with right and might >on their side find

that the world falls in line quickly, and Islamabad is about to discover this

harsh truth. > > >Finally, I am confident that our army prefers open conflict

and the casualties of a heroic war to the daily >deaths of civilians and

targetting of security personnel and their families. The war of a thousand cuts

has >escalated into the war of a million cuts; there is an urgent need to

guillotine this menace. > > >At a time when national sentiments are running

high and people’s emotions are roused, the government >would do well to realize

that it cannot be seen to be tailoring its policy to suit faulty American

>calculations. The stakes are extremely high for India, and much time has

already been lost. For >instance, in the wake of the attacks on Parliament and

the J &; K Assembly, it was felt that repudiating >the Indus Treaty and

starving Pakistan of water would beat some sense into the heads of its rulings

>generals and general populace alike; but South Block responded by looking at

the rules for >abrogation! > > >The choice now is between the dismemberment of

India ­ first Kashmir,then Assam, West Bengal, >and so on ­ and the maintenance

of its territorial sovereignty. It is for the BJP to decide if it will live up

>to the rhetoric of fifty years or fall by the wayside. >

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