Early Times Report
Jammu, Oct 3 : The recent surgical operation carried out by a group of Indian troops, in which 38 militants were killed and a number of launching pads were destroyed, may not materially change the security scenario in the Kashmir valley.
It is so because Pakistan has been on the offensive. Its troops have violated ceasefire, in Akhnoor sector, a group of militants launched a Fidayeen attack on an Army camp in Baramulla in which one BSF jawan was killed and two militants were slain. Indian Navy spotted a boat near Gujarat and was intercepted to find some arms and ammunition.
India's admission and celebration of a "surgical strike" against "terrorist launch pads" across the Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistan-administered Kashmir is a serious cause for worry.
Not because there is something wrong with taking responsibility of your actions, especially when they involve violence. For, that reflects maturity and control over the situation. Even enjoying the sense of security that sensible use of force instills among the people of a nation, which is frustrated with a neighbour unwilling to stop supporting militants, is also understandable.
The problem begins when the political and military leadership confuses its ways and means with strategic ends. Let's first contextualize this strike from a historical perspective.
Ever since the 1949 ceasefire, the deployment of militaries along the LoC, which is not a legally recognized border, has increased with regular spikes after the 1971 war, the 1984 Siachen conflict, the advent of insurgency in Kashmir after 1988, and most prominently after the 1999 Kargil conflict.
For instance, the 80-kilometre stretch along which the Kargil conflict was fought was traditionally defended by one brigade i.e. approximately 3,000 troops. Today, it is manned by nearly a division i.e. approximately 10,000 troops. Not just that, after the 1971 war, the Indian army added a new term to its training curriculum-Line of Control Warfare. And after 1989, counter-infiltration operations were added to the list.
Given the complementary increase in force-levels at the LoC, where Indian and Pakistani posts are in close proximity for tactical reasons, local duels by specially trained and motivated troops have been a common feature (a local revenge cycle is created). Such engagements, historically, have involved not just small arms fire, but also artillery shelling. |
