PRAGMATIC GENERAL COMMANDING ARMY IN SHREENAGAR

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PRAGMATIC GENERAL COMMANDING ARMY IN SHREENAGAR

Generals of Indian Army very rarely go public.

They are glued to army discipline. In

particular, on policy matters, Generals

never open their mouth. However, in a rare case,

General Officer Commanding of the Srinagarbased

15 Corps, Lt General S A Hasnain made

some candid and frank comments on a few

aspects related to army's presence in the state. In

a press conference, when asked about the

demand for withdrawal of AFSPA, an issue that

has become somewhat controversial, and on

which good deal of thinking is going on, the Corps

Commander very candidly and politely reiterated

the oft-repeated stand of the Army. He said that

his superiors and the Army Command had

expressed its views. The Army has been fighting a

proxy war in Kashmir which is a mix of gorilla war,

war of attrition and war against disinformation.

This has been a new experience for the Indian

Army which has fought three conventional wars

against Pakistan. The militants are using civilians

as their shield and the Army is committed to protect

the civilians. The separatists have spread the

wrong notion that special powers given to the

army are meant to suppress and harass the civilian

population in Kashmir. The truth is the reverse

of it. The militants are either from the neighbouring

country who have infiltrated clandestinely into

the valley or they are the Kashmiri boys who have

been lured to training camps in PoK or Pakistan.

The army needs special powers to deal with them

so that they are incapacitated from causing harm

to the local civilian populations. Thus the General

meant to say that continuance of special powers

for the Army is a necessity for ensuring return of

normalcy to the state. Apart from this a step has

been taken to resolve the deadlock and hopefully

army has no objection to it. It is agreed that the

areas in Kashmir declared non-disturbed will naturally

be vacated by the Army and with that the

AFSPA will also go. So it is a matter of time and no

controversy has to be entertained. Once entire

Kashmir is declared non-disturbed area, the Army

will return to barracks and nobody will speak of

AFSPA.

The second significant point made by the

General is that the Army does not envision any

threat to national security from the rehabilitation

of the estranged Kashmiri youth back in the valley.

We know in some political circles a hue and cry

was raised on the issue of allowing the boys to

return from PoK where they had gone for receiving

training in militancy in the camps set up by

Pakistan. It is known to all that these boys were

lured to those camps where they were first brain

washed and then given training in terrorism and

subversion. An innocent and young mind can easily

be corrupted because of young age. If the realization

has come to him after many years, he is

not to be discouraged. He has already suffered

because he has wasted many precious years of

his youth which is an immense loss. However the

General was speaking essentially from security

point of view. Depending on the preparedness of

the jawans of Indian Army, the General exuded

confidence in Army's ability to tackle militancy

whenever and wherever it raises its head. This

has to be a message to the militants that the army

does not lower the guard notwithstanding what

decisions the civilian government takes. The fact

of the matter is that the youth who had crossed

over to PoK are the Indian citizens and they cannot

be denied entry back into their national territory.

If they have committed a crime or the breach of

law, the law will take care of that. It is something

else to be kept away from enjoying the right to

their nationhood. No national or international law

allows that a citizen is disallowed the right to citizenship.

The General also reacted to the question of the

impact of fighting in AF-Pak region on Kashmir

security. Again his candid answer merits a mention.

Af-Pak region lies in our geographical proximity.

We know that the jihadis are committed to

creating disturbance in Kashmir. If they are able to

gain some ground in that war-torn region, naturally

it will be a matter of concern for us and our

Army will have to gear up to that situation. The

General has that situation in mind and he has

assured the nation that the Army is prepared to

meet any challenge of that kind as long as it has

the full backing of the nation. The pragmatism of

the General has to be lauded.