Let me begin on a cheerful note by first and foremost expressing my utmost happiness to note that finally we have one such Army Chief who believes very firmly in dealing with rogue nations like Pakistan who never understands the language of peace which India has been speaking always since the last seven decades. Instead our peace policy has always been taken to be our biggest weakness which alone explains that why they have mercilessly been carrying out proxy war against India since ages as their clear cut policy is “To make India bleed by giving thousand cuts”. It is our politicians who are more responsible than Pakistan for allowing to take India for granted always! Nothing in India can ever happen without consent of politicians because it is they who have the remote control of all power!
It is our politicians who frittered away the gains of our Army in 1948, 1965 and most of all in 1971 when inspite of winning decisively they handed back more than 93,00 Pakistani surrendered soldiers back to them even though they did not hand over many of our soldiers who bore the maximum brunt of their torture as was testified by none other than former Pakistan PM late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who said he could not sleep in prison as in the adjoining barrack Indian soldiers captured in 1971 war were tortured mercilessly whole night and whole day! Why Pakistan Occupied Kashmir was not taken back? This alone explains why I believe that politicians are more dangerous than Pakistan who are ever ready to play politics even with the lives of our soldiers and completely ignore what happens to them!
Why just after two to three months after the Kargil war planned and masterminded by the Pakistani invader Gen Pervez Musharraf did India decide to accord a red carpet welcome to him and shower flowers on him? Did he really deserve this? Why Indian politicians very conveniently forgot that it was Musharraf who was responsible for masterminding the killing of more than 600 of our brave soldiers and had threatened to nuke India if we stepped even one inch inside their territory as he felt Pakistan alone has the right to invade and he alone had the unfettered right to come 14-15 km inside Indian territory just before Kargil war started to boost his soldiers morale to most brutally kill our soldiers as he himself very proudly acknowledges?
Pakistan badly failed to capture even an inch in Kargil and even did not claim the dead bodies of its soldiers especially of Northern Light Infantry Regiment and India cremated them in India. Even in 1988 when Gen Musharraf was Brigadier, Pakistani Army under his leadership tried to snatch Siachen but again there too they failed miserably! Yet our politicians unnecessarily made a hero out of a failed and most frustrated person which he never deserved! Now he is a “proclaimed offender” in his own Pakistan!
Coming back to the main subject, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat has said that surgical strikes conducted across the Line of Control last September were a message to Pakistan and more such strikes would be undertaken if needed. Speaking at an event in New Delhi on September 25, Gen Rawat said that, “The strikes were more of a message we wanted to convey and these things could follow if need be”. When asked how capable India was to carry out more such operations, he said: “All that I can say is that you can count on us.”
It may be recalled here that close on the heels of four Pakistani terrorists attacking an Indian Army unit’s administrative base in Uri on September 18, 2016, J&K killing 18 soldiers, the Army carried out surgical strikes on terrorist launch pads near the Line of Control in Pakistan. The strikes conducted on September 28, 2016 had inflicted significant casualties on terrorists which Pakistan will never admit. Pakistan was completely caught napping as they never even dreamt that India which believed until now only in honouring Pakistani invaders like Gen Musharraf on its soil and in kowtowing in front of him could strike back with such a vengeance!
Following the surgical strikes, India was seen as a stronger nation, one that retaliates, Gen Rawat said. Let me add here further that just like after Kargil war when our political leadership bent overbackwards to invite a defeated Pakistani invader Gen Pervez Musharraf who could not summon even the courage to lead his troops from forward the world looked down upon India as a weak country! I still fail to understand why our politicians ignored that this same Gen Musharraf had ordered Captain Saurav Kalia and 5 soldiers to be brutally tortured for not just 1 day or 5 days or 10 days or 15 days or 20 days but for full 22 days and their whole body bore signs of unspeakable torture, cigarette signs, their eyes were punctured with hot iron rods and pulled out, same with ears, nose and even their private parts were not spared and finally they were shot in head and their body maimed and mutilated was handed over to India and yet decided to accord red carpet welcome to him just two to three months after Kargil war?
Gen Musharraf had even paid Rs 1 lakh as cash prize to dreaded Al Qaeda leader Iliyas Kashmiri who earlier was in Pakistani Army when he beheaded and presented his beheaded head as trophy to Gen Musharraf as was reported in most English dailies in 2000! Still some of our journalists, big media houses and our politicians shamelessly honoured him as if he had done a great job! This only left him more emboldened and he hailed terrorists like Osama and Hafiz as “Osama to hero hain ji hero. Hafiz Saeed to bilkul aasli hero hain ji. Bharat ke liye yeh aatankwadi hain paar hamare liye to ye hero hain ji hero. Dawood is also in Pakistan somewhere in Karachi but why should we disclose this to India or hand him over.” He is accused of plotting murder of former Pakistan PM Benazir Bhutto, attack on Lal Masjid in Pakistan which left many dead and was also accused of killing Nawab Bukhti in Baluchistan and is also facing trial in many other cases. Still some of our big journalists and leaders shamelessly laugh and feel proud to talk with him and slam Gen Rawat as “Sadak ka goonda”! This has to change now and it is our leaders who must change first and foremost in dealing with Pakistan!
Why Most Favoured Nation status to Pakistan is continuing unilaterally since 1996 shamelessly and most unfortunately even though we are daily losing our brave soldiers fighting the proxy war perpetrated by Pakistan since last more than four decades? Why in UN we condemn them as “Terroristan” but yet keep engaging them? Why all relations with Pakistan which is a rogue nation are not being nuked? Why Pakistani Indians who chant “Pakistan, Pakistan and nothing but Pakistan” are not being deported to Pakistan as we see in the case of Rohingyas? Kuwait has ordered all Pakistanis to leave Kuwait as they feel that they are a threat to their nation but why we refrain from doing so even though it is India who is worst affected by proxy war perpetrated against India by Pakistan? Ask politicians ruling in Centre!
This NDA government is now hardening its stance slowly but it needs to do a lot more and never repeat the foolish mistake of inviting Pakistani ISI agents to Pathankot to inspect terror spots where terrorists had attacked and killed our soldiers and even a Major and Lieutenant Colonel! I am happy to note that Gen Rawat when asked if terrorists would attempt to carry out another Uri-like attempt said categorically that, “Terrorists will keep coming because their camps are operating there. But we are prepared to receive them and send them to their graves and bury them two and a half feet inside.”
This is what is required and our political leadership too must like Gen Rawat demonstrate more resolve in giving a free hand to deal mercilessly with such Pakistani Indians who attack our soldiers, misbehave with them so that no one again dare misbehave with our soldiers! Disrespect of Indian soldiers by anyone whether they are Kashmiris or Pakistanis or anyone else be it even me should never be tolerated even slightly under any circumstances!
Happy to note that in the latest incident, security forces had foiled a terror attack on a military camp in Uri sector killing four militants mercilessly near Line of Control! Our politicians too must learn something from Gen Rawat and completely boycott Pakistan till it dismantles all terror camps and deport terror leaders to India so that they can be tried and punished accordingly! Why we are keeping so many Pakistani diplomats in India and allowing them to meet Hurriyat leaders and fish in troubled waters? Why security at taxpayers expense for Hurriyat leaders and not jail who always rant against India and plot with terror leaders as was disclosed recently by NIA?
All this must end forthwith and Gen Rawat is hundred percent right that following the strikes, India was seen as a stronger nation, one that retailiates! This must continue always! No compromise on this must be made ever! Politicians must now emulate what Gen Rawat has said and immediately nuke all relations with Pakistan!
Sanjeev Sirohi, Advocate,
s/o Col BPS Sirohi,
A 82, Defence Enclave,
Sardhana Road, Kankerkhera,
Meerut – 250001, Uttar Pradesh.
