The India-Pakistan ceasefire on the Line of Control (LoC) since 2003 was yet again violated brutally this time on January 8, 2013, when Pakistani troops of reportedly 29 Baloch Regiment, taking advantage of the dense fog, killed two Indian soldiers — Sudhakar Singh and Hemraj of 13 Rajputana Rifles — by slitting their throats and beheading one of them, while firing unprovoked on Indian posts in the Poonch/ Krishna Ghati sector.
There have been yet unconfirmed reports that Pakistanis took away the head of one of the decapitated Indian soldiers.
Pakistan Army’s attack came soon after India is reported to have told Pakistan “to ensure that the sanctity of LoC is upheld at all times”. In response, Pakistan Army “rejected allegations of the Indian army about the unprovoked firing by Pakistani troops at the Line of Control” and on January 8, Pakistani Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani at Sialkot asked the Army to remain “fully prepared to respond to the full spectrum of threats, direct or indirect, overt or covert”. Ever since the 1999 Kargil war waged by Pakistan Army, the only attacks on it have been by the very terrorist outfits it raised, supported or befriended like the Al Qaeda.
Is it not strange that such a macabre act by Pakistan Army comes at a time when peace talks are being held, trade is supposed to take off and cricket is being played between the two countries? But the ceasefire violation and the misuse of bayonets is certainly neither surprising nor unprecedented. The timing of Pakistan army initiating some or the other kind of ghastly act to derail a process of peace and reconciliation painstakingly achieved between the two countries is also not surprising. Given these recent events and General Kayani’s reluctance to retire as well as the Pakistani Army losing face and coming under increased political scrutiny following Osama bin Laden’s killing are all indicators of this heinous attack being a planned attack. Denial/lies by Pakistan’s political and military leaders is nothing new.
On June 9, 1999 the mutilated body of Captain Saurabh Kalia taken prisoner during the Kargil War between India and Pakistan was returned to India. Twelve years later in December 2012, his father, Dr N.K. Kalia, 64, a retired senior scientist from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, took the government to court. He wants his son’s case to be raised at the International Court of Justice at The Hague.
India’s ministry of defence issued a strong statement criticising this Poonch ceasefire violation and condemning the killing of the two Indian soldiers by Pakistani troops. The statement stated: “The government of India considers the incident as a provocative action and we condemn it. The DGMOs (Director General of Military Operations) of the two countries are in touch over it. The government will take up the incident with the Pakistan government. We expect Islamabad to honour the ceasefire agreement strictly.”
Reportedly referring to the incident as an “unwholesome development”, external affairs minister Salman Khurshid said that the government will make it clear to Pakistan that the action of its troops was absolutely unacceptable and it needs answers. “It is not something of light nature, public opinion does not accept it. We want proportionate response. (will take) a collective view in the government. The Government of India considers the incident as a provocative action and we condemn it,” Mr Khurshid told a news channel and added that it seemed a ploy to derail peace talks.
While it remains to be seen what actions the government will take, the Northern Army Commander, Lt. Gen. K.T. Parnaik, who visited the spot. is reported to have instructed the Army to “stay alert and calm” and declared that “appropriate action will be taken at the appropriate time”.
Following the 2003 ceasefire agreement, Indian Army erected a three-tier fence about 500 metres to two kilometres inside Indian territory along the LoC to prevent intrusion by Pakistani terrorists. However this ceasefire has been violated by Pakistan Army umpteen times, mostly while attempting to induct terrorists.
In June 2012, Pakistan Army violated the ceasefire by unprovoked firing four times from June 11 to June 16, in the same Krishna Ghati sector, killing at least two and injuring some more. That time Pakistani troops directly fired on Indian Army troops guarding the LoC in Poonch unlike in the past when they used to target the posts. Despite of this provocative act, the Indian Army exercised restraint and asked the Pakistani Army, through the hotline channel, to investigate the matter. Pak Army instead of responding to the Indian message, repeated the sniping on June 13, and killed a soldier and injured three others in the Krishna Ghati belt of the Poonch sector. The flag meeting scheduled to be held at Chakan-Da-Bagh on June 16 was cancelled by Pakistan, without giving any fresh date for the same. The trade via the Chakan-Da-Bagh crossing point remained suspended, awaiting de-escalation of the situation in the Krishna Ghati Sector.
The tally of ceasefire violations by June went up to 12 this year. On July 26, 2012. a 400-metres long tunnel, running between India and Pakistan, along the International Border in Samba district of J&K —the second so far — was discovered. The tunnel replete with ventilator pipes was reportedly detected by a local villager Baldev Singh while he was digging in his fields and the ground caved-in at two or three places after rains near the BSF’s Chillayari Border Out Post (BOP).
Following the cave-in, when the area was dug out to know the reason, authorities were surprised to find a tunnel of dimension 3x3-ft, running between Chillayari BOP and Pakistan’s Numberiyal BOP, at a depth of 25-ft below the ground level.
Interacting with local media SSP (Samba) Israr Khan said that it is being ascertained whether the tunnel is operational or not. “We are looking into all aspects. Pakistan must be facing a lot of pressure from the militants to infiltrate them into the Indian Territory. Since it is difficult to push in militants to the Indian side, they decided to set up a tunnel to facilitate infiltration,” the SSP is reported to have said. “Several infiltration attempts by militants to enter into Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) in the last six months have been foiled by our troops. We have information about terrorists being trained by Pakistan and camped at launching pads with instructions to infiltrate into J&K to create trouble,” said Lt. Gen. Parnaik.
Lt. Gen. Om Prakash, who took over charge as GOC of the Srinagar headquartered Chinar Corps from Lt. Gen. Syed Atta Hasnain on June 9, 2012, reportedly got an update that as many as 42 terrorist camps are still operational in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK), where as 2,000 to 2,500 terrorists are still being trained for anti-India activities, with up to 1,400 terrorists waiting to get into India.
In early May 2012, Army foiled a major infiltration bid in the Kashmir Valley by killing six militants in Uri sector of Baramulla district. Later in May, Indian Army troops foiled another infiltration bid by militants in Keran sector in the Kashmir Valley. Lt. Gen. Hasnain had stated then that the fencing along the Line of Control, which was damaged due to heavy snowfall last winter, had been repaired to a large extent and that militants might try to infiltrate in the month of June. Whether any infiltration attempts succeeded or not, the burnings of the Quraan and shrines certainly began in June, which meant that at least Pakistan’s handlers/directors were active across the LoC and in the valley.
While Pakistan seems to be keen in promoting ties with India through the process of dialogue, cultural exchange and sports, Islamabad’s agencies, including the Army and the ISI, continue to sustain conflict and aid to militants. This is one of the reasons why India is taking measured steps while engaging in dialogue with Pakistan. The fact that Pakistan has remained engaged in upgrading war machinery and its defence preparedness is evident from a 2012 report of India’s ministry of defence which revealed that since 2004, despite the border ceasefire, Pakistani troops have constructed 886 bunkers, 261 morchas, 398 towers and 143 border outposts along the LoC and the international boundary.
Irked by two successive tourist seasons in the Kashmir valley and difficulty in infiltration across the LoC, Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence has been goading separatist leaders in the state to incite secessionist activities similar to the stone-pelting and civil disobedience movement of 2010 that had brought normal life in the Valley to a crippling halt.
New Delhi must respond appropriately and assertively both on the ground and on diplomatic front, and should determinedly and meaningfully move the International Court of Justice on all brutalities by Pakistani Army.
Anil Bhat, a retired Army officer, is a defence and security analyst based in New Delhi