Capt. Shaji Kumar

— from the diary of an old soldier ….. people like Lt Gen Bhagat were still alive ……and the modern breed of Gens was beginning to be born!

The recent brutal killing of two Indian soldiers by Pakistani troops on Indian soil, then the Indian government’s protests and the Pakistani government’s denials, etc etc has left me pondering and reminiscing about the good old days.

I have had three postings in J&K, and I distinctly remember three incidents that took place around NW Kashmir during my first posting at Uri in 1976-77:

Incident 1: A Maratha Light Infantry battalion was newly inducted in a sensitive sector. On the very first night when the rear party of the previous battalion finally moved out and the main body of Marathas newly moved in, Pakis fired 2″ mortar shells on a Maratha forward post. (This has been the usual way to welcome newly inducted Indian Army units by the Pakis for ages.) As soon as day broke, a Major on the Maratha post climbed a tree with an RL (Rocket Launcher, for my civilian friends) slung on one shoulder and two rockets slung on the other, and simply blasted two bunkers of the Mujahid post across the LOC.

Thereafter, not one bullet was fired by the Pakis on the Maratha paltan for as long as they stayed there.

Incident 2: Pakis observed that Gorkha soldiers in their OP (Observation Post) just left the LMG (Light Machine Gun) un-attended for 2 to 3 minutes while they went out of the OP for a pee. One summer day at about 11 o’ clock in the morning, in a daring raid, two Paki soldiers sneaked in and ran back with the LMG.

Four hours later, which is normally siesta time and security is lax, a team of Gorkha soldiers raided the Pak post and came back with the Paki CO’s 15 years old daughter. (Pakistan Army’s officers-lot is super privileged. They even stay on border posts with their families.) The Gorkhas did not harm the child, they just made her sit on a chair on top of the OP bunker. Soon enough, a bunch of Paki jawans came up to the LOC with a white flag and the Gorkhas’ LMG, and a neat and clean exchange took place.

Incident 3: This incident happened when Naga Regiment was newly raised in the Indian Army and Pakis had no clue what material the Nagas were made of! (Those with a weak stomach may please skip reading this incident further.)

The Nagas were also given the customary welcome on their induction, but they did not retaliate. Then, for the next two consecutive nights, a couple of Paki soldiers would cross over to the Indian side, lob hand-grenades at the Naga post and run back. On the third night, a few Naga soldiers laid an ambush and caught 2 Pakis. They brought the Paki soldiers back enough to be hidden from the Paki OP sights. They tied the Pakis to a tree, lit a fire and performed a traditional Naga dance! Then they chopped a leg off one of the Paki soldiers and literally barbecued it over the fire. Both the Paki soldiers were let off the next morning, but not before the were made to hear this dialogue between a Naga Havildar and a Sepoy:

Sepoy: “Ustaad, inko rakhte hain, bilkul chicken jaisa taste hai.”

Havildar: “Nahi re, inko jaane do, yeh dono bahut kamjor hain. Ab yahan 3 saal rehna hai; tu tension mat le, aur bahut mote tagde milenge.”

This news spread like wildfire, and the Pakis (Baluch Regiment) across the LOC were thereafter not to be seen even through binoculars, till the Naga battalion was replaced by another unit after 3 years.

Now-a-days, the only reason Pakistanis keeps blatantly bullying us Indians is because we allow them to do so.

How I miss the good old days. Jaane kahan gaye woh din! – “Courtesty Victor Sierra”

On 24th July 1965, Gen. Ayub Khan in collusion with the ambitious Foreign Minister of Pakistan Z.A.Bhutto pushed their soldiers over the LOC into Kashmir to create trouble. Lal Bahadur Shastri sent the Army’s 1 Corps, XI Corps and XV Corps across the LOC towards Lahore, ending the war within days.

On 3rd Dec 1971, Gen. Yahya Khan scarmbled his F-86 Sabre, F-6 Mirage III, and F-104 Fighter Bombers and attacked North India. In response, Indira Gandhi ordered Indian Army’s II Corps, IV Corps and XXXIII Corps into East Pakistan. They captured 90000 Pakistanis and ended the War.

In April 1999, Gen. Pervez Mushraff sent his mountain division, the Northern Light Infantry, to occupy the Indian bunkers in Dras and Kargil. But Atal Bihari Vajpayee could not counter-attack. Instead he asked the Army to take the peaks one by one, and at a great cost.

Earlier this month, Indian shelling killed a Pakastani Soldier. A team of Pakistani raiders then killed two Indian Soldiers, beheading one. But Prime Minister Manmohan Singh could not retaliate.

Why have our Political leadership lost their spunk to counter attack ? What has happened that India cannot punish Pakistan any longer for its insolence as it could in the past ? This would only stoke the fire and Pakistan would be emboldened to play more such games. First mutilate then use rhetoric. The fear of a nuclear holocaust may be what is holding back the leadership from taking a tough stance. But whatever may be the reason what the Government fail to take note would be the growing anger within our forces. The men in the Army are trained for attack and this inaction is only going to baffle them. We have an Army and we should not be afraid to use it. The consequences of any battale or war would most definitely be destruction but why suffer a humiliation in this proxy war.

The World would definitely not end, at least not yet, whatever “the predictors” may be predicting. But in some way it has to change. For India perhaps it is required more than anyone else. We are in a Democracy but without actually having the power to choose as to who would actually be our Head of the State. Neither in the case of The President nor for the Prime Minister. For instance if the UPA wins the election in 2014, they would install a “rookie” PM. Are we living in a Democracy or in an Autocratic environment in the grab of Democracy ? It is a rather debatable question when it comes to the Congress party where the reins have been strongly held in the hands of One family.

But is is rather encouraging to see that all Non-Congress parties have been able to farm some good people who can wear the mantle. Narender Modi from Gujarat, Nitesh Kumar from Bihar, Dr. Raman Singh from Chattisgarh etc. All of these leaders have proved themselves worthy and do possess the 3C’s i.e. Capacity, Capability & Competency. And they have proved it in their respective States. The States which have had Competent Leaders is showing a “Growth” and thereby alleviating the standards of the people in these States. This is the main factor why the people in these States are continuing to bring back these Leaders. It is indeed heartening to see that the Indian Citizens are finally “waking” up.

We can also thank Sanjiv Sarin and his Jago Re Ad Campaign for waking up the hitherto indifferent Citizens of the Country, the results of which is evident from the 65% to 70% plus voter turnout in elections. Imagine the woes of Indian Polity when this percentage keeps on climbing and breaches the 80% to 90% mark…that day the Indian Politician would be dead. That would be the day when the Government would be as per our Choice. But that day is still way off and of course the political communicty would most certainly and definitely fight to avoid such a scenario from happening.

I have always wondered, why does our breed of Politicians not wake up and see the futility in the myraid way of ways of politics they practice, the ultimate form of protest – The BANDH. To protest they still resort to and use this old colonial way of protest. Bandh or stopping work was effective when you wanted to slow down production and hurt the British East India Company. Nowhere in the World is such a form of protest prevalent. What a Bandh really does achieve is that it forcefully brings the State or Country to a standstill. Besides causing a lot of genuine hardship to a lot of people. What does the daily wager do ? He curses this period of non-activity, because what it entails is that he and his family has to go hungry. But who cares, certainly not the Politician who knows that when the time comes he can certainly buy their votes.

Instead why can they not use a more effective mass media tool which is available. Use Mass Mailing protest, Mass SMS’s or any such electronic form of reach out which besides giving a lot of penetration would dissuade people from having a forced holiday. The Political Bodies calling for these Bandhs should actually be asked to pay for the loss of production for that single day which would cause loss in crores which no one at least not the Country afford.

I was reading an article today about some survey conducted by The Times, where the Child born in this Century would be oblivious to many of the “hardships” their parents had to undergo, like growing up without a cell phone, or eating at Dominos, McDonald’s etc etc. So why then should the Gen Next be made aware to this malady of “Bandh”. Why can this very frivolous and extravagant show of mass protest be publicly banned.

This is one Democratic right which should be declared darconian and amended so as to allow normal live to go on despite whatever decisions are taken by the ruling Government. I for one fail to understand as to how is it ever possible that calling for a Bandh can make the Government stop their policies from going through. Ever since my living years I am yet to see one reversal of any decision taken by the Government because of the result of a BANDH…then why call for it in the first place.

India is an Union of 28 States. Each of these States have their own culture and this very diversity is waht makes and has always made India Unique. Then why is it that we even 65 years of being independent and governing ouw own affairs, these seven sisters continue to be neglected. It is not as if they are not beautiful. They might be the most beautiful of the lot. Both in terms of locale and in terms of the physical beauty of the people inhabiting in these seven states.

The anger and affront at this neglect has been shimmering for a long time now. The recent events like the Assam riots and the panic exodus of the north eastern people from certain cities is a rather unfortunate and shameful incidents. What more can the irony be, when the Prime Minister of the Country has been elected from one of this very place. The region has many issues but because of a lack of political will we tend to totally disregard and consequently it hardly gets the mainstream attention.

Apart from addressing the issues, first we need to understand and believe that these seven states are an integral part of the Union. The step-treatment has to go absolutely and each and every Citizen of India residing in these seven States need to feel wanted and have an inherent sense of belonging. The people in these states are not aggressive by nature. They just would want their fair share of development and growth. The potential for promoting these wonderful locales as tourist destinations both from relaxation and from adventure sports is tremendous. But there is very little effort made to do so. We do recite the usual sermons, but hardly ever follow them. India might be one Country, and we may be mostly good people at heart, however we are perhaps also the most internally racist nation. The thinking is quite shallow. we discriminate on colour and creed. Yes the people from the North East have a more oriental look. But at the same time they are both attractive and beautiful. But is this the Nation we would want. Where people look for differences rather than similarities ?

The North East is hungry for good education and a decent jobs. Where has the Government made the inraods in providing such an infrastructure in any of these states. To get good quality education they have to come out of their homes. Why have we not provided them with the IIT’s, IIM’s and Medical Colleges of repute ? Why have we neglected to understand and realize the economic potential of this part geographically speaking. The North East can give India access to east Asia by opening up the trade routes to Countries like Thailand etc. The Leadership in New Delhi plans for Golden Quadrilaterals and super highways between Delhi and Agra, Jaipur, Mumbai etc but why not a 2400 KM road linking Guwahati with Bangkok. The tremendous potential of such a venture can only be imagined because it is not even thought about yet.

We need to bridge this gap. Stop neglecting the huge huge potential that this eastern sector of India can open up for us. It is like we have the Kohinoor but simply refuse to acknowledge it…Politicians in our Country are selfish and self-centered, and cannot think beyond themselves. It requires the Citizens of India to take up the cudgels on behalf of the overall betterment and development of these seven states.