Enough, now teach them a lesson
Wilson John / New Delhi
The Pioneer
June 11, 1999
Title: Enough, now teach them a lesson
Author: Wilson John / New Delhi
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: June 11, 1999
It is time for the blood to boil. It is time to act decisively. It is
time to hit back.
Six of our soldiers were brutally hacked by the enemy troops. They
were not killed in firing. They were chained, burnt by cigarette
butts; their eyes were gouged out, their ears, noses and genitals
chopped while they were alive. There could only be few parallels of
such barbarism between two nations who are otherwise talking of
friendship.
As if the first incident was enough to rattle us. Squadron Leader Ajay
Ahuja was shot in cold blood, not once but twice. He had multiple
fractures on his left leg when Pak troops caught him, tortured him and
killed him.
Those who talk of diplomacy, should strain their ears and hear the
screams. Ask Lieutenant Saurav Kalia's parents. Ask Ahuja's
four-and-half year-old son. Ask the wives and children of five
soldiers who were killed piece by piece, scream by scream...life
ebbing out in such painful extortions that death would have been more
merciful.
And yet, we don't call this operation a war. We, our politicians, call
it a war-like situation. More than 70 of our men are dead; 180
wounded; 14 are missing; soldiers are captured, brutally tortured and
killed. Many more will die in the coming days...and yet it is not a
war. Then what is it?
Go tell the parents, wives and children of the soldiers who return
home in black, anonymous body bags that it is not a war. It is another
game we are playing with Pakistan. Like the ones to which most of us
roar in glee in front of flickering television screens.
And it's all Pakistan's creation. Not ours. Not at all. Now tell
Sartaz Aziz to go back. Tell him, we will talk to him when we throw
his troops out of our home. Don't give them any safe passage. Catch
them alive or dead. Rub it into Aziz. What are we going to talk
anyway? That Line of Control is debatable? That the death of our men
is merely statistics? That the areas captured by Pak brigand can be
negotiable? That there is no war?.
Don't confuse the military. It is already very confused by the
political double talk. Let them do their duty. They know how to do it.
They have a task and they will complete it. They offer no excuses. But
they don't want their hands tied either.
Untie their hands. Let them fight the war as it should be. Our
soldiers are not fodder for Pak cannons. Let them fight the enemy as
an enemy. Don't show him the Line of Control.
Pakistan still has supply routes, ammunition dumps, stores, artillery
guns, all positioned just inside their LoC. Those are the critical
targets. The enemy has to be starved, confused and the only way to do
is to hit the nerve centre. No amount of bombing the heights would
achieve anything if the enemy troops manage to get their supplies of
ammunition and stores regularly. We must choke them. And choking
cannot be done by letting them stand and take pot shots at us while
our men die. In dozens.
We cannot let the sacrifices go un-acknowledged. For every drop of
blood shed by our men, thousand drops should be extracted from across
the border. The Bus can wait. It is a question of a nation's
self-esteem. A nation without self-esteem is not worth dying for.
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