HVK Archives: Line of Control is a no-holds-barred free fire zone
Line of Control is a no-holds-barred free fire zone - The Times of India
Dinesh Kumar
()
25 July 1997
Title: Line of Control is a no-holds-barred free fire zone
Author: Dinesh Kumar
Publication: The Times of India
Date: July 25, 1997
Dine Kumar finds that India has no response to Pakistan's continued pushing
to terrorists into the Kashmir Valley
Chaukas Post (Line of Control): even as India and Pakistan are working on
holding yet another round of foreign secretary level talks, the third so
far this year, there has been no let-up in Islamabad's support to terrorism
in the Valley. Infiltration of ,militants and weapons continues unabated
from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) as does trans-LC (Line of Control)
firing between soldiers of the two countries.
The only change is that Indian troops posted along the LC have to a large
extent recently been permitted to shed their defensive firing posture. An
order directing all such army formations to suitably respond to Pakistani
firing was issued by the director general military operations in September
last year. It is partly due to this that the army was able to effectively
respond to Pakistani shelling in Kargil this April. In April alone, the
army fired 20,000 rounds of machine gun fire and 5,400 artillery shells in
the Kargil sector and had till June this year destroyed 52 Pakistani army
bunkers.
But while trans-LC firing remains at the same levels in Kargil and the high
altitude Siachen glacier, there has been relative decline in firing along
the Uri stretch of the LC. The reason pertains to a recent incident at this
army outpost which overlooks Chakothi township in POK. On May 16, four
Indian soldiers were injured while on patrol in this area in a blast caused
by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) planted by militants aided by the
Pakistanis. "We decided on a fire assault to teach them (the Pakistanis) a
lesson," narrated the Brigade Commander, Brig. J.S. Lidder. Over the next
two nights, May 17th and 18th, the Kumaon battalion posted here deployed
its weapons in a horseshoe manner by night while maintaining complete
silence during the day so as not to let the Pakistanis know.
"On the morning of May 19, we treated them to a super dose," said Brig.
Lidder. The "super dose" was actually a no-holds-barred firing of
artillery shells, missiles, rockets, grenades and from machine guns.
Forty-five minutes later, the Pakistanis had lost at least two soldiers
while two bunkers were destroyed in the Pakistani Filin post. Predictably,
the Pakistanis responded two days later, on May 21, with incessant firing
which led to partial destruction of an Indian bunker containing a vintage
Zu-23 anti-aircraft gun which, however. Was unaffected. Since then,
relative peace has prevailed.
"The lesson was to be clear-cut. We will respond to every act of firing
and killing with compound interest. If you kill one, we will kill five.
That's the message," says Brig. Lidder. Over the last few months, the army
has moved a few artillery guns, Zu-23 guns and Russian-made Concorse
surface- to-surface missiles (SSMs). However, these high calibre weapon
systems are difficult and hazardous to move to high altitude posts that
take several hours to access by foot through the mountainous terrain.
This post, located at 6000 feet and one of the few that provide a
commanding view of POK is separated by the winding Kalyane da Khas (KDK)
nallah that joins the Jhelum river. On the extreme right is the POK
township of Chakothi, while at least three large villages and several
Pakistani army posts dot the mountain slope across the nallah. The Bande
Azam road running parallel to the nallah at the foot of the mountain slope
in POK has now been closed to traffic as Indian troops retaliated to
Pakistani firing on Indian military vehicles plying along the NH-1A highway
that runs along the river Jhelum all the way to Muzzafarabad (POK) from
Jammu. Over there the army has since built a wall of large stone boulders
along the vulnerable stretches that are dominated by Pakistani posts.
Even though trans-LC firing has come down, "there has been no change in the
attitude of the Pakistani army and the ISI", says Maj. Gen. Hari Prasad,
General Officer Commanding (GOC) of 19 Division at Baramullah. The
mountainous terrain, the dispersed deployment of troops and the feeling of
isolation in this terrain has been a major limiting factor. For example,
the Kumaon battalion deployed here with an effective strength of about 600
soldiers is required to guard a 27 km stretch of the LC. This includes
laying night ambushes and rear area patrolling as a second tier to prevent
infiltration. The inhospitable terrain, harsh climatic conditions and lack
of infrastructure imposes further limitations.
Militant camps in POK are located up to eight to 10 km from the LC. The
militants have changed tactics by infiltrating in small groups and from
higher unpopulated reaches with enough food and supplies to last them a few
days at a stretch. The army admits to a lack in high technology
surveillance devices and feels the need for prioritising modernisation of
the infantry to face this near-permanent low intensity conflict environment
based on the devious philosophy of "bleed to death with a thousand cuts".
Apart from the daily loss of human lives and the burdens of a severe
economic drain, the country may be losing yet another battle in Kashmir the
psychological war. Pakistani television and radio broadcast subversive
propaganda day after day to which India has no response. But perhaps this
is in keeping with the country's prevailing defensive and apologetic
psyche. Defence minister Mulayam Singh Yadav loftily states that the next
war will be fought in the enemy's territory. But the fact is that Pakistan
has been successfully fighting a war for eight years on Indian territory -a
proxy war to which we are reacting with a mere firefight. If the
unfinished agenda relating to the Kashmir problem with Pakistan is indeed
to regain POK as stated by former foreign secretary Salman Haider, then
maybe it is time that New Delhi followed up its words with some action in
this, the 50th year of independence.
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