M. M Khajooria
Handwara and Kupwara in North Kashmir on the boil since 12th April have limped back to normalcy. A very “timely spell of” rains doused the fires, and cooled down tempers. The reiteration of the brave young girl of her statement absolving any army man of wrong doing recorded before the Chief Judicial Magistrate as per directions of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court finally deflated the agitators’ balloon. Yet, the administration in its wisdom or lack of it, appeared to have bought “peace” in exchange for demolition of 25 year old double storey army bunkers strategically located in the town. That terrorists and their over ground collaborators were since long striving hard to achieve this objective was public knowledge. It was, obviously a political decision. The fan fare with which the demolition took place bore testimony to this. There could be a difference of opinion about the timing and manner of vacating the bunkers which in the very scheme of things were not and could not be intended or required to be a permanently occupied by the army but no sensible person would approve of demolition of these structures built at the cost of scarce Public funds. The accommodation vacated by the army could have been be better utilised for public good by housing Dispensary, Library, Computer Training Centre, Weaving Centre and the like. Such a decision would, incidentally be in consonance with what CM Mehbooba Mufti sensibly called “the Out-of-the Box solution”. It is also to be hoped that the decision was taken with the concurrence of the army and alternate contingency plans put in place. As it is, three terrorists were gunned down in an encounter in Kupwara that erupted immediately after the Handwara “Victory”.
The terrorist situation in Kashmir was certainly not on the mend. Terrorism was undoubtedly escalating and spreading its wings even in to areas earlier free from the scourge. The terror upsurge in south Kashmir, relatively free from terrorist mischief till recently was a matter of serious concern. The quality of human resource, the social milieu they were drawn from, fearlessness, level of awareness, upgraded professional accoutrements and above all ideological commitment of the young educated recruits was, to put it mildly worrisome. As far as situation on the ground was concerned, the postponement of by-election to the Constituency held by late Mufti Mohd Syed at the request of the State Government certifying that the “law and order situation was not conducive for elections” spoke volumes. The ranks of the ‘Fidayeen’ were also reported to be swelling. Therefore no one in any position of responsibility should be allowed the luxury of committing the lethal blunder of treating Handwara and Kupwara like incidents as “Isolated” mere Law and Order issues and yield to the temptation of making concessions for obtaining a transitory and illusory “peace”. Such “accommodations” in practical terms amount to yielding ground in the bitter and critical conflict and carry the dangerous potential of halting or even reversing the process of containing the terrorist thrust and squandering away gains of battling quarter of century old Pak promoted Pan-Islamist backed terrorism achieved at tremendous cost. Let it not be forgotten that “Street Action”, pro -terrorist demonstrations during Security Forces Operations and “massive” participation in burial processions of slain terrorists were integral to the terrorist Strategic Doctrine aimed at achieving critical political objectives. Street Action may be launched through contrived situations/ fabricated issues or distorting and blowing out of proportion minor unpleasant incidents.
The contrived Handwara 12th April incident was acutely disturbing. Inquiries into security force firing currently under way should bring out the truth and apportion responsibility. But prima facie the cost of four precious human lives-three young boys and one elderly lady – in a Street Action of this kind and dimension was un acceptable. If so, what exactly was the real problem.? Primarily the problem lay in treating men in uniform as robots designed to perform as programmed, which they certainly were not. No serious student of human psychology engaged in any worthwhile study of behavioural pattern of men in uniform in bloody conflicts -day in and day out, for years and years – could afford to miss “the brutalising “impact of such engagement particularly when it was superimposed on perennial enormous stress and unbearable strain. In this kind of war, call it “proxy war”, if you will, only he who shoots first survives. The prescribed SOP inculcated in police training institutions to deal with rioting mobs became totally irrelevant in encounter with highly trained, strongly motivated, better equipped and ably led terrorists. The compulsions of field operations wherein the one who shoots first and fast survived spawned great measure of permissiveness.
I had comprehended the enemy strategy of employing the armed terrorists and their over ground collaborators in an integrated and coordinated game plan in 2010 stone pelting era and urged that this awareness should inform the counter measures. An exhaustive analysis which embraced vital elements ranging from ‘Man Power Orientation’, ‘Revival and Toning of Systems’ ‘Refresher Training Courses’ to the ‘Rule of Law’ was con ducted and specific recommendations placed in the public domain. The rulers of the day and their bureaucrat minions were apparently neither interested nor impressed. It seemed the establishment mind set was frozen and impervious to reorientation, re-crafting and updating of professional, political and administrative initiatives and responses and allergic to the “out of the box thinking”.
Regrettably, I am unable to further dwell on the subject as it forms part of my soon-to-be released book titled “Good governance and Coalition Politics “- an in depth and totally objective critical survey of two governments-Congress-PDP and Congress-NC- and conduct of affairs of the State by three Chief Ministers-Mufti Mohd Syed, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Omar Abdullah.
The lessons of Handwara-Kupwara episodes, whatever may be findings of Inquiry Committees were loud and clear. One. The Jammu and Kashmir Police must be
mentally , physically as well as tactically geared to exclusively shoulder the responsibility of tackling “Street Action” by over ground proxies of terror. Army with para military forces in backup role. Two. Scrupulous adherence to prescribed SOP regarding dispersal of unlawful assemblies is the Mantra for success. The bottom line being- avoid use of fire arms as far as possible and in extreme cases where police firing became inevitable ensure zero fatalities. To achieve these all initiatives and responses must be meticulously planned on the basis of credible intelligence inputs and executed in formations in a perfectly disciplined manner under the direction of senior most police officer/ Magistrate. Even though rudimentary, this needed to be reiterated time and again. Special care should be taken in use of Tear Smoke -a Squad Weapon – elaborate instructions with regard to which exist. The undisciplined and abhorrent spectre of individual policemen running around firing Tear Gas shells indiscriminately must become a thing of the past. More over, the distinction between an armed encounter and mob dispersal even though violent permissible mode and measures of response must be brought home sharply and un ambiguously .In the case of an armed encounter the objective was to apprehend or eliminate the enemy ,emphasis being on word ‘Enemy’. Those involved in the “Street Action” were common citizens prompted, provoked or hired to indulge in violence and provocation. Many of them may be and indeed were mere spectators.The aim of the police force was to disperse them, arrest the ring leaders and subject them to prosecution under the law. Yes, disperse them, not kill them.
Jammu and Kashmir Police has excellent human material, a highly professional and competent officer class with a history of loyalty and devotion to duty written with the blood of numerous martyrs. Properly motivated and professionally tasked it has the required capability to deliver. On their part, the political leadership must mean what they pronounce in public and have the courage to make distinction between honest mistakes and willful wrongs. In my time, I always told my officers and men that I will accept full responsibility for their honest mistakes but deliberate wrongs will be at their own peril. This significantly facilitated decision making under conditions of acute stress. Believe me , it has worked and will work any day.
Having said this it must be emphasised that all security forces-army, para -military forces and Jammu and Kashmir Police need to maintain and further deepen their synergy in planning and execution of field operation in response to integrated game plan of the enemy. The Security Grid has stood the test of times and must be further perfected and strengthened.
