Pakistani offensive in Swat and the Indian Army Operations in Kashmir

The air waves in India have recently been ripe with the hot battle being fought between major political players in India for the elections to the Parliament. But amid the High Poll drama taking place, what is being missed is the action unfurling in our immediate neighborhood. For the past two weeks now, Pakistan Army has begun a major offensive to clear some of its Districts in the NWFP from the dreaded Taliban fighters. The Army has thus moved in and with Artillery guns, helicopter gunships and combat jets to win back the area from the influence of the Taliban and to reinforce the writ of the State of Pakistan on those remote corners of that country.

Surprisingly, for whatever good reasons the Army might have started the operations, the likely outcomes seem different. For starters, whatever the Pakistan Army might claim, sources mention that it is the Taliban and not the Pak Army which is on the major offensive. The Pakistan Army while from the very beginning has been concentrating on the use of Artillery, combat jets and Helicopter Gunships for the operation, what is surprising is the blatant disproportionate use of force by the Pak Army. For starters it is a known fact that the heaviest weapon the Taliban uses are 12.7 mm guns and few mortars, from whatever is known, the Taliban is an insurgent force, and any professional army would know that it is not Artillery Guns and Combat jets that win a Counter- insurgency operation, it is the boots on the ground. From information published in news sources such as www.orbat.com, the Pakistan Army has just over 15,000 troops stationed in and around Swat to fight some 5000 plus Taliban fighters. Compare that to a figure of over 250,000 that the Indian Army maintains in order to fight insurgency in Kashmir.

The absence of large number of ground troops to fight insurgency in SWAT and the reluctance of its soldiers to fight the so called “Soldiers of Gods” has compelled the Pakistan Army to rely mostly on Artillery and Air power to fight the Taliban. This has led to a situation where the real people being affected by the offensive are not the Taliban fighters, but the innocent civilians living in that part of the world. Human Rights groups have already spoken that over half a million refugees have already been displaced by the offensive and another half a million are on their way. What is more grave is that the Pakistan Army has been practicing shoot on sight order against any vehicle that approaches its check points which means civilians have to get out and walk the whole way while constantly dodging Artillery shells and bombs.

What implications does this have on India? Well what needs to be learnt from this whole episode is for the people of Pakistan, Kashmir and rest of India to know what Counter Insurgency really is. For over two decades of CI operations that the Indian Army fought in Kashmir, our Pakistani friends, the Western world and our Secular and liberal media went all out ballistic about the crimes being committed by the Indian Army on the innocent civilians. More than a hundred thousand Kashmiri Pundits were displaced by the insurgents, and yet the Indian Army dealt with the situation with such humility that no mass exodus of innocent civilians was ever reported from Kashmir among the Muslim population. Through out its history of CI operation in Kashmir the Indian Security Forces lost thousands of its troops, but never used Artillery or Air power against Militants which would have in anyway jeopardized the safety of the innocent civilians. And yet the Pakistani establishment cried hoarse about India’s human rights abuses and atrocities against Muslims in Kashmir. And yet today we see the same Pakistani establishment using Artillery and Air power indiscriminately with little regard for civilian safety against its fellow Muslims in Swat. Isn’t the Pakistani establishment responsible for the mass exodus of a million refugees from their homes in their own land? Isn’t the Pakistani establishment responsible for the death of innocent civilians as a result of the disproportionate use of force against its own people? And doesn’t this amount to Human Rights violation and atrocities against their own people and most importantly their fellow Muslims.

These are the questions we Indians today need to pose to the Pakistani leadership. The Pakistani leadership didn’t waste anytime in accusing Indian Security Forces of Atrocities through out the 20 plus years of Counter insurgency in the valley when the Indian Army never use such heavy weapons to kill some insurgents there, while the Pakistan Army is using Artillery, helicopter gunships and combat jets with little regard for civilian safety in its own fight against the insurgents. This is something the Indian Army should be proud of. It has fought and subdued insurgency for over two decades with utmost care for its people and their lives by jeopardizing their own safety and concerns; such is the valor and chivalry of our Armed Forces.

This is indeed a question to our Kashmiri friends, who cry out for Azadi and Pakistan every time they get a chance. Is this what the people of Kashmir crave for? Has Indian Army ever treated the Kashmiris like what the Pakistan Army has treated its own country men in Swat and surrounding districts? Has there ever been a mass exodus of refugees from the Kashmir valley to other region as a result of indiscriminate attack by the Indian Army? Our fellow country men in Kashmir should remember this while pointing out the excesses of the Indian Army in Kashmir. While it is no doubt that the Indian Security forces have committed many excesses in Kashmir over nearly 2 decades of CI operation, it doesn’t even come close to what the Pakistan Army is currently doing in and around SWAT in just over 2 weeks of operation against the Taliban. It would be well to remind our Kashmiri friends the lies and deceit the Pakistani establishment had in store for them. Most importantly it should be an eye opener for the Kashmiris about the humility with which the Indian Army treated the Kashmiri people compared to ruthless atrocities being committed by the Pakistan Army against their own.