Mire violations by Pak army this year have been followed by lies /denials issued by Inter Services Public Relations and published by Pakistani media. A classic example published in Pakistan’s Daily Times of October 23, 2013 stated: ‘Pak, India DGMOs talk amid fresh violence’: Islamabad: Against the backdrop of repeated violations of ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) and the international border(IB), India’s Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia Tuesday (22 Oct, ’13) called up his Pakistani counterpart. As per the existing arrangement between the two countries, the directors general of military operations of the two countries talk over a hotline to discuss issues on the LoC and the IB… Pakistan has conveyed deep concerns over the recent border tensions with India, which surfaced after India’s continuous border violations, forcing military officials of both sides on a hotlineconnection. Many villagers have reportedly been mulling relocation to safer places, following silencing of Indian guns by retaliatory fire of Punjab Rangers. This year there have been over 110 incidents of ceasefire violation in Jammu and Kashmir. A woman was injured in Indian shelling from across the LoC on Tuesday.
Pak army DGMO Major General Ashfaq Nadeem Ahmed reportedly “strongly and categorically rejected Indian allegations of violation by Pakistan troops and killing of five Indian soldiers at LoC in Poonch sector on 5-6 August night”. He further claimed cease fire violation by Indian troops in Pandu in which two Pakistan soldiers were seriously wounded and maintained that “Pakistan abides by the ceasefire agreement existing between the two countries.” Every round fired by Indian Army on the Line of Control (LoC) or by the Border Security Force (BSF) on the International Boundary (IB), in measured retaliation, is aimed at posts of Pak army/rangers and not at any village or at civilians. While Pak army/rangers have for decades often been targeting Indian villages in the LoC/IB belt, in the past few weeks they have beaten all records since some years. In reportedly one of the worst incidents of ceasefire violations across the IB, Pak forces have been firing small Samba districts, including throughout night of 20-21October. This has caused a panic exodus from the worst affected villages. “They are firing round-theclock on our posts and patrolling persons to inflict casualties,” BSF officials were cited in news reports, stating that this was the first time in over three years that the region has seen such heavy firing, which could well be a cover for a large scale infiltration attempt. They said there have been as many as 36 ceasefire violations in the region over twenty odd days in October alone. By 24 October, another 50 more violations have been added to this figure with 50 more BSF posts and civilian areas around them being targeted with automatics and mortars, raising the fatal count of BSF’s casualties to ten. Daily Times says Pakistani villagers are “mulling relocation”. On the Indian side thousands of affected Indian villagers of the border belt from Akhnoor to Kathua have evacuated their villages. While attacks by Pak army/ISI supported terrorists in Kashmir valley were stepped up substantially in 2013 to include even Srinagar, Kishtwar has been focused upon for ethnic cleansing since August 2013. Maj Gen (retd) GD Bakshi, whose book ‘Kishtwar Cauldron: The Struggle Against ISI’s Ethnic Cleansing’ (released in September 2013) reiterated to this writer that the ISI used the riots to get rid of the village defence committees (VDCs) to clear the way for ethnic cleansing. “It is the first phase of a diabolical move by the ISI to further carry out its agenda of ethnic cleansing in Jammu & Kashmir,” said Bakshi. On Aug 9, three people died when a group of people, raising anti -national slogans after the Eid prayers, was attacked by another section of people in Kuleed area of Kishtwar. While the army was subsequently called out to help the district administration and indefinite curfew remained clamped for 13 days. Bakshi added that after ISI supported
terrorists drove out the Kashmiri Pandits from the Kashmir valley, it has next set its sights on the Dogra population in the mountainous districts of Doda and Kishtwar. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif cannot at all be depended upon to further the so-called peace process with India, despite US President Barack Obama rapping him on the knuckles for not doing anything about perpetrators of 26/11. That is because there are 55 jihadis in his government.
According to www.pakpassion.net, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has simply failed to prevent 55 candidates from Punjab, belonging to ten different sectarian groups, from contesting the general elections despite the fact that intelligence agencies had warned the ECP that they were on terrorist lists and had provided all the names… 40 of the 55 candidates who have been allowed to run for the polls, belong to the defunct Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) which has already been renamed as Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ), led by Maulana Mohammad Ahmed Ludhianvi. His second in command in the ASWJ is the Lashkar-e- Jhangvi fame, Malik Mohammad Ishaq, who is the vice president of the ASWJ. However, since the ASWJ did not register itself with the ECP, it has fielded candidates on Muttahida Deeni Mahaz (MDM/United Religious Front) platform. Of the remaining 15 candidates, four belong to Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl), three each belong to Tehrik-e-Jafria Pakistan (TJP) and Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan (JI), two belong to the Jamiat Ahle Hadith (JAH) and one each belong to the defunct Harkatul Mujahideen (HuM), Majlis-e- Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) and the Sipah-e-Mohammad Pakistan (SMP).
With all that has happened since January 2013 and all that is clearly expected to happen in days to come till 2014, as well as with all that has been brought out, what is indeed most distressing and disturbing is the response pattern of India’s political leadership. Following almost all attacks by Pak army/ISI supported terrorists or by battle action teams comprising Pak army special forces and terrorists since January ’13, India’s political leaders concerned have been responding so far, as brought out in earlier columns by this writer, with a disastrous mix of scoring self-goals, bending backwards by repeating the Sharm El Sheikh line, not plainly condemning Pak army’s/ISI’s complicity or participation, u-turns from negative to positive or vice-versa, blaming Pakistan only after wide criticism in media etc. And to top it all, making empty claims of retaliation or punitive action without any such move on the ground. It is only definite and timely punitive retaliation which may at least reduce the momentum of the attacks across the LoC and IB. It must be quite clear that total prevention can only be possible by precision targeting of the anti-India jihadi camps, which from time to time our political leaders have confirmed the existence of. Of course, the US is ideally placed to target these camps but has not done so. What is quite obvious since the beginning of 2013 at least, is that the Prime Minister’s Office, ministries of defence, home, external affairs and the National Security Council are not on the same page on either Pakistan or on China for that matter. Government’s continued soft and ambiguous response also adversely affects the Army’s response on the ground, encourages and emboldens Pakistan’s military-jihadi combo and is not good for the morale of Indian forces guarding its borders.
