On 2nd
January, 2016; a heavily armed group of Pakistan based terrorists infiltrated
into India and attacked the Pathankot Air base in Punjab State. In the initial
battle, four terrorists and three security persons died in combat. Three more
security persons who were grievously injured died in hospital, raising the
death toll to six. The initial battle lasted for over 17 hours and then
sporadically continued till January 4th, when the final terrorist
was declared killed by the security forces. The final death toll was 6
terrorist / attackers, 1 civilian and 7 Indian security people (5 from Defense
Service Corps, 1 Indian Air-Force Commando and 1 officer of the National
Security Guard).
The
social media has been afire with known and unknown “experts” giving their
opinion regardless of the facts on the ground. Most are incensed that the Govt.
of India has not yet launched a counter-attack on Pakistan to “teach them a
lesson”. Politicians from all parties first condemned the terror attack and
then each other for lack of reaction to this terrorist attack. Much has been
said about the “inefficient conduct” of the Government machinery and the Armed
Forces response to containing and exterminating the terrorist.
The
first issue that should be taken into account is that the terrorists were
wearing Indian Army uniforms. The initial casualties of the security forces
happened because of this deception. The subsequent casualties that happened
were due to Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) that were encountered by the
security people. IEDs by their very definition are highly unstable and have a
large circumference of damage when they explode. They are also extremely
difficult and dangerous to disarm, since every IED bomb-maker has individual
design techniques.
The second issue being raised is that of the delay in response
to the attack. This is a blatant false-hood being perpetuated by those who want
to harm our Nation, especially many from the main-stream- media (MSM). The
reality is that Indian command and control mechanism was very pro-active and
the only delay was due to logistics constraints (moving troops and equipment to
the battle field) and not decision making, as is claimed by many.
Most
of the anger being vented by the social media “experts” seems to be based on
the singular fact that the kill ratio of terrorist to brave-hearts (6: 7) is
unacceptable. Does that mean that if the country had lost only a couple of our
soldiers, the anger would have been less? Let us be very clear, every
individual loss of life in the protection of our Nation is a loss of a hero
that we cannot afford to lose. However, the reality is that, every battlefield
throws up casualties, and we have to bear the brunt of loss of our troops again
and again. This very anger and frustration is driving the need for a war with
Pakistan. And therein lies the trap that needs to be avoided.
If
India does go to war in retaliations against frequent terrorist attacks that
originate from Pakistan territory, what would be the objective of this war? What
would be the physical goals to achieve, so that we in India can get the
feelings of a satisfactory revenge?
Would
the objective (goal) be the invasion and take-over of POK (Pakistan Occupied
Kashmir)? Would that be a fitting response? Or would the objective of war be
the occupation of entire country of Pakistan? Assuming that either option is
the objective, how long would the Indian forces stay in the captured territory?
Would the occupation be time-bound, or perpetual? Will India declare the
captured territory as irrevocable parts of India? What will be the legal status
of the current residents of this territory? Will they become Indian citizens
once the territory is annexed? What is the guarantee that the current residents
will welcome Indians as liberators and heroes, and not fight Indian forces as
their enemies?
The
2003 invasion of Iraq by USA and its coalition of the unwilling, is a clear example
that occupying a sovereign nation is fraught with dangers; physical,
geopolitical and financial. A war always results with the death of soldiers in
thousands and depletion of finances by the millions. The quagmire that the
Western countries find themselves in over the last 12-15 years is self
explanatory. Should India follow this “definitely-will-fail-make-us-bankrupt”
policy of war? That’s a thought that requires some deep considerations.
In
fact, the wars of the 21st century can no longer be fought on the
killing fields of borders between nations. Current and NextGen wars will be
fought on two widely diverse battle-fields. One will be in the arena of global
finance and economic strength. The winners will be defined by their robust and
strong economy, industrial growth, financial reserves and respectable GDP. Wars
will be won by literally drowning the enemy into global debt, negative growth
and a broken financial system. The current government of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi has already shown its strong performance in this area. The
economy of India is on a strong growth and nothing (except maybe natural
disasters will be able to stop this). Compared to the Indian economy, Pakistan
is a perennially destitute nation that is dependent on financial hand-outs from
USA, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
The
second arena of war is War-by-Proxy. Here, Pakistan has the distinctive
advantage over India. Pakistan has been the sponsor of such warfare since the
invasion of Afghanistan by the former Soviet Union in December 1979. It was in
Pakistan that the initial “Mujahideen” (guerilla warriors) armies were raised
and trained. In its roots, mujahideen refers to any person who performs jihad. “Jihad”
is the term, used to define the Islamic conquests during the early history of
Islam, and now is defined by armed guerilla attacks across the world. Today’s Jihadi
groups are based in Pakistan and Afghanistan; but they have been financed at
various times by the USA, other European nations, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and many
Arabic non-government organizations. In Pakistan itself they have the backing
and blessings of the Pakistan Army’s Inter-Services-Intelligence (ISI) that is
increasingly seen to be acting on its own agenda that is radically different
from the official policies of the democratically elected Govt. of Pakistan.
The decades
long lead by Pakistan in the arena of proxy-war over India has been the prime
reason that India has not been able to respond back adequately and immediately
to terrorist attacks. As a matter of records, it is not only Pakistan that has
been indulging in proxy war against India. China has been doing the same by
funding and sponsoring the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Russia by its
funding of the other communists; USA and Western powers through the use of church
groups that spread Christianity and sponsor religious conversions in India and
neighboring countries, and Saudi Arabia by funding Wahhibi madrasas that
sponsor local terrorist activities.
It is
rumored that the current Government has understood the implications and
advantages of proxy-warfare. Yet, to-date there has been no reports of India
sponsoring any violent activity in a foreign country. It is a matter of pride
that India’s nascent proxy war effort is overt and involves assistance to
neighboring countries in the form of financial aid, technical aid to build
infra-structure, medical and humanitarian aid as a disaster response and a global
cultural "attack" with the publicity of the benefits of Yoga exercises.
Whether
there will be any covert attacks against Pakistan is a matter of debate.
Whether any infrastructure for sponsoring armed conflicts inside Pakistan is
being formed is also a matter of wild speculation. All that we-the-People of
India need to know is that we are a financially stable, economically strong
Nation with a majority population that is not afraid of terrorism. And that is
our road to prosperity and happiness.
Vande
Mataram!