Wish pelters fired at us, says Rawat
Facing dirty war has to be fought differently: Army Chief
New Delhi, May 28: Talking about the complexity of the security challenge in the strifetorn Jammu and Kashmir, Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat suggested it would have been easier for the armed forces if the protesters were firing weapons instead of throwing stones at soldiers.
“In fact, I wish these people, instead of throwing stones at us, were firing weapons at us. Then I would have been happy. Then I could do what I (want to do),” he went on to elaborate.
In an exclusive interaction with PTI, Gen. Rawat said the Indian Army is facing a “dirty war” in the state which has to be fought through “innovative” ways, Gen. Rawat said, stoutly defending the use of a Kashmiri as “human shield” by a young officer.
Gen. Rawat said the main objective of awarding Major Leetul Gogoi, when a Court of Inquiry was finalising its probe into the incident, was to boost the morale of young officers of the force who are operating in a very difficult environment in the militancy-infested state.
The security forces in riot gear are enforcing a lockdown in summer capital Srinagar and other major towns of Kashmir Valley as part of tough measures taken by the authorities to contain widespread protests and violence triggered by the killing of Hizb-ulMujahedin commander Subzar Ahmed Bhat in an encounter in Tral area on Saturday.
The police on Sunday said that six incidents of stone pelting were reported from Pulwama, Kulgam, Shopian and Sopore till Sunday afternoon whereas the situation elsewhere in the Valley remained “peaceful and under control”.
Elsewhere in the Muslim-majority Valley life has been brought to a standstill due to a twoday strike from Sunday called by separatist leaders-Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik. It has also asked the people to march on Tuesday to show solidarity with the families of Bhat and his accomplice Faizan Muzaffar who was also killed in the encounter.