The way to fight a dirty war?

The ‘protester tied to jeep’ episode has damaged the Indian Army’s image

The Indian Army is one of the finest and most-disciplined armed forces of the world. The prime objective of the Indian Army is to secure the nation and maintain law and order whenever called for. And for fulfiling these two objectives, the Indian Army in particular and security forces in general, have the right to do whatever they deem fit in greater interest of national security. In the case of Maj. Nitin Leetul Gogoi, which is being discussed, some people are crying “Army did this” and “Army did that”, but the real question is what did they do that forced the Army to come in the first place?

The Army unit in question went to Budgam not to do any counter-terror operation but in response to an SOS call given by a small Indo-Tibetan Border Police unit stationed there, who had informed Maj. Gogoi that around 1,200 people had cornered a polling booth and were trying not just to burn down the booth in Budgam but were posing a serious threat to the lives of the electoral officers present there, as well as the heavily-outnumbered ITBP unit. Being at the receiving end of stones thrown relentlessly is not a joke. A stone thrown with precision can even kill a human being instantly. Even when Maj. Gogoi’s unit reached the spot, his unit too was heavily outnumbered by a thousand-plus brainwashed, radicalised stone-pelting mob. There were only two outcomes in such a situation: either the mob would have pelted stones and killed the soldiers, or the soldiers would have resorted to firing in self-defence, resulting in heavy casualties among stone-pelting Kashmiris. Under the given circumstances, this was an out-of-the-box thought and a perfect solution.

All those talking about human rights violations and questioning the integrity of the Indian Army should come out and stand in front of 1,200 stone-pelters and suggest what they would have done when the alternatives were either to shoot relentlessly in selfdefence or get stoned to death. They should also remember how separatists and stone-pelters are dealt with in other countries by peeping into Turkey, China and even Pakistan. The nation is in need of thousands of Maj. Gogois. We should also thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi for ensuring a free hand to the Army and conveying this clear message to all concerned that the government stands tall with the Army.

The writer is a Delhi BJP spokesperson