Pulwama attack: Hooda cautions against making a ‘hasty move’

As India considers its response to the suicide car bombing of a CRPF convoy in Pulwama, former Northern Commander Lt Gen (Retd) DS Hooda, who oversaw the much-lauded military strike against Pakistan in the frontier town of Uri along the highly militarised Line of Control (LoC) in 2016, has urged caution.

Lt Gen Hooda told The Associated Press on Saturday while “some kind of limited (military) strike (against Pakistan) is more than likely,” he hopes for “rethinking and reconciliation” from all sides in the conflict.

Notably, 19 Indian soldiers and three assailants were killed in the 2016 attack. India blamed Pakistan for supporting the attackers, who New Delhi alleged were Pakistani nationals. At the peak of the violence following the killing of militant leader Burhan Wani, Hooda called for all sides to take a step back from the deadly confrontation, suggesting political initiatives be taken instead. It was a rare move by a top Indian Army general in Kashmir. Later that year when the attack on the base in Uri happened, Hooda commanded what New Delhi called “surgical strikes” against militants in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Pakistan denied the strikes ever occurred, demanding India produce evidence to back up the claim. Hooda has since said the constant hype of “surgical strikes” was unwarranted. Pakistani foreign secretary Tehmina Janjua rejected India’s allegations about Pakistan’s involvement in the attack, saying on Saturday it was part of New Delhi’s “known rhetoric and tactics” to divert global attention from human rights violations.

According to foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Faisal, Janjua called for implementation of UN resolutions to solve the Kashmir issue. A pre-recorded video circulated widely on social media showed the attacker, Adil Ahmed Dar, in combat clothes surrounded by guns and grenades claiming responsibility for the attack and calling for more such measures to drive India out of Kashmir. Since 2016, soldiers from India and Pakistan have often traded fire along the frontier, blaming each other for initiating the skirmishes that have resulted in the deaths of dozens of soldiers and civilians on both sides in violation of a 2003 ceasefire accord.

Hooda said considering the state of affairs in Kashmir, he wasn’t surprised by the bombing. “I just hope this all leads to some introspection, some deep thinking and engagement to do everything afresh and rethink what we all should be doing to settle issues once for all,” he said.