The Times of India, quoting the X account of the Army’s external public relations arm, said that on December 25, Army Chief General Manoj Pande visited the ground zero of the Poonch Encounter that saw the loss of four army soldiers on December 25.
He asked the commanders to conduct the operations in the "most professional manner". "General Manoj Pande #COAS visited #Poonch sector and was given an update on the prevalent security situation. #COAS interacted with commanders on ground, exhorted them to conduct the operations in the most professional manner and remain resolute & steadfast against all challenges," the Additional Directorate General of Public Information (ADGPI) of the Indian Army posted on X says the Times.
This is the closest that the Indian Army will acknowledge to the unprofessional conduct of a field force conducting counter-terrorism operations in J & K, which resulted in the death in custody [DIC] of three civilians in the Poonch area. There are very stringent instructions for ensuring that interrogation of suspects should be carried out in the presence of a police representative, while these have to be handed over to the local thana within 24 hours.
Thus, it is not surprising that formation and unit commanders of the troops in question who have indulged in the wanton excess have been removed from command.
The incriminating concerns in the instant case are of possible retributive justice meted undertaken by the local army unit after the bodies of at least two army personnel killed in the ambush on December 21 were seen mutilated, revealed thus angering the local security forces though a national level outrage as was seen in some instance in the past is not evident possibly due to some deft information management.
Apart from the DIC cases, there are other questions on the lack of “professional conduct,’ that the Indian Army commanders in this area will have to answer.
Warnings of a surge in terrorist presence in the hill sector of the Jammu region have been evident for at least two years now. Some of the terrorist attacks have the signatures of well-trained Pak-sponsored groups operating in the region, though some hasty tactical action may also be responsible for the casualties suffered by the military.
As per details provided in Weekly Assessments & Briefings Volume 22, No.27, December 25, 2023 of South Asia Terrorism Portal, terrorist incidents in the current year in the Rajauri Poonch sector include -
November 22-23, four Army personnel, including two captains, identified as Captain M. V. Pranjal of 63 Rashtriya Rifles and Captain Shubham Gupta of 9 Para Special Force, were killed and three other Army personnel, including a Major, were injured during a counter-terrorist operation in the Kalakote area of Gulbagh Forest in the Rajouri District.
May 5-6, 2023, five soldiers of the Indian Army’s Special Forces were killed and an officer was injured (name not stated) when militants triggered a remote-controlled Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast in the Kesari Hills forests in the Kandi area of Rajouri District.
April 20, 2023, five Army soldiers were killed and another was injured when terrorists targeted a moving vehicle of the Army with grenades and small arms’ fire at Bhatta Durrian in the Mendhar area of Poonch District.
The present sequence of terrorist attacks in the Rajauri Poonch belt commenced in August 2022 when a junior commissioned officer was among three soldiers killed in a suspected suicide attack on an Army camp. The nature of attack indicated high level of training and motivation of the terrorist squad which was enough indication of the portends ahead.
Now it is revealed that 25-30 Pakistani terrorists are suspected to be hiding in the forest areas of Poonch Rajauri belt. Along with Pakistan, China is also said to be involved in supporting terrorists, where there has been a reduction in the deployment of the counter-insurgent forces who have been moved to Ladakh in the wake of the India-China standoff. Now, it is believed that the Army has rushed in a brigade, given the threat of terrorists in this zone.
Saturation deployment, which has led to a reduction of violence in the Kashmir Valley, is unlikely to work given the vast expanse of the wooded terrain; a brigade may be stretched out to conduct counter-militancy operations in this area unless these are undertaken based on precise intelligence. The information and intelligence flow has been apparently lacking so far. Thus, ambushes have occurred with regular frequency and at intervals, possibly lulling the higher command into complacency. Thus, what led to the lack of a sustained operational endeavour to winkle out terrorists who have lodged in this zone also needs investigation. Reestablishing the intelligence grid may be challenging with the loss of confidence of the locals in this zone, mainly the Gujjars and Bakarwals, who have moved down during the winter to warmer pastures after three of their kinfolk were killed in DIC.
Coming out of the “woods” of Rajauri Poonch will be a long haul for the Indian Army, whose professional competence is questioned not just for DIC but also for ignoring a potent threat for the past several months.
The Chief's call for professionalism must be taken seriously even as diverse pressures continue to be scaled up for the military across the board, not just in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Army's Project Udbhav studying Kautilya's Arthshashtra should note what the ancient sage said about threats to a nation - those that are internal and abbetted internally are the most dangerous.