New Delhi : Enraged over the terror attack on an army battalion in Uri, former army officials on Sunday sought urgent action against Pakistan, including keeping the “military option open” to deal with terror from its soil. “We must have our military option open, if required to strike at certain places,” Lt Gen (Retd) B S Jaswal said here.
“Bring pickets, which have launch pad to the ground, raze them to the ground. The reason is that till the time it does not hurt Pakistan physically, they would not our decency,” Jaswal, who was GOC-in-C of the Northern Command, said. “Pakistan keeps doing it (terror strikes) again and again knowing that we would not take any action,” Major (Retd) Gaurav Arya, who has expertise in Jammu and Kashmir security situation, said.
The problems in Kashmir are “systematically manufactured” at the GHQ in Rawalpindi, he alleged, adding “We must take immediate action. Stop trade with Pakistan, downgrade (its) Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status. The world must know we are serious.”
Questioning the absence of two service chiefs at the meeting chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh to take stock of the situation after the attack, former army chief Gen Gen Shankar Roy Chowdhury said these actions were coming from Pakistan. “We have this meeting chaired by No 2 in the Government, that is the Home Minister, where the RAW chief and CRPF chief are present. Who is doing these actions (terror attacks)? It is coming from across the border, from Pakistan,” he said. “Is the CRPF chief going to look at Pakistan? Where are the Chief of Army and Chief of Naval Staff? Why they were not available to give (advice on) strategic action to the Government,” he asked, reported PTI.
Retired Brig Anil Gupta accused Pakistan of causing instability in the Valley. He said the attack was “a matter of serious concern for India and is a desperate attempt by Pakistan to ensure the current turmoil in Kashmir doesn’t end.”
“Pakistan, despite all the criticism and the problems its facing, is hell bent on encouraging terrorism inside Kashmir,” Gupta said. Commenting on the attack, Lt Gen (Retd) Syed Ata Hasnain said “preventing suicide attack is difficult, but damage control is always possible.”
In a series of tweets, the former GOC 15 and 21 Corps said such attacks were “a different type of warfare. Understand its nuances. (There is) No fool proof guarantee anywhere. The main danger is of suicide bombing not witnessed since 2004.”
Hasnain said “Be clear, warnings do not matter in this. A determined small group can get through. Never 100 per cent proofing against it.”
In the same vein, Lt Gen (Retd) K J Singh, who retired in July as Western Army Commander, said “No defences are fool proof”, though we aim to make it so but the essence is reaction.
Timeline Of Major Attacks
3 November, 1999: Ten army personnel killed in fidayeen attack on 15 Corps Headquarters at Srinagar’s Badami Bagh.
14 May, 2002: 36 persons are killed and 48 others injured in a fidayeen attack on an army cantonment in Kaluchak, Jammu. Most of the killed were family members.
22 July, 2003: A three-member team storms an army camp killing eight security force personnel, including a Brigadier, and injuring 12 others in Akhnoor.
5 October, 2006: Terrorists attack at Budshah Chowk, in heart of Srinagar, killing five JKP personnel, two CRPF soldiers and one civilian.
31 March, 2013: Attack on CRPF camp in Srinagar kills five.
24 June, 2013: Eight soldiers killed in attack on military convoy at Hyderpora, Srinagar.
26 September, 2013: At least 13 killed in twin suicide attacks Jammu and Kashmir. A total of 10 people, apart from three militants, were killed during the attacks.
27 November, 2014: 10 persons, including four civilians, three Army soldiers and three militants were killed in day-long encounter at border village of Kathaar in Arnia sector, close to the International Border, of Jammu District.
5 December, 2014: A group of heavily armed militants stormed into an Army’s 31 Field Regiment Ordinance Camp located at Mohra in Uri Sector of Baramulla District near the LoC. One Lieutenant Colonel and seven soldiers of the Army, one ASI and two constables of Jammu and Kashmir Police were killed. Six militants were also killed.
20 March, 2015: A fidayeen squad of militants in Army fatigues stormed a Police Station in Kathua District killing seven persons.
21 March, 2015: Two terrorists were killed during a fidayeen attack at the Army camp on Jammu-Pathankot National Highway in Samba District.
18 November, 2015: A Colonel with the Army’s elite Para Commando unit was killed in an encounter with militants in the forests of Kupwara.
21 February, 2016: Three army commandos, including two Captains and a militant, were killed in a fierce gunfight with a group of terrorists holed up inside a government building on the outskirts of Srinagar, raising the toll to seven in the encounter that began a day earlier.
25 June, 2016: Eight CRPF personnel were killed and 20 others injured when militants attacked their convoy at Frestbal near Pampore in Srinagar on Srinagar-Jammu National Highway.
