New Delhi : As tributes were paid to a soldier whose body was mutilated by “terrorists” in Machil sector, former Army chief General J.J. Singh (retd) said it reflected the ‘barbarism’ of the Pakistan Army, and added that India should inform the international community of the act. The soldier, Sep Mandeep Singh, who was from Kurukshetra in Haryana, was beheaded by “terrorists” who fled back to Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir under cover fire from Pakistan Army on Friday.
The Indian Army in an official statement said the soldier’s body was “mutilated” and added that it would retaliate with an “appropriate response”.
Retired General Singh pointed out it was not the first time Pakistan had done something like this, and termed the act “barbaric and medieval”.
“It is definitely an act of frustration. Having been hit very hard by India, this is an expression of frustration. They have done this in past as well, like during the Kargil war when they mutilated some of our soldier’s bodies,” the former Army chief told IANS.
“Mutilating a soldier and beheading him shows they have a medieval mentality… They must be investigated by the world,” he said.
The former Army chief also recalled how during interrogation of Pakistani Prisoners of War after the 1971 war, he was told by a Pakistani soldier that Indians did not know how to “beat up someone”.
“I do remember when we were interrogating some prisoners of war in 1971, I had gone to one of the Prisoners of War camps and one of them told me – ‘Sir aap Hindustaniyon ko to marna bhi nahi aata hai theek se (You Indians do not know how to even beat up someone properly),” General Singh recalled.
“I did not understand as a concept of what was the meaning of that until when I was the ADGMO (Additional Director General of Military Operations) when we received the mutilated bodies of our soldiers,” he said.
General Singh added that India should tell the world about Pakistan’s barbaric act. “India should tell the whole world what Pakistan is doing. Particularly with India, we honoured their fallen soldiers who they had abandoned. They should be grateful to us forever. How uncivilised they are…” he said.
