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The Battle of the Debris

On August 8, Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin flew to Russia's restive province of Dagestan to organise a counter-attack against, what he called, "bandits." Moscow says they are "infiltrators" from the self-proclaimed Islamic republic of Chechnya, but Chechen officials claim they are "home-grown Dagestani rebels."

Sounds familiar...?

"Low-level fighting" between the Islamic guerrillas and local security forces had been going on in Dagestan for two weeks. The raiders had taken over at least three villages, and Russian policemen, interior ministry troops and soldiers had massed nearby. On August 10, an Islamic body declared Dagestan an independent state and, simultaneously, a manifesto of the Islamic Shura of Dagestan was distributed to reporters in the Chechen capital, Grozny.

This is Russia's worst security crisis since the end of the war with Chechnya in 1996. Yet, Moscow is treading lightly: Heavy military trampling could upset Russia's political apple-cart on the eve of the campaign for December's parliamentary elections...

Deja vu, again.

In March 1997, addressing a special session of the OIC summit in Islamabad, Iranian President Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said, "Tension, insecurity and threats within and against the Ummah, including inter-alia, in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kashmir, Karabakh, Iraq, Palestine, Bosnia, Somalia and the Sudan make it incumbent upon us to undertake more serious concerted endeavours. Indeed, grave challenges which confront the Islamic world... are no match for the collective capabilities and potentials of Islamic countries who are empowered with the transcendent teachings of Islam." Pakistan had refused entry to Indian delegates and journalists for the event.

While the OIC summit was on in Pakistan, in an interview published in London's The Independent, Osama bin Laden said that he had secured the support of thousands of Pakistanis for jihad: "The Muslim nation understands the truth and Pakistanis have allied themselves with us." I guess, in the transcendent teachings of Islam.

In June this year, the Welt am Sonntag, a special edition of the German daily Die Welt, obtained a copy of a secret report of the German intelligence agency, the BND. The document noted that bin Laden goal's is to support Islamic parties locked in armed conflicts, including the civil war in Tajikistan, in the Bosnian war, the conflict over Kashmir, and the conflict against Russian dominance in Chechnya. It revealed that Osama's men are fighting in a number of the world's flashpoints, including Kashmir.

There should be no doubt in anyone's mind about the collaboration of Osama bin Laden and Pakistan in global Islamic terrorism. The Washington Post has stated that India figures in the Islamic hit-list along with 19 other countries: US, Britain, Bosnia, Albania, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Sudan, Tanzania, Kenya, Somalia, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Philippines, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Russia, Lebanon and Croatia. And US law enforcement agencies have identified India as a target of bin Laden's Al Qaeda terrorist network. Kashmir is the sitting duck.

Last year, when Islamic terrorists attacked American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, Uncle Sam retaliated with missile strikes on terrorist camps run in Afghanistan by bin Laden. Earlier, when US soldiers were killed in Somalia, President Bill Clinton ordered the bombing of civilian targets in that country. Even though the borders of the United States had not been violated.

On July 6, in the first incident of its kind, China executed a Pakistani, ostensibly for drug trafficking, in the country's northwest Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. It doesn't take genius to gauge that the Paki was fomenting separatism in Uygur, which discovered Islamic aspirations since about 7 years ago. The Paki had entered Xinjiang in 1995 along with some 100 infiltrators. He is said to have a leading role in the bloody Yinning riots of February 5, 1997, in which many people died when Chinese security forces rolled over the organised demonstrations demanding independence for Uygur.

This is how other countries deal with terrorism.

At this point of time, when Pakistan has confirmed that it fired on Indian jet fighters "attempting to intrude on its airspace," I can only think of Otto von Bismarck: "The great questions of the day are not decided by speeches and majority votes, but by blood and iron." The time for iron has come; blood anyway has been flowing ceaselessly since far too long.

Pakistan's withdrawal from Kargil began on July 11... On August 1, Major Sushil Aima and five foreign militants were killed in a fierce hand-to-hand encounter in the woods of Kopra in Poonch district. Among the dead militants was Khurshid Ahmad, the nephew of Mohammad Maqbool Dar, former Union minister of state for home in Deve Gowda's ministry.

On August 4, seven people were killed when militants made an abortive bid on the life of a senior counter-insurgency leader in the valley. Also, in south Kashmir, militants detonated a mine causing the death of a jawan and injuries to eight others. Meanwhile, Pakistan intensified shelling in Kargil and Batalik sectors, targeting civilian areas.

On August 5, Indian troops repulsed Pakistani soldiers in their attempt to intrude into the Akhnoor sector. Both groups engaged in rocket and mortar fire. Meanwhile, the BSF repulsed a full-fledged, three-pronged attack by a large group of Paki regulars, commandos and mercenaries to capture the Pittal-Pindi border outpost in RS Pura on the Jammu frontier.

On August 7, the mujahideen launched a pre-planned, simultaneous, five-pronged attack at a post manned by 4 Rashtriya Rifles in Check-Natnusa village. The scum launched at least 20 rockets and fired indiscriminately: Captain Mandeep Singh, JCO naib-subedhar N S Ranna, naik M Pathak, and sepoys K D Prasad and Shoan Singh were killed. Ten Indian soldiers were wounded, two seriously. Meanwhile, there was heavy exchange of fire in Poonch sector and Pallanwala. Meanwhile, an attempt was made by Paki soldiers to intrude into Laam area of Nowshera sector.

On August 8... You get the picture. What "victory" is this? What's the use of all that restraint and patience? Why is Clinton sending his emissaries to India? To order us to the negotiating table on the Kashmir issue? To engineer another pact -- worth less than toilet paper? Why are 102 companies of the security forces slated to be pulled out of Jammu & Kashmir? What, exactly, is India's defence strategy???

On July 27, General V P Malik maintained that except for the air strikes, all other forms of armaments were being used by the army in Kargil and therefore it would be incorrect to claim that the action is over: "Firing from both sides along the LoC is going on, patrolling is on, and we are using our artillery, other guns and small arms even today... The firing is continuing because at the moment there is neither a political nor a military understanding between the two countries".

"Neither a political nor a military understanding" is an interesting choice of words. I don't think General Malik is satisfied with the turn of events. This proxy war is like dying a thousands deaths -- something only cowards do. No matter what General Malik's personal political ambitions may be, I doubt he'd sell the Indian army down the Indus. Nope, something's wrong somewhere.

Perhaps the time has come to cross the LoC. We've done everything we can diplomatically -- and the result is zero. What's the worst case scenario? Right, since there's no such thing as intelligence in the mullah mentality, the Islamic bomb is langoor ke haath mein angoor. Therefore, we can expect Bombay, India's financial capital, and Delhi to be incinerated.

But look at it this way: Sacrifice Bombay and you get rid of nearly all the Shiv Sainiks, as well as all the active "secularists" outside Calcutta (not to speak of the ghastly films and music we churn out, and our "high society"). Then, a nuked Delhi frees India of a generation of hardened babus. Also, between Bombay and Delhi, you zit out the entire Pinko Press. Too, consider the fantastic drop in the population of India. And the scope for double-quick development of other cities.

All in all, it won't be such a bad risk to take. We *have* to call Pakistan's nuclear bluff. You see, by the time the Pak nukes reach Bombay and Delhi, ours can take Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad. Thing is, if India loses Bombay, there's always Hyderabad and Bangalore and Madras and Kanpur and Indore and... But what's Pakistan without Lahore?

If you think I'm being absurd, do give the current scenario a thought. I mean, this Breguet Atlantique affair could well be called The Battle of the Debris! Two Indian choppers reach the Rann of Kutch to salvage the wreckage from the marshes. Pakistan sends three choppers to do the same. India warns Pakistan that any attempts to retrieve the debris will result in "a strong offensive action." So Pakistan sends international observers to identify the wreckage site. Next, India warns that "such action would be considered hostile." Then, Pakistan accuses India of trying to "take possession of the debris... which is lying at least two kilometres inside Pakistani territory". Buffoon Qureshi briefs ambassadors of the US, China, France, Britain and EU countries with, "the Indians seem to be attempting to remove debris of the aircraft to their side of the border but Pakistan armed forces are fully alert and would not let such a thing to happen."

But that's not the end. MoD officials escort a battalion of journalists in three IAF helicopters to see the debris. Pakistani troops fire a surface-to-air missile at them. Which, by the way, is BIG news: "Scribes' close shave with Pakistani missile," reads one headline. And then, to top it all, the goddamn debris is airlifted in a special IAF aircraft to, of all the places in India, the PMO! With front-page pictures and miles of telly footage of the prime minister and all the Union ministers inspecting it.

Have these people lost all sense of proportion? Can you imagine debris from the World Trade Centre airlifted to DC and put on display in the White House???

And what's happening on the front while all this tamasha is unfolding in South Block? Pakistani troops make two bids at capturing a post in the northern part of the Siachen glacier. And in Rajouri district, five BSF soldiers die -- three when militants ambush their patrol at Kanola, and two in an encounter in Kandi.

Major General P P S Bindra has said that, in all, 487 personnel, including 25 officers and 19 JCOs, were killed in the Kargil operations. As with any official figures, we can safely multiply the numbers by 1.5. That's a lot of blood, especially for a "near-war."

At last call, the US -- the country that bombed Somalian civilians -- has expressed its concern about an increase in tensions and that "now is the important time to get back to a bilateral dialogue." And China -- the country which is preparing to occupy Taiwan -- has expressed "deep regret" over India's downing the aircraft and has urged both sides to "exercise restraint and quickly resume negotiations." I tell you, if I read the words "restraint" and "bilateral" one more time, I'll puke all over this keyboard.

Enough is enough. It's time to take the fight to the enemy and finish this proxy war business for once and for all. No other country is going to do it for us. They don't even want to. Because, no conflict = no arms sales. And that's what makes the world go round.

Varsha Bhosle