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'Jawans are not cannon fodder'
E-mail from readers the world over
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Sat, 29 May 1999 12:44:56 +0530 Arvind, I had wanted to know about the real problem of Kashmir and how it has become so acute today. Though not much stuff is available on the net I tried hard to get some information. Thanks for providing the info. Keep up the good work. Sandeep
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Sat, 29 May 1999 09:06:50 -0700 Atalji, In the last 25 years I never thought that you would be naive. Now you have to prove it. Ask Sartaj Aziz NOT to come until the Pakis surrender and are killed or evicted completely. Gather proof of their DIRECT military involvement and show it to him. We in India have a long tradition to leave things incomplete and waste our gains against Pakistan or China from 1947. Will you learn from these suicidal mistakes of the Congress? Pakis want to achieve what they can't achieve in the UN through Aziz's meeting. Say NO firmly. Don't shake hands with him. Why did we believe Nawaz Sharief? He is the protege of Zia-ul Haq. From now on, Pakistan should be asked to cease hostilities and mercenary activities. No more talks without this precondition.
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Mon, 31 May 1999 18:57:31 EDT I have given great thought to why the US government does not want to get involved in this matter. Is it because by accepting Pakistan's request it will be giving de facto recognition to Osama Bin Laden? Osama Bin Laden as far as the Americans are concerned is a fugitive and a terrorist who is involved in the bomb attacks in the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Pakistan cannot expect a quid pro quo on the basis of having allowed its territory being used in the past for allowing the Afghan Taliban fight the Russians and at the same time giving space to the Afghan guerrillas who have crossed the LoC in large numbers. How many of the infiltrators are true Kashmiri citizens from either the Indian side or from POK? In my opinion a guerrilla force should, at the most, not exceed 100 or a smaller number but not 3,000 as has been claimed. How many volunteers can we expect from ordinary Indian citizens to form a militia and carry out excursions across the border? Yes, not many, and definitely not 3000 unless there is a reward. We all know the fate of mercenaries, and there were many during 1960s, known as Dogs of Wars! Ramesh Kapoor
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Mon, 31 May 1999 23:39:15 PDT I fully agree with the views expressed by Wing Commander R V Parasnis. The sad fact is not that we lack in intelligence or anything, but we always had the wrong people at the wrong places, who never have any sense of belonging for the nation. If for once had we given Pakistan what they deserved without waiting for international approval to protect our borders, we wouldn't be in this situation now. Pakistan wouldn't try this misadventure without support. Let's hope truth triumphs at least once in a while. Annamalai
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Tue, 01 Jun 1999 16:53:29 -0600 I am now losing faith in A B Vajpayee as the leader of the nation. If he cannot withstand pressure, it is time he relinquished his power and someone else took over till this conflict is resolved. Since I live in the USA, I have learnt one thing -- that the world respects power. India cannot negotiate from a position of weakness, rather it should serve an ultimatum to Pakistan and if time comes implement it fully. My suggestions are as follows: The PM should tell Pakistan that the Kargil fiasco is our internal matter and he absolutely does not want any firepower coming across from the Pakistani side of the Line of Control. If the Pakistani army fire upon our army it will be a violation of the LoC agreement and for that Pakistan alone will be responsible. Once the ultimatum is served the Indian army should move behind the infiltrators and cut off all supply. India should go for hot pursuit across the LoC to neutralise the target. If Pakistan fires on the Indian army, India should declare war across the entire border from Rajasthan to Leh. A massive attack by the Indian armed forces should be coordinated to search and destroy the entire Pakistani military capability. Indian army in no case should stop till it reaches the Afghan and Iran frontier. Then it should divide Pakistan into four countries Sindh, Baluchistan, Punjab and Jinabadh (Karachi and Hyderabad for the migrants that went from India). India has to sacrifice one city, but it must declare its nuclear doctrine: India will not use nuclear weapons first but if it faces a nuclear attack by Pakistan, India will retaliate by pulverising Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Hyderabad, military installations and research facilities within minutes of the Pakistani nuclear attack. Since Pakistan does not have enough N-bombs at present, it will not dare using the bomb. An ultimatum of this type will deter Pakistan from doing any adventurism. I am not in favour of war but a time comes when the nation has to choose a difficult decision. To preserve peace for a long time the Pakistani army has to be destroyed at any cost. Amend the Constitution and allow retired army men and pro Indian citizens to settle in Kashmir at the cost of the central government. In time ethnic balance will change in favour of India.
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Tue, 1 Jun 1999 15:56:40 -0700 It does not matter what Vajpayee thinks or how George understands the conflict, the proof is that India's land is being occupied by the Pakistani's. Now is the time for Vajpayee and George to think alike and help the armed forces of India to regain a decisive victory. India has lost a lot of men that will go down in history against the BJP. By the way, where are the Shiv Sainiks who like to fight for the country? Why not send a bunch of them to Kargil so that they can direct their energy towards killing our enemies. Shame on George trying to help Sharief from a tight spot, I think Vajpayee needs your help.
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Tue, 1 Jun 1999 17:44:10 -0700 Not only should there be no cease-fire till the militants are driven out, there should be no talk of safe passage for the militants either. We should kill or capture as many of them as possible. Since these men are not in uniform, we need not respect any convention. We need not even return the bodies, but cremate them. Cremation will make the Pakistanis squirm even more. War is not a time for any niceties. We have lost two planes, a helicopter and so many soldiers. We cannot let all these sacrifices go waste. We have to get a physical and mental upper hand.
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Thu, 3 Jun 1999 11:05:12 -0400 Seema Sirohi's article seems to be more wishful thinking than an intelligent analysis. Neither the Western governments nor the Western media have taken India's side. Far from it, CNN keeps reporting Pakistan's point of view and that makes India look like the aggressor. The US government knows this is Pakistan's doing and yet they have only made some non-commital noises about restraint, etc. They have not condemned Pakistan's aggression in unambiguous terms as they should have. NBC reports that India has yet again attacked Pakistan. Nobody has mentioned that Afghan mercenaries armed with Stinger missiles have captured territory. The media has completely ignored the question of how and why they are there. No sir, the Western media is highly biased against India. Sanjay
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Thu, 3 Jun 1999 09:26:10 -0700 Dilip, I am disappointed to see you trivialise the occupation of the Kargil mountains by Pakistan-backed infiltrators, asking, in effect, why bother to defend these mountains? I assume you read the papers like I do. These people are not on a mountaineering expedition, their intent is clearly to cut off India's access to Ladakh. They are in the habit of slaughtering anyone who doesn't bend to the will of Islamic uebermenschen as they evidently see themselves. They have slaughtered Hindus, Shias, Sufis, Buddhists, and virtually anyone else who is not Wahabi-Taliban. One doesn't have to be carrying water for the rabid Muslim haters to recognise it for the inimitable eviland blood-chilling danger it is. All one has to be is a wee bit honest. Is that too much to ask? You object to Pakistan being painted as a bloodthirsty ogre. Yes, caricaturing the enemy is for the birds, but at the same time, one shouldn't totally abandon one's moral compass. Pakistan is a state that has killed 3 million of its own people in the short span of less than a year. That's evil in my book, don't know about yours. Before you say that that was 30 years ago, do reflect that, unlike lesser killer-states (in terms of kill-rates, that is) like Nazi Germany or Imperial Japan, the Pakistani establishment has never once confronted and acknowledged the sheer moral horror it perpetrated. The same culture that committed genocide in 1971 remains firmly in charge in Pakistan. I appreciate that you are campaigning for a compassionate and caring India, but do consider that you can't get there by reflexively bashing India and questioning its validity every chance you get. Sometimes, it is just right to be patriotic and despise the enemy, at least what that enemy stands for. Bapa Rao
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Thu, 3 Jun 1999 23:20:44 -0700 (PDT) The LoC controversy sparked off by Pakistan's FM Sartaj Aziz can be very beneficial to India's goals of ending terrorism in Kashmir. This gives a legitimate right to India to order its bombers and fighters to destroy all the militant training camps in POK, and since Pakistan has itself questioned the legitimacy of the LoC it is in no position to question the action of India because according to them the LoC doesn't exist.
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Thu, 03 Jun 1999 23:29:58 -0700 We have been reading so much about Kargil these days. Rediff has been providing excellent coverage of the war. The situation at Kargil is just another instance where the Government of India bungled and handed the aces to Pakistan. This has happened in the past. It is certain to happen in the future, for successive Indian governments have shown their lack of vision and forethought in matters of security and national integrity. At least one third of Kashmir is in foreigner's hands right now. And so is part of North Eastern India. Luckily, Sri Lanka is not powerful. Otherwise we would have given away a part of South India too. Doesn't the government learn from its past mistakes? The Government of India shouldn't get carried away by bus diplomacy and Sartaj Aziz's visit etc. They might help create some stability in the region. But never should India trust any of its neighbours. We have to learn to live with them in their own way. If Pakistan or China want to play hard ball, we should be one step ahead of them in anticipating their moves. What is the National Security Council for? Does it even exist these days? Vajpayee or any other elected prime minister in the future wouldn't know what to do in these scenarios. They are not trained or skilled. They are common people except that they know how to use their rhetoric to win votes and if they have time would rule the country and add some more chaos to the country. What we need is a think-tank of security and foreign policy advisors. Yes, we have IFS officers who are supposed to be good at formulating foreign policies. But so far in the past 52 years of independence, they have hardly shown their supposed skills. Do they lose them just after passing their exams? Well, they can always blame the politicians.Or may be we should send them to IIMs to gain leadership skills. It is in situations like Kargil, that an effective and dedicated NSC can help the government. Members of the NSC shouldn't work anywhere else. First of all, they should not be politicians. For any Indian politician his/her party is more important than the country and power and money more important than moral values and ethics. And they always use the region/religion/language card to achieve their political objectives. But, an independent National Security and Foreign Policy Council should have national security as its only concern. They should work towards developing a proactive strategy for India. The Government of India should start working like a business corporation in a highly competitive market economy. It should always be one step of ahead of its enemies either in planning peace or war. The philosophy should be "eat or be eaten". Looking back, if the external affairs ministry of India had sufficient clout, it could have averted this crisis by highlighting the Pakistani intrusion situation in the international media and to important countries like US and Britain (forget Russia, it is a deadbeat). When Pakistan keeps raising the issues at every possible international gathering, what the hell are Indian politicians doing? Silence is definitely not golden in this case. Hardly any country cares about Indian opinion these days. We objected to the Kosovo war when almost the entire world gave conditional approval. We supported Saddam in the war when, again, the whole world supported the Allied forces. Who is formulating these skewed policies? A more rational and proactive foreign and security policy alone can carry India forward into the next millennium without disintegration. In spite of the FM meeting, India shouldn't decide to stop Operation Vijay as a goodwill measure. It should push the intruders as far back into Pakistan as possible. The defence mechanism should be strengthened to create a virtual wall in the North -North Western Corridor. At the same time, at least for the heck of it, we should just keep chatting with Pakistan. And may be India can give Pakistan a taste of its own recipe. I am sure there are ways to do that. We can all shout and give patriotic suggestions in this column. But if the people in New Delhi don't listen or think, all we can do is just keep shouting!! Shankar Radhakrishnan
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Fri, 04 Jun 1999 11:10:10 -0600 Sometimes unconventional methods work better. My suggestion is that the Air Force should dump large quantity of petrol and kerosene on the mountain tops and set fire, then drop paratroopers for a pick and kill operation. With a fire, the infiltrators cannot stay inside the bunkers and they will have to run. Keep the Indian army ready on both sides of the area. Behind the infiltrators position, heading towards Pakistan -- have anti personal mines. I still feel the PM is not tough enough to lead India at the time of crisis. Though I support him, I am losing faith in him. SKS
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