People's Democracy

 BJP Rule: A Defence Disaster

N Kunju

THE BJP rule has been an overall failure, especially a disaster in the defence area. But the Hindutva enthusiasts interpret their failures too as great attainments.

The first and greatest attainment, which the BJP has been drumming about, is the Pokhran II nuclear weapon tests on May 11 and 13, 1998. It claimed that by conducting these tests, it had catapulted the country to the position of the sixth nuclear power and a military superpower. Such was the exhilaration that the party cadres planned to gather soil from the explosion site to be distributed in different parts of the country where Shakti Mandirs were to be built. However, the idea was dropped for fear of spreading nuclear pollution. Home minister L K Advani of the Babri Masjid demolition fame boasted that Pakistan should beware of India’s changed geo-political status after the nuclear tests.

All this nuclear bravado and blabber, however, stopped when Pakistan too tested an equal number of nuclear weapons within a few days and emerged as the seventh nuclear power. The only defect the Indian defence think-tanks found with the Pakistani bomb was that it was designed by the Chinese with the delivery systems supplied by North Korea. Even if this were true, would it make any difference to the plight of the people against whom it will be targeted?

India’s acquiring of nuclear deterrence for its defence capability by the Pokhran II tests too became a dream, if not a nightmare, as hostile Indo-Pak relations unfolded. Instead of India taking advantage of the nuclear deterrence, it was Pakistan who benefited by becoming a nuclear power. India had fought three wars with Pakistan and won all of them. It is another matter that India could not gain from the military victories. Nevertheless, Pakistan was finally convinced after the 1971 war that it could never win a conventional war with India. But the nuclear parity changed the scenario. Since deterrence does not depend upon superiority in nuclear weapons, Pakistan could deter an attack from India. In short, India lost its ability to attack Pakistan even under grave provocation. Pakistan could now carry on its proxy war in Kashmir with impunity.

The much trumpeted Kargil victory is the outcome of a war fought exclusively on Indian soil. The Pakistanis occupied our land for months without the knowledge of the Indian army and intelligence agencies.

When the incursion was detected, it was explained that the area occupied was inaccessible during winter and therefore could not be patrolled by the Indian army. Also a blame game began between the brigade commander and the higher formations including the army headquarters. However, since the Pak occupation of Indian territory was made public, the government was compelled to vacate the aggression in a hurry. Troops were rushed without proper clothing and equipment to the snow-clad heights where the Pakistanis had entrenched themselves, which caused disproportionate causalities. Of course the young officers and jawans fought gloriously and pushed out the occupiers.

The glory of winning the Kargil war was monopolised by the Vajpayee government. In the euphoria created by the winning of the war, the very reason for fighting it --- the negligence of vigilance on part of the intelligence agencies and army’s higher command --- was underplayed. The BJP cashed in on the lives of the young men lost in the war and indulged in breast thumping with the pride of victory.

Despite the drubbing it got in Kargil, the proxy war by Pakistan continued; militants with their base in Pak occupied Kashmir (POK) continued to attack our army and paramilitary units and kill our jawans. What is more, the militants dared to come down to the plains and began targeting places in Jammu and Gujarat. The suicide attack on Akshardham temple, in which several people lost their lives, was a tactic to foment a Hindu-Muslim clash that was subsiding after the Gujarat communal massacre.

The attack on parliament by Pak militants on December 13, 2001, seemed to be the last straw that broke the camel’s back. In a war-like move (Operation Parakram), some 5 lakh troops were moved to all along the border --- stretching from Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab to Jammu & Kashmir. Meanwhile, terrorists struck in an army camp in Kalachak (Jammu) and killed jawans, and their women and children. The army was tearing at its leash to go and cross the border to attack. But the Indian government was restrained by the USA. At last the 10 months of eyeball to eyeball confrontation began telling on the nerves of the jawans. Waiting endlessly for action in the inclement weather and inhospitable terrain became too much for them to bear. Realising the ground realities, the government was compelled to pull back the troops in October 2002, without attaining anything. The unfought war is estimated to have cost Rs 8,000 crore. And the casualties between December 19, 2001 to April 2003 were 387 killed and 1,051 seriously injured.

The Operation Parakram of 10 months duration was a complete disaster; it delivered nothing and its aftermath is still felt by the civilian population on the border and the soldiers who are engaged in de-mining operations in the area. Some 300 civilians have died or wounded in mine related incidents; 75 deaths and 291 wounded are reported among jawans engaged in the de-mining operations.

In spite of these losses suffered by the nation in a thoughtless military move, the BJP government shamelessly paints Operation Parakram as a diplomatic victory. Foreign affairs specialists say that the move resulted in drawing world attention to Pakistan’s patronising terrorism against India. Sending back the Pakistan high commissioner and the stopping of Indo-Pak bus, rail and air services are all said to have hurt Pak economy. But Pakistan too can claim that reciprocal actions caused losses to India. Suddenly prime minister Vajpayee made a policy turn-about and extended a hand of friendship to Pakistan during his Srinagar visit. He made the peace proposal the theme song during his visit to Europe. Of course that got him much praise on international forums.

Meanwhile, back home, though Pakistan verbally reciprocated India’s peace move, cross-border terrorism in Kashmir continued as usual. What is more, it was discovered that terrorist training camps were there not only in POK, but also in vast areas on this side of the line of control (LoC). For the past two years, Jehadi terrorists from Pakistan had infiltrated into places 30 km distant and set up training and transit camps from where they sent suicide squads to the valley to attack army and paramilitary units. It was virtually a security lapse of the Kargil proportion, but now all the attention was focussed on the belated massive army action to oust the infiltrators. Yet another failure of India’s vigilance was submerged in the heroic details of how the armed forces pushed out the Pak militants.

Some 10,000 troops were moved to the newly discovered militant base in Surankote in the Pir Panjal range and the operation was code named Sarp-Vinash. (Fortunately, no snake worshippers or environmentalists protested against the name!) It was reported that 62 militants were gunned down and another 10 were captured in the fighting in the Hill Kaka area. The causalities of Indian troops were not mentioned. The fact that Indian troops had to trek for 10 hours to reach the terrain gave time for most of the terrorists to cross over the LoC. Now the generals have become wiser. Three helipads have been constructed in the area and helicopters have been pressed to hunt down the terrorists. Some 4,000 army’s Engineers Corps personnel have been working round the clock to fence the 275 km stretch of the LoC that is prone to infiltration. The Vajpayee regime hopes that the Operation Sarp Vinash will kill all the Pak snakes that have crawled down across the LoC.

The defence policy of the Vajpayee government is designed more to get political mileage for the BJP than for strengthening the security of the nation. Illusory victories are being drummed up as great gains to create euphoria and patriotic fervours among the people. The BJP leaders are deft stage performers who turn defeat into victory through their histrionics. They are rewriting history to depict our maharajahs, who lost their kingdoms to the hordes of Muslim horsemen and a few shiploads of Europeans, as great heroes. True to medieval Indian tradition of wining battles and losing wars, the BJP and the Sangh Parivar are interpreting their strategic and intelligence failures as great tactical victories.