The strafing of terror launch pads across the Indo-Pakistan line of control in Balakot, Chakothi and Muzaffarabad sectors in Pakistan in the early hours of Feb 26 amounted to the redeeming of the Modi government’s pledge to avenge the killing of 40 CRPF jawans in a brutal suicide attack by Pakistani terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) which claimed responsibility for the attack. That it has happened on the 13th day of the ghastly terror incident is a homage to the departed souls.
Significantly, while the much-touted first surgical strikes on terror camps were aimed at targets in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, the latest ones went beyond those into Pakistani territory. That JeM control rooms were targeted this time around as direct reprisal for the self-confessed dastardly attack on a CRPF convoy is poetic justice.
India’s foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale confirmed that India had struck the biggest training camp of Jaish in Balakot. “In this operation, a very large number of JeM terrorists, trainers, senior commander and Jihadis were eliminated,” he said. “Credible information was received that JeM was attempting other attacks in the country. A pre-emptive strike was important, Gokhale said.
All said and done, the IAF’s strikes were penetrative and handled with rare gumption and without loss of lives on the Indian side. As in the earlier surgical strikes, the first response of the Pakistan establishment has been to be in denial. That suits India because the much-required decimation of terror camps will not get the international focus that it would normally have and a war hysteria has lesser chance of being created across the border.
While Pakistan denied that there were any casualties, India claimed that 200-300 men had been killed. Several commanders of the Jaish were believed to have perished in the retaliatory strikes.Reports indicate that Jaish kingpin Masood Azhar has been given three-tier security by the army at its headquarters in Rawalpindi. That his terror outfit is being propped up, trained and armed by the Pakistan army is well established now, though to India this was crystal clear for long.
It is time India steps up its campaign to unmask Pakistan as a terror state in the international arena. After the Pulwama attack, the momentum is clearly with India with even the otherwise non-cooperative China acquiescing in a resolution naming and condemning Jaish for the terror incident. That China has steered clear of identifying Masood Azhar as a global terrorist exposes Beijing before the world starkly. It detracts from China’s credibility which is already quite abysmal.
India has swallowed its pride for far too long in tolerating training camps for terror recruits. The time is opportune for India to act strongly and decisively to decimate such camps on an ongoing, sustained basis by asserting its right to self-defence. To fear that this would lead to a nuclear war is too far-fetched. As former Pakistan president Parvez Musharraf said in an interview recently, one Pakistan bomb attack on India would lead to 20 bombs in retaliation from India.
Pakistan needs to realise that in terms of firepower and staying ability, it is no match for India and it can well be decimated if India so wants. Besides, unlike the Congress rulers of the past, Narendra Modi is no pushover. He has courage and resilience in abundant measure and his international acceptability is no hogwash. It is foolhardy to think that China would be ready to fight Pakistan’s war against India and risk the coming together of the US, Australia, Japan and Europe behind India.
Over the years, China has developed deep economic interests in India and to risk a full-scale war for virtually a failed state like Pakistan would hardly be prudent for Chinese president Xi Jinping whose gambits rarely fail. India must push on relentlessly both on the operational and diplomatic fronts. It needs to make it clear to the world that it would destroy any training and arming camps undertaken with Pakistan army connivance to foment trouble in Kashmir.
It is happy augury that the Central government has acted to show separatist leaders in Kashmir their place. The withdrawal of special security to them sends out the right lesson to them—that they cannot eat out of the palms of the Pakistan establishment while expecting their security to be looked after by the Indian tax-payer.
The slated challenge to Article 35A of the Constitution which confers special rights on Jammu and Kashmir which is before the Supreme Court needs to be watched closely. That the Central government and the BJP are in support of the move to declare it unconstitutional makes eminent sense. What decision the apex court will give is still in the realm of speculation but there can be no compromise with vested interests.
The decisive Indian action over Jaish targets is a morale booster for the BJP in the run-up to the general elections. While the Congress is conspicuously lauding only the IAF and not the political authority, the BJP has clearly demonstrated that it holds the credibility of upholding and fighting for Indian interests. That should give them a decisive edge in the upcoming elections.
Kamlendra Kanwar is a political commentator and columnist. He has authored four books.