Dear Harwant,
My views on three issues raised in your mail are as under.
Under the Anglo-Saxon legal system, which India follows, a person is said to be innocent unless proved guilty before a court of law. Till the time Army took the unprecedented step Darwas not declared guilty of any offence by any court. As such, Dar is to be considered innocent.
The question involved is of the human rights of the citizens of the country. It is immaterial whether he was paraded in five villages or twenty villages or twenty-five villages. The mere fact that he was tied with the jeep by an organ of the State is a matter of serious concern since it involves infringement of civil liberties of the person concerned.
The subsequent act of handing over of Dar by Army to police, even if correct, does not validate the acts of violation of human rights of Dar by an authority not competent to do so under the law of the land.
In the light of above, I tend to agree with M G Kapoor who himself is an army veteran.
9211777884
Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2017 1:56 PM
To: indiaresists@lists.riseup.net
Subject: Re: [IAC#RG] When Army Chief Says He Wishes Kashmiris Were Firing At His Men
My dear MG, how do we know for certain that Dhar was innocent? Also how do we know that he was paraded around across, some say five villages, other put the figure at 20 and you say 25 villages. I learn that he was handed over to the police.
Ofcourse crowd control etc is not the job of the army, but with so much police (state and central ) call is still being made to the army. Further what come out of the Valley requires plenty of SALT for its digestion. I say this with long experience of serving in the Valley.
You might read through my article on the subject. It appeared in The Citizen.
Regards and best wishes. Harwant.
Human Shield
Lt-Gen Harwant Singh ( Retd )
Many a commentator has drawn a parallel of Major Nitin Leetul Gogoi's action of carrying a stone pelter on the bumper of a jeep, with torture of Mau Mau terrorists of Nairobi, while some others have equated this action with the massacre at My Lai by U S troops in Vietnam. Even a parallel has been drawn with Jallianwalla Bagh tragedy.
Some others have quoted Vienna Convention on violation of human rights, where using humans as a shield is considered violation of this Convention and a war crime. Then there are the likes of Omar Abdullah, now out of power, who have gone overboard on this action and exaggerated the incident to the extent that the man on the bumper of a jeep was driven through a number of villages. Further, the action violated citizen's fundamental right and was against Constitution's spirit. Does someone who casts stones at security forces not forego, his right to be treated gently. To contend that Farooq Ahmed Dar had cast his vote in the morning, so it did not matter if he turned into a stone pelter in the afternoon, is simply absurd. .
There were a dozen policemen and election staff at the polling both, surrounded as they were by a few hundred strong bloodthirsty mob, when a desperate call was made to the army detachment for rescuing them. The policemen in the polling booth were armed with rifles and they could have shot their way out, killing dozen odd rioters. At another end , this military detachment could have used firearms, killing few and injuring many more and rescued those trapped in the polling booth.
Since the call had been made to Major Gogoi to rescue those trapped in that polling booth, he had two options. One, to use force to kill few and wound many to disperse the crowd and rescue those trapped, or think of some innovative method, whereby casualties could be avoided and yet those hopelessly trapped could be rescued.
Some of us who sit in secure environments, perhaps under air-conditioned comfort, cannot visualize the pressure, stress and the heat generated, when one is face to face with a bloodthirsty mob and called upon to take an instant decision.
Carrying a stone pelter on the bumper of a jeep has been dubbed as human shield, which it is claimed, is a serious violation of human rights and human dignity etc. The fact is that he shielded nothing and no one. That jeep itself and those following it were not shielded and lay open to stone pelters and those with petrol bombs.
What the Geneva Convention refers to is, using prisoners, civilians and women upfront to face enemy fire, while troops move behind the cover of those being placed up front. To compare carrying this stone pelter with human shield as envisaged by many a commentator, is giving free reign to wild imagination. It is the anti-national elements in the Valley who have often put women up front, when facing prospect of action by security forces.
This simple action of carrying a stone pelter in this manner, lowered the tension and became a source of amusement, mirth, laughter, dropping of stones and clapping of hands by the otherwise, murderous mob.
Many in this incident found an opportunity for army bashing. Some others have strongly criticized the army chief for commending the actions of this officer. While others have drawn a parallel with fall of Roman Empire and quote from Russian poet Anna Akhmatova, that only the, 'dead smile.' However in this case the mob, not just smiled but laughed.
What the Indian Army is facing in J and K, more so in the Valley, is the cumulative failure of the Indian state to resolve the issues and poor, indifferent, thoroughly corrupt and inefficient government in the state. To this one can add the nurturing of dishonest and anti-national elements : providing them security and funds by Indian government, besides Pak ISI.
The prevailing conditions in the valley and the onerous tasks of restoring peace, handed down to the army, requires patience, innovation and out of the box solutions, backed by a political will and sagacity. Uncalled for criticism of major Gogoi's action further exacerbate the anti-India bias and feeds the call for, 'Azadi.'
Sent: Tuesday, June 13, 2017 7:22 PM
To: indiaresists@lists.riseup.net
Subject: Re: [IAC#RG] When Army Chief Says He Wishes Kashmiris Were Firing At His Men
In all fairness, one should leave decision making, for the action to be taken, on the war-front, or battle-filed or ground-zero to the man there. He is risking his life and limb following orders. Certainly, our army men are not trained to be sadists, who get pleasure by ill-treating or harrassing naive civilians. Since we may not have an independent, unbiased version of what actually happened that day, give Maj. Gogoi the benefit of doubt for his action. Certainly, his action did not escalate the violence in that area that day nor was the person tied to the jeep hurt. To say that, 'an innocent bystander was tied to a jeep and paraded along' is not correct or ethical in the least.
R. Rajan
From: indiaresists-request@lists.riseup.net <indiaresists-request@lists.riseup.net> on behalf of MG Kapoor <mgkapoor.1962@gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, June 11, 2017 9:52:53 PM
To: indiaresists@lists.riseup.net
Subject: Re: [IAC#RG] When Army Chief Says He Wishes Kashmiris Were Firing At His MenPost: "indiaresists@lists.riseup.net"Absolute truth. I entirely agree. Even Gen HS Panag and General Hooda agree with my views. The analogy I gave of the present incident to be similar to the action of Gen Dyer in Jallianwala Bagh is ascribed to by these Generals, both of whom are distinguished Generals.
On Sat, 10 Jun 2017 at 2:46 AM, Prodipto Roy <prodipto.r@gmail.com> wrote:
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