15 Jan: Army day special

By M S Nazki

15 January tribute the Army day tribute to Indian Army specially so for Force Romeo and Richard Khare and Hardev lidder who were the Generals!

• Hill Kaka was the play station, placed in positions always safe up hill were uncouth desperadoes.
• At ransom were the people of the community called as Gujjars.
• Fire arms were in plenty and it had to be a dirty field where machine guns would be active and bullets ill be flying like invisible snakes in air.
• Then it had to be valor against deception. Had to be courage and that too undaunted which had to be the winner.
• This was the operation that broke the back bone of militancy in Rajouri Poonch.
• With Spinal Cord removed Hizbul Mujahideen and their Pir Panjal Regiment gone numb the terrorist movement had to be in sixes and sevens.
• The men from Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hafeez Saeed’s cadre were nothing but a bunch of stupidity.
• The adventures of Salhuddin may not be read over and over again in Kashmir but this man from Soibug took Kashmir to the brink.
• He was backed by a man Geelani, old hag who refuses to die. Just because he was a MLA does not mean he could have a face off with soldiers who are diehards! He did? But was invariably rescued.
• By now he should have rested in peace in Hyderpora!
• On the army day this is a small written film but in 26 words.
• My friend never ever worked on fiction. The tale is in script!

The soldier in all loving heart signed on as a protector, realizing what he sought to protect in others he sacrificed in himself. The soldier can only be rescued by a permanent end to war, and this everlasting peace is can thus only rescue us all, for who are we to become without our most brave? In a money-nexus world the soldiers are pawns that become echoed by the stars of silver-screen, entertainment that kicks off all the wrong biological responses to death. Heroes can only be heroes when they are led by the noble, otherwise they fight and die in ways that escalate hell.

Indian Army operations in Jammu and Kashmir include security operations such as Operation Rakshak which began in 1990, Operation Sarp Vinash in 2003 and Operation Randori Behak in 2020. Other operations include humanitarian missions such as Operation Megh Rahat and operations with a social aim such as Operation Goodwill and Operation Calm Down. The Indian Army works in tandem with the other arms of the Indian Armed Forces and security forces in Jammu and Kashmir such as during Mission Sahayata or joint operations.

• Operation Rakshak is an ongoing counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operation started during the height of insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir in June 1990. The operation adapted itself from being merely a show of strength in 1990 to encompassing more areas in 1991 such as orders “ot to enter the houses of civilians, not to smoke in religious places and not to damage standing crops.

A few taken on I will recount:

• Operation All Out:

The operation was initiated with the consent of Ministry for Home Affairs Government of India following the unrest in 2016 due to the death of Burhan Wani and subsequent militant and terrorist attacks in the region such as the Amarnath Yatra terror attack on 10 July 2017 in which eight Hindu pilgrims were killed and at least 18 others injured.

• Operation Calm Down:

Operation Calm Down was started by the Indian army in Jammu and Kashmir following the aftermath of the death of Burhan Wani in July 2016 which had led to unrest in Kashmir in which more than 90 civilians and 2 security personnel were killed and thousands injured. It was started in September 2016. Over 4000 additional troops were deployed as part of Operation Calm Down to bring back order to the region, but direct instructions were given to the troops to use minimal force. The troops were mainly deployed in South Kashmir. Schools, shops and connectivity to some regions in Kashmir had been lost for over three months due to the unrest and militancy and Operation Calm Down aimed to undo this.

• Operation Sarp Vinash:

Operation Sarp Vinash (Snake Destroyer) was an operation undertaken by Indian army to flush out terrorists who made bases in the Hilkaka Poonch-Surankote area of the Pir Panjal range in Jammu and Kashmir during April–May 2003. In the operation the Indian army killed 64 terrorists belonging to various jihadist outfits. The system of hideouts used by the terrorists found during this operation was the largest ever in the known history of insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir.

Over several years, terrorists of groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami, al-Badr and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) had been building up safe houses and safe areas in strategic areas of the region of Pir Panjal in Poonch for many years over a region of 150 sq kilometers. The network of bunkers and shelters around the region known as Hill Kaka in Surankote numbered nearly over a hundred, and were intermingled with shelters used by local herdsmen. 9 Para-Commando Regiment were called to capture Peak 3689 in Hill Kaka after surveillance picked up footprints converging at one location. 13 terrorists were killed in this, the single largest number during operation Sarp Vinash. 6 Rashtriya Rifles, 163 Brigade, 100 Brigade and the 15 Corps were also called in for operations. From diaries captured from killed terrorists, the presence of a rudimentary counter-intelligence system of the terrorist organisations was revealed, which involved killing women and children who had given up information to Indian security forces. An extensive communications system using portable satellite phones was also found which allowed the terrorists to contact handlers in Pakistan and India. Paratrooper Sanjog Chhetri, 9 Para (SF), was awarded an Ashoka Chakra in 2004 posthumously for his role in the Operation Sarp Vinash in which he succumbed.

During Operation Sarp Vinash, media claims of different Indian media houses about what actually happened during the operation were hyped and very contradictory.

• Operation Sadbhavana (Goodwill)

Operation Sadbhavana, also referred to as Operation Goodwill has been launched in Jammu and Kashmir by the Indian Army under their Military Civic Action programmes, which are aimed at “Winning the Hearts and Minds” (WHAM) of the people in the region. Sadbhavna literally means ‘harmony’, therefore the operation can also be interpreted as Operation Harmony. The catchphrase of the operation is Jawan aur Awam, Aman Hai Muqaam (peace is the destination for both the people and the soldier).

But one operation that broke the back bone of militancy in Rajouri –Poonch was:

Operation Sarp Vinash under the flamboyant General Richard Khare and completed by General Hardev Lidder:

• The Indian Army has killed over 60 terrorists, uncovered several bunkers and seized huge stocks of arms, ammunition and medicines in a phased operation in the remote Hill Kaka region near Surankote town in Jammu and Kashmir.
• The operation was codenamed Sarp Vinash.
• Hill Kaka region is a remote area, occupied during summer by migratory nomads, lying close to Pir Panjal range that divides the Kashmir valley from rest of India.
• The Hill Kaka area is very difficult to access with the nearest road around ten hours away by foot. It was an ideal area for establishing safe hideouts for the guerrilla operations that they (terrorists) wanted to carry out at that time.
• Giving an example of the tough nature of the operation, Major General Lidder at that time said said the army had to use a helicopter gunship to bust a bunker situated at the highest point on the Derawali Ridge.
• The army, he also said, faced several constraints, including the inability to deploy troops on a long-term basis due to lack of access.
• When the first phase of Operation Sarp Vinash began on January 29 that year, the first thing the Romeo Force did was to construct three helipads in the region, at heights between 10,000 and 11,000 feet. Twenty kilometres of mule track was also laid, besides the setting up of storage dumps.
• As part of preparations for the first phase a deliberate misinformation was also carried out to mislead the terrorist groups.
• In the second phase from April 1-15 the same year, the army set up several bases around the Hill Kaka region, while preventing the migratory population from entering the area.
• Hill Kaka area is one of the permanent locations of migrant communities such as Bakariwals and Gujjars, who climb up during summer to graze their cattle. In winter, they vacate these places.
• The third and crucial phase in which the army started the occupation of the Hill Kaka area began on the night of April 21
• The army found 94 hideouts and a whopping 7000 kilogrammes of rations.
• The army also found several bunkers, including some as deep as 60 feet by 20 feet that could hold up to 50 terrorists at one time. They also found paper detailing expenditure running into almost Rs 1.8 crores.

Most afternoons, there is plenty of work at the Foreigners’ Graveyard in Surankote, digging graves for the bodies of terrorists killed in the mountains. The small green field behind the Surankote police station used to be the size of a suburban bungalow lawn. It now sprawls over an area of an outsize football field, and threatens to overrun adjoining farms. The designated burial ground for unidentified terrorists, the graveyard houses the remains of the dozens of jihadis, many from Pakistan and Afghanistan. In the Kashmir valley, graves in what are known as ‘martyrs’ graveyards’ often have elaborately carved headstones. Here, no one seems to care enough to take the trouble.

In a bit poetic language this is what I found in my friends diary:

Over the last month, it has become clear that nowhere near enough Indian troops were marching into the mountains of Poonch, and up into the Pir Panjal. Operation Sarp Vinash [Snake Destroyer], a three-division strength operation involving three Army brigades, has thrown up evidence that terrorists on the Poonch heights have been building up safe bases in key areas of the district for several years.

Troops discovered a network of almost a hundred well-defended bunkers around the Hill Kaka bowl in Surankote, built up from the high-altitude Dhoke shelters used by Gujjar herdsmen in the summers.

Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami (HuJI) terrorist Muhammad Amin Sajid’s diary provides interesting insight into how terrorists in Surankote actually functioned. Sajid, who lived in the Madrassa Jamia Ashrafia in Pakistan’s Okara district, maintained a record of contributions from various groups for common expenses, like guides, porters, supplies and medicines. The Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami, al-Badr and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) all made contributions to Sajid’s central fund. Other diaries record the deaths of comrades in Afghanistan, with one entry recording the death of a terrorist code-named Butshikan, or idol-destroyer, in Osama bin Laden’s Tora Bora complex. Interestingly, Indian troops encountered one elaborate cave defence at an altitude of 3,989 metres, which was eventually destroyed with the use of helicopter-fired air-to-ground fragmentation missiles.

Other diaries, interspersed with Islamist slogans attributed to the Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, show the presence of a crude counter-intelligence apparatus. It records the execution of 10 ‘spies’ whose throats were slit after they allegedly ‘betrayed’ jihadis to Indian forces between May 1999 and July 2002. The list includes two women and three children. Such killings of Muslim villagers, mainly from the Gujjar community, are common in Rajouri and Poonch, and have continued through the Sarp Vinash period. Five villagers were shot dead at Keri Khwas, near Rajouri, on March 25, and another six were slaughtered at Kot Dhara, near Darhal. Many of the killings can be traced to wholly non-military origins, pegged around land and resource conflict between Gujjars, Rajput Muslims, and ethnic-Kashmiri migrants.

An elaborate communications structure built around portable satellite phones allowed terrorists to communicate on their handlers with Sialkot, Muzaffarabad, Kotli, Islamabad, Abbotabad, as well as sympathisers across India – calls were made to Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. One photograph recovered from a killed terrorist showed him posing in front of the Parliament House in New Delhi. Since the satellite phone systems used by the terrorists are of a type which uses a gateway in Pune to transmit signals, it is possible Indian intelligence knew of the signals traffic for some length of time, and was content to allow it to be generated. Elaborate codebooks for radio-frequency communications were also found’.

That was past but the present is delightful. Great sun rays to bask under and write stories. This happened once upon a time but now everything is blooming in Hill Kaka where I can see kids running after lambs with white enamel shining underneath their lips. In a soldier they still see hope!