Guest Column | Give them Arms

Lt Gen. Vinod Bhatia (retd)

The year 2016 has not started well for the Indian Army. The Pakistan-engineered attack on the Pathankot airbase by Jaish-e-Mohammed on January 2 left six soldiers martyred. In another attack by Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist at Pampore on the outskirts of Srinagar, three Special Forces personnel, including two officers, Capt. Pawan Kumar and Capt. Tushar Mahajan were martyred in addition to two Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel.

These two high visibility attacks are attributed to certain power centres in Pakistan at not being too happy with the bold initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in reaching out to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during his short but meaningful visit to Lahore on the eve of Christmas. In between the two attacks, Indian army also lost 10 gallant soldiers of 19 MADRAS to an avalanche at 19,000ft at Siachen Glacier. The indomitable spirit of L/Nk Hanumantappa, who survived five days under 35 feet of snow defying nature and medical science, will be long remembered and revered by soldiers all over the world. The year 2015, too, had ended on a tragic note with another gallant Special Forces officer, Col Santosh Mahadik making the supreme sacrifice of fighting terrorists in Kashmir. The fatal casualties are indicative of lack of adequate survival and protective equipment as also weaponry issued to soldiers, who operate in some of the most challenging situations and inhospitable terrain in the world.

The year 2015 was again not so good an year for the army as 85 soldiers were martyred fighting terrorist in Jammu and Kashmir and Northeast, with 18 soldiers martyred in a single ambush by the NSCN (K) in Chandel district of Manipur in June 2015. There is little doubt that the violence levels in Jammu and Kashmir are subcritical and the multitude of insurgencies in Northeast have outlived their life and ha