Opinion: Our mode of pulverizing terror changed for the better after Pulwama attack

Terrorists struck during a routine exercise of change of guard of paramilitary men returning from furlough they have earned to get redeployed.

The manner in which the attack took place has raised lot of security concerns on procedure of movement of troops, intelligence on terrorist activities and so on.

To lose forty trained paramilitary men is a big loss to any fighting unit. On the one hand loss of valuable life and on the other long drawn out programme to make good the loss of a  trained soldier which takes minimum three years. The central reserve police force was formed in 1939 during British time as Crown Reserve Police to handle internal security problems and after Independence became Central Reserve Police retaining the acronym CRP. 

The CRPF has the record of being the largest paramilitary force in the world with 246 battalions. The force has covered itself with glory as Peace keeper of the Nation in its long 79 years of service.

The CRPF policed the international border before Border Security Force was formed. In 1959 while deployed in Chushul on Chinese border North West Frontier at Ladakh ten CRPF jawans were killed by the Chinese troops. This happened on October 21,1959 and this is observed as Police Martyrs Day.Troops are most vulnerable when being moved for deployment in affected areas. The men also tend to let the guard down fatigued during long road journey.Kashmir was once favoured posting for the CRPF men but no longer so ever since internal security problem escalated in the 90s.  The Mujahedeen, the dreaded terror outfit, was openly encouraged and trained by Pakistan in Pak Occupied Kashmir to inflict damage across the border and to instigate the separatists in Kashmir.

Since then it has been one long drawn out battle between the terrorists and the security forces. While security forces have to win every battle but for the terrorists even one success amidst innumerable failures spreads panic and fear among the public demoralising the security forces unable to cope with backlash of terrorist attacks.On the fateful February 14th a total of 2,547 CRPF men were being moved in 78 vehicles from Jammu to Srinagar a distance 271 km. It is a periodical troop movement for deployment.

Due to heavy snow the movement was blocked for nearly ten days resulting in heavy movement when the weather cleared, while normal movement is restricted to lesser number of vehicles. Usually the army limits the convoy to around fifteen vehicles.

There are standard operating procedures — SOPs for such movement and these were strictly followed like adequate distance between vehicles, fixing time to reach destination, selecting places of halt, high security en route through Road Opening Patrol.

There are number of link roads joining the main highway and it is very difficult to monitor the civilian vehicles plying on the highway. Before 2003, civilian vehicles were restricted during convoy movement but this was relaxed allowing civilian vehicles to overtake the convoy to lessen the burden for civilians, possibly apolitical sop.

Near Awantipura, Pulwama, the vehicle driven by the terrorist laden with 80 kg explosives strayed into the main road from a side lane and exploded near the fifth bus in the convoy blowing it to smithereens killing 40 jawans. Since 2013, this was the eighth such attack on convoy near Pulwama where improvised explosive device was used but this time the casualty was the heaviest.Kashmir has been a thorny problem since Independence. In 1948, when the Indian Army had effectively pushed the marauding tribals invading Kashmir, the decision to agree to take the Kashmir issue to United Nations was a flawed move leading to announcement of plebiscite to decide the fate of Kashmir which never materialised.

If Army had been given some more time Kashmir would have been firmly under India. Pak Occupied Kashmir has 24 Assembly segments and to this day these seats are kept vacant in the J&K Legislature.

Again in 1965 and 1972 even after winning the war with Pakistan India failed to push the advantage in resolving Kashmir tangle in the Shimla Accord. Our defensive approach was palpable in releasing terrorists in 1989 in return for Rabhaiya Saeyeed, release of terrorists in 1999 in Kandahar for release of passengers of Indian Airlines plane hijacked by terrorists and in weak handling of stone pelting incidents by youth.

Post Mumbai attack by terrorists in 2008 there was enough justification for a surgical strike. Generals were ready but political will was absent. 

Security management has three distinct approaches. Defensive approach confined to policing against any incursion reacting only when there is violation, in other words simple security guard approach. Second is defensive offensive where to protect self interest resorting to limited calculated offensive attacking the source of danger. Third approach is offensive deterrence when situation is serious affecting life and liberty when one goes for all out offensive.

In defensive offensive one identifies the vulnerabilities of the enemy and exploits that to inflict damage on the enemy. India had long practiced defensive approach and now through calculated surgical strike against the enemy India has moved to defensive offensive.

As our National Security Advisor has rightly observed once the enemy is aware that we have shifted gears to defensive offensive, the balance of equilibrium will shift in our favour as vulnerabilities of Pakistan are many times more than that of India.

Hence, after long years of downward slope in our engagement with enemy our security mode has changed for the better. This is the true path of ‘Enlightened Self Interest’ considered the core of our external policy.

It is unfortunate that in this moment of reckoning some self styled intellectuals and analysts are spreading canards casting aspersions on military action questioning the motives of the government. One half baked-neo-entrant to politics even suggests going in for plebiscite without understanding the gamut of Kashmir problem and the sacrifices of the security forces over the past several decades.

All countries are united in the fight against terrorism and it is to the credit of our diplomatic initiatives that many countries, including the US, Russia and China have unanimously endorsed the way India is handling the problem post Pulwama. Let us pray for the safety of our brave jawans and for success in their fight to pulverize terror.