To the war-mongers: War with Pakistan is the least India wants

airforce

The news that the Indian Air Force (IAF) has launched an airstrike on the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror camps crossing the Line of Control (LOC), in the wee hours of Tuesday, was well-received by those anxiously waiting for military action in the wake of the Pulwama incident. The “befitting reply” from IAF came 11 days after JeM, a Pakistan-based militant group, attacked a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy near Awantipora in Jammu and Kashmir killing 44 police personnel.

Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale, who addressed the media on Tuesday morning, confirmed the action and said the IAF fighter pilots had hit the biggest training camp of JeM eliminating a large number of terrorists and trainers. The airstrike, a pre-emptive attack, was held in the wake of a credible intelligence report that JeM was planning to conduct other suicide missions in India, he added.

As per the media reports, IAF deployed a dozen of its Mirage 2000 aircraft to cross the LOC carry out the airstrike which occurred around 3:30 am on Tuesday and was accomplished within less than 20 minutes. With Pakistan confirming the action, it is now undoubtedly clear that the IAF fighter jets crossed LoC. It is the first time after 1971, IAF had crossed the LoC to launch an attack.

But Pakistan nullified the claims of India and said there were no casualties. The spokesperson for the Pakistan Armed Forces, Major General Asif Ghafoor on Tuesday morning tweeted that though IAF violated the LoC and intruded through the Muzaffarabad sector there were no casualties or damage. The IAF aircrafts released the payload in haste while escaping an effective response from Pakistan Air Force, his tweet read. According to him, the payload dropped by IAF fighter jets fell in an open area near Balakot and there was no loss of infrastructure or human lives.

Whatever the truth may be, the action has strained the relationship between the countries intensifying the tensions at the borders. Once the news of the airstrike broke out, warmongers in the studio rooms and out have been clamouring for war. It is exasperating that these bunch of nincompoops are neither aware of the repercussions of war nor its effect on the nation and its growth as a whole. The halfwits had already embraced war changing their profile pictures on Facebook and tweeting Jai Hind.

The Pulwama incident was heart-wrenching beyond any doubts. But waging a war against Pakistan is not a wise option but rather shooting on one’s own leg. It is to be admitted by the Modi government that the Pulwama incident was a net result of serious security lapse.

Recalling the attack where a 20-year-old Kashmiri youth driving an explosives-laden vehicle and hitting it against the CRPF convoy on the highly militarised Jammu and Kashmir sounds cinematic. It was sheer negligence on the part of the authorities that they had failed to sense an attack which was planned and carried out under their nose. The Pulwama incident is a blot on India’s intelligence department who have themselves became a laughing stock in front of the world. The onus is on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is responsible to explain what had gone wrong on the day.

The attack also points fingers at the incapacity of the Modi government in handling the most sensitive and crucial portfolio of national security. Pulwama is not the first but the last of many terror attacks against the defense units of the country during the reign of the present BJP government. It is disturbing that Modi, his council of ministers and top-level officers had failed to fix the flaws after the Uri, Pathankot and other dastardly incidents.

A surgical strike or the latest airstrike is no answer or solution to fight terrorism. Waging a war against Pakistan, a safe haven for several militant organisation, will not serve the purpose. It is time that India utilise this opportunity to isolate Pakistan at the international platforms joining the global mission to fight terrorism.

It is a victory for India that the Financial Action Task Force has listed Islamabad under the ‘grey list’ for fostering and funding terror groups. Though not enough, India must continue its efforts in persuading its global allies to isolate Pakistan and moving a resolution to list JeM Chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist.

The latest airstrike incident and the national media celebrating it would do little towards fighting terrorism. But at the same time, it has given a strong push for BJP to start of its election campaign in a heroic style. An airstrike on terror camps across the LoC was the least the nation wanted but Modi, who had lost its shine and aura, was looking forward to before the impending general elections.

Jestin Abraham is a media professional

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