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Lessons from Uri

Kashmir Times. Dated: 9/19/2016 11:38:45 PM

Lapses and flawed policies must not be covered up by knee jerk and far more ineffective strategies

The attack by militants on an administrative base in Uri on Sunday morning is highly tragic and a matter of grave concern. 17 army personnel were killed after militants launched a fidayeen attack and four militants were also killed in the operation. The loss of precious lives of soldiers is not only an occasion for national mourning. It is also time to introspect and learn about better strategic decisions in dealing with possibility of such attacks in the future without invoking a jingoistic frenzy. It has to be a level headed response. The Uri attack is a reflection of the failed and inefficient handling of Kashmir. The knee jerk response to the attack has been neither wise diplomatically, nor militarily. Uri being a border area, there are adequate and strong suspicions that the attack was the doing of militants who infiltrated from across the borders and thus, Pakistan hand cannot be ruled out. Maturity lies in first investigating all aspects of the attack before indulging in Pakistan bashing or amplifying the revenge and war cries. This is both bad diplomacy and strategy. Strategy needs to be based on concrete facts and findings and this can happen with a thorough investigation of the incident. One aspect of that is nailing the culprit and brains behind it. While military strategy ahead has to be based on it, it also makes a strong diplomatic case if there is concrete evidence to nail powers outside the country. Making too much noise before that only weakens the case against the supposed perpetrators.
The second aspect is investigating the possibility of a security and intelligence failure and this needs to be done with due diligence. The attack said to have taken place when there was a change of guard at the army's administrative base appears to have been carried out not only with great aggression but also a great deal of planning. There are two major questions that need to be addressed with respect to a proper scrutiny of the possible lapses - first at the borders where the militants are believed to have sneaked in through and then the level of planning without any intelligence input. Unless there is the conspiracy angle, which is less likely, the army seems to have been caught virtually off guard and there is need to grapple with this possibility without beating about the bush and finding convenient enemies elsewhere.
There is also need to understand that this is not just a military failure but also a political failure. Prolonged and unaddressed unrest in Kashmir creates conducive conditions for such attacks. In view of the unrest in Kashmir since the last more than two months, the military grip in Kashmir has been tightened and more and more troops are being rushed in almost on a regular basis with BSF also making a re-entry after more than a decade of its exit. However, there are limits to which army and security forces can be pushed into playing roles beyond their purpose, even with the best of techniques and even by fattening the already huge size of the military with additional troops. It is practically impossible to keep the army engaged in a prolonged war against the entire civilian population and then expect it to also ably function on the borders and in combating militants. That this major attack has taken place in Uri, which otherwise has never had much of a history of militancy also reinforces the point that a severe and prolonged break down of law and order as well as battering the entire population of Kashmir with massive restrictions, curfews and shocking scale of human rights abuse, emboldens and encourages militants, making it easier for them to strike. The excessive use of army personnel and its brutal military methods to turn an entire population venomously against it, further makes the task of army difficult with respect to fighting insurgency.
It is foolish to expect that India would win hands down international sympathy by taking Uri to UN General Assembly or other forums. Even if India is able to garner clinching evidence against Pakistan, in the eyes of the international community, which obviously does not view things from India's ultra-nationalistic lense, the weight of 85 civilian deaths and blinded children were be far more than the killings of 17 military men. The way ahead, therefore, requires not senseless flexing of muscles but sound military, diplomatic and political strategies. India should first mend its own house, dealing with Kashmir politically and plugging all loopholes in security, first of all. Diplomatic engagement to corner Pakistan would require diligent homework not rhetoric of revenge, which ends up weakening India's case. Ultimately, violence will not resolve either India-Pakistan hostility, nor the Kashmir conflict. Eventually all sides would need to sit at the negotiating table and engage with each other amicably and through dialogue at different levels. The sooner that happens, the better it is and will be in the interest of everybody. This is what New Delhi and Islamabad need to realise and pursue for. This hostility cannot be allowed to carry on till perpetuity, creating excessive insecurities, panic and ruthless spilling of blood.