[nukkad] Fwd: [PIN] Indian army inquiry.......

[Kishor Valia <>]

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[Edited to remove the HTML formatting from the message. - 'shal ]


This article appeared in pakistanforum@yahoo groups.com.
Article is quoted from materials from 'Out Look' magazine. Please do not
dismiss the article just because it is reported on otherside of fence.
Can you comment please?



40 Indian army officers face inquiry for futile attacks on Pakistan:



ISLAMABAD, Aug 03: At least 40 officers of Indian Army face Courts
of Inquiry on charges ranging from failure of command and control
to cowardice and desertion, during fruitless attacks on various
Pakistani posts. 

A report in Indian Magazine 'Out Look' under the caption of
'War and Watch-Hunts' says these army officers include ranks of Major
and below, Junior Commissioned Officers and jawans. 

It says 'None of the generals, whose duty it was to conduct the
war is facing any official inquiry for their flawed leadership.
Instead, two of them have been decorated and awarded with plum posting.
This has triggered enormous resentment among the junior officers and men.


This is the first time in the history of the Indian Army that such
a large number of inquiries have been initiated against officers
and men. But when allegations in the press and Parliament surfaced
that the top brass had mismanaged the Kargil operations, the 
generals concerned were quick to launch a cover-up operation. 

The ploy they used was to selectively target battalions
entrusted with the most difficult of tasks- charging up the mountain to
evict the 'freedom fighters' perched atop, a strategy built
around high human cost. 

Other top targets are officers and men of those battalions
charged with failing to detect the take over while the top brass ignored
the early warnings of heightened enemy build-ups. The blame has 
been placed solely on those deployed in Kargil. Even the 
Subrahmanyam Committee talks of overall intelligence failure. 

According to a serving general, more planning should have
preceded the sending of men up the treacherous mountains. The suggested
plan of action was to take positions on the sides of the hills, launch
an aerial attack and starve the freedom fighters. Then final
assault should have been followed. But the Army Chief, under pressure from
a political leadership, wanted quick results. One senior officer
recalls the chief's brief: 'I want the war over quickly,
whatever the cost.' As a result, troops were sent on suicidal missions. Some
of those who retreated in the face of heavy freedom fighters' fire
are precisely those currently branded as cowards.' 

The magazine quoted a senior general at army headquarters as
saying,'It was a foolhardy battle, which sent officers and men to
certain death. Junior officers have been made scape-goats since the
seniors who bungled are known to be close to the chief.' 

Junior officers posted in the Leh-Kargil-Batalik region are
outraged that the generals should get away. 

The man who orchestrated this unprecedented campaign is former
Chief of Army Staff Gen. V.P. Malik, who issued a show-cause notice to
Brig Surinder Singh, the then commander of the Kargil based 121
Brigade, asking why he shouldn't be dismissed from service for his
various acts of 'commission and omission.' The irony is that Malik
himself was accused of taking the Kargil issue lightly and going on a '
goodwill' visit to Poland and holidaying in Europe even after it
was known the freedom fighters had taken over the heights. 

Officers in the Judge Advocate General's branch have told media
persons that all the officers and men facing the Courts of
Inquiries are likely to be let off with a mild reprimand and they should not
be hasty in rushing to civilian courts. 

Clearly, Army Headquarters is apprehensive that those being
targeted will move the courts. 

In Srinagar, officers are aghast that there has been selective
victimisation even of JCOs. 'JCOs simply follow the orders of
their immediate superiors. By targeting them, the seniors are only
demoralising the vital link between officers and ORs (other
ranks) personnel,' a major pointed out. (APP) 



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