The last rites of Army jawan Mandeep Singh, who was killed by terrorists in Macchil sector of Jammu and Kashmir, were held with full state honours. (Photo: PTI)
While you are alive, conquer death and you shall have no regrets in the end”. Mandeep Singh, a sepoy of the 17th Sikh Regiment whose body was mutilated by terrorists, directly supported by Pakistan’s Army, lived by this teaching of the holy Guru Granth Sahib and embraced martyrdom by it too. One wishes that his mutilators pay the price some way, some time.
Yet another case of Pakistan Army or its proxies, i.e., terrorists trained by it or sometimes operating with it, mutilating Indian Army personnel in the most sick, savage way on October 28 is nothing new. From the time Pakistan and its Army came into existence in August 1947, the latter’s ethos underwent drastic changes. The same soldiers, who were part of undivided India’s Army, which won great accolades in two World Wars, became part of the newly apportioned Pakistan Army, the first task of which was attacking India to try to grab Jammu and Kashmir. The major changes seen in this war were the mass use of proxies — the Kabailis — and large scale rape and pillage, all of which certainly was not by the Kabailis only, as they were being commanded and complemented by Pak army officers and soldiers respectively.
In the second and third Indo-Pak wars waged by Pakistan — 1965 and 1971 — there were a number of instances of Pak Army personnel committing barbarous acts of mutilation, including severing genitals and forcing them into the mouths of Indian Army personnel unfortunate enough to be cornered by them. Before the 1971 war, Pak Army raped a few hundred thousands of Bangla women in erstwhile East Pakistan. It also captured 54 Indian armed forces personnel, who were not registered as prisoners of war and have been detained illegally to this day to languish in various prisons in Pakistan, to avoid their detection/identification by their visiting next of kin and Red Cross teams. If killing by mutilation is one form of horrendous torture, this kind of detention is another. And compare this to Indian Army capturing 93,000 Pakistani armed forces personnel as PoW in erstwhile East Pakistan, keeping them in healthy conditions in camps as per Geneva Conventions and repatriating them with a packet of sweets to each. Many of them expressed their surprise at not being tortured, as they were taught to, to Indian PoW.
Having realised that India could not be beaten in conventional wars, Pakistan’s third dictator President, Gen. Zia-ul-Haq devised a plan to “bleed India by a thousand cuts” and waged the fourth war against India by export of terrorists, which continues to date. During this war there have been many instances of Pakistani terrorists mutilating Indian armed forces personnel, which were not reported by the government of the day. During a greatly intensified phase of this fourth war from May to July1999 in the area around Kargil, Pak Army personnel again committed heinous acts of barbaric mutilation against Indian officers, which were reported, as were the mutilations of two Indian Army soldiers in 2013.
All such cases of mutilation/decapitation by Pak Army personnel or Pakistani/foreign terrorists trained by them, the reason is a mix of frustration of defeat, cowardice and total lack of professionalism and leadership in the case of Pak Army personnel and indoctrination in the case of terrorists.
In the Indian Army, the Gorkhas are authorised to carry the “khukri” (curved machete) and the Assam Regiment troops, the “dah” (straight machete) as traditional sidearms. While soldiers of both these regiments wield these machetes with great dexterity, they have always only been used as last resort weapons in close quarter battle, after ammunition has been expended and never for savagery.
How should an adversary respond to the loathsome acts like those mentioned about Pak Army or their terrorist proxies Literally an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth has never been the policy/ modus of Indian Army. And rightly so, as it would amount to stooping as low as an army of barbarians, as Pak army has very often proved to be. As one was writing in this article about a prompt and punitive response to the October 28 mutilation of Mandip Singh, news broke about Indian Army eradicating four Pakistani posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in Keran sector by a preponderance of firepower. Just as well, but India must go further by not only widely publicising all of Pak Army’s barbarous acts, but also taking them up with the International Court of Justice with relentless pursuit till punishment is pronounced.
In a solemn wreath laying ceremony at Badami Bagh Cantonment, Srinagar, the Army paid homage to this braveheart who was killed barbarically in Machhal sector on in an operation in which one terrorist was also killed while a group was attempting to infiltrate under cover of fire from Pakistan Army posts. The Chinar Corps Commander, Lt. Gen. Satish Dua and all ranks paid their tributes to him. Son of a truck driver, this barely 26-year-old soldier from Kurukshetra, who joined the Army in 2009, is proudly remembered by his comrades in the battalion, in which his brother also serves, as a highly professional soldier. Married in 2014, he is survived by his young wife, serving in Haryana Police. The mortal remains of the martyr were flown to Kurukshetra, Haryana where the last rites were held with full military honours.
The writer, a retired Army officer, is a defence and security analyst based in New Delhi
