Army Depoliticises Budgam Tragedy

[AVERAGE INDIAN]

The Army has done well to be proactive on the recent incident in Budgam district in Jammu and Kashmir in which two "innocent" boys were killed. On Friday, it admitted that the incident occurred as a result of a "mistake" and violation of the rules of engagement. It has announced an ex-gratia relief of Rs 10 lakh each to the families of the deceased and Rs 5 lakh to the injured. It also declared that disciplinary action would be taken against those guilty of violating the rules of engagement. What's more, it has ordered an inquiry, which will be completed in 10 days. Needless to say, speed is of the essence in such cases.

These steps are bound to have a salutary effect on the people of Kashmir. During the recent floods in the state, the Army played a major role in the massive rescue and relied operation. It is also true that it could not meet the growing expectations of the people, who faced one of the worst floods in recent history. False propaganda also played a role in alienating the security forces from some sections. The Army's prompt action taken in the wake of the Budgam incident will surely go a long way in convincing the Kashmiris that it has nothing to hide and it will show no leniency to the guilty, whatever be their rank.

Nothing is more important for the Army than credibility. It has been doing a difficult job in the Valley with vested interests, enjoying patronage from across the border, doing everything possible to make their presence extremely difficult. The security forces have to be constantly on the guard against agent provocateurs. Sometimes when it gets on the nerves of the Army personnel, they sometimes fail to act according to the regulations. True, whatever be the provocation, the Army personnel cannot take the law into their own hands, which is what the Army has conveyed to them by promptly ordering an inquiry. All this will, hopefully, prevent politicians from politicising the unfortunate incident for garnering votes in the upcoming elections.

Army Depoliticises Budgam Tragedy

 

[Senyor Sandeep]

This is one of the most unfortunate accidents and my heart goes for all these innocent civilians and their families. May the divine rest the souls of these two teens in peace and give their families the strength to overcome this trauma. Having said that, there are many circumstances one need to consider here and learn from this bad experience.

1)The evening previous to this shooting saw the massive bomb blast in the Wagah border where 60+ civilians had died and many injured. When the army had received an intelligence report hat terrorist were traveling in a white Maruti 800 car and when the army sees a similar car that doesn't stop inspite of being asked to do so at three check points, as the army claims, there is a definite possibility that the Army believed that it was a VBIED and started firing.

2)what is the legal age of people to get a driving license and drive a car? 15? Even in this regard has J&K got special rules compared to the rest of the country? Why is no one pointing out at this mistake and why is every news media trying to project Army as the demon here? The army has accepted its error and has launched an investigation. Why is no one taking responsibility for giving the car to teen agers who are 15?

3) When nations are not in any state of official war, it is better for the military to show more patience and empathy. May be the army should reconsider the use of live bullets inside the civilian areas of the valley and should opt for alternative technologies. Instead of shooting inside the car, it could have punctured the tyres, using some simple tools like multiple spike strips and made the car immobile. Something like this. www(dot)defense(dot)gov/dodcmsshare/newsphoto/2009-02/hires_090213-N-0917W-067(dot)jpg

4) Last but not the least, we cannot rule out the possibility that some trouble makers might have given a false information to the army about the white car and might have deliberately sent these teenagers, anticipating that these events would happen, so that they could make use of this to demonize the army and get AFSPA lifted. In a valley where certain sections of people pelt stones for money that they receive from the separatists, we shouldn't rule out these possibilities.

Again, my sincere condolences to the family and request to the army to come up with some strict accountability and action plan , such that proper action is taken against the shooters and proper protocols are designed to handle such situations in the future. Also, I sincere request the media to highlight the fault of these underage teenagers driving a car as well, probably without a legal license and not to falsely present the entire story as a cold blooded and preplanned murder.