Retd. IA officer writes to Kiyani, expresses concern over PA's inaction.

[godsavetheworld]

A letter for Pakistan’s Kayani from an Indian officer

A retired Indian Army officer has written an open letter to Pakistan Army chief General Ashfaq Kayani that Pakistan’s The News carried this week and which is now popping up on blogs.

Colonel Harish Puri says it is incredible that the Pakistan Army allowed something as reprehensible as the public flogging of a teenage girl in the Swat Valley without lifting a finger, even though it coudn’t have happened very far from an army checkpoint.

For a force that is as professional as the Pakistan Army and which has fought valiantly in all three wars with India, and acquitted itself well in U.N. peacekeeping missions worldwide, such an “abject surrender is unthinkable,” he writes.

The Pakistan Army’s inability to jam militant radio broadcasts in the region that have helped spread their power around is equally incomprehensible, Puri, who is from the army’s Signals unit, says. (The United States has just begun a broad effort in Pakistan and Afghanistan to prevent the Taliban from making these broadcasts, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.)

Puri urges Kayani to act, not just for the sake of Pakistan but the entire region. “It doesn’t matter if it is “my war” or “your war” – it is a war that has to be won.”

An Indian Army oficer writing to the Pakistan Army chief is rare and the fact that the letter is published in a Pakistani newspaper even more extraordinary.

Or perhaps these are unprecedented times. McClatchy newspapers ran a story this week quoting U.S. experts as saying Pakistan was a “disaster in the making on the scale of the Iranian revolution.” Counter-insurgency expert David Kilcullen has been quoted as saying Pakistan could collapse within months.

Here is the letter:

Dear Gen Kayani,

Sir, let me begin by recounting that old army quip that did the rounds in the immediate aftermath of World war II: To guarantee victory, an army should ideally have German generals, British officers, Indian soldiers, American equipment and Italian enemies.

A Pakistani soldier that I met in Iraq in 2004 lamented the fact that the Pakistani soldier in Kargil had been badly let down firstly by Nawaz Sharif and then by the Pakistani officers’ cadre. Pakistani soldiers led by Indian officers, , he believed, would be the most fearsome combination possible. Pakistani officers, he went on to say, were more into real estate, defence housing colonies and the like.

As I look at two photographs of surrender that lie before me, I can’t help recalling his words. The first is the celebrated event at Dhaka on Dec 16, 1971, which now adorns most Army messes in Delhi and Calcutta. The second, sir, is the video of a teenage girl being flogged by the Taliban in Swat — not far, I am sure, from one of your Army check posts.

The surrender by any Army is always a sad and humiliating event. Gen Niazi surrendered in Dhaka to a professional army that had outnumbered and outfought him. No Pakistani has been able to get over that humiliation, and 16th December is remembered as a black day by the Pakistani Army and the Pakistani state. But battles are won and lost – armies know this, and having learnt their lessons, they move on.

But much more sadly, the video of the teenager being flogged represents an even more abject surrender by the Pakistani Army. The surrender in 1971, though humiliating, was not disgraceful. This time around, sir, what happened on your watch was something no Army commander should have to live through. The girl could have been your own daughter, or mine.

I have always maintained that the Pakistani Army, like its Indian counterpart, is a thoroughly professional outfit. It has fought valiantly in the three wars against India, and also accredited itself well in its UN missions abroad. It is, therefore, by no means a pushover. The instance of an Infantry unit, led by a lieutenant colonel, meekly laying down arms before 20-odd militants should have been an aberration. But this capitulation in Swat, that too so soon after your own visit to the area, is an assault on the sensibilities of any soldier. What did you tell your soldiers? What great inspirational speech did you make that made your troops back off without a murmur? Sir, I have fought insurgency in Kashmir as well as the North-East, but despite the occasional losses suffered (as is bound to be the case in counter-insurgency operations), such total surrender is unthinkable.

I have been a signaller, and it beats me how my counterparts in your Signal Corps could not locate or even jam a normal FM radio station broadcasting on a fixed frequency at fixed timings. Is there more than meets the eye?

I am told that it is difficult for your troops to “fight their own people.” But you never had that problem in East Pakistan in 1971, where the atrocities committed by your own troops are well documented in the Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report. Or is it that the Bengalis were never considered “your own” people, influenced as they were by the Hindus across the border? Or is that your troops are terrified by the ruthless barbarians of the Taliban?

Sir, it is imperative that we recognise our enemy without any delay. I use the word “our” advisedly – for the Taliban threat is not far from India’s borders. And the only force that can stop them from dragging Pakistan back into the Stone Age is the force that you command. In this historic moment, providence has placed a tremendous responsibility in your hands. Indeed, the fate of your nation, the future of humankind in the subcontinent rests with you. It doesn’t matter if it is “my war” or “your war” – it is a war that has to be won. A desperate Swati citizen’s desperate lament says it all – “Please drop an atom bomb on us and put us out of our misery!” Do not fail him, sir.

But in the gloom and the ignominy, the average Pakistani citizen has shown us that there is hope yet. The lawyers, the media, have all refused to buckle even under direct threats. It took the Taliban no less than 32 bullets to still the voice of a brave journalist. Yes, there is hope – but why don’t we hear the same language from you? Look to these brave hearts, sir – and maybe we shall see the tide turn. Our prayers are with you, and the hapless people of Swat.

The New York Times predicts that Pakistan will collapse in six months. Do you want to go down in history as the man who allowed that to happen?

Reuters: A letter for Pakistan’s Kayani from an Indian officer

 

[third eye]

This letter has been posted earlier too in another thread on this forum.

 

[Always Neutral]

A letter for Pakistan’s Kayani from an Indian officer

A retired Indian Army officer has written an open letter to Pakistan Army chief General Ashfaq Kayani that Pakistan’s The News carried this week and which is now popping up on blogs.

.[/B][/COLOR]

Here is the letter:



Reuters: A letter for Pakistan’s Kayani from an Indian officer

Wonder when he will write a similiar letter to the IA Chief about the naxal problems in India.

Regards

 

[third eye]

Wonder when he will write a similiar letter to the IA Chief about the naxal problems in India.

Regards

No he won't. The naxal problem is a state level issue. Unless the GOI asks the IA to intervene the IA Chief will not get involved.

Once states raise their hands the Home ministry comes into play.

As of now it is a Pol issue with local govts burying their heads in the sand & pretending it will go away by itself.

 

[Always Neutral]

No he won't. The naxal problem is a state level issue. Unless the GOI asks the IA to intervene the IA Chief will not get involved.

Once states raise their hands the Home ministry comes into play.

As of now it is a Pol issue with local govts burying their heads in the sand & pretending it will go away by itself.

Then by your logic there is no reason for the PA to get involved with Swat as that to is a state level problem ?

Regards

 

[godsavetheworld]

Wonder when he will write a similiar letter to the IA Chief about the naxal problems in India.

Regards

In India Law and Order is a state subject. As "third eye" mentioned unless the state want Centre to intervene IA would not. But if the centre feels situation is getting worse, it will send in the cavalry.

Then by your logic there is no reason for the PA to get involved with Swat as that to is a state level problem ?

Regards

They control 45% of your country, they are 50km away from your capital. They have estabilshed a their own regime. You are disintegrating, its for your own good that PA takes action.

 

[third eye]

Then by your logic there is no reason for the PA to get involved with Swat as that to is a state level problem ?

Regards

Who am I to comment on what should happen in Pak ?

What I have mentioned are the rules as laid down by law in India. I am not privy to those in Pak.However, in Pak the army has rarely played by the rules (read constitution).

In any case there is no similarity between Swat & the naxal issue in India. Has any state been ' handed over ' to the naxals in India ?

 

[Always Neutral]

Who am I to comment on what should happen in Pak ?

What I have mentioned are the rules as laid down by law in India. I am not privy to those in Pak.However, in Pak the army has rarely played by the rules (read constitution).

In any case there is no similarity between Swat & the naxal issue in India. Has any state been ' handed over ' to the naxals in India ?

Please read up about the Red Corridor Its 10 times bigger than Swat.

Regards

 

[Always Neutral]

Who am I to comment on what should happen in Pak ?

What I have mentioned are the rules as laid down by law in India. I am not privy to those in Pak.However, in Pak the army has rarely played by the rules (read constitution).

In any case there is no similarity between Swat & the naxal issue in India. Has any state been ' handed over ' to the naxals in India ?

Red corridor: India Today - India's most widely read magazine.

The 15,000 Maoists in India, with about 10,000 firearms, pose a big internal security challenge. They are active and wield influence in 170 of the 602 districts spread over 16 of the 33 states. The backing of local tribes makes it difficult for the government to contain them.


Why live in denial ?

Regards

 

[rubyjackass]

Then by your logic there is no reason for the PA to get involved with Swat as that to is a state level problem ?

Regards

How come even the US president is worried about Swat then? IA does not fight the naxalites. State police are able handle them so far.
Whats this open letter scheme? CAn any guywrite one to any on else and get it published on newspaper?

 

[Always Neutral]

How come even the US president is worried about Swat then? IA does not fight the naxalites. State police are able handle them so far.
Whats this open letter scheme? CAn any guywrite one to any on else and get it published on newspaper?

Well if the red corridor trained people who would then attack USA, Obama would be as worried. This open letter is just a crap letter full of jingoism.

Regards

 

[third eye]

Red corridor: India Today - India's most widely read magazine.

The 15,000 Maoists in India, with about 10,000 firearms, pose a big internal security challenge. They are active and wield influence in 170 of the 602 districts spread over 16 of the 33 states. The backing of local tribes makes it difficult for the government to contain them.


Why live in denial ?

Regards

What makes you feel I am in denial ?

Have I said the prob does not exist ..No.

Law & order being a state subject is the prerogative for the state govt to decide. The center has the auth to intervene if it feels . For Pol compulsions the issue is getting swept under the carpet. Once the current elections are over things will change.

Notice, despite`all the probs , the voter turnout in naxal areas is good.

In India there is a system in our madness.

 

[Mirage2000]

What makes you feel I am in denial ?

Have I said the prob does not exist ..No.

Then why not give your attention in solving it instead of Interfering in Pakistans issues?

 

[third eye]

Then why not give your attention in solving it instead of Interfering in Pakistans issues?

Firstly, I am not interfering only replying to a post.

Secondly, probs in Pak are best ( & can only be ) solved by those in Pak. Not those outside.

 

[PeacefulIndian]

Red corridor: India Today - India's most widely read magazine.

The 15,000 Maoists in India, with about 10,000 firearms, pose a big internal security challenge. They are active and wield influence in 170 of the 602 districts spread over 16 of the 33 states. The backing of local tribes makes it difficult for the government to contain them.


Why live in denial ?

Regards

Depends on how do you define 'Denial'. Indian PM Manmohan Singh recently elaborated that he sees Naxals & Maoists as No 1 Internal security threat to India. You can accuse us of not acting against them, as our local political lobby virtually supported them to retain their seats in power. We hope to see our new government deal with them with an Iron hand, putting an end to the violence.

On the other hand, your comparison of Taliban & Naxals does not have any merit. Neither we have a so-called Peace Deal with them, nor they pose a threat to our nation's integrity in terms of territory, law & order. As the development reaches those remote areas, the things are getting better & better.