DNA Edit | A Dangerous Game

It is shamefully easy for politicians in this country to garner political relevance by flaying the Indian Army. Evidently, the position of the Indian Army in Jammu & Kashmir is a precarious one burdened as it is with maintaining peace in a land long riven with conflicts sponsored by a neighbouring country.

Maintaining a perfect equilibrium between civilian safety and terrorist neutralisation is a task that cannot be executed with surgical precision. Undesirable fallouts are inevitable, not just in a large-scale war but also in localised gunfights.

However, before one passes off the blame on to the Indian Army in the recent Shopian firing incident, it is only fair that an impartial, unbiased authority is allowed to probe the goings-on in the affair. On Sunday last week, two terrorists and three civilians- whose antecedents are suspect- were gunned down in a fire exchange by the Indian Army.

The Army has claimed that the three civilians killed were over-ground operatives of a militant outfit. The administration has denied this claim. The temptation of demonising the army in this instance is strong but one must resist it and wait for the higher authorities to arrive at an accurate version of the sequence of events leading up to the firing. Already, the hoarse cry of repealing AFSPA can be heard from the clique of armchair activists and woolly-headed pacifists.

However, reality as it prevails in J&K is not as monochromatic as they envision it to be. The grey in the long-winded quest for Kashmir drowns the white and the black. While the Indian Army might not have the most pristine of human rights records, it will be incredibly foolish to paint terrorists as saviours and sons of the soil vouching for the sovereignty of J&K.

Civilians have been gunned down, bombed, butchered by terrorists in broad daylight. Soldiers hailing from villages and towns of J&K have been selectively targeted. Vilest of crimes have been legitimised in the name of freedom and hundreds of youths have been led astray seduced by strident propaganda. Against this, it is the Indian Army which still stands defiantly against these terrorists.

However, more often than not, the Army comes under fire for exceeding its jurisdiction. This criticism is misplaced because the dynamics of a disturbed area will inevitably be informed by excesses. Very few Army or terrorist operations have ever been an orderly affair.

However, controlling the aftermath of such operations is contingent on the intention of the state government. It is in this regard that the incumbent CM Mehbooba Mufti has been found wanting. Instead of allaying the public anger and urging restraint, CM Mufti has tweeted that she was deeply distressed by the death of civilians caught in the Shopian crossfire.

With statements like these, it is only natural that fractious elements will be enthused to disrupt the everyday life in the state. As things stand, a shutdown is being observed for two days now in Shopian and adjoining areas, while incidents of stone-pelting were also seen in the city. Ideally, Mufti ought to have emphasised on an in-depth probe into the matter, rather than getting overwhelmed by political motives and compulsions.