The Author is Former Director General of Information Systems and A Special Forces Veteran, Indian Army

Unnoticed by many, Pakistan’s Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa recently spat on his own uniform. Spat is actually a mild explanation because a befitting expletive would draw reference to his behind. The worst thing that can happen to a serving soldier is that his own army disowns him. It is all the more jarring to the soldier when he is engaged in an operational mission that the army had assigned him to undertake. The poor soldier can only abuse his morally deranged superior, the other alternative being to shoot the ba****d and go jail provided he gets such an opportunity.

This is exactly what Bajwa has done and he obviously has no compunctions about it. His focus would be more on remotely running Pakistan, making Imran Khan dance to his music, promoting terrorism, making money, kowtowing to Beijing, overseeing exports of donkeys and girlsto China, and other such pursuits.

In blatant breach of the ongoing ceasefire understanding between the armies of India and Pakistan, the Pakistani army attempted a border action team (BAT) infiltration, across the Line of Control (LOC) in the Keran Sector of Kupwara district in J&K on January 1, 2022. The incident site is located on the Pakistani side of the Anti-Infiltration Obstacle System, kept under surveillance by the Indian Army to effectively counter any nefarious activity by the Pakistani infiltrators and the Pakistani army. The route adopted by the terrorists was similar to the one adopted on April 4, 2020, during Operation Rangadori Bhaikh in which five terrorists were eliminated.

The killed infiltrator was identified as a Pakistani national. The identification was possible from his photograph in “army uniform” as well as the national identity card issued by the Government of Pakistan

The Army had laid ambushes along the likely the routes that could be adopted by the infiltrators. Around 3 pm an armed intruder (apparent vanguard) was detected moving from areas under the control of the Pakistani army. The ambush was sprung at the opportune moment and the infiltrator was killed. The body of the killed infiltrator was recovered along with one AK-47 and large quantity of ammunition including seven grenades.

The killed infiltrator was identified as Mohammed Shabbir Malik, a Pakistani national. The identification was possible from his photograph in “army uniform” wearing the name tab of Shabbir, as well as the national identity card and vaccination certificates, issued by the Ministry of National Health Services Regulation and Coordination, Government of Pakistan. The Indian Army contacted the Pakistani army on the hotline to take back the body of the killed soldier but they did not do so.

On January 3, 2022, a patrol of the Border Security Force (BSF) killed a Pakistani national attempting to cross the barbed wire fence in Arnia sector of Jammu in an area opposite to BP No. 978. Items found on the killed terrorist included a sack with the markings ‘Karachi Fertilizers Company Limited’ and a COVID-19 vaccine certificate that had been acknowledged by qualified and authorised Pakistani authorities. Pakistani army when contacted to take back the dead body and perform his last rites refused to do so. It may be recalled that a Havaldar of the Pakistani army was first caught in Kupwara in J&K during 1995 though he claimed to have retired, which obviously was the standard briefing by the Pakistani authorities.

After becoming President of Pakistan, Musharraf told the international media, “There is not a single terrorist on Pakistani soil” and then again, “Even if the Kashmir issue is resolved, jihad against India will continue”

The failure of the Pakistani army to accept the sacrifices made by its troops fighting their country’s war (terrorist or conventional) is nothing new. Qamar Javed Bajwa could probably be classified a saint compared to what Pervez Musharraf, then Pakistani Army Chief did during the Kargil Conflict, refusing to taking back bodies of killed soldiers of Pakistan’s Northern Light Infantry (NLI) by stating in international forums that the infiltrators in question were ‘mujahideen’, not Pakistani soldiers despite strong evidence to the contrary.

The Indian Army had retrieved Pakistani military Identity cards, Pakistan Ordnance Factory (POF) weapons and ammunition which were shown to the international agencies. Recovered personal diaries from Pakistani soldiers revealed their challenges, goals and the severe conditions under which they were deployed.The Indian Army buried the bodies of the killed Pakistani soldiers with full military honours and in Muslim tradition out of professional courtesy and respect to the soldiers, photographs of which were splashed in media.

The Dawn published in Karachi, Pakistan had then revealed that some 500 bodies of dead NLI soldiers killed in the Kargil conflict were unceremoniously dumped in the dead of night at their next of kin’s doorstep by the Pakistani army. Musharraf, however, remained shameless. After becoming President of Pakistan, Musharraf told the international media, “There is not a single terrorist on Pakistani soil” and then again, “Even if the Kashmir issue is resolved, jihad against India will continue”.

Pakistan has categorically rejected that it is indulging in terrorism and instead said that the Indian Government is driven by its belligerent and expansionist agenda

Writing about the Pakistan’s Kargil misadventure, Lieutenant General Shahid Aziz, former GOC 4 Corps of Pakistan army says, “Kargil, like every other meaningless war that we have fought, brings home lessons we continue to refuse to learn. Instead, we proudly call it our history, written in the blood of our children. Cut off from the reality of pain and affliction that would be brought upon the nation, the decision maker takes the course most suited to his whimsical ambitions. Sadly, that has become our definition of national honour but how can we be respected when we have little self respect? An unsound military plan based on invalid assumptions, launched with little preparations and in total disregard to the regional and international environment, was bound to fail. There were no mujahideen, only taped wireless messages, which fooled no one. We continue to indulge in bloody enterprises, under the hoax of safeguarding national interest. And how many more martyrs will our silences hide?It must be Allah’s country, for who else is holding it afloat.”

In a press briefing on January 13, 2022, General M.M. Naravane, Chief of Army Staff said that Pakistan continues to harbour 350-400 terrorists at border launch pads and terrorist camps despite the ongoing border ceasefire and that the Indian Army is determined to impose dire costs on any cross border terrorism. Pakistan has however categorically rejected that it is indulging in terrorism and instead said that the Indian Government is driven by its belligerent and expansionist agenda embedded in the delusional notion of ‘Akhand Bharat’.

But Pakistan has started cooking in its own stew. Not only is the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) attacking the Pakistani security establishment relentlessly, clashes have begun with the Afghan Taliban objecting to Pakistan fencing the Durand Line. Taliban’s Army Chief Qari Fasihuddin recently warned Pakistan to stop the ongoing fencing of Durand Line saying the Taliban’s army has more than 80,000 trained personnel and has deployed its elite ‘Badri-313’ commandos on the border with Pakistan in Boldak District of Kandahar Province.