Amid its continuous ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC), the Pakistan Army was forced to raise the “white flag” to recover the bodies of two of its soldiers killed in the strong retaliatory firing by the Indian Army in Hajipir in Uri sector.
While the soldiers were killed on September 10-11, Pakistan could not retrieve the bodies despite shelling on the Indian posts. It finally showed the white flag implying truce for the time being on Friday.
The LoC has become “hot” again since the abrogation of Article 370 and more than 350 ceasefire violations have taken place in the past one and a half month. In fact, violations are taking place daily since August 15. Four Indian soldiers and one civilian have died in shelling from across the border.
In an effort to internationalise the Kashmir issue, the Pakistan Army is desperate to raise the ante on the LoC by relentless firing and to provide covering fire to ultras to help infiltrate into the State.
As regards the Hajipir incident, officials said the retaliatory fire by the Indian Army led to the death of one Pakistani soldier of its Punjab Regiment identified as Sepoy Ghulam Rasool. Initially, the Pakistan Army tried to get hold of the bodies by targeting the Indian posts to suppress them. However, such repeated attempts failed leading to the death of another Pakistani soldier forcing the local Pakistan commanders to raise the white flag to retrieve the bodies.
The Indian Army responded immediately as it respects the fallen soldier and allowed the Pakistanis to take back the bodies, officials said. Since the Pakistani Army is dominated by Punjabis including soldiers and officers, the commanders are sensitive about the fallout back home if the bodies are not retrieved, sources said and therefore resorted to ‘white flag’ on Friday. The Indian Army released a 1.47minute video of the incident.
Elaborating the aspect of Punjabi factor, officials also said the Pakistan Army did not take back the bodies of 6-7 of its soldiers, most probably hailing from the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) and part of the Northern Light Infantry on July30-31 in Keran sector. Moreover, Pakistan had disowned its soldiers killed in the Kargil War in 1999 and Indian soldiers performed their last rites.
On the overall situation on the 750-km long LoC since August 5 when the special status was withdrawn, ceasefire violations have seen a quantum jump with 350 ceasefire violations so far. The overall figure for the entire last year was 1,629 while the figure till now since January stands at more than 2,000.
Firing is on both in South and North of Pir Panjal mountain ranges. While south comprises Poonch and Rajouri, north includes Uri and Tangdhar besides other areas adjoining the Kashmir Valley.
Continuing the escalation on Saturday, the Pakistan Army targeted forward areas of Balakote and Mendhar in Poonch sector for over four hours.
Defence PRO in Jammu, Lt Col Devender Anand said, “Pakistan army initiated ceasefire violation in Mendhar sector around 9.30 am on Saturday.” He said, “Pakistan army fired mortar shells targeting civilian areas.” “Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively,” he added. The firing in the area continued for over four hours and stopped around 1.30 pm.
According to ground reports, “large number of schoolchildren remained stranded inside their class rooms in Manjakote area” while heavy shelling was going on in the area. “Several forward villages including Sandote and Nanjot bore maximum brunt of heavy mortar shelling in the area,” official sources said.
According to them “at least four civilian houses, 2 vehicles,1 cattle shed and four shops were damaged in the Pakistan firing along with several livestock. Panic stricken residents took shelter at safer places while local police officers along with jawans of the Indian army rushed to the school buildings to safely escort schoolchildren to safer places.
Deputy Commissioner, Poonch Rahul Yadav told The Pioneer, “Firing from the Pakistan side started around 9.30 am on Saturday while children were attending their classes in local schools in the forward villages. He said, rescue teams could not be rushed amid heavy firing from the Pakistani side. During brief lull, police jawans along with local Armymen escorted these children to safety, he added.
The district authorities in both the sensitive districts are keeping a close watch on the ground situation to prevent any loss of human lives in intense exchange of firing. So far, border residents are staying back in their houses in forward areas amid palpable tension in air.
Last week, Pakistan army had also attempted to target forward Indian posts by pushing “human bombs” inside the Indian territory. According to recent intelligence reports, “large number of heavily armed terrorists belonging to Lashkar-e-Tayyeba and Jaish-e-Mohammad terror outfits were assembled across launching pads close to the LoC with the sole purpose of launching ‘daring’ attacks on the Indian forces”.
According to these reports, “over 200 terrorists were camping across these launching pads inside the Pakistani territory to carry out BAT strikes inside the Indian territory”.
FACTOID
On August 17, Lance Naik Sandeep Thapa attained martyrdom in Nowshera sector
On August 20, Naik Ravi Ranjan Kumar Singh made supreme sacrifice in Mendhar sector
On August 23, Naik Rajib Thappa attained martyrdom in Nowshera sector
On September 2, Hemraj Jat attained martyrdom in Poonch sector