The book looks at the turmoil in the mind of insurgents, Army and people of the State, says lt Gen Vijay Oberoi
Holy Sinners: Search for Kashmiris an intriguing name for a book, especially when its contents are the observations of a recently commissioned young Army officer on his first posting to J&K in the midst of a raging proxy war. The combination of passion, curiosity and professionalism is rarely seen in one so young, but Major Saras Tripathi of 6 Maratha light Infantry (then a young lieutenant) has succeeded in doing so. Once you start reading his book, these aspects become obvious. As one goes through the book, the title too begins to take a more meaningful and holistic shape and one understands the reason for this somewhat quaint title. While the well known quote says ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’, in this case it is the intriguingly simple yet effective title that attracts one’s attention.
Many books have been written on the proxy war being waged in J&K, that has now entered its third decade, and there is seemingly no end in sight. While Holy Sinners is all about the proxy war, two aspects stand out. Firstly, it is down to earth and as realistic as possible as it deals with what I call the ‘business end of counter insurgency (CI) and counter terrorist (CT) operations’, viz sub-unit and small-team operations. The focus is more on the planning and conduct of such operations, about which very little has been written. The reason is that most writings about the problems and the ongoing proxy war in J&K are penned by persons far removed from the action and most touch on issues at the historical, policy and strategic levels. Secondly, the events or rather episodes covered, relate more to the human aspects rather than to a war-fighting perspective, which of course is what one usually reads about in newspapers, magazines and books.
It is also not a book regarding the rights and wrongs of the continuing struggle, but looks at the turmoil in the minds of the three ‘dramatis personae’. These three are the army and other security forces, who are bravely fighting a difficult battle; the highly motivated and indoctrinated insurgents/terrorists; and the majority of people of J&K, who find themselves caught in the middle. The author leaves the readers to decide as to who needs the maximum sympathy. This inevitably is the essence of this book.
The book is in two broad time zones. The first is during the period 1992-94 when the insurgency was at its height in the Srinagar Valley, and the author was involved with search and destroy, raids, area domination patrols, screening suspects et al. The second period relates to his tenure on the line of Control (loC) in one of the forward most picquets in the Uri Sector during the period 1997-99, when he was an experienced company commander, albeit still with only six-seven years of service under his belt.
There are a total of 14 chapters in the book, of which 12 deal with operations against insurgents and only two relate to the management of the loC. Each chapter is self-contained, dealing with a particular episode from beginning to end, containing actions as well as observations of a young Army officer. Some of these are highly profound.
The first chapter is about five hardcore terrorists, who were killed in a chilling and long encounter. The other episodes of note are the bravery and sacrifices of two brave soldiers, Sepoy Roundal Bajirao, later decorated with Shaurya Chakra; and Havildar Shivaji, later decorated with a Kirti Chakra, both posthumously; and chapters devoted to a hapless mother yearning for her son; the cunning Salafi Baba and a simple grandmother’s dilemma. As the author writes in his prologue: “The book is a strange mix of the love bestowed on him, alongside the undeserved hate thrown on him for doing his duty, along with the pain of the Kashmiris.”
Inevitably, the importance of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) is highlighted, along with the self-imposed restraint by the Army hierarchy to ensure that fair play prevails and only minimum force is used. The episodes described bring out these aspects clearly, as opposed to those who though far removed from the scene pontificate on the removal of this enabling law without understanding it. Besides military activities, Saras also writes about the natural beauty of this lovely State and at times gets fairly allegorical in his descriptions.
There are two common threads between the two periods. The first is the perfidy of Pakistan, whether through insurgents trained in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) or through Pakistani Army personnel posted on the loC. Both show the cunning nature and untrustworthiness of Pakistan. The second is the human aspect of the tragedy of Kashmir and how the common people are coping.
Chapter 11 addresses the plight of the Kashmiri Pandits, who were murdered or chased out of their beloved ancestral land by Pakistan’s hegemonic and unending, though futile, appetite for usurping J&K by force. The author has dealt with this subject in a highly professional manner, highlighting the grievous hurt caused to this community by both violence on the part of the insurgents and the omissions of both the Central and State Governments, which did precious little to assist them.
The author has written this book from the perspective of a junior Army officer, and has narrated episodes as seen and felt by a young officer who was doing his duty and abiding by all the rules, regulations and advisories given to him. Indeed, a difficult task for an Army man!
This book, however, goes beyond the conduct of military operations as the author in his inimitable style has dealt comprehensively on the human aspects of all the three players enmeshed in this proxy war imposed by Pakistan. It is to the credit of Saras Tripathi that he has given equal time and emphasis to all three. This is not an easy task, especially when one is a player himself! Saras has managed it extremely well, no doubt subsuming his military professionalism and training at times.
This book has come out when a new and different Government has taken over the reins of the State. It needs to be read not just by soldiers or the people of Kashmir or analysts and political leaders, but all right thinking persons who appreciate the bravery and courage of the men and women of our military, especially the humble jawans and young officers involved in a thankless job for the nation, and who empathise with the people so cruelly caught in the vortex of violence.
The reviewer is the former Vice Chief of Army Staff. Book published by ManasPublications, Rs995