News Analysis |
Indian media has reported that four soldiers and two suspected rebels have been killed in a gun battle along the highly militarized de facto border that divides the disputed region of Kashmir between India and Pakistan.
Army spokesman Col. Rajesh Kalia says the six combatants were killed Tuesday in fighting that erupted after an alleged group of militants crossed from the Azad Jammu & Kashmir into the Indian-occupied portion in Gurez sector.
One among the army’s fatalities was an officer. The Indian Army has identified the slain army men as Major KP Rane, Havaldar Jamie Singh, Havaldar Vikramjeet and rifleman Mandeep of 36 RR. The Indian Army said that two militants were killed in the ongoing operation. There was no independent confirmation of the incident.
The dispute began when during the partition of the British occupied subcontinent, the refusal of the area’s hereditary ruler Hari Singh to comply with his people’s wishes led to a rebellion.
The four Army personnel who lost their lives in Gurez Sector of J&K earlier today.
1. Major Kaustubh Prakash Kumar Rane
2. Rifleman Mandeep Singh Rawat
3. Rifleman Hameer Singh
4. Gunner Vikram Jeet Singh pic.twitter.com/rqo83R8kvu— ANI (@ANI) August 7, 2018
Details of the incident are sketchy as different outlets are reporting different accounts. Some Indian right wing outlets are claiming that the Pakistan Army fired on Indian Army posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Gurez sector on Monday night.
However, local Kashmiri media sources confirmed from official sources that a group of eight militants engaged army’s 36 RR in a gunfight along the LoC in the Nane sector in Baktoor, Gurez. While four militants retreated, two were killed in the exchange of gun-battle while two are hiding in the area.
Indian media has reported that four soldiers and two suspected rebels have been killed in a gun battle along the highly militarized de facto border that divides the disputed region of Kashmir between India and Pakistan.
IOK Police officials said that unlike Kupwara and Uri, Gurez does not witness frequent infiltration bids as the mountain peaks in the region remain snow-covered even in summers. In Gurez, militants do not have long tracts of forest cover either to use as escape routes or to sneak inside Kashmir.
Meanwhile on 2nd August 2018, The Director General (SA & SAARC), Dr. Mohammad Faisal, summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner Mr. J.P. Singh and condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian occupation forces along the Line of Control on 2nd August 2018 in Mandal Sector, resulting in the killing of one innocent civilian (Mrs. Nusrat Bibi w/o Mr. Shakeel, age 35 years) in Ghasla village.
The Indian forces along the Line of Control and the working boundary are continuously targeting civilian populated areas with heavy weapons. In 2018, the Indian forces have carried out more than 1400 ceasefire violations along the Line of Control and the Working Boundary, resulting in the deaths of 30 innocent civilians, while injuring 121 others. This unprecedented escalation in ceasefire violations by India is continuing from the year 2017 when the Indian forces committed 1970 ceasefire violations).
Read more: Pakistan takes Defence Attaches of six countries to visit LOC
The deliberate targeting of civilian populated areas is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity, international human rights and humanitarian laws. The ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation.
The Director General (SA & SAARC) urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 Ceasefire arrangement; investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations; instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire, in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC and the Working Boundary. He urged that the Indian side should permit UNMOGIP to play its mandated role as per the UN Security Council resolutions.
After the UN ordered a ceasefire and subsequent UN resolutions calling for a plebiscite, India backtracked from its earlier agreements and started a campaign of militarization to subjugate the part of Kashmir in its control.
In May, Pakistani and Indian military officials in a rare move had agreed to avoid artillery exchanges in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, where several soldiers and civilians have died this month.
The Pakistani military said in a statement late Tuesday that the understanding was reached between the sides during a special hotline contact involving the director generals of military operations. It says both sides “agreed to undertake sincere measures to improve the existing situation, ensuring peace and avoidance of hardships to the civilians along the borders.”
The region of Kashmir is a flashpoint between the two nuclear-armed powers of South Asia. The dispute began when during the partition of the British occupied subcontinent, the refusal of the area’s hereditary ruler Hari Singh to comply with his people’s wishes led to a rebellion.
Read more: Viral video shows Indian anger against New Delhi over LoC firing
Faced with losing his freedom to a people’s army aided by tribesman from across the border, the ruler acquiesced to India in return for military aid. This led to a war between newly found India and Pakistan and later on the division of Kashmir into Azad Kashmir and IOK.
After the UN ordered a ceasefire and subsequent UN resolutions calling for a plebiscite, India backtracked from its earlier agreements and started a campaign of militarization to subjugate the part of Kashmir in its control. The Kashmiri people continued their efforts for self-determination.
However, an armed component of the peaceful self-determination campaign emerged in 1987 after the Indian government rigged elections in IOK to stop pro-Independence candidates from winning. The armed struggle continued despite increased Indian brutality that turned Kashmir into the world’s one of the most militarized region.