Kashmir : Dangers of Demoralising The Armed Forces In This Crucial Battle
It is fashionable to write articles and judgements that eulogises the so called weak the people of Kashmir . A stone throwing mob now also throwing grenades and acid bottles cannot be tackled by lathis . It is a foolish idea to tackle stone with stone from a police catapault . As defence minister said army is not trained to fight with lathis and should only open fire . It must be realised there will be some mistakes and some unwanted casualities of the innocents . But army is the last line of defence . If civil administration can handle it it should not call army . Once army is called it is an admission of inability of civil administration to control the situation . Having admitted it it should not attempt backseat driving with army . Under no circumstances courts or civil authorities should show hind sight wisdom . It is one thing to face acid bottle and grenade throwing mob and totally another to write about it from an air conditioned chamber .
The article of Indiatimes reproduced below illustrates the point .
http://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/kashmir-s-stone-pelting-mobs-aim-to-kill-and-even-hunt-down-injured-j-k-police-inside-hospitals-258723.html
In a quiet immaculate hospital room, thin green and red wave lines crawled on the black screen of the ventilator as an unconscious police constable breathed in from a tube inserted through his mouth, down the windpipe.
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A grenade splinter had hit and entered his skull through the left temporal, traversed through the brain, ruptured the tissue and left it bleeding inside
In the operation theatre, another constable was being operated on for his multiple facial fractures; a stone had hit and altered his face beyond recognition.
Jammu and Kashmir Police (JKP) and Central Reserve Police Forces (CRPF) personnel are as grievously injured as stone pelting protesters but the law and order agencies remain so dehumanized by the politics of the Kashmir conflict that it has been difficult for the administration to get their wounded treated in
A grenade splinter had hit and entered his skull through the left temporal, traversed through the brain, ruptured the tissue and left it bleeding inside
In the operation theatre, another constable was being operated on for his multiple facial fractures; a stone had hit and altered his face beyond recognition.
Jammu and Kashmir Police (JKP) and Central Reserve Police Forces (CRPF) personnel are as grievously injured as stone pelting protesters but the law and order agencies remain so dehumanized by the politics of the Kashmir conflict that it has been difficult for the administration to get their wounded treated in civil hospitals of the valley.
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Generally, injured police personnel are admitted to their respective institutional hospitals but in certain critical cases, they are shifted to the civil hospitals with specialized staff and advanced equipment.
“In a few cases of emergency, we took our injured boys on stretchers to the well-known civil hospitals but mobs chased them right up to the gate. Inside the hospitals, there was so much fury that we had to evacuate our wounded personnel and move them to the Army hospital,” a senior police official told the Times of India.
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During the last ten days of violent protests following Hizb commander Burhan Wani’s killing, over 3000 people were injured, out of which half belong to the police and the CRPF
Most of the police personnel were treated and immediately sent back on duty given the volatile situation but the critically injured—12 from CRPF and eight from police—were moved to Army’s 92 Base hospital, known for its exceptionally high rate of recovery. Of them, nine were wounded by stones and 11 by grenade splinters, Brigadier MS Tevatia, commandant of the base hospital said.
Also Read: As Eid Gift, J&K Govt Withdraws Cases Of Stone Pelting Against Jailed Protesters
One of the injured J&K police constables, who received splinter injuries in his chest, abdomen and brain remains critical. The bone flap in his skull was opened to remove the splinter but to no avail. An injured Marathi constable who received splinter injuries in his abdomen, recounted how someone among the stone-pelters at Nowhatta lobbed a grenade at the dozen odd paramilitary men.
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“We are used to the stone-pelting mobs who come out on the streets almost every Friday here.
We took the stones and grenade splinters but did not fire back. We always exercise restraint because we don’t wish to open fire at young boys,”
a Kerala constable said adding, “But I got scared by the mob that followed me in the hospital.” Most of the injured CRPF personnel in the Army hospital served for several years in the violent conflict areas like Jharkhand, Manipur before they were transferred to Kashmir.
The outrage against the forces is such that even the Army hospital at Drugmulla in north Kashmir was targeted by stone pelters, a video released by the Northern Command showed
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Ironically, the Army hospital treats more civilian population than Army personnel. Last year, it gave free treatment to more than 10,000 civilians.
The hostility towards CRPF personnel, who are perceived to be outsiders in Kashmir, is understandable.
“But these rioting mobs do not even spare the J&K police that comprises mostly local Kashmiris, their own people,” an official said.
23 police posts and stations were burnt down and over 50 damaged. A policeman was killed by drowning him along his vehicle while two others were nearly stoned to death.
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Low paid police personnel remain at the receiving end, both while fighting stone-pelting mobs in the streets and even after they are severely injured, a constable who could barely talk with a broken jaw told the TOI. “I am scared for my family in my native village. M
