The Indian Army prides itself on fighting as per the laws of conflict. Two recent incidents contradict that.
Ever since the advent of war, soldiers have desecrated the corpses of their enemies, whether to send a message or exact revenge. However, nations and their armies were also aware that it was wrong and never formally condoned the same.
India and Pakistan fought the conventional wars of 1947-48, 1965 and 1971 generally adhering to the Geneva Conventions. India’s humanitarian handling of 93,000 prisoners of war became a model for the world. However, with the advent of proxy wars and vicious fighting along the Line of Control (LoC), the primitive practice of desecration of the bodies of dead soldiers seems to have been revived.
There have been numerous instances where the bodies of our soldiers have been desecrated by the Pakistan Army and the terrorists. What began as carrying body parts as “proof” of action seems to have become a routine ritual. The proliferation of mobile phones and an overactive media have led to gory photos and videos making their way into the public domain. An incensed public egged on by a nationalistic fervour has been clamouring for “10 heads for one head”.
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Beliefs, norms and honour code of warriors demand that the enemy dead be treated at par with own dead. In classical literature, Homer’s Iliad described the 12th century BC Trojan War, and captured this essence of the customary laws of war and the reality of battle.
Incensed at the killing of young Patroclus, Achilles slays Hector, ropes his body to his chariot and drags it away as shocked kin and people of Troy watch. In his own camp, he drags it 12 times around the funeral pyre of Patroclus and leaves it face down to rot, to be eventually eaten by dogs. Even the Greek gods are horrified by this immoral brutality. They intervene to preserve the corpse of Hector from being corrupted and Zeus sends word that Achilles “tempts the wrath of heaven too far” with his desire to “vent his mad vengeance on the sacred dead”. Achilles relents and hands over the body to Priam who gives a befitting funeral to his son.
In actual battles, the worst instincts of men come to the fore. Laws have been, therefore, progressively codified over centuries to act as a deterrent. Article 15 of the First Geneva Convention states, “At all times, and particularly after an engagement, parties to the conflict shall,… and to search for the dead and prevent their being despoiled”.
The Indian Army prides itself on fighting as per the laws of the conflict. India is a great advocate of “rules-based international order”. We highlight this every time Pakistan Army or its proxies mutilate the bodies of our soldiers in operations along the LoC. Last year’s ‘human-shield’ incident and two recent events, however, have severely dented this image.
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On 15 September, defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman participated in India TV show ‘Aap Ki Adalat’ (People’s Court) as a mock accused. During the programme, the anchor asked her a loaded question. “Lekin sawal hai Pakistan ko theek karne ka. Chunav ke dauran kehte hain ki woh do sir katenge toh hum das sir kat ke layenge. Lekin ab dus toh nahin kat rahe (During the election campaign, you people had said that if they cut two heads, we will cut 10 heads. But 10 heads are not really being cut now)”.
The defence minister replied, “Nahin. Main yeh bol sakti hoon, kaat to rahe hain hum, display nahin kar rahe (No. I can only say this that we are also cutting heads off, but not displaying them)”. The statement was followed by a smug smirk.
The same day, two photographs taken after an encounter in Reasi district in Jammu and Kashmir on 13 September went viral on social media. In the first photo, soldiers are seen dragging the body of a terrorist from approximately two metres with a chain tied to his feet. In the second photo, a saffron-clad person is taking a selfie with the terrorist’s body. Both actions as seen in the photos violate the standard operating procedures of the Army and the Geneva Conventions. The logic of “anti-IED/booby trap drill” does not hold good because the rope has to be at least 30 metre-long and pulled from behind a safe cover to turn the body.
After the dead body of an alleged militant was dragged by army, an extremist Hindu activist from Jammu taking selfie with the corpse. pic.twitter.com/L48aEc1VV2
— Khurram Parvez (@KhurramParvez) September 15, 2018
The media spared the minister, but the ramifications of her naive gaffe are far-reaching. The defence minister has incriminated her own Army of violating Article 15 of the First Geneva Convention and the Customary International Humanitarian Law. Not even the Pakistan Army and its proxies have ever admitted or boasted about mutilation or decapitation of dead bodies of our soldiers. Similarly, with no formal statement on the viral photos, the Army, carried away by the mood of the nation, appears to condone the incident.
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The government and the Army must forthwith issue a formal clarification to dispel the notion that we have fallen to the levels of rogue armies and terrorists. A political boast and a ‘one-off’ violation of the standard operating procedure must not give the impression that the Indian Army has lost its ‘moral compass’.
The author served in the Indian Army for 40 years. He was GOC in C Northern Command and Central Command. Post retirement, he was Member of Armed Forces Tribunal.
I think Lt. Gen. H. S. Panag makes complete sense. His views are all about peace and completely humanitarian.
This worthless Communist author should know, there are no rules & guidelines in a battle field. This kind or piece of shit articles misguide people. And these so called hypocritic authors should be kicked out of the country and there articles should be banned in India
I must inform Print that the rules or edicts of Geneva Convention are solely aimed at conventional warfare that is “Recognised Conflict Between Two Adversaries I.e. two nations or a groyp of nations against another country or group of countries.” As such Kashmir is not a conventional war theater hence talking about Geneva Convention is nothing but BULLSHIT. Kashmir is a simple law and order problem which has been exacerbated by the proxy and enemical intervention of Pakistan. moreover Army is conducting it’s affairs in a quite restrained manner in which it had very little scope of controlling the situation. Compare the situation with Baluchistan where Pakistan army killed thousands of baluch civilians and militants with impunity no questions were raised against the perpetrators as the entire Pakistani establishment was afraid and fearfully of questioning its own army {Pak Army). In our country it has become a fashion to object and question everything done by the Indian Army which is one of the most discipled one and is known for its humanness. As for the selfie of the so called Hindu Extremist I must admit that capturing event with self has become a fad in India and abundance of smartphone with quality camera has fuelled the trend. Many people/ reader will disagree and will question my opinion some extreme ones will automatically lable me the the Fundamental Hindu activist but believe me I am a poor Indian very much engrossed in earning my daily bread and butter (the later has become quite difficult lately).
What better do you expect from The Print. But yes…Did not expect this from veteran Gen. Panag.
Mr panang why did you join army .. Khurram is saying that the dead corpse is of alleged militant and the extremist hindu is taking selfie.. how come hindu is looking extremist and Ur terrorist is a holy cow. Thank god mr panang and his daughter is not in a good position. God save my country.
I am sure if the author had done even 1% of what he was entrusted with during his tenure in North, things would have been better for the Country and Army.
Fail to understand how these people become so wise after shedding the uniform? They never standby the action of their troops leaving those helpless soldiers to fend for themselves in courts and legal battles. Shameful.
These so called pro- humanistics and journalists with a falsehood of international colours acquire huge assets built their homes and farm houses n businesses over a short period… while a normal person even having a technical qualifications just able to manage two times meal.. the healer of terrorists who sympathyse these criminlas by taking the interviews of the stone throwers and same is being narrated by the person.. i doubt his integritty to be a soldier of Indian soil.. they never visit the families of martyrs by the terrorists.. so sad that these so called literate live here in india although favour naxellites n terrorists..
Gen Panag…Views are tainted because he speaks the language of terrorist.
While the comments of the good General are largely appreciated, it would be unfair to draw parellels with other militaries especially the one in our neighborhood. IA has more than often displayed highest standards of military ethos and dignity while dealing with the insurgency that is ignited through ill thought out policies in dealing with dissent. The problem is mainly due to lack of understanding of the basic aspirations of the ordinary person on the streets. The wait and watch policy without long drawn out strategies to address valid concerns of the citizen has further aggravated this dissent. Those responsible at the helm must realize the importance of a counter strategy to the adversary’s unconventional warfare, which involve delibrate attempts to malign the Armed Forces, CAPF and the local police. While the episode at Jhajjar Kotli in no way discern the overall image of either our Army or the Govt, it is however, the continous blabbering on such issues which may at a level call for certain changes in modus operandi, remains unwarrented. The present hierarchy in the Armed Forces are well aware of the need to address such issues of functionality and therefore veteran officers may best hold their thoughts to themselves and let the present lot handle the affairs of the Army
Another Paki lover .
The print media is either naive or they pretend to be why they are trying to malign Indian Army for terrorist sake
Shame on them
Quoting just two incidents , author is trying his level best to establish that Indian Army committed a breach of right of slain terrorist. Indian Army is my army I support them in all actions they take to protect this nation . Author appears to be someone in the payroll of anti Indian forces .
The author, talking about ethics and morals of army is blissfully unaware that the body being dragged is not of an enemy soldier. He is a bloody terrorist. And laws of engagement which apply to army need not prevail when terminating terrorists.
Due to this so called human activists we the security forces are always on back foot. The author would not even dare to try to preach the so called dent to terrorists who give bull shit to even basic human values. This has now become trend that these so called human activists sitting in there cosy bedrooms issuing statements against the security forces who are making supreme sacrifices in safeguarding the nation. He was in army and I don’t think he had ever been to killing zone and might be in some creamy assignment. It is absolutely ridiculous of him issuing such statements. Had he been in some other country he would not be doing so because in our country people have interpreted the Constitution as per their own convenience.
Anti-national views
Biased article
Those who ask more blood and brutality forget that one day someone will be asking for their blood in the same way. We already seeing murders and rapes increasing day by day.
May God save our country from descending into a lawless and barbarian hell hole where people are forever trying to migrate out of.
The liberals are true danger to any country. They never condemn the terrorists or separatists but always cry hard when the patriotic forces take any action against them. Indian army has always proven their good code of conduct in wars but this is a proxy dirty war started by Pakistan. We need to show them their real image in the mirror and to do that sometimes our soldiers need to cross the line, you know what I mean…
The author of this article is biased, and does not know anything about the Indian army and neither Geneva convention. It doesn’t applies on terrorism and terrorists.
For ethics Indian army ranks first in the world and why the author will not tell.
Author is a fool & daydreaming .
Its good when you talk about valour, code, pride etc. Etc and etc. But we have to understand what do we have in front of us.. With whom are our soldiers fighting actually.. They are animals who know of no code or valour or anything like that. I suppose that all started when our sleeping soldiers were attacked in URI and 19 of them were martyred. Today in J&K its all about hunting terrorists by hook or by crook and saving your ass at the same time by militants and Pak Army. And finally guarding your border as well. In these times its stupid to talk about rules or code. They have to be followed by both the sidea which is not the case here. Ask the Father of Captain Kalia who is still fighting for justice for his son even after 19 years after the war where his son was brutally tortured to death. ITS DONE… WE KNOW NO RULES AND WE WILL FOLLOW NONE, COME WHAT MAY BE.