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Use of Air Force firepower in anti-Naxal operations | We have used Air Force firepower with telling, if not decisive, effect in the past, in serious insurgency situations bordering on armed revolt/ secession, in
the '60s, in a part of our country. It is nothing new. Those decisions must have
been hard to take and painful to arrive at, at the highest political levels; what
perhaps helped was that, after a certain stage, it was largely the Army, and not
the CPF, which was doing the bulk of the fighting on the ground; the scenarios
had turned into a quasi-war one and time was fast running out. Once the decisions
were taken, the go-aheads given and the overall guidelines spelt out clearly by
govt, the Air Force & the Army were left pretty much alone to do their own joint
planning, prioritizing and execution. They used the AF fire power most astutely,
judiciously, conservatively and correctly to avoid collateral damage beyond a
point, mindless mayhem and wanton destruction of civilian life and property. I
state this from first-hand experience, observation and knowledge. Air Mshls Trevor
Osman, Anil Trikha, ‘Mian’ Naqvi, AVMs ‘Goofy’ Gupta, ‘Guni’ Sehgal etc will bear
me out on that. Not using the Air Force fire power when and in the manner in which
it was used at the time, would, to my mind, have been disastrous for the nation.
Merely using it in the logistics, communication, transportation of men & materiel,
surveillance, air maintenance and casualty evacuation roles wasn’t getting us
the needed dividends. As it was revealed once peace and order were restored to
those troubled areas later on, aerial firepower could not have been used more
opportunely and appropriately; it, along with the Army ground action, possibly
pulled a lot of political chestnuts out of the fire just in time, shortened the
conflict very considerably and nipped in the bud what would have turned into a
serious challenge to India’s integrity! I'd like to believe that it also served
as a major and punishing lesson to the then and future separatists, without and
most importantly, estranging the populace. The Naxal menace of today is indeed
vastly different, both in character and content as also in its origins and geographical
areas of operation; the times have changed a great deal and so have the nature
and extent of media coverage, since the insurrections of the 1960s. However and
these notwithstanding, revisiting the air operations mentioned above (both, logistic/
civilian relief and offensive), the decision reaching process then, the lessons
learnt (more by the then separatists/ insurgents) and carefully extrapolating
all that info to the Naxal problem today, may be useful in the present debate
on the possible use of firepower from the skies. Repeated public skepticism on
its use or its declared non-use could well be something the Naxal cadres will
heavily pin their hopes on and factor into their operations! Air Force firepower
is and has been an outstanding resource--in surprise, speed, devastation and psychological
impact-- whether it was insurgencies of the 1960s or Kargil operations of 1999.
It has historically been in its very nature to strike awe and fear into the hearts
of less-than-well-trained-and-motivated troops (and some times even them!), quite
out of proportion with the weight of attack and physical damage done. I feel it
is waiting to be prudently, carefully, selectively or even minimally used in anti-Naxal
operations, albeit with calculated regard for a possible modicum of AD weapons
availability with the 21st Century insurgent which his 1960s counterpart did not
possess. Be that as it may, we'd be very ill advised to take a hasty or peremptory
stand against using it merely to be in line with some of the ongoing NGO rhetoric,
until after due deliberation on the lines I have suggested. A question that often
begs answer is: do Human Rights unquestioningly and unconditionally apply to such
groups as have manifestly and repeatedly shown utter contempt for the lives of
civilian govt employees and Police personnel, unless of course these latter categories
are no more entitled to human rights?! For those among us who fondly imagine that
the Naxal menace can be simply wished away by placating and soft pedalling alone,
they have a surprise coming their way....a BIG one at that! I only hope it is
later than sooner!! Before getting branded as an unabashed hawk, let me hasten
to add that the use of Air Force firepower does not and must not preclude such
political processes as aim to address the crucial socio-economic issues underlying
the Naxal movement. The two supplement and complement each other and are not,
therefore, at all mutually exclusive. Oftentimes there may not be enough time
but there will always be enough space for them to go on side by side. There is
also no question of the stick preceding the carrot. It will probably be the certainty
in the minds of Naxal ideologues of such a 2-track approach being adopted, which
will end or at least hasten the end of this insurgency. The spectre of its swathe-like
rapid spread from the NE to the SW of India, is extremely worrisome, to put it
mildly. |
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