Kargil betrayed -- Martyrs' kin

Kargil betrayed -- Martyrs' kin
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

MUMBAI, DEC 31: Relief was tinged with undescribable anger as the city came to know of the final release of the hostages at the end of their seven-day ordeal. Armymen, especially families of soldiers killed in anti-insurgency operations in the Valley were shocked at the government's decision to swap three militants for the hostages and termed it a betrayal of the Kargil victory.

``It's a betrayal of thousands of jawans and officers who have laid down their lives fighting militancy in Kashmir,'' said Anuradha Gore, mother of Capt Vinayak Gore, who died during Operation Rakshak in Kashmir in 1995. Capt Gore was 26 years old when he died of head injuries after his vehicle was ambushed in militant-infested Kupwara district of Kashmir.

Kargil had made Indians hold their heads high with pride and now Kandahar made the victory seem useless, she said. ``By going down on our knees before the militants, we have lost everything,'' she said.

Col M P Chaudhary, (retd) who served in Kashmir and was involved intraining the anti-hijack squad of the Special Operations Group (SOG) commandos, was even more virulent in his attack of the Centre's decision. He told The Indian Express that he was ashamed to be Indian. ``It's a tactical and bold decision albeit one which could have been avoided,'' he said.

Chaudhary wanted to know why the families of hostages did not show the same concern when young soldiers were dying in Kargil this summer. ``Did they demonstrate before the Prime Minister's house then asking for an end to war because our jawans were dying?'' Col Chaudhary asked.

Even after 17 hijackings since independence, India had displayed absolute inexperience while dealing with the present situation, Chaudhary lamented. According to him, there was no need to give in to the demands of the hijackers yet.

``We should have forced the Taliban to either help us rescue our people or deal with them, (the hijackers). We could wait,'' he said.The attitude of the government coupled with the heightened militantactivity in the Valley meant the armed forces were going to have their hands full for quite some time now, he warned.

``Though I'm happy that the hostage crisis has been resolved, I think it was capitulation by the government. It will further embolden terrorists and lead to many more such incidents,'' said A N Dev, a retired banker from Mulund.