Unwept, Unsung, Unhonoured

"Politicians' silence stuns men in uniform,"  says the second lead story in the Hindu,the daily of Chennai, today.

The report is about the shocking insensitivity of the political class in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) andin New Delhi in failing to express their solidarity with over 30 members of our Border Security Force (BSF)and their families, who were killed by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists through an improvised explosive device (IED)on the Jammu-Srinagar Highway on May 23, 2004.

True, a statement on behalf of the new Council of Ministers headed by Dr.Manmohan Singh condemning theincident and conveying condolences to the bereaved was issued immediately after the incident. The PrimeMinister himself did not find the time to talk to the media about it. The statement was read out on his behalfby the Principal Information Officer of the Government of India.

How does one express the nation's solidarity with the martyrs of the Security Forces on such occasions? Byvisiting the spot of the tragedy, by placing wreaths, by attending the cremation of those killed, by visitingthe injured in the hospital, etc. None of these simple gestures occurred to any member of the political classas necessary, either in Srinagar or in New Delhi.

The over 30 martyrs of the BSF left this world unwept, unsung, unhonoured by the political class. As oneread with shock and disbelief the report of the Hindu, one's mind went back to January 10,1990. On thatday, Gobind Ram, a 45-year-old officer of the Indian Police Service, who was working as the Commandant of the75th  Bn of the Punjab Armed Police in Jalandhar Cantt., and four other junior police officers werekilled by an improvised explosive device planted by the Sikh terrorists in the cooler of his office.

Gobind Ram was an exceptionally brave police officer who distinguished himself in the campaign againstterrorism in Punjab. He and the members of his family figured on the top of the so-called hit list prepared bythe terrorists. A few weeks before his assassination, the terrorists had killed his young son as he wasreturning home  from school. Gobind Ram could have gone on long leave or asked for a transfer outsidePunjab because of the threat faced by him and the other members of his family.

He did not do so. He chose to stay at his post of duty and continue to lead his men in their fight againstterrorism. Ultimately, he paid with his life as he knew he would.

Gobind Ram was not the only brave officer of the Punjab police to have sacrificed his life in the fightagainst terrorism. There were 1,700 others of various ranks who  met a similar brave death. One wouldfind details of them in the Martyrs' Gallery of the PunjabPolice.

Please do visit the gallery and spare a thought for those martyrs, but for whose sacrifice the nation wouldnot be having peace in Punjab today. The list does not include the names of  dozens of the relatives ofPunjab Police officers who were gunned down by the terrorists or killed with IEDs--just as they killed theyoung son of Gobind Ram.

Remember the day in August,1992, when the Punjab Police killed Sukhdev Singh Babbar, the notorious leaderof the Babbar Khalsa, in en encounter? That night, in a frenzy of retaliatory attacks, the terrorists killedthe relatives of many special police officers and other personnel of the Punjab Police all over the state. Oneapprehended that the deaths of the relatives could demoralise the Punjab Police and weaken their fight againstterrorism.

It didn't. They fought against the terrorists with redoubled determination and ultimately prevailed.

When there were so many hundreds of brave martyrs, why am I mentioning the name of only Gobind Ram? Whathas his death got to do with deaths of the BSF personnel and their families in J&K on May 23?

When Gobind Ram was killed, another coalition Government headed by Shri V.P.Singh had assumed office in NewDelhi  a few weeks earlier. Shri V.P.Singh  thought he would be able to bring peace to Punjab byopening up lines of communication with the terrorists through Shri Simranjit Singh Mann. He feared that anopen honouring of Gobind Ram might damage his relationship with Mann.

He chose to let Gobind Ram leave the world unwept, unsung, unhonoured by him or his Council of Ministers.He did address a private letter of condolence to his widow, but consciously refrained from any public gestureof solidarity with the Punjab Police and the members of Gobind Ram's family lest such gesture damage his linesof communications with Mann.

By consciously failing to honour in public the memory of  a brave officer, did he achieve peace in thePunjab? No. Terrorism worsened during his term in office. It goes to the credit of the Punjab Police that theydid not allow this shocking insensitivity by the political class to affect their morale and determination tofight the terrorists.

Remember another similar incident during the Prime Ministership of V.P.Singh? The coalition led by him,which had been strongly critical of the action of the Rajiv Gandhi Government in sending the Indian PeaceKeeping Force (IPKF) to Sri Lanka, decided  to withdraw it from Sri Lanka.Over 1,000 brave officers ofour Army had fallen martyrs in the operations against the LTTE. When the returning contingents landed inChennai, the DMK Government headed by Shri M.Karunanidhi chose to dissociate itself from the welcome ceremonyand refrained from any pubic or even  private gesture honouring the memories of the brave jawans andofficers who laid their lives in the fight against the most dreaded terrorist organisation of the world.

The DMK then supported the V.P.Singh Government. Its sensitivities were more important to him than the sensitivitiesof the families of hundreds of Indian armymen killed by the LTTE.

More officers and men of the security forces  have died in counter-terrorism operations in India thanin any other country of  the world. Nearly 10,000. Refraining from demonstrating public gestures of honour to the memories of our martyrs out of partisan political considerations is not the way to win ourcampaign against terrorism.

B. Raman is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, and, presently, Director,Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Distinguished Fellow and Convenor, Observer Research Foundation,Chennai Chapter.