Last month witnessed one of the biggest national tragedies of the country but it seems everybody has forgot it as it was a routine matter. Surprisingly, was the fate of 139 soldiers of Pakistan Army’s 6 Northern Light Infantry Battalion not enough? They were buried alive under a massive avalanche that smashed into the army camp at the Gayari sector near the Siachen Glacier on April 7, 2012. The magnitude of this calamity was so big that the restless rescue efforts which took off immediately after the incident continue to date by the army, the air force and the disaster management authority with apparently no hope of survivors. Down under the icy ‘graves’ of Gayari are the real heroes of our nation trapped between layers and layers of snow as the journalists visited the area, along with the Chief of Army Staff, Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, and witnessed the speed of work as well as the dangers and difficulties the rescue teams are facing.
Far from the heights of calamity, down in the breadth of country was launched a campaign that focused on the folly of having engaged in a useless war, but the Chief of Army Staff rightly insisted that “we should focus on the tragedy instead” and responded to questions saying the high cost and environmental impact were good reasons why the area should not be demilitarized. “Peaceful coexistence between the two neighbours,” he averred, “is very important so that everybody can concentrate on the well-being of the people.” Yes, the Gayari incident has brought the futility of the conflict back into focus and there is a renewed realization that it is a senseless conflict which must come to an end. True, the solution is linked to the genesis of the conflict that Siachen is located in the disputed Kashmir region and the Line of Control demarcating their respective positions did not cover the glacier. So taking advantage of the situation, the Indian forces moved in to occupy the Saltoro ridge. “Pakistan’s forces went to the area in response to India’s occupation of the Siachen Glacier in 1984”, said the COAS. Pakistan did only respond securing some of the lower but vital peaks, controlling access to the K-2 mountain and a pass overlooking the approach to Leh district in Kashmir as well as two rivers that join the Indus further downstream. It is therefore important for it to stay there unless and until the other side pulls back too, restoring status quo ante.
For several years now the two sides have been trying to negotiate a resolution, and in 1989 they came close to a settlement, even so it was willing to withdraw to the pre-1984 positions, but then India backed out. Some in Pakistan, including the PML-N leader and some intellectuals too, have suggested unilateral withdrawal by Pakistan but the assumption is that Indian side is not willing to do that because it wants to retain the gains it made through invasion, insisting that any agreement must be based on Actual Ground Positions i.e, present positions, which means this would amount to according legitimacy to an act of aggression. Hopefully, better sense must prevail and India, without taking advantage of Pakistan being the recent sufferer, it must find out a way of respecting Pakistan’s claim in the spirit of the Simla Agreement, and agree to demilitarize the glacier. As a matter of fact India has lost more than 6,000 of its troops so far against Pakistan’s near 2,000. If the sense prevails, the wild roses that give the glacier its name can blossom again to celebrate renewed peace and harmony in this region.
F Z KHAN
Islamabad
