When the Indo-Soviet treaty of mutual friendship was concluded in August, 1971, it was a virtual guarantee of the Indian army’s impending, if not imminent, war against Pakistan. Clearly, the enemies of the Indian soldiers were their counterparts in the Pakistani garrison and there could hardly be a murmur of dissent on the issue. Today, however, the dramatic developments in Jammu and Kashmir appear to have transformed the scenario as never before. Indian soldiers are not firing at or getting fired upon by Pakistani soldiers, a few aberrations notwithstanding. Flag meetings of the operational colonels and hotline talks between the director-generals of military operations have more or less kept the situation under control.

Nevertheless, the Indian army appears to be under an unprecedented stress. This is because, the southern part of Jammu and Kashmir that so far was considered to be a ‘peace’ station as compared to the turbulent north, has become unstable almost overnight, with religious passions running high, plunging the entire territory north of the Ravi river into an unusual crisis. And all this thanks to the Amarnath yatra imbroglio. Although violence is not new to Kashmir, the army now has to combat the aggression of the Hindus of Jammu.

The situation becomes all the more grim owing to the fact that the 310 kilometre-long stretch of the Jammu-Srinagar road, which was supposed to have been blocked for some time, is to be reconnoitred and kept open by the soldiers whose primary job, after all, is to fire rounds of Kalashnikov bullets, and not to search roads or arrest religious fanatics. Religious issues are especially sensitive for the army. The Indian army might be a virtually shock-proof institution so far as religion is concerned, but one should remember that the gravest mutiny in India took place in 1857 on emotive and religious considerations.

War cry

The main concern today, is to find ways to keep the men in uniform immunized from the simmering religious cauldron of Jammu and Kashmir. While bearing in mind that the fighting men of India have impeccable secular and professional credentials, it is pertinent to recall that these same men go to war with an explicitly religious battle cry invoking the blessings of their respective regimental deities.

The battle cries of the Bihar regiment are “Jai Bajrang Bali” (“Victory to Lord Hanuman”) and “Birsa Munda ki jai”. The latter warcry is resorted to by the sizeable population of soldiers recruited from the tribal Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh region. For the Rajputana Rifles, the war cries are “Raja Ram Chandra ki jai” chanted by the Rajput, Kshatriya and Thakur soldiers. The 19 battalions of the Kumaon Regiment have four battle cries — “Kalika mata ki jai”, “Bajrang Bali ki jai”, “Dada Kishan ki jai” and “Jai Durge Naga”, the last being meant for the first and second Naga Regiment attached to the Kumaonis. For the Garhwal Regiment, the war cry had to be “Badri Vishal Lal ki jai”. The Dogras chant “Jawala Mata ki jai”. Although the famous Gorkha war cry is “Ayo Gorkhali” (“The Gorkhas are here”), at least one regiment, the 11 Gorkha Rifles, starts battle with “Jai Mahakali”.

It is thus clear as to how deep runs the religious beliefs of soldiers whose lives hang on the penetration of one bullet in the ‘right’ (or perhaps, one should say ‘wrong’) part of the human body. The soldiers are trained to fight external foes and not internal demons. Hence in the charged atmosphere of north India, the onus of responsibility perhaps lies with the para-military forces. To minimize chances of conflict, they should to take the primary role in the streets and cities of Jammu and Kashmir along with the soldiers.