by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group
Modi emulates Indira
IAF aircraft Cross LoC after 48 years
Orders destruction of terror camps in Pakistan
Harish Gupta
New Delhi, Feb 26
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, by allowing the Indian Air Force to cross the Line of Control (LoC) and destroy the “factories” of terror, has sent a clear message to Pakistan and the world that a New India has arrived.
If Indira Gandhi sent IAF inside Pakistan in 1971 when full scale war was declared, Modi showed the same political will 48 years later to avenge Pulwaha terror attack. He allowed the IAF aircraft to go 80 kilometers inside the LoC to avenge the killing of 40 CRPF jawans on February 14.
Pakistan's radars failed to detect the Indian IAF's massive 21-minute meticulously planned “non-military preemptive” attack within 12 days of Pulwama to destroy three major terror camps of Jaish-e-Mohammed. Perhaps, the Pakistani Establishment had not anticipated that Modi will act with such an alacrity. In the past, be it V P Singh, Chandra Shekhar, P V Narasimha Rao, Atal Behari Vajpayee or even Dr Manmohan Singh, none dared to act against the acts of terrorism. If V P Singh allowed the swapping of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in lieu of eight terrorists in December 1989, his successor Chandra Shekhar released JKLF militants in lieu of Saifuddin Soze's daughter in 1990. The P V Narasimha Rao gave safe passage to militants in 1993 in Hazratbal Mosque (Srinagar) hostage case. Atal Behari Vajpayee had to eat the humble pie in 1999 December when he had to swap Masood Azhar along with other terrorists with passengers of IC-814 aircraft of Indian Airlines in Kandhar. Unfortunately, its the same Azhar who is involved in all terror activities in India. Incidentally, the terrorist involved in the hijacking of the IA aircraft was Jargar was the same person who was released in lieu of Rubaiya Sayeed by V P Singh. In fact, Vajpayee suffered huge personal set back to his image when Parliament was attacked by JeM fidayeen militants in December 2001 and he failed to avenge it. Dr Manmohan Singh wanted to undertake surgical air strike after the 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai in 2008. But due to political indecision, nothing happened. In fact, today's decisive action set at rest all criticism by the Opposition that no surgical strike took place in September 2016 after the Uri attack. Today's strikes have been acknowledged by Pakistan. Modi has done what none of his predecessors dared do since 1989 and has sent a clear message to Pakistan that he would not hesitate to strike inside the LoC irrespective of the consequences.
How this action will pan out in the weeks to come could be anybody's guess. But Modi has shown he is a great risk taker irrespective of the consequences.
Ends
