How the Kashmir Earthquake Changed Perceptions of the Army's Role in Crisis Response

Here is an ex-Army man's thoughts on earthquake devastation in Kashmir and the response to it.

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The story below is the grim reality that we need to accept. I say so not because I wore that uniform with pride for 32 years, but because in times of need and calamities, there is nothing but the Armed Forces that our nation falls back to. I need not blow our trumpets, but I wish to make some important observations.

I am sure many of you must have watched the news story on the devastation caused by the earthquake in Pakistan and in Kashmir. One thing which stood out was that in both the countries, the dependency to find some sort of immediate relief was bestowed upon the armed forces. In both the countries, the civil administration was criticized for its slow reaction, but we must understand that in calamities no administration can function with the kind of speed and efficiency that people who are suffering expect.

Yet there are true stories in Tangdhar (My Regiment had the pleasure of serving here) where our soldiers lay buried in their bunkers, but their colleagues were out to help the civil population. Many of them were out on patrols to those places which were cut off, carrying whatever relief materials they could for the local population. The army shared whatever ration it had with the locals and gave them shelter on that cold night. The Air Force and the army Aviation did not flinch but flew sorties after sorties to save lives, and our army established field hospitals under tents and got down to the business of saving lives of the civilians.

It is the same army in Kashmir which has been accused of human rights violations. It is the same army whom personalities accused of committing crimes against the people of Kashmir. It is the same army which today is held in high esteem, and people of Kashmir want the administration to be handed over to the army. I had seen this happening in the North East. I had seen this in the Punjab in the worst of insurgency in the eighties. I am now seeing this in Kashmir.

This earthquake brought misery to the people of Pakistan and Kashmir. It has caused so much destruction that it would take years to rebuild the cities and human lives. Yet this earthquake may also show the beginning of the end of the hostile attitude of people of Kashmir towards the armed forces. It might even bring Pakistan and India closer provided we are willing to view each other without suspicion and do not see meaning where none exists.

The Aman Sethu bridge may have suffered damage. It is only cosmetic. That damage can be repaired. It is the human mind which needs repair to forget and forgive. Maybe this earthquake will provide that impetus for more peaceful days in Kashmir as well as in India and Pakistan. Inshah Allah, it is indeed possible for it is only in times of need that we come together, and today that time has come once again.

The armed forces will be forgotten soon of their contributions to the people of Kashmir in times of need. It does not matter for we are used to it. We shall be remembered only in times of need. Isn't that a great feeling for people like us who wore that uniform and more so for those who continue to wear it? That we are wanted in times of need is indeed a great feeling to live the rest of our lives.

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One more on the subject:

AGAR ARMY NA HOTI TO HAMARA KYA HOTA?

TEETWAL, (LoC), Oct 14: "Kya Aap Mere Gharwalon Ko Phone Kar Sakte Ho...Mein Aapko Number Deta Hoon (Would you please call my family members...I will give you my phone number," said a soldier of the Indian Army, fighting a different battle this time.

"Please tell them I am fine. My mother must have nearly died after hearing about the devastating earthquake," he said.

Hailing from Dakur near Anand in Gujarat, the soldier and his unit have been posted in the Tangdhar area for the past one year.

"I have not been able to contact my family members after the tremblor struck Jammu and Kashmir on October 8," he said.

Though the Army has established a phone connection at Tangdhar, preference is given to locals and officials of the civil administration besides volunteers who are in the area for rescue and relief operations.

Vajra Signals were able to restore phone links at Tangdhar a day after the earthquake hit the area.

They have set up a phone booth near the helipad at Tangdhar from where the people are making free calls to their relatives in other parts of the State and the country.

"There is an endless line of callers and by the time our turn comes we are ordered to march back to the post," he said.

Soldiers of 5 Dogra, 3 Punjab and Army Engineering Corps could be seen engaged in relief and rescue operations in the entire Karnah area, devastated by the tremblor.

"Kya Yeh Mujhe TV Pe Dikhayenge (Can they show me on TV)?" asked another soldier, pointing towards a crew of a private television channel busy taking an interview of a senior Army official.

"At least my family members would come to know that I am alive. By now they must have thought I am dead," said the soldier, hailing from Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh.

The people of Jammu and Kashmir, particularly from the earthquake-affected areas, have appreciated the Army for its prompt response and untiring efforts in rescue and relief operations.

From Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the common man on the streets, everybody is praising the Army.

"Agar Army Na Hoti To Hamara Kya Hota (I wonder what would have been our fate had the Army not been there)," said Mohammad Khaleel, a local of this village, lying close to Line of Control (LoC) and almost leveled due to the devastating earthquake.

The Army managed to reach, within three days, all the quake-hit villages which have remained inaccessible to other agencies even today, six days after the devastating tremor struck Jammu and Kashmir and its neighboring areas on October 8, killing thousands of people.

"Kya Karen Sahab. Yeh Hamari Duty Hai. Fouji Ka Kartavya Hai Desh Ke Kaam Aana (What to do this is our job. A soldier has to live and die for the nation," said another trooper.

A resident of Haryana, he said it is heart-rending to carry the body of your colleague with whom one has spent years together.

"The Army too has suffered heavy casualties due to the earthquake. We have carried the coffins of our brothers. It is distressing. After all, we too are human beings. How far can you control your emotions?" he asked.

Emotions notwithstanding, the saviors continue with their humanitarian efforts and relief and rescue operations in quake-ravaged areas of Jammu and Kashmir.

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Bala