War crimes

As waves continue to reverberate from the recent Line of Control (LoC) incidents, things keep growing grimmer. According to Indian media reports, in a series of classified documents presented to the United Nations Military Observer Group (UNMOGIP) in India and Pakistan, a force which monitors the disputed Kashmir border, Pakistan has put forward some damaging accusations. These state that some 12 Pakistani soldiers were decapitated since 1998 in cross-border attacks. Mention has also been made of 29 civilian beheadings over the same period. A protest has been put before the UNMOGIP, the role of which is to monitor ceasefire violations. The body does not, however, conduct criminal investigations, so it will need to be seen how the matter is handled.

A senior Pakistani military official has been quoted as saying that Pakistan, in the past, played down these incidents. They have been brought up following a series of killings of soldiers on both sides of the LoC recently. Pakistan has said three of its soldiers were killed in cross-border shooting while India says two of its soldiers were killed by Pakistani troops and one beheaded. The news of the beheading, amidst much hype by the Indian media, had unleashed a wave of anger across that country, which continues, even though things at the LoC have calmed down over the last two weeks.

The whole matter of the beheadings is, of course, extremely distasteful. The idea of trained soldiers indulging in mutilations that amount to war crimes is hard to digest. Suspicions have been raised of militant involvement but the accounts now coming in suggest that men wearing their country’s uniforms may be involved. War reporters have told of heads being taken away and displayed as ‘trophies’, for instance, during the Kargil war. Such barbarism is unacceptable. Military leaders on both sides need to intervene in this matter, while it is also important to get to the bottom of the various incidents cited and ensure they do not occur again.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 4^th, 2013.