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Updated: June 19, 2020 9:38:55 am
Indian and Chinese troops in happier times, celebrating the new year at Bum la in Arunachal Pradesh.
I write these words with a great deal of sorrow. Sadness at the thought of no less than twenty young men, men of promise and true to their oath wilfully sacrificed at the altar of some nebulous belief that the Chinese would once in a while play by the rules. A forlorn hope if there ever was one!
My desolation at the loss of so many Jawans is mixed with a great deal of anger. Both emotions are shared by the rest of the country. My angst gives rise to a number of questions chief among them being – why did our soldiers go to confront the Chinese unarmed? I know there's a protocol dating back to 1996 whereby the two sides have agreed to exercise restraint and not open fire.
But this wasn't patrolling. Colonel Santosh Babu's battalion, 16 Bihar and the rest of 81 Mountain Brigade were manning frontline defences. It is now certain that the Colonel and his party were lured into a trap through a ruse. The clash wasn't the result of a momentary lapse of control or triggered by a grave provocation.
It was a pre-mediated trap laid by the wily Chinese bent upon creating a critical situation….
