Lt. General K.J.S Dhillon ‘s Memoir: Peddling A Certain Narrative That Intends to Paint Army as A Holy Cow
By Mushtaq Ul Haq
Ahmad Sikander, New Age Islam
12 July
2024
It Is with Great Precision, That Army and Local
Police Helped Maintain Peace Without a Drop of Blood Being Shed, But He
Deliberately Fails to Mention the Fact That How Mainstream Political Leaders,
Civilians and Whole Kashmiri Population Was Taken Hostage by Keeping Them Under
Curfew for Months Altogether, And Clamping a Communication Crackdown by
Snapping Internet and Mobile Services for Months
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Kitne Ghazi Aaye, Kitne Ghazi Gaye: My Life
Story
Author: Lt Gen. K.J.S. ‘Tiny’ Dhillon (Retd)
Publisher: Penguin Veer, India
Year of Publication: 2023
Pages: 310
Price: Rs 699
ISBN: 9780670097050
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Kashmir has
always been a sensitive border state. The presence of army was not something
surprising, but since the inception of armed insurgency in 1990s, the
militarization of the whole region evolved it into a highest military zone in
the world. Since, then the killings and violence both by state and non-state
actors have become a norm. This norm continues even today, although the levels
of violence have gone done subsequently. But the levels of militarization have
not reduced. Many books both memoirs and academic have been penned down
depicting the vagaries of the violent conflict zone.
Army has a
perpetual and continuous role in bringing down the levels of violence, securing
the borders and maintaining peace. This memoir is written by Lt. General K.J.S
Dhillon also known as Tiny Dhillon. It is quite a riveting read, informing the
reader about the struggles he faced from his childhood, till he hung his boots
from the army. We are informed how his parents are attacked by a wild animal in
Nepal, that led to the tragic death of his mother when he was a child. Later,
his father was quite reluctant in allowing him to join army. But with his
persuasive nature, he gave in and we witness the difficulties of an army life.
The
initiation in army training prepares one as a battle hardened soldier, as
readers are made aware about NDA and the restrictions in the academy, and on
completion of training joining Rajputana Rifles. Then, the married life of army
men is detailed, and the sacrifices the new couple particularly the wives have
to make. The newly married brides are welcomed in the unit, making them feel
loved so that they get adjusted. The wives have to be prepared to endure a lot
of pain and pangs of separation from their husbands, as they have to take care
of the family alone. Most of the times, particularly on the important occasions
of life the husbands are absent, as we witness that Tiny was not there at the
birth of both of his children. It is the women of army men who take care and attend
to the needs of family, upbringing the children while men are away.
Tiny,
informs the readers how complex it is to execute the duty in a violence prone
state like Kashmir, where counter insurgency operations galore the daily lives
of army. “A counter-terrorism operation is like a mind game in itself, and one
learns the lessons gradually, honing the capability to tackle terrorists
through a combination of personal experiences and on-the-ground training.”
(P-181) It is a part of their duty, but the manner in which army abuses its
power during the counter terrorism operations has not been documented, thus
marring the objectivity of the narrative. The allegations of human rights abuse
against army, have not been tackled too. Although, Tiny has described that
there is a strict code of Law and punishment against soldiers (P-66-67), but in
reality, the AFSPA provides a strong impunity to soldiers against prosecution
in criminal courts. His own narrative informs us that how a certain brand of
biscuits liked by an army General was made available to please him, at the cost
of public exchequer (P-133). Similar, is the case of misusing the services
available to officers for family and nepotism, like utilizing the services of
soldiers for submitting school fees, pick and drop of children and wives and
using the official vehicles for personal uses. On the other hand, the low rung
soldiers and their families are left to fend for themselves as they have little
monetary and welfare stability available if they fall in the line of duty.
As we can
witness this bias, they are reinforced with grave mistakes and doled out
deceit. Tiny has wrongly attributed famous verses to Amir Khusro, that
originally are written by Mughal Emperor Jehangir, comparing Kashmir with
heaven (P-140). Also, term Dastegeer
is not known as Daecch Gandan (P-147), similarly Khanqah e Maula does not mean
secret of Allah (P-148), but means hospice of Allah. Then there is propaganda
against Kashmiri students that they are not competent enough to match the other
Indian students in various competitive exams or get admissions and find jobs.
“This double blow to the education system has adversely impacted the young
Kashmiri students, who are otherwise very intelligent and aware, but find it
difficult to compete and succeed in clearing the competitive exams for
admission to higher education colleges and universities in other parts of India
and abroad.” (P-204) He is writing in the context of month long strikes and Hartals, that impacted education routine
adversely because schools, colleges and universities remained closed. But
despite these obstacles, Kashmiri students have excelled in education and are
present in all major colleges and universities of India and abroad. Similar is
the case with jobs.
Tiny’s role
becomes important as he was leading the army during and in the aftermath of
illegal abrogation of article 370. It is important to know that Home Minister
Amit Shah and BJP planned to abrogate it quite early, because he documents a
meeting on 27 June 2019 with Amit Shah, wherein he informs him about the
abrogation and the military preparedness to handle any situation in its
aftermath (P-237-238). It is with great precision, that army and local police
helped maintain peace without a drop of blood being shed, but he deliberately
fails to mention the fact that how mainstream political leaders, civilians and
whole Kashmiri population was taken hostage by keeping them under curfew for
months altogether, and clamping a communication crackdown by snapping internet
and mobile services for months. Anyways, he offers a poor justification for
snapping the internet. As a Kashmir reader, it is difficult to digest the
propaganda that Tiny, like many politicians spanks about Article 370, because
there are similar provisions for Himachal, North East and many other states,
but such spurious propaganda is not churned against them.
Then he
also wrongly boasts, “No student of Army Goodwill Schools has joined the rank
and file of terrorism in the recent past.” (P-262) He should check out about
Manan Wani, and there are many examples like him. He also informs us about
Operation Maa, that helped army make many militants surrender, as their mothers
and family members appealed to them. Overall, it is a good memoir, but peddling
a certain narrative that intends to paint army as a Holy Cow. It should be read
with certain amount of background reading, although it helps us understand
variegated issues and episodes from the perspective of army.
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M.H.A. Sikander is Writer-Activist based in
Srinagar, Kashmir.
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/books-documents/dhillon-memoir-narrative-army-holy-cow/d/132684
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