Indian Army Chief Bipin Rawat Beats War Drums Over Azad Kashmir

Indian army chief General Bipin Rawat on Thursday said that the Indian army was ready for an operation to occupy Azad Jammu and Kashmir, according to a report published by the Indian news website Economic Times. The general said that if the government asked him to conduct such an operation, the troops were prepared and waiting to do the bidding. Rawat made the comment while talking to the media about occupied Kashmir. The remarks made by the Indian army chief echo those made by other government officials in New Delhi, including Union Minister Jitendra Singh and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh.

“All actions are decided upon by the central government. Agencies working under the government have to act in accordance with its directions,” Rawat added after his inflammatory comments. Last month, Union Minister Jitendra Singh had said that the next agenda of the Indian government, after scrapping the constitutional autonomy of Indian-occupied Kashmir, was to occupy Azad Jammu and Kashmir. “Now, the next agenda is retrieving Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and make it a part of India. It is not only me or my party’s commitment, but it’s a part of a resolution unanimously passed by Parliament,” Singh said. Indian defense minister Rajnath Singh had also made a similar statement just days after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed a military curfew in Indian-occupied Kashmir and imprisoned thousands of people. Widespread allegations of torture and abuse of detainees by Indian security forces are now pouring in through the international media, as the United Nations, the United States and Pakistan ramp up pressure to ease the lock-down in the occupied valley.