I write this in anguish
I cry in sadness
Hanumanthappa, an Indian soldier , posted in Siachen ( one of the worlds most treacherous terrain, in the Himalayas ) , succumbed to multiple organ failure at a hospital in Delhi . He was amongst the group of 10 soldiers who got buried under an avalanche . All others had succumbed earlier.
Hanumanthappa lay in the snow for six days , at a temperature of -60 degrees C . He was found. Alive . Rushed to a hospital in Delhi. Multiple organ failure . And he joined the rest of his mates who were buried under the Avalanche and had succumbed more than a week ago.
Like most of us, and his mates who succumbed, Hanumanthappa had a family. Parents, spouse , a two year old daughter .
Unlike most of us, he was working in a war zone which has been the most difficult place unearth to guard borders. The Siachen glacier.
Many of my friends from school joined the army. Several of them are still posted in the region. They lead a life which others can not even imagine. A -15 degree C day is a warm one. Their families live thousands of miles away. They put In their Everything, make a huge load of sacrifices. They do so with their utmost dedication to duty. They endure pain . They do it with a supreme sense of pride, honour and esprit de corps. They are supremely committed and competent individuals. And they do this job with all their heart and soul.
When I look at incidents like those of Hanumanthappa, when I look at the huge amount of challenges that my friends ( and like them, thousands of other soldiers , on both sides of the border ) face , it seems to beg the question - is it worthwhile.
We all know, but seldom recognise, that Nature knows no borders . An avalanche is not constrained by they Radcliffe line or the supposed LOAC, the line of actual control. An earthquake doesn't follow border protocols , the Tsunami did not seek permission to move from Indonesia to Thailand to india and on to Sri Lanka.
But then, we are not nature. It is unreal to expect us to NOT honour borders, no matter how treacherous they are . We are india. We are pakistan. It is of course, best NOT to fight. To live in peace. To not attack neighbours. To not kill , to not encourage killing, to not send people to kill.
However, being India and Pakistan, aren't we supposed to fight. We are supposed to score political points over each other. We are supposed to be the masters of precision in diplomatic quid pro quo. And most of us who take these decisions do not have to endure the terrain of Siachen, Drass or Kargil.
Even if we still have to fight, my fervent request to the people on both sides is - get out of places like this. Let nature reign supreme in these areas. Do not try to fight nature. Let us stop any more incidents like this is from repeating.
Map out where he positions are today.
Technology or satellite monitoring could keep a virtual border in place. Let violations be penalized every month through hefty fines.
I don't know if such a mechanism can exist. Or whether it is feasible enough to not get lost in the technicalities of such an arrangement .
But what I know is that Hanumanthappa will never return to 18 month young child. the other soldiers who lost their lives will never ever return home. This happened on the Indian side today, it could happen on the Pakistani side tomorrow. It would be just as unfortunate.
Let's stop this. Let's not drown this in rhetoric. Let's not challenge nature.
Hanumanthappa dear - may you rest in peace . And may your unfortunate death lead to the stopping of this mindless war
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