New Delhi has recommended to the Indian army high commandthat those officers should “go home” who were in charge of the Uri brigade, theSunjuwan military camp and the Nagrota army base in Jammu and Kashmir whenmilitants attacked their bases in past few years, a media report said onFriday.
“The government has decided to send these officers home,seeking to take action against the senior leadership for security lapses thatmay have aided the attacks,” Hindustan Times reported on Friday.
The report said that the government has communicated itsrecommendation to the Indian Army and essentially the government wants theseofficers to put in their papers and retire.
“The officers will still be eligible to receive all thebenefits that are due to them,” the report said.
It said that the army was communicated that commandersshould put in their papers days after the new government was sworn in.
The decision comes less than a month after the BharatiyaJanata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was sworn in for a secondsuccessive term in office after winning a commanding majority in the April-Maygeneral elections.
It said that inquires by the Indian Army into the Uri attackrevealed lapses, importantly there had been prior information about a possibleattack.
Similarly, inquiries into the attacks in Nagrota andSunjuwan also revealed command and control lapses.
It said that the government wants to hold senior leadershipresponsible for lapses that may have aided the militant attacks.
The report said that after the Modi government came back topower last month, it revived the move for action against commanders under whosewatch their establishments were attacked by militants.
However, the Indian Army is not keen to retire thecommanders because of operational issues. “The attacks have been probed.Necessary steps have been initiated already, can action be initiated again?” itsaid.
A total of 36 army personnel died in the three attacks, twoof which, on the Uri brigade and the Nagrota base, took place in 2016, and thethird, on the Sunjuwan camp, last year.