That incorrigible country Pakistan seems to be having memory lapses far too frequently. From what has happened in the recent past, it seems, it has forgotten Balakot and Uri before that. In the last few days it has claimed the lives of about a dozen of Indian security officials, including a Lt. Colonel and a Major and a few others have been injured.

Surprisingly Pakistan is continuing with its policy of inflicting thousand cuts on India even as the Covid 19 pandemic is peaking in the country. The situation in Pakistan is no better. West Punjab already has more than 10000 Corona patients and the number is expected to go up to 20000. Around 160 doctors have tested positive. Worse, there is severe shortage of the necessary equipment to fight the pandemic. PPEs are in short supply as are nurses and doctors. There have been strikes by doctors at various places for want of PPEs. Even if PPEs are available healthcare workers are ignorant of the protocols to don and doff them. Besides testing of patients is limited and in numerous cases, as told by doctors, test results were not revealed to keep the numbers down.

While their country is up against a pandemic with inadequate resources it thinks nothing of sacrificing the cream of the nation’s youth in destabilizing Kashmir. No wonder, PM Modi had occasion to remark that while India was exporting medicines to friendly countries Pakistan was doing what it knows best, i.e., exporting terror to India.

The losses of a Lt. Colonel and a Major – two young and bright Indian Army officers, as also several others of various ranks of the Army and Police have hurt the people of this country. There are already anguished cries for revenge. While it is for the government to decide about the nature of a response, people can only make their feelings known. None can, however, deny the fact that Pakistan can have no claims over any part of Jammu & Kashmir. Its transgressions across the border to kill Indian security men cannot, therefore, be tolerated.

Some TV channels have described the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Riaz Naikoo as a revenge for the martyrdoms of Col. Asutosh Sharma and Maj. Anuj Sood. That is, to my mind, is far-fetched. Riaz was a Kashmiri and he was only a puppet of Syed Salahuddin, the Hizbul Mujahedeen chief. A true and proper revenge for the martyrdom of Col. Asutosh Sharma would be to take out Salahuddin so that Hizbul Mujahids are removed for ever from the face of this earth.