LAC face-off kills 20 Indian troops, 34 are missing

By KMS
Thursday – June 18, 2020
SRINAGAR (India): At least 20 Indian troops got killed while 34 more went missing in the violent face-off, between Indian army troops and Chinese army personnel, in disputed Galwan Valley in Ladakh, along the line of actual control (LAC), on Monday night.

According to Kashmir Media Service (KMS) on Wednesday, reports quoting unnamed senior Indian army sources, say that this has not been confirmed by the Indian government.

However, the reports say, Indian army confirmed the killing of its soldiers in the violent face-off.

In a statement, the army said, “During the de-escalation process underway in the Galwan Valley, a violent face-off took place yesterday (Monday) night with casualties on both sides. The loss of lives on the Indian side includes an officer and two soldiers.”

As per reliable sources at least 20 Indian soldiers including a colonel were killed in the clash. Several dead bodies of the Indian troops including colonel have been retrieved so far.

These bodies include that of colonel, Santosh Babu, the commanding officer of 16 Bihar regiment, who was killed by drowning. The Chinese soldiers held him under the water till he died.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian, said, “Indian troops crossed the border line on Monday provoking and attacking Chinese personnel resulting in serious physical confrontation between border forces on the two sides.”

It is to mention here that this is the first violent incident involving fatalities since 1975 between India and China, who fought a border war in 1962.

Indian army has also flown several hundred policing gears including pellet guns, rock shields, staffs, elbow and knee guards for future engagement.

The latest bloody incident follows weeks of rising tension and the deployment of thousands of extra troops from both India and China.

The standoff between Beijing and New Delhi was triggered by India’s unprecedented construction of ‘roads’ and ‘air-strips’ in the area.

Separately, according to a KMS report on Wednesday compiled by Muhammad Arshad Khan, the Indian government and its media are being ridiculed worldwide for their quite opposite ways of handling resilient Chinese troops in Ladakh and the unarmed people in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

Indian army that kills innocent Kashmiris and destroys villages upon villages on the pretext of just a small attack by mujahideen in any part of the occupied territory is dead silent over the loss of more than its 50 soldiers including officers with 20 confirmed dead at the hands of the Chinese troops during a face-off in Galwan Valley in Ladakh on Monday night.

However, the silence maintained by the Indian government, army and the media has made the country a laughing stock among the comity of nations.

Even some Indian channels and newspapers while narrating the ‘ghus kar marayn gey (We’ll intrude and kill you)’ rhetoric of the Narendra Modi-led cabinet ministers and firebrand Hindu anchors against Pakistan particularly after Pulwama attack, have started criticising the same people over such humiliation of Indian army, interestingly, inside the land, which is claimed by India and now is in the control of the Chinese troops.

Indian opposition, too, is taking the Modi regime to task for this embarrassment for India.

The report also mentions another challenge to India by its relatively very small neighbour, Nepal and infers that the downfall of India under Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) fascist regime has started.

It says that China’s action in Ladakh has landed India in a “catch 22” situation.


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