Despite the existence of the Geneva Convention, the inherently brutal nature is a typical characteristic of an army. In the Kargil war, there were many stories of bestiality and torture that the Pakistan army resorted to against Indian defence personnel. Surely there would be similar stories on the other side of the fence which would have projected the Indian army in a similar vein. Perhaps, to expect benevolent behaviour from any army is expecting too much.

But the killing of two army jawans on a peaceful LoC on January 8 violates all codes of conduct of a professional army. Even in the past Pakistan has resorted to beheading Indian soldiers by secretly deploying its special forces trained as killing machines on the silent borders. Of course, Pakistan would not be naive to expect the Indian army to sit back idly and grunt. There are all indications that the peace process between the two neighbours will be held hostage to jingoism from both the sides.

With Pakistan as an enemy, the Indian response has often been irrationally hysterical. Despite the fact that the Indian army has capability and resources to outdo the Pakistani army in all respects, jingoism appears often misplaced. This becomes all the more glaring in the manner in which the debate in the electronic and print media conveniently ignore the killing of seven CRPF jawans in an ambush with Maoists in Jharkhand on January 7. And their killing by Maoists was no less brutal than the beheading of the army jawans by the Pakistani soldiers. At least two dozen CRPF personnel were injured in the incident.

In fact, the killing of the CRPF jawans fighting for internal security has become such a routine that it is largely ignored in the mainstream discourse. Hundreds of trained troopers of CRPF are getting killed while doing their duty for internal security. And by all accounts, the threat from the internal enemies is far more serious than the external threat from Pakistan whose nose has been effectively rubbed by the Indian army many a time.