Winning hearts & minds also key tenet of counter-insurgency: Congress

The Congress on Monday said that a fundamental tenet of counter-insurgency operations is also winning the hearts and minds of the people as it reacted to Army chief Bipin Rawat's remarks defending the use of a human shield in Kashmir.

"I don't envy the Army Chief. Nobody would like to be in his boots. The Army is dealing with a tough situation and we can understand but then it also has to be borne in mind that the Indian Army has perhaps the widest experience in counter insurgency operations.

"In fact, a large number of counter-insurgency manuals in various other parts of the world have actually imbibed the experience of the Indian Army.... One of the fundamental tenets of counter insurgency operations is also winning the hearts and minds of the people," Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said at a media meet.

Defending Major Leetul Gogoi for using a Kashmiri youth as a human shield from stone-pelters, Rawat said India was fighting a "dirty proxy war" in Kashmir which is played in a "dirty way".

--IANS

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