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1.1 Staging the Attack

10th January 2016 2300 IST: The midnight sky was dark and moonless. In the midst of the
darknight, an IL 76 airplane appeared over the sky of a remote forest in the state of
Chattisgarh. The men of the 1st Para-commandos one by one parachuted into the forests
and smoothly landed in an open patch in the forest. Their mission was to carry out a
surgical strike on the command center of an rebel organization that operates from the
forests. Their secondary task was to military intelligence in the process.

After recovering from the drop, trained paratroopers folded their parachutes into portable
bundles. They checked their equipments and proceeded to the rendezvous point.
Meanwhile, the leader of the team, Captain Ranbir Chauhan broke the radio silence to
report the command.

Radio Message: Bravo to Command, Teams in position. Permission to proceed. Over
Command: Roger Bravo. Live Satellite feed on your screen in 5 minutes. Proceed with

caution. Over and Out.

Although, the 1st Para-commandos had a prestigious track record of operations in Sri-
Lanka and Maldives, the task at hand was daunting. It was the frst time artifcial
intelligence would plan a combat inside a inhospitable terrains of a forest. The mission
included a special type of unconventional warfare tactics developed in the west. The Indian
army had inducted a new assault technique to conduct, seek and destroy operations in
diffcult terrains ranging from mountains to forests. The Indian army also acquired the new
weapons and tactics from the NATO Forces required for the mission. As part of fnal
training, a few months back, the 1st Para-commandos had returned from a training exercise
in the USA to combat insurgents, while using the most advanced technology and inficting
minimal collateral damage. Now they were to be tested.
Even in the darkness of the forests the captain of the unit could be easily recognized by his
aquiline nose, curved like the beak of an eagle. Captain Chauhan, a graduate from NDA
Pune and IMA Dehradun, hailed from a family of soldiers and offcers dating back to his
great-grandfather who fought for the British army in Afghanistan. The best cadet of his
batch, he was commissioned into the prestigious Parachute Regiment which known for its
bravery and valor.

During his service, he fnished his commando training from Commando Training Camp in
Belgaum, Karnataka and then volunteered for training at the high altitude warfare school in
Srinagar. He further got trained from Counterinsurgency and Jungle Warfare School
(CIJWS) in Vairengte, Mizoram to become the youngest ever to complete this feat. For his
impeccable service record, he was one of the few, handpicked by the top brass of the Indian
army, to get trained in the US on a new electronic warfare system developed to conduct
precision strikes on valuable targets.
The NATO codename this project as HAWK to conduct counter insurgency operations in
different parts of the world. Recently Indian army got the technology on the pretext of
fghting terrorism and mounting joint attacks on nuclear facilities in Pakistan. But they were
going to use it in anti-Maoist operations for the frst time.

The canopy of the trees rose ever upwards as far as their heads could lift. The most
commonly found trees in the forest were teak, lendia, salai, mahua and tendu. The swirling
wind also carried a fragrance with it which refreshed the spirit of the team; it was a heady
mixture of all the scents of the forest mixed with the intoxicating smell of the mahua fower.
The tribals of the region make local liquor with it; there is a high demand for it in this area.

Few jamuns had blown down by the wind that littered the beaten path and some soldiers
were tempted to pick up some but Captain's stern look restrained them.

The team members were overawed by the size and the majesty of the trees in the forests.
The forest canopy itself looked like a hoary fortress which could scare the bravest of them,
especially on moonless nights. Even in the dark, Captain Chauhan could see rich patches of
excellent grasslands providing food for the herbivorous like the wild buffalo, chital, barking
deer and nilgai. But as they moved the grass crackled beneath their feet because of the
recent dry spell. Everyone became cautious and slowed down, as they had to maintain
stealth as enemy spies could easily distinguish between animal and human movements.

The soldier's instincts also made the captain canvass the branches for any vigilant eyes of
enemy spies, but then he recalled from the briefng 'the enemy does not have enough
leverage to deploy human intelligence in middle of forests'.

As they progressed the team heard a loud sound of twigs breaking down violently towards
their right. The sound appeared to be moving closer and immediately the whole team
became alerted and targeted their guns in that direction. In no time a chital stag appeared in
front of Captain Chauhan and the team.

The unexpected sight of the humans almost froze it in fear. Captain Chauhan saw the Stag
shivering in fear; he immediately removed his weapon and raised his hands as a gesture of
peace to the animal. Then he asked his team to slowly move back from the stag to ease the
pressure that they had created on the animal. With the team at a safe distance, the stag
moved back slowly and disappeared in the darkness of the forest. No one had briefed them
for a situations where a mere stag could have ruined the multi-million dollar equipments
they carried.

Captain Chauhan breathed a sigh of relief knowing that their location was still a secret and
the team continued on their path laid out on their visors. Now cautious of the wild, Captain
Chauhan looked towards the trees and saw a pair of owls high up in the canopy of the trees
peering down at him. Beyond the owl, the stars peeped down at him like silver asters,
glinting and shimmering intensifying the horror of the night. The cruel suspicious round
eyes of the owls looked scarier when seen through his night vision. He decided not to look
up again and focus on the data from his instruments.

Already a bit scared, a thought dawned on him from the mission briefng. The forest was
bound to be infested with cobras! That was another creature which would scare the
daylights out of the bravest of the brave. He remembered his days of commando training
where they were instructed how to catch and eat cobras from forest terrains. He also
remembered how diffcult it was to bring under control the fast slithering and ferocious
snake. But it was clearly not possible with the gear he wore. Instinctively his eyes
canvassed for a possible ant hill near the region as cobras are known to live inside ant hills.
But soon the mission objectives displayed on his helmet visor brought his focus back on the
trail.

Little worried about the wild animals, Captain and his team initially moved stealthily
through the ravines of the forest. They followed the route displayed on their helmet-mounted
visors while canvassing the surrounding. The helmet also displayed the mission objectives on
the right corner. Suddenly Captain decided to shed his instincts and only focusing on their
visors decided to move swiftly. In no time, the team was in front of a two-storied building

which was their target.

The lights were still on inside the building and it looked as if it was the only one with any
signs of activity in the vicinity of the tribal village, which lay completely abandoned. The
building looked more like a haunted house in the middle of a very dense forest. Originally
built by the Britishers as a rest house for hunting expeditions, a guerrilla outft now used the
building to carry out the operations against the state. The intelligence reports suggested that
the building acted as the command and control center for a rebel organization linked to the
Communist Party of India (Maoist). The helmet displayed that the immediate task at hand
was to kill all the inmates, destroy all signaling devices and capture any form of intelligence.

In the meantime, the team took position at a safe distance from the building and Captain
Chauhan brought out his night vision binoculars to survey the region. Just then a message
beamed on his radio from the Charlie Team of engineers who were already in position for a
recce of the region.

Radio Message: Charlie to Bravo, Detecting radio signals around the building, possible
motion sensors. Over.

Radio Message: Bravo to Charlie: Engineering reconnaissance approved. Over.

A two-member team of the Charlie Company of the unit (tasked to perform engineering
operations) crawled slowly towards the facility to place receiver antennas to monitor the
radio signals from the motion sensors. The Maoist unit had placed a few motion sensors to
monitor any movement during the nighttime around the region. To assess the conditions,
Captain Chauhan shut down the night vision temporarily to check if he saw two shadowy
fgures crawling under the fence and grappling on the ground.

Soon little stars, fashed on and off in Captain Chauhan’s mind, as he followed the two
members setting their equipment through a murky haze of black. One was almost on the top
of the other, trying to sneak in through the narrow opening. Looking at this, Captain
Chauhan started breathing heavily as he followed the two men following unconventional
approach to their task. His breathing seemed muffed and murderous to his team who had
never seen him panic before any engagement, but they kept to themselves.

Captain Chauhan was nervous as he knew the command had not briefed the team of any
possible conventional engagement and any mistake by the Charlie team could wreak havoc
on the entire mission. That concern was because the two individuals were visible even to the
naked eye in the starlight and there was no backup.

A pregnant pause followed and Captain Chauhan tried to regain his composure back and
steady his breathing. However, his throat passage felt as if it was reduced to the size of a
penny but then it seemed someone hissed in his ears when the radio silence was broken
again.

Radio Message: Charlie to Bravo, Negative. Manual deactivation is risky. Seems XingXing
class sensors. Over

The insurgents in India extensively used Chinese-made motion sensors. They were cheap but
effective and very diffcult to be manually deactivated. Another message beeped on the
Captain’s radio.

Radio Message: Command to Bravo, Standby. Satellite picked intel on backup pockets.
Caution advised till the package is identifed. Over

Captain Chauhan tried to see through his night vision but could not see any movement. After
waiting for a few minutes he radioed back.

Bravo to Command: Nothing on my scope. Package probably not hostile. The stage is hot and
wired. Permission to shift to delta tactical assault. Over.

Command to Bravo: Permission granted. Over

Delta tactical assault was the name given by the special task force for an extremely potent
attack on a facility that seemed to have hi-tech fortifcations which could result in collateral
damage.
Two sets of commandos in red and blue teams supported by an engineering unit, unmanned
vehicles and helicopter gunships executed the mission. As part of the operations, three MI-35
gunships with special sensors as part of Eagle team had taken the position at a distance from
the facility.

Moving very slowly, Captain Chauhan looked at the choppers through his scope and it
suddenly dawned on him that it was not a training exercise. No one knew how the AI system
would behave in a real combat situation and Captain felt a sudden bout of adrenaline rush
while seeing the choppers taking the position. He became extremely vigilant and
hypersensitive; he could hear his own heartbeat. A drop of sweat fell from his forehead onto
his scope while he tried to control the excessive shaking of his body. His hand trembled while
he tried to look through the barrels of the gun at the target and remained in the same position
for several minutes. Then another message on the radio disturbed him from his state and
Captain Chauhan recovered and listened.

Command to Eagle 1: Reroute to Bravo position for Delta tactical assault. Coordinates will be
on your screen. Wait for further instructions. Over.

Eagle 1 to Command: Roger that. Estimated ETA in 15 minutes.

Bravo to Eagle 1: Approach vector tight. Maintain stealth. Over.

Radio Message: Eagle 1 to Bravo: Roger that. Over and Out.

The Eagle unit composed of the three modifed helicopter gunships tasked to perform
specialized operations in the Delta Assault Sequence. As part of the plan, the frst task of the
choppers was to build a 3D map of the entire building to assist the engineers in planning the
attacks. The choppers placed at a safe distance from the facility fred a beam of high-intensity
sonar from a high altitude.

At the same time, the engineering team on the ground collected the infrared signatures
coming out from the building to map the position of inmates. Though the thick walls of
British era did not make their task very easy. Finally, the combined results from the two units
were then sent for analysis to the command.

Bravo to Charlie: It's a go to set parameter around the building. Over.

Charlie to Bravo: Roger That. Over.

As commanded by the captain, a sub-team of engineers moved cautiously to put infrared
imagery cameras around the building to get another three-dimensional view. Captain
Chauhan tracked the movements of the engineers through his barrels he felt a nervous tic
under his left eye. Because of the presence of the HAWK in the mission, he felt his men had
become mere doppelgangers; once they were part of Special Forces capable of inficting fear
in the minds of their deadliest enemies but now they were like mere mannequins cast adrift
from their souls and made docile by the ever-increasing presence of the machine.

However, something strange happened to him while looking through his visor which he had
never witnessed before. The Captain was getting the constant mordant smell of death, even
though the assault was yet to start. Simultaneously, he was having premonitions of men
blown apart and their bodies turning into jellies out of the shearing heat from the explosions.
Never before in any attack had he had such premonitions; he felt odd but suddenly he felt as
if a friend from his military academy was trying to wake him up from a dream when another
message beeped on his radio. Charlie to Command: Sensors hot. Transmission begins in 5
minutes. Over.

Command to Charlie: Roger that. Maximum combat simulation time expected 15 minutes.
Over.

Charlie to Command: Roger that. Over and out.

1.2 The Delta Assault Technique

In this planned Delta tactical assault, a supercomputer in the command base was fed with
the data from the sensors deployed in the feld. A possible assault strategy on the target
after analyzing the data was developed by the computer. The computing deployed used
classifed Artifcial Intelligence techniques which use a mix of neural networks and machine
learning algorithms. The simulations isolated the potential damage zones to attack based on
the data of inmate distribution, along with material and structure of the building.

To infict maximum damage on the target, the size and quantity of explosion were
determined. Also, the simulator picked up a few locations for precision strikes and among
them, it selected the dormitory as the site of choice for using the most potent explosives. The
simulator also provided the possible impact parameter of the explosion based on the
material, structure, and wind fow patterns in the region.

Next, the simulator ran the module for the most probable scattering zones for the survivors
after the initial round of attacks. The simulator also provided suggestions on channeling the
scattering of the people on an understanding of basic human psychology during a confict.
The model also suggested the placement of the particular forms of lighting to confuse the
survivors to fall into a trap. It also recommended the possible placements of teams and
weaponry to infict the maximum damage on the survivors.

Besides the simulations, the computer also planned the strategic placement of an unmanned
vehicle Vidyut. Vidyut, which in English meant lightning, derived its name from the
relentless frepower and accuracy it packed. Vidyut was air-dropped after the simulation
was fnalized. Vidyut could hit anything which carried an infrared signature. The special
radio emitter provided to the commandos protected them. The simulations had planned
Vidyut to the high-density scattering zone to infict maximum damage.

In addition, the simulations had placed the blue team, which had snipers, to the low-density
scattering zones of the inmates. And then the red team led by Captain Chauhan was tasked
to enter the command room and take down the remaining survivors. To that end, the
capture of the radio codes and servers, without any damage were the updated priority of
the main assault team.

Bravo to Command: Kill zone identifed. Good to go. Confrm Vidyut’s kill zone. Over

Command to Bravo: Don’t worry. Killzone clear. Over

Eagle1 to Command: Target Identifed and locked on Charlie to Command: Kill Zone
Identifed. Good To Go

Within minutes of getting the specifc information from the command, the different units of
the teams were in position. The engineers were positioned in the north of the building to
bring down the defensive parameter with a controlled EMP explosion. Causing minimal
damage to the server room was imperative and the simulations catered to the demand.

The snipers with the blue unit were positioned in the southwest and southeast corners of
the buildings to take down the guards. Additionally, it would also provide cover for the red
unit’s entrance. Vidyut was programmed to move in from the northwest corner of the

building entering from the top foor and moving downwards. Ironically, most of the
inmates were sleeping on the top foor from where Vidyut was supposed to enter.

In the meantime, the red unit led by Capt. Chauhan hid behind some boulders near the main
entrance while the blue team provided them with cover. As soon as Capt. Chauhan took his
position a message beeped on his radio,

Charlie to Bravo: Server room shows two individuals. Over

The presence of two individuals inside the server room meant a risk of damage to the server
and the intelligence. The simulation had suggested the scenario of only one individual in the
room who could be overtaken easily.

Bravo to Sniper1: Any visual of the server room. Over

Negative. No visual to the server room. Over

Bravo to Charlie: Assault starts when there is one in the server room. Over.

Charlie to Bravo: Roger that. Over and out.

After a wait of fve minutes, it was confrmed that the other individual had left the server
room. The message was conveyed to the command and they confrmed that there was no
external threat at the moment. Taking off the safety of his gun Capt. Chauhan made a fst
showing his pugnacity for the assault.

Command to All team: You are good to go. Attack-Attack-Attack.

The delta tactical assault HAWK was part of a multinational task force to use computer
simulations to shock and overawe the enemy. The technique was developed initially with the
Pentagon’s requirement for building up a task force to take over civil and military nuclear
establishments in rogue states like Pakistan, North Korea and Iran. Afterward, the Indian
army practiced this technique with its counterparts in Israel and the United States to simulate
taking over nuclear facilities in Pakistan.

There was a fear that any rogue general in Pakistan could always get involved in launching a
nuclear strike at India or Israel. Therefore, the skill of this special unit was quick deployment
and high precision strikes on any installation using a combination of explosives and lethal
frepower.

Evidently the army had the access to the most advanced technologies till date, although it
was never meant to be used against insurgents inside the country, the government recently
passed a secret ordinance bypassing the Parliament, which allowed use of special forces to
tackle the problem of the Maoists but no one had expected that these forces would be so
lethal.

1.3 The Assault

The actual assault was more like an orchestra playing a symphony than adrenalin junkies in
action. The snipers took their frst shots gunning down the guards. Immediately after this, the
engineers blasted the EMP pulse to knock down the alarm system and neutralize the mines.
The pulse also took down the electricity of the building and there was complete darkness.
After a few seconds, rockets fred from the helicopter gunships bombarded the facility.

Six rockets hit the two storied building from different locations, creating a great frework
display. The explosion also blew off the part of the building where the dormitories were. A
few fortunate ones who survived the frst shots were completely clueless about what hit them
in the middle of the night.

The software had almost accurately predicted the damage inficted on the building due to the
blowup. As instructed, Vidyut entered the top foor from a hole created by the initial
explosions. Then it lit up the designated kill-zone with artifcial lighting and confused the
survivors who were trying to exit. By taking advantage of the confusion and perfectly
modeling the behavior of the survivors, Vidyut and the snipers were able to wipe out most of
the inmates.

Within minutes of the explosion, the main assault unit led by Captain Chauhan charged
inside the building from the main entrance with the blue team providing him cover. As
Captain Chauhan entered the war zone, the world around him appeared more like hell on
Earth; the bombs and shells blowing off in his vicinity sent tremors down the building. He
could see clouds of dust and concrete closing in on him, threatening to suffocate him which
made him feel uneasy and nervous.

As he entered the building, the explosions stopped and a deafening silence prevailed. It was
as if the conductor of the orchestra had just entered the stage and everyone had held their
breath to see him perform in the cloud of dust and sooth . Though from his helmet visor he
could clearly see the path well laid out; shouting instructions to his team to follow him was
the sole comfort he had in this theater of war. His shouts were flling the painful silence in an
apocalypse orchestrated by supercomputers. As he progressed, his voice gradually began to
sound more pained, desperate and fearful anticipating a miscalculation by the machine
killing him and his soldiers. It seemed all the nerves of his body begged and pleaded for him
to break off.

But HAWK required him not to follow his instincts and follow computer simulations results.
By now the server room was not in sight as a thick fog from a recent rocket attack had flled
up the hallway. Even though he was not able to see properly his voice relentlessly rose, flling
the thick atmosphere. He cried out to his comrades asking them to keep following the
instructions provided by the simulations and not to panic. As he moved forward dirt and soot
began to choke him, slowly covering the helmet visor as he struggled with all his might to
keep his team focused on the mission.

The confusion could scare the bravest of the brave and while going through the turmoil,
Captain prayed for was some sort of escape from this living nightmare – anything that would
let him go back to take cover till the dust settled allowing visibility. He shouted at his
colleagues asking if the computer program considers the nightmarish situation they were
facing in its equations. Then suddenly a volley of bullets from Vidyut shattered the window
panes in the room and a gust of wind whooshed out clearing the air indoors granting him his

wish and giving him the much-needed respite. The echoes of these shots flled the building
and he could feel death swallowing up his enemies from the sounds of despair coming from
the other terminal of the hallway.

Overwhelmed with fear, with his voice quivered to give any further instruction, he saw the
designated door of the server room and without saying anything to anyone – he made a run
for it. As he reached close to his target, the air grew clearer and so did his mind as all the
weapons around him became silent. At the gate, he threw away his helmet which was
suffocating him and kicked open the radio room to see the lone survivor in the room standing
dazed and befuddled. Captain Chauhan looked into his eyes and without any hesitation,
opened fre on the fellow and emptied his magazine on him. Immediately he came out to
greet the rest of the team still waiting at the doorway and showed the sign of victory.

The rest of the team also took out their helmets and felt relieved after successfully fnishing
the most confusing operation of their lives. Within a few minutes of the start of the
operations, all the inmates were dead and commandos have access to the server room. Fifty
enemy casualties were reported to Captain Chauhan along with a death of a commando to
friendly fre from a sniper.

After a while when the fog of battle settled, Capt Chauhan, rushed out of the building and
dragged out his dead commando to the opening in front of the entrance. He was infuriated by
this mistake of the sniper who had taken the fatal shot and pushed him down to the ground
hurling abuses at him. But he soon regained his composure when the sniper pleaded the
simulations asked him to point towards the commando. The very idea of being used as a
puppet of computer simulations despite having extensive training in warfare techniques
depressed him. Reluctantly, he announced on the radio the success of the operation to his
command.

Bravo to Command: Mission Accomplished. One casualty due to friendly fre. I warned you.
Over.

Command to Bravo: Roger that. Simulations are not absolutely accurate. Reinforcements will
arrive in fve minutes. Over and Out

Captain Chauhan visibly angry with the entire outcome threw away the radio set.

Helicopter gunships started hovering over the region searching for possible backup units
within minutes.Two more units of paratroopers were dropped near the forest to clear out any
other resistance. In the meantime, the commanding offcer of the unit had declared the
mission as a success to the government, who were preparing to reach the scene to take credit
of the operations.

Regaining his composure Captain Chauhan came to terms with the enormity of the task
achieved. His mood fuctuated and he felt elated as professionally, he just achieved the best
till date, in terms of casualties. But simultaneously the idea that he was actually a machine
devouring the enemy with an exemplary display of power disturbed him. He knew that he
did not actually lead his men to combat would mean that he would not command the same
respect which his peers in other units would, but then he would have more medals to his
name than any of them would.

In an elated state, without informing anyone, he ran to the terrace of the building jumping
over the lying dead bodies in the stairs. As he reached the top, he looked down at his men
discussing their exploits; he felt disgusted. He doubted his own role in the mission and was
confused about the events of the day. Yet exhilarated he shouted:
“NOW I AM THE HAWK, DESTROYER OF THE WORLD OF EVIL.”

but then he remembered from his training of the philosophy of the tiger style martial arts and
softly whispered:
“But I am also the tiger who stalks his enemy and strikes terror with utmost precision.”
Captain Chauhan whispered after looking at his gun:
“ACTUALLY I AM THE TIGER .”

He became silent for a while and spoke softly as if remembering his lessons about the
psychology of the beast comparing it with himself:
“A tiger is truly a majestic creature and an alpha animal in the jungles.
He moves with such grace and elegance – no other animal can match it.
Like a tiger, padding silently, we can now creep upon any creature and destroy them with a
single swipe of our paws.”

Captain Chauhan became silent again and started pacing up and down on the terrace. He
halted and again spoke in a low voice. “Like the tiger’s knife-like claws ripping its prey
apart, once the supercomputers build the simulations, it’s all but over for the enemy.
The machine delivers sheer raw power and intelligence, delivering deadly results by silently
lurking in the shadows.”

He shouted again “JUST LIKE A TIGER”.

He then looked up and saw a chopper overhead canvassing the region and again whispered:
“I wait for the prey with my glittering feline eyes from the sky and when I am ready I pounce
with a coiled energy that is both fearsome and pitiless.”

shouts: “JUST LIKE A TIGER.”

After saying this he quickly ran towards the entrance from where he could see a few of the
dead bodies and growled at them loudly: “AAAAUUUUUMMMM”
He growled again “AAAAUUUUUMMMM”
and again “AAAAUUUUUMMMM”.
One of his subordinates saw this and shouted
“Captain, are you alright.”

On hearing this Captain Chauhan snapped out of the hypnotic trance. He went back to the
terrace and no one came to disturb him till the sun rose. He just sat quietly in one corner with
his mind completely blank of any thoughts gazing straight into the stars. The combing
operations continued till next morning where the commandos engaged in minor skirmishes
with small enemy units. In the morning, minesweepers were sent to the location to clear the
area of mines and by afternoon the press came to the remote location. That was probably the
greatest single achievement the government had scored against the Maoists in recent years.
Till then the government offcials were just sitting ducks to the Maoists. The Maoists had
innovated their techniques in the recent years and had even started booby-trapping roads
and also the dead bodies of soldiers, to score their hits against the government.

1.4: The Media Misfre

The next day after completing the combing operation, the Special Forces decided to invite the
media and the local politicians. The politicians hailed Captain Chauhan as the hero of the
operations and briefed him to pose as the face of the new technology. They asked him to be
photographed along with his men by picking up the scattered body parts – a tribute to his
latest exploit.

A thorough professional, Captain Chauhan objected to such vulgar display but had no choice
but to obey instructions coming from the civilian authority. Following this, the media took
photos and videos of bodies of men brutally killed in the mission with Captain Chauhan and
his men as the backdrop. It was a disgusting situation for Captain Chauhan, but the height of
insult was reached when the media personnel asked some soldiers to carry severed heads and
torsos as a proof of the exploits in front of the camera. Captain Chauhan could control his
anger no longer and reacted immediately by shouting at the media.
“What on earth are you people asking my men to do?
Don’t you have any regard for human life? What are you doing”?

Suddenly all the cameras were focussed towards infuriated Captain Chauhan hurling curses.
Looking at the situation building up, the Commanding Offcer of Captain Chauhan’s unit
who was standing not far from him, immediately sprang into action and ordered the cameras
to stop rolling. He then asked the troops to fall in immediately to provide a guard of honor to
the politicians. It was a step to cool down the situation and in no time, all the troops started
performing the military rituals.

Subsequently, the media unable to dramatize the situation further lost interest in Captain
Chauhan, as he resembled any other military offcer in the military routine and not a hero.
Eventually, all the media persons moved to take pictures of the carnage from inside the
building. After tactfully getting Captain Chauhan away from the media’s attention and save
his career, the CO quickly drove him to their command center away from the media glare.

Captain Chauhan felt disappointed for the unceremonious removal from the scene. He
lamented that his moment of glory was wasted because of the inhuman attitude of the media.
It was always his dream to amble in complete military fatigues along the lines of cameras; all
cameramen focusing on him. Moreover, he thought, through the cameras, he could win the
hearts of millions while displaying his impeccable brilliance of antiquates polished by
military academies. There was always something to be said for the silvery allure of honors
and the medals, he proudly wore over his uniform which had brought him laurels.

Whether it was to be a discussion on the micro-details of the HAWK or the complete sweep of
the enemy with minimal collateral damage, the details would have provided multi-sensory
nourishments to all the patriots in the country. Also, this interview was to be caviar for the
soul of those affected by the confict, but he thought, frst one has to get past the horrendous
attitude of getting maximum TRP from the coverage.

He looked back and could see the building from the base with the cameras still lined up to
take photographs. Again he was lost in the bliss of his own creative imagination of him
showing off his battle exploits in the highest of military traditions with the truffe white
clouds, or what little there were, and the hazy horizon bathed in sunrise-pink glow basking in
his glory. Such inelegant media ruined the most important day of his life.

To add to his misery, the cameras seemed to him like indented slabs of black marble, still
glistening with the afterglow of their journalism era that changed politics around the world.
But now they lacked the triggering mechanism that spelled truth while showing defance
against evil. He could see something like fungus sticking to the cameras, which looked like
the peaceful, monk-brown weed that he came across during his survival training days in the
forests of Manipur. From that distance, Captain Chauhan could even smell the fungus from
this distance as a disease creeping through the media and felt nauseated. Suddenly his
daydreams ended with the sound of squawking and quarreling coming from the site.
Afterward, he did not look back.

Later the media televised recorded videos of soldiers and politicians with Captain Chauhan.
The videos circulating over the social networking sites showed mutilated bodies piled up
near the doors and windows as if lined up for an orchestrated execution. Those who came
under the fre from the unmanned vehicles Vidyut were mutilated beyond recognition. The
social networking also debated these events as a revenge for the victims of other Maoist
attacks by comparing images.

But after a few days, the general public became annoyed by the overdoing of government
propaganda to defame the Maoists. The entire nation was aghast with disbelief by the display
of mutilated bodies so brazenly on public television. Many citizens came out openly in the
streets of New Delhi criticizing the ghastly action and expressed repulsion. They also
questioned the wisdom of using such force against its own people in a rally organized at
Jantar Mantar.

Twitter feeds pointed to some photos of happy politicians and commented ‘The happiest
faces on the newspapers and TV were the ministers of the state who spared no effort to get
the credit for the military operation.' They wrote those nincompoops acclaimed the success of
the operations to military but they did not spare a chance to get credit for planning it.

But fnally, after some days the government realized its folly and became worried about
negative reactions. The local politicians who intended to exploit the success of the operation
through live telecast got cold feet at such reaction and ordered the stopping of the telecast.
Nevertheless, Captain Chauhan inadvertently faced the ire of the media under these
circumstances and his angry outburst against the media added more fuel to the fre.

The local state-run media, however, continued showing the images for a few more weeks to
scare the remaining Maoists to surrender. After a few days of hue and cry, the CO summoned
Captain Chauhan to his offce in the barracks at Chhattisgarh and asked.
“Do you want to say something about the events in the media?”

He was holding a newspaper with Captain Chauhan’s photo next to Vidyut. Captain
Chauhan instinctively replied,
“The state machinery has been a failure fghting the Maoists and because of this so many
politicians and bureaucrats have been killed or wounded.
Now they have my pictures all over the place with the dead Maoists.”

The CO rose from his desk and took off his greatcoat. He then moved towards his wardrobe
and took out a rusty Rajputana sword and rubbed some fre-ash from his ash tray. Afterward,
he placed the blade between his teeth and moved a few steps towards Captain Chauhan in a
melodramatic fashion. The ground was cold but seemed colder to Captain as the CO walked
towards him. The CO showing the magnifcent sword to Captain commented,

“There is a story behind this sword that I am carrying.
The warrior who carried this sword in the famous battle of Ranthambore came back
victorious only to see that all the women of his clan had committed suicide.
Actually earlier, a messenger had given them a wrong message of defeat from the feld which
led all the women to commit suicide. Then the warrior, moved like a phantom through the
dead bodies to look for the remains of the queen. Finally, after a long search, he found her
remains and carried the information for her suicide to the king.
When the king heard the news, he cut off his own head with his sword. Later it is said, even
the warrior committed suicide after seeing his king’s despair.”

Again he looked at Captain Chauhan and then towards his sword and appreciating its
magnifcence,
“As a matter of fact, I do not think this sword actually belongs to that guy but I would like to
believe it this way; evidently so many people died because of misinformation that day.”

Smiling he continued,
“As per the intelligence reports, lately we have seen an increase in the determination levels of
these Maoist forces.

They are following the policy of taking one step forward and four steps backward to
frustrate the state machinery.
The extensive forest cover in the region also made it easy for them to hide.”

He paused to look at Captain Chauhan who seemed rather releasing his steam slowly and
enjoying the conversation...
“In desperation, the army was called in to take action against these rebels as the state police
were not able to make any headway. Initially, even the army failed to make any major
breakthrough because of the support the Maoists got from the local people.”

Then pointing at the newspaper,
“But with the latest import of technology from the West, the military got the much-needed
edge to undertake operations of this nature.
However, the queen committed suicide after she received the gibberish message from the
battlefeld, as she thought the worst had happened.
Now, do you know what I mean to say?”

Captain Chauhan looked puzzled and did not say anything. The Commanding Offcer
concluded smiling:
“We have sent a wrong message through the media. As a result, there will be a reaction, but
these days’ people are not that emotional to take such drastic steps like the queen.
There is no such thing as bad publicity. So do not worry about anything happening to you.
But the only thing we need to be careful is we cannot send a wrong signal back to the base.”

Captain Chauhan felt a little more relaxed and sat down to hear his boss out. Meanwhile, the
CO swung the blade:
“These ministers are sadists and they have behaved in the most horrifc manner near the gory
sights of death and destruction.”

He then placed the blade on the newspaper on the table and continued:
“Look at the flthy expressions of the ministers in the photos with the dead bodies. This just
shows the lack of sanity in these ministers.
These bureaucrats are showing their desperation.

But we are soldiers and we know what it means to kill and lose friends. This is why we do
not show such apathy towards human life.
Now I think the act of bringing media personnel to the scene will prove a bad move
eventually. But you don’t have to worry, we will protect you.”

He looked at Captain Chauhan who was somewhat relieved,
“You take leave for some days. I will recommend and forward your application.
Stay low for some time and do not talk to media. Also do not go close to your family; the
rebels will be tracking you there.”

Then the CO took another swing of his blade and put the sword back in the wardrobe.
Afterward, without looking at the Captain he said, “Now you may go.”

Captain Chauhan got up from his chair and left the room without saluting his offcer. The
CO did not look back either.

There was a huge hue and cry against such operations in the major newspapers. Many senior
journalists debated using such techniques against its own civilians, which led to the
formation of different pressure groups to put demands on the government. Many citizens
also used online media to speak against the use of these techniques for dealing with
counterinsurgency. Even the President of India condemned the assaults against Indian
nationals. Under pressure, the representative of Special Task Force offcially discarded the
technology in a press conference. But unoffcially the army continued to use these methods to
bring down the rebels.

After about a month’s time, the events mostly forgotten by the people and with Captain out
of sight for so long, the media got disinterested in talking about him. On a Sunday morning,
the commanding offcer decided to call up Captain Chauhan who had gone to a secret
location and inform him of the latest development. He politely addressed,
“The state government of Chhattisgarh has presented medals and citations to all the STF
personnel involved in the action.
For this, it organized a grand ceremony to facilitate all the politicians and the commandos.
You were missed. ”

There was a brief pause. Then Captain Chauhan laughed and asked, “Ha, So what did they
do?”

The CO replied with a sarcastic tone,
“In a speech, the chief minister emphasized that such actions have broken the spine of the
Naxal movement in the state.
In addition, he also gave the message to the other leaders that they should come out of hiding
and surrender to the state government. He also promised that the state government would
see to it that justice is done and that these people are rehabilitated.
And fnally, they also offered unconditional peace if they agreed to the state’s demand.”

“Do you believe them?”

“In the end, the chief minister went against the President’s directive and ordered the use of
these tactics in the future to fush the rebels out.”

“So what does this mean?”

“That we have more tasks at hand and all the operations will now be undertaken in complete
secrecy.”

Captain Chauhan laughed and asked,
“Does this mean we do not have to meet the politicians?”

“Yes, but for now there are price tags against the head of all STF commandos involved in the
operation and no price for guessing who has the highest tags.”

Captain Chauhan gave a brief laugh again. The CO started to explain his theory,
“Now the older Maoists leaders will think that it's better to negotiate only to provide us
intelligence about further attacks.
Gradually the Maoist's operational capability will be reduced to nothing with most of their
infrastructure destroyed.
Eventually, the moderates will fght against the extremists and then attacks on the Maoist
sympathizers will increase and many negotiations will just turn up as a blood bath.
And fnally, the government will get enough reason to curb the free movement of the press
and the army would be given complete operational superiority over the regions.
Then it will soon be your time to come back and join the operations.”

“Looking forward to some actions then. Over.”

The offer of unconditional peace proved to be a dud as predicted by the CO. The Chief
Minister ignored the President's directive and vowed to fnd out other rebels who had gone
underground and threatened to wipe them out. In addition, the State government persistently
appealed to the center to organize another assault in secrecy to infict maximum damage. The
center, too, provided them complete support to carry out the operations.

1.5: The Diplomatic Blockade

The news about the use of the HAWK assault for counterinsurgency operations angered
NATO and it objected to the use of these methods for internal security. Also in the United
Nations, delegates from China raised the issue of supply of such lethal weapons to India.
They argued that the presence of these types of munitions would give rise to an arms race in
the Asia-Pacifc region.

In addition to this, the USA also asked India to confer with the rules of engagement while
dealing with such lethal machines. Furthermore, on request from the United States, a team of
delegates from different countries and the NATO visited the area where the attack took place.
United Nations also sent its own team to supervise the mission.

The international delegation went to the forests of Chhattisgarh to access the damage caused
by the HAWK assault technique on the insurgents. It was early morning and they could see
the eagles hovering over the building still anticipating more blood from the new odd looking
humans that had just arrived. They saw a dozen of the eagles when they squinted their eyes
towards the Sun and the troublemakers looked like stains on the shiny, golden sovereign Sun.

Immediately one of the eagles did something similar to barrel roll and few towards the
building only to abandon midway as if it just saw a ghost of the dead crawling from the
damaged building. Then another one using the Sun as a shield approached for a silent attack
like a determined enemy, but again midway the move was abandoned as if it was scared of
something in the building.

Afterwards, the rest of the gang glided towards the team and the cannibal eyes of the hunters
looked possessed, searching for a weakness among the diplomats to exploit. Within no time
they came very close seemingly satisfed that the visitors were indeed victims and swooped
towards them like an avenging angel of death. It had scared the living hell out of the visiting
team, but on the fnal approach they abandoned the mission and few away.

Somehow the team could gather enough strength to enter the building. The government had
by then cleaned up the building of all blood and body parts, but the destruction caused to the
building could not be hidden. After the initial assessment, the international delegation was
also taken to the nearby tribal areas in the Maoist belt to take note of the development in the
region.

In their reports, they also expressed shock at the state of penury in the villages and the
absence of any development which was the cause of the rebellion. The delegation also
submitted a white paper on the Maoist movement and the inability of the government to give
basic rights to the people. They also condemned the passing of an ordinance without the
parliament's consensus and criticized it as unconstitutional and undemocratic.

The report was also discussed in the international press with press conferences organized
outside UN Security Council in New York and Geneva. The NATO moved a proposal to
impose sanctions on India for use of advanced machinery against its mandate and USA and
allied countries imposed a trade embargo for supplying of any defense goods.

During the entire episode, Israel stayed neutral on this whole issue and very few countries
supported India’s stand on taking on the insurgents. The diplomatic boycott continued for

three months, after which India signed a treaty with NATO on not using the technology
against its own civilians. However, this was going to be a blatant lie in the course of time to
follow. But no one from the delegation wrote anything about the dance of death performed
by the eagles.