Brig Anil Gupta (retd)
The recent spurt in terror activities in the Jammu region leading to large scale causalities to own troops has become a matter of political slugfest. Is not this the time to unite and call spade a spade or try to score political brownies by questions like “who is responsible”? Every sensible person across the spectrum knows that who is responsible but yet this question is being asked by those who to a large extent are responsible for the onset of militancy in the region which later was converted into a jihadi proxy war by our neighbour Pakistan who lost no opportunity in upgrading it to terrorism with latent support of the local Government in power at that time. It has been acknowledged by none other than Pervez Musharraf that Pakistan supported the religious militancy in Kashmir by supporting and training groups like LeT in 1990s to carry out militancy in Kashmir. Pakistan ever since then has been colluding with various Pakistani and global terror organisations “to bleed India through thousand cuts” using terror as an instrument of state policy. So, its very obvious that Pakistan is the perpetrator of terror in India and continues to be so even today. The Indian nation responded very strongly to this act of Pakistan and built capability to counter the same. However, Pak sponsored proxy war using terror as a main instrument continues to simmer in Jammu and Kashmir for the reasons well known to the readers.
There is no denying the fact that the so-called valley based mainstream political parties have been soft with separatists and terrorists to the extent that they even refuse to acknowledge the terrorists as terrorists and refer to them as militants. Despite, Pakistan’s open support to the jihadi terrorists in terms of funding, equipping, training and assisting them in infiltrating into our territory, these parties never condemn Pakistan but instead keep advocating for talks with it and making statements like “unho ne kya churiyan pahan rakhi hain” (are the Pakistani soldiers wearing bangles)? or deriding the own security forces which are working 24×7 to safeguard their lives at the cost of their own lives. For these parties playing politics with national security has become a matter of habit. Hats off to the Director General of Police J&K who showed tremendous moral courage by identifying the elephant in the room and exposing the role played by these parties in developing and sustaining terror ecosystem that continues to remain the biggest challenge to total elimination of terror from this region as well. There are enough evidences and instances to prove what the DGP has said. The very fact that most vociferous response to the statement of DGP has come from the two parties whose leaders are known to have made pro-separatist, pro-terror and pro-Pakistan statements from time to time, obviously means, “Chor Ki Dadhi Mein Tinka” (a guilty conscience needs no accuser). Even in the present situation these parties are trying to politicise the issue rather than outrightly condemning Pakistan. Mehbooba Mufti recently lamented that “terror politics are killing J&K”. But she needs to carry out an introspection to identify the culprits. Is Mehbooba Mufti or Omar Abdullah ready to walk the talk and openly delink from the prevalent terror ecosystem. Involvement of many Government employees, police officials, teachers, medicos ,traders etc. in assisting the terrorists by providing them information about the security forces and guiding them to safe hideouts has come to light in the past. Can these parties deny the fact that terror ecosystem is deep-rooted?
These parties were very confident that by joining the INDI Alliance they will be able to defeat the ruling dispensation at the Centre and they would undo the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A with the help of the new Alliance Government at the Centre. Article 370 and 35 A were the main weapons used by these parties to create a regional and religious hegemony detrimental to the interests of minorities of Jammu and Ladakh region. That is why despite the Supreme Court verdict they have been batting for the status quo. Unfortunately, their dreams were shattered with the swearing in of Modi 3.0 at the Centre.
Now they have come out with a new logic that the spurt in terror activities in Jammu region is due to an absence of elected Government. It sounds vacuous and bereft of any substance and is just politicking. Empirically, the terror attacks have been maximum during the period when elected Governments were in place and the Home Ministry was invariably headed by the then CM. Wasn’t an elected Government at the helm when the targeted killings of prominent Kashmiri Hindus were taking place on almost a daily basis? Who was the elected CM when on 19 Jan !990, mosques issued declarations “Kafirs, the males had to leave Kashmir leaving their women behind. Get converted or killed.”Most locals including the elected representatives either participated, collaborated, benefitted or silently cheered when the streets in Srinagar, the capital city, were reverberating with jihadi slogans against Kashmiri Pandits and the mosques were sending out chilling message from its loudspeakers, “Bataw varaie, Batneiw saan”.Finally, why did the elected head of the Government Dr Farooq Abdullah abandon a sinking ship and resigned from his elected post and fled to greener pastures overseas when the “Heaven on Earth” was being set on fire by the Pakistan backed jihadists majority of whom were the local Kashmiri Muslims, his own kith and kin? Where did all the elected representatives disappear and did not come forward to catch the bull by the horn and help the Indian Army in extinguishing the fire of jihadi terrorism? Are they only meant to enjoy the perks of power which they are seeking again now?
Why were the Hurriyat separatist leaders, Jamaatis, avid pro-Pakistanis, and the Salafis and Wahhabis allowed to roam and preach freely leading to radicalisation and anti-India indoctrination of the locals by the subsequent elected Governments as well. Why was JKP suffering reverses after reverses during the tenure of elected Governments. It was mainly due to political interference of the elected Governments and keeping the hands of the force tied. The same JKP today is a force to reckon with and is operating shoulder to shoulder with other security forces to combat terrorism.
The insurgency or jihadi terrorism to be more accurate is following a cyclic pattern. When the situation gets out of control the elected Government abandons and the Army is called in to restore normalcy. The Army and other security forces through their sweat, blood and sacrifices creates a window for the elected Government to return. When in saddle, the Governments led by the so-called mainstream parties which have their feet in two boats through their actions and policies create a ripe environment for the terrorists to gain an upper hand taking the situation back to square one. The cycle begins again. To enjoy a leverage with the Government in centre, these parties prefer to keep the pot boiling rather than going all out to eliminate the terror ecosystem that has deeply entrenched in the system. These parties have from time to time sought support from the separatists or the extremists to either retain their Kursi or to destabilise the existing Government. They survive in an environment of quid pro quo. In fact, many actions taken by the elected Governments led in the past to demoralise the security forces and clip their wings and in the bargain providing oxygen to the anti-national forces.
Thus, the answer is obvious. Politicisation is not the way out to fight Pak sponsored terror. No Government likes losing its soldiers to terror acts. This is what the opposition parties also demand. So, the solution lies in working hand in hand with the Government and the security forces to defeat the jihadi terrorists. What prevents the mainstream politicians to move over to the affected areas and establish contact with the local population and act as eyes and ears of the security forces? It may sound weird and bravado but is it necessary that only elected representatives can go to field? Why aren’t these parties activating their local cadre? Let these political parties stop playing politics, walk the talk and join in the fight against terror without waiting for the elections?
Pakistan definitely needs to be punished by making this low-cost option chosen by it to bleed India, a cost prohibitive proposition for it. That can only be done after we are able to stabilise the situation within by locating and destroying the terrorists, many of whom are believed to be from Pakistan’s Special Forces, through well-planned and coordinated operations. Knee-jerk reactions need to be avoided. The Counter-Terror (CT) and intelligence grids to be put in place at the earliest, plug the gaps in our counter-infiltration posture, avoid predictive deployment along the IB, employ tunnel detection equipment to rule out tunnels, strengthen VDGs through training and equipping with modern weapons, adherence to SOPs, provision of dedicated patrolling vehicles to the troops, upgrade our night fighting and interception equipment. No search operation in the forest areas should be launched in the hours of darkness and without a strong cordon in place. Use of drones to keep the area under surveillance 24×7 after the contact has been established. The local sympathisers and OGWs to be identified by the police and taken care of. Last but not the least, “Back to Basics” should be the mantra for all the troops and commanders operating in this environment. Rather than pressurising the Government to sort out Pakistan, let us all join hands first to sort out within.
(The author is a Jammu based veteran, security and strategic analyst)
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