Sameer Rekhi
“We have source (in Kashmir) besides the (Pakistan) army…. people in Kashmir are fighting against (India). We just need to incite them”, Former President of Pakistan, General Parvez Musharraf commented on a TV channel on October 16, 2014. “In Kashmir, we can fight with the (Indian) army from both the front and back… we are Muslims. We will not show the other cheek when we are slapped”, he warned and added, “Modi is anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan. He has not changed. The problem is with us… we are running to attend his (Modi) inauguration. We should keep our dignity”.
Let’s compare this with what Pakistan has always told the world: that it supports armed uprising in Kashmir only politically, diplomatically and morally. General Musharraf’s statement unambiguously belies these claims, which have always been contested by India as being untrue, deceptive and misleading. Having remained the CEO of Pakistan for more than eight years besides being the Chief of Pakistan Army, the de-facto ruler of Pakistan, General Musharraf’s assertions need to be taken as undeniable truth coming from the horse’s mouth.
After the 2011 killing of Osama Bin Laden deep inside the territory of Pakistan, doubts if any in the minds of the world powers of the duplicity and in the minds of the world powers of the duplicity and diabolical behaviour of Pakistan have vanished.
In the latest rebuff prognosis to Pakistan’s interference in Jammu and Kashmir through its proxies, the European Parliament while hailing the huge participation of masses in the Assembly elections as a victory of Indian democracy, has admonished the separatists in Kashmir valley and their mentors in the neighbouring country. In a statement released on behalf of European Union (EU) on December 10, 2014, the European Parliament (EP) while taking cognizance of large number of Kashmiri voters coming out to vote despite boycott calls declared that the huge participation does not only bode well for the firmly rooted the Indian democracy, but also deals a serious blow to the claims of some separatist groups operating at the behest of India’s neighbouring State.
The statement gives out clearly that the EU not only recognizes and respects the strength of Indian democracy but is also resentful of Pakistan’s malafide intentions vis-à-vis Jammu and Kashmir. That the EU has no doubt about the demise of separatist politics in Kashmir is unambiguously conveyed in its statement.
From the unprecedented groundswell of the desire for peace, development and real-time democracy as seen among the people of Kashmir during the current elections, it is evident that the source General Musharraf was talking about has either dried up or changed its course in tune with the times.
The emotionally charged rhetoric of the Hurriyat leader Ali Shah Geelani may still have a sentimental appeal among some sections of the population, but the snub to the separatist is too obvious to go under-noticed. The final nail in the coffin of separatist politics has been driven by none other than Syed Sallah-ud-din, the chief of United Jehad Council (UJC) based in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), who recently asked the separatists, through the medium of Kashmir News Service (KNS), to unanimously decide whether polls held in the State should be termed as an issue or a non issue, thereby acknowledging the confusion in and the dwindling support for the much divided separatist camp.
Notwithstanding these arguments, it would only be naive to conclude that separatism is all but finished in Kashmir or that the neighbouring country would let its long drawn campaign in J&K to go waste at the hands of some spent force.
Pakistani army establishment is not likely to accept the situation as such. Kashmir and the hatred of India is its raison-d’être and even if its existing source has fallen prey to the law of diminishing returns, Pakistan Army/ ISI would certainly be looking out for new avenues and opening up of new channels of disruption. The recent suicide terrorist attacks on the borders of Arnia, Jammu and Uri, Baramulla are examples of the rethink on strategic and operational handling of Pakistan’s proxy war in Kashmir.
In his latest interview to Samaa TV channel on December 9, 2014, General Musharraf reiterated that he believes in a tit-for-tat policy on all fronts and that Kargil conflict was in response to India’s role in the creation of Bangladesh. These words betray the guiding principles and motivation of the Pakistan Army Establishment. Jammu and Kashmir may yet again see a renewed offensive.
(The author writes on security and intelligence analysis;
feedback : rekhi7sameer@yahoo.com)
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