Dr Sudershan Kumar
The grenade attack on General Bus Stand in Jammu, on 7th March, 2011 at 1100 hrs shook the entire region. This attack can be seen as an eye opener towards the rising face of terrorism in Jammu and the changing dynamics. In this grenade attack, two people were killed and nearly 30 got injured with three being in serious condition. But at the same time, the prompt and swift action of Jammu and Kashmir police in nabbing the prime accused within hours of the incident is equally laudable. But even more baffling is the age of the terrorist who hurled the grenade and carried out this dastardly act. The security agencies detained the attacker who turned out to be a 9th class student at the British School Khanpora Dassan in Kulgam district of South Kashmir. He was lured in by Hizbul Mujahidin commander to carry out this attack. Although people from all walks of life condemned this gruesome incident of targeting innocent civilians but more pertinently, this is the third such attack at the same place in the past nine months. The first one was carried out on 24th May,2018 on the police station at General Bus stand in which six people including one police officer got injured, second one was on 29th December in which militant narrowly missed the target thereby causing injury to civilians. Besides, many other such incidents in the past such as the targeting at Nagrota, and Sunjhwan army camps, killing of BJP leader and his brother in Kishtwar town etc. do compel us to acknowledge the rising menace of terrorism in Jammu. The time has come for us to introspect the gravity and intricacies and search for the answers to a question which is: Is terror raising its ugly head in Jammu region or some disgruntled youth with the support of Pak sympathizers are bent upon to disturb the communal harmony among the peace loving communities of Jammu region.
History reverberates simplicity, humility that the Dogras of Jammu are known for and also endorses the belief in co-existence. The ancient incident of goat and lion drinking water together on the bank of river Tawi which inspired Raja Jambu Lochan to build a city called Jammu, itself speaks of the vibrant amicable persona of the people here. The city itself is an embodiment of accommodability of Dogra culture. But this warmth and hospitality widely absorbed into the Dogra culture should not be wrongly interpreted as its weakness. Just as the two faces of a coin, the other face of the Dogras are the warriors and a sense of pride prevails on dawning the olive green uniform. Therefore this inherent valour and courage pushes the people from Jammu region, Himachal Pradesh, Harayana and Punjab to join the armed forces in large numbers. Before Independence Dogra regiments of British Indian army had to their credit three Victoria Crosses, 44 Military Crosses and 312 other awards. Even after independence, the Dogra regiments played a key role in wars fought with Pakistan and earned many laurels. Thus their national character towards the country and commitment of sacrifice for the sake of the motherland is unparalleled and praiseworthy. This sense of nationalism would be the major obstacle in the road of terrorism in Jammu and any kind of terrorism in Jammu region at the behest of terror organizations, whose masters are sitting across the border and sympathizers within the state, will never be accepted by this community. The fall out of Pulwama incident in Jammu region is a glaring example of this. The false notion embraced by certain section of the youth, who seem to be like puppets at the hands of Pakistan’s military and its spy agency ISI and other fanatic elements, that they can disturb the peace in Jammu region either by plotting terror activities or by changing the demography of this part of region stands unwanted and baseless. All these attempts would turn out to be futile because the terrain, geological conditions, climatic conditions, cultural fabric, all these factors are not supportive .
Moreover one needs to go down to the crux of this conflict and it is a well acquainted fact that Pakistan was born an insecure state and it remains so till date. Therefore, Pakistan’s conflict with India cannot be reduced simply to resolving Kashmir issue. Its problems with India are much more capacious than the territorial conflict over Kashmir. Therefore, those who are advocating dialogue with Pakistan must realize that peace between India and Pakistan cannot be achieved even if Kashmir dispute is resolved but in larger dimensions the stakes are very high because Pakistan views India as an eternal foe and considers itself vulnerable in front of India which will always dominate economically and militarily in changing dynamics of global world. To overcome this hysteria ,it keeps on raking up the Kashmir issue which it has been parroting for the last seven decades and tries to play the communal card for exploiting the sentiments of Kashmiris. Besides, successive Pak leaders right from the time of Mohammad Ayub Khan to Nawaz Sharif have always betrayed and back stabbed us and also bluffed Russia and United State of Amercia at several occasions. The incidents affirming this are multiple like the back tracking from Tashkent and Shimla agreements, adopting double standards with United States in their war against terrors groups in Afghanistan, ditching USSR(now Russia)in the year 1982 for non interference in Afghanistan,supporting terror out fits active in Iran, Afghanistan and many others. In case of India they are bent upon in creating unrest not only in Kashmir valley but through out the country through multi prong approach.
The first and foremost being the Pakistani military junta’s four wings which is purely based on false propaganda, disinformation campaign, concocted lies and false illusions and has succeeded to some extent in radicalizing the local disgruntled youth for adopting Wahhabism. This is quite contrary to preaching of Sufism, which has always been the back bone of Kashmiri society since centuries.
Secondly, the organisation like Jamaat-e-Islami earlier part of Jamat-i-Islami Hind got separated in 1952 and formed its wing in J&K in November, 1953. As per the reports, this organisation has sown the seeds of separatism in the state. The organisation although has been banned time and again, where even recently the ministry of Home Affairs issued an order for banning this organisation for five years on 28.02.2019. Regrettably this organisation has been able to spread its venomous and menacing wings not only in Jammu region but has even opened its offices in each district of Jammu division and may be in Ladakh also. Moreover certain political leaders have suddenly become the champions and messengers of its cause and termed it as a social organisation working for the cause of the people where as intelligence reports are quite contrary to that. Hence intentions of those leaders seem skeptical. There fore it is in their interest to understand the minds of younger generations from different regions and different communities rather than drawing a line for particular community at the instance of others.
Thirdly and most importantly as stated, that some elements at the instance of their masters in Pakistan are trying to alter the demography of these two regions i.e. Jammu and Ladakh at the behest of Pakistani Army and ISI.So far these elements have succeeded in getting large number of Rohingyas and Bangla-deshi nationals settled in sensitive parts of Jammu region. As per reports ,till date nearly 6000 Rohingyas are settled in different places of Jammu region. Moreover, their past record is dubious. Inspite of all these the author is absolutely confident and clear that the nefarious designs of the terrorists/fundamentalists at the behest of Pakistan will never succeed in Jammu region. Jammuties will not accept terror incidents on this land of warriors.
Therefore it is the responsibility of both Hindus and Muslims, who are living in Jammu region since centuries to thwart any nefarious design of disturbing peace in Jammu region by some misguided youths. To nip the evil in the bud, these communities have to remain alert and extra vigil about their surroundings. If they find any suspicious activities around them, they must inform the appropriate authorities. Besides, in this land of Dogras each year thousands of ex-servicemen retire between the age group of 35 to 45. They have service liability of five years. Government authorities must utilize their services for maintaining peace and communal harmony in the state.
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