To begin with, I am not at all surprised by the withdrawal of support by BJP to PDP which was till a few hours ago its alliance partner in Jammu and Kashmir! This was long long overdue! The brewing resentment among party workers compelled the top leadership to immediately call for withdrawal of support to PDP in J&K soon after ceasefire was ended!
BJP has most certainly now taken the right decision even though it has been too late! The minute PDP decided to withdraw cases against stone pelters or traitors or Pakistan supported foot soldiers BJP should have acted! It was the biggest national disgrace to see time and again in different news channels our soldiers being beaten, their helmet being thrown away from their head and yet soldiers were ordered to exercise complete restraint! This is not restraint but surrender in front of soldiers of Pakistan!
As if this was not enough, the same old mistakes which former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee did of declaring Ramzan ceasefire was repeated which resulted again in killing of our soldiers, increased shelling from across the border which compelled lakhs of people to leave their homes and many died! Why the hell did Centre declare unilateral ceasefire? Why our soldiers like brave Aurangzeb Khan and others were allowed to be killed by Pakistan and terrorists in the most dastardly manner and similarly even senior journalists like Shujaat Bukhari were allowed to be massacred by terrorists during Ramzan? Is Ramzan month a time to be given unfettered licence to Pakistan and terrorists to kill our brave soldiers, journalists and people?
Why BJP kept on taking everything just lying down and kept on extending the long rope to Mehbooba and her party PDP? Why Mehbooba was allowed to have the last laugh in all crucial matters? Why national interest was allowed to be roughshod over petty vested interests of PDP?
How long will politicians plead ceasefire for terrorists, traitors and Pakistan? How long will politicians plead “talks and dialogues” with these rogues? How long will politicians refuse to learn anything from past experiences like the brutal murder of Lieutenant Umar Fayyaz and continue appeasing terrorists and Pakistan? How long will Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status for Pakistan continue since 1996 unilaterally like unilateral ceasefire till now? How long will Pakistan enjoy benefit of Indus Water Treaty will killing our citizens mercilessly?
Mohammad Haneef Khan who is Aurangzeb’s father who is himself an ex-serviceman stands perfectly justified when he says that, “I want to ask PM Modi if he’s listening to me, why are you appeasing stone-pelters and separatists? Punish the terrorists who killed my son. Why was Ramzan ceasefire announced? Terrorists have no religion, then why operations were stopped against them during Ramzan? Why Pakistani flags are allowed to be waved openly in India?” What Mohammad Haneef has said is perfectly right and no sane person will ever question this!
How can cases be withdrawn suddenly against more than 10,000 stone-pelters by J&K State Government? How can a crime be encouraged openly by a duly elected State Government? How can Centre too endorse it by doing nothing to stop this? Does Centre favour stone pelting on our soldiers! Never saw stone pelting on such a large scale as we are now seeing in PM Narendra Damodardas Modi’s Raj!
Why this blind appeasement of Pakistan since 1947 which never deserved independence as an independent nation? Why whole of J&K not annexed? Why people of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir keep agitating against Pakistan and why India allowed Pakistan to get away with it?
Why even now India is not ensuring the full and final merger of J&K with India? Former CJI JS Khehar while in office as CJI had rightly said that, “How can one country have two flags, two Constitutions, two laws and two citizenship?” Why can’t Centre abrogate Article 370 and Article 35A which are most discriminatory and forbids Indians from outside the state to settle there or even appear in any exam there? What have we gained by it? Flags of Pakistan and ISIS! For how long this disgraceful appeasement will continue? No law, no Constitution, no Judge, no court not even Supreme Court nor can any Government whether in Centre or State can be above the unity and integrity of India which has to be ensured under all circumstances! Why Centre is allowing more than Rs 560 crore of taxpayers money to be spent on Hurriyat leaders security etc when they openly rant against India? Why no leadership is shown to end this?
“Ramzan ka ceasefire” was nothing but the “biggest betrayal” by BJP and PDP of our brave soldiers like Aurangzeb Khan by exposing them to being killed most ruthlessly by terrorists and Pakistani soldiers for whom Ramzan is the best time to kill Indians as the most “stupid Indian leaders” “most foolishly” trust Pakistan time and again refusing to learn anything from past betrayals! Just withdrawing support to PDP won’t wash off the stained hands of BJP which gave a free license to Pakistan and terrorists to kill our soldiers in the name of “Ramzan” knowing fully well that just like a dog can never give up barking similarly Pakistan and terrorists trained by Pakistan would never give up attacking Indian soldiers and people and killing them most mercilessly after brutally torturing them!
But still I welcome it hoping that from now onwards they will never again resort to this “shameless ceasefire sham” and give unfettered license to Pakistan and terrorists trained and armed by Pakistan to kill our soldiers and citizens most mercilessly without being hounded by our soldiers as their hands are tied by BJP in power in Centre in name of “Ramzan ka ceasefire”! Which Indian felt happy to watch how in Modi’s term as PM, our soldiers were attacked by crowd incited by traitors, terrorists and Pakistan and still they had to tolerate everything quietly as Centre didn’t give them orders to fire on stonepelters? Stone pelting became legalised in Kashmir!
Emergence of a hero in failed ceasefire of Kashmir
To my mind, the most significant event was the emergence of patriotism in Kashmir and love for India, which army demonstrated, especially theKashmiri youth in the armed forces. Aurangzeb, a young soldier of Rashtriya Rifle, was killed while on way to his home unarmed to celebrate Eid, the most celebrated Muslim festival. His family waited forhim but his body was found with 15 bullet wounds after news of his abduction had been flashed earlier. This handsome young man really to my mind is the symbol of Kashmir in its deep historic and emotional bondage with motherland. He was part of the team that eliminated dreaded terrorists. His father, who also is a veteran, roared and challenged to take revenge from these terrorists. He asked Government of India for elimination of killers in 72 hours. The family has one more son in army and the rest two are also getting ready to be groomed for army. The brave father appealed to people of Kashmir that though his son is killed, do not stop joining army and serve the country in an honourable manner. Unbelievable commitment and high patriotism in the face of such a tragedy has been displayed by the whole family.
Thousands of people joined his funeral. This example should build citizen acceptance of army and government functioning besides giving jobs to people.
Another tragic development of killing was Shujat Bukhari, a senior journalist, who was editor of ‘Rising Kashmir’. He was shot when he was coming out of his office and entering his waiting car by three bike riders, who fled away after the daylight assassination in the city. CCTV recorded it but it is of no use. Death of Bukhari, a leader who was trying to find a middle path with Jihadists in track two diplomacy, teaches two things: Dialogues and talks are no longer effective at the moment in Kashmir and we have to continue our army action to eliminate the terrorists. Second lesson is that our security is rather lax in the city itself when a prominent man with security guard is killed right in the centre of the city and no one made effort to prevent the killers.
There are four lessons to draw from these events for all who are involved in scanning Kashmir affairs. First, Aurngzeb and his family need to be protected and honoured. We have to promote their spirit of patriotism. Second, security inside the cities needs to be tightened and such negligence as in the case of Bukhari need to be taken up seriously. Third, central agencies should probe important cases and a lot of population do not have confidence on state police for various reasons including their being close to politicians. Fourth lesson is that army men from the state like Aurangzeb should be under protection and watch even in holidays.
While the Valley will remain in inferno yet, while keeping doors of talks open, elimination of terror needs to be carried out strongly. Do not forget what Jawaharlal Nehru told Sardar Patel: The prize we are fighting for is the Valley of Kashmir.” No dourb, when we are almost succeeding in the rest of the state, it is the Valley that will have to be tackled with greater sagacity and strategic vision.
(The writer is former Chairman, International Airports Authority of India.)
By Prof. N K Singh
BJP cannot just wash its hands off by saying that Mehbooba was the CM who was controlling everything and taking all the decisions unilaterally! Mehbooba could have done nothing without BJP’s tacit support which people are not fool that they can’t see through! No state government can take any decision concerning the safety of citizens and national security without any permission from the Centre!
BJP has clearly faltered on it since last three years ever since it signed up to “power sharing agreement” in J&K! Now taking into account the irrefutable fact that the ceasefire sham stands completely exposed in J&K, one hopes that at least now BJP will wake up from its “intentional deepest slumber” and start taking all decisions from now keeping our supreme national interests always in mind and never allowing any compromise of any kind on it under any circumstances! Am I asking too much?
By Sanjeev Sirohi
Leave Your Comment