Long before you reach Anant Nag or Pahalgam, river Lidder ripples and roars in ecstasy. He-Man of Bollywood Dharmendra chose it for launching sunny Deol in the movie ‘Betab’. The place is known as Betab valley
Few decades earlier, Raj Kapoor chose another place for the shooting of his movie Sangam and that place is also known as ‘Sangam’. As you cross Atal Tunnel while coming from Banihal, you enter a paradise.
This paradise looks like hell when you read horrible stories of endless massacres starting from Mirpur (1948) to Pahalgam on Tuesday. These rivers and meadows are watching bloodbaths. The brave army won many wars but the political leadership has lost the gains on the negotiation table. Summits at Tashkent and Shimla empowered Pakistan to retain POK and make an attempt to bleed India with thousand cuts.
Why we have failed to eliminate terror from the valley.
Had it not been related to the pride and sentiments of the Indian public outside Kashmir, we would have lost Kashmir much earlier. Our strategies lacked commitment from day one, when thousands of citizens are being killed and women are being raped how could a prime minister stop the army from rescuing the victims and reclaiming the encroached land. The most surprising fact is that army was winning fast. Had the army given some more time there would have not been any area which could be called Pakistan Occupied Kashmir( POK). The central government worked on a strategy which revolved around punishing or rewarding Abdullas. It is unfortunate that three generations of Nehru and Abdullas had the privilege of playing this snake and ladder game at the cost of poor citizens. Nehru, Indira and Rajiv have been the target of most of the writers so it adds no value in repeating the well-known facts. One can conclude that all divisive forces had the blessings of the central leadership at one point or the other. The only goal was to corner, Abdulla’s, Akali’s, DMK and so on, without caring that encouraging people like Bhindranwale will weaken the nation. The nation paid the price by losing two prime ministers to the assassination by the terrorist. The kins of the deceased have forgiven the murderers but alienation of the public continues. The war won by army in 1971 was lost on negotiation table in Shimla as not an inch of POK recovered and the aggressor got away smiling. While Indians could not own property in Kashmir but people from POK had all the freedom. It was easy to plant a terrorist or a spy in Indian part of Kashmir.
Why terror escalated post 1971 war.
Wounded but not caged Pakistan which was mostly ruled by army generals, was far superior in promoting propaganda and empowering ISI to bleed India with thousand cuts. Opportunist national conference leadership switched sides and extracted every pound of flesh without focusing on governance. The lifeline of Sri Nagar, Dal Lake has lost one third area to encroachments. Growing population and shrinking jobs, created unrest. ISI and Hurriyat took no time in exploiting this situation. Youth were motivated to join anti national activities. Ease of crossing the border led to creation of safe heavens in the form of terror training camps.
Coalition government at centre led to Abdullas and Muftis becoming minister at the centre as well. Mufti Mohammed Syed became the home minister in 1989. The exodus of Kashmiri pandits took place in his tenure. Till Uri and Bala Kot surgical strikes took place, India was at the receiving end. The terror attacks, bomb blasts became a routine in every part of India. The leadership was sending dossiers to Pakistan, which always denied the charges.
Ramification of exodus of Kashmiri pandits 1990.
Properties of the Kashmiri Pandits were encroached upon by every section of the society (muslims). If the Kashmiri Pandits return to the valley, thousands of crores worth property is at stake. The fake truth about so-called peace-loving Kashmiris gets exposed as soon as one talks about Ghar Vapasi of KASHMIRI PANDITS. It remains a dream despite quashing of article 370 etc. The author has visited Kashmir and had talks with locals. They always talk positive but become silent when the issue of returning of land, houses, shops etc to Kashmiri Pandit was raised. The ordinary Kashmiri who was neutral till 1990 has a big stake now and the local leadership is able to exploit it by scaring the public. This is how; Sheikh Abdul Rashid won Lok Sabha election while in custody on terror-related charges. Now it will be deceiving ourselves if we fail to see this section of people which supports terrorist. This is where democracy has failed in India.
Why terrorist succeed so easily.
Due to ethnic cleansing taken place in 1990, Kashmir suffers on account of lack of diversity. Good citizens are alienated and feel threatened by terrorists. In an urge to prove that Kahmir is normal. Tour operators take tourist to secluded places. Adventurous tourists also take this risk either in enthusiasm or due to lack of knowledge. Abdullas have never worked to develop intelligence, local police are not professionally trained. During my last visit to Pahalgam I requested my host to take the forest route while returning to Sri Nagar. My wise host declined and told me that cities and main roads are safe now but rural area, deep forests and high mountains still have the presence of terrorists. Not avoiding such mistakes is the difference between a safe travel and a mishap.
The challenge?
Pakistani propaganda and international media have successfully set the narrative that unrest in Kashmir is led by people of Kashmir. Indian media which was supposed to counter it, seeks pleasure in promoting this lie. The media reports across the world published the news of Pahalgam massacre as an act of local disgruntled youth. From Al Jazeera to New York Times the narrative is the same. To put the Indian government on backfoot, fear of retaliation on ordinary citizen is being created. Indian media is also projecting this incidence as failure to control the violence despite repealing of the article 370.
On the positive side, it is first time that the US agency ‘House Foreign Affairs Committee Majority’
has termed it a terror attack and has taken pun on New York Times,” we fixed it for you. This was a TERRORIST ATTACK plain and simple. Whether it’s India or Israel, when it comes to TERRORISM the NYT is removed from reality”
Indian public is agitated and seeks an ‘eye for the eye’ retribution or punishment of equal severity to the offense committed. Social media is full of ‘hate all Muslims doctrine’. It is true that on occasions clergy has misused places of worship to spread hatred but labelling will bring the opposite results. The public is not bothered about the dangers of such thinking. This is what the cross-border handlers of terrorists have aimed at. It is true that all the terrorists are Muslim yet it is also true that all mulims are not terrorists. On the other hand, not taking revenge will cost heavily on the ruling party in forthcoming elections. The long hand of law will do wonderful job, if it works on nabbing the criminals without giving cognizance to the religious faith they follow.
The way out.
Till now the Indian strategies have focused on controlling infiltration and bringing the youth to the mainstream. But Pahalgam massacre has provided an opportunity for out of box thinking. let’s examine:
= Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said "PoK is part of India and we will take it".
= The biggest hurdle was Shimla agreement which abides both India and Pakistan to negotiate differences without going for war.
= Post Pahalgam massacre, India has taken political measures to retaliate, Pakistan also responded by closing its air space and cancelling of Shimla agreement. It has empowered India to pursue military option without violating any treaty.
= Pakistan is facing a situation very similar to what it faced in 1971, the leadership is supressing the voice of people and Baluchistan and northwest frontier is undergoing violent protest. The ferociousness can be judged by the fact that the rebels take hostages, a full train.
= Pakistan is facing heat on Afghan and Iran borders.
= Most of the nations have condemned Pahalgam violence.
= World is preoccupied with Russia, Ukraine and middle east there are few supports for Pakistan.
= As per business standard, “Pakistani troops open fire along LoC for second night; India retaliates. Similar to what happened in 1971 Pakistan has bitte the bullet.
China has a stake in peaceful POK.
China has made significant investment in building his road and belt initiative passing through POK. Despite making huge investments, it is not able to take full benefit due to insurgency along the route. It was believed that China will stand by Pakistan in good and bad times. But ongoing tariff war has made China to seek support of India in taking on US. It is difficult but worth convincing China that his interests are better served if POK is with India. The question is, can India engage China economically? Assuring China that their investments in PoK (especially CPEC) will be protected or even enhanced under Indian administration may mitigate their opposition.
Offering Alternative Routes: By Proposing potential economic corridors through India, could serve China’s interests, making the PoK corridor less critical.
Looking at past experiences, it seems difficult but Politics is the art of managing the impossible.
Why it seems possible to take POK now.
The present government has been successful in bringing peace in many parts of India, be it Kashmir North East or Mao Vadis in the central India. The government has been able to bring people on table to negotiate and work for peace. As per PIB Release ID: 2113902 dated Naxal-affected area which was spread in more than 18,000 square kilometres, now only span 4,200 square kilometres. It also claims that by 31st March 2026, the country will be free from Naxalism.
Bomb blasts and violence has reduced in general. Even in Kashmir the number of death due to terrorist attack has reduced after the measures taken after the Kargil war.
When country will be free from Mao Vadis the nation will have more resources and funds to combat terrorism handlers sitting in POK. Lot of work has been done therfore the nation should not get instigated and act in haste. The history has taught us that losing patience and starting early during the revolt of 1857, has delayed the independence and having a split nation in 1947.
Conclusion:
Removal of Article 370 and making J&K a union territory has empowered the people of Kashmir to see the benefits of growth and development. Even if Pahalgam incidence had not taken place, India would have worked hard to free POK from the rogue PAK army. This provocation should not lead to taking action in haste. In last 10 years no terrorist has survived for long after committing such crimes. Let the armed forces and intelligence agencies take care of these patty operators. The top brass should focus on taking POK by honouring the prayers of the people of POK.
By Rakesh kumar
(The content of this article reflects the views of writers and contributors, not necessarily those of the publisher and editor. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts and forums in Delhi/New Delhi only)
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