Defeating Pakistan’s Proxy War In
Kashmir
There are no two views that by abrogating
Article 370, the Government of India has effectively neutered Islamabad’s
narrative that Kashmir is “disputed territory” over which New Delhi has no
legal rights and perhaps that’s why The Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) in its
recently released report has rightly opined that “Pakistan has limited options
to advance its foreign policy agenda on the issue of Kashmir.”
But despite Islamabad lacking the diplomatic
leverage to fulfill its dream of getting hold of Kashmir, which became evident
when all it could achieve was the support of only three out of the 193 strong
UN member states, it still refuses to realize the futility of harping on this
issue and reconcile with reality. Instead, the bull-headed military leadership,
which oversees Pakistan’s Kashmir policy, has already put into motion its ‘Plan
B’ in order to keep the Kashmir pot boiling.
What is Rawalpindi’s new game-plan?
Having found no takers for its “disputed
territory” argument, Pakistan is now focusing on trying to internationalize the
Kashmir issue by spreading the canard that New Delhi has “caged’ the people of
Kashmir and is brutalizing them in order to prevent them from expressing their
resentment against abrogation of Article 370. This plan is being implemented in
two stages- initial restraint in stage 1, followed by violence in stage 2.
Restrictions on movement and communication imposed by the center
as a precautionary measure suited Islamabad’s interests since it lent credence
to its allegations that people of Kashmir had been “caged.” In order to further
buttress this narrative, the ISI ensured that separatists and terrorists kept a
low profile as long as restrictions were in force. The aim was to cite lack of
any major untoward incident as proof that New Delhi was just trying to fool the
international community by using the law and order maintenance excuse to
conceal its covert pogrom against Kashmiris.
Once the center started easing restrictions,
ISI kickstarted the second stage of its plan by activating its proxies. While
‘upper ground’ elements incited mobs to pelt stones at vehicles plying on roads
without even sparing tourists and torching school buildings, terrorists went
about attacking the public with guns and grenades without any forewarning. No
call for shutdowns were given but still those who dared to venture out were
targeted, be it shopkeepers, roadside vendors, people connected with the apple
industry, truck drivers and even ordinary commuters.
In this unprecedented orgy of violence
perpetuated by Pakistan sponsored terrorists, several innocent civilians have
been killed while nearly a 100 people, some as young as three years old and
some as old as 65 years have been injured in grenade attacks in busy market
places.
Why are terrorists targeting Kashmiris
indiscriminately?
The aim of rampantly targeting civilians is to
so terrorise them that they dare not venture out of their homes and a just a
sample of a few excerpts from news reports that reinforce this assessment are
reproduced below:
•
“Militants have stepped up grenade attacks in the valley
since August 5, when centre scrapped Article 370 and Article 35 A, besides
divided the state into two UTs.” (Kashmir Observer, November 4).
• “The petrol
bomb attack spread panic among the people, who ran for safety. Streets, which
were a buzz before the attack, with heavy vehicular traffic, wore a deserted
look in just minutes after the attack.” (Brighter Kashmir, November 5.).
• “About
resumption of transport service, the members expressed concern about safety and
security of drivers and passengers,” sources said. They said the sector has
already suffered huge losses due to strike and any damage to vehicles or
drivers or conductors will prove disastrous. (Brighter Kashmir, November 5).
• “The
(grenade) blast created total chaos and confusion in the area with attackers
taking advantage of the chaos and managing to escape from the spot. The entire
marketplace from Residency Road to Batamaloo, reports said, wore a deserted
look after one person was killed and 40 others mostly street vendors selling
fruits, vegetables, used clothes, crockery and other items were injured in
grenade attack.” (Kashmir Times November 5).
• “Roadside
vendors were still missing in the area where one person was killed and over 35
others injured in a grenade attack by unidentified persons in civil line area
on Monday afternoon. However, life again came to halt at 1100 hrs when
shopkeepers closed their establishments and left for home.” (Kashmir Observer,
November 6).
• “Amirakadal
and its adjoining markets wore deserted look a day after a non-local street
vendor from Uttar Pradesh lost his life in a grenade attack in the vicinity.
Forty others including three security forces personal also suffered injuries in
the incident.” (Kashmir Times, November 6)
Threat of bodily harm due to terrorist attacks
will obviously discourage people from venturing outside unless it’s unavoidable
and this will give Islamabad a chance to internationalise the Kashmir issue by
portraying the subtly enforced indoor stay as being a voluntary decision taken
by Kashmiris to express their resentment against abrogation of Article 370.
Since the main objective of inciting mobs to indulge in wanton acts of violence and directing terrorists to target civilians is to create mayhem in Kashmir and pass off the ensuing chaos as a mass resentment against abrogation of Article 370, the need of the hour for all political parties, NGOs and activists is that they should not get unduly emotional and fall into the trap laid by vested interests by igniting passions or succumb to the temptation of drawing political mileage, settling personal scores, or for achieving petty gains.
Since Pakistan has now unleashed a
no-holds-barred covert war in Kashmir, it’s time for us to set aside our
differences unitedly take this challenge head-on.
*Nilesh Kunwar is an amateur
Kashmir watcher and after retirement is pursuing his favorite hobby of
writing for newspapers, journals and think tanks.
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