KASHMIR TODAY

Hameen ast-o-hameen ast-o-hameen ast.”

                                     -Amir Khusro

 He says if there is a paradise on Earth. It is here, it is here, it is here..

But today the beauty of this paradise is again on the verge of getting disrupted. There is again an atmosphere of fear which has circumscribed the whole valley, there are targeted killings taking place, the attacks are brazen, people are being killed in banks, inside their homes, inside their offices. These attacks have sabotaged the mental peace of Kashmiris.

  Now one may ask why there has been perturbation in J&K ?

 In my opinion as far as I could decipher through my understanding and wisdom of geopolitical scenario in Indian subcontinent. I would say, if you want to predict the stability in Kashmir, then always analyze the synergy of our two western neighbours, the bonsai democracy and the rogue state. I mean, Pakistan and Afghanistan respectively.

 Because according to a report in Q1 (first 4 months of this year) 62 terrorists were killed in Kashmir out of them 15 were foreign terrorists compare that to Q1 2021 out of 37 terrorists killed not a single one was a foreigner. What does this indicate? This indicate that Pakistan has again activated its venomous pet project on Kashmir. It is again pushing terrorists into the valley and with the Taliban in Kabul their job is easier.

According to UNSC report Pakistani terror groups have built training camps in Afghanistan Jaish-E-Mohammed, Lashkar- E- Taiba. Both of these terror groups had launched terror attacks on India be it Parliament attack of 2001 or be it 2005 Delhi bombings. And now they have camps in Afghanistan.

It has been imprinted as black spots in our history and yesteryears, that Pakistani terror groups have financed and trained the Taliban.

And one should know terror in Afghanistan is never localised, it affects the entire subcontinent and first in the line of fire is usually Kashmir. Just think back to 1990s, Kashmir was a hotbed of extremism, there were targeted killings, border incursions, assassinations. Even a single day, peace was hard to come by and now there are again fear of a repeat. Once again terror is gripping the Kashmir valley. There has been 16 targeted killings in 2022 that includes teachers, cops, village chiefs and last month itself there were 5 targeted killings.

 And above these all, the biggest threat these days is trend of hybrid terrorism which is different from the traditional genre of terrorism.

  Usually we talk about listed terrorists but mind you the latest killings that we saw of bank manager in cctv was from a hybrid terrorist.

Kashmir’s IG of Police Vijay Kumar classified terrorists in valley in 2 categories:

 1. Those who are already listed as terrorists.

 2. Terrorists who are indoctrinated on the internet and are called Hybrid Terrorists.

  Kumar further added that these days about 75% of all terrorists in the valley at this point are hybrid terrorists.

Now second question would be, why there is terrorism in valley now?

  See, first of all this is not the first time Kashmir is facing such scenario but this was the first time when Kashmir was witnessing normalcy.

      Kashmir’s tourism economy was booming. According to figures tourism in Kashmir hit a 10 year high in 2022 Q1 and approximately more than 50 flights are landing everyday in Kashmir. For Kashmir, tourism is a lifeline and it makes up more than 15% of their GDP. So, more tourism more money. And above that all, Amarnath Yatra is said to begin. Govt. is expecting around 6,00,000 pilgrims and these all are sign of normalcy. Signs that Kashmir is recovering and moving on.

  So what do terrorists do then, as always they are unleashing the wave of violence by targeting office clerks, bank manager, school teachers ordinary people who are busy in their everyday life. Thus, the plan of terrorists is amply clear and that is to spread fear across the valley, keeping tourism and prosperity away and drag Kashmir back in time.

 What measures should be taken to develop normalcy in the valley is yet another topic to be discussed. I will be ushering you through the aforementioned topic in next article.

  But till then all that I can say is today’s Kashmir other than tourism needs resilient industries like agriculture, factories which could prosper the valley even in unprecedented crisis. And there is an earnest need to protect the minorities and Kashmiri Pandits in the valley. Kashmir needs a long term peace because peace is not just the absence of violence it is also the presence of prosperity.

    “Prosperity in Kashmir will undoubtedly bring peace and security not only to the disputed region but also to the whole of South Asia home to one- fifth of the human race”.

Guess who said this? Gulam Nabi Fai, a convicted criminal and ISI’s man in USA.