Is Kashmir or Islam on the Boil?
It is interesting, if not demeaning, to read some news columns on Kashmir which for all practical purposes mean the two things: (1) Part under Indian occupation (2) The part in Kashmir Valley synonymously known as Kashmir. Because it is now well cleansed ethnically Islamised part that even the Indian political leaders are severely and daftly constrained to discuss much for fear of a large Muslim backlash in the country. Unfortunately the western press patronises the pro-pakistani news even at the cost of a genuine Indian cause. Indian media follow the suit like a flock of sheeps as a ‘white man’s burden’. Accordingly contemplatively the Pakistani media are quite vociferous.
Some columns have described, “Kashmir pot on the boil again”. Both the national and international press have joined the band wagon equally in this mad race for a fast sale and high rating gimmick. But none expressed their will to address the underlying pathology of the malady that sadly lacked from their assessment uniformly. It is felt that this erodes the very basic ethical values of journalism which is responsible for shaping the modern day socio-political milieu in big ways in a democracy.
The past month has been a very crucial period, not just for the very complex Indo-Pak relations but involving some important global summits in Washington and Toronto too.
After the much hyped SAARC summit at Thimpu, the Indo-Pak Prime Ministers had somehow agreed to restart the bilateral talks put on hold after the 26/11 attack. Despite that there occurred nostalgically another attack on German Bakery in Pune last February. It must be reminded that it has been a very painful decision on the part of the India after those humiliatingly heinous attacks directly involving the Sovereignty repeatedly. The criminal militant involving the Parliament attack on 13 December 2001 has yet to be dealt with adequately.
There have been two Foreign Secretary level talks between India and Pakistan, one in Delhi followed in Islamabad on 22-23rd June 2010. A SAARC Interior Ministers meeting also took place on 24-25th June 2010 in Islamabad where again Indian Foreign Secretary Ms Nirupama Rao continued her visit with Mr P. Chidambaram, Home Minister and Mr G. K. Pillai, Home Secretary for further discussions. This shows the serious willingness and resolve on the part of India to take the bilateral issues to their meaningful conclusions.
Although the meeting between the foreign secretaries seemed cheerful, if not meaningful, but the discussions between the Home Ministers seemed far less than desired. The aim of whole exercise between Indo-Pak counterparts was to build a bridge towards “The Trust Deficit”.
To tee off, the first mistake that happened was that Indian Flag called Tricolour was put upside down. Though it was trivialised as a small error but given the tense and sensitive nature of the spiky relations, it should, at best, preferably not been allowed to happen. At the least it did not create a good milieu even if the intention was not to hurt; but who knows? It was wisely dismissed as a trivial error corrected immediately after (stress put) the Indian Home Minister pointed out to it. The beginning was made with a gross deficiency in the desired “hospitality” if not in the “Trust”.
On Saturday (26th June), Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmud Qureshi said that he can not do anything about the Hafiz Saeed because in a democratic country everybody has their right for free speech; like in India. Indirectly, as one can deduce, it is a clear signal to Hafiz Saeed for further emboldened venomous hate speeches against India, in stead of “putting a lid” on his such activities as requested by Chidambaram. Hence as the morning shows the day, “Is this ruckus in Kashmir is a direct ISI instigated LeT orchestrated “full scene” perpetrated through their hired and trained man power”, one tends to ask? Some information on LeT can be obtained on the link:
Profile: Lashkar-e-Taiba (Army of the Pure) (a.k.a. Lashkar e-Tayyiba, Lashkar e-Toiba; Lashkar-i-Taiba) - Council on Foreign Relations
How the various groups operate in different names in Pakistan with impunity can be deduced from the list: The terror groups that were banned in 2002 but which again started their activities under a new name include Sipah-i-Sahaba, Jaish-e-Muhammad, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Tehrik-i-Jafria, Harkatul Jihad Islami, Harkatul Mujahideen, Hizbul Tehrir, Lashkar-i-Jhangvi and Sipah-i-Muhammad. The Lashkar-e-Taiba became Jamat-ud-Dawa, Sipah-i-Sahaba became Millat-i-Islamia Pakistan, Jaish-e-Muhammad turned into Alfurqan and Khuddamul Islam and Tehrik-i-Jafria were renamed Islami Tehrik Pakistan. See the link:
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To highlight the point, one Colonel Neeraj Sood was killed on the night of 22nd June in an encounter with militants in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district, a highest ranking officer gone down fighting this year. In another gunfight, a lieutenant was injured in Poonch by a group of infiltrators. All these militants are provided cover by the Pakistan Army. Indian army official said that the spot in Kupwara is mountainous and has thick forest cover to make it difficult to hunt down the militants. More so when there is a backup military camouflage.
In another encounter in Bhanot area of Poonch on the same night, Lieutenant Nikhil Basmeet took a bullet when a group of infiltrators attacked his column. Sopore is a historically militant infested place and been in constant glare of media; where the security forces killed Abu Zubair, the deputy chief commander of Lashkar-e Tayyiba in Jammu and Kashmir again on 22nd June. In last May, Yoginder Rajbar, a major, was killed during an encounter with militants at Chittibandi village in Bandipora district.
None of these brutal killings of the innocent army officers genuinely carrying out their duty and dubiously killed by these Islamic terrorists in the Jammu and Kashmir’s highly charged area by militants received its deserved news coverage; as the half hearted reports on the deliberately orchestrated and well planned ‘heat’ by these ignorant youngsters kept involved by the hired goons and stone pelters. The Mir Jafars are always there and always will be.
Any unrest in Jammu and Kashmir also serves a very good tactical move to push these Pakistani trained non-state fresh recruits to wage jihad in the valley. The roots of “Kashmir Pot Boiling” are deep and perennial and a well thought out annual strategy by the forces alien and outside the locality.
Then there is a usual annual religious event Of “Amarnath Yatra (voyage)” in India starting from 1st July. It has to pass through the Anantnag District in South Srinagar. This is a Hindu important annual event, whose date, route and place is fixed for centuries, even before the birth of Islam. Two years ago, the Islamic radicals had created a big violent issue on the same Yatra on land allocation for the interim period for a break for the pilgrims. Any Hindu event becomes a cogent cause for interference by these Islamic radicals as a pious act of jihad.
All these above events are well known to the Islamic radicals nursed in the fertile land of Islamic Republic Of Pakistan. Lashkar-e Tayyiba and Jamat-ut Dawa are well known names to everybody, may be for the wrong reasons; is another point. The Chief of these both synonymous names is Mr Hafiz Saeed. He is also best known for his involvement in the Mumbai 26/11 massacre. He vows to bleed India by thousand cuts for liberation (he only knows its meaning) of Kashmir, Hyderabad, Junagarh; if not the rest of India, as also envisaged by the Senior Rep. Gary Ackerman in his report of 11th February 2010 to the House of Representatives in US.
It is not fully clear, “How much did he play his role directly or indirectly in the Times Square fizzled bomb scare besides Maulana Masood Azhar along with Pakistani Taliban (TTP)”?
The current turmoil in Kashmir started from 11th June 2010. I shall not even try to trace the chicken-or-egg conundrum needlessly; but the Kashmir is kept on the boil intentionally. It was anticipated, in fact. I have tried to explain the psyche behind the “Kashmir Potpourri” before as it is a multimillion dollar industry for individuals as well as the Nation of Pakistan as a whole. Apart from the Islamisation industry, it is a direct hit on the raison d’être for Pakistan Military/ISI, the religious jihadi industry nurtured in the fertile soil of Pakistan theatre there.
One must also remember that now summer coming, the ice in the high hills has melted and it is a peak season for the militant operatives in the valley. It makes a very convenient combination of opportunities for the Pakistani sponsored Islamic terrorism in Kashmir and other parts of India.
Hence a boiling, sizzling Kashmir is a profitable business. The present day media gets a lot of spicy, juicy news cover, the jihadis get a chance to show their one-man up ship. The ilks of LeT Islamic organisations get their ‘man, money and mind’ funding from all over the world; not just Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries including the society of Pakistan itself where they have opened their hundreds of operative centres. Pakistan Government is incompetent and impotent before them.
Pakistan Army fulfils her India centric mission and can pretend to the West to blame India for her all ills and cast slur that they have to amass their military might on their western border. This has been a sordid reason of dissent between US and Pakistan relations for starting the renewed military operations in North Waziristan to hit the Afghan Taliban of Haqqani group.
It also helps them maintain the disproportionate extravagant military budget and deployment against Indian side. India has never first attacked (stress put) the Pakistan, which media generally write recklessly, “so many wars fought between the two countries”. Always it has always been the Pakistan to wage all those wars; India gets needlessly equated pejoratively as the press is dominated by western influence. Hence India gets a second hand treatment. The reasons are historical as well as political, requiring a more detailed analysis, not feasible here due to irrelevance of subject and space.
It also helps the lucrative “Jihad” ideology to propagate the “Peace Loving Religion of Islam” so dear to the Islamic fundamentalists imbued in the “Hearts and Minds” of the Muslims as a whole. It helps to fuel the gingerly Pavlovian reaction on just a hint for “Islam is in Danger” (Islam Khatare Main Hai) philosophy to garner support and gather crowd at the beck of a call.
This is the reason for the “Kashmir on The Boil” scenario. I have no doubt that there will be calls by such agencies like Human Rights Groups, International Crisis Groups, call for UN agents, call for European Union representatives and also calls for a third party mediation on the issue, calls for a Kashmiri self determination, plebiscite, and so on usual stale Pakistani meaningless rhetorics and arguments.
LeT has claimed their membership to the tune of about four to five thousand in the Kashmir Valley. Pakistan must be playing her clandestine role which they openly claim for support to the struggle in Kashmir which has been now thoroughly islamised unabashedly. Unfortunately India can not use the word Muslims or Islam on board as opposed to Pakistan where Islam is a staple religio-political fodder despite their claim of Democracy. There is nothing communal about it there. But how far can Indian secular credentials be tested is equally a pertinent question?
Recently there has been a spurt of violence across the streets of downtown Toronto by some masked protesters over the weekend setting police cars ablaze and smashing store windows in a violent show of opposition to the G20 summit. Toronto police Chief Bill Blair admitted police had struggled to control the crowds and used tear gas occasionally after warning the people to stay away from the troubled spot. “We have never seen that level of wanton criminality and vandalism and destruction on our streets,” he said and continued further, “There are limits to free speech, and these limits really end when it infringes on the rights and safety of others.”
The above remarks of the police chief in Toronto, where such scenes are rare, show an impassioned attitude and calls for a limit to free speech. Then how much the freedom of speech and expression should be tolerated amid the well known fundamentally orchestrated rowdism by a transnationally operated perpetual circus? Kashmir street vandalism is the best example of a foreign “State Sponsored Terrorism” directed intentionally to interfere in the internal affairs of the other nation. Bill Blair will get the shock of his life in the Valley of Kashmir.
“Is it the Kashmir Pot on the Boil or the Islam Pot is on the Boil”; the real issue needs to be understood, projected and addressed. A real thoughtful concept of the problem can shed light not only on Kashmir pot but all the pots boiling including Pakistan, Afghanistan and the rest of the globe. Till then the pots will keep boiling; today here, and tomorrow elsewhere; and undoubtedly newer and newer unheard groups of terrorist organisations will keep breeding and raise their inimical hydra to our detriment. The latest ‘Times Square’ bomb hoax is another good example of the pot boiling elsewhere. Not to miss to include the Russian groups too, once a powerful communist empire. Pakistan did it again to the dismay of Hillary Clinton.
Dr. Om Prakash Sudrania
(Dr. O. P. Sudrania is a senior retired teacher in surgery and a medico-legal counsellor; now also engaged in research of socio-political analytical science as a part of service to humanity.)