J K News Today Special
NSA Ajit Doval’s message last weekend that normalcy in Kashmir will return on the behaviour of Pakistan has not been understood in its right perspective , rather some quarters have termed it as putting ball in other’s court.
What did Doval tell a select group of journalists in new Delhi on Saturday that , “ normalcy in Kashmir can be restored if Pakistan starts behaving”. It was interpreted that the country was waiting for good behaviour from Pakistan to make its own people in Kashmir to free them from the information blackout and restrictions put in place after the August 5 historic decision of undoing of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir .
And , it was also seen as an expression that the “ political leaders “ would remain in detention , and the other normal activity would have to wait till Pakistan modifies its behaviour in tune with the liking of the Indian government. That, Pakistan held the key to peace and normalcy in Kashmir was the kind of cherry picking that some quarters did , which have been critical of the restrictions and the clampdown on internet..
These are wrong interpretations .
How ?
Here lies the answer or answers.
Pakistan was not happy, to put it in better terms, it was angry over what the Indian government did with the strong and the overwhelming endorsement in removing the special status and Article 35 A from the constitution. India had taken the measure within the constitutional provisions, and therefore, it was, and is , purely an internal matter of India. Pakistan started raising hue and cry and started making noises at the international fora. It activated its embassies , knocked the doors of the UN Security Council , and with the support of China had got an informal meeting of the UNSC organized .
That was one part. Second, it warned of Jihad in Kashmir. Third, it vowed to “ support Kashmiris right to self determination ,and committed , as the rhetoric went, all Pakistanis to the “ cause of Kashmiris.”
Fourth, it is a world-wide known fact that Pakistan is an epicenter of terrorism . India echoes that because Pakistan has perennially launched terror attacks on its soil from Kashmir to Mumbai and left hundreds dead . The terrorism is continuing , if not at the scale that it was in previous years, but the greater danger has emerged the way Pakistan has used the revocation of the Article 370 to stoke fears among the Kashmiri people as if they were in existential threat.
This was to counter the reality that there were not any death in the past six weeks . It had irritated and frustrated Pakistan no end. What has fuelled its anger is that none of the Islamic countries lent it a shoulder to cry on Kashmir, rather they shrugged off their shoulders from such an eventuality by Pakistan . In sheer desperation it is trying to use every trick in the text book to internationalise Kashmir issue- the Line of Control is alive, it is seeking to push in infiltrators, it is undertaking theatrics of standing every Friday in “ solidarity with Kashmiris,” a move that its own leader Sherry Rehman denounced as an act of “ stupidity”.
Terrorism is breathing and oxygen is being supplied by Pakistan . Unless Pakistan cuts that supply, the normalcy in Kashmir cannot arrive on its own.
NSA said, “ our job is to protect the people , that we are doing.” But the onus lies on Pakistan to keep its hands, words and incitement off Kashmir to enable the people of the Valley to enjoy the fruits of the greater integration with India. Each and every word that Ajit Doval said is correct and it can be tested on the touchstone of the reality. He was not rhetorical , but talking of reality.
