JK News Today Commentary
Union Home Minister Amit Shah ‘s direction to security forces to go all out against terrorists and their supporting networks in Jammu and Kashmir to make it a terror-free territory is having new dimensions. This is beyond the usual call for action against all sorts of terrorism that security apparatus in the UT has been battling with highly encouraging results, as it is an invocation of fighting all elements of terrorism and psyche that promotes deviation from normal life .
This has been in line an invocation with the Modi Government’s policy of “ zero tolerance of terrorism.”. There is a larger objective to save the youth from falling into the trap of drugs and drugs-induced terrorism in J&K .The menace of drugs has already caused a havoc in the UT , but this is time as the ,a s Home Minister underscored in his security review meeting with the officers and army for two days in Delhi , an all out war should be declared on narco-terrorism . Apart from this, there is a call to keep J&K’s environment free of all anti-national discourses largely by doing handholding and use of force wherever that becomes necessary.
All this if decoded in the realistic terms is a task prescribed for J&K police that have achieved tremendous success in the past. Since it is not just a fight against bombs and guns , it is also at the psyche of unrest that some vested interests are seeking to perpetuate at the behest of Pakistan . The Police, however , have to do it with the cooperation of Army and other agencies . The reality of the day is that J&K police is a big bridge between the civil administration and the security network . It has established best of relations with the people across J&K .
Jammu and Kashmir police and other agencies fighting terrorism, its sources and all other hostile forces have been tasked to take measures to improve the environment in which terrorism has no place . Essentially ,, this is call to destroy the terror networks and eliminate all sources and propaganda that makes the youth to deviate from the right path. In other words this is to seek investment in the idea of India and elimination of all the pollutants.
A particular dimension of this “ zero-tolerance policy toward terrorism” with regard to Jammu and Kashmir is simply not about the geographical boundaries of the UT, but covers a large canvas on the national and international front . This particular territory has defied India troubled nation with Delhi being clueless about the way to correct its image and definition . The fact of the matter is that Kashmir’s terrorism had become a black spot on the Indian nation’s map and psyche .
There comes a time in the history of the place where pain killers refuse to work and a surgery becomes urgent. But the problem was that no one was willing to pick up the surgical tools as they were unsure of the success . This hesitancy caused malignancy .It was only after the Modi government assumed office , such a measure was reflected and acted upon . The surgery began with abrogation of Article 370 , sending a clear message that terrorism that sought to secede J&K from the country on the basis of a constitutional provision that made ambivalence prevail over clarity needed to be removed , and that was removed for once and for all.
Kashmir had recorded worst kind of violence which left thousands in graves and many more displaced and the entire population groping in darkness about their future. . This phenomenon was intolerable . It was consuming lives , hampering normalcy and putting a black spot on the Indian politics and national security . The impression was going around that Delhi was risk-averse in taking action against perpetrators of heinous crime , encouraged and incited by Pakistan and its full-time working propaganda machinery . Pakistan had seeped its philosophy of inciting secession in the impressionable minds .
The Modi government realized that enough is enough . It opened the track of punishing the terrorists and their mentors across the border in retaliation to the terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir .It launched cross-LoC surgical strike in response to the terror attack at Uri garrison in September 2016, and gain in February 2019 in retaliation to the terror assault on CRPF convoy in which 40 CRPF personnel were martyred . That conveyed a very strong message to Pakistan that it cannot hide itself within the confines of its geography and escape punishment for its crimes in J&K.
That however made Pakistan to change its strategies, it resorted to low-intensity attacks to evade any retaliation , and upped its propaganda machinery oiling the terror machinery through such means .The Indian security forces that were fighting terrorists and their network with their hands tied in back by the political forces having a vested interest in chaos and confusion .
With the announcement and implementation of zero tolerance toward terrorism idea on the ground , results started emerging . The people were the first to feel elated as fears of guns , bombs and stones disappeared. They started enjoying the fruits of normalcy and peace in their lives. For the first time in decades, they could think of their own welfare .
Pakistan is obviously not pleased with this . It continues to attempt to inject various elements of terrorism into J&K . The killing of an ex-army soldier Manzoor Ahmad in his village in Kulgam in south Kashmir and injuries to his wife and daughter amply demonstrated as to what kind of fear-stoking measures were being implemented in Kashmir .. This disturbs atmosphere of the concerned village and the way it is broadcast also causes unease among the people at large . The terrorists are being recruited through drug money . Drugs are also being used to mislead and recruit them into terror groups.
In this context Home Minister’s call to go ruthless against terrorists and their ecosystem is most timely and aimed at not only making J&K terror-free but also saving generation that is being pushed to drugs and terrorism.
