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From Our Special Correspondent
A lot of hype is being created over the people-to-people contact to establish peace and friendship with Pakistan but the sincerity of the party on the other side still creates doubts. There are reasons for it.
First, the terrorist attacks and violence still continue unabated. The infrastructure of terror is still intact. There is little let up in the anti-India propaganda by the elements behind the designs.
Secondly, the double talk, both for peace and Jehad, is still going on, adding to the already existing doubts.
As part of the people-to-people contact a group of Pakistani journalists visited Jammu & Kashmir. They were greeted with warmth both by the local journalists and in the corridors of power.
To reciprocate the visit, a group of journalists from this state too, visited Pakistan and Pak-held Kashmir. They were also welcomed as guests, both in Pakistan and in PoK. But the gift provided to these journalists included lots of books and literature spitting venom against India alongwith highly provocative writings inciting them to launch a Jehad (holy war) against India in Kashmir.
One such book also included is Kalm Kae Mahaz Sae. Composed by Javed Jaffari and published by Kashmir Academy of PoK in Muzaffarabad, it contains over a hundred poems and some other writings also.
The very first poem of this Urdu book, written by Iqbal Azeem, starts: ?Apni tehreek ke shoulon ko bujha mat dena, yeh shaheedon ki amanat hai ganwa mat dena.?
This highly provocative poem also contains: ?Phar kar phaink do mathon se tringa jhanda, sabz parcham ka magar rang bhula mat dena.?
Terror training and explosives from Pakistan.
The entire book is full of attempts to incite anti-India feelings and preach violence through what they call Jehad in Kashmir.
A number of other books and pamphlets are loaded with anti-India propaganda and are against Indian forces, inciting the Muslims to take up guns and opt for violence.
In these books and pamphlets, highly misleading and distorted facts have been presented to put India and Indian leadership in the wrong. In this campaign of propaganda even some other countries and leaders have not been spared.
After going through these books and pamphlets, one has reasons to assert that efforts for peace and friendship are alright but the ground realities should not lose sight and preparedness is necessary to meet any eventuality.
Observers of the Kashmir scene are of the view that to spread the message of love and peace is good, but this love should not be blind.
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Security experts are concerned as to wherefrom the deadly explosives are being procured by the various militant outfits.
In the past, about a decade now, the various security agencies as also the state police have recovered about 100 tonnes of different types of explosives in Jammu & Kashmir. These explosives also include over 10,000 kgs of deadly RDX and PETN/TNT in addition to over 6,000 Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).
Earlier there was the general impression that the explosives were being smuggled from across the Line of Control (LoC)/border. But as increased quantities of explosives came to be recovered even after fencing the LoC/border, and that too from the interior areas like that of Doda district and also Anantnag and other places which are quite far away from the border, there is a growing feeling that the supply sources could also be elsewhere than only in PoK/Pak.
It is said some truckers and other sources of transportation are involved in carrying these explosives, but what is more worrying is actually where these explosives are being manufactured.
Some of the documents and literature recovered from the ultras also raise doubts about the places of manufacturing of the explosives. These documents reveal details about the material required for the manufacture of explosives.
However, it is confirmed that many of the militants are receiving special training in the assembling of IEDs though the required material including the RDX/TNT, etc. is not being prepared locally. So there is a feeling that the sources of supply should also be identified to hit out at the right places.
The recovery and use of the RDX and other explosives had started with the outbreak of militancy in 1989 but deadly RDX/TNT explosives were first recovered in 1996, when these were first used by attaching them to time devices at Maulana Azad Stadium, where half a dozen such devices exploded during the Republic Day celebrations. The deadly explosives, used sparingly then, have now come to be used very liberally since the past five or six years.
