The Army Chief J. J. Singh'swords that the Kashmiris will understand ?what we mean to them? from the sacrifices our Army personnel are making and risks they are running in saving lives in the wake of the killer earthquake reveals the indomitable optimism of the man in uniform. Indian Army and Air Force have been fighting a twin battle in the Valley. For years, they have set up schools, rehabilitation centres, support systems and counseling centres to help the local population. And now the entire rehabilitation work has been taken up by the Army. The RSS and the corporates too have rushed in relief. The Kashmiris have problems with the Army but they have no faith at all in the State administration. At the hour of crisis, only the military personnel were there to help them.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who is a specimen in Kashmiri armchair politics is ?sad? that the Indian corporates, which rushed to Gujarat and Latur, have not reached Kashmir. Pray who informed him this? Kashmir is as much part of our nation as any other part. It'smen like Mirwaiz who keep abusing India and harbouring cross-border loyalties. The pampered Valley receives so much dole from the Centre that they have never bothered to develop commercially. And people like Mirwaiz, who identify themselves more with Pakistan than their own India, have no cause to rue.
The Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in the last three years has successfully stopped Indian investments in the State. Though he has sought foreign investment, he has consciously kept the Indian businesses out. The fate of the Indian PSUs, operating in the Valley is not very inspiring for the Indian corporates. If at the hour of crisis the Indian businessmen are hesitating to put their best foot forward, no one but the Kashmiris and their so-called jehadis are to be blamed.
The UPA government has announced relief of Rs 642 crore. From Prime Minister to Sonia Gandhi to Pranab Mukherjee visited the affected areas. Sonia Gandhi could as well have travelled a few kilometers in the national Capital or Jammu and witnessed the wretched conditions in which the migrant Kashmiri Pandits are living for the past 15 years. In ramshackle tents, without decent public facilities. Why is the establishment blind to their plight? The UPA is anti-Hindu and pronouncedly insensitive to national sentiments.
Sixteen Hindus, who escaped the jaws of death during the quake, were killed, their throats slit, by the terrorists in the State. The bloodthirsty jehadis were methodical enough to do a halal on the victims. The border encounters are on, as can be seen by the daily toll of terrorists trying to sneak into India using the cover of chaos amidst the massive natural calamity.
The fifth column in India is naturally one with the terrorists. They have always been demanding soft-peddling on Kashmir. They have joined in a chorus suggesting that quake is an opportunity for the Indian government to announce a ceasefire and allow free access into India. But Pakistan has other ideas. Musharraf will not allow Indians access to regions in the border, in PoK, which are unreachable for the Pakistanis. He would rather have the American helicopters land there. Pakistan has been claiming that there are no terror camps across the border. But the reports from Muzaffarabad tell a different story.
A senior Intelligence official in the BSF, K Srinivasan, confirmed that they had intercepted messages between PoK and Kashmir, which revealed extensive damage to the terror training camps. Mirwaiz, too, has confirmed that several of his terror bothers have perished. That'sthe reason why all these sections are crying for immediate restoration of communications network with PoK to assess the extent of damage, which Manmohan Singh has conceded.
For Manmohan Singh the destruction of terrorist camps in PoK is not an issue, which should be discussed now. This is the time the Prime Minister should have made his point, because later, nobody will hear him. Here is the clinching evidence of Pakistan'sdouble talk to prove how bogus are the pretence of confidence building and bonhomie which some in India are too eager to buy. Natural calamity is indeed a time for mourning but it is also the time to renew our pledge and rebuild. The Indian Army is showing the way. But all their sacrifice could go waste for want of political will and a resolve to beat the enemy in his own game.
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