The face of terrorism in J&K is slowly changing. Earlier the emphasis was on the locals who would indulge in acts of terror. However now, statistics would show that most of the terrorists who have been operating in the Valley are Pakistan nationals.
Data released by the Army suggests that in the encounters that have taken place this year, nearly 60 per cent of the terrorists who have been gunned down are Pakistani nationals.
Terror no longer lucrative
While there has been no let up by Pakistan in sending its terrorists into J&K, the welcome sign is that the local youth are no longer brandishing the gun. This has largely to do with the fact that the government of India has taken a different approach in J&K.
The emphasis is more on development and providing jobs. Further there have been several programmes that have been undertaken wherein the youth are told about the ill-effects of terrorism and how there is no meaning in playing into the hands of Pakistan.
The youth of J&K have been shown the Pakistan example and how the country is in doldrums economically. The rate of unemployment in Pakistan is high because the youth have followed the path of terror instead of investing their time and energy into education and getting jobs.
Further Pakistan has invested heavily on radicalisation and terrorism while completely ignoring development and creation of jobs. The youth of J&K have realised that embracing terror would only lead to the Union Territory becoming another Pakistan.
Pakistan’s obsession with J&K
Pakistan continues to remain obsessed with Jammu and Kashmir. The Pakistan Army and ISI believes that this is their trump card and engaging their youth in J&K would pay them dividends.
However post the abrogation of Article 370 a lot has changed and J&K has completely slipped out of Pakistan’s hand. If one looks at the political landscape a lot has changed in the Union Territory. The chief minister of J&K Omar Abdullah has shown his willingness to work with the Centre and this in itself is a major change. Former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti continues to drum up the separatist sentiment, but the election results said it all.
The National Conference won 42 seats while the BJP put up an impressive performance coming second with 29 seats. The PDP headed by Mehbooba Mufti could manage only 3 seats and this suggests a rout. In other words, the people of J&K showed the party its place and indicated that there is no longer any room for separatism.
Pakistan realises that the winds have changed in J&K. With the youth of J&K refusing to pick up the gun, Pakistan finds itself in a desperate situation and hence is using all its resources to send in its nationals to J&K. While at first Pakistan did find some amount of success, but currently it is facing heavy losses due to the might of the Indian Army.
A military Intelligence official told Organiser that there is no traction for terror among the locals in Jammu and Kashmir. Hence Pakistan is desperate to infiltrate as many terrorists from its soil. The sheer number of people waiting at the launch pads along the Line of Control (LoC) itself suggests that Pakistan wants to desperately push its nationals into J&K and undertake terror attacks.
The death of separatism
One of the main reasons why the youth of Kashmir have moved away from terrorism and stone pelting is due to the death of separatism. The numerous probes undertaken by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) signalled that the separatists had indulged in such acts not because of the Kashmir cause. The primary intention was minting money and ensuring that their kin lived lavishly abroad.
The various probes brought to the fore the kind of indulgence that the separatists were involved in. Gradually the youth began realising that they were being used by these separatists for their selfish gains. Over a period of time the youth realised that they need to putting their resources to better use and terrorism and stone pelting was just a waster of time and energy.
A big change that the UT witnessed under the Modi government is that funerals of terrorists was not made a public affair. Today the bodies of terrorists are handed over to the families only on the condition that they would not make it a public affair. As far as the Pakistani terrorists, their bodies are buried discretely and no public show is made of it.
Further in the war against terror, the agencies focused heavily on the Hizbul Mujahideen. It was necessary for this outfit to die since it had the ability to attract the youth. Syed Salahuddin the head of this outfit was an attracting factor and him being made irrelevant led to the death of the Hizbul Mujahideen as a result of which the youth stopped taking up arms.
Speaking about hardliners and sympathisers Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said, PM Modi has taken a strict decisive stance and those who were hosted as guests by Pak Embassy in New Delhi are now being hosted in Delhi’s Tihar Jail which signifies governments no tolerance to anti- India activism. He also emphasised that hoisting the National Flag was once a dream for many and now the tri-colour is hoisted on every government office in J&K.
The push for development
Post the abrogation of Article 370 there were challenges. While this decision was questioned by the liberals, in the long run it proved to be beneficial. It gave the people of Jammu and Kashmir the sense of belonging towards Bharat as all are today governed by a common law and National Flag.
The government made it clear that Jammu and Kashmir would emerge as a torchbearer of Bharat’s future growth story. Following the abolition of special status, there has been a transformation at the democratic, governance, development and security levels.
For the first time the unexplored natural resources and dormant human resources within Jammu and Kashmir emerged on the surface. Several new projects were started making J&K a power hub of north India.
