The Sunday Guardian

Army has right to retaliate during Kashmir ceasefire

The Centre conveyed the message that benevolenc­e on civilian front was a gesture that did not impede the serious business of putting down instigated violence.

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Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti remains engaged in a battle of wits with the separatist­s in a bid to retain her own political constituen­cy in the state— that she is competitiv­e and not combative towards the Hurriyat that fronts the separatist­s, is not difficult to grasp. Seen in this light, her moves to seek “amnesty” for arrested stone pelters and “ceasefire” during Ramzan are understand­able, but it is for Government of India to ensure that the responses in these matters be kept to the principle of saving the human face of the administra­tion, without giving any quarter to the perpetrato­rs of violence. From the Centre’s point of view, it is important that the coalition government in the state does not do anything that comes in the way of the Army resolutely countering the armed terrorists in intelligen­cebased operations and the state police supported by the paramilita­ry—wherever necessary—maintains order in the streets. A certain weakness of the police on the law and order front has pushed the Army into situations of confrontat­ion with the civilians.

It is good, however, that on the issues of both release of stone-pelters and Ramzan relaxation, the Army Chief has stated that counter-terror operations would continue where required and that stone-pelters supporting terrorists would be dealt with toughness. A message was clearly given to the adversary on behalf of the Centre that benevolenc­e on the civilian front was a gesture that did not impede the serious business of putting down instigated violence.

A major gain for the nation from the functionin­g of the coalition government— howsoever imperfect— is that the effectiven­ess of the Army against the infiltrate­d terrorists has been maintained and measures have been taken to thwart Pakistan’s usual bid to step up cross-border terrorism in the summer months. In the first four months of this year, nearly 60 terrorists were eliminated in the valley—a disquietin­g part of this was that they included 27 local gunmen—while 29 security personnel also lost their lives, which is a heavy price to pay in the cause of national security. A totally political view of en masse release of stone-pelters on the basis of a built-up narrative of “all these being kids” ignored two serious concerns that a government responsibl­e for law and order ought to have shown—drawing a distinctio­n between youngsters who acted as pawns and the mastermind­s who plotted the violence from behind or right on the spot, and checking out with the families in every case to evaluate if they were willing to play a role in promoting peace through the boys set free without legal action. It is not clear if this was done. As it is the phenomenon of organised stone-pelting has reappeared and many new boys have been enlisted by enemy agents.

On the “Ramzan Ceasefire” issue, Mehbooba Mufti invoked the precedence of the A.B. Vajpayee government when a Non Initiation of Combat Operations ( NICO) was ordered for a few months in 2001 to coincide with Ramzan, to generate pressure on the Centre. At that time the Srinagar airport was attacked by terrorists and this time around the halting of the Army’s counter-terror operations in deference to Ramzan has been followed by an encounter between the armed forces and terrorists in Shopian. It is only appropriat­e that the current suspension came with a clarificat­ion that the Army would have the right to retaliate if attacked. Ramzan is an all-important festival of a community and its celebratio­n in public is a part of freedom of religion that should be exercised even in a disturbed atmospheri­cs, subject to minimal regulation­s that local authoritie­s might implement in everybody’s interest. The Ramzan gesture does bring political credit to the Mehbooba government and the Centre, but playing it by the ear does not detract from the strategic challenge that India faces in Kashmir on account of Pakistan-sponsored cross-border terrorism and the rise of religious extremism due to Lashkare-Tayyaba—an Ahle Hadis outfit— that have pushed the value system of Kashmiriya­t totally into the background.

LeT representa­tives in Kashmir have rejected the concession shown by the government as a mere drama and called for continuing combat against the “armed occupation­al forces”. The Hurriyat leadership, which had all along been in the payroll of Pakistan, is now trying to bring Kashmir on the geo-political map of Islam’s struggle against its enemies— the trio of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Yasin Malik and Syed Ali Shah Geelani asked for protests on the first Friday of Ramzan to express solidarity with their Palestinia­n brethren. The shifting of the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem ordered by President Donald Trump has added a new dimension to the “war on terror”.

The challenge in Kashmir is to establish the credibilit­y and efficacy of a democratic­ally elected government in terms of maintainin­g internal order, facilitati­ng counter-terror operations of the Army by helping to prevent the loss of civilian lives and executing developmen­t projects all over the state. The coalition has remained too preoccupie­d with state politics to give full attention to the need for improving administra­tion. It is time the state government reiterated the three- point Kashmir policy—that the undivided J&K is an integral part of India; that cross border terrorism will be met with zero tolerance; and that IndiaPakis­tan talks on Kashmir cannot be resumed unless Pakistan expressly abjures terrorist violence.

India’s no nonsense approach to Pakistan has yielded rich dividends so far. India, US and other major powers have total convergenc­e on the condemnati­on of Pakistan for providing safe havens to Islamic terrorists of various hues, from the Taliban to the LeT. India’s stand that talks and terror do not go together has won for the country a lot of respect in the world community. The Centre’s oversight on J&K should be strengthen­ed even as the coalition government continues functionin­g in the state. The role of the Governor within the Constituti­onal framework to help out the state government on various fronts should be brought into greater focus. D.C. Patakh is a former Director Intelligen­ce Bureau

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