Desperate for an image makeover, Pak is recruiting locals in order to label its insidious plans against India as home-grown resistance against atrocities committed by Govt forces
Post August 5, 2019, Islamabad has tried different tricks to remain relevant in Kashmir. However, most of the Pakistani moves have either failed or backfired. But as far as Pakistan-sponsored terror is concerned, it is once again threatening to thwart the desire of the Indian Government to restore normalcy and peace in Kashmir. It is a last-ditch attempt by Pakistan which might fail but, it is certain to succeed in delaying the process of normalisation.
A new wave of terror is emerging in Kashmir with indigenous flavour. Having been recognised the world over as the fountainhead of terrorism and the biggest promoter of cross-border terror, Pakistan is desperately trying an image makeover. It is recruiting locals in order to label its insidious plans against India as home-grown resistance against the atrocities committed by Government forces. The fear of being blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force, a global watchdog for terror funding and financing, has also compelled Islamabad to remain a latent promoter of cross-border terror.
The familiar names of terror organisations active in Kashmir, like the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), are gradually being replaced by new ones like The Resistance Force (TRF), Lashkar-e-Mustafa, Ghaznavi Force and Al-Badr. Most of these groups are old wine in a new bottle with the majority of the cadre being locally recruited. However, their operational and financial control remains with their bosses in Pakistan.
These new terror outfits are not as well-equipped as their parent organisations and rely mainly on the arms smuggled into the Valley through various means using the over ground network. Local youth are lured into militancy in the name of jihad after being radicalised through social media platforms and venomous speeches of the mullahs and anti-India leaders. They are not being trained in the jihadi training camps in Pakistan-occupied Jammu Kashmir (PoJK) or Afghanistan but locally in the jungles of South Kashmir and are initiated into terrorism by lobbing grenades at security forces’ pickets or crowded places. The focus is also shifting from rural to urban insurgency, with encounters taking place in and around Srinagar, while Jammu is emerging as another preferred base of these terrorists. Target selection, too, has undergone a change. The earlier modus operandi of large-scale attacks on security forces or suicide attacks on their camps has been given up and the terrorists are now concentrating more on targeted killings and use of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). Now, instead of azadi (freedom), establishing Nizam-e-Mustafa (Shariya rule) and retaining the monolith character of Kashmir is the main motivator of local terrorists. Minorities and police personnel form the main targets of motivated and targeted killings.
Earlier, the weapons recovered from the terrorists used to be a big proof of Pakistan’s involvement as they either had Pakistani or Chinese markings. To overcome this, Islamabad is now encouraging Kashmiri terrorists to buy weapons from Bihar. Smuggling through tunnels and dropping arms with the help of drones also continue since the supply from Bihar and its transportation all the way to Kashmir is prone to interception by law enforcement agencies. Bihar, also being a major source of arms supply to Maoists active in the ‘Red Corridor’, is not able to meet the full requirement of Kashmiri terrorists. Pakistan’s intention in all this is very clear, it wants Kashmir to remain a flashpoint on the international radar; keep it on the boil; discourage outside investment which is likely to generate employment and wean away the youth from militancy and also create a 1990s-like environment of insecurity among the minorities so that the possible return of Kashmiri Pandits is thwarted. By ensuring that the youth remain unemployed and frustrated, it wants to ensure that the ready supply of fodder to the jihadi cadre is not affected.
An insecure environment will also keep tourists away from Kashmir and hence prevent the revival of the tourism and handicrafts industry, the backbone of Kashmir’s economy. To this end, Pakistan has been successful in selling a narrative of demographic invasion and minimising the Muslim-majority character of Kashmir and promoting the Hindutva agenda of the RSS-backed BJP Government at the Centre. Unfortunately, many so-called nationalist mainstream leaders in Kashmir have been vociferously promoting the Pakistani narrative.
The ‘Deep State’ in Pakistan is not satisfied with indigenous uprising being confined only to Kashmir as this makes its case weak globally. A concerted effort post August 2019 has been diverted towards reviving militancy in Jammu as well. Many sleeper cells have been created and the terrorists are being trained for lone wolf attacks to disturb communal harmony.
There are other reasons for shifting the focus towards Jammu by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Jammu’s location close to the International Border (IB) and its heterogeneous population with close proximity to Punjab — another target of the ISI — provides the ideal breeding ground for militancy. Also, the murders of Kashmiri Muslims by terrorists, both Pakistani and local, have created huge resentment among Kashmiris.
The citizens are not only fed up but are turning against the terrorists and not helping them as much as they used to. They are sharing information about the presence of terrorists with the security forces, as a result of which most of the top commanders have been killed.
Thus, safe havens in Jammu are considered more lucrative. But the latest successes of the J&K Police in capturing top commanders of the TRF as well as Lashkar-e-Mustafa in Jammu have sent shockwaves not only among them but also among their bosses in Pakistan.
Due to a strong anti-infiltration grid created on the Line of Control by the Indian Army, terrorists and their handlers have been preferring the IB sector for infiltration; hence Jammu acts as a suitable base for their further despatch to Kashmir or Punjab. Similar is the argument for smuggling and distribution of narcotics. Hence, Jammu has emerged as an ideal base for narco-terrorism.
Like Kashmir, the ISI also wants to trigger insecurity in the Jammu region so that future investors are discouraged. It has not gone down well with the ISI that the J&K Government is not planning to confine new industries to the Jammu-Kathua belt but is encouraging investors to set up industry in far-flung districts, too.
The new wave of terror in J&K, if not nipped in the bud, may prove costly and damaging, as has happened many times in the past. Surely, our leaders, experts and planners would have learnt lessons from the past and would not let another opportunity for ensuring lasting peace slip away. Terrorism, whether local or imported, is the enemy of peace and jihadis are the enemies of humanity.
Unfortunately, Pak apologists operating in India continue to remain silent and accord their latent support to the madness. They refuse to condemn, name and shame Pakistan or take a firm stand against targeted killings of minorities, quite similar to their response in the 1990s. Only a united approach would lead to elimination of the menace of terror and return of peace.
The writer is a Jammu-based political commentator, columnist, security and strategic analyst. The views expressed are personnel.
