Some Thoughts Post Pahalgam

Given the past experiences, after the terror attacks in Uri and Pulwama in 2016 and 2019, India’s response to Pahalgam attack may come any time, how soon or late is a matter to be decided by the leadership, taking all pros and cons into consideration. This particular aspect invokes the strikes against Pakistan. This time, some action has already been taken; the wait is on for, what next, when, where and how.

Fundamental challenge is far bigger this time than 2016 and 2019. Pahalgam massacre was a terror attack with a difference. It happened when the nation had taken normalcy-cum-peace in Kashmir for granted, and there were many reasons for that – the Valley had not seen the terror attack of 22/4 scale for years. Locals’ participation in making peace a new norm had boosted confidence of the tourists. They had visited in large numbers in the past few years.

The whole narrative focused on future developments in infrastructure and efforts to increase opportunities for the youth to grow in positive direction. It was presumed that the whole thing was irreversible as the abrogation of Article 370 had worked wonders in the lives of the ordinary people in Kashmir. It was believed that terrorism has not been held in abeyance but scrapped.

I am not going by the timeframe that surgical strike across the LoC came 10 days after Uri attack on September 18, in which 20 soldiers were killed, or the aerial strike deep inside in Balakot of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on February 26, 2019. That was 12 days after Pulwama terror attack on February 14, which left 40 CRPF men dead, my focus is on what is the ultimate objective for which the work is underway.

Primarily, the objectives can be divided into two categories; one, India has to live up to new national anthem against terrorism, to bring perpetrators, backers and planners of Pahalgam attack to justice.

This has another connotation too that all the sources of terrorism are to be neutralised, as this doesn’t need much decoding. It is a plain and simple reference to the terrorists who staged ghastly killings of 25 tourists and a Kashmiri youth on April 22^nd, their facilitators, and sympathisers. And, of course, there is Pakistan where the whole gruesome tragedy was planned. This is the general impression, and there is little doubt to doubt it.

Second, it is to neutralise the terror-supporting elements across the border through diplomatic and military actions so that the terrorism does not visit the country, Jammu and Kashmir in particular, again. This also was the objective when the surgical and aerial strikes were conducted in 2016 and 2019. That did not stop the terrorists and their patrons from enacting Pahalgam.

In the previous two major attacks, and many more that took place on the timeline of Kashmir since 1990 – massacres, shootouts, bombings and so on, happened when the violence was common place. Living with terrorism was a considered reality.

Pahalgam broke the speed of the cycle of normalcy. It also instilled a scare in the minds of those who would have been the visitors. A majority of them have cancelled their plans to be in the Valley as per their planned schedule for this year. Kashmir is off their holidaying itinerary. It may sound crude but the fact is that they have held their visits to the valley in abeyance .The image of the Vale as a safe tourist destination has been dented.

These circumstances pose newer challenges. Terrorism is not a one-day phenomenon nor can it be vanquished in a day. That is to say that the whole infrastructure of terrorism took years to build to the level where it manifested in big troubles since 1990 – the Indian nation was challenged, and so were its institutions. An alternate system had replaced the rule of law. This is a bitter reality, and it cannot be swept under the carpet. The history documents things with deep sense of consciousness even if the participants and the watchers refuse to acknowledge it.

The core issue is radicalisation. Its roots are traced to radical groups in Kashmir, indoctrination material broadcast from across the border, and by the conflict perpetuators. All this is true, but there are other sources of radicalisation which remain unacknowledged because that exposes our underbelly.

A big crackdown on terrorists, their facilitators and sympathisers is considered as an effective way of dealing with both terrorism and the radicalisation that gives birth to it. It is intended to serve as a deterrent to radicals.

Fear plays a key role in such situations. It serves as a reminder that venturing into extremist misadventures has consequences – from prison to demolition of their homes, and death in encounters. At the same time, it should also be recollected that no one had imagined that Pahalgam could happen amidst this highly intensified approach against terrorism and its ecosystem. Still it happened. It is not that the strategy had drawbacks. It is, perhaps that this was a single-lens approach where other possibilities of tackling radicalisation were not applied in the measure those should have been.

And the sources of radicalisation or inclination also came from outside of J&K. Given that J&K is a Muslim majority region, which endured all kinds of violence, lived on indoctrination from external and internal sources, other options, if applied, alongside the hard ones, could have delivered desired results.

There was a general awareness that development in infrastructure building, connectivity projects offered greater opportunities. The cycle of development is on. The people are enamoured of this. But bloodbath in Pahalgam and its aftermath have diverted the attention. Few gaps too have emerged after the attack.

Thousands would lose their work as the tourists are not coming back soon. Their plight also needs to be taken care of. A hand holding of such people connected with tourism that had become a lifeline for the normalcy and peace in the Valley will help defeat designs of the enemies of peace. This should be one of the core strategies of credible deterrence to the designs of perpetrators, backers and planners of troubles in the Vale.