Thursday 11 April 2019

Despite shying away from history, Pak honours Bhagat Singh legacy

THE ASIAN AGE. | ANIL BHAT
Published : Apr 1, 2019, 12:17 am IST
Updated : Apr 1, 2019, 12:17 am IST
The Bhagat Singh Archives and Resource Centre has 300 books on Bhagat Singh which will be useful for research scholars.
Students in Kolkata pay a floral tribute to the martyr. (Photo: PTI)
 Students in Kolkata pay a floral tribute to the martyr. (Photo: PTI)
On March 23, 2019, a function to commemorate the martyrdom of Bhagat Singh, Shivram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar, was organised by the Delhi Archives. Marking 88 years of their martyrdom and the completion of one year of the Bhagat Singh Archives and Resource Centre at Delhi Archives, the chief guest on the occasion was Bhagat Singh’s brother, Ranvir Singh’s son, Maj. Gen. Sheonan Singh (retd). He and his cousin Abhay Singh Sandhu, also present, released a brochure. The Bhagat Singh Archives and Resource Centre has 300 books on Bhagat Singh which will be useful for research scholars.
While this event did not make much news in India, it did so in Pakistan and even amidst all the tension and sparring following the February 14, 2019, terrorist attack by Pakistani terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed, the Kartarpur corridor controversy and the conversion and forced marriage of Hindu girls. The observance of the martyrdom anniversary of Bhagat Singh and his associates in Pakistan only goes to prove that the sane constituency there still manages to identify with India, albeit seldom.
The 88th anniversary of the martyrdom of these three great revolutionaries, who were hanged in Lahore, was reportedly observed in that city amid tight security. This day has been observed in Lahore every year, despite threats from fundamentalists, by the Bhagat Singh Memorial Foundation (BSMF), founded by activist and lawyer Imtiaz Rashid Qureshi with the aim of proving Bhagat Singh to be innocent of the murder of the British Raj police officer John P. Saunders. Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar were hanged in 1931 after being found guilty of conspiracy against the Raj. Mr Qureshi believes that this is a fabricated case and maintains that Singh is a hero to people in Pakistan as well.
Also recently, the Lahore district administration, for the first time, named Shadman Chowk (aka Fawara Chowk) in Lahore Bhagat Singh Chowk and recognised him as a revolutionary. Shadman Chowk is the place where the three young revolutionaries were hanged by the British on March 23, 1931. It was then a part of the grounds of Lahore’s Central Jail.
“We have been demanding a statue of Bhagat Singh be put up at this place… We have also been moving to award him Nishan-e-Hyder… the administration has recognised him as a martyr, which is a good initiative,” Mr Qureshi said.
Mr Qureshi has reportedly vowed to make the British government pay a heavy sum as compensation to the families of the martyrs. He moved the Lahore High Court to reopen a 90-year-old case concerning the murder of Saunders in 1928. Speaking to the media, he discussed his wish to seek huge compensation from Britain for both India and Pakistan over the judicial killing of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev, who were hanged 11 hours before their scheduled time of execution.
Mr Qureshi has also alleged that Bhagat Singh’s name is not even mentioned in the FIR registered in December 1928 at Lahore’s Anarkali police station. Speaking to the media, he said, “I will file an amended appeal in the case, which I had filed in March 2013, seeking an apology from the British Prime Minister and the Queen of England to the people of India and Pakistan for hanging the trio… If the previous UK Prime Minister David Cameron can visit Jalianwala Bagh and express regret, then why can’t the current PM Theresa May do the same?” he was quoted. He also mentioned the hurdles he has been facing in his quest. The FIR stated that the Saunders’ assailant was “five feet and five inches tall, had a small moustache, was slim with a strong body and wore white trousers (pyjama) and a grey shirt (kurta) along with a small black christi-like hat,” Mr Qureshi said. “I went to get a copy of the FIR filed in the John Saunders case and the police at Anarkali police station in Lahore asked me to pay a bribe. I refused
and filed a compliance petition with Lahore High Court. It was only then that a DSP rank officer submitted a sealed copy of the FIR in the high court. The copy was so important that even the judges asked me to see it.”
“We are not debating if Bhagat Singh killed Saunders or not, but the evidence on the basis of which he was hanged. The FIR did not contain his name, over 300 witnesses named in the case were not questioned and yet he was hanged on the order of registrar of the Lahore High Court,” he added.
In 2016, the Lahore High Court granted a request from Mr Qureshi for Bhagat Singh’s case to be re-opened to prove his innocence, following an earlier order of the court in 2014 that had led to the discovery of the original December 1928 First Information Report (FIR) relating to Saunders’ murder. The high court requested in 2016 that the Chief Justice of Pakistan appoint a larger bench to adjudicate but nothing further had happened by September 2017 when Mr Qureshi filed a new petition in the hope of gaining a hearing within a month. Mr Qureshi argues that the FIR referred only to two “unknown gunmen”, rather than to Singh, and that the tribunal that was convened to determine the case neither heard the 450 witnesses in the case nor permitted Singh’s lawyers to cross-examine them.
Apart from efforts for a statue to be erected at Shadman Chowk, the BSMF has also been involved in other aspects of commemoration and seeks to promote Singh worldwide through seminars and similar activities. In 2016, the organisation obtained the support of the state government of Punjab, India, in its efforts to build a memorial at Singh’s birthplace at Banga, Faisalabad district, Pakistan. They were promised that the government would pay for the purchase of the family house in the village for that purpose.
While Mr Qureshi has claimed that Shadman Chowk was renamed as Bhagat Singh Chowk due to the efforts of the BSMF, this change was successfully challenged in a Pakistani court. On September 6, 2015, the BSMF filed a petition in Lahore High Court, which again demanded the renaming of the Chowk to Bhagat Singh Chowk.
Pakistan’s government and the army, which still calls the shots, are quite allergic to pre-Pakistan Indian history, resulting in it being suppressed or selectively “altered”. Examples of alterations include emperors Akbar, Jehangir and Shah Jahan, who are considered comparatively liberal or pro-Hindu, being deleted from Mughal history and Pakistan’s fabricated versions of its wars and conflicts against India.
However, while many Hindu temples or shrines have been destroyed or defaced in Pakistan, there are still various Muslim ones in its interior areas where Hindu practices and customs are still followed. Perhaps, this is so owing to the peculiarities of human faith, which have escaped the government’s or the army’s writ. In his book, In Search of Shiva: A Study of Folk Religious Practices in Pakistan, which was reviewed by this writer, Haroon Khalid discloses the customs practised in many such shrines.
Khalid, who studied anthropology at the Lahore University of Management and Sciences, has travelled extensively around Pakistan, documenting the country's historical and cultural heritage. Having authored two more books and written over 200 articles for newspapers and magazines, he has also commented on the Pakistani establishment’s “sensitivities” about Indian and Pakistani history.
Khalid’s wife, Anam Zakaria, has authored two books, The Footprints of Partition: A Narrative of Four Generations, and Between the Great Divide. This author had the pleasure of meeting the young couple in Delhi a couple of years ago, when they came to have their books, Shiva and Footprints, launched. Having reviewed these two books and some others by Pakistani authors, and spoken at length with them, this writer has come to learn that most Pakistani authors who write about Pakistan’s pre-independence past, or against the Pakistani establishment, or in favour of India, cannot get their books published in Pakistan. And those who have written against the army are either living outside Pakistan or have been killed. Journalist Saleem Shahzad, who wrote Beyond Bin Laden and 9/11: Inside the Taliban and Al Qaeda, is one such writer who was killed in 2012. Hassan Abbas, who boldly wrote Pakistan’s Drift Into Extremism, is another who lives in virtual exile.
Activists like Qureshi and authors like Khalid, Zakaria, Abbas, Mujahid Hussain (Punjabi Taliban, published by Pentagon Press, India) and a few others deserve credit for their hard work and courage. People on both sides of the border should read their works and stories.
The writer, a retired Army officer, is a defence and security analyst based in New Delhi
Tags: bhagat singhdelhi archives

Wednesday 10 April 2019


Pak Army is best known for lies, terrorism and brutality
THE ASIAN AGE. | ANIL BHAT
Published : Sep 26, 2018, 1:29 am IST
Updated : Sep 26, 2018, 1:29 am IST
Considering that Pakistan was raised on lies, has been repeatedly lying, compounding lies and, in fact, institutionalising lies, Gen. Bajwa’s and his predecessors’ oft repeated false claims about the Pakistan Army wiping out/not allowing terrorists on Pakistani soil are not at all surprising.
 BSF soldiers carry the body of head constable Narendra Singh after it arrived in his native village in Sonipat, Haryana, on September 20. (Photo: PTI)
He took bullets but everyone knows what Pakistan’s Border Action Team (BAT — a combo of Pakistan Army commandos and terrorists) does. I can’t mention that. There has to be some response... how long should we mourn?” said Mohit, the angry and anguished son of head constable Narendra Singh of the Border Security Force, killed with utter brutality on September 20, 2018.
A look at some of Pakistan and its Army’s lies and ironies is relevant. This brutal act came a few days after India’s cricketer-turned-television presenter-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu went to Pakistan in August 2018 to felicitate its latest Prime Minister, cricketer-turned-playboy-turned-politician and Pakistan Army’s puppet, Imran Khan. And during Mr Sidhu’s visit, he also indulged in the infamous “Jattaan di jhappi” with Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa (embrace of Jats — Mr Sidhu is a Jat Sikh, Gen. Bajwa is a Jat surname, which he has retained despite his ancestors’ conversion to Islam). This was also at a time when both Gen. Bajwa and Mr Khan, known as Pakistan Army’s puppet, spoke about peace talks. On his return Mr Sidhu announced that Gen. Bajwa had told him that Pakistan would open the Kartarpur Corridor on Guru Nanak’s 550th birth anniversary. Kartarpur gurdwara in Pakistan is three kilometre from the India-Pakistan border. In 2000, Pakistan reportedly agreed to allow Sikh pilgrims from India to visit the shrine without passport/visa by constructing a bridge from the Indian side of the border to the shrine.
In Pakistan’s history, whenever its civilian head of state even talked about talks, the Pakistan Army responded immediately with a telling terrorist attack as a reminder, that peace with India cannot happen. However, this time around Gen. Bajwa’s peace overture has come mainly because of the walloping the Pakistan Army has been getting from the Indian Army before and after the September 2016 surgical strikes. The Pakistan Army is very sensitive to losing its own soldiers. That is why it has specialised in outsourcing its anti-India/Kashmir-centric operations to terrorists trained and supported by it, as it is a much cheaper option. There is an unending supply line of young boys from poor homes indoctrinated in Pakistan’s many madrasas and ideal cannon fodder.
On September 6, Gen. Bajwa in his Pakistan’s Defence and Martyrs’ Day speech, vowed to “avenge the blood being shed on the border… Pakistan Army had been ‘valiant’ during the wars of 1965 and 1971…”
Considering that Pakistan was raised on lies, has been repeatedly lying, compounding lies and, in fact, institutionalising lies, Gen. Bajwa’s and his predecessors’ oft repeated false claims about the Pakistan Army wiping out/not allowing terrorists on Pakistani soil are not at all surprising. However, the record on Pakistan Army’s performance in 1965 and 1971 must be set straight.
The second war Pakistan waged against India in September 1965 exposed the bluff and bluster its leaders, self-promoted Field Marshal Ayub Khan and Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as well as the ineptness and poor leadership of many of Pakistan Army’s field commanders, and the lack of training of all ranks. Just one example is Pakistan Army’s major failings in tank warfare, which caused them very heavy losses of then modern American Patton tanks against Indian Army’s vintage Centurion tanks, were: (a) Pakistani tank crews had very little or nil training on the Patton tank and (b) owing to fear of dying by flames, Pakistani tank crew bailed out as soon as their tank was hit even if it had not caught fire and its guns were still functional.
One of the ironies during the 1965 India-Pakistan war was that one of the Indian Army’s distinguished armoured regiments, 4 Horse (also known as Hodson’s Horse), in which Ayub Khan’s father Risaldar Mir Dad Khan served, destroyed 79 Pakistani tanks and 17 recoilless guns — the largest by a single regiment.
There soon came a stage in that war when Pakistani Patton tank crews began avoiding engagements with Indian Centurions. On spotting any Centurion tanks, many Pakistani tank crews abandoned their tanks and disappeared in the tall sugarcane fields, only to be captured subsequently. The very low mileage showing on the gauges of these intact Pakistani Patton tanks captured by 4 Horse and some other Indian Army regiments was a clear indication that that the Pakistani tank crews had not been trained on them.
The third war Pakistan waged against India in 1971 was preceded by Pakistan’s suppression of the Bengali masses of erstwhile East Pakistan, which resulted in a determined group of Bengali youth who forming the Mukti Bahini (freedom force), which was trained by the Indian Army and became a valuable asset in operations against the rogue and barbaric Pakistan Army, which killed over three million Bengalis in the largest ever genocide since the Holocaust and raped up to 4,00,000 Bengali women, many of who were kept confined in the quarters/billets of Pakistan Army deployed there.
Within 13 days of the Pakistan Army declaring full-fledged war by attacking Indian airfields on December 3, 1971 and thereby opening up the Western front, 93,000 Pakistan armed forces personnel surrendered to the Indian Army, after being surrounded by it from all around in erstwhile East Pakistan, which it lost, as it became liberated and emerged as a new nation, Bangladesh.
The cruel inhuman conduct of the Pakistani troops in the presence of their officers and also by their officers is another of Pakistani Army’s hallmarks which continues till date. One of many instances of utter brutality was the plight in 1971, in the Eastern theatre of Lt. Chandavarkar, the youngest of 45 Cavalry’s officers, caught by the Pakistan Army. Tied to a tree and for each question that was not answered, his limbs and sexual organs were cut by the Pakistani junior commissioned officer, who also chopped off his ear lobes, fingernails, toes, and fingers and finally gouged out his eyes before shooting him in the chest. Yet another unfortunate Indian officer in that theatre, who suffered a similar fate, was Second Lt. M.P.S. Choudhary, commissioned in November 1971. This was in sharp contrast to the manner in which the Indian Army treated Pakistani prisoners of war (POWs). The 93,000 Pakistani POWs were pleasantly shocked at the humane treatment they got in their POW camps in India, as promised before their surrender by then Indian Army Chief General, later Field Marshal, SHFJ Manekshaw.
While official accounts of the Pakistan Army paint a bright picture of its performance during wars, some Pakistani officers have been bluntly critical about its blunders. Z.A. Khan, who wrote The Way It Was: Inside The Pakistan Army and Brig. Maj. (retd) Agha Humayun Amin, who wrote The Pakistan Army From 1965 to 1971 are but just two of them.
An absolute shocker exposed by Hassan Abbas in his book Pakistan’s Drift Into Extremism, is of how on the eve of Pakistan forces surrender at Dhaka, when Lt. Gen. A.A.K. Niazi was desperately trying to reach Pakistan’s second dictator President Gen. Yahya Khan on telephone and not succeeding, it was because the latter was partying with his then latest paramour and other guests — all nude.
Back again to Gen. Bajwa’s Defence Day speech, “…Pakistan’s enemies knew that they could not beat it fair and square, and had thus subjected it to a cruel, evil and protracted hybrid war…” Again, classic Pakistani lies — accusing their adversaries of exactly what they themselves are doing. The barbaric killing of BSF’s Narendra Singh was preceded by a spree of abductions of policemen by Hizbul Mujahideen (HM). The bodies of three slain policemen are identified as constable Nissar Ahmed and special police officers Firdous Ahmed and Kulwant Singh. Firdous had married a polio victim and Kulwant’s was the lone Rajput/Hindu family in his village. Both have two little children.
A video purportedly from HM, warning all Kashmiris working as special police officers (SPOs) to resign has sent shock waves to the 102,000 strong J&K police force with at least seven SPOs announcing their resignations on the social media. The ministry of home affairs has denied these reports as false and scare mongering.
The electoral process in J&K has also been majorly targeted by killing of panchayat leaders and destruction of panchayat offices/assets.
Following constable Narendra’s mutilation, New Delhi decided to cancel the meeting between foreign ministers of both countries on the sideline of the United Nations General Assembly meet. While that is a clear message to Pakistan, another one will be the celebration the September 2016 surgical strikes in September-end at the India Gate.
The writer, a retired Army officer, is a defence and security analyst based in New Delhi



Pak’s Kartarpur tricks & reverses; fresh terror in Punjab & Assam
THE ASIAN AGE. | ANIL BHAT
Published : Dec 20, 2018, 6:24 am IST
Updated : Dec 20, 2018, 6:24 am IST
Reverses in the Valley have further driven the ISI to renew its operations in Punjab and the Northeast.
 Darbar Sahib Gurdwara commemorating Guru Nanak at Kartarpur, Pakistan
The Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi allegedly “losing” 23 passports of Indian nationals wanting to go on a pilgrimage to Kartarpur, out of 3,800 visas issued recently is disturbing but not surprising. Indian agencies probing the matter asked the Ministry of External Affairs to begin the process of cancelling these passports immediately as they are apprehensive about Pakistan misusing these passports against India in the future. It should be recalled that the Pakistan High Commission has earlier been blamed for not just espionage but also giving visas to persons from Jammu and Kashmir to go to Pakistan for terror training.
In a series of controversies related to the Kartarpur Corridor, one came on December 3 from Pakistan’s President Arif-ur-Rehman Alvi, who, a few days after Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s — “Imran’s googly stumped India” — remark related to the Kartarpur Corridor, called this move a “great chaal”. He said, “This is a very good strategic move. If you know how to play chess, nowadays people don’t play it, but if you know the game then there are chaals (strategies). The player analyses the opponent’s next move and then decides his next chaal. Kartarpur was a great chaal.”
On December 9, 2018, the Pakistan High Commission reportedly stated that it has issued visas to 139 Indian pilgrims to visit Katas Raj Dham, the famous Shiva temple in Pakistan’s Punjab province. Under the framework of a 1974 bilateral protocol on visits to religious shrines, every year Sikh and Hindu pilgrims from India visit Pakistan and Pakistani pilgrims visit India. In 2017, simmering tensions between India and Pakistan, following its kangaroo court death sentence on commander Kulbhushan Jadhav (retd) in Pakistan, intermittent firing by Pakistani forces across the international boundary and the Line of Control and the brutal mutilation of two Indian Army personnel by a team of Pak Army and terrorists, Pakistan’s Ministry of Religious Affairs received fewer applications for two annual Urs held in India — that of Hafiz Abdullah Shah from December 21 to 28 in Agra and of Hazrat Khawaja Allauddin from November 30 to December 7 in Kalyar Sharif, Rourkee.
Pakistan’s 24-year overdue offer of the Kartarpur Corridor, closely following a series of events, spread not only over the Kashmir Valley, but Punjab and the Northeast, yet again expose this rogue state’s duplicity. While India decided to build a corridor on the Indian side till the Indo-Pak international boundary to join Pakistan’s corridor leading to Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara, in deference to the faith and hopes of millions of its Sikhs and other citizens following Sikhism, it firmly turned down Pakistan’s yet another overture for “peace talks”.
First of all, the corridor offer was timed with the completion of 10 years of the heinous November 26, 2008 terrorist attack on Mumbai by the Lashkar e Taiyyaba (LeT), whose leaders were proved to have planned, organised and directed it with active support by Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and who, instead of being proceeded against legally, have not only been protected but even elevated by the Pakistan government to allow them to contest elections. The latest madness is Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Afridi declaring “As long as we (the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf) are in the government, all those including Hafiz Saeed ‘who are raising a voice for Pakistan and righteousness’, we are with them.” Earlier irresponsible statements like the ones mentioned by Pakistan’s President and foreign minister only strengthened India’s resolve to spurn Pakistan’s call for talks.
The compulsions behind Pakistan’s offers are its terror proxies being hit very hard in J&K, denial by the US to continue its monetary dole and its global image being at the lowest ever. By making much of its purported desire for the corridor and peace talks, even while actively continuing its anti-India terrorist operations, the Pakistani leadership thinks it will fool the world again and get brownie points.
The elimination of over 230 terrorists in the Kashmir Valley till November 2018, including nine out of twelve “commanders” of terrorist groups, leaving only three commanders and 250 terrorists still at large has caused enough frustration to the organisers/directors of terrorist operations in Pakistan and their minions in the Kashmir Valley, the separatists/traitors, S.A.S. Geelani & Co.
November 2018 has been the bloodiest month with over 40 terrorists killed. Some of the top terrorist “commanders” eliminated by the Army in Budgam, were young, highly educated but deadly after their indoctrination/radicalisation at the hands of ISI and Kashmiri separatists. One of them, of the LeT, was Naveed Jatt, who had murdered senior and highly regarded journalist Shujhat Bukhari and many other innocent civilians who were soft targets. Six more were Dr Manan Wani, Altaf Kachroo, Umar Ganai, Waseem Wagay, Adil Lone and Basit Mir.
Three commanders still surviving are the Hizbul Mujahideen’s (HM) operational commander Riyaz Naikoo, Al-Badr commander Zeenat-ul Islam who was earlier with HM, Lateef Tiger who was an associate of Burhan Wani and Zakir Musa, the chief of Ansar-ul-Gazwat-ul-Hind. Reportedly, HM has appointed new district commanders for Shopian, Anantnag and Pulwama. Senior police officers cited in media stated, “In the past two months, there has been no recruitment, but before that, youth were joining militancy… militants in large groups may have managed to sneak in, as we have tough terrain, deep ravines and woods along the Line of Control in Kashmir… No doubt that the militancy in Kashmir has received a major dent this year. This is for the first time since 2007, that such a huge number of militants were killed in a year… Fact remains that unless infiltration stops from across the LoC, militancy can’t be wiped out from Kashmir’s soil… When forces try to clean Kashmir of militancy, militants, Pakistan pushes in large groups to keep the pot boiling. “According to a source in the media, since March 2017, 500 terrorists, including 25 top commanders were killed in various encounters.
Hence comes the Pak Army’s attempt to on the one hand, try for peace talks, and on the other, vent their frustration, target Kashmiris serving in the Indian Army and the J&K Police. The latest of many Kashmiri victims of the terrorists’ and ISI’s frustration, was lance naik Nazir Ahmed Wani, twice awarded the Sena Medal for outstanding bravery. Born in Gund Ashmuji, Kulgam, lance naik Wani, was an erstwhile terrorist, who, realising the futility of terrorism, shunned it and began assisting the Army in anti-terrorist operations in the Valley. His indomitable courage and invaluable knowledge of the countryside and terrorist outfits, contributed to many successes. In January 2004, based on the recommendations of the Army formation commander, he was enrolled into the Jammu and Kashmir light infantry’s 162 Territorial Army battalion and was serving in the Rashtriya Rifles. Survived by his wife and two sons, his funeral was attended by over 500 local people.
Reverses in the Valley have further driven the ISI to renew its operations in Punjab and the Northeast. While much has been reported on the recent and earlier Pakistani terrorist attacks in Punjab, in the Northeast, the ISI’s old tool, the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) has got revitalised by it. ULFA (I) under Paresh Barua has been active recently with its signature kidnappings and killings. In October 2018, at least three senior tea gardens staffers were abducted by ULFA from Assam’s Charaideo and Tinsukia districts in Assam and Namsai district of Arunachal Pradesh. In early November 2018, five persons were shot dead by suspected ULFA(I) militants in Tinsukia district. Barua, in a recent interview to a weekly stated that he was getting “international” assistance and then mentioned that Pakistan has good “international connections”. ISI’s connections with ULFA go back to the early 1990s, when ULFA arranged for ISI to enter India’s Northeast and establish contacts with Naga and Meitei insurgent-turned terrorist groups. Earlier, on September 13, Mohammad Kamruj Zaman, was arrested from Hojai, Assam, by the Uttar Pradesh police. From September 14 onwards, Saidul Alom and seven more — all but one from Hojai — were arrested by the Assam police for being part of a group that is trying to set up a base of the Hizbul Mujahideen in Assam.
The writer, a retired Army officer, is a defence and security analyst based in New Delhi


Delhi must go whole hog during J&K Governor’s Rule
THE ASIAN AGE. | ANIL BHAT
Published : Jul 10, 2018, 1:53 am IST
Updated : Jul 10, 2018, 1:52 am IST
None of the elected governments in J&K prevented the spread of anti-India sentiment and activities.
 Paramilitary soldiers return to their base camp as they lift restrictions in Srinagar. (Photo: AFP)
At long last, after proving its high threshold for tolerating all kinds of anti-national activities in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), the BJP government imposed the Governor’s Rule. Over many years and much more since 2016, the Kashmir Valley was sundered with countless heightened acts of terrorism, radicalisation, destruction of schools, selective atrocious killings of good/patriotic Kashmiris, victimisation of Army/security forces (SFs) etc, not to mention many decades of mis-governance by successive governments.
While the decision to impose the Governor’s Rule is a result of political will, much higher degrees of it will be required to take more hard decisions and ensure their implementation because that is the only way to retrieve the seriously infected/contaminated part of the Kashmir Valley, which not only affects the entire state but also the country’s security.
The immediate priority is ensuring a smooth and secure Amarnath pilgrimage, given the terrorist threat and weather, alongside, tourism will have to be covered similarly. Even on July 8,2018, the pilgrimage had to be suspended owing to separatists glorifying the death anniversary of a hardcore terrorist leader.  
The large community of minor traders for whom tourism provides sustenance have suffered greatly and the BJP government must seriously consider some relief measures for them.
Education, which has since long been majority targeted by Pakistan through the Valley-based separatists and dealt a body blow with the destruction of almost 40 schools, will need an urgent and sustained boost.
Ruining the education system in the Valley was also linked to the process of radicalisation. The aim of Pakistan’s military and mullahs is to destroy education on one hand and on the other to indoctrinate and incite people, particularly youth. While in earlier years radicalisation was carried out through separatist leaders, clerics and religious/political gatherings, information technology and social media gave it a massive boost.   
None of the elected governments in J&K prevented the spread of anti-India sentiment and activities. Pakistani and even ISIS flags, pro-Pakistani and anti-India slogans were tolerated or ignored. In fact, both the National Conference and People’s Democratic Party pandered to Pakistan/pro-Pakistan elements, forgetting how the Valley had been exploited by Pakistan in the late 1980s. Thanks to the Indian Army’s vigil on the Line of Control (LoC). Terrorism was reduced to the extent that tourism began to flourish once again and it became too much for Pakistan’s directors of anti-India operations. New tactics, like paid stone-pelting, were developed to raise them to the level of hectoring the Army and SFs during their operations. PDP went even further by filing FIRs against Army and SF personnel for doing their duty while being stoned and even petrol-bombed.  
After the abductions and brutal murders of Kashmiri Army personnel, including Lt. Umar Fayaz, many Kashmiri J&K police personnel and finally rifleman Aurangzed and Rising Kashmir editor Shujaat Bukhari during the ramzan ceasefire, the BJP decided to pull out of the alliance and promulgate Governor’s Rule. One of the reasons for all these murders and for many other problems in the Valley are that over the past decades, particularly in the last few years, truth, facts and history became major casualties. Kashmiris have not only been killed by Pakistani terrorists but also by Pak-supported Kashmiri terrorists and recently even radicalised youth.
While addressing the major challenges during this eighth spell of Governor’s Rule, decision-makers will be well advised to revisit the state’s history, geography and demography and review some basic facts about the state, which should be factored in. For seven decades, political leaders from New Delhi have endlessly been parroting that J&K is India’s “atoot ang” (unbreakable part), the hard decisions required to run this state so that it remains an unbreakable part.
By the end of 1980s, at least 5,00,000 Kashmiri pandits/saraswat brahmins, the original inhabitants of the land named after the sage, Kashyap, were threatened and intimidated by Pakistan-paid Kashmiri separatists, their network and followers, many were killed and finally over 4,00,000 were forced to flee, leaving behind their belongings and properties.  
Of the 22 districts in J&K, there are only five districts where separatists hold sway and organise anti-India operations — Srinagar, Anantnag, Baramullah, Kulgam and Pulwama. These are where stone-pelting, hoisting of Pakistani and ISIS flags and anti-India demonstrations are held. Interestingly, these five districts are far away from the LoC. The other 17 districts, including some along the LoC, are fully pro-India. So separatist’s writ runs in just 15% of the population which is Sunni Muslim dominated. Majority of the people in J&K do not speak Kashmiri as their mother tongue. They speak Dogri, Gujjari, Punjabi, Ladhaki , Pahari etc. Only 33% people in Kashmir speak Kashmiri and this group has controlled the narrative from Hurriyat to terrorists and from NC and PDP and thereby, bureaucracy, business and agriculture. This Sunni dominated 33% is opposed to India although population of all other Muslims in J&K is 69 %.
The state of J&K, which includes Ladakh (excluding Pakistan-occupied Kashmir), has an area of 101380 sq kms, of which 26% is Jammu, 15% is Kashmir and 59% is Ladakh. Considering this fact, the state should really have been named Ladakh, Jammu, Kashmir. It is worth considering to do so even now.
Of the total area of the state, 85,000 sq km, which is 85% of it, has a non-Muslim majority. Of the total population of 1.25 crores (12.5 million), Kashmir’s population is 69, 00,000, of which 55,00,000 speak Kashmiri. The remaining 13,00,000 speak non-Kashmiri languages.
Jammu, with a population of 53,00,000 comprises people speaking Dogri, Punjabi and Hindi. 3,00,000 people of Ladakh speak the Ladakhi language. There are 7,50,000 people settled in the State, who have not been granted the State’s citizenship.
More than 14 major religious/ethnic groups, amounting to 85% of the population of J&K, are pro-India. These include Shias, Dogras (Rajputs, Brahmins and Mahajans), Kashmiri Pandits, Sikhs, Buddhists (Ladakhis ), Gujjars, Bakarwals, Paharis, Baltis, Christians and others.
Shias (12%), Gujjar Muslims (14%), Pahadi Muslims ( 8%), Buddhists , Pandits, Sufis, Christians and Jammu Hindus/ Dogras   (approximately 45%) are totally opposed to separatism and Pakistan. Poonch and Kargil have above 90% Muslim population. There has never been an anti India or separatist protest in these districts.
Separatists also control a section of the media in J&K, which carries/contributes to anti-Indian propaganda/sentiment and also tries to create the  impression that all of J&K is against India.
It is high time a long overdue course-correction is done in J&K. If the Constitution of India stipulates that the provisions related to Article 370 for J&K are of “purely temporary nature”, then all the more reason that for the vital cause of India’s integrity and security, it is abrogated.
Some of many other steps required are:
·         The narrative in the Valley has to be changed. As tried out in recent months by Army/SFs, use social media to involve the parents/close relative/friends of radicalised youth/those being motivated to join Pakistani or Kashmiri terrorist groups, to appeal to them to return. Make use of social media to revisit history. Make Kashmiris aware of what Pakistan is doing in Pak Occupied Kashmir, Balochistan etc.
·         Simultaneously, social media needs to be closely monitored not only in J&K but the rest of the country, to prevent the vast spread of leftists/apologists from derailing   the debate.  
·         Disable the network organising anti-India/Army/SF operations/ stone-pelting and revoke FIRs against Army/SFs personnel.
·         Education must be fully resumed and school-burners must be punished/prevented from any further attempts.
·         All government departments must function properly.
·         Adopt Indian Army’s Sadbhavna (civic assistance programme) methods to win hearts and minds.
·         No matter what all is done by Army/SFs, till the separatists leaders and their minions are not literally separated from the   Valley, terrorism will continue unabated. For lasting peace, legal action must be taken against them and they should be put in jails outside J&K.
With too much at stake, it is time to cross the Rubicon-the Jhelum in this case.
The writer, a retired Army officer, is a defence and security analyst based in New Delhi


Abrogate Article 370 and rename J&K as Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir among other measures during Governor’s Rule
At long last, after proving its high threshold for tolerating all kinds of anti national activities in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), the BJP government imposed Governor’s rule. Over many years and much more since 2016, Kashmir Valley was sundered  with countless heightened acts of terrorism, radicalization, destruction of schools, selective atrocious killings of good/patriotic Kashmiris, victimization of army/security forces (SFs) etc, not to mention many decades of misgovernance by successive governments.
While the decision to impose Governor’s rule is a result of political will, much higher degrees of it will be required to take more hard decisions and ensuring their implementation. Because that is the only way to retrieve the seriously infected/contaminated part of the Kashmir Valley, which not only affects the entire State but also the country’s security.
Undoubtedly, while the immediate priority is ensuring a  smooth and secure Amarnath pilgrimage, given the terrorist threat and the weather, alongside, tourism will have to be covered similarly. Even on July 08, 2018, a Sunday, the pilgrimage had to be suspended owing to separatists glorifying the death anniversary of a hard core terrorist leader.  
The large community of minor traders for whom tourism provides sustenance have suffered greatly and BJP government must seriously consider some relief measures for them.
Education, which has since long been majorly targeted by Pakistan through the Valley-based separatists and which was dealt a body blow with the destruction of almost forty schools, will need an urgent and sustained boost.
Ruining education in the Valley was also linked to the process of radicalization. The aim of Pakistan’s military and mullahs is to destroy education on one hand and on the other to indoctrinate and incite people, particularly  youth. While in earlier years radicalization was carried out through separatist leaders and clerics in mosques and religious/ political gatherings, info- technology and social media gave it a massive boost.   
None of the elected governments in J&K prevented the spread of anti-India sentiment and activities. Pakistani and even ISIS flags, pro-Pakistani/anti India slogans were tolerated or ignored. In fact, both the National Conference and People’s Democratic Party pandered to Pakistan/pro-Pakistan elements, forgetting how the Valley had been exploited by Pakistan during the late-1980s onward phase. Thanks to the Indian Army’s vigil on the Line of Control (LoC) and terrorism was reduced to the extent that tourism began to flourish once again, it became too much for Pakistan’s directors of anti-India operations. New tactics like paid stone-pelting were developed to raise them to the level of hectoring the Army and SFs during their operations. PDP went even further by filing FIRs against Army and SF personnel for doing their duty while being stoned and even petrol-bombed.  
After the abductions and brutal murders of Kashmiri Army personnel like Lt Umar Fayaz, many Kashmiri J&K police personnel and finally Rifleman Aurangzed and Editor of Rising Kashmir, Shujaat Bukhari, that too during the Ramzan ceasefire totally disregarded by separatists and terrorists,  the BJP decided to pull out of the alliance and promulgate Governor’s rule. One of the reasons for all these murders and for many other problems in the Valley are that over the past decades and particularly in the last few years, truth/facts/history became major casualties. Kashmiris have not only been killed by Pakistani terrorists but also by Pak-supported Kashmiri terrorists and recently even radicalized youth.
While addressing the major challenges during this eighth spell of Governor’s rule, decision makers will be well advised to revisit the State’s history, geography and demography and review some basic facts about the State, which should be factored in. For seven decades political leaders from New Delhi have endlessly been parroting that J&K is India’s ‘atoot ang’ (unbreakable part), the hard decisions required to run this State so that it remains an unbreakable part have been avoided by both Congress governments at the Centre and of course all J&K State governments.
By the end of 1980s, at least 5,00,000 Kashmiri Pandits/Saraswat Brahmins, the original inhabitants of the land named after the sage, Kashyap, were threatened/ intimidated by Pakistan-paid Kashmiri separatists/their network/followers, many were killed and finally over 4,00,000 were forced to flee, leaving behind their belongings and properties.  
Of the 22 districts in J&K, there are only 5 districts where separatists hold sway and organize anti-India operations-Srinagar, Anantnag, Baramullah, Kulgam and Pulwama. These are where stone pelting , hoisting of Pakistani and ISIS flags and anti India demonstrations are held. Interestingly these five districts are far away from the LoC.  The other 17 districts, including some along the LoC, are fully pro India. So separatist’s writ runs in just 15% of the population which is Sunni Muslim dominated. Majority of the people in J&K do not speak Kashmiri as their mother tongue. They speak Dogri, Gujjari, Punjabi, Ladhaki , Pahari etc. Only 33 % people in Kashmir speak Kashmiri and this group has controlled the narrative from Hurriyat to terrorists and from NC and PDP and thereby, bureaucracy, business and agriculture. This Sunni dominated 33% is opposed to India although population of all other Muslims in J&K is 69 %.
The State of J&K, which includes Ladakh (excluding Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, which is legally India’s/part of J&K) has a square area of 101380 sq kms, of which 26% is Jammu, 15% is Kashmir and 59% is Ladakh. Considering this fact, the State should really have been named Ladakh, Jammu, Kashmir. It is worth considering to do so even now.
Of the total area of the State, 85,000 sq Km, which is 85% of it, has a non Muslim majority. Of the total population of 1.25 crores (12.5 million), Kashmir’s population is  69, 00,000, of which 55,00,000 speak Kashmiri.  The remainder 13,00,000 speak non Kashmiri languages.
Jammu, with a population of 53,00,000 comprises people speaking Dogri, Punjabi and Hindi. 3,00,000 people of Ladakh speak the Ladakhi language. There are 7,50,000 people settled in the State, who have not been granted the State’s citizenship.
More than fourteen major religious/ ethinic groups amounting to 85% of the population of J&K, are totally pro India. These include Shias, Dogras (Rajputs, Brahmins and Mahajans), Kashmiri Pandits, Sikhs, Buddhists ( Ladakhis ), Gujjars, Bakarwals, Paharis, Baltis, Christians and  some more.
Shias (12%), Gujjar Muslims (14%), Pahadi Muslims ( 8%), Buddhists , Pandits, Sufis, Christians and Jammu Hindus/ Dogras   (approximately 45%) are totally opposed to separatism and Pakistan. Poonch and Kargil have above 90% Muslim population. There has never been an anti India or separatist protest in these districts.
Separatists also control a section of the media in J&K, which carries/contributes to anti-Indian propaganda/sentiment and also tries to create the  impression that all of J&K is against India.
It is high time a long overdue course-correction is done in J&K. If the Constitution of India stipulates that the provisions related to Article 370 for J&K are of “purely temporary nature”, then all the more reason that for the vital cause of India’s integrity and security, it is abrogated.
Some of many other steps required are:
(a) The narrative in the Valley has to be changed. As tried out in recent months by Army/SFs, use social media to involve the parents/close relative/friends of radicalized youth/those being motivated to join Pakistani or Kashmiri terrorist groups, to appeal to them to return. Make use of social media to revisit history. Make Kashmiris aware of what Pakistan is doing in Pak Occupied Kashmir, Balochistan etc.
(b) Simultaneously, social media needs to be closely monitored not only in J&K but the rest of the country, to prevent the vast spread of leftists/apologists from derailing   the debate.  
(c) Disable the network organizing anti-India/Army/SF operations/ stone-pelting and revoke FIRs against Army/SFs personnel.
(d) Education must be fully resumed and school-burners must be punished/prevented from any further attempts.
(e)  All government departments must function properly.
(f) Adopt Indian Army’s Sadbhavna (civic assistance programme) methods to win hearts and minds.
(g) No matter what all is done by Army/SFs, till the separatists leaders and their minions are not literally separated from the   Valley, terrorism will continue unabated. For lasting peace, legal action must be taken against them and they should be put in jails outside J&K.
With too much at stake, it is time to cross the Rubicon-the Jhelum in this case.
-WordSword Features




Why is the govt tolerating treachery by Pak-paid pawns in the Valley?
THE ASIAN AGE. | ANIL BHAT
Published : May 16, 2018, 12:15 am IST
Updated : May 16, 2018, 12:26 am IST
The writer, a retired Army officer, is a defence and security analyst based in New Delhi.
One child and one tourist were killed. While schools/education have been Pakistan’s Kashmiri pawns’ targets for some years, post-Burhan Wani’s killing, about 40 schools were burnt/destroyed. Tourists mean livelihood of a lot of Kashmiris.
 One child and one tourist were killed. While schools/education have been Pakistan’s Kashmiri pawns’ targets for some years, post-Burhan Wani’s killing, about 40 schools were burnt/destroyed. Tourists mean livelihood of a lot of Kashmiris.
No matter how strong the actions taken by the Army across the Line of Control and in the hinterland are, no matter how many surgical strikes are launched, etc, terrorism in the Valley will continue till the terror-funding and dissent-spreading traitors/separatists are around...
An article titled: “Fighting Pakistan’s dirty war in Kashmir Valley amid bad politics”, written for and uploaded by an agency on June 26, 2017, was widely published in South Asia region under the same title. However, at least one publication published the article under the tongue-in-cheek title “Impose central rule in Kashmir: Ex-Army colonel’s fix for Pak’s ‘dirty war’”. That may be owing to this writer relentlessly recommending in conclusion to over 100 articles over the years, including many in this newspaper, that Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, radicalisation, stone-pelting, murders of innocent Kashmiris, ruination of education, etc, can only begin to end after all those “politically correctly” referred to as “separatists” are put into jails outside the state of Jammu & Kashmir.
The mentioned article was based on events related to the heinous abduction from a marriage ceremony in Kulgam town and killing of Lt. Ummer Fayaz Parray, followed by the brutal massacre and mutilation of six J&K policemen in Anantnag district and the barbaric lynching of deputy superintendent of police Ayub Pandith by a mob outside Srinagar’s Jama Masjid, marking a then unprecedented high in the Pakistan-sponsored and supported proxy war and radicalisation of the Kashmir Valley.
Particularly Pandith’s lynching by a mob only reinforced the fact that the separatists have sunk to their lowest in killing Kashmiriyat, which they claim to champion and expose them once again as vermin for the Valley.
Further, the killings of police personnel and Pandith, in charge of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq’s security detail, being killed outside the Jama Masjid, where Mirwaiz was holding forth with his provocative discourse, both during Ramzan, only add to the utter dastardliness of the separatists-read dangerous traitors. At that time Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat had said: “This is a proxy war and proxy war is a dirty war. It is played in a dirty way. The rules of engagements are there when the adversary comes face-to-face and fights with you. It is a dirty war... That is where innovation comes in. You fight a dirty war with innovations... People are throwing stones and even petrol bombs at us. If my men ask me what do we do, should I say, ‘just wait and die? I will come with a nice coffin with a national flag and I will send your bodies home with honour’. Is it what I am supposed to tell them as chief? I have to maintain the morale of my troops who are operating there.” Gen. Rawat also wholeheartedly defended Maj. Leetul Go
goi for using a Kashmiri stone-pelter as a “human shield”, an action which was praised/approved by many, including Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi, who did not mince his words when he stated in the media: “The recent report about a stone-pelter tied to an Army vehicle helped contain stone-pelters and saved the poll officials.” Gen. Rawat said that as the Army Chief, it was his duty to maintain the morale of the Army personnel in J&K and by awarding Maj. Gogoi he did exactly that.
In the past few days of early May 2018, these traitors/separatists have exceeded all previous aims by directing their stone-pelters to target even young school children and tourists. One child and one tourist were killed. While schools/education have been Pakistan’s Kashmiri pawns’ targets for some years, post-Burhan Wani’s killing, about 40 schools were burnt/destroyed. Tourists mean livelihood of a lot of Kashmiris. If they too are being attacked by the network of these traitors/separatists, then it can be imagined what is left in the Kashmir Valley.
And this is what the Army Chief said in an interview to a newspaper shortly after the 22-year-old tourist from Tamil Nadu was killed by the stone-pelters: “I want to tell Kashmiri youth that azadi isn’t possible. It won’t happen. Don’t get carried away unnecessarily. Why are you picking up weapons? We will always fight those who seek azadi, those who want to secede. (Azadi) is not going to happen, never… Once a stone is thrown at us… once they fire at us… then there is no way we will not respond and respond sternly. Those who want to fight us, we will fight them.”
Both times, while the traitors/separatists, opposition self-goal scorers, apologists, pseudo-secularists, leftists, pseudo-intellectuals, etc, have criticised the Army Chief for his statements, there are as many or more who have supported him for what he said.
Why does chief minister Mehbooba Mufti want the Central government to halt security force operations during the forthcoming month of Ramzan and the Amarnath Yatra? Pakistan’s Army, its terrorists and its paid pawns, the traitors/separatists have all been known for desecrating many religious festivals by continuing and at times even stepping up attacks during Ramzan and the Amarnath Yatra. It may be recalled that on July 11, 2017, during the Amarnath Yatra, terrorists launched a dastardly attack on a bus ferrying pilgrims and killing seven Gujarati women and children as well as injuring 19 others. There have been many cases of terrorist attacks in the Kashmir Valley both during Hindu and Muslim festivals.
This request by Ms Mufti and Kashmiri political parties for a ceasefire during the Amarnath Yatra and Ramzan has come as both Pakistani and Pakistan-supported Kashmiri terrorist groups in the Valley have been under severe pressure by the Army, security forces and J&K police resulting in many top terrorist leaders being killed. This operation must be continued without any ceasefire.
There is a fair constituency of Kashmiri youth, who do not subscribe to radicalisation and rioting, but who want to get ahead in life within the Indian system. This has been proved by the response to many recruitment tests by the Army and J&K police, where up to 1,500 applicants have been showing up. Terrorists and their supporters are intimidating young Kashmiris wanting to join the Army, police or security forces. Many J&K police personnel’s homes have been raided by terrorists/their supporters to threaten them for discharging their duties.
Separatists have also issued diktats against sending children to Army’s goodwill schools, which can not be burnt and where students have been faring well, accusing these schools of compromising “Kashmiriyat”, which actually is being erased and replaced with Wahabism by Pakistan-supported Kashmiri terrorists of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and the separatists, who are not even sparing their own fellow Kashmiris.
The irony is the proxy war by terror and radicalisation perpetrated by Pakistan (through the traitors/separatists) continues to enjoy government-funded facilities. Why are these separatists not in jails for committing various crimes and aiding acts of war against India? Why are they being allowed to continue their deadly activities? Why is the government keeping mum even as some Indian political leaders, apologists, peaceniks, pseudo-secularists, pseudo-human rights activists continue to vilify the Army and the security forces?
No matter how strong the actions taken by the Army across the Line of Control and in the hinterland are, no matter how many surgical strikes are launched, no matter how effective other security forces are since the BJP’s taking over in 2014, terrorism in the Valley will continue till the terror-funding and dissent-spreading traitors/separatists are around. House arrests do not affect their disastrous activities; even putting them in jails in J&K will not stop them. While the traitor/separatist leaders must be put in jails outside J&K, all their network of organisers must be effectively disabled. Only then can we hope for a meaningful peace in the Valley.
The writer, a retired Army officer, is a defence and security analyst based in New Delhi