dissecting-pahlagam-don-t-overlook-local-involvement

Pahalgam terror attack was undoubtedly masterminded by those sitting in and patronised by Pakistan. It was no less a person than Pakistan Chief of Army Staff Gen Asim Munir who clearly instigated the attack in his address just about a week before, saying, Kashmir was Pakistan’s jugular vein, invoking the Hindu-Muslim divide, saying they were too different people. Terrorists selectively choosing Hindus for killings, was obviously the reflection and consequence of that “hate speech”. 

Never ever in the recent past had any politician or military leader in Pakistan used such vocabulary of openly naming Hindu religion specifically. After all, there are a few million Hindus still living in Pakistan. What does the General want to tell them when he says, Hindus and Muslims are separate civilisations and they cannot live together. 

While the government of India has already initiated the process of action that it needs to take against Pakistan, beginning with downgrading diplomatic relations and suspending the Indus Water Treaty, certain serious and strict measures also need to be taken back home. Besides, the “pleasingly appeasing” narrative that the terrorists who killed innocent Hindu tourists did not enjoy any local support is a myth. The government and the mass media need to counter that.

Holding Pakistan to account is the first thing that is needed to be done and it is apparently being done. Equally important is to identify the grave lapses that took place at home. This is an accepted fact that Pakistan will never desist from instigating terrorism in Kashmir. It will grab any chance that it gets to create trouble in Jammu and Kashmir. And it has been continuously doing that. This is public knowledge and nobody needs any special and deep insight about it.
Who were the people responsible for the security of tens of thousands of unsuspecting visitors? Why were there no security arrangements in place?

 

Also read: Revisiting 1994 unanimous Parl resolution to liberate PoK

 

According to eyewitnesses there was not even a single uniformed personnel seen anywhere in the isolated Baisaran meadow. It is a completely deserted and isolated valley surrounded by thick dense forests. Officials responsible for the security in the area apparently assumed that “everything was alright” and peace had completely returned to the valley. This is despite the fact that the neighbouring districts of Pulwama and Bijbehara are still highly infested by militants and all of them being the locals. 

The security forces have not come to any conclusion about the identity of the culprits as whether they all were foreigners or local or mixed. Even if there were some foreign terrorists involved in this dastardly act of terror, it would be impossible without the local support. 

Moreover, the way the terrorists asked for the religious identity of their victims, to the extent of making them take off their trousers before getting shot, suggests the involvement of the local terrorists mainly. The foreign mercenaries normally do not resort to such type of things as they simply go on a killing spree. It is only possible because the terrorists were local and felt secure in the knowledge about the geography and culture of the area that they could spare so much time to confirm the identities of their victims and then shoot them dead. 

Syed Adil Hussian Shah, the local horseman who used to ferry the tourists was in all probability killed because he possibly recognised the terrorists. The story that he tried to snatch the rifle of one of the terrorists to save the tourists sounds far less credible. 

It has been a triple failure on part of the intelligence and the security agencies despite knowing that Pakistan’s ISI and its active groups in Kashmir have not given up on their activities. 

First, the intelligence agencies failed to get any advance idea of the probable attack. How did it all go unnoticed? Terrorists obviously were quite a few in number. They were obviously carrying weapons. How could nobody notice their movement?

Second, the terrorists after managing to reach the spot did not face any resistance from anywhere. They simply had a free run killing their victims as “wanton boys kill the flies” for their sport. 

Third, after the gruesome murders of 26 innocent, unsuspecting and helpless victims, the terrorists went scot-free and just vanished away. Nobody has any clue where they went as nobody has any clue where they came from. 

Gross negligence on part of those who were supposed to be responsible for providing security to people, coupled with the connivance of a lot of people, is mainly responsible for these killings. All such people must be held accountable. While Pakistan cannot and will not be let off, so must not be those whose gross negligence cost so many precious lives.

Last but not the least, not much must be read in or attributed to the “widespread” protests “across Kashmir valley” against the killings. Of course nobody will condone or celebrate such killings publicly. Even Pakistan has condemned the killings. Those having watched these protests must have noticed that the protestors were annoyed that the national media was making it a “Hindu-Muslim” issue, because the media was extensively reporting that the victims were killed after being verified about their religion. 

Moreover, these protests had a commercial angle in it. Those orchestrating and participating in these protests were mostly those related to the tourism business like the hoteliers, transporters, shikara owners, taxi drivers and their employees who are now looking at an imminent doom. For the last several years, they had earned huge money with hotel rents going as high as ten times during the peak tourist season. All that has vanished. 

Somehow, a counter-narrative has already been built up that the killings were not done by the Kashmiris and they did not approve of these killings. It would be too simplistic to take this posturing on the face value. Never underestimate the power of this ecosystem. It is the same ecosystem, which projected Yasin Malik as a Gandhian. Malik, along with some accomplices, killed four Indian Air Force officers in early 1990 in Srinagar. He is now facing trial for these murders.