On 14 the February, 2019 a local radicalized Kashmiri youth Suicide bomber terrorist having links with JEM (Jaish-e-Mohammad) of Pakistan struck at  Pulwama , Kashmir ,killing 40 Indian security forces instantly. Thus causing a biggest ever loss of lives in the three decade old militancy in Kashmir .

A very sight of the body bags calls for remorse ,anger and revenge.

To gauge the background of Jaish –e- Mohammad it is imperative to recall the implications of the rude shock of releasing  Masood Azhar, the prized terrorist  in January 2000 along with other two terrorists in exchange for passengers and crew of hijacked Flight IC184,from Kathmandu to Kandhar.

The eight day hostage of the passengers was  a saga full of agony and more painful to see India’s  external Affairs minister , Jaswant  singh escorting Masood Azhar and two others  to Kabul .

The same Jaish-e-Mohammad has claimed responsibility for Pulwama bombing.

The anger is against Pakistan in the firs place aiding and abetting the terrorist acts against India and secondly against radicalized  local Kashmiri terrorists for executing such heinous crimes at the behest of the Pakistan masters.

We need to be aware that every Kashmiri is not terrorist and not pay heed to the bigoted politicians  who vitiate the atmosphere by spreading hatred and inciting for violence against one and all.

The Prime Minister Narender Modi had assured the nation that the Pulwama attack will be retaliated and with much severity this time.

In September  2016 when Army camp was assaulted by terrorists who infiltrated from Pakistan into Uri sector in kashmir, Indian  army carried a  targeted surgical  counter attack.

Pakistan and ISI has been attacking rather bleeding India especially in Kashmir for last nearly three decades .

The surge in militancy in Kashmir in recent years have reached its zenith.  The aggressive Islamist  radicalization among educated younger generation is a matter of concern .and needs immediate redressal.

Insurgency related deaths have risen alarmingly in recent years.

The number of local recruits have been on the upswing since 2014

   YEAR     NUMBER OF RECRUITS.

   2013       16

   2014       53

   2015        66

   2016        88

   2017       120

   2018      164 (upto October)   Source Raj Sabha Q and A  27/3/2017 and 12/12/2018.  TOI.

 After Pulwama holocaust as evident in the melee of anger and vendetta, traders and students of Kashmir  valley were brazenly attacked in Jammu and other cities of the country. The students were thrown out of the hostels . In the  process of rage and rancor many innocent people got harmed

Again our PM Modiji’s assertion “not to harm any Kashmiri as the war is against terrorists and not against kashmiris “ brought some sanity among the hoodlums across the country.

India bombs Islamist Militants

Now after nearly 11 days  of Pulwama attack,

The act  of retaliation has shown to all in India and outside that India continues to be a strong composite nation to combat any eventuality on its own .

 in the wee hours of  the morning of 26^th February 2019 twelve IAF Mirages 2000  attacked the terrorist camps in Balakote in Pakistan occupied Kashmir eliminating the Jaish-e-Mohammed training camps, thereby inflicting heavy casualities upon the terrorists, as per the statement of India’s Foreign Secretary Mr Vijay Gokhale. He further said a pre emptive strike was “ absolutely  necessary” to prevent further more attacks on our strategic military installations.

Our PM Narender Modi has demonstrated he   being a steadfast leader could not dither on taking such a resolute action.

In the past we have  fought two full fledged wars with Pakistan1965 and 1971 and defeated Pakistan both times.

In 1971, the defeat was colossal.Indira Gandhi ,a  determined strong willed leader dismembered Pakistan into Bangladesh and Pakistan with 90,000 Pakistani soldiers surrendering to Indian Army. The stature of India had zoomed to great heights in the comity of world nations.

Pakistan retaliates.

 Day after IAF struck and eliminated the terrorist camps in Balakote, Pakistan air force(PAF)  three F-16s  violated Indian air space in J&K on wednesday morning(27/2/19) in Nowshera and Krishna Ghati sectors of Poonch and Rajouri Districts tagetted the military installations with bombs, Indian two MIG 21 Bison chased the pakistani aircrafts  and in fact shot down one F-16 and it was spotted in Lam valley 3 kms inside  Pakistan territory.  Pakistan shot down  one MIG21Bison and captured wing commander Abhinandan Varthaman. 

Currently Wing Commander Abhinandan is in the Pakistan Army custody.

A few videos of the pilot emerged on social media. One showed him struggling to defend himself from the outrage of a mob in plainclothes in the middle of a forest, another showed him answering questions from Pakistani security forces.

Conclusions.  India and Pakistan have not been able to live like good neighbours from the day one and several wars were fought over Kashmir  without recourse to any permanent resolution to the contagious conflict.

in view of the aftermath of non military pre –emptive  strike at  Balakot by India following Jaish –e-Mohammad attack in Pulwama , capturing of IAF pilot by Pakistan,thus escalating the conflict between two nuclear armed neighbours high and definitely veering towards another possible war.

It is heartening to see the political class across party lines have conducted itself with sense of responsibility .

On the other hand our television studio warriors  are  indulging in irresponsible war mongerings. One is aghast to watch at paranoid crowds indulging into jingoism rather than  a sensible support for the authority to take right decision in the hour of crisis looming large over the country.

The people living on the borders of India,and in  the states like Punjab,J&K, Rajasthan ,Gujrat ,facing direct impact of war, understand it better than those living thousands of miles away from the boom of guns, air strikes and the loss of lives and the miseries it bring along with.

For instance in 1965 war , I was reading in College  and we were  living in the close  vicinity of Indian  Military concentration camp in ‘ChandMari’  just two kms away from our residence in Srinagar city. The guns boomed throughout day and night .The large number of infiltrators had sneaked in Kashmir and infiltrators were fighting in “Chand Mari” and  elsewhere in the city.  Indian Army finally flushed  out thousands of infiltrators with help of local Kashmiris. We were dying every day seeing the bullets zooming over our heads.

we have faced the trauma of war and fully aware of its  disastrous consequences.

There will be some steps to be taken as follows.

 Firstly we  must help the Govt to bring back the wing Commander Abhinandan safe and sound .

 Secondly the Govt of India should try other options like using diplomatic channels to put pressure on the world leaders and UNO to punish Pakistan for nurturing militants on their soil to settle  scores with India .

 Thirdly India is a large democracy and we must try all options before embarking upon a full fledged war bound to bring miseries to the teeming millions for no fault of theirs.

The decision needs to be taken with sobriety and in a cool headed state of mind not by flashy muscles .