Every morning Kashmir wakes up to the  rattle and boom of guns ,a beautiful but cursed valley nestled in the Himalayas, for the  last three decades now , as  a result of  militancy  aided and abetted by the belligerent Pakistan. 

The terrorists have infiltrated deep inside Kashmir and create violence against the Indian soldiers day in and day out.   There is miasma of  despair and  de s p o d a n c y  writ large on the faces of Kashmiris and all over Kashmir.

Armed  Paramilitary soldiers on the streets fighting radicalized local militants along with terrorists from Pakistan, hartals and protests at the behest of separatists and Hurriyat leaders have  made life very difficult for the average Kashmiri .who believes in peace and tranquility for one and all.

Nearly three wars have been fought  so far between the two countries and  the enemity is deep  rooted and no sign of rapprochement in the offing to come through.

Violence and anxiety has flared up again in Jammu and Kashmir following the lobbing of a grenade  at a crowded bus stand in Jammu on Thursday 7^th March 2019.,killing two persons and injuring more than 30.

The  Jammu and Kashmir  Police  identified  the suspect as 13 year old  Kashmiri militant from south Kashmir ‘s Kulgam , had been  arrested immediately. He was  ordered  by the  Hizbul Mujahideen commander to carry  out the dreadful task.

According to the advisor (home department) J&K Governor ,K.Vijay Kumar told press reporters in Srinagar  “ the accused is an ordinary youngster  and made into a mercenary”.       source  Indian Express.

Interestingly around the same time, a video  of two men wearing saffron shirts  beating Kashmiri street vendors in the northern Indian city of Lucknow  went viral .

The two incidents heightened the tensions in the region and incidentally bound to stoke  hatred and animosity between Hindus and Muslims before flaring into a communal riot.

India is still in a war like situation though temporarily eased out by the return of  our IAF Pilot  MR Abhinandan Varthaman safely on a good friendly gesture by Pakistan. Hence both sides posturing only  but in reality neither  wants   a war at the moment.

There is tendency  to draw distinction between external security and internal security.  but a closer view will determine that  condition of one has an impact on the other. In other words any kind of laxity on internal security has terrible repercussions on the external security more paramount for the safety of the nation.

This is what exactly happened in relation to the internal administration of Kashmir.

Terrorism in Kashmir has been a great threat for last three decades and has eaten like a moth  into the  country’s  internal security .

It continues to be so  as we witnessed the Pulwama holocaust where 40  paramilitary  personnel were killed in  by a suicide bomber.

Earlier also there were threats of Maoism ,contained to a large extent now, if not eliminated in totality , the  separatism in Punjab in the 1980’s was wiped out in the state  completely.   The language problem,most flagrant one one time, a lot of lives lost in Tamil Nadu, was solved with great alacrity and in right spirit .

Why Kashmir impasse cannot be solved  ?

In dealing with Kashmir impasse we need to follow two pronged strategy in resolving  the same for good.

1/  Firmness and determination in elimination of terrorism in the state.

2/  To follow a conciliatory policy and taking confidence building measures with fairness towards the people of Kashmir .

The firmness and determination in elimination of terrorists and terrorism calls for complete sealing off  both international  Border as well as Line of Control. The military strategists in confidence with the Ministry of Defence should be able to draw up plans of action to thwart  infiltration in totality.

 Right from building impregnable barriers to more often surgical strikes could be thought some of the provisions among many others to be decided by the Military Generals. and the experts.

currently the  infiltration is very high .The year 2017 there were 136 infiltrations and in 2018 upto October  only it was 128.The year ending report could be much more.

As far as J&K is concerned  the current policy of  muscular militaristic may be good at controlling at the borders but not vis -a -vis in dealing with the people of the valley.  As on today it has driven young men to more radicalization and into the lap of militant groups .

The people need to be weaned away and to be developed  into a patriotic citizens.  

The feeling  of alienation among Kashmiris  young and old is undeniable.

The alienation of youth however  needs to be addressed otherwise the situation will acquire larger proposition without any recourse to normalcy. Pakistan could use the radicalized youth in a more  lethal way to foment Taliban like militancy.in the state.

CONCLUSIONS;

The  Pulwama attack has been responded adequately by attacking Jaish –e-Mohammad camps in Balakot.and the expected Pakistani counter there by establishing its blatant belligerency.But the return of IAF Pilot immediately quietened the war like situation though temporarily.

 As of now crisis is blown over.

 With the LOK SABHA elections in the offing –11^th April , as announced by the Election Commissioner, The Govt in place BJP will try to derive advantage on PM  Narender Modi’s decisiveness and the opposition would try to deny him to cash on it.

In the melee of elections  India should not forget to put relentless diplomatic pressure on  Pakistan through world leaders  to be black listed  in case it does not stop offering even a modicum of shelter to the terrorists growing on their soil.