Col Ajay K Raina
Three major developments, all equally unsavoury, over the past week define what ails Jammu & Kashmir today. One of these was a set of targeted killings in Rajouri wherein Hindu localities were not only targeted, but the terrorists checked the Adhaar cards before opening fire on their victims! The second one was a statement by the Chief Executive of the UT, saying that religion had nothing to do with such killings. The third one was an ex-CM statement claiming that the ongoing killings resulted from prevailing polarisation in the country. All these three developments, with all their brutality, contradictions and falsity, sum up the situation that prevails in the Jammu region of the UT today. Let’s examine these, one by one, and see the possible remedies for such disorders.
First is the statement of the Hon’ble Lt Governor. Unless the government of the day has deliberately decided to close its eyes or put on blinkers, His Excellency needs to realise that such incidences originate from the ill-conceived concept of Jihad against fellow citizens! Anyone and everyone who is considered to be an obstruction in this ideology’s path is simply targeted and eliminated. This explains why people from varied faiths have been targeted. At the same time, this also highlights the fact that such a thought process is being pushed by fundamentalist preachers, mostly from UP, who have taken over the mosques in the UT. It is up to the administration to take steps to put such elements under surveillance, monitor the books and literature being distributed or simply close eyes and keep feeling the elephant in bits and pieces. Such an approach, however, will never let you identify the elephant in the room! Those who had the opportunity to watch the fountainhead of terrorism rise in Kashmir Valley will vouch for the similarity in the design and execution of a nefarious plan that relies on radicalisation in the name of religion. As said, the ball is in the court of the Government.
The next is a flamboyant ex-CM of the erstwhile State who is trying to score a political brownie by targeting a political opponent in power in Delhi. In that case, he may like to educate the nation if a similar polarisation was responsible for targeted killings under his watch. His statement deserves to be seen as an attempt to subvert and plant an unfounded belief in the minds of young minds. Needless to say that a suitable act needs to be invoked against such politicians for instigating gullible minds. When it starts claiming innocent lives, dirty politics needs to be countered through the law of the land; there is no other way.
As regards the targeted killings per se, we need to look back and revisit the lessons from recent history. Jammu region stands as a proverbial wall between pawns being unleashed by the Pakistan ISI in Kashmir and Punjab. Thus, it is not the first time that the region has been targeted to inject communal strife and terrorism into its hinterland. One also needs to consider the fact that after the moving out of certain army units and HQ to Ladakh after the Galwan incident, troops’ presence on the ground has been thinned to some extent. Even when all those units had been in location, a stellar role was played by the Village Defence Committees (VDCs) in fighting the terrorists being pumped in from across the Line of Control. With their origin in the Kishtwar area, VDCs, as a concept, had been a great success under the central rule during those days. Unfortunately, despite their spectacular performance, they were treated unfairly when the politicians returned to power. It is high time the concept is implemented once again but only after introducing essential safeguards so that they are not ditched again by the State.
Jammu region, home to brave Dogras belonging to multiple faiths and beliefs, has traditionally contributed immensely to the nation’s defence forces. As a result, the land is inhabited by veteran soldiers who hold the potential to effectively counter the attempts being made by the ISI to reignite the trouble in the region. Many of them already hold licensed weapons though it is another matter that successive governments have deliberately tried to refuse to grant fresh licences to such veterans when they come home after retirement. Whether it was ill-treatment of the VDCs or unequal distribution of weapon licenses, the intent of such governments under the control of Kashmir-based politicians also serves as a beacon for an independent observer to see where actually the problem lies! This is a part of a series of sad tales of mishandling, partiality and region/religious-based discrimination in the UT.
No degree in rocket sciences is, therefore, required to understand the need to arm such veterans and other volunteers and enable them to act as meaningful tools of the statecraft. Post verification, all pending applications for the weapon license must be cleared at the earliest, while automatics must be issued to the veterans from the defence and police forces. All such volunteers must be offered an assured monetary incentive and enhanced insurance coverage through an act so as to ensure that they are not slighted once again. Their command and control must be entrusted to the nearest army unit/HQ. A system of training and maintenance of their weapons and means of communications must be put in place before mobilising such a force. If implemented, it will be low-cost and yet a very effective means to combat the obnoxious designs of Pakistan. Compare it with the only other and highly debatable option of attacking and cleansing Pakistan of all such elements!
The situation, therefore, calls for a three-pronged approach-acceptance of the ground realities by the top decision-makers without any facade, legal course against motormouths and strengthening the hands of those who can act as force multipliers in the fight against terrorism. And the sooner it is done, the better it will be.
(The author is a military veteran and hails from a border belt)
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