After pulwama

After pulwama

The need of the hour is to enhance defence, isolate Pakistan and stop politicking on security.

The suicide bombing of a CRPF convoy in Kashmir’s Pulwama district, which resulted in the deaths of at least 40 jawans, highlights India’s heightened security challenges as the US signals a withdrawal from Afghanistan. Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM), which has claimed the attack, has identified the bomber as Adil Ahmed Dar, a local youth radicalised by the Pakistan-based terror outfit. During the course of the attack, Dar received cover fire from other JeM terrorists. Plus, minutes after the attack videos were released on social media showing Dar claiming responsibility for the attack and exhorting other Kashmiri youths to join JeM.

Thus the fingerprints of JeM, a primarily Pakistani outfit sheltered by and receiving safe haven in Pakistan, are all over the attack. There are now reports that a top JeM commander and an Afghan war veteran was specifically sent to Kashmir from Pakistan to organise the attack. Of course, Pakistan continues to shelter a plethora of terrorist groups and their masterminds, including JeM chief Masood Azhar.

The latter has been emboldened by China’s repeated blocking of New Delhi’s moves to get him proscribed as a terrorist at the UN Security Council. Add to this the fact that Taliban comeback in Afghanistan is inspiring youths in Kashmir to take up arms. Faced with this situation, New Delhi has promised a strong response to the Pulwama attack.

India will need to redouble its focus on measures to isolate Pakistan in the international community. Government has already revoked Pakistan’s most favoured nation status. But the real challenge here is Beijing’s diplomatic and military support for Islamabad. For its diplomatic campaign to succeed New Delhi will have to pressure Beijing, which should as a first step lift its veto on UN action against Azhar.

If China doesn’t respond India should prepare a series of calibrated countermeasures, beginning with joining the international condemnation of Beijing’s practice of setting up Gulags for Muslim Uighurs (this would highlight both Chinese hypocrisy when it protects Azhar and Pakistani hypocrisy when it professes to uphold the rights of Indian Muslims). They could also include squeezing Chinese businesses in India (China does similar things routinely when it wants to pressure other countries), stepping up ties with Taiwan, and even raking up the Tibet issue. The message should be clear – China can’t expect cordial ties with India while aiding its enemies.

Secondly, there needs to be a consensus across political parties that there will be no politicking over security issues. Be it surgical strikes carried out by the army or the acquisition of defence equipment, defence of this nation is far too important a matter to be used for boosterism, seeking votes, point scoring and political one-upmanship. Political parties should speak in one voice and jointly evolve a strategic defence vision. Given the country’s finite resources, we need to quickly modernise the armed forces and simultaneously make them leaner, while giving them teeth.

Finally, there needs to be a strong counter narrative in Kashmir to challenge the radical narrative which motivates stone pelters as well as recruits for suicide bombing attacks. To enable such a counter narrative to take hold, there must also be a tamping down of the Hindutva rhetoric and anti-minority sectarian attacks that have become rife in the rest of the country. These have impacted Kashmir, where terror recruiters have found it easier to radicalise Kashmiri Muslim youths on the basis of religion. We must seize back the advantage by enhancing our military depth and backing it with a strong political resolve and consistent narrative. India must stand as one.