Pampore attack is proof India can't lose ties with Pakistan
The martyrdom of Captain Pawan Kumar and Captain Tushar Mahajan from the elite para forces of the Indian Army - who along with other soldiers, died as they were trying to neutralise LeT terrorists at Jammu and Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute (JKEDI) complex in Kashmir last week - once again reinforces the importance of continuously engaging Pakistan for the greater good, despite frequent attacks from across the border.
One must not only salute, but also applaud the courage and brevity displayed by the parents of these young men who sacrificed their today for our better future. In these times of grief, let us also remember the supreme sacrifices of the jawans martyred and also the civilian, who fell to militants' bullets inside the EDI complex.
The main building of EDI is in ruins today; it represents what has largely transpired in Kashmir in the last two decades. The institution has emerged in recent times as a beacon of hope for young Kashmiri youth, desperately wanting to fight poverty. The face of this hope is mutilated, and it will be a while before it is back on its feet.
At the heart of these fresh attacks is the reason why late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, the pioneer of the idea of alternative politics in Jammu and Kashmir had, in fact, after forming the government with BJP on March 1, thanked Hurriyat, Pakistan and the militants for allowing a conducive atmosphere for the Assembly polls held in the state.
Sayeed's statement had created furor in the media, with hyper-nationalist TV anchors calling him a pro-Pakistan CM, who instead of thanking the apparatus of the Indian state for facilitating the peaceful elections, thanked Pakistan! Throughout his life, Sayeed had maintained that he was an Indian by conviction.
However, the truth is hard to swallow, and the Pampore attack is one shade of the truth - non-state actors in Pakistan, if they want to create instability in Kashmir, can do so any time. The peaceful elections and higher voter turnout in all three regions of Jammu and Kashmir during the Assembly polls was a result of the absence of such a disturbance. That is reason the late Jammu and Kashmir chief minister thanked these organisations and Pakistan. It is unfortunate that attacks like these, which claim innocent lives, vindicate his stance.
The truth is no peace can be achieved in Kashmir, until and unless we have Pakistan on our side to defeat the vultures of violence. We have to engage the state of Pakistan, as is being done by PM Modi's government at different levels, so they turn the tide against these terrorists inside and out of their country.
It would be an underestimation if we assumed that the Pakistani state controls them entirely. There will be elements inside Pakistan who would like to keep peace fragile in the region, but we must safeguard ties with the state, which can manage to choke the extremist organisations within and deter them from using their territory against another state.
Imagine if this attack on EDI was carried out in a school in Pampore - we would have had to lose more lives than those claimed by the Beslan school siege. And people who carry out the attacks won't see the difference between a school and an institution of policing.
It also reinforces our belief that the negative peace prevailing in the Valley can be disturbed by just two armed gunmen; although security forces in Kashmir have largely managed to contain the violence within and on the LoC, militants manage to sneak in. We have to make sure the counter infiltration grid on the LoC is further strengthened, especially in the Kupwara region.
It is almost impossible to stop the infiltration, and one mistake at the LoC can facilitate the entry of militants, who can destroy any semblance of peace in the Valley.