KASHMIR THROUGH MY EYES : PART – 2 : LOOTERS SHOT BY CONSTITUTION – ABROGATION OF ART 370

KASHMIR THROUGH MY EYES : PART – 2 : LOOTERS SHOT BY CONSTITUTION – ABROGATION OF ART 370

J&K was slowly dying. J&K was like a hunted wilder beast around which a pride of lions feasts. Counter Insurgency Industry was feasting on J&K.

Brief

06 Aug 2019 – This thread #KashmirThroughMyEyes on Twitter was in three parts. Part 1 in August 2019, Part 2 in Dec 2019-Jan 2020 and Part 3 in Mar 2020. Read the article keeping these dates in the back of your mind. Abrogation of Article 370 broke the back of the ‘Counter Insurgency Industry’, a booming industry for 30 years.

For the website the tweets have been converted to an article in three parts:

Part 1 – KASHMIR THROUGH MY EYES : PART 1 : THE DESTRUCTION OF COUNTER INSURGENCY INDUSTRY. Read full article here https://colsanjaypande.com/kashmir-through-my-eyes-the-destruction-of-counter-insurgency-industry-part-1/

Oct-Dec 2019 – Part 2 – This article. The tweets were written approx. three months after the abrogation.

Shot in the Heart

Abrogation of Article 370 was the adrenaline shot to Jammu and Kashmir. Adrenaline does to the body that abrogation did to J&K. Adrenaline increases heart rate, increases blood pressure, expands the air passages of the lungs, enlarges the pupil in the eye, redistributes blood to the muscles and alters the body’s metabolism, so as to maximise blood glucose levels (primarily for the brain).

J&K was slowly dying. No one was helping it live. J&K was like a hunted wilder beast around which a pride of lions was feasting. Our Counter Insurgency Industry was feasting on J&K.

I remain a strong supporter of abrogation and watch the developments very carefully. Kashmir was most lucrative investment (to earn money, progress career, plan future) with highest ROI. Investors were ‘the’ family, law makers, bureaucrats, local police, security forces, contractors, middlemen, terrorists, politicians, separatists and practically everyone with an access to the public funds. Each had own agenda. 

Central Govt could not have made public its intention to abrogate Art 370. It’s comple dependence on the reports from all agencies including intelligence made it more difficult. The strategy to handle post-abrogation period would have to be based on these reports. Reports! Reports by very same agencies that converted Kashmir into ‘investment destination’ and created ‘counter insurgency industry’. Each had agenda and made reports to suit their cause. Centre had no way to find. 

EVEN ARMY COULD NOT BE TRUSTED. How could anyone? The Divisional Commanders became Corps Commanders, Corps Commanders either became Army Commanders of DGMO’s, Vice and Dy Chiefs. Some became Chiefs too. They knew how to fool government.

What happened soon as the announcement to Abrogate Art 370 was made? Centre, without realising, had broken the back, broken the spinal cord of the industry. It simply paralysed all the stake holders. By default all investors became suspect in the eyes of the government.

Centre must have realised that reality was far from true state. For worse? For better? No one could predict. It definitely was not what reports said. The paralysis was multiplied manifolds by putting under house arrest the entire ‘family’ and known trouble maker politicians. Separatists had already been taken care of. Chief Justice wanted to go to Kashmir, Politicians wanted to roam freely, left leaning lobby wanted to go but no information came out from J&K. Land lines, Internet, communication, papers, mobiles – all silent. They all had just one aim, fan hatred and put valley on fire.

It may come out that Centre handled it too well after realising that the Counter Insurgency Industry made fool for three decades. Converse may be true too. My view of the Counter Insurgency Industry being functional from three decades is proved by the fact that no credible plan to handle post-abrogation period came up. Centre has been left high and dry to handle it directly. The industry partners look like fools. Centre requires time to counter these ‘corrupt-in-mind’ industry partners whose back got broken by default.

Central Govt would not have got a better situation than the present one. Direct control. Putting Int, Security Forces, Administration, Bureaucracy, Law Makers and the family in correct place. Taking steps to directly affect population like permitting anyone to settle, open industry, purchase of property, abolishing ‘Kashmir Administrative Service’, introduce Aadhaar, Jan Dhan, Ujjwala, Schools, PDS, justice, law and order etc. Kashmir will be sealed by snow top mountains in November. Domination of LC and mounting massive operations to fish out terrorists will pay back.

It was now or never. Isolating Pakistan internationally was successfully done. Diplomatic War needs to escalate. Talk of seizing PoK has rattled Pakistan. High time attention of world is drawn to Balochistan. Debate how to regain PoK. Govt needs to up the ante keeping winters in mind. Two months of absolute tight control and snowfall starts giving relative peace and upper hand to Army. Keep away trouble makers masquerading as ‘keepers of democracy’. 

Turning the Heat On

It was too naive to declare ‘diplomatic blunder’ in J&K. To me it was planned & executed to perfection. Opposition, ‘liberals’ & leftist took bait too soon. Collective stupidity was on display of all those who did not want to see peace in J&K. MEA kept clean. Waters tested. While Congress finalised a pan India protest, its star campaigner Mr Rahul Gandhi went on a meditational holiday and the planners send the opposition on a wild goose chase of an NGO. It’s not about EU delegation being planned and escorted by MEA, it’s about telling own lawmakers that they are not welcome to valley since their narratives are already written, their statements already with media, ALL without stepping into J&K. No one knew what was happening except those in charge.

The implementation of Abrogation of 370 by controlling the valley, leaders, law and order & bringing in of normalcy will become part of major study in future. Like it or hate it, this Govt knows what it is doing. Terrorists will be trapped in a month. The local industry just went quiet. None wanted the insurgency to finish but none has the courage to protest. Anyone protesting is actually an ‘ani-national’. Why shed tears on so called ‘leaders’ under house arrest? It’s the FAMILY. They are the root cause of J&K quagmire. They were Puppeteers. They wrote the script.

Nothing better could have happened.

Wait for part 3…