Editorial: Bleeding Valley, nefarious neighbour

While using every international forum to expose the dangerous games of Pakistan, India must take sincere and credible steps to address the concerns of Kashmiris and ensure genuine empowerment.

Hyderabad: The New Year began on an ominous note for the Kashmir Valley with back-to-back terrorist attacks, killing seven innocent people, including three children, in the border district of Rajouri. These despicable acts come as a reminder of Pakistan’s continued policy of using terrorism as an instrument of state policy and fomenting trouble in the region. The dastardly attack claimed the lives of four civilians when terrorists fired indiscriminately at three houses of the Hindu community at Dhangri village on Sunday evening. The next day, two children were killed in an explosion set off near the house of one of the victims. The twin incidents are clearly aimed at disturbing the peace and scuttling the resumption of the electoral process in the union Territory. It is time a strong message is sent to Islamabad through diplomatic channels that it must turn off the terror tap. There is no question of resumption of normal relations with Pakistan unless it dismantles its terror factories. At a time when there is a need for the international community to speak in unison and isolate Islamabad for exporting terrorism, it is deplorable that the United States has chosen to play a dubious role in the name of diplomatic balancing. The US State Department spokesperson Ned Price’s recent observation that both India and Pakistan were indispensable to his country smacks of a patronising attitude. In fact, American diplomacy has been, for too long, obsessed with a hyphenated approach towards India and Pakistan despite vast changes in regional dynamics. The two South Asian neighbours are routinely bracketed together with lazy generalisations and patronising sermons.

The US is giving the impression that it is keen on a ‘constructive’ dialogue between the two countries; nevertheless, Washington is reluctant to tell Islamabad to mend its ways. Last year’s F16 deal with Pakistan left no room for doubt that America has no qualms about running with the hare and hunting with the hounds. India has rightly stuck to its position that it wants good neighbourly relations with everybody, but this does not mean excusing or looking away or rationalising terrorism. Under any circumstances, terrorism cannot be used as a tool to force India to the negotiating table. While using every international forum to expose the dangerous games of Pakistan, India must take sincere and credible steps to address the concerns of Kashmiris and ensure genuine empowerment. Restoration of peace in J&K is a must to create a conducive atmosphere for the conduct of the long-delayed Assembly elections. As per the road map unveiled by the Centre in Parliament, the Assembly polls are likely to pave the way for the restoration of statehood — a longstanding demand by local residents and political parties. Cracking down on terrorism and bridging the trust deficit are prerequisites for the restoration of normalcy.