Editorial: Proxy terrorism on the rise

Hyderabad: The spurt in targeted civilian killings, infiltration attempts and attacks on security forces in Kashmir Valley have ripped through the veneer of complacency woven around the abrogation of Article 370 that ended the special status for Jammu & Kashmir. What is alarming is that the terror attacks have been occurring in areas, which were earlier declared militancy-free. On one hand, scrapping Article 370 has alienated the mainstream political parties with their leaders being detained under tough laws, the changing geopolitical dynamics in the neighbourhood has, on the other hand, made the security situation in the trouble-torn Valley more vulnerable. No doubt, there was a reduction in recruitment of local terrorist cadres, instances of infiltration from across the Line of Control (LoC) and the street violence in the immediate aftermath of the Central government’s decision to end the special status and bifurcate the State into two Union territories in August 2019. However, the NDA government failed to take the necessary follow-up measures to reach out to the people but allowed the historic move to be reduced to a political brownie point. The developments in Afghanistan in the wake of the Taliban takeover of the war-torn country and Pakistan’s open lobbying for international recognition for the new regime in Kabul have dramatically altered the security scenario. The anti-India terrorist outfits, created and nurtured by the Pakistani Deep State, are emboldened by the turn of events. With the release of several prisoners belonging to terror groups from Afghan jails, there were clear indications that attempts would be made to revive militancy in a big way in Kashmir.

The pattern of recent killings, picking non-Muslim targets, suggests a throwback to the 1990s, a decade marked by mayhem leading to the mass exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley. The dangerous trend of selective killings reflects a macabre strategy to send out a message that there is no room for non-Muslims and non-locals in Kashmir. This xenophobic impulse has a larger connotation of hatred. In the 1990s, a large segment of the minority population fled the Valley giving the separatists, terror groups and their sponsors the space to pursue their agenda. Over the next two decades, the ISI-backed plan attempted an ideological change in Kashmir’s thinking and turned the Azadi sentiment into an Islamist movement. The radical elements have been targeting those who are serving the Army, paramilitary forces and the state police. They are now going after teachers, small businessmen and other sections to generate more outrage. This is the time for the NDA leadership to reach out to the people by taking the Muslim clergy and the mainstream parties on board and make a sincere attempt to find a political solution.