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Spurt in militancy

Kashmir Times. Dated: 6/15/2017 2:10:16 PM

Govt must heed the call by supplementing military action with political intervention before it is too late

A slew of militancy related attacks on Tuesday in Kashmir valley, injuring a dozen security personnel is a reflection of the deteriorating situation, revealing that military action alone is not sufficient in dealing with a speedily exacerbating situation. Fresh batches of young boys are joining ranks of militant groups by the day and the unprecedented anger seething in the valley today is ensuring that the militant groups remain well fed, at least in terms of human resource. The increasing incidents of looting of banks and snatching of arms and weapons from soldiers and cops, with the needle of suspicion pointing to the militant groups, there is sufficient reason to believe that funding and weapons are the two things they are lacking in. The third weak point of today's generation of militants is that they lack professional training. They are, however, driven by anger, emotion or passion, or all of these, and are willingly and consciously embarking on this suicidal journey. The numbers of militants, as of now, are not so worrying. Nor is their strategy, training and resources a cause for any alarm. In terms of military skills, they can be defeated with kid gloves. The question of whether a handful of militants can easily be defeated, however, remains irrelevant as long as there is a ready trail of youth, even young teenagers in the Valley eager to pick up arms and fight. For every militant killed, there are more than one already out in the field to replace the slain gunman. Unlike the previous generation of militants, they have lost their sense of fear and are ready to die. Besides, the massive public support for them, as evinced in the recent cases of encounters, where people immediately come in hordes to distract the attention of the security personnel by shouting slogans or pelting stones at them, not only queers the pitch for effective counter insurgency operations but also reveals that in terms of logistical support that comes from public compensates for the other three weakness of lack of training, funding and weaponry. Accelerating the military action or repeating the old formula of deadly mix of counter insurgency by way of co-opting surrendered ultras and other locals can only help devastate the Valley and leave behind a trail of excessive human rights abuse and further tarnish the fabric of Kashmiri society. Such tactics can, at best, help suppress the problem for a while but will continue to fuel discontent and alienation, which in times to come will become extremely difficult to address. In any case, it will be a long drawn battle, which neither Kashmir, nor the country, faced the tragic loss of lives of soldiers and huge monetary costs, can afford.
By pinning blame entirely on Pakistan, which most certainly helps fan the fires and use the opportunity of unrest in Kashmir for more trouble, for the present turmoil, the government is burying its head in the sand like an ostrich, while turning a blind eye to the indigenous genesis of the problem and the potential ammunition the government itself is providing to militancy through extremely repressive and brutal policies. Unless the military actions are not supplemented by engaging with the issue of deepening anger and discontent, one can only be wishful about resolving Kashmir. The conflict management policy through military tactics alone is not going to yield results and the government must sit up and get realistic. Pushing the military in the forefront and dealing with a sensitive place like Kashmir purely with guns will have dangerous consequences for rest of the country and for South Asia. A holistic introspection of the situation reveals that there is dire need for a political handling of Kashmir, which can go hand in hand with the military combats. This has been the norm in conflict resolutions across the world. No states dealing with their conflict zones have waited for the last gun to fall silent. The government must respond with more pragmatism and with an out of the box solution that conflict resolutions demand.