Arun Joshi
It’s unfortunate that politics is being played on the May 4th terror attack in Poonch in which one soldier was killed and four others wounded. There are many other things on which politics can be played, and is being played. The Poonch attack is not only about terrorism that continues to haunt Jammu and Kashmir, no matter what its degree is, an act of terrorism is terrorism, no minuses and pluses, it is also raises questions about the nature of the security apparatus where rhetoric is seen as a substitute for real-time action on the ground.
Former chief minister of Punjab Charanjit Singh Channi ignited the political debate on the attack, calling Poonch terror attack as “pre-poll stunt of the BJP.” Channi is contesting Lok Sabha poll from Jalandhar constituency in Punjab , and one can understand that he is facing tough competition from his rivals , particularly BJP that is keen to win all the seats in the state , but using the terror attack to target the rivals is not only bad politics but also unethical . He has based charges on assumptions, as it is clear that he is unaware of the ground realities of J&K . The tragedy of this place is that everyone in the country , right-left, middle use it to draw political mileage , particularly during elections .
What Channi has done is a great disservice to the nation . He has thrown a political shield of his own making at the attack. This has not only cast its shadow on the investigations , also given a handle to enemies of the nation to exploit his statement to save the real culprits and their sponsors. All said and done , Channi was a chief minister of Punjab. That’s why his words got played up . BJP responded and stoked further politics over the issue.
It would have been wiser had Channi chosen his words carefully , and not attempted to stir political cauldron . Since he did commit a mistake , it would have been better for Congress leadership , particularly Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi , who are victims of terrorism as they lost their grandmother and father to the acts of terror in 1984 and 1991 , to denounce this. That could have pre-empted the BJP’ playing counter-politics on Poonch terror attack.
Such political battle of scoring brownie points at the time of the general elections is bad politics , which can hurt the national interest . This should make the nation to understand the whole dynamics of armed militancy , its roots and how it has played out over more than three decades. It should also be clear to the nation that one or two high-profile acts of terrorism and counter-terrorism do not change the scene forever . Terrorists and the ecosystem in which they thrive think of alternatives – low profile terror attacks , particularly targeted killings which limit scale of the counter-terrorism operations.
In the Poonch terror attack, one soldier lost his life and four others were injured This is worrying as it inflicts a dent on the image of the security forces and hit hard at the narrative that Jammu and Kashmir is free of terrorism , or that terrorism is about to die . These perceptions and rhetoric needs to be revisited . This ignores the fact that there are forces across the border keen on hitting at the Indian interests and assets in Jammu and Kashmir . Why targeting and killing soldiers is a hit at the idea and image of India? The answer to this question lies in the fact that for all the years since 1990 soldiers on streets , bunkers and elsewhere were projected as face of India. They were there to guard the fr9netiers and the locals against the onslaught of terrorism to fight for India . But when they were projected as the sole face of India , it gave birth to many misperceptions. Till this moment there is a search for real face of India . The army mobilized lot of resources to invest in the goodwill missions for children to elders to win their hearts , but if there still is some doubt , it only suggests that the soldiers should be soldiers in all real sense of the word . They have been accessible to the locals at the time of distress and won accolades . They should help the civilians to do what civilians are obliged to do . There is a systemic weakness in the system since late 1980s to outsource their work to the army , as a result of which the system is crippled with inertia .
Rajouri-Poonch is not an easy proposition when it comes to fighting a neutralizing terrorists . There is a typical geographical location , it borders Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir, . There is a Line of Control in between that divides Jammu and Kashmir between India and Pakistan . The LoC Is enjoying a fresh spell of ceasefire , but unfortunately , the terms of ceasefire have not mentioned infiltration from Pock as an act of hostility. Partial ceasefire is of little use if the issue of the infiltration is left unaddressed .
It is time to move on . There is a need to have a concrete definition of terrorism and that of counter-terrorism. Of course , it will change with each act of terror and the nature in which it manifests . The counter-terrorism should move beyond fire-fighting styles and the best thing that the politicians can do is to keep silent . Rhetoric on terror and counter-terrorism has the potential to prove counterproductive . Politics and terrorism should not be intermingled . Let terrorism be fought with a concrete policy , in which all the stakeholders should be taken on board . As terrorism in Kashmir has shown no political party has been spared by terrorists. National Conference suffered the most, so did PDP, Congress and BJP. Even the separatists of yesteryear fell victims to terrorism. This menace doesn’t spare anyone . The Comparison of what happened in “your era versus our time”, generates new fault lines . The political parties should be aware of it . The terrorism has to be fought at psychological plane as well. That’s the key.
Arun Joshi is author of “Eyewitness Kashmir; Teetering on Nuclear War and senior journalist based in Jammu and Kashmir, writes on South Asian affairs)
Disclaimer: This is the personal opinion of the author. The views expressed in this write-up have nothing to do with www.prameyanews.com.
