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| Intelligence, law-enforcement agencies in a quandary | | | NEWS ANALYSIS
B L KAK
NEW DELHI:
With the renewed threat of terorist violence in parts of Jammu and Kashmir, the Union Home Ministry was left with no alternative but to dash off fresh instructions to the J&K government, urging it to put in place "effective" measures to ensure safety and security of innocent civilians. Renewed violent acts have already triggered spasms of restlessness among the people and law-enforcement agencies. Forces of disruption and obscurantism continue to call the shots in the restive State of Jammu and Kashmir.
They will enjoy freedom as long as the terrorist infrastructure remained intact across the Line of Control (LoC). That violence has increased in J&K in recent times is indisputable whatever the statistics say. The fact is that it is innocent civilians including children who are becoming a major target in bomb blasts, encounters or crackdowns. Whether it is militant attacks or incidents of alleged human rights violations by security forces, the level of violence against inocents has not only seen an increase but the magnitude of incidents is equally shocking.
The killings cannot simply be attributed to the gun on both sides but also lack of politcal initative on the part of both New Delhi and Islamabad to take concrete measures to minimize the level of violence. Ironically, amidst the talk for contiuance of peace discourse, both India and Pakistan are also maintaining their traditonal stand of blaming each other for the ongoing bloodshed, making it a perfect case of those living in glass houses throwing stones at others.
The tragedy, however, is that this game of oneupmanship is being played at the cost of the hapless people of Jammu and Kashmir caught in the cross-fire. It is easy for Pakistan to blame Indian agencies for human rights abuse or for India to constantly accuse Islamabad of allowing terrorist camps to function in Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) and encouraging infiltrations. Can Pakistan be singularly blamed for the level of militants sneaking into the Indian territory for the increasing violence?
Firstly, Pakistan, which is finding itself in a tight spot following the 2001 terrorist bombing in America, parallel powers including some fundamentalist groups, are beyond the control of the politcal leadership. The bellicose political rhetoric on that side has been reined in to a great extent of late and some genuine attempts have been made by Pakistan government to minimize infiltrations. Secondly, it sounds strange when New Delhi or Army officials question that large scale infiltrations are impossible without the tacit approval and knowledge of Pakistani forces and government.
It sounds bizarre for the simple reason that a huge military force is not just manning the borders but crores of rupees, that has cost India's tax-payers a lot, have been siphoned off to fence the borders. The huge amount of money squandered has been justified by New Delhi on the plea that this would stop infiltrations. There are already reports about the futility of fencing in several areas where infiltrators have easily sneaked in with the simple use of scissors or plastic ladders.
Thirdly, and most importantly, the peace jargon used on both sides of the divide is not being complemented by genuine steps on the ground to reduce violence. Violence cannot be expected to be wished away by pursuing the simple formula of bullet for bullet. Political initiative for peace is important while peace becomes a fashionable word.
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