Expert Speak War Fare
Published on Feb 25, 2019
Kinetics help in neutralising certain type of threats. They do not help in the real problem — the battle of mind space.
Pulwama suicide attack and the battle of mind space A suicide bomber is not born out of training or physical strength. It takes deep conviction and uber-brainwashing in the mind of an individual to strap a bomb on her/his body to inflict unbridled terror. The Pulwama carnage is now deeply seated in the minds of every citizen of the country. At a time when diplomatic responses are calibrated against Pakistan, a handful of targeted incidents against Kashmiris living outside the valley have created a sense of fear and hysteria among ordinary Kashmiris. Such has been the effect of the Pulwama attack on the psyche of people of India in general and, the fringe mobs in particular, that they couldn’t tell a difference between a Kashmiri and the people responsible for the attack. Terror in itself has the tenacity of occupying the mind space of its victims to point that rationality, very often - becomes a casualty in these situations. The fact that there is a suicide bomber tells us that there are multiple influences and instigators out there who feed a certain discourse into the minds of young people to motivate them for suicide missions. While kinetic operations have their own role to play in a security situation, and are even necessary, they are not sufficient because they do not address, much less capture the mind-space that fuels terrorism. Kinetics only create a level playing field in combat situations by neutralizing violent actors and the threats they pose. On the flip side, the security-only approach a vicious circle of escalating confrontations. Kinetics help in neutralizing certain type of threats. They do not help in the real problem – the battle of mind space. The Kashmir story is one of diabolical narratives. On one side is a section of Kashmiris who say “we are all Burhan Wani” and the other is a section of people who say “they are all terrorists.” Both sides feed off on each other.  This binary leave little space for a middle ground or a nuanced understanding of the issues at hand. The representatives of the sentiment of Azaadi, its ideological apparatus, wants the world to believe that every Kashmiri is at war with India. The right wing ideological apparatus amplifes the same view to the point that they paint every Kashmiri as “anti-national.” The extremes on the other political divide the political divide see these militants as “Che Guvera’s” of Kashmir – justifying the most reprehensible face of violence. The repercussions of such a diabolical binary were felt in the immediate aftermath of the Pulwama attack. By focusing on only one reality of the problem in Kashmir and turning the likes of Burhan Wani into icons of Kashmir, a great disservice has been inflicted upon the image of Kashmir and Kashmiris in the eyes of the world. Today, perhaps in the eyes of the fringe mobs, every Kashmir is an extension of the Pulwama suicide bomber. But the reality is far from it. The reality is that there are multiple realities of Kashmir. Perhaps, it is time to stop and ask, why are 300 odd local Kashmiri militants active in the valley occupying so much space in the national discourse of the country? Why do these 300 odd individuals, or even 3000 or 30000 of their supporters out of a population of over 7 million become the rallying point to lump all Kashmiris under one label? Why do our news media and opinion makers have an obsession with the Kashmir story? And why is the Kashmir story only about these pesky carriers of terror? If it is indeed a story of Kashmir, why is this story one-sided? A few days after Pulwama attack, 2500 Kashmiris queued up, in bone-chilling cold, for an Army recruitment drive. Tragically, this rally didn’t capture the imagination of people or that of the opinion makers like the pictures of Burhan Wani did. These 2500 men and thousands who are a part of various security forces are not worthy of becoming the icons of Kashmiris even though they come from the same demographic background as any of the local militants. Thousands of Kashmiris have fallen prey to bullets and brute force of militants. There seems to be no recognition of that side of the story. On the other hand the grand narrative in Kashmir is filled with stories that lead to only one conclusion that the security forces are there to kill all Kashmiris. But the reality is totally different. As per a story published in Times of India in 2011, the state data refuted the claim that 100,000 civilians were killed in Kashmir. The data published in this story suggests that, since 1990, the highest number of death recorded (21,323) are that of militants/cross border infiltrators; followed by civilians killed by militants (13226); 5,369 security forces personnel including 1500 personnel of J&K Police and 3642 civilians killed in action of security forces – including the causalities in massacres like Gaw Kadal; protesters killed in unrests of 2008 and 2010. These numbers bust the anti-India narrative in Kashmir but tragically no one in the government, the security forces or the media has ever felt the need to highlight, publicise and agitate these facts. Rhetoric has replaced truth and shouting matches have replaced common sense and rationality. In the rat-race for TRPs, the national media – both liberal and jingoist type – has created a cesspool out of the Kashmir story. Ignorance and prejudice of the most Kashmir experts has trumped nuance and analysis based on ground realities. Today in the popular narrative of India, a Kashmiri is known for Burhan Wani, radicalization, militancy, cross border terror, suicide bombings and farmland of “anti-nationals” but no one seems to acknowledge that over 13000 Kashmiris were victims of the same terror that has provoked a widespread outrage in the people of India. On the other side, every Kashmiri is being brainwashed to believe that, “they (security forces and the government of India> are there to kill us all.” No politician, activist, or a conscientious citizen is willing to call out the mindless violence that Kashmiris are inflicting on their own land. No one wants to stop a 15-year-old Fardeen Khanday from becoming a Fidayeen. There is no call against the “gun solution.” There is no one to call out the cynical glorification of violence. Icons like Burhan Wani and Zakir Musa are being forced upon the people of Kashmir. The state has produced hundreds of singers, doctors, engineers, IAS officers, IPS officers, army men. Scores of Bollywood actors, cricket players, athletes, scientists, novelists, filmmakers, academics, anchors, radio jockeys, fashion designers and models. Why is a gunman today the only icon of Kashmir? Why, in the popular opinion, a Kashmiri is known for harbouring only one aspiration? Who has created this image of Kashmir?
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Contributor

Khalid Shah

Khalid Shah

Khalid Shah was an Associate Fellow at ORF. His research focuses on Kashmir conflict Pakistan and terrorism.

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