| #861 |  | 1146 |  |
July 01, 2012 |  | By Lt Gen Kamal Davar | ||
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The forecast of delayed and below normal monsoons appear to be an omen of bad news for the nation adding to its overflowing woes in the dollar/rupee rate equation, galloping inflation, unbridgeable chasms among political parties and mounting shortages in the availability of the basic resources of water and electricity all across the country. All this portends to a continuing hot summer which is likely to become unbearably hotter with the unending machinations of our ever hostile neighbour stoking the fires in the Valley and also endeavouring to revive militancy in Punjab with the remnants of their once sponsored ‘Khalistani ‘camp followers. It is no surprise that as the Valley, now overflowing with a record turnout of tourists and with the annual Amarnath Yatra commencing the other day, had to receive the attention of Pakistan’s infamous ISI who in concert with its separatist cohorts in the Valley had to create mischief to justify their living. This is, as widely acknowledged the world over, an annual ritual to dispel the notion to the world that J&K was fast on the track to normalcy. Thus while the Amarnath Yatra got flagged off on 25 June, the state also witnessed the holy shrine of a 11th century Sufi saint, Shaikh Syed Abdul Qadir Jeelani, in the old parts of Srinagar city, being reduced to ashes on the same day owing to a mysterious fire. That this blaze triggered clashes and caused palpable tension among the shrine’s devotees and the local administration including the police was largely expected and perhaps was the reason for this mischief deliberately planned by the perpetrators of this crime from across the border. But the innocent, simple common folk of Srinagar or of any other communally charged place at times cannot fathom the basic fact that terrorists do not recognize any religion or faith in the evil and mindless pursuit of their nefarious agendas. For the J&K government and, importantly, both the state and the Central security machinery, this is the first warning delivered by Pak agents in J&K. The just commenced Amarnath Yatra with 4 weeks still left calls for intense vigilance and uncommon professionalism of all those charged with its security. Overall, the comprehensive arrangements made by the Amarnath Shrine Board led by the vastly experienced Governor J&K and the state’s youthful Chief Minister augurs well for the state to thwart any mischief being contemplated by those who do not wish the state and its people well. Meanwhile, the Government of India must immediately announce an adequate package for the restoration and repairs of the revered Dastageer Sahib’s shrine as also step up vigil of the other holy venues of all religions in the entire state for the mischief has just begun.
In Punjab, Pakistan since the last many decades, has been indulging in narco-terrorism in all its evil manifestations. The villages in Punjab along the nearly 450 kms long international border with Pakistan are witness to this sordid Pakistani scheme with drugs from across being freely and cheaply available and an alarming number of emaciated youth fatally addicted to this menace. That successive state governments in Punjab have done nothing much about this scourge is all the more agonizing and unacceptable as the heavy influx of Pakistani delivered drugs are taking a heavy toll of the state’s youth and thus its future.
Alongwith having made Punjab and Rajasthan, major transit points for the movement of drugs to areas and countries beyond, Pakistan is back at its favourite game-plan of stoking the fires of terrorism in India’s border states. In Punjab, many security analysts and senior officers of the Punjab Police opine that there are unmistakable signs of the revival of Khalistani militancy by the Damdami Taksal, Babbar Khalsa International and the Dal Khalsa now synergizing their efforts to foment trouble in Punjab.
The proposal of the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) to build a memorial for those who died during the army action in the holy shrine of the Golden Temple during Op Blue Star in 1984 is, perhaps, just the beginning of the storm. The SGPC also bestowing the title of “Zinda Shaheed” ( Living Martyr) to death row convict Balwant Singh who had assassinated former Punjab CM Beant Singh is indeed reprehensible. Intelligence reports also indicate the ISI meeting various Sikh separatists leaders in the US, Canada and Europe to revive militancy in Punjab.
That a comfortably elected new Akali government is silently acquiescing to such a development and with its ally, the BJP, conveniently looking the other way is nothing short of an alarming development for the state in the future. That political parties will do nothing to offend even a section of their vote-banks is a sorry state of affairs for a secular and multi-plural country like ours. The vibrant state of Punjab had suffered tremendously during the terrorism phase and the Punjabis and India cannot let it slide back into those dark days.
It is high time that the Union government and its security and intelligence institutions in concert with those of the state governments in Punjab and J&K not only get fully geared up to nip any evil in the bud being plotted but, importantly, the people of both our states are made aware of the evil designs of the ISI and Pakistan. The recent arrest of Abu Hamza, one of the masterminds of the 26/11 Mumbai blasts and his confirming the ISI-terror conglomerate links as also the future terror plans of the ISI in India all point to the ISI’s continuing evil agendas. From all indicators, a hot summer awaits us and thus India needs to be more than vigilant and be prepared to take suitable prophylactic counter measures against mischief-makers of all hues.
The author was the first Chief of The Defence Intelligence Agency
Views expressed are personal
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