Murders Most Foul

Even though nearly two months have elapsed since the gruesome Pahalgam terrorist attack in which 26 tourists were shot dead, the picturesque Baisaran meadows, once bustling with tourists, remains a desolate spot. However, it’s not only Pahalgam but the entire J&K region that’s experiencing a substantial drop in tourist footfall, and since tourism is the main source of income for locals, the Pahalgam massacre has resulted in many losing their only source of livelihood.
While this isn’t the first time that tourists have been targeted in J&K, it’s the unprecedented barbarity of the Pahalgam massacre that’s discouraging people from coming here, and there can be no two views that the masterminds of this carnage sitting across the Line of Control [LoC] were well aware of the adverse impact this attack would have on tourism. It would have also been known that such a dastardly act would enrage the international community. So, why did Pakistan army's spy agency Inter Services Intelligence [ISI] which oversees Rawalpindi's proxy war approve such a heinous act?
Fooling Kashmiris ?
It’s been amply clear throughout that the so-called “freedom struggle” in J&K was just a ploy to mislead Kashmiris, disguise Rawalpindi’s proxy war and an attempt to give terrorism a cloak of legitimacy. The first clear indication of the Pakistan army’s malevolent intent became apparent as early as January 1990 when it communalised this “armed struggle” by using its sponsored terrorists belonging to Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front [JKLF] for indulging in a bloodbath resulting in forced exodus of the minority indigenous pandit community from Kashmir Valley.
Unfortunately, the prevailing euphoria of “azadi” [independence] at that time had so intensely gripped the people in Kashmir Valley that no one really gave this dangerous and perverse development the importance it deserved. The second instance came just a few months later when three Pakistan sponsored Hizbul Mujahideen [HM] terrorists barged into the house of All J&K Awami Action Committee chairman Mirwaiz Maulvi Mohammad Farooq in Srinagar and shot him dead.
Besides being a revered religious preacher, Mirwaiz was also a prominent political leader who espoused separatist ideology and that’s the reason why his murder by Pakistan sponsored terrorists defies logical explanation. But since Mirwaiz refused to serve as Rawalpindi’s minion and made no secret about his disapproval of Pakistan usurping the so-called Kashmir movement, he became an existential threat to the Pakistan army’s proxy war, and was hence swiftly despatched.
That the assassins were able to gain unfettered access into the Mirwaiz’s bedroom and after his murder simply walk away became public knowledge clearly indicated that the assailants were locals and known to the household staff. Furthermore, even though names of the terrorists involved in this murder and their affiliation with HM was known to the people, this barefaced attempt on the part of ISI to hijack the so-called 'Kashmir movement' just to suit Rawalpindi’s motivated agenda didn’t cause any significant public resentment .

The ‘Enemy’ Within

Many accuse the people of Kashmir for failing to vociferously oppose ISI’s highhandedness and the endless orgy of senseless violence that it perpetrated through its sponsored terrorists. While this is definitely true, but in an environment where the so-called ‘mujahids’ have no qualms in snuffing out lives of their own brethren who show even the slightest sign of disagreement, remaining silent, though undesirable, becomes an imperative act of self-preservation.
But rather than the silence of the people, it's the manipulation by the separatist camp in J&K that's the biggest culprit responsible for the sorry state of affairs prevailing in Kashmir. In the garb of working for the better future of Kashmiris, All Parties Hurriyat Conference [APHC] has been shamelessly promoting Pakistan’s self serving agenda even when it goes against public interest. Eulogising and justifying terrorist violence against hapless civilians, enforcing poll boycott as well as enforcing frequent and prolonged shutdowns and violent protests are but a few examples of how APHC leaders have been making life for daily wagers hell by depriving them of their livelihood.
What’s most sickening is that APHC leaders have been doing all this on orders of their benefactors for pecuniary considerations, just to buttress Pakistan’s narrative of there being no normalcy in Kashmir. The younger generation may not be aware, but elders will agree that over the years APHC leaders have made a killing by promoting anti-people activities in J&K as desired by ISI!
APHC is also guilty of misleading locals by unashamedly peddling lies. An example- it claimed that Mirwaiz Mohammad Farooq was killed by Indian security forces/ intelligence agencies. This untruth was exposed in 2011 by none other than former APHC chairman Abdul Gani Bhat when he publicly admitted that the Mirwaiz and many other separatist leaders were “not killed by the army or police” but were “targeted by our own people.
While APHC’s failure to officially rebut this revelation establishes its veracity, its failure to condemn the killing of upright separatist leaders by terrorists on orders from ISI just goes to prove how easily money can silence conscience.

Punishing Kashmiris ?

The people of Kashmir have suffered enough and they now need to identify those who are working against their interests by ruining the present and wrecking future prospects through motivated acts of violence. They need to understand that if the terrorists wanted to do something to further Pakistan’s false claim of normalcy eluding Kashmir, then they could have done so through some other act of violence. The people of J&K need to ask why were tourists in Pahalgam singled out shot in front of their family members after being subjected to religious profiling.
The answer is simple.
There’s no doubt that due to corrupt practices like taking hefty bribes for facilitating issue of Pakistani visa and securing medical seats in PoJK, APHC has lost its ability to marshal large crowds and organise protests. The ISI too has realised that with waning public support, it has lost its Kashmir plot. It knows that development and progress in Kashmir will further discourage locals from being indoctrinated into picking up the gun. The ISI is also seized with the potential repercussions of the further widening of the already yawning gap in the quality of life that exists between residents of a fast developing J&K vis-a-vis impoverished PoJK.
As mentioned earlier, the ISI would definitely be aware that killing of tourists would draw international criticism, but as they say, desperate times call for desperate measures. So, in order to impair progress in J&K, what could be better than striking at Kashmir’s tourism industry which is the prime driver of its economic growth? Thus, it’s patently clear that the main objective of the Pahalgam terrorist attack was to hit J&K’s tourism industry by intentionally promoting fear psychosis to keep tourists away.
That the locals would lose their main source of livelihood post the Pahalgam massacre mattered little to ISI, because if Pakistan really cared for the people of Kashmir, it wouldn’t have targeted tourists in Pahalgam massacre in the first place. The people of Kashmir need to seriously consider this aspect.
ISI perceives overwhelming local endorsement of Article 370 abrogation, public rejection of the shutdown and protest culture as well as the dwindling number of local youth joining terrorist ranks as an affront and views public rejection of APHC as an unpardonable ‘betrayal’ meriting retribution. This explains why it is now openly punishing the people of Kashmir by orchestrating violent acts specifically aimed at terrorising tourists to deprive Kashmiris of their main source of livelihood.
And now that Pakistan has openly revealed its true colours, isn’t it abundantly clear as to who’s the real enemy of the Kashmiri people?

Email:----------------------------nileshkunwar.56@gmail.com