Cautioning Kashmiri society about their youth increasingly falling prey to a radicalised nexus that was getting consistent support from across the border, Lt. Gen. D.P. Pandey, GOC of the Indian Army’s Chinar Corps (XV Corps), on Thursday warned that the threat of narco-terrorism is an ever present danger that needs to be tackled head on.
Addressing a gathering of dignitaries at the Chinar Corp headquarters here, Lt Gen Pandey said for this nexus, “the very idea of India scares them” and listed three initiatives that need to be taken to counter them. These were:
(1)Kashmiri society needs to be more vigilant; (2) The responsibility for dealing with this menace cannot only be the government’s & (3) Steps must be taken to insulate the youth from narco-terrorists.
Detailing the threat and scourge of narco-terrorism, the GOC said: “I must again request Kashmiri society to step up and be vigilant and conduct a drive against drug abuse and disallow ‘Udta Kashmir’ to come about here.”
Official figures reveal that nearly six lakh people in the union territory are affected by drug-related issues, which approximately accounts for 4.6 percent of the total population. It is alarming to know that of these six lakh people, nearly 90 percent of the users are in the age group of 17-33.
Emphasizing that the responsibility for countering drug abuse cannot be the government’s alone and has to be more of the society’s, Lt. Gen. Pandey said: “This coalition of anti-drug warriors has to include parents, families, Maulvis, NGOs’, the society at large, besides the security and government agencies.”
“You will understand that I have deliberately listed the government and the security forces in the end because the responsibility of removing this social malaise is with the society and the family, and not with the government. The government can only provide an enabling environment, but they cannot control this malaise by itself,” he added.
The third is to insulate the youth from efforts that topples them towards the gun.
“I must again caution the society and the families, and particularly the women, to be more vigilant and protect the children from the poaching eyes of the nexus. The radicalising nexus has now started to target small children for terrorist activities who are in the age bracket of 14 to 16,” he said.
Lt. Gen. Pandey said that over the last year or year-and-a-half, it had come to the notice of the security agencies and the administration that the young men who were picking up guns, were less than 18 years old.
“You don’t find senior members of the (narco-terror) group picking up weapons and, therefore, they are starting to focus on the younger generation and that is where my dear ladies, women, sisters, you cannot look away from your responsibilities, and say ‘we did not know what was happening in his mind and this young child has joined the terrorist ranks’.”
He urged the audience and the larger Kashmiri audience to observe their children; be aware of the content that they watch on social media; the type of friends they have, and even pay attention to what their teachers were teaching them.
“They are impressionable teenagers, therefore, be vigilant, particularly those families who have had a history of family members being terrorists or (being part of an) OGW network, or are OGWs. I request that we need to save our children from this radicalising nexus,” Lt. Gen. Pandey said.
As for the role of the media, the GOC said: “To my friends from the media, you have an extremely important role. An unbiased and truthful media is the pillar of a democracy and a just society. In the modern world, the smart word has become the weapon of (both) big news and radical thoughts. Sadly, in J&K, we have seen… the media seriously being complicit in becoming instigators, highlighting the negative, suppressing the truth and positive content.”
While agreeing that the media must and should question the state’s actions, it has come up short on highlighting or speaking about the atrocities committed by terrorists and their masters on the pretext of threat to their lives, he said.
“Even today, the media shies away from calling out men killing unarmed civilians and the targeted killings by terrorists. We have had cases where Pakistani terrorists once cornered, have opened fire, and killed or injured civilians, including those who were giving them shelter in their homes. The media fails to cover these stories, which expose the radical ideology and lack of concern for Kashmiris in the heart of Pakistani terrorists, and now, it is going down to the local terrorist as well. The media has largely failed to give voice to the victims of terrorist acts. That needs to change,” Lt. Gen. Pandey said.
“No story of a woman raped by terrorists or the nexus has ever been covered. Is it possible that nothing of this nature has happened? Everyone is aware, but the media doesn’t have the courage or gumption to write about these stories. The time is to now change. For us all, Kashmir lives matter and to rid society of this scourge of terror, deserves a more) positive approach,” he added.
Jammu and Kashmir, he said, once had a multicultural and progressive environment, a very homogenous society, but today that cherished environment is missing because of the impact that the radicalised element was having on the society at large.
“This was the strategic design of the nexus, which started even before 1947. Everybody talks of the last 32 years, but it was then the play as was accepted by Major General Akbar in one of the books that he has just released, but this could be achieved only in 1990, and trust me, till the time you don’t have enemies within, nobody from outside can control you,” the GOC said.
“There were enemies within who could be easily controlled, maneuvered to control a population which was actually naïve and was gullible to be controlled,” he added.
Commenting on emerging geopolitical forces and developments that will impact India, including Jammu and Kashmir, Lt. Gen. Pandey said that in his view there are four very important events which are now developing which needed to be watch. These were:
(1)The force of moderation and modernisation which is sweeping Islamic countries in our midst. Just jump two countries and see in West Asia, there is a series of actions which are taking place and they are continuing to modernise their own systems. They have understood the flaws which were there within.
(2)The second is the rise of China and West getting together to control the rise of China.
(3)Third is the assured post-Covid rise of our country – India – in the comity of nations &
(4)Last, but most importantly for us, in Jammu and Kashmir, is that this geopolitical change is impacting Pakistan.
He said that following the exit of American troops from Afghanistan, the world is maintaining a constant and consistent vigil on Pakistan, and compelling it to correct its path; to move away from being the terror hub it has been always in the eyes of the globe.
Pakistan society today, he said is in state of conflict because “they have been taught to use swords, use state instruments to propagate terror and now they are being conflicted from within to decide which is the path which is right, and the world is telling them that they need to correct their path and get away from the terrorists, or blockading terrorism.”
The GOC said that it was his personal assessment that paying attention to these four important shifts could provide the people of Kashmir with an opportunity to find durable peace.
“I believe that sustainable peace requires a whole of government approach led by society. It cannot be the government; it has to be led by the society of Kashmir that must decide to contest the nexus and end the cycle of violence which has been perpetuated in J&K,” he said.
“I want to caution the families and recommend a vigilant society that guards its own; particularly the children, from the nexus that sustains this cycle of violence, feeding on the young ones, your young ones are being vultured upon,” he concluded.