Pulwama Attack; Another Blame Game

The reaction from India in the aftermath of Pulwama Attack is nothing but a knee-jerk response. Within minutes of the attack, the fingers were been pointed out towards Pakistan. Which is the usual trait of Indian government and its institutions. In spite of this absurd response from India one must acknowledge the uniqueness and intensity of this attack. This is the first time in Occupied Kashmir that freedom fighters have executed a kind of Suicide attack against Indian forces. The situation is indeed alarming for India. This can be analyzed from two aspects, one; the motivational factor, that the Kashmiri youth have come to the point where they are ready to explode themselves for the sake of freedom and second the logistical point of view, which means how come the militants in the valley get access to 350kg of explosives and eventually successfully exploded on a convoy of 2500 CRPF soldiers. India reacted in a way which was easier by putting the blame on Pakistan but this time it would not be easier for India to blame Pakistan as it was an indigenous attack. The suicide attacker was native Kashmiri, and even the Commander of Indian forces in Kashmir Lt Gen D.S. Hooda stated that this is impossible to bring such large amount of explosives by infiltrating the border.

This would be a blatant conspiracy theory if it is said that the attack was a false flag. But there is no doubt that Pulwama attack is being used by the Indian government to heat up anti Pakistan sentiments and creating a war hysteria among the masses which is obviously going to help the BJP government in winning the upcoming elections which they might not be able to sweep otherwise. This war-hysteria which has been spread loudly through Indian media and social media is alarming. It is quite visible that every segment of India is been forced to speak up against Pakistan without assessing the actual causes of Pulwama attack. Indian government with the help of its media is trying hard to silence the sane voice there. Or more appropriately the lies are being spread deliberately in every form to hide the truth about the Indian atrocities in Kashmir Valley. The hate which is currently prevailing and been appreciated isn’t confined to verbal forms or social media but it is being witnessed on the streets of India where Kashmiri students are being attacked and subjected to torture, even forced to leave the hostel and cities. The heart wrenching videos are viral on social media. And this is not going to benefit India in any way, whether socially, politically or diplomatically.

The response from Pakistan is logical and principled. It wasn’t delayed and the time PM addressed the nation was the right time. Soon after the attack foreign office outrightly condemned the attack without hesitation and termed it as a matter of grave concern which indeed it is, just like other countries. In a situation where India was showing determination to isolate Pakistan it was totally in Pakistan’s favor to gather as much International support as it can. The foreign office machinery has been busy in this regard and making it clear to the international community that Pulwama attack is an outcome of depriving human rights situation in occupied Kashmir. And so far, it has been successful in doing so, recently during the meeting of European Parliament’s sub-committee on human rights, the members of European Parliament have asked India to stop human rights violations in occupied Kashmir.

The visit of crown prince Muhammad Bin Salman too helped Pakistan a lot in tackling the Indian diplomatic efforts. The strategic silence from Imran Khan acted in favor of Pakistan. As Pakistan was in the news internationally, not because of the Pulwama attack, but due to Pak-Saudia diplomatic ties. Pakistan’ diplomacy with Saudia was so effective that Crown Prince didn’t give any statement which would help India’s rhetoric against Pakistan during visit of MBS to India. Even though the BJP government tried hard to have a condemnation from Saudia. When the Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia was asked by Indian Journalist why Pakistan was not condemned by Saudia in a joint statement, his response was that how come Saudia comment against Pakistan where India has not provided any evidence against Pakistan. India is not going to change its attitude of hatred against Pakistan in near future especially until the elections in India. It is beneficial for Indian government to keep up the sentiments of hate and they would use every platform to capitalize the strained relations between India and Pakistan. The case of Kulbhushan Yadav in ICJ and its upcoming verdict may also influence the nature of Pak-India relations in upcoming days. And with regards to Kashmir issue, the current approach of India would further fuel the insurgency in Kashmir.

The options of war or limited war are very limited. India cannot go for any misadventure against a state like Pakistan who maintains a full spectrum deterrence. However, there could be escalation at Line of control and even our western border can be engaged by India with the help of its proxies in Afghanistan. There is no doubt that India would try harder to destabilize the prevailing security situation in Pakistan by staging terror attacks within Pakistan, as a revenge of Pulwama Attack. But in reality, if India really wants to pursue peace and stability in the region it needs to address the core issue, because now there is no outer source involved in the attack but the indigenous people of Kashmir. The only sane option India has is to conduct a dialogue with all the stakeholder to resolve the Kashmir issue according to UNSC resolutions. And before that it needs to accept that there is a conflict with regards to Kashmir, and it is not the integral part of India.