India’s fight against Terrorism | Pulwama Terror attacks

Theme :–

• On 14th Feb 2019,  a suicide bomber rammed his vehicle filled with 350 kg of explosives into a convoy of security forces in Pulwama distrcit. 40 CRPF(Central Reserve Police Force) personnel were martyred in this attack. The responsibility of the attack is claimed by Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammad.

Steps taken by India till now :–

• On 26th Feb 2019, Indian Air Force dropped laser-guided bombs on JeM terrorist camps in Balkot of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK). This strike killed 200-300 terrorists. This move is applauded and supported by international community. This is “pre-emptive” strike, which means this step is taken as a defence and to prevent further attacks on India. As per reports, JeM was planning more attacks on India.
• After Pathankot terror attacks, in February 2016 India put forward a proposal at UNSC to list Masood Azhar, the chief of Jaish-e-Mohammed as a global terrorist. But China is blocking this request from the past two years using its veto power. Now, after Pulwama terror attacks, UNSC named Masood Azhar as a terrorist and stressed on the need for making the sponsers of terror attacks accountable. And France, US & UK are in plans to move a proposal to list Masood Azhar as a global terrorist. This is a victory for India.
• Indian security forces conducted anti-terrorism encounter operation in which 3 terrorists were killed.
• India withdrew Most Favored Nation (MFN) status to Pakistan, and raised customs duty on all goods imported from Pakistan to 200% As a rule of World Trade Organization (WTO), every member country should give MFN status to other member countries. India & Pakistan are also members of WTO, and hence gave MFN status to each other. But in 1971, during the third Indo-Pak war, both countries withdrew MFN status to each other. And again in 1996, India gave MFN status to Pakistan but not vice-versa. Now, after Pulwama attacks India withdrew MFN status to Pakistan. – Withdrwal of MFN status may not have a significant trade impact considering the already thinning trade between the countries and also the presence of informal trade between the India & Pakistan. But this step sends a message to our neighbouring country that we will not tolerate it’s lenient attitude towards terror organizations.
• India took steps to stop the flow of India’s share of water to Pakistan. And this doesn’t affect Pakistan’s share of water under Indus water treaty. This decision was originally taken in 2016 after the Uri Terror attack. Backdrop of this is, at present 5% of India’s share of water under Indus water treaty is flowing to Pakistan. After the Uri terror attack, Indian govt started to build more dams to divert this 5% water to Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab. Now, the issue is taken more seriously.
• India is breaking cultural ties with Pakistan by banning artists and sports persons into India. Though this punishes innocent artists, it serves the purpose of pressuring Pakistan to take action on terror organisations.
• After Pulwama terror attacks, 2500 Kashmiri youth applied for 111 vacancies in Army. This is a victory for India because terrorists wanted to create divisions in India and they didn’t succeed.
• CRPF is taking 20 Kashmiri students on a 6 day trip of ‘Bharat Darshan’, a nationwide tour. Many children in Kashmir valley did not venture outside their region.

 Options before India :–

• War :- Several people & political leaders are advocating war as a move of retaliation.

• • If war happens, nobody really wins. Both countries have nuclear arms and hence war can result in wiping out crores of innocent people of both countries. In modern times, where all the large economies have nuclear arms, war will have dangerous consequences.

• Dialogue :- Some countries are asking to have a dialogue to end terror attacks.

• • Dialogue solves the issues if both sides are willing to work together for good. Dialogue do not work if the other country is in denial of its role in the attack, when it is clearly evident that the terror outfit which claimed the attack is based in Pakistan. In 2018, more than 2,350 ceasefire violations happened from Pakistan side at LoC (Line of Control). So the situation is beyond the stage of discussions.

• Multidimensional approach :- Long-term strategy to eliminate terror organisations from the neighbouring country.

• • There is a need to take the help of international community to put pressure on Pakistan to take action on the terrorists who are residing in the country. Pakistan is already facing economic crisis and is seeking assistance from International Monitory Fund (IMF). Hence pressure from the countries of world can yield positive results.
  • Though many countries condemned the attack, only US and Iran named Pakistan for financing terrorism. Iran too want to take action against Pakistan because on 13th Feb, 2019, a sucide bomber killed 27 Iran’s elite revolutionary guards. Pakistan based Jaish-al-Adl claimed responsibility for the attack. Countries that are sharing border with Pakistan – India, Afghanistan & Iran are the victims of these terrorist organisations. And the fact is that Pakistan is itself a victim of these terror organisations. There is a need to mobilise international community to take action on this.
  • The suicide bomber could able to ram his vehicle into the convoy of soldiers means there is a security lapse somewhere which leaked the timing of the movement of convoy. This needs to be addressed.
  • People of Kashmir are living in the troubled area and hence need more support from the government. Terrorists try to radicalise the youth against government. India should not give even a little chance to them. There should be more efforts from India to address the concerns of Kashmiris.
  • Efforts to eliminate terrorism should be continuous and not just at the time of attacks.

Conclusion :–

In the present situation, neither war nor dialogue can solve the issue. A long-term strategy is needed to uproot the terror outfits from our neighbouring country with the support of the international community.

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