Face of current terrorism in Kashmir actually portents Pakistan's defeat

New Delhi, Feb 8: Indian Defence experts are of the view that the current face of terrorism in Kashmir Valley is actually Pakistan's defeat as it is not able to send fully trained hardcore terrorists into Kashmir Valley due the heightened security scenario in the state.

The experts expressed these views while commenting on Northern Command Army Commander Lt Gen Ranbir Singh's statements about the state of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.

Addressing a press conference at Northern Command's investiture ceremony at Udhampur on Thursday, Lt Gen Ranbir Singh said that 16 camps of terrorists are active in Pak Occupied Kashmir (PoK) and 350-400 terrorists are currently active in Kashmir.

Noted defence and security analyst Colonel (retd.) Jaibans Singh is of the opinion that the so called terrorists active in Kashmir are actually not terrorists but are 'Facebook terrorists'.

"Most of the terrorists operational in the Valley are of local variety. I would really not call them terrorists, as they are neither, trained, nor ideologically motivated. Half of them don't have adequate weapons. This is actually a very vicious propaganda campaign adopted by the forces across the borders, which is misleading these people (current Kashmiri terrorists) into a path where their death is assured," Col (retd.) Jaibans told One India.

He added: "Those 400 odd terrorists over there are not even worth 20 fully trained Pakistani terrorists. I would say that the current breed of terrorists in Kashmir is actually 'photo opportunity' or 'Facebook terrorists'. They are not terrorists, or fidayeen in the right form. They are pushed into terrorism without proper training and ideological conditioning. Once they are in, there is no other option left for them apart from to be killed sooner or later. It is actually a mindless loss of life which means nothing."

Maybe this is the reason that there are instances wherein wailing Kashmiri mothers have released videos in order to appeal their sons to shun militancy and come back home.

Col (retd.) Jaiabans aslo maintained that the basic aim of Pakistani propaganda is that the Kashmiri terrorists should advertise themselves on social media, later get killed by the security forces so that pro-terrorist lobby can show the world that a whole lot of Kashmiri youth are sacrificing their lives for Azadi movement in the Valley.

"They (Pakistan and pro-terrorist lobby) don't care about this fact that these people (Kashmiri youth) will lose life as they are just cannon fodder for them," said Col (retd.) Jaibans.

Another defence expert, Brigadier (retd.) S.K. Chatterji also told One India that the present lot of Kashmiri terrorists has not gone through the proper cycle initially designed by Pakistan for abetting terrorism in Kashmir Valley.

He said that because of the heightened security situation in the Kashmir Valley, Pakistan was under considerable pressure to somehow keep the terrorism alive so it encouraged the recruitment of local youth without actually preparing them for the challenges ahead.

"Initially, the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) would first recruit local Kashmiri youth; send them to PoK, give them terror training over there and then send them back to Kashmir Valley. The current breed of Kashmiri terrorists has not gone through this cycle," said Brigadier (retd.) Chatterji.

The Pakistani army has been using social media to mobilise support among the youth of Jammu and Kashmir to stir them towards militancy.

Northern Command Army Commander Lt. Gen Ranbir Singh also told reporters on Thursday that the Pakistani army has been exploiting social media platforms to influence the youth of the Valley to join militancy.

A senior Army official told PTI on Monday that 191 local Kashmiris have joined militancy in 2018, which is 65 more than 2017.

The defence experts' views that Pakistan is using radicalized Kashmiri youth as cannon fodder get authentication from the fact that security forces gunned down 257 militants in 2018, which is highest than the number of 2010 when 232 terrorists were killed.

Though the army is using technology and artificial-based solutions to counter the Pakistan's social media propaganda, but it's high time that policy makers, strategists and civil society of Kashmir must sensitise Kashmiri youth about the evil strategy of Pakistan.

Col (retd.) Jaibans Singh also elaborated Northern Command Army Commander's statement about terrorist training camps in PoK.

He said that by giving the number of terrorist camps in PoK the Northern Command Army Commander was hinting that Pakistan has not relented on its policy of attempting to infiltrate terrorists into India.

"The 16 camps are a very temporary short of figure because the camps over there are not permanent. They keep on shifting from one place to the other according to the possibility of infiltration."

"One should also keep a fact in mind that the terrorists in these camps are the ones who are ready for infiltration. A far larger number is sitting somewhere in other training camps in PoK, Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan. So, actually the number of terrorists that Pakistan wants to infiltrate into India goes into thousands," said Col (retd.) Jaibans.

It's notable that Indian Army has developed effective counter terrorism capabilities and its collective efforts along with Central Armed Paramilitary Forces and Jammu and Kashmir Police have yielded notable success in Jammu and Kashmir.