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Created and designed: Abey James |
Note: The views provided by the author are strictly personal.
Although I wanted to write a blog on the proxy war in Kashmir for a long time, the triggering moment came more recently, after the encounter between the Indian security forces and militants in Handwara and Kupwara (both in Kashmir). These cowardly attacks by militants left eight soldiers of various security forces dead, including the Indian Army, state police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). These are just two examples of situations (out of the lot many) where militants clashed time and again with our security forces. Note that this comes at a time of a global pandemic when there is a full-scale bio – scare and restriction of movement or any kinds of human activities.
A lot of ‘attempts to overthrow’ have been thwarted by these men in uniform, sometimes with their own lives. Colonel Ashutosh Sharma, Major Anuj Sood, Lance Naik Dinesh Singh, Naik Rajesh Kumar and Police Sub – Inspector Sageer Pathan are few brave men in a long list of brave officers and jawans who were immortalized in such incidents in Kashmir.
The tensions are growing. A possibility of war cannot be ruled out. Hostile neighbours surround us (in almost all sides of our borders), some of who, more often than not, engage in questionable practices to weaken our security, well – being and our economy. And when I talk about neighbours and unscrupulous practices, there is one nation we subconsciously think about. Yes, I will be trying to provide a detailed overview on this silent war in Kashmir and how both state and non – state actors contribute to this ever-growing tensions and events that occur in this valley once called “paradise on Earth”.
I’m sure you might have read, heard or possibly, even seen what a conventional war might be like. When I talk of war, every Indian perhaps goes back into the past, into a point when they saw the movie ‘Border’ before coming back into the present and thinking if times have changed. Technically, these are peace times. But the geopolitical situation and ever-growing tensions don’t seem to do anything to keep the war – reactor in check. It is being fuelled by a lot of events in both the internal and external scenario. Again, you may equate war with a big artillery weapons, tanks, a large battalion of soldiers moving in various formations together, a group of people taking heavy fire and casualties, etc. – That, is conventional warfare. We have fought a couple of wars over the years, especially with Pakistan in 1947, 1965, 1971 and 1999; and have emerged victorious in all of them (I do not know about the Pak version though). This made one thing probably clear to our neighbour: They would never be able to win over India in the event of a full-scale war. Therefore, a new technique of low-intensity war, proxy war or sub – war was adopted as a means to fight India regularly.
Going by the definition, a proxy war is an armed conflict between at least two ‘external-state’ (when a government indulges in the act of terrorism against its people or people of another country) or ‘non-state’ (when an individual or a group doesn’t have a direct link with a government while pursuing malicious agenda; however there could be indirect linkages) actors who act on behalf of other parties that are not directly involved in these acts of warfare. There must be a direct, long-term relationship between these various elements of war, in the form of funding, arms supply, training, etc. for the situation to become a proxy war.
In typical cases, as we commonly witness, proxy warfare includes external support for a terrorist group, a faction engaged in acts of civil war, terrorism, insurgency, etc. The term was developed and popularized in the ‘Cold War’ era – The Soviets funded and supported parties that were against the tenets or enemies of the ideology of the United States, and the Americans reciprocated with the same – supplying arms to the mujahideen during the Afghan-Soviet War. And again, this has a significant impact on the local battleground on which it is fought. Take the case of Vietnam or even Korea, for example. The war in Vietnam had an everlasting impact in the neighbouring countries of Laos and Cambodia as well. This Soviet-Afghan War, along with the Chernobyl incident, is regarded by many as the possible reasons for the downfall of the Soviet Union. The proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran resulted in the formation of the Syrian Civil War and the establishment of the (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) ISIL. I leave to you the imagination of lives lost, the economic and cultural loss, political change, a shift in the geopolitical scenario, etc. after the proxy war.
The context of terrorism is a broad one and in a 2003 ruling (the State of Bihar vs Madan Singh), by the Supreme Court; Alex Schmid’s definition of terrorism was adopted, and terrorism was now seen as a ‘peacetime equivalent of war crimes.’ Terrorism could have various motives ranging from ideological, religious, political or even historic. Perhaps, a large part of global terrorism, as you might have identified; is based on the concept of ideological or in most cases, religious terrorism. But what if I were to tell you that the situation in Kashmir, or if I were to call it, the state of silence, although primarily based on ideological and religious terrorism, had its roots in history – thus making it a unique and a complicated one.
Before independence, India had a total of 565 princely states. However, in 1947, when the British were scheduled to leave India, three options were provided to these states: Sign the instrument of accession and join with the Indian Union, accede to Pakistan or stay independent. After a lot of convincing, strategy and mild use of politics and power, the political brass, esp. the then Home Minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (often regarded as the Iron Man of India) was successful in getting a significant number of these states to sign the instrument. One of the last remaining princely states that were not open to signing the instrument was Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).
J&K was the largest princely state in 1947, and despite having a Hindu King, despite having almost 80% of Muslim population, it was a culturally diverse society. Although this seems like a small statement, this went on to become one of the influential agenda that Pakistan would later use in not recognizing Kashmir as part of the Indian Union. The then Maharaja, Hari Singh refused to accede to both the nations and preferred to stay independent. However, the situation of a standstill agreement deteriorated, and Pakistani and Afghan tribals along with Pakistan army marched into Kashmir and began invading it – invading one step at a time, moving towards the capital city of Srinagar. It was only after the signing of the instrument of accession that the Indian Army was finally deployed in Kashmir and the attackers were being moved out, pushed to where they came from. However, before the attackers could be entirely driven back, a ceasefire agreement was arrived at, and that came to known as the LoC – The line of control. The ‘occupied’ area is known as ‘Pakistan occupied Kashmir’ today. (Called ‘Azad Kashmir’ in Pakistan) In 1951, the UN passed a resolution providing for a referendum after Pakistan withdrew its troops from PoK, but till date, PoK happens to be occupied by ‘Pakistani aggressors. Also, a plebiscite never really took place.
Referendum – A general vote by the electorate on a single political question which has been referred to them for a direct decision.
Plebicite – The direct vote of all the members of an electorate on an important public question such as a change in the constitution.
The events that had conspired and the prevailing internal conflict made Kashmir a playground of low-intensity warfare. Since 1947, there have been numerous armed revolts, attempts at various political revolutions, wars to declare independence and prolonged usage of guerilla warfare. There have been multiple infiltrations across the border and regular ceasefire violations, supporting extremist and separatist movements in the state, attacking the once secular foundations of the state, amp up terror activities in the valley and lastly, to paint Kashmir as a place by creating an issue at various national-international levels to show how Muslims are tortured and oppressed; thereby justifying the so-called ‘wars of independence’.
Before Articles 370 and 35 (A) were revoked in 2019, and before J&K lost its independent status, Central government mandates (only wrt.) defence, communications, external affairs and finance applied to the state of J&K. The state could formulate other laws by its own – The residents lived under a separate set of laws altogether, be it citizenship, property ownership, fundamental rights, marriage, etc. This would again make a considerable shift of how the government and its machinery would be perceived in J&K.
Role of Pakistan and the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI)
Pakistan has been regarded as a ‘terror state’ by India, the US, the UK, Israel, etc. primarily due to its policy of harbouring terrorists and due to its activities in India and Afghanistan. In 2009, Pakistan President Asif Zardari admitted that the Pakistan Government had ‘created and nurtured’ various terrorist groups to achieve its short – term foreign policy goals. Its army and its intelligence agency were blamed time and again for their involvement in training terrorists, extremists, separatists, etc. Not only this, but these groups were also fully supplied with arms, ammunition and logistical support (in addition to training) to carry out various attacks on the government machinery, primarily targeting the uniformed forces and local population to depict a failed state of safety and security among the people. Their strategy since long has been, ‘Bleed India through a thousand cuts’.
Pakistan has often been hailed as a ‘deep state’ by various security experts. A deep state is seen as a state within a state, which indicate a style of governance made of multiple networks of power operating independently of a state’s political leadership, to pursue their agenda and goals. Generally, the elements of a deep state include intelligence agencies, armed forces, secret establishments, administrative agencies, etc. Here is a perfect example of a ‘state-as-venue’ process, as the view reflects the state as a stage on which these actors act. Pakistan has been directly or indirectly involved in significant terror operations in Kashmir and the Indian hinterland, by supporting various terrorist outfits such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), Hizbul Mujahideen, Al-Qaeda, Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI) and the Indian Mujahideen (IM) to name a few.
All these groups have been involved with globally listed and wanted terrorists, in one way or the other. A large part of them are linked to various parts of PoK and Pakistan and are responsible for what I would call cowardly acts of violence towards the ordinary citizens, government machinery and the uniformed forces. They are trained by their handlers and ISI operators and have taken credit for various attacks in India, including the Parliament attacks, 26/11 Mumbai attacks, Mumbai train bombings, Hyderabad bombings, etc.
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| Source: Internet, Wikipedia |
The silent war, as I would like to call it, between various terror outfits and the security forces have been a cause of major concern for the establishment. In the 80s’ after the start of the insurgency, various Indian troops were called in to curb the movement. The number of soldiers in the valley and the movement restrictions, in addition to the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) being in implementation, the low chances of economic prosperity, and oppression from negative media; all lead to a perfect breeding ground for these perpetrators for using locals as weapons of terror. (Probably shields would be a better word!) Off late, young, unemployed youngsters of the Kashmir valley have started pelting stones on security forces to express their aggression. The troops sometimes, react with pellets, rubber bullets and tear gas shells – and thus, rise a new wave of people who want to stand against the government using ‘any means possible to attain freedom’. This is precisely what various people want. Both action and inaction are now plausible tools for the handlers in Pakistan of PoK to use against the establishment.
Former Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharaff admitted in 2016 that Pakistan supported terrorist groups, like the LeT in the 90s to carry out militancy in Kashmir and that its forces trained various groups to fight India in PoK. He also admitted that the then Pakistan government turned a ‘blind eye’ to these events as it wanted to force India into negotiations. He also added that the ISI cultivated the Taliban post-2001 as then Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s government was dominated by non – Pashtuns who were thought to favour India.
Pakistan’s tribal region along its border with Afghanistan has been described as a safe haven for terrorists by the western media. Although not relevant in the Kashmir context, Pakistan was also responsible to the ‘Aircraft of Evil’ incident – where several Pakistani Air Force pilots airlifted about 5000 top leadership of the Taliban and AL – Qaeda when they were encircled by the NATO forces in 2001. Also, when Osama was killed in 2011 in Abbottabad, Pakistan, by the US Seal Team Six (A Special Forces Unit) in Operation Neptune Spear; he was living in a ‘safe house’ less than 2 kilometres away from the Pakistan Military Academy. Pakistan was also accused of harbouring support to the Punjab Sikh insurgency movement (for the creation of Khalistan).
However, I would now like to talk about a shift of warfare that seems to have taken place off late – Cyber Warfare. It was observed on a lot of occasions, especially after Article 370 and 35A were withdrawn; that the Pakistani agencies were trying to mar the image of both India, its government and the Prime Minister using fake news and anti – India narratives. The messages created were flooded across social media using lots of accounts to instigate an ‘anti – India’ sentiment, especially in the Middle East and Gulf countries. Clips, being shot in the Middle East, were being dubbed in Hindi and were being circulated on various platforms and in Kashmir to ‘showcase the oppression of the government and its machinery’. There is a massive wave, an attempt to spread false propaganda on Islamophobia in India. Also, as findings have indicated, a lot of tweets sent from these accounts were created in the past weeks. Cyber warfare has also turned towards intensive intelligence gathering, and various online watchdogs have witnessed a spike in online espionage attacks. But cyber warfare, as I see it, is a potential tool for Pakistan to shape its anti – India narrative.
With Pakistan often showcasing its nuclear might of ‘offensive defence’ against India, how long is it till the issue becomes a grave cause of concern? What do you think?
Click here to read my blog on fake news and propaganda.
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