8th July 2016 – India was engulfed in the Bhai wave, as Salman Khan’s latest flick, sports drama ‘Sultan’ was ruling the box office. However, a better release was provided by the Indian Army. The devious brain behind many a terror attack on the Indians, especially the residents of Jammu and Kashmir, i.e. the commander of HIzbul Mujahideen in the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir, Burhan Wani, was shot down in an encounter by the joint forces of Indian Army, and the Jammu & Kashmir Police, along with two of his accomplices.
For a government, which was pestered day and night for not clamping down on terrorists by intellectual terrorists themselves, the NDA had scored a major victory. Burhan Wani was the mastermind behind more than a dozen attacks on the security establishments in Kashmir, in which one famed army man, Colonel Munindra Nath Rai, had lost his life too.
Cut to 10th July 2016. Burhan Wani is buried (rather undeservingly) in a grave. Thousands of people attend his funeral, and begin the famous stone pelting festival the Kashmir Valley is notorious for. Provoked by terrorists turned separatists like Aasiya Andrabi, Yasin Malik to name a few, they clashed with the army men and policeman, wreaking havoc in the Kashmir valley. What ensued was an imposition of curfew in the valley, the suspension of the Amarnath Yatra, and vicious attacks on the stranded pilgrims and the camps of Kashmiri Pandits. As per the report of DNA, some 35+ are dead, more than 3100 are injured, which includes some 1500-1600 defense personnel as well.
What was the media reaction? What else would be? Dominated largely by famed intellectual terrorists like Barkha Dutt, Rajdeep Sardesai, Sagarika Ghosh etc., they allegedly ‘shed tears’ for their fallen ‘brother’, Burhan Wani. Rajdeep even went to the extent of comparing the coward, who was pleading for his life and whimpering when surrounded by the forces, to the Braveheart, Shaheed Bhagat Singh! None of them, for even once, focused on the defense casualties, which included a policeman who was thrown into a pond, with his vehicle. Why would they? In their eyes, victims can only be the separatists, and the stone pelters, apart from their alleged brethren, the terrorists. This reminds me of a famous quote by the American revolutionary, Malcolm X:-
‘If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are oppressing.’
Given how our media has reacted to this, with the likes of Arnab Goswami and Sudhir Chaudhary being the some of the exceptions, had Malcolm X been alive, he would have ruefully seen his quote being practiced in reality.
Now how does Ajit Doval fit into this picture? Nicknamed the ‘Superspy’, the famed National Security Advisor cancelled his personal research trips apparently when the situation in the Kashmir Valley worsened. Hon. PM Shri Narendra Modi, who had just returned from an African tour, decided to take the situation into his own hands, and called for a high profile meeting. Modi appealed to the Kashmir Valley to restore peace and order, asking the defense forces to exercise some basic restraint, along with the incumbent CM of Jammu & Kashmir, Ms Mehbooba Mufti, who has appealed to the defense force to avoid excessive use of force. But, if sources are to be believed, it’s not just what the eyes behold.
Ajit Doval, who is well known for his counter insurgency operations, including the abatement of terrorism in the Kashmir Valley itself, is as acquainted with this region as a native would be. For beginners, he is an esteemed Indian Police Service officer, who has previously worked with the echelons of the intelligence Bureau. He has also received the second highest peacetime gallantry award, the Kirti Chakra as well. He is extremely famous for his stint as an ISI agent in the Operation Blue Star, where he supplied vital information from the Khalistani side to the Indian forces, giving them a winning hand over the others. Besides, recently, he was successful in getting 46 Indian nurses freed from Tikrit in 2014, where they were kept hostage by the terrorists of the Islamic State. This way, he can rightly be called the ‘Chanakya’ of the espionage sector.
PM Modi, and his trusted aide Mr. Ajit Doval, in a way, have launched a rampage on the forces hell bent on destroying India, and in a way, the whole world. If I’m not wrong, the Indian Army has already launched an all-round assault in Jammu & Kashmir. The exact number of terrorists gunned down is still not available, but unnamed defense sources suggest it might more than 45, which is big. Keeping this in context, one can perceive why the Indian scion of intellectual terrorists is so apprehensive and terrified of the constant backlash from the security forces. For the first time, someone from the government actually had the balls to say, ‘We won’t fire the first bullet, but if we strike, we will not count of our bullets’
This is just the beginning. On the lines of the Israeli forces, the security forces, even though in restrained capacity, have started using rubber pellets on the protesters, who are just not ready to budge. Even though the media coverage is blowing the wind out of proportions, the reality is stark different. Yes, the rubber pellets might damage the eye vision, but only if you take it directly. But for the Indian media, it is like a holocaust, where the army is apparently destroying Kashmir. In their eyes, even if the stone pelters wreak havoc on army and Police, the Police and Army like true protectors, should not retaliate, which is macabre, to say the least. Malcolm X even said once in this context, ‘Concerning nonviolence, it is criminal to teach a man not to defend himself when he is the constant victim of brutal attacks.’ The same applies for Indian Army as well. They are not the followers of the Gandhian cult, who will not raise arms even if driven to the wall. Deal with that.
In a world, where people are haunted by the brutal attacks in Dhaka and more recently, Nice, India is probably setting a precedent, on how to deal with terror the right way. Be it the intense activity of the Intelligence Bureau in smashing down the notorious sleeper cells of ISIS, or the all-round assault of the Indian Army in J& K, the country is on a right track. It seems that after the Pathankot attacks, Ajit Doval, the Superspy, is back in action.
With that, if everything goes right, India might join the rare group of terror busters, which none of the notorious terror groups and sleeper cells even dare of invading, like Israel and Russia. Whatever one might say, for the first time, the Indian government is right in its moves against the menace of terrorism, whether physical or intellectual. Ajit Doval, we are proud of you. Keep up the good work.
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