Modi Government seems to be stamping its authority back into Kashmir and the Bhartiya Janta Party has made itself look like a senior partner in the coalition with the Mehbooba Mufti led PDP
The problem in Kashmir looks to be heading towards a permanent solution and this is being iterated by the Home Minister now for some time. So far there have been three distinctly visible trends in the solution that Modi Government is having in its kitty.
The first being that the army has been asked to eliminate the terrorists. In the last 15 years, it has been for the first time that the cordon and search operations have been changed to search and eliminate operations. The names are there with the army and the names are being struck off. 2 years down the line, 8 of the 11 Kashmiri Mujahideens in a photoshop that went viral on the social media that had them sporting army fatigues have been eliminated and 1 of them has surrendered.
Image Courtesy: ANI
The army is checking house after house, village after village. The hot pursuit also has the heavy shelling across the borders to neutralise the bunkers that often aided in infiltration bids.
The morale of the army is high and that is visible in the statements of General Bipin Rawat who has now twice gone over the top of the table in airing his views with respect to militancy in Kashmir. The officers are being encouraged to come up with ‘out of the box’ solutions to check collateral damage and Major Leethul Gogoi has become a benchmark of it.
This has been ably supported with a check on social media services to curb the proliferatiom of anti India and anti army sentiments. This was visible when the funeral of Sabzar Bhatt saw a very poor turnout of people unlike that of Burhan Wani which had turned into more of an Opera Show.
The second pattern is the crackdown on terror funding. The NIA linked the hawala transactions to terror funding and effectively bypassed the bureaucracy and the moles in the finance department. A list of around 200 names was prepared and now the NIA is going after them. The funding of the stone pelters has been linked to the hawala trade in dry fruits and so it is expecting that a crackdown on the hawala operators will lead to a decrease in stone pelting.
At the same time it has pushed the separatist to the wall. It has not only checked their finances but it has been consistent in its stance of a ‘no’ to talks with Hurriyat. This has been despite the overtures by the Pakistan and the state government. Even if it agrees for a talk with the Hurriyat it wants to ensure that Hurriyat has been mellowed down and the government appears like a superior party on the negotiating table.
If it continues for a bit long, the Hurriyat may be found struggling for its survival given that Zakir Musa has already warned them of dire consequences if they budge a little from their stance.
Thirdly, the coalition has now become a baggage for the PDP. It has no other option but to continue with it. Modi government has been stern with the state government and has refused to its demands of a talk with Hurriyat. At the same time it is ensuring that the CM does not criticise the stance of the Modi government. Recently she had to leave a rally where the anti India slogans were raised.
PM Modi tapped the indifference of Omar Abdullah towards the PDP after Mufti Mohammed Saeed passed away and with the popularity of Mehbooba Mufti taking a beating ever since the encounter of Burhan Wani, it has become a matter of political survival for Mehbooba Mufti to somehow stick to the coalition and try to control the damage somehow. The relief package of 80000 crores has been shelled out to the state government so as to keep PDP quiet as the Modi Government marches ahead with its plans in the state.
The three elements now form what it looks like to be the Kashmir policy of PM Modi and it will bear the desired fruits in times to come. It is a comprehensive plan that will neutralise the anti India sentiments forever in Kashmir.