Every year on the 15th of January, India celebrates Army Day. It is celebrated in recognition of Field Marshal KM Cariappa taking over as the first Commander-in-Chief from the British General Sir Francis Butcher in the year 1949. As we celebrate our 69th Army Day today, we can proudly say that in the year 2017 our army achieved unparalleled success by shooting down around 200 militants in the Kashmir region. It was a necessary step as the terror of the militants was on a rise in that region. The incidents of stone pelting have also reduced in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. With the National Investigation Agency breaking the spines of terror supporters by conducting raids this was bound to happen. The NIA has conducted raids on some major separatist leaders and 7 Hurriyat leaders were arrested in connection with a money laundering case. This was a major step taken by the NIA under the guidance of the present government. Kashmir has been at the top of PM Modi’s agenda and hence all these steps have led to the much-needed order in the state, although there are many a mile to go.
Army Day of our country is the day of saluting the brave hearts, our guardians in uniforms who stay away from their families, brave the bullets of enemies and impossible climatic conditions to ensure that we live peacefully. It is a duty of every citizen to take out some time to wish our army men well and shed a tear for those who sacrificed their lives while protecting the honor of the nation and its citizens.
Indian Army started its day with bang by arranging a meeting of 5 terrorists from the Jaish-e-Mohammad with their makers. These terrorists were trying to sneak into Uri base. As the nation erupted in joy upon hearing this news early in the morning, one political party had other ideas.
The National Conference staged a walkout in the J&K assembly today, as they are opposed to army’s operation All Out. National Conference is even against Army’s Cordon and Search Operations also known as CASO.
It’s a matter of shame and ignominy that the army men who work day and night to defeat terror in the valley receive such shoddy treatment from some political parties of this country. Even when Indian Army conducted a daring surgical strike across LOC, AAP Supremo Arvind Kejriwal asked for video tapes of the operation as a proof. Some politicians do not care much about the peace and stability in Kashmir or India’s timely and proportionate response to Pakistan, all they wish to do is, politicize the issues relating to the army.
The National Conference in J&K is unnecessarily locking horns with the Army Chief Bipin Rawat by protesting against him in the assembly. Ever since they lost the assembly elections against the PDP-BJP, the National Conference has been hellbent on being the incorrigible and unreasonable critic of the BJP-PDP government and the Indian Army. Today they raised slogans in the state assembly against the PDP-BJP government in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Farooq Abdullah, the patriarch of the National Conference made an irresponsible statement again. He went on to blame India as well, in his words “India and Pakistan equally involved in each other’s tragedies”
Farooq Abdullah’s previous statements on the Kashmir issue, and his thoughtless utterances about PoK have undermined India’s position and emboldened the forces that fan instability in the troubled Kashmir Valley.
Now that the state of Jammu and Kashmir has a government that has BJP as its alliance partner, the traditional stakeholders such as the National Conference and Hurriyat have been sidelined. Various arrests were made in cases such as money laundering that involved top people from the Huriyat. Their Pakistani handlers are finding it hard to keep Kashmir on a boil. The terror of the stone pelters is vanishing slowly due to the active and strong presence of the Indian army in this region. Demonetisation was a punch to their guts as well. With the killing of more than 200 militants and the raids conducted by the NIA, the life of the sympathizers of terrorists such as the National Conference and Hurriyat is becoming hell. Their main objective was to create tension in the region and gain benefit out of it but nowadays it is becoming more and more tough for them to keep doing so. These antics will not work, and their stakes will plummet further.