While the whole nation mourns the death of CRPF jawans in the dastardly terrorist attack in Pulwama, some ‘liberal’ media houses are busy humanizing the suicide bomber, Adil Ahmad Dar. Many media houses tried to portray Dar, as a normal kid who was a cricket freak. They are making deliberate attempts at humanizing a terrorist’s story. However, the fact is that Adil Ahmed Dar was no stranger to terrorist activities. Dar actively participated in the 2016 Burhan Wani uprising and had even been shot at once by the security personnel. Dar was also involved in stone pelting activities in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Indian media, predictably, have always sympathised with stone-pelters. Lutyens’ media fondly refers to them as ‘Peaceful’ and ‘misguided youth’. The Human rights Commission also cares about the rights of stone pelters greatly. India is the only country where stone pelters get so much sympathy and care. Countries like Russia and Israel deal with stone pelters in their own unique ways. In India, people like Major Aditya and Major Gogoi who take action against stone pelters are punished. The liberal media, placard gang, candle-march gang and human rights commission made a huge hue and cry when strict action against stone pelters was taken by the aforementioned brave soldiers.
Stone pelters are no misguided youth, They are ‘passive terrorists’ who act as a shield for ‘active terrorists’. ‘Intellectuals’ give lame excuses in support of these stone pelters. First is that they say these stone pelters are sponsored by Pakistan and Hurriyat. Even if we agree with this, then what? How does it even justify revolts and open attacks against the unity and integrity of our country? They are criminals and should be treated as such. The second lame excuse they give is that these educated youths are unemployed. As various Kashmiri groups have repeatedly asserted, this is an ideologically motivated ‘fight’ and not borne out of economic grievances, so this excuse does not hold any water.
Instead of taking strict actions against these ‘passive terrorists’, people here debate in TV studios. We are the only country to do so. Countries like Israel, China, Russia and USA take direct action without a second thought.
The left-liberal section of society is so sympathetic towards stone pelters that they talk about bringing them into the mainstream. As a part of this effort, on February 2018, the Mehbooba Mufti government approved the withdrawal of stone-pelting cases against 9,730 people. The result of all this ultimately was that stone-pelters became more lethal. They targeted a school bus of Rainbow School in Kanipura village in Shopian. The stone pelters deliberately began targeting tourists, civilians and school children to create fear among people.
When the Army employs pellet guns against these dangerous stone-pelters, it ails liberals, and so-called defenders of human rights. The Jammu & Kashmir Bar Council filed a plea demanding for a blanket ban on the use of pellet guns by the state police and the centrally organized paramilitary forces. Their petition was rejected by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court then they approached the SC. The apex court bench observed, “All that we want is an assurance that pellet guns will not be used indiscriminately or excessively in the State, and will be resorted to after proper application of mind.” It also asked Centre to consider alternatives to pellet guns in the valley. The cabal even went to Amnesty International to demand a ban on the use of pellet guns. Amnesty International launched a campaign urging the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and the Union Home Minister to immediately end the use of Pellet guns in the valley.
In response to all this pellet gun campaign, the CRPF told the high court that if pellet guns are banned then the number of fatalities would increase. In an affidavit submitted to High Court, the CRPF said, “In case, this (pellet gun) is withdrawn from the options available with the CRPF, CRPF personnel would have no recourse in extreme situations but to open fire with rifles, which may cause more fatalities.” A very logical reply from the CRPF’s side.
The cabal instills a sense of victim-hood among the stone-pelters. They mold the narrative in such a way that the aggressor is portrayed as a victim, and the savior as a demon. The local leaders also do not recognize the contribution of the Army in the valley. Instead, they curse the army 24×7, and leave no stones unturned in defending stone pelters. This behavior of cabal’s raises the morale of these stone-pelters and provides them with oxygen in order to carry on their violent campaign against the Indian army and the nation.
Last year, the former Jammu & Kashmir chief minister and the senior Congress leader- Ghulam Nabi Azad- accused the army of killing more civilians than terrorists. Azad, who has been representative of Islamic appeasement within the Congress, stated in an interview that the language of “all out operations” in J&K indicated that a “massacre” was being planned. The Congress leader did not stop here, he went on to add, “They (forces) take action against four terrorists and kill 20 civilians. Their action is more against civilians than terrorists. For instance, they killed 13 civilians in Pulwama and just one terrorist. No civilians were killed during the UPA government.”
The terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba immediately reciprocated and endorsed Azad’s remarks. The Chief of the LeT, Mahmood Shah, in an email statement praised the statement of the Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad. He said, “We have been of the same opinion as of the expressions of Ghulam Nabi Azad and others since the beginning. India is bringing back the Era of Jagmohan by imposing the Governor’s law so as to sabotage the infrastructure and commit massacre of innocents. It is a move to further intensify the mass killings.”
The soft approach of the media, the liberal-leftist cabal and local leaders is the source of support of stone-pelters, as these groups create the narrative of victim-hood in their favor. A sense of victim-hood was instilled in Adil Ahmed Dar and hundreds of such stone-pelters by the Indian media and how the Indian army was targeting ‘mere stone-pelters’ with ‘dangerous’ pellet guns. By doing this, this section of Indian media provided the budding terrorists with a breathing space and provided them with time to get the resources for pulling off bigger attacks. This attack was Pulwama. If Adil Ahmed Dar would have been neutralized in 2016, Pulwama would not have happened. This very section of Indian media and left-liberal activists should take responsibility.
Even now, at a time when the media should be focusing on unifying the nation and sympathizing with the Jawans who lost their lives, there are some sections of the media who have directly placed the blame of ‘turning the youth into a terrorist’ on the Army and the Indian establishment.