Terrorist attack in Kashmir

[Ursus Minor]

India Warns Of Crushing Attack In Reaction To Kashmir Suicide Attack

Militants from the Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist organisation targeted an Indian reserve police convoy with a car-borne IED (improvised explosive device), destroying vehicles and killing several policemen on February 14.
Police suspect that a suicide bomber was involved in the attack, which took place on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Pulwama.

That creates a critical situation in the region, with two nuclear powers involved. There will be a general election in India this spring and anyone wanting to win this election will want to take a hard line stance toward Pakistan at this moment.

Add to that the fact that Pakistan has strong relations with China and India with the U.S.

Article by the BBC

and by India Today

 

[angelburst29]

Some recent reports on the suicide attack. Parent's of the suicide bomber state "their Son was radicalized after an 2016 incident" while he was with other friends on his way home from school. Shortly after, he disappeared and the Family spent 3 months searching for him, then gave up.

Some information is presented on the Paramilitary Police and that they are part of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). The 3rd article gives a better understanding of the conflict between India and Kashmir and a short history. China also posses a land claim (one-third) in this area.

A suicide bomber who killed 44 paramilitary policemen in Indian-controlled Kashmir joined a militant group after having been beaten by troops three years ago, his parents told Reuters on Friday.

February 15, 2019 - Kashmir suicide bomber radicalized after beating by troops, Parents say
Kashmir suicide bomber radicalized after beating by troops, parents...

Fahmeeda (L), mother of Adil Ahmad Dar, who according to police carried out the suicide attack on the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy and killed 44 on Thursday, sits inside her home in Gundbagh village in south Kashmir's Pulwama district, February 15, 2019. REUTERS/Danish Ismail

Adil Ahmad Dar, 20, from the village of Lethipora in Indian Kashmir, rammed a car full of explosives into the convoy, escalating tension between the nuclear-armed neighbors, which both claim the rugged Himalayan region.

“We are in pain in the same way the families of the soldiers are,” said farmer Ghulam Hassan Dar, adding that his son had been radicalized after police stopped him and his friends on the way home from school in 2016.

“They were stopped by the troops and beaten up and harassed,” Dar said, adding that the students were accused of stone-pelting. “Since then, he wanted to join the militants.”

A video released by the militant group after the attack showed his son, dressed in military fatigues and carrying an automatic rifle, detailing his plan to carry out the bombing. His mother, Fahmeeda, corroborated her husband’s account.

“He was beaten by Indian troops a few years back when he was returning from school,” she said. “This led to anger in him against Indian troops.” Both parents said they were unaware of their son’s plan to attack the convoy.

Dar did not return home from his work as a laborer on March 19 last year, Fahmeeda added. “We searched for him for three months,” she said. “Finally we gave up efforts to bring him back home.”

Slideshow (3 Images)
Kashmir suicide bomber radicalized after beating by troops, parents...

The 44 Indian paramilitary police killed by a suicide attack in Kashmir on Thursday were part of a force that is little appreciated, poorly paid and under resourced when compared with the army, according to former senior officers.

February 15, 2019 - Attacked Paramilitary Force is a poor cousin to India's Army: former officers
Attacked paramilitary force is a poor cousin to India's army:...

People stand outside the house of Bablu Santra, a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) member, who was killed after a suicide bomber rammed a car into the bus carrying CRPF personnel on Thursday, at Bauria village in Howrah district in the eastern state of West Bengal, India, February 15, 2019. REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri

The dead came from towns and villages across India, from Assam in the remote northeast to Tamil Nadu in the south.

But their job in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) took them to some of the most dangerous frontlines in India, including the fight against militants in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

“CRPF has been tasked to be first responder in insurgent situations. This is the primary task,” said Pranay Sahay, a former CRPF director general.

They fight alongside the army, yet they are paid less and get fewer benefits and less training, former officials said.

A low-ranking army soldier typically receives one-and-a-half times the pay of a CRPF officer of equivalent experience, said Ranbir Singh, general secretary of the Confederation of Ex-Paramilitary Forces Welfare Associations, a difference which is also reflected in their pensions.

A spokesman for India’s Home Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “We almost work in the same situation, in the same place, but definitely the feeling in the force is that we’re not treated on par,” a former CRPF director general said, asking not to be named.

“We’re like a body,” he said, referring to all the security forces, including the army. “Just because the heart is more important, you can’t ignore the knee.”

Living conditions are poorer, a sensitive issue when so many of the police are so far away from home, former officers said. Suicide rates are much higher than in the army, they added.

The housing satisfaction level in the CRPF is the poorest, probably around 13-14 percent,” Sahay told Reuters. Many had to pay for private accommodation for their families because the CRPF could not provide a decent alternative, he added.
One of those who died in Thursday’s attack was Bablu Santra, who had been in the CRPF for 19 years.

Family and friends gathered at his home in Bauria village, about 40 km (25 miles) from the eastern city of Kolkata, on Friday, lighting candles in front of his portrait. An Indian flag hung across the unpainted, incomplete two-storied building.

“He was looking forward to coming back and completing the house,” said Chandan Das, Santra’s nephew. “But that won’t happen now.”

The Muslim-majority Himalayan region of Kashmir has been at the heart of more than 70 years of animosity, since the partition of the British colony of India into the separate countries of Muslim Pakistan and majority Hindu India.

February 15, 2019 - Explainer: Scenic Kashmir at the heart of India-Pakistani animosity
Explainer: Scenic Kashmir at the heart of India-Pakistani animosity

Forensic and security officials stand next to the wreckage of a bus after a suicide bomber rammed a car into the bus carrying Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel on Thursday, in Lethpora in south Kashmir's Pulwama district, February 15, 2019. REUTERS/Danish Ismail

The scenic mountain region is divided between India, which rules the populous Kashmir Valley and the Hindu-dominated region around Jammu city, Pakistan, which controls a wedge of territory in the west, and China, which holds a thinly populated high-altitude area in the north.

Since both India and Pakistan tested nuclear weapons in 1998, Kashmir has become one of world’s most dangerous flashpoints.

Here are some facts about the region.

HISTORY
After partition of the subcontinent in 1947, Kashmir was expected to go to Pakistan, as other Muslim majority regions did. Its Hindu ruler wanted to stay independent but, faced with an invasion by Muslim tribesmen from Pakistan, hastily acceded to India in October 1947 in return for help against the invaders.

WARS
The dispute over the former princely state sparked the first two of three wars between India and Pakistan after independence 1947. They fought the second in 1965, and a third, largely over what become Bangladesh, in 1971.

DIVISIONS
A U.N.-monitored ceasefire line agreed in 1972, called the Line of Control (LOC), splits Kashmir into two areas - one administered by India, one by Pakistan. Their armies have for decades faced off over the LOC. In 1999, the two were involved in a battle along the LOC that some analysts called an undeclared war. Their forces exchanged regular gunfire over the LOC until a truce in late 2003, which has largely held since.

THE INSURGENCY
Many Muslims in Indian Kashmir have long resented what they see as heavy-handed New Delhi rule. In 1989, an insurgency by Muslim separatists began. Some fought to join Pakistan, some called for independence for Kashmir. India responded by pouring troops into the region. India also accused Pakistan of backing the separatists, in particular by arming and training fighters in its part of Kashmir and sending them into Indian Kashmir. Pakistan denies that, saying it only offers political support to the Kashmiri people.

INDIAN KASHMIR
Governed as the northernmost state of Jammu and Kashmir. It has two capitals, Jammu in winter (November-April), Srinagar in summer (May-October).

New Delhi claims the whole of Jammu and Kashmir as an integral part of India because the Hindu maharaja finally agreed to join India in October 1947.

PAKISTANI KASHMIR
Consists of the smaller Azad Kashmir (“Free Kashmir”) and the Northern Areas, which also formed part of the state before independence. Pakistan says a U.N.-mandated referendum should take place to settle the dispute over the region, expecting that the majority of Kashmiris would opt to join Pakistan.

CHINA
Controls a third section, the remote Aksai Chin plateau, historically part of Ladakh. India fought a border war over Aksai Chin with China in 1962, after China occupied a 38,000 square km (14,000 square mile) chunk of territory.

GEOGRAPHY
Parts of Kashmir are strikingly beautiful with forest-clad mountains, rivers running through lush valleys and lakes ringed by willow trees. The western Himalayan region is bounded by Pakistan to the west, Afghanistan to the northwest, China to the northeast, and India to the south.

POPULATION
Ten million in Indian Kashmir and more than three million in Pakistani Kashmir. About 70 percent are Muslims and the rest Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists.

AREA
With an area of 222,236 square km (85,783 sq miles), it is slightly bigger than the U.S. state of Utah and almost as big as Britain. India controls 45 percent, in the south and east, Pakistan about a third in the north and west, and China the rest.

ECONOMY
About 80 percent agriculture-based. Crops include rice, maize, apples, saffron. The area is also known for handicrafts such as carpets, woodcarving, woolens and silk. Tourism, once flourishing, has been badly hit by the conflict.

Pakistan summons Indian envoy over Kashmir incident: foreign office official
Pakistan summoned India's deputy head of mission to Islamabad on Friday after Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused Pakistan of involvement in a suicide attack that killed 44 policemen in Kashmir, a foreign office official said.

India, Pakistan to argue at World Court amid tensions
The World Court will hear arguments on Monday in a dispute between India and Pakistan about a former Indian navy commander sentenced to death by Islamabad for allegedly being an intelligence agency spy.

India's PM Modi warns Pakistan of strong response to Kashmir attack
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned Pakistan on Friday to expect a strong response to a suicide attack that killed 44 paramilitary policemen in Kashmir, ratcheting up tension between the nuclear-armed neighbors.

 

[seek10]

India Warns Of Crushing Attack In Reaction To Kashmir Suicide Attack

Militants from the Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist organisation targeted an Indian reserve police convoy with a car-borne IED (improvised explosive device), destroying vehicles and killing several policemen on February 14.
Police suspect that a suicide bomber was involved in the attack, which took place on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Pulwama.

That creates a critical situation in the region, with two nuclear powers involved. There will be a general election in India this spring and anyone wanting to win this election will want to take a hard line stance toward Pakistan at this moment.

With Election season around the corner, recent narrow electoral failures in some states in couple of months back, Modi may go for another surgical strikes (like in 2016) on Pakistani border terrorist locations. I don't think he will go deep into Pakistan or escalate it to full war. It is unfortunate reality in Kashmir since 1990's after terrorism in adjacent Punjab(India) state was effectively eliminated in 80's and American Afghan aid to Pakistan trickled to Kashmir.

Kashmir was called "heaven on earth" before 90's (at least in India) and movies and popular culture glorified it. Religion is a dangerous volatile mix to the partisan politics over common grievances that exist every where. Add some guns and death toll in the name of religion, suddenly past ceases to exist.

 

[seek10]

Well, Lot's of whatsapp messages from my friend groups to the effect there is lot of anger growing in India currently. As usual, opposition blaming each other for intelligence failure. when this type of things happens, lot of heads will roll, whether it is in Kashmir or rest of India( some leftie or muslim will say some thing and it lead to some thing serious or some body perceived some thing on that lines and retaliate) or in Pakistan( war). Hopefully, it will not go full war.

India withdraws Most Favoured Nation status to Pakistan: What it means

...
Currently, the situation in the Valley remains tense as all police convoys have been halted and an NIA team will be sent to Kashmir soon. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the forces will be given full freedom to avenge the attack, adding that "Pakistan has made a huge mistake".

Many including the United States have condemned the heinous attack that has claimed the life of over 40 paramilitary troopers and left many injured.

It looks it is a convoy of the 2500 soldiers hit by a suicide bomber that killed 40 people. Obviously security will increase, complaints of excesses and the vicious circle will go on for a while. It looks terrorists changed the tactics this time by hiring local kids as a suicide bombers which was not seen for a while.

Updates
...
No use of RDX in attack, initial probe reveals
Initial probe has revealed that RDX wasn't used in the Pulwama attack.
A very fine quality of Urea Ammonium Nitrate was used in the IED blast in Pulwama. The chemical substance is commonly used in stone quarries in Kashmir.
...
IED use shows change in tactics of terrorists: Ex-Army chief Bikram Singh
Pulwama attack: Former Army chief General (retired) Bikram Singh said, "It shows change in tactics of terrorists. IED has been used after a long time. IEDs were used in the past, in 2001-2002 when I was there, this was a normal practice of terrorists, then they resorted to firing from distance."

Pro-Pakistan Twitter handles say How's the Jaish after Kashmir terror attack

Meanwhile, ANI editor Smita Prakash shared a clip of a Pakistani news channel, where one of the speakers, a reitred Pakistani general purportedly says there will be a suicide bomber attack in Kashmir soon. Prakash says this clip surfaced a few months ago.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1096070742557376512

In this video, This retiered ISI general is saying Kashmiri youth should use suicide bombers and this is popular technique now a days. Whenever some thing bad happens in india, it is a norm to see this type of self congratulatory and India hating messages from Pakistan( as shown in the above article).

 

[seek10]

Mood of the India is this:
WE WILL NOT FORGET, WE WILL NOT FORGIVE:We salute our martyrs of #Pulwama attack and stand with the families of our martyr brothers. This heinous attack will be avenged.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1097232135402905601

Pulwama attack: Kashmiri students from various parts of India allege harassment, CRPF launches helpline

Sporadic incidents of violence and alleged harassment against the Kashmiris were reported across India on Saturday in the aftermath of the dastardly Pulwama terror attack. In view of such reports, the CRPF launched a helpline -- CRPF Madadgaar with the Twitter handle @CRPFmadadgaar.

www.indiatoday.in

Indian government asks States to protect Kashmiris under threat from mobs

The Jammu and Kashmir Police said anyone from the state who is living outside and needs assistance can contact them. People on social media also posted several helpline numbers.

newsin.asia

Terrorism is nothing new in India - Naxalites in south India, other insurgencies in North eastern states, Punjab (in 80's) and in Kashmir since 90's. This is leaving aside the communal violence. Large death toll are also common. There are many occasions death toll is much bigger than the current number.

There are protests across india and in London too. What has changed in these 5 years?

Until 5 years back, Indians can be considered one of the least patriotic people. They didn't have trust in govt. or even have faith in the process for at least 2 generations. Modi had quite number of successful initiatives. According some study 92% of the govt activities need bribing. Major initiative counter it is demonetization that is intended to have visibility to the corrupt money( though it was seen with suspicion in West, it was very popular there) . Politics just used to run on corruption. In the process of the changing the mindset of the people, Modi introduced some initiatives to promote Patriotism as a means to be responsible for their duties and country. ex: like singing national anthem before the movies etc. Of course, it has controversies too.

All this hope and raw patriotism has to go some where. I guess that is getting reflected in raw anger and protests in this instant communication age. With around 45 days left before elections and all the anger (looks to me melt down) on street, We have to see what he will do. Rallying up people with hope is one thing, controlling it is another thing. Mobocracy at its best ( here mob- means people not organized crime).

 

[seek10]

Update:

Indian forces kill Pulwama terror attack mastermind Ghazi Rasheed
Who is Abdul Rasheed Ghazi? Masood Azhar's trusted IED specialist who may have masterminded Pulwama attack?

Some times, I wonder why Pakistan is so obsessed with Kashmir? Here are some posts regular browsers on the lines of why each cares about Kashmir.

Why does Pakistan want Kashmir?

Answer (1 of 259): Why Pakistan wants Kashmir? This question has become irrelevant over years. Whether water is am issue? “NO” 1)Indus river treaty signed in 1961 and well honoured over 50 years has taken away any of insecurity of Pakistan over its water resources from rivers flowing from India...

www.quora.com

Why doesn't India give Kashmir independence?

Answer (1 of 237): There are 100+ answers to the question and many have put CBA( cost benefit analysis ) a reason for giving independence to Kashmir . But I beg to differ and would like to share why independence to Kashmir is never ever an option. Few things first : 1. Giving independence to an...

www.quora.com

What happens when we leave Kashmir to Pakistan?

Answer (1 of 120): India giving Kashmir to Pakistan is a hypothetical scenario. Let us discuss what might happen after this. Most of these scenarios are imaginary arrived at with educated guesses in which there are many possible outcomes. TL;DR version : 1. Effect on Indus river system 2. 1. I...

www.quora.com

you need to filter out lot of nationalistic fist fights from these long posts. This is the summary of arguments:

• Rivers from Himalayas are good controlling points for each country.
• During accession to India, India agreed for the Plebiscite, but it won't want to talk about it. As per the accession, India supposed to liberate the entire Kashmir, but failed to do so. India says stop terrorism and then we can walk which Pakistan denies, but the reality is different. Even if India agrees, will Pakistan and China agree to it?. Even if they agree for it, will they true to it in reality. Is it even feasible with the religious sentiments roused and so much terrorism supply goes on. One interesting video on conditions for plebicite.
  
  
• Kashmir is like alcohol for its Pakistani military which consumes 20% of its GDP and good control device over its population in the name of religion.
• India don't think Kashmir is essential to it, but it makes it vulnerable to Pakistani attacks( as the border comes to 500 Km and loses the Himalayan barrier), if Pakistan gets it. This may lead to other political separatism which it prefers to avoid it. If the Pakistani obsession is about religion, then it won't stop there as India hosts lot of Muslims .
• It is simply a revenge for Bangladesh separation from Pakistan.
• It is fight between secularism vs Islamism.
• If Pakistan haves Kashmir, it makes a continuous geographic area to the China. so it is important for it.

Kashmir valley where this battle happen is only small part of the entire region.

There are three regions of J&K state, of Indian control,not all areas are muslim dominated.

• Kashmir Valley - Its mostly Hilly forest area with predominantly Muslim population .
• Jammu - It is also hilly area with some plains . Inhabited by mostly Hindu and Sikh population.
• Leh and Ladakh - Hilly desert area with Budhist population of Tibetan descended

It's a mess British left with their "2 nation theory" in 1947 with borders drawn out of thin air with 3 months notice for families to be uprooted to move to different location.

 

[angelburst29]

Indian forces on Monday killed three militants, including the suspected organizer of a suicide bombing in the disputed region of Kashmir that fueled tension between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, police said, with five troops also killed in the clash.

February 17, 2019 - India says mastermind of Kashmir bombing killed in clash
India says mastermind of Kashmir bombing killed in clash

An Indian Army soldier carries a rocket launcher near the site of a gun battle between suspected militants and Indian security forces in Pinglan village in south Kashmir's Pulwama district February 18, 2019. REUTERS/Younis Khaliq

The three militants killed in the clash on Monday were all Pakistani nationals and members of JeM, two security sources said.

“The encounter is still in progress and the security forces are on the job,” police said in a statement.

But the 17-hour engagement, that ended shortly before 1330 GMT, came at a cost for India’s security services.

Four Indian soldiers and a policeman were killed, while nine troops were wounded, including a brigadier, one of the army’s top roles, and a deputy inspector general of police. A civilian was also killed.

Revolutionary Guards have broken up a group of militants in southeast Iran who were linked to a suicide bombing that killed 27 guards near the border with Pakistan last week, the Corps said on Monday.

February 18, 2019 - Iran arrests militants linked to attack on Revolutionary Guards
Iran arrests militants linked to attack on Revolutionary Guards

Members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, gather around the coffins of their fellow guards, who were killed by a suicide car bomb, during the funerals in Isfahan, Iran February 16, 2019. Morteza Salehi/Tasnim News Agency/via REUTERS

“Last night, a terrorist cell was identified and destroyed in an operation,” the Corps said in a statement carried by the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

Three militants were arrested and explosive material was seized from houses in the cities of Saravan and Khash, it said. “They were linked to the suicide bombing attack last week. The Corps will continue its efforts to take revenge over the deadly terrorist attack,” it said.

The Sunni group Jaish al Adl (Army of Justice), which says it seeks greater rights and better living conditions for the ethnic minority Baluchis, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Shi’ite Muslim Iran says militant groups operate from safe havens in Pakistan and have repeatedly called on the neighboring country to crack down on them.

India has warned against rising communal tensions across the country as some Kashmiris living outside their state said they faced property evictions while others were attacked on social media after a suicide bomber killed 44 policemen in the region.

February 17, 2019 - Kashmiris complain of evictions after deadly attack on Indian forces, authorities promise safety
Kashmiris complain of evictions after deadly attack on Indian...

A soldier walks during a candle light vigil to pay tribute to Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel who were killed after a suicide bomber rammed a car into the bus carrying them in south Kashmir on Thursday, in front of India Gate war memorial in New Delhi, India, February 16, 2019. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis

As the bodies of the paramilitary policemen who died in the attack were returned to families across India this weekend, passionate crowds waving the Indian flag gathered in the streets to honor them and shouted demands for revenge. Pakistan has denied any role in the killings.

Kashmiri Muslims, meanwhile, say they are facing a backlash in Hindu-majority India, mainly in the northern states of Haryana and Uttarakhand, forcing the federal interior ministry to issue an advisory to all states.

The Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) state administration late on Sunday advised students from the state to reach out to liaison officers across six regions of the country in case of any problems. It said 104 students who were staying in private accommodation in the Haryana district of Ambala had been moved to hostels of a university guarded by police.

It said some Kashmiri students from Dehradun reached New Delhi on Saturday evening and had been accommodated in J&K’s guest house in the national capital.

 

[Ursus Minor]

Indian forces on Monday killed three militants, including the suspected organizer of a suicide bombing in the disputed region of Kashmir that fueled tension between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, police said, with five troops also killed in the clash.

Three militants were arrested and explosive material was seized from houses in the cities of Saravan and Khash, it said. “They were linked to the suicide bombing attack last week. The Corps will continue its efforts to take revenge over the deadly terrorist attack,” it said.

The Sunni group Jaish al Adl (Army of Justice), which says it seeks greater rights and better living conditions for the ethnic minority Baluchis, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Shi’ite Muslim Iran says militant groups operate from safe havens in Pakistan and have repeatedly called on the neighboring country to crack down on them.

Just one day (Feb. 13) before the terrorist attack in Kashmir by Jaish-e-Mohammed on Feb. 14 there was a similar suicide attack by the militant Sunni group Jaish al-Adl in Iran's Sistan-Baluchestan province.

Iran's parliament speaker said Sunday that an attack that killed 27 members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard was "planned and carried out from inside Pakistan," which he said should answer for it.

Ali Larijani's remarks, carried by the state-run IRNA news agency, came after Iranian officials initially accused Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates of being behind the attack. The Gulf Arab states are deeply suspicious of Tehran and at war with Iran-aligned rebels in Yemen.

Iran blames Pakistan... (Tehran Times)

.

The militant Sunni group Jaish al-Adl, which claimed responsibility, is believed to operate from havens in neighbouring Pakistan.
The head of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, on Saturday accused Pakistan's security forces of supporting the militants and said Iran expects it to "punish" them.

Pakistan is closely allied with Saudi Arabia but has tried to maintain a balancing act between Riyadh and Tehran. Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is expected to visit Pakistan Sunday after delaying his arrival by one day without providing an explanation.

Who's using Pakistani separatist and terror groups to incite India and Iran against Pakistan at the same time?
Surely the Paki government as foolish as to support those heinous attacks on neighbouring countries...

The Saudis may have a stake in pitting Sunni Pakistan against Shiite Iran.
Can two incidents of the same kind within 48 hours be coincidental?

Is the infamous Paki intelligence service ICI trying to undermine newly elected Prime minister Imran Khan?

President Trump on twitter; Jan 1, 2018
Trump’s tweet in full: “The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!”

Could the CIA and their infamous intelligence agency partners from a tiny country in the Middle East be trying to destabilize Iran through a confrontation with Pakistan?

Or is it about destabilizing Pakistan itself which is closely aligned with China?

 

[Ursus Minor]

It should have read:

Surely the Paki government is not as foolish as to support those heinous attacks ..

 

[seek10]

I was reading this book Fighting to the End: The Pakistan Army's Way of War by the Christine Fair ( the woman in the video I posted above). She did extensive reading of Pak military journals of many decades and talked to many Pak military folks, compared different versions of narration to come to her conclusions. She may be little biased towards US, but her insights explained many of my observations elsewhere- obsessive aversion towards India, repeated incursions/wars irrespective of defeats, Talk of guardian of Muslim despite having enough internal troubles or utter disregard to Bengali muslims before they formed Bangladesh. She starts book introduction with following:

Pakistan was born an insecure state in 1947, and it remains so to date. To the east, Pakistan continues to reject the Line of Control cutting through Kashmir as its international border with India. Pakistan views its eastern neighbor, India, as an eternal foe that not only seeks to dominate Pakistan but also to destroy it if and when the opportunity arises. In its quest to manage its external security perceptions, Pakistan has pursued guerilla warfare, proxy warfare, terrorism, low-intensity conflict, and full-scale wars with India. To coerce India to make some concession to Pakistan on the disposition of Kashmir, Pakistan has supported an array of Islamist militant proxies that operate in Kashmir and throughout India (Ganguly 2001). Despite Pakistan’s varied exertions to wrest Kashmir through force or coercion, India has not budged. In fact, its position has hardened. India long ago abandoned the proposition that the people of Kashmir should ratify their inclusion within India through an internationally monitored plebiscite. The official policy of the Indian government now is that there will be no more changes to India’s international borders.

Even though Pakistan has failed to make even modest progress toward attaining Kashmir, Pakistan’s revisionist goals toward India have actually increased rather than retracted in scope. Since the early 1970s, Pakistan has sought to resist, or possibly outright retard, India’s inevitable if uneven ascendance both in the region and beyond. Despite the fact that India decisively defeated Pakistan in the 1971 war, with half of Pakistan’s territory and population lost when East Pakistan became Bangladesh, Pakistan continues to view itself as India’s peer competitor and demands that it be treated as such by the United States and others. In fact, former president and army chief Pervez Musharraf boldly declared that India must accept Pakistan as an equal as a precondition for peace (Daily Times 2006). Pakistan’s conflict with India cannot be reduced simply to resolving the Kashmir dispute. Its problems with India are much more capacious than the territorial conflict over Kashmir.

Pakistan’s conflicts with its western neighbor, Afghanistan, also began at independence. Afghanistan sought to use British decolonization as an opportunity both to denounce the Durand Line as the boundary dividing Afghan and Pakistani territories and to make irredentist claims on large swaths of Pakistani lands abutting Afghanistan. In addition to these territorial disputes with Afghanistan, Pakistan fears that India—working alone or with the Afghans—can destabilize Pakistan’s obstreperous western border areas. This has driven Pakistan at various times to restrict India’s political and physical presence in Afghanistan. To manipulate Afghanistan’s domestic affairs
and to create a regime that will forge foreign policies favorable to Pakistan and limit India’s actions in Afghanistan, Pakistan has employed Islamist proxies there since 1960, if not earlier (Fair 2011);

This book is about mindset of Pak Army, its ideological position to maintain its own existence, means it uses( Islmist, Taliban or what ever the name it wants), its expectations from its partners (namely US until now and China in future) in fighting with India, Maintain its control over Pakistan public ( education and police-, its use of Army instead Police in the internal affairs to maintain its grip) and of course, its obsession with fighting Inferior-Hindu-India's hegemony( Contradictory, but that's how they see it). I only read 3 chapters as of now, It is very informative.

In short, the way Western Deep state needs Evil Ruskies, Pak Army needs Hindu India. She said in another video that No Border Faire can solve this problem, because this is not about Kashmir, it is about Pak Army maintaining its relevance and control. I may post more on the book as I read more.

 

[seek10]

Another video on the view of American policy makers

 

[angelburst29]

Indian jets conducted air strikes against a militant camp in Pakistani territory on Tuesday, India's foreign secretary said, and a Indian government source said 300 militants had been killed, but Pakistan denied there had been any casualties.

February 25, 2019 - India says air strike hit major military camp inside Pakistan
India says air strike hit major militant camp inside Pakistan

India's Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale speaks during a media briefing in New Delhi, India, February 26, 2019. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

The air strikes hit a training camp of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), the group that claimed credit for a suicide car bomb attack killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police in Kashmir on Feb. 14, ratcheting up tensions between the two nuclear armed neighbors.

The action was ordered as India said it had intelligence that Jaish was planning more attacks. “In the face of imminent danger, a preemptive strike became absolutely necessary,” Vijay Gokhale, India’s top diplomat, told reporters.

Gokhale said “a very large number” of militants were killed in a strike on a training base in Balakot, a town in a remote valley in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, but did not provide a precise figure for the casualties. The commander of the camp was Maulana Yusuf Azhar, a brother-in-law of JeM leader Masood Azhar, Gokhale said.

Pakistan downplayed the severity of air strike, saying its own warplanes had chased off the Indian aircraft, which had released their “payload” in a forested area, causing no casualties and no serious material damage.

“Indian aircrafts intruded from Muzaffarabad sector,” Pakistani military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said on Twitter early on Tuesday, referring to an area in the Pakistan-held part of Kashmir.

Pakistani villagers say one person wounded in Indian air strike
Pakistani villagers in the area where Indian jets struck what officials in New Delhi said was a militant training camp said they heard four loud bangs in the early hours of Tuesday but reported only one person wounded by bomb shards. “We saw trees fallen down and one house damaged and four craters where the bombs had fallen,” said Mohammad Ajmal, a 25-year-old who visited the site.

Pakistan minister urges 'better sense' from India after airstrikes: Radio Pakistan
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Tuesday that "better sense" should prevail in India after Indian jets crossed into Pakistan and carried out what one Indian minister called an airstrike on militant terror camps.

 

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A Dick Cheney's secret campaign: 'The U.S. supports the Jundullah terrorist group and uses it to destabilize Iran.'

Pakistan-India showdown: What you’re not being told
Written by Darius Shahtahmasebi on 26 Feb, 2019

 

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A Dick Cheney's secret campaign: 'The U.S. supports the Jundullah terrorist group and uses it to destabilize Iran.'

Pakistan-India showdown: What you’re not being told
Written by Darius Shahtahmasebi on 26 Feb, 2019

This is a interesting article that says Saudi Arabia is funding Pak Terrorist organization to weaponize against Iran. If it is Iran, US and Isreal will be with them. It also hints at Pakistan supplying Nuclear arms to Saudi Arabia. This reminded me of recent MBS visit to Pakistan.

The Saudi investments are not limited to $20 billion, and Pakistan should expect more, MBS hinted while speaking in Islamabad alongside Khan.

“It's big for phase one, and definitely it will grow every month and every year, and it will be beneficial to both countries,” the crown prince said. “We have been a brotherly country, a friendly country to Pakistan. We've walked together in tough and good times, and we [will] continue.”

 

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One thing that makes me uneasy is the dynamic that happens over and over in Indo-Pak situation irrespective of who lost what. Due to so-called democracy, the whole thing goes to different level during election season in India.

It is known tactic of Pak military, its terrorist proxy's (LeT and others) and their Politicians(PR wing?) to whip up all the frenzy and kill some body and then talk of peace or talking about "fear of nuclear Armageddon" as if they did nothing. Here is one from week before the latest attack.

Pakistani PM, president back rebels in Indian Kashmir

Pakistan’s prime minister and president have offered support for rebels in the Indian part of the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir.

www.rt.com

Pakistan’s prime minister and president have offered support for rebels in the Indian part of the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir. Imran Khan and Arif Alvi in their statements condemned India’s “violations of human rights” in its section of Kashmir. They say Pakistan would continue its “diplomatic and moral” support for people living in Kashmir, AP reported. Islamabad is holding rallies on Tuesday in the Pakistani-controlled sector of the territory and elsewhere in support of the Kashmiri rebels, marking the annual Day of Solidarity with Kashmir. India and Pakistan each administer a part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety. Rebels have been fighting Indian rule since 1989, demanding Indian-controlled Kashmir be united either under Pakistani rule or established as an independent country.

When accused, First they talk of proof, then their proxy terrorists declare to the world that 'they did it'(because they need their PR and funding), then they will say 'this is your security failure', then will go on talking about Kashmiri's flight, because they are Muslims. It doesn't matter, it couldn't keep more than half of country - the east Bengali Muslims ( because they can't allow duly elected east Bengali Muslim leader Mujibur Rahman to be leader of United Pakistan) . India hosts more Muslims than Pakistan itself. Then they talk of nuclear destruction as if they are blackmailing the world. some how, no body talks that it is Pakistan which started all the infiltration that precipitated in wars.

Here is one 2016 article written after Pakistani militants killed Indian Soldiers and it is about the PR dynamics that go with it.

Pakistan has sustained a low intensity conflict in Kashmir to wrest the territory from India since 1947. Pakistan’s claims to Kashmir are predicated on ideological concerns rather than security concerns. Without Kashmir, Pakistan is incomplete per the jalebi-like logic of the so-called Two Nation Theory. For Pakistan to concede Kashmir and forge an enduring peace with India, Pakistan and its citizenry must evolve their interpretation of the Two Nation Theory. For generations raised on Pakistan’s intertwined narratives of Islam and nationhood, particularly those in the military, this is a price too high to pay. In fact, during a recent visit to Washington D.C., Pakistan’s army chief Raheel Sharif made it clear that “surrendering” Kashmir was something he would never be prepared to do. Since the military exercises de facto control over Pakistan’s foreign policy—not politicians and elected officials such as Prime Ministers—no peace process is currently possible. In fact, if Pakistan wanted peace it could have peace. India has no interest in Pakistani territory as India is a territorially status quo power notwithstanding some Hindu nationalists’ assertion of the bizarre geopolitical notion of an undivided India, known as “Akhand Bharat”.

So why does Pakistan continue with its use of terrorism? It’s remarkably easy to explain. First, it’s inexpensive. Compared to Pakistan’s defense budget of some $7 billion, operating militant groups such Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is mungphalis. Second, it requires no commitment of Pakistani troops to combat. Third, it provides the cover of plausible deniability. Fourth, Pakistan never suffers any material consequences for its jihad habit because of its ever-expanding nuclear arsenal, inclusive of tactical nuclear weapons. These weapons deter India from undertaking military action and ensure that the international community, always afraid of Pakistan failing, stays engaged politically and financially. These are weapons of coercion—or blackmail by another name.

Finally, and most importantly, Pakistan-sponsored terrorist attacks in India immediately prompt international calls for “India and Pakistan” to resolve all outstanding disputes peacefully. This may be the most important outcome yet, given the low cost of this strategy. When the international community imposes this false equivalency over the two states, Pakistan’s version of history is vindicated. Along similar lines, when India reaches out an olive branch to Pakistan and agrees to discuss “outstanding disputes,” India invariably plays into Pakistan’s hands by allowing Pakistan to claim that even India recognizes the legitimate nature of Pakistan’s claims. As long as Pakistan continues to garner these benefits while incurring virtually no costs, these attacks will continue.

An Attack That Was Long in the Making

Following initial reports of the attack, Pakistan’s media, notoriously under intense pressure from the military, immediately went into damage control, mocking their Indian counterparts for jumping to the conclusion that the attackers were from Pakistan. Major news outlets in Pakistan suggested that the attack was an Indian “false flag” operation, a quotidian conspiracy theory that contends that India actually attacks itself to defame Pakistan, Muslims or some other sinister domestic agenda.

Later, the United Jihad Council (UJC), a coalition of Kashmir militant groups with close ties to Pakistan’s military, claimed responsibility for the attack. This too may be an effort to foster the illusion that the attack was about the so-called “Kashmir dispute.”

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Pakistan’s Regional Strategy

While most commentators on this attack focus upon the contested disposition of Kashmir this is a narrow vision of Pakistan’s continued strategy of employing Islamist terrorists under its nuclear umbrella as part of a broader national security posture that arches across the countries of South Asia, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka as well as throughout India. In fact, it remains a goal of Pakistan-backed militant groups to operate outside of Kashmir. In the wake of the Pathankot attack, Indian intelligence has warned of the possibility that militants are planning to carry out similar attacks targeting Indian air bases in the Eastern part of the country. Attacks on targets in the Eastern part of India would less likely be carried out by infiltrators from Pakistan than Bangladesh, where Pakistan-based militants have been recruiting and organizing for years.

Members of the Pakistani Punjab-based militant organizations such as Lashkar-e-Taiba have been arrested in Bangladesh, and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) has had close ties with JeM, which has operated in Bangladesh for years. In the past year, two Pakistani diplomats were expelled from Bangladesh for allegedly operating as ISI liaisons with jihadi militant groups, and Pakistani militants are regularly arrested in raids on jihadi militant groups in Bangladesh. Pakistan’s militant groups such as LeT and JeM have cultivated based in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Nepal in effort to encircle India with bases from which persons can be recruited or launched for operations within India. Ultimately, Pakistan’s Islamists believe that they can coerce Bangladesh into rescinding its independence gained after a hard fought war in 1971. Hafiz Saeed posted on Twitter on the 2013 anniversary of Bangladesh’s liberation that “#WeWillNeverForget #1971 – History has not ended yet, will be rewritten,” and last March told a crowd of supporters that “the implementation of Sharia will make Pakistan a model state attracting even Bangladesh to rejoin Pakistan.”

Pakistan’s interests with regards to India are not exclusive to wresting all of Kashmir; rather, Pakistan has arrogated to itself the retardation of India’s projection of power in South Asia and beyond. As is well-known, Pakistan’s obsession with controlling events in Afghanistan by backing a Islamist militants such as the Taliban are due in considerable measure to Pakistan’s interest in denying India access to Afghanistan and stemming India’s larger ability to compete with it in Central Asia. Pakistan’s ISI continues to encourage groups such as the Jalaluddin Haqqani Network and LeT to attack to Indian assets and personnel in Afghanistan. Pakistan-backed terrorist groups have attacked the Indian embassy in Kabul twice in 2008 and 2009 and several consulates including those in Herat and Kandahar in 2014, Jalalabad in 2013 and most recently in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif. In addition to other attacks on Indian personnel working in Afghanistan.

Pakistan’s larger goal of preventing India’s rise requires analysts to stop viewing these groups beyond the buzz word of Kashmir and endeavor to understand the larger context in which they function as a force multiplier in Pakistan’s broader national security strategy. Allowing jihadi militant groups groups to operate semi-autonomously and nominally dedicated to jihad in Kashmir provides the Pakistani state plausible deniability, and masks the militants’ full role in the region.

An Action Plan

In an ideal world, India and the United States-among other interested parties—would be able to cooperate to contain the various threats that Pakistan poses through uses of military, economic, diplomatic and political tools of national power. However, India lacks the offensive capabilities to decisively defeat Pakistan in a short war and has been reticent to invest in the requisite military modernization and personnel policies required to decisively defeat Pakistan. The United States for its part seems unable to find any other policy approach to Pakistan that does not involve handsome emoluments in hopes of securing even marginal cooperation with Pakistan. The sad truth is that both countries are blackmailed by Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program and are loathe to move away from status quo policies.

This does not mean that there is nothing that can be done. One of the simplest things that the United States and its international partners can do is change the way it talks about Pakistan and its terrorist clients attacking India. Americans and Indians who advocate engaging Pakistan at all costs, need to understand that what Pakistan craves is attention to its joint causes of Kashmir and standing up to a hegemonic India. When the international community predictably calls for both sides to settle their outstanding disputes peacefully, they unwittingly reward Pakistan while punishing India by imposing a false equivalency across the two. If the international community instead called for Pakistan to accept the status quo – a reality even Pakistan’s former Army Chief Gen. Musharraf had come to accept, and stop using terrorism and nuclear coercion as tools of foreign policy, Pakistan would be deprived of the benefits its seeks even if it does not incur costs for its behavior. Until the time comes when the international community is prepared to punish Pakistan for transgressing international norms, refusing to reward it is a good place to start.