The border of the disputed Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir; a white border painted on a suspended bridge delineates Azad Kashmir from Jammu and Kashmir, 2015. Photo courtesy of Umar Jamshaid via Wikimedia Commons.

 

By UZAY BULUT

JNS

The government of India began military action against terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan in retaliation for the April 22 massacre against Hindu civilians in Kashmir by Pakistani-sponsored terrorists.

On May 7, the Indian Armed Forces launched “Operation Sindoor,” a coordinated military operation that targeted terrorist sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK). India said that the operation “aimed at neutralizing terror camps actively involved in planning and executing attacks against India. A total of nine sites were hit during the strike.”

Civilian Massacre

On April 22, terrorists from the Resistance Front, an offshoot of the Islamic terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba, stormed an area in Pahalgam, Kashmir. They ambushed and murdered 26 Hindu civilians and injured dozens more. The terrorists sought out Hindus with chilling precision. It was the worst civilian massacre in India since 2008.

Hunting NonMuslims

This was a deliberate assault on a community whose only “offense” was that they were not Muslim. The terrorists hunted innocent tourists, sorted them by sex and religion, and murdered the Hindu men simply because of their religion. The terror attack took place in India’s union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

According to eyewitnesses, the terrorists demanded that their victims chant Islamic verses and even removed their pants to see whether or not they were circumcised. All of this was an exercise that the terrorists undertook to verify that their victims were not Muslim before executing them in front of their family members.

India’s military operation targeted terror camps belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM). LeT and JeM are designated as terror organizations by the U.N. Security Council and the United States. LeT was behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks that claimed the lives of 166 people. JeM carried out the 2019 Pulwama suicide bombing, killing 41 Indian security officers. HM has been designated as a terrorist group by the European Union and the United States.

These terror groups started in Kashmir, but they pose threats far beyond South Asia because of their efforts to branch globally.

Pakistan Aid?

The news website Hindustan Times reported that the terror groups “have been receiving covert aid from the Pakistan Army and its Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency. This support includes systematically coordinated financial, logistical, doctrinal and military assistance, as well as direct combat training … .” It went on to say that “Pakistani military officers regularly visit and supervise sessions at training camps operated by these groups … .”

An insurgency sponsored by Pakistan’s military and intelligence service has engulfed the Kashmir Valley since 1989. Thousands of civilians have been murdered there through militant-related violence supported by Pakistan. The April 22 massacre was the latest example.

India’s Response

Prof. Max Abrahms at Northwestern University, an expert on international security and terrorism, told JNS: “April 22 was a mass-casualty terrorist attack against India’s civilians. India must respond to deter Pakistani support for terrorism as well as to attrit the terrorist organizations. The dilemma is for India to respond strongly enough to achieve these goals without their relationship with nuclear Pakistan spiraling out of control.”

Kashmir has been a part of Indian civilization as far back as recorded history. Kashmiri Pandits, who are Hindu, are the indigenous native people of Kashmir. Ancient Kashmir was home to a majority-Hindu population for thousands of years and renowned as a center for Hindu and Buddhist learning. It is also home to many Hindu and Buddhist sacred sites. The region’s demographics began to change following the 14th-century Islamic conquests.

Three Countries Control Region

The Pakistan government’s state sponsorship of terrorism in Kashmir has been happening since the partition of India in 1947. When India won its independence, the princely states of British India were granted the option to remain part of India or join the newly created Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The ruler of Jammu and Kashmir chose to join India after Pakistan pre-emptively invaded his lands before a decision had been made. Pakistan has since been attempting to take control of Kashmir in its entirety and illegally occupies a portion of Kashmir.

The historic region of Kashmir, which has a total area of 85,807 square miles, is currently divided between three countries. Pakistan occupies approximately 30,160 square miles, known as Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, and the northern areas. China controls 16,500 square miles of Kashmir (through a boundary settlement with Pakistan and the occupation of land during the 1962 Indo-China War), while the remaining area forms India’s union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

Hindus on the subcontinent have long been victims of violence by Islamist forces, including the 1971 Bangladesh genocide, the ethnic cleansing of indigenous Kashmiri Pandits in 1989-1991, and the 2008 terrorist attacks on Mumbai.

Refugees

From 1989 to 1991, more than 350,000 Hindus (Kashmiri Pandits) were ethnically cleansed by Pakistan-backed Islamist forces from the Kashmir Valley. These attacks involved murders, rapes and destruction of homes and temples. The insurgency aimed at communally cleansing Kashmir of non-Muslims to further alter the region’s demographics.

Despite the passage of three decades, many people from Kashmir are still living in displacement camps within their own country of India. They cannot go back to their homes in Kashmir or even visit their birthplaces. The Hindu community, particularly the Pandit diaspora, continues to seek acknowledgment and justice for the ethnic cleansing.

Global Security?

The insurgency in Kashmir is heavily sponsored by Pakistan’s military and intelligence services. Pakistan’s cross-border terrorism and support for Islamist ideology have exacerbated the conflict. It is well-known that Pakistan has harbored terrorists and has, for decades, been a state sponsor of terrorism. Osama bin Laden, the founder of Al-Qaeda, hid out in Pakistan until his death. Pakistan also sold the technology for developing a nuclear weapon to many anti-Western forces, such as Iran and North Korea.

The government of India, the United Nations, the United States, the United Kingdom and many other governments have often called on Pakistan to combat terrorism within its borders.

Stability in the region, however, is essential to security in the United States, Europe and Israel, especially given Kashmir’s proximity to China, Afghanistan and Central Asia. The state-sponsored terrorism by Pakistan affects not only India but also global security.