Indian policies not working in IHK

Several months after the killing of folk hero Burhan Wani by the Indian forces in held Kashmir, blood is  still flowing in the Valley.

We continue to hear about fake encounters in which youngsters were targeted or  gunned down by the Indian police, army and paramilitary forces every other day. But such killings do not dampen their spirit; it only works to drive more youngsters into joining the newest chapter of the freedom  movement. 

2017 has been named as the year of student uprising in held Kashmir. It is very much visible that the element of fear in the face of torture and killings by the Indian armed forces has gone from the Kashmiris. 

The students do not hesitate in showing their anger at the Indians by throwing stones at the CPRF personnel and vehicles used by the Indian Army. The warning by the new Indian Army chief General Bipin   Rawat in February this year that anyone hindering the operations of Indian troops would be treated as "over-ground workers of the militants" has fallen on deaf ears.

The population rushes to spots where  encounters take place and try to distract Indian forces and help the freedom fighters to escape.   There are no diminishing brutalities in the Valley; some 6,000 Kashmiris have lost one of their eyes when hit by pellets. In some cases, they have been blinded in both eyes. 

Unfortunately, the world is also blind to the suffering of the people of the Valley. There is a need to educate  people around the world, especially in the West, of what is really happening in held Kashmir.

Of course, it is not engineered from outside; it is an indigenous movement that got underway following the killing of  Hizbul Mujahideen leader Burhan Wani at the hands of Indian forces last year. At that time, the Indians with their huge intelligence and military apparatus in the Valley could not see or predict in which direction the killing of Wani would lead. All they did was to try and suppress the protests, which got out of control  and spread to major parts of the Valley. 

The Indians even stage-managed the Uri attack, blaming Pakistan, and fabricated retaliatory attacks in Azad Kashmir but nothing has worked. They tried to isolate Pakistan but even that effort flopped. They tried to convince the world that it was Islamabad that was provoking the Kashmiri movement but even that did not deliver.

The result is that there is massive confusion among the Indian establishment, government and the Indian Army. They have absolutely no clue as to what is happening in the Valley. Some of them still think that militants aka freedom fighters come from across the Line of Control, others are not so sure. Some believe  that there could be Chinese hand in the unrest while others blame the Jihadis for all their troubles. Some are convinced that the Indian government in New Delhi has totally failed in the Valley while others think the local politicians have been unable to control the rioters. Therefore, chaos, confusion and bedlam can  deciphered from the Indian government's policy for held Kashmir. As the Valley moves into summer, it seems things will only get worse for those who think they can always continue to subjugate the people of  held Kashmir.