Question

Write a news report on Pulwama war

Answer 1

Once again the nation is aghast at the attack on the CRPF convoy in Kashmir by terrorists. There are some glaring issues that standout in the whole episode. It would be pragmatic to assume that enemies of the state would always keep a tab on the movement of any large contingent of armed forces. In this case the convoy was carrying around 2,500 CRPF personnel, a huge number indeed that would require anything between 80 – 100 vehicles, at least.

First and foremost the very idea of moving such a large body of troops in one convoy on the same day reeks of unprofessionalism and poor understanding of local environment. The authorities that ordered such a move need to be questioned and taken to task. As per some reports there were intelligence inputs of a possible strike by the terrorists that were not taken seriously or just ignored. There are also a lot of question marks on the implementation of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) with regard to route sanitisation and other security matters for the movement of convoys.

The governor of the state has already admitted to lapses in this regard. It is a pity that deployment of CRPF is often done without due diligence and preparation as they are moved from one sector to another at the drop of a hat. The force is seen more as a quantitative (numbers) commodity than as a force of qualitative merit. Their training and leadership definitely leave a lot to be desired. The onus for this state of affairs has to be shared by the force leadership and home ministry that controls it.

It is a pity that politically and administratively, as a nation, we have allowed the problem in Kashmir to linger on for so many decades. There has never been a sincere and focused approach to resolve the issue. Today, we are at a stage where no one knows what to do. The state governments have been the biggest culprits in this regard. Nearly all political parties have kept the separatists in good humour so as to remain politically relevant in the state. This approach has given a special stature to the separatists who can create turmoil in the valley at will. To make matters worse most separatists have been pampered with government protection and funding. In addition, they were receiving funds from vested interests abroad for their anti-national activities with impunity with full knowledge of both the state and central governments for decades. It was only under the current NDA government at the Centre that a start was made to squeeze their funding. However, the move failed to deliver any concrete results as neither the cases were taken to their logical end nor the guilty brought to the book.

All major political parties in Kashmir including Congress, PDP and National Conference have failed in their people outreach since a large section of locals in the valley region continue to remain antagonised. The numbers have only increased over the years. Most political opponents blame the current NDA government for this development but the truth is that this anti-India stance has grown over decades and not just in the last four years. This has resulted in more local youth joining terror organisations that has given a big boost to Pakistan based outfits like Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). Politicians and local administrators deliberately looked the other way while more and more local youth were being led astray. The truth is that in most cases local politicians and administrators lack courage and conviction to go among their own people to carry out a meaningful interaction. So they sit in their ivory towers guarded by the same security forces that they normally blame and continue to amass personal fortunes at the cost of the state and its people.

Whenever any such incident takes place it is common for our leaders to point fingers at Pakistan and terror organisations that they support. It is a given that Pakistan supports such anti-Indian activities since it suits their political and military leadership to do so. Therefore, repeating these charges against Pakistan again and again serves no purpose at all and it will be naïve on our part to think that they will have a change of heart. As far as terror organisations based on Pakistan soil are concerned, their whole existence depends on creating problems in India. Their relevance to the state of Pakistan is directly proportional to the amount of trouble they can create in Kashmir. So they will always ferment trouble in Kashmir from time to time. They are immune to any blames or allegations that India may level at them as they are beyond all such niceties in their character.

Answer 2

Pulwana terror attack LIVE: At least 44 CRPF jawans were killed and dozens injured in a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district. Death toll in the Pulwama's Awantipora terror attack is expected to rise, police officials said. Terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed has taken the responsibility of the attack. IED blast was followed by gunshots in Goripora area of Awantipora. The incident took place when some 2,547 CRPF personnel were coming in a convoy of 78 vehicles from the transit camp in Jammu and headed to Srinagar. Police sources said a suicide attacker rammed his vehicle around 3.15 p.m., taking the security forces completely by surprise. An earlier report said an improvised explosive device (IED) was exploded and then militants fired at the convoy. Catch minute-to-minute live updates in Pulwama terror attack.

                            IMAGE OF PULWAMA ATTACK