Wake Up to Reality | November 2017

Pravin Sawhney and Ghazala Wahab

The Jammu and Kashmir director general police, Shesh Paul Vaid has spoken more sense than the Union minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Jitendra Singh, who is the Member of Parliament from Udhampur (Jammu).

According to Jitendra Singh, “The militants are on the run and they are under tremendous pressure. I am sure that this is going to be the last phase of militancy in Kashmir.” Vaid, on the other hand, has stressed on the need for a political initiative. According to him, “There is a problem in the political narrative in Kashmir.”

The problem is both external and internal, with the former getting graver by the day. And since both are linked, militancy in Kashmir would spurt not diminish. The army, which is neck deep in fighting militancy, would get sucked into the quagmire even further. This would blunt its war-waging capabilities at a time when Pakistan continues undeterred with its proxy war, and China’s shadow, post-Doklam, looms large over the Himalayas.

Let’s start with the extraordinary news from China which should have rung alarm bells in South Block. Speaking on the opening day of the 19^th Party Congress in Beijing, the counsellor of the department of Asian Affairs, Yao Wen said, “China considers the Kashmir conflict as a top priority along with the Kor