(Bakhtavr Bashir)
One of the fundamental institutions that help a country to survive is, of course, its defense, and the unit that performs the task of protecting a country is commonly known to us as the army. The defense is supposed to fortify a country at its borders from the assaults of enemies. And garrison it in a war if waged against it. But in Kashmir, our army is playing various characters. The enemy has challenged our soldiery for guerilla warfare in the state with a puzzling landscape of forests and valleys seen most appropriate for guerrilla warfare.
Army in Kashmir as a deliverer:
When we add the epithet ‘Jannat’ to a vast landscape, we simply mean that it is a place naturally adorned with lush green meadows, festooned with evergreen forests, enhanced with springs, waterfalls, lakes, and embellished with beautiful valleys. So is the valley of Kashmir: a landscape known as Jannat on earth. Thus people living in such a terrain teemed with all beautiful and elegant things are fortunate because of a tranquil and peaceful atmosphere bestowed by nature unto them. Yes, the people of Kashmir were blessed enough to live in such a picturesque place, but three decades before now. Before thirty years, this naturally architected Jannat, Kashmir, was truly a paradise on earth, and people were fortunate. But our foe set this paradise on flames. Our foe, Pakistan, seduced the youth of Kashmir. Now, in paradise, it was the fire of detonators, the deadly sparks of bullets, and the flames of rocket launchers. Every part of paradise caught the fire of terrorism. Yesterday’s fortunate people turned into the unluckiest dwellers! Now, children, women, young and old in the burning valley were burning day out and day in. Terrorists with guns and grenades were reining the masses. They set their parallel reign in the valley. Now, it was their rule. It was their say even in the govt. offices. They would collect a “3% commission” from the general public. They would sell and distribute forest timber, national property, as per their whim. They would plunder people for donations, and donors had no choice to deny but to abide by the command. Footwear, grocery, and clothier retailers asked to “donate” materials, and nobody would dare decline their dictation. They would threaten them with brute consequences. They would kill anybody based on a personal grudge by announcing him as a ‘mukhbir’ [Indian informer]. And they killed thousands of such innocent men in the valley in the name of mukhbari. They would torture people they thought were politically influential and might open their lips. They would cut their tongues by torment and torture, or would murder such men in most cases. They would marry any girl they wanted to. They would rape any woman they wanted to.
Our army fought a clueless and placeless enemy:
It is relatively less harsh to fight the enemy in a face-to-face battle than in warfare like a guerilla. There isn’t any particular and direct target to be chased. Your enemy is faceless in the crowd of the market. He is in the street just roaming about with rank and file. He is here in one movement hurling a grenade in the market, and in the next movement, he is playing cricket with the young men in the playground adjacent to the market. He is here in an alleyway opening fire, and the next moment he is amid the townspeople walking down the square. If not given space to breathe in the town and village, he has thick and dense forests to refuge in. Remembering the nineties, the tormenting and traumatising period of terrorism still makes people of the valley wail over the atrocities that overtook them at the cruel and deadly hands of terrorists.
Our army did it;
Fighting such an enemy in guerrilla warfare in the most favourable landscape of the Kashmir valley was not only a militarily venture. It was a patience-demanding day-in and day-out battle. The enemy in this battle could have disguised himself in a car. Or he could have hidden in an adjacent building or an alley to attack. He could have laid his ambush there alongside a busy road under the bushes or thickly populated trees. But our soldiery with extreme patience, planning, and adept execution made our enemy lick the dust of defeat in the most excruciating fight of guerrilla warfare. Although the snake is still raising his head, yet this is his yawning one takes before death.
Battle with social backwardness:
On one hand, the army was battling terrorism backed by Pakistan with men, weapons and money, but on the other hand, it simultaneously undertook a great initiative into its hands, Operation Goodwill. The enterprise, goodwill, brings education, women and youth empowerment, health projects etc. into its focus. There are around 50 schools imparting education to the marginalised sections of society. There are almost twenty thousand children enrolled in these schools. The enrolment itself reflects the popularity of the goodwill schools in Kashmiri society.
Goodwill enterprise empowers women by giving them training. In training, they learn the operation of computers, knitting, tailoring, candle making, bag making, carpets/basket making, and fashion designing. The training program carries out at various Vocational Training Centers ( VTC).
Likewise, the goodwill mission has constructed a number of medical aid and health centers in the remote and inaccessible areas of the state. These centers are well equipped and enriched with modern facilities. Alongside taking care of health and hygiene, these centers impart education regarding childcare, sanitation, and other mental and physical health-related issues.
Of course, the army has won the battle against terrorism! And is winning the fray against backwardness too! It has redeemed the people of Kashmir from the affliction of terrorism and is playing an important supporting role besides govt. in combating backwardness. No doubt, politics, diplomacy, and the public gave their part to rescue Kashmiri society from the deadly paws of terrorism, but the army was and is a front-ally.
