A variety of viewpoints have been put forward with respect to the abrogation of Article 370. Expectedly, the Congress party and its partners along with a significant part of the media have vociferously criticised the move and claimed that it is anti-Kashmir.
Political parties understandably oppose the Narendra Modi government, but it is the media’s ignorance that’s pitiful. Either the media is deeply unaware of the history of Jammu and Kashmir or, they ignore it. In the late 1980s and early 1990s the state had almost been surrendered into the hands of Pakistan by the state leadership and the central government whether it be under the rule of Rajiv Gandhi, VP Singh or Chandra Shekhar. The entire state machinery including the police – in no less measure – was effectively infiltrated. If the media was honest and looked into the history of Kashmir with a scrutinising eye then it would not have the conscience to criticise the move to remove 370.
However, this article doesn’t talk of Kashmir’s history but of current facts for it is impossible to present even a brief of the sordid past in a single article. As Kashmir has been ravaged by Pakistani terrorism for decades, a significant and apt benchmark to analyse the direction in which the state is headed is recruitment of locals into terror organisations. Such data reveals the inclination of locals towards Pakistan’s anti-India agenda and the level of infiltration that subversive and obscurantist elements have achieved.
Latest data shows that only 14 locals have been recruited by terrorist organisations from August 5 till October. That means in the three months post the biggest and most disruptive move that Jammu and Kashmir could’ve ever witnessed just 14 locals took a turn for the worse and picked up arms against India.
To put this number into perspective here’s some more data. Terrorists recruited in 2017 were 214, in 2018 were 128, and in 2019 110 (till October). This decline is proof enough of the success of the government, the intelligence and the forces in mitigating Pakistan’s influence in the Valley.
If we look at 2019’s number, that is, 110 recruits till October including 14 in the three-month period from Aug-Oct, what reflects is how recruitment has fallen further post abrogation of 370. A total of 96 recruits in the first seven months which is an average of almost 14 per month; 14 recruits from Aug-Oct makes it just 5 recruitments per month.
A comparison of the average per month recruitment comes to: 18 (2017), 11 (2018), 14 (Jan-July of 2019), and 5 (Aug-Oct 2019).
This reveals a lot about the situation in Kashmir. Firstly, it shows how subversion in the state machinery is nearly non-existent now. Secondly, it shows the success of the forces and the intelligence in crushing anti-India activities in the Valley. This point is further enhanced by the fact that this year terrorist initiated incidents, such as throwing grenades, were 172 in comparison to 318 last year. Thirdly, terror networks in the Valley are weakening due to persistent and long-term steps meant at purging terror from the state.
The extremely low recruitment figure is especially important considering the belligerency that Kashmiri politicians had shown with respect to the possibility of abrogation of 370. Both Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti had, in no polite terms, warned the Modi government against removing 370. If, after its abrogation, the anti-India elements including such politicians have failed to incite locals against the move then it shows how miserably Pakistan and its patsies in Kashmir have failed.
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