Territorial Integrity is Non-Negotiable

Pahalgam carnage has changed the dynamics of geo-politics between India and Pakistan. Massacre of innocent people who had arrived in Kashmir to witness its pleasant weather and scenic beauty were targeted to send a message of horror and fear to the entire India. Male tourists killed in this massacre belonged to many states including a tourist from Nepal. Women and children were left alive so that they are witness to the worst tragedy and fear is imprinted on their psyche till they are alive. The videos of the wailing women and children that are going viral on social media make it clear that in this era of digital boom nothing can be gagged. Common people all over India are enraged and want revenge. The lull before this massacre in Kashmir that gave a semblance of peace and normalcy has ended with the genocidal attrition of the innocent people who had come as tourists and were contributing to the multiplier effect of the tourism economy. Public reactions are natural and instantaneous, demanding nothing short of execution of the terrorists involved in this carnage. The Rising Kashmir has been continuously underlining in the editorials that the definition and forms of war have changed. Wars are no longer confined to conventional confrontations on the borders. Neither are the wars nor the display of the weapons and their use the best possible way. Though it remains the mainstay of the wars and confrontations, tactics and methodology has become more comprehensive. India has given its response to the nefarious designs of the Pakistan orchestrated terrorism by placing the Indus Water Treaty(IWT) in abeyance besides other punitive measures that are available in the diplomatic rule book. And Pakistan has countered it by suspending the Shimla Agreement signed between the two nations in 1972 including the restriction to use the Pakistani airspace for the Indian carriers. This is a calibrated move for escalation. It also means to test the nerves .One thing has to be borne in the mind that Terrorists and the mercenaries that are working to inflict damage and human killings like Pahalgam carnage are well trained and battle hardened human resource of Pakistan, who may be carrying out the diktats of Rawalpindi in civilian clothes. But it won’t be an exaggeration to call them the un-uniformed arms of the Pakistani Army and extension arms of the ISI. It allows Pakistan to indulge in the plausible deniability and give these mercenaries of terror to strike with autonomy. These terrorists are fighting a war and they have already dragged India into war for the last 35 years. By not calling these un-uniformed extensions of the Pakistan Army as its wings have allowed them to act freely. This has not allowed us to craft an apt response to cut them to size. There is an urgent need to understand that we are already fighting a war and it needs a calibrated response. There is a need for incremental response to Pakistani designs to destabilise Jammu and Kashmir and alter the boundaries. Territorial integrity and sovereignty of India is non-negotiable. The Indian nation has to respond. Pakistan cannot be allowed to hide behind the plausible deniability of cross –border terrorism. National Security Doctrine has to be set in place that imposes an appreciable cost on Pakistan at various levels so that its capability to terrorism as an extension of war and policy to pursue its illegitimate interests are neutralised.