- The whole world woke up to the extremely despicable and condemnable act of terrorism perpetrated on the innocent tourists in the picturesque Pahalgam region of Jammu & Kashmir, leaving 28 dead. As you are aware, Jammu & Kashmir has slowly but steadily returned to near normalcy after decades of insurgency, duly aided by the cross-border terrorism machinery so assiduously cultivated by the Pakistani establishment to bleed the Indian nation through extremely diabolical means. Whenever efforts to usher in some thaw in the bilateral relationship were underway, the elements inimical to the easing of tension between the two neighbours invariably unleashed despicable acts of terrorism, leading to the escalation of animosity.
PC: The Wire
- The Indian Government acted quickly by taking certain decisive decisions that would make the Pakistani establishment less worried. Many of the decisions are along the lines of showcasing our deep anguish aimed at making the global community sit up and take notice of the continued support by the Pakistani establishment to foment trouble. Ordinary Indian citizens will be baying for the blood of the perpetrator and the backers in equal measure since the repeated attacks emanating from across the borders cannot go without a resounding response. Of course, the Prime Minister-led think tank would be mulling over every conceivable appropriate action to ensure the perpetrators and their backers receive a response in kind. Expect an apt response.
PC: The Munsif Daily
- The moot point to ponder over here is how the terrorists entered and exited the picturesque tourist place with such impunity after mercilessly slaying the innocent holidaying people. The glaring lacuna in the intelligence/security lapses points to the laxity and complacency setting in the apparatus. The point is not that there should be additional army boots on the ground in J&K. It’s impossible to post security personnel to every tourist attraction or bazaar in Kashmir. The only thing that can thwart Pahalgam-style attacks is an intelligence network that feeds credible information to security forces. The best intelligence systems still rely on quality human intelligence or HUMINT. Nothing beats the time-tested method of gathering intelligence from the ground.
PC: Deccan Herald
- For that, any force needs some level of connection with at least some sections of the local population. It’s relevant here to note that many Kashmiris have openly and unequivocally condemned the Pahalgam terror attack. Pakistan’s terror planners had hoped that the incident would engender communal discord and reopen fissures in J&K. Instead, from north to south Kashmir, schools, colleges, and shops remained closed in protest against what they termed as the murder of Kashmiriyat. More Kashmiris today are becoming genuine stakeholders in the normalization process is good news for Indian intelligence agencies. Thus, the security apparatus must be revisited, re-examined, and rejuvenated with renewed rigour forthwith.
