Kashmir has been a bone of contention for both India and Pakistan since partition. Starting from a problematic territorial dispute, the Kashmir issue has evolved into an ego battle that has casted a shadow on Indian politics for as long as one can remember. On 14 February 2019, New Delhi was once again put to test after the horrendous Pulwama attack that resulted in the death of 40 CRPF officials and engulfed the nation in a period of darkness and deliberation.
The responsibility for the suicide bomb was claimed by the Pakistan-based Islamist militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed and a local youth named Adil Ahmed Dar was identified as the attacker. India has had a history of uniting against a common enemy and post the attack, a very powerful surge of nationalism took over the nation. Prime Minister Narender Modi along with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh condemned the attack and assured a strong retaliation. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has promised diplomatic isolation towards Pakistan as a way of tackling the extremely disastrous incident. India has unanimously laid the blame on Pakistan whose ISI has been accused of being the breeding ground of JeM. While the Pakistani government incessantly denies any links to the attack and assures their assistance towards taking action against the terrorist group, there is a popular opinion across the border that praises the suicide bombing, calling the assailant a "freedom fighter" who eliminated members of an "occupying force” (The Nation, a Pakistani newspaper). Keeping these discrepancies in mind, nationalism in India is at an all-time high and this instant unification of the Indian masses and the government could strategically help the NDA government in the upcoming elections. Anti-Pakistan propaganda inherently unites the raging masses, an aspect the Modi government can exploit for their benefit.
One can trace parallels to the current political atmospheres in the past. The Kargil war was in 1998 and the INC government got re-elected in 1999; similarly, the disastrous Bombay attack took place in 2008 and the INC government once again got re-elected in 2009. While this pattern is not unequivocal, it sure does make one think about how potentially beneficial otherwise horrific incidents can be for governments.
On the other hand, while the Pulwama attack can potentially aid BJP’s 2019 campaign by creating a common enemy for the malleable masses, it also underlines the fundamental fallacy in New Delhi’s Kashmir policy. The fact that a terrorist vehicle could penetrate 130km into the Indian border immediately raises a red flag. The large amount of RDX that lead to the attack highlights the lack of efficiency of India’s counterterrorism grid. Were the explosives smuggled across the border? Were the explosives procured internally? The capital, many a time, has tried to portray the Kashmir issue as stabilised and under control. But the proliferation of terrorism and explosive materials with events such as the Pulwama attack clearly proves otherwise. As thoughtful and critical voters, we must question the effectiveness of our government. Their reaction at times of struggle and strife are imperative towards shaping our decision towards deciding whether or not they are capable and suitable for handling the precarious nature of our nation.
However, one must keep in mind that before being an offence towards India’s jingoism, the heinous attack is a humanitarian crisis that led to the death of 40 human beings. Not 40 Indians. Not 40 CRPF officers. It is inevitable that the attack will have far reaching ramifications on the political scene in New Delhi, but one must try and not politicise the death of these individuals. If avenging the death of these men and bringing them justice means working with Pakistan, then so be it. India needs to work towards a stable, realistic and long-term policy for dealing with Kashmir. The NDA government has to try and extract itself from the frenzy of elections and focus only and only on the safety of Kashmir and ensuring that such an abominable incident never takes place again.
