By Sushil Kutty
Pakistan on Wednesday, a day after Pak Army Chief Gen Asim Munir-inspired ‘Muslim terrorists’ shot dead Hindu Indian males ‘touristing’ in Kashmir’s scenic ‘Pahalgam’, a spot eulogized as “Kashmir’s Switzerland”, woke up to the tragedy in India and in a gesture of commiseration expressed “concern at the loss of tourist lives”, reported a Pakistani newspaper.
The short biography of Gen. Asim Munir says he is partial to “Two-nation theory.” Not 10 days ago, Gen. Munir spoke of ‘Two-Nation Theory’ and Hindu-Muslim separateness and Pahalgam happened on April 22.Munir is having problems with the Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Further, reports in US media mentioned some time back that few congressmen belonging to Pak caucus demanded removal of Munir from the sensitive position. Was Pahalgam killings a part of his asserting power?, many experts point out.
The terrorists checked for Hindu foreskin before they shot dead the 26 Hindu men after ordering them to lower their pants before their stunned wives. That is called confirmation, fact-checking!
The Pakistani newspaper termed the victims “visitors to the popular destination in the India-occupied Kashmir (IoK)”. The newspaper, like all things and people Pakistani, believes that Muslim majority Jammu & Kashmir is a festering “dispute” whereas India calls Kashmir “integral part”.
The Pakistan Army is an “integral part” of the religious order that rules Pakistani minds into which “two-nation theory” has percolated deep down. The Pakistani newspaper called Pahalgam a “tourist hotspot” and the “deadliest attack on civilians since 2000.” The killed included a Indian navy officer and an Arunachali soldier of the Indian Army.
Pakistan offered condolences. Will Pakistan hand over Chief Gen. Asim Munir’s head on a platter? Mind you, “revenge” is now Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s biggest problem. Modi cut short his Saudi Arabia visit and India’s mainstream television media was quick to call it the biggest sacrifice in Modi history.
Prime Minister Modi has nowhere to run. If he was Pakistan’s head of state on a visit to Saudi Arabia and a Pahalgam had happened, he could have found sanctuary in Saudi Arabia. But Prime Minister Modi chose to cut short and fly back after instructing Home Minister Amit Shah to head for J&K. There is no escape for Prime Minister Modi.
Amit Shah also faces trouble. Just the week before Shah was in J&K for a security review and then the security breach! Questions will be asked, but the questions have to get past ‘Godi Media’ guardrails. It is like Pulwama once more and Prime Minister Narendra Modi was as far away as he was then shooting for a film.
There’s a jinx riding this Prime Minister’s shoulder, right from May 26, 2014 on. Didn’t somebody call it “Panauti”? Prime Minister Narendra has to stand up to the legend “Modi Hai Toh Mumkin Hai”. The terrorists asked the “wives” of the men they killed to “Go tell Modi”, the blood-chilling message setting the tone for Modi.
So, Prime Minister Modi has been told, now what? That is the challenge for the Indian defence establishment, which Modi is so close to. Modi has to cross the border in his mind and Modi cannot hide behind “at a place and time of India’s choosing”. That excuse has been played, done and dusted with. This time is “special”. Even the most cloying “Modi bhakt” is asking for retribution.
Will Prime Minister Modi prove for once and all that he is more than just glib talk; that he doesn’t get fooled by Pakistani platitudes heard this side of the Wagah whenever Pakistan-sponsored terrorists cross into Kashmir?
Pahalgam lies 90 kilometres from Srinagar and Pahalgam was “tourist-free” within an hour of the terrorist killings of Hindu tourists. One moment tens of thousands of Hindu tourists having a gala and the moment after the terrorist attack tens of thousands of “exodus”, just like in 1989-90 when the “KP” fled through to the light at the end of the tunnel!
Whatever happened to the abrogation of Article 370? Pahalgam 2025 is a black mark on August 5, 2019. Tourist numbers had shot up like adrenaline on steroids. And the safety quotient touched a new height. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi played “snowball” at Srinagar’s Lal Chowk!
All that hard work went down the Pahalgam drain. Kashmir is back to Square One. Nothing that Prime Minister Narendra Modi says will help lift Kashmir out of the abyss it has fallen into. There are questions, uncomfortable questions and the pro-Modi media should stop the “Modi Mahima Mandal” forthwith.
Prime Minister Modi has to deliver or fall by the wayside. The tagline “Modi Hai Toh Mumkin Hai” is in tatters. The picture of the new young widow sitting Buddha-like next to the body of her slain husband, iconic and symbolic of the rot. ‘Tell this to Modi” said the terrorist and Modi has been told, what is he going to do; will he do anything at all? (IPA Service)
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