Targeted killings of minorities in Kashmir brings back the horrors of 1990 exodus

 The unfortunate reality of India is the word, “minorities” has been applied conscientiously to only community irrespective of their burgeoning clout and by logic numbers. Things have even come to such a pass that their welfare and security have even become denominators to label a society pluralist and safe. This dominating paradigm has essentially undermined the atrocities faced by all others.

In early 1980s the West invented a novel propaganda doctrine of “Islam is on danger (from communism)” to drive out Soviet Union from Afghanistan even as it continued to kill Afghani Muslims ruthlessly. The propaganda narrative of the Cold war era has become so popular that it has become a popular defence for the entire community across the globe. This has sanitized all their crimes and insulated them from accountability.

No wonder, the genocide of Kashmiri pandits by the Islamist radicals backed by Pakistan has gone unnoticed. There isn’t any mention of this barbarity in the contemporary history. Worse so, the victims who were terribly traumatized are denied their lived experience. The targeted attacks and evictions to uproot certain sections of society has been grossly ignored. So much so that, even the Supreme Court of India refused to admit their affidavits to at least acknowledge the injustices and brutalities heaped on them.  This refusal has not only denied the bereaved community of any justice but also confuted their plight.

This bigoted approach has emboldened the nefarious motives of people who committed a genocide and lent credence to the dubious theories peddled by the so called secular brigade that adeptly whitewashed history.

In the light of these historical precedents, revocation of article 370 brought a ray of hope to Kashmiri pandits. Since the abrogation of special status, admittedly there has been a perceptible improvement with regards to security scenario of UT of Jammu & Kashmir. Due to the concerted efforts of the Centre and huge allocation of funds momentum for reconstruction of the region and reorient it towards the path of development gained pace. With renewed importance on resurrecting the tourism sector, the much-needed peace has been steadily established.

By neutralising hordes of terrorists that regularly cross over to India from the Western border, the security forces have by and large attempted to bring back a semblance of peace. Peaceful conduct of Panchayat elections, issuance of domicile certificates, global investors summit has revived hopes of normalcy in the region.

To address the long pending grievances of the 4 lakh Kashmiri pandits who were forced to flee almost three decades ago, J&K administration has launched a rehabilitation portal last month. The implementation order of the Immovable Property Act for Kashmir Pandits culminated in the creation of this portal. The much awaited, Prime Minister Rehabilitation Package brought some cheer to Kashmiri pandits.

This move is now largely perceived to be the reason behind the targeted killings of minorities in J&K. Terrorists gunned down 7 civilians in past one week. This brought back the harrowing episodes of 1990 killings when Kashmiri Pandits were forced to flee their homeland. Most of the victims were killed at gun point.

ML Bindroo, 68, who has chosen to remain in the valley even as most of the families left in 1990s was shot dead while dispensing medicines at his shop. This has reignited fears among the minorities, Hindus and Sikhs who braved all odds and lived in the valley.

In the next 48 hours, terrorists barged into a government school, lined up the teachers and checked their ID cards. Singling out non-Muslims they have gunned down two teachers, a Hindu teacher from Jammu and a lady Sikh-teacher. This shocking incident left the minorities, Hindus and Sikhs traumatized and stoked fresh fears and suspicions about the security lapses.

Killing of a golgappa vendor from Bihar referring to him as an outsider has potently exposed the agenda of the terrorists. Since 1990s though Kashmiri Muslims continued to welcome non-Muslim tourists, they strongly objected to any business establishments by minorities. Any outsider is viewed with suspicion. Under the garb of special status, Kashmiris denied entry to any outsider to settle in the valley, while they would span the length and breadth of the country and settle anywhere in India. Revocation of special status precisely attempted to bring J&K under the ambit of the national laws.

Aside rekindling fears among the miniscule minorities, the targeted killings are bound to buttress acute entrenchment of the concept of Us Vs Them among Kashmiri Muslims, indoctrinated by the Islamist radicals. Much for the cliqued exaggeration of ‘Kashmiriyat’, Kashmiri Muslims who would support and protest for Palestinians never extended similar courtesy to Kashmiri Hindus and Kashmiri Sikhs. On the contrary they pandered to separatists and harboured terrorists who persecuted the non-Muslims.

Some analysts point out that the terrorists have adopted the tested pattern of drawing up a hit list similar to the 1990s to cleanse minorities¹. Disrupting peace and stoking fears, the terrorists are not testing the resolve of the Indian government and sealing off the valley permanently to minorities, who bear true allegiance to India.

At the behest of their masters across the borders they are attempting to destabilise India and turn the valley into a terror bastion.

Despite the 1990s genocide, few families stayed back in the Valley. But the current brazen day light murders have now shaken them to the core. Following the killings, several established Kashmir pandit businessmen are reported to be packing their bags to move out to safe places triggering fresh exodus after three decades.

Most of them lamented the apathy of the administration, which failed to act on intelligence inputs. It is unnerving that government has failed the Hindus and Sikhs once again in failing security to non-Muslims. The tall claims of rehabilitation are meaningless, if government fails to provide protection to the families of resident Hindus and Sikhs. They have been soft targets and continued to remained so for the past three decades.

Meanwhile, the hypocrisy of the secular brigade which accused government of a demographic change upon abrogation of article 370 maintained stunned silence. The annihilation of diversity, homogenization of valley and the fleeing of the natives of land hasn’t evoked any response from these apostles of human rights and peace.

Ironically, the brigade which abashedly batted for Dismantling of Global Hindutva is now shamelessly tongue-tied to call the bluff of the Islamist ideology that has set off yet another round of exodus from the valley.

Also, this brings us back to the debate of who by definition is a minority and are all lives worth the same?

 

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An Afghan Diary: Zahir Shah to Taliban by J N Dixit

 Be it an individual or a country, the proverbial “journey is as important as destination” holds true. A glimpse into a chronicle of a country’s journey offers phenomenal insights about its identities, ideologies, societal behaviour and its response to external and internal insurgencies. Historically, the first-hand accounts of travellers or ambassador of the medieval periods served as an important document to appreciate the state of affairs of a region or country. Though a vast repertories of various knowledge sources do exist in contemporary times, a chronicled diary of events by an ambassador of a host country does have a special significance in discerning the inherent complexities.

Sudden collapse of a democratic government in Afghanistan this year sent the World and especially the region into a tizzy. While the staggering events benumbed the millennials, analysts simply sighed and rued the repeat of history. The book by J N Dixit, Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan from 1981 to mid-1985, - “An Afghan Diary: Zahir Shah to Taliban” serves as an important handle to get a glimpse of travails the country has meandered. Acclaimed as the “grave yard of empires” the return of Taliban and the descent of the country into a morass of chaos isn’t a dramatic event as portrayed.

Afghanistan’s current trail of instability can be traced back to a ferment of political bickering and a spark of revolution that led to dislodging of the monarch King Zahir Shah in 1973, the successor of Nadir Shah. The political power play ever since, has deprived the country of a stable regime and witnessed the rise of many rulers who failed to restore peace.

Dixit’s book laid out into six chapters includes a brief prologue that delves into the forced ouster of Zahir Shah with dedicated chapters of diary noting on a daily and weekly basis spanning his four years of stay. The last chapter, which is added after many years is a post-script that details the sequences of events portending the bomb attacks on US embassies in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam. Published in 2000, the book attempted to foresee the prospects for Afghanistan.

Written in simple English, the book records the crumbling of Afghanistan. The first and last chapters essentially distill through the geopolitical conundrum that afflicted the Afghanistan and the ominous Soviet presence in the region. This brief overview essentially satiates quest of a general reader for a comprehensive understanding of Afghanistan under Soviet invasion. An astute foreign policy wonk has to scrape through the diary records splashed across four chapters to appreciate the critical details.

Afghanistan has dominated the global headlines for ominous reasons. Unfortunately, the country is now identified with Islamist fundamentalism and global terrorism. Hence, the existence of political parties or a mass movement for reforms in Afghanistan in late 1960s till 1990s is just inconceivable. Indeed, the churn in Afghanistan had its roots in people’s desire to challenge the orthodoxy. The mass movement popular as Saur Revolution, led by Peoples Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) eventually paved way Soviet Army’s entry into the country on Dec 27^th 1979.

Dixit arrived in Afghanistan in 1981 when President Brezhnev controlled the Afghan administration through President Babrak Kamal of PDPA who was intensely loyal to Soviet high command. The Ambassador vividly records the brewing bitter resentment between two factions of PDPA- Khalq and Parcham which led to the collapse of the government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA). Khalq comprised of Pashtuns from the rural background while the semi-urban and Urban elite formed the Parcham faction.

With collapse of the Babrak Kamal’s government DRA became Republic of Afghanistan in 1986. The name over the course of time underwent multiple transitions, Afghanistan became Islamic Republic in 2004. With the return of Taliban to power on August 15^th, this year, Afghanistan is now renamed as Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. With every name change, Afghanistan reincarnated itself into a new form. Every new avatar brought forth a new constitution and a raft of new reforms.

Dixit’s stay spanning over four years records the administrative reforms, burgeoning Soviet penetration into ever branch of government under the presidencies of Brezhnev, Andropov, Chernenko and Gorbachev. Unlike any analysis, the Diary entries being a first-hand account narrates the events as they unfolded without attaching any opinion to it.

Besides the domestic politics, Dixit’s Diary covers substantial ground on the nexus between the Pakistan and the US to evict the Soviet forces from Afghanistan. Wary of the Afghan nationalism, Pakistan began training the Afghan refugees in its territory to raise Mujahideen force. Pakistan offered shelter to the insurgents mostly the orthodox tribal clan who were at war with PDPA. Besides troops from Iran, Egypt, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Libya also joined the Mujahideen.

With the generous handouts from America, Pakistan not only filled its coffers but armed the Mujahideen that attacked the PDPA government and infiltrated Kashmir. Thus, the unending flow of US finances kept both Afghanistan and J&K on boil.

Indeed, the CIA brought Osama bin Laden to assist the Mujahideen operations against Russians. Osama a trained civil engineer was tasked with building bunkers and infiltration tunnels was later absorbed into Afghan Resistance Force.

Regionally Pakistan, US and China worked together. Dixit states that China trained Mujahideen troops in Southern Xinjiang province. The West in collaboration with Pakistan even prodded Zahir Shah living in Italy to establish government in exile and stake claims for Afghan regime.

Entry of Soviet troops has turned Afghanistan into a ground for Cold war power games. Aside the relentless ideological propaganda war Afghanistan faced diplomatic isolation. In fact, the western media started advocating “Islam is in danger” as a part of psychological warfare against Soviet. They extolled the virtues of Islamic orthodoxy and virtues. The World is now heaping consequences of this sinister agenda, which has provided staple to Islamist fundamentalism and menacing Jihad.  On the pretext of danger to Islam from communist forces, US and Pakistan defended their aggression against Afghanistan.

A calibrated policy to politically and diplomatically isolate Afghanistan was unleashed by the West and ably assisted by Pakistan. Contracts were broken, economic and technical assistance from the UN was suspended to Afghanistan. Baring East European countries, Soviet Union, India, Vietnam and PLO no other country maintained diplomatic missions in Afghanistan. Entire Muslim world led by Pakistan opposed Afghanistan. OIC passed resolution against Afghanistan at 1984 Casablanca summit.

Dixit’s duration of stay in Afghanistan was a period of intense turbulence in Afghanistan. The PDPA trying to fire fight external aggression of insurgents, Mujahideen and attempting to bring waring internal factions together, finally floundered under the burden of several contradictions. Around the same period, India reeled under the rising rebellion of armed Khalistanis with Pakistan providing the needed support and assistance.

Afghanistan and India shared similar views about Pakistan. Indeed, India always stood with Afghan people. In fact, walking a tightrope, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had been little reticent of Soviet occupation on global platforms though bilaterally she pushed Soviet to withdraw forces from Afghanistan.

Being a chronological record of events, the diary, had a wide stock of information scattered across various chapters with parallel events running together. The task of piecing together, this information to make a cogent analysis has been left to the reader.

Dixit makes who no secret of his unabashed adoration of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi indeed dedicates the book to her. Baring the first and last chapter, the reader has to expend lot of time to get a hang of situation in Afghanistan. Clearly, the book is not for a general reading, but certainly piques interest of Afghanistan observers.

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India-US firm up an alliance on emerging technologies

 Modi embarked on his first overseas since the pandemic beyond the immediate neighbourhood to the US on September 23^rd. Besides the imbued strategic significance, thanks to Modi regime’s proactive connect with the Indian diaspora and the soft power at play, Modi’s US visits have turned more consequential. Baring Indira Gandhi, Modi has thus far been the only Indian Prime Minister to have engaged with three American dispensations. This repository of experience and the continuity of the engagement with three different Presidents bestows Modi with a unique understanding of the expectations of the United States from India and vice-versa.

In a welcome departure form the string of the virtual bilateral summits which has become a norm the pandemic era, the in-person talks offered the leaders to build personal rapport. Rightly so, the warmth on display during the Modi-Biden bilateral at the White House had a lot to convey. Besides, dispelling the speculations of the current democratic regime being highly critical of India’s landmark legislations and spurious allegations on human rights, the interaction laid a strong foundation for collaboration and cooperation on new technologies.

The 21^st century global order is increasingly shaped and influenced by technologies. With a focus on seeking investments and technology, Modi held meetings with CEOs of five companies on the first day of his visit. These include a meeting with semiconductor and wireless technology manufacturer (Cristian Amon of Qualcomm), ed-tech giant (Shantanu Narayen of Adobe), solar panel manufacturer (Mark Widmar of First Solar) and World’s leading investment firm (Stephan Swarzmann of Blackstone Group)¹.

The bilateral meeting which commenced after the Quad summit, had the leaders lay a clear vision for the strategic partnership. Leaders affirmed enhanced cooperation on three Cs - Covid, Critical technologies and Combatting climate change. Significantly, Indo-US bilateral talks and the Quad agenda had many issues in common. India and the US shared similar views on Myanmar, UNSCR 2593 on Afghanistan and Indo-Pacific. Biden commended India’s presidency at UNSC and backed India’s permanent membership on a reformed UNSC and entry to Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

Biden appreciated India’s announcement of resuming exports of Covid-19 vaccines to COVAX. Expressing shared commitment to combat Covid-19, leaders appreciated the finalization of MoU on Health and BioMedical sciences to bolster cooperation in global health, pandemic preparedness, biomedical research to reduce risk of future pandemics.

Biden accorded highest priority to climate change and globe trotting of special envoy John Kerry is a testament to this commitment. Hailing India’s domestic goal of 450 GW renewable energy by 2030, countries have agreed to accelerate clean energy development through Strategic Clean Energy Partnership (SCEP) and Climate Action and Finance Mobilisation Dialogue (CAFMD) under the Clean Energy Agenda 2030 partnership.

In lieu of the importance of critical and emerging technologies in strategic priorities and delivering growth, leaders agreed to revive High Technology Cooperation Group (HTCG) by early 2022 to catalyse high technology commerce. Along similar lines, countries decided to expand partnership in new domains of strategically important technologies- space, cyber, health, AI, semiconductors, 5G, 6G, block chain and advanced telecommunication technologies.

Calling for an early conclusion of Investment Incentive Agreement, India and the US looked forward to address trade concerns and identifying areas of specific areas of engagement to enhance bilateral trade. Again, in line with the Quad agenda, both countries discussed the need to set a sustainable and transparent framework to uplift the economies. Opaque trading practices of China have become a bane on international trade and supply chains. A well laid out roadmap to counter these mercantilist practices is a commendable move.

Biden affirmed unwavering commitment to India as major defense partner and welcomed the project to co-develop UAVs under Defense Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI). Notably while India’s defense purchases from US have been on a rise, the concomitant surge in technology transfer (ToT) and co-production has been nominal. Instructively, the two last aspects have been the pillars of strong Indo-Russian partnership.

In the aftermath of the US pullback and looming terror threat from Af-Pak axis, leaders reaffirmed to stand together in the fight against global terrorism. Condemning cross border terrorism, leaders denounced use of any terror proxies and “emphasized the importance of denying any logistical, financial or military support to terrorist groups which could be used to launch or plan terror attacks”². To counter terrorism, leaders agreed to strengthen cooperation in intelligence sharing and law enforcement. The emphatic statement on terrorism certainly sounded hallow given America’s reluctance to sanction Pakistan the mothership of terrorism.

Further, Secretary of State Blinken’s remarks of “reiterating the importance of diplomatic engagement with Pakistan” in his meeting with Pakistan foreign minister Qureshi a day before scheduled Modi-Biden talks exposed the incongruities and lack of intent of Biden administration³.  Similarly, US’s vacillating stance towards China came to light after Blinken deleted tweets in support of Hongkong just days after announcement of security alliance AUKUS to counter China⁴. Indeed, these infirmities in walking the talk is further exacerbating looming trust deficit which US is trying to assuage.

Indeed, similar inconsistency featured in the presser after Modi-Kamala Harris meeting. Harris statement of calling upon “Pakistan to act against terrorist groups operation from its soil to ensure they don’t threaten the security of both the US and India” are figured in India’s release were missing in the White House statement⁵.

Reinforcing the import of Gandhiji’s message of non-violence during Modi-Biden talk, countries agreed to launch US-India Gandhi-King Development Foundation to advance cooperation on health, education and environment, countries.

By and large, the agenda of the Indo-US bilateral appeared to be a sub-set of Quad cooperation. In line with the global challenges of 21^st century, India and US have formalized an ambitious partnership framework with critical focus on technology, economic cooperation, health and climate. However, the productive bilateral agenda, critically missed on the hard power objectives mirroring America’s global retrenchment policy. This drastic shift in priorities demonstrated America’s defiance to identify an assertive and rising China as a threat to peace and stability.

For all the talks of shared responsibility to uphold democratic values and international law, amid a glaring paucity of promising cooperation on India’s two biggest security problems- China and Af-Pak axis, the only big gain for India from this comprehensive global strategic partnership is collaborating on emerging and critical technologies.

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The Quad buttresses its identity as a coalition of democratic countries

Announcement of security alliance AUKUS, days ahead of the first ever in person Quad leaders’ summit has cast a shadow over the relevance of the Quad. Instead of wading into the debate of impact of Aukus on the Quad, the article will restrict its purview to what the Quad, as a coalition of like-minded countries has to offer. Since its inception, the concept of the Quad has been rather organic and amenable. It existed as an idea for over a decade until Chinese expansionist motives propelled the leaders to bestow a vision to the Dialogue. As a result, the geographic construct, Indo-Pacific started gaining some strategic weight in diplomatic discourses.

Geopolitically, unabated Sino-American rivalry and the ideological contest had stoked the talks of a new cold war. But unlike the USA-USSR conflict, the dominant powers now are reluctant to take on each other. Instructively, the US has embraced “Coopetition”- a strategy that promotes cooperation and competition. Embracing this strategy, America resorted to consensus-building exercise with China on areas of convergence-climate change and preventing next pandemic and confrontation on Taiwan, human rights, freedom of navigation. But China’s demand to soften stance for cooperation in areas of common interest has sent the US into reckoning.

Wary of a direct confrontation, the security alliances of cold war years (NATO and Warsaw pact) which defined the geopolitical rivalry are now replaced with coalition building exercise with like-minded countries. China’s nurturing of SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) and America’s Quad typically fall in this category. Notably, India is part of both these groupings. Side-lining India, China is carefully building an alternate axis PRIC (Pakistan Russia Iran China) under the aegis of SCO. Devoid of any military aspect, these coalitions have turned into heft-building exercises. Interestingly, these coalitions are deemed as riposte to each other hegemonistic aspirations.

America no longer has the appetite to assume the charge of the Global Policeman. Given the huge interdependencies of America and China economies, parties are averse to a collision course. It is in this context, the recently concluded summit of Quad leaders assumes significance.

As opposed to Aukus where security has been the fulcrum, in line with the Biden’s foreign policy approach, the Quad has expanded the areas of cooperation. At the first ever virtual meet of Quad leaders, strengthening “The spirit of the Quad”, leaders mulled cooperation in vaccine production, climate change, critical technologies, quality infrastructure development, supply chain resilience and maritime security.

Alluding to its new foreign policy approach of making flexible multilateral by bestowing it resilience, the US has extricated defence component from the Quad. Resultantly, the Quad is like now an “interest-based and need-based coalition” with no elements on boots on ground. In an event of an aggression, India which shares borders and has a territorial dispute with China has to defend all by itself. Also, by creating a parallel group for Indo-Pacific with security as the foundation, the US had lent a strategic clarity and shut the critics down, who called the Quad as an “Asian NATO”.

With the security aspect now out of the Quad discussions, a new panoply of lofty aspects dominates the coalition. Interestingly, despite Joint Statement’s emphasis on the security of Indo-Pacific which is extremely crucial for “shared security and prosperity of free and open Indo-Pacific”, it has been excluded from the agenda. Reaffirming support for ASEAN’s strong unity and centrality, the Quad reviewed the progress made since the last meet, held six months ago.

Pivoted on the objective of “force for Global good” as remarked by PM Modi, Quad buttressed its identity as a group of democratic countries open to include new countries which share similar commitment towards democratic values and respect for universal human rights. The summit on September 24^th launched new policies and programs that advance cooperation on 21^st century challenges.

The frontiers of cooperation included those identified it the first virtual summit. In addition, science & technology has been added to this list now. To cultivate next generation of talent, 100 scholarships will be awarded to STEM graduates from all four countries under the Quad Fellowship program.  The physical summit witnessed the launch of Quad Principles on Technology Design, Development, Governance and Use; Quad Infrastructure partnership. Quad has adopted India’s resolution on Afghanistan at UNSC 2593 disallowing the use of Afghan territory to shelter, train terrorists or launch attacks on any country¹.

Other key issues which figured in discussion include- denuclearization of Korean peninsula, restoration of democracy in Myanmar, implementation of the ASEAN five-point consensus. To institutionalize the Quad and build more collaboration and cooperation, members agreed to have meetings of leaders, foreign ministers and senior officials regularly. The Quad affirmed to strengthen the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure and climate information systems and to cooperate on International Telecommunication Union.

Members reiterated their commitment to champion adherence to UNCLOS (UN Convention on the Law of the Sea) and agreed to extend assistance to the Pacific Islands on health, climate impact changes and sustainable & quality infrastructure. Laying specific emphasis on combatting climate crisis- Quad mulled formation of green shipping network to establish low-emission or zero-emission shipping corridors by 2030². Quad is planning to launch Semiconductor Supply Chain Initiative to secure critical technologies essential for digital economies.

Currently, China is a dominant power in space, rare earths trading and semi-conductor supply chains. Besides the maritime threats to the countries in the Indo-Pacific region, countries are now at the receiving end of China’s cyberattacks as well. The slew of initiatives now launched under the Quad, including commitment to FOIP is expected to bolster the Quad’s objective of countering China. But by refusing explicitly name Dragon and stripping the group of any formally defence cooperation, the group has become strategically insignificant.

The famed Malabar exercises initiated in 1992, now stands as the lone example of the much-touted interoperability and military cooperation of the Quad. Some strategists argue that as per the US’ recalibrated foreign policy approach, Washington prefers to address the security aspects through bilateral and trilateral arrangements. Euphemistically, if the US prefers a bi/trilateral partnership then China’s exaggerated criticism of the Quad as anti-China bloc is unjustified. By consequence, the vision of the Quad, as envisaged by President Abe with security as one of its cornerstones stands largely diluted.

The basic paradigm of Abe’s 2007 Quad, Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QSD) is to foster cooperation on regional security issues. On the contrary the Quad of 2021 firmly rooted in FOIP is expanding the arena of cooperation on a panoply of non-strategic aspects. Interestingly, if Quad is to be reckoned as bulwark against China, it must include trade and investment since China controls the global trade, supply chains and uses the same as a strategic weapon.

While the desire of democracies to come together reflects their assertiveness to take on China, the security challenges faced India and Japan, the members in the region remain unaddressed. Simply put, close to two decades of its existence, the Quad finally consolidates its position as alliances of democracies lacking the appetite to address the hardcore security aspects embroiling the Indo-Pacific region. 

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