A twisted trail of terror networks from Delhi to Nowgam
The complex reality about Kashmir is that radical Islamist ideology and white collar terror networks coexist with brave policemen and investigators
This past week, the twin realities of the Kashmir Valley were on disturbing display. On the one hand, the country confronted the chilling details of the gang of radicalised doctors turned terrorists who fuelled the car bomb blast in the Capital. The National Investigative Agency (NIA) confirmed that the blast in Red Fort was the handiwork of a suicide bomber, Umar un-Nabi.
Since then videos recovered from the bomber’s phone uncover the twisted mind of a terrorist, including one in which he calmly justifies suicide bombings as a ‘misunderstood concept”. In another video — there are reportedly 12 such videos that investigators have recovered — he talks of “defeating India” and claims that inspiration can be drawn from the Afghan Mujahideen, who were able to overthrow world superpowers.
At least twelve people, just hapless bystanders, many of them abjectly poor, going about their day’s work, have been killed in the Delhi blast. Despite the questionable decision to go public with the busting of a terror module in Haryana’s Faridabad, where 2,900 kilograms of explosives were recovered, the police actually averted a major catastrophe. We know that multiple cities were being targeted: Experts like Lieutenant General KJS Dhillon have pointed out that the ammonium nitrate recovered was enough for 20 bombs, not just the one that caused death and devastation in Delhi.
While you process and internalise that statistic, a small, residential police station in Nowgam in Kashmir tragically demonstrated what the impact of such bombs could have been for the general public. Explosives recovered from Faridabad had been ferried back by road from Haryana to Kashmir, evidently as mandated by standard operating protocols. While forensic experts, administrators, and policemen were examining the explosives, including 350 kgs of ammonium nitrate, something went horribly wrong. The police station was blown to bits and reduced to rubble. At least nine people were killed, 32 others injured as the explosives went off in a terrible accident. While questions have been raised about the wisdom of moving bomb-making explosives by road, it doesn’t take away from the fact that every life lost in Nowgam was in the line of duty for the country. At one of the many funerals in the aftermath of Nowgam, a grieving mourner broke down and said, “yeh Hindustan ke liye mara (he died for Hindustan).” The image of policeman Arshid Ahmad, who died in the blast, playing with his toddler daughter went viral after his death.
The police force of Jammu and Kashmir, hardened over the decades by insurgency and terrorism, has always been one of the bravest in India. They have had extraordinary experience in counter-terrorism, often joining the Army in hunting down terrorists. By 2020, 1,700 policemen had been killed in anti-militancy operations over three decades. Those numbers would be even higher today. It’s worth underlining that an alert SHO in Nowgam first spotted the appearance of Jaish-e-Mohammed posters. His granular, on-ground investigation led to the uncovering of the Faridabad terror module and helped save countless lives.
This is the complex truth of Kashmir today: Radical Islamist ideology and white collar terror networks are uncovered by brave Kashmiri policemen and investigators. India’s response must factor in both realities going forward.
For too long, some on the ideological Left have positioned the situation in Kashmir as an entirely political problem that can only be solved by political means. They have either ignored or looked away from the inconvenient truth of religious extremism and the impact it has had on the Valley.
As a reporter who cut my teeth on the ground in Jammu and Kashmir, I am a witness to this generational shift. Two decades ago, you could still have a convivial disagreement and a political debate in Kashmir. Over the years, not only did positions harden, but culture also changed, and religious orthodoxy became more pervasive. As social media shrunk borders, many young Kashmiris identified themselves as part of a global ummah. Political correctness must not stop us from confronting this reality of Islamist extremism. The doctors’ terror module is, in fact, a sequel to 2016, when Burhan Wani and other upper-class, well-educated young Kashmiris picked up the gun. The Al-Falah University terror link is another illustrative example that education is not necessarily an antidote to extremism.
But if some on the Left want to deny the reality of religious radicalism, others on the Right are guilty of looking at Kashmir through a disturbingly selective lens. The tendency, especially in vitriolic social media commentary, to vilify all Kashmiris is not just unfair and inappropriate, but it is also playing into the hands of those very radical extremists who want to pit Indian against Indian. A 2014 speech by national security advisor Ajit Doval, viral again in the aftermath of the Delhi blast, points out that 90% casualties of Islamic terrorism are Muslim. In the Red Fort blast too, the bomb did not distinguish between Ashok Kumar, the bus conductor, and Mohsin, the e-rickshawallah, both of whom were killed. Religious or ethnic bigotry as a response to religious radicalism actually lets the terrorists have the last laugh.
In India’s responses to terrorism, we will need to learn to show the State’s toughness where needed and the State’s empathy when required. Kashmir threw up two truths this week: We will need to grade our responses accordingly.
Barkha Dutt is an award-winning journalist and author. The views expressed are personal
