India Army issues warning for waving Pakistani flags

Unable to deal with uprising in Srinagar and other parts of Indian-held Kashmir, India’s Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat on Wednesday said that those waving Pakistani flags in the disputed state will be dealt with harsher measures, The Indian Express newspaper reported.

“If they want to continue with the acts of ‘terrorism,’ displaying flags of Pakistan or the Islamic State, then we will treat them as ‘anti-national’ elements and go helter-skelter for them,” he said. “They may survive today but we will get them tomorrow. Our relentless operations will continue,” he said.

On the other hand, Kashmiri politicians have criticised General Rawat’s statement warning local youth against creating ‘hurdles’ during security operations even as the government came to his defence. Both the camps said that such a statement would fuel a spurt in militancy in the disputed state.

The opposition National Conference expressed disappointment and dismay over the belligerent remarks of the army chief and said such posturing would compound the situation and increase the hostility in the state. “Youth rushing towards encounter sites and incidents of stone-pelting on the forces during encounters are worrying and alarming signs of the sense of alienation and disenchantment in Kashmir,” NC spokesperson Junaid Azim Mattu said in a statement.

“The need of the hour is to understand and acknowledge the deep sense of isolation in Kashmir and deal with it with statesmanship and magnanimity. Threatening and warning youth who are already anguished and irrational to the sense of caring little for their lives will be of little consequence but would only push them farther from reconciliation,” the statement said.

People’s Democratic Party’s general secretary Nizamuddin Bhat said that the army must exercise restraint. “This has not happened today, there have been occasions in the past also. That is why we say in any circumstances, a disciplined force observes restraint. This is a welfare state and we are committed to certain principles,” he said.

Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Geelani said that India’s arrogance and stale thinking was the basic reason for continuous bloodshed and political uncertainty in state. “People of the state and particularly the youth are up against this hegemony and suppression,” he said. Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chairman Yasin Malik termed the statement of the army chief as a case of political immaturity.

He said that Indian army chief’s statement amounts to direct threat to the whole Kashmiri nation. “Indian army chief must realise that he cannot scare a nation that has sacrificed more than a hundred thousand of its men, women, youth and children during ongoing resistance movement. This statement may add to the miseries of Kashmiris but it will also push many youth to the wall and, drive them towards arms struggle and hence promote violence in this region,” he said.

Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said that instead of issuing threats, it would be prudent for the Indian army chief to accept the ground realities in Kashmir. “Indian military and political leadership had no other option but to come to the grips of the reality that Kashmir issue cannot be dealt with military might or with threats of war but by involving all parties to Kashmir dispute in a meaningful and result-oriented dialogue process, which could also help end political uncertainty in entire South Asia,” he said.

MLA Engineer Abdul Rashid said that General Rawat’s statement was a confession that the state has lost the control in Kashmir. “While New Delhi doesn’t get tired claiming Kashmiris as its own people, the threat given by General Rawat has exposed the claim. The threat is a confession that militants have mass support and calling them terrorists is not the solution. His warning can be his professional compulsion but New Delhi must see and analyse it beyond that,” he said.