As a Kashmiri who has endured pain that was inflicted for being well-wisher of India, I have been contemplating to answer a question for very long time, whether our system is pro-national or antinational? Today, I believe from the core of my heart on the basis of the experiences I have gained, the system in place favours unpatriotic and penalizes patriotic Indians. In reality it is the place of refuge for those who outwardly look Indian but inwardly are eyes and hands of our enemy who want to devastate India by giving thousand cuts to it from within. Sir, I wish to share some observations with regard to this with you.
Again Gadol forest area was in limelight, shaping the news headlines- Two special para commandos are missing. It was not before October 9 that an official communique confirmed death of one reportedly due to an avalanche during an anti-terrorist operation. While it is unlawful to question the integrity of the statement, wisdom compels to ask a simple question. Amid the tech world where commoners are kept updated about such weather induced disasters, how can the responsible guardian of security justify the operation and hence the casualties of personnel who are otherwise specifically and very specially trained for such areas and eventualities. Anyway this brings to our mind the memory of one of the longest operations, the security forces have ever engaged in J&K. Shrouded by mysteries, It also happens to be one of those operations that witnessed heavy casualties for the forces and claimed lives of two senior army officers and a young local DSP, son of a dedicated and honest retired top cop. Many arguments and counterarguments were put forward with regard to that encounter. In the garb of maintaining integrity, raising morale and shielding failure of security forces, the officials denied any form of breach of Intel during the execution of the operation. Every encounter takes place here on the basis of special inputs. The unfortunate part of the story is that those who lead these anti-militancy operations even do not know much about the mechanism of these special inputs. They are a kind of mystery and involve invisible forces and hands like that of capitalistic market. Perhaps those souls were lost between competition and conflict of agencies involved in the exercise. Nevertheless in absolute terms it was a pure loss for India. There is no doubt that you are fighting militants more robustically and with great vigor than ever before, but what about the confiscated militants that are ruling our system and dictating terms to it. While you might have brought down rate of joining militancy close to 0 but it may equally be true that number of sleeper cells has gone up.
PM Modi’s recent statement that India’s biggest enemy is her reliance and dependence on others is indeed a bold statement. But this will bear fruit only when considered unequivocally without any exception. In the background of this, our 75 % dependence on Israel in terms of defense imports should completely be reviewed. Today two major areas that require immediate and considerable attention is to enhance significantly budget allocation for R&D (Tech sector) and urgency to build a robust independent intelligence. Viksit Bharat 2047 can never be realized without restructuring and rejuvenation of these areas on indigenous lines on priority basis. This brings us to current structure and working of Intel system. It is high time that the colonial structured IB conceived in 1885 originally to keep an eye on Russian troops deployed in Afghanistan, needs complete overhaul. CIA patterned NIA requires revamping. And RAW is decoupled from Mossad and is restituted and invigorated. Surely by relying on external agencies may accrue some temporary gains and advancements but certainly can’t ensure and in fact prevent us from winning the game. The current chaotic situation prevailing here can be attributed to the resultant complexity on account of the operationalization of three main agencies, ISI, MI6, Mossad in the region performing roles in different capacities for their parent agency CIA that enjoys most strategic benefits by using their permutations and combinations. This intelligence triangle is dangerous not only for J&K but for whole India. All the affairs that take place here exist between 3 vertices and 3 sides of this triangle. Without fixing the political optics any attempt to overcome this dangerous triangle will all be in vain.
It is known to all that India is not fighting Pakistan alone in J&K. You are actually fighting a spectrum of agencies, a bunch of forces and an elite club of countries that include superpower. The ironical part of the story is that you have been so much intimate and inward to your friendly agency Mossad that you have granted the whole authority to it forgetting or overlooking that it could be an eye of your enemy not only on your whole defense ecosystem but the whole establishment itself. You are compromising your vision for the country when you regard Pakistan your actual enemy rather than a pawn from your actual enemy and Israel an absolute friend. As I have explained earlier in a write up, India got pushed towards Israel and hence Mossad with multiple oblique objectives:
1) The US can have indirectly eye on India without annoying its ally Pakistan.
2) Strengthening Israeli economy with the sale of defense equipment to India, lessening burden on the US and its western allies. Moreover minimizing reliance of India on Russia in terms of defense materials. 3) Polarizing India internally and pit Muslim world against it, thus stressing and straining relations.
4) Destabilize, otherwise growing counterweight threat IRI(India-Russia-Iran) Triangle detrimental to the interests of the US and the west in Eurasian region in particular.
5) The US’s endeavor to connect and integrate West Asia and Indo-Pacific with the help of two quad groupings.
6) To replace MI6 in view of integration of West Asia, South Asia and Indo-Pacific and also as a matter of decluttering and to provide alternative to it.
7) To use it as a diaper to take care of the dirty work done as acknowledged by Pakistan Defence Minister in the region from leaking.
8) Exerting control on ISI by the US to keep it in loop by building pressure from Indian side with the help of Mossad which in turn will harm India.

While talking about significance, one can ask a simple question; How J&K benefits India? The truth is that India by no means and ways is a main and major beneficiary. The fact of the matter is that India has been driven into this conflict at least for two reasons. First its role has been kept limited to maintainer only and the benefits are accrued only to someone else. Secondly and most importantly this was done only to keep her engaged in a disturbing and destabilizing process that not only drained economy but also tarnished image and maligned character at global level. It is pertinent to mention here that through the tribal incursion a proxy war had been waged first on the people of J&K and then on rest of India. ‘1900 days of hartals cost J&K Rs 2.47 lakh crore, Pak proxies ruining economy’ reads the headline of a report on the straight line- a local social media channel. In the background of all this India need to weigh and exercise its options carefully as we have already entered in cold war 2.0 between China and the US that has turned South Asia, ground zero. Between Gazwatul Hind and Akhand Bharat South Asia is losing itself.
Having said that, I believe it is high time that any kind or form of our endeavor of observing security issues and apparatus through the prism of politics is suicidal for India and as such must be eliminated at an earliest. It is a matter of introspection that people like Sonam Wangchuk turn antinational overnight. The question can be asked, as to why he was not arrested before the painful incident in an otherwise most peaceful area in the region, when there was Intel about his involvement and engagement with antinational activities. What made Wangchuk, a staunch supporter of BJP’s policies till yesterday antinational today? Without either supporting or justifying the violence that shook the place, I want to ask where were Intel inputs that otherwise can track and trace even a tiny militant activity in the region in smallest possible time. The truth is that there’s something seriously wrong with the system. The loss of such national assets as antinational liabilities is just tip of an iceberg and is manifestation of exertion of control of antinational elements on the security apparatus from within.
Boasting and thumping our chests on article 370 abrogation may not be wise at all. May be you have missed a bigger opportunity at the cost of a lower gain. May be it is about buying time. May be it was used to bring about strategic shifting. May be it was effected to divert your attention from a bigger picture that could have led to your elevation to much better position strategically. What if it had been done to silence and alienate Kashmiris at a time when they were possibly on the brink of accepting India? What if it was a strategic compulsion of your enemy to shield, secure and avoid a bigger loss? May be in an attempt to bridge the gap between J&K and India you have actually debridged it. May be it was a trap. Time will surely test these prophesies and posers. It is debatable as to who benefited from this process but what remains undeniable is that people of J&K, left high and dry have been pushed to debasement. People of J&K were exploited in the name of article 370 for years and today continue to be exploited on it even after its death. It is equally true that people are suffering because of their complicity with corrupt forces in the form of silence and their failure always to call a spade a spade whenever time provided them a chance to do so. Our yesteryears actions and behavior are determinants of our fate today.
Respected Sir, something is wrong very deep in our system. Believe me there is big theft in the system that goes unnoticed to you because possibly you are surrounded by the enemies who disguise as your trusted and time-tested friends and the system itself has been tasked to take care of it. It is akin to autoimmune disease.
With deep respect and regards,
Mehdi Sarver (A Well-wisher of India)

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Voice of Ladakh or its editorial team.

* Click to Follow Voice of Ladakh on WhatsApp *

Mehdi Server nengrooserver@gmail.com

The author is a resident of Kashmir. He writes on geopolitical issues with special interest in emerging critical technologies and their geopolitics.