India v/s Pakistan- Not Just a Cricket Match Anymore

An account of the (not so) recent India-Pakistan feud

Uri attack, the deadliest attack on security forces in Kashmir in two decades, was an attack by four heavily armed Pakistani terrorists on 18 September 2016, near the town of Uri in the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir. 19 Indian soldiers, and 58 civilians passed away, and India was furious.

Following the attack, Sushma Swaraj condemned Pakistan at the 71st UN General Assembly. She spoke about cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan, the violation of human rights in Balochistan, and Pakistan’s complete failure in ensuring its land is not used for terrorist activities. Swaraj urged the international community to isolate nations that breed terrorism, a clear hint at Pakistan. France, Germany, UK, USA and Russia all stood firmly with India and affirmed that it had been a victim of terrorism which originated from Pakistan.

Badur Ali, a terrorist who was caught and questioned, confessed that he belonged to Lashkar-e-Taiba, a terrorist group which functions mainly from Pakistan.

Despite India’s efforts at bilateral talks for years, Pakistan let India down, and behold! India did not hold back. The Indian Army carried out surgical strikes across the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir to target terrorists waiting at multiple launch pads to cross over into India. Side note: A surgical strike is defined as a military attack intended to inflict damage on a specific target, with little or no collateral damage to surrounding areas.

Amidst this pandemonium, China has strategically promised to back Pakistan, worsening the situation. India’s next plausible step could very well be the Balochistan strategy- to support the rebels in Balochistan, thus saving it from the Pakistani Army and also impeding the CPEC (China Pakistan ECONOMIC Corridor).

Here’s an important question: Can we call this ‘Day 0’? Indians have applauded the Indian Army online for the revenge they’ve taken. It’s extremely important, however, to note that these Indians are sitting at their computer screens typing things down. Bloodshed costs actual lives and war only reduces these lives to a number.

Political scenario post the surgical strike

As they say, politics and war go hand in hand.

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal has been trolled and has had ink thrown at him for asking the Modi government to release proof that the surgical strike on terrorist camps+ in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK)+ did indeed take place. And social media users in Pakistan seem  to be using Kejriwal’s shoulder to fire off invectives at India.

The recent politician to join the club is Rahul Gandhi who has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of doing “Khoon ki dalali” with the blood of soldiers, triggering off a political controversy with a comment redolent of the “Maut ka Saudagar” line used by his mother Sonia Gandhi in 2007.

The controversial comments will likely put his party on the back foot again as it tries to shake off damage caused by Maharashtra Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam when he called the surgical strikes fake. Incidentally, immediately after the surgical strikes by Indian Army commandos on September 30, Rahul had congratulated the PM.

Bollywood takes sides

From Amitabh Bachchan to Shah Rukh Khan, many stars took to Twitter to applaud the Indian Army.If Big B said, “Don’t mess with the Indian Army”, SRK thanked soldiers for their action against terrorism.While Farhan Akhtar, Ajay Devjan, Lata Mangeshkar thanked the army, Akshay Kumar  apart from thanking them also reflected on how it is the need of the hour to stop banning artists but thinking about the families of all the martyrs who lost a member. On the contrary, Salman Khan  said,” Terrorists and artists are different. Do you think there is no difference between an actor and a terrorist? Actors come here with a proper visa granted by government. They have a proper work permit.”

Media investigates

CNN-News18 aired a sting operation on a police officer in PoK confirming surgical strikes carried out by the Indian Army, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has said the Centre need not provide any further evidence.Speaking at a felicitation function in Agra on Thursday, Parrikar lauded the way CNN-News18 journalist Manoj Gupta pretended to be a Pakistani Inspector General of Police and recorded the SP of Mirpur talk about the surgical strikes which took place on September 29, something which Pakistan has so far been vehemently denying.