The origin of terrorism is often solely attributed to the allegedly flawed Assembly Elections held in 1987, this assumption is erroneous. In fact, it was the execution of Pakistan’s secretive plot – Operation Topac – devised as early as 1982 and implemented in J&K in 1988 which unleashed havoc. Conspired by the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and authorized by General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, the central objectives of this Operation Topac were three-fold: firstly, to succeed in persuading youth from Kashmir to cross the LoC to seek weapon training. Thereafter, the trained youngsters were ordered to carry out large scale subversive activities which in turn would create an atmosphere of terror and further demoralize the Indian government . Thirdly, the Muslim majority in the Kashmir Valley was to be “liberated” and become part of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
In the beginning, it was a small indigenous group of Kashmiris who initiated the era of terrorism under the banner of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF).
JKLF was initially supported by Pakistan, but was later on abandoned in favour of a newly floated organisation, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (Hizb).
This terrorism enjoyed a high level of legitimacy during the first phase because it was rooted in the indigenous movement and followed the popular logic.However, during the second phase its character changed and it lost much of its popularity.
The irreverence of the terrorists towards the Shrines and the local rituals and practices had generated a negative response towards them. This could be seen during the siege and later burning of Chrar-e-Sharief , one of the most revered shrines of Kashmir by Mast Gul, a Harkat ul Ansar terrorist trained in Afghanistan.
The Pan-Islamic agenda of terrorists has also been problematic for those in the movement. The terrorists operating in Kashmir consider religion as the logic of the movement and see it in the context of the Pan-Islamic agenda. This, however, does not reflect the ground reality of Kashmir and does not go well with the local imagination. For most of the Kashmiris, the conflict has purely political basis and it has nothing to do with Pan-Islamism.
Post Burhan period, Pakistan has strategically started making changes. It focused on hybrid war. Social media was extensively used to propagate anti-India sentiment. It was extensively used to glorify jihad and terrorists killed in encounters. It had a resonating effect on the youth of Kashmir. Social media has proven to be the most effective weapon of the new terrorism. Terrorists no longer need to use coercive means to get some column space in the press, as they did in the 1990s. Today, hundreds of pictures and videos are on social media sites .New content is published frequently through encrypted platforms such as Telegram, WhatsApp TamTam, Such content—consumed mostly by young Kashmiris.
After the abrogation of article 35A/370. New terrorist outfits like TRF came into existence. The aim of creating the TRF from the existing cadre of LeT and other groups was to give an indigenous colour to their activities in the wake of abrogation of Article 370. It is also believed that the creation would also provide a cover to Pakistan from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for supporting non-state violent actors. It is an attempt by the “ISI to secularise terrorism in Jammu & Kashmir by doing away with Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Hizbul Mujahideen, and merging them into one common non-religious label to make it look like an indigenous rebel movement with a modern outlook.
Originally, TRF announced its arrival online via the encrypted chat platform Telegram on October 12, 2019, following a grenade attack in Srinagar’s Hari Singh High Street, in which seven civilians were injured. In its first message, posted on Telegram, taking responsibility of the grenade attack, TRF stated,
Today’s grenade attack is the inception of indigenous resistance of Kashmir to flush out the occupational Indian regime out of IOJK [Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir]. The attack was carried out by our cadres and in future such attacks will follow.
Facing regular blocking on Telegram, TRF turned to other platforms simultaneously to create a backup, prominently including TamTam, an encrypted Russian messaging platform. TRF is claiming terror attacks in an effort to raise the group’s profile and encourage youth to join its ranks.
Major causes of the increased militant recruitment and inclination towards armed resistance :
Advanced recruitment plan is in place in Kashmir. Pro-Terrorists lobbies are attracting young boys and new strategies are being made to glorify terrorism in Kashmir and some parts of Jammu. Social media blitz pulling young Kashmiris to death. Terrorism is presented as Youthful fun. The emergence of the so-called ‘Social media Warriors’ in the Kashmir illustrates how, through the weaponization of a social media platform, terrorist outfits have succeeded in luring vulnerable youth to participate in violence by using body cams and then uploading videos on social media. In essence, the ‘Social media Warriors’ phenomenon generally consists of barricaded terrorists
The attached photos show how terrorists lure youngsters
When a militant is killed, he gets a hero’s welcome on social media, and others while trying to give vent to their anger, follow the same path. Social media plays important role in recruitment. Boys get brainwashed when they see anti-national and propaganda posts. Some events like lynching taking place across India are also shaping the situation in Kashmir. Terrorists are using this opportunity and motivate them to join their ranks and it is also obsession to join terrorist ranks. Some are emotional fools and they join terrorists ranks.
(With some inputs from EFSAS)
Author: Mehran (@MehranTweets_)
