Frontal attack on democracy in Kashmir, no global outburst of rage
All those who cry for human rights violations in Kashmir are silent. An elected representative of Kashmiris has been killed, there is no storm on social media
Rakesh Pandita, a municipal councilor belonging to the minority Kashmiri Pandit community has been assassinated by Pakistani terror group Lashkar e Tayyiba’s front organizations in Kashmir. Pandita was the chairman of the Municipal Committee of Tral in south Kashmir. The terror groups have owned up the killing, posting gloating messages on social media.
The international self-professed and so-called human rights watchdogs who glibly talk on Kashmir insurgency are quiet. Despite a planned, cold-blooded killing of an elected representative, no global outburst has emerged decrying human rights violations in Kashmir.
So-called Kashmir sympathizers, particularly in Britain, Europe, the US and the Gulf unleash a torrent of social media posts following any action by the Indian security forces against the terror forces. After Pandita’s assassination, they all have maintained a deathly silence. Within India too, those who are constantly pained by the so-called human 
rights violations by the security forces in Kashmir have found no reason to speak up if a municipal councilor is killed by terrorists.
Evidently, the killing of a nationalist and a political representative of the Kashmiris does not matter. Our Kashmir sympathizers are jolted into action only if a terrorist, a sleeper cell operative or an over-ground worker (OGW) is killed.
Vast range of anti-India NGOs
There is a vast umbrella of NGOs run by some self-exiled non-resident Kashmiris, who spew venom on the Indian state for any action taken to dismantle the terror eco-system. They are silent over the killing of a political representative in Kashmir. Clearly, these puppets dance only when their masters in Pakistan move the strings. No brouhaha has been raised at the killing by terrorists. In the playbook of these human rights champions, terrorists, sleeper cell operatives and over-ground workers are “innocent youth of Kashmir.” Barbaric violence against Kashmiris who don’t toe the terror line is seen as “the just fight for the cause”. The dangerous arms and ammunition in the possession of terrorists and the gross violence perpetrated by them are conveniently overlooked. Acts of terror are a minor blip on the radar of these terror apologists. Watch it, move on.
We also have a breed of national and international experts on Kashmir. They have comfortably concluded that everything that is wrong with Kashmir is India’s fault.
These so-called experts write on Kashmir when they please and hold the Indian state to task for its supposed malevolence in the Himalayan state. Their modus operandi is simple. One, publish an article on Kashmir in a national or international journal. Two, exonerate Pakistan, label the Kashmir insurgency as “largely an indigenous movement”. Three, be bracketed as a venerable protector of human rights. Mission accomplished.
Duplicity Of The So-Called Kashmir Experts
The global pundits on Kashmir are accountable to none if their writings give Pakistan the happy space to pursue cross-border terrorism as state policy. Examine their writings. You shall observe how expediently Pakistan is acquitted for funding and operating the terror eco-system in Kashmir.
The international outrage on Kashmir follows a pattern. It is selective and subjective. Brutal killings by terrorists year after year are ignored. These human rights champions are blind to the terror eco-system where religion is used as a tool to indoctrinate vulnerable youth and use them as cannon fodder for the so-called Kashmir conflict.
It is hilarious that the duplicity of the so-called Kashmir experts is reflected in their own writing. In February 2019, Ms. Yelena Biberman wrote in a publication titled Political Violence at a Glance (politicalviolenceataglance.org): The Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), a highly reputable local Kashmiri human rights organization, has tracked claims of abuse carried out by the Indian military and security personnel.
It is evident that Ms. Biberman is not aware that many eminent members of JKCCS are deeply entrenched in the terror ecosystem of Kashmir, funded and sponsored by Pakistan. She also admits that JKCCS has tracked claims of abuse carried out by the Indian military and security personnel. Note this: JKCCS has kept no track of the brutal killings perpetrated by Kashmiri terrorists. Reason: Lambasting the Indian state for the problems faced by Kashmir is safe. Question Pakistan or the terrorists, and you are silenced by the gun.
Individuals like Ms. Biberman lap up the information provided to them by the conflict entrepreneurs without a single idea of the consequences of this web of lies for Kashmir. Within India, writers like Freny Maneksha (The Wire) address only the so-called human rights violations by the security forces. They completely blank out the elephant in the room – the killings of innocent Kashmiris by terrorists with ghastly regularity.
If these so-called Kashmir sympathizers have any integrity, let them document the killing of Rakesh Pandita. Let them document all killings by terrorists in Kashmir. The purpose of these killings is to nourish and further deepen the terror ecosystem.
The poor and conflict-weary Kashmiris live under the dark shadow of terrorism day after day, and the so-called Kashmir experts dish out the familiar trope: India must look inward. And while India looks inward, Pakistan can keep shooting at us.
