Sunjwan attack

Ten people including five soldiers were killed in the fidayeen strike at an Army camp at Sunjwan in Jammu.  The attack has once again underlined how little things have changed in J&K over the past four years of the BJP-led government at the centre. That is, even while a forceful retaliation to such attacks rather than the engagement with Pakistan has come to be regarded as the best policy option that can guarantee long term peace. But the truth is that it hasn’t. And Sunjwan attack is the best proof of this. The attack came despite the intelligence alert having been sounded all across the state warning of a fidayeen strike on the anniversaries of the hanging of Mohammad Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat respectively. Militants still carried out the attack and got away with it. One important takeaway from this is that while belligerent rhetoric and  the retaliatory actions may have altered the atmospherics in the country, they have made little difference to the situation on the ground. Not only have suicide attacks persisted, the firing along the border has continued too, resulting in massive loss of lives of the soldiers and civilians. Already January has gone down as the month in which the largest number of the ceasefire violations have taken place since the 2003 truce agreement. The continuous border skirmishes have also wrought havoc with the lives of the border residents. They have had to migrate to the interiors, leaving behind their homes and hearth.  There is thus a need for rethink. The tit-for-tat approach carried on endlessly would not only destabilize the region but bring it nearer and nearer to an all-out war. This will only bring death and destruction for both the countries. In fact, more so for India, which is poised to take over as one of the world’s formidable economic powers.  The political machismo may win politicians their votes and retribution may give sections of the media their high and TRPs, but a government policy guided and dictated by such a discourse will lead to catastrophic consequences in the long term.

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