Pulwama revenge looms, Kashmir on edge, even Trump hints at ‘something very strong’

By Siddhartha Rai  |  First Published Feb 23, 2019, 5:46 PM IST

Sources said 100 companies or 15,000 para-military personnel deployed on Friday to keep the Valley under control when India initiates action. It was for this reason that the separatists like Yasin Malik and some 30 other Jamaat-i-Islami leaders were arrested on Friday night. Many others have been put under house arrest

The BJP-led Narendra Modi government could take a big step to avenge the Pulwama terror attack in the next 24 to 48 hours. Sources in the Modi dispensation told MyNation that the Centre was mulling multi-pronged action that included, among other things, total preparedness for an clampdown on Kashmir’s disturbed districts to pre-empt anti-India protests which might break out once action starts.

Sources said 100 companies or 15,000 para-military personnel deployed on Friday to keep the Valley under control when India initiates action. It was for this reason that the separatists like Yasin Malik and some 30 other Jamaat-i-Islami leaders were arrested on Friday night. Many others have been put under house arrest.

Union home minister Rajnath Singh has apparently cancelled his engagements and travel plans. Senior members of the government are in a huddle.

Choppers buzz, BSF redeployed
 

The forces conducted all-night operations on Friday. Choppers too had been pressed into action.

Significantly, the Border Security Force (BSF), which was withdrawn from the Valley in August 2016, has once again been deployed.

The deployment has also been seen, and accepted subtly in quarters close to the government, as a way to keep the Valley peaceful once the hearing on Article 35A comes up on Monday in the Supreme Court (SC).

“While no judgment is expected on Monday, the separatists and their stooges in the Valley are prone to whip up sentiments whenever the matter comes up for hearing. They are uneasy at the very fact that the matter is moving ahead, much to their chagrin,” said Abha Khanna, media director of Jammu Kashmir Study Centre (JKSC), an RSS-backed think-tank that has been waging a dogged struggle for the abrogation of Article 35A.

According to government sources, an ordinance for abrogating Article 35A was a strong possibility and thus the pre-empted deployment of such a huge force.

All options on the table
 

Moreover, MyNation also received information that the Modi regime was mulling over all possible responses to avenge the Pulwama attack.

The government has already garnered a lot of support internationally, with the UNSC having come behind India. Apart from Israel that has pledged “unlimited” help to India post-Pulwama attack, Russia, the UK, the US and France have rallied behind India in the UNSC.

Trump on Friday said, “India is looking at something very strong. India just lost almost 50 people with an attack. So I can understand that also.”

While the UNSC condemned the “cowardly and heinous” attack on CRPF on February 14 this year in Pulwama, France, along with the US and the UK, has decided to move a proposal in the UNSC resolution to ban Jaish-e-Mohammad top boss Masood Azhar. The JeM, that took responsibility for the attack, is already proscribed under the United Nations rules.

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