Opinion Kathua terror attack: First test for PDP-BJP govt in J&K
The terror attack will test the durability of the fragile relationship of the PDP and the BJP.
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Developments in Jammu and Kashmir will be seen through this lens: two phlegmatic parties, with uncompromising core ideologies and odd-ball characters in an unlikely coalition.
The ongoing Kathua terror attack on Friday morning, which takes place within 20 days of the BJP-led government’s twin moves of forming a government in Jammu and Kashmir with PDP and the Foreign secretary S Jaishankar’s maiden visit to Pakistan, is a reminder of the challenges it faces.
While it will be the first test of the Mufti government, it will also test the durability of the fragile relationship of the PDP and the BJP — especially since the discordant voices heard from both parties over the release Masarat Alam.
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Jaishankar, it may be recalled, had raised India’s “known concerns” on “cross-border terrorism” during his meeting with Pakistan counterpart Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhary on March 3. “I reiterated our known concerns on cross-border terrorism, including on the Mumbai case,” the Foreign secretary had said, in Islamabad.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had told Jaishankar then that terrorism has afflicted the entire region, and that Pakistan is “waging a valiant struggle against all terrorists by dismantling their hideouts and network.”
However, that claim sounded hollow when within days Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, one of the key accused of the Mumbai terror attack, was released. It was only after an angry New Delhi reminded Islamabad of its “publicly-stated commitment”, that the Pakistan authorities challenged the court verdict and Lakhvi was put behind bars for another month.
Responses from Srinagar, New Delhi and Islamabad to the Kathua incident will be crucial indicators of their seriousness to deal with the perennial threat of terrorism. It remains to be seen whether they pass the test.
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