Introduction

The abominable Pahalgam attack of April 22^nd on Hindu tourists by Pakistan-backed Islamist terrorists was a deliberate ploy to provoke India into a kinetic response that carried with it the risks of horizontal and vertical escalation, which in turn would have negative repercussions for the Indian economy, polity, society and the security and stability of the Indian subcontinent. General Asim Munir's anti-India tirade against Hindus, the terrorists' choice of language ("go and tell Modi") and the humiliation heaped on the victims before they were executed, all pointed to a deliberate plan to provoke Hindu anger and force Modi to act against his instincts ("this is not the era of warfare"). But Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir certainly could not have done this on his own. Pakistan has some powerful friends, internationally and within India, who would love to see India's economic progress derailed and Indian society engulfed in suicidal communal civil war. A war with India, ironically, could also help Munir and the Pakistani Army at a time when it is facing massive domestic unrest and challenges.

India’s Response

India’s response to the Pahalgam attack has come at several levels.

First, domestically, the realization has finally dawned on India’s government elites that large sections of Muslims in the Indian subcontinent have become "cognitively radicalized". Cognitive radicalization refers to radicalization of the mind, whereby a person comes to accept and hold extremist ideas, beliefs and values. Once cognitively radicalized, some individuals may cross the proverbial “red line” and start behaving in a radical manner, meaning they will act in ways to support, participate in, and commit acts of terrorism. The cognitive radicalization of Muslims in India is being done deliberately, surreptitiously, and methodically by “agents of radicalization”. Large amounts of resources are being poured into the hands of these agents by sources both inside and outside India. The main platforms of radicalization that these agents use include Islamic seminaries (madrassas) and mosques, and variety of online forums. In the wake of the Pahalgam attack, the central law enforcement agencies, acting together with several state law enforcement agencies, arrested a number of individuals who were suspected to be radicalized and aiding and abetting terrorism in J&K and elsewhere in India. The Indian government also arrested several individuals suspected of spreading misinformation, religious hatred, and anti-India propaganda. The Modi government further banned Pakistani television, OTT, and YouTube channels from India. Overall, the actions of the Indian government suggests that the government elites are now more inclined to robustly use the domestic law enforcement machinery against the agents and platforms of radicalization inside India.

The Indian government also took a series of non-kinetic measures against Pakistan. The Indian government ordered the immediate cancellation of all visas (except for long-stay visas) issued to Pakistani nationals and asked the states to ensure their deportation within 48 hours. The Modi government also declared several members of the Pakistan High Commission in India to be persona non grata and reduced the overall strength of the High Commission to only 30 staff; it also recalled Indian diplomats from Pakistan. The Indian government further reciprocated Pakistan’s decision to close its airspace to Indian commercial aircraft by banning flights to Pakistan over Indian airspace. India also mounted a diplomatic campaign to share classified information about the Pahalgam attack and Pakistan’s direct involvement in it with important states and global institutions. The aim of the diplomatic outreach was to build a strong moral and legal case (right of self-defense) for kinetic operations aimed at terrorist groups operating out of Pakistan.

The Kinetic Response: Operation Sindoor

To avenge the Pahalgam attacks, ordered and planned by the Pakistani Army/ISI and executed by the LET through its proxy TRF based in the Kashmir Valley, the Indian military carried out Operation Sindoor in the early morning hours of May 7th. The military operation was conducted jointly by the Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force. It concentrated on 9 targets, 4 inside Pakistan and 5 in the POK. These targets were all terrorist hideouts, command and training centers, and operational launchpads belonging to groups like the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JEM), and Hizb-ul Mujahideen (HUM).
 

Operation Sindoor was a carefully crafted plan. The operation lasted for about 25-30 minutes and was proportional to the crimes committed (Pahalgam as well as previous attacks). It was non-escalatory (did not target the Pakistani military directly, or any major infrastructure and population centers). The operation was moreover in line with UNSC resolution regarding fighting terrorism. It was also well within the UN Charter rules regarding the right of self-defense.

Operation Sindoor's immediate impact will be to reduce, at least in the short run, the capacity of groups like the LET, JEM, HUM, TRF, etc., to launch fresh attacks inside J&K and India. The other immediate impact will be to give the survivors of the Pahalgam attack a sense of justice. The operation should also give the Indian military and the entire Indian nation a huge boost in confidence. But whether this operation will now escalate horizontally and vertically to an all-out war will depend on Pakistan. Across the LOC in J&K, Pakistan has fired artillery shells at civilian and religious targets (homes as well as a Gurdwara), which has led to the death of one Indian soldier (as far as I know) and several civilians. The deliberate targeting of civilian homes and places of worship falls within 'war crimes' under international laws of warfare. Supporting and facilitating terrorist groups that kill civilians for political purposes is also a war crime. Pakistani generals and the GHQ should remember that someday soon, they will have to pay for their crimes!

The War Against the Pakistan Army/ISI and GHQ

I cannot help but feel that Operation Sindoor has not addressed the elephant in the room question – how to dismantle the rogue Pakistani Army/ISI and compel it to move away from its policy of using terrorism to wage sub-conventional war against India?

I fully understand that Operation Sindoor had to be limited in scope so as not to give it an escalatory character. If Pakistan now retaliates by hitting Indian military targets and key infrastructure, that will allow the Indian military to go after the Pakistani Army/ISI and particularly the generals and the GHQ. Pakistan will therefore most likely not escalate if it has any sense in its head! But India must still go after the Pakistan Army/ISI and GHQ as this is really the core of the problem! Terrorist camps will eventually be rebuilt, and terrorist recruitment will continue through the hundreds of thousands of legal and illegal madrassas in Pakistan. And the organization that makes all of this possible is the Pakistani Army/ISI, which is a terrorist organization in its own right!

The Punjabi-dominated Pakistani Army/ISI is today a terrorist organization, holding 250 million people hostages to fulfill its crazy and nefarious objectives. This Army has jihad as its motto. It has killed and disappeared hundreds of thousands of Afghans, Balochis, Sindhis, and Muhajirs to retain its hold over the state. It has dismissed democratically elected governments at will and brutally tortured and imprisoned political leaders. There is no business in Pakistan that the Army generals do not control. They keep the masses in poverty and brainwash them with religion, while educating their children abroad and stashing ill-gotten wealth in foreign banks. To put it bluntly, the Pakistani Army does not care about the people of Pakistan and their wellbeing. They are a rogue terrorist organization that passes for a military organization. Unfortunately, this terrorist Army has advanced weapon systems including nuclear weapons.

India will have to fight to destroy and defeat the Pakistani Army/ISI through cunning, stealth, and ruthless nastiness. The generals will have to be targeted and made to personally pay a high cost for the crimes they have committed for decades on their own people and on neighbors. Make no mistake, this will be a "dirty war” that cannot be won through conventional military operations unless one is willing to destroy and dismember Pakistan. That will generate other more pressing problems. Instead, India should find out who amongst the top Pakistani generals ordered and planned the Pahalgam attack, then impose a "personal high cost" on them! The signal should be this: if you plan and support attacks against India and Hindus, then be prepared to pay a "personal high cost" for such behavior. And it is not hard to imagine what this "cost" should entail. There is simply no other way!