From Hizbul to TRF: How Pakistan’s local terror narrative collapsed


New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) Pakistan has for long tried to localise the Kashmir issue. It created the Hizbul Mujahideen with the sole intention of having a localised terror group. After the collapse of the Hizbul Mujahideen, it created a proxy for the Lashkar-e-Taiba called The Resistance Front (TRF).

Pakistan, for several decades, has only wanted the locals to indulge in acts of terror in Jammu and Kashmir. The intention was to ride on the deniability factor and avoid heat on the international front. The idea was also to make it look like the locals want Kashmir separated from India, and Pakistan has no hand in it.

However, the Indian agencies have always managed to call out the Pakistani bluff. Even as recently as the Pahalgam attack, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) pointed in very clear terms that the attackers were from Pakistan and the entire attack was Islamabad-backed.

Now, a comprehensive report by the Save Youth Save Future Foundation, a prominent Kashmiri non-governmental organisation, has revealed that 60 per cent of the unmarked graves in Jammu and Kashmir belong to foreign terrorists. The report also noted that 30 per cent of the graves belong to local terrorists. However, the most telling revelation is that only 0.2 per cent of the graves (9) belong to civilians.

The report puts to rest two major issues. More Pakistani terrorists operated in Kashmir when compared to the locals. Secondly, the claims by many that there have been widespread killings of civilians have also been put to rest.

The report titled “Unraveling the Truth: A Critical Study of Unmarked and Unidentified Graves in Kashmir Valley”, says that 2,493 graves belong to foreign terrorists, while 1,208 belong to locals. Nine belong to civilians, while 70 graves are of tribal invaders from the 1947 conflict.

Pakistan has for long pushed an agenda to suggest that it is the locals who are carrying out terror attacks. Moreover, it has also tried to set a narrative through its stooges in the international fora that there are mass killings of civilians that are taking place in Jammu and Kashmir. These persons also said that the civilians were being killed and linked the same to unidentified graves. The report busts this myth.

Pakistan’s information campaign was at its peak during Operation Sindoor. First Field Marshal claimed that it was India that requested Pakistan to stop the operation. Pakistan used both official channels and social media handles to spread lies. The aim was to create panic among the Indian citizens and confusion among the international community regarding the actions taken by India.

Pakistan also attempted to enrage the Sikhs in India when it falsely claimed India had attacked the Nankana Sahib Gurdwara in Pakistan. Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the Director General of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), even went up to the extent of saying that India had fired missiles on Amritsar.

While India has always managed to call out Pakistan’s bluff, such reports and the latest investigations by the NIA will be used to put out New Delhi’s point of view. Intelligence Bureau officials say that the report regarding the graves that Pakistan has been lying about will be useful to expose Islamabad to the international community. The NIA probe will also deal a heavy blow to Pakistan. It not only found that the three terrorists were of Pakistani origin, but also managed to nail down the funding route, which clearly indicates a Pakistani link.

–IANS

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