SRINAGAR: The latest hostile events on the India-Pakistan front have created a reasonable apprehension of escalation among the vast section of the populations in Jammu and Kashmir and beyond.While many people Deccan Chronicle spoke with on Thursday were of the view that India and Pakistan technically remain in a state of war for the past two days and the situation can take a turn for the worse, some others were hopeful of the effectiveness of the international intervention, particularly with the Western support. The apprehension that the active hostilities between the two countries may expand and pose risks for a wider conflict is rooted in the latest statements emanating from New Delhi and Islamabad which spoke of unending military tensions and, on ground, increasing and hardened bouts of skirmishes between the facing troops along the Line of Control (LoC). The Indian Army on Thursday said that the Pakistani troops, once again, violated the ceasefire agreement by resorting to unprovoked firing using small arms and artillery guns across the LoC in areas opposite Kupwara, Baramulla, Uri and Akhnoor sectors in J&K. “The Indian Army responded proportionately,” a defence spokesman said in Jammu. In New Delhi, the defence ministry officials said that Pakistan has increased the intensity of its unprovoked firing across the LoC using Mortars and heavy calibre artillery in multiple sectors from Kupwara in the Kashmir Valley to Poonch-Rajouri in the Jammu region. The bombing has claimed lives of 13 civilians and a Non-Commissioned Officer (Lance Naik) of the Army and injuries to 59 people and left a trail of destruction, mainly in Poonch. India on Thursday said that it took out the Pakistani air defence system in Lahore after the neighbouring country’s failed attempts to hit Indian cities with drones and that all the missile attacks against its military installation were thwarted as well. On the other hand, Pakistani’s military authorities claimed that as many as 25 Israeli-made Harop drones flown by India over multiple cities of Pakistan were shot down. The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) termed these drone “incursions” as a “desperate and panicked response” by India, coming after what it claimed was Pakistan’s retaliatory operations on May 6 and 7, which “downed five Indian fighter jets and struck several military posts.” While India said it “neutralized” Pakistan’s attempts to hit military targets which was a deliberate attempt to escalate tensions despite the fact that the targets chosen by it under ‘Operation Sindoor’ were “terrorist infrastructure”, based on credible intelligence, and that its action was “focused, measured, and non-escalatory”, avoiding Pakistani military facilities, Director General of (Pakistan’s) Inter-Services Public Relations Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry termed the Indian drones activity “very, very provocative” and a “continued pattern of aggression.” The apprehension in the vast section of the population here that the two countries might choose the “worst option” is rooted in these events and statements. In this backdrop, some analysts, while highlighting the risk of further escalation, say that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s statement at Thursday’s all-party meeting that ‘Operation Sindoor’ continues and that India will respond if Pakistan escalates carries significance and conveys a strong message. BBC reported on Thursday that the initial thinking was that after India launched missile attacks and with Pakistan claiming to have shot down several Indian jets (a claim Delhi has not confirmed), both sides could claim “victory” and de-escalate. “But there’s a danger that any protracted tit-for-tat attacks could lead them to a far more damaging prospect,” it said. A Srinagar resident Manzoor Ahmed Bhat said, “The situation is volatile with significant risks of escalation. Either better sense will prevail upon them (India and Pakistan) or international intervention will work and prevent a full-blown war between them. As for us, we can’t make choices. We just keep our fingers crossed”. Former chief minister and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti, while warning that a military solution will only bring more suffering, urged the prime ministers of both countries to exercise restraint. Asserting that she was echoing the sentiment widely held by the people of J&K, Ms. Mufti made a passionate appeal especially to Prime Minister Narendra Modi “to choose dialogue to end hostilities”. She said, “Now, more than ever peaceful co-existence and engagement must serve as our only instrument. Only through sincere and sustained efforts can we deescalate tensions and begin the hard work of restoring peace.”
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