With the independence, the country was divided into two parts. In the communal violence that took place at this time, about 1 million people were killed and more than 1 crore people had to leave their homes and settle in new places in India and Pakistan. Apart from this, more than 80 thousand women were raped during this incident. Many of them were robbed of their honor, killed and many women were married against their wishes. While this process was going on, in 1947-48, the newly formed country of Pakistan attacked Jammu and Kashmir and seized a large part of it, which the country has not been able to free yet.
Pakistan is still asserting its right over Jammu and Kashmir, which is under the jurisdiction of India, and in 1965, it had also attacked India to achieve this. Although the main reason for the 1971 war with Pakistan was the political crisis that arose in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), the background to this war between Pakistan and India was the deteriorating relations between the two countries due to the Kashmir dispute. In 1999, Pakistan had infiltrated India with the help of terrorists to seize Kashmir permanently and had also occupied the high hills of the Kargil region of Kashmir, which was liberated by the Indian army during a long war. Even after this, Pakistan’s attitude towards India has not changed and it has been fighting an indirect war with India by supporting and protecting Jaish-e-Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Taiba and many other terrorist organizations. It is in this context that the attack on tourists in the Basran Valley of Pahalgam by Pakistan-backed terrorists on April 22 can be seen and understood.
Although the Modi government has been claiming that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir has improved after the abrogation of Article 370 and the division of the state into two union territories. The threat of terrorism has reduced to a great extent and the pace of redevelopment in the state has accelerated. But the attack on tourists in Pahalgam and the previous attacks by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir have brought to the fore the reality that India still faces a major security challenge from Pakistan. Although India has given a befitting reply to Pakistan’s indirect war by attacking around 9 bases of Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and other terrorist organizations in Pakistan on May 7 and after that Pakistan had also denied the attacks with drones and missiles from Jammu and Kashmir to Bhuj in Gujarat, but despite this, there is still no guarantee that Pakistan will close the training centers of terrorists operating on its soil in the coming time or that there will be no more attacks on India from Pakistani soil. It can be clearly said that the security challenge for India from Pakistan will continue.
India is not facing security challenges only from Pakistan, India is also facing a major security challenge from China, which is rapidly emerging as a superpower in the world. India’s old and big border dispute with China has been going on. During the British era, the borders of India and China were demarcated by the British by drawing the ‘McMahon Line’. But the current government of China does not accept this demarcation. Due to this dispute, a war has also taken place between the two countries in 1962 and during the war, a large area of Jammu and Kashmir, called Xiachen, was occupied by China. This area is still under the control of China. Even after this, due to the border dispute and China’s attempts to enter the border areas of India through unilateral action, clashes have occurred between the Indian and Chinese armies. The armies of both countries had been standing face to face for a long time in the Galwan Valley. China has been making its claims on many areas of India from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh. It is continuously asserting its authority over eastern Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh. To provoke India or to make it feel insecure, it has also been changing the names of hills and cities in Arunachal Pradesh on its own. During the conflict between India and Pakistan from May 7 to May 10, it has once again changed the names of about 26 places in Arunachal Pradesh. During the conflict with Pakistan, it had clearly stood with Pakistan and announced that it would provide all kinds of support to protect the unity and integrity of Pakistan. During the conflict with Pakistan, the Afghan government had announced its support for India and had also strongly criticized the Pahalgam attack. There is also conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan over some other issues. China has recently held a special meeting in Beijing between Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaki and Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dardi to prevent Afghanistan from leaning further towards India, in which they have tried to reduce the differences between the two countries. The importance of this meeting can also be understood from the perspective of the growing security challenge for India.
But the security challenges for India are not limited to the borders of Pakistan or China. A major security challenge is now emerging for India from the Bangladesh side as well. After the overthrow of Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina, there has been a huge change in the relations between Pakistan and Bangladesh. The two countries have started cooperating with each other commercially and politically.
On the other hand, India’s relations with Bangladesh are continuously deteriorating. Pakistan’s infamous intelligence agency ISI has become active again in Bangladesh. The violent movements going on in the northeastern states of India like Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura etc. due to various reasons, which had cooled down for some years and the central government had also pacified them by making some agreements with the Naga and Mizo leaders. Now in the new situation, security experts are worried that China, Pakistan and Bangladesh can together incite violent movements in the northeastern states and can reopen training centers for rebels in Bangladesh, as has been happening for a long time. Due to this, India will have to pay special attention to its long border with Bangladesh and the northeastern states again.
Along with the above external challenges to India’s security, internal challenges are also emerging rapidly. In order to gain political advantage in internal politics, the RSS And the BJP is playing the politics of communal polarization. Efforts are being made to marginalize the second largest minority Muslim community of the country politically, religiously and economically. The so-called Hindutva organizations attack the people of the Muslim community by making one issue or the other. The ruling BJP government at the Center is also making various such laws, which the Muslim community feels will hurt its religious and political interests. Although after the Pahalgam attack, the Muslim community in Jammu and Kashmir had openly come out against terrorists and Pakistan. Messages were regularly given to the people from mosques to stand against this Pakistani-sponsored attack. The people there had also expressed their protest by taking out processions and holding candlelight marches, but despite this, Kashmiri students were targeted by communal Hindu organizations in many parts of the country. Slogans were raised against Muslims across the country and vile statements were made against them. These growing differences between the Hindu community and the Muslim community are a major threat to the security of the country internally. Other minorities in the country are also feeling insecure. Politically, there is an atmosphere of intolerance in the country. Dialogue is less and conflict is increasing between the ruling BJP and the opposition parties, including the Congress. For the democratic system to function better, it is very important to have harmonious relations between political parties and their leaders despite political differences. Although central agencies are working hard against Naxalism. But the way people are being displaced from water, forest and land in the tribal areas in the name of privatization, this growing unrest among the people may re-emerge in some new form of movement. To eliminate Naxalism, in addition to guaranteeing the livelihood of the local people in the tribal areas, much more needs to be done for their development.
The gap between the rich and the poor is also increasing due to the economic policies of the central government. Up to 40 percent of the country’s wealth has accumulated with 5 percent of the country’s people. The central government is handing over the country’s natural resources and all other means of development to a few selected industrialists and businessmen. The exploitation of the working classes such as small industrialists, small businessmen, farmers and laborers is increasing and they are being forced to take the path of agitation for their respective issues. The inadequacy of economic policies is also a big threat to the security of the country.
In the context of the above discussion, we feel that although India has expressed its firm desire to fight terrorism by taking action against Pakistan in the form of ‘Operation Sandhur’ after the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, the behavior of China during this period proves that even after Operation Sandhur, external and internal security challenges for India have not reduced, but they are only increasing. The BJP-led central government needs to increase the country’s military capability to combat external challenges vigorously. In particular, the Agniveer scheme of four-year recruitment in the army should be immediately stopped and the process of permanent recruitment should be resumed. The reduction of about one and a half lakh soldiers in the army should also be reconsidered. On the other hand, to deal with the internal security challenges of the country, the central government needs to make a major change in its policies to strengthen democracy, secularism and the federal structure, and especially the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the BJP should immediately stop their policy of communal polarization. The people of all the country should be taken along. All the people of the country should be respected by rising above the differences of religions and castes. Political, religious and cultural diversity is the strength of India, it is very important to understand this.
