India has responded to a suicide-bombing Thursday in Indian-held Kashmir, which killed 40 Indian security personnel, with denunciations and blood-curdling threats—all but announcing an impending military strike on Pakistan. Speaking yesterday, Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister and the head of the Hindu supremacist Bharatiya Janatha Party (BJP), held Pakistan responsible for the attack. He then vowed that India will make “the terror outfits and those aiding and abetting them …. pay a heavy price.” “Let me assure the nation,” Modi continued, “those behind this attack, the perpetrators of this attack will be punished.” He said his government has given India’s security forces “complete freedom of action.” Modi has repeatedly boasted that the cross-border military strikes he ordered on Pakistan in September 2016 in retaliation for a terror attack on an Indian army base in Jammu and Kashmir, have freed India from the shackles of “strategic restraint.” Seeking to whip up war-fever, Modi declared yesterday: “The blood of the people is boiling... Our neighbouring country, which has been isolated internationally, is in a state of illusion, [and] thinks such terror attacks can destabilise us, but their plans will not materialise.” At least 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) para-militaries were killed and several more injured on Thursday afternoon when a suicide-bomber rammed an SUV packed with explosives into a CRPF bus traveling on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in the Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir. The bus was part of a convoy of 78 vehicles that was returning more than 2,500 soldiers, most of whom had been on holiday, to active duty in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir’s largest city. Indian authorities blamed the success of the attack—the single biggest loss of Indian security forces in three decades—on intelligence and security lapses. Citing a claim of responsibility for the attack from the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), an Islamist pro-Kashmir separatist group, New Delhi immediately declared Pakistan was to blame. Yesterday, New Delhi delivered Pakistan what was termed a sternly-worded diplomatic demarche, recalled its ambassador from Islamabad, and announced it was canceling Pakistan’s most-favoured nation trade status . Everything suggests that Modi and his BJP intend to exploit Thursday’s attack to the hilt to whip up bellicose nationalism with a view to deflecting mounting social anger, and mobilising its reactionary Hindu communalist base. All opposition will be branded as a threat to the “national unity” needed to confront arch-rival Pakistan. In recent months, the Modi government has been shaken by growing worker and farmer protests—including a two-day nationwide general strike in January in which tens of millions participated. Moreover, in December the BJP suffered electoral defeats in three Hindi-heartland states that hitherto were among its strongest bastions. This has placed a large question mark over whether the BJP will prevail in the national elections to be held in multiple phases this April and May. Yesterday, the BJP and its Hindu extremist allies organised protests in several cities, including New Delhi, at which demands for military action against Pakistan were raised. A crucial factor in the BJP’s ability to exploit the Kashmir events to stoke communal reaction and to prepare aggressive military action against Pakistan is the role of the so-called opposition parties. Whatever their tactical differences and criticisms of the ruling BJP, they all support aggressively pursuing New Delhi’s geo-political interests in the region against Pakistan. Congress Party President Rahul Gandhi denounced the incident as “an attack on India’s soul” and assured the BJP government that his party, as well as the entire opposition, is fully supportive of the government and the military. “I want to make it very clear,” said Gandhi, “that the aim of terrorism is to divide this country and we are not going to be divided for even one second, no matter how hard people try.” The Congress and all the other opposition parties, including the Stalinist Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPM, supported Modi’s September 2016 “surgical strikes” and hailed the Indian army for carrying them out. In the southern India state of Kerala, the CPM Chief Minister and Politburo member Pianrayi Vijayan introduced a resolution in the state assembly lauding the “surgical strikes.” The Stalinists have issued only tepid criticisms of the BJP government’s brutal crackdown on popular opposition in Kashmir, India’s only Muslim majority state, and its belligerent stand against Pakistan. Continuing, albeit with an even harder edge, the policy of India’s previous Congress-led government, Modi’s BJP regime has rebuffed repeated Pakistani overtures and refuses all high-level discussions with Pakistan until Islamabad demonstrates it has ended all logistical support for insurgent groups in Indian-administered Kashmir. The CPM Politburo immediately issued a statement that “strongly condemns the terrorist attack mounted on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama in Jammu & Kashmir.” It reiterated its support for the Indian military, declaring: “The Politburo of the CPI (M) conveys its heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families of the personnel who laid down their lives in the line of duty.” Thursday’s suicide bombing was reportedly carried out by 20-year-old Adil Ahmed Dar, a Kashmir labourer, who grew up only a few kilometres from the site of bomb blast. According to his parents, Dar was radicalised following the police arrest and torture of him and his friends three years ago while they were returning from school. Pakistan’s reaction to India’s bellicose threats has thus far been subdued and limited to a denial that it had any role in the Pulwama suicide-bombing. In previous cases, Islamabad has made its own blood-curdling threats of military retaliation, including boasting of its readiness to use nuclear weapons, in response to any Indian attack. It appears that Pakistan has been shaken by statements issued by several countries, including the US, condemning the attack and voicing support for India’s “struggle against terrorism.” Yesterday, US National Security Adviser John Bolton effectively gave Washington’s green light to an Indian military strike on Pakistan. Bolton told the media that he had spoken with his Indian counterpart twice since Thursday’s bomb blast. "I told Ajit Doval today that we support India's right to self-defence,” he said. Bolton also reiterated the demand of an earlier White House statement that Pakistan eliminate all terrorist “safe-havens.” The Kashmir dispute and the broader Indo-Pakistani rivalry have their roots in the reactionary 1947 communal partition of the subcontinent into a Muslim Pakistan and a Hindu-dominated India through the joint actions of South Asia’s departing British colonial overlords and the rival communally-based wings of the bourgeoisie, led respectively by the Muslim League and the Indian National Congress. While both independent India and Pakistan laid claim to all of Kashmir, it subsequently came to be divided, through intrigue and war, into the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan-held Azad Kashmir. In pursuit of their geo-political ambitions, the Indian and Pakistan ruling elites have both abused and ridden roughshod over the rights of the Kashmiri people. For decades, New Delhi manipulated elections and arbitrarily unseated governments in Jammu and Kashmir. When faced with mass political unrest in the late 1980s, it resorted to violent repression. For its part, Pakistan has manipulated the opposition within Jammu and Kashmir and promoted Islamist insurgent groups in a bid to undermine rival India. With the Modi government now seeking to extract a pound of flesh from Pakistan to “avenge” last Thursday’s attack, there is a very real danger relations between South Asia’s rival nuclear-armed states will cascade out of control. Following India’s so-called surgical strikes on Pakistan in September 2016, the two countries teetered for months on the brink of all-out war. Shelling occurred on almost a daily basis, killing dozens of military personnel and civilians on both sides. Adding to the explosiveness of the situation is the US drive to harness India to its military-strategic offensive against China. As a result, the Indo-Pakistan conflict has become increasingly enmeshed with rising US-China tensions, with New Delhi allied with Washington and Islamabad with Beijing.<doc-sep>Filed on February 15, 2019 | Last updated on February 15, 2019 at 11.24 am The suicide bomber targeted an Indian police convoy. The United States condemned the Kashmir terror attack that took place on Thursday in "the strongest terms", and called on "all countries...to deny safe haven and support for terrorists". US Department of State: US condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist attack today on an Indian CRPF convoy in the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir. We extend our deepest condolences to the victims & their families, & wish a speedy recovery to those injured.#PulwamaAttack (1/3) pic.twitter.com/tzeCbZzEsE - ANI (@ANI) February 14, 2019 Saudi Arabia also expressed its horror and condemned the bombings that targetted the Indian police convoy in Jammu and Kashmir. Other reactions and condemnations from around the world have been pouring in for the fallen victims. Australia condemns the heinous terrorist attack on an Indian police convoy in Jammu and Kashmir. We convey our deepest condolences to the families of the victims, and all those injured. Our thoughts are with my friend Prime Minister @narendramodi and the Indian people. - Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) February 15, 2019 Deeply saddened by the news of the horrific terrorist attack in Kashmir. Bhutan strongly condemns terrorist attack of any nature. Our prayers are with the grieved family and we are following the situation closely. - PM Bhutan (@PMBhutan) February 14, 2019 JUST IN: President Putin of Russia writes condolence message to Indian President and Prime Minister after the Pulwama terror attack on CRPF in Kashmir today. Putin calls for punishment for perpetrators and sponsors of the terrorist attack. pic.twitter.com/VLbAKq17iV - Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) February 14, 2019 I strongly condemn the deadly terrorist attack in Kashmir today killing at least 40 people. We send our thoughts and prayers to those affected. The Maldives will continue to work with India and the international community to combat terrorism in our region and the world at large. - Ibrahim Mohamed Solih (@ibusolih) February 14, 2019 In the worst ever terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir since militancy erupted in 1989, a suicide bomber on Thursday rammed his SUV packed with explosives into a CRPF bus on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Pulwama district, killing at least 45 troopers and leaving the security established stunned.<doc-sep>NEW DELHI/SRINAGAR (Reuters) - The United States has told India it supports its right to defend itself against cross-border attacks, the government in New Delhi said on Saturday as it considers retaliation against a car bombing in disputed Kashmir claimed by Pakistan-based militants. Indian Army soldiers patrol a street during a curfew in Jammu, February 16, 2019. REUTERS/Mukesh Gupta Tensions between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan have risen again after India, incensed by the killing of 44 paramilitary police in the deadliest attack in Kashmir in decades, demanded that Pakistan act against the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) militant group behind the bombing. It has begun a diplomatic and economic offensive against its neighbor, withdrawing Most Favoured Nation trade privilege earlier in the week. On Saturday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said customs duties on all imports from Pakistan would be raised to 200 percent. The impact is likely to be limited, experts say, with bilateral trade between the two countries barely reaching $2 billion. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, facing a general election by May, is under pressure from hardline groups for more decisive action against Pakistan. U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton spoke to his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval on Friday night, promising to help bring those behind the attack to justice, the Indian foreign ministry said in a readout of the phone call. “The two NSAs vowed to work together to ensure that Pakistan cease to be a safe haven for JeM and terrorist groups that target India, the U.S. and others in the region,” the foreign ministry said. “They resolved to hold Pakistan to account for its obligations under U.N. resolutions,” it added. Pakistan condemned Thursday’s attack, in which the bomber slammed into a military convoy, and denied any complicity. The foreign ministry accused India of hacking into its website, a move it said blocked access from many parts of the world. “We knew that the Indians will do such a cheap thing,” spokesman Mohammad Faisal said. Slideshow ( 4 images ) There was no immediate response from India on the allegation. India has for years accused Muslim Pakistan of backing separatist militants in divided Kashmir, which the neighbors both claim in full but rule in part. Pakistan denies that, saying it only offers political and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people in their struggle for self-determination. Modi said on Saturday he had given a free hand to the military to respond to acts of violence. “The country understands the anger simmering within the soldiers,” he said at a political rally in western Maharashtra state. ANGER AS BODIES ARRIVE As the bodies of the policemen who died in the car bomb reached their homes in small towns across India, crowds waving the Indian flag gathered in the streets to honor them and demand revenge. Others held flowers as they walked behind the coffins in the towns of Jabalpur, Varanasi and Moga, television showed. Tens of thousands of troops, paramilitary police and state police are deployed across scenic Kashmir to quell the nearly 30-year revolt there, India’s only Muslim-majority region. In Jammu, the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir, authorities imposed a curfew for a second day after mobs attacked vehicles and pelted stones at the homes of Kashmiris, saying they sympathized with the militants. Sanjeev Verma, the divisional commissioner of Jammu, said that the curfew will remain until further orders to maintain law and order. An army column staged a flag march. Kashmiris living in other cities of India also faced a backlash. Aqib Ahmad, a student in the northern Indian hill town of Dehradun, said his landlord asked him to vacate the house. The landlord told him he feared people would attack his property for renting it out to a Kashmiri.<doc-sep>
Indian police clash with Kashmiri protesters in Srinagar on July 11. AFP Indian Kashmir rocked by attack THOUSANDS of mourners across India attended funerals on Saturday for some of the 41 soldiers killed in a suicide bombing in Indian-administered Kashmir as a round-the-clock curfew remained in force in part of the restive region. The paramilitary troops were killed on Thursday as explosives packed in a van ripped through a convoy transporting 2,500 soldiers in the disputed Himalayan region, the deadliest attack in a 30-year-old armed conflict. TV stations showed coffins wrapped in Indian flags being carried by thousands of people across their hometowns, after the bodies were flown to New Delhi late on Friday for a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. India has accused Pakistan of harbouring the militants behind the attack, which has sparked nationwide outrage and some public calls for war against the nuclear-armed arch-rival to avenge the killings. Kashmir has been split between India and Pakistan since independence from Britain in 1947, with both the countries, which have fought three wars, claiming it in its entirety. Two buses of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in the 78-vehicle convoy were targeted by the bomber on a key highway in the Pulwama district, just outside the main city of Srinagar. The Pakistan-based Islamist group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) claimed responsibility, and the vehicle was driven by a known local militant. The powerful blast reduced one of the buses to a heap of mangled debris. Pictures showed bodies and body parts strewn all over the highway. “I feel proud of the martyrdom of my son. I expect the government of India to avenge the killings,” Brish Soreng, father of one of the soldiers, told reporters. Modi on Saturday said those behind the attack would be held responsible. India is garnering diplomatic support after the attack and has vowed to “isolate” Pakistan in the international community, saying it has “incontrovertible evidence” of Islamabad’s role. Pakistan has rejected the allegations. Jaish-e-Mohammed is largely considered to be one of the most active Pakistan-based insurgent groups fighting in Kashmir. Islamabad was battling another crisis on its western border on Saturday after Iran accused Pakistan-based militants of killing 27 Revolutionary Guards in a suicide attack in Isfahan city. Tehran asked Pakistan to crack down on militants or face consequences for “housing” them. The warnings to Islamabad came ahead of Sunday’s two-day visit by Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman to Pakistan. He is expected to visit India a day later. Street protests continued on Saturday across Indian cities with demonstrators burning effigies of Pakistani leaders and cleric Maulana Masood Azhar, who founded Jaish-e-Mohammed. The shock attack has caused widespread anger across India and a violent backlash against Kashmiris elsewhere in the country. Mob attacks on Kashmiri students and businessmen have been reported in the northern city of Dehradun, with some fleeing the city. A curfew remained in place in Kashmir’s Hindu-majority Jammu city after mobs on Friday attacked Kashmiri properties, set fire to vehicles and pelted housing complexes with stones, prompting counter-protests in Srinagar. At least 12 people were injured in the city, local media reported, and internet access in the area was suspended. Angry Indian social media users furiously demanded retribution for Thursday’s attack, while several hawkish TV channels called for all-out war with Pakistan. The attack has put Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the back foot ahead of national elections due by May. “Revenge is the only word that comes to my Mind,” Modi government minister Babul Supriyo wrote on Twitter. A meeting of parties in New Delhi on Saturday extended support to the government in “fighting terrorism, defending India’s unity and integrity”.