Killing of Lieutenant Umar Fayaz in Kashmir

Lieutenant Umar Fayaz, a 22 years old Indian Army officer has been murdered by terrorists in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir after he was kidnapped from his relative’s house. He was brutally tortured whole night and terrorists broke his knee and all teeth. It seems that Umar Fayaz was killed because he joined Indian army. This was an act of cowardice by terrorists. Terrorists say that they are fighting for rights of Kashmiri people but kills thousands of Kashmiris. It is time for our Kashmiri brothers & sisters to understand the real character of Pakistan sponsored terrorism.

Umar Fayaz is the real Kashmiri hero. He was son of a Kashmiri farmer. He had his own dreams and he was a very bright student. He could have become a civil servant or joined some multinational corporates but he chose to join Indian Army. Umar is the real role model for whole of India. He showed us that a son of a poor farmer from a disturbed area like Kashmir valley can go to NDA to fulfil his dream. I want to ask stone throwers – why they can’t follow the footsteps of this brave Kashmiri.  If you have any grievances then join the mainstream and then put forward your demand. State & Centre Governments should give proper education facilities & run awareness programs for Kashmiri youths. We should give them an alternative to guns and stone pelting. We have seen UPSC toppers from Kashmir and many rank holders in other prestigious exams like UPSC, IITs, CAT etc. Kashmiris also have similar aspirations like any other Indians and its duty of India to provide them ample opportunities. Also the parents should guide their children to right path. When a 5-6 years old child chant Azadi slogans then it is the fault of the society & family. Kashmiri children deserves better future than guns & stones.

Let us come to another aspect of this murder. Will Indian army take reprisal of this attack? The family of Umar needs justice from Indian state. They sent their only son to Indian army and its duty of Indian state to give justice to them and provide security to other Kashmiri Jawans. What would have been the reaction of other countries on similar murders? Last year a Pak Army officer was killed in tribal area in FATA. Pakistan blew whole bazar of the area by dynamite as punishment. I don’t say that we should do something like that but at least the militants who brutally killed Umar should be severely punished. Army & Local police must invest in local intelligence network. Today Army is virtually operating blindly without any real intelligence in Kashmir. Also Indian state should improve its image in valley. Unless you have support of significance section of population, you can’t win war against Pakistan sponsored or local terrorism. It should be made clear that India would help every main stream Kashmiri but would punish all terrorists. Militants are openly giving gun salute to killed fellow terrorists. It is a grave dangerous sign for India. We have already witnessed violence after Burhan Wani’s death. We must not allow separatists & militants to organize such protests again in future. Terrorists must be eliminated with full force but there should be a political process for the solution. There can be no military solution of Kashmir and it needs a political approach. We should bring Kashmir to the main stream India. It’s the need of the hour for Modi government to rethink on current Kashmir policy.