A combination of factors, ranging from setbacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and on the Western border with Afghanistan to losing the narrative that Pakistan’s destiny is in the hands of the Army, has made Pakistan cross the seemingly self imposed red line of not creating conditions that may affect the livelihoods of ordinary Kashmiris.
The massacre of tourists, based on their religion and specific killings of Hindu civilians in Pahalgam by Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists, shows the desperation of the Pakistani Army under an ineffective Chief of Army Staff, Gen Asim Munir, feels Ramanathan Kumar, a former intelligence officer in the Research and Analysis Wing.
In a candid conversation with Editor-in-Chief Nitin A. Gokhale, Kumar says the killings have come as a nasty surprise, despite some clear indications over the past couple of years of Pakistan’s clear intentions to keep the Jammu and Kashmir plot boiling. Listen in
