As world marks the International Widows Day, thousands of widows Jammu and Kashmir deserve a special mention. There are villages like Dardpora in Kupwara which are full of widows; widows are spread all across Jammu and Kashmir. The process of untimely widowhood continues till today with terrorist killings of innocents every day.

Having failed to wrest Kashmir by force, a proxy war was unleashed in Jammu and Kashmir by Gen Zia-ul-Haq in 1988 under Operation TOPAC. Thousands of youth were taken to camps in Pakistan and trained by Pakistan Army to infiltrate back into Jammu and Kashmir to spread violence. The administration was subverted, Pandits were thrown out and terrorists killed innocents freely. THIS WAS THE INCEPTION of the whole saga which is generally not accepted as the start point by some. What was the Indian Government expected to at that stage? Sit back and let lawlessness prevail? No nation would take that course. So, the government started its counter-terrorist operations… as a counter action. Casualties took place on both sides that is, the security forces and the terrorists and number of widows multiplied. When it comes to widows, there cannot be any distinction because grief of losing husband is equal for everyone whether he was in uniform or civilian attire.
Deaths occurred due to operations against terrorists, terrorist killed while infiltrating or exfiltrating, infighting amongst terrorist tanzeems, targeting of Pandits, targeted killings of so called ‘mukhbirs’ by terrorists, innocents killed in grenade blasts and attacks by terrorists and people killed on orders of Kangaroo courts run by terrorists. Who is to be blamed for all this? To find the answer, let us go back to the start point and that is the inception of proxy war by Pakistan under operation topac in eighties. that’s it…!!! everything comes after that. So, if someone is squarely responsible for untimely deaths in Jammu and Kashmir…it is Pakistan.
As said earlier, widows have no differentiation ….their grief is equal. Hence, we must remember women made widows in Afghanistan as a result of creation of Taliban by Pakistan to fight Russians first and then Americans. Widows of the dead from Russia, Afghanistan, US, Pakistan and ISAF contingents …. are all attributable to Pakistan. Then there are widows of Pakistan Army’s genocide in Bangladesh in 1971. In addition, there are widows from Khybar Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan by the hands of Pakistan Army and widows of men killed by TTP, a subsidiary of Pakistan created Taliban. Also, there are widows of minorities killed in Pakistan. So, all in all….Pakistan and only Pakistan is responsible for producing the maximum widows in the world. And…the curse of the widows is gradually producing its effect…with Pakistan again on the verge of breaking up. Pathetic economy, precarious political situation, abysmal international standing, perilous radicalism; all these are manifestations of the curse.
Why is Pakistan the way it is? Its aim of achieving strategic depth in Afghanistan is one reason but let us see other factors that made Pakistan an epicenter of terrorism and a land of intolerance and bigotry. To start with, its birth was unnatural and based on religion hence there never was a sense of nationhood. Just hastily cobbling together of disparate groups of people like Balochis (now fighting for independence), Pashtuns (now demanding Pashtun Land), Sindhis (fighting for Sindhu Desh), Bengalis (broke away in 1971) and so on does not make a nation. Pakistanis are neither Arabs….nor Afghans…nor Turkish. Today’s Pakistan was earlier India!! There is nothing known as Pakistani culture….everything is Indian there. This identity crisis of Pakistanis is often brought out in TV debates in Pakistan. Lack of nationalism and patriotism along with deeply imbedded feudalism led to rampant corruption and constant political instability. When politicians failed, Army stepped in. And to stay relevant, Army kept Kashmir and Afghanistan boiling. The vicious cycle of power struggle between Army and politicians encouraged successive dispensations to loot exchequer in turns; no one was bothered about the nation. To run proxy war in Kashmir and Afghanistan, Pakistan foolishly got into an arms race with India that it could not afford and gradually slipped down the abyss of economic collapse. Today, its government has no money to run the show and its leaders have replaced briefcases with begging bowls.
Apart from widows, Pakistan is also responsible for exploitation of women whether it was in East Pakistan or Kashmir. Even inside Pakistan, women are not safe. Pakistan’s Punjab province has recently ‘declared an emergency’ against increasing number of rapes and abuse against women and children. four to five rape cases are being reported in Punjab province alone - everyday.
While Pakistan will face the repercussions of being a rogue state, the international community must hold it responsible for its deeds……Pakistan must answer for the sea of widows created by it. No one should come to rescue of this dangerous nation…let it break into pieces. Perhaps the off springs will be more humane.