Counter-Terrorism: Kashmir And The Bad Moslems

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April 15, 2011: India's Islamic terrorism problem in Kashmir took a turn for the worse recently when someone killed a senior Islamic cleric, in a mosque, with a bomb. The dead cleric supported an independent Kashmir, and was thus unpopular with the Pakistan based Islamic terrorists, who favor making Indian Kashmir part of Pakistan.

For the last few years, the Islamic terror groups have been directing more of their violence against Moslems who no longer back union with Pakistan. This includes Moslems who favor remaining part of India, as well as the more militant ones who want an independent Kashmir. The independents are seen as a bigger danger, because the independence option is more attractive to those Moslem Kashmiris who have supported becoming part of Pakistan.

Most Moslem Kashmiris are fed up with all the violence. In 23 years of Islamic terrorism in Kashmir, the economy has been destroyed and the seven million civilians have suffered 14,000 dead (plus 6,000 soldiers and police from all over India, and 23,000 terrorists, mostly from Pakistan.) The Islamic terrorist groups are still in business, but are having a very difficult time getting people into Kashmir anymore. Last year, India believes that about 500 Pakistani terrorists attempted to cross the border (which is now very well monitored by troops and electronics), and only about a quarter of them made it. There are believed to be only 300-400 Islamic terrorists left in Kashmir, and they are constantly being hunted and caught.

What bothers the Islamic terror groups the most is that a majority of Moslem Kashmiris may become very determined about remaining part of India. That makes Kashmir an even more hostile place for Islamic terrorists to operate in, and leaves the Islamic radicals two bad options. Either they take part in a civil war among Moslem Kashmiris, or leave and devote their remaining manpower to making attacks in less heavily policed parts of India.