The Author is Former Director General of Information Systems and A Special Forces Veteran, Indian Army

As expected, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi indicating the desire for peace, cooperation with India and peaceful settlement of outstanding disputes was routine with no weight behind it, more of a response to PM Modi congratulating him for being appointed the new Prime Minister of Pakistan. Sharif had also mentioned Pakistan’s contribution in fighting terrorism which was a joke as Pakistan never stopped promoting terrorism. Pakistan’s proxy war on India continues unabated.

Pakistan’s DG ISI Lt General Nadeem Anjum was the one who helped the Taliban in attacking the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRFA) headquarters in Panjshir after the Taliban took control of Kabul. Pakistan Air Force (PAF) supported the attacking forces which also included Pakistani Special Forces. Pakistani drone and bomb attacks in Dashtak area of Panjshir, also killed Fahim Dashty, well-known journalist and spokesperson of the NRFA.

Pakistan had been supporting the Taliban even before the US invaded Afghanistan. Of late, there is tension between the two because Pakistan is fencing the Durand Line which has never been recognised by Afghans. Besides, there have been clashes and incidents of Pakistani air attacks in Afghan territory. But Anjum has maintained his link with the Taliban and remains in their good books because of the help to capture Panjshir. One of the fallout of this is that Pakistan-backed terrorists operating in the Kashmir Valley have started using steel core armour piercing bullets and Canadian night sights left behind by US-NATO troops in Afghanistan.

Lt General Anjum is also pushing the Khalistani agenda to de-stabilise Punjab and other parts of India

Anjum is also pushing the Khalistani agenda to de-stabilise Punjab and other parts of India. According to intelligence sources, Anjum has asked all Khalistani leaders in Lahore including Ranjit Singh Neeta and Wadhawa Singh Babbar to organise Punjab-based gangsters for weapons distribution in India.

On May 5, the Karnal police in Haryana arrested four Punjab-based terror suspects (identified as Gurpreet Singh, Parminder Singh, Amandeep Singh; all three from Ferozepur; and Bhupinder Singh from Ludhiana) travelling in a SUV on their way to Adilabad in Telangana to deliver a consignment of explosives. The suspects were in touch with a Pakistan-based man who sent instructions for delivery of explosives and weapons that were dropped in Ferozepur using drones.

Police seized arms, mobile phones, explosives (IEDs packed in three small iron containers, each weighing 2.5 kg with each containing a timer, a detonator, an explosive and power) and 1.3 lakh in cash from the four suspects. Gurpreet had met Rajbir Singh, an associate of Rinda (located in Pakistan) in jail and was in touch with him for the past nine months. Rinda had shared the location of Adilabad through an app found on one of the seized phones.

Rinda is suspected to be in Johar Town, Lahore with Wadhawa Singh who is working on behalf of the ISI. Interrogation of the suspects revealed that the ISI wants Wadhawa Singh and Rinda to carry out major blasts with RDX in India, kill local leaders to create panic, and look for opportunities to foment Hindu-Sikh and Hindu-Muslim tensions.

The suspects were in touch with a Pakistan-based man who sent instructions for delivery of explosives and weapons that were dropped in Ferozepur, Punjab using drones.

On the morning of May 8, five-six Khalistan flags were found tied on the main gate and boundary wall of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly in Dharamsala in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh. Pro-Khalistan slogans saying ‘Khalistan Zindabad’ were also painted on the walls of the assembly complex. A probe was ordered into the incident. One suspect has been arrested. On May 9, around 7.45 pm, a rocket propelled grenade was fired from outside at the intelligence headquarters of Punjab Police in Mohali. No casualties were reported. 20 suspects have been detained.

In an audio message on May 10, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, self-styled leader of the Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), warned the Chief Ministerof Himachal Pradesh of violence if he took any action against raising of the Khalistani flag in Dharamshala. He also announced that date for a referendum on Khalistan in Himachal Pradesh will be announced from Paonta Sahib in June on the 38th anniversary of Operation ‘Blue Star’.

On May 5, 2022, the Border Security Force (BSF) found the opening of a tunnel in Samba Sector of Jammu division in J&K, which turned out to be a 150-metrelong freshly dug tunnel originating from Pakistan. Oxygen was being supplied in the tunnel through 265-footlong pipes, which were found near the tunnel. The tunnel opening is about two feet wide and 21 sandbags were recovered which were used to strengthen the exit. It is suspected that the tunnel may have been used by the two Pashtun terrorists who were killed in an encounter in Sunjuwan area last month. They were picked by an over-ground worker from the Samba area. This was the fifth cross-border tunnel detected in 18 months.

On May 6, security forces gunned down three terrorists including 57-year old Mohammad Ashraf Khan alias ‘Ashraf Molvi’, top Hizbul Commander in a shootout in the forests of Srichand Top in Pahalgam (J&K), close to the Amarnath Yatra route in South Kashmir’s Anantnag District. The other two terrorists identified as Mohammad Rafiq Drangay and Roshan Zameer Tantray also belonged to the Pakistan-backed Hizbul Mujahideen.

Belonging to the Tangapawa area of Kokernag in Anantnag district, Molvi joined armed insurgency in Kashmir in 2000 after undergoing weapon training in Pakistan during 1999. He revived terrorism in the Kokernag belt. He was made operational commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen in the Kashmir Valley after Riyaz Naikoo was shot dead by security forces in May 2020.

Border Security Force (BSF) found the opening of a 150-metre long freshly dug tunnel originating from Pakistan. This was the fifth cross-border tunnel detected in 18 months.

Movli was directly involved in the murder of four men between 2017 and January 2022. He is said to have ordered the killing of Sarpanch Ghulam Rasool Dar and his wife Jawahara Begum in Anantnag in August 2021. Molvi was the last surviving member of the Burhan Wani group.

On May 8, two terrorists were killed in a shootout when security forces surrounded their hideout in the Cheyan area of Devsar in South Kashmir’s Kulgam District. The killed terrorists included Haider, a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander from Pakistan carrying an AK-56 assault rifle with four magazines, under barrel grenade launcher, one pistol and an identity card issued by the LeT. The other killed was a hybrid terrorist, Shabaz Shah from Kulgam.

It is quite obvious that Pakistan’s proxy war against us will continue with fresh impetus from Anjum. This is more so because the CIA and MI6 are bedfellows and Canada also hosts Khalistanis. That is why on April 29, 2022, the General Assembly of the State of Connecticut, USA, gave a call to celebrate the Sikh Independence Day.

With Pakistan having an inexhaustible supply of terrorists, it is for India to continue in the defensive modeor transport the proxy war into Pakistani territory.