Panic mounts following Uri attack

India was rather abrupt in its reaction following the attack on the Uri’s Army base. The attack was certainly lethal, perhaps the most lethal in the last 25 years on the Indian armed forces in the disputed valley. It occurred in the town of Uri, west of held Kashmir's main city of Srinagar, on the Indian Army's brigade headquarters in the region along the de facto border.

“We strongly condemn the cowardly terror attack in Uri. I assure the nation that those behind this despicable attack will not go unpunished,” Modi said in a tweet following the raid on the Indian Army base.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh breathed fire against Pakistan in the aftermath of the deadly attack. Hitting out at Islamabad, he called it a terror state that needed to be identified and isolated. “I am deeply disappointed with Pakistan’s continued and direct support to terrorism and terrorist groups,” he tweeted.

Only a week ago, he had claimed that the violence would be brought under control soon. "There is a lot of improvement in Kashmir. Compared to a while ago, a lot of things have come under control and in another few days, we have will complete control,” he said, adding that the Indian government was doing its best "at all levels to diffuse the issue" and was engaging with all stakeholders.

The Indian Army also tried to deflect the security failures, saying “the casualties were high because a large number of soldiers were turning over the base to new units and were stationed in tents and temporary shelters that caught fire in the attack.”

One report by a wire agency quoted a senior Indian home ministry as saying they had increased security measures and were doing combing operations. The home ministry official, as expected, claimed that the attackers had come across the border but he was not sure to which group they belonged.

For the Indian government and the establishment, the situation in the valley is becoming downright depressing. Having a Pakistan-centred skewed world view, they measure victory in a conflict of this nature by killing more and more civilians. But fighting the Kashmiris with boots on the ground could only be a short term measure. There has been a massive failure on the political landscape once again following the killing of Burhan Wani. The Kashmiri leaders are totally unwilling to engage with the government in New Delhi. They have been unable to get their facts straight and there is a real disconnect between the ground realities in the valley and the perceptions in New Delhi. It seems that power of comprehension and deduction of every person of consequence with regard to Kashmir in New Delhi has been affected. The killing of Burhan Wani was perhaps like throwing a rock on the nest of bees.