Apropos 'Islamic State flag surfaces again in occupied Srinagar' carried by Business Recorder on Sunday, it should be a matter of grave concern for the occupied Indian authorities that despite unprecedented security cover, the Islamic State or ISIS flag yet again surfaced in Old City areas in Srinagar.
The report quoting eyewitnesses said that "even as authorities had placed hundreds of police, Central Reserve Police Force and Special Operation Group (SOG) personnel in Old City areas including Nowhatta, Gorwara, Khwaja Bazar, Bhori Kadal and Rajouri Kadal, a group of youth shouting pro-ISIS and pro-al Qaeda slogans appeared inside Jamia Masjid compound. "Two masked youth leading the group of around 20 youth were holding an ISIS flag," the newspaper report quoted as saying. This development gives a new but profound dimension to Kashmiris' indigenous and just struggle for their right to self-determination.
ISIS and similar terror groups will receive a hospitable response in places where people have been facing the worst human rights violations at the hands of occupied authorities. The situation, therefore, throws up a new and more formidable challenge for New Delhi. The ball is in Modi-led India's court. Period.