Snafu, made famous by Joseph Heller’s “Catch 22”, accurately captures the situation in Kashmir. Snafu stands for Situation-Normal-All-Fouled-Up. Internet and mobile services are shut, a curfew has been imposed in many towns and hospitals even in faraway Amritsar are treating people maimed by gunfire while over 30  youths are dead. The Indian state and Jammu and Kashmir’s elected representatives are trying their utmost to break the cycle of deaths, demonstrations and more deaths after the security forces killed an urbane and photogenic militant Burhan Wani. What the situation didn’t require was for Pakistan to wade into the mess. Over the past few days, Islamabad’s energetic exertions have spanned from briefing every sundry envoy available in the Pakistani capital to locking horns with the Indian representative in the United Nations.Pakistan invariably acts as the class monitor every time the security situation deteriorates in Kashmir. It is primarily to remind the world, as also its citizens, that its covetousness for territory has a moral underpinning. This time, Pakistani statements laden with brimstone and fire serve the double purpose of keeping away the regime changers from an ailing and tainted Prime Minister’s doorstep. One killing and an eruption of protests has gifted Nawaz Sharif an opportunity to shore up his political capital. While no politician will let go of an opportunity, more so in a democratically brittle state like Pakistan, it has done the Kashmiris and their cause no good. This unending stream of invectives from Pakistan has got India’s back up. Once the Kashmir issue transmogrifies into an India-Pakistan slanging match, introspection is the casualty. Separatist leaders may feel comforted by this unequivocal backing, but Pakistan’s active insertion has narrowed the space for saner elements to push for normalisation of the situation. It has also shut the debate on whether gunfire is the only answer in J&K or elsewhere. What we see instead is the government’s veiled warning for “responsible” coverage by media and peaceniks on social media getting labelled as Pakistani stooges and worse. Calming down of Kashmir will have to await another day.