Claim
Then-PM Rajiv Gandhi visited Pakistan in 1989, and by the end of 1989 an era of Pakistan-backed terrorism began in Kashmir.
“राजीव गांधी पाकिस्तान गए... 89 में... और बदले में 89 के अंत में कश्मीर में पाकिस्तान समर्थित आतंकवाद का दौर शुरू हो गया।”▶ Watch source segment
Rationale
The two factual assertions are correct: Rajiv Gandhi did visit Pakistan in 1989 (a bilateral visit on July 16-17, 1989, in addition to the December 1988 SAARC summit), and the era of Pakistan-backed militancy in Kashmir is standardly dated to 1989, escalating sharply after the JKLF's December 8, 1989 kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed. The anchor's phrasing 'बदले में' (in exchange/return) implies a causal link between the visit and the terrorism that historians do not establish, but the discrete factual and chronological claims — visit in 1989, terrorism era beginning by end of 1989 — are accurate.
Evidence
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1989/07/17/gandhi-visit-to-pakistan-signals-thaw/1a6148e3-83d4-48f4-a377-e27ec6c9c1c7/ Contemporary report confirms PM Rajiv Gandhi made a bilateral state visit to Pakistan on July 16-17, 1989, meeting PM Benazir Bhutto — the first such visit by an Indian PM in nearly 20 years. ✗ unreachable
- https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/visits-to-pakistan-by-indian-prime-ministers-115071100853_1.html Lists Rajiv Gandhi's Pakistan visits, including the December 1988 SAARC summit and the July 1989 bilateral trip. ✗ unreachable · HTTP 403
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidnapping_of_Rubaiya_Sayeed The Dec 8, 1989 JKLF kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed is widely described as the watershed that marked the onset of large-scale, Pakistan-backed militancy in Kashmir at the end of 1989. ✓ reachable · archived
- https://theprint.in/opinion/1989-rubaiya-sayeed-kidnapping-case-policy-kashmir/2797189/ Analysis dating the beginning of the Kashmir insurgency era to late 1989. ✓ reachable · archived