Belying the Centre’s claims that shredding Articles 370 and 35-A would help end terrorism in the freshly minted Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir, the number of terrorists killed in operations in the first five months of 2019 and 2020 has shown only a small dip.
Revoking of Article 370 | Always on the cards, but Donald Trump supplied a quick trigger
Seventy-eight terrorists were killed in January-May this year as opposed to 101 being killed in the same period in 2019. The number of terrorist incidents, however, dropped from 223 to 78 in the same period.
Two experts in the field of counter-insurgency expressed concern about the spurt in killings and the continued recruitment of locals in terrorist ranks. Another official said a coherent strategy was required post 370, adding that the euphoria over the number of terrorists killed would not win over the people of Kashmir.
Stopping recruitment
J&K Director General of Police Dilbag Singh, however, told The Hindu that the number of new recruits joining terrorist ranks had been at a record low this year and the police was engaging with families and communities to wean them away from militancy.
The officer said the recent increase in encounters and operations by security forces was not unusual and should not be seen in isolation as the focus was on stopping young boys from joining the terrorist ranks.
“So far this year we have been successful in stopping 20 boys who could have joined terrorist groups. Pakistan is leaving no stone unturned by pushing fake propaganda and old messages to recruit them. Just a few days ago, three boys from Awantipora, who had almost joined the terrorists were persuaded to return as we involved their family members and counselled them,” Mr. Singh added.
Vappala Balachandran, former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, said, “J&K police is pathetically trying to connect the alarmingly high number of militants killed this year with their elevated operational efficiency to justify Union Home Ministry’s claim that Article 370 abrogation had brought peace. However, the serious increase in insurgency despite the heaviest deployment of security forces in recent memory after the August 5, 2019 lockdown would be evident with the killing of 89 militants, mostly local, this year compared to 29 during the second half of 2019”.
‘Anger against govt.’
Avinash Mohananey, a former Director General of Police who has also worked in Kashmir, said the most significant part of continued terrorism was the ongoing local recruitment. “It does not matter if you have killed a certain number of terrorists...the conditions for local recruitment are still there. The anger against the government is still there. Security forces are able to kill more militants as these people are poorly trained and equipped,” Mr. Mohananey said.
Officials said that Pakistan continued to push terrorists and weapons from across the border and it did not wait even a single day as the snow melted around March 31 to send infiltrators. Mr. Singh said around 40 terror associates and 240 overground workers who formed the support system of terrorists had been arrested this year.
“We have intercepted chatter of terror operatives where they discussed a retaliation after several commanders were killed in the past two weeks. The killing of Kashmiri Pandit sarpanch Ajay Pandita is a result of that,” he added.
UAPA cases
Post August 5, around 400 cases under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) were registered and around 300 people were booked under the Public Safety Act.
Another official, who did not want to be identified, said, “Article 370 was neither the problem nor a solution to militancy, the source is Pakistan. A clear-cut strategy is required as Kashmiris did not react violently to 370. The next step is how to win the people over, but it cannot be done by killing them and without reviving the political process. The solution does not lie in violence.”
The number of small arms recovered from terrorists in the first five months stood at 77 while the recovery in the entire 2019 was 71. Already 50 AK-47 rifles have been recovered this year, compared to 101 such sophisticated weapons recovered in the whole of 2019.
Also read: Terrorist infiltration into Jammu and Kashmir in 2018 highest in five years: MHA report
It may be recalled that J&K was placed under unprecedented restrictions and a communication lockdown after August 5 last year. High speed 4G internet connectivity is yet to be restored in the newly carved Union Territory. The J&K administration asserted that there had been multiple terrorist acts, including attacks on security forces, by uploading provocative videos and false propaganda, justifying its continued orders to restrict internet speed.
