<p>The killing of school principal Supinder Kaur and teacher Deepak Chand in Srinagar — the former a Sikh woman and the latter a Hindu — sent shivers down people’s spines in the Valley. Twelve people, including the owner of a popular chemist shop, Makhan Lal Bindroo, lost their lives due to terrorist violence in the Valley in October this year.</p>.<p>The series of civilian killings followed by encounters in Poonch and Rajouri in which 11 army personnel, including an officer and two Junior Commissioned Officers were martyred, has belied the claim that all is hunky-dory in the Union Territory, what with thousands of tourists having visited the Valley between July and September this year. According to available data, 36 civilians and 78 security personnel were killed in 2019. The figures declined to 33 civilians and 46 security personnel in 2020 and this year, the toll is more than 30, including non-Muslim civilians and security personnel till October 26. If militant deaths are included, the total number of terrorism-related killings is 283 in 2019, 321 in 2020 and 207 till October this year.</p>.<p>The spate of killings sent a few hundred Sikhs and Hindus packing their belongings and heading for secure harbours in Jammu. Rumour mills worked overtime to convince the gullible that it was a return of the 1990 violence. An impossibility in the present environment. Much water has flown down the Ganga since then. Towards the end of 1989, when militancy raised its head in the Valley, security forces were taken by surprise. Ill-prepared to take on Pakistan-backed militants, the police personnel were a demoralised lot. Massive induction of security forces – the Army, Border Security Force (BSF) and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) – helped wrest control over the situation.</p>.<p>On CRPF fell the major responsibility of restoring peace in the Valley by coordinating the deployment of the forces and organising anti-terrorist operations headed by an Inspector General of Police. A modicum of normalcy was restored at a heavy price within a few years. Hundreds of police, para-military and Army personnel sacrificed their lives to restore near-normalcy in the Valley. Jammu & Kashmir police personnel were put through intensive training sessions, equipped with modern weapons and equipment which revived their morale to take on the militants. The blend of technical inputs through modern communication interceptors with human intelligence gathered from the field enhanced the intelligence-gathering machinery, helping the security forces launch successful operations against militants.</p>.<p>The Special Operations Group of the state police operated in close coordination with the Army, CRPF and BSF which yielded commendable results. Several top militants belonging to various terrorist outfits were eliminated from time to time with security forces heaving a sigh of relief in the hope that militancy was on its last legs. But that was not to be. With new recruits joining the outfits, militancy has not ebbed. The handlers from across the border have lured our youngsters, trained them, equipped them with weapons and sent them back to attack security forces and civilians.</p>.<p>The Resistance Force (TRF) – a frontal outfit of the Lashkar-e-Taiba – raised last year, has owned responsibility for most of the violent incidents. Deviating from the usual ploy of projecting militants as heroes, the TRF has managed to lure young boys by exposing them to video shots of their attacks on security forces. They are trained to shoot their targets with pistols that can be easily hidden and then merge into the populace, making it difficult for the security forces to track them down. Several other new outfits like the Geelani Force, People’s Anti-Fascist Force, Freedom Seekers of Kashmir, United Liberation Front and the Harkat-313 have emerged and need to be nipped in the bud before they turn monstrous. </p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Big role</strong></p>.<p>While the security forces keep the militants at bay, our political leaders have a big role to play if normalcy has to return. Undoubtedly, the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A has been a cause for much disaffection among the local leaders. Ultimately, the Centre has to necessarily rely on local politicians to take over the reins of governance. The recent statement by former chief minister Farooq Abdullah that he will continue to be an Indian and will always remain with India should be reassuring to many a Doubting Thomas. Restoration of statehood followed by early elections without having to wait for the outcome of the report of the Delimitation Commission ought to be the priority of the Centre.</p>.<p>Without public support, security forces cannot achieve much. It is the local leaders alone who can influence public opinion to steer it favourably towards the security forces and thereby root out militancy. Despotic action serves to alienate the inhabitants of the state and can be counter-productive. With a neighbour across the border looking for opportunities to create disaffection among the masses, utmost caution is called for. It is rather ironic that while the security forces make all efforts to win over the people with various civic action projects and friendly overtures, the political leadership goes in a different direction.</p>.<p>Return of non-Muslims residents to other places from the Valley needs to be arrested at any cost, which is possible only when they are assured of their safety and security. Installation of CCTV cameras at all vital points and monitoring them round the clock could help the security forces rush to any spot in the shortest possible time and even avert incidents when suspicious characters are spotted. Nearly 80,000 Sikh families have stuck on to their abode in the Valley despite the shocking massacre of 36 Sikhs in Chattisinghpora in Anantnag district in 2000. They should not be let down now.</p>.<p>Since the tourism sector offers enormous opportunities, the state ought to open tourism institutes on the lines of the Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management run by the Central government not just in the Valley but also in Ladakh and Jammu. Surrendered militants could be trained on highly subsidised fees in these institutes and rehabilitated. Tackling unemployment needs to be prioritised.</p>.<p><span class="italic">(<em>The writer is retired IGP, CRPF</em>)</span></p>
<p>The killing of school principal Supinder Kaur and teacher Deepak Chand in Srinagar — the former a Sikh woman and the latter a Hindu — sent shivers down people’s spines in the Valley. Twelve people, including the owner of a popular chemist shop, Makhan Lal Bindroo, lost their lives due to terrorist violence in the Valley in October this year.</p>.<p>The series of civilian killings followed by encounters in Poonch and Rajouri in which 11 army personnel, including an officer and two Junior Commissioned Officers were martyred, has belied the claim that all is hunky-dory in the Union Territory, what with thousands of tourists having visited the Valley between July and September this year. According to available data, 36 civilians and 78 security personnel were killed in 2019. The figures declined to 33 civilians and 46 security personnel in 2020 and this year, the toll is more than 30, including non-Muslim civilians and security personnel till October 26. If militant deaths are included, the total number of terrorism-related killings is 283 in 2019, 321 in 2020 and 207 till October this year.</p>.<p>The spate of killings sent a few hundred Sikhs and Hindus packing their belongings and heading for secure harbours in Jammu. Rumour mills worked overtime to convince the gullible that it was a return of the 1990 violence. An impossibility in the present environment. Much water has flown down the Ganga since then. Towards the end of 1989, when militancy raised its head in the Valley, security forces were taken by surprise. Ill-prepared to take on Pakistan-backed militants, the police personnel were a demoralised lot. Massive induction of security forces – the Army, Border Security Force (BSF) and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) – helped wrest control over the situation.</p>.<p>On CRPF fell the major responsibility of restoring peace in the Valley by coordinating the deployment of the forces and organising anti-terrorist operations headed by an Inspector General of Police. A modicum of normalcy was restored at a heavy price within a few years. Hundreds of police, para-military and Army personnel sacrificed their lives to restore near-normalcy in the Valley. Jammu & Kashmir police personnel were put through intensive training sessions, equipped with modern weapons and equipment which revived their morale to take on the militants. The blend of technical inputs through modern communication interceptors with human intelligence gathered from the field enhanced the intelligence-gathering machinery, helping the security forces launch successful operations against militants.</p>.<p>The Special Operations Group of the state police operated in close coordination with the Army, CRPF and BSF which yielded commendable results. Several top militants belonging to various terrorist outfits were eliminated from time to time with security forces heaving a sigh of relief in the hope that militancy was on its last legs. But that was not to be. With new recruits joining the outfits, militancy has not ebbed. The handlers from across the border have lured our youngsters, trained them, equipped them with weapons and sent them back to attack security forces and civilians.</p>.<p>The Resistance Force (TRF) – a frontal outfit of the Lashkar-e-Taiba – raised last year, has owned responsibility for most of the violent incidents. Deviating from the usual ploy of projecting militants as heroes, the TRF has managed to lure young boys by exposing them to video shots of their attacks on security forces. They are trained to shoot their targets with pistols that can be easily hidden and then merge into the populace, making it difficult for the security forces to track them down. Several other new outfits like the Geelani Force, People’s Anti-Fascist Force, Freedom Seekers of Kashmir, United Liberation Front and the Harkat-313 have emerged and need to be nipped in the bud before they turn monstrous. </p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Big role</strong></p>.<p>While the security forces keep the militants at bay, our political leaders have a big role to play if normalcy has to return. Undoubtedly, the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A has been a cause for much disaffection among the local leaders. Ultimately, the Centre has to necessarily rely on local politicians to take over the reins of governance. The recent statement by former chief minister Farooq Abdullah that he will continue to be an Indian and will always remain with India should be reassuring to many a Doubting Thomas. Restoration of statehood followed by early elections without having to wait for the outcome of the report of the Delimitation Commission ought to be the priority of the Centre.</p>.<p>Without public support, security forces cannot achieve much. It is the local leaders alone who can influence public opinion to steer it favourably towards the security forces and thereby root out militancy. Despotic action serves to alienate the inhabitants of the state and can be counter-productive. With a neighbour across the border looking for opportunities to create disaffection among the masses, utmost caution is called for. It is rather ironic that while the security forces make all efforts to win over the people with various civic action projects and friendly overtures, the political leadership goes in a different direction.</p>.<p>Return of non-Muslims residents to other places from the Valley needs to be arrested at any cost, which is possible only when they are assured of their safety and security. Installation of CCTV cameras at all vital points and monitoring them round the clock could help the security forces rush to any spot in the shortest possible time and even avert incidents when suspicious characters are spotted. Nearly 80,000 Sikh families have stuck on to their abode in the Valley despite the shocking massacre of 36 Sikhs in Chattisinghpora in Anantnag district in 2000. They should not be let down now.</p>.<p>Since the tourism sector offers enormous opportunities, the state ought to open tourism institutes on the lines of the Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management run by the Central government not just in the Valley but also in Ladakh and Jammu. Surrendered militants could be trained on highly subsidised fees in these institutes and rehabilitated. Tackling unemployment needs to be prioritised.</p>.<p><span class="italic">(<em>The writer is retired IGP, CRPF</em>)</span></p>