REVIEWING the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir at a high-level meeting in Jammu and Kashmir with the top intelligence, investigating, anti-terror, and policing and security agencies on Wednesday, the home minister Amit Shah reiterated that the outfits and the ecosystem that “aid, abet and sustain” terrorist-separatist campaigns need to be “dismantled” on priority. The meeting was attended by J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Union home secretary, director (IB), RAW chief and other senior officials of the government agencies, including the officers of Jammu and Kashmir. Shah said there will be “zero-tolerance” for terrorism. He also reviewed the various development projects being implemented in the union territory, and emphasised on their timely completion.
The meeting came close on the heels of the raids conducted by the NIA on the offices of Jamaat-i-Islami and the other elements believed to be a part of the ecosystem that fans militancy. Incidentally, on Wednesday also, security forces killed four militants at Sidra area in Jammu following an intense gun battle. They were headed to Kashmir Valley. A large quanity of arms and ammunition were recovered from them. The encounter in Jammu city should be a source of concern for the security agencies. Earlier also in the same area, a grenade was hurled which fortunately didn’t cause any loss of life.
Though security forces have killed over 500 militants since the revocation of Article 370 in August 2019, the militancy continues to pose a formidable challenge. The militants have struck recurrently to announce their presence. The predominant targets of their attacks over the last two years have been civilians including those belonging to minorities.
As many as 120 civilians, including over twenty Hindus, have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370. It is also true that there has been a substantial decline in the militancy-related violence in the last three years. The militant activities have come down substantially.
The objective of the ongoing counter-insurgency campaign has been to eliminate militancy by attempting to kill all the militants within a specific timeframe. Viewed from that perspective, the security agencies have been exceptionally successful following the withdrawal of Article 370 in August 2019. It is expected that the killings of the militants at this rate could drastically reduce their number. This, in turn, is expected to alter the political dynamics in the Valley and usher in peace. However, whether this would address the deeper factors underpinning the current state of affairs is impossible to predict. More so, when the current uncertainty goes back three decades. The militancy has gone through its crests and troughs but has never been wiped out. One can’t, however, deny the fact that peace has by and large held after the abrogation of Article 370. The civil unrest, particularly, has been wiped out. We hardly witness stone-throwing or the protests. As we cross over into 2023, we can only hope that the prevailing peace holds.
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