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Centre reviews security in J&K as attacks rise
On Friday, Union home minister Amit Shah chaired a meeting where current security arrangements and preparedness for Amarnath Yatra were discussed.
The central government convened a meeting of top ministers and functionaries on Friday to bolster security in Jammu and Kashmir after 13 civilians were gunned down by terrorists in three months but senior officials ruled out moving Pandit communities out of the Valley or scrapping the Amarnath Yatra.
Union home minister Amit Shah chaired a meeting where current security arrangements and preparedness for Amarnath Yatra, scheduled between June 30 and August 11, were discussed, said people aware of developments. The meeting, which ran in two sessions, lasted about three hours, they added.
In attendance were national security adviser Ajit Doval, J&K lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha, army chief General Manoj Pande, J&K police chief Dilbag Singh and other top government functionaries. On Thursday too, the home minister convened a meeting with Doval and Research and Analysis Wing chief Samant Goel.
The meeting came a day after a bank employee from Rajasthan and a labourer from Bihar were shot dead by terrorists in J&K’s Kulgam and Budgam districts, respectively. This was the 13th targeted killing of a civilian in the Valley since March and sparked panic among migrant and Pandit communities, many of whom said they feared for their lives and wanted to leave the Valley.
But a senior government official with knowledge of developments said the Centre was disinclined to move them out of the region. “Targeted killings reflect a level of desperation. Our system will take care of this. We will not transfer Kashmiri pandits to Jammu. We can’t be a part of any ethnic cleansing, and believe in a multicultural society,” said the official, requesting anonymity. Pandits will be moved to safer locations, he added.
Since March 2, at least 13 civilians – of which six were local Muslims, five Hindus were from the Valley, including one Kashmiri pandit, two non-local Hindus – and five police personnel have been killed by unidentified terrorists. Many members from the migrant and Pandit communities say they fear a return to the 90s, when many Pandit families were forced to flee their homes under the shadow of terror. Hundreds of Kashmiri Pandit employees deputed in the Valley under the Prime Minister’s package for the rehabilitation of the community in 2008 have boycotted work and held sit-in protests across Kashmir. Some have even started leaving. “Half of the families have left. Our only demand is relocation from Kashmir,” said Sandeep Kumar, who lives in the Sheikhpora transit camp.
But the government official quoted above indicated that the administration had dug its heels in. “A small group of people are trying to create a narrative that only they can run the state and get back to the old system. We won’t allow that,” he said.
“Some killings here and there will not deter us. Common people are very nice. This is not jihad. It is being done by some militants, and Pakistan is behind all these attacks. There is an attempt to create chaos,” he said.
“Amarnath Yatra is going to happen,” he added.
This is a significant decision because the pilgrimage to the 3,880m-high cave shrine of Lord Shiva, located in the upper reaches of the Himalayas, is being organised after two Covid-interrupted years. It is held from the twin routes of Pahalgam and Baltal.
The official added that since January, one million tourists have visited the region but held out a warning. “Tourists can be killed if they are targeting non-locals. Anybody can come under attack. They will target Muslims too,” he said.
The killings of civilians – a cab driver, a school teacher, a YouTuber, shop worker, government worker, railway worker and village chief among them – marks a new phase of uncertainty and bloodshed for the restive region that has battled terrorism and armed separatism for decades.
On Thursday morning, an unidentified terrorist barged into Ellaqie Dehati Bank’s branch in Kulgam’s Mohanpora and fired on Vijay Kumar inside his cabin. CCTV footage of the incident showed the veiled assailant shooting Kumar before escaping. Kumar, who was from Rajasthan’s Hanumangarh, was shifted to Kulgam’s district hospital, where doctors declared him dead. He got married three months ago and lived in Kulgam with his wife. In the evening, terrorists fired at a brick kiln in the Chadoora area of Kulgam, killing Dilkush Kumar and injuring Guri. Dilkush was a resident of Arnia in Bihar.
Rahul Bhat, a government employee who was shot dead inside the office in Budgam on May 12. Five days later, wine shop employee Ranjit Singh was killed in an attack in Baramulla. On May 25, artist Amreen Bhat was gunned down in her house in Budgam and on May 31, school teacher Rajini Bala was shot dead inside a government school where she was posted.
Anger continued to course through the Hindu community in Kashmir. “How long we will be killed. Take decisive action …I have stayed back but yesterday many migrated. I want to appeal to the central government to take swift action to bring confidence,” said Sandeep Mawa, chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Reconciliation Front.
The developments reflect a change in the modus operandi of Pakistan-supported terrorists who are going after soft targets, said former director general of military operations Lieutenant General Vinod Bhatia (retd).
“The way forward is to launch widescale intelligence-based operations to neutralise terrorists without causing collateral damage. Also, we have to keep invested in the silent majority of the Valley which has been pro-India,” Bhatia added.
