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This phase will soon pass, things are calming down, says top army commander
NEW DELHI: The killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani is unlikely to push Jammu and Kashmir back to violence of the 1990s, India’s top military commander
NEW DELHI: The killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani is unlikely to push Jammu and Kashmir back to violence of the 1990s, India’s top military commander in the state said.
Speaking exclusively to Hindustan Times, Northern Army Commander Lieutenant General DS Hooda said, “We are hopeful that the phase will soon pass.”
Compared to the 7,000-odd militants who operated in the state in the 1990s, the figure is currently pegged at around 200.
Wani used social media to recruit young militants and security agencies acknowledge that young men in the Valley were swayed by the images he posted online.
“Social media is a huge challenge from the point of view of recruitment and radicalisation. There’s a need to monitor that space and see what’s going on. Also, we need to figure out how we can use it for our own purposes,” Hooda said.
On t he prevailing situation in Kashmir, Hooda said, “It’s improving and things are calming down.”
On Monday, there was some respite for Amarnath pilgrims who had been stranded for two days following the outrage over Wani’s death.
“More than 20,000 pilgrims have been stranded at Baltal for two days after completing their yatra. We were able to move them out. For others, the yatra may resume soon. The army’s effort is to ensure that things return to normal soon,” he said.
The army said there had been a sharp decline in the number of militants in the Valley as the force had tightened its counter-infiltration posture over the years.
“They are having a hard time sneaking in. So the local network is under pressure to keep militancy alive. That’s where the Burhan Wanis come in,” said a senior officer at the Army headquarters here. He said the Valley had seen far more dreaded militants but social media had “exalted Wani’s status”.
The Udhampur-based Northern Command is the nervecentre of the army’s counterterrorism operations.
