Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti is contemplating to halt anti-militancy operations following state intelligence inputs that shoot-outs by the forces are likely to be accompanied by a general bloodbath by intervening common men who seem not to care for their lives. CM Mufti is mulling to make a call to the local active militants in Kashmir to surrender and come back to the mainstream.
Recently, more than half a dozen local youths, who had joined the militant ranks only a few months back and had not carried out any attacks on the security forces, have been killed by the Army and the security forces in joint anti-militancy operations.
The Mehbooba government is also worried about the ground situation and the reaction of the people at the encounter sites after the stern warning by Army chief Bipin Rawat that such protesters would be treated like anti-nationals.
Rawat’s statement drew reaction from across the political spectrum. Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad blamed the Central government for worsening the situation in Kashmir and said that threats to the youth by the Army chief were unjustified. Both Congress and National Conference criticised his statement and said that “belligerent remarks of the Army chief will increase hostility in Kashmir”.
But Minister of State in PMO Jatindra Singh alleged that the two parties are behaving like separatists. Union Minister Prakash Javadekar asked opposition parties not to politicise the armed forces. He said that whatever the Army chief has said is in the national interest.
Now, the J&K government has imposed Section 144 and other restrictions in the three-kilometer radius of encounter sites and has also decided to jam mobile networks in these areas so that people do not assemble near the sites.
The decision was taken after the Central Government told CM Mufti to act so that the Army can conduct anti-militancy operations without being inflicted with casualties because of public protests.
Informed sources told this newspaper that the state government finally on Thursday issued fresh advisory on encounter sites in Kashmir and asked people to stay away so that there is no collateral damage.
In a high level meeting after Central intervention, the Army, CRPF and the J&K Police reviewed the present procedure of encounters and decided that the state government should issue advisories through deputy commissioners of different districts. Rawat’s statement came after the Parray Mohalla incident in Bandipora this week, when the Army faced a crowd pelting stones during an anti-insurgency operation.