The spike in terrorist violence in Jammu and Kashmir is quite concerning. On the one hand, a credible, representative political government is in place with an elected Chief Minister, having a popular mandate. On the other hand, the terrorists are striking at will, wherever they want. In most of the cases, the terrorists have managed to escape after the incidents.
Twenty-nine people have been killed by terrorists since an elected government took over the union territory. The terrorists are striking at an alarming regularity. Those killed include both civilians and army and security personnel.
There appears to be no idea anywhere as to how many trained terrorists are currently operating in Jammu and Kashmir.
In the run-up to the elections, there was a spurt in attacks in the Jammu region only. However, after the elections, Kashmir valley has equally been hit, with targeted civilian killings taking place, with non-Kashmiris being the main targets. Jammu region continues to remain the prime target.
There is a widespread belief that there are hardly any “local” terrorists operating in the Kashmir valley. Should that be of any consolation or purpose whether the terrorists are locals or outsiders, when they continue to target civilians, security and military personnel?
Something has seriously gone wrong somewhere. The intelligence network needs to be “reworked”. These attacks are a failure of intelligence. When seven workers including a doctor were killed in indiscriminate firing in Sonamarg, questions should have been raised, whether the intelligence people were sleeping.
Probably there has been a feeling of complacency in Jammu and Kashmir after the successful elections, which went off so peacefully, without any incident of violence. Unlike in the past, this time there was widespread participation of people in these elections. But people’s participation in elections does not mean that everything has returned to pre 1980s, in Kashmir.
Conversations with the local population during the electioneering suggested that things could go wrong anytime in Kashmir. There were indicators and suggestions that the participation of the masses in elections does not necessarily mean the return of peace. And that is proving to be right with regular and frequent terrorist attacks taking place at regular intervals all across the UT.
Given that Jammu and Kashmir is not a state but only a union territory, the control over local security and law and order remains with Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha. And he has been ensuring that there is no dilution of his authority about it.
When he called a meeting of various security agencies in the aftermath of the Sonamarg tunnel attack, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was missing. It could not be clarified whether the CM had been invited for the meeting or not, but one thing was abundantly clear that security was being and would be taken care of by the centre through its appointee Lieutenant Governor.
The Jammu and Kashmir administrative system has been adopted from the Puducherry and Delhi models, described as “half states”. However, Jammu and Kashmir is neither Delhi nor Puducherry. It has been a full-fledged state and prior to that an autonomous princely state and one of the biggest in British India.
Moreover, given the complexities the state has faced right from its accession with India, it deserves to be dealt with with sensitivity and care. There is nothing wrong with the centre retaining Law and Order within itself, while National Security in any case has to be with the centre. But this should not affect the peace in the union territory.
Even if the control of security remains with the Lieutenant Governor, but at the cutting edge, the police and security apparatus remain predominantly local, which has to be acknowledged and accommodated.
Right now, what is happening in Jammu and Kashmir, is made to look like “business as usual”, which is not the case. There is a serious security challenge in Jammu and Kashmir right now. It has increased after the successful elections and formation of a credible representative government.
While firm steps are a must, at the same time, the centre must engage and involve the elected government also in strengthening the security apparatus there, which cannot be done without the support and cooperation of the political executive.
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