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| Does anyone still need to reduce 'footprints of security forces in Srinagar?' | | |
Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, Oct 3: A nightlong encounter between a foreign militant and the State police in Ahmad Nagar area near Soura in Srinagar yesterday left eight police personnel injured while the lone militant is believed to have escaped under the cover of darkness in the area.
Ahmad Nagar is barely 2 Kms. away from Soura, the ancestral home of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. It is barely 8 Kms. away from the Civil Secretariat that houses the offices of the CM, all his Ministerial colleagues and top bureaucrats of the State.
Because of its proximity to Anchar Lake this area has been one of the most vulnerable areas because of militants presence since 1990 when armed violence was started by Pakistan sponsored militants in Jammu and Kashmir.
Till the area was declared out of bounds for the Army to carry out operations against the militants things had started returning to normal there. After the State Government started its much hyped campaign to reduce the "footprints of the security forces in urban and semi urban areas" some camps of the CRPF around the Anchar Lake have also been removed besides demolishing over half a dozen CRPF bunkers around the Lake.
The fact that the militant commander believed to have been a foreigner belonging to the LeT managed to escape after injuring eight police personnel and engaging them in a gun battle for over five hours during the night proves that Srinagar city and its suburbs are not completely sanitized from any militant presence.
Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections are due next year and the fact that militants have carried out a deadly attack on the Bye Pass road in Srinagar earlier this year and one of their top commanders could manage his escape after he had been spotted by the police indicates the situation is far from normal in the summer capital.
Those advocating the revocation of AFSPA and the reduction of the so-called footprints of the security forces must start rethinking their political strategy to appease a certain section of people who have been supporting violence in Jammu and Kashmir.
The only way to express their political will for the people in a democratic country like ours is through the legitimate exercise of their right to vote. If the over one million population of Srinagar is prevented by the fear of militants from doing so during the forthcoming elections everybody advocating repeal of AFSPA or reduction of security force footprints would willingly or unwillingly have played into the hands of the separatists. |
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