news details |
|
|
| First time official: only 2.5 lakh troops in J&K | | | Early Times Reporter
Jammu | Feb 3
An aggressive reaction from the Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti notwithstanding, the Governor SK Sinha has done a great deal of transparency by telling the world that how many troops actually stand in Jammu and Kashmir.
While in conflict situations no country would share its operational strength and troop position, but the numbers of soldiers operating in Jammu and Kashmir have always been a guess work. The central government and defence authorities choosing to be silent on the figures, the rights groups and the separatists have always declared their own assessment of exaggeration.
Over the past decade and half, the guess work on troop strength has ranged from six and half lakhs to 12 lakhs. The separatists and various rights groups have often claimed that five troops are stationed in Kashmir alone. This they would say was excluding the strength of paramilitary forces and the local Jammu and Kashmir Police.
The government in his republic day message had said that the ratio of deployment of forces, including army and paramilitary forces, to the population was 1:40. A computation of the ratio given by the Governor reveals that there are only two and half lakh troops of all uniforms in Jammu and Kashmir. Jammu and Kashmir has a population of 1.14 Crores and presence of one troop per 40 persons makes the total figure a little over two and half lakhs and not six to eight lakhs as claimed by many separatist and mainstream political parties and also by the various human right groups.
Mehbooba Mufti was quick to react to the Governor’s statement for the reason that he had made a comparative analysis of the situation with other conflict prone areas like Tibet and Waziristan. Even though Governor’s choice of comparison was not quite good as picked names of two such territories which are under illegal occupation of two different countries when Jammu and Kashmir is not under any occupation and is a part of India by free will.
General Sinha said that the ratio of deployment of troops, Army and Para Military forces, to population in the State, excluding militancy free Ladakh, is one is to 40. This is less than one is to 37 in Wazirstan in Pakistan and one is to 28 in Tibet. He, however, added that once peace is restored in the State and infiltration from across the border ceases, the government and the army, will be only too happy to send back the troops deployed for internal security back to barracks. In that event reduction in the strength would be considered. However, he said, that would not apply to troops guarding our borders with Pakistan and China.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
