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| Violence goes low from high intensity | | 2001 era of over 1000 killings declines to half | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Nov 2:
Those 30 promises -2
It may be an outcome of iron fist-velvet globe policy, a sustainable military offensive or a mere coincidence but the menace of militancy declined significantly during the five and half years rule of Congress-Peoples Democratic Party coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir.
This is was perhaps one of the few commitments of 30-point Common Minimum Program of governance for which the erstwhile coalition government can claim some credit. During the coalition regime, the militancy returned to low intensity level from high intensity level which prevailed till 2001.
The point listed at number two of the Common Minimum Program had said: “ensuring safety of lives and properties, restoring dignity and honour of all persons in the State will be the foremost concern of the government. The coalition government will make all possible measures in its power, to protest all the people in state from violence and militancy whether originating from within or outside the state, and to encourage those youngmen from the state who have resorted to militancy to return to their families and the mainstream, with the belief that they will receive security and justice according to law. At the same time, the state government will fully cooperate with the government of India in combating cross border militancy originating from Pakistan”.
It is worth appreciating that remarkable decline in militant violence has been registered year after year since 2002. a computation of statistics reveals that violence ebbed by around 25 to 30 per cent over every previous year.
Viewed purely in terms of fatalities, the violence has now crossed the threshold from a high-intensity to a low-intensity level. For the first time since 1990 (when they were 1,177) fatalities in this terrorism-wracked State in 2007 – at 777 – fell below the 'high intensity conflict' mark of a thousand deaths. In 2008 it has further declined. At their peak in 2001, fatalities had risen to 4,507. Evidently, 2007 is a watershed year for J&K, bringing tremendous respite to its people.
Figures for 2007 reconfirm the continuously declining trend of militant violence in the State since the peak of 2001. According to data compiled by the Institute for Conflict Management, the fatality index in 2007 decreased by 30.38 percent in comparison to 2006. While there was a substantial decrease in civilian fatalities (164 in 2007 as against 349 in 2006) and those of the terrorists (492 in 2007 as against 599 in 2006), there was only a marginal decrease in Security Force personnel killed (121 in 2007 as against 168 in 2006).
According to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, in 2007 (till November), the number of militancy-related incidents was down by 33 per cent and that of civilians killed by 59 per cent and SF personnel by 28 per cent over the corresponding period of the previous year. According to the J&K Government/J&K Police, there were 1,054 incidents (till November 30) as against 1,667 in 2006. Over 4,000 illegal weapons, including AK-47 rifles, pistols/revolvers, UMGs/LMGs, rocket launchers/boosters and huge quantities of ammunition and explosives/IEDs were recovered in the State through 2007.
Diminished violence, however, did not indicate a necessary decline in the capacity for terrorism, and there are clear indications that the infrastructure that supports and sustains the Kashmir jihad remains intact in Pakistan. Official sources disclose that at least 52 terrorist training camps were still operating, including 30 in Pakistan and Gilgit-Baltistan, and the rest in the area of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) referred to as Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK). At least one-third of these camps are known to be "fully active" at any given point of time.
Infiltration into J&K during 2007 may have dropped marginally in comparison to the preceding two years. According to Sriprakash Jaiswal, Union Minister of State for Home, there were an estimated 499 cases of infiltration in 2007 (till October), whereas in 2005 and 2006, the figure was 597 and 573 respectively. Jaiswal disclosed further, on November 27, 2007, that these figures pertained to those militants who had been apprehended or killed while crossing the LoC/borders. However, the number of infiltration bids registered a steep upward trend in 2008. |
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