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| Army Chief's two visit to J&K in 35 days meaningful | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Mar 24: When the Army Chief, Gen. V.K. Singh, landed in Srinagar on Monday on a two-day visit it was his second such visit during the last 35 days. Earlier he had paid a two-day visit to the troubled state on February 15.
The Army sources said that Gen. Singh's visit was connected with his review of the situation in the context of reported improvement in the security environment in Jammu and Kashmir. He had a detailed interaction with the corps commanders, the Army commander and other senior officers where he was briefed on the security scenario on the LoC and within the state.
Ostensibly one ohe purposes of his visit to the state was to guide the troops on ways and means for foiling infiltration bids following reports that the ingress rate may increase with the border routes getting passale after the melting of snow.
Two visits by the Army Chief to a state within a span of one month is unusual during peace time. It is unusual when there has been no major security related problem in Jammu and Kashmir and where there is no threat to the integrity and security of Jammu and Kashmir. What then was the provocation for the Army Chief to pay a two-day visit to the state when the corps commanders claim that the security environment had improved and the rate of infiltration of militants from across the LoC had declined?
One thing is certain the current visit is not a visit for securing comfort from Delhi's weather which continues to be quite fine. Even if the weather had become sultry in Delhi Gen. Singh would have not gained any comfort within two days. Knowledgeable circles say that the Army Chief has decided to visit the state for an on the spot assessment of the situation so that the Army could decide wether there was need for reducing the deployment of troops within the civilian areas or not.
It may be mentioned here that during the last one year not only the separatists but the mainstream political leaders belonging to the National Conference and the PDP have been demanding withdrawal of troops and the AFSPA. They had felt encouraged when the Union Home Secretary G.K. Pillai announced that 25 per cent troops would be withdrawn from Jammu and Kashmir. He had made this statement in the second week of January last.
But Gen. Singh had stated on January 14 that the Army was not to cut down its troops in Jammu and Kashmir. He had said that he did not feel the need for reducing troops because that may lead to extra pressure on the forces. However, he had said that in case the Government wanted to reduce paramilitary forces and the police he had nothing to say. Reports said that the Army Chief had opposed troop reduction on the plea that the situation had not become conducive for that when the militants and there supporters were trying to destabilise peace in the valley during the ensuing summer season.
Has Gen. Singh repeated his visit to Jammu and Kashmir during the last one month simply to see whether withdrawal of troops from within the valley was feasible or not ?Also the visit was aimed at getting the feedback on the desirability of repealing the AFSPA?
Indications are that since the central Government wants to engage both the Kashmiri separatists and Islamabad in talks for the settlement of various issues the establishment in New Delhi wants to motivate those who are on the other side of the fence to participate in the process of dialogue. Hitherto the separatists have rejected offers for talks from the interlocutors and other mediators. Their plea is that they would join the process of dialogue once troops were withdrawn, AFSPA was repealed and detainees were released.
As such Gen. Singh wants to get some clear picture on the security situation in the state so that he could act accordingly and not take any hasty decision under any pressure from the central Government. In fact the senior Army functionaries do not want any hasty step which could undo the gains the security forces had achieved in their fight against the militants.
But a beginning has to be made so that the demand of the separatists, the NC and the PDP was conceded which is expected to generate a feeling of goodwill among the people in the state. The Government can gamble on these issues because if attempts were made to destabilise peace troops could be redeployed within a few hours. To begin with those columns of troops that were to be pulled out from the civilian areas be, for the time being, withdrawn to the barracks and not to outside the state. This was needed to ensure that the mischief mongers did not derail peace in the state. |
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