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THE NATION: KASHMIR MILITANCY
Shadow Of Fear
In a bid to regain initiative after the Agra Summit,
militants have moved to the Jammu region-stretching the security forces
and sparking communal tension
By Ramesh Vinayak in Jammu
In the rain-swept
mountains of Doda that soar to over 11,000 ft, the only sign of human
existence is the shimmering tin roofs of scattered houses dwarfed by the
massif. The population density in the second largest district in the country
is among the lowest: 44 people per sq km. For shepherds like Dayal Ram
who lives in Barshalla, a one-street village common in the district, the
nearest motorable road is a two-hour trek away.
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| DISTURBED AREA: Paramilitary troops patrol the
deserted streets as a woman (top) remains confined to her home during
curfew in Jammu city |
Doda's relative isolation-it is further away
from the Line of Control than most districts in Jammu region-should have
made it less of a target for militant activity. But it is vulnerable for
another reason: Hindus are in a relative minority, accounting for 45 per
cent of the district's seven lakh people. This is why, in the past five
years, Pakistan-backed jehadis have made Doda their latest killing field.
They are targeting the Hindus in a plot to scare them into fleeing the
district so as to drastically reduce their numbers in the strategically
sensitive region.
Following the Agra Summit, the militants are
implementing this plan with a new and bloody sense of urgency. Ram lives
in perpetual fear after terrorists ruthlessly gunned down eight shepherds
at a nearby meadow where they had taken their livestock for grazing. This
was swiftly followed by two similar killings which left another 20 dead.
Now, Ram and many others are abandoning this annual ritual so vital to
their livelihood. Fear reflects clearly in his eyes as the 55-year-old
shepherd says, "The militants are chasing us like shadows."
In a bid to regain the initiative in the region,
militants are swiftly changing tactics to get results and publicity. In
the more densely populated districts in Jammu region, the setting up of
heavily armed village defence committees by the Government has blunted
their striking power. Also, the past year has seen the army step up its
drive to hunt down leaders of terrorist gangs operating in the region.
So far, 14 have been killed, leaving the groups in disarray.
So, a part of the militant game plan is to draw
the security forces into other regions like Doda, forcing them to be more
thinly spread out, and then strike at sensitive places. With its expansive
terrain, Doda is a logical nightmare for security forces and the militants
know this. An estimated 400 militants are holed up in the district and
"are spilling into far off areas where it is easy to operate and
kill", says Mono P. Bhagat, General Officer Commanding of Delta Force,
an army counter-insurgency formation in Doda.
In "attack mode" since the summit,
militants are targeting Jammu region with an intensity and frequency rarely
seen before. A string of massacres-three in Doda and a suicidal firing
at the Jammu railway station-since July 20, resulting in 40 deaths, is
only an example. Compared to 466 militant attacks last year, 506 such
assaults have already taken place till August 10 this year. Upping the
ante with the civilian killings in communally-sensitive Jammu region is
part of the twofold strategy. One, it fits in with their dogged efforts
to spread the arc of militancy from the Valley to south of the Pir Panjal
mountains. Secondly, it will force migration from the Hindu pockets to
create Muslim majority belts north of the Chenab river.
"Ethnic cleansing is a major motive for
the militant strikes," says Major-General H.S. Kanwar, chief of staff
at Nagrota-based 16 Corps. The militant grid that began its formation
as a "spillover" effect from the Kashmir Valley in 1992 is now
well-entrenched in Jammu division. The worst affected districts are Doda,
Rajouri, Poonch and parts of Udhampur which have a vast, mountainous and
forested terrain, an ideal ground for guerrilla warfare.
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GUARDING INNOCENCE: A security cordon in place at the Jammu railway
station after 11 people were killed in the August 7 firing
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Extending militancy to Jammu has been at the
centre of Pakistan's strategy to stretch the Indian troops and also tie
them down outside Kashmir to ease the heat on jehadis operating in the
Valley. In Jammu, militants have discovered the Indian Government's soft
underbelly, hitting where it hurts the most. Last fortnight, it took only
three shootouts, in quick succession, to provoke public outcry and chaos
in Parliament, forcing the Vajpayee Government to extend the Disturbed
Areas Act and the Armed Forces (J&K) Special Powers Act, 1990, to
the entire Jammu province comprising six districts.
But even as the Government has hardened its
anti-militancy stance, with Union Home Minister L.K. Advani vowing to
"crush" the Pakistan-aided proxy war in Kashmir, the ISI tactics
have succeeded to an extent. For, chasing away 1,500-odd militants (1,050,
according to the army) in Jammu region are two divisions of specially
created counter-insurgency troops, besides about 200 companies of the
paramilitary forces. The promulgation of the Disturbed Areas Act has confirmed
that Jammu is on the militancy map, ironically lending weight to Pakistan's
long-time clamour that the "indigenous" armed movement is not
confined to the Valley. What is worrying the authorities is not just the
vulnerability of minorities but a backlash in the wake of militant strikes
that are heightening fear psychosis and communal polarisation.
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