Killing of Naikoo a milestone in battle against militancy

The challenge is to build on it and secure the peace in Kashmir

After a nearly three-year-long manhunt, the Army and Jammu & Kashmir Police have succeeded in eliminating arguably the Valley’s most important militant, Hizbul Mujahideen’s Kashmir operations chief, Riyaz Ahmad Naikoo. For Naikoo, who chose to give up the blackboard for the gun, a violent end was foretold. For the security forces, his killing is an important turning point in the continuing battle against militancy in the Valley. It shows that despite the turbulence, the police network of informants in every village is alive and kicking — it was on a tip-off that Naikoo was traced to his village Beighpora in Awantipora, where he had gone to meet his family.

It would be misplaced, however, to think that militancy in the Valley has ended with his removal, or that the elimination of dreaded militants alone is the solution to Kashmir’s problems. Despite their hard-won successes, even the Army and police are only too aware of the vital importance of the political process in finding the way out of this tunnel. What Kashmir needs is an open and participatory process that can provide answers to the political vacuum which militancy feeds on, and the new challenges in the wake of the August 5 decision to change the status of J&K. The Centre needs to acknowledge and address the task ahead with honesty and sincerity. Naikoo’s death is a milestone and the challenge is to build on it — use the space created to secure the peace.