Shah holds high-level meet on J&K security
NEW DELHI: : Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday held a high-level meeting with national security adviser Ajit Doval, Jammu & Kashmir lieutenant governor (LG) Manoj Sinha, Indian Army chief General MM Naravane, senior officials, and chiefs of top intelligence and security agencies to discuss the security situation in the region.
People familiar with the development said that issues pertaining to anti-India terror groups operating from the Pakistani soil shifting their bases to Afghanistan, and a renewed push by outfits such as Lashkare-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) to infiltrate highly trained foreign fighters into the Valley were discussed during the meeting, which went on for more than two hours.
With Taliban at the helm in Afghanistan now, there are apprehensions among India’s policymakers that Pakistan’s close allies in the Taliban will help terror groups to regain ground support in Kashmir. There are already intelligence reports that there is increased infiltration activity from across the border, a person aware of the matter said.
Shah discussed the steps being taken to ensure that infiltration doesn’t take place in the
Valley and young people are not radicalised.
Sirajuddin Haqqani, the new acting interior minister of Afghanistan, is the head of the terror group Haqqani Network, which was responsible for attacks on Indian assets, including the Indian embassy in Kabul, in the past. The Haqqani Network has close association with Pakistani spy agency, ISI and Indian security officials believe that the terror groups operating from Pakistani soil may shift to Afghanistan for further recruitment and training,
ISSUES SUCH AS A RENEWED PUSH BY TERROR OUTFITS TO INFILTRATE FOREIGN FIGHTERS INTO THE VALLEY WERE DISCUSSED
to keep Pakistan’s name out of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) radar.
Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen said last week: “As Muslims, we also have a right to raise our voice for Muslims in Kashmir, India or any other country.”
Apart from Doval, Sinha and Naravane, Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla, director of the Intelligence Bureau Arvinda Kumar, Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) chief Samant Goel, Border Security Force chief Pankaj Singh and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) chief Kuldiep Singh attended the meeting.
People cited above said on condition of anonymity that the appointment of Masarat Alam, currently lodged in Tihar jail, as the new Hurriyat chief after the death of Syed Ali Shah Geelani last week, was also discussed during the meeting.
The security agencies fear that though the activities of local terror groups have declined since 2019, there will be some regrouping on the ground with Alam at the helm, though he is behind bars, said one of the officials. The authorities have been told to step up vigilance in the Valley in light of the development.
A second officer cited above said that Shah, Doval and Sinha also discussed how violence and disruption was averted after Geelani’s funeral last week by quashing claims that his family was restrained by security forces, and by his last rites being conducted after the family backed out.
“Overall political and security implications in the Kashmir valley following the death of hardline Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani were discussed on Thursday,” said a second official.
Geelani’s family members alleged that police “snatched” his body, forcibly buried it, and thrashed them.
Shah also reviewed various development initiatives being implemented in Jammu & Kashmir, including the ₹80,000 crore package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015. The home minister has said in the past that all-round development and welfare of the people of the Jammu & Kashmir are a top priority of the Modi government.
On August 5, 2019, the central government effectively reorganised the state after effectively nullifying Articles 370 and 35(A) that gave the erstwhile state its special status and the mandate to define its domicile rules.
TALIBAN SPOKESPERSON SUHAIL SHAHEEN SAID LAST WEEK: “AS MUSLIMS, WE ALSO HAVE A RIGHT TO RAISE OUR VOICE FOR MUSLIMS IN KASHMIR, INDIA OR ANY OTHER COUNTRY.”