Amarnath Yatra gets 5,000 more personnel amid unrest in Valley
NEW DELHI: An adverse security environment in Jammu and Kashmir has resulted in an additional deployment of 5,000 more personnel from the central paramilitary forces along the Amarnath Yatra route, security officials said.
“There is already a permanent deployment of more than 45,000 personnel from the central paramilitary forces. A majority of these come from the lead paramilitary, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). During the yatra, the Centre will deploy around 225 companies (around 22,500 troops) of central forces along the yatra route. Last year, the additional central deployment was around 175 to 180 companies. This year, we have posted around 5,000 more boots on ground to secure the yatra route,” said a home ministry official who spoke on the condition of an anonymity.
The official said the additional deployment is due to adverse security scenario in the area. But clarified that so far there is no specific technical or human intelligence that suggests that Amarnath Yatra might be targeted.
“We too do not have any specific intelligence that militants may target yatris,” said a central security official who keeps a watch on Kashmir-related developments.
But still the security forces are not leaving anything to chance as last year on July 10, a bus carrying yatris was attacked by militants near Batengoo in south Kashmir along the yatra route, resulting in death of seven pilgrims and around 18 injured.
The attack was wake-up call for the security establishment which since then has tightened norms for registration of private vehicles for yatra and their movement on the route.
Before the last year’s attack, militants had targeted yatra 15 years back when they opened fire on a yatri camp in Nunwan, near Pahalgam in August, 2002.
There is a general consensus among the security officials that militants normally do not target yatris or other tourists as Kashmir’s local economy gets affected which in result may turn the local population against them. But there have been instances, though few and far between, like the last year’s attack on yatra bus, which necessitates a heightened security arrangement for annual pilgrimage.
Following the last year’s attack on yatri bus, all security arrangements were reviewed and it was decided that no unregistered vehicle will be allowed to carry yatris and after 7:30pm there will no movement of Yatri vehicles.
“After 7:30pm yatris need to be in the designated yatri camps or if required, they will be put up at the nearby camps of security forces,” said a South Kashmirbased security official who is involved in the security arrangements for yatra.
The government has also decided to install radio frequency identification (RFID) tags in the vehicles that will carry yatris in order to track their movement. The CRPF is doing a test run this year in this regard.
The security officials are particularly worried that since there has been a halt on operations against militants in the Valley this year, their job has become difficult.
“If not extended, the halt on operations will remain in force till Eid, that will be on June 17 and yatra is starting on June 28. Therefore, we have only a window of 11 days to check movement of militants. We keep on getting intelligence on movement of militants since the halt has been announced but we can’t launch operations against them. If given a chance we would like to launch operations against militants during the 11-day window in order to ensure better security for yatra,” said a Srinagar-based security official.
Though, a final decision is yet to taken, but the current mood in the government, given that halt on operations has resulted in visible gains on the ground in terms of decline in incidents of stone pelting and recruitment of new militants, is to extend the halt on operations. Besides, militants belonging to Hizbul Mujahideen are lying low and have not indulged in attacks on security forces during the Ramzan ceasefire, say government officials in Delhi.
“But our job to secure yatra will be bit more difficult if the halt on operations is extended immediately after Eid. Ideally we would like to have a window of 11 days but even if it is not given, we will ensure full security for yatris,” added the Srinagar-based security official.
The central paramilitary forces have already reached the Valley and are in the process of being deployed along the yatra route. Any attack on yatra will have repercussions not only in the situation in the Valley and Jammu but also in the rest of India. Therefore, the security establishment making all efforts to ensure security of yatra and yatris.