Army may take baCkseat In antI-mIlItanCy oPeratIons

The Army will slowly take a backseat in anti-militancy operations in Jammu and Kashmir, as the Special Operations Group (SOG) of J&K Police is being provided with all the required training and modern equipment to deal directly with militants in the state, highly placed sources told this newspaper.

After “Operation All Out” is over in South Kashmir, the Army, especially the Victor Force, with headquarters at Awantipora, would only monitor the situation and help the police along with security forces to go for anti-militancy operations in South Kashmir, the sources said. Reports said that the SOG wing of J&K Police is currently getting all the training required for taking over operations on their own and Government of India has already sanctioned Rs 500 crore for the purchase of bullet proof vehicles, bullet proof vests and head gear for all the cops who are involved in anti-militancy operations on the ground.

At a recent high-level meeting, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs had not only praised J&K Police for fighting militants on the ground, but also indicated that in future, SOG, along with CRPF, would go for anti-militancy operations and the Army would be requested to help only in those anti-militancy operations where they face stiff resistance from militants. Army has been used as a frontal force to combat militancy in South Kashmir post Burhan Wani protests. Despite the “boycott call” given by separatists not to meet him, the Centre’s interlocutor to Jammu and Kashmir, Dineshwar Sharma, has conveyed to the Huriyat Conference leadership through “some channels of communication” that he will “try sincerely to look for ways and means for a sustained and meaningful dialogue for permanent peace in Jammu & Kashmir”. Sharma has conveyed that he has a free hand to have talks without any