15 yrs on, terrorism rears its head in Jammu region again

JAMMU: While Kashmir remains the hotbed of militancy, the relatively peaceful Jammu region has also seen a resurgence in terror activities this year.

At the peak of militancy, Jammu region, comprising 10 districts, had also witnessed selective killings and massacres.

However, the violence had been consistently waning since 2004-05, with stray incidents reported once in a while.

After the revocation of Articles 370 and 35-A on August 5, 2019, there was a thaw in terror activities for a year. However, terrorism seems to have picked up momentum yet again.

Former director general of police SP Vaid, who also served as the inspector general of police for Jammu region, said, “Jammu is definitely seeing a resurgence in terror activities. Pakistan’s intelligence agency, ISI, wants to disturb Jammu because of the religious pluralism of the region. For instance, if there is a grenade attack in Kashmir and 10 civilians are injured then there is a backlash on terrorists in the Valley. However, Jammu has a mixed population.”

“Following August 5, 2019, Pakistan failed to create disturbances in Kashmir so it is trying to create chaos in Jammu to sabotage the political process initiated by the Centre so that Pakistan can claim that there is no democracy in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said. On political killings, especially of BJP leaders and functionaries, Vaid said, “Pakistan does not want to see BJP strengthening its foothold in Kashmir. Therefore, Pakistan has launched a vicious campaign against the BJP in Kashmir.”

Director general of police (DGP) Dilbag Singh said, “After the February 25 ceasefire agreement between the two DGMOs, infiltration had come down to zero and there was no crossborder shelling either. However, unfortunately, terrorists have been infiltrating into India, especially from Rajouri-Poonch sector”.

“Recently, there were three encounters in Rajouri sector. All these were fresh groups. Intelligence inputs suugest the infiltration has resumed and more such intrusion bids are likely to follow,” he said.