Author: Rahul Datta/New Delhi
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: May 10, 2002
Faced with a determined bid by Pakistan
to push in terrorists from across the Line of Control (LoC) in Ladakh,
the security forces have sought clear political directions about the fate
of the four-month-old mobilisation in Jammu and Kashmir.
Alarmed over the relentless infiltration
in the higher reaches of Ladakh region, the last few situation report assessments
submitted to the political leadership have cautioned the Centre to lay
more focus on mobilisation rather than the forthcoming elections in the
strife-torn State.
The report also expressed apprehensions
that the next few weeks could see increased killings of innocent civilians
and attacks on security forces. The LoC could also see higher rate of artillery
firing by the Pakistanis during the same period, sources said here on Wednesday.
The new batches of terrorists owing
allegiance to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda have turned freedom fighters and
the ISI has directed them to explore new routes of infiltration, the reports
state.
Battle-hardened in the killing fields
of Afghanistan, these fighters are well-versed with mountain guerrilla
warfare and can operate in snow clad mountains where the air is thin. The
ISI has directed them towards the Ladakh mountains and many of the so-called
jehadis have managed to sneak into India despite heavy mobilisation of
troops all along the LoC and the International Border.
The military leadership now wants
the decision-makers to give them clear political objectives as the field
commanders feel the Government should be more focussed on the four-month-old
mobilisation rather than working out the nitty-gritty of conducting elections
in the strife-torn State, sources said here on Tuesday.
The operational commanders are of
the view that a certain section of the local Kashmiri outfits joining the
mainstream would not solve the problem. Their hold on the local citizens
is yet to be tested and the terrorists coming in from Pakistan would face
little difficulty in securing safe sanctuaries in the State, sources said.
The Government did agree sometime
back to the security forces' request for using more Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
(UAV) for monitoring the inaccessible mountain passes. The commanders also
got the go-ahead to use massive fire power to deter the terrorists from
sneaking into Jammu and Kashmir.
The ground situation, however, has
become more complex with the US giving a clean chit to President Pervez
Musharraf and maintaining that levels of infiltration have come down in
the border State.
The US is also exerting pressure
on India to soften its stance against Pakistan and ease off the pressure
on General Musharraf. Moreover, he has refused to concede to India's demand
to hand over 20 terrorists and criminals wanted here in connection with
various heinous offences, sources said. The Pakistan junta has also pushed
many terrorists organisations to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) from mainland
Pakistan in an effort to deflect international criticism of harbouring
militants. They are crossing into Kashmir from PoK thereby providing General
Musharraf the leeway to claim that the Kashmir freedom struggle is now
on from PoK and he has little control over it.
