HVK Archives: Army pulling out of key sector in Kashmir
Army pulling out of key sector in Kashmir - The Hindu
Posted By Ashok V Chowgule (ashokvc@giasbm01.vsnl.net.in)
28 April 1997
Title : Army pulling out of key sector in Kashmir
Author :
Publication : The Hindu
Date : April 28, 1997
After battling Kashmiri militants for about ' half-a-decade, the Army is preparing
to pull out of a key militancy-hit sector.
The troops deployed over a 90-km stretch of the Mohar sector on the outskirts of
the Kashmir valley will soon be replaced with the paramilitary Border Security
Force (BSF), defence sources said.
With the installation of an elected government in the State, counter-insurgency in
the State was being reworked, the sources said.
The sources, however, said withdrawal of the Army from its frontal role in
combating militancy was still a long way oil. But, they said, if the Mohar
experiment worked, more troops might be pulled out of internal security duties in
the State. "We have begun the process of giving larger responsibilities to the
State and paramilitary forces, but will move further only if it yields results,"
they said.
Authorities said more changes in the security policy would have to wait at least
till after the summer. "The passes open out in summer, the season for further
cross-border infiltrations. If militancy can be controlled thereafter, a new
situation would have arisen calling for a review. "
Infiltrations, apprehended in the next few months, could take place along the 130
routes, including the ingresses on the Pir Panjal ranges, the east-west axis
separating the 136-km. Kashmir Valley from the rest of the State. The Pir Panjal
straddles the western Uri sector hosting several passes and turns south-east,
close to Gulmarg on the Uri bulge. The range then stretches cast, separating the
militancy-prone Doda district in the south from the Anantnag area, in the South
Kashmir Valley.
Infiltration prone areas are there all over Kashmir, including the over-110000-ft
Sadhna pass, north of Uri.
Sectors in the Kishan Ganga Valley, located northward and separating the Kashmir
Valley by the Shamshawari range, also provide high-altitude access to
infiltration. In the past, extremists, after crossing over, proliferated and
spread militancy eastward in the Anantnag region and the Doda district across the
Pir Panjal barrier.
While the summer inflow of extremists is yet to begin, new institutional
arrangements in the security setup are already in place. In the latest exercise,
the Army has been positioned to exercise prime influence, but the paramilitary and
the State forces have also had their say.
With the elections over, the Chief Minister has assured from the Governor the
reins of the Unified Headquarters, the civil-military coordination hub in the
counter-insurgency drive. Unlike in the past, two security advisers now brief the
Chief Minister. Both are of rank of Lt. General, each heading a corp, looking
after the around- 1200 km. mountainous border with Pakistan and monitoring the
internal security situation on either side of the Pir Panjal range.
Changes in the local command and control have also been initiated: Field
formations of the BSF now may not take orders from the Rashtriya Rifles, the
specialist counter-insurgency force carved out of the Army.
The army is also fine tuning its role as a grass roots coordinator. For instance,
district-level coordination committees for sharing intelligence with civilian
agencies have been formed, but logistical and professional assistance, if
required, is provided by the Army. "Communication links, shelters and decoding of
intelligence data is often done with the help of the Army," a source said
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