Home Minister’s Message: Act Tough Against Terrorism in J&K

The high level security meeting chaired by Home Minister, Amit Shah in New Delhi on Tuesday on Jammu and Kashmir makes it clear that centre is focused to shrink the space of terrorism. The meeting has taken place in the aftermath of the recent ambush between the security forces and the terrorists in the Poonch region. Innocent lives of the people and security personnel were lost. The Rajouri-Poonch region has been a new focal point of the terrorists and their handlers for quite some time. It has been the cause of concern for the security agencies. Terrorists have shifted the theatre of war to this region to expand the area of operation and are posing a serious security threat to people of Jammu and Kashmir. Over the years terrorist organizations are changing their tactics to sustain and reconsolidate by shifting their gaze from the valley to Pir Panjal region. It is in this backdrop that review meeting of the Home Minister must be seen. Home Minister has demarcated the line of action and the policy contours to tackle this terror threat by suggesting the holistic blueprint to the Jammu and Kashmir administration that includes the civil administration, security and intelligence agencies. This meeting is meant to strengthen the security grid and enhance the pre-emptive capabilities to defeat the sinister and nefarious designs of the terror modules active in Jammu and Kashmir. Home Minister focused on the coordination amongst the Army, Police and Central Armed Police Forces(CAPF).Not only that the stress was also laid on strengthening the local intelligence gathering. As the local support guided by subversive networks acts as the launching pad for the terrorists. Need for area domination to devise the zero-terror plan can be fructified when civil and police administration acts in tandem having the local support. Home Minister had called a similar high level review meeting last year on 13th January to fight a decisive battle for zero tolerance against terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. From Tuesday’s meeting it is clear that Home Ministry is committed to develop 360 degree security mechanism to evolve a comprehensive and integral system to check mate the security threats in Jammu and Kashmir. This meeting has an added significance as the Republic Day celebrations are not too far. As such security grid needs an extra caution to foil and pre-empt the evil designs of the enemy to disturb the peace in Jammu and Kashmir. Home Minister’s approach to regularly review the security situation and the intelligence gathering mechanism makes it clear. That it will be difficult for the terror modules to breach the security with impunity. The decisions taken in this meeting must be seen in continuity with the ban on the organizations like Muslim League Jammu and Kashmir (Masarat Alam faction) and Tehrek-e-Hurriyat (TeH) under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).Central Government is using a multi-pronged approach to end the terror machinery by dismantling the ideological support structures and the on ground terror networks by creating synergy between the policy decisions and operations. This mechanism will yield results when local population in the terror zones are well sensitized by the agencies about the threats and challenges of the subversive insurgent paramilitary networks. As they infiltrate in the local population and pose a grave danger to life and security of the peaceful masses. Home Minister’s review of security situation on regular basis in Jammu and Kashmir will boost the confidence of the masses and will ensure better coordination between the security forces and the intelligence agencies.