Terrorists Strike in Udhampur

In a gruesome attack on the patrol party in the Udhmapur district of Jammu and Kashmir in the Chill area that falls under Dudu Police Station of Basantgarh, a CRPF inspector of the 187 battalion was hit by a bullet and succumbed to injuries on Monday 19th August. It was an attack on both the personnel of CRPF and Special Operations Group (SOG) of the J and K Police. This attack on the security forces in continuation of the series of attacks is meant to destabilize the security grid in Jammu. For more than a year now Jammu is witnessing the rise in the terror attacks. Terrorists are acting with impunity and posing a severe security challenge in Jammu. There is an absolute terror policy meant to bring Jammu on the brink after inflicting great damage to social fabric of Kashmir. Security analysts are apprehensive about the infiltration of the well trained personnel from Pakistan who are striking at their free will to create fear psychosis in Jammu and Kashmir. There is an immediate need to put a comprehensive policy in place so that terror modules operating in Jammu are busted and sense of security is prevailed. It is pertinent to mention that the Election Commission of India has announced on Friday that the Assembly Elections will be held on 18th September, 25th September and 1st October. It will be followed by the counting of votes on 4th October. This attack can be seen as the reaction of the terror groups to send a message that they still call the shots and can pose a threat. Approximately 70,000 personnel of the Para military forces are deployed in Jammu and Kashmir to deal with the security threats. Election Commission will have to take the extra care to conduct peaceful elections. It is of paramount importance to infuse a sense of confidence and conviction among the masses. If analyzed in totality, terror outfits have been making attempts continuously to keep Jammu and Kashmir on the boil. They have been targeting the security forces to demoralize the stakeholders who are going to participate in the electoral process. Forthcoming Assembly Elections are of considerable importance this year. As these are being held after a long gap. The people are eager to have a popular government in the Assembly. So that local issues of development are addressed. There is a need to boost the morale of the contestants who will seek the mandate from the masses. The regular spate of terror attacks in Jammu region make one thing clear that the hilly areas and forest belt has been infested by the terror modules. Assembly Elections this year are a litmus test to situate peace and normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir. Neutralization of the Article 370 and 35A has changed the political dynamics in the newly created Union Territory. In order have a well-meaning and people friendly participative elections there is a need to go for the course correction and do the value addition in the security grid. Recently there was a great response in terms of activating the Village Defense Guards (VDGs). It is a welcome move. But the need is to upgrade these VDGs so that they can act in time to deflate the nefarious designs of the terrorists. Traditional weapons won’t sustain the professionally trained terrorists who are using highly sophisticated weapons to inflict damage on the innocent people. Ensuring the security of the common masses has been the priority of the security forces but the number of causalities being faced by them must force the strategists to take a relook so that the security forces don’t lose the precious lives.