200 militants active in Kashmir
Fayaz Bukhari
SRINAGAR June 24: General Officer Commanding (GOC) 15 Corps Lt. General DP Pandey today said that the militant violence in Kashmir has come down by 50 percent but maintained that there are 200 active militants operating in the Valley.
Speaking to reporters in Handwara on the sidelines of a function on renaming Army Goodwill School at Budkot as Ashutosh AGS in memory of the officer who lost life in the line of duty, the Army Commander said that the role of Army is diminishing in Kashmir with the active support of public and civil administration.
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He said that violence in Kashmir has come down by 50 percent and the situation is very good. “Except, some criminally minded people are killing the unarmed security personnel which is controlled from across the border and within the Valley as well”, he said.
“I believe people are worried since innocent people and political activists are killed to disrupt the peace and development in Kashmir by the enemies but the way security agencies are working on these incidents, hopefully, they will be stopped”, the Corps Commander said.
The Army Commander said that the security situation at Handwara which used to be a hotbed of militancy is very good and area is very peaceful now with the joint efforts of security agencies and people.
He said that this occasion is for Ashutosh and the people of Handwara only because the love was there between the officer and people of the area.
The GOC said that Pakistan claims at various fora that militancy in Kashmir is indigenous but all foreign militants operating here are Pakistani nationals. “Our neighbour in last few years has claimed at the world platform that the entire process of insurgency and militancy is homegrown. They try to project that there are no foreign militants but all foreign militants who are here are Pakistanis”, he said.
“Evey Pakistani militants killed exposes the agenda of the enemy and they want the youth to be killed so that the relatives, family, and the entire village goes against the country including his friends”, the GOC said.
“There is an entire design that is working that is why the citizens of Kashmir must understand that every youth which you are allowing to die because you’re not able to control is leading to further alienation and trouble”, the Army Commander said.
He said that very few people are running this conflict industry for their personal interests by serving Pakistani agenda and getting young boys killed. “Our young youth is being used and I will request all the people including the parents, community leaders, civil societies which I have been telling time and again to protect them”, he said.
“We have to break this cycle of violence. Killing a militant is not the way but to ensure that our young children should not die rather let the foreign militants die and why are we allowing our children to die for something wrong”, he said.
To a query related to the ceasefire agreement, he said that the ceasefire has happened as a requirement for the betterment of our population along the LoC. “The request of the ceasefire came from other side as well. I am sure the ceasefire will hold but in case anything goes wrong inside then I assure there will be a suitable reaction”, he said.
The GOC said that in a recent couple of years, the civil administration and police have reached out to the people of the Valley and everyone is functioning as they should function with which the role of the Army has started to diminish.
“We were always in support and slowly our role has started to go down but education is important and we ensure that we reach out to our people”, he said.
About recent attacks in Srinagar, the GOC said that a criminally minded person killing an unarmed can’t be termed as a militant incident.
He said that there are around 200 militants active in the Valley but assured that by the end of this year the figure will be further reduced.
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