TERRORISM: CHANGING FACE IN THE VALLEY

Terrorism in the state of Jammu & Kashmir has seen vivid changes in the last three decades. It all started with two to three months trained individuals operating with a mindset of using guns to terrify locals and achieve a feeling of accomplishment. Thereafter, it graduated to isolated attacks on Security Forces (SF) to showcase their capability to the locals. These individuals operated mainly in the jungles and were brainwashed for money and stout religious beliefs.

The Kashmiri youth did not approve being associated with India as they perceived being exploited by Indian institutions. They feared that the special status of Kashmir is being abrogated resulting in meager benefits for them. In the year 1988, Kashmiri Muslims backed by Pakistani handlers started an uprising to liberate Kashmir from India by organised protests and political activities which turned violent the following year. The Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) led by core “Haji” group was one of the most prominent militant group. JKLF’s leaders organised large scale protests in Kashmir Valley. Under the JKLF umbrella, many militant groups sprung up, JKLF used distinctly Islamic themes to mobilize crowd and this is how they justified their violence. There was utter unrest in the valley; giving foreign agencies a chance to explore. With this started the infiltration of terrorists from the other side and the beginning of India- Pakistan border skirmishes.

The uprising in Kashmir was a tempting opportunity for Pakistan Army and ISI to make up for their failures of 1947, 1965 and 1971. Arms & ammunition were smuggled on a large scale from Pakistan. This was the start of the ‘Operation Topac’ which was launched against India in the same style to defeat Soviets in Afghan. It was planned operation by Pakistan of continued insurgency in Kashmir utlising the political void of 1988. The acts of sabotage and killings had shoot up in frequency and intensity. It also involved diverting Afghan’s Mujahideen to Kashmir and training Kashmiri youth in ISI training camps, and running India centric terrorist camps in POK. Every youngster in the valley was regarded as a potential militant.

In the Changing Face of Terrorism, the militant commanders were seen roaming freely around the streets with their armed body guards. Changing Face of Terrorism in Kashmir from free lancing with guns to launching of swift operations against the terrorists, the locals of valley have witnessed all. The face of terrorism in valley is changing from old commanders giving way to young militant commanders. The modus operandi and conduct of terrorist groups has changed from terrorising locals, weapon snatching & targeting Security Forces to objective killing of prominent leaders aligned with the government along with use of technology. The terrorists have realised that taking on the might of the Indian Armed Forces ‘militarily’ is no longer possible for these terrorist organisations. Hence, they are now in search for softer targets, with an added aim of triggering communal clashes in valley. Jammu & Kashmir is witnessing target killings of personalities linked with political parties and heads of villages, teachers and even laborers from various other states working in Kashmir for their livelihood. These activities of theirs have a message to the government of India if they cannot attack the security forces directly; they would target the soft bellies or the targets which is not anticipated. The present status in most of the areas in the valley is referred to as stable but sensitive as well.

With vast development in technology which has actually become a double edges weapon in the Kashmir valley with great benefits along with greater risks to all. The worst example was the so-called Facebook icon ‘Burhan Wani’ who exploited this platform as easy connect with the locals and youths in mass numbers. As post his elimination the valley has seen many youths joining the path of terrorism as fed by this platform with strong anti-national beliefs. This added with use of ‘aerial bird’ ie quadcopters by the adversaries has proved to be greater threat to the security forces & lead to may security breaches. The example of such affect is the use of quadcopters to plan an attack on Jammu airport which was however adverted (no casualties) due to swift action by the SF.

But having known the new modus operandi of the terrorists in valley the SF have also undertaken various modification in their procedure and approach of handling as well. In addition to reliance on HUMINT, credible focus is being given to technology to tracking them. Further, the outreach programme to reach to the parents of the local terrorists and practice of appealing to the terrorist to surrender is yielding results. SF are also putting into the practice of sending short videos of family members urging their child(youth) turned militant to surrender to SF which are being uploaded in social media is helping in creating a favorable situation and saving life.

Also, recent growth of education facility and their recognition in the society on various social platforms has led to massive increase in literacy rate in the state. Now youth are showing interest towards sports activities and are excelling in all fields. This has been backed by recent economic development which are being implemented in the state by central government is like ‘a silver line in the cloud’. This change along with intelligent handling of this double edge weapon with utmost case can change the scenario of the Kashmir in no time. Hence, “Surely the domain of conflict is taking new shape in the valley and lot lies ahead for analysis.”