Intelligence agencies have said that the situation in the Kashmir valley might get out of hand if the Army, whose anti-terror operations are being hampered by the locals, starts taking “tough action” against them. Sources in the intelligence establishment said that any such Army-civilian conflict would be like playing into the hands of the Pakistan’s ISI, which has instructed Kashmir based separatist leaders to instigate Army-civilian conflicts in the valley.
The observations have come a week after Army Chief General Bipin Rawat, pointed out that the hostile conduct of locals in Kashmir was causing higher casualties in the Kashmir Valley and this might lead to “tough action” from the Army.
The message from General Rawat had come after soldiers faced heavy stone-pelting at Parray Mohalla of Bandipore in north Kashmir when they were about to launch an operation against militants holed up there. According to the Army, alerted by the stone-pelters, the militants got an opportunity to target the advancing troopers, leaving three jawans dead and some others, including a commanding officer of CRPF, injured. One terrorist managed to flee the area.
“There is a reason that the local civilians are becoming more and more ‘aggressive’ whenever they come across any Army operations. They are being instigated by the overground workers of the terror groups and separatists with the intention to cause the death of unarmed civilians by firing from the Army which might have to use deadly force on them. And this is exactly what the ISI and the separatist leaders of the valley want. Rather than playing into the hands of them, the Army and the state police should work on devising a system where the Army moves in swiftly for an operation and leaves even more swiftly after it is over. The state police needs to be roped in more so that they can cordon off the area before and make the job of the Army easier”, a senior official with Intelligence Bureau said.
The sources said that the Army, which is known for exercising restraint, should not have reacted this way. “The ‘attack’ on the Army is likely to increase in the coming days and if the observations of the Army Chief are any indication, then we are looking at very disturbing days ahead. The state police needs to take action against the unarmed over the ground workers so that they cannot hamper the work of the Army, which is primarily for counter terror operations rather than battling the civilians”, the official said.