Chander mohan Sharma
People of the country are in deep shock and anger and immensely concerned over the intensified and frequently occurring terrorist activities and killing of soldiers particularly in Poonch, Reasi, Doda, Kathua and other districts of Jammu division, during the past couple of months. A number of precious lives of security personnel, army men and civilians, including the pilgrims, have been lost in such incidents.
It is high time for the Union Government and the government of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir to seriously review the security scenario in the Union Territory, particularly in Jammu region, in an integrated and holistic manner, so that the common nationalist population is reassured of the alertness, commitment and efficiency of the Central Government and the UT administration to nip the evil without any further loss of precious lives and resources of the nation.
In this process, it is necessary that the innocent and law abiding common nationalist people are not harassed or intimidated by the Army and security agencies at any cost, but the fact that the Pakistan sponsored terrorists have carried out lethal strikes at will, deep inside our territory cannot be overlooked; Such tragic incidents can not be possible without some kind of complacency and inside support and the government must tackle this challenge effectively and immediately.
It may be added here that peace, law and order, and security and safety of life and property of the people is the responsibility of the government and an integrated multi-pronged foolproof strategy must be devised and implemented by both, the Central and the UT governments to restore confidence of the people. ‘
At a time when government and the Election Commission of India and Jammu and Kashmir appear to be committed to hold elections for the J&K Assembly by September end, the government should not allow the things to slip out of its hands and all preventive measures must be taken to curb and crush terrorism with an iron hand.
Here, it appears quite logical that the Government of India seriously considers the suggestion of the veteran Congress leader and former Yuvraj, Sadar e Riyasat and Union Minister Dr Karan Singh in the right earnest to shift the Jammu division back under the Nagrota Corps from Western Command in Chandigarh to ensure better and integrated dominance of the area.
In this grave situation, Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi , the Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah and the Jammu and Kashmir Government headed by Lieutenant Governor Shri Manoj Sinha must also take immediate and urgent steps to institutionalise and strengthen the grassroots intelligence and security network in this most sensitive part of the country.
The suggestion of veteran leader of Jammu and Kashmir, Thakur Gulchain Singh Charak, President of the Dogra Sadar Sabha, to fully restore the institution of Numberdars and Chowkidars needs serious consideration for establishment and maintenance of close and effective liaison of the administration with the public, especially in the rural areas, by ensuring timely and authentic reporting of positive as well as negative activities and developments in respective areas. These grass roots level functionaries as well as the concerned SHOs/SDPOs can prove to be the most reliable, accountable and answerable in discharge of their duties.
At this critical juncture, it is also necessary that the duties and responsibilities of the civil administration, police, paramilitary forces and the army for internal security are more precisely defined so that responsibilities are not shifted from one to other.
The steps are particularly imperative for curbing the social evils like smuggling of bovines, menace of drug trafficking etc, which appear to be intricately hob-nobbing with the movements and planning of anti-social and anti national elements and their direct or indirect, deliberate or inadvertent involvement in aiding and abetting terrorism.
