“Can't afford action in such situations”
The regular appearance of terrorists at funerals of fellow terrorists killed in counter-terror operations has become a matter of concern for the central government.
The Home Ministry told Parliament on Wednesday that “Centre is seized of the matter.” Minister of State (MoS) for Home Hansraj Gangaram Ahir in a reply to parliamentarian Rajkumar Dhoot, said, “As per the report of state government, a few instances of militants making brief appearance in large gathering of funeral of militants have been observed. In these instances, the militants after making brief appearances disappear, taking advantage of a large gathering. In order to prevent such activities of militants, numerous steps have been taken including strengthening of operational grid with enhanced human intelligence and use of technical intelligence grid. Further, the intensity of counter insurgency operations has been increased resulting in neutralising of several militants.”
In Kashmir, militants openly daring the security forces by giving gun salutes to killed colleagues is a new headache, reminiscent of the 1990's, where terrorists appeared in a similar fashion during funeral. Sources in the intelligence agencies, however, say the appearances are aimed to recruit more misguided youth into terror mould.
Government cannot afford action in such situations
A senior Army officer conceded that terrorists were appearing on regular basis at funeral sites. “Earlier the militants would stay away in the upper reaches (of mountain), far away from population. But now militants' appearance in funerals is almost a regular feature.”
With the civilian crowd of 3000-4000 present at such sites, both Army and police believe it will be a tactical mistake to go after terrorists in the crowd. “Any encounter or crossfire in midst of the crowd could result in huge civilian casualty,” the officer revealed.
A senior officer from Jammu and Kashmir Police feels that the government cannot afford “action” in such locations, which could potentially lead to loss of civilian lives, which could later become cause of further resentment.
Though a spate of counter-terror operations have resulted in neutralising more than 100 terrorist in the Valley so far this year, but as an officer said, “It is not terrorism, but alienation of people that needs to be addressed by the state government.”
