Expecting a surge in violence in the coming weeks in restive Kashmir Valley, the Army is reviewing its deployment pattern and will make changes in the counter-insurgency grid to deny militants take advantage of the ongoing turmoil.
Besides moving additional troops from Jammu to some parts of Kashmir where situation turned volatile and continues to remain so after terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen’s militant commander Burhan Wani was killed two months back, the Army is likely to go in for area domination exercises along with CRPF and BSF in rural areas and hinterland soon to re-establish the writ of the Government.
According to agency reports, for the first time since 2014, the Army on Friday took up positions in rural areas of four troubled South Kashmir districts of Pulwama, Shopian, Kulgam and Anantnag, which witnessed bulk of violence in the last two months, accounting for more than 50 of the 70 deaths.
Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag took stock of the security situation during his day long visit to Kashmir on Friday and was briefed about the Army’s plans to deal with anticipated escalation in “volatile situation,” sources said on Saturday. Suhag’s visit came in the backdrop of reports that the Army may be deployed in at least seven districts of South Kashmir which has witnessed unrelenting protests and violence since Wani’s death.
Suhag is expected to give the feedback about his visit to the political leadership next week and the Government will then take a call on increasing the Army’s presence in towns and cities, officials said. Elaborating upon the sensitivities involved, they said the Army had reduced its footprint in the rural areas over the last few years after 2010 phase of violence. It was done as a confidence building measure to reassure the local population that the Government was not in favour of taking strong steps to quell protests.
In the current phase of protests, miscreants have set fire to Government buildings including police posts in the rural areas adjoining towns like Anantnag, Shopian, Kulgam, Pulwama and even summer Capital Srinagar.
Mob fury resulted in local police forced to withdraw from some areas thereby giving a free run to protesters. Moreover, the lines of communication were broken down including safe movement of traffic including army and para-military convoys and day to day working of the local administration.
The Army is expected to restore the vital lines of communication in conjunction with the CRPF and BSF but will not get engaged in law and order functions like crowd control during protests, they said. Also, the operational commanders are concerned over the standard operating procedure to be adopted while conducting flag marches.
Explaining the necessity for clear cut directions in this regard, sources said, “If the flag march convoy is subjected to stone pelting then should the convoy just drive past or else take deterrent action which may worsen the already tense situation.” This issue is likely to come up for discussion when the Government mulls over active engagement of the Army in the strife torn Kashmir Valley, officials said.
As regards changes in the counter-insurgency grid, officials said assessment was based on some basic parameters like population centres, sensitivity of the region, past militancy record and vulnerable points.
The review exercise in this context was already on in at least four districts in case the Army is mandated to help the local administration in restoring normalcy. Stating that grid pattern is dynamic and changed according to the prevailing situation in a particular zone, sources said the Army has enough troops in every grid to redeploy or interchange at a very short notice. They also said there are enough troops in the Kashmir Valley to undertake this responsibility but reiterated that the Army will not directly get involved in law and order duties.
While the CRPF, BSF and local police will take care of this aspect, the Army will go after ring leaders and militants who of late have merged into protesting crowds and openly brandished weapons besides giving provocative speeches before escaping, sources said.
On the current pattern of deployment and likely changes, they said most of the time the jawans remained closeted inside their camps and if required play active role in guarding the frontiers and plug the infiltration routes.
As per the new blueprint the Army units can be handed over the responsibility of restoring peace in their area of jurisdiction and synergise their operations with paramilitary and state police force to restore order, they said.