Security Forces To Provide Safe Passage For The Amarnath Yatra

As anti-militancy operations resume, the security forces would look to engage with Kashmiris and provide safe passage for the Amarnath pilgrims.

- Namrata Biji Ahuja & Pradip R. Sagar

With governor's rule declared in Jammu and Kashmir on June 20, all boots are back on ground to resume Operation All Out. During the BJP’s alliance with the People’s Democratic Party, the latter had often called for restraint during anti-militancy operations. This time, however, the security brass knew there would be no PDP to do so.

Apart from heavy deployment of anti-militancy forces, 250 companies of the Central Reserve Police Force have been sent to Kashmir to provide safe passage to pilgrims during the Amarnath yatra. The valley might look like an armed fortress, but the security establishment has its reasons.

“A lot of manpower and logistics are required to neutralise a single militant, because he is on a mission to kill or be killed,” said a counter-terror official in Kashmir. “Today, there is a mix of foreign terrorists and local militants in the valley. We do not distinguish between them. A proactive approach will be adopted in the restive districts of south Kashmir to keep them on the run. This will put pressure on the terror infrastructure and ensure that they are not able to hold on in one area for long.”

Intelligence sources suspect that a majority of the most-wanted militants, three of them of Pakistani origin, could be hiding in interior parts of south Kashmir, which has recently been the hub of terror activities.