Shah's three-day J&K visit to strategise 'wipe-off militancy' plan
When Union Home Minister Amit Shah lands on a three-day visit to the new Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, on top of the agenda will be the recent wave of targeted attacks that has left 11 civilians dead in the region.
A strategy is likely to be drafted “to finish militancy” in Jammu and Kashmir during Shah’s visit, his first to J&K since August 2019, when the BJP-led central government withdrew J&K’s special status under Article 370 and bifurcated the erstwhile state into two UTs – J&K with a legislative assembly and Ladakh without one.
Deccan Herald quoted a source as saying: “Shah will chair a high-level security review meeting in Srinagar on October 23, the first day of his three-day tour to the UT, where a strategy is likely to be drafted to tackle the sudden spurt in civilian killings and finish militancy in the region. The security meeting is expected to come out with a plan for protection of civilians including minorities and non-locals.”
Shah will be accompanied by top officials from his ministry, including Home Secretary AK Bhalla and the chiefs of most of the central armed police forces (CAPFs) and intelligence agencies.
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“Top brass of the ministry, CAPFs and intelligence agencies from New Delhi and senior officers of all security and intelligence agencies, operating in the UT besides Jammu and Kashmir Police will attend the security review meeting,” the source further said.
The home minister is also expected to address a public rally organised by the BJP in Jammu on Sunday.
The killings of mostly non-locals and minorities has sparked unease in the Valley and led to mass migration of labour. Most recently, on Sunday, two labourers from Bihar, Raja Rishidev and Yogendra Rishidev, were gunned down when terrorists barged into their accommodation in Kulgam district. Earlier, a golgappa-seller from Bihar, Arbind Sah, and a carpenter, Sagir Ahmed, from Uttar Pradesh were shot dead in the Valley.
Other victims include 70-year-old ML Bindroo, a prominent member of the Kashmiri Pandit community and the owner of a pharmacy in Srinagar, Mohammad Shafi Lone, a taxi driver in Bandipore district, and Virender Paswan, a street food vendor from Bihar. On October 7, two teachers at a government school in Srinagar were shot dead – Supunder Kaur and Deepak Chand. They were from Kashmir’s minority Sikh and Hindu communities.
The National Investigation Agency is probing the murders.
Also read: Two militants killed in encounter in Shopian district in J&K
When Union Home Minister Amit Shah lands on a three-day visit to the new Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, on top of the agenda will be the recent wave of targeted attacks that has left 11 civilians dead in the region.
