As per a report by Rahul Pandita on Open magazine, a well-known journalist and expert on Kashmir, terrorists in Kashmir valley are under pressure from Pakistan to ‘act’ after the abrogation of Article 370 by the Modi government. The Armed Forces has been targeting the top leadership of terrorist network so as to dismantle the terror groups, rendering foot soldiers of the terror groups ineffective. For this, as Ajit Doval roams the streets of Kashmir, the security forces have reportedly started a ‘cash on delivery’ plan for ‘informants’ in the valley.
“Pakistan does not trust most Kashmiri terrorists and is only in touch with top commanders like Saifullah and Riyaz Naikoo,” said a senior Army official. To strengthen the intelligence network and make it more efficient, the Armed Forces changed to ‘cash on delivery’ model to get the information. “Earlier, we had informants in villages who used to get money on a monthly basis. But now we only give them money as and when they give us accurate information about the whereabouts of a terrorist. We call it ‘cash on delivery’ model,” said the army official.
On the vigil on the Line of Control, another armed forces source said, “It is quite peaceful right now, but almost every night there are attempts of infiltration.” However, the Indian response of border forces to July 30 ceasefire violation has deterred the terrorists from infiltrating into Kashmir. “Our response has scared them. No major exchange of fire has happened after that,” said the source.
In last five years, the Modi government strengthened their muscular policy against terrorists and continued with the anti-terror campaign. In recent years, New Delhi has refused to hold talks with the separatists and aggressively dealt with terrorists in the Kashmir valley.
For this, the centre gave the army a free hand to deal with the terrorists in Operation All-out. After the death of Burhan Wani in 2016, with led to unrest in the valley and subsequent militant attacks in the region such as the Amarnath Yatra terror attack on July 10, in which several people were killed, the Indian security forces with the consent of the ministry of home affairs (MHA) launched the Operation All out. This was launched against numerous militant groups including Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Hizbul Mujahideen and Al-Badr. The operation was based on meticulous planning and intelligence-gathering aimed to flush out the terrorists from the Kashmir valley.
Moreover, the NIA also sought strict action against the Hurriyat leaders and Pakistani separatist leaders to curb terror financing in the state. For this, the houses of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) leader Yasin Malik, Shabir Shah, Zaffar Bhat and Masarat Alam were raided, along with raiding the houses of moderate Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and the son of pro-Pakistani separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani. These people were then called for questioning over cases relating to terror sponsoring. In 2019, the government banned JKLF. The terror financing machinery was thus, cut off from the roots.
This reaped rewards and the valley witnessed a surge of terrorists being taken down. According to the data published in the 2017-18 annual report by Ministry of Home Affairs, 581 terrorists lost their lives between 2014 and 2017. Over and above this, over 100 militants, including 23 foreigners, have been killed in Kashmir in the first five months of 2019. Thus, the terror situation in the valley was being dealt with right from the roots. The newly implemented ‘cash on delivery’ policy will reap further dividends for the armed forces and terrorist networks will be rooted out from the valley. Already 70 terrorists and pro-Pakistan separatists have been taken to Agra from the Kashmir valley in an IAF plane.