Shah to take firm steps against targeted killings in Kashmir

The Narendra Modi government is expected to take firm steps in Jammu and Kashmir to ensure that the minority community is more secure in the union territory and not targeted by Pakistan based terrorist groups.

It is understood that concrete directions to both civil and police administration will be given by home minister Amit Shah during an overall review of Jammu and Kashmir tomorrow afternoon. The meetings will be attended among others by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, UT Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, top intelligence chiefs, UT Chief Secretary and DGP.

While the J&K Police believes that the targeted killing of minority community including bank manager Vijay Kumar at Kulgam has been orchestrated by Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), but security agencies believe that it is module of Pak based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) which is behind the cold-blooded murders.

Although the JKP police is trying to hunt down the killers of both Kumar and schoolteacher Rajni Bala, who was gunned down by terrorists in Kulgam two days earlier, the focus of home minister’s meeting will be on how to secure the minority community by not posting them beyond 30 kilometers from the headquarters so that they are not targeted by jihadists.

It is quite evident that the recent targeted killings in J&K is part of a larger plan by the jihadists to ensure that minority community stays out of the UT as also put the Modi government under pressure. Known to operate in the UT under instruction of Pakistani deep state, the jihadists clearly are out to overturn the peace dividend from revocation of article 370 and 35 A from Jammu and Kashmir.

While Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to ask civil administration to be more conscious to the security of minority community in the UT, the JKP will be asked firmly to get the local thana SHOs involved in the security of the UT. National Security planners feel that the eradication of terrorism from Punjab in the 1980-90s was only possible due to involvement of the local thana in counter-terror operations as well as in securing the community under one roof.

At the review meeting tomorrow, the Home Minister could also spell out new steps to ensure that the civilian administration was more responsive as well as more discreet so that innocents are not identified and then singled out and targeted.