Amit Shah firm on Valley violence, sends experts to neutralise terrorists
With Union home minister Amit Shah giving firm and unequivocal directions to counter the killings of innocents and minorities in Kashmir, Centre has sent its top counter-terror experts to the Valley to aid the local police neutralise the Pakistan backed local module involved in terror attacks in Srinagar.
Home minister Shah took a marathon five-hour meeting on Kashmir on Thursday after terrorists from Pakistani Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) backed so-called The Resistance Force (TRF) gunned down a Kashmiri Pandit pharmacist, a school principal, a teacher and two others in a fresh wave of terror attacks in Srinagar. While asking the security agencies to dispatch their CT experts to Kashmir, Shah gave firm instructions to bring the perpetrators to book.
Intelligence Bureau’s head of CT operations Tapan Deka is going to the Valley today to personally supervise the fight against terrorists while CT teams of other national security agencies have already reached Kashmir to act as force multipliers to Jammu and Kashmir police.
The attacks come at a time when tourists from Indian hinterland are thronging the Valley with all the hotels showing 100 per cent occupancy and Srinagar humming with economic activity.
According to security agencies, the recent spurt of violence is a manifestation of confidence of Pakistan based groups following the capture of Kabul by ultra conservative Taliban and the appointment of new ISI chief in Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum. With Afghanistan under Rawalpindi’s thumb, the new focus is Kashmir with the mission not to allow minorities to return to the Valley by targeting those who have the audacity to return to Kashmir.
Top security officials say that the weapons used in recent killings are pistols, which may have been dropped in the upper reaches of the Valley through drones from across the border. “The bigger worry is when US sniper rifles and area weapons will be brought into the Valley by the Pakistani jihadists in the coming days from Afghanistan,” said a senior police official.
While the present terror module may be neutralised in the coming days, it is quite evident that Pakistan will ratchet up pressure on Kashmir with the intention of pushing the Modi government towards the restoration of articles 370 and 35A and roll-back the August 5, 2019 creation of Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The latter is also the demand of Valley based political parties, who are also advocates of India talking to Pakistan for peace in Kashmir.
However, the Modi government is in no mood to bow down before the Pakistan based terror groups with home minister Shah asking the security agencies and para-military forces to take on the attackers without any delay and bring normalcy to the Valley.