Without changing the aggressive security posture taken in Kashmir, the Union government needs to immediately intervene politically if the level of violence has to come down anytime soon, a significant number of military officers say.
Among military officers dealing with Kashmir, there is almost unanimity about the need for urgent political intervention if the situation has to improve. “Without changing the present security posture, the government needs to intervene urgently,” a senior Army officer who partly deals with Kashmir said. “We should not change deployment or operational patterns anytime soon. But that is not enough, especially if we have to contain casualties,” he said.
The widespread assessment within the Army on the need for political intervention seems to run counter to the aggressive stand taken by the Central government, which is yet to show any willingness for a political outreach towards Kashmiris, despite the worsening situation. And political leaders, including some BJP leaders such as Yashwant Sinha who have been pushing for a political outreach, have until now received cold response from the Centre.
No intelligence
Several military officers are pointing to the drying up of genuine intelligence from locals in the Kashmir Valley in recent months. They say it was a gradual slowdown over the past couple of years, but today most units have nothing dependable coming in. “Even the friendliest villager is telling us that they won’t be able to help us,” an Army colonel said. Without credible intelligence, the security forces are “blinded” and “fumbling,” another senior Army officer said.
‘We are isolated’
An officer, who has been in the Valley over two tenures, said the present situation was dramatically different from the last time he was there. “Today we are isolated in our units and cantonment,” he said.
With even school students coming out to throw stones and protest against security forces, the security forces are actually operating in extremely tricky situation, they argue. “When did we see militants coming out in the open to pay last tributes to their fallen comrades by firing in the air,” one officer asked. He was referring to four militants emerging at the funeral of Fayaz Ahmed on Sunday in Kulgam.
