Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Sunday that incidents of stone-throwing have reduced in Jammu and Kashmir due to the arrest of separatists and crackdown on terror-funding in the Valley by the NIA.
However, government data show 60 incidents of stone-throwing against security forces are still being reported every month.
A majority of these incidents were reported from south Kashmir, an official said.
At encounter sites
Security agencies have killed over 115 members of various terrorist organisations this year and an official claimed that most incidents of stone-pelting were being reported from encounter sites. Till August 10 this year, 437 incidents of stone-throwing were reported. In 2016, from January to June, 71 incidents were reported.
The incidents, however, spiked post July 8, 2016 when Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter.
In July alone last year, 475 incidents were reported. August, September and October reported 490, 402 and 181 incidents, respectively.
The frequency of incidents fell considerably in November and December with 86 and 37 incidents respectively of stone-throwing. The government attributed the fall in incidents to its decision to demonetise ₹500 and ₹1,000 currency notes on November 8, claiming that the move choked the funding of terrorists.
Blow to terrorism
The Home Minister was speaking at the inauguration of the office and residential complex of the NIA in Lucknow.
Mr. Singh said, “You have seen role of the NIA in Jammu and Kashmir, where incidents of stone throwing have come down …. If we plug sources of fake currency and terror funding, it will be a big blow to terrorism. NIA is doing a great job here. Its name sends fear down the spine of those indulging in terror funding.”
The NIA had first registered a Preliminary Enquiry (PE) against Kashmiri separatist leaders including Syed Ali Shah Geelani, for allegedly receiving funds from Lashkar-e-Taiba’s chief Hafiz Saeed to create unrest in the Valley on May 19. The PE was converted into an FIR on May 30. The first arrests were made on July 24 when NIA arrested seven second-rung separatist leaders, which included Geelani’s son-in-law Altaf Ahmad Shah.
