The Men Who Served Jammu & Kashmir

PROLOGUE

The format and narrative confines of this book do not permit fleshing out details of the genesis of the debate over Jammu and Kashmir state or analysis of the problem that has bedeviled relations between India and Pakistan right from the time these became independent sovereign nations in August 1947. Suffice to say that Pakistan’s burning desire to make J&K a part of its territory by any means, fair or foul precedes even the formal partition of India. The future leaders of Pakistan looked at this Muslim maj ority princely state as a validation for their two-nation theory. Pakistan’s patrons, the British Empire to start with and later the U.S.A, had their own strategic reasons for wanting and facilitating the territories of Jammu and Kashmir to be part of Pakistan.

The militancy, when it hit the state towards the end of 1989, may have seemed to come almost as a bolt from the blue but the dark clouds had been gathering on the horizon for well over two years before that. Since then the militancy has passed through five distinct phases. The first phase covering the period following 1987 Assembly elections can be termed as Gathering Storm. The seeds were sown when Rajiv Gandhi and Dr. Farooq Abdullah made political alliance in November 1986. This practically closed the hitherto available space for legitimate political dissent in the Valley. The two joining hands also coincided with growing influence of the Jamaat – e – Islami (JEI) and increased direct involvement of the ISI in the state, leading to unrest and disturbances. The militancy had bared its hideous fangs unmistakably in the closing part of 1989. The kidnapping of Rubiya Sayeed, daughter of the then Union Home Minister Mufti Mohd. Sayeed, and her subsequent secured release in exchange for top detained militant leaders further added fuel to the militancy fire, planting it firmly on the soil of the state. Also, the initial Indian response to the developing crisis was tentative, hesitant and less than effective.

The next phase was The Outbreak, and it lasted almost three years from 1990 to 1992. First few months of 1990 were difficult and trying, particularly for the security forces and the civil administration. Law and order situation had gone out of hand; peace and public order was shattered and civil disobedience became a routine matter. Uncertainty was at its peak. There were rumours of people withdrawing savings from banks (other than the J&K Bank) apprehending a sudden change in the status of the State. Secessionist elements had become bold enough to predict that within months, if not weeks, the State would either be independent or become a part of Pakistan. Disgruntled Kashmiri youths in large numbers, including many government employees, were crossing the LoC for military training at the hands of Pakistan regular army in training camps set up by the ISI in POK and Pakistan. People seemed to be able to cross the LoC almost at will.

The mass demonstrations were initially organized under the aegis of the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Muslim United Front (MUF). The MUF, a loose amalgam of right-wing and partly secessionist elements had contested the 1987 Assembly elections as a seemingly credible political force. Having lost badly to the ruling National Conference at the hustings, it accused the latter of mass rigging the electoral process. This charge of manipulation of elections by National Conference found popular support amongst the people of Kashmir Valley and became a trigger point for the upheaval which followed. Activities of these outfits were ubiquitous even though their strongholds were in North-West and South Kashmir respectively. However, these were soon over taken by Pak inspired rabble rousers. The Jammu and Kashmir Liberation front (JKLF) was then the only militant organization which committed one of its major terror activities with the killing of 4 IAF personnel on the old airport road in Srinagar on January 25, 1990. Since the Pakistani establishment was distrustful of JKLF as it was consistently against merger of Kashmir with Pakistan, the ISI soon engaged in the process of switching its financial support and material assistance from JKLF to pro-Pakistan organizations like Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), Aljehad, Jumiat-ul-Mujahideen (JuM) and other militant agencies that were formed by it in the name of Kashmiri youth in the subsequent months. The currently most active terror organizations viz. the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) were a later phenomenon.

By the end of January, 1990, the law and order situation had literally gone out of hand. Although the indigenous JKLF was still in the forefront of the movement, rabble rousers and pro-Pak persons were having a field day. Mosques were taken over by antinational elements for announcing propaganda material and directions to the so-called azadi movement on loud speakers day and night. Officials, particularly the Government of India employees, were being targeted and in some cases, kidnapped and killed. Similar was the fate of mainstream political workers and police informers. Many locals, both Muslims and non-Muslims, were harassed, kidnapped and murdered dubbing them as anti movement. ISI was giving directions to the armed youths trained by them by announcing the intended killings even before they were indeed executed. Taking advantage of the situation, the fundamentalists were targeting educational institutions by torching school and college buildings ostensibly to prevent them from being used by the security forces, but in reality to subvert secular education.

The entire year was undoubtedly the most trying and difficult period. From the beginning of 1990 the terrorist activities spread beyond Srinagar city in a big way, leading to the virtual collapse of administrative machinery and destabilization of political structure. The proxy war unleashed by Pakistan had entered its most destructive stage. Large scale targeted kidnappings and killings took place, wanton destruction of government institutions and buildings was resorted to, efforts made to undermine Indian support structure, especially targeting J&K police and the Intelligence Bureau. Central Government establishments like Accountant General’s Office, BSNL, Post and Telegraph Department, and even some banks, virtually became defunct under terror threats. All these activities were accompanied by a very effective and high profile media blitz. The ethnic cleansing initiated ruthlessly by the terrorists forced migration of almost entire Kashmiri Pandit community from the Valley.

During the initial flare up of the militancy, in January – March 1990, a new administrative initiative was undertaken in the form of posting four Special Commissioners and Special DIGs in Rajouri-Poonch, Doda- Udhampur, Anantnag-Pulwama and Baramulla-Kupwara districts with the primary task of improving the security situation, augment the efficacy of inter-departmental coordination, give fillip to the developmental activities and enhance and strengthen relations between district officers, paramilitary forces and the army. Whereas two out of these did not function beyond couple of months, due to personal issues of the incumbents, the ones in Rajouri-Poonch and Baramulla-Kupwara did outstanding work for almost two years. After this the Special Commissioners were withdrawn but the Special DIGs have continued till today.

The subsequent Containment phase lasted for the next two years of 1993-94. During this period successful efforts were made to revive the whole state structure and restore various organizations, control systems and developmental activities. The intelligence setup, particularly of the I.B. and the state police, was painstakingly brought to an effective functional level. Along with, an increasingly credible counter- insurgency (C.I.) grid, comprising different forces, was placed on ground. In the month of May 1993 the institution of Unified Headquarters (UHQ) was established to more effectively coordinate the efforts of different forces and organizations as also to ensure optimum utilization of the resources available. The creation of UHQ was indeed an innovative and a major step forward. On the administrative side, writ of the state administration was re-established and visible impetus given to the developmental activities. The All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC), a loose combine of twenty three separatist outfits, was launched on September 3, 1993. A month later the militants laid a siege on the famous Hazartbal Shrine in Srinagar. The ability of the State Government to tide over this crisis successfully was a major jolt to the terrorist groups, their over ground supporters and mentors across the border.

The fourth important phase in the militancy was that of Turnaround, and it also lasted for almost two-year duration of 1995 and 96. During this period the security forces gained upper hand over the militants by relentlessly pursuing intelligence based targeted operations as also effectively strengthening the counter insurgency grid. To further enhance people’s participation against the militants and to bolster morale of the local population, Village Defence Committees were constituted. A small beginning was made with five hundred such units during September 1995 in Jammu Division. Over the next few years this number crossed four thousand, spread all over the state. Also, revival of the state police, which started in small measure during 1993, registered a remarkable progress in the next three years. This turnaround is a great tribute and lasting credit to the leaders and men of this force. For the first time the state police started taking a leading role in the C.I. operations, in addition to the normal policing duties. It was also during this period that the foreign terrorists were inducted from across the border in large numbers. This was undertaken by the Pakistan ISI with a view to bolster the sagging morale and downward activity curve of the terror activities which had been showing signs of withering away under sustained pressure of the security forces. In fact they took over effective control of the terrorist operations from the local cadres.

The fifth, and continuing, phase of militancy is the Restoration of Peace and Complete Normalcy. Preparations for Assembly Elections were initiated during 1995 but due to certain reasons the electoral process could only be carried out in 1996. This endeavour began with the conduct of Parliamentary Elections, along with the rest of the country in May-June, and the Assembly Elections during September. These elections, particularly for the Parliament, were a remarkable joint effort by the agencies of the central and state governments, as also a successful massive administrative and logistic exercise involving transportation of over five hundred companies of central para military forces as well as polling personnel exceeding ten thousand from outside the state; arranging their arrival and reception in the state and move them from one place to another under constant threat of terrorist attacks, without suffering even a single casualty, for almost a month of their stay in the state.

These initiatives also firmed up the ground for further consolidation of democratic process. Subsequent elections to the Parliament in 1998, 1999 and in 2004 were held without any serious difficulty. Yet another very credible electoral exercise was conducted in September 2002 during Assembly elections, when people wielded the power of the ballot with confidence to usher in a change in the State Government. The next notable event in the consolidation of political structures in the state was the Local Bodies elections held in January 2005 after a gap of over 27 years.

The 2008 Assembly elections, held under the shadow of Shri Amarnath Shrine Board land controversy which rocked both Jammu and Valley, also registered very impressive participation by the people of the state in all the three regions. This underlined the faith of the people in democratic process and a strong urge for restoration of complete normalcy. For the record, the polling percentage in last three Assembly elections in 1996, 2002 and 2008 was an impressive figure of 53.92, 43.70 and 61.47 respectively. This noteworthy electoral participation and significant turnaround, viewed only from the perspective of political developments, was not achieved without substantial struggle, toil and sacrifice. The situation was literally brought back from the near brink, when during the Parliament Elections in November 1989 in Anantnag town the militants had challenged and dared the people to cast a vote and pick up a TV set.

Conducting credible elections and putting political activity back on the rails was not an easy task as the crafty, wily and often elusive enemy employed various means to counter and block every move by the government apparatus to take the state towards normalcy. The cost to the nation and the state for this endeavour has been heavy. From 1990 to 2010 the casualty figures, purely in statistical terms as indicated below, has been staggering:-

The most significant impact on the security situation has been the erection of fencing along the LoC. It was an admirable achievement for the army to successfully complete over 750 kms of this wire obstacle, in an extremely hostile and mountainous terrain, in a short period of little over one year in 2003-04. The results are obvious in the above table. Right from 1990 to 2002 the estimated infiltration every year has been more than the number of militants killed. It is only after 2003 that this ratio becomes inverse, with appreciable gap between the number of militants eliminated and those estimated to have crossed over to this side. Therefore while the terrorists may still retain some capacity to launch strikes and undertake acts of violence which have high news value, their capability to disrupt the normal life in the state has been seriously blunted. This appears to be the most opportune time to aim and strive for complete elimination of the militants rather than seek smug comfort in the comparative numbers game. The terror network would certainly be concerned about the serious depletion in their ranks and, unless damaged beyond redemption, try to find ways and means to keep the pot simmering.

The casualty figure of 5308 security personnel killed, till end of the year 2010, needs some elaboration. This figure includes over nine hundred lives lost by the rank and the file of the J&K Police, making it amply clear that this magnificent organization is worthy of being mentioned as a frontline force. In addition, more than six hundred Special Police Officers and Village Defence Committee members have lost their lives. As no official figures have been released by the Ministry of Defence pertaining to the losses suffered during 1965 and 1971 wars with Pakistan, a comparison can only be made with the casualty figures officially published in respect of 1947-48 operations in J&K. In this regular war between the two armies for a period of fourteen months, the casualties of the Indian Army were in the range of 1100 and those of the then J&K State Forces amounted to 1900. If we exclude about five to six hundred State Forces personnel killed by the treachery of their comrades, the casualties of the Indian troops would range somewhere in the vicinity of 2400. Thus it becomes very clear that the Security Forces casualties during the militancy period has been more than twice the figure in the regular war fought between the two armies for well over an year in 1947-48.

At its peak the militancy in J&K had engulfed the entire Kashmir Valley, as also spilled over to the South of Pir Panjal range. The areas in Jammu division affected by the scourge of terrorism included the entire Chenab valley -comprising the present districts of Kishatwar, Doda and Ramban- as also the contiguous and mountainous border region of Rajouri and Poonch districts. For quite some time the militant activities also infected the adjacent northern tracts of Reasi, Udhampur and Kathua districts. The Jammu city too became a target of special efforts by these disruptive elements primarily with the nefarious designs of triggering serious communal backlash or riots. That this diabolical intent did not succeed is a lasting tribute to the collective wisdom and tolerance of the people of all communities and regions inhabiting this winter capital of the state.

In fact amity, brotherhood and mutual respect have been the traditional hallmark of J&K, particularly right from the dark days of 1947 when the tribal invasion was let loose by Pakistan. A shining example was set by people of Kashmir then by maintaining communal harmony and also bravely and heroically resisting the tribal hordes. All this has been extensively and comprehensively documented. Similarly in the historic town of Poonch, in the Jammu region, which remained under the enemy siege for one full year from November 1947, the local population comprising Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs – original inhabitants as well as refugees from adjoining areas – coalesced into a single unit. Displaying rare grit, determination and brotherhood the people braved all difficulties, dangers and not only managed their own affairs peacefully and in an orderly manner but also ably supported the army in containing the enemy assaults and ultimately pushing the aggressor back. In the same vein, although it is not well known, the Buddhists and Muslims of Leh town, the principal urban centre of the Ladakh region, together pooled their resources and manpower for the defence of Leh and areas around, against the invader and achieved success. The secular traditions and practices ingrained in the people of the state over the centuries had withstood most difficult and gruelling tests and come out shining and with glory.

The state of Jammu and Kashmir has been struggling with the scourge of Pakistani inspired, trained and aided militancy for the last two decades. This has caused untold miseries to the people of the state, resulted in thousands loosing lives, many more getting hurt and immense loss to the public and private property. Also apart from the fact that the normal day to day life has been seriously disrupted, the entire social fabric has been under very severe strain. The mass migration of the Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley, under militant threats and acts of violence, has been extremely tragic. But a closer scrutiny of events of the past twenty years would reveal that while the outer surface may have appeared to be frayed, the core of the traditional secular framework of the state has essentially not changed. Also notwithstanding strenuous attempts and threats by militants and their over ground workers to impose their narrow and sectarian interpretation of religion and urging the population of the Valley to stop visiting shrines of saints, the locals continued with their age-old practices unmindful of violence and casualties. The Shrines at Batmaloo in Srinagar and Aishmuqam on Anantnag-Pahalgam road can be particularly mentioned in this regard. It is a matter of record, and also pride for the people of the state, that in spite of many threats, communal killings and ghastly acts of violence perpetrated by the terrorists, the people have refused to abandon their traditions of amity, brotherhood and communal harmony. This region has emerged as the crucible of social harmony and mutual fellowship, providing shelter, succour and solace to a large number of people belonging to different places, regions and faiths.

Certain significant events took place after the restoration of popular government in 1996 which have had a bearing on the course and intensity of militancy. The first major happening was the Lahore Bus Yatra undertaken by the then Prime Minister Vajpayee in the month of February, 1999. In spite of the pointed absence of the Pakistani Army Chief in the reception line of the Prime Minister, the deliberations and joint declaration thereafter raised hopes of improving ties between India and Pakistan. However, that was not to be so and all hopes in this regard were shattered by the Pakistani ingress in Kargil, leading to an armed conflict which raged during May-July the same year. At the end of this clash, Indian casualties were reportedly 407 soldiers killed, 584 injured and 6 missing and in monetary terms an expenditure of over rupees 1100 crores incurred. Pakistani losses were estimated to be 696 killed. (Swapna Dasgupta in India Today, 26 July, 1999, p.32). Kargil caused India a lot of anguish. It also stirred its soul and could have become a defining moment, a watershed and a turning point. The Kargil conflict gave India an opportunity that it was ill prepared to turn to its advantage.

Prime Minister Vajpayee came to Srinagar on April 18, 2003 and addressed a very impressive public rally where he gave a call for improving relations with Pakistan, initiating a process of establishing peace and extended a hand of friendship. The response to this initiative was not disappointing and a ceasefire was declared along the Line of Control on 26 November, 2003. To the credit of both countries, this ceasefire has, by and large, held; even though it has had no effect on the cross border terrorism. However, the clashes between the two armies and exchange of heavy artillery fire which used to result in considerable loss and damage to army as well as civilian life and property, on both sides of the border, came to a stop. Starting of bus service between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad on April 7, 2005 was another significant step taken by the two countries. However, the terrorists tried to disrupt the inaugural function of this historic event by the Prime Minister at Srinagar by launching a fidayeen operation not far away from the venue of the function. This was followed by starting similar bus service between Poonch and Rawalakot in June 2006. This process of interaction between two parts of the erstwhile state was further strengthened with the opening of trade routes on both these axes in October 2008. This movement of persons and goods across the LoC has certainly been a very important CBM between the two