The security situation in Jammu and Kashmir has improved post-abrogation of Article 370 from the then state in August 2019, as the number of terrorism-related incidents and terrorists has significantly reduced, according to a report.
The report stated that the terror incidents in J-K were 417 in 2018 which came down to 229 in 2021, while the number of terrorists operating in Kashmir has been reduced to below 100.
“Scrapping of Article 370, a temporary provision in the Constitution, has proven to be a major step towards restoring peace and normalcy in the erstwhile princely state,” the report said.
The government’s move on August 5, 2019, helped J-K move towards peace after 30 long years of turmoil in the Himalayan region.
“Terrorism-related incidents witnessing almost a 50 per cent decline in three years are ample proof of the fact that J&K’s special status had sown the seeds of discord and was responsible for separatism and sedition becoming a part of J-K’s culture,” the report said.
Pakistan, which took advantage of the temporary special status to J-K, created a notion that Kashmir is an “unsettled agenda of partition” and it needs to be settled.
“It tried to cover up the fact that Maharaja Hari Singh had signed an instrument of accession in October 1947 when the tribal raiders sent by the neighbouring country entered into J-K and tried to capture the erstwhile princely state,” it said.
According to the report, J-K has witnessed development in the past three years, on the other hand, Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) has witnessed many protests against the rule of Islamabad.
“PoK residents are demanding freedom from Pakistan. They are looking towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reclaim the part of Kashmir that has been under the illegal occupation of Pakistan for the past 72 years. They have understood that for Islamabad, PoK is nothing more than a colony while for India, J-K is its integral part and New Delhi is providing world-class facilities to the residents of Jammu and Kashmir,” the report said.
The Centre, in the past three years, has taken steps to ensure that terrorists and their sponsors are given a befitting reply.
The security forces are putting in efforts to shatter the ecosystem of terrorists and end terrorism in J-K.
“During the past three years, Kashmir has not witnessed any shutdown, stone-pelting incidents or street protests. Separatists and their henchmen, who used to dance to the tunes of Pakistan, have been cut to size. Both the factions of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, one headed by late Hurriyat hawk Syed Ali Shah Geelani and another by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, have wound up their offices in Kashmir,” the report said.
“Jamaat-e-Islami, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front and other separatist organizations have been banned and the properties owned by such parties are being attached and sealed,” it added.
Recently, Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai informed the Parliament that 14 people belonging to minorities including three Kashmiri Pandits, were killed in terrorist incidents in Jammu and Kashmir this year till November 30. However, he added that no migration of Kashmiri Pandits from Kashmir has taken place in the past five years.
“More than 5,000 Kashmiri Pandits are working in the Valley under the Prime Minister’s Development Package,” the report said.
In 2021 also, terrorists made multiple attempts to chase the members of the minority communities from Kashmir by targeting teachers, non-local labourers, street vendors and others. But their attempts were foiled as the security forces acted swiftly and eliminated most of the terrorists who were involved in carrying out the attacks against innocent civilians.
The common man, in the recent past, has hit the ground on a number of occasions to protest against the targeted killings of the non-locals and minorities in the region.
The government has taken a number of steps to secure the lives of minorities including area domination, cordon and search operation, etc.