Shadow Correspondent
Srinagar, oct 03 :
General Officer Commanding (GoC) of the Army’s Srinagar-based 15 Corps, Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai, said on Thursday that the security situation in Kashmir has significantly improved over the past few years. However, he emphasised that the biggest challenge for security forces is maintaining the current peaceful atmosphere. He also noted that militancy in Kashmir is in its final stage, with only 80 active militants remaining.
Addressing a press conference, outgoing GoC of the 15 Corps, Lt Gen Ghai, said that the situation in the region is considerably stable. “Terrorism is being fuelled from across the border, and that is very much clear,” he said.
Lt Gen Ghai is set to move to a new posting and will be succeeded by Lt General Prashant Shrivastava on October 15.
When asked about the biggest challenge in Kashmir, the officer said that the region has experienced a good year, similar to the previous one. “We need a few more good years to make peace a permanent feature here. I believe maintaining this peaceful atmosphere is the biggest challenge for the security forces,” he said.
Lt Gen Ghai also mentioned that there has been almost no militant recruitment this year. “Last year, the recruitment numbers were down to a dozen, and this year it is close to nil,” he said.
Regarding militant-initiated incidents, he remarked that such incidents are now rare. “Some incidents involved soft targets being attacked by even untrained individuals using pistols,” the officer noted.
When asked about the current number of active militants, Lt Gen Ghai said, “There are only 80 militants active in the region, which is lower than in previous years.”
On whether a troop reduction is possible at this point, the GoC responded, “We are in a consolidation phase, and no dilution of the counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism grid is recommended. Both grids need to be maintained, and I definitely would not advocate any reduction at this stage.”
Earlier in his remarks, Lt Gen Ghai said that over the past year and a half, numerous counter-infiltration efforts have been undertaken, along with a robust and successful counter-terrorist campaign within Kashmir. “While doing this, we have been very conscious of our responsibility towards nation-building. So, we have maintained our connection with the awam (people of Kashmir),” he said.
He also highlighted that the region is witnessing a new beginning, with several significant events and developmental activities taking place. “This is due to the efforts put in by the 15 Corps, police, CAPF, and other security agencies,” the GoC added.
“There were people on launch pads across the LoC, but there were not many attempts of infiltration made this summer. Infiltration happens from areas other than LoC like we saw in Jammu. This is why numbers have increased a little in that region,” he said.
The officer said that the Army is getting intelligence about the infiltration and exuded confidence that the number of active militants will decrease.
“I am confident that these numbers will decrease significantly as we are getting intelligence now,” he said. About the Kokernag encounter last year in which two Army and one police officer were killed, he said that it was not an attack but an Army operation.
“Kokernag was not an attack… it was Army’s operation, and we had achieved surprise as well. Colonel Manpreet and DySP Humayun had reached the hideout by walking throughout the night, but in the last stage, when they were deliberating, the opposition opened fire, and they got injured,” he said.
On the number of foreign militants present in the Valley, he said 25 to 40 foreigners are active here. “We will have successful operations in the future,” he said, adding it will decline the number of militants.
On the ceasefire with Pakistan at the Line of Control (LoC), he said that the ceasefire with Pakistan is intact.
