Ahead of the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian Army is seeking to beef up border security and improve the counter-terrorism grid.
There has been surge in terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir this year that have killed soldiers and civilians alike. Notably, terrorists have carried out attacks in the Jammu region as well that had been relatively calm in recent years. With elections around the corner, security agencies, including the Army, are seeking to foil any plans to foil the democratic exercise.
J&K will hold elections after nearly a decade in September-October. The voting will take place in three phases on September 18, Sept. 25, and October 1. The counting of votes will take place on Oct. 8.
The Indian Express has reported that the Army is deploying a three-pronged approach in the wake of elections.
One, the Army is beefing up the counter-infiltration grid by redeploying more troops along the Lone of Control (LoC), the de-facto India-Pakistan boundary in the Kashmir region.
Two, the Army is deploying more personnel in temporary operating bases (TOBs) in the higher reaches as well as forests.
Three, the Army is going to intensify search and destroy operations for terrorists and their shelters in coming days.
The newspaper reported that the three-pronged approach is aimed at destabilising terrorists by disrupting their hideouts and drawing them into contact as well as denying them access to population centres.
Notably, the Army would not be deployed in population centres during the elections as that purpose would be served by newly-inducted 300 additional companies of central paramilitary personnel, according to the newspaper.
The report comes at a time when there are concerns that terrorists may disrupt the assembly elections in J&K — the first in nearly 10 years.
Elections were last held in J&K in 2014. In the 90-member assembly, the J&K People’s Democratic Party (PDP) emerged as the single-largest party with 25 MLAs but fell short of the majority. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came second with 25 MLAs, followed by J&K National Conference (NC) with 15, and Congress with 12. After weeks of delay, the PDP and BJP formed a coalition government in March 2015 with Mufti Mohammad Sayeed as Chief Minister of J&K.
After Sayeed’s death in 2016, his daughter Mehbooba Mufti became the CM of J&K and ran the government until 2018. In June 2018, the BJP quit the coalition and Mehbooba resigned as her government collapsed. This led to the imposition of governor’s rule in the state. Then, in November 2018, the then-Governor Satya Pal Malik dissolved the assembly. Then, in August 2019, the Narendra Modi government abrogated Article 370 and bifurcated the state into two union territories of J&K and Ladakh. Now, the UT of J&K is set to have its first elections in a decade and first assembly elections since the abrogation of Article 370.
The elections are taking place amid a spurt in terrorist activities in J&K. In the eight months of this year, at least 18 civilians and 20 security forces personnel have been killed in J&K compared to 12 civilians and 33 security personnel for the entirety of last year, according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP).
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Ahead of Jammu & Kashmir elections, Indian Army seeks to beef up border security: Report
