The newly carved union territory of Jammu and Kashmir is going to celebrate the 2nd anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370 and J&K integration with India on 5th of August. The reason for the celebration is strong and valid because the positive impact of the Centre’s decision to abrogate Article 370, which granted special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, is showing in the region as security situation has improved in Kashmir valley. One of the prime objectives of the abrogation of Article 370 was to curb the terrorist activities in the state. Now, after almost two years of scrapping article 370 the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir has increased manifold and is now, in fact, better than ever.
A study has revealed that 244 terror incidents were reported in Jammu and Kashmir in 2020 in comparison to 594 in 2019, while 221 terrorists were killed in 2020 in comparison to 157 in 2019. According to a terror incident tracker website named “South Asia Terrorism Portal” (SATP), only 43 terror incidents have been reported in Union Territory till now. The study further indicates significant achievement in killing the deadly terrorist in Kashmir. Till February 2021, 15 terror incidents occurred in the Union Territory in which eight terrorists were killed. There is also a steep decline in the killing of security personnel and civilian in violent clash with the terrorist groups. According to the SATP data, 62 security forces personnel were martyred in 2020 compared to 91 in 2018. In 2021 the number of martyrs has declined to just 14. There is also steep decline in the incidents of stone pelting in Kashmir. In 2019, the number of cases of stone pelting were 2009, while this number declined drastically to 327 in 2020. According to another report by Global Terror Index (GTI), the security scenario has continued to improve from the previous years in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Today, the district Doda has been declared terrorist free. According to the report there is about 30 per cent decline in the number of terrorist attacks targeting civilians and the security forces, while bomb diffusions and raids on terrorist hideouts have doubled. Further the report indicate that arrests of terrorists have also increased by factor of two. These statistics are a testament to the strength, coordination, and will of the government and the armed forces striving towards a terrorism-free Jammu and Kashmir. After the abrogation of Article 370, Modi government has adopted a policy of zero tolerance towards terrorism and has taken various measures, such as strengthening of security apparatus, strict enforcement of law against anti-national elements, intensified cordon and search operations to effectively deal with the challenges posed by the terrorist organisations. The security forces also keep a close watch on persons who attempt to provide support to terrorists and initiate action against them. Recently UT administration sacked its 11 government employees over their alleged connections with the terrorist groups. Among the dismissed employees was a son of Syed Salahuddin who is a chief commander of deadly terrorist outfit Hizbul Mujahideen. These all eleven people were said to provide crucial and secret information of security forces to the terrorist organizations. As part of the integrated approach to combat terrorism in the Jammu & Kashmir, the Modi Government took the significant decision to abrogate this Article 370. It is a well-known fact that terrorism in Kashmir remained a biggest problem for India since decades. The Kashmir centric leadership and Separatist has played a biggest role in encouraging the terrorist activities in the entire region of Jammu and Kashmir. They never responded to the terrorist activities properly. Instead, militant Kashmiri separatists used to receive sufficient support by Pakistan’s powerful and deadly ISI to continue terrorism against India. They even used to pressurise and blackmail the State government to go light on the terrorists and their groups. This intensified the situation in Kashmir. There is no doubt that the Modi government’s decision to revoke the autonomous status of Jammu and Kashmir in 2019 has improved the region’s security situation significantly. The decline in the militant activities has proved wrong to those who were speculating that there would be an increase in terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of special status of state on August 5, 2019.
