The spurt in terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir is expected to come up during a review meeting convened by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, on Tuesday, with LG Manoj Sinha and other stake holders to take stock of development initiatives and the security scenario in the union territory ahead of Amarnath Yatra.

Government sources said the killing of civilians by terrorists, viewed as an act of desperation by security agencies, has seen an escalation this year. At the same time, security forces have been able to eliminate more terrorists, wiping out top leaders of various outfits operating in the UT.

Law and order

Twelve civilians were shot dead till the middle of last month, but no killings took place during the same period last year, revealed government statistics. The trend of eliminating people inimical to Pakistan design, which includes J&K police personnel, continues. Rahul Bhat, a Kashmiri Pandit, was gunned down by terrorists on May 12 in his Chadoora tehsil office in Budgam district.

The civilian killings are through incidents of hit-and-run, grenade and improvised explosive devise (IED) attacks, besides during encounters with security forces, an assessment of crime statistics point out. The comparative figures for terrorists killed in encounters with security forces during the same period are 52 dead till April 15, far more than 34 killed during the first three-and-half months of 2021, states government data.

Former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah met with Manoj Sinha to raise the issue of law and order in J&K. Abdullah said he also raised objections over the movie Kashmir Files, which many believe is creating fissures in society.

‘Controlling narrative’

A J&K police officer believes terrorists attacking soft targets is an attempt to regain control of the narrative even as several development initiatives are implemented.

Pakistan has now adopted a modus operandi of using its proxies under a new outfit like the Resistance Force and People’s Anti Fascists Front to hide their link in the hybrid war, said the police officer.

To avoid any untoward incident during the month-and-half long Amarnath Yatra, beginning from June 30 after a gap of two years, the Union Home Ministry wants better security arrangements, which too would be discussed during the review meeting.

More deployment of forces and use of RFID tag for pilgrims are some of the measures that are expected to be taken for safe completion of yatra. Other than that, review of centrally sponsored schemes and updates on scheme announcements made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah during their earlier visits will also take place.