SRINAGAR: The number of militants fighting Indian rule in Kashmir has fallen to its lowest since an armed conflict started more than two decades ago, a police report says.
According to the report there are only 78 militants active in the Valley, with the majority 49 of them in the northern districts of the valley.
In Southern Kashmir, the report says, there are 25 active militants while in central valley including Srinagar, the main city, there are only three of them.
Thousands of armed militants fought Indian security forces since 1989 when simmering discontent against New Delhi turned into a full blown rebellion. India consistently accused Pakistan of arming, training and sending militants to Kashmir valley, a charge Islamabad always denied.
Tens of thousands of people, also including these militants and security forces, have died in violence ever since.
But data shows militancy witnessed a steep violence primarily since India and Pakistan declared a ceasefire in 2003 followed by a peace process the next year.
The peace process helped New Delhi to construct a fence along most of the 742 km rugged Line of Control – a heavily militarized line that divides this region between the two south Asian rivals – to curb militant incursions.
Information provided last year by ministry of Home affairs in reply to an RTI query filed by a prominent activist, Raman Sharma, revealed that the number of incidents fell to just 340 in 2011. Nine years ago, the number of such incidents was over 4000.
Recommended: Kashmir Violence Tapered After Indo-Pak Guns Fell Silent
The fresh police report says that out of the 78 militants present in Kashmir, 33 are foreign fighters. However, one of them, Qari Fahadullah, a Pakistani national was arrested last week. He operated as the Divisional Commander of the Lashkar-e-Toiba militant group since 2009.
The police believe the 78 militants may be active but have been asked by their commands to lie low.
“There are no inputs about their movements,” the report says.
The police say they will also monitor the activities of the militants released after serving imprisonment in the valley. They say there is a need “to undertake the audit of the sources as most of the sources are released militants who are equally comfortable with militants, army and the police.”
The released militants, the report says, have the tendency “to incline towards where they will find more gains and even can get recycled in militancy.”
You May Also Like: Arms recovered since 1989 in Kashmir enough to raise an ‘army’
