Through a minefield

It is yet another reminder that in the Valley no longer are the changing seasons heralded by the colour of the chinar leaves, but by the d...

It is yet another reminder that in the Valley no longer are the changing seasons heralded by the colour of the chinar leaves, but by the decibel counts registered by the militants8217; weaponry. The death in a landmine blast on Monday of Jammu and Kashmir8217;s power minister, Ghulam Hassan Bhat, has announced the beginning of an apprehensively awaited summer in a most tragic manner. Tragedy is visited upon far too many families every single day in the decade-old endeavour to smother Pakistani-orchestrated terrorism, but Bhat8217;s death is of particular significance. It is the first time the sanitised buffers maintained around high officials and appointees in the state has been effectively pierced.

This makes for some worrisome speculation. Regularly replenished sophisticated arms and ammunition have been available to militants for many years now but a string of incidents in recent months leading up to Bhat8217;s murder indicate the infusion into the Valley of increasingly well-trained foot soldiers. The now regular, and incredibly daring and almost meticulously planned, attacks on army installations too are evidence of this. This newspaper has highlighted the need to constantly update the security cordon around the militants8217; key targets; it is argued, for instance, that the use of jammers, which deactivates all remote-control equipment in a range of 500 metres, could have averted Bhat8217;s assassination.

Along with the weaponry, however, there has to be a constant reappraisal of strategy. Union Home Minister L.K. Advani has rightly emphasised a three-pronged approach to normalise life in Jammu and Kashmir. Such a reappraisal is critical for the first prong, a crackdown on terrorism. Pitting one8217;s wits against a militant force confident of regular reinforcements of men and material and that too in Kashmir8217;s lush and mountainous terrain entails the ability to anticipate and to innovate accordingly. The luxury of anticipation, in turn, demands a reliable intelligence gathering network. This has probably been one of the biggest failures in anti-militancy efforts.

Cracking down on terrorism will require of the security forces and strategists immense patience and guile if the other two components in the government8217;s now evident Kashmir policy are to bear fruit. These are, one, accelerating development and sensitising a more accountable administration to the people8217;s grievances and, two, initiating a dialogue with 8220;alienated sections of society, especially misguided youth8221;. Even the faintest spectre of negotiations between New Delhi and secessionist groups like the Hurriyat and the JKLF would be akin to a red flag for groups like Lashkar-e-Toiba and the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, which has claimed responsibility for Bhat8217;s killing.

Indeed, Al-Umar Mujahideen chief Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar, one of the three militants set free at Kandahar, has threatened bloody reprisal if Hurriyat leaders engage in talks with the government. Terror is their most trusted weapon to shatter any popular mood in favour of dialogue, and mindless crossfire their most desired objective. The task before the authorities is clear.