Written by: Shashank Ranjan
6 min readDec 29, 2023 08:58 AM IST
First published on: Dec 28, 2023 at 05:24 PM IST
The saga of insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir has largely been dominated by the Valley narrative. The twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch in the Jammu region have always been a footnote to Kashmir’s turbulent history of Partition, militancy and militarisation. However, these districts have refused to stay neglected. Periodic yet intriguing developments vis-a-vis the security situation speak of a different social and political dynamic at work in these border districts, peopled by a complex mosaic of religious, ethnic and linguistic communities — in contrast to the largely Muslim Valley.
Over the last couple of years, the region has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. In 2023 alone, Rajouri, Poonch and Reasi districts in the Jammu region reportedly witnessed the deaths of 55 individuals, including 20 security personnel and 28 terrorists. The year commenced on an ominous note when seven civilians were killed at Dangri, Rajouri on January 1. In the early years of militancy in the 1990s, the districts of Rajouri and Poonch were essentially used to access the Valley, cutting across the Pir Panjal range by exploiting the terrain for concealed movement. Targeted militancy-related incidents in this belt date back to 1996-97. By then, pro-independence elements and local militant leadership had been replaced by foreign tanzeems like Hizbul Mujahideen, Harkat-Ul-Ansar and Lashkar-e-Toiba. Since then, this region has been a “fallback option” for the terror groups and their handlers in Pakistan whenever their machinations are scuttled in the Kashmir Valley.
The late ’90s and early 2000s witnessed terror activities peaking in this general area, especially around Surankote, not very far from Dera Ki Gali (DKG), the site of the latest ambush on security forces that resulted in four soldiers being killed in action. The Indian Army conducted Operation Sarp Vinash in the year 2003. The operation was carried out in the Surankote area of the Pir Panjal Range and dealt a deadly blow to the base of militancy in the region. The most encouraging facet of the army’s operations was the support from the majority community of Gujjars and Bakarwals. This support was not just passive but also in the form of active participation, wherein Village Defence Committees stood up against the militants and fought shoulder-to-shoulder with the Indian Army.
Although the current indices of terrorism in the region do not warrant another Sarp Vinash-like operation, the twin districts continue to provide a fertile ground for terrorist operations and enable them to assert control and feign relevance. The ambush on December 21 was claimed by the banned People’s Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF), an offshoot of the Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Mohammed. By striking outside the Valley, they are trying to depict the inclusivity of their resistance. The diversification of operations to the Jammu region boosts the terrorists’ rhetoric of being influential in a larger part of J&K beyond the Kashmir Valley.
The treacherous terrain of the Rajouri and Poonch districts gives the terrorists impunity — they need not seek a mass support base for their survival. They can sustain themselves among the higher ridges of the thickly wooded semi-mountainous terrain merely by activating a few Overground Workers. Of course, the presence of even a limited support base for the terror groups should be a matter of concern for security forces, given the context of peace prevailing in the region for the last 15 years or so. This is a clear indication that something has gone wrong somewhere, and the once well-consolidated support of locals has been fraying at the edges.
Gaining the population’s support is a long drawn-out process extending over several years. This can be frittered away with the poor handling of one situation. In this context, the deaths of three civilians allegedly in the military’s custody in the aftermath of the DKG ambush shall haunt the security forces. Holding up the mutilated bodies of soldiers, defaced by terrorists, is not an excuse. Unfortunately, this is a part of counter-terrorism operations.
Militarisation and the resultant violence have changed the lives of people, forever. The general focus on the Kashmir Valley has led to the Rajouri-Poonch region being at a disadvantage in terms of development funds, implementation of government programmes, infrastructure development, etc. The language of grievance and resistance in the Valley has always been different in tone than in Rajouri-Poonch. Here, the clamour for rights has a hopeless ring to it — a feeble struggle for compensation by unequal citizens.
In the current context of the receding footprint of militancy in J&K, the drive against the militants must now enter a decisive phase with bold and imaginative initiatives and countermeasures, which have to be more than merely military in nature. The security forces deployed in the region will have to set different parameters of success to include non-kinetic means, as part of a whole-of-government approach. The hard-earned faith of the local population cannot be undermined.
The writer is a retired infantry officer with 32 years of experience in the Indian Army. He has served extensively as part of Rashtriya Rifles in the Rajouri-Poonch region. He currently teaches at OP Jindal Global University, Sonepat
An Army personnel during a cordon and search operation after the recent ambush on two Army vehicles that left five soldiers dead, in Poonch district, Dec. 23, 2023. (PTI Photo) 
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