New Delhi: Recent terror attacks in the Jammu region are due to a “neighbouring country’s” (read Pakistan) “constant pain” about the high voter turnout in Jammu & Kashmir in the Lok Sabha elections, J&K Lieutenant-Governor Manoj Sinha has said.
In an exclusive interview to ThePrint, Sinha said Pakistan was also unable to digest the success of an international event like the G-20 meeting in the Valley.
The L-G said Pakistan needed to constantly “delude” its people by stoking disturbance in Jammu in order to deflect attention from its “internal situation”.
The “foreign terrorists” who have infiltrated the Jammu region were well-trained, have night-vision cameras and “ultra-modern” arms and ammunition. “Going by ammunition recovered from them and the manner in which the last few incidents took place, I think they have been trained and sent by the (Pakistani) army and the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence),” added Sinha.
Over 50 security personnel have been killed in terror attacks in Jammu region since 2021.
The L-G also said the terrorists took advantage of India’s decision to withdraw security forces from the higher reaches after “zero militancy” was observed in the region for the last 15 years.
He said redeployment of forces in these strategic places were already underway, and once that was done, “the hood of terrorism will certainly be crushed”.
“The one advantage I see in Jammu is that the people will not give shelter to terrorists… The design of the neighbour will not be allowed to be fulfilled,” he said, adding there was zero recruitment of militants from the Valley and no more commanders.
Asked if there was temporary or permanent peace in Kashmir, Sinha said the present situation could be called “semi-permanent” since stabilising it might take some more time.
The L-G further said that the people’s mindset had changed as they have understood their future is with India. “A country that can’t provide minimum amenities and flour to its citizens holds no future for the people of Jammu & Kashmir. There is electricity, medicines and education on this side of the border while on the other side there is a queue for flour… what to speak of education?”
He added that “the authority of the Indian State” was fully established in Jammu and Kashmir and that was a big achievement.
Sinha counted several reasons behind the changed perspective in the Valley. The recruitment of 42,000 youth in government jobs, focus on self-employment benefiting lakhs, the addition of nine lakh women in self-help groups, holistic agriculture development plan, investment in the private sector, the tourism boom, projects worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore in rural roads, highways, expressways and tunnels to “revolutionary changes” in the health sector, were among them.
The J&K Lieutenant-Governor also commended security forces for restoring peace in the Valley, saying the entire ecosystem of terrorism had been ended through a systematic strategy. “Peace cannot be bought. It has to be established,” he concluded.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)