| Army says no to 'lowering of guards', hints at 'revival' of militancy | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, July 4: Against the backdrop of PDP-BJP coalition government giving due consideration to the revocation of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), as per their Agenda of Alliance from peaceful locations of Pir Panjal, the Army today said no to 'lowering of guards,' apprehending ''revival'' of militancy in the region. ''Though lowering of troops cannot be done overnight, as various agencies and measures are being looked into before taking such decisions, but withdrawal of troops even despite peace in some of the areas on the LoC in Pir Panjal, is not feasible at this moment,'' Lt Gen R R Nimbhorkar, General-Officer-Commanding (GOC), White Knight Corps, told reporters at the sidelines of Jhangar Day celebrations in Nowshera Sector of Rajouri district.
The Army Officer said, ''If there is no 'thanedar' around, one can imagine the kind of situation and similarly, you can think what could happen if troops withdrawal takes place.'' The General replied to a query over revival of militancy if AFSPA gets revoked from peaceful locations of Pir Panjal. He further said, ''Our side of Pir Panjal have been relatively calm and quiet for the last few years, may be since 4 to 5 years and this was due to high intensity operations carried out by the security forces.'' ''The situation is well under control and as of now also, there is no change and we are having peace and tranquility across the region,'' said Lt Gen Nimbhorkar adding that Army is ready and geared up to tackle any kind of situation vis-à-vis foiling all nefarious designs of anti-national elements. On terrorists waiting at launching pads, the Army officer said, ''their (terrorists) modus operandi is to infiltrate and with our experiences and inputs from various agencies, there might over 200 terrorists waiting across the fence to sneak into the Indian Territory.'' ''Our security grid is tight and Army is geared to fight and foil any infiltration attempt or activity besides any other initiative they want to take,'' he asserted.
However, on reports that four youths arrested from Sabzian area of Mendhar while ex-filtrating, he expressed ignorance and said, ''when infiltration is not possible then how it is easy to ex-filtrate, which is even more tough.'' On security forces being targeted by the militants, he said, ''these are not new incidents as it is happening since 90s. Militants killed till date are more in number than security forces martyred in various operations but such attacks are always highlighted.'' On inputs regarding attack on Amarnath Yatra, he said, ''such things are hypothetical and our role is to coordinate with all security agencies and provide security, safety to the visitors.'' Lt Gen Nimbhorkar also said that anti-infiltration grid on the LoC is very much intact and tight and all measures have been taken to foil all cross border designs adding that there might be no presence of active militant in his area of operation but Over Ground Workers (OGWs) are still functioning for the militant outfits. |
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