The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on Wednesday decided to use the Army as a “deterrent” in the Kashmir Valley to prevent the law and order situation from spiralling out of control. Government sources said the security forces will ensure strict enforcement of curfew till such time the miscreants are arrested.
The CCS, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, reviewed the situation following the Centre’s decision to deploy the Army. The meeting decided that the Army would be used in “peripheral” areas and not for “crowd control” in congested areas. However, the local administration would decide where it is to be deployed.
Home minister P. Chidambaram, defence minister A.K. Antony, Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrashekar, NSA Shivshankar Menon, home secretary G.K. Pillai, and defence secretary Pradeep Kumar attended the CCS meeting. Mr Pillai then flew to Srinagar to hold a series of meetings with CM Omar Abdullah and senior government functionaries and Army and security force officials. CM Omar Abdullah spoke to PM Manmohan Singh on the phone.
Late Wednesday night separatist slogans reverberated from mosque loudspeakers in some parts of Srinagar and gunshots were heard in the Batmaloo-Bemina corridor. It was not immediately known who fired at whom.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Army could be seen staging a flag march along the road from Batamaloo to Dal Lake (gate). Soldiers in machine-gun-mounted vehicles drove through various Srinagar localities.
Srinagar and some other Valley towns remained under strict curfew.