With fresh violence rocking Jammu and Kashmir and deaths of more people following clashes between stone-pelting mobs and security forces, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met on Sunday evening to discuss political and security measures to resolve the tense situation in J&K.
Defence sources said in New Delhi on Sunday evening that no orders had been received so far from the government to put the Army on stand-by to stabilise the situation. However, the Army’s Northern Command and Srinagar-based 15 Corps is understood to be keeping a close watch on the situation.
At the CCS meeting, reports of various intelligence agencies and views of political parties in the state along with feedback received from the state government and Governor were discussed. The CCS scrutinised the proposal of J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah for beginning an internal dialogue with all shades of opinion.
The state government had sent a request for a policy to rehabilitate former militants who had served their jail sentence and were unemployed. The government may also discuss the issue with all political parties too. The CCS is likely to meet again soon on the same issue. Besides the Prime Minister, Union home minister P. Chidambaram, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, defence minister A.K. Antony and top officials from the home and defence ministries were present at the CCS meeting.
Intelligence agencies had been reporting that the protests have been instigated by former militants who are currently unemployed. Intelligence agencies are also warning that protesters in the Kashmir Valley may step up confrontation with the security forces by attempting to storm police stations. As happened on Sunday when a mob set fire to a police station on Srinagar’s outskirts leaving four civilians dead.
The Army had, last month, conducted a convoy movement in Srinagar to instill confidence but has since remained in the cantonment areas. The Army is already deployed in counter-insurgency operations in the state. The Union government is also encouraging J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah to increase his interactions with the public. It may be recalled that Home minister P. Chidambaram had said earlier the government is not averse to talking to any group including separatists and prefers quiet dialogue to find a way out of the impasse. The CCS had met last month as well to discuss the Kashmir situation and had favoured a crackdown on miscreants and trouble-makers who are instigating the protests and stone-pelting.