ASSEMBLY POLL '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTIONS '98
ARCHIVES

Militancy on the wane, claims GOC, northern command

There are no Taliban activists in Jammu and Kashmir and it was the local militants who were masquerading as militants from Afghanisthan, according to Lieutenant General S Padmanabhan, the outgoing general officer commanding-in-chief of northern command.

''Most militants killed in the state are Pakistanis and not Afghans. Only some local militants are identifying themselves as Taliban activists,'' he said while addressing a press conference last evening.

The GOC said the situation in Jammu and Kashmir was under control and that most militants -- foreign as well as local -- had realised they were being misguided by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence.

"The foreign militants are being told that Islam is in danger in Jammu and Kashmir but after sensing little threat to their religion in the state, they have calmed down and dissociated with the so-called movement," he said.

To substantiate his point the GOC-in-chief narrated an incident where Harkat-ul-Ansar chief Nasrullah Langiar was injured in an encounter in the valley and apprehended by the army.

"I went to see him and asked him why he joined the militants. Nasrullah said he had come there to defend Islam, which he claimed was facing a crisis in this part of the country.

"It was evening and there was azan going on in a nearby mosque. I asked the militant, 'Do you hear something?' Nasrullah said then that he had been misguided and admitted there was no danger to Islam in the place.

" 'I will go back to my home as there is no need for a jihad here' was what he said," said the army officer.

He said that during his two-year tenure as commander of northern command he had been in close touch with the helm of affairs and could closely observe the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

"I can say with full confidence that the situation in this state is very much under control and militancy in fact is in its last legs."

He said people were now fed up with the gun culture and were extending full co-operation to the security forces against the militants.

Referring to the counter-insurgency operations in Rajouri, Poonch and Doda districts of Jammu region, the GOC said the army had achieved significant successes in these districts recently and the credit for this went to the local people, "without whose active support we would not have gained an upper hand against the militants".

UNI

Tell us what you think of this report