The killing of six policemen including SHO at Achabal and the lynching of a Dy SP during night at Srinagar on Friday this week are sufficient enough to indicate that Jammu & Police is facing a new challenge in fast changing security scenario in the state. Never before this has the police become vulnerable to militant attacks in the state. Even some retired top army generals have been advising Modi Government to try to reach out to the angered populations in Kashmir to find a long lasting solution to the current crisis but unfortunately the incumbent central government has not give any serious thought to the advice of these retired army generals also. The situation prevailing as of now in Kashmir demands immediate emphasis on hand holding of youth and the families of those who have been killed in crowd control policing during last year’s unrest and last three months of street protests against the killings of militants and the civilians. Worrying is the continuity in the frequency of attacks on government forces including police and the approaching Eid holidays across kashmir are very much a moment of elevated threat in view of the unrest that was triggered by the killing of Burhan Wani on July 8 last year. Whether it is the rising threat of the militant attacks or the street protests it is Jammu & Kashmir police but not the paramilitaries and army which finds itself grappling with a new challenge in Jammu & Kashmir state. It is obvious that militants attacks and the public protests are posing a new challenge to the stability of peace and security in Jammu & Kashmir state and no other option except political reach out with the angered population and hand holding of youth can bring back normalcy and peace in the restive parts of Jammu & Kashmir state.
Though it is for the state’s security apparatus to take actions to try and prevent further attacks on police but ultimately security measures have to be supplemented by political initiatives to resolve the current crisis in the state.
The security of police can’t be incrementally re-established if immediate measures for political reach out with the angered populations and hand holding of youth are not initiated immediately. The most worrying part of the unstable security scenario is that South Kashmir comprising four districts, i.e, Anantnag, Pulwama, Shopian and Kulgam once a relatively peaceful area is now worst hit by increasing frequency in both militant attacks and public protests against the killings of both militants and the civilians. Though security lapses are the bigger causes of the unprecedented increase in the frequency of attacks on police but shifting the head of one police zone for his failure in preventing the lynching of his junior colleague in his area which happens to be the most vulnerable area of Old Srinagar city can’t restore normalcy and peace in the state. The lynching of a police officer during night hours shows the anger of people against disproportionate use of force in crowd control policing and repeated denials of the central government over the demands for a political outreach with the angered populations and resistance leadership in Jammu & Kashmir state. The killing of six policemen including SHO at Achablal and lynching of one Dy SP during night hours in the most vulnerable area of old Srinagar city from the security point of view are two such incidents which have attracted widespread anxiety both among the police ranks and as well as the general public. Though it is for the state’s security apparatus to take actions to try and prevent further attacks on police but ultimately security measures have to be supplemented by political initiatives to resolve the current crisis in the state.