Omkar Dattatray
Jammu and Kashmir is beset and facing the terrorism and militancy from the last over three decades and there seems no end to it in the near future .The government should take consistent measures to combat terrorism so that people of the UT will feel sigh of relief and there will be economic ,political and socio-cultural development .Few days ago there was an ugly incident of terrorism in twin districts of Poonch/Rajouri in which unfortunately four Jawans including officers of the Indian army were martyred and it shook the entire nation in gloom ,grief and anguish .The terror incident was rightly condemned by one and all and the Indian army took a very serious note of the act of terrorism and vowed to wipe out terror from Jammu and Kashmir .In this connection defense minister of India ,Shri Rajnath Singh visited the site of the militancy in Poonch and took a detailed review of the militant happening and his visit is aimed to boost the morale of the army so that they will continue to tackle militancy .In this connection, defense minister emphasized two pronged strategy to combat and counter terrorism so that terrorism is wiped out from Jammu and Kashmir.DM of India suggested that the anti-terror operations should be continued with redoubled zeal but at the same time the army should win the hearts and minds of the people in J&K so that the terrorism is shown the door and is given a goodbye .He also suggested and directed the army to carry on anti -terror operations with great professionalism and see that there is no human rights violations during the anti-terror operations as this creates a big gulf between Jammu and Kashmir and India and our objective to frustrate terrorism gets derailed .Rajnath Singh declared that confident army will wipe out terrorism from Jammu and Kashmir .The defense minister said that he has full faith in the army and it will wipe out terrorism from the UT .But he cautioned and advised the army not to do mistake which hurt the citizens of the country .He said it is the responsibility of the troops to win the hearts of the civilian population while doing and performing their duty of fighting terrorism and therefore the army should work with discipline and professional conduct so that the civilians are not hurt either physically as well as emotionally .The DM’s statement came after and in response to the outrage over the three civilian killings reportedly due to the picking up questioning of the civilians in connection of the ambush of the two army vehicles which led to the killing of four armymen .The defense minister lauded the troops for their bravery. ”I believe in your bravery and steadfastness .Terrorism should be finished from Jammu and Kashmir and you need to move forward with commitment .I have full faith that you will achieve victory. ”Defense minister asked the troops to avoid mistakes that hurt the civilians.’ ‘He further said that Indian army is not considered as an ordinary force in the world .The people understand that Indian army is much more powerful than before and also well equipped .The army is the guardian of the nation but along with protecting the unity and integrity as well as the sovereignty of the country ,it should be ensured that nothing should be done to hurt the ordinary citizens while performing the anti-terror operations and therefore a great responsibility rests on the shoulders of the army and so they should carry on the operations against the terrorists with utmost professionalism so that no human right violations are committed and also to ensure that the citizens are not hurt. Thus it is the responsibility and duty of the troops that they should win the hearts and minds of the people .The army should also see that its image is also not tarnished and for this the army is required to conduct anti-terror operations with great professionalism .There is need to perform their duty with proper seriousness and it can be achieved by meeting people ,listening their problems and putting the problems to the appropriate authority for redress .He said that I want to assure you that in the face of the seriousness of this terror incident, appropriate and required steps will be taken to tackle the terrorism. The DM said that for the government ,every solider is valuable and they are the part of our family and no amount of money will completely indemnify the loss of the precious lives of our soldiers .Terrorism and terrorists are a threat to the nation and to the people and so all the people should fully cooperate with the government and security forces in combating terrorism so that people are freed from the demon of militancy which is threatening our lives and economy .The government has given full power to army and other security forces to counter and combat terrorism and the security forces should use its powers with great restraint and make it sure that anti-terror operations are carried with utmost professionalism and no citizen is hurt and so while performing their duty no human right violations are committed and instead the hearts and minds of the citizens are won and this can be done by meeting people and involving them in the welfare activities .In short the army should perform its duty with utmost professionalism and the nation and the government believes that the army will protect the country from internal and external threats and while combating terrorism ,it should be ensured that no citizen is hurt and there is no human rights violation.
(The author is a columnist, social and KP activist).
