The recent militants attack on mobile telephone operators in Sopore and residents asking these companies to remove telecommunication towers from their premises reminds one of the situation prevailed in mid-1990s in Kashmir Valley when there was a gag on media by the militants. Today also the situation is akin. Such a threat comes at a time when government is trying to promote the state and tourism in a larger way for that Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had been to Mumbai too woo Bollywood and proposed a Davos type economic meet when he met the captains of the industry there. One cannot brush aside such incidents as created by some miscreants. The reality could be different. Had it been some selective incident there would never have been a mass appeal to telcos to remove their communication towers. Most of the Valley-based newspapers are carrying such appeals by the house owners. Communication is one of the major factor development and with the advent of mobile telephony connectivity has become much more easier from any corner of the country and world for any one including militants, thus making identification of their location much easier for security agencies who have been tracking their movement. With the present diktat the militants have shown their desperation to scuttle such moves as they are finding it difficult to maintain communication links. But what is surprising is that throughout the situation the State Government had maintained a stoic silence. Except a senior minister was quick to react on Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar’s statement that ‘terrorists have to be neutralized through terrorists’ sparking the controversy. The minister quoted a Supreme Court directive that arms cannot be given to civilians to kill and anybody doing so will be an abettor of the offence under Section 302 of IPC. Now what an ordinary man should construed from such statement or should he ignore such incidents. Well one thing is clear after a lull once again militancy is being revived through a new route that is dominating the communication space. This could be the new tactics of militants and their masters sitting across the borders.
