News Mania Desk/ Agnibeena Ghosh/17th June 2024
Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired a high-level review meeting in New Delhi on Sunday to assess the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir following a series of terror attacks. This marathon meeting, lasting six hours, saw the home minister directing security agencies to implement the successful ‘area domination plan’ and ‘zero terror plan’, previously used in the Kashmir Valley, in the Jammu division as well.
During the meeting, Shah received a comprehensive briefing on the prevailing security situation in Jammu and Kashmir. He directed all security agencies to operate in a mission mode, ensuring a quick and coordinated response. Shah emphasized that recent incidents indicate that terrorism is being forced to shrink from highly organized acts of violence to a proxy war.
The high-profile meeting was attended by several top officials, including National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha, Army Chief General Manoj Pande, Army Chief-designate Lt. General Upendra Dwivedi, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, Director of Intelligence Bureau Tapan Deka, Director General of CRPF Anish Dayal Singh, DG of BSF Nitin Agarwal, Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police R R Swain, and other senior security officials. The meeting took place at North Block, just three days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a similar high-level discussion.
Prime Minister Modi had earlier instructed officials to deploy the “full spectrum of counter-terror capabilities” following a series of terror incidents, including a deadly attack on a bus carrying pilgrims. Terrorists had struck at four locations in Reasi, Kathua, and Doda districts within the span of four days last week, resulting in the deaths of nine pilgrims and a CRPF jawan, and injuring seven security personnel and several civilians. In Kathua district, two suspected Pakistani terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces.
On June 9, terrorists opened fire on a 53-seater bus carrying pilgrims en route to Katra from the Shiv Khori temple. The bus, transporting pilgrims from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Delhi, plunged into a deep gorge following the gunfire, killing nine people and injuring 41 others. Subsequent attacks included an incident on June 11, where terrorists fired at a joint checkpost of the Rashtriya Rifles and police at Chattergalla in Bhaderwah, and an attack on a search party in the Gandoh area of Doda district on June 12, which injured seven security personnel, including a policeman.
These attacks occurred just ahead of the annual pilgrimage to the Amarnath shrine, located at 3,880 meters in the south Kashmir Himalayas, set to commence on June 29 and continue until August 19. This year, all Amarnath pilgrims will be issued RFID cards for real-time tracking, along with an insurance cover of ₹5 lakh for each pilgrim and ₹50,000 for each animal carrying the pilgrims.
The series of attacks and the forthcoming Amarnath Yatra have intensified security measures in the region. The home minister’s directives aim to bolster security operations and ensure the safety of pilgrims and residents alike. With enhanced coordination and rapid response strategies, the government hopes to mitigate the threat of terrorism and maintain peace in Jammu and Kashmir.
