The attack on the construction site at Gagangir, killing seven persons including a doctor, has once again brought militancy into the front and centre of the political discourse in Kashmir. The killings follow the peaceful elections which has brought the NC-Congress coalition to power and should thus be a source of deep concern for not just the newly elected government but also the central government. The attack was also the biggest in terms of killings after the June 9 shooting on a pilgrim bus in Reasi district of Jammu region in which seven pilgrims, the driver, and the conductor died, while 41 others were injured. A few days before the Gagangir attack, militants killed a non-local labourer in Shopian.
In addition to the scale of attack in Ganderbal, its target is equally deserving of attention. The construction site belonged to Apco Infratech, a UP-based firm building the 6.5 km Z-Morh tunnel for all-weather connectivity between Gagangir and the tourist hub of Sonamarg, which, in turn, connects Kashmir valley to Ladakh. The attack’s real intent thus seems to be to harm the project. If anything, it shows the militancy is getting more ambitious and choosing to hit the targets that are of strategic value to the country.
This is not to downplay the gains made on the security front in the valley in recent years. Militancy has by and large shrunk into insignificance in the region. Jammu division, on the other hand, has been in the news this year for security reasons. Militancy in the region has revived after over a decade of absence. Recurrent attacks have brought the region to the edge. It is believed that the militants mounting these attacks have infiltrated from across the border, although the exact number is not known. The dense forests of the region have made it difficult for security forces to track them, and their presence in Jammu has caught security forces off guard. The situation is made even more concerning by the fact that the forest area where the militants are hiding extends to Shopian in South Kashmir, the district that until 2020 was a hotbed of militancy. But so far the militants have chosen to stay in Jammu only, possibly because the region has a lower concentration of security forces than the Valley and also a warmer climate throughout the year.
However, the Gagangir attack shows that the militants now threaten peace in the Valley. This calls for the government to rethink its security strategy. After the return of militancy in Jammu, the government can ill-afford to let the violence return to the Valley. But a strictly security driven approach is hardly the answer, the central government also needs to embark on a political outreach to people.
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