Holds meet on J&K ahead of Amarnath Yatra, Army Chief among attendees

Close on the heels of serial terror attacks and encounters in the Jammu region, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday held a five-and-a-half-hour-long review meeting to take stock of the security situation in J&K and preparedness for the Amarnath Yatra commencing from June 29.

After two separate meetings — the first from 11 am to 2 pm on J&K security and the second later in the day on the Amarnath Yatra — Shah directed security agencies to replicate in Jammu division the success achieved in Kashmir through ‘Area Domination Plan’ and ‘Zero Terror Plan’.

“The government is committed to setting an example by cracking down on terrorists through innovative measures,” a Union Home Ministry statement said after Shah directed all agencies to work in a mission mode and ensure quick response in a coordinated manner.

Sources said the direction of counter-terror response in the Jammu region would involve a crackdown on local sympathisers of foreign terrorists, boosting intelligence gathering capacities in the area, firewalling anti-infiltration grids and ensuring heavy deployment of personnel on the ground.

Shah said the fight against terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir was in its decisive phase and the recent incidents showed that terrorism had been forced to shrink from highly organised acts of violence to a mere proxy war. “We are determined to root it out as well,” the minister said, urging seamless coordination amongst security agencies, identification of vulnerable areas and redressal of security concerns of such areas.

The meeting followed a spate of violence in Jammu region, starting with the terrorist attack on a bus carrying pilgrims in Reasi, killing nine and injuring 33. This was followed by three separate encounters in Kathua and Doda in which one CRPF jawan and two militants were killed and seven security persons injured. The encounters led to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking the national security establishment to deploy the full strength of India’s counter-terrorism capabilities in the UT.

Sources said the meeting took note of the fact that a majority of the recent terror attacks in Jammu had been executed by perpetrators from Pakistan. Plans are in place to deploy around 500 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces in Jammu, especially ahead of the Amarnath Yatra.

“Attempts have been underway for some time to destabilise the Jammu region. We have seen a spate of attacks on security personnel, higher frequency of infiltration and attacks on Jammu’s locals,” a source said, flagging particular vulnerability of Hindu-dominated areas of Jammu.

The meeting was attended by NSA Ajit Doval, J&K L-G Manoj Sinha, Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Pande, Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, Director of Intelligence Bureau; senior Army officers, including Chief of Army Staff (designate) Lt General Upendra Dwivedi, the Directors General of CAPFs and the J&K Chief Secretary and DGP.

Shah hailed the security agencies and the J&K administration for the successful conduct of the Lok Sabha elections, which witnessed a record participation of voters. He said an improvement in the law and order situation in J&K was reflected in the record inflow of tourists in Kashmir. He instructed agencies to be vigilant and ensure sufficient deployment of security personnel for Amarnath Yatra.

The memories of past attacks on Amarnath Yatra still linger in the minds of the people and the security establishment. On July 10, 2017, eight Hindu pilgrims returning from the Amarnath cave shrine were killed when militants opened fire on their bus in Anantnag. In 2019, devotees were asked to curtail their stay after the detection of a landmine with Pakistan ordnance factory markings and an M-24 American sniper rifle with a telescope on the route of the pilgrimage. The yatra earlier witnessed militant attacks in 2006, 2002, 2001 and 2000. In 2023, the Amarnath Yatra spanned over the longest period of 62 days with 4.7 lakh devotees paying obeisance. In 2022, 3.65 lakh pilgrims undertook the yatra over 43 days, up from 3.42 lakh in 2019