This is the second time the terrorists chose to storm the Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) at Pampore in Jammu and Kashmir in the last eight months.
In February 2016, three terrorists were killed here, in their first visit to EDI while five security personnel including two young officers and one civilian employee of the institute were martyred. Why the terrorists chose the EDI building twice in this short span of time? May be a simple question but it has multifarious ramifications.
Those who have spent years fighting terrorists in the Valley would concur that terrorists prefer multi-storey buildings to hide and conduct operations. These buildings provide good observation of the area, help in switching location within the building, play ‘hide and seek’ and often offer logistics leverage as a bonus. This enhances the probability of their survival, fight longer and exploit gaps if any in the cordon established by the security forces to attempt escape at a time and point of their choosing.
The EDI building is a huge complex, housed in about 10,000 sq ft area. The institute is symbolic of youth empowerment which goes against the philosophy of terrorism. This seven-storey building with a restaurant and a basement offers enough scope for the terrorists to switch location and play the ‘cat and mouse game’ with high probability of feasting in the canteen! They can engage the security forces over long distance owing to its domination and better observation, before their time runs out. In the era of real time information, its proximity to Srinagar with an easy access to media needs no elaboration.
Such missions of the terrorists are often suicidal in nature. Extensive coverage of these operations by the electronic and the print media is oxygen to them. It had a special significance when an international event like the BRICS summit in Goa was round the corner. Be it the EDI or Zakura terror attack, it was an attempt by the deep state of Pakistan through the terrorists to showcase India in poor light in front of the international community.
The EDI building met all the criteria which any terrorist organisation and their handlers look for. The destruction of government’s assets is a bonus to the terrorists’ organisations, ISI of Pakistan and their supporters like Syed Ali Shah Geelani etc in the Valley. They don’t want youth to be trained as entrepreneurs. It will bring down unemployment and directly impact the availability of youth for recruitment as terrorists, stone pelters and other related activities.
The security forces called to flush out terrorists from such a building have a difficult task to execute. The pressure to avoid own casualties, minimise collateral damage to infrastructure and civilians often restricts the selection of weapons brought to bear upon the terrorists. It impedes the speed of operations and raises the probability of own casualties.
Fifty one hours spent by the security forces to neutralise two terrorists in Pampore encounter that concluded on October 12 would be viewed as a victory by their handlers/ sympathisers. The publicity acquired from these operations is used as a tool to win over the fence sitters and glorify the terrorists.
Often seen in the past, large crowd comes out when the bodies of slain terrorists are carried for burial. A majority of the people in the crowd are arm-twisted to join the procession. The armed terrorists use the crowd as veil to open fire at the security forces/police.
The resultant reaction from the police/ security forces leads to mob violence causing further complications. It may not be possible to completely foil such attacks but there is surely a scope to impose check and limit them to the extent possible.
Predictive intel
The intelligence available to the field commanders is mostly predictive in nature. It is often limited to warnings of an imminent terrorist attack in the near future. There is a need to change this and make our intelligence reporting more specific to the target and anticipated time of attack. It requires a strong mix of technology supported by human intelligence from ground zero.
The intelligence agencies operating in the field need to synchronise their efforts and shed the game of one-upmanship. The integration through the Unified Command and other systemic organisation is more of kite-flying in the name of coordination.
The EDI building came under terrorist attack twice in the last eight months. Did we learn anything from the last attack? Evidently, nothing seems to have been done to secure the building. The government of J&K should identify the key locations susceptible to terrorist attack and evolve plans for their protection. Such attacks have a direct bearing on the psyche of the people and it doesn’t augur well for the government’s machinery in their fight against terrorism.
The need of the hour is get people back in support of the government’s efforts to bring peace and normalcy in the Valley. In the early 1990s when the Valley was up in arms, police stations were burnt/looted, schools and other infrastructure destroyed. It was a formidable task to win over the people of the Valley.
Mobs of women often charged at the security force executing anti-terrorists’ operations. By 2003-04, the security forces/police had achieved a lot in winning over the people. They often came out celebrating Independence Day and Republic Day in various locations.
Infrastructure was recreated to usher in peace and development in the state. It appears that somewhere down the line, the connect with the people seems to have been lost. Some of the grounds gained through blood and toil seem to have been lost to the separatists who are calling the shots with the stone pelting mobs on the rampage, but sadly with children in the fore front!
(The writer is a New Delhi-based defence, security and strategy analyst)
Published 21 October 2016, 18:42 IST