Government committed to stamp out militancy, its ecosystem: Jammu and Kashmir L-G

Asserting that the government was committed to stamp out militancy and its eco-system completely, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha Sunday said that several areas in the union territory (UT) already been cleared off the terrorists.

“J&K Police and security forces through human and technical intelligence have been able to clear off many areas in the UT from the menace of terrorism and its ecosystem. But more needs to be done to root out the terrorism completely from J&K,” he said while addressing a passing-out parade of new recruits at Police Training Centre (PTC) Manigam in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district.

The L-G called upon security agencies to ensure the destruction of the ecosystem of militancy. “Our resolve should be to ensure an assault on full eco-system of (terrorism),” he said.

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Over 500 militants, including top commanders, have been killed in Kashmir since the beginning of 2020. Similarly, hundreds of over-ground workers (OGWs) and hybrid militants have been arrested by the police and security forces during this period.

Besides militancy, Sinha said, narco-terrorism was emerging as biggest challenge and “if it is not dealt in time, it can take the shape of a cancer.”

“For eradicating terrorism, you need to destroy all its off-shoots and tools supporting it,” the L-G asserted.

He said that police in J&K were facing multiple challenges unlike other states. “Here, police have to maintain law and order, deal with social crimes, criminals and also with terrorism and subversive elements,” Sinha said.

The L-G said the police force is countering technical and social media propaganda through the same tools. “We have to counter the social media propaganda by using online means and the police force is working hard on this,” he added.