Jammu and Kashmir sees drastic decline in violence post abrogation of Article 370

Three years after the Centre abrogated the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 on this day in 2019, violence in the erstwhile state has seen a drastic decline, official figures reveal.

While 124 civilians were killed at the hands of police and security forces during protests and stone-pelting incidents from 5-08-2016 to 5-08-2019, not a single such incident was reported in the last three years, it says.

Similarly, while 3686 law and order incidents were reported during the three-year period from 2016 to 2019, the number has drastically come down to 438 posts August 5, 2019, the data reveals.

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However, terror incidents continue to happen in the union territory, albeit the numbers have come down compared to the pre-2019 period. Against 930 terror incidents reported between August 2016 to August 2019, the number has declined to 617 in the last three years.

During the three periods prior to the abrogation of J&K special status, 191 civilians were killed by militants while the number in the last three years has come down to 110, the official figures state. Two hundred and ninety security forces personnel were killed in the three-year period from 2016 to 2019 while the number has come down to 174 in the last three years.

Six security forces and police personnel were also killed in law and order incidents from August 2016 to August 2019 while post-August 5, 2019, no such incident has been reported.

A senior police officer said that post-August 2019, security agencies have adopted a policy of zero tolerance toward terrorism. “Various measures, such as strengthening of security apparatus, strict enforcement of the law against anti-national elements, intensified cordon and search operations to effectively deal with the challenges posed by the terrorist organisations have been taken,” he said.