In an interview with the Indian Express, last week, DGP Jammu Kashmir Dilbagh Singh said that the decision of not returning the bodies of militants to their families, which came into being with the outbreak of the Covid-19, will continue.
The DGP said that it was “a very effective method in checking recruitment.”
“Generally, during funerals, with passions running high, some boys would simply leave their houses and go and join terrorist ranks. That is not happening now. That is one big benefit that has come through. I think we have been able to save many young lives because of this,” he said.
He also added, “Maybe the families will not like it but when you look at the interest of the society at large, this practice has been relevant and useful in checking the recruitment of terrorist cadres.”
The DGP was also confronted with the increase in “incidents of questioning of journalists in the Valley” in the last couple of years. The reporter asked him whether he considered the current approach towards Kashmiri journalists aggressive.
“That they have not been given bail is a matter of the exercise of honourable courts’ judgment. If they are not given bail, it shows that there is substance in the case. We do not simply go after journalists and pick them up and book them in cases. It is an absolutely logical and reasonable way of looking at what people write and action is taken based on that context,” the DGP responded.
He added, “There are so many journalists operating. Not everyone is picked up by the police. We are generally friendly with the media fraternity. Of course, they have to do their job and most of them do it responsibly. But some of them, when they try and act more as activists or OGWs rather than journalists, then at some stage we have to intervene.”
On the issue of “stalling of passport verifications and denial of travel abroad in some cases,” the DGP said that there were some journalists who went abroad and spread “venomous kind of narrative they spread from there.”
“They are very well known to the media fraternity. Some of them are here, who are at the borderline — neither fully on the other side nor on the side of the people. Therefore, as a matter of precaution, you have to keep some people on the watchlist. And keeping them on this watchlist, if this means that they should not be allowed to travel abroad, I think it’s quite logical. There have been cases like this before. We can’t make this public,” said Dilbagh Singh.
The reporter, further, asked Dilbagh that often no reasons were provided for such denial of travel, and the journalists go to court, what reasons will the police be able to provide?
To which, the DGP said, “Let them go to court. We will see what is to be said. We are a sovereign country, our sovereignty is important to us. Our national security and the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir are important to us, for which we are responsible.”
On the question of “faceless militancy,” Singh said that there was a strategic shift in militancy since most of “the senior militant leadership has been neutralised. Earlier, the job would be taken over by the senior leadership of these outfits. You hardly find any leaders now who can handle planning, execution, recruitment and other aspects. So, they started reviving their old connections who were active earlier. They would get in touch with them and create a module of four or five people. One would lead and the others would be the support structure and they would be involved in targeted killings, weapon smuggling, and transportation from Jammu to Srinagar or from border areas of Kashmir to the hinterland.”
These kinds of modules are being directly raised and handled by Pakistani agencies and in most cases, along with an old (militant), you would always find an absolutely new face. He is not known to you as a (militant) at all, Singh said.
“The second thing they were doing was pushing absolutely unknown Pakistani (militants) into Srinagar city. You would not know who they are and they would find support in someone who is an old OGW (overground worker). He would arrange logistics to carry out killings,” said Singh.
He also added, “So, he could be a student going to his tuition or any normal person. This is a challenge and many times their family members also think that he is innocent. They may not know anything and the boy may be pretending that he is not involved in any activity related to militancy. He would suddenly surface in some terror violence. My advice to senior members of families is they should not take anything at face value. They must be careful with their wards.”
So, these “faceless modules” are a challenge but this is being dealt with effectively. “We’ve been able to identify at least 50 plus modules this year.
Another shift is that organisations are trying to revive militancy in areas that have been earlier free of such activities. Areas such as Reasi, Doda, and Kishtwar. They are trying to show presence and they need cadres to carry out attacks. Another factor is that some of the guys who went across the border and did not come back, some of them are being used as handlers. We have seen drones being used to carry weapons and cash,” said the DGP.