India weighs troop reduction in quieter Kashmir
The demilitarization of Kashmir would represent a final push toward peace between India and Pakistan.
from the April 2, 2007 edition
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With militancy at an all-time low, the Indian government must reciprocate by "cutting troops significantly to provide much needed relief to local Kashmiris," says Ershad Mahmud, research coordinator at the Institute of Policy Studies in Islamabad. "We notice [the militants'] stance is softening," Mr. Mahmud says. "[The militants] want to give peace a chance."
Declining militancy levels in Indian Kashmir, he says, are a sign of the Pakistani government's tightening grip over jihadist groups within Pakistan.
In early March, Syed Salahuddin, the supreme commander of the militant group Hizbul Mujahideen and head of the United Jehad Council (UJC), supported Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf's peace plan with India, calling his four-point proposal to India for self-governance in Kashmir as a "first step towards resolving the Kashmir" issue.
Demilitarization is the only way to make the India-Pakistan peace process "more meaningful," says Muhammad Yahya Mujahid, the information secretary of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, an offshoot of the Islamic group Lashkar-i-Tayyaba on the phone from Pakistan. "They must act. Mere promises aren't enough."
The formation of an exploratory committee is a significant turnaround for India's policy on Kashmir. In mid-March, Prime Minister Singh had expressed his reluctance to demilitarize because of the likelihood of increased infiltration of militants in coming months.
"There are intelligence reports that militants will engage in major strikes this summer," he said.
The reduced militancy is largely due to India's fencing-off of the Line of Control [LoC] separating the Indian and Pakistani sides of Kashmir, says Arif Jamal, a Pakistan based terrorism expert.
"[The fence] has significantly enhanced the Indian Army's capability to put a brake on infiltration," says Mr. Jamal. "It has made it very difficult for militants to carry arms and ammunition into Indian Kashmir."
But the jihadist terror networks in Pakistan remain largely intact, Jamal warns. "I do not see militancy coming to a complete end," he says. "It may spiral out of control in the future."
While condemning the human rights abuses of his colleagues, a senior Indian Army officer posted in Kashmir, speaking on condition of anonymity, says that the Army should remain in Kashmir.
Stray instances of militant attacks continue even now, he says. On Friday, the day that the Indian leader made his announcement, five Hindu civilians were killed as militants attacked homes in the Rajouri district of Indian Kashmir.
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