Indian Army on Friday has appealed for calm and peace in violence-torn Kashmir by saying that everyone needs to step back and sit together to find a way out of the current situation. It has also requested everyone involved to find ways to control the situation rather than provoking it.
Northern Army Commander, Lt. Gen. D S Hooda said that as the security forces have been directed to exercise maximum restraint, the other side is also need to see that security forces, police stations and security force’s bases are not attacked.
“Cycle of conflict and violence has been going on for more than 40 days now and no one is going to get away from it unhurt. My appeal is for calm.We have to sit down, put our heads together and see if we can find a way out of this situation. So everybody who is in any way involved in J&K, needs to introspect and see what we can do to stop it. It is not a person or one organization which can do it (alone),” said the Army commander while speaking to reporters.
On the main reason behind the ongoing Kashmir unrest, the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, army official said, “it was not a staged encounter. It did not finish in two and half minutes. Information about presence of Burhan Wani (inside the house where he was killed) was not available (beforehand).”
He added, “It is a statement of facts because everybody is involved, whether it is security forces, whether it is separatists, governments, students leaders. My appeal is to everyone. We need to find a way forward from this.”
The top army commander noted that the unrest has affected the children, who are not able to go to schools. The youth, those in hospital, as also employees, traders and even the policeman and security forces.
While the separatists in the valley have been publishing calender for protests, with the latest week-long schedule issued on Thursday, reporters asked the army commander whether the request is directed towards the separatists and he answered, “Everyone needs to step back. Where are the protest calender coming from?”
He said, “This will instill a sense of normalcy. Law and order is dealt with by the police and CRPF. We will provide whatever assistance in terms of reinforcement at police stations where the number of police personnel is low.”
“We have not pulled out one soldier from the borders. The borders continue to remain secure. Our counter- infiltration posture is strong. An infiltration bid was foiled in Uri sector recently,” he further said.
By saying that the extremists will always try for an upsurge in the violence he asserted, “I do not see the situation going out of hand (due to militancy related violence). Our posture is ready for it.”
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By Prajakt K.
