Friday, 17 May, 2024
By: Yash Gupte
Within hours after the gun attacks, a blast at one of the houses which were the militant’s targets killed a child and injured four others. Image Source: IANS
The year 2021 witnessed the second highest number of terrorism related incidents (460) in last 10 years.
People across the nation celebrated New Year with cheers and great enthusiasm with Jammu and Kashmir as an exception. The northern most Union Territory was rocked by two terrorist attacks on January 1 and January 2, 2023. On the evening of Sunday, January 2, terrorists broke into a village in the border area of Rajouri, Jammu and Kashmir, and opened fire in at least three homes, leaving four civilians dead and six others injured. The deceased have been identified as Satish Kumar (45), Deepak Kumar (23), Pritam Lal (57) and Shishu Pal (32).
Within hours after the gun attacks, a blast at one of the houses which were the militant’s targets killed a child and injured four others. Nearby the scene of Sunday's terrorist attack, which targeted three houses, explosions on Monday morning resulted in the injuries of an additional five people. According to sources, the terrorist attack is a targeted attack against the Hindu community as the terrorists had first confirmed the identity of the victims, through their Aadhar cards. According to reports, one of the injured is in critical condition.
According to Mukesh Singh, Additional Director General of Police, Jammu zone, “J&K police is working along with Army and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and have launched a massive search operation to nab the two armed militants behind the attack at Upper Dangri Valley village, about eight kilometers from Rajouri town.” Protests are being held in Rajouri over the Lieutenant Governor’s administration’s alleged inability to ensure security. Several organisations including trader’s bodies have called for a general strike in the district today.
M K Bhardwaj, senior advocate and president of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association, referred to the militant attack as a serious security blunder and said that the police and security forces were already receiving information about the movement of militants in areas on the outskirts of Rajouri town.
In view of the terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri, India Tracker takes a look at the security situation in J&K over the years.
Source: South Asia Terrorism Portal
The data shows that there has been no significant reduction in the instances of killing in J&K. The article 370 and article 35A which provided a special status to the erstwhile state of J&K were abrogated on August 5, 2019. The central government has claimed on various occasions that the security situation has improved in the region and the region is returning to normalcy. But data shows a different story as the incidents of killings have increased after the abrogation of article 370. But at the same time, though the incidents of killing have increased, there is a fall in the number of deaths of civilians and security forces. The year 2020 witnessed the highest number of deaths of terrorists after the revocation of the special status.
Source: South Asia Terrorism Portal
Taking a look at the number of terrorism related incidents in J&K, it can be easily understood that the region stands far from returning to normalcy. The highest number of terrorism related incidents (597) were reported in 2018. The year 2021 witnessed the second highest number of terrorism related incidents (460) in last 10 years.
The recent terrorist attacks in Rajouri shows that security situation in Jammu and Kashmir needs to be improved and this is only possible with the combined efforts of the local administration, security forces, people and civil society groups.
