Delhi calls top J&K officials to discuss relocation of troops
The Centre has called top officials of the Jammu and Kashmir Government for the first comprehensive discussion on a proposal to relocate troops from hinterland to the LoC and the International Border in the Union Territory.
According to highly placed authoritative sources, those invited to New Delhi for a thorough discussion on the proposal of relocation of troops from hinterland to the borders on Tuesday, 21 February, include Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta, Financial Commissioner Home, Raj Kumar Goyal, Director General of Police, Dilbag Singh, Special DG CID, Rashmi Ranjan Swain, Additional DGP Jammu, Mukesh Singh, and Additional DGP Kashmir, Vijay Kumar.
Sources in New Delhi said that the proposal of relocation of some components of the Army was still in its initial consideration. Top functionaries of the J&K Government, Army, Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and the Central intelligence agencies would participate in a series of discussions over pros and cons of the proposed relocation of troops before the Centre would take its final call.
Officials and politicians from Srinagar and Jammu to New Delhi have been quoting statistics to establish that the situation, on both, counterinsurgency as well as the law and order front, had remarkably improved in the last over four years, particularly after abrogation of Article 370 through reorganization of the erstwhile State in August 2019.
On 5 January 2023, a proposal to give entire Central Kashmir—Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal districts—in the operational control of the J&K Police and CRPF on the counter terror front was under active consideration of the Government of India.
While the officials in J&K maintained that this proposal was limited to only the three districts of Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal—Srinagar city is already under operational control of Police and CRPF—sources in New Delhi insisted that it was about entire J&K and the discussions were “in an advanced stage”.
The proposal, according to them, envisages placement of the CAPFs in all the 10 districts to meet the challenges of both law and order and counter-terror operations in the areas to be vacated by the Army.
Sources said that a phased withdrawal of Rashtriya Rifles and regular troops from the counterinsurgency front and their relocation in the border areas was being considered for the first time since 1990 when Army took over the entire operational control and the Armed Forces Special Powers Act was introduced. However, in the last 20 years, only the Police and the CRPF have been dealing with the law and order as well as the counterterror challenges in the capital city of Srinagar.
