JAMMU: Union Home Minister, Amit Shah is scheduled to chair a high level Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) security review meeting on Thursday, which will be the first such meeting after an elected government took office in the Union Territory.
Security and law & order continue to remain the responsibility of the Union government since J&K is a Union Territory.
The meeting will be attended by J&K Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, senior officers of the Ministry of Home Affairs, chiefs of Intelligence agencies, J&K DGP, chiefs of CAPFs and others connected with the anti-terrorist grid.
The meeting will especially address the issues related to the series of terror attacks that took place immediately after an elected government took office in J&K.
On October 20, two terrorists, a foreign mercenary and a local terrorist entered the workers camp of an infrastructure company in Gagangir area of Ganderbal district and fired indiscriminately.
Seven civilians including six workers of the company and a local doctor were killed in this attack.
On October 24, terrorists attacked an Army vehicle in Botapathri area of Gulmarg killing three soldiers and two civilian porters.
On November 2, terrorists hurled a powerful hand grenade at the busy Sunday Market near the Tourist Reception Centre (TRC) in Srinagar. A 42-year old woman, mother of 3 children, was killed this explosion and 9 other civilians were injured.
Intelligence agencies believe that the handlers of terrorism sitting across the border have got frustrated after the peaceful, people participative Lok Sabha and legislative elections in J&K and the terrorists have been directed to give the dying terrorism the last push in J&K.
Even though the statistics stand to prove that both the number of terrorist attacks and casualties have come down since 2019 when article 370 was abrogated and J&K divided into two UTs, yet the attempts to revive terrorism by the enemy remains a major security concern for the union home ministry.
In 2019, 50 civilians were killed in terrorist attacks while 14 have been killed this year till date. Statistics apart, the thrust of terrorism has remained on non-local foreign mercenaries after 2019 while local youth have largely dissociated from joining militant ranks.