The Election Interview/ K Rajendra Kumar
As the Jammu and Kashmir administration staves off terrorist attacks in various parts of the state, there is a sense of anger and anguish among its senior officials at the way Opposition politicians have conducted their election campaign.
Both National Conference leaders, Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah and son Omar, who is the party chief, are outraged that even as the state government fights the terrorists, Opposition politicians visit the families of terrorists who have been killed to extend support and draw political mileage.
K Rajendra Kumar, inspector general of police, Kashmir zone, is aware of the political situation in the state but points out that his priority is to ensure that the state police functions as effectively as possible within the constraints.
In an interview to Chief Correspondent Tara Shankar Sahay, Kumar spoke about the problems faced by the state police and how it is dealing with them.
Despite adequate security arrangements, terrorists succeeded in attacking and killing innocent civilians to unleash a
reign of terror during the third phase of the J&K poll?
We have been anticipating a spurt in violence, especially during the third phase. Having ensured a reasonably free and fair election, minus violence, during the first two phases, we could see desperation on the part of the terrorists groups to indulge in violent activities to sabotage the poll process and to discourage the public from excercising their franchise.
During the third phase, we have seen at least half a dozen improvised explosive device blasts and a similar number of attacks. Most of these were carried out from a distance which was not really effective firing but more to create a sense of fear among the people who were coming out in fairly good numbers to vote. But while the intended effect was not seen on the ground, there was a reasonably good voter turnout. However, to some extent, the militants did succeed in inflicting some casualties. Numberwise, the attacks were more but the damages less.
Do you subscribe to the view that the militants cannot attack their targets with such impunity without having clandestine albeit active cooperation of local inhabitants?
I have a different opinion about that. It is not to the extent to which it is made out to be. I have information that the militants in the valley number 2,000 plus. What is more important is that we have conducted largely peaceful elections in the first and second
phases. Now our movements and responses after each phase have been closely observed by the terrorist groups and they have seen how we conduct ourselves, how we take the polling parties to the polling booths etc. Thus having seen our exercise, it is possible for the militants to change their tactics and take us by surprise. Otherwise, we have public support.
Is there some kind of taunt by militant leaders that approximately 4,000 of them in the entire state have been challenging the might of 700,000 Indian troops deployed here?
First of all, it is erroneous to say that there are seven lakh troops deployed here.
Secondly, in this situation which is basically funded, trained and aided by a hostile country (like Pakistan), it has become possible for the terrorist groups to operate.
After all, it is a proxy and guerilla war, which is confined not only to the interior, but also to the far-flung areas. That doesn't mean that our security forces have become ineffective.
In the last few years, we have had very good successes. This is because the public has come forward to inform and support us and they are against bloodshed. The common man wants peace. You have to remember the fact that we have a hostile neighbour which
is bent upon creating trouble and it continues to indulge in cross-border terrorism and infiltration of terrorist groups in this part of India.
How many foreign mercenaries or terrorists are present in J&K?
It is very difficult to quantify but going by the figures, in 2001 out of the 1,036 terrorists we killed in the valley, more than 750 were
foreigners. They were from Pakistan and other nationalities. But in most of the cases, we found Pakistan addresses. This year, out of the 700 terrorists killed so far, more than 400 are either of Pakistani origin or are from Afghanistan or Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. That goes to prove that the majority of terrorists operating here today are of foreign origin.
What have your intercepts from Pakistan been about?
The terrorists have been told to disrupt the poll processes under any circumstances. To that extent, they made a bid on the lives of various candidates irrespective of party affiliations. National Conference minister Sakina Itoo escaped
four attempts on her life but fortunately survived. Unfortunately, the state law minister [Mushtaq Ahmed Lone] was killed in the first phase of the polls. The terrorists are
desperate and their desperation is reflected in their continuing aggressive posture. Also, they have placed some rewards on the killing of candidates, ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 40 lakhs.
They then said they would kill candidates after the elections were over. So the threat continues to loom large and unless we neutralise it, more such attempts will be made.
How is the coordination among various anti-insurgency forces, including the Jammu and Kashmir police, maintained while you are countering the terrorists? The special task force and special operations group have often conveyed the impression that while they do everything, the J&K police takes a back seat.
Seventy per cent of the (counter-insurgency) operations are based on the information provide by the Kashmir police or are initiated by it. We are directly present in 70 per cent of them.
We are either involved on our own or backed by the Central Reserve Police Force or the Border Security Force. In the border areas where the army is deployed, the army operates on its own but invariably the Kashmir police is present in each and every operation.
Now when we operate in a particular area, we have a large number of forces deployed. We operate in very small groups. When we are pitted against the enemy, it is not possible for the small groups to really take us on. We need backup. And when the backup is provided by the CRPF (which is already dovetailed with the Special Operation Group), the BSF takes care of the outer corners and the actual assault is done by the SOG.
What is the overall police strength in J&K?
Their overall strength within the state is about 60,000. But in the valley, the regular police strength must be approximately 18,000. As far as the Kashmir police is concerned, our strength is our intelligence, our information. Being the local police, most of our members
are from the same community, Muslims, local officers, local men, they know the language, the terrain and they can merge with any sort of situation.
Our men comprise a highly mobile group and have the capability to strike which is tremendous because we do not go in large companies and battalions, we mostly operate in unconventional methods.
Conventional methods are used in border areas where a large security force is present to neutralise the terrorists in the border areas. There are times when on coming to know that militants are hiding in a certain place, we have to pick up half a dozen of our fellows in two vehicles incognito and strike them first. Subsequently, the para-military forces join us.
Have you found the presence of any Al Qaeda militants in J&K?
I will put it differently, we have not found any direct presence of Al Qaeda. But we have caught Pakistanis and other terrorists of foreign origin who have operated in Khost in Afghanistan. To that extent, we can say that these terrorists have a working relationship with Al Qaeda.
In his book My Frozen Turbulence, former J&K governor Jagmohan levelled serious allegations against the J&K police that they were in cahoots with terrorists. What is the true picture?
You may find black sheep everywhere. In a situation like Kashmir whenever it starts with insurgency, the basic aim of any such insurgent movement is to subvert the system, whether it is the police or the administrative set-up or any government arm.
So there is the possibility of some black sheep having infiltrated the police forces. If you see a large number of policemen, they have born the brunt of the terrorist attacks, especially by the state police. There are also the ones who have been made, shall I say, ineffective. In the last three years, the J&K police has come up in a big way and started operating at the forefront. The casualty rate of the J&K police, vis-à-vis the other forces in the state, is the highest. It is also the highest compared to their counterparts in Punjab. Show me any other force where the black sheep have been purged like the J&K police. Terrorists who escape are also aware that the state police knows each and everyone of them and so they are scared of our men.
The operations launched by us are the most specific ones aimed at a particular leader of the terrorist group. In the last couple of years, we have only been going after identified terrorists, the leaders and commanders and we have succeeded in eliminating a large
number of them.
What do you think about terrorist suicide squads?
Fidayeen is not something new. You had the Japanese kamikaze during the second world war and you have the Intifada movement. It is there among the Liberation of Tamil Tigers Eelam. In Kashmir, it is being resorted only by the foreign elements, none of the locals have much taste for it. But the fidayeen is highly motivated and really goes after the target.
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