Delhi Will Cut Troops in Kashmir, Army Says No
Srinagar, Jan 14, KONS: India’s security establishment appeared sharply divided on the issue of reducing troops in Jammu and Kashmir as the union home secretary on Friday announced the government’s intention to cut the strength of the forces deployed in the state by 25 per cent, drawing a swift contradiction by the army chief who said that he did not feel the need to “cut down” the number of its personnel in the region.
The union home minister, GK Pillai, made his announcement at a seminar at the Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi, categorising it as a confidence building measure.
"As a confidence building measure in Jammu and Kashmir,the strength of the security forces would come down by 25 percent. We would like to reduce it as soon as possible depending on the ground situation," he said.
"These are things which, if peace comes, if violence is not there, if people are comfortable, we can gradually reduce(the force strength) and make sure that all forces are only at the border and for preventing infiltration," he said.
The home secretary cited the case of Nagaland where he said that troop presence was virtually zero today as compared to two army divisions in the past, and that even the paramilitary strength had been drastically reduced to just two companies from the previous sixty.
But, as if on cue, the army chief, Gen VK Singh, said that he did not feel the need to cut down forces in the state.
He also said that it would be ensured that "extra pressure" is not put on his "already-stretched" deployments.
"We have not yet felt that we have to cut down our forces. If they want to cut down para-military and police forces, I won't say anything...
"So when that is done, it will be ensured that extra pressure is not brought on our already-stretched deployments there," Singh told a press conference on the eve of Army Day.
Maintaining that the army was not aware of any troop reduction plans, the army chief said that he was sure that any step in this direction would be taken in consultation with the Unified Command headquarters operating in the state.
The security forces operating in the state work under a Unified Command, which is headed by the state Chief Minister.
The army chief was responding to a question on Pillai's statement and whether the army felt that the situation had improved to an extent the that the troops' presence could be reduced.
Declining to make any direct comments on Pillai's remarks, Gen Singh said that the army had deployed its troops in the state as per the requirements on the Line of Control and other areas.
"Same way in the hinterland, some Army columns are deployed to maintain peace and counter terrorism. We have not yet felt that we have cut to down our forces. If they want to cut down paramilitary or police forces, I won't say anything," he added.
Singh said security forces in the state included the police, paramilitary and the Army and probably only those people, who are considered to be dispensable, would be taken out of the state.
When asked if the Army would agree with the demand for repealing the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act ( AFSPA) from some parts of the State, Singh said, "you know the views of the Army in this regard. The issue is already before the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) and I would not like to say anything further."
The army chief said that after putting in a lot of effort and creating anti-terrorism obstacles in place, the security forces had been able to check infiltration to a large extent.
"As per the data of the Multi Agency Centre (MAC), there were 468 infiltration attempts in the state in 2010 out of which only 95 could be successful and 40 terrorists were killed there," Singh said.
Answering another query, the Army chief said that the Army would not allow the sacrifices made by its troops to go waste and allow terrorists to gain hold in areas which were previously cleansed by the security forces.
He said that in different counter-insurgency operations in both the Northeast and J&K, the Indian Army had lost 15 officers, 13 Junior Commissioned Officers and 159 jawans.
