Kudo’s to the J and K police (English version) Rakshak News 17 Oct 18
http://www.rakshaknews.com/vishesh/jammu-kashmir-police-deserve-to-be-praised
Kudo’s to the J and K police (English version) Rakshak News 17 Oct 18
Last week security forces gunned down research scholar turned Hizbul terrorist Mannan Wani in Kupwara. Wani was a research scholar pursuing his PhD in Geology at the Aligarh Muslim University from where he went missing in Jan this year. Subsequently his photograph appeared on social media sites holding an AK 47 assault rifle. He was one of the top local commanders of the outfit in the valley.
Though Wani, post becoming a militant operated in South Kashmir, he had recently moved to North Kashmir, aiming to cross the border into Pak. He was being hunted as being a scholar turned militant, he could have been an inspiration for others to follow. With winter approaching had his movement been delayed he would not have been able to attempt crossing. On the other hand, had he crossed over, his writings on social media could have increased numbers of youth joining militancy.
Post his elimination the Hizbul, separatists and local politicians joined hands in praising him. Mehbooba Mufti tweeted, ‘Today a PhD scholar chose death over life and was killed in an encounter. We are losing young educated boys every day. It is high time political parties realise the gravity of the situation and try to facilitate a solution through dialogue with all stakeholders including Pakistan’.
A remark by Gautam Gambhir on students turning into militants had Omar retorting on twitter. The separatists as usual gave a call for a shut down of the valley, post the elimination of Mannan Wani. He was praised by many separatist leaders. Mannan, regularly wrote on social media justifying his decision to pick up the gun. His elimination is being viewed as a setback to the Hizbul Mujahideen, as security forces were apprehensive that his writings once he managed to cross over to Pak would have only increased inciting more to join militancy.
Mannan was from an area where youth joining militancy are still low. There was hope amongst the Hizbul and separatists that his death could spark another uprising akin to the elimination of Burhan Wani. The J and K police were prepared and acted fast in a coordinated manner to prevent it.
The first action that it took was to ensure that there were no pictures taken of the body. This ensured that social media had no way of inciting people to violence. It was a photograph of Burhan Wani’s corpse which led to the initial riots in 2016. Mannan’s corpse was immediately removed, before locals could even realize what had happened.
Simultaneously, to prevent large crowds from gathering and resorting to violence, all schools and colleges were immediately shut. To maintain normalcy, internet services were not suspended. This ensured no protests or major stone throwing incidents. Initially police even quelled rumours about his death, calling them baseless. The family was only informed in the afternoon, once everything was brought under control, though he was eliminated early morning.
The funeral was strictly monitored. Only residents were permitted to proceed in that direction. Journalists were barred, so was taking photographs. It was only after the burial, when the situation was normal were the roads opened and journalists permitted to proceed. Photographs of Burhan Wani’s funeral spreading on social media was another cause of mass violence.
J and K police, which has faced the brunt of militancy over the years has been learning from their mistakes. It learnt immense lessons from the violence following the elimination of Burhan Wani and set in procedures to ensure that such an incident would not be allowed to reoccur. This was one of the finest examples of a coordinated plan implemented without a flaw, pushing Pak and separatists plans of exploiting a second Burhan Wani. It saved the youth from resorting to mindless violence leading to loss of valuable lives.
While the army leads operations to eliminate terrorists, an equally important task of containing accompanied and post elimination of terrorist’s violence falls on the J and K police. They had this time put their plans into action flawlessly. The hopes of accompanying violence to shame governor’s rule and the functioning of security agencies was prevented. Separatists and local politicians accompanied by Pak handlers were left isolated. Kudo’s to the J and K police for their prompt and innovative action.
About the Author
Maj Gen Harsha Kakkar
Retired Major General Indian Army