PDP-BJP alliance among factors which worsened Kashmir situation: Gen Hooda

JAMMU: The former Commander of the Northern Command General DS Hooda, who demitted office over two months ago, has listed the alliance between Peoples Democratic Party and Bhartiya Janta Party as one of the various reasons for disaffection in Kashmir which, he said, finally boiled over in 2016.
In an interactive session with a newspaper in New Delhi, General Hooda, however, said that the PDP-BJP alliance was the best way to respect the mandate as there were no other options.
When asked what went wrong over last two years that Kashmir had to see turmoil in 2016, Gen Hooda said, “In 2014-15, internal recruitment began increasing. More and more locals were joining (militancy). The numbers were not very large, 50-70, but as compared to 2011-12, where the figure was in single digits and most of the recruits were from across the Line of Control, it was high. These local recruits had family and friends in the region and when they got killed, there was more anger. Through 2015, for example, when there would be a search operation, locals would turn up in large numbers. During the attack on the Entrepreneur Development Institute (at Sempore-Pampore in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district in 2016), even women came out to stop military operations. So the frustration had been building for some time and it all finally boiled over in 2016.
“The way in which the new political dispensation came into the state also contributed to the dissatisfaction. And Pakistan had a very large role to play. We often see the insurgency in Kashmir as an internal one, but it has a huge transnational character — arms, terrorists, funds, support, all of it comes from Pakistan.
They (Pakistan) were seeing a steady improvement in the situation; 2012, in fact, was the best year as far as controlling insurgency and violence was concerned. In 2016, Pakistan made an even bigger attempt to increase infiltration. All of these issues led to what happened in July 2016.
When asked about the role politicians could play, as he had suggested last year, Gen Hooda said, “Militarily, I think, the situation has largely come under control. We hear of attacks such as the one in Pathankot and tend to think that the situation is getting bad. That is not true. Let me give you some data. I think 2001 was the worst year, and I am not talking purely from a security perspective, when the total casualties — civilians, military and terrorists — exceeded 4,500. In 2012, it was around 120-130, which is about 2.5 per cent of the peak levels. For 2016, which is now being considered to be the worst year in the Valley, data shows that (the total number of casualties) is about 5-6 per cent of peak levels. So, yes, we need to ensure that incidents such as Uri and Nagrota don’t happen, but from a security perspective, the situation has been contained to some extent. This, however, does not mean that things are completely under control and nothing more needs to be done. You now need a political approach to deal with the situation.