NEW DELHI: In a bid to break the cycle of violence in Jammu & Kashmir, central agencies have identified 400 local leaders fuelling protests and shared their names with the state police for an immediate crackdown, including detention under the Public Safety Act.
Intelligence officials said the list included overground workers of Hizbul Mujahideen and other terrorist outfits, besides local-level functionaries of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, the outfit of ‘hardline’ separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, and Jamaat-e-Islami.
“These are primarily local leaders who have been mobilising children as young as 10-12, besides teenagers, to come on the streets and indulge in stone-pelting. Many are overground workers from villages in south Kashmir who shelter terrorists and help with logistics,” an officer of the central security establishment said. Action against this core protesters is deemed necessary as similar tactics had helped control street protests and stone pelting in 2010 after a case of fake encounter deaths for which seven Army personnel were convicted.
Sources indicated that home minister Rajnath Singh, during his two-day visit to Srinagar, took up with CM Mehbooba Mufti the need for the state police to act sternly against those driving the protests, rather than dealing with violent mobs on a day-to-day basis.The action, including detention of mob heads under PSA, should ideally happen over the next few days, before Eid-ul-Zuha festivities set in, it was advised.
“The message conveyed to the state authorities is clear, there has to be firm and resolute police action against those mobilising young protesters. Just like 2010, when the cycle of stone-pelting protests was contained by acting against the leaders and invoking PSA against top separatists like Masarat Alam, we must crack down on the identified local-level leaders. Detaining such leaders under PSA for a few months will put them out of circulation, thus allowing the protests to die down,” a home ministry official said. “A strong message needs to go out that the government and its agencies mean business and that those instigating mobs for their selfish ends will not be allowed to go scot-free and must be ready to face action under tough laws like PSA,” the official added.
The J&K government has so far been reluctant to get tough with local heads of mobs who have used public address systems in mosques to mobilise kids and youth. However, with the protests entering the seventh week, the Centre has urged the state to act immediately .
Bureau Report
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