From Poonch to Baramulla, past few days have witnessed some disturbing and disheartening incidents. Jammu and Kashmir, of late was in the news for all good news – successful conclusion of G 20 tourism summit, incredible number of tourists visiting the Union Territory, pace of developmental works and above all a conducive law and order situation. Strikes, agitations, stone pelting, pelt guns, deaths on roads, blinding of children, closure of schools, disruption of normal life seem now some nightmares of some bygone era. Though on economic, development and political fronts a lot need to done more but over all the people of Army in e UT, finally, have been coming to terms with normalcy and peace and have started appreciating it.
However, the attack on Army the other day once again came as a grim reminder of the fact the terror still has the capacity to resurface. Five soldiers were killed and two injured when heavily armed terrorists ambushed two Army vehicles at a blind curve at Dhatyar Morh between Dhera Ki Gali and Bufliaz on Thursday. The ambush took place when the security personnel were moving to an ongoing search operation in the general area of Dhera Ki Gali in the Thanamandi-Surankote region. While the entire country was condemning the terrorist attack and mourning the death of soldiers, yet another very disturbing incident was reports from the same region. Three civilians of the area were found dead in mysterious circumstances near the encounter site. Though the UT administration promptly initiated legal proceedings and announced compensation, jobs to kin of 3 civilians killed and Army, on its part said that it would cooperate in investigation, the relatives of the deceased and locals made some allegations of very serious nature. They alleged that the three deceased persons, alongwith some others, were picked up by the Army following the encounter for questioning and later bodies of the three were recovered with torture marks while some other injured were being treated in a hospital. The incident too has sparked widespread condemnation and people are demanding an impartial probe to find out how these civilians got killed. As the people of the UT were still grappling with these two disturbing events, Sunday morning came with one more shocker. A retired police officer was shot at and killed in a mosque near his house in Gantamulla area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district. He was calling Azan when he was killed. The brutal murder by terrorists has been condemned by one and all and people want the concerned authorities to identify the murderer and bring him to the book.
As stated earlier, such incidents would happen frequently pre 2019 but of late, people had started believing that finally they are out of this vicious circle. However, these fresh developments have raised concerns that need to be taken care of by the concerned authorities. While those indulging in terror acts should not be spared, it should also be ensured that civilians are not being targeted at any cost.
