India's army says tide turning in restive Kashmir
Source: Reuters
By Nita Bhalla NEW DELHI, Oct 17 (Reuters) - India's army chief said on Tuesday violence in the troubled Himalayan Kashmir region was lessening as more disillusioned Islamist militants surrendered and more were detained. General J.J. Singh, chief of the army staff, said the security situation in the restive state was "manageable" as militants were not engaging the army in head-on combat and local people were giving more information on infiltrators. "Violence levels have come down by 20 percent. There may be an odd incident of a grenade thrown at one place or the other, but that can happen anywhere in the world," he told a news conference. By and large (Kashmir) is peaceful." India and Pakistan have been involved in peace talks since January 2004, but violence continues to claim an average of half a dozen lives a day in Kashmir. Some experts were sceptical about the general's assertion things were getting better. "The situation has not improved very much. Violence, the suffering of people and human rights violations -- both at the hands of security forces and militants -- continue," said Professor Noor Ahmed Baba, head of political science at Kashmir university. On Tuesday, two policemen were killed in Kashmir's largest city, Srinagar, in gunbattles with militants. Seven police and five civilians were injured in other clashes across the region. But Singh was upbeat. Some 166 militants have surrendered this year compared to 82 in all of 2005, he said, adding this proved the situation was improving in region where a 17-year-old separatist revolt has killed over 45,000 people. Most of those that have given themselves up are from the frontline militant group Hizbul Mujahideen, which draws its recruits mainly from Kashmiri youth but whose leadership is based on the Pakistani side of the border. "(A terrorist) surrenders when he thinks that either he has lost faith in the cause of the conflict or he feels that he is not able to achieve his mission," said Singh. "There is a subtle change in the direction of the wind, so we will continuing our endeavours to ensure we capitalise on this. But we have to eliminate the hard core elements -- there is no short cut to that." Singh, speaking at an annual conference of army commanders, said increased help from Kashmiri informants had led to the arrest of 355 militants this year compared to 240 last year. According to army figures, security forces have killed 465 militants this year against 876 in 2005. (Additional reporting by Sheikh Mushtaq in Srinagar)
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