J&K is passing through last phase of militancy: Jitendra Singh

Jammu: Hours after the security forces killed a dreaded Lashkar-e-Toiba-affliated terrorist Wasim Shah in an encounter in Ganderbal, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said that militancy in Jammu and Kashmir was in its ‘last phase’ and that ‘militants are on the run’. 

“They (militants) are on the run and are under tremendous pressure. I am sure that this is going to be the last phase of militancy in Jammu and Kashmir,” he told reporters in Jammu late on Saturday.

Singh was replying to a volley of questions on the recent killings of militants in Kashmir Valley.

“Police and security forces are doing a commendable job. What is more praiseworthy is that the special operation group of J&K Police is cooperating and working shoulder to shoulder in these operations,” he said.

The minister said that the security forces had been successful in effecting a positive change in the security situation. “Life span of every terrorist has been shorten,” he said.

Replying to a question about Pakistan making desperate attempts to keep the pot of militancy boiling in the state, Singh said, “This speaks of their (Pakistan) helplessness and despair.”

“The longer Pakistan continues to remain in denial mode, the more it is risking its own security and its own existence,” he added. 

On the Supreme Court judgement on the issue of Rohingya immigrants, the minister said, “As far as the BJP and its government are concerned, we are very clear about it…The security concern is the prime concern for all of us including those of us who have stakes in Jammu and Kashmir, where you have a sizable population of Rohingyas.”

He said it was “not the right interpretation” to say that Rohingyas are not to be deported from India.

The Supreme Court “has said that there was security concern and at the same time, there is a human angle that is to be kept in the mind,” he said, adding that “judicious view of the entire matter will be taken”.

Reacting to the diktat of Majlis Shoura that boys and girls should not study together, the minister said, “Without intruding into anybody’s religious prerogative, as far as we are concerned, we believe in policy of justice for all and appeasement to none.”
“We live in a democratic country and heterogeneous society, where gender equality is inherent… I think concerned agencies will take cognisance of it,” he said. 

To a question on separatist leader Asiya Andrabi’s photo being showcased in a government poster, he said, “The government has taken serious view of it and taken action also. It is condemnable.”

With PTI inputs