CHANDIGARH: The security forces in Punjab are hopeful of achieving a major breakthrough in counter-militancy operations in a major offensive they have succeeded in eliminating some of the top militants.

The number of civilians killed by militants has shown a sharp decline and there is a significant increase in the recovery of arms and ammunition since the beginning of this year. In fact, the state had some incident-free days in the recent past, something unheard of in the recent past.

Among the top militants killed in encounters since January this year are Paramjit Singh alias Pamma, Parkash Singh alias Pasna and Balbir Singh alias Leela of the Khalistan Commando Force (KCF), Amrik Singh Kauli and Jagir Singh alias Jagira (Babbar), Sawinder Singh alias Shinder, Sukhram Singh, Jaspal Singh and Satnam Singh alias Satta of the Bhindranwale Tiger Force of Khalistan (BTKF). The security forces also claim to have wiped out the newly formed Baba Wadhawa Singh Khalistan Jathebandi.

According to official statistics, 1,080 civilians have been killed in the state till date this year. The figure during the corresponding period last year was 1,524, A total of 162 security forces personnel have lost their lives since January this year while 497 of them were killed in operations during the corresponding period last year. The number of militants killed this year, so far is 1,077 while 814 were arrested,

Punjab’s Director General of Police, K.P.S.Gill, said in an interview here, that there were about 120 militants in the state while the number of active supporters of militants ranged between 400 and 500. He said that he would not give a time frame as to when militancy is expected to be brought under control but, added that the situation would drastically improve in a couple of months,

His perception is shared by Army authorities, who are optimistic about the improvement in the situation by the end of August. Lt Gen P.N. Chibber, Corps Commander in charge of the Army operations in the area, said that a vast improvement in the situation was expected, Talking to a group of newsmen recently, he stated that the process of re-deployment of forces was in progress.

Gill said that a better information network has been evolved and people were coming out to assist the security forces. Loopholes in the deployment of forces have been plugged and special efforts have been made to provide better training facilities. In this regard, he said, a substantial section of Punjab police personnel have under taken orientation and training courses from the Army. While two commando battalions have already been constituted one more was in the offing, Gill added.

Replying to a question about police excesses in rural areas, Gill said that there was a palpable fall in the grievances cases brought forward by the people against the police. He said that the district police chiefs have been decided to meet the people and redress their grievances, without delay,

However, the success achieved in the recent past and the optimism about the future docs no necessary mean restoration of peace in the troubled state. Despite frequent encounters (there have been 763 encounters between police and militants this year), and the increased killing of militants, there has not been any significant decrease in the ranks of the militants.

The Assembly elections in February this year, despite being marred by the Akali boycott and threat by the militants, have opened a channel for airing public grievances. The stranglehold of the bureaucracy is slowly breaking and people are feeling encouraged to approach the public representatives. There are positive signs of improvement in the situation but it is still long haul as far as restoration of peace in the state is concemed.

Article extracted from this publication >> Aug 7, 1992