JAMMU(PTI): The situation in Kashmir is “serious” with Pakistani troops having adopted confrontationist attitude all along the border in the northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, director general of the border security force, Prakash Singh, has said.
The police and border security forces were no longer in charge of operations. The Indian army was overall in charge of the operations and the police was playing a helping role. The militants in Kashmir were well trained, motivated and had the support of the local populations resulting in great difficulty in tracking them down. The situation was indeed very serious reported a senior police official of hesitate,
Replying to a question on the situation along the borders, Singh said “It could not be described as “eyeball to eyeball position, but we could see each other’s forward positions.”
The BSF chief said the number of militants across the Line of Control (LoC) was fluctuating but it could approximately be 5,000 including foreign mercenaries who were trying to cross over to India from Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).
On the incidence of infiltration and exfiltration, Singh said it had considerably decreased because of the tightening of borders.
The BSF director general termed the allegations of excesses in Kashmir as “militant propaganda 10 demoralize the security forces and tarnish their image.”
In reply to a question regarding forces’ requirement in view of increasing militancy in different parts of the country, Singh said “our requirement has been increasing on eastern and western borders and a proposal has been sent to the government.”
When a newsman asked why India was not acting against Pakistan in view of ample evidence of its involvement in terrorism in India, the BSF chief said “ours is a civilized country and we do not violate international laws.”
Singh was on a two day visit to Doda and border areas in Jammu region.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 9, 1993
