Letting the non-locals go from Valley would be playing into ISI’s hands: Intelligence

New Delhi, Nov 04: The decision to abrogate Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir was aimed at integrating the newly formed Union Territory with the rest of India. However, in the past couple of weeks, one has witnessed the specific targeting of non-Kashmiris in the Valley and now Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials say that there is a pattern behind it.

The intention is to derail the Government of India's plan of integrating J&K with the rest of India. There are over 20,000 migrant labour in the Valley and they have come under the direct fire of the ISI backed terrorists.

At least four intercepts have been picked up by the intelligence agencies, which clearly suggest that the target is the non-locals especially in the South of Kashmir. Further, the ISI has directed that all the local commanders be replaced by the foreign ones who are holed up in the Valley.

This is once again a specific ploy by Pakistan because their own commanders would fall in line more easily and are also ruthless in nature. They want their own men to execute the killings in the Valley. They feel that the local commanders could be soft and may not execute the plan as per their wishes.

The ISI has told the terrorists to focus extensively on areas as Pulwama, Kulgam and Shopian. The Home Ministry and the local administration in a recent high-level meeting had directed that the patrolling in these areas be stepped up, owing to the large number of terrorists who are present over there.

This is a clear design to derail the plans of the government. The abrogation of Article 370 meant that there would be no special status in J&K, which in turn would allow people from the rest of the country settle and even set up businesses there. The decision to target the non-locals is a clear way of creating panic in J&K and to ensure that no one from the rest of India visits these areas.

Security officials that OneIndia spoke with said that the Pakistani terrorists are clearly more lethal. Operation Maa, introduced by the security forces is proving to be successful in nature. Through this operation, the forces are giving the terrorists a chance to surrender and also join the mainstream. However, this operation is not available for the foreign terrorists, the forces have made it clear.

The agencies have warned that in the days to come there could be more such incidents where the non-locals are targeted. An agency official said that the non-locals need more security and at any cost they should not be allowed to leave the Valley. Leaving the Valley would essentially mean that the ISI has managed to successfully execute their plans.