We'll Go Back To Barracks Once Things Stabilise

As the General-officer-Commanding (GoC) of the Indian Army’s Srinagar-based 15 Corps, Lt Gen Anil Kumar Bhatt is the man in charge of counter-insurgency operations in Kashmir. In an exclusive interview to Outlook’s Naseer Ganai, Lt Gen Bhatt speaks on a range of issues related to insurgency—from Pakistan’s proxy war, increasing number of Kashmiri youth being lured to militancy, civilian casualties during operations and on the need for the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in the Valley. Excerpts:

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How do you see the present security situation in Kashmir?

The situation in the Valley is stable, but fragile in certain areas. My main concern is over new local youth getting recruited (to militancy). My second concern is the stone-pelting, especially those agitations related to my counter-terrorism operations. In both cases, I see the challenge as alienation and radicalisation of our youth. By the time this generation realises that they have been played by Pakistan and the separatists, they would have lost their valuable time.

Other challenges in Kashmir are common to the rest of India: youth bulge, unemployment. But here, these problems are exploited through radicalisation. The more important task today is to engage Kashmiri youth and break this support ‘nexus’ that is radicalising them. Another big challenge is tackling social media platforms. The negativity spread through them is a dominant factor in misleading the youth and it is being exploited by our adversary.

Civilian killings are indeed a major concern for us. We have been advising that all civilians should desist from moving towards sites where operations are being carried out. Many times, our operations get delayed as we have to evacuate all locals who are inside a particular house. We make an effort to encourage local terrorists to surrender and give up their weapons as well. We even try to get their parents to the site of operation to persuade them. We have not always been successful in it, but our effort is still on. We see a concerted attempt by terrorists and overground workers to incite young people to rush towards the site of the incident with a false belief that they will be able to rescue the terrorists.