Guns Of Never End

Lockdown—political and pandemic—brings peace to Kashmir, but a new militancy is rising.

- Naseer Ganai

PEACE in Kashmir is often an oxymoron. But the word does provide some context to what is happening in the Valley. The tumultuous political upheaval in Jammu and Kashmir last year—the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A—gave way to months of relative peace. Counter-insurgency operations continued, though. To put things in perspective, 45 militants have been killed in Kashmir since August last year till March. In contrast, between January-July in 2019, over 154 militants were killed by security forces. The number was over 260 in 2018.