Troops will stay on in Kashmir: army chief

“If rules are followed by our neighbours, we follow them too. If rules are broken, we won’t sit on it, we will break them too”

Agencies/New Delhi

In a clear warning to Pakistan, India army chief Gen Bikram Singh yesterday said any militant who crosses the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir will be fired at. He also said the army needed to continue guarding the troubled northern state “under the present circumstances.”

“We will fire at any militant trying to enter through the LoC,” Singh said at the annual press conference ahead of Army Day tomorrow.

His comments came as reports in the Pakistani media blamed India for violating the ceasefire and firing at a civilian near the LoC.

He, however, added that “attempts are on to ensure ceasefire agreements are adhered to by both sides. It is our endeavour to control it, not escalate it.”

“If rules are followed by our neighbours, we follow them too. If rules are broken, we won’t sit on it, we will break them too,” he said.

Reports quoting Pakistani military sources said a civilian was injured in firing by Indian troops near the LoC on Saturday.

Singh said ceasefire violations have been to aid infiltration of militants from Pakistan.

He also noted that the frequency of ceasefire violations has come down remarkably since the meeting of the Directors General Military Operations of the two countries last December.

On the issue of army’s deployment in Kashmir, Gen Singh said it needs to stay in the state.

“Armed forces need to stay on in Kashmir under the present circumstances,” he said. “We should wait for conditions to improve before making changes to the national strategy regarding the army deployment in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.

He also said there is “zero tolerance” for human rights violations in the army.

“There is zero tolerance towards human rights violation... Our rules of engagement are based on those followed by a civilised society.”

Asked about the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), Gen Singh said: “The military viewpoint is that we have to wait for some time to monitor the situation. A decision will be taken only after that.”

Meanwhile, security forces killed three suspected rebels in Kashmir during an ongoing gun battle, police said.

Soldiers and police special forces cordoned off a village northwest of Srinagar on suspicion that rebels were hiding inside, sparking the mid-afternoon gun battle, a police officer said.

The battle at Dangerpora village just outside the town of Sopore, 45km from Srinagar, was still going on, police superintendent Abdul Qayoom said. 

“We have seen three bodies so far. Two more (rebels) could still be engaged in fighting,” Qayoom said.

About a dozen rebel groups have been fighting Indian forces since 1989 for independence or merger with Pakistan.

The violence, which has left tens of thousands, mostly civilians, dead has been on a steady decline since the 2000s, but police say militants inflicted a heavy toll on security forces in 2013.

Sixty-one government security officers were killed last year in the fighting, compared to 47 officers for all of 2011 and 2012 put together, according to figures released recently by authorities. A total of 63 militants were killed in Kashmir last year.

Police and army officials have voiced fears that Pakistan may divert battle-hardened fighters from Afghanistan to Kashmir after the US forces drawdown this year.

Many Afghan fighters were killed fighting Indian forces alongside Kashmiri militants after the armed rebellion against Indian rule erupted in the state.

Police say only about 200-300 militants are still fighting now.