Government Mulling Removal Of Army From Kashmir, Rashtriya Rifles To See Reduction In Strength

The Government is considering the removal of Army units — Rashtriya Rifles (RR) — deployed in counter-terrorism roles from the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, reported The Indian Express.

The proposal presented to the government recommends the removal of the army from Jammu and Kashmir in a phase-wise manner.

Official sources say that the void created by the removal of the RR units from the Kashmiri hinterland will be filled by inducting additional units of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs).

The proposal to withdraw the army was in discussion for about two years and now it is at an ‘advanced stage’, the Indian Express report says.

The report says that “the idea behind deliberations is to not just claim normalcy but also make it visible”.

The report further says that terrorist violence has gone down by 50 percent.

“Stone Pelting has almost vanished and the law-and-order situation is largely under control”.

“Therefore, a large presence of the Indian Army in the hinterland will sit oddly with the claims of normalcy”, the report added.

Quoting another source the report says that “the ideal situation will be to hand over the responsibility of counter-terrorism to Jammu and Kashmir police”.

“However, at the moment the J&KP police force is not being viewed as fully prepared and having the wherewithal to replace the Army on its own”.

“So, the idea is to have J&K Police along with the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) fill in for the army when it is withdrawn”.

The source also said that in the first part of the phased withdrawal the army should be withdrawn from Anantnag and Kulgam. The situation should be assessed after withdrawal, and depending on the results further withdrawals should be done.

About the RR units, the report said that the army as of now is only considering decreasing the strength of RR and not its total removal.

The report also points out that RR is affiliated with various infantry units. “So, by continuing to use these units in the hinterland, we are bleeding the army, especially in light of the ongoing standoff with China on the Line of Actual Control (LAC)”.