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State Scan The year 2004 was historic for the Army in J&K 744 terrorists killed, 128 apprehended in 2004 From Khajuria S. Kant The year 2004 has proved historic for the Army in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K). Concerted counter-terrorist operations have led to a considerable decline in terrorist activity. This year also saw the most horrific human rights violations committed by terrorists on civilians. The stage for counter-terrorist operations in 2004, was set by the events of November 2003. On November 21, 2003, security forces killed Abu Abrar, divisional commander of LeT (Lashkar-e-Toiba) and six more terrorists. This was the beginning of a deliberate exercise to target the top terrorist leadership. The Army also accelerated the process of enhancing its counter-infiltration capability. Top priority was accorded to construction of the fence on the Line of Control and electronic gadgetry was put in place to detect infiltrators. The ceasefire on the midnight of November 25, 2003 was the next important event. It is to the credit of the Army that sanctity of the ceasefire was maintained throughout the year. The ceasefire gave the Army an opportunity to launch concerted counter-terrorist operations in the hinterland. On January 15, 2004 Lt. Gen. Hari Prasad, GOC, Northern Command, said that the Army would continue with counter-terrorist operations despite the ceasefire. The incredible ferocity and intensity of operations that continued throughout 2004 left the terrorists stunned and demoralised. Selective targeting of the leadership was further intensified. On January 16, the Army achieved a major breakthrough by gunning down Ghulam Rasool Dar, the overall commander of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), after a long hunt. The high point of this operation was that the information of his location was revealed by a local source. This incident showed the first cracks in the HM outfit. On April 8, the Army shot dead Sarai Baba, chief of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad and four of his accomplices in Kupwara. The precise and surgical manner in which the operation was conducted sent shock waves in terrorist outfits. This was followed by another prize catch on April 14, when Abu Quasmi, a top LeT commander, charged with the duty to target top political leaders, was also gunned down. Ninety-three terrorist leaders were killed between August 30, 2004 and December 26, 2004. Overall 744 terrorists were killed, 128 apprehended and 133 surrendered in counter-terrorist operations by the Army in 2004. Infiltration was the next important issue in 2004. Despite the ceasefire, the Army confirmed that terror camps continued to be active in J&K. General N.C. Vij stated in January that decrease in infiltration was more due to the weather and that a clear picture of Pakistan's intentions would emerge only once the snow melted. As such, the Army would continue to maintain a state of high alert on the Line of Control and so would the work on the fence continue. Thus, there ws no let down in the operations throughout the year. Overall 79 infiltration attempts were foiled during the year in which 138 terrorists were killed, nine apprehended and two surrendered. The surrender policy of the J&K government was implemented this year. This led to a spate of surrenders. The first mass surrender took place at Batote in which 22 militants surrendered; 149 terrorists surrendered to security forces during the year as against 110 in the previous year. The surrenders indicate a perceptible decline in the morale of terrorists. This year also saw decline in human rights violations committed by terrorists. The most horrific incidents included chopping down of limbs of innocent civilians as reprisals for taking part in the Lok Sabha elections or for assisting the security forces. On April 21, 2004, terrorists at Udhampur chopped off the ears of two elderly people to warn the people against participating in the Lok Sabha elections. The Army took this challenge of the terrorists heads on. The security forces reacted by domination of sensitive areas and increase in intensity of operations. This caused the terrorists to recoil and their attempt to hinder polling in the elections was nullified. Another case that shook the collective psyche of the nation was that of Mariam Begum, a 22-year old resident of village Gundoh in Doda district and who was abducted on June 16, 2004 in reprisal for the surrender of her terrorist brother, Abdul Latif. Mariam was subject to inexplicable forms of torture and was raped with impunity. They cut her ears and nose and left her to die in the jungles where she was recovered on July 10 in a most pathetic condition, practically on the verge of death. The J&K police and the Army joined hands to help young Mariam in picking up the threads of her shattered life. She was admitted to the Army’s Command Hospital at Udhampur on September 11, 2004. Reconstruction surgery on her nose and ears was carried out by Army specialists. The scarred and mutilated 22-year old Mariam Begum was the face of Kashmir in 2004—a hideous picture of the reality of terrorist atrocities. Incidents of terrorists forcing children to take up the gun were also reported. Muzaffar Iqbal, an eleven-year old boy was rescued from the clutches of terrorists during operations in Poonch. “He had been recruited to act as a guide,” the spokesman reminded. On August 22, 2004 allegations of human rights violations with respect to ‘disappeared personnel’ for whose so-called ‘disappearance’ security forces and the government were blamed was proved to be unfounded when Javed Ahmed Bhat, who disappeared in July 1998, was found to be working as a salesman in a store in Muzaffarabad in PoK. He wrote to his parents asking them to attend his wedding. Another sterling achievement of the year was the completion of the Line of Control fence. The fencing of the border is a formidable obstacle to infiltration/exfiltration. Infiltration has been curtailed to a considerable degree. Terrorists wanting to exfiltrate after having completed their contracted tenure are unable to cross over. The foregoing factors have led to a loss of morale and resultant indiscipline amongst the terrorist ranks.

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