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News18
3 days ago
- Politics
- News18
'No Public Funeral' For Terrorists: How Centre Wants To Disrupt Radicalisation, Mass Mobilisation In J&K
Last Updated: Instead of allowing militant groups to use processions or public gatherings, the security forces now quietly bury the bodies in remote locations or where the encounter took place In a strategic move to break the cycle of youth radicalisation and curb mass mobilisation in Jammu & Kashmir, the government has enforced a 'no public funeral" and 'no procession with the body" policy for terrorists killed in encounters with security forces. News18 has learnt that instead of allowing militant groups to use processions or public gatherings with bodies to 'glorify" terrorists, the security forces now quietly bury them in remote locations or where the encounter took place — often in the presence of family members brought under surveillance. A central government officer involved in counter-terror operations told News18 that in some high-risk zones, relatives might even be blindfolded if necessary. This policy, implemented quietly over the past few months, aims to deny terror networks the public spectacle that helps 'brainwash" Kashmiri youths. Funeral processions of slain militants in the past often turned into charged gatherings with 'anti-India" slogans, recruitment pitches, and glorification of violence. A source said the funeral of Burhan Wani is one such example. For intelligence and security agencies, these events were not just mourning rituals but flashpoints that fuelled the terrorism ecosystem, the source added. 'These funerals were no longer just emotional events. We saw how these funerals were becoming recruitment rallies and platforms for the radicalisation of young minds," said the senior officer. 'We had to cut that cord." With this, the government is not just fighting terrorists with guns — it is targeting the psychological, social, and emotional scaffolding that supports and sustains militancy in the region. The focus is clear: dismantling the structure, not just eliminating foot soldiers. 'Terrorists are often just unemployed youths — radicalised, brainwashed, or paid to pick up arms," another senior officer told News18. 'But our aim is to destroy the command-and-control networks that run the show behind the scenes." Officers serving in the region believe that preventing public funerals starves the terror propaganda machinery of powerful images — no processions, no slogans, and no viral videos. Crucially, no symbolic martyrdom. 'Violence will no longer be rewarded with visibility. Our message is clear," the officer said. This policy is part of a broader, integrated counter-terror framework that includes financial crackdowns on and identification of overground workers (OGW), digital surveillance to track radical content, and efforts to plug crossborder infiltration routes. The government is also actively reaching out to at-risk youth with rehabilitation, skill building, and alternative employment options — trying to break the chain before it forms. However, the most decisive element is this silent burial protocol. In a region where symbolism has long been a tool of insurgency, the absence of it might be the most powerful antidote, the officer added. About the Author Madhuparna Das First Published: June 17, 2025, 07:30 IST
Indian Express
01-05-2025
- Indian Express
Armed to the teeth, familiar with jungle warfare, cloaked in stealth: The terrorists that security forces are up against in J&K
Battle-hardened, mostly Pakistanis nationals who are trained in jungle warfare, armed with advanced rifles and communication gadgets, and men who rarely emerge out of the forests – over the last four years, that has been the profile of the Jammu and Kashmir terrorist that the security establishment is up against as they deal with terror strikes such as the April 22 attack on tourists in Pahalgam. These men have carried out deadly attacks — first on the Poonch-Rajouri and south Kashmir axis and then on the Kathua, Udhampur, Doda, Kishtwar and south Kashmir axis — not only bringing Jammu 's Pir Panjal region on the militancy map after two decades but also spreading terror into mainland Jammu for the first time. Theirs is a world removed from Burhan Wani and his crop of militants who emerged in 2015, posing with their guns and with their photographs splashed across social media. But without any special arms training and little battle experience, they were an easier target for the security forces. 'We have been fighting terrorism for more than three decades now; this is real guerrilla warfare. We have observed over the last two years that these terrorists have military training, are armed with US-made rifles and have bullet-proof jackets and steel bullets with them,' said a senior police officer. 'From their training and weapons, we can't rule out the presence of Pakistani army regulars or retired commissioned officers among them.' 'They usually move in a group of three to four members and at least one of them is armed with an M4 carbine, the officer said. Considered the defining assault rifle of the 21st century, the US-made M4 carbine is used by American combat units. The lightweight rifle, which weighs less than 3 kg, can fire up to 900 rounds in a minute and can effectively aim at its target in a range of half a kilometre. 'This makes it an effective weapon, especially in jungle warfare as they (terrorists) don't need to get into close combat'. The M4 rifles, police officials say, are often fitted with underbarrel weapons and optical attachments like telescopic sights and night vision devices that make it an effective weapon during the night as well. Leveraging topography The terrorists have used the topography of the region to their advantage, the dense forest cover that extends from Kathua in Jammu to south Kashmir in the Valley providing them a natural shelter and a safe transit route. Officers say the men have adapted to the harsh weather in the mountainous forests of the Valley, where temperatures often plummet to below minus 15 degrees in winter. On the nature of the forest, a field botanist and researcher from Kashmir University said, 'The mountain range is covered by evergreen conifer trees. On the side of Kashmir, we have Himalayan pine and Himalayan spruce that grow up to a height of 60 metres. On the Jammu side, we have oak trees. These forests have a green cover throughout the year. The forests are so dense that the visibility doesn't extend beyond 30-35 meters. At places, the visibility is less than 10 meters.' Besides the tall trees, the forests are covered by dense cranberry bush, a shrub that grows above human height and berberis, a plant that grows up to 13 feet. 'These forests are away from human habitation and are inaccessible because of their terrain. Thus, even timber smugglers haven't been able to access them,' he said. 'These forests are so dense that it is even difficult for the drones to navigate inside them'. A senior police officer said that it was the continuous pressure mounted by security agencies that forced the terrorists to shift towards the jungles. 'We made their survival tough in the urban pockets. We acted strictly against people who provided them shelter. We have a three-decade-long expertise in urban warfare, and the information was pinpointed. Our target was a house or a cluster of houses at most. But in these jungles, we have to hunt for tens of kilometres.' Their shift to the jungles also means little information comes out. Counter-insurgency officials say the men have managed to stay under the radar by either avoiding communication gadgets or using sophisticated satellite phones. 'They don't leave any digital footprint,' said an officer who has been working in South Kashmir. 'They either use the new Chinese communication technology or simply make use of offline devices. We have information that they are even using the offline maps to move from place to place. In some cases, we recovered Chinese Ultraset phones from them.' In parts of the Jammu region, such as Kishtwar, Udhampur and Doda, the terrain is so inaccessible that it takes about two days to reach there by foot. 'Since the digital footprint is missing, we solely rely on human intelligence,' said an Army officer posted in Kishtwar. 'After we get the input, it takes us a day to reach there. By that time, the terrorists are already somewhere else.' 'In jungle warfare, the one who is stationary has an advantage and the one who is moving is at a disadvantage,' he said. Human intelligence has dried up too. The Gujjar and Bakerwal community 'have walked away from this (information sharing) long back. They are vulnerable and have no incentive,' said a police officer. A senior Army officer said the terrorists plan the attacks 'in detail'. 'They sometimes plan for months, do reconnaissance before an attack. They plan their escape routes beforehand,' he said. 'Take the example of the Baisaran attack (on tourists). It seems they had calculated the reaction time of the forces. They knew they would have to travel on foot and it would take them an hour.'
News18
26-04-2025
- News18
Pahalgam Attack: Cybersecurity Alert Issued To Secure Digital Assets After Pakistan-Based Hackers Strike
Last Updated: On Friday, Pakistan-based hackers Team Insane PK defaced the homepage of the Army College of Nursing with images related to the recent Pahalgam massacre and of militant Burhan Wani A Pakistan-based hacker group has targeted the Army College of Nursing after an attempt to breach the G20 website, prompting the Indian government to issue a cybersecurity alert. All government ministries, departments, and agencies have been directed to strengthen their cyber defences to prevent further breaches. Sources indicate that the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) has compiled an internal report in the wake of the latest cyberattack, which came shortly after the terror attack in Pahalgam. The agency suspects that more cyberattacks—particularly on critical infrastructure—may be imminent, potentially as part of a broader cyber warfare strategy. An alert reviewed by News18 advises all departments to urgently enhance their cybersecurity protocols. They have been instructed to follow Cyber Hygiene Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) and implement robust protective measures to prevent unauthorised access and data breaches. On Friday, the Pakistan-based hacker group Team Insane PK defaced the homepage of the Army College of Nursing. The homepage displayed the message 'You are hacked!" along with images related to the recent Pahalgam massacre and of militant Burhan Wani. Authorities are treating this not only as a cybercrime but also as a psychological warfare tactic aimed at destabilising Indian institutions. Investigations are underway, and steps are being taken to trace the origin and network of the hacker group. First Published: April 26, 2025, 10:24 IST
Indian Express
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Opinion Ram Madhav writes: Together, against terror
How do we handle Pakistan, which is hell-bent on subjecting India to deadly acts of war and terror even if they hurt its own interests? There are no easy answers. The Indian state has tried several options. We sought to befriend Pakistan, repeatedly. We fought three big wars – in 1965, 1971, and 1999. We defeated it in all three, and in the 1971 war, Pakistan was dismembered. When it resorted to proxy war by using terrorists to carry out attacks in Indian cities, including on Parliament in December 2001, we prepared our forces for another war, unleashed an international campaign to expose the ugly terror underbelly of that country and even executed limited cross-LoC and cross-border attacks in recent years. After coming to power in 2014, the Narendra Modi government, with the help of the J&K state administration, determinedly went after terrorists. In some instances, like the neutralising of Burhan Wani, Pakistan-sponsored terror outfits like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) tried to generate mass hysteria and unrest for some time. But the government didn't blink. Instead, it went ahead with measures like the abrogation of Article 370 and bringing the state under central rule in 2019. Despite this severe crackdown on the terror infrastructure in Kashmir — including banning multiple outfits and dismantling overground financial and civil support systems in the past 10 years — Pakistan-sponsored terrorists manage to reappear occasionally. The heavy presence of security forces on the one hand and good governance measures on the other resulted in diminishing local recruitments for terror outfits. There was a time, not long ago, when hundreds of youth would join the terrorists' ranks each year. Reports suggest that only four locals joined in 2024 — this lack of local support forced handlers across the border to change tactics. New outfits like The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of LeT, and People's Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF), a proxy of JeM, were created with deceptively secular-sounding names, helping Pakistan escape the scrutiny of the Financial Action Task Force. The Pulwama suicide attack in February 2019, which led to the deaths of more than 40 CRPF personnel, was the last deadly act of the JeM and its proxies. After that, the new outfits swung into action and started indulging in lone-wolf-style attacks on security forces and civilians. These attacks remained sporadic during the Covid years. But in 2023-2024, these groups carried out several attacks mainly in the Jammu region. Pahalgam was the major attack this year, claimed by TRF. The barbarity of the Pahalgam attack has shaken everybody. Our hearts go out to the families of the victims. There are calls for severe retribution from the government. B Raman, one of our great spymasters, used to say that the terrorists have to be lucky just once while the agencies have to be successful all the time. Pahalgam was one such day for the terrorists. It should wake us up to the lapses and loopholes in our system. While it is a fact that many locals came to the rescue of the tourists in Pahalgam, it is also a fact that no such major incident is possible without some local involvement. The human and tech intelligence capabilities of our security agencies require further augmentation. With a hardcore Islamist like Asim Munir at the helm of affairs in the Pakistan army, our security establishment needs more vigilance and alertness. Kashmir has seen highs and lows of terror. The last few years have been low on terror due to the proactive measures taken by our security establishment. More than 400 terrorists have been neutralised in the previous decade, 72 in 2023 alone. Terrorist incidents, too, have sharply declined from 228 in 2018 to less than 20 in 2024. Civilian casualties declined from 55 in 2018 to 13 in 2023. With no local recruitment happening, current estimates suggest almost 60 of the estimated 76 active terrorists are Pakistanis. The fight against terror will not succeed without the support of the people. Kashmiris have to now resolve to fully stand by the government in eliminating the remaining traces of the scourge from the Valley. More than 30 per cent of Kashmir's workforce depends on tourism, which generates around 10 per cent of the Union Territory's GDP. Through the Pahalgam incident, terrorists conclusively proved that they have no concern for the bread and butter of Kashmiris. It seems to have shaken the conscience of most Kashmiris, who came out in large numbers to protest against the incident. It is heartening to see many known soft separatist voices, too, taking part in candlelight marches. Indeed, this incident will severely impact tourism in the state. But the protests shouldn't be limited to reassuring tourists to come back. There should be a sincere effort to isolate and reject all those remaining elements in Kashmiri society that continue to occasionally indulge in reckless rhetoric that helps create a conducive atmosphere for the terrorists. For example, one senior leader of the UT's ruling party said earlier this year that the growing numbers of tourists constituted a 'cultural invasion' of Kashmir. Not coincidentally, TRF, too, justified its Pahalgam attack on the same spurious argument that the tourists were a demographic threat to Kashmir. For the rest of the country, the way forward should be not to subject the Kashmiris to daily patriotism tests on primetime TV shows or harass them in cities and towns across the country. Instead, it should be about understanding how the government was able to win over more and more Kashmiris away from separatism and how to complete the process. With the entire leadership of the world standing behind him, PM Modi thundered that the terrorists and 'their backers' would be pursued 'to the end of the earth' and punished. Modi is not just a 'man of words', but a 'man of deeds'. Therein lies the answer to the question I raised at the beginning of the article.
India Today
23-04-2025
- Politics
- India Today
Tourist hub Pahalgam now buzzing with cops. Videos show aftermath of attack
Pahalgam's scenic Baisaran valley, which was buzzing with tourists just a day ago, is now occupied by security personnel as the resort town turned into a fortress following the ghastly terror attack that killed 26 people. Scattered shoes and belongings lying strewn in the picturesque meadow told the horrific story of the worst terror attack on civilians in Pahalgam started seeing an exodus of tourists, an eerie silence gripped the resort town, painting a picture of heartbreak. Army and paramilitary forces were seen stationed in every nook and corner of Pahalgam as security personnel conducted a massive search operation for the five-six terrorists who carried out the attack. advertisementThe Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of the Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), has claimed responsibility for the massacre. Eyewitnesses said the attackers, in military fatigues and kurta pyjamas, started firing indiscriminately after emerging from the dense pine forest surrounding the survivors said the terrorists checked IDs to verify the religion and executed those identified as non-Muslims, point-blank. However, women and children were Srinagar and other parts of Kashmir saw a shutdown on Wednesday, the first in Kashmir in nearly six years since the abrogation of Article 370, with schools and colleges remaining Kashmiris also hit the streets to express their anguish and condemn the terror attack, which came during the peak tourist season in the Valley. The streets of South Kashmir, which were once filled with agitators following the 2016 killing of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani, this time saw locals denouncing the attack on Home Minister Amit Shah, who arrived in Kashmir on Tuesday night, visited ground zero at Baisaran and also met the injured at the Government Medical College (GMC) Hospital. He was accompanied by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Chief Minister Omar InMust Watch
