India-Kashmir

Troops to be pulled from Kashmir towns

Article published on the 2009-06-12 Latest update 2009-06-13 10:14 TU

India's Home Minister announced on Friday a phased troop pull-out from towns in the part of Kashmir administered by New Delhi. No timetable was mentioned however, nor the number of soldiers to be redeployed. Responsibility for security and order in urban areas is to be transferred to Kashmir and Jammu state police.

Home Minister P. Chidambaran told a news conference in Srinagar, where he has been conducting a review of security, that the army should carry out counter-insurgency operations "far away from towns and cities."

He said the decision was made because militant violence inside Kashmir had dropped, but infiltrations were continuing along the Line of Control (LoC), which divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan. "Many infiltrators are neutralised at the borders but there are other infiltrators who successfully infiltrate. They are not coming here as tourists, they are coming here to foment trouble," he said.

The official number of troops and paramilitaries India keeps in Kashmir has not been disclosed.

"In the inhabited areas, we believe that maintaining law and order is the primary responsibility of the state police," he said.

A leading Kashmiri separatist, Javed Mir, welcomed the possibility that troops would be moved out of towns. "Phasing out the army is a welcome step. It will ease tensions and help in ending human rights violations," he said.

The presence of Indian troops in Kashmir, especially in the Muslim-dominated Kashmir valley, has long been a major source of tension in the region. For the past two decades, troops have regularly been accused of human rights violations including rape, murder and torture. Protests erupted last week in the Kashmir Valley in response to the alleged rape and deaths of a 17-year-old girl and her 22-year-old sister-in-law, whose bodies were found in a stream on 30 May. Indian officials initially insisted they had drowned, but the families of the victims have accused the security forces of abducting, raping and killing them.

On Sunday, police said forensic tests showed they had indeed been raped. "If anyone is found guilty, he or she will be punished. The action will be taken based on information available to the state and the central governments," Chidambaran said.

He also said Kashmiri politicians, including state chief Omar Abdullah, had demanded the repeal of laws that give troops sweeping powers to conduct raids, destroy suspected militant hideouts, and even shoot dead suspects.

"I promise to look at the matter. I would have to discuss the matter with the defence minister and the prime minister," Chidambaran said.

India has not officially disclosed how many troops and paramilitiaries it has in its part of Kashmir. The anti-India insurgency in the region has left more than 47,000 people dead by official count since it started in 1989.

New Delhi has long accused Pakistan of arming and funding the rebels. Islamabad denies the charge. The neighbours launched a peace process in 2004, which was put on hold after the attacks on Mumbai in 2008, which India had blamed in part, on elements within the Pakistani intelligence services.

US Under Secretary of State William Burns was in New Delhi on Thursday. The United States wants India and Pakistan to resume peace talks, but Burns said the US would leave it to the two countries to decide how they move forward.

The anti-India insurgency in the region has left more than 47,000 people dead by official count since it started in 1989.