Clouds over normalcy in J&K

The terror strike on a police bus on the outskirts of Srinagar, which claimed three lives, serves as a sad reminder of the daring with which Pakistan-backed terror groups have carried out their heinous mission in Kashmir valley of Jammu and Kashmir. The strike's timing, which coincided with the 20th anniversary of the Parliament attack, is concerning since it demonstrates that terrorists may choose their targets at whim. The ambush, which claimed the lives of an Assistant Sub-Inspector and two constables, was carried out by the ‘Kashmir Tigers,' underdog terrorist organisation possibly a Jaish-e-Mohammed front .The Pulwama incident in February 2019, which killed 40 CRPF men, was carried out by the Pakistan-based Jaish group.Two officers were killed by terrorists in the Bandipora area only days before the incident.The recent uptick in terror attacks represents a dismal state of affairs, demonstrating that normalcy is still elusive more than two years after Article 370 was repealed.In October, a rash of targeted killings of people, including local inhabitants and migrant labourers, occurred in the State-turned-Union Territory.As a result of such terror attacks, security forces have ramped up cordon, and search operations to detect and neutralise terrorists.In the last three years, roughly 40 civilians have been murdered in cold blood by the terrorists in J&K, according to data collated by the South Asia Terrorism Portal, but the death toll among security personnel has been dropping.On the other hand, the shooting on the police bus reflects that security officials cannot afford to be complacent. It indicates that the terror organisations seeded and watered by Pakistan are hell-bent on raising havoc and intoxicating the political climate before upcoming Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. The resumption of the long-stalled and stuck democratic process might be an effective antidote to the Valley's rising terrorism. Terrorist organisations are aiming at the very heart of the democratic process. The issues that the current dispensation is facing are ample. First, infiltrators must be stopped and local support should be snipped by implementing confidence-building measures and so strengthening grassroots democracy. At the very same time, the state should never miss an occasion to expose Islamabad's deceitful intentions on global fora. On the one hand, the repeal of Article 370 has alienated mainstream political parties, with their leaders detained under stringent laws and the Centre failing to take action; on the other hand, changing geopolitical dynamics in the region have made the security situation in the terror infested Valley more vulnerable. The change of events in Afghanistan encouraged the anti-India terrorist organisations that the Pakistani Deep State had fed and fostered.Release of numerous detainees belonging to various terror organisations from Afghan prisons, poses a threat of more support to rising terrorism in the valley.