By Sarwar Kashani, IANS,
New Delhi : Home Secretary G.K. Pillai said there will be further troop reduction in Jammu and Kashmir as the situation improves in the state but forces deployed at the border or in counter-insurgency operations were not being touched.
“When we talk about a troop cut, we are not talking about the border or something like counter-insurgency operations. You can keep as many as you want; we have no problems with that. We are talking of those deployed for law and order duty, Pillai said in reference to reported defence ministry’s reservations about troop cut in the strategic border state.
“Last year we took out 10 battalions and then we had 70 battalions. This year, so far, we have taken out two, which means 68 battalions are still there. They are more than enough, we don’t need them,” Pillai told IANS in an exclusive interview at his North Block office.
He said more troopers would be pulled as the situation improves. “It is being done in phases.
“Two battalions of CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) are already out from the streets of Jammu and Kashmir. They are back in the barracks,” the home secretary said.
Pillai said as part of the confidence building measures, the government has also removed most of the security pickets from Srinagar. “You have seen those bunkers, they have also been removed from Srinagar. Out of 41 bunkers, I think, 29 have been removed,” he said.
He said the removal of the pickets from the city “has helped a lot because the presence of the bunkers was a lot of irritant for the common people”.
“Removal of bunkers means a lot for them because when they open the window in the morning or move out in the morning they don’t have to encounter somebody looking at you with a gun pointed at you. It has been a good sign,” he said.
Asked about the defence ministry opposing the idea of reduction of troopers in the state, Pillai said there had been “a lot of misunderstanding”.
(Sarwar Kashani can be contacted at [email protected])