SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday chaired a key security meeting and directed the security agencies to undertake youth counseling and observe maximum restraint and avoid civilian casualties while dealing with law and order situations in the Valley.
Mehbooba chaired a meeting of Unified Headquarters, the highest decision-making body on security affairs, here today to discuss the prevailing situation in the Valley.
The meeting, which was also attended by Deputy Chief Minister, Nirmal Singh, top army generals and top officials of police, CRPF, BSF, intelligence and administration, discussed the overall security situation in the State and stone pelting and protests in the Valley.
During the meeting, Mehbooba, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh in national capital yesterday, directed the security agencies to improve the public-security force interface and make it a regular affair.
She asked the security agencies to undertake the youth counseling in order to dissuade them from pelting stones and joining militancy.
“The holding of counseling sessions for youth would not only help the youth ally apprehensions and misgivings about the system but would also give the security agencies a chance to reach out to people through community policing,” the CM said.
Mehbooba directed the security agencies to exercise maximum restraint while dealing with law and order and provocative situations.
“Wherever restraint was exercised, it showed positive results on the ground for the government and helped in maintaining peace and order,” she said.
She gave clear directions to the security agencies to ensure that no collateral damage takes place while dealing with day to day law and order situations in the Valley. “Care should be taken to avoid and minimize all collateral damage while conducting operations.”
The Valley has been tense after killing of eight people in security forces firing on protestors during the bypolls to Srinagar parliamentary seat on April 9. The tension has further escalated after security forces raided a college in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district during which at least 50 students were injured.
Ever since the raid on the college, students community is agitating and students in Srinagar staged protests and clashed with security personnel on Monday. During the clashes, the city centre Lal Chowk was turned into a battlefield with stones and tear gas shells flying everywhere.
Favouring reached out to youth, who are staging protests and clashing with security personnel, Mehbooba said, “Youngsters caught in cycle of misinformation and violence are our own and they ought to be won over with a healing touch”.
She said youth engagement should be prioritized rather than viewing it as a routine law and order issue.
The CM also directed security agencies to take parents of youth into confidence as and when there is some complaint about any youth and in no way should the family be held accountable for the deeds of the their wards.
There have been complaints that police has been harassing the family members of youth, who take part in protests.
Many youth, whose family members were harassed, had joined militancy in the past.
On cow vigilantes attack on a nomad family in Reasi district of Jammu, Mehbooba asked the security agencies to ensure that inter community harmony and amity among various sections of society is maintained at all costs.
“The culprits found spreading hatred against a section of society or in the name of a social cause should be brought to justice. If need be strict provisions of law should be slapped on such hate mongers, who are found taking law into their own hands,” she said.
Source said the army was directed to focus on counter infiltration and anti-militancy operations in view of melting of snow and apprehensions of infiltration of militants from across the Line of Control (LoC).
Apart from CM and DyCM, the key security meeting was attended by Chief Secretary, B R Sharma; Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, B B Vyas; Principal Secretary, Home, R K Goyal; J&K Director General of Police, S P Vaid, Northern Command chief, Lt Gen Devraj Anbu; GoC 15 Corps Lt Gen GoC of Srinagar-based 15 Corps Lt Gen J S Sandhu, GoC 16 Corps Lt Gen A K Sharma, senior officers of CRPF, BSF, J&K police and intelligence agencies besides Divisional Commissioners of Kashmir and Jammu.