Chamba Massacre [Himachal Pradesh, India]

[REPORTED AS SEEN]

Carved out of the erstwhile Udhampur district in 1948, Doda is strategically important because it touches Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh in the south, the Anantnag district of Kashmir Valley in the north, the Zanskar area of Kargil in Ladakh and Udhampur on the south-western side.

Since Doda borders Chamba, militants can easily cross over to Himachal, Anantnag or Zanskar when pressure mounts from the security forces.

“This has been happening for the past few years,” says an Army officer posted in Doda, adding that whenever counter-insurgency operations are stepped up, the militants cross over to the other side and vice-versa. So, militancy has spilled over to Chamba. Militants had killed 37 labourers at Kalaban village of Chamba in August 1998.

Soon after, companies of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police had been deployed on the Doda-Chamba border. The militants are also using Doda to execute their designs because of the six districts of Jammu, Doda is the safest hiding place. Plus, many places in Doda are a transit route for the militants.

“When the militants get tired of fighting security forces in other regions, they go to Doda to take rest and then move on,” said another Army officer. With heights ranging from 3,000 feet to 24,000 feet, it is difficult to man the area. What adds to the security forces’ woes is its inaccessibility.

There are few roads in the district except NH1A and NH1B. Besides, the gushing Chenab river and numerous nullahs are impediments to combing operations. The feeder roads are also landslide-prone. According to Intelligence agencies, a large number of militants have infiltrated this region in the past few months. The agencies put the number at 500. Of this, 80 per cent are foreign mercenaries.

Earlier, most of them belonged to the Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Taiyaba, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and the Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami but now there has been an increase in the number of militants belonging to Jeish-e-Mohammadi – the outfit floated by Maulana Masood Azhar.

Militants infiltrating the Line of Control in Poonch, Rajouri and the international border in Jammu cross over to Doda from the Seoj Dhar-Gool Gulabgarh-Mahore belt in Udhampur in the Peer Panjal ranges. Besides, there are many galis or mountain passes used by militants to infiltrate the region.

“They have dug deep hideouts in the Peer Panjal ranges. There are many natural caves in the mountains in Doda which provide them safe sanctuaries,” said SD Singh, Special Superintendent of Police, Leh, who has worked in Doda.

“After climbing the mountains for 10 to 15 hours to catch the militants, they would suddenly disappear and my boys had to return empty-handed. Such a difficult terrain with a steep gradient and dense coniferous forests make the task of counter-insurgency forces almost impossible,” said Mr Singh.

This is true of the entire district where militants can disappear into dense jungles after executing the killings. Communal tension is another problem faced by the administration and security forces. Doda’s population comprises 57 per cent Muslims, 42 per cent Hindus and one per cent Sikh and other communities.

The Pakistan-backed militants have always tried to create a wedge between the two main communities.

Another motive behind selective killings, say political analysts, is to create terror among members of the minority community scattered over the 655 villages. Many members of the minority community have migrated and the situation only deteriorates. It is feared that a fresh spate of migrations from the upper reaches of Doda will take place.

Though the Doda MP has said he will urge the Centre to set up Doda Scouts on the pattern of Ladakh Scouts and raise at least three battalions for the youth of the area, there is only a remote possibility that this demand would be met soon. The people have not forgotten that three years on, the Army cantonment in Bhaderwah is yet to come up.

The village defence committees set up in the early 1990s have not been of much help. They do not have adequate weapons or funds. “How is it possible to fight a militant possessing an AK-47 assault rifle with a 303 gun,” asks a villager in Doda. According to him, many of the village defence committee members who had picked up a gun for their own or their village’s protection have been shot by militants.

Even the special police officers have got only temporary jobs and are a dissatisfied lot. The monthly salary of Rs 1,800 is not given on time. Besides, many of the SPOs who were surrendered militants had rejoined the militant ranks.

In many cases, they even took the guns provided by the government.Prof. Gupta had repeatedly blamed the Unified Command, an apex body of security agencies operating in Jammu and Kashmir and headed by Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, as being responsible for the recent massacres and increase in violence in the state, especially, in Doda.

The killings in Paddar, he says, occurred because the ITBP battalions had been withdrawn. The Centre, he claims, has always sent adequate forces to the trouble-torn state as and when demanded.

With the threat of militancy looming large over Independence Day and reports that such massacres may occur, the pro-active policy adopted by the Union home minister has to bear some results otherwise Doda may witness an exodus on a larger scale. Will history repeat itself? One has to wait and watch.