06.08.2019, New Delhi.
More than 8,000 Indian troops were deployed to the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir after Delhi announced that it would revoke Article 370, which gives special status to the state, NDTV channel reported on August 5.
India’s government wants parliament to propose legislation that would split the state into two union territories, each with its own legislature, similar to Delhi.
The channel’s sources report that at least 30 thousand Indian soldiers were moved last week to the disputed state. The 8,000-strong reinforcements will be transported using Indian Air Force C-17 cargo planes to Srinagar, the state’s summer administrative capital.
The government claims that the massive troop buildup was a response to the high level of terrorist threats in the country.
Sources in military and law enforcement circles say that the urgent troop deployment to Jammu and Kashmir took place because the special status issue has caused an emotional storm among the inhabitants. Thousands of pilgrims and tourists for Amarnath Yatra start returning home due to its cancellation by the Indian government last week.
According to the officials, security forces are on high alert across the entire country. The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has instructed the police and federal security agencies to take “necessary precautions” and tighten the safety measures around their garrisons, reported the PTI news agency.
“All security forces members, especially units based in Jammu and Kashmir, have been advised to remain on high alert,” said a senior security officer.
Let us not forget that earlier, Indian intelligence reported that between July 29 and July 31 terrorists made numerous attempts to cross the border, and some succeeded. The security forces believe that the aim was to perform a terrorist attack against the pilgrims from Amarnath, similar to the one staged in February in Pulwama.
On February 14, 2019, a suicide bomber, driving a car with explosives, attacked a motorcade transporting police along the Jammu-Srinagar federal highway. Jaish-e-Muhammad, a Pakistani jihadist islamist group (an organization banned in Russia) claimed responsibility for the attack.
Article 370 provides the state of Jammu and Kashmir with its own constitution and the right to make decisions on all issues, with the exception of defense, communications, and foreign policy. The rejection of this constitutional provision terminates the special status of Kashmir, which was a key condition for its accession to India in 1947.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
