New Delhi, April 28
Facing increasing difficulties, both internal and external, Pakistan may resort increasingly to bolder terrorist activities within Jammu and Kashmir as a diversionary tactics, Home Ministry has warned.

“Today, when the present regime in Pakistan is facing increasing difficulties, both internally and internationally, there is every possibility that a frustrated and desperate General Musharraf may resort increasingly to bolder terrorist activities within J&K as a diversionary tactic,” Union Home Ministry has said in its Annual Report 2000-2001.

The report notes that the Pak ISI through the pro-Pak militant outfits has been desperately trying to step up violence, with focus on demonstrative actions to destabilise security forces and create a communal divide by inducting more foreign mercenaries.

“Pakistan has drawn on its experience in Afghanistan to systematically wage a low-intensity conflict in Jammu and Kashmir. It did so on the one hand by employing foreign mercenaries and members of militant groups from Pak/PoK, and on the other hand by encouraging ex-filtration of youth to PoK/Pakistan and then training them in weapons and tactics, indoctrinating them and then infiltrating them with arms and ammunition and sophisticated equipment,” it says.

As part of its overall strategy for continuing the current proxy war, Pakistani agencies arranged for weapons training on a massive scale to Kashmiri youth through specially set-up training camps in Pak/PoK/Afghanistan.

“Over 200 temporary training camps have been reported by intelligence sources in Afghanistan and in Pak/PoK,” the report says.

“The survival of Pakistan depends how effectively it can keep the pot boiling and cause India to bleed. A solution in Kashmir will free India to take further strides in its path to greater development. This realisation is making Pakistan desperate to keep the fire of terrorism burning in the valley,” the report observes.

Militancy in Jammu and Kashmir has taken a toll of about 24,000 lives (civilians, security forces and militants) in the past one decade since January 1, 1990.

The militants, aided and abetted by Pak ISI, have caused enormous damage to Kashmiri people and the economy of the state.

The gravity of the war-like situation can be gauged from the fact that from 1990 to December 2000, over 35,250 weapons of various calibres, over 3.29 million rounds of ammunition, 1,30,429 explosive devices and huge volumes of other war materials have been seized/recovered inside Jammu and Kashmir, the report says.

However, it points out that despite the spurt of terrorist incidents in Jammu and Kashmir in the post-Kargil phase, the number of incidents during 2000 (3074) was almost equal to that of 1999 (3071) and was still much less than the year wise figures of any of other preceding calendar years since 1990, except 1998 (2932).

The number of militants killed in 2000 (1520) was higher than that of 1998 (999) or 1999 (1075). However, the security forces, due to specific targeting by the terrorists, suffered 482 casualties in 2000 compared to 408 persons killed in the preceding year.

Spelling out the government’s policy on Jammu and Kashmir, the report says that the Centre has embarked upon a three-pronged strategy to bring back normalcy in the state.