The Union Home Minister’s recent security review on Jammu & Kashmir-and his assertion that the terror ecosystem in the Union Territory has been “almost crippled”-is not empty rhetoric. It is the latest milestone in a long, costly, multi-dimensional campaign that the present regime has pursued with consistency, coordination and an unapologetic resolve to deny militants their safe havens, finances and local support networks. That outcome has not been accidental. It is the product of sustained operational pressure, sharper intelligence, legal action, administrative reforms and a willingness to use calibrated force when required.
Tactically, the security architecture has been tightened across the board. The strengthening of counter-infiltration grids along the Line of Control and International Border, more effective patrolling, and the seasonal preparation to deny terrorists the chance to exploit snowfall reflect better planning and resource allocation. Intelligence-led operations – frequent, coordinated and followed through – have made the difference between arrests and merely disrupting temporary plots. The pattern is clear: when a terror incident occurs, meticulous investigations have not only neutralised perpetrators but also traced and detained financiers, handlers and facilitators. Hawala operators and money conduits, once shadowing the insurgency, have been targeted; assets frozen and bank accounts attached. That is how a network collapses: choke the money, choke the movement.
Equally telling is the administrative and legal posture. The State’s insistence on prosecuting separatists and alleged collaborators in long-standing terror cases and removing Government employees found complicit in anti-national activities has reduced impunity. Where separatist politics used to be accompanied by a functioning parallel economy and protection for underground actors, the tightening of legal levers and the consistent application of law have eroded the space in which violent networks once reproduced themselves. The result: an organisational backbone fed decades of insurgency is now heavily degraded.
In the aftermath of these measures, a remarkable transformation has occurred in the social and street-level dynamic of the Valley. The cycle of hartals, shutdowns, stone-pelting and suicide attacks that once paralysed life in Kashmir has been effectively broken through a blend of law enforcement, community engagement, and targeted development initiatives. The Government’s zero-tolerance policy against street violence, backed by firm policing and the dismantling of overground networks that mobilised mobs, has restored confidence among citizens. Schools, colleges, shops and offices that once remained shut under separatist diktats now function normally. Youth who were earlier lured into violent protest are today being mainstreamed through sports, entrepreneurship, and skill development programmes. Employment drives, scholarships, and cultural exchange initiatives have opened new avenues of aspiration, gradually undercutting the radical ecosystem that thrived on anger and alienation. The result is visible – the Valley that once echoed with slogans of separatism now resonates with the sound of normal life returning.
India’s foreign policy and military signalling have also been deliberately recalibrated to deter external sponsorship. The post-attack responses – surgical, aerial and otherwise – have been framed as a no-compromise doctrine. Whether through special operations or decisive air actions, the message sent to sponsors across the border has been specific: cross-border attacks invite a robust, proportionate and technologically sophisticated response. That deterrence, combined with diplomatic pressure, constrains external actors’ freedom to operate.
Operationally, complacency is the enemy. The Home Minister’s insistence on vigilance ahead of winter-when militants historically attempted infiltration-is sensible. The mountainous hinterlands, dense forests and remote hamlets remain difficult terrain; the “last legs” of underground and over-ground sympathisers can still permit sporadic incidents. Thus, layered defences combining human intelligence, technology (drones, surveillance grids), community policing and local development projects that reduce the pull factors of militancy must continue.
The Government’s achievements to date-dismantling financial networks, jailing alleged separatist operatives tied to terrorism, and delivering surgical blows to external sponsors-are impressive. The regime has caught the bull by the horns and delivered unprecedented operational results. The backbone of organised terror has been broken in ways that previous decades did not manage. Yet the war is not over. But the intent is clear: terrorism has no place in Jammu and Kashmir, and ultimately, the scourge of terrorism will be eradicated.
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