Army draws up new rehabilitation policy for Kashmiri terrorists

SRINAGAR: Indian Army has formulated a new rehabilitation policy for Kashmiri terrorists who surrender.

Lt Gen BS Raju said on Friday, “We have formulated the surrender policy draft which will make some difference once implemented." 

The policy is meant for local terrorists as there was none for them, added Lt Gen Raju, who commands the important 15 Corps of the Army mandated to look after the anti-infiltration operations along the Line of Control of the length of 343 kilometers and the counter-insurgency operation in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir.

Lt Gen Raju added, “The policy has been made and it is being reviewed by the defence and home ministries. If okayed, the policy will give us more strength in offering that as a viable option to motivate the terrorists to give up arms and reintegrate them into society.

Talking about the status of the proposal, he said, “The policy has to be approved by the Home Ministry. It is between the Defence and Home ministries.”

There has been a surrender policy both for militants in Kashmir and insurgents of Northeast. The rehabilitation policy was for those Kashmiris who had crossed over to Pakistan between 1989 and 2009. They were extended opportunities to return back through our designated points.

As per the provision in the old policy, it has the provision of a one-time grant and a fixed monthly stipend. The one time grant gets fixed deposited in a bank in the name of militants/ insurgents for three years. The government also pays for arms and ammunition such as rifle, pistol, grenade, bullets etc.   

The number of terrorists at present is around 200 in the valley, informed GoC, adding that Army is taking help of the family members to get the terrorists surrendered.

Army has also worked on stopping the militants from entering through the LoC. “We have strengthened our anti-infiltration grid by increasing the deployment and employing surveillance equipment. We have devised a way to know when a terrorist crosses the LoC and inform the next tier of the security grid so that they can take on them.