"The time is not right for us to pull out. If we pull out now, we may just lose the ground and that space may be filled by elements which are inimical to the civil society," General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Srinagar-based 15 corps Lt Gen Satish Dua told reporters here.
He said due to persistent efforts of the army and other security forces, "today we have a network grid of security forces in Kashmir, which saw a lot of violence over the last 25-26 years".
"We have made these gains painstakingly, with blood and sweat of our comrades and friends from civil life. Now that we have come to this, I think we need to give it some more time," the top army commander said.
Lt Gen Dua termed the waving of flags of Islamic State by masked youths in after Friday prayers as an exercise to "grab attention".
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He, however, said there was radicalisation and it needed to be checked.
"But it is the manifestation of some radicalisation. It is there to see...It is that radicalisation that we have to guard it against," he said.