Dealing with the Kashmir militancy problem: A journey without maps

The latest strategy requires a serious rethink; heavy-handed tactics indicate the present dispensation in Delhi is incapable of political initiative to resolve Kashmir conflict in a long-term sense

An unprecedented event in the 28-year-old history of Kashmir insurgency took place on August 31. The local police released 11 family members of Kashmiri militants in return for the militants freeing an equal number of relatives of policemen taken captive by them in tit-for-tat abductions. This was the first time that the militants had targeted family members of serving policemen.

The militants demonstrated that they could readily adapt to the new rules of engagement. The State, which had tried to change the rules of the game in dealing with insurgency, was the biggest loser.

How did this come about?

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