Day after re-entering Srinagar after nearly 11 years, the counterinsurgency Border Security Force (BSF) Tuesday occupied the historic SP College campus, and other institues like DAV Jawahar Nagar, Govt girls high school and other govt and semi govt schools around srinagar.
Already, the additional deployed force called to quell Kashmir protests has occupied many educational campuses across Kashmir.
The Tuesday’s move saw the locals lashing out at Mehbooba Mufti government by calling her government’s oft-repeated remark—“either education or agitation”—a hoax.
The campus occupation has apparently triggered fears among people that many buildings and structures might be occupied by incoming forces including 2,600 additional BSF men that Delhi is rushing to Kashmir within days. These BSF forces are being drawn from Gujarat, Rajasthan and West Bengal and they are expected to reach the Valley by Wednesday.
Pertinently, the BSF men re-entered summer capital and manned the city on Monday after 11 years.
Given the track record of BSF in combating militancy in 1990s, the fears have already escalated. The BSF had killed 2,800 militants during its 14 years of engagement in counter-insurgency operations in Kashmir. That comprised 100 top commanders, including the prized scalp of Gazi Baba, who was India’s most-wanted militant following the December 13, 2001, attack on the Parliament. The force had arrested 9,400 militants and 10,600 weapons were seized since ‘90s.
