Centre Blames Pakistan For Spate Of Targeted Killings In Kashmir

Central intelligence agencies again blamed Pakistan for the escalating violence in the Kashmir valley while briefing union Home Minister Amit Shah during a series of meetings on Friday at the North Block.

“Violence levels might have increased in Kashmir but it is not jihad. It is being done by some desperate elements,” a senior functionary in the government said adding that perpetrators of violence are sitting across the border in Pakistan.

Officials also told Mr Shah that there is no evidence to suggest the presence of the Taliban in the Kashmir valley. This is significant as the Narendra Modi government started its engagement with the Taliban just earlier this week.

Earlier in the day, three rounds of meetings were held in the North Block. In the first round, intelligence heads of both internal and external agencies — Director of the Intelligence Bureau Arvind Kumar, and the chief of Research and Analysis Wing Samant Goel — along with Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha and Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh briefed the Home Minister about the steps being taken to break the cycle of violence.

It was unanimously decided that Kashmiri Pandits would be moved to safer locations but not out of Kashmir. “Centre can’t be part of any ethnic cleansing. In this government, we believe in multi cultural society,” added a senior level officer.

According to him, chatter being intercepted by intelligence agencies suggest that Pakistan has plans to push the graph further and that’s why fresh infiltration attempts are being made.

In fact, in the second round of the meeting, the focus was entirely on the safety of the Amarnath yatra.

“There are so many inputs that we are getting about the yatra. In fact, The Resistance Front (TRF) has openly said that they would let the yatra go on peacefully,” stated another official. (NDTV)