There has been a significant decline in terror activities and related violence in Jammu and Kashmir compared to previous years, data released by the Ministry of Home Affairs reveals amid attacks on forces and civilians in the region.
According to the data, from 2018 to mid-July 2024, there was a sharp drop in stone pelting, hartals, terrorist-initiated incidents, and encounters between security forces and militants.
What Data Says
In 2018, there were 1,328 incidents of stone pelting, which have dropped to zero in 2023 and continue to be nil in 2024. Similarly, 52 hartals were reported in 2018 but no incidents were recorded in both 2023 and 2024.
Terrorist incidents have also seen a dip from 228 in 2018 to 11 as of mid-July 2024 and encounters/counter-terror operations have reduced from 189 encounters in 2018 to 21 in the current year.
In 2018, 91 casualties from security forces were recorded, which reduced to 10 by mid-July 2024. Also, 55 civilians were killed in 2018, with the number stabilised at 14 in both 2023 and 2024.
Tourism May See Dip This Year
Data also reveals that tourism in J&K, which has been witnessing growth, may see a dip in 2024. In 2020, despite global challenges, there were 3,470,834 tourist visits to J&K. This number more than tripled in 2021, reaching 1,13,148,884 visits. The trend continued in 2022, with 1,88,643,332 visits recorded and by 2023, the visits grew to 2,11,246,674 visits. The data for 2024 until June, however, reveals a slight dip to 1,08,410,009 visits, suggesting impact of recent terror attacks.
“Post abrogation of Article 370, the UT of J&K has witnessed an era of peace, progress and prosperity. Schools, colleges, universities, hospitals, and other public institutions are functioning efficiently without any strikes or any kind of disturbances during the last four years. The earlier practice of daily hartals, strike, stone pelting, and bandhs are things of past now,” MHA said in a reply in Rajya Sabha.
The home ministry further said that with record voting, the people of Jammu and Kashmir participated enthusiastically in the recently held Lok Sabha elections. Due to improved law and order, Jammu and Kashmir recorded 2.11 crore tourist visits in 2023. Foreign tourists’ arrival has increased by 2.5 times.
Comments
0 comment