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800 Gujjar Muslims join counter-terrorist operations

By Luv Puri

MAHORE (JAMMU), FEB. 14. Eight hundred local Gujjar Muslims have joined the security forces in their counter-terrorist operations in this strategic terrain on the foothills of the mighty 11,000-foot Pir Panjal ranges.

An administrative unit on the north-western portion of Jammu region, Mahore used to be the safe haven for terrorists sneaking into the State. Its dense forests have helped them so much that whenever the forces managed to kill one of the terrorists, there would surely be a reprisal attack. But the new reality is that the Army is in coordination with police and the locals. And that has paid rich dividends. The 800 Gujjar Muslims of the area have been equipped with weapons and have formed Village Defence Committees to beat back the terrorists. Speaking to The Hindu , Special Superintendent of Police, Reasi-Mahore, J.R. Sharma, said: "We had been trying to get the support of the Gujjars in anti-terrorist operations. But now they have come voluntarily and the results are showing. The areas where we could not even enter are now getting cleared. This has enabled the administrative machinery to strike a rapport with the local population till recently following the diktats of the terrorists out of fear."

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