The new militancy, which began around 2010, stemmed from these incidents, and horrific abuse by elements in the police, and the provocative mishandling of the 2008 and 2010 agitations.
Of course, various world powers — not just Pakistan — fertilised it, as did a slew of narratives, publications, and messaging, starting from 2008.
The rising tide of the new militancy, which the resultant rage contributed to unleashing, is now surging close to home. A territorial army soldier was killed at his home near Bijbehara a few days ago in April 2021. Another, who was abducted in the summer of 2020, just disappeared. His father is still searching for his body.
Now, Lt Gen Pande must work with other wings of State authority to try and reverse the effects of those missteps. It’s a tough ask, but Pande might just manage, for he has demonstrated outstanding strategic brilliance in war games.
Palhalan, which stretches east from the main highway of north Kashmir, had become a byword for stone-pelting and unrest since 2010.
The strategy Pande has now come up with is sensible, but will be very challenging for the officers and men under his command to implement. They are, after all, trained to fight and kill, rather than to counter social media messaging.