SRINAGAR, 27 May 2007 — Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad yesterday ruled out demilitarization in the state as the graph of infiltration and violence was looking up.

“During the last three months 110 civilians were killed here while146 militants were eliminated by the security forces. In all 370 violent incidents took place while cross-border infiltration into the state has also gone up by several dozens as compared to the corresponding period last year,” Azad said.

“It is a difficult situation. There can be no immediate withdrawal of the army as of now. When Mufti Mohammad Sayeed raised the demand for the withdrawal of the army in January-February this year, the levels of violence were low,” Azad said.

These days, the chief minister said, various political parties and the separatist All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) leaders had been holding public meetings in the valley.

Azad said, “Such rallies are possible only when security forces dominate these areas. It is only the army that can do area domination. I cannot withdraw the army from a certain area so that militants dominate those areas and then a larger number of troops is needed tomorrow to dislodge them,“ he said.

The chief minister also spoke of the unilateral cease-fire announced by the then NDA government against the militants here in 2001.

“That period was used by the militants to regroup and reorganize. After the withdrawal of the cease-fire, the militants carried out deadly attacks like those on the country’s Parliament and the state assembly here,” he said.

Azad also said the next assembly elections in the state would be held as per schedule next year. He called reports of these elections being held later this year as “rumours.”

“We are spending Rs.40 billion for infrastructure building this year and the next year. Year 2007 and 2008 would therefore be called the developmental years for Jammu and Kashmir state”, he said.

Meanwhile the union minister of state for defense, M.M. Pallam Raju has said that army’s presence in the state proves the situation here is still far from normal.

He also said the army would only be withdrawn into the barracks once the situation returned to normal in Kashmir.

“A day will come when the army would be withdrawn from the valley. The army is here to assist the local government which maintains law and order. The army had to be called out in Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast only when the situation deteriorated,” Pallam Raju told the media here on the sidelines of the National Integration Program organized by the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry.

The junior defense minister also said that the research institute of the DRDO had come up with specific recommendations to tackle the problem of the soldiers shooting their senior officers and committing suicides during duties.

“The soldiers are doing their duties under extreme stress fighting an unseen enemy. When they go home they have to face domestic problems which increase their stress levels.

“We have now trained many junior commissioned officers as counselors to relieve the psychological tensions among the deployed troops. Frequent vacations, better living facilities and entertainment are being used as measures to check the menace,” he said.