Tension in One of Asia’s Flashpoints

By: Majid Maqbool

The killing of a police constable in the Kashmir Valley city of Anantnag, allegedly by Islamists militants, has triggered one of the largest security crackdowns since India officially revoked the special status of the region in 2019, arresting more than 2,500 and triggering concern over “collective punishment” amid heightened vulnerability for the ongoing Amarnath Yatra pilgrimage.

The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of Lashkar-e-Taiba, claimed the attack, marking the first major insurgent strike in the Kashmir Valley since the 2025 Pahalgam attack which killed 26 people, mostly tourists. It is the latest of a decades-long string of provocations in Kashmir, one of the world’s premier tourism sites, which has been a source of tension since the end of British colonial rule, with both majority Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan claiming the region is their own. It has evolved into a multifaceted crisis involving nationalism, religious identity and military conflict.

Soon after the killing of head constable Ashiq Hussain Qureshi (45) of the Jammu & Kashmir Police, who was shot dead at Lal Chowk in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district on July 22 while on security duty, the family homes of two Lashkar‑e‑Taiba militants were razed with controlled explosives within 48 hours. The demolitions targeted houses of Adil Ahmad Thokar and Haroon Rashid Ganaie, both active militants since 2018, although their family homes had already suffered previous demolitions.

According to police officials, the arrested included suspected above-ground associates of militants, members of banned separatist organizations, former stone-throwing protestors and those whose names have figured in investigations and militancy-related cases in the past. The arrests are meant to “dismantle ecosystem supporting terrorism,” police said, and carried out on “credible intelligence.”

Lieutenant Governor (LG) Manoj Sinha, while strongly condemning the killing, said that the “heinous act will not go unpunished. J&K Police and our security forces are on the ground and will bring those responsible to justice.” The current Chief Minister Omar Abdullah of the former state also condemned the attack but flagged concern over mass arrests following the attack.

“People are angry that a police head constable has been killed so brutally. But when the number of arrests rises from hundreds to 2,000 or 2,500, that public anger risks being redirected against us,” the chief minister said during a press interaction in Srinagar. “So, demolishing houses or making thousands of arrests will not help improve the situation.”

Kashmir-based politicians from different regional parties, while condemning the attack, also expressed concern over mass crackdowns and arrests following the attack. Former chief minister and President of People’s Democratic Party Mehbooba Mufti and J&K Peoples Conference President and MLA Sajad Lone denounced the mass arrests as measures that “look more like community punishment.”

“As the country welcomes the government of India’s decision to withdraw cases against student protesters elsewhere, one question remains: why is the same compassion denied to Kashmir’s youth?” asked another PDP MLA Waheed Parra.

A political analyst and scholar of Kashmir studies, who wished to remain anonymous, said these actions may deliver short-term security gains but ultimately weaken the prospects for lasting peace by reinforcing resentment instead of addressing the conflict’s underlying political realities.

“The mass detentions following the killing of a policeman and the demolition of houses in South Kashmir reflect a continuing reliance on coercive state practices that have long shaped governance in Kashmir,” the analyst told Asia Sentinel, adding that punishing families and communities for the alleged actions of individuals raises serious constitutional, legal, and human rights concerns. “In a region already burdened by decades of conflict, such measures are widely seen as collective punishment, deepening mistrust and political alienation rather than restoring confidence.”

Praveen Donthi, Senior Analyst at International Crisis Group, who has reported extensively from the Kashmir region in previous years, told Asia Sentinel that New Delhi’s iron-hand security approach to Jammu and Kashmir has created “a superficial calm, allowing it to claim a return of peace and stability to the region.”

“Yet even a single militant attack undermines the narrative, triggering panic among security forces, who then resort to disproportionate responses,” said Donthi. “Such intimidating security tactics, intended to instill fear, don’t counter militancy but end up fueling it. The Pahalgam attack and the Delhi blast prove that the security policy hasn’t yielded dividends after seven years.”

Ultimately, the state’s reliance on coercive, heavy-handed tactics, including mass detentions and home demolitions after every other militant attack, can be counterproductive. While security operations can offer short-term security control, treating the entire population as suspects, going for mass arrests and punitive house demolitions, can fuel deeper alienation on the ground, experts and analysts warn. Disproportionate responses to singular militant attacks, the analysts argue, run the risk of further reinforcing public resentment, raising concerns about violating human rights and shattering prospects of lasting peace in the region.