Opinion | Collaborative Projects between the Army and Civil Administration for Peace and Stability

The conflict has been characterized by Political instabilities, boundary issues, Rebellion and Wars, and Natural Disasters that greatly affected the people of Kashmir. Thus, the military continuously provided security for decades, protecting the people of Kashmir and the whole country from enemies while the civil administration stepped into the governance and development, and established order in the society of the affected zone. In this journey, cooperation between the army and civil administration was the most effective and strategic way of speeding up the process of peace-building and stability in Kashmir. In the case of security-conscious Kashmir, which had suffered from persistent governance problems in the past, programs of cooperation between the Indian Army and civil administration have aimed at providing both the much-needed immediate aid to the affected population and sustainable socio-economic rehabilitation. Such undertakings suggest the dynamics of security in the region and also the reality of peace and development not being takable in isolation.

The groundbreaking initiatives in Kashmir of a collaborative nature between the army and civil administration included Operation Sadbhavana a goodwill mission to counter terrorism by waging psychological warfare. This operation started in 1998 and aimed at getting the ‘hearts and minds’ of the inhabitants through the application of military and civil planning for social and economic transformation.

At the heart of Operation Sadbhavana was the principle that security cannot be assured merely through force, inorder to root out the terror that has clenched its dark fingers around a region’s throat, there was a greater need for the development, of toil to build structures of good governance. The army adopted this way, through the engagement of the local population, concentrating on infrastructure construction, medical facilities, and education. Through logistics and organizational skills, the military established schools, hospitals, and roads to remote and warfare zones. The government agencies and civil authorities especially those in the Jammu and Kashmir state contributed technical input in policy formulation and prescription for implementation.
The main strategies of Operation Sadbhavana included the development of physical security on one hand and the promotion of the socio-economic welfare of the people on the other which brought this military close to the local populace. It proved that the army was not only a security provider but also a developmental actor concerned with the welfare of the region. The initiative also engaged in capacity building programs and vocational training which equipped the local communities with necessary economic independence due to years of volatility.
The remarkable efforts and contributions are noted in the sphere of disaster response and rehabilitation programs and projects also, as unfortunately in the past few years, natural disasters like floods and earthquakes repeatedly emerged in Kashmir, which destabilized the already volatile region. The last major disaster was recorded in the year 2014, a flood in Jammu and Kashmir where very huge losses of lives and properties were reported. During these floods, troops of the Indian Army were involved in search-and-rescue regimes and subsequently offered early assistance to the affected public. With the help of coordination provided by the civil administration, in partnership with the military, the essence was to rehabilitate, reconstruct, and restore the fundamental condition of the affected areas and the population. Thus, the civic structures offered relief and compensation, as well as helped to repair housing, stores, and other necessary facilities, the army was involved in the transport of supplies and evacuation of trapped individuals. The disaster that occurred in 2014 saw a more important level of cooperation because it clarified that the army is not only a fighting force but also a humanitarian organization. This collaboration led to a good friendship between the military and civilians wherein the tension that hinders cooperation for the rebuilding of disaster-ravaged communities got eliminated.
Traditional, existential threats to peace in Kashmir have been insurgency and militancy. But, in subsequent years, both, the Indian Army and the Jammu and Kashmir civil administrations have gradually come to realize the importance of linking counter-insurgency operations and development works. This realization prompted the development of programs intended to deal with the causes of militancy: poverty, illiteracy, and youth unemployment. The army with the help of civil administration came up with villages of hope, where they constructed model villages having an emphasis on education, health care and employment for the youths in the most affected militants’ zones. The army contributed to protection and construction; the civil administration – education, training, and development of cognitive and practical activities and employment. Young people of the community were empowered through vocational skills including joinery and building, fashion and design, and computer studies as a way of refraining from joining terrorism. Both the army and civil administration supported these efforts that made militancy less attractive for youth by offering them education and employment. By working on socio-economic factors that were considered as causes of unrest, a peace-building environment was initiated by the program.
The Revocation of Article 370, the Indian Government on 5th August 2019, withdrew the special status of Jammu and Kashmir through a decision to repeal Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. This historic order hugely changed the political dynamics of the region paving the way for new joint ventures of the Indian Army and civil authorities. Another emergent facet of army-civil partnership in Kashmir has to do with concerns related to security sector governance with special reference to community policing. Civilian and military cooperation aim was to reconstruct the local police to become more successful in their work with local communities and restore order. The measures include prosecution and judicial training programs and a security force syndicate to achieve capable and appropriately staffed security forces that are tolerant and understanding of the population.
The launching of community policing and security sector reform was meant to foster the relationship between the military, civil authorities, and the people. Due to the enhancement of police forces and the military strategy used in this conflict, which aims at offering basic assistance in meeting the citizens’ needs in cases of conflict, this partnership has been very essential in demystifying the overall hostile environment in the Kashmir region. This partnership has helped move forward with the process of building up peace and stability in the valley of Kashmir through the cooperation between the civil administration as well as the army. Other ventures such as Operation Sadbhavana, the Villages of Hope program, disaster response, and activities towards the security sector reforms have ensured that the Army comprehensively evaluates conflict and conflict prevention, peace-building, and post-conflict social reconstruction. These have not only helped in stabilizing the areas to a normal standard as seen above but also built positive relations between military and civil administration and the people. However, as the region persists in facing these difficult moments the main focus will be to maintain the cooperation of the army administration for the further effective resolution of the issues to ensure lasting peace and stability in Kashmir valley.
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