A massive crackdown has been launched across Kashmir, with over 2,500 youths detained, in response to the killing of a police head constable in a terror attack in Anantnag. The police action comes a day after the attack, in which Head Constable Ashiq Hussain Qureshi was shot at close range by a lone terrorist. The homes of two local terrorists, Haroon Ganie and Adil Ahmad Thokar, were demolished in the early hours of Thursday in the Hasanpora and Bijbehara areas of south Kashmir.
This is not the first instance of such demolitions, as similar actions were taken in April 2025 following the Pahalgam attack, when the homes of at least nine suspected terrorists were blown up in different parts of the Valley. The police have picked up youths from across the Valley, including over 700 from Srinagar, more than 200 from Budgam, 178 from Baramulla, and over a hundred from Ganderbal, besides dozens from the four South Kashmir districts of Anantnag, Shopian, Kulgam, and Pulwama. The detentions have been met with criticism from Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who cautioned against such actions, citing a Supreme Court order against the demolition of homes of persons accused of a crime.
Abdullah also spoke out against the detention of hundreds of individuals, stating that it will not help improve the situation in J&K but will instead strain it further. He emphasized that the true end to the cycle of violence will come when people rise against it, like they did after the Pahalgam attack. Former J&K chief minister and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti also criticized the detentions, calling them collective punishment that has no place in a democracy.
She added that if the Government of India itself maintains that militancy has been reduced to near zero, it must adopt a more humane and lawful approach towards innocent civilians instead of resorting to tit for tat for an entire community.
