The Special Operations Group (SOG; also known as Jammu and Kashmir anti-militancy Task Force and JKP anti-militancy Task Force) is a 2300+-strong elite anti-insurgency force chosen from more than 100,000 troopers of the

Jammu and Kashmir Police The Jammu and Kashmir Police or JKP is the law enforcement agency of Jammu and Kashmir (union territory). JKP was established in 1873 and has primary responsibilities in law enforcement and investigation within Jammu and Kashmir in India. His ...

. It was raised in 1994 with the idea of "involving the passive Jammu and Kashmir Police in the anti-terrorist activities and giving a local face to these operations". The J&K police has since been very competent and on the frontlines in anti-terror activities. The SOG members are also the first targets of the militant groups and local separatists alike. The SOG till date conducts joint operations with other security forces in the region; one example is the 13 March 2000 operation in which

Hizbul Mujahideen Hizbul Mujahideen, also spelled Hizb-ul-Mujahideen ( ar, حزب المجاھدین, ), is an Islamism, Islamist militant organization operating in the Kashmir region. Its goal is to separate Kashmir Valley, Kashmir from India and merge it with ...

commander

Hamid Gada Abdul Hamid Bhatt (also known as Hamid Gada, and Bomber Khan) was a commander in the Islamist militant organisation Hizbul Mujaheddin. He was killed in an encounter on 13 March 2000 by Indian security forces. Hamid Gada, at the time of his death, ...

was killed, and the 6 May 2020 operation in which Hizbul chief

Riyaz Naikoo Riyaz Ahmad Naikoo (also known as Mohammad bin Qasim or Zubair ul Islam, April 19856 May 2020) was one of the top ten most wanted militant commander of Jammu and Kashmir. He was a top commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, an Islamist Pro-Pakistan mili ...

was killed. SOG are well trained and fight shoulder to shoulder with other forces .Chandran, D. Suba. (December 2008) IPCS Issue Brief 88.
Fighting Terrorism: Strengthen and Modernize the State Police
'. Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, 2008, www.jstor.org/stable/resrep09199. Accessed 14 Aug. 2020.

Overview

In every district of the state, the Special Operations Group is headed by Superintendent Police (operations) or Deputy Superintendent Police (operations). The recruits of the Special Operations Group are young men from all the regions of the state and reflect Jammu and Kashmir's various ethnic groups:

Kashmiris Kashmiris are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group speaking the Kashmiri language, living mostly, but not exclusively, in the Kashmir Valley of Jammu and Kashmir, India.(a) (subscription required) Quote: "Kashmir, region of the northwestern ...

Gujjar Gurjar or Gujjar (also transliterated as ''Gujar, Gurjara and Gujjer'') is an ethnic nomadic, agricultural and pastoral community, spread mainly in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, divided internally into various clan groups. They were tradit ...

Dogra The Dogras or Dogra people, are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group in India and Pakistan consisting of the Dogri language speakers. They live predominantly in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, and in adjoining areas of Punjab, Himac ...

s and

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism (Sikhi), a monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ' ...

s. Many of them have been the victims of militancy in the state. The group is a volunteer force comprising police officers and policemen. The volunteers come for different reasons: some genuinely want to fight anti-India insurgents, while some are motivated by the incentives offered. In 2020, a BBC report said that every militant killed by the group earns it between and , according to a police officer. Bonuses are paid for arresting the militants and capturing arms and ammunition. Other incentives for SOG personnel include out-of-turn promotions. Whenever there is a militant attack in Jammu and Kashmir, SOG personnel are the first ones to reach the spot. In addition, SOG personnel have been regularly called in to control stone pelting incidents (usually

CRPF The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is a federal police organisation in India under the authority of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) of the Government of India. It is one among the Central Armed Police Forces. The CRPF's primary role lie ...

does that in Valley) when the situation gets out of control for local police. SOG has also conducted many cordon and search operations (CASO) in the main commercial hub of

Lal Chowk Lal Chowk () is a city square in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India. The square was given its name by left-wing activists who were inspired by the Russian Revolution as they fought the princely state's Maharaja, Hari Singh. It has tradition ...

. The group usually does not wear

khaki The color khaki (, ) is a light shade of tan with a slight yellowish tinge. Khaki has been used by many armies around the world for uniforms and equipment, particularly in arid or desert regions, where it provides camouflage relative to sandy ...

uniform instead they wear camouflage uniform and cover their faces all the time. This elite force is said to set a dangerous precedent where armed officers are awarded promotions and money rewards for every terrorist eliminated. It is said to be the cause of many false shooting incidents where teenagers pelting stones are termed as violent armed terrorists. In 2016, there were reports that SOG operations were being "thwarted" by hostile youth. In 2019, the Special Operations Group (SoG) in each district of Jammu and Kashmir were given targets of "one or two terrorists they need to track and ''target single-mindedly''". Assigning individual targets was a change from how militants were tracked previously. SOG are also given training by the

National Security Guard The National Security Guard (NSG), commonly known as Black Cats, is a counter-terrorism unit of India under the Ministry of Home Affairs. It was founded on 16 October 1984, following Operation Blue Star, for combating terrorist activities and ...

(NSG).

Criticism

Usage of excessive force

The SOG was notorious for alleged human rights violations. So much so that JK Peoples Democratic Party (JK PDP) made it an election promise.

Mehbooba Mufti Mehbooba may refer to * ''Mehbooba'' (1976 film), a Hindi-language film * ''Mehbooba'' (2008 film), a Hindi-language romance film * ''Mehbooba'' (2018 film), a Telugu-language film *Mehbooba Mahnoor Chandni, Bangladeshi model, actress and dancer *Me ...

(terrorist sympathizer), who was the PDP Vice-president at the time, was quoted saying that the first thing they would do once in power was disband the SOG. In 2003, when the JK PDP came into power, the SOG was disbanded. However today the SOG are considered a model anti-insurgency force which could be replicated in other states.

Leadership

Farooq Khan, IPS was the first head of the Special Operations Group.

Notes

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References