Click to play videoDevsar, Kashmir: Even as the controversy over the killing of innocent people in fake encounters refuses to die down in Kashmir, there's a new problem staring the army in the face now.
The farming season is around the corner and this is when the hinterland starts filling up farmers. And the problem arises how to differentiate a civilian from a terrorist.
''Hey kaun chal raha hai (who is walking) … Lift your pheran,'' soldiers sought as nobody is beyond the needle of suspicion in Devsar, Srinagar.
Combing operations continue till late in the night in the hills and it gets even more challenging once its dark.
''Really difficult for a soldier to identify a friend from a foe, that a person is a normal civilian or a militant ... whether he is hiding a weapon in a pheran or not,'' said 9 Rashtriya Rifles Commanding Officer Colonel Ranjan Mahajan.
The army's problem is about to multiply with the approaching farming season. Thousands of farmers will be out in the streets in early morning to work in the fields.
And it's not just the soldiers who are apprehensive of the situation.
''When we go to the fields, we are asked by military men to use lantern. It is very difficult – if some one falls ill we have to use lantern then too. If we don't follow the orders we might get killed,'' said a villager.
And his fears are justified. A few months ago, a civilian was shot dead by soldiers in Qazigund in the dead of the night. Army said they fired only after the man failed to respond to the warning call.
They admit incidents like this put a lot of pressure on the soldiers. But with proper training the army feels they can be more accurate in spotting terrorists.
''Any soldier which comes to this environment is stressed because this environment is very difficult, but firstly the training for him if he is given a proper training he is motivated in that area,'' said Brigadier K S Rana of Rashtriya Rifles.
However, for the time being, the ordeal continues for the soldiers – trying to differentiate between a terrorist and an unsuspecting civilian.
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