Authorities in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir are once again arming and training thousands of residents along the border region to defend themselves from attacks by “armed insurgents.” But leaders in the restive region have slammed the move.
Many villagers have been equipped with automatic rifles and given defense training for “terrorist attack” scenarios, according to officials. It comes amid a recent uptick in violence against the region’s Hindu minority.
The decision to revive the groups — originally set up in the 1990s — was taken by the authorities in March last year, but the training was ramped up following the attack in Dangri, a remote village in the Rajouri district in southern Jammu.
On the evening of January 1, as the villagers were preparing for dinner, two…
