The banning of ‘Jamaat-e-Islami’ in Jammu and Kashmir brought into focus the role of over-ground workers (OGWs) in assisting terrorist organizations. Examine the role played by OGWs in assisting terrorist organizations in insurgency-affected areas. Discuss measures to neutralize the influence of OGWs. (UPSC 2019)

Over-ground workers are the civilian support base of terrorist groups in insurgency-hit areas. They rarely carry weapons, yet they help militants survive, move, hide and influence local society.

• Logistics: provide shelter, food, transport, money, medical aid and safe passage.
• Intelligence: pass on troop movements, patrol timings, VIP routes and vulnerable targets.
• Supply chain: carry arms, explosives, SIM cards and communication devices.
• Propaganda: spread radical narratives, recruit youth and mobilise crowds against security forces.
• Financing: raise funds through extortion, hawala and narcotics links.

• Legal action: use UAPA, property attachment, screening and detention of repeat facilitators.
• Intelligence-led policing: strengthen surveillance, cyber monitoring and joint operations.
• Community approach: build trust, create livelihoods, counter radicalisation and protect the vulnerable.

Neutralising OGWs needs firm law enforcement, better intelligence and sustained social outreach. Only by breaking their local support network can terrorism be isolated and defeated.