These indoctrinated militants, fighting their version of Jihad, had no qualms about indulging in massacres of civilians of minority groups, particularly Hindus. The broad aim was ethnic cleansing of the State. Several such massacres have been perpetrated with Sikhs being a new target as witnessed in Chattisinghpora, Anantnag district where 35 Sikhs were massacred on March 20. Since than Indian security forces have been gaining an upper hand in eliminating terrorists though civilian casualties continued to mount. The constant supply of terrorists generated from religious institutions in Pakistan and Afghanistan has helped keep up terrorist violence despite the fact that each year Indian security forces have succeeded in eliminating a substantial number of terrorists.
Human casualty is one consequence, refugee generation and economic stagnation are the others.
The main economic activity in the state, tourism, has been badly hit by terrorism. Narco trafficking, indulged in by the terrorists to finance their operations too has been an unwelcome consequence. The media too has had to suffer from terrorist violence. Several mediapersons were killed and injured in this conflict . Insurgency in the State, which has a Muslim majority, has been given a communal image partly due the media focus on massacres perpetrated by militants.