Srinagar, March 17 -- The drastically reduced number of militants has, in turn, resulted in a corresponding drop in the levels of violence, much more so in the plains. True, there have been occasional spikes in attacks but even these are growing now fewer and far between. Would this trend sustain? There's hope that it will, although such moments in the past haven't been built upon but frittered away. For example, the number of militants - both local and foreign - had, more or less, declined to the same levels in 2011. This had momentarily ushered in a peaceful environment. But the numbers surged again from thereon, especially the local recruitment, with south Kashmir as its hub. And by 2015, we had over 300 local militants in the Valley. ...