Zeenat-ul-Islam, according to the local police, was a top militant commander in the Kashmir Valley. He was known for being a cordon breaker and an IED (Improvised explosive device) expert. He was killed along with an aide in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s restive Kulgam district on January 12. No wonder, the security forces termed the encounter of Zeenat as “a big blow to militancy” in the Kashmir Valley.

Banners praising local militants including Zeenat-ul-Islam, raised by the locals ( Photo: Auqib Javeed/ TwoCircles.net)

The family of Zeenat says their son joined militant ranks for the first time nearly 13 years ago and in 2008, he was arrested for the first time in Sopore under the dreaded Public Safety Act. Over the next four years, he spent his time in jail before finally being acquitted, first by the Shopian Court and later the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir.  In a conversation with TwoCircles.net, Shaftaq Hussain, his lawyer in the Srinagar High Court, said, “The police couldn’t prove that he was a militant and he was acquitted first by the Shopian court. The state then challenged the verdict in the honourable High Court and I represented Zeenat during that time. The HC couldn’t find any strong evidence against him and hence, he was released in 2012.”

After his release, Zeenat started living a normal life and helped his father in the fruit business. During this period, Zeenat also got married and was blessed with a child.

House of Zeenat-ul-Islam at Sugan Zanipura area of south Kashmir’s Shopian district. ( Photo: Auqib Javeed/ TwoCircles.net)

“Everything was fine for sometime after his release from jail in 2012,” says Ghulam Hassan Shah, father of Zeenat-ul-Islam at their residence in Sugan Zanipura village of south Kashmir’s Shopian district.

“There came a moment when I thought it is time to get Zeenat married and with God’s grace he tied the knot with a local girl, but our happiness was short-lived as security forces started summoning my son again to their camps,” says Ghulam Hassan Shah.

“He was mentally tortured to such an extent that he thought that it’s better to be a militant then live a normal life. Not only Zeenat, his friends too were harassed,” says Shah.

Broken windows of Zeenat-ul-Islam’s house (Photo: Auqib Javeed/ TwoCircles.net)

Explaining further, Shah says that soon after he was released, security forces would often make Zeenat spend four to five days a week at various camps for questioning, which ultimately lead him to join the militancy again. Shah says the day his son got engaged, he was arrested and kept in a local police station.

“I begged the police officer to leave him at least for this day as he was going to be engaged but our pleas fell on deaf ears. The police official, in turn, said he would allow him to get married only if Zeenat along with me will work for police as informers,” he adds.

Despite these issues, it seemed like Zeenat was ready to move on and in 2014, he got married to Aaliya. But five months after his daughter came to this world, he again left the home and joined the militancy. This time, he did not return. Aaliya says she knew her husband was a militant and released from jail a few years ago. “But it was God’s will and we got married” she adds.

Keeping in view that many militants were released in the area and are living a normal life with their families, Aaliya thought the same.

“I thought he had left militancy so I wouldn’t have any issues in spending the rest of my life with him. But I never had any inkling that he would leave us again,” she says.

“I was at my father’s home at Turkawangam, a village in Shopian with my five-month-old daughter when Zeenat left,” she adds.

While Aaliya will never get to ask her husband directly about why he took the step, she believes she understands the causes. “My husband used to spend most of the days in Army camps. The Army would also call him to their camps during the special occasions like 26 January or 15 August or when any VIP would have to visit to Kashmir.”

Aaliya believes that her husband wouldn’t have left her and their daughter if security forces had let him live a normal life.

“I remember once, a top police official told him on the phone that I will ensure that you will be behind bars for life. I think he chose militancy because he believed it was better for him to die with dignity.”

She says after joining the militancy, she never told her husband to come back. “I knew what he was going through his normal life. And for me and my daughter Allah is there for us,” she adds.

Local security officers believe that the harassment angle to be both a lie and a cover up for Zeenat’s real intentions.

“I can say it was the lust for power which led him to join the militancy back. He wanted to live a king’s life and that was not possible in his regular, normal life. So he joined the militancy again,” says a top police official from Shopian district, wishing to remain anonymous.

Father of Zeenat-ul-Islam addressing mourners at his home (Photo: Auqib Javeed/ TwoCircles.net)

The official added that Zeenat left the Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), a militant outfit which believes in merging Kashmir with Pakistan and joined the Al-Badar, another militant group, “because he wasn’t a Pakistani boy and refused to follow the commands of Pakistan.”

The official refused allegations of harassment. “When you have been a militant, the police will, of course, keep an eye on you. We only summon some ex-militants on special days….that reason alone cannot force someone to join militancy again.” The official pointed to the fact that over 1,500 militants had been released in Shopian district. “How come only Zeenat became a militant again if the harassment stories are true?” asked the official.

Courtesy: Two Cirles
 

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Five days after his picture went on social media holding with AK- 47, he was trapped in a Gunfight in Mujgund area of outskirts on the Srinagar and was killed in 18 hours long Gunfight along with his local Friend Saqib Bilal and Pakistani Militant Ali Bhai.

The family of deceased Militant Mudasir searched him from post to pillar, after he left his home to play at the local Eidgah. Family is surprised as he was living his life normally with his Family and his friends. Family members did not believe Mudasir had joined militants till his picture holding with AK- 47 and Knife surfaced on social media. Earlier they lodged his missing report in Hajin Police Station after failing to contact him.

Soon after his picture went viral, His family had made vehement appeals to him to return home.” I appeal him, wherever he is, to come back home as soon possible. Don’t leave us like this,” his mother said day after his picture holding AK-47 went viral. Mudasir is survived by his parents, an sister and a brother.

Militancy has been growing in this North Kashmir’s Hajin town since the killing of Militant commander Burhan Wani in July 2016. “It wasn’t the kind of family you’d expect to produce a militant,” a local said.

His family says he was never inclined towards militancy however his friends maintain that he was connected with militants since the killing of Burhan Wani in 2016.

Fareeda Begum, mother of Mudasir, said that she never wanted separation from her son like this. I was unaware about his joining militant ranks after his missing in August, had I been aware of this, I would have never allowed him to go out of home, because I didn’t want a separation from my son like this, she said, as tears rolling down from her eyes. Scores of women from the neighbourhood tried to console her, but failed.

Mudasir’s Family is living in a single room with heart patient mother Fareeda, father is a chronic patient with 16 stiches in back, handicapped brother and a little sister. Fareeda his mother, is still in grief and Shock that his son has been killed. Mudasir was not my son only, but a hope, Lone bread earner who would also work as a labourer on part time basis to help the family financially as my another son is handicapped. When Mudasir left home in August, I was on way to Sopore and asked him to accompany me to Sopore but Mudasir refused and silently left toward the playfield. It was the last time I saw him, she said.

Soon after his missing, I went from pillar to post, I searched him from dawn to dusk, but Mudasir was nowhere. I am still waiting for his arrival, she said while wailing. When Mudasir’s body reached home on, his mother fareeda didn’t believe that she met his son with blood and bullets after three months. Fareeda while wailing said “Doudh haa cheey wyn praaczan lour’uy, waey, Baa karay ghoor ghooro. The milk is still on your lips, Let me cradle you, You are still to drink my milk, Let me cradle you.”

Maimoona, his sister in corner of his single room broke into tears, said that I was so happy that Mudasir will afford my all expenses and will fulfil my all dreams as my another brother is handicapped, but all dreams crushed.

Mudasir was first arrested during during 2016 unrest in a Stone Pelting case and was lodged in a police station Hajin for over a week, he was later released after counselling, said one of his relative. He feels that Mudasir joined Militant ranks after the killing of their close relative Abid Mir in Sopore who was killed in an encounter, he said while broke into tears. He believes that this was his turning point.

Locals of Khankah Mohalla remember Mudasir as a shy but courageous young boy. He was very humble and everyone loved him in the village. We don’t believe even today that he is dead because we all loved him, they said. Mudasir is perhaps the youngest militant to have laid down his life, the neighbours said.

SSP Bandipora Sheikh Zulifikar Azad said that he joined Militant ranks soon after three Foreign Militants were Killed in a gunfight at Paribal area of Hajin town. What can you do? We tried our level to get him back, but he didn’t.

Hajin town was once home and base of dreaded anti insurgency force Ikhwan, a home-bred counter-insurgency militia, led by Kuka Parray, But the time is long gone now Hajin is considered as hot bed of Militants.

Author is Freelancer Journalist based in Kashmir and can be mailed at Khuehamiayaan@gmail.com

Photographs contributed to the story by Sajid Raina.

Courtesy: https://countercurrents.org/
 

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Paying tributes to all the slain militants, Jama’at appealed to the UN and other international human rights bodies to “take effective steps against the forces involved in these human rights violations and file a criminal case in the International Court of Justice against these brutal forces personnel for violating the most precious human rights and committing war crimes in Kashmir.”
(Source: risingkashmir.com/news/jei-urges-world-community-to-safeguard-civilian-rights-in-kashmir-335985.html)

This is how Jama’at-e-Islami J&K seeks to mislead the Muslim youths while at the same time misinforming the international bodies, particularly the United Nations. Propelling the Kashmir issue into the religious antagonism is precisely how the militant ideologues have swayed a section of Kashmiri youth.

In fact, the false narrative of victimhood and the psyche of retaliation spread by religious fanatics among the valley’s emotional and angry youths are catastrophic. Therefore, today’s generation in Kashmir is going haywire, choosing death over degrees and education, hitting the streets, injuring and killing the police personnel and getting themselves injured and killed.

The masters of militancy in Kashmir seem to have organised themselves, with local youth spearheading a pernicious and dangerous revival of extremism. According to the reports, there are around 300 militants in Valley. But what is most shocking is the emergence of the well-educated and urbane militant youths aspiring for death over degrees.

A new and more virulent form of militancy has unfolded in Jammu & Kashmir. It has shifted from the cauldron of the gullible and semi-literate youths to the academic arena including even the PhD scholars.

Among the well-educated militants was a young PhD scholar, Manan Bashir Wani who quit his doctorate in Allied Geology and joined the militant ranks in January this year. Recently, he got killed in an encounter which encounter broke out at Shartgund Bala village in Handwara. Tellingly, Manan came from the area where one of the top ulema of Deoband, Allama Anwar Shah Kashmiri was born. He is considered an authoritative Indian Islamic theologian of the 20th century for his notable exegetical contributions in classical Islamic sciences, particularly in the Hadith.
Mannan’s village is adjacent to that of Shah Faesal, the first Kashmiri IAS topper who is seen as source of inspiration for many Muslim Civil Services aspirants. But one wonders what indoctrinated Mannan into choosing militancy over the scholarly path of late Anwar Shah or the cotemporary youth icon Shah Faisal! Clearly, the rebellious Muslim youths appear unmindful of the dangerous turn that the extremism has taken in Kashmir. A utopian death cult bred by the foreign interests and inspired by the radical jihadist outfits in Pakistan in particular and the Middle East in general has held the pluralistic Islamic tradition in Kashmir hostage. What the political leaders fail to do is wean away the youth from this nihilistic path. They actually lack the ideas on how to combat the pernicious ideology of the jihadists.

Recently, ahead of the urban local body (ULB) polls in Jammu and Kashmir, Governor Satya Pal Malik averred that 225 militants who are active in the state, must realise their efforts will achieve nothing. “The LTTE was ten times stronger than you (militants operating in Jammu and Kashmir). They were supported by 12 countries. They got nothing, and you will also get nothing by violence,” he said. But this proved to be nothing short of an optimistic remark on the fate of militancy. It has had no effect on those believing in an ‘armed struggle’ as an integral part of their religious conviction. As a result, more and more educated and urbane youths seem to join the militant ranks, as they held funeral prayers for the slain militants.

Remember the death of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in mid-2016 whose funeral prayer set off a fresh wave of militancy in the valley. Similarly, the funeral prayer for the slain PhD scholar-turned-militant is seen as call for fresh recruitments into militancy.

Though the educated youth joining militancy is not an isolated incident in Kashmir, it has gained momentum during the recent days. Just like the PhD scholar Manan Wani, Sabzar Ahmad was another research scholar-turned-militant. He was rather an IAS aspirant. Going by his family’s statement, he was preparing for the civil services exams and had joined Jamia Milia Islamia in PhD program before he joined the militancy in 2016. Before joining the militant ranks, he had completed his M. Phil. from Jivagee University in Gwalior, M.Sc. from Barkatulla University in Bhopal, Bachelors in Education and B.Sc. from Government Degree College in Anantnag, as widely reported in the media.

According to a senior police official posted in south Kashmir, a number of militants have engineering background while some others are graduates. There are scholars in their ranks as well. The list includes even an assistant professor from Ganderbal, Muhammad Rafi Bhat who was recently killed in an encounter in Pulwama. More to the point, Zakir Moosa, the current chief of Al-Qaeda’s offshoot in Kashmir Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind was also an engineering student. Even the present operational chief of Hizb Riyaz Naikoo is a non-medical graduate. Similarly, Eisa Fazili from Srinagar, Syed Owais Shafi from Kokernang and Aabid Nazir from Shopian were all counted as brilliant students of bright future. But they joined the militant ranks and ruined their promising life and educational career.

The pace with which the educated youth joined militancy surprised even the terror groups and their ideologies. Recently, for the first time in the three-decade militancy in Kashmir, the United Jehad Council (UJC) led by a US-designated global terrorist, Syed Salah-ud-Din, has appealed to Kashmiri youths to “stay away” from armed struggle and concentrate on studies. Similarly, in his statement on October 13, Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen chief Sheikh Jameel-ur-Rehman said: “I appeal to the students to concentrate on studies first and stay away from the armed struggle. The militant commanders should also desist from giving training to budding students”. In this statement which was e-mailed to local news agencies, he said students were “our valuable asset,” and if they don’t concentrate on studies, then “those pro-India elements will find it easy to stretch the period of our subjugation.”

Notably, Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen drew its cadre mainly from Alh-e-Hadith school of thought. Though it had vanished from the militancy landscape in the region, it has made a comeback in 2015 when another well-educated and qualified youth, Mughees Ahmad Mir of Parimpora joined the outfit. He, along with a number of rebels paid allegiance to the Islamic State and thus they have been killed in gunfights with forces during the past 12 to 18 months. An Urdu banner by the militants which appeared for the first time in valley near the residence of Mughees Ahmad Mir, read:
“Mughees Bhai Ka Ek Paigham….Kashmir Banega Darul Islam” (Mughees conveys only one message; Kashmir will become the ‘abode of Islam’). This slogan was written boldly on the banner. It also carried al-Qaeda insignia and images of Osama bin Laden and separately Mughees with a gun in his hand and his month-old son on his lap, as Srinagar-based Kashmiri journalist Ahmed Ali Fayyaz reported in The Quint.
thequint.com/news/al-qaeda-isis-show-signs-in-kashmir-valley

This is a brief account of how the studious Kashmiri youths abandoned their studies to join the militant ranks and got killed. But the crucial question is: Who are the ideologues who approach the university students and even research scholars and influence them to the extent that they agree to choose death over degrees? We must find concrete answers to these questions: how do the Kashmiri students and research scholars turn into militants? Do they make a sudden decision or does someone brainwash them slowly, steadily? And most importantly, what are the effective ways to weed out these underground brainwashers.

Regular Columnist with Newageislam.com, Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi is a classical Islamic scholar and English-Arabic-Urdu writer. He has graduated from a leading Islamic seminary of India, acquired Diploma in Qur’anic sciences and Certificate in Uloom ul Hadith from Al-Azhar Institute of Islamic Studies. Presently, he is pursuing his PhD in Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi.

Courtesy: http://newageislam.com/
 

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The most disquieting conclusion of the interactions that the CCG had with Kashmiri students, civil society and political leaders this time around was that as compared to the previous visits, the sense of dismay and despondency in the people had grown. The proximate reasons for this not only seemed to be the lack of dialogue with the Kashmiris but also because tourism had plummeted, hotel business was in dire straits, there was flight of capital and an overall economic downturn leading to greater unemployment and economic distress. The situation was much worse than the previous two years.

At the same time, the distance between rest of India and the Kashmiri youth but also others seems to have increased. This was evident in the fact that even the people who used to talk reasonably earlier were using the language of the militants and separatists this time. People complained of not only the military approach to the problem of Kashmir but also of a judicial/Constitutional aggression against the people of Kashmir in attempts to undo Article 35A of the Indian Constitution which ensured special rights for the permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir.

However, the only saving grace was that in personal discussions prominent members of civil society continued to use cautious and measured language which suggested that there was still a constituency for peace and that societal leaders were willing to make an effort to end violence and ensure a peaceful atmosphere so that a dialogue could begin to address their issues in a considered and in a less emotionally charged manner.

This was very encouraging as was the positive response of the people to the Prime Minister’s message on Independence Day — that Kashmiris need a hug and not abuse or bullets. People said that they were waiting for the operationalization of the PM’s message and hoped that this would happen soon.

The Disquiet on Article 35A

There was all round opposition to attempts to revoke Article 35A of the Constitution of India. The judicial raking of the Article 35A issue seems to have pushed the demand for ‘Azadi’ to the background (it has, however, neither disappeared nor become secondary, only less urgent) as people see the attempts to change rules for special rights of people of J&K as an existential threat of changing the Valley’s demographic profile.

People believe that revoking Article 35A can potentially lead to a demographic change in the state as outsiders are facilitated to buy land and property in the state. This was completely unacceptable to them.

The simmering anger also stemmed from the belief that the Central government was a “passive collaborator” in the petitions filed before the Supreme Court of India.This belief was strengthened not because of the statements from the ruling party at the Centre and its frontal organisations but the Central government’s attitude itself. So Kashmiris openly alleged that the judicial attack on J&K’s special status was being “stage managed” by the Central government.

Kashmiris recall that Article 35A had been challenged in the Supreme Court earlier also but each time the Central government filed a counter-affidavit. Now, not only had the Central government not filed a counter-affidavit, the Attorney General in fact argued for a wider debate on the Constitutional provision.

The Kashmiri people are asking why the state government had been left alone to defend Article 35A and whether it was not the responsibility of the Central government to defend the Constitution. A lack of clear answers to these two questions has led people to doubt the Central government’s intentions.

They suggested that the government had erred in the Supreme Court and that instead of keeping quiet, it could have easily told the apex court that this was a political issue which needed to be discussed in Parliament. Alternatively, if the government felt that there were some issues with Article 35A relating to the fundamental rights of J&K women getting married to men outside the state, then the government should have argued that the matter be referred to a 9-judge Constitutional bench.

There is a general belief, however, that if Article 35A is removed through a judicial decision, there would be widespread trouble in the state. Some even claimed that if Article 35A and Article 370 are tempered with “you will see and uprising like no other” witnessed up to now. It is also expected that the alliance between the Peoples’Democratic Party (PDP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will, in all likelihood, breakdown if Article 35A is struck down by the Supreme Court.

Raids by National Investigating Agency (NIA)

There were two sets of reactions to the NIA raids on separatist leaders and their associates for receiving money illegally from Pakistan. Some sought to point out that the Indian government and its agencies had also been funding Kashmir leaders of all hues and justified using foreign money by the separatists. They said raiding the separatist leaders and thereby trying to delegitimize them was part of a whole host of hostile acts by the Central government aimed at the Kashmiris. The attempt, they claimed, was to somehow show that the unrest in Kashmir was entirely due to funds from Pakistan which was not the case at all. This view came largely – but not limited only to them — from people sympathetic to the separatist leaders, especially youngsters and those from the legal profession.

Others, however,pointed out that the very fact that the ordinary Kashmiris had not reacted by protesting against the raids on the separatist leaders by the NIA, showed that they were not unduly bothered by these developments. This, they said, was because they believed that those who had been charged with violation of Foreign Exchange management Act ought to come clean and provide transparent accounts. The NIA raids, however, seemed to have instilled some fear among separatist sympathizers, that if they speak up publicly they too could be picked up for questioning.

Counter-insurgency Operations and Militancy

The security forces have clearly had some remarkable success in eliminating militant leadership in the last few months. However, on the one had this has sent a strong signal to all concerned that there would be no soft-pedaling on militants, on the other, it could also lead to new recruits and more spectacular attacks on the security forces.

As far as new recruits to militancy are concerned, many felt that, they required a greater outreach to be brought into the mainstream. They have hardly any weapons, no training but are very high on motivation. Most of the local militants are to be found in South Kashmir, while those who support Islamic fundamentalism of the Al Qaeda or Islamic State variety are limited to areas like Pulwama and Tral. Their life expectancy, when the security forces are working with targets of eliminating all active militants by the year-end — is likely to be very short.

There are those in Kashmir who were upset with the security forces setting themselves targets for killing militants – it is said that of the approximately 225 local militants, 139 had already been killed and the rest were likely to be eliminated by December this year. They claimed that setting such deadlines and targets by the security forces was disturbing even as new recruitment to the militant ranks continued to take place. “Our security forces are instruments of our Constitution. We should not allow them to become a part of our failure (in Kashmir),” one of them remarked.

Economic downturn

The Kashmir Valley used to get about 15 lakh tourists in the summer season in a good year. Up to August 17 this year, the total number of tourist had come down to 6.73 lakh as compared to 11.43 lakh last year for the same period.

About 5 lakh people are connected to the tourism industry directly in Kashmir. Today, a situation has come where they are staring at being unemployed in the near future.  The tourist season went badly last year because of curfew and violence but this year even when there is no curfew and violence has gone down, tourism is worse than last year.

Big hotel chains like the Taj Group, ITC and others who had partnered with local hoteliers to open new hotels and upgrade existing ones are no longer sure whether they would be able to keep up their operations after the next two months. A large number of upper end hotels have shut down up to 75 per cent of their rooms because of low occupancy.

The local tourism industry representatives claim that Kashmir is not being sold as a destination in the rest of India. They are under the impression that this is part of a larger conspiracy to finish off Kashmir’s economy, and some private national TV channels are playing a damaging role by projecting all Kashmiris as terrorists and making out as if Kashmir were a war-zone. These TV channels had single handedly managed to project Kashmiris as a hated community in the rest of India.

One of them even alleged that big travel companies were being told not to sell Kashmir to tourists. On Social Media also there has been a campaign against Kashmir, some alleged. As evidence they pointed to a BJP legislator from Telangana urging people to go for Amarnath Yatra but not buy anything from local Kashmiris.

In addition, industry sources point out that outside contractors – especially from Andhra, Telangana and Maharashtra – no longer want to work on projects in J&K.  Even a reputed contractor working on the Ratle hydroelectric project on the Chenab had ‘run away’.

Up to now, there was migration of workers from UP and Bihar for low-skilled work in Kashmir. For jobs requiring higher skills, workers used to come from the rest of India. With the economy in decline, the avenues for them in the Valley were shrinking. As for the educated Kashmiri youngsters many of them leave homes for education in the rest of India and abroad and find work there. At this rate, many Kashmiris fear that they will be left with only a generation of youngsters who either throw stones or prefer to pick up the gun.

Governance and Accountability

The governance and administration in J&K remain by and large unstable and those manning them have little time to deal with internal issue in a sustained manner because of the prevailing situation. Before they begin addressing one issue, another more pressing one emerges.

The situation in the state itself is to a large extent impacted by developments beyond the control of the state government – e.g. the legal challenge to Article 35A, the repeated statements about abolition of Article 370 by those close to the ruling party at the Centre, the exaggeration of the ground situation in the Kashmir Valley by the national media, especially TV channels, etc.

Some Kashmiris go to the extent of saying that all institutions in J&K are discredited and what is worse is that there are no political leaders with unquestioned credentials. So people have no faith either in the system or the mainstream political leaders. There is frustration in the people because of lack of governance and the absence of law and order. One of the reasons they support the nebulous idea of “Azadi” is because they feel that the present system does not deliver and perhaps something else would solve their problems.

There are thinking Kashmiris who believe that India is unable to win the hearts and minds of the people because in order to do that credible institutions and political leaders are needed. Some even suggested that if there was focus on nothing else but on providing law and order like the rest of India then things would improve. Instead the government’s focus seemed to be only the symptom – militancy – and not on the disease.

Accountability at all levels was also emphasized.  People feel that there is no accountability within the system or even outside it. As it is people feel that the state government machinery functions in an arbitrary and illegal manner. Increasingly they think so of the security forces too.

To usher in accountability, it was suggested that the Central government might set an example by considering setting up a grievance redress mechanism within the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, even if it cannot be removed – perhaps a tribunal headed by an army general and a judge could be a solution.

The general feeling was that unless credibility of institutions is restored, nothing can move forward in the state. The constant focus on militancy alone means that administration is ignored and one tends to ignore the fact that 50 per cent of the atrocities are by the police and the army under the control of the government. It is non-governance which resulted in militancy, many felt.

Prime Minister’s I-Day Gesture

While there were some Kashmiris who rejected the PM’s change of tone on Kashmir at this year’s Independence Day celebrations at the Red Fort as nothing more than demagoguery, a majority seemed to welcome it.

Those skeptical of the PM signaling a change in government policy said that this was not yet evident on the ground and therefore what he said remained at the level of posturing. They felt that since the Prime Minister now seemed focused on his re-election, it was  not possible for him to start any long term process that could led to resolution of the Kashmir tangle. Some strongly believed that conflation of non-initiation of political outreach, strong military-centric approach, and vigour in legal pursuit of old cases against separatists and their associates, and the PM’s offer of embracing Kashmiris appear to conform to a plan. However, its contours were unfathomable at this stage.

With the majority of people with whom this group interacted, the PM’s statement seemed to have gone down well. They were happy that he had said what he did and wished that he had done so earlier. They believed that like former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi could also change the atmosphere in J&K and make the people in the state feel secure. However, they also pointed out that this could not be done by putting a brake on the state’s economy, unnecessary harassment of civilians and killing of youngsters.

However, most of them also said that the PM needed to operationalize the sentiments he had expressed and that his sentiments must be reflected in the situation on the ground. As of now, many of them felt that the government had boxed both the separatists and itself into a corner and there was no one to engage with to resolve the conflict. They said that Kashmiris would be ready for an embrace but they would want something more than words.

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Almost a year after Kashmiri militant Burhan Wani’s killing, a cop Muhammad Ayub Pandith was lynched by an angry mob outside Srinagar’s Jamia Masjid while night long Jumat-ul-Vida prayers were going on inside the mosque. The cop was dressed in civvies and generated suspicions while he was taking photographs at the gate of the mosque. An altercation with some people who objected to his presence prompted him to fish out his gun, possibly in self defence, and press the trigger, injuring three people. Whether the provocation to thrash him till death stemmed from the firing, his allegedly suspicious behavior, his identity as a cop, or all of these; the incident marks a new low in Kashmir, where back in the eighties (1980s) murders and stabbings were almost unknown.

How did the Valley descend into this level of desperation, frustration, anger and hatred? The seeds of discontent lay in the preceding years.

Anti-India sentiment was already deepening due to Indian government’s failure in politically resolving a long pending dispute during the decade of comparative calm. Added to that the exacerbating human rights situation despite a diminishing graph of militancy with targeting of peaceful assemblies and stone pelting protestors brutally had already made the Valley restive by 2010, pushing smitten and humiliated young men to join the ranks of militants.  

Burhan Wani belonged to the same crop of young men and became the poster boy of new age of militancy. His death inspired many youngsters to pick up the gun. But there are several other factors that have pushed teenagers and youth to that path.

The repressive action against protestors and by-standers, in the after-math of his death, especially, the liberal use of high velocity lead pellet guns by police and CRPF is one of the main factors. Pellet ridden bodies and blinded faces of children as young as four years old became the most defining images of Kashmir in 2016 after Burhan Wani’s killing. This brutality was seen as continuum and worsening of human rights situation.

Anger was also fuelled by the shabby relief and rescue work during the 2014 floods and in far greater measure by the unholy alliance between PDP and BJP. The PDP, which sought votes in the 2014 elections on the promise of keeping saffron out of the Valley, finally made its peace with BJP and formed a coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir. PDP’s strongest bastion – South Kashmir – is today a hotbed of militancy and reportedly many youth who canvassed for the party in 2014 elections eventually joined the ranks of militants.

An altering idea of India with beef bans, lynchings, Love-Jehad and anti-minority violence by hooligans, patronised by the BJP in power at the Centre, and scripting a new discourse across the country also deepens the insecurities, anxieties of the Kashmiri youth, transforming the already deepening anti-India sentiment into hatred. Needless to point out that this conflict generation has seen only a militarized and brutal face of India, never its democratic one. The sole event of periodic elections since 1996 has been bandied about as democracy, the benefits of which have been insufficient to not just address the political aspirations of the people but also their day to day needs like development and employment.   
  
Post Burhan Wani, Kashmir has been a story of over-all despair where normality has a new definition and where militancy and protests are churning a complex narrative. Even though the Valley has witnessed comparative calm since last October, more and more youth are mesmerised by the idea of picking up guns. They are either inspired by their own harassment, prison terms under the draconian Public Safety Act or the collective oppression around them or they are ex-militants. Some of them are engineering and IT professionals or studying in professional colleges with promising careers. Even some cops deserted their posts and are believed to have joined militant groups. Religious radicalization is also a source of inspiration for some of the new entrants into the fold of militancy.

The newer trends in militancy reveal a far greater brotherhood with foreign militants, teenagers joining militancy and starved of arms and cash, this militancy by and large remains indigenous. Increasing incidents of looting of banks and arms from police installations and ill-trained but determined militants further corroborates that point. The proliferating numbers are not so huge as to ring alarm bells. But respect, sympathy and support for militants across the Valley certainly is. Massive funerals are held for slain militants, including foreign militants. But more significantly, swarms of people descend on the encounter site to shout slogans and pelt stones and queer the pitch for the security forces by making all efforts to rescue holed up militants.

Across the Valley, occasional stone pelting protests over the slightest of provocation has become the new normal. School and college students including young girls, though still very rare, initially provoked by the killing of a student by security forces inside the college campus in Pulwama, have also begun joining street protests, often with stones to pelt.

Anger was also fuelled by the shabby relief and rescue work during the 2014 floods and in far greater measure by the unholy alliance between PDP and BJP. The PDP, which sought votes in the 2014 elections on the promise of keeping saffron out of the Valley, finally made its peace with BJP and formed a coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir. PDP’s strongest bastion – South Kashmir – is today a hotbed of militancy and reportedly many youth who canvassed for the party in 2014 elections eventually joined the ranks of militants.

This generation is no longer deterred by the brutal clampdown of protests or of the lethal consequences of picking up the gun, revealing the depths of desperation.

A young lawyer, I have known since he was an enthusiastic law student with tremendous positive energy, told me in November 2016 of the immense frustration that overcomes him when he is fighting against a legal justice system that fails to deliver or when he witnesses how ten year old boys have been detained because the police wanted to arrest their elder family members. “Sometimes, out of helplessness I myself want to pick up the gun.” The young professional is far too mature and seasoned to do that but even for a thought like that to creep in his mind is disturbing, encapsulating the extent of frustration, desperation and loss of sense of fear that pushes many to take on the mighty Indian State and its security apparatus with guns, stones or even bare hands. What is even more disturbing is that they know that the State will not budge, but for them it is a choice between enduring constant pain and humiliation and committing, what may well be, ‘honour suicide’. 

A worrying trend is sections of militants making the departure from fighting for independence or merger with Pakistan to fighting in the name of khilafat. Two months ago, Zakir Musa, broke away from Hizb-ul-Mujahideen by first threatening the Hurriyat leaders. The likes of Zakir Musa and the theory of khilafat may not find much currency in the Valley which is still bound to its traditional syncretic culture. However, expressions of anger against the Indian State as well as their remote-controlled regime in Jammu and Kashmir, brutality by the security forces and even a weakened and corrupted Hurriyat have turned Zakir Musa into a hero, as witnessed during the night of Jumat-ul-Vida inside the Jamia Masjid where slogans in his support were raised, while a lone cop was being lynched outside. 

As I write this, reports pour in of 7 Amarnath yatris killed and several injured in a militant attack in South Kashmir. At this moment, it will be jumping the gun to presume this as a new norm. It is still not clear whether the attack was a pre-meditated one or a case of being caught at the wrong place and wrong time. Besides, such attacks, even though aberrations, have happened in the past in the Valley.  

Like the cop’s lynching, the attack on the pilgrims has been widely condemned in the Valley which continues to be mesmerized by the plural traditions of the pilgrimage. Many in the Valley believe that the radicalised militants are backed by the Indian agencies, though there is no evidence to suggest the same. Some others fear that the radicalised militants may gradually gravitate towards Islamic State operatives or may already have. Whether or not there is an element of truth in such assumptions, the choking of civilian space and the targeting of liberal voices among those espousing a separatist ideology through constant militarization and brutalization of the society is enlarging the base of radicalized elements.      
 
Massive human rights abuse and the worsening patterns of impunity that have made the transition from silence and inaction over complaints to harassing, intimidating and even registering cases against complainants and victims keeps the pot of frustration and anger boiling. The situation is typified by the haunting image of an army officer strapping a young man to a jeep and using him as a ‘human shield’ for over five hours and its justification by accusing the man of pelting stones and its far more brazen legitimization by rewarding the officer of violating military norms in doing so. Either the Indian government has no policy on Kashmir or it dangerously hopes to cash in on the rich electoral harvest (elsewhere in the country) of demonising Kashmir by pushing it towards chaos through perpetuation of brutality and injustices.

This sense of injustice primarily pushes the Kashmiri youth to make their choices within a choked space of absolute despair – to pelt stones, pick up the gun or carrying on with their mundane life.

Anger, alienation and despair finds manifestation in various forms. Many youngsters transcend their own personal and collective sense of helplessness to punctuate Kashmir’s chaos by charting a creative and imaginative narrative by writing and painting about Kashmir’s despair as well as by making positive interventions by organising relief work for those distressed by the conflict, documenting their tragedies or holding dialogues and workshops on conflict transformation or issues like Right to Information and Climate change on a smaller and low-key level.  On their shoulders, these young people keep aloft the simmering of hope that has no takers in New Delhi.   
     
The Indian government, which wants to believe that the problem is only “5 percent” stone pelters and militants operating in “three districts” of the Valley, turn a convenient blind eye to such positive energy. Recently, a documentary film, “Under the Shade of the Fallen Chinars”, show-casing artistic pursuits of students as an expression against the brutalization of Kashmir, was banned.

It does not suit the official narrative of denial about the causes of Kashmir’s anger and convenient naming of an enemy across the border that “engineers and motivates youth” to pelt stones or pick up the gun. Though motivation through religious radicalization and money cannot be out-rightly denied, there has to be enough sense of desperation to come out on the roads in protest with all the risks involved.  

As long as Indian government’s policy is locked in a grid of denial, obsession with Pakistan, military doctrine and ruling Kashmir through jackboots, disregarding not just the voices of protest but also the sometimes sage advice of the state government or other civil society members, Kashmir will continue to be locked in this vicious cycle of tragedy, pain, grief, brutality and violent reprisal. Only, it will continue to get worse.

(The author is Executive Editor Kashmir Times and a peace activist)
 

The post A year after Burhan Wani, Kashmir is Locked in a Worsening Cycle of Despair & Violence appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Image: Narendra Modi/Twitter Handle

Army chief General Bipin Rawat has warned residents of the Valley in J&K of “tough action” against anyone creating “hurdles” in the way of the army during security operations, or “helping the terrorists to escape”. He added that those displaying Pakistani or ISIS would be treated as “anti-nationals.”

The army chief’s tough talk came a day after four army personnel, including a major, were killed during two separate encounters in the Valley. He was addressing the media after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he had paid tributes to the soldiers who lost their lives on Tuesday.

In yet another incident, two more jawans were killed in another encounter on Sunday.

“These terrorists who have now graduated to the villages… as we are conducting operations against them… we find that the local population is somehow not supportive of the actions of the security forces”, said General Rawat.

He added:

“While our aim has been to conduct people-friendly operations, the manner in which the local population is preventing us from conducting the operations, at times even supporting the terrorists to escape… it is these factors which are leading to higher casualties among the security forces.

“We would now request the local population that people who have picked up arms… and these are the local boys… if they want to continue with acts of terrorism, displaying flags of IS and Pakistan, then we will treat them as anti-national elements and go helter-skelter for them. They may survive today but we will get them tomorrow. Our relentless operations will continue”.

He warned that “if they do not relent and create hurdles in our operations, then we will take tough action”.

Holding a carrot after waving the stick, stating that Kashmiri youth were being an opportunity to return to the mainstream General Rawat said: I’d once again request the parents of these young boys… who have somehow because of propaganda in the social media taken the path of violence, to return to the fold. We are giving them an opportunity, but should they want to continue, then we will continue with relentless operations, maybe with harsher measures and that is the way to continue”.

“Our idea is not to kill young boys. Our idea is to bring them into the mainstream. But if they wish to remain in the same manner, we will target them with harsher measures”, he warned.
 

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The ongoing unrest in Kashmir, where 23 people including policeman have lost their lives after Indian security forces killed Hizbul commander, Burhan Wani, has also ignited a raging debate on whether some channels in Indian media have resorted to playing patriot games over a militant’s death.

And once again, two big names of Indian TV industry have locked horns with no holds barred attack against each other.

It all started with the veteran journalist, Rajdeep Sardesai, taking to his blog questioning the ‘patriotic’/nationalistic credentials of Indian journalists particularly during the coverage of Wani’s killing and the subsequent protests.

In his well articulated blog, Rajdeep recounted the role of the BBC during the Falklands War in 1983 when the British national broadcaster was criticised by the then UK prime minister, Margret Thatcher, for not taking side with the British forces in its coverage.

To which, the then Director General of the BBC, John Birt, was reported to have reminded Thatcher that the journalistic organisation was not an ‘extension of the political authority’; its first commitment was to the truth, not to the nation state.

Many felt that Rajdeep’s anguish was targeted at his former colleague, Arnab Goswami, and his channel Times Now, which has become notorious for whipping up often unnecessary nationalistic fervour, thereby throwing objectivity out of the window.

Hours later, a visibly agitated Arnab launched a blistering attack understandably against Rajdeep to counter the latter’s ‘patriot games’ jibe with his own headline, ‘Don’t Romanticise Terror.’ Arnab resorted to name calling and frequently used terms such as ‘pseudo-liberals’ for his critics while describing their criticism as a shameful act.

Many felt that Arnab’s reply pretty much confirmed what his former boss had highlighted in his blog.

You can read both Rajdeep’s blog and Arnab’s response during his Newshour debate below and decide for yourself who’s right on the issue of media ethics.

Rajdeep Sardesai:

‘BURHAN WANI AND PATRIOT GAMES’

During the 1983 Falklands war, a member of the Margaret Thatcher government angrily described the BBC as the ‘Stateless People’s Broadcasting Corporation’ because it referred to the forces as ‘British’ and ‘Argentinian’ forces instead of ‘our’ and ‘enemy’ forces. When an Argentinian ship was sunk, an incensed Thatcher responded, ‘only the BBC would ask a British prime minister why she took action against an enemy ship that was a danger to our boys’. That is when the BBC director general John Birt is said to have reminded the British prime minister that the journalistic organisation was not an ‘extension of the political authority’; its first commitment was to the truth, not to the nation state.

The Thatcher story is instructive at a time when the ‘patriotic’/nationalistic credentials of Indian journalists and news organisations are under the scanner for their coverage of the violence in the Kashmir valley. The newly minted I and B minister has already warned that he expects ‘responsible’ coverage from the media; army information teams have red flagged any attempt to send out any ‘negative’ news; the social media army of ‘proud Indians’ on Twitter has abusively accused journalists (including this writer) of being ‘terrorist sympathisers’, ‘anti national’ and questioned ones parentage.

Who is to tell my outraged friends in the Twitter world that journalism in its purest form doesn’t wear the tricolour on its sleeve. Yes, I am a very proud Indian, but my journalism demands that I tell the story of Kashmir, not as a soldier in army fatigues but as a mike pusher who reports different realities in a complex situation. Burhan Wani is a terrorist who has been ‘neutralised’ in the eyes of majority of Indians; he is a victim who has been ‘martyred’ for the thousands of Kashmiris who lined up for his funeral. A propagandist would only broadcast the narrative that suits the agenda of one side but a journalist must necessarily explore both stories: that of Wani the Hizbul terrorist who took to the gun and used social media as a weapon AND Wani as the posterboy for a localised militancy which feeds on tales of alleged oppression and injustice. A journalist must speak to the army which is trying to quell the protests on the street, but must also listen to the youth who have chosen to their vent their anger with stones. And he must then dispassionately and accurately report the ground reality without glamourising violence or terrorism but also without becoming a spokesperson for the Indian state.

It is maintaining this delicate balance that defines good journalism. Sadly, there are few takers it appears for this challenging task. Instead, in a polarised, toxic environment, journalists are being asked to take sides, to state their preferences, to place opinion ahead of facts, to show off their macho ‘nationalism’, to be part of a ‘them’ versus ‘us’ battleground in tv studios and beyond. Which is why I wish to highlight the BBC role in the Falklands war. Here is a genuine public service broadcaster that is able to ensure that its commitment is to the British people, not to the government, even in a war between countries. The philosophy is clear: the truth, however inconvenient it might be for the power apparatus, must be told.

In Kashmir too, we need to tell truth to power: the truth of disaffected youth with limited opportunities for growth, of failed, corrupted politics, of an unshaken ‘azaadi’ sentiment, of army excesses, of a neighbouring country which sponsors terror, of a nostalgic notion of Kashmiriyat which was eroded when Pandits were driven out of their homes, of radicalised youth seeking to romanticise violence, of hard working twenty somethings topping the civil service exams, of an unacceptable distinction between terrorists and freedom fighters. As a vibrant democracy, we must be able to look into the mirror with confidence and face these competing ‘truths’. Too many of the stakeholders in Kashmir, Delhi and beyond have lived in denial for too long. Wani’s killing and its aftermath must end this mood of denial even as we in the media must learn to stop playing patriot games.

Post script: Many years ago, while reporting a story on Kashmir, I described those who had targeted a bus as terrorists. That evening, a local colleague in Srinagar suggested that I might be better off calling the perpetrators as ‘militants’. I asked him why. “Sir, they maybe terrorists, but here it is safer to use the word ‘militant’.” When even simple wordplay can get tangled in the minefield of Kashmir’s bloody politics, you realise the complicated nature of the journalistic challenge.

Arnab Goswami on Newshour

“For over 72 hours now since the SUCCESSFUL killing and MUCH WANTED killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, a section of misguided pseudo liberals have gone on and on about how the Indian State must be more responsible. About how the Indian security forces must be more sensible. Now, some of these highly confused elements, who are in journalism say that they are in a dilemma today about how to report a terrorist’s death. They say they are in a dilemma about how to report the fallout of a terrorist’s death with mobs breaking out of control and attacking a police station.

I feel sorry for these people, because they don’t realise that when it comes to right or wrong, black and white, nationalist and anti-national, for the Indian army, which protects us, and against the Indian army, for the tricolour and against the tricolour, for the sovereignty of the Indian State and against the sovereignty of the Indian State. there can be no prevarication, no grey area, no confusion and certainly no dilemma. Ladies and Gentlemen, this terrorist, Burhan Wani, had declared the Indian army as his biggest enemy. Burhan Wani was an identified and armed threat to the sovereignty of the Indian State. And just because he was KASHMIRI, does not make it ok for the pseudo liberals to build a case against his killing. He was a terrorist.

Today the self-proclaimed pseudo liberals, the same who speak of injustice to Afzal Guru and Yakub Memon have most unfortunately and SHAMELESSLY, come together to shy away from calling a known Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist a terrorist. To use the guise of human rights and peddle it to bestow martyrdom to slain terrorist and today we watch these pseudo intellectual brigade sitting in their high-armchairs refusing to call the killing of Burhan Wani, for what it is a FANTASTIC SUCCESS.

A GLORIOUS success of our brave security personnel. Viewers, let’s come together tonight and let us junk this group and junk their bluff.. Let us not romanticise or confuse terror…And if you agree with me because this rubbish has been going on for three days now, then join me as we together take on the pseudo liberals and the Pakistanis after that in debate number one and debate number 2 of the Newshour.”

This story originally appeared on Janta Ka Reporter.

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