While some of the netizens hailed the stand of Aamir Ahmad Amin, others have castigated his post saying that he has chosen to ignore “state terror, human rights violations and military occupation”

Ashiq Hussain

The death of a young Kashmiri militant, suspected to have been influenced by the Islamic State, has triggered a debate on social media after one of his supposed classmates wrote a Facebook post saying the path he chose was “incorrect”.

Eisa Fazili was among three militants gunned down by security forces in Anantnag district on Monday.

“Eisa Fazili was my classmate and friend. I feel absolutely terrible he had to go this way but I will not shy away from stating that he was a deeply disturbed person — and that the path he chose was incorrect,” wrote Aamir Ahmad Amin, who according to his Facebook profile studies at Khwaja Yunus Ali Medical College & Hospital in Bangladesh.

Amin’s profile says that he has studied in Burn Hall School in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir.

Young Kashmiris often use social media to articulate their views on the ongoing insurgency that has killed more than 44,000 people in the region since 1989. The government also frequently clamps down on social media sites such as Facebook which are allegedly used to spread anti-India sentiments and rumours.

Amin’s post on Fazili attracted attention after it was shared widely.

While some of the netizens have hailed the stand of Amin, others have castigated his post saying that he has chosen to ignore “state terror, human rights violations and military occupation” which have been the main reasons for youth to pick weapons in Kashmir.

In school, Amin remembered, Fazili and his like-minded friends would “often have arguments with other classmates and teachers about religion”.

“I remember the fiery expression on Eisa’s face when someone criticised the then newly-mushroomed cult we all know today as ISIS,” Amin wrote, using the earlier acronym of the global terror outfit — the Islamic State for Iraq and Levant.

He said that Fazili perceived “injustice” on Muslims in the backdrop of alleged “human rights violations in Kashmir and a belief strengthened by his interpretation of countless other events across the world”.

Amin blames everybody including Fazili’s “careless” relatives and friends, the “Wahabi preachers who mislead him” and the “Tehreeki leaders who encouraged him”.

Police officials say Fazili’s relation with the IS was a matter of investigation, and hinted at his ideological inclination towards the outfit. Reports said Fazili was studying engineering at Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah (BGSB) University in Rajouri in Jammu region before joining the militant ranks last year.

Amin wanted the younger generation of Kashmir to not let history repeat itself by “letting our emotions and feelings cloud our sense of judgement and rationality as our elders have repeatedly done in the past”.

“Although our classmate did not commit an attack on civilians in his individual capacity, the organisation he chose to become associated with has been involved in several gruesome attacks…,” he said.

Amin has tried to portray the militancy in Kashmir as a “meaningless and senseless politico-religious battle”.

However, some found fault with Amin’s arguments.

“Why don’t you blame the state occupational apparatus primarily, lack of justice and accountability as well for radicalising the youth?… The state terror and HRVs(human rights violations) are the main reasons that motivate youngsters to pick weapons,” responded Srinagar resident Daniyal Bashir.

“If Kashmiri rebels are fighting a senseless cause , what is Indian army fighting in Kashmir? Aren’t they fighting a bigger senseless war by continuing their occupation. 700,000 vs a few handful of rebels is insane , it is a big impediment to Indian economical and social growth and is making India poorer,” he said in a separate post.

He said many of the youth including slain Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani or their families have been “victims of state terror, harassment and bullying”. ( Courtesy Hindustan Times)