JK News Today
Srinagar, October 23
What may turn out to be an alarming situation in the days to come, more than 40 Kashmiri youth have gone missing and joined the militancy giving a traction to the strife in Kashmir , according to official records.
These youth have joined the militancy, by snatching guns of policemen, motivated and indoctrinated by the narrative of the Kashmir unrest since July 8, when Hizb-ul-Mujahadeen commander Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter with security forces. The July 8 has been listed as a date when the death of Burhan gave birth to new phase of militancy in Kashmir.
New recruits to militancy are mostly from South Kashmir, who, like Burhan, believe in swaggering around jungles with their guns in the backdrop of motivating songs , instead of hiding their faces or living in obscurity . They are names with faces.
Police records, as assessed by a newspaper, have shown that these youth are going to prove more dangerous than any other previous crop of Kashmiri militants- their motivation level is high , they are willing to die and they are prepared to take the plunge instead of waiting for the challenge from the security forces.
They have trained themselves in jungles, enjoy the local support in the neighbouring villages where sympathies for militancy have grown in the past over 100 days . The villages that have been in the front of the current unrest are dismayed at the response of the security forces , which left the protestors dead , blinded and injured , and more than that germinated a feeling of revenge among them.
A senior police officer in south Kashmir told JKNT that these local militants are going to be a big headache.
One, because they are locals and well trained and know the topography . Secondly, they have support from the people, who are unwilling to share any information about them.
Another officer, however, said that “ if we could trace Burhan, we can trace them as well.” But, he also admitted that things are far more difficult now than those were pre- Burhan Wani’s death.
