Militancy in Kashmir: More Youths From Shopian Join Militant Ranks

On April 1, after the killing of 13 militants in three different areas of South Kashmir, the struggle of Kashmir has entered a new phase, with youths proactively joining the militant ranks. At the outset of April, 20 people – including 13 militants, three Army personnel and four civilians were killed after security forces launched three separate operations in Shopian and Anantnag of South Kashmir. Terming the counter-insurgency operation a 'huge success' by the Indian army, Jammu and Kashmir police chief S P Vaid called it "one of the biggest counter offensives" against the terror groups in recent times.

The unrest in the valley has reached new heights with nine youths joining the militant ranks from the region in the past 24 days. While the Indian government declared that they have wiped out militancy from Kashmir, the trend of youth joining militancy has increased sharply – implying that they no longer are afraid of being killed or imprisoned by the state. South Kashmir – particularly, Shopian, Pulwama and Kulgam have become a hotbed of homegrown militants.

The recent joining of 21-year-old Aabid Nazir Chopan from Shopian has immense impact on the politically charged environment of Kashmir. Aabid – the son of a CPI(M) member from South Kashmir, had cleared the examination for India's defense academy and had aspired to become a military officer. He had travelled to Kashmir from Jalandar to attend his aunt's funeral. Aabid joined militant ranks a few days after three militants were killed from his village on April 1.

In the photo that went viral, Aabid can be seen brandishing AK47, akin to slain Hizbul commander Burhan Wani pose in July 2015. Burhan's photo, which marked the arrival of social media trend, symbolised the inception of new militancy era in Kashmir. Burhan belonged to Tral, Pulwama district of South Kashmir. As per the record, after the killing of Burhan, militancy increased multi-fold in Shopian, where the number of militants increased from 8 to 40.

Figures reveal that the numbers of locals joining militancy has escalated from 88 in 2016 to 126 in 2017, with almost 70 youths joining from the districts in South Kashmir including Pulwana, Shopian and Kulgam. After July 2016, the youth who joined militancy are the ones, who shunned education to pick up guns. Many of them had been doing well in life in terms of job and education. Youth joining militant ranks has become the new normal in the valley and it is troublesome.

There have been many incidents, where parents have appealed to their sons to surrender, but in the most of the cases, the parents had to face rejection. Recently, Kashmiri footballer-turned-militant Majid Khan had surrendered before the forces after his mother repeatedly asked him to return.

Shopian has witnessed the highest number of encounters and attacks. The region is home to a population of around 2.6 lakh people.

Will encounters end militancy?

With the number of youth joining militant ranks from South Kashmir, it seems that encounters won't end militancy but sway the mood of the youth in favour of it.

"Only encounter will not end militancy. There has to be a multi-pronged policy, first you have to see who differ with it and resort to taking of guns. Are we able to convince them? Second, we have to identify what are they fighting for. Then we have to make the ground fertile so that we garner favour on our side. We need to listen to the youth and identify what they want. Encounters cannot end militancy," said PDP spokesperson Rafi Mir.

Newsclick also contacted the DIG from South Kashmir, but he refused to comment.