news details |
|
|
| Local militants outnumber foreign mercenaries in Kashmir | | NSA arrives for briefing | | Abdul Majid
Early Times Report
srinagar, July 21: Amid rising trend of educated youth taking to arms in Kashmir, the locals have outnumbered the foreign militants operational in the Valley. It's for the first time in the past around a decade that the local number of militants is greater than their foreign counterparts, a "worrisome situation", which has put the state and central governments on toes.
Sources said the Union Home Ministry has taken a serious note of the development and asked the National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval to visit Valley for feedback. While Doval arrived today, the issue tops the agenda of meetings, which he is scheduled to attend during his 2-day visit.
Apart from intelligence agencies, senior officials from police, Army and paramilitary will brief the visiting dignitary on the "indoctrination of educated youth and reasons behind it."
Sources said Jammu and Kashmir Police has updated its census on militants, a copy of which will be tabled before Doval.
According to the police census, 33 new recruits joined militant ranks in the first six months of 2015. The police census puts their strength at 142 - 88 of them local and 54 foreign nationals, either from Pakistan or Afghanistan.
The highest concentration is in south Kashmir's Tral-Kulgam-Yari Pora Shopian stretch where around 60 local youth are believed to have joined Hizbul Mujahideen.
Just a fortnight ago the Union Home Ministry said that this stretch in south Kashmir was actively involved in militancy with "indoctrination of local youth having assumed alarming proportions."
Police sources said around 50 youth went missing in Kashmir this year to join militant ranks. Unconfirmed reports on the other hand reveal that recently at least 22 students from Army Goodwill School, Badkoot of north Kashmir's Handwara town tried to cross Line of Control (LoC), a charge denied by the Army.
However on July 19, voicing concern over recruitment of educated Kashmiri youths into militant outfits, a top army commander said eyes cannot be shut to the "tragedy" that "alienation and lack of opportunities" was driving local youngsters towards the gun and the Centre and the state government need to introspect to address these issues.
Army has put social media under scanner. General Officer Commanding In Chief (GoC-In-C), Northern Command, Lt Gen D S Hooda said that there are attempts to attract the youth by such groups through social media which is having "some impact" and steps are needed to counter it.
The Army commander said "the numbers (of new militant recruits from Kashmir) are not very high as of now but if this trend goes further I think it will be tragic for Kashmir and also a matter of concern."
"As per our assessment, nobody has successfully infiltrated from across the border this year. That is why, it is a greater concern that you know internal recruitment is taking place. That is matter of serious concern," Hooda said.
"Last year, the figure was somewhere 60 (operating in militants outfits in Kashmir Valley) or little more than that. This year the information we have is more than 30 (Kashmiri youths) have already joined (militant outfits locally)," he said.
"So as I said that the numbers are not too many, but the fact remains that it was down to single digit during two or three years. In that sense it is something that we need to look at seriously," he said.
The Army commander felt that "alienation and lack of opportunity" were the reasons for Kashmiri youths picking up gun.
"I think, one of course, there is sense of alienation. Let us not hide it or shut our eyes to it".
"There is lack of opportunity and social media has become such a powerful medium and a tool where through people are getting engaged. They are looking towards (terror), as they have nothing to do rather pick up a gun", the commander said. Lt Gen Hooda said, "Frankly, it is something that we need to introspect." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
STOCK UPDATE |
|
|
 |
| BSE
Sensex |
 |
| NSE
Nifty |
|
|
| |
CRICKET UPDATE |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
