Pic Bilal Bahadur
Similarly, when Muzzaffar Ahmad Mir of Kangan was arrested by police in 2011 for killing Sajad Ahmad Parray from point-blank range outside Hazratbal shrine in Srinagar on 14 October 2011, they were surprised to learn that the alleged Lashkar operative was a graduate.
The police later told Kashmir Life that Mir was motivated by the ideology of Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt and the 1979 Iranian Revolution. In November 2010, LeT operative Mohammad Saleem Ganai alias Faisal, a final-year college student, had given a tough fight to security forces before getting killed in an encounter in Kulgam.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh while addressing a gathering at Kishtwar at the inaugural ceremony of 850 megawatt hydroelectric power project said that the “terrorist-related violence in 2012” had shown a sharp decline and was the lowest in last two decades.
However, he did not mention the militancy related violence in 2013 has claimed more lives of troopers in first six months compared to last four years. According to the data compiled by a New Delhi based news portal, in last six months 31 troopers, paramilitary and police personnel were killed while 17 militants and 11 civilians including sarpanchs and panchs lost their lives in violence related incidents.
In 2012, 17 troopers, 84 militants and 16 civilians including sarpanchs and panchs were killed. And in 2011, 30 troopers, 119 militants, and 34 civilians have been killed.
On the other hand, Police officials are clueless about this new trend of youngsters joining militancy.
“We don’t know why they join militancy. Kashmir is a conflict place and anyone can join militancy any time. People don’t need to have reasons,” said senior police official who wished not to be named.
The official said in past two years 12 militants have joined the militancy in Pulwama-Tral belt, but he maintained that all of them are not well-educated.
Except 21-year-old Burhan-ud-din, who is son of a school principal, and Adil, who joined militancy in 2011, ten other boys have joined militancy in 2012.
Burhan, who is believed to be part of May-24 encounter in Tral, left his home in Tral town of south Kashmir in 2011 and picked up arms when he was still a teenager.
Officials say that the boys have joined the militancy at a time when militants don’t have any ammunition.
On May 24 the militants took away three AK-47 rifles from the four army men leaving behind a Self Loading Rifle (SLR) they were carrying. Incidentally, in April 2012 militants had snatched two SLRs from policemen guarding a minority picket in Arigam hamlet of Tral. “This indicates that they don’t have much ammunition,” said an official.
Inspector General of Police Kashmir range, Abdul Gani Mir said that among the recently killed militants, Sajad Ahmad was the only exception who was a well qualified.
“Saifullah Ahangar has not completed the engineering diploma and has left the studies in the middle,” Mir said. “He said there have been exceptions that every year there are individual educated youth joining the militancy. We have seen it in 2008, 2009, and 2010 and in the past as well”.
He said educated people were not joining the militancy as it was being reported.
When asked that there has been rise in the fatalities of police and army this year, he said that it was due to the over-engagement of forces in dealing with law and order problems in post Afzal guru happenings.
“Besides, the attacks were carried out at busy places. So we could not retaliate since it could have led to civilian causalities” Mir said, adding, “I would assure Kashmiris that we will address this concern”.
He said the total number of militants active in Kashmir must be around 130.
“Around 50 percent of them are foreigners, rest are Kashmiris,” Mir said.
Defence spokesman Naresh Vig told Kashmir Life that there has been no increase in the militancy related incidents in Kashmir.
“These are just isolated incidents which are meant to show their presence,” he said.
The government was so far comfortably basking in the glory that it has finally depreciated the militancy to a level where it can’t pose any danger, however, the abrupt US led NATO forces drawdown in Afghanistan might have made the political security and administrative circles a bit nervous in Kashmir. They feel there are possibilities that violence may escalate in Kashmir in view of the withdrawal of the US led NATO forces from Afghanistan in 2014.
Crispy —OK.
It is not only that ‘education’ concerns Endian establishment. Yeh it may be one of the, but wt concerns them most is steady revival. While this comment is being moderated our mujahid brothers again have engaged Endian establishment in Tral sector. This ‘steady’ revival should have been focus, moreso wt is most astonishing is this that despite hurriyat leaders calling for moderate means {both G+M+KLF}.
Muslim Brotherhood, Mlitancy and Jehad:
The following extracts from the above report show clearly that it is not primarily Kashmiris themselves but the Afganistan-pakistan and foriegn militants nexus which is making life of kashmiris in the valley miserable, besides killing security forces, innocent civilians as well as those who have unfortunately been misguided by their agenda, due to reasons of poverty:
• “The police later told Kashmir Life that Mir was motivated by the ideology of Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt and the 1979 Iranian Revolution. In November 2010, LeT operative Mohammad Saleem Ganai alias Faisal, a final-year college student, had given a tough fight to security forces before getting killed in an encounter in Kulgam.”
• “Both Saeed and Salahuddin told us that militancy in Kashmir would escalate after the US-led international troops withdraw from Afghanistan in 2014,”
• “Soon after the Hyderpora attack in which eight army personnel were killed, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, the largest indigenous militant outfit, claimed responsibility for the attack. The attack was carried out by special squad of the outfit and our militants reached their hideouts safely, HM’s operational spokesperson Baleeg-u-Din told a local Kashmiri news gathering agency immediately after the attack. This terse and strong statement of Hizb was followed by another warning by United Jehad Council General Secretary Sheikh Jameel Ur Rahman who said that the attack on Indian army convoys is done to liberate Kashmir from the occupant forces. Rahman said the attacks on Indian forces will continue in future as the United Nations Charter legalizes such kind of attacks.” This is ridiculous statement as UN Charter would never legalise such violence .
• “The total number of militants active in Kashmir must be around 130. Around 50 percent of them are foreigners, rest are Kashmiris,” Mir said.
If I remember correctly, in a press conference, SYED SALAHUDDIN had feigned ignorance about ‘ripple effect of post 2014 affecting Kashmir’ but had said that ‘M’ leaders might had their own sources regarding the issue?