Muzaffarabad, Aug 2 (JKNS): A growing wave of dissent is emerging from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) as residents, journalists, and civil society members openly confront terrorist recruiters who are luring young boys into cross-border militancy.
The latest flashpoint came in Kuiyaan village near Khai Gulla, where locals clashed with Rizwan Hanif, a senior terrorist commander associated with the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba-linked Jammu and Kashmir United Movement (JKUM).
Witnesses on Social media as per news agency JKNS stated that Hanif arrived armed with relatives to attend the absentee funeral of Habib Tahir a youth from the village who had been recruited as a terrorist and killed by Indian forces in Harwan, Srinagar, earlier this week.
Despite the family’s explicit refusal to allow militants at the ceremony, Hanif insisted on participating. Tensions escalated when one of his armed associates, reportedly his nephew, threatened mourners at gunpoint, sparking a public confrontation. Videos shared by social media users, like Samee Azad, Sardar Bilal Official, and Laiqat Ali, captured the backlash as villagers forced Hanif and his men to flee.
“This is a death sentence passed on our poor children,” one resident said in a viral video, vowing that the community would no longer stay silent.
Locals have announced plans to hold a jirga to collectively oppose terror recruitment and prevent the presence of armed groups in their villages.
Authorities, too, appear to be slowly tightening their grip. In Khurahat, Tehsil Hari Ghel, officials recently denied permission for a suspected militant-linked gathering, with the SDM Hari Ghel directing police to enforce a strict ban.
Meanwhile, citizen journalists reporting on these events have faced online threats from extremist sympathisers. “Stop brainwashing the poor,” wrote one journalist, calling out recruiters for exploiting vulnerable youth.
These rare acts of defiance, residents say, signal the beginning of a shift in PoK, where once-unquestioned terror networks are now facing pushback from the very communities they sought to control. (JKNS)
