Mir Sana
In a place like Kashmir where every moment of the day is marked in chaos, confusion and uncertainty, its populace becomes volatile and sensitive towards any internal or external change. Kashmir due to its decade’s old political turbulence and uncertainty has turned a hub for various anti-societal elements while its youth contributing at the forefront. The disturbing and distressed youth of this beautiful Valley have been time and again pushed to the wall facing the consequences that made them took the extreme and harsher steps while others remained loyal to their culture, history and the soil they were born to. Those who choose the ‘misleading’ path faced death and destruction but could have been saved and would’ve been happily living their lives amongst us if guided and counseled properly at right place and time and by a perfect person. We lost a generation to the bullets and barrels but we don’t deserve to lose another one.
Ours is a distinct and a very sensitive society. The fact is that our society is not misleading or misguided. It’s the external animosity and aggression that makes it so. There is a general perception among the masses, unaware about our history and geography, taking the lectures on Kashmir from corporate media houses that spit venom against us and get mislead. Our land is fertile and always produced fertile minds. We are peace loving people who have fought with Afghans, Mughals and Dogras for attaining peace and freedom. I have come through numerous stories of youth who were at the end of changing their sides to harsher ones. I’ve been lucky enough to save a few of them but have miserably failed to save many of them which I still regret and would continue to till my last breath. Both parties are before my eyes, the former living their lives happily and later sleeping deep down in the soil or are behind the bars since long. Some were my close friends whom I wished to live happily. Fortunately, among the many youths I have stopped from taking the life ending steps I would narrate a few.
A young handsome man in his twenties, in my locality was of a particular thought and was in a good contact with the particular ideology. He was at the brink to join that ideology where his life would end within a day, a week, month, a year or maybe few, but it was certain that the life, if he will get would be full of miseries and tragedies. He was a hardliner and a chronic stone pelter and for him the way forward was to join the ranks. We got him counseled in a local police station without any torture or punishment. He is now living a happy life and is and is a senior executive in a private company.
In the recent past, I got to know a person from Srinagar who used to be a hardliner and a ‘miscreant’ with ‘vested’ interest in the eyes of law. A notorious stone pelter who used to skip his classes and engage himself in anti- national activities, got arrested and a PSA dozier was made against him and was about to get signed by the competent authority the next day. Someone from the inside informed his lawyer that his client was about to get PSA slapped in a day or two, his family members had a good contact in Deputy Commissioner’s office. He got counseled by a senior police official in presence of DC along with family members and was released. This boy later told me that on that night I had prayed and made a promise with myself that once he will get out from jail, he will take revenge by joining ranks. This year he has attended some 10 to 12 events on de-radicalization organized by a NGO ‘Save Youth Save Future’. This is the organisation who had worked day and night for such boys to get counselled rather than get radicalzed.He is now doing BTech in a famous college in Chandigarh and is happily living his life with his ailing parents and a young sister. Later this youth told me that those two senior officials who have counseled me that day were two angles sent by God to me. Had they not counseled him at right place and time, things would have been entirely different he would have been in ome part of jail or died.
Qafeel Ahmad (name changed) was a good friend of mine since early childhood. In 2016 he lost his sister in a cross fire, post that he was offered to join ranks and take the revenge of her sister. We used to be together and I was continuously guiding him what he should do. Other group insisted him to take up arms as early as possible. His parents won’t have survived post that. In between that he got a SRO case but refused to take it for seven months. Then one fine day I, along with a well-known mainstream politician visited by way of me and a main stream politication counseled him for some days together and saved him from dying.
De radicalisation is the process of changing an individual’s belief system, rejecting the extremist ideology, and embracing mainstream values.” In Kashmir, spending time in jail can strengthen a young person’s resolve to take revenge. Many of the jailed, who were never part of any protest, decided to join them when they were released. Others who are arrested for small crimes become radicalized in jail. Putting kids in camps on mere suspicion that they may become militants is a good recipe for greater radicalization. The focus should be more on disengagement and the identification of the driving forces that push the youth towards violent extremism. Issues of identity, a sense of alienation, perceived in justice, economic empowerment, and good governance will have to be addressed holistically. This would require outreach to the youth of Valley.
Sabzar Ahmad (name changed) was involved in stone pelting in 2016 unrest. He was a brilliant student who would aim of becoming a doctor. He got slapped with PSA. After he was released, he went missing from his homeland joined the ranks. Died after 7 months. His parents told me that Sabzar would always talk about the atrocities he has faced in the police custody and would always speak about the revenge. His mother is lying in a bed since then and was a lone bread earner in his family. There are countless stories that would break any human soul. If you punish them for small crimes they will come out of jails radicalized. Let’s not punish the young boys for mere small crimes. Instead get them counseled. We don’t need their blood or dead body but their life which they deserve to live happily.The example of this was seen recently in Anantnag, where a young police Officer Shri. Imtiyaz Hussian of the rank of SSP counselled some 14 boys who were on a way of joining the Militancy and fall prey to the fake propaganda of extremist groups. I had got from the credible sources is this, that all the young boys had changed their mindset and had to a large extent mainstreamed themselves and are praising the day these young police officer counselled them about this, and made them get the importance of life rather than death and saved their lives. Community members and their parents have expressed their gratitude to Anantnag Police for this kind gesture and thereby saving life of the youths.
The policy makers have long been busy in treating symptoms, and not the cancer of radicalisation. It is time to address the root cause or radicalization will continue to be a bleeding scar. Even as’ all-out’ security operations have time and again claimed to wipe out militants, no comprehensive programme for addressing radicalization has been formulated yet. Ladies and gentlemen today’s terrorist, today’s extremists are yesterday’s young person looking for acceptance, identity and above all an opportunity and this is where we need to be in their lives to counsel them what is right and wrong for their lives Recently, one such welcome step was held at shopian where IG of police and core commander of Army and other senior officials from police and Army held an interaction with the families of militants. The IGP was quoted to say that ‘bring the militants back to their homes, we are ready to accept them with open arms if they beleive they were on the wrong path. The events like that can prove very fertile if continued with the right will.
The need of the hour is that, where the local militants in Kashmir have got the moral boost because of the win win situation of Taliban in Afghanistan and have now started believing on the Gun point rather than solving any issue by Dialogue as is the best case.The creation of counselling centres and counselling sessions for these young adult vulnerable groups can prove beneficial in saving their lives from getting radicalized.