Teenagers are most susceptible to manipulation. Pakistan is indoctrinating Kashmiri teenagers through online avenues for radicalisation and indoctrination in violent extremist ideological actions. This is very dangerous and a situation to worry. Kashmir militancy has witnessed many transformations. Every time a particular phase is on its last leg, the hydra headed monster emerges from the debris in a new avatar. In the 1980s, Kashmir militancy started as vagabond adventurism and evolved into an ideological monster. Through its journey, the militancy in Kashmir has witnessed many twists and turns, which have been shaped by the response of the state and its forces. A new emerging phenomenon in Kashmir militancy is juvenile terrorism, wherein children below the age of 18 join militant ranks. The high number of these adolescent killers is a worrying trend. This is a peculiar situation and a very unique transformation which cannot be ignored. Globally, nobody can deny that the instigation and indoctrination of juveniles who have no understanding of the dynamics of terrorism is no less than a war crime. This started with the instigation of media calling these youths or juvenile militants as poster boys of Kashmir militancy, causing a turmoil in social media. But a closer study of these poster boys revealed a different story. It was not their education or the lack of it that lured them towards militancy. The determining factor was their family environment and ideological background. An environment of indoctrination at home, within society or the peer group was the major reason for youngsters to be drawn into militancy. This radicalized family environment of Burhan Wani, Riyaz Naikoo, Zakir Musa, Dr Samiullah and many other militants indoctrinated them and drove them to militancy. These young men were more social media tigers than guerilla fighters. Social media played a pivotal role in glorifying this breed of militants along with the entrapment by the aura of romanticizing towards militancy and religious extremism thoughts at home. In 2021, Kashmir witnessed another transformation of militancy. Online indoctrination of playing with young minds gave rise to a new breed of militants called hybrid terrorists. The focus of militancy is now more towards initiating disturbance by killing soft targets through hybrid militants. The hybrid militants are a new breed and cultivated by playing with young minds. These are not classical operating militants but operate by philosophy of being invisible to the security forces. They carry out daily activities, blend with locals and friends and operate as undercover agents. Primary tasking that they are told to carry out is look for the soft targets and targeted killings. Normal life is thereafter resumed by these hybrid categories of militants after fulfillment of the mission. Challenges are faced by the security forces with respect to identification, validation and further apprehension of these militants who are having clean record and are operating tactically with all precautions. Pakistan is luring Kashmiri adolescents towards militancy for its own gains. These terror strategies are leaning towards adolescents because they are of immature mind. They are easily trapped and provoked to carry out terrorism activities by mere online knowledge and wrong and negative propaganda by Pakistan. Socio economic distress is seen as another major factor in pushing teenagers towards the path of destruction along with drug abuse being the easier tool. The ratio of teenagers among drug addicts is significant. A study of the profile of youngsters involved in militancy reveals that young men in their 20s or 30s are no more interested in violence and are not joining terror groups. So, the handlers of Kashmir terrorism across the border are luring juveniles towards militancy and drug trafficking. The use of smart phones by children and the lack of any monitoring by parents make these children an easy prey for online terror handlers. Police have expressed concern over the rampant use of smart phones by children without any surveillance by the parents. Parents cannot claim ignorance regarding the changing behavior of their wards. A number of wayward youngsters are using smart phones for criminal acts. The smart phone culture has emerged as a major factor in shaping the minds of juveniles. On account of Covid, the ratio of school dropouts has been high over the last two years. This has come to the fore in discussions with teachers and parents across the various districts of Kashmir, though the School Department has not compiled any such record. In discussions regarding high school drop-outs, teachers and parents revealed smart phone addiction to be a major cause. Most among the school dropouts were reported to have smart phone addiction. It was also found in many studies that teenagers in the age group of 14 to 18 are prone to online indoctrination. Since the involvement of a particular youngster in militancy and disruptive activities is covert behavior, the police and security agencies do not have knowledge about such violent behaviourial trends emerging in particular individuals. Police and security forces usually keep a close vigil on former militants against whom cases are registered in the various police stations. But the new crop of militants comprises mostly teenagers who are indoctrinated by their handlers through the medium of the internet. After this induction of new breed of militancy to spread more chaos and posing various challenges to the security forces it can be assessed that this silent breed operates on the phenomenon of not being noticed and staying in the dark. The incidents and techniques that they follow are under the umbrella of principle of surprise and thus always keeping a question in mind of security forces as to when, how, where the incidents of covert attack will take place and on whom. Incidents by this new breed of militancy have been carried out, people are being continuously inducted and meticulous planning on their end is practiced. To actuate a teen on 21st century is not a major task specially in valley wherein there are various factors/ opinions that can change their perception. However Proactive measures by security forces would certainly help a long way in keeping track and noticing changes of varied nature that are happening in the areas. These measures will help in gathering of genuine feedback from locals of anything happening around them, which in turn shall help them to take adequate measures without delay. Liaison between security forces and civil administration will cover entire spectrum of int network wherein the information flows which shall be able to stop these juvenile militants and bring peace to the valley.
